HC: Pacifist | Ch. 274 - Pardon (Patreon)

This was the nicest evening Roth could recall. It had been years since he’d been in a family get-together like this. The first ones to leave were Leanne and Rhapsody. Their conversation about how the inn’s tablecloths had been made had escalated into a heated argument, and they had stormed off to the Union Tent to settle their dispute in a crafting battle.

Then, members of the 14th started departing one by one, off to take care of business or to log out of the game. Linda had played with Lin and Goldie until they collapsed. Lin had even unlocked one point of endurance from the workout Linda put him through. They napped, leaning against each other. 

Roth sat in a chair, listening to Nathan tell how he and Suzie had met when Mel approached and gently tapped his shoulder.

“Hi, Mel! Join us. Let me get you a chair.”

“Sorry, Roth. I've got to go. We're going to tackle a dungeon in the capital, and I'm expected to be there in a couple of hours.”

“That’s too bad.” 

Nathan elbowed him gently, and Suzie cleared her throat. 

“C-can I walk you outside?” Roth offered.

“Sure.” She whistled, and Goldie instantly awoke, flying over to her shoulder.

“I'll be right back, okay?” he said to his family.

 His brother was about to say something snarky, but Susan pinched his cheek. “Suzie?! What was that for?”

“You know very well what that was for, mister.”

Seeing that Mel and her new bird friend were leaving, Linda came running and gave Mel a hug. “Bye, pretty lady. Bye, Goldie Birdie.”

“Well, at least not everrry human is hopeless,” Goldie commented, rubbing his head affectionately against the child’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you, too, Linda.”

Roth opened the door for Mel, and both left the rented room and headed outside. There was a warm, pleasant breeze. Despite all the gaslights illuminating the city, the stars were still clearly visible. A little incoherency that the developers had let slide, favoring visual impact over realism.

“Thank you for coming, Mel,” Roth said, smiling.

“Tonight was fun. I just wasn't expecting your whole family to be here,” she said, fidgeting. 

“Sorry. Was that weird?”

“No, no! Why would it be? You're just having a party with your friends and family. I just meant that I didn’t know they played the game, too.” 

“Yeah, it's pretty recent. Can that stay between us?” The last thing he needed was for guilds to come after his family. 

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask!” she said, offended.

“I know. I trust you.”

Mel was silent for a few moments. “Y-your niece is really cute.”

“I thought so, too.”

Picking up on Roth’s hidden meaning, Mel’s eyes widened, and she whirled toward him. “Wait, you’ve never met until today?”

“No. Today was the first day I met my sister-in-law, too. It was a big surprise. I only knew my mother was going to be here. Now that they took the initiative to join the game, I feel silly for not suggesting it in the first place.”

“Wait. What about your brothers?”

“Tonight was the first time we talked in years!”

Mel bit her lip and looked away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just that… you spent so much time introducing me to your friends and talking to me instead of catching up with your family. I just feel kind of bad about it. That’s all.”

Roth’s heart raced, and he thought of Drake’s advice. Taking a deep breath, Roth went for it. “I couldn’t resist it. You were the most beautiful girl back there.”

Mel smiled happily, and they stared at each other for a moment.

“Goldie, gigantify. Sorry, I have to go…”.

“Can I call you when you’re done?” Roth asked hopefully.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Mel turned around and mounted Goldie. Roth watched the golden bird disappear into the distance until they vanished behind the horizon. It was all happening so fast. He hadn’t even thought this through; it all just sort of happened. “Ouch!”

Lin was biting his leg, applying one of Oli’s nasty lessons. “What are you looking at?” Lin demanded.

Roth’s pain instantly vanished. This was the first full sentence he heard Lin say! He was actually talking to his kitten!

“Mel. I like her.”

“More than me?”

Roth looked at Lin and shrugged dismissively. Something told him he’d be bitten and scratched if he gave him a straight answer. “Let’s go back inside, Lin.”

*

The last time Roth had seen Oscar, he assumed that the next time they met, he would be confined to a wheelchair or resting in a retirement home. However, Oscar looked just as tired and old as the last time they met. 

Roth sat on the floor of the cramped room with his two brothers beside him. Roth was in [Fox Form] to increase the chances of success, and his charisma filled the room. Even the fire of the fireplace seemed smothered by his presence. 

“And you vouch for the two pups?” Oscar confirmed.

“I do, sir.” 

“Well, for such a prestigious broker like yourself to say that… Hmm… And one so close to us dogs. If you vouch for them, they can join the brokers, too. We could always use more intermediaries.”

“Sweet! I got it!”

“Me too. Thanks, Roth.”

Seeing how happy his brothers were warmed Roth’s heart. “Oscar, I'm considering asking my associates to help me carry merchandise around. Is there any way to include them in my trade agreements?”

“Of course, broker. Yawn. You could just sign a contract with them. Of course, it's only proper to discuss shares and terms early on. Yawn. I tell you, pup, many problems can be prevented that way.”

Not even Roth’s sky-high charisma could override Oscar’s exhaustion. “I can see you're getting tired. We’re going now. Thank you.”

The dog groaned as he stood up, repositioned himself closer to the fire, and laid down again. “Aah. That was a good walk.”

Roth signaled his brothers to stop laughing and left the tunnel after them.

Now outside, his brothers celebrated as they checked the details of the broker profession. “Sweet, we now have the same profession as you, Roth,” Andrew celebrated.

Roth was just as happy. Knowing they would help lighten some of his load and run his trade routes was a relief. After all, not only would that help them to grow faster in their profession, but it could also help them to expand their network even further.

“Who would have known there would be so many hidden places in Green Woods? First the cat tree, now this dog house.” Nathan mused. 

“Yeah, it isn't obvious,” Roth agreed. “I had trouble finding it, too. Now, I want to show you every stop in my trade route. Then, we can sign a system-issued contract, and that way, we can split all rewards evenly. How does that sound?”

“Don’t split them evenly,” Andrew protested. “That ain’t fair to you. Just give us a small part, enough to break even.”

“That’s right, Roth,” Nathan agreed. “We’re doing this to help you.”

“But you are getting started. The quicker you grow, the better it will be for all of us.”

“That isn’t right,” countered Nathan. “You were the one who cultivated these relationships and have been running these trade routes all this time. It’s only fair you get the lion's share of the deal.”

“Nathan… I…”

“Enough!”

“No. You’re not listening, Nathan. Hear me out.”

The three brothers marched toward the Rat Cave as they discussed the terms of their to-be contract. Roth had forgotten how stubborn Nathan, especially, was. He wouldn’t budge. This was the first time that Roth was haggling with someone about giving them more money.

“No, Nathan! You guys should take 30% of the profit at the very least!” Roth protested, some of his rage bubbling up—nothing like family to strike a nerve.

“Nonsense, kid. We don’t need more than 15%. Stop being stubborn and accept it.”

“Argh! Why aren’t you listening? I have other ways to make money. Just take 30%!”

“That’s too much! We want 15%.”

Drew just stood to the side, whistling as he admired the view.

“Come on, Nathan. At least 25%!”

“Not one penny more,” his brother roared.

“Fine!”

Andrew stepped in to alleviate the tension of the heated haggling session. “So you can speak the animal's languages,” he confirmed. 

“Yes, too bad that you guys started the game without talking to me first. Building a relationship with these animals is much more difficult if you’ve hunted them. But as you start new trade routes and meet new customers, you can use the steps I taught you earlier to form relationships with them. Please don't share this with anyone. It is the secret to my success and the only hope that we'll be able to keep supporting ourselves through this game.”

“Of course, bro.”

“That goes without saying,” agreed Nathan.

They arrived at the entrance of the Rat Cave. Roth confirmed that he was wearing his noobish disguise and that all three were in the same party. Nodding approvingly, he beckoned his brothers to follow him, and they wormed their way in through the crowd. Roth touched the stone tablet, and the three brothers were teleported into the tunnel.

Roth had missed the comfortable mushroom lighting. He spotted a group of ratans ahead and eagerly headed toward them.

“Hi, guys! How are you?”

The ratans screamed and shrieked menacingly. Ratans appeared from their rear, surrounding them.

“Martyr, stay back!”

Roth gasped as he found all the rats around snarling and shrieking at his brothers.

“Guys! Relax. It’s me!”

“Those two are enemies of our people. I can smell our blood on them.”

So that’s what it was. “Don’t say a word,” whispered Roth. Turning toward the rats, he spoke in Ratan. “They're with me. I can vouch for them.”

“Even though they’ve hunted our kin, martyr?”

“They didn't know what they were doing, but I came here precisely to clarify things between you and them. I promise you that they will never hurt you again. You have my word.”

The group of rats that surrounded them exchanged glances. After a few moments, they shrugged. “There’s one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Do they know any jokes?”

Roth smiled. “Andrew, you’re the family’s jokester. Tell them a joke,” Roth urged him.

“Oh, OK.” Andrew only needed a few seconds to think of one. “How does a rat bake a cake?”

The ratans exchanged a few squeaks. “They say they don’t know,” Roth explained.

“They use their whiskers! Ah!”

The ratans squeaked. Emboldened by a listening audience, Andrew kept going. “What do you call a rat that’s good at math? An algeb-rat!”

His middle brother had always been a goofball, and he knew so many puns and jokes that he made Roth's repertoire look pitiful. After telling several jokes, many new to Roth, he suddenly stopped and turned to Nathan. “You got that, too, Nathan?”

“Yeah! Awesome! Just how much influence do you have over these NPCs, Roth,” Nathan exclaimed. 

“What happened?” Roth asked curiously.

“See for yourself.” Andrew forwarded to Roth the message they had just received from the system.

The Pacifist Pax has spoken for you. The ratans forgive you based on his testimony. 

Reputation page with the ratans unlocked.

All negative reputation points with the ratans have been pardoned.

Really? Did he have this kind of power? It had to be because of [Fox Form] and his close relationship with the Ratans. Furthermore, they weren’t considered a high-tiered race. He doubted this would work with the Table or even the lizardmen.

“Alright, guys, come on. Let's introduce you to the king.” 

Roth guided his brothers through the Rat Cave, stopping every so often so that his brother, Andrew, could tell just one more pun to the Ratans. By the time they had reached the Mouse King, Andrew had already unlocked the first relationship tier with the Ratans. Nathan could only watch in envy. He was the serious, proper brother. He didn't know how to tell jokes. 

“Okay, please drink this and follow after me,” Roth threw them a [Miniaturizing Potion].

They exchanged a glance. “You know how much these sell for? Right?”

“Yeah, but the Ratans will just give it to you for free if you befriend them. Don't worry, I have plenty.”

Miniaturize!

Roth shrank, and his brothers followed. Roth watched with delight as both his brothers arrived at the court of the Ratan king, amazed by the glowshroom chandelier, the beautiful tapestries, and the king and his mouseketeers. King Ratatouille was already up and walking towards Roth.

Ch. 273 - Awkwarrrd

INDEX

Ch. 275 - Signing