Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter Twenty-Five: Good News, Bad News

To everyone’s surprise, the first person in the tent to speak was Tom, “It couldn’t have been Theo!” he said firmly as he stood up from the side of the bed, “I was with him all night!”

Before Theo knew it, Tom was casting him an earnest, trusting glance. The Slave Master was forced to shrug and nod along with the young mercenary’s words.

“I’ve been taking him with me to hunt monsters at night, if you were wondering what we’ve been doing in the evening,” Theo would have known if Tom was the one who killed the man, after all, and there was no reason to implicate himself any further.

The sudden declaration caused the other men to turn back and forth in shock, and the voices began to pick up once again before Lozan quieted everyone down with a harsh tone, “Tom, is that really true?” the scalekin asked.

Tom nodded.

“There wasn’t any time when you two were apart?” Lozan growled.

Theo sighed internally, already knowing what was about come. When the caravan stopped to set up the camp, Theo would log out to take care of his various needs and responsibilities in the real world. It was a necessity as a player, but there would be no way for the NPCs to track him down during this time. As far as they were concerned, he would have dropped off the face of Orpheum.

Tom seemed taken aback as this thought dawned on him as well, “T-that…” although he couldn’t bring himself to say, his expression was enough confirmation to reignite the fire in Lozan’s eyes.

The Scalekin snapped his head in Theo’s direction, forked tongue flicking from his long mouth as he demanded, “Explain yourself, adventurer!”

What was Theo supposed to say? He couldn’t possibly have an alibi for that time period, because he simply didn’t exist. If this fact was explained to the AI’s in the game, they would only treat him like a crazy person.

“I have nothing to say,” Theo said with a sharp glare, “I have no need to report my whereabouts to you. Isn’t that right, Roland?”

Roland perspired under the adventurer’s scrutiny, before shaking his head, “Mr. Theo, if you could, for everyone’s sake, explain away this misunderstanding.”

On the other side of the tent, Tom was still giving him a pleading look. The amount of trust that was overflowing from those simple blue eyes would have moved the hearts of most ordinary men, but Theo was unaffected.

“After we broke camp, little Nora was feeling tired, so I had to put her down for a nap. Isn’t that right Tom?” Theo said with slight smile.

Tom jumped when he heard this, and quickly stumbled over his words to corroborate the story, “Right! Right! He went off with the little girl! I saw him.”

Theo made a gesture as if to say, ‘There, are you happy now?’

Lozan clearly wasn’t. His voice hissed as he spoke, “And after that?” he demanded.

Lozan really couldn’t be blamed for being so upset after the loss of his captain and good friend, but Theo wished the overgrown lizard would quit trying to make his life harder. Theo was willing to forgive him when all of this was said and done, but if the Scalekin kept it up much longer, he wouldn’t be merciful when it came time to apologize.

“I was watching something interesting,” Theo shrugged.

This time it was Roland who said, “What? What do you mean, Mr Theo?”

“See? This is how you should be treating me,” Theo thought as he turned his gaze from Lozan and the merchant boss to the young mercenary.

“Tom,” Theo said casually, “that man you were meeting with this afternoon, the one on the black horse with a red bandana over his face… who was he?”

The lies passed from Theo’s mouth as simply as if he was breathing. The core existence of a player-character was deception.

Tom’s face was plastered with confusion, “T-Theo? What are you talking about?” the man couldn’t help but sound a bit panicked, as he considered the implications of his accuser’s words.

“You followed me last night,” Theo said firmly, “It was only fair I follow you back. Now, answer the question.”

“Are you accusing one of my mercenaries of something?” it looked like Lozan was already getting ready to take over the position of captain in Quinn’s absence.

“Theo, please stop with this and just tell us where you were!” Tom implored of him.

Theo shrugged, “I’m telling you what happened,” his eyes narrowed on the blonde mercenary with a murderous intent, “That bandit was a member of the Black Mountain Clan. Why were you meeting with him this afternoon?”

At this point, the extra points in Charisma were showing their worth. Several of the merchants and mercenaries, who weren’t a part of the Splitskulls, turned their inquisitive eyes on Tom. This was human nature. When there was only one suspect, it was easy to come to a conclusive decision, but the minute you complicated the situation people would begin to argue. Of course, Theo had no basis for what he was saying, seeing as he was logged out, but then neither did the NPCs when they accused him.

Theo didn’t give the others time to deflect his claims, “If I’m not mistaken, Roland, the reason things are so chaotic is because of the Black Mountain Clan’s imminent attack, about 60-70 armed riders, was it?”

One of the merchants actually gasped.

“H-how did you know that?” Roland asked.

Theo knew this because he could estimate the danger level of this mission based on the reward he was going to receive. Just how many of these quests had he accomplished in his past life. The Black Mountain Clan? That was the only bandit organization in this area with enough members to threaten the caravan, so it was simple enough to know this fact in advance.

Theo frowned, looking ashamed of himself, “I let my judgement grow clouded…” looking across the tent at Tom, it was clear that he was about to explode in a rage after listening to the words of the man he had just stood up for, “I wanted to protect Tom, I believed in his ignorance. I thought if I could just kill the messenger, we could avoid a conflict and Tom wouldn’t have to suffer any punishment. The information about the attack was on the bandit’s body, but... I had no way of knowing Tom would do something like this…”

“You bastard!” Tom charged across the tent at Theo, but the one who stopped him was actually Lozan.

“Calm yourself Tom!” he warned the young man, “If you’re too rash, you’ll only be helping this damned charlatan.”

Clearly, the Scalekin mercenary wasn’t willing to believe him, but it didn’t affect the Slave Master’s confident act. Theo scowled at Tom, his face a picture of betrayal. It was a look that he was all too practiced at lately.

“I’m at fault for putting the caravan at risk, and for that I accept responsibility. As for the murder of Captain Quinn, you could say I’m responsible as well, but I’m afraid the killer isn’t me!”

“He’s lying! He’s clearly lying!” Tom shouted.

Roland stuttered, “Mr. Theo, d-do you have any proof?” he asked.

“Did you have any proof when you accused me!?” Theo snapped at not just Roland, but the entire group.

Several of the men flinched, and even Tom’s struggle was stopped by the sudden shout. The tent became silent, and several people who had heard the shouting were gathering around now. All of the attention was on Theo.

“As it stands, I actually do have proof,” Theo held up one of his fingers, “First, who here can vouch for Tom’s location after we broke camp?” he asked.

Tom’s eyes widened in shock when he realized that nobody was speaking up for him, “I was fetching water for the horses!”

“I saw him go!” Lozan backed up his own camp.

The skepticism in Theo’s voice was clear for all to hear, “And after that?”

Silence.

When even Tom had no way to defend himself, it wasn’t so much a nail in the coffin as giving Theo a hammer. All he had to do was use it properly, and this case would be closed shut. Theo lifted another finger.

“Second, the wound that Quinn died from, if I’m not mistaken, it should have been a knife to the back?” he said.

Tom’s shoulders shook as he heard this, but he quickly shut his mouth and didn’t say anything that might incriminate him. Theo was the only one who noticed, but he did not let his satisfaction show.

“Again, Mr. Theo, how could you possibly know that?” Roland was reeling from one shock after the other.

Theo nudged the girl by his side, “Show them the blade I gave you, Rasa.”

Meatshield nodded her head and opened her cloak, revealing the tattered and burned clothes that covered her body. On her hip was one of the [Goblin Shortsword]s that he kept her stocked with. Upon seeing the blade, there was another silence that filled the tent, and continued until Theo spoke again.

“This is a weapon that I happened to pick up, one of a pair. I gave it to the girl for her protection, and it should match the wound perfectly,” he explained.

Lozan hissed again, “How does that prove Tom is guilty!? If anything, it’s only a mark against you! Are you trying to dig your own grave, adventurer?”

Tom was silent as he looked at the blade, something dawning on him.

Theo shook his head, as if he was trying to correct a silly child’s misconception, “I’m sure we can all agree this girl, as a simple rancher’s daughter, was in no way a threat to the captain. However, there is one more of these blades. Tom?”

“I - I didn’t do it! I swear!” he shouted almost hysterically, “He gave me the blade, yes, but I didn’t use it to kill Captain Quinn! He was my friend! My teacher!” Tom’s voice actually cracked as he said this.

Several of the merchants, upon hearing this and considering Tom’s actions, had dark, ponderous expressions. It was unclear which camp they were in now, but they were forced to consider the possibility of Tom’s guilt.

Lozan was as supportive as ever when he refuted, “What worth do the stories of an accused murderer have? You could be making up this whole story about the swords, and there’s no way to know for sure it was used for the murder!”

Theo nodded grimly, “Of course, the new captain is correct in this regard, but I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t have an absolute proof,” Theo lifted a third finger, “Every member of the Black Mountain Clan is marked with a brand on their left hand. This is the absolute law of their group.”

What brand? This was a blatant lie, but it didn’t need to be true to achieve its desired effect. Theo had accomplished his goal of applying enough pressure that all of the leaders of the group were not against him any more. Without the two admittedly circumstantial bits of evidence, there was no reason to even pay attention to this kind of accusation. Now, with the ability to clear his name only a single article of clothing away, Tom would have to be an idiot to not refute this claim.

All eyes were on the young mercenary, who had frozen like a block of ice. There was no sign of the previous hysterics or distress, and his facial features were still as death. He didn’t so much as flicker an eyelash as the situation fully dawned on him.

“Tom, go on, take off your gauntlet and show this fool you’re innocent,” Lozan urged, but when the man didn’t respond to him, he repeated, “Tom?”

Tom’s voice was colder even than his face, and his soft eyes sharpened as they narrowed on Theo’s smug grin, “Tsk… you bastard, so you already knew everything,” he spat.

The tent burst into an uproar, but the words had already been loosed. Lozan may have been big, but he was far from slow witted. It didn’t take him more than a second to heave the massive sword into a combat position and put up his guard.

“Y-you were actually…” his voice was mixed with confusion and hatred.

“Shut it, lizard,” Tom snapped, “before I add your head to my collection.”

The lizard in question was a veteran of dozens of battles, but upon hearing the threat, his finely honed instincts as a fighter and beastman caused him to heed the command. If he crossed this man, this short blonde human with a feminine face, he would be dead before the words left his mouth.

“When did you know?” Tom asked carefully.

Theo shrugged, having dropped his serious air after getting the reaction he wanted, “Since the first time we met. You still have that bad habit of collecting faces, don’t you?”

Tom’s voice dropped a few octaves as he let out a low, familiar growl, “How? The disguise should have been perfect.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, you really are talented at what you do, not a single hole at all in your act,” Theo said, sounding genuinely impressed, “But being a Shapeshifter isn’t really all that useful when your target knows about it ahead of time.”

Theo had been on to Tom from the beginning. Although the Shapeshifter’s disguise could be considered flawless by any stretch of the imagination, a lack of information proved to be its fatal flaw. In this case, it was lack of information about Theo’s greatest asset, his memories of his past life.

The first time Theo met the creature, the Shapeshifter was in Kruger’s form, standing guard outside of the Gambler’s Den. At that time, there was no way to know about its true nature, but later he met the actual Kruger in the crime lord’s office. At the time he assumed this was because the Shapeshifter wasn’t suited for direct combat, though that seemed to be wishful thinking now.

What gave it away was the [Slave Master’s Brand].

The Kruger outside had its brand on the outside of the left hand, while the actual Kruger’s brand was nowhere to be seen. It was then that he pieced together the existence of a Shapeshifter slave belonging to Old Man Snake Eyes. This was the real reason Theo had asked the creature to reveal its left hand. Even with Shapeshifting magic, the brand would remain in its original position!

“Hmph, cheeky human,” Tom had yet to make a move, but most of the tent’s occupants had already realized how useless they would be in this conflict and began to back out to safety.

“Knock off that Kruger act, too, I know you’re not him either,” Theo scowled.

As opposed to the one in front of him, Theo had a rather good impression of the half-beastman who had threatened to separate his head from his shoulders. Come to think of it, he had a similar relationship with Bai at first. Maybe it was Theo who had a slightly warped view of what necessitated a decent personality.

“Elizabeth was like that too,” he muttered internally.

“Heh, hehehe, HAhahAhAHAHa!” Tom threw his head back and cackled loudly, the voice wildly fluctuating in pitch and tone, as if trying to settle on a single choice.

Theo almost felt like clapping when he saw the overly dramatic reaction. Shapeshifters weren’t well known for their mental stability, and what’s more, they were actors by nature. Rather than the true perpetrator of this set-up, it was safer to say that this was only another of this cryptic individual’s identities. These creatures could not only take on the appearance of their subjects, but also the memories and personality down to even the smallest feature. Theo didn’t know the fate of the original Tom, but it wasn’t too farfetched to assume he was dead.

“I like you, other Slave Master! I really, really, like you!” the Shapeshifter grabbed it’s face as Tom’s features began to melt and distort, “Is this love? I think this might be love!”

Theo chuckled, “Haha, I’ve always heard I’m quite popular with the criminally insane,” he teased.

The creature’s body began to shift as well, filling out Tom’s clothing with a shockingly robust figure, though it was far from muscular. Did this idiot think Theo would hesitate to attack if it distracted him with sex appeal? The expansion was so drastic that the patch over Tom’s damaged armor tore open.

Theo didn’t bother trying to interrupt the transformation, but gave the signal to the few left in the tent that this was their chance to leave.

“We still have bandits to worry about,” he reminded them, “Rally the mercenaries and get ready to repel the attack, I’ll take care of the ringleader.”

“My love,” a sultry voice that seemed to positively ooze charm crashed against Theo’s ears and a powerful sensation stirred in his chest, “I really love that part of you that removes the pests from our personal time… excluding one.”

Shaking off the uncomfortable sensation, Theo patted his reliable Meatshield on the shoulder, “Who? The girl? You wouldn’t expect a Slave Master to fight without his weapons, would you?”

The woman laughed expectantly, her assets visibly jiggling as long crimson locks curled around her shoulders. The nails on her perfect little fingers slowly elongated, turning into a full set of viciously curved talons.

“Of course, my love,” she seemingly whispered the words right into his ears, “It’s always more fun with a few toys, after all.”

“Succubus, huh?” Theo smirked at the Shapeshifter, “You really do get around, well, it’s not as bad as the real thing. Honestly not my type at all.”

He leveled his spear at the unnaturally beautiful woman who was scantily clad in Tom’s ripped clothing, and a thin veneer of coldness glossed over his eyes. Like this, as if he was channeling her monotonous expression, Theo could have been mistaken for Meatshield’s brother. In the real world he might not be able to totally control his reactions, but in the game it was child’s play to suppress his emotions. As long as she wasn’t flinging real charm magic around, Theo wasn’t going to be affected by an ambient seduction.

[Perception]

[???] Succubus. Lv. ??

“I might actually die here, huh?” he thought to himself.

The woman ran one of her claws along the full, red lips which didn’t move an inch even when she spoke, “I’m coming now, my love, I hope you can keep me satisfied longer than the last one.”

Theo wondered if she was talking about Tom or Quinn.