Chapter 044 - Responsibility

Anna wasn’t sure how long it took for her to beat through his defenses. He didn’t put up much of a fight, which she found to be kinda weird, but to be honest she couldn’t muster up the desire to care. Pummeling his nearly indestructible skull until it had flattened completely under her knuckles had been… satisfying. She panted as she sat up, it was a good taste of what she was hoping for when she finished off the skeletal champion. 

“Your health and stamina are probably low after that,” Catherine said calmly from a spot somewhere behind her.

Anna wiped her lip, “Yeah,” she grunted and rose to her feet.

“Anna,” Catherine began and Anna held up a hand to silence her.

“I get that we’re chummy, Catherine,” she said. “I…” she made a face, “I trust you. But this is who I am,” she said and turned to face her, wiping the bone dust off her knuckles. “Being like this kept me alive before I met you and it’s not something that I hate about myself. I thought it was my heritage at first but, nope,” she turned and gave the corpse a swift kick to loot it. “It’s just me.”

Catherine met her gaze before closing her eyes and nodding. “I will remember that, My Lady.”

You have received: 7 Iron Coins and 282 Essence Points

Nice lump sum of essence for killin’ something with such a big level gap, obviously no dungeon bonus or anything like that so I guess I’ll live with it. Still not a whole lot in the long term but it’s something, she thought before glancing at the coins earned. “Not a lot of coin on this guy.”

“He probably was not carrying it with him,”  Catherine said absently and knelt down to pick up the whip. “The flames were a spell, I see,” she said thoughtfully. “Do you want this?”

Anna glanced at it, “No, do you?”

“Not really, not my thing,” Catherine said flatly and tossed it into her oversized inventory.

Anna stared at the powder on the ground where the guy had been. It hadn’t really hit her until just then that he was an intelligent life form, a sapient being that she’d killed. She had been thinking about it now and then, how she’d feel when she did it. She expected it would happen, she fully intended to kill Hale and Chloe. This wasn’t the old world anymore and she had a feeling that brutal grudges like hers were the norm. She took a breath and waited to feel something but she just felt… satisfied and confused. “Why was he so weak? He was level ten.”

“He could not see you for the beginning of the fight and he was an ordinary man, if a bit trumped up,” Catherine said without batting an eye. “You have a powerhouse title, I imagine.”

Anna turned to look at her and Catherine just shrugged as if it was obvious. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said thoughtfully. “Levels don’t mean jack if you don’t have the stats to go with them. Titles go a long way, that and a good class.”

“A good assessment, if simplistic,” Catherine agreed. “Which is why we should reap the benefits here and return so you can get your profession and the stat points that come with it. Not every humanoid will be easy prey like him.”

Anna nodded, “Right, I-”

Something hissed behind them and she turned to the Gazer Pylon, the black metal that made it up was shuddering, its material bending and warping. After a moment it simply toppled into itself, the eyeball above it winking out of existence. It collapsed into a pile of rubble, hissing and steaming as the scent of ozone and burned sugar radiated off of it. Anna wrinkled her nose and pulled back before glancing at Catherine. “Yeah, we shouldn’t linger. Shame about that guys house though, bet he had some good stuff.”

“If anything just some coin,” Catherine shrugged. 

The two of them heard something move nearby and turned, spotting the large building that made up the bulk of the strange structure. It stretched across one side of the overall platform with a single door set into the middle. There, peeking out from behind the door, were two people with terrified looks in their sunken eyes. Catherine shifted on her feet. “You’ll need to address that,” she said.

“Me?” Anna said with a dismissive wave, “They aren’t my problem.”

“You killed their captor and have nowhere to go,” Catherine pointed out. “By definition they are your responsibility.”

“Says who?” Anna demanded.

Catherine stared at her and Anna opened her mouth to retort, she closed it and ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at the people still staring at her and then back at Catherine before lowering her voice. “Look, I can deal with you, but regular people? No fuckin’ way. I hate people, Catherine. The only reason I’m so good at that trick for hiding my presence is because I liked keeping my head down at school. I don’t want to talk to them.”

The knight raised her eyebrows and glanced towards the people again before crossing her arms. “Well… we may have to take them in, Anna. They have nowhere to go and, I hate to put it this way, but we could use more hands. Besides, don’t you want to be a ruler?”

Anna raised a finger to argue again before lowering the finger and shaking her fist. “Fuck I hate it when you’re right about shit,” she hissed. “But I’m not here to help these people. I’m here to take advantage of the garden, do some power leveling, and work toward getting my two levels in to hit the bonus condition for my main quest. That’s it.” She stood up straighter and shrugged. “Besides, why would they even come with us?”

“Their other option is freezing to death,” Catherine said before pausing and adding, “Or starving, or dying after the shuffle, or dying to the feral undead that come out of the garden after we leave since the overseer is not here to control them.”

Anna groaned, “Fine! We’ll take them in. But I take no responsibility for guiding them like some benevolent whatever,” she said with a growl. “If they want to stick around in my precinct then they’ll work for it. They’ll have to hunt in the dungeon too, I can give you access, I think.” She frowned, she’d have to double check to see if that weird notification had been not just some kind of hallucination. “E-either way,” she coughed, “We don’t have the resources to make things comfortable.”

Catherine nodded. “Very well, My Lady. Then that is how it will be.”

Anna lowered her hand. “You’re not gonna… argue for better treatment for them?”

Catherine shrugged. “I’m not a paladin anymore, My Lady. I am the knight in the service of a self-proclaimed Tyrant. Your law is my law. If that is how it is, that is how it is. I think you are showing more kindness than you suspect.”

Anna paused and made a flat face, squinting at her. She thought back to their fight and what had been said and let out a sigh. “You respond better to direct orders, don’t you?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“I should be more direct, shouldn’t I?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“You’re also indirectly making fun of me.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Anna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, tapping her foot and glancing towards the people again. “Alright, suggestions as to how to handle them?”

Catherine nodded. “Actually, yes, if you will allow me to speak for you. All you have to do is sit down and do what you do best.”

“And what’s that?”

“Look angry, and hope the system’s laws haven’t changed much since I died,” Catherine said and turned to walk towards the building where the people were hiding.

A few minutes later, Anna was standing in front of a group of people far larger than she had initially anticipated. There were twelve of them in all, all kneeling with their heads pressed to the ground. She crossed her arms and kept her chin up, glaring down at them as Catherine had suggested while otherwise remaining silent. Catherine stood just ahead of her and to the side. She had planted her sword in the ground as the people shifted uncomfortably on the cold ground.

“Who among you would be the leader?” Catherine demanded. “Speak!”

A young man rose to his feet, he looked like he was around Anna’s age. One side of his face was covered in wicked burns that twisted his features. The other half looked almost pretty with his brown hair and ruddy green eyes. He had a slight flare to the tip of his ears and his eyes burned with barely restrained fury. She identified him.

Fairwind Dulin Male (Contracted Slave) - Level 5

“I am,” he said and none of the others argued.

“Name?” Catherine demanded.

“Beval, no family name,” he said.

“How were you contracted?” Catherine continued.

“The Fairwind Colony was raided by the Undead Empire,” he said. Anna raised an eyebrow, Huh, Catherine was right, people really do call it that, lame. She thought and shifted on her feet, staring him down. She let her presence leak out when he met her gaze as Catherine had suggested beforehand and he averted it immediately. “We asked to serve or die and become thralls. There are three others with me from the Colony, we-”

“I asked how you were contracted, that is all,” Catherine said flatly and tilted her chin up. “Do not presume to tug at my liege’s heartstrings with some sob story.”

Beval glanced towards Anna again and she let her presence leak out once more. He swallowed hard and bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

Shit, that really works, Anna thought and glanced at Catherine who didn’t show a hint of satisfaction from the interaction, sticking hard to her role. Anna held her pose and allowed Catherine to take the lead.

“You are slaves of the Grand Necropolis. Your direct observer has been slain by my Liege in single combat. By right of the System’s bylaws, she has the right to claim your contracts as her own,” Catherine declared and to Anna’s surprise she got a notification.

<System Alert!>

A number of slave contracts are available to be claimed by you. These contracts may be claimed in accordance to official System Authority bylaws. Should you claim them, all rights will be transferred to you and new copies of the original contract will be delivered to your inventory.

Do you accept? Yes / No

This is what Catherine was talking about when she said to hope that the rules were the same, Anna thought. Catherine glanced her way and she gave her a slight nod of confirmation and Catherine turned back to them. She was about to accept the transfer when Catherine raised hand to them. “My liege is not without mercy. She may be willing to accept your contracts and take you in under her umbrella,” she lowered her hand with a growl. “However, her protection is not free. You will be expected to work, you will be expected to contribute, and you may very well be expected to fight.”

“So trade one unforgiving master for another,” Beval said flatly.

Catherine grabbed the handle of her sword, “Do not disparage my liege,” she snarled. “You will find far more comfort beneath her than in the thrall of the Grand Necropolis. Based on your level, the ones holding your contract now restrict your ability to refine and gather essence.”

Anna kept her head still even though she wanted to whip her head towards Catherine. You can do that to someone? Holy shit that’s fucked up, what the hell?

“My Liege may be willing to rescind that restriction,” Catherine continued.

Well duh, of course I would. A, that shit is fucked up. B, why wouldn’t I want them to level up? They’d be useless later. What kind of moron doesn’t want their workforce to level up? Especially if they're enslaved or whatever. I can get controlling an unrestrained populace but this seems short sighted to me, she thought before noting that all eyes were on her. She just nodded again, sticking to the brooding look.

They looked among themselves with some small amount of hope in their eyes, smiling and talking briefly. Beval set his jaw and crossed his arms even as his eyes sparkled a little. “You want more than us as workers, though, what else do you want?” he demanded.

“Smart boy,” Catherine said with a nod before pointing at the garden. “My Liege and I desire to use the garden of bones for training purposes. You need only explain to us how it works.”

Beval hesitated before glancing at the others. Anna spotted the old man who she’d kind of traumatized back in the storage building and met his eyes. He swallowed hard before looking up at Beval and saying something. Beval turned to look at her for a moment before nodding. “We accept, if you will have us.”

Anna forced herself not to look to Catherine for the go ahead and instead glanced at the notification still hanging in her vision. Now that she was thinking about it, this was basically stealing a workforce from that bony bastard, which was something she could definitely get behind. With a single thought she accepted the notification and it vanished.

<System Alert!>

Processing. Transfer complete. Twelve contracts have been added to your inventory. Authority Detected! Additional options have been made available for interacting with the contracts.

She opened her inventory and saw a single slot filled with twelve items. Her stomach churned just a little bit. She was comfortable with calling herself a tyrant but now that they were in her hands it felt a little gross to her. She pushed the feeling aside as Beval joined the others in pressing their heads to the ground in surrender. She tilted her chin up but kept her mouth shut, she really didn’t want to say something to fuck up what Catherine had managed.

“You have been accepted by my Liege,” Catherine declared and held out a hand. “Go and gather what little you possess and we will take you to our base of operations. You, Beval, you will return here with us to explain the use of the Garden of Bones.”

He raised his head as the others got to their feet and hurried towards the third building that sat just past the storage building. It must be where they were normally kept. “I understand,” he said with a nod before moving to follow his fellows.

Anna glanced at Catherine as her knight walked over and lowered her voice. “I feel gross taking slaves,” she said.

“Once things have settled you can tear up the contracts,” Catherine said quietly. “I would wait, though. Several of them have clearly lived like this for a long time, they may struggle with freedom and do something foolish. For their sake, endure and ease them into as normal a life as you can provide.”

Anna frowned. “Is that really the best I can do? I know I said I wasn’t responsible for them but, to be honest, I just didn’t want to be. Now I am.”

Her knight eyed her but said nothing for a moment before looking towards the destitute people as they wandered back in their direction. “Until you are much stronger? Yes.”

Anna pushed the queasiness down and set her nerve. “Fine, then I’ll be patient.”

Catherine pointed her sword towards the snowfields and with a sharp order, they began the long trek back to the Precinct.