“Books?”

Books looked up miserably at a knight in full iron armor.

“Spoon? Is that you man? Jesus, that’s a lot of armor.”

“Yeah, it’s me… how did you end up here?”

Meat Shield jumped through the cage and landed on Books’ head.

“It’s a long story… I got caught stealing something, ended up getting convicted of a high felony. They asked for money to pay for the bail, so I gave them all the gold I had, which was apparently not enough. So they sent me here on a five-day slave contract to clear my debt.”

He sighed. “Now that I think about it, they definitely cheated me out of my gold. Those snakes.”

“Haven’t you tried logging out?

“I did, but once I log back in I’m back here again.”

I began to understand the situation, and motioned the merchant over.

“How much to buy out his contract?”

“Eh, this one? Forty silver for the five-day indentured servitude contract.”

It wasn’t a lot of money. I tossed over a pouch of money, which the merchant weighed and counted before nodding in contentment.

“This is the contract. Sign here please.”

It was a magic contract with the royal seal, which began to glow as I signed the contract.

[You have obtained a slave: Books]

[Books]

Level 17

Human

Class: Merchant of Avarice

Status: Indentured to [Spoon] for 4 days 23 hours 59 minutes

[Cancel Indentured Servitude]

[Would you like to cancel the remaining period of indentured servitude?]

[Yes]

[Please confirm once more]

[Confirmed]

[Slave Books has been freed]

“Ah…”

The shackles around Books’ wrists fell apart and the cage clicked open the moment the contract was signed.

“Thank you brother.”

“Save your breath, let’s get out of here and look for some work so you can pay me back.”

“You need a shower, Books~”

I received a warm reception from Books, who wouldn’t shut up about how much he appreciated that I freed him, and that he was prepared to have a miserable five day experience. We headed to the tavern and got a basic room so Books could shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes. All of his equipment was confiscated by the city guard after his attempted robbery failed.

After that, I finally started to look at the available quests and raids on the mission board. This would take a while, so I started chatting with Books.

“So tell me, what exactly happened?”

Books began to recant the sequence of events.

“This all had to do with the [Black Witch’s Cauldron].”

“What’s that?”

“It’s an A rank artifact that increases the chances of successfully brewing high level potions. If I got a hold of it, my [Potioneering] skill could become even stronger.”

“So you got greedy, and tried to steal it? Not like you can afford an A rank artifact.”

“Yeah, I did get greedy… it was locked in the city council’s vault. They said the vault’s there to hold confiscated black magic artifacts. From what I heard from the servants in the castle, some nobles and council members are actually conducting black magic experiments with artifacts like the cauldron. Bunch of hypocrites, that lot of fat cats.”

“So I went to relieve them of their illegal artifact, since it would be a lot more useful in my hands than the hands of a bunch of idiot nobles playing with fire. I got as far as the second lower floor of the dungeon before getting caught.”

“Did you see anything suspicious or incriminating of the nobility down there?”

“That’s the thing—I could tell that there was something shady going on, but I spilled my lantern and ended up getting caught by the guards. When they were interrogating me I said that I got lost, so the chief guard gave me the ‘nice and easy’ punishment of a five day slave contract…”

“Jesus. If that’s the nice and easy punishment, I can’t help but imagine what other prisoners are subjected to.”

Books shrugged halfheartedly.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to know the specifics. Heard a lot of screaming from the other cells when I was being interrogated.”

————

*Scrub scrub*

Quest [Dish Washing] completed.

I sighed.

A week went by where Books and I worked our asses off grinding basic requests. [Subdue the Boars], [Track Down The Watch Thief], and such were what we spent our time on. It wasn’t high paying work, but it was normal work that most players were doing, with no risk of dying or getting arrested and punished with a slave contract.

We stayed at a shabby inn in the slums, and I spent a few hours in the evening practicing [Love Whip] control outside the city, away from the prying eyes of demonic spies.

The amount of refugees in the slums was growing by the day. The majority were from the mass evacuation of Mountain, and there were displaced villagers and travelers coming in every day because of the goblin-orc coalition’s advances onto human territory.

With so many refugees flooding the slums, there was so much competition for work that it was getting hard to secure even basic requests.

Food and living quarters were becoming expensive, and even the shabby inn we were living in hiked their prices up to a modest amount of silver. Day in, day out, the grind was real as we tried to save as much silver as we could as I evaluated our exit options.

This morning, a large group of people began to form a crowd around a newly posted request.

“Look at this new posting!”

“Draft notice? Things must be serious.”

“Wow, take a look at the rewards… those are really good.”

“Let me see!”

Players were shouting to each other as the mood in the tavern took a chaotic turn. Some were excited at the prospect of good rewards, while others looked apprehensive. I took a look at the posting.

Draft Notice Soldiers Needed, Effective Immediately Notice Issuer Imperial City Council Objective The Empire is short on personnel in facing the threat posed by recent dwarf military excursions into human territory. The dwarves are taking advantage of our vulnerable state due to our war with the monster coalition. A preemptive assault is necessary to cut through dwarven supply lines. Additional stipulation This is a voluntary service. If personnel requirements are not met, a draft will be issued and conscription will be enforced. Conscripts will be paid half the salary of initial volunteers. Duration The length of service is estimated to be between three to four weeks. Compensation Daily wages of 200 silver. Loot from dwarf outposts will belong to the finder.

“200 silver a day and dwarven made equipment loot? If I had two lives, I’d risk both of them for that kind of payday. Count me in!”

“Me too, I’m going.”

I quietly listened to the clamor, then nudged Books.

“What do you think, Books?”

Books had a sullen look on his face, and spoke after a moment of contemplation.

“I think it’s a trap.”

I nodded.