HC:Pacifist | Ch. 89 - Breaking In (Patreon)

It had been two days since Roth had completed the [Monsters in the Sewers] quest. Since then, Roth had taken as many trips as he could until finishing gathering the intel he needed. On the last trip to the Baldwins, Roth had finally found the combination to the vault. He also knew now the names of the different Gazpacho captains and had a good grasp on the underboss' schedule. With that, all the ingredients for a successful break-in had been gathered.

He already had plenty of information to go on. It was time to take the next step and try to finish this quest once and for all. Today, at lunchtime, he would make his move.

While Roth waited for [Miniaturize] to come off cooldown, Roth tried finishing the exploration of the sewers. So far, Roth had uncovered the location of maintenance locker rooms #5, #3, and #2.

The first locker room he'd found was in the sewers under the slums, in the margins of the underground river. That's where he'd found his plumber's flashlight when he swam back into the city.

He had found two other locker rooms in the sewers under the commercial district when tackling the [Monsters in the Sewers] quest.

All that was left was to locate locker rooms #1 and #4. Of course, there could be more than that, but given that there were five pieces of the plumber set, it made sense that there would be five locker rooms. On top of that, his map exploration was almost done. There could not be many more hidden chambers than two or three at most.

In between spying excursions, Roth tried searching the sewers under the academic district but, to his disappointment, found nothing. He was now running in the sewers under the garrison. Unlike before, Roth didn't bother to turn off his torch, even as he ran at full speed in ratan form.

After unlocking the affinity to the light element, Roth noticed something different about it as soon as he turned on his flashlight. Whereas before his flashlight was a focused beam of light, it was now much brighter, resembling the giant spotlights used by hover-copters in a police chase.

That wasn't the only difference. Before, Roth could only keep the flashlight on for a few seconds at a time because it drained his energy bar quickly. Now he could keep the flashlight on for a long time before his energy depleted. Maybe his affinity had caused a qualitative change in his energy, or maybe it had just increased the efficiency of his flashlight. Whatever the case was, Roth was happy about how many different applications [Inner Light] had.

With the better visibility from his flashlight and the relief of not having to worry about the foul smell, Roth felt like he was walking in the park. A dark, underground, slimy park, but a park, nonetheless.

Roth shone his flashlight on one of the walls and found a dissimulating curve. He studied the wall and took a closer look. A door at the end of a small cramped corridor was hidden in the shadows. Bingo! Even though Roth had been in the sewers under the garrison a few times, the walls and shadows had hidden this locker room too well. No wonder Roth had missed it.

As he opened the door, Roth got no notifications. Someone had already beaten him up to it. One of the lockers was closed, though. Maybe, enough time had elapsed for the 'treasure chest' to respawn. He opened the locker and found a flashlight just like his. He sighed. He hadn't realized he could receive a copy of a part of the set he already had. He put it into his inventory. Maybe someone in his team would want it, or he could sell it in the auction house.

He copied the description of the item and pasted it on the chat. Not long after, Emily texted him asking if she could have it. Roth agreed to give her the extra torch the next time they met.

Roth checked the other messages on the team chat. There was always a lively discussion going on in it. It helped that the 14th already had a strong relationship, and slowly, Roth and Drake were leaving some messages and joining the conversations. Roth was happy to have some company.

Some in the 14th had decided to change races before getting their professions. Drake was trying to help Emily progress in her quest to become a cyborg while others were trying to become thumbers. The latter required players to do a long quest that took several days, but this race's benefits to crafting would prove helpful in the long run.

With the lockers all open, it was time to see where this maintenance locker room upworld exit led. Roth climbed the long ladder and spun the hatch wheel at the end. As he opened it, he found the familiar white stark stone of the fortress and heard the echoes of the marching soldiers of the garrison. He'd found an entrance to the city's fortress. He marked the spot on his map and climbed back down.

After finding this locker room, the exploration of the sewers was sitting at a 99% completion rate. Since there were two locker rooms under the commercial district, Roth decided to stick around and kept patiently looking for another hidden room. He spammed [Search] every time it came off cooldown.

Although corvid form would get him some extra range on his [Search] skill, speed would be essential for what he had to do today, and he didn't want to postpone it any longer. He checked the time. It was time to take care of the Gazpachos.

*

Gary was going crazy. He couldn't figure out whether Loki was torturing him psychologically. First, he put Roth's avatar name on the guild's hit list and told everyone in Hilsford to hunt for him. Then, the same day, he sent Gary a message asking for news on Roth's whereabouts.

The pressure was killing him. He was almost sure he had never mentioned that Roth had chosen Pax as his avatar's identity, but his fear of Loki made him second-guess his every memory. What other explanation could there be? Why else would Loki do this?

After taking a lot of medication, to get his nerves under control, Gary washed up and forced himself to look calm and serene before his call with Loki. He had to find what Loki knew and didn't know. He let the phone ring several times until one of Loki's secretaries picked up.

"Just a moment, Mr. Gary. Mr. Loki will take your call shortly. Please hold." Making this video call with a man as insightful as Loki was a risk. He just hoped that the medication helping him control his nerves wouldn't impair his reasoning and judgment. The clock kept ticking. Every second of waiting was another blow to Gary's fragile mind. He kept taking steadying, deep breaths in an effort not to betray his panic.

"What do you want?" Came the snarky voice from the other side. Loki's background was black as night. Where was he in the game? Maybe he just had turned on some filter that hid his location.

"Sir, I'm just contacting you regarding your request for information on the Slayer's whereabouts. I want you to know that my team is working around the clock looking for signs of someone who fits the Slayer's profile. When we have news, you'll be the first to know."

Loki looked disappointedly at Gary. "Don't waste my time. If there's nothing relevant, pass on the information to my secretary." With that, Loki turned off the call. Gary collapsed on the floor of the bedroom in the inn he'd rented. What did this mean? Why wasn't he angry? Why wasn't he furious? Wasn't he messing with them?

For the life of him, Gary couldn't understand Loki's intentions. Whatever the case was, one thing was sure, on the off-chance that he didn't know that Roth was Pax, he had to get to the Slayer first. He had to make him reset his avatar.

Gary couldn't sit still anymore. He would turn the whole city upside down if he had to. The fact that the hit order on Pax had been issued for Hilsford meant that the Slayer still had to be here. He'd find him whatever it took.

*

Roth climbed out from the bathroom of the Baldwins. All was quiet. He checked the clock. He had fifty-five minutes to enter the office and look for evidence on the Gazpachos. Fifty-seven if he stretched it to the very last moment.

Hearing nothing in the bathroom, Roth scaled the wall until he reached the vent and entered the building's ventilation. Enhanced by all the speed boosts that the ratan form gave him, Roth raced up the pipes and made it to the second floor. Lunch with Captain Parslee was the one that usually took the longest—fifty-four minutes on the clock.

Roth ran past the vent where he'd eavesdropped on the underboss' guards many times and, turning around the corner, squeezed into a small hole that took him into the underboss' office. He carefully opened the vent and stepped out into the office.

This was the second time that Roth saw the room without having to squint through the bars of the vent. The first time was when he risked getting a look at the combination for the safe. The space was luxuriously decorated in darker colors giving the space the feeling that it was night already, even though the sun outside was at its zenith.

Roth only took a few moments to find his bearings, ran past the beautifully carved desk, and climbed onto the thick fluffy scarlet carpet. He ran toward the corner farthest from the vent and lifted the carpet, revealing the hidden floor vault underneath.

At a fraction of his usual size, Roth managed to spin the safe's dials with great difficulty. When one was this small, every task felt herculean. 9-4-16-3-53. After what felt like an eternity to Roth, he heard the lock click, and the safe's door opened. He tried to lift the door's safe, but the metal was too heavy.

He settled by squeezing into the safe and turning on his flashlight. The goons outside might be able to see some light coming from beneath the door, but fortunately for him, the daylight would probably cover it for him. Besides, he was inside the vault, so only a fraction of the torch's light would be seen outside.

Inside the safe, there were multiple documents and books. This quest was in the bag. He tried to pick the documents up and waited for a notification. Why wasn't he able to put these documents into his inventory? Roth started sweating. He thought that all he had to do was get into the safe, empty it, and run for it.

"Think, Roth, think." Roth decided to try a different approach. He stood on one of the documents and started to read the information, looking for evidence that would compromise the crime family

You've come across some compromising information on the Gazpachos.

Quest Progression: 5%.

That was it. He had to read the documents and wait for the next quest queue. He kept furiously reading document after document in the confines of the safe.

You learn more details about the Gazpachos' organization.

Quest progression: 42%.

He heard voices outside. The underboss had come earlier. Shoot. This was too soon. He thought that he'd have more time!

Ch. 88 - The Rescue Library

INDEX

Ch. 90 - Chased