HC: Pacifist | Ch. 233 - The Oak Tree (Patreon)

BlueFire grinned as he saw his boss with fidgety hands, half prepared to reach for his swords.

“You're not ready to take on a boss of that level, sir,” BlueFire warned, seeing how his boss kept his eyes glued on the humanoid boar swinging its axe.

“I don't know. There's something about him. He might be a berserker. See those wounds? He's not 100%. There may be a quest here. Like that of the giant.” Saying this, Ogre took one step forward.

The boar prince stopped midswing, slowly turning his head toward Ogre. BlueFire felt all the hair on his arms stand up and goosebumps on his neck. “Careful, sir.”

“I know,” Ogre responded, wetting his lips. He had felt the danger, too. He took a step back, and the boar prince resumed his practice, swinging his weapon, rustling the leaves of the distant trees at the edge of the clearing. “So what's the plan, BlueFire? It's been a while since you and I have been out adventuring like this.”

“I know, sir, but this is quite a unique challenge. We have to figure out how Roth does it. I've secured a batch of [Miniaturizing Honeydew] and some [Miniaturizing Potions] that should give us enough time in Antioch.”

“Sounds expensive,” Ogre said through clenched teeth.

BlueFire knew how annoyed his boss was about all the losses that they had taken in exploring this place. Not only was he keeping an entire family in his compound with all the required expenses, but he kept hearing about BlueFire throwing money at Roth to secure more consumables.

“I just don't get why you can't ask Roth to come here and guide us. Is your pride really that hurt, BlueFire?”

“Maybe, sir,” he promptly admitted. “But you know that feeding my pride is a worthwhile investment.”

“Hmph. Any progress on getting Roth out of the damaged capsule?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“And how much longer did we agree to keep him and his family in the compound?”

“BlueFire opened his calendar. Four more weeks to go.”

“Very well. Let's do this then.”

They first approached the tree, bringing a handful of the wheat they had deposited at the shield's entrance and placing it next to the city's entrance. Trampler’s report had repeatedly stressed how much time they could save if they did this. They then drank a miniaturizing potion, shrinking until they were the size of a mouse.

Then they brought the blob of golden syrup they had purchased at a premium price from Roth and shrank even further.

“Whoa. The world looks like a very different place once you are this size,” commented Ogre, excited.

“Don't forget, sir. We don't want to start a fight unless we can’t find any other way,” BlueFire reminded his battle-crazed boss.

“Very well, Blue. I'll follow your lead. Let's start carrying some grain over and determine if our investment was worth it. But I'm telling you, we're not spending any more money on [Miniaturizing Honeydew]. At this point, I prefer to make Roth a senior guild member to make him share his secrets.”

BlueFire nodded. Roth had easily shaken off the tail they put on him. His secrets were precious and could be a huge asset to the Ogres. If they couldn’t spy on Roth to obtain his secrets, BlueFire would just have to reverse-engineer them. He would visit Antioch personally and try to accomplish what Roth had.

If, even after coming in person with Ogre, they still couldn’t figure out how Roth had created a relationship with the treeants, BlueFire would admit defeat and invite Roth to become a guild elder. If they could get Roth to sign a contract, he would have to disclose all the information the guild wanted. That would be cheaper than being milked dry by Roth every time they ran out of [Miniaturizing Honeydew].

“Very well, sir. Challenge accepted.”

*

Roth had never imagined keeping a garden with all these incredible treasures was possible. When he discovered the location of the snake tree, he had thought of becoming an herbalist, but after everything that had come up, he was forced to leave herbalism aside and focus on other things. Seeing all these treasures behind the glass wall awakened his dormant goal.

As Roth kept studying the beautiful garden, he spotted a beautiful tree at the back of the Lindstors’ greenhouse. Its trunk was thick and grainy. Its sturdy limbs branched from the main body almost immediately after emerging from the ground. It was as if the tree couldn’t wait to expand its canopy. This desire to split and branch out could be seen in the whole tree and its complex network of gnarled branches.

Scattered around the tree trunk were little wooden, brown seeds borne in cup-shaped shells. There were many of them, ignored and left to rot on the ground. Roth recognized the plant and its fruit. It was an oak tree. Why would the Lindstors go through the trouble of keeping a regular oak tree in their precious garden?

Roth squinted, and finally, hidden behind a cluster of spiraling leaves, Roth noticed an acorn with a golden sheen. He took the one [Gold Acorn] he kept in his inventory and then looked between his hand and the tree. So this was the tree that gave golden acorns. He had heard about their existence somewhere in Green Country, but he had never expected there to be one such tree inside this greenhouse. From the looks of it, there was only a small chance of it giving the prized fruit. The gardeners were obviously instructed to leave the regular acorns behind and just pick up the prized ones.

Roth was thoroughly impressed. From his previous experience shopping for stat-boosting consumables and from the prices he already knew for some of these items, there was conservatively a million-gold worth of precious fruits and vegetables inside. This family was beyond rich. The worst part was that this was just one partition. Many others were stretching in both directions of the garden.

How many innocent lives had these wealthy families spoiled to build this kind of wealth?  When he thought of what their money was built on, he couldn't help but feel disgusted. The fact that they were flaunting their wealth to the public only enraged Roth further. His muscles tensed as he ground his teeth. He so loathed the slavers in this game. He felt like smashing the stupid glass wall and beating these scum to a pulp.

Realizing his spiraling emotions, Roth’s cheeks flushed, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He couldn’t let his anger get the better of him. Throwing a tantrum wasn’t going to help all those poor, enslaved camels and horses. He had to be smart and play it cool.

He spotted the lock to the Lindstors’ greenhouse, and an idea formed. He felt his cheeks burn and his heart race. He would never have done this if the people who owned this place weren't slavers. But he was out to ruin their business anyway, so what was the difference in him making a little use of their wealth for the time being?

“Lin,” he called. The little kitten emerged from his jacket.

“Meow. What's going on?”

Progress in learning Felinian: 36%

Now that he was becoming more familiar with the language, he was starting to make out more of what Lin said. He was too nervous to feel happy about the notification, though. He had to make the most of his charisma bonus with the soldiers guarding this place.

“Can you see that lock over there?”

“Nyah,” he answered promptly.

“Do you think you can unlock it for me?”

The kitten stared at him suspiciously. “Meow, meow, lady’s earring, nyah, nyah, hypocrite. Wrong or right? Meow, nyah, meow!”

Roth smirked. So the little rascal did listen to him. The kitten pretended he didn’t when he was up to no good. But how could he explain it to him?

“It’s a one-time thing, Lin. These are very bad people. And we aren’t going to steal anything! We’re just going to leave the Leafies foraging here. So that makes it OK. Got it?”

“Meow. Confusing. Nyah, nyah, ask master later.”

Progress in learning Felinian: 42%

Roth could feel a headache coming. But before he could argue further with his kitten, his body became translucent. Roth had seen in his pet’s skills that he knew camouflage, but this was the first time seeing him use it. Even though he knew his kitten was there, Roth couldn’t see anything. So this is what 300+ subterfuge looked like. All he could hear was the sound of him fumbling with the lock.

He glanced toward the soldiers nervously, but they seemed oblivious to Lin’s work. Had Roth chosen the legendary [Blessing of the Cat] skill, he could have done this himself, but he was more than happy to see his little kitten doing the work. He opened his pet’s stats and found that his subterfuge was at 312 and mischief was at 241. These were probably the stats required to succeed in breaking into the lock. For him to take this long meant the lock was very strong. Nevertheless, after a few minutes, there was the sound of pins unlocking and the door opening.

Lin was able to open the lock.

+2 subterfuge;

+3 mischief.

It looks like you're not such a good boy after all. You've encouraged someone to break the law.

-10 righteousness;

+2 subterfuge.

“Good job, Lin.” Roth sighed in relief at the realization that his cat could do this. If this little kitten was already such a good cat burglar, he couldn't fathom how quickly Oli would have broken into this place. Thankfully, the door was transparent, and leaving it ajar didn't draw the attention of the nearest soldier, who was about 50 meters away.

Roth grabbed the acorn from his pocket and brought it against his forehead. “Can you hear me?” he asked, using telepathy. With so few ants in the colony, they still didn't have enough neurons, so to speak, to form coherent thoughts. But Roth hoped that they would at least be able to understand simple instructions. In return for his question, he just got the feeling of openness and calm. They would probably understand him if he kept his instructions simple.

“Hide. Grow. Hide. Forage.” He tried to keep his mental commands as simple as possible. After repeating the instructions a few times, he heard the echoes of his commands.

“Hide. Grow.” Hopefully, they had gotten it. Worst-case scenario, Roth could bring Lin again to open the door. Roth looked left and right, and when the soldier looked away, he threw the acorn as far as he could. His high strength stat enabled him to put in a good throw, and even though this partition was wide, it wasn’t too deep. His throw was barely enough to land on the edge of the field of acorns under the oak tree.

Forage!

He activated the skill, but nothing happened. Seeing his pet deep into enemy territory, his heart stopped for a moment, but he got the notification he was hoping for after a few moments.

Forage activated. Your colony will begin exploring the surrounding area and harvesting resources.

The Leafies can feel the potential of this place.

+2 affection.

Roth made sure no one was looking and closed the door. This was a better bet than leaving the acorn somewhere in the public gardens. Very few people would have access to this place, and it looked like they didn't care about normal acorns, only worrying about the golden ones. Hopefully, they would fail to realize the presence of his pets, and they could grow stronger.

Happy with the success of his plan, he opened his to-do list and crossed out one of the items. He didn't forget to wave to the soldier with a smile, who returned his greeting enthusiastically. He gave one last look toward the oak tree and left the gardens. It was time to start crafting.

Ch. 232 - The Greenhouse

INDEX

Ch. 234 - The Boss