Author's Note

Nothing much to say for this chapter is longer than usual mostly because it took awhile to find a good stopping point (in my opinion). Anyways, usual spiel about feedback and stuff I guess. Oh and if you want to leave a rating that's fine but I'd like to get context for your reasoning if possible (message me if you don't want to leave a review). If you don't want to that's fine but for those that don't mind I'd appreciate it.

Minor side note: coming up with chapter names is sometimes harder than the actual chapter content.

Arc 1 Freedom has its Price

Chapter 7 Shadows Gather and a Price is Paid

I spend the next hour or so drinking in the tavern and harassing Salvation. A side of effect of this our antics were the center of attention for the entire tavern, though this suited my purposes just fine plus I even got a free beer out of it. Finishing up my latest beer I decided that she has suffered enough for now and instead of continuing our back and forth I switch gears .

"So have you been in here the whole time I've been hunting? Doesn't seem like the few hours I was hunting would be enough to let you explore this place that well."

"Huh? Oh right, I told you I was going to tour the city. Well that was originally the plan as I didn't have any money but as luck would have it within the first half our of my aimless wandering I found a a small pouch lying on the ground. When I picked it up to look inside I found it was full of money! It's like the game was telling me I should take a break and just drink for awhile you know? I walked to the nearest tavern I could find and this was where I've been ever since."

"...You...You just found money lying around? How is that possible? Money isn't stored in a physical container you shouldn't be able to find money just lying around in a city."

"Oohh? You don't know? That's only the case for players, NPCs don't have a convenient inventory system to work with."

"What? Really?"

"Of course, you don't believe me? The information comes from all the players in here you know."

"No, I believe you. It's just that, you basically just took a pouch full of money that belonged to an NPC and didn't even hesitate to start spending it. How much was in there anyways?"

"Hmmm, I think around 40 gold give or take, I don't really remember the exact amount."

"40 gold!? You found 40 gold lying on the ground and you didn't think that just maybe someone would be looking for that much money? How much do you have left?"

Salvation gets embarrassed and laughs shyly "haha, well you see...I have about 20 silver left."

"20 silver!!!?!?"

My outburst instantly causes the tavern to turn quiet as all the patrons turn to look at us. Embarrassed I smile awkwardly and wave at them, after waiting a bit for things to go back to normal I turn back towards Salvation.

"How did you manage to spend nearly 40 gold in a matter of ours? Is that even possible?"

"Well money should be spent right? and since the money wasn't really earned by me I thought I should share the wealth and had been buying everyone drinks before you got here. There cheap stuff tastes like shit and it would have been stingy to buy it for people so I opted for the expensive stuff. A few rounds of that plus food and the money just kind of dwindled to its current amount."

"You...You're really something you know that?"

"he he thanks mity."

"Oh well what's done is done, buy me a drink would you? A good one, please."

"Sure, no problem."

Salvation pulls out what I assume to be the pouch she found and takes out 10 silver. Handing it over to the owner she orders me the most expensive beer this place has. Curious about why she still had the pouch I asked her about it.

"Why do you still have the pouch? Wouldn't it have been easier to just keep the money and throw it away?"

"I tried to do that at first but for some reason it didn't act like normal money drops. Since I didn't feel like carrying a bunch of money in my hands I decided to keep it."

"Don't think that's a bit suspic..."

Before I could finish my sentence a group of guards (all average looking humans) burst through the doors of the tavern, stopping all conversations and focusing attention towards the entrance.

Please tell me this isn't some cliche scenario like the one I think it is.

Unfortunately the game didn't deign to answer my silent plea as shortly after someone (also human) who appeared to be in charge of the soldiers entered the tavern he said.

"Some of you might not be aware but there has recently been a theft of the royal treasury. The thieves made off with more than half of the wealth stored inside before fleeing the city. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with you so let me tell you. The city guard has received a tip that someone has been throwing around money in this establishment and that the money has been coming from a pouch embroidered with the royal seal. We would you ask for your cooperation with identifying this person."

Groaning internally I, along with everyone else in the tavern, look towards Salvation who currently looked to be in a panic. The man in charge naturally notices us all staring at the same person and promptly orders his men to surround her (and me by extension as we're sitting at the same table). When the encirclement is complete the man in charge walks up to Salvation and pulls out a rolled up piece of paper.

"By order of his majesty King Wallach III you are to be thrown into the dungeon for the crime of stealing from the crown. You shall remain there until such a time that your compatriots are caught where upon you will all be sentenced to death."

Wow it really was as cliche as I thought it would be. Why does she look so scared? She'll just respawn if she dies and she can just wait out the time her character is imprisoned in real or even make another character in the mean time.

Salvation starts crying which surprises me

"Mity! It says that my death will be permanent and that I can't log out or play another character during torture. That can't be real right? They can't torture me right? Right!? I mean I didn't even do anything, all I did was find some money!"

Hearing this I'm too shocked to respond and before I can shake myself out of it Salvation is roughly grabbed by two of the guards, her expression shows more pain than one would expect from 1/4 normal. Realizing that if I wanted to help her I needed to act now I called out to the man in charge of the guards.

"Wait! She's innocent! She couldn't have helped rob the treasury she's been here the whole time!"

"Oh? Then why does she have a pouch embroidered with the royal crest full of gold on her person?"

"She found it lying on the ground outside!"

"So she just so happened to find it on the ground and she just so happened to not notice that the pouch had the royal crest on it?"

"We just came to this city today we didn't even know there was a royal family let alone what their crest looked like!"

"You, are you this girl's companion?"

"That's ri-"

"MITY!! Enough don't let them take you in too."

"But you really couldn't have done it, we only came to this city less than 4 hours ago."

"The treasury was robbed 3 1/2 hours ago, so it's extremely likely that she was indeed one of the culprits and seeing as how you just said you came to this city with her you must be one of her companions. There for I must take you to the dungeon as well."

"Mity separated from when we got here, we just met back up an hour ago."

"Can you prove this somehow?"

"I was out hunting in the fields until I came here you can ask anyone who was out there or the gate guards."

"We shall do that, but in the meantime you're going to have to wait with me until we can confirm your story."

Turning towards Salvation he asks "I don't suppose you have an alibi as well?"

"No, I was wondering the back alleys and streets when I found the pouch then I came here but-"

"I see then the sentence stands, take her away!"

"Noooo! Mity! Help me! Please!"

"Wait, please stop! I'll prove her innocence, get your money back, anything!"

"I'm sorry orders are orders, besides everything I've heard so far points towards her guilt. Now then take her away!"

"Mittyyy!"

"Damn it! Sal!!"

I tried running to her but was stopped by the man in charge who pinned me to the ground. Unable to move I could only watch helplessly as she was dragged off by the guards, she couldn't even log out as she had been gagged by one of the guards. It all seemed a bit too dramatic for a game but the message she received and her expression of pain when the guards grabbed her had made me really uneasy about the situation. When all but 2 guards and the guy pinning me remained I was finally released. I wasn't able to run after her because very quickly the remaining guards took control of me and guided me out of the tavern.

We ended up walking for awhile until we got to what I assumed to be the guard barracks due to the high number of armed people training next to it. Entering the barracks I was then ushered into a small room, the office of the man in charge I guessed because he quickly made himself at home behind the desk. I tried asking about the situation but was harshly told to be quiet by one of the 2 guards. After another 15-20 minutes of just sitting there a different guard came into the room, walked up the man in charge and whispered into his ear. He nods slightly then says,

"She's vetted, you men are dismissed."

Saluting him they leave the room, closing the door behind them."

"Now then my name is Knight-Commander Steel, I'm in command of the guards here as you've no doubt guessed. Who are you?"

"...Calamity."

"Not a name that instills trust or confidence in your character I must say."

"..."

"Still I do have a proposition for you that might enable you to save your friend."

Startled by this I cautiously ask.

"Why are you offering this to me now, why offer this before when I pleaded with you?"

"I have my reasons that you do not need to know and shouldn't ask about again if you want to keep the offer."

"And what would this offer entail.

"You finding the group that did this, killing them, and bringing back the money they stole or an equivalent amount back to me."

"I'm not naive enough to think it's that simple, what's the catch."

"Good you're not stupid. The catch is one you will have to pay in order to keep your friend from being tortured until she is eventually killed. Since I do not know or trust you will have to enter a slave pact with me to insure you don't betray me or stray from your task. Also since I don't really care whether your friend is tortured or not you have to remain under my control for as long as desire whether or not you complete your task. If this is not acceptable to you, you may leave now. There will be no second offer."

I hesitate a bit before accepting.

That's quite the catch but she is my friend and I won't abandon her. Besides I can always find a away out from his control or worse comes to worse not play Calamity for awhile.

"I accept."

Special Quest AcceptedYou have accepted a special quest to save your friend.Due to the nature of this quest there is no reward beyond saving your friend.Due to the nature of this quest you are unable to abandon this quest.Due to the nature of this quest you are unable to play another character while you have this quest.Quest Objectives: Eliminate all members of the thief group. Retrieve the stolen money or an equivalent amount (15000 gold).

System WarningYou have agreed to a slave pact with Knight-Commander Steel. While this pact is active you are unable to disobey orders from your master nor are you able to bring harm to him. This pact can only be broken by the death of your master or through his voluntary revoking of the pact. While this pact is active you are unable to delete this character or play as a different character. All wounds punishments or damages dealt by your master are felt at the maximum pain setting.

Oh shit what have I gotten myself into. If I knew it was going to be like this friend or not I wouldn't have accepted his damned offer. I Just royally fucked myself and my only option now is to ride it out until completion.

Steel briefly displays a sinister smile, quick enough that I'm unsure if I imagined it or not, before saying.

"Good, now then I won't help you in anyway beyond using my power to keep your friend from being tortured. However I will only do so for two months as any longer would not benefit me. That is your time limit I suggest you get started. Oh wait, I'll give you one freebee. The group that robbed the treasury is Unquenchable, quite notorious I assure you. Now get out of my barracks, now!"

Unable to control myself I get out of his office as quickly as I can, not stopping until I'm far away from the barracks. Resolving myself to the shit I just got myself into I head towards main street. I need to prepare.

Author's Note

That's the end of this chapter, took me awhile to write it as I was struggling a bit with how I wanted things to go. Still I managed to finish it and I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. Leave any critiques, suggestions, tips, tricks and hat flips in a comment below or message me if you're not comfortable. If anyone feels comfortable with the idea and thinks my story is far enough along to do so I would appreciate a review of my story (good or bad).

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

Ren Waya