HC:Pacifist | Ch. 44 - Irrecognizable

As Roth arrived at the chamber that led into the throneroom, he asked one of the nearby ratans for help to get tinier so he could go through. One of them took a potion from its pockets and threw it to Roth as if it were a piece of trash. Roth wondered if sometime in the future, instead of being given [Glowshrooms], he would be given [Miniaturizing Potions] by random rats when he came around for a visit.

*

"Your majesty, it is good to see you."

"Martyr, it is you. Having you help us with trade seems to have been a good decision. After all, we've been getting many human visitors to the throne room. The boys over there are in a competition to see who can look the scariest to the newcomers. Athos is currently winning." 

Roth waved a greeting at Athos, who blinked an eye at him. The other mouseketeers pretended they couldn't hear their king. All mouseketeers had warmed up to Roth, especially since he had squeezed all the overflowing enthusiasm for rodent tapestries out of Aramis. 

The king continued, "And look at that; you did quite well with the trade. I wasn't expecting our potions to sell for such a high price in the city!"

4.553 gold has been removed from your inventory.

[Rodent Trade] quest completed

Completion Rate: S++

Rewards: 10.000(+1000)XP; 10.000(+1000) Broker XP; [Ratan Trade Agreement]

Bonus Rewards: 20.000(+2000)XP; 20.000(+2000) Broker XP; [Miniaturize] Skill Card; +200 reputation with all ratans

[Broker Ledger] updated.

[Broker Profession Level up!]

[Level Up!]

Congratulations on completing a trade between [Rat King] and [Greensburg]

+Broker 2000XP; 2% of the profit. (51 gold, 6 silver), +123 reputation with all Ratans.

Roth gasped at the outpour of notifications. Then, a shaky smile widened as he looked at each of them in detail. What a fantastic bounty. The Rat King smirked at the befuddlement on Roth's face.

"Your majesty, I think you might have made a mistake. It says you're giving me 2% of the profit. Shouldn't it be 1%?"

"Word of advice, furless friend, as a broker, take what you can get. You should try to convince your customers to give you a bigger cut, not to take it out of you. It's only natural that we give you 2%. After all, you and us go a long way back. My subjects would come all here and shout in protest if they knew I had mistreated you."

Roth's eyes watered at the display of generosity. He was rich! He was freaking rich! He went on to examine each of the rewards more carefully.

Ratan Trade Agreement

Ratan Trade Agreement {Exclusive}

You have earned the right to represent the Rat King as his broker.

Specialty products:

[Miniaturizing Potion] - 2 per day

[Glowshrooms] - 10 per day

[Morelshroom] - 5 per day

[Pine cones] - 30 per day

Procured goods:

[Empty]

Rate:

You keep 2% of all profits generated

You need to perform one sale every week, or you will lose broking exclusivity

Just like the king had said, it seemed that other than progressing in his profession as a broker, a different way of increasing his cut was by deepening his relationship with his customers. That went in line with how salesmanship worked. 

The most valuable reward, however, seemed to be the skill card the king gave him.

Miniaturize (Epic)

Skill Description: Your mutated cells have learned how to squeeze and help you to become smaller for short periods.

Skill Effects: It shrinks you to one-tenth of your usual size. Useful to enter small places. The effect expires after 30 minutes.

This was his first time seeing a skill card. All skills he had learned had been from a trainer or from performing the same task repeatedly. Other games kept skills in books, but in AstroTerra, they made it into skill cards. Some players even collected these for fun. 

There was a mini-game that could be played in a particular building inside cities where these cards could be used. Roth would like to try it sometime. He had enjoyed playing card games as a kid. He felt a flush creeping across his cheeks at the memory of him beating a neighbor kid because he had a card he wanted.

Roth took the card from his inventory.

Would you like to learn [Miniaturize]? You can't undo your actions once you proceed. [Y/N]

The card turned to ashes as a flash of purple light shone over Roth. What a treasure! Whereas others would have to drink a 100 gold consumable, he could just activate this skill at will. After some thought, he realized that this skill was kind of useless to him. Couldn't he just come here and get a sip of [Miniaturizing Potion] whenever he wanted? Oh well. The game rated it an epic skill, so it had to be worth something.

"Thank you for such generous rewards, your majesty." The king waved him off. With the trade quest out of the way, Roth's thoughts turned toward Oli. One of the riddles of Count Crow had hinted at talking to the ratans. Roth decided to try his luck.

"Your majesty, I uncovered some clues as to the identity of the thief who took your tapestries." The temperature dropped in the room, and silence became oppressive. It felt like the room's emptiness had gained a life of its own, and Ratattoile's gaze hardened.

"Who?" The words echoed in the chamber, and Roth could swear that the question had caused the whole cave to tremor.

"Oli, the cat burglar." It became hard to breathe. Roth had thought of procuring Oscar's help, but he hadn't remembered that ratans and cats must have had bad blood between them.

"So it was that old nasty hairball vomiter. I knew it. I knew it!"

"Your majesty, I know your people have a long history with cats. It seems to be a formidable foe. Oscar has given me this [Concentrated Catnip] solution, but I haven't yet thought of a way of trapping the cat so that I can retrieve your goods. Can you help me?"

Item description: A trap that ratan engineers built. It's been designed to catch cats. The metal bars and sturdy wood make it a fear-inspiring contraption., which has warranted us peace for a long time. I'm afraid I can't intervene directly in your mission. It could have great repercussions. After all, Oli is a member of the cat nobility. Thrat being said... I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to point you in the right direction."

The Rat King wants to trade you [Mouse Trap].

Roth checked the item.

Mouse Trap (Quest Item)

Item description: A trap that Ratan engineers built. It's been designed to catch cats. The metal bars and sturdy wood make it a fear-inspiring contraption.

Item effects: Can trap cats for a short while. Item effectiveness depends on the cat's level.

Roth's eyes sparkled as he read through the item's description. Now, he could finally go and try to catch Oli.

"Your majesty, this is precisely what I need to keep Oli occupied while I retrieve everything he stole."

"Of course, martyr. We're just glad that we can help. Fortunately, you just had a good business trip; otherwise, you couldn't afford this."

"You say what? I thought that..."

"We usually sell these traps for 60 gold, but for a friend of the rats such as yourself, I think I can do it for 50." The king regarded him curiously. Ross took a deep breath and put his game face on.

"Your majesty, your engineers are indeed skillful, and the trap is exquisite but 50 gold... That might be a bit too much. What do you say we leave it at 40 gold?

"My furless friend, the items required to fabricate a trap capable of holding cats are no small matter. I would gladly give it to you for free, but how can I explain it to my engineers? The best I can do for you is 49 golden and 50 silver." Seeing that he had brought the price down, Roth's brows perked up, and he pressed on, reinvigorated by the prospect of saving some gold coins.

"Your majesty, you are brilliant, intelligent, and charming, not to speak of your beautiful whiskers. The engineers would be glad even if they took a loss doing this service to your majesty. Not to mention that we will be dealing a severe blow to the cats that stole your tapestries; what do you say we do 42 gold?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible, my friend, let's say 48.

"43."

"47?"

"44."

"46? I can't go lower than that.

"At least 45, your majesty."

"That's too low."

"Someone with your capability surely can do it, your majesty."

"All right, let's do 45."

You've successfully haggled a price with a monarch and prevailed. +1 charisma.

"Majesty, I will come back soon to you. I have a few more errands to run, but I look forward to seeing you all again."

"Don't mention it, Martyr."

With a lightness on his step and a smug face, Roth left the throne room feeling like a true businessman. In his culture, haggling wasn't a thing, but it was an important skill for a gamer. Successfully negotiating the price was exhilarating. Now that he had all four trade agreements in his ledger, there was only one place left for Roth to go. 

He had pinned the coordinates in the map and headed toward the clearing where he had first met Prince Piglet. He saw a battle ahead as he took a path through badger territory. A group of players was surrounding a Brawny Badger wild boss. They had just started fighting it. Although Brawny Badgers were not as nearly disputed as Boar Kings, they were still a prized target that dropped enticing equipment and even a skill or two.

The familiar figure he had heard reciting poetry in his bass voice was unrecognizable. Its teeth were pulled back into a gnarl, its whole fur standing up and its claws drawn out. Its kekkering and gnarls shook the forest, making leaves rain from the trees up above. A group of ten players surrounded it and attacked it from all sides.

Roth felt his heart race and his palms sweat. His muscles tensed up. But, for the first time since he entered the game, Roth didn't jump into the fray. He just stood there, frozen and unable to move. Maybe it was because of having been through this so many times. Maybe it was because of how aggressive and different Brawny looked from his usual peaceful self. He couldn't put a finger on it. He couldn't move. Then, his foot took one step forward and then another step, and he was running. The sounds of battle became fainter as he ran away.

Ch. 43 - One Glowshroom

INDEX

Ch. 45 - Old Red