HC: Pacifist | Ch. 173 - The Five Bidders (Patreon)

The golden hawk jumped from his arm, flapped its wings, and jumped over to Mel. Even after landing on Mel’s shoulders, he kept flapping his wings.

“Goldie, what's up with you? Why are you acting out like this?” protested Mel.

Goldie just ignored her. “The Crrrow Emperrrorrr! Who hasn’t hearrrd of the king of the night sky? He is one of the thrrree grrreat birrrds.”

It looked like the crow emperor was a big deal. “Cool. Do you know where he lives?”

“Oh, I couldn't. I rrreally shouldn't.”

“Come on, Goldie. I received an invitation to go see him.”

“You what? What an honorrr, human!”

Roth felt his chest puff up with pride. Maybe he was special like Drake said. “The thing is… Count Crow gave me a few riddles to find the location, but I can’t figure them out.”

“What an honorrr! This means that his darrrk highness trrrreasures yourrr wisdom and wit”

Mel cleared her throat and tapped her feet furiously. She reached for her crossbow while staring daggers at him.

“Maybe we should stop chatting. Your human looks mad.”

Hearing this, Goldie turned to Mel, catching her by surprise.

“Goldie, why are you looking at me like that?”

Goldie just pecked her in the face, conveying its displeasure.

“Ouch!”

“She's my human pet. I'm still training her, but she can be quite emotional.”

Roth laughed. “You got yourself an excellent friend here, Mel.”

Hearing this, Goldie puffed up his feathers and stood a little straighter, making himself look bigger.

“How are you friends with my hawk?” she demanded.

Seeing the girl get so mad made Roth happy for some reason. Even though it was thin ice, he couldn’t resist teasing her a bit more. “Don’t be so mad, Mel. I used to have anger management issues. If you like, I can teach you some techniques to help you learn how to control your temper.”

“You brute! You… Ouch!”

Goldie pecked her again.

“OK, Goldie. I get it. Stop doing that.”

“Thank you for coming, Mel. Why don't you show yourself in while I wait for the others?”

“How many did you invite?”

“So far, we only have four other confirmed presences. But let's see how it goes.”

“Fine.” Mel turned her back to him and walked into the auction room. Roth laughed. Something told him that Goldie and Mel were about to quarrel.

Seeing no one else arrive, Roth felt nervous. Good thing Mel had arrived, though. The noise she and Goldie made as they squabbled was a good distraction. A few minutes later, the temperature in the hallway rose. For a moment, Roth wondered whether the pressure he was under made him feel hot or if the Auction House had turned on the heating system for some reason. It wasn’t until he heard the echoes of boots in the corridor that he knew it was the prelude of a newcomer.

Two people walked toward Roth. The one in front was a woman clad in red and silver armor. Two axes hung from her belt, and she had an eyepatch covering one of her eyes.

“Haha. Finally, I meet the guy who has been giving our little Blue a run for his money.”

BlueFire, behind her, remained unperturbed.

“Hello. Roth Taylor. Nice to meet you,” Roth greeted.

“Cyclops.” Turning to her partner, she spoke, “Blue, you weren't kidding. This guy isn’t afraid of throwing his real name around!”

“Mr. BlueFire,” greeted Roth.

“Roth. It's an honor to meet you in person. Now, where is that shark friend of yours?” BlueFire asked, as if afraid of running into someone he owed money to.

“He won’t be here today.”

Hearing this, BlueFire smiled radiantly. “That’s too bad! You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, my boy? A union… a very interesting idea, very interesting, indeed.”

“I’m glad you can see its potential.”

“And how is it that you can award stats beyond what a guild can?”

Roth smiled but didn’t speak.

“It looks like Mr. Shark is a capable teacher. By the way, I must say, Roth, it’s very interesting that you are out here greeting us in person. This is not usually the norm in auctions such as these.”

“I know.”

“And to have your mother answering the phone calls of the top guilds. That’s very interesting too.” BlueFire’s eyes lingered on Roth for a few more moments. “Oh, well. I guess we'll go in.”

As the door to the auction house opened, the sound of Goldie and Mel’s bickering went up, and he could hear Mel clearly. “Listen to me! That is a bad man! A bad, bad man. I don’t want you to keep bad company like that. Isn’t it enough that you disappear every Friday night to go who knows where?”

BlueFire looked back questioningly at Roth, to which he just shrugged. As the door closed, he let out a snort he couldn’t hold in anymore. Mel didn’t know Goldie had a poker game with his friends on Friday nights.

As the time passed, Roth started to get worried. It wouldn’t be much of an auction if only two guilds decided to attend. The last batch of arrivals came in when there was one minute left. Even though they arrived together and formed a little group, Roth was pretty sure that they represented different guilds.

They all mirrored BlueFire’s surprise as they saw Roth welcoming them to the auction in person by the door.

“Hello. My name is Roth Taylor. Sorry for organizing this auction on such short notice.”

“Greetings. My name is Jaila. and I come on behalf of the Phoenixes.” Roth observed how even though this was a mismatched group of players, the others had still deferred to the woman. No wonder. The Phoenixes were the third most powerful guild in the game.

The woman who spoke seemed to be in her thirties. She wore a simple one-piece dress with two pearl earrings and a pearl necklace. Were it not for everyone else wearing armor and weapons, he wouldn’t have been able to say she was in a game. She wore attire that could be easily worn to a business meeting in the real world.

“Nice to meet you, Jaila. Thank you for coming.”

“You have me curious. I wanted to see what this Antioch place was about.”

He greeted the Gorgons’ representatives and one of Cerberus' guild elders. After making sure there wasn't anyone else. Roth entered the room and headed toward the stage. As he climbed up the stairs, he received a notification.

You have failed to attend the meeting at the Table.

[Vanquish the Darkness] failed.

-100 reputation with Oli, the cat.

-300 reputation with the ratans.

Roth sighed, disappointed. The backlash of missing the appointment was huge. It would be OK. He would make it up to them later. Right now, it was all about making sure he lived long enough to make sure he was around to repay them somehow.

Roth took his stand before a podium and regarded the attendance for this auction. The audience was very small, but nothing to scoff at. Five of the top ten were represented. These were people with prestige and weight within the most powerful gaming organizations in the world. The amount of wealth these five gaming corporations had could buy countries.

More than that, they were the only ones he was positive weren’t in Loki’s pockets and who had enough resources to keep him safe. Roth took a deep breath and pictured his mother. He recalled memories of him playing with his two brothers and then of his conversations with Drake in prison. He had to be strong for them.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the little buzz of conversation quieted down among the small audience. “First of all, I thank you for coming. My gamer's tag is Pax, and my real name is Roth Taylor. This auction will be different from what you are used to. Only one item is listed for sale, and we want no gold in exchange.”

As Roth mentioned that no gold would be traded, everyone exchanged confused looks. “Believe it or not, as I have told you before, I am currently being held hostage. Loki, the guild leader of Pegasus, hates me and has kept me locked in AstroTerra as a plaything. I’m stuck in a capsule that has no log-out button with my pain settings locked at 100%.

I know for a fact that if I don’t do anything about it, he’ll get rid of me in less than 15 hours. I know the address in New Lisbon where I'm being held, and I need to find sanctuary with one of your organizations for me, my brothers, my sister-in-law, my mother, and my friend, Drake. Six people.”

Roth still didn’t know what kind of solution his friends had concocted to keep Brian safe, but he did as he was told and didn’t include him in the list of people to be rescued.

Roth observed the crowd. Seeing that not one of the guild reps even blinked at the mention of his life being ended, he felt some anger bubble up in his chest. He didn’t let it come through, though.

“If you bid in this auction, you commit yourself to rescue me and provide safety for me and my friends for at least a month. If I ask any less than this, I'm sure Loki will go after my loved ones.”

Roth caught a few people frowning or shaking their heads.

“I know this is a very costly endeavor. and I don't expect you to do this forever. Therefore, what I'll be auctioning today is how long you want to keep me safe. If you bid, you commit yourself to saving me in real life. Remember that you will have less than 15 hours to evacuate us.

“And after the stipulated period of time ends?” asked the representative from Cerberus. He was a thief with blue leather armor, and his voice was so deep that it made some objects in the room reverberate. “Suppose we spend thousands of dollars rescuing you and keeping you in a safe house away from Loki and his goons. What happens when the time is up?”

Roth faced the rogue from Cerberus squarely. “Well, I'm sure I have other things to keep you interested in the future. So we can renegotiate things by then.”

The rogue shook his head. He didn’t believe him.

“So let's just start listing the two things in the auction. Let’s start with Antioch. Antioch can provide permanent bonuses to players’ weight-carrying capacity and offers you a chance to get A-grade pets. It is also a paradise for craftsmen. We’re offering a guide that shows you how to access Antioch and circumvent the imposed ban on trading that the city has on visitors.”

Hearing Roth speak of an unheard obstacle to trade with Antioch, Roth caught BlueFire smiling wolfishly. He seemed to be having fun for some reason.

“As you might have heard, my friends and I have started a new organization today. The Union Collective.”

There were some faces of disgust in the audience. Most of the guilds tried to poach as many talented craftsmen as they could get their hands on. They didn't want to see the appearance of an organization that gave craftsmen a place to run to other than their arms.

“In this package, we’re selling, we will include ten premium union slots. They will all receive the free stats mentioned in the contract I sent you earlier. Here. This will jog your memory.”

Roth waved his hand, and the list of stats appeared in front of everyone in the room. One could hear a pin drop. Even Goldie was silent.

“I don’t have to say how valuable an opportunity for a guild this is.” Roth paused to let it sink in and waited for someone to ask the question.

“How can you provide so many levels worth of stats?” asked one of the Gorgons.

“We have our secrets.”

“And do the players who get these stats have to be craftsmen?”

“As long as they can fill the contract terms, anyone can become unionized.”

Roth caught the flare of greed in the eyes of the Gorgons. After seeing so many guilds going crazy for the power truffles that offered ten strength, he was sure that providing these bonuses would send some guilds wild.

First of all, it wasn't just one type of stat. Also, the amount of dexterity he could provide was considerable. It would help talented craftsmen to perform significantly better at crafting or, potentially, to cross a threshold that allowed them to have a better stat bonus.

“This is what I have to offer. The auction starts at one month of sanctuary for me and my family.” Roth grabbed the little hammer in the pulpit and hit it, signaling the auction's beginning. “Who would like to get us started?”

Ch. 172 - Dogs of War

INDEX

Ch. 174 - Earthquake & Bombardment?!