Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Burned Siblings

The Goblin’s little frame was completely engulfed in the cloak. Theo was forced to remember another eccentricity of the NPC species. When a player equipped a new cosmetic item, it would automatically fit to their character model. A tailor could alter this size specifically, if the player wanted to wear something with a different fit, but for the most part the sizing option was considered pretty good. However, this automatic sizing didn’t apply to the system generated characters.

For Meatshield it wasn’t an issue since, although slightly shorter than average, she was still a normal-sized human. Gobthnora on the other hand looked like a child wearing a bed sheet over her head. Theo would have told her to take off the ridiculous outfit, but he couldn’t bear to separate the Goblin from the cloak after seeing her reaction.

“Keekeekee! Master has purchased a gift for Gobthnora! This is Gobthnora’s happiest moment since she first rode the dreaded squeal-beast!” her face, which was hidden under the folds of the fabric, was probably glowing with worship.

“Does Master enjoy seeing Gobthnora in this human dress?” she asked with an air of anticipation.

Well, Theo couldn’t deny that he did prefer this to looking at her usually, “Mn, it looks good,” he said, nodding.

The Goblin hopped gleefully, muttering something about ‘new beauty and chances.’

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you twice, but the humans won’t care to have a Goblin as company,” Theo added, “Keep your face hidden at all times and don’t say anything. I’ll come up with some kind of excuse.”

Gobthnora nodded absentmindedly, “Yes, Master is most wise.”

After retrieving Meatshield and returning to the cave hideout, Theo explained the next mission to his slaves. He didn’t have to worry about Meatshield opening her mouth and causing any trouble, but the Goblin was another story altogether. He had considered having her stalk the caravan from a distance, since her [Stealth] skill was actually quite developed, but if she happened to get spotted by one of the scouts, he wouldn’t have any excuse to step in and protect her. At least if he kept her by his side, he would be able to use his [Lesser Persuasion] to bluff away most issues.

Refugees weren’t uncommon around Oasis, and he had already fabricated a story about how he was escorting a young lady and her younger sister to Aleside on the side. Plenty of mercs engaged in side jobs like this on caravans, and there shouldn’t be an issue as long as they didn’t get in the way or attract any trouble.

“Good, pack up whatever food you need for the next couple days and let’s get going, the caravan is gathering in an hour,” he ordered.

After a moment’s thought he added, turning to Meatshield, “And no, you can’t take it all.”

The woman’s face was blank, but after spending a week or so together, Theo could more or less grasp his tank’s most basic emotions. This look in particular reminded him of a young girl forced to take only one of her precious stuffed animals on a long trip. Theo shook his head as he considered ways to fix the personality of this slave.

“Ah... a problem for another day,” Theo said to himself as he inspected the items in front of him.

When everything was packed up and rolled into some of the leftover beast skins Meatshield had harvested, the trio bid a fond farewell to their little home. Theo would miss this convenient grinding location. Maybe he would come back here someday.

By the time they reached Oasis, the large train of wagons was already gathering together outside the gates. Dozens of players hung around to watch the organization of the caravan, since this wasn’t really a sight you could catch outside of the game. There were nearly sixty armed and unsavory looking guards milling about and chatting, with a few of them engaging in little games and swapping swill and stories. The prickly wall of mercenaries was enough to dissuade any of the players from approaching, but Theo wasn’t bothered by it.

He approached one of the armed men, a bald-headed and muscular middle aged man with a nasty scar splitting the features of his face in half. His armor was tattered and battle scarred, but the cutlass on his hip was in excellent condition. Theo already felt a bit of respect for the man just from looking at him.

“A good day to spill some blood, eh?” Theo said, holding the spear across his chest in a mercenary’s salute.

[Lesser Persuasion] was used successfully! Mercenary Quinn’s affinity towards Slave Master Theo increases slightly!

This was a traditional greeting among the regulars around Oasis, and was enough to warrant an appropriate response from the man.

“And a good day to earn some coin! Hail, spearman, are you with the caravan?” the mercenary, Quinn, drew his sword and gave Theo a similar salute.

“That I am!” Theo replied, “I’m the dispatch from the Adventuring Guild.”

“Oho! And no greenhorn by the look of you! Good! We always need another sharp blade around here!” Quinn said, “Checking in with the boss?”

Theo nodded, “When I can find him.”

Meatshield, who was standing just to the right of Theo, scooted a few inches closer to him. The shield that hung from her makeshift travel pack made a slight shifting noise as her hand closed around the hilt of the [Goblin Shortsword]. Gobthnora stood a foot back, taking up as little room as possible and not making a sound.

“These are?” Quinn couldn’t help but notice the pair.

Theo turned to look over his shoulder nonchalantly, “Just a favor for the Guild, an escort for a couple of little ladies to Aleside.”

Quinn scanned the trio with a cautious air, but his bisected face eventually broke out into a broad, toothy grin. He stood up from the crate he was resting on and extended a hand to Meatshield. For a mercenary, a handshake was a customary greeting to show that you accepted somebody, but weren’t worried about them killing you.

Theo nudged the placid-faced woman with his elbow, “Grab the man’s hand and keep your arm loose, then bow” he said.

This wasn’t the time or place to teach Meatshield what a handshake was, so all he could do was order her to finish the gesture for the man. Due to Theo’s mock expression of embarrassment over the situation, it looked like a heartwarming scene of a kind mercenary and an ignorant young woman sharing a moment. The only thing that ruined it was Meatshield’s absolutely deadpan look.

“This young lady is?” Quinn asked the woman for her name.

“Rasa,” Theo interrupted, having already prepared a fake name for his slave in the event someone asked, “and this is her sister Nora.” He gestured to the smaller of the two. “You’ll have to excuse them. They don’t have the heart to talk much. Just lost their steader and parents to a brush fire, and I’m taking them to live with their uncle.”

Mention the words ‘brush fire’ to citizen of Oasis, and one would almost always receive a bit of a pity in response. Even though it was difficult to grow crops around the city, there did exist a few farms, but most people bought a parcel of land they called a ‘steader’ from the Merchant Guild and raised livestock instead. You could regrow a field after a sudden fire, but to repopulate a herd of animals was a much more arduous task. Brush fires and monsters attacks were just two of the many dangers facing those who lived outside the city walls.

“I see, a shame to hear it, and the little one is?” he looked at the short bundle of cloth behind Theo with a hint of concern.

Quinn appeared to have all the markers of a genuinely nice guy, but Theo didn’t drop his guard.

“Don’t worry, just some light burns, but it’s made her a bit self-conscious,” Theo said with a hint of a reluctant smile.

As always, if it was with an NPC, Theo’s acting skills would be impeccable. Quinn finished shaking Meatshield’s hand and turned to the robed Gobthnora, “Don’t worry lass, you won’t find anyone who likes scars more than this uncle.”

He pointed to his own split face and smiled again. Theo genuinely wondered what the story behind the man’s scar was, but he didn’t have the time to ask him right now. He still needed to check in with the leader of the caravan so that the mission could officially begin. Theo couldn’t afford to get too attached to anyone, either. It was highly likely that this caravan would be attacked, since it didn’t match the habits of the system to spawn a Guild quest if there wasn’t going to be a slaughter involved.

“E-excuse me,” a slight voice rose from behind Quinn.

Theo’s head turned sharply at the noise, having not noticed the sudden approach. He was letting himself get too lost in his own thoughts ever since he started playing the game with these slaves. It had been exhausting suppressing his usual mannerisms around them.

“Did I hear you say you were from the Adventuring Guild?” the voice was a little more robust this time.

It was a young man with a pleasant but simple face. His eyes were small and blue, with long eyelashes and thin brows. He had the same aura as one of those newbie players, minus the confidence that came from being effectively immortal. The leather armor around his chest and arms had clearly never seen real combat. Much like Theo, he was holding a spear.

“If it isn’t Tom!” Quinn smiled so wide he was forced to squint his eyes, though his voice was playfully harsh, “Did you finish checking those horses?”

Tom laughed with the older merc in a clearly friendly manner, “Not yet, not yet,” he waved his hand, “I just overheard something interesting and had to come over.”

Quinn turned to Theo, “New blood, this one. Don’t bother with him. He’s got a head full of loose sand,” he said, clapping the smaller man on the back and returning to his seat.

Tom took the teasing in good stride and bowed his head slightly to the Slave Master before crossing his spear over his chest. Theo returned the salute, easing the sharpened nature of his features before he took a step forward and extended his hand to the young man. Seeing the gesture, Tom could only sigh reluctantly and shake Theo’s hand. Doing so was essentially the same as admitting he was no threat.

“Chore boy? Someone’s lover?” Theo asked Quinn from over Tom’s shoulder.

Quinn’s uproarious laughter was enough to shake the crate he was sitting on, and he hooted loudly, “Hoo, you hear that Tom? Looks like the adventurer here has you pegged right off the bat! In more ways than one!”

Tom was immediately flustered, “That-that is! Just because I have a slightly feminine face! I’m still a man, you know?” he protested.

Quinn and Theo exchanged a knowing smile, “Don’t throw a fit, lad, just a bit of humor,” he said, and then added for Theo, “Tom here is new to the fold, but he’s young and has a bit of talent. He’s got a bit of a fascination with adventurers, though.”

It wasn’t rare for the NPCs in the game to admire the adventurers of the Adventuring Guild. They were heroes that protected the world in exchange for fortune and fame. It was an incredibly prestigious position in most parts of Orpheum, and every player in the game was granted a trial membership. If they understood how valuable such a thing would be to the average denizen in this world, they might be a little more grateful. Well, compared to the average commoner, the players really did have the unlimited potential necessary to warrant their status. The chances of the NPC, Tom, ever becoming a true adventurer was next to nothing, and so he had to settle for being a run-of-the-mill mercenary.

“It’s not a fascination!” Tom said, “I’ve heard that adventurers are strong, and I’ve alway wanted to try my skills against one!”

It seemed even NPCs could get fired up under the right circumstances, but Theo brushed off the hot-blooded young man’s challenge for now.

“Take me to the caravan leader, and I’ll consider showing you a thing or two,” Theo said, breaking his grip on the man’s hand.

While he was talking, Theo took the opportunity to use his [Appraise Humanoid] skill on the young merc. Normally, it was difficult to use your [Perception] ability on NPCs while talking to them, as the action gave the AI an impression you were rather rudely staring at and inspecting them. Most players would choose to do this from [Stealth] or from a far enough distance away as to not be noticed, but Theo had the habit of inspecting their attributes whenever the NPC was distracted, to avoid offending them.

Tom’s stats were about what Theo expected.

[Mercenary Tom] Lv. 10 Human

HP: 420/420

MP: 370/370

Most of the mercenaries that were guarding this caravan were around level 15, which was the intended level for one taking this mission. As such, it seemed like Tom was something of an unusual entity here. The system wouldn’t have drafted a lower level NPC into this quest unless it had some kind of purpose in mind. Theo’s senses for hidden content were tingling, but there would be time to deal with that later.

“D-do you really mean it? I’ll get to trade blows with an adventurer? And another spearman at that?” Tom was literally shaking with excitement.

The ever-jovial Quinn chortled and said, “You’ll need to finish all of the chores first, boy, before we head out. Then maybe the adventurer here will consider taking care of you tonight!” the implication of the man’s words were clear for everyone to hear.

A few of the other mercenaries looked over with wry grins and were chuckling openly, causing Tom to turn red with a combination of anger and embarrassment. Seeing that he was about to get distracted again, Theo sighed and patted him on the shoulder roughly.

“Ignore it,” he said sternly, “A warrior doesn’t fight with his face.”

[Lesser Persuasion] was used successfully! Mercenary Tom’s affinity for Slave Master Theo increases slightly!

“Good words!” Quinn said with a nod.

Hearing what Theo had said, some of the mercs that were paying attention gave a short, non-verbal agreement and went back to their preparations. These mercenaries may have had more than a few rough edges, but they respected the ideals of strength and courage. Tom relented to being Theo’s guide, and nobody sought to interrupt the four people as they made their way through the crowd of merchants and mercenaries.

“I’m amazed Mr. Quinn took such a shine to you,” Tom said after they escaped the older mercenary’s earshot.

“Oh?” Theo said with mock intrigue.

Tom nodded his head and leaned in to say in a hushed tone, “Mr. Quinn is actually the captain of the Splitskull mercenaries, and he leads more than half of the men here, myself included. Although he’s pretty nice to me, he’s got a bad rep for being a real hard-ass.”

Theo figured he was just lucky with his [Lesser Persuasion], and didn’t dwell on it. A good first impression went a long way with the NPCs.

Theo put on an air of mystery as he replied to Tom’s amazement, “The day you understand why he likes me is the day you’ll be a true warrior.”

He couldn’t help but snicker internally as he watched the young man’s mind race to decipher the true meaning of the words. Although this guy was a little bit annoying and decided to barge into Theo’s peaceful caravan mission, it wasn’t such a bad thing. If the man named Tom wanted to play around a little bit, Theo had no problems granting his wish. At least it would serve to make the trip more eventful.

“Alright,” Tom said after a short while, “The boss is right over there, by the shaggy-looking pinto, I’ve gotta go take care of a few things.”

After walking a few feet away, Tom turned back to him.

“I’ll be expecting those pointers you promised me!” the young merc was wise enough not to shout it this time.

Theo waved a hand to the man who wandered back into the crowd. The head of wispy blonde hair was reflecting the harsh sunlight and caused him to stick out like a sore thumb. After seeing him off for another moment, Theo turned to Meatshield and scowled under his hood.

“Aren’t you standing a bit close?” he said.

Meatshield nodded.

“If you know it, then why are you still doing it!” Theo hissed.

He repositioned the woman a few feet away and finally approached his employer. The head of the merchant caravan was a tall man in his late thirties with a handsome, rough face and dark hair. His beard was neatly trimmed and he was dressed simply, like any of the other merchants. It would be hard to pick him out from a crowd, and Theo found this to be the best part about working with Incubated NPCs. He hated dealing with the pretentious caricatures of human beings that some of the Synthesised characters would prove to be.

The man’s name was Roland, and he was not only welcoming, but incredibly grateful for Theo’s assistance. It was enough to say that Theo’s position in the group was equivalent to the mercenary captain, Quinn. The fact that he was a D-rank adventurer entitled him to total control over the security for this trip, if he so wished, but Theo wasn’t interested in doing any more work than what was required of him. There would be few chances to grind up his level along the journey, so he would have to take every opportunity to go hunting when the merchants stopped to make camp.

The caravan leader even offered to give a seat in his wagon to the siblings ‘Rasa’ and ‘Nora,’ but Theo politely declined. He came up with the story that the pair didn’t want to accept any more favors, as they were already receiving special treatment from the Guild.

Just like that, all of the formalities were taken care of and Theo was ready to accompany the wagon train on the long road to Aleside. According to the guides, it would take about four days, which was the equivalent of four days in the real world as well. The time required for completion was why escort missions were so unpopular among the playerbase.

All day was spent traveling and not fighting monsters!