HC: Pacifist | Ch. 234 - The Boss (Patreon)

LimeLeaf and SandScrapper were neck to neck. Drake watched as the two contestants gave it their all for the last stretch of the battle. Crafting a stun grenade was delicate work, and it was common for it to explode in the middle of the process. Drake knew this from experience.

SandScrapper was a tinkerer from a local guild in Hilsford that didn't even break the top 100 in the worldwide ranks: The WorldBreakers. Despite his unassuming background, SandScrapper was well-known in the Union. He was a generous, friendly artisan who enjoyed sharing what he knew with fellow craftsmen and who took the time to help newcomers integrate into the Union.

His generosity was evidently repaid in full because his skills as a tinkerer had soared since he joined the Union. He deepened his understanding of tinkering by sharing what he knew and explaining his techniques to others. Furthermore, his pupils felt obligated to share their own tricks and tips with SandScrapper, and he grew at a scary rate.

More than once, Drake had overheard artisans of the top guilds commenting that they would recommend the top brass of their guilds hire him. Due to his friendliness and popularity with newcomers, he often waged crafting battles with them. LimeLeaf was such a contestant. He was a talented guildless player who challenged SandScrapper to enter the Union.

Drake admired the young man's bravery. He could have gone after someone with less prestige or skill but had challenged himself. Both had already built the smaller components; all that remained was assembling them into a working grenade. As the crowd cheered and they raced to complete their item, Drake heard a buzzing sound coming from his pocket. It was the orb Toothy had given him earlier.

“I need someone to cover for me. The boss of the Raviolis bit the bait,” he typed on the guild's management chat.

After a few moments, SergeantSarg sprinted into the tent and took over, allowing Drake to rush into the guild’s museum, close the curtains behind him, and take the call.

“Lieutenant ArmlessShark…” came the whizzy squeak from the orb. Drake frowned. This voice didn’t sound human. Not only was there a slight accent in it, but he could hear the digital distortion characteristic of animal cyborgs, such as Mario or the gorilla that guarded the butcher shop.

“Hello, boss,” he greeted respectfully.

“Toothy told me you have something to say to me,” the boss challenged. “You better not waste my time, Lieutenant. I don't make a habit of keeping wasteful subordinates.”

Drake had to give it to the developers for their realism. He didn't know if they had modeled the heads of the crime families in the game after real mobsters, but he felt as if he was on a call with his old boss.

“Sir, I've started a union made of foreign artisans. I thought that this could be our ticket into the city's renewal project.”

“Oh? A union made of foreigners?” the Boss said, feigning ignorance. Drake was sure that Toothy would have told him about this. “Foreigners are loose cannons, Lieutenant. I've been burned more than once by your kin.”

For a moment Drake wasn’t sure if he was talking about humans or players, but reckoned it had to be the latter. “I can assure you it’s clean, sir. Also, I've got them under complete control. They're very talented artisans.”

“How many?”

“2,000, and growing.”

“A sizable workforce,” the boss commented with interest. “But I like to play it safe and this arrangement you tell me about sounds risky.”

This was it. The next part would make or break the deal. “What if I told you, sir, that I've discovered that the Gazpachos have already infiltrated the renewal project?”

“The Gazpachos?!”

Drake was more than happy to hear the fury in the boss’ voice. The head of the Raviolis hadn’t hesitated to target the Gazpachos’ business operations when they were crippled by the authorities. Drake knew he wouldn't be pleased to find they were rebuilding themselves. If they were allowed to grow stronger, they would definitely want to give the Raviolis some payback.

“Thinking of a way back into the scene. But that doesn't do much for me, lieutenant.”

“I also know where they meet. I'm willing to give you the location.”

The voice went quiet on the other side. After Roth had shared the quest with Drake, based on the initial clues, he used all his resources and finally discovered where the Workshop was. If this couldn’t get him into his boss’s good graces he didn’t know what would

Roth and Drake made an unlikely pair. Roth was a Goody Two-Shoes who had connections with powerful NPCs and was friends with animals. Drake, on the other hand, had a lifetime of experience in the criminal underworld, and unlike his mentee, wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty in game. By combining Roth’s intel with his experience, he had been able to do in a short time what had taken Ginny over a year to accomplish. No wonder she hated his guts.

“Where is it?” the boss finally asked, unable to resist the allure of the information.

“The Workshop, they call it, sir. It's a place where they fabricate medicine.”

“Medicine? They are hiding in a chemist?!” The Raviolis had most of their assets and contacts in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. “Smart. And is this one of the businesses we control?”

“Yes, sir. They have a double agent hiding them.”

“Those slippery, unsavory rats. That's why they have been able to hide from me for so long. They hid their tree in our forest. But now that you've found them out it's time to terminate the Gazpachos for good. If what you say is true, Lieutenant, and you can give me the management of the Gazpachos, not only will I make you captain, but I'll let you spearhead the city renewal operation. But if this is some sort of ruse, you better be prepared for the consequences.”

The orb crumpled to dust. Drake has played the cards Roth had dealt him the best he could. Hopefully, by seeking shade under the Raviolis they'd be able to find protection from Loki's future attacks. H had already detected a few signs of Loki trying to infiltrate the organization. Time was of the essence. Drake hoped his safeguards would be enough.

*

On his way back down to the slums, Roth decided to call his only friend in Rock Canyon. “Hey, Kurt!”

“Hey there. RainyCloud? Is that you?”

“It’s me!”

“When I saw a Pax fellow calling me, I didn't know it was you.”

“Sorry, I try to keep things on the down low whenever I can.”

“No problem, man. I respect that. As a merchant, I'm also often targeted by bandits. I have a few aliases myself.”

The more Roth got to know this easy-going merchant, the more he liked him. “Listen, I know you have had some experiences in Sapphira. I was wondering what you could tell me about the slavers here.”

“To be honest with you, I don't dig slavers that much. If you want my help gaining reputation with them, I'm afraid I can't help you.”

“You don't like them?”

“No! Why do you think I carry around a cartwheel? I prefer to carry it than have slaves do it for me. I know this is just a game, but I can’t bear to visit the slave market.”

“And can’t you contract a caravan, instead?”

“It's too expensive. It has to be me carrying stuff around. But not to worry; I’ve built quite a bit of muscle as a result,” he said playfully.

“And are there more players like you? Who dislike the whole slavery thing?” Roth asked as he looked at the floor he was passing through, looking for any players dragging a cartwheel.

“We are the minority. Most people just see this as a game, you know. It's not the real world,” he said mockingly. “They just don't care. They pillage, steal, kill, and use whatever slaves they can get—just the way it is. I don't judge them. I play the game differently, though.”

“Well, I dislike slavers myself. I just want to know how to avoid them and how they work.”

“Oh, cool! In that case, I can help you. So here's the thing… let’s see,” Kurt mumbled, trying to put his thoughts in order. “In Sapphira, there are four big slaver families. The Lindstors are by far the wealthiest. Then there's an alliance made of three mid-sized families that have been growing in popularity lately, and they're the only ones who can rival the Lindstors. They are the Busterds, the Svensters, and the Woglers.”

Interesting. So that meant there was some rivalry between slavers, kind of like between the Gazpachos, Beanies, and Raviolis in Hilsford. He remembered Drake’s advice back when he was tackling the Gazpacho’s quest. ‘Follow the money,’ he had told him back then. Maybe that would also apply here.

“OK. So, can you give me some insights on how the industry works?”

“Basically, slavers capture NPCs all around Rock Canyon and Sun Desert. Sometimes, they run expeditions and even issue quests to players to invade border towns and do blitz attacks on other regions.”

“So players help the Slavers?” he asked, shocked.

“Oh, yes. These quests are quite popular because they grant a reputation with the governing families in the city. And if one wants to build evil alignments, this is one of the best ways to do it.”

“Then what?”

“Then they bring them to the slave market. Sapphira’s is one of the biggest because of its strategic location. And that's it. It's just a big business.”

“And why don't people hire contractors?”

“It's cheaper. If you use contracting services, you can spend two or three times as much as if you buy slaves. The competition is just disloyal, and most people don't care about how they get the work done as long as it gets done cheaply. Anyway, I would recommend you to steer away from any of the families if you don't like them. I've gotten myself into trouble more than once with them.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate your suggestion.”

"No worries. I'll be coming to Sapphira in about a week's time on my trade route. Can we meet for some coffee then?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Roth easily agreed. He would never have been able to show this amount of trust in a stranger a month ago. But maybe because of all the friends he had made, all the cool people he had met, and how many times he’d been able to evade pursuers, he was finding himself more confident and trusting of others these days. That’s why he had decided just to trust his instinct and reveal his player ID to Kurt.

He finally arrived at the third floor. Hopping off, he looked for Keith, the owner of the tailor shop. “Excuse me, sir,” he asked one of the hooded figures sitting on the corner. Before, they had looked scary, but now that he knew that the slums were full of people who fought slavery, he didn’t feel afraid of them anymore.

“Hello, martyr. How can I help you?”

“Do you know Keith, the tailor?”

“Sure. Right over there,” he said, pointing toward a building a little further ahead.

“Thanks.”

As Roth walked the street, he noticed that compared to the university floors, here most players were rogues. Interesting. In Rock Canyon, rogues were the good guys, fighting slavery and perhaps running secret missions to smuggle slaves to freedom. That meant that Rock Canyon was probably popular with rogues who wanted to cultivate a righteous alignment. Maybe that even granted them some sort of unique class advancement.

He reached a building that read ‘Cloth of the Wadi.’ Entering, he saw the familiar sight of skeins of wool, bolts of silk, and spools of linen and hemp. There was also the buzz of working looms and the shine of fashionable clothes. As soon as his eyes landed on Keith, he instinctively knew he was the shop's owner. He had a long face and an even longer forehead. He dressed in a tailor-made modern black suit with an elegant silk tie.

“In here? You? Don’t make me laugh. My shop has no space for tailoring wannabes,” he said to a short female player.

“B-but I’m willing to pay you!”

“Begone, girl. You do not yet have the pedigree to work under the same ceiling as me.”

Roth’s eyes widened, seeing the harsh treatment the NPC was giving this girl. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the sad girl. Had he really come to the right place? Keith located Roth and stomped toward him. He took a step back, afraid to be mistreated, but what happened next was completely different.

Ch. 233 - The Oak Tree

INDEX

Ch. 235 - Wooden Castle