Chapter 11: Rewards
(A/N: In case it's not clear, {insert dialogue} is for mental link speech.)
"So then, what are you trying to get my help for, kon?"
The fox girl shamelessly or just unknowingly started poking around in Yui's admin space, sceptical of Yui's intentions.
"Before that, can you… nevermind," Yui said as the guest stopped messing around, and sat down on the ground, making herself comfortable. "So, you know about that one player in my area right?"
"I know a little bit about him," answered the fox girl with a tilt of her head.
"Well, recently, he ventured into a dungeon, and got close to doubling all his stats ten minutes through. I need someone to make sure he doesn't get too strong. I would do it myself, but I have administrator duties."
"So you want me to do it, kon?"
"Yes."
"How much work will that require?" she said, standing up a bit.
"I guess it depends on how you approach it? All you'd have to do is just watch them do their stuff and intervene however you can in case Hegemaniac gets too much of a power-up."
The guest smiled kindly at Yui when she said that.
"Alright, so what reward do I get for doing this?" she said with a small smirk.
"Re-reward? Uhh, what do you want?" said Yui, caught off guard.
The fox girl hid a look of dismay.
"I'll claim my reward when I think of something, kon."
"Sure! So, do you um, want to start now?" asked Yui, uncertain.
"I'll have to sort out a few things at home before I start, since this'll probably take a while. I'll be quick though!"
Getting up after that and waving to Yui, she closed her eyes to prepare for teleportation.
Leaving that as her last words, she disappeared, and Yui was left alone.
"...So now I have to give Hegemaniac more preparation time until Darth is ready?"
As for Darth, she reappeared in the same forest where Yui found her, and started walking in the direction of a great city.
The metropolis was themed red and yellow, with stars adorning the walls of many buildings as decoration.
Despite the girl with fox ears and fox tails walking through the streets, not a single person noticed her. As if they couldn't see her.
She eventually arrived at a skyscraper-like building, colored in the same red and yellow, with a large solid red portion of it that had one large yellow star and four smaller stars orbiting it.
Walking into the building, she skipped past any security checks or any of the normal procedures required to enter a high status building, as no one paid any attention to her.
She walked through a magnificent empire; the Celestial Dynasty was in front of her.
Ending her journey by arriving at what looked like an office room, completely out of place for the fantasy-like outside world, she knocked and entered right after.
A man dressed in red and yellow, much like the rest of the city, waited inside for her.
"So then, how'd it go? Did you manage to infiltrate?" asked the man sitting at the head of the table.
"Yep. I now have the job to watch over Hegemaniac and intervene whenever 'he gains too much power', for some reason."
His face contorted in disgust at that. "Classic example of administrator stupidity. It's especially prevalent in her, what kind of braindead idiot restricts the growth of their players?"
"She's Japanese," answered the fox girl as though stating the obvious. "Although I could see the CCP doing it as well -"
"Shut up. The first part of your answer was correct, however, and I am allowed to say so. Anyways, set things in order before you go, I don't want to deal with it myself."
"Alright."
Deciding to save herself the time of walking, she simply teleported out.
Xing sighed. "This Japanese admin won't last long. If she doesn't see the value in that player's strength because her pitiful moral compass commands her decisions and thinking, she won't end up with anything special. Maybe a decent player or even a good one will pop up over there, but restricting the progression of a player because they aren't righteous or harmonious has to be the most modern Japanese thing I've ever heard."
Standing up from his chair, he pulled out a cigarette, and finished it in under a second.
"Bah. These cigarettes are too weak. They crumble as soon as I actually try to breathe."
POV Switch 1st (MC)
The king dismounted his horse and let a stable boy put it away for him before we went inside the castle itself, though he kept his knights near him.
Walking into the place with Silica at my side, my head was being continuously filled with her jabbering, as had been the usual since we got this damned mental link.
{So what do you think will happen here? Do you think we'll be treated to a fancy banquet like in those fantasy stories? That'd be so cool!}
Please. Shut your mouth.
{Maybe we will, maybe we won't. It would be a common courtesy for a king to treat his guests for dinner though.}
{Woah… So what kind of food will we be served? I bet it'll be the best food I've ever tasted!}
{Don't forget that this is medieval times and that the food here is much worse than the modern world. I'm not sure about how it is in this video game-like world though.}
{So there's still a chance of getting amazing food?}
{I guess so.}
{Yay!}
I thought I could have gotten rid of her presence when I sold her to the king, but I forgot about this mental link.
"So, what do you think of my castle?" asked the king while we walked through the hallways.
"It's very nice. I've never seen anything like it before," I responded.
"Yeah!" said Silica, lacking the brain capacity to come up with her own words.
This is what I mean when I say the radiation mutated their brains.
Looking at Silica, I saw that she was looking at everything like a tourist again.
I could've gotten literally anyone else as a partner, why'd I have to get a twelve year old Japanese girl who is more incompetent than my dead dog?
"I appreciate your praise. Oh my! I just realized I don't know yours or the lady's name! I'm terribly sorry."
A king apologizing to his guests? With this evidence, my theory on him being a kind man is strengthened further.
"My name is Nero. Her name is Silica."
"Silica? What an exotic name. Quite beautiful, might I add," he said.
"Thank you! Edward is also a… very good name!"
…
"I appreciate it, madame."
We arrived at a throne room, the walls of which were furnished with paintings of other men, most likely rulers, seeing the crowns on their heads.
"These paintings are beautiful."
"Thank you, good sir. They are paintings of my bloodline, the former kings of this castle. I take great pride in them."
"Who's the one in that painting?" asked Silica, pointing to the painting nearest to the throne.
The man in the painting was an Adonis. Even though it was a painting, and features are often exaggerated in those, he was much better looking than the other paintings, somehow. Rather than the paintings with regal robes and fanciness, this painting was of a man in battle.
Golden armor, befitting his burly body; a "crown" that could barely be called a crown, as it was the golden laurel leaf the Roman emperors wore; a sky blue sword, matching his eyes; he was overall the greatest being in this room.
He looked more like a god of war rather than an ordinary ruler.
Well, I'm exaggerating, but he was certainly more regal than the "king" with me.
"Ah…" he said, getting uncomfortable at the painting. "That is… my brother, the Warrior Crown Prince. He fell in battle recently, and I took his position as king."
No wonder he doesn't fit the picture of a king and is strangely cowardly, he wasn't meant to be king. He also probably has self confidence issues due to being the brother of such a man.
"That's amazing! Oh, I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you."
Walking over to and sitting down on his throne, he began telling his knights what to do.
"Please take Sir Nero to the doctors, he has a few wounds that need healing. Leave me alone with Lady Silica for now."
The knights executed his orders without speaking, leaving me wondering whether or not they were NPC's and left the room, with two of them beginning to lead me through the castle.
I can't wait to get out of this castle and finish these damn trials.
{Nero? Can you hear me?}
{Yes, I can. What do you need?}
{Uhh, nothing. I just…}
So she doesn't want to be left alone with the king? I guess it's a reasonable fear, though I doubt the king will do anything.
{Just deal with your situation for now.}
Translation: please leave me alone.
I don't want to deal with more childish antics today.
{Alright… I'll ask you what to do when I don't know what to do, okay?}
{Sure.}
The knights eventually reached what could be considered the "basement" of the castle; it wasn't a dungeon area, but it was beneath the castle.
We continued venturing down there, and found a man covered from head to toe in a black cloak, with a cane and what looked like a crow mask.
What did I expect from a medieval doctor? It's a plague doctor.
"Well, well, well. A new patient? Bring him to me, bring him to me."
Ready to pull my sword out of my inventory at any moment, I sat down across from the man.
"I am Doctor Heimrich. Honestly, I was born as Ivan, but that is derived from 'John,' so you can imagine how boring I found it. You are?"
"My name is Nero. I only need something to patch up my cuts and something to fix my knee."
"No, no, no good sir! You need something much more! Something greater!"
He gives off that feeling of needing to be put in a padded room.
"And that is?"
I want to draw my sword, but I need to restrain myself.
"The love of God in your life!" he exclaimed while pulling out a Bible from underneath his cloak. "In this world, all are deep in sin, and this spiritual sickness begets all others. If you allow God's grace to heal your spirit, there will be no need to repair your flesh!"
So I'm facing a fanatical Christian. How can he even be considered a doctor when his response to a wounded patient is a Bible?
"I appreciate your offer, but I'm afraid I do need to 'repair my flesh', as you so eloquently put it."
"Tsk tsk tsk, so unfaithful. I have been a doctor for years, and the grace of God heals all! Why, the last patient I had was purified so well that he was sent straight to God's Kingdom in Heaven after my treatment! That wound from a duel didn't matter to him anymore! He no longer annoys me, which is more than can be said for you."
…He died from his "treatment"? By treatment, did he just read the Bible out loud for a dying patient? I'd rather fight until my bowels are leaking all over the battlefield than put myself in the hands of such a "doctor".
And if he's been a doctor for years, then I question this castle's sanity. He's probably lying, isn't lying one of the things prohibited in those commandments?
"Your faith is admirable, however, I'm afraid that if I can't get any 'repairment of my flesh' from you, I'll have to look somewhere else for healing."
"HEIMRICH! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Another man, dressed in the same robes as Heimrich ran down the stairs and began chasing after his fellow plague doctor.
"YOU KILLED MY LAST PATIENT! I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER MY APPRENTICE!"
"I will stay true to God until I die, blasphemer! Psalm 103:2: 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.' Your so-called 'medical procedures' are nothing compared to my miracles, which come from the Lord Himself!"
"KNIGHTS! APPREHEND HIM!"
The two knights near the entrance began moving, and they cornered Heimrich with their swords and began hauling him out of the room.
"I'm terribly sorry," said the man, calming his breathing and sitting down where Heimrich just was. "He was a new apprentice, however, he has killed more people than he has saved, and we went with the light punishment of terminating him as a medical officer, considering he is the son of a noble. However, it appears he didn't accept his termination. I'm afraid we'll have to execute him now."
"I see. So can you help me?"
Good thing he's being executed, he probably would've killed me.
"What are your ailments?"
"A cut and a knee injury."
"I can fix the cut easily enough, I'm not sure about the knee."
Fixing the cut is good, in case I get an infection or something like that, but the knee is the more immediate issue.
"Lie down on this table," he said, motioning at the table we were sitting at.
I understand medieval medicine wasn't very advanced, but to treat patients on the same table where they most likely eat and converse is just disgusting.
Lying down on the table anyways, I hoped this man wouldn't kill me by accident.
"The poisoned cut is this one?" he asked, poking at the cut on my chest.
"Yes."
"Very well."
Another two sentient NPC's, huh.
He pulled out something which he called a 'toadstone,' and pressed it to the poisoned wound. Soon, the poisoning had healed, although I was still slightly lethargic.
He looked with concern over my other injuries. "You have some other wounds, I will treat them."
He pulled out a piece of cloth from his cloak, and stuck it on my head after drenching it in honey from a nearby bottle.
…Is the honey his idea of a disinfectant? My head is sticky now too.
He continued, wrapping more cloth around my head to keep the honey-cloth there, and said, "Complete. You should be fine now."
"What about my leg?"
"Hmm. To start with, why are you in this castle?"
"The king invited me."
I saw his eyes widen behind his goggles.
Special treatment depending on your reason for visiting makes sense, and being invited by the king is most likely the highest treatment available.
"How much can you pay us?"
"How much do I have to?"
Saying this signifies that no matter his price, I'll be able to pay it. It's also a sign of trust, because I'm allowing him to set the price, like I did with the king and trading Silica.
"Very well. I'll be right back. Please stay here."
He ventured back where he came from, and came back around ten minutes later with a bottle in his hands.
"We have few of these, and shipments are rare. Can you pay eight hundred Cor?"
When I robbed that marketplace, fruit wasn't the only thing I took.
"Yes. How many can you give me?"
"One."
Fair enough, I need to get this knee fixed before it cripples me in a fight.
Maybe I can try raiding this castle's supply of healing potions before I leave?
I got up from the chair I had been sitting in, and reached behind my back, trying to make it seem like I was getting the Cor from a satchel or hidden compartment, rather than my inventory.
"Here you go."
We exchanged money and product, leaving him with a thousand Cor and leaving me with a healing potion.
Putting an item in my inventory gives me a small description of it, and it wasn't poison or anything like that, it was a genuine healing potion.
Where did they get it from? I don't know and don't intend to stay here long enough to find out.
I'd rather steal their current stock.
Starting to chug the thing with the plague doctor watching me closely for some reason, I didn't feel anything.
A faulty potion? Or poison? The imperial Japanese sure liked to poison the Chinese, I wouldn't be surprised if the game targeted me. Changing the description of the item would be child's play for the world.
Those were my thoughts until I noticed that my knee no longer hurt.
Looking down at my knee in case there was some magical effect at play, there was nothing.
No pain, no magic, no poison; my leg was healed. I could walk freely again.
Perfect.
I'll have to plunder this castle for more of these later on.
{Nero? The king invited me to dinner and when I asked if you would be there too, he said you wouldn't, what should I do?}
And of course Silica had to intrude upon this triumphant moment with her worried voice.
However, before I could respond to her through the mental link, time stopped, and a system message appeared in front of me.
Checking my surroundings before focusing on the message, I saw that the plague doctor wasn't moving a single inch, and the water dripping from the ceiling was frozen mid-air.
Moving onto the message from the system, it read:
[Dear Player Hegemaniac,
Due to an error in the system, you have, unfortunately, been under-rewarded for a few of your past deeds.
Because these rewards were meant to be given in response to your past actions, we have decided to give them to you now.
These rewards include: a certain amount of Cor and an expanded inventory.
Sincerely, the Cardinal System.]
…Well that's certainly not what I expected. Though in a way it's not surprising, given how sluggish progress has been compared to the difficulties which I had to face. It feels like I've had to do all sorts of difficult tasks, some of which are basically traps, but haven't been rewarded for the amount of ground I've covered that other players haven't. Regardless, it's strange. My rewards can be withheld on accident? How buggy is this "reality"? So I've received Cor and an expanded inventory? How much has my inventory been expanded and how much Cor have I been rewarded?
And why are these rewards being suddenly given now? Have there been other rewards withheld from me? Could this possibly happen in the future? And is this the first time they have done it?
Has this happened to other players? How could something like this occur?
Many questions, and only a few can be answered.
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