HC:Pacifist | Ch. 176 - Maudib (Patreon)

Roth checked the flurry of messages from the guild representatives while he waited for Shadow to return. They were mostly accounts of how the guild reps had come running back to the auction house, only to be sent to the graveyards again. All they saw was a black blur, and they were dead. The consensus among the guild reps was that they would wait far away until Roth could promise them that the auction house was safe.

Roth clenched his teeth and observed the cats, who were now all licking each other or yawning. These NPCs didn’t care at all about manners! For them, humans were nothing but a bug they could squash. Were they any different from the guilds that only cared about money? Maybe not. Roth looked at the clock, helpless to move things along. Time was of the essence here. His survival was at stake!

Roth tapped his foot nervously. How long would it take the panther to verify his account? Thankfully, the panther was back in less than ten minutes. Shadow entered through the door as if he had gone out for a stroll and leisurely rejoined the circle.

“The human’s story checks out.” The panther’s voice was hoarse and raspy. “The dwarf, the fox baroness, and the alligator all confirm it.” Roth gulped. Had the black panther made it to the sewers and the Green Woods and returned this quickly? What sort of trickery was this? And how had the panther known which fox, alligator cyborg, and dwarf Roth had spoken to?

The black panther made a few more raspy exhalations, which Roth couldn’t understand. It looked like they had their own language, too. The Lion responded in kind and then turned to the rest of the table in the human tongue so that Roth could understand, “It appears that cloning Oli was an unintentional sin,” rumbled the bass voice of the lion.

The tiger stood up.

“Speak, Maudib.”

Even though the tiger was the biggest of the cats, his voice was a soft tenor. “Prohibiting cloning was not a decision that the Table has made lightly in the past. But, nonetheless, we made it knowing that it would lead to our extinction. This is a capital offense. Even though the sin was unintentional, it’s far too grave to overlook. The human should be banished and his cloning device confiscated.”

Sawabi intervened with a growl, and then Shadow. Soon, the conversation in human tongue devolved into a series of roars and vocalizations that shook the building, possibly the city. It looked like the facts had been established, but what was causing disagreement was his sentence. Why were they taking so long? He didn’t care if they banned him from Hilsford or Green Country. He was planning to go to Saphira anyway. Roth looked at the clock. When were they going to wrap this up and go home?

After a few moments of discussion, King Zion finally hushed the others into silence and took the reins of the Table. “All have been heard. All in favor of banishing the human from the world of the living?”

Roth gulped. He had misunderstood the cats. It looked like when they spoke of ‘banishment,’ they meant ‘execution.’ Considering how easily they had killed all those guild reps when they referred to killing him with such severity, it had to be more than just a normal death. Could it be something that crippled his account? Roth wasn’t sure whether the [Martyr] title could shield him from these cats’ wrath. If he had been so helpless when the injured Prince Piglet had used [Curse of the Hogs] on him, what kind of curse or penalty could these cats give him?

The tiger, the panther, and the slim feline whose species Roth was yet to discover raised their paws, calling for a harsher sentence. Half of them wanted Roth banished.

“All those in favor of acquitting the human?”

Oli, the lioness, and the king raised their paws.

“It’s a tie,” lamented Zion.

Roth witnessed the exchange with interest. Although Zion was called king, he seemed more like a chairman at a board meeting, with no power to make decisions independently. Roth sighed in relief at hearing that there had been a tie. But then he realized he didn’t know whether he should feel relieved. How did the cats settle ties?

“We’ll hear everyone again and call for a new vote.”

Another round of roars and violent sounds followed. Roth guessed that the different cats were arguing about what they should do. Being in the middle of a roaring contest was making Roth a  little dizzy. It looked like it wasn’t all bad, though. After a few minutes of this, Roth got a notification.

You start making sense of the sounds around you.

Progress in learning Felinian: 1%.

It had been a while since he got this kind of notification! His [Polyglot] title had kicked in and triggered learning the cats’ language. Only one percent of the language didn’t help him make out anything in the conversation, but once the progress bar appeared, it slowly began growing. By the time this round of discussion ended, the progress bar was sitting at three percent.

The lion gave a particularly short roar that quieted the others. Then, a show of paws was called. Oli, Sawabi, and Zion voted for Roth’s forgiveness, while Maudib, Shadow, and Nira were against it. They resumed the roaring contest. This was not going to end anytime soon. Roth looked at the clock. Now, his whole back was drenched in sweat. This cursed condo meeting was stuck in an infinite loop! At this rate, he would be stuck here forever.

*

It was the fourth round of discussion, and Roth was starting to make out loose words in the arguments.

You start understanding more of what the cats say.

Progress in learning Felinian: 9%.

“Roar, chuff, growl, roar, human, chuff, Lin!” exclaimed Nira.

“Meow, innocent, grunt, hiss, fault, hiss,” responded Oli.

It was all jibber-jabber to him since he could do nothing about it. Still, he tried to make out as much as possible about this exchange. There had to be something he could do to expedite things.

Zion spoke, and Roth picked up what could be vital information.

“Roar, growl, tiebreaker, roar.”

Hearing the word tiebreaker, Roth paused. When Zion first saw Lin, he had called him a tiebreaker. At the time, Roth hadn’t understood what the lion meant. But after seeing how the Table worked, he understood why they needed a tiebreaker so badly. Assuming that cats were a dying breed, as Maudib had mentioned, these could very well be the last six cats left in this world.

Gears turned in Roth’s head as he puzzled together all the hints he was given. The cats had given him all the clues. All of these high-end NPCs had come out here in person because of Lin’s birth. They would only do that if the kitten’s birth meant a lot to them. Additionally, Zion’s words when he first saw Lin and Maudib’s comments. Yes! That could be it! Finally, Roth saw some light at the end of the tunnel.

“Silence!” roared Zion. “Growl, growl, grunt, vote, human.”

Roth had to do something; otherwise, these cats would sit roaring all day. “Excuse me?”

All the cats turned to him, annoyed. “What?”

“Does Lin get a vote?”

“No. He does not,” spoke the tiger. “He’s a kitten.”

“He does,” countered Sawabi. “The Table statutes are clear. All cats get a vote. Kittens are not excluded.”

Unlike when discussing his innocence, the tiger promptly accepted Sawabi’s argument. “You speak the truth, Sawabi. If the kitten wants to vote, it can.” An evil grin came into the tiger’s features. Roth had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The kitten only knew how to burp and poop. How was he going to take the initiative to vote for his owner? No. He couldn’t leave it at that.

Roth cleared his throat and went for it. “Since Lin is too small, and I’m Lin’s guardian. Can I vote for him?”

“How dare you, human? This is the Table! A sacred place!” came the immediate protest from Maudib.

“But he is the kitten’s guardian,” protested Oli.

“Shush, domestic, roar, roar, roar.”

The argument soon shifted to Felinian. The argument that followed made previous discussions feel like whispers. Zion had put the hammer down to put order in the gathering. “The statutes are clear. Each member of the pride can vote for themselves and their kittens. The human is not a pride member, but his kitten is. He can vote for Lin, but not for himself.”

Maudib tried to protest, “But King Zion, the statutes here don’t encompass the possibility of a human guardian voting for a kitten.”

“There’s a precedent,” interrupted Oli. “Bergelmir accompanied me to the Table once. His voice was heard in the Table.”

“But this human is a criminal. He…”

Zion roared fiercely at the tiger, giving him pause. “I won’t have any cat go against the statutes of the Table. Oli speaks the truth. If his old master was heard, so will Lin’s.”

The tiger locked eyes with Zion briefly but finally looked away. “Fine,” he spat.

“Anyone else who dares to refute the statutes and precedents of the Table?”

All the cats looked down. Not one daring to look Zion in the eye.

“Let us call a new vote then. All those in favor of banishing the human?” Shadow, Maudib, and Nira raised their paws.

“All against it?” Zion, Oli, and Sawabi raised their paws. Roth walked toward Sawabi, gently took Lin away from her, and raised its paw.

“The Table forgives the human.”

Using wit and insight, you can sway the vote of the Table.

+3 charisma

“But Zion, the machine! At the very least this machine has to be confiscated and entrusted to the Table,” protested Maudib.

Another round of roars echoed in the auction room. After a bout of discussion between the lion and the tiger, the lion turned to Roth. “Human, do you promise not to clone any more cats?” asked Zion, turning to Roth, intensely.

Roth didn’t want to cause any more trouble than he had. “I so swear.”

“There. It’s done, Maudib. He won’t clone any more Table members. He’ll keep the machine.”

The tiger stared at Roth so intensely that he felt he would catch fire. It was terrifying. Roth felt as if he were a steak on the tiger’s plate. At the same time, he felt somewhat relieved. Finally, he could wrap things up here and return to his auction. Zion’s next words soon burst his bubble, though.

“Now, it is time to discuss the next order of business. Another race seeks to usurp us as the apex predators.” Turning to Roth, he continued, “Human. I believe you have something you wish to show us.”

Roth dropped his shoulders. When was this Table going to end? He had better stuff to do. Sighing, Roth opened his inventory and grabbed the black egg. As he did, there were some hisses and roars from the surrounding cats. Roth noticed how several of them had drawn their claws.

“Such vitality,” commented Shadow.

“What a nasty smell,” added Sawabi.

“This is a plague that fell from the heavens and, if allowed to grow unimpeded, can scare away all our game and make prey scarce. What does the Table suggest we do?”

Maudib was the first to speak. “Even though this lifeform is repugnant, I don’t see why the Table has to interfere. Let the circle of life turn its wheel. Whatever is left standing will be edible.”

“This race doesn’t belong to earth. I say we destroy them all,” suggested Sawabi.

“Why don’t I go in?” proposed Oli. “I can go there and steal all their hearts away. Literally.”

Roth shuddered at the cat’s violence but listened to the cats with interest. Drake was right. This quest would play a part in the regional event and, thus, directly impact Loki’s plans. After all the cats had spoken, Zion’s eyes rested on Roth.

“Lin’s guardian, what do you have to say?”

All the cats turned to him.

“M-me?” mumbled Roth.

“Yes. You’re here representing the kitten. You have a say.”

Roth hadn’t expected it to turn out like this. Here he was, in a gathering of some powerful NPCs, being asked for his opinion on what direction a regional event should take. This would impact millions of players and NPCs. He had to think quickly. What should he do? Did he want to get himself involved? Did he want to do something to help the humans along? Or did he want to do something to harm Loki?

He didn’t even know much about how the event was going and who was winning. All he knew was what he had seen in the city's sewers. He remembered seeing the oozing ratans and the terrified pups hiding in the nest. He remembered the constrictors holding an infected snake and sacrificing themselves to let the gatorbot end it. He also thought of the column of refugees he’d seen on his way to Hilsford. This event was causing a lot of suffering to the game’s NPCs. Should he ask the cats to blast them all into oblivion?

Roth then thought about all the guilt that had come from throwing that grenade and paused. He wished Drake and the others were online to ask them for an opinion. What should he do? He took a deep breath and decided to speak from his heart.

Ch. 175 - Bright Blue

INDEX

Ch. 177 - Hurrying Things Along