HC:Pacifist | Ch. 109 - Peace (Patreon)

“Peace sss? And how do you propose we do that? Don’t you know, young zoomorph, that the lives of my people aren’t easy? What will the sssnakes eat if you deny them of ratan flesh?”

“I’d also stop the alligator from eating you.”

The golden eyes studied him as the serpent’s head bobbed from side to side.

“I wish to make a Peace Treaty between the ratans of the sewers, Mario and you.”

“You’re noble, Zoomorph. Even being as close as you are to us, snakes, were it not for you speaking using telepathy, I would never have believed it. But you really mean that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Speak your terms.”

“I’m willing to provide the snakes living in the sewers with food. I can provide you with eggs and fish. I’ll not provide you with meat, however.”

The sense of slight displeasure flooded him. Other than meat, snakes only ate things such as this. Even though he didn’t feel 100% good about it, he chose to offer these two things that didn’t bother him as much as if he had to provide the snakes with live rats. He tried to follow the sergeant’s advice and be more balanced.

“Very well. And in exchange?”

“In exchange, I’m willing to accept any items you want to trade. Additionally. There’ll be peace.”

You've been offered a trade agreement with Solomon, the old senator.

Snake Trade Agreement {Uncommon}

You have earned the right to represent the snakes of the sewers of Hilsford as their broker.

Specialty products:

[Snake’s Ragged Shed Skin] - 10 per day

[Basic Snake Poison] - 10 per day

[Snake Fruit] - 0.2 per day

Procured goods:

[Empty]

Rate:

You keep 3% of all profits generated

Roth felt very curious about the items that the snakes made available for trade, especially the snake fruit.

“We agree with your terms and we’re ready to sign the peace treaty. Remember that I can only speak for the snakes living in the city.”

“Of course.”

[Peace Treaty] has been activated!

1st party: Solomon, the Snake Gardener

2nd party: [Empty]

3rd party: [Empty]

Mediator: Pax

Treaty conditions:

No aggression;

Open trade mediated by Pax.

Compensation if the treaty is broken: Affected by wisdom, intelligence, and strength - Current value: 9.12 gold;

Experience if the treaty isn't broken: Affected by wisdom, intelligence, and charisma - Current value: 22,180 XP per day.

Roth smiled from ear to ear. So that’s how it worked. He had to first get everyone’s tacit agreement in signing the treaty, and then he had to go around collecting the signatures from representatives. The 22,180XP per day might not sound like a lot but it added up. He should experiment walking around in one of the forms that boosted these stats to see if it increased this amount. All that was left was now to collect Mario’s signature and talk to a rat elite living in Hilsford.

“Thank you, Solomon. By the way, what is that fruit over there?”

“This is the fruit of the snake tree. It is quite a miracle that this tree is able to thrive in such an inhospitable place. When I found it, I decided that I’d spend my days here, watching over it.” The sentence had been spoken with love.

“Here. You can have one of the fruits as part of the reward for bringing peace to the sewers and as a sign of our friendship.”

You’ve completed [Audienssse].

Completion rate: S

Rewards: 200,000XP(+100,000XP); +200 reputation with snakes.

Bonus rewards: 200,000XP(+100,000XP); +2000 broker xp; [Snake Fruit]; +100 reputation with snakes.

[Level up!]

Roth inspected the fruit that he had been offered and nearly choked.

Snake Fruit (Consumable)

Item description: The legendary fruit that is borne from a snake tree only as long as there is a snake guardian around to keep it company.

Item effects:

+5 subterfuge permanently;

It can only be eaten once.

“Pleasure seeing you, Solomon. I’ll go meet the other parties in the sewers to have them sign the treaty, and I’ll come back with food for your people.”

“Very well.”

Solomon turned around and slithered back into the hole where it had come from. Roth decided to inspect the snake tree more closely. Fascinating. There was some sort of symbiosis here between Solomon and the tree. Good thing that no one knew about Solomon’s existence. If players came here to hunt it, then it might affect the growth of this wonderful fruit. Although it gave fewer stats than the [Power Truffle] at the same time, it could potentially open up a new hidden stat. This had to be valuable.

Roth noted that the fruit that Solomon had given him as a quest reward wasn’t the one that he could see in the tree. He decided to approach it and see if he could pick it.

You require the [Herbalist] profession to harvest this fruit.

That was disappointing. This was potentially a gold mine. He didn’t know how long it took for this fruit to respawn, but thinking about the consumables he’d seen earlier at the auction house and his experience selling [Power Truffles], this was a gold mine that he couldn’t leave unexplored. Should he become a herbalist? He scratched his head. It was something to think about.

Roth dove back into the pipe, and once he was out of it, he canceled the miniaturized buff so that he could swim to the shore faster. He hauled himself out of the river and sat for a few moments. He pulled the [Snake Fruit] out of his inventory and threw it into his mouth. As he bit it, there was a pleasant explosion of acidity. The flavor was something between mango and passionfruit. Every bite only released more of the tasty exotic flavor. How could something so delicious grow in such a dingy place?

The vitality of the rare snake fruit flows into your organs and muscles.

+5 subterfuge.

Roth let out a grateful sigh. This was an unexpected reward. Every single stat counted toward making him stronger. The meeting with Solomon was extraordinary. His only regret was that he still hadn’t gotten a notification for having finished exploring the sewers! There was one tiny bit of the map left to explore somewhere. The other regret was that Solomon didn’t offer him a [Snake Form]. All that was left to try was speaking to the treeant in the Green Woods. Finally, he was unable to harvest the snake fruit from the tree. He should do some reading on the herbalist profession.

*

The Peace Treaty has been updated!

1st party: Solomon, the Snake Gardener

2nd party: Mario, the Alligator

3rd party: The Ratan Elites of the Sewers

Mediator: Pax

Treaty conditions:

No aggression;

Open trade mediated by Pax.

Compensation if the treaty is broken: Affected by wisdom, intelligence, and strength - Current value: 9,12 gold;

Experience if the treaty isn't broken: Affected by wisdom, intelligence, and charisma - Current value: 22,180 XP per day.

All around, Roth rats were erupting in cheers. They squeaked and screamed in celebration! Even the tiny pups that usually stayed hidden inside the nest had all stepped out and were dancing around Roth.

“Peace! Peace! Peace!”

“No more will we be snake food or alligator snacks. There’s peace!” Roth couldn’t help but wipe a tear from his eye. He was truly happy that he could help the sewers be a slightly better place. Even though he couldn’t change his mistakes that led to the demise of Scar and Scratchy, he could help create a better future for Toxy and his nest. The ratan elite that Roth had reached out to approached him.

“I must say that when you first came and started screaming and punching the wall like crazy, I thought that’s what you were. A nutcase!” Roth felt a rush of blood to the head. He couldn’t blame Toxy. He must have put on quite the show that day. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing peace to my nest.”

“I’m glad I could help. Will this treaty stop the in-fighting between different nests?”

“I’m not sure. Now that the sewer snakes won’t hunt us, it takes a little of the pressure off. I’ll reach out to my neighbors. Perhaps we can work more together.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“What about you, martyr? What will you do now?”

“I have some deliveries of food to bring to Mario and Solomon. From then on, I’ll see your king in the Green Woods. I have business there.”

“Godspeed, then, friend of the ratans. Bring some more cheese whenever you can!”

“Will do. Thanks, Toxy. Try to stay out of trouble.”

As Roth started walking away, he paused. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but the [Hire] button in his skills was flashing. He looked back at Toxy. “Hey, Toxy!”

“Uh? What is it, martyr?”

“Are you available for hire?”

“I am.”

Novice NPC detected:

Toxy, the Sewer Nestkeeper

3000/3000

NPCs Professions: [Thief]; [Spy]

Conditions to hire Toxy: revered status with ratans.

Would you like to issue a quest to Toxy?

Roth wanted to smack his head against the wall. How hadn’t he thought of this earlier? If he could hire Mario, why couldn’t he hire the ratans or the snakes living in the sewers?

“What do you want my crew to do?”

Roth thought for a few moments. What could he have them do? He didn’t want to ask them to steal anything for him, but the [Spy] option caught his eye.

“I’ve got a beef with the Gazpachos and the Beanies. Do you think you can keep an eye out for them?”

“That’s two requests. I’m sorry. I can only handle one.”

“Very well. Will you keep tabs on the Gazpachos for me?”

New Quest:

What Happened to the Gazpachos? (Common)

Pax, the martyr, has become enemies with the infamous Gazpachos crime family of Hilsford. There’s bad blood between them, and he wishes to get updates on the family's moves.

Quest objectives:

Spy on the Gazpachos for a week.

Rewards:

Pax will reward Toxy and his crew with 100,000 XP and pay them 2 gold.

Would you like to hire Toxy and issue this quest? [Y/N]

Roth decided to go for it as an experiment. The idea of having his network of ratan spies was exhilarating.

“You can trust us with this. If they make any move, we’ll let you know immediately.”

“Thanks, Toxy.”

Now that his business was done, Roth went to Mario’s lab. It was time to feed that big alligator.

*

Mario, the Alligator has traded you 10x[Alligator Tears], 10x[Alligator Scales], 1x[Alligator Tooth].

You’ve traded Mario, the Alligator 10x[Swamp Corn]; 30x[Elderberries]; 10x[Pond Apples]; 10x[Juicy Pears].

+2,000 broker XP; +6 reputation with crocodilians.

Even though no money entered his inventory, and he only bartered, he could tell he’d come out on top. He’d paid 3 gold for the consumables, and the crafting materials that Mario had given for them could be sold for a conservative 10 gold.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

Mario did something unsettling. While munching away on one of the pears he’d brought him, he answered through the computer speakers, “Thank you, Martyr. It’s a considerable improvement over eating rat meat.” Seeing him eating with his mouth and speaking through the computer was weird.

Roth then proceeded to move to Solomon’s Garden. He dove in and, after miniaturizing, swam into the pipe that led to the garden and emerged in the hidden chamber. “Solomon!” called out Roth. The black lustrous snake again stepped out, elegantly slithered out of its den, and coiled around Roth.

“If it isn’t my zoomorph friend. Congratsss on establishing the peace treaty. My people grow hungry. Did you keep your part of the deal?”

Sure! See for yourself.

You’ve traded Solomon, the Gardener 50x[Common Herring]; 50x[Common Rudd]; 100x[Chicken Eggs].

[Common Herring] has been added to the snake's procurement list.

[Common Rudd] has been added to the snake's procurement list.

[Chicken Eggs] has been added to the snake's procurement list.

As Solomon sniffed the different fish and the eggs, a feeling of satisfaction was transmitted telepathically to Roth.

Solomon, the Gardener, has traded you 20x[Snake’s Ragged Shed Skin]; 20x[Basic Snake Poison].

+2,000 broker XP; +17 reputation with snakes.

Here too, Roth had come out on top. The items he’d brought were the most basic eggs and fish for sale, and they were all sold for coppers. On the other hand, the snake’s shed skin was a more valuable crafting material, and basic snake poison was sold for at least 1 silver a bottle to chemists.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Thanksss.” Solomon jumped into the water and disappeared. It probably had gone off to distribute the food Roth had given it. Roth spared a wistful look at the snake fruit sitting atop the tree and sighed. He still hadn't had the time to decide whether he'd become a herbalist. He’d been busy wrapping up the peace treaty and finishing preparations for his journey.

With these transactions, the counter on his ledger’s timer would be reset once he delivered these items to Soros. From then on, he’d have three days to make it to the Green Woods and back. It was time to go.

Ch. 108 - The Garden

INDEX

Ch. 110 - Green of Dreams