HC: Pacifist | Ch. 232 - The Greenhouse (Patreon)

As Ruth leafed through Roth's broker ledger, her eyes twinkled with enthusiasm. “The Ratans, I see. Oh, and Foxes, too? Interesting. Oh my, a whole city?” She seemed impressed by Roth's client portfolio. Judging from her smile, she didn't regret giving all the information she had volunteered earlier.

Even though he was in the room with the merchant, Roth’s mind was elsewhere. He was already thinking in what order he would tackle his to-do list. He finally knew where the dwarves and the moonlight herd were. He had to make arrangements to travel west soon. He also wanted to check out the university gardens to see if there was a place there where he could leave the treeants to forage.

There was also crafting to do. He wanted to visit the tailor Ruth had recommended and find out if he had a place in his shop where Roth could work quietly. He had to try his new [Light Trapper] profession and advance his tailoring. Slowly, things were falling into place. The best news Ruth had given him, though, was that if he stayed on the bottom floors of Sapphira, he wouldn't have to keep bumping into slave markets and slave trafficking.

“Very well, this is very interesting,” Ruth commended with her characteristic one-sided smile. So, Soros has been helping you supply for all these races. Has there been any shortage of supplies so far?” she asked hopefully.

“However many items my clients need, Soros always finds a way to provide.”

“I see,” she said with a pursed lip. “That old man hasn't lost his resourcefulness after all these years. Hmm.”

“However,” Roth continued, “I will be basing my activities in Rock Canyon for now. I plan to expand my customer base with the local races here. I don’t want to keep running back and forth between the Green Country and Sapphira. I’ll need your help. We can talk about business after I set up some local connections.”

Ruth closed the ledger contentedly. “Good! If you can start these trade routes in Rock Canyon, our meeting will not have been in vain,” she decided. “Should we discuss rates already?”

“You don't even know what customers I'm going to bring you.”

“We can already decide on a fixed rate, and whatever customers you bring me, you'll always get that percentage. What do you say?”

Roth frowned. What if he ended up getting awesome customers that were worth more than the rate he would negotiate now? Could all the helpfulness she had displayed be just a ruse to lower his guard? Trusting his gut, Roth turned her down. “I prefer we discuss it later if that’s OK with you. I still need to explore the region and learn more about what it offers. It’s too soon to discuss rates.”

“So be it,” she said disappointed. “Promise me that you'll come to me first, though.”

“You got yourself a deal, Ruth. I wouldn't go anywhere else.”

“Very well then.” She lowered her voice again. “Please don't share what I told you about my little side activities with others.”

“You've got it,” Roth assured her, winking. The last thing he wanted was to sabotage Ruth's assistance to helpless slaves. “Lin. Come here. It’s time to go.”

The little kitten appeared from thin air and jumped toward him, disappearing into his jacket. The motion had been so fast that all Roth saw was a blur. However, he could feel an odd shape in his jacket.

“Lin?”

The kitten stayed motionless.

“Lin?” he tried again. The kitten didn’t respond. He opened his jacket and pulled out the kitten. He was holding one of Ruth’s earrings in his mouth.

As soon as she saw it, Ruth reached for her ear and gasped. “How? I didn’t feel anything.”

“I’m sorry about that, Ruth. He’s going through a phase.” Turning toward the kitten, he said as severely as he could. “Give that back.”

“Nyah!” he protested.

“Lin… Give. That. Back.”

The kitten pouted, but threw the earring toward Ruth.

“Sorry about that, Ruth.”

“It’s OK. I’m just impressed to see a Felinian with a human. I had assumed they didn’t get along with humans.”

“This one does. Barely.” He stuffed the little kitten into his jacket and bid his farewell while trying to ignore Lin’s angry bites. “See you later!”

Happy that Ruth was in a forgiving mood, Roth took off before his kitten could steal anything else. This little incident aside, this meeting had gone very well and Roth had several leads to follow.

It was time to tackle one of the items on his to-do list. He was starting to get acquainted with the city, and this time he didn't need directions to head toward the elevators. However, being the first time that he was traveling to the university floors, he still opened the map he purchased earlier and typed ‘gardens’. A list of gardens appeared, and he selected the biggest patch of green on the map.

He followed the floating arrows to the nearest elevator, hopped on, and started climbing floors. While Roth was going up, he checked the status of his treeant colony. He took the regular acorn from his pocket and pinched it, applying a little pressure on the acorn.

It was becoming more hollow as the treeants dug more chambers inside. He still had the golden acorn in his inventory and didn't know what kind of benefits he would gain from giving it to the treeants once they were done with their first home. He hoped to find out soon.

The pit's dark base, with its shanty slums obscured into darkness as the platform gained altitude. He passed the walls, with their battlements lit by soldiers' moving torches, and kept climbing closer and closer to the twin citadels that guarded the city. Roth watched in envy as another player used a jetpack to move swiftly between floors without waiting for an elevator platform.

He hopped off on the 83rd floor. Even though Roth had read about universities, he had never visited them in the game before. There was a qualitative difference in the passersby on this floor. Here, most people wore tunics and robes. As part of the floors dedicated to the universities, most players passing by were either medics or espers. Only the occasional player or NPC wore armor. Most NPCs held tomes, books, scrolls, and folders as they moved between classes, lectures, or administrative activities.

After looking around for a moment, he went back to following the directions to the garden. It turned out to be one of the doors closest to the elevator. Over the gateway, carved in the rock, was written ‘University Botanical Gardens.’ Stepping through it, Roth immediately smelled the scent of saturated soil and grass. It was the garden, alright.

After walking for a long while through the tunnel, the passageway opened into a massive space. At first, Roth thought that he was outside. Above him, there was only darkness and a few twinkling lights. Upon careful inspection, however, he found these weren't stars but mirror balls that captured the scant light of the torches below. It was an indoor garden!

The ground was carpeted in green grass, and lush trees all around were loaded with colorful, juicy fruits. The sound of water echoed in the cave as irrigation channels nourished the many plants. Roth could not explain how they provided this giant garden with enough light to make it this lush.

He could see several players moving about playing, laughing, and chatting, and even spotted a few couples going on an online date. Seeing so many players soured his enthusiasm. He had hoped this place was quiet enough for his treeants to go unnoticed, but there were far too many players walking around.

Roth walked around looking for a quiet place to leave his treeants to forage. For convenience's sake, leaving them foraging within the city was ideal. However, doing that would increase the risk of others spotting his colony.

As he followed the trickle of water and passed orchards with fruit trees, Roth finally reached the end of the cave. It had taken him a ten-minute walk to get here from the entrance, and the garden was as long as it was wide. Roth had never expected there to be such a huge indoor garden. Sapphira was proving to be a place with many wonderful sights.

As he kept exploring the garden Roth found something strange. A thick glass wall blocked one side of the cave. Roth tried to make out what was on the other side. Whereas the garden he’d seen so far had regular-looking plants, across the glass the sight was much more exotic.

He saw flowers of exotic colors, fruits with strange shapes, and plants that were on fire or encased in ice.

“What is this place?”

As he walked along the glass wall, Roth found that the exotic garden on the other side was partitioned and separated by glass walls. Some partitions were fairly small and only contained a small garden with a few flowers. Others were big enough to harbor fruit trees. As he kept exploring, Roth bumped into a patrolling soldier.

“Good evening, sir. Is anything going on?”

This is your first time interacting with the Moon Garrison of Sapphira. Charisma bonus activated.

Roth furrowed his forehead, seeing that the two citadels belonged to two different factions. He wondered why. Were they at odds? Roth put on a friendly smile and greeted the guard. “Good evening, soldier.”

Your cool demeanor, and valiant disposition impress the soldier.

+43 reputation with the soldiers of the Moon Garrison of Sapphira

After the charisma bonus kicked in, the soldier watched Roth with a respectful expression. Chuckling, Roth decided to ask for information. “I’m interested in what is beyond the glass wall.”

“Of course! What would you like to know, martyr?”

Roth knew that this guard didn’t treat everyone who came looking for information this cordially. How many players could walk around the city and get all the information they wanted from any passing NPC? Proud of how far in the game his achievements had brought him, Roth started his query. “This is my first time visiting the gardens, and I couldn't help but notice these glass walls. What is this place?”

“These are the universities' greenhouses, sir.”

“What purpose do they serve? Isn't the whole place kind of a greenhouse?”

Your insight and intelligence are incredible!

+21 reputation with the soldiers of the Moon Garrison of Sapphira

“Yes, sir. True. But even though most of the gardens are public, there are private spaces. They belong to some university patrons who give generous donations to the faculty in exchange for their help maintaining some precious herbs and plants.”

“Oh, I see. That's why the plants on the other side look so different. But why make the walls out of glass?”

“You know how wealthy people are, sir. They like to flaunt their riches. Besides, we only have one glass light chimney,” he said, pointing toward the ceiling of the cave. “Many of these plants need all the light they can get. That's why they've made it out of glass, sir.”

Roth nodded, better understanding the arrangement. “You said that these greenhouses belong to wealthy patrons. Are you talking about families in the slaving business?” Roth asked, careful not to sound aggressive.

“Many of them do belong to slavers. For example, this one belongs to the Busterds. That one is the biggest and belongs to the wealthiest family in Sapphira, the Lindstors.”

“Thank you, soldier. You were very helpful. Would it be okay if I took a look around? “

“Of course, sir, I can tell you're someone reputable and that you would never do anything against the law. Feel free to take a look.”

Roth headed toward the partition belonging to the wealthiest family in Sapphira and studied the exotic plants through the glass. He was surprised when he found a tree that he knew. It was one unassuming, short tree with two grape-sized orange fruits. “A snake tree!” he exclaimed.

Looking further, he spotted different stacked logs with mushrooms growing off them. Attached to one of the pieces of dead wood, he spotted another stat-boosting consumable he recognized. It was a spongy, black fruit: a power truffle.

Ch. 231 - Ruth

INDEX

Ch. 233 - The Oak Tree