HC:Pacifist | Ch. 73 - Bad Feeling (Patreon)

Five days... it felt like it had been forever since he'd been trapped in the sewers. In five days, so many things had changed. From running into Gary to getting to the sewers, he found monsters, danced with and befriended snakes, met Soros, investigated a crime family, and even reunited with his dear friend and sponsor.  It felt like a lifetime, but it was just five days.

Roth checked the cooldown timer on his [Miniaturize] skill. Only thirty minutes left before he could use it again. Thank goodness that he unlocked that new title yesterday. It had been his third trip into the vents of Baldwins. After a few minutes of hearing the two guards speaking about their marital problems outside the boss's door, Roth was surprised.

You have unlocked a new title: [Miniature Man]

[Miniature Man] (Rare)

Title description: After spending hours in miniature form, you've learned to squeeze your atoms more effectively.

Title effects:

-[Miniaturized] buffs are twice as long

- The cooldown of the [Miniaturize] skill is cut in half.

Conditions to unlock [Miniature Man]:

- To have spent 30 hours in miniaturized form {Complete}

- Or, to have miniaturized 60 times.

Roth hadn't seen this title coming. Good thing that he had spent so much time in miniature form when Aramis gave him the tapestry tour and that he had gone on multiple visits to the True Throne Room.

This title made a massive difference in his spying trips. It not only halved the cooldown and doubled how long the buff was. It quadrupled the time he could spend spying on the Gazpachos. The best part was that he could spend 2 hours daily in miniature form without spending any precious [Miniaturize Potions]. The amount of information he was collecting skyrocketed.

On the last few trips, Roth had learned the names of five captains and the names of at least ten of the family soldiers that weren't mentioned in the guide. He had learned that the person called the boss in the Baldwins wasn't the actual big boss but the family's underboss. He had confirmed the existence of an administration, a counselor, and a big boss and knew they all met elsewhere.

The underboss had a very defined schedule. Every day he napped at 4 pm, like clockwork, and had lunch with one of the captains, which took at most 2 hours. Some captains seemed to take more of the underboss's time than others, and Roth was still trying to find what was the most extended period when the underboss wasn't in the office.

He had heard the bartender mention the vault in the underboss' office once but still didn't know what the combination was. His most recent discovery was a vent in the underboss's office.

He had found this out at the end of his last spy mission and was itching to go back and see what information he could gain from spying on the underboss himself. The best-case scenario was that Roth would catch a lucky break and see the underboss open the vault. If he could see the combination to the safe, he could try breaking into it when the office was empty.

Regardless of how hard it was to resist the urge to progress in the quest, Roth had already planned his subsequent use of [Miniaturize]. He would use it to see Soros.

Over the last few days, with the help of his ratan and snake friends, Roth had already discovered several sewer entrances that weren't in the free guides. He knew of six entrances in the slums, two in the academia, and had discovered one in the Garrison earlier.

He also found two in the commercial district but still had to explore a big chunk of that map. It was the most extensive section of the sewers and the farthest from the slums.

The most challenging thing about exploring the commercial district was that every time he got there, he only had a couple of hours before he had to get back. On top of that, no matter how much he looked, a part of the map was a ghost town. He could not find either ratans or snakes to show him around. With his friends to guide him it took him much longer to explore.

On a more positive note, after several excursions to the sewers under the commercial district, Roth had already been able to run diagnostics on three gatorbots. The first time he'd heard the characteristic clank and snap of the gatorbots dredging operations, he had to control himself not to run away.

The gatorbot drawing close to him would detect the scanner he wore, and its light would begin flashing in an intermittent green. At first, Roth was baffled about what it did, but after a few seconds, he received a notification explaining it.

Diagnostics of gatorbot G-67 complete.

[Down the Drain] updated.

Down the Drain (Rare)

Quest description: Strange things are happening in the sewers below Hilsford. The M.A.R.I.O. cyborg has asked for your help in finding out the reason for this.

Quest objectives:

- Discover the origin of the monsters;

- Run diagnostics on the stray gatorbots (1/5)

With this, he started the treasure hunt for the lost gatorbots. After five days of looking, Roth found only three but was still two short. He was sure they must be somewhere in what he had begun calling the dead sewers.

If he didn't have to constantly run back and forth for his meetings with Drake and his spying trips to Baldwins, he would have probably already advanced the quest. Nevertheless, his priority right now was getting into the witness protection program, so he couldn't go easy with spying on the Gazpachos.

Roth didn't mind exploring, though. He was looking forward to completing the map. Roth reckoned that since he'd been the first one to discover Mario's lab, logically, no one had thoroughly explored the sewers yet. If he succeeded in doing that, he might be able to gain a similar achievement to the one he got for being the first to explore Green Woods fully.

The experience had been very generous and would become even more substantial since he now had the [Pioneer] title. He might be able to climb a few levels.

He had also found a secret way out of the city through the river, thanks to his exploratory trips. He looked at the timer on the Broker's ledger and the [Call for Backup] quest. He'd been in Hilsford for five days already and had to leave soon if he didn't want to lose exclusivity.

The sharp industrial stench let Roth know he had just arrived in the commercial district. The plan was to go to the secret exit he'd found two days ago to enter Soro's trade association. He looked at the map and, after a few hesitant moments, took a sharp turn left. He could spare a few moments to check on Scar and Scratchy.

He wondered how they were doing. When he first met them, the battle had seemed so desperate. At the same time, the quest had given him one week to get them back up, so Roth was confident they could hold the invaders off for that long.

Roth checked the coordinates of the map. Their nest was very close. Coming closer, Roth was startled by a moving shadow. He squinted, trying to understand what had frightened him but saw nothing. Sometimes, as animals and people walked close to the drains and sewer lids above, they blocked the light, causing fleeting shadows in the sewers below. It happened a couple of times a day. I was probably nothing.

To his surprise, Roth turned around the corner and found an empty nest. The pile of garbage and rags where rats respawned was still there, but there was no mob. He tried looking into the nest, seeing if he found any little rats.

"Hello? Little ones? Are you there?" No soul was in sight.

Roth was getting a bad feeling about this. Where were they? Could they have tried to take the battle somewhere far from their pups? Could they be off battling an enemy nest or trying to ward off a snake? Roth waited a few minutes to see if anything happened, but the longer he waited, the darker his disquiet became. Roth felt his blood go cold. He was getting a bad feeling about this. Where had they gone?

Roth took off running at full speed toward the exit to the upworld. His little friends had asked him to get them to help, and he had dallied for too long. It was time to go to the Green Woods and ask for help from the king!

*

Roth waited for a few moments and, hearing nothing, climbed out of the well. This was one of the entrances that led out of the sewers and took him to the commercial district. The well was in a shabby alley and didn't have any water. Roth had been careful to come with the [Miniaturize] and his racial skills on cooldown.

He hadn't left ratan form, over the last few days. The added speed it gave him was addictive, and were it not for it, there was no way he'd be able to have explored as much of the sewers as he had. In case he needed to change forms for whatever reason, he was ready for it.

Roth looked at his map. He was in Tinkerer Street. With his current running speed, it was only about four minutes away from Soros' house. It was time to collect the goods and return to the Green Woods. Roth left the alley and mixed into the crowd.

Even though his running speed was impressive, many rogues had similar running speeds, and other players rode impressive beasts that gave them overwhelming swiftness. Compared to them, Roth was a slow snail. Still, at least he could navigate the crowd without standing out too much.

Since he spoke to Drake, Roth felt braver about coming to the upworld. After all, if only three of his former friends were looking for him, it was extremely unlike he'd bump into them here.

Shortly after, Roth made it to Merchant Street and, finding the familiar alley, dove into it and disappeared into the darkness. One person standing in the corner watched, alarmed from the shadows, and took off running.

*

Frankie was hanging out at the Baldwins. After painstaking effort, he finally secured the needed reputation and earned the right to enter the bar. The Gazpachos hangout allowed him to hear rumors and gain quests. The information players could learn here and the connections they could make made it a very desirable spot.

Additionally, and more importantly, no one dared to touch him while he was here. He'd found his niche, his haven. Now, he could begin focusing on his development in the city.

"Hey, greenie," said a voice he recognized from the side.

"What's up, Big Joe?"

"Got a mission for you. Someone was seen entering Ol' Soros' place. Go there and break a bone or two."

New mission unlocked: [Intimidation]

Quest description: One of the merchants that refuses to pay the family has begun receiving visitors lately. Make sure no one dares to come to see him.

Quest objectives:

Prevent anyone from entering Golden Mountain.

"I'm going right away."

Frankie ran out the door as fast as he could through the slums. After reaching the city center, he just went down the main avenues until he reached Merchant Street. In just fifteen minutes, he met up with the associate who had sounded the alarm.

"What's up?"

"Someone went in but hasn't gone out."

"It's alright, Dave. I'll take it from here."

"Frankie found a place shaded by some crates that afforded him a good view of the door. He would stay here as long as necessary to finish his mission."

Ch. 72 - RPGs for Dummies

INDEX

Ch. 74 - Slaving vs. Contracting