With those words, I stopped hiding and headed straight for the main gate of the village. The gremlins who met me were impressed by my aura, but they blocked my way into the village nonetheless.
“Who are you?” - Asked me the frail body that served as gate-keeper.
“Tremble mortals! I am the great and terrible Cheater. I have destroyed the Seed of Evil and unleashed the Dark Powers. I come to you to speak on behalf of the Dark Lord! Take me to your leader.”
“On behalf of the Dark Lord?” - The guard's knees trembled and his partner fainted. – “Oh, no, not again!”
“You dare defy the will of the Dark Lord?” - I frowned.
“No, I dare not. I dare not. Please, oh great and terrible Cheater, come. The chief of our tribe is already waiting for you.”
The gremlin immediately ran forward, shouting loudly, 'The Dark Lord's messenger is here! Following him, I reached the hut I already knew, where the chief of the tribe lived.
“Are you a messenger of the Dark Lord?” - The chief who got out asked me.
“I speak on his behalf.” - I explained my position. I mean, I consider myself as the Dark Lord, so, I talk on my own behalf. – “Rejoice, your lord has been released!”
“Oh, what a sorrow.” - The gremlin disobeyed my direct command, refusing to rejoice.
“The dark forces are already upon this world! And you must accept the will of the Dark Lord and prepare for the coming Battle of the Harvest!”
“A battle of the harvest?” - The gremlin fell into a stupor. He looked around helplessly, but none of his tribesmen could tell him what kind of battle it was.
“The Star Forest is groaning under the tyrannical heel of the Light Forces. Trees are mercilessly uprooted, herbs mercilessly cultivated in fields, and then heartlessly harvested by the slaves of the Earth Adepts. This violence against nature must be stopped immediately. Hear the first command of the Dark Lord. You must attack the Star Forest and plant it with polar cactus. Do not leave an inch of your homeland in the hands of the enemy! By denying the mages access to the rare and precious herbs of the Star Forest, we will weaken them, and that will be the first step to conquering this world!”
Gremlin sighed heavily, and resigned himself to his fate.
“Good. In three hours we're going on a battle march!” - He shouted, and the tribesmen cheered him on. – “Sharpen your weapons, gather as much polar cactus seed as you can, and ask the Ice Trolls for help. The will of the Dark Lord must be fulfilled.”
“And spread the word. Tell everyone that you will go marching today.” - I have given further instructions.
The Gremlins rushed off in different directions, hustling and shouting different slogans. I noticed that there were footprints in the snow next to me, which most likely belonged to the Assassin of our group. Looks like the first part of my plan was complete. Now, it was time to move on to the second part.
I turned around and headed away from the camp. But as soon as I was out of the gate, I put invisibility on myself and jumped onto a nearby rock, free of snow. After observing the surroundings, I made sure that the Assassin had lost my trail and went off in the direction of the five freeloaders, waiting inexplicably for something to happen. I returned to the village, snuck into the chief's hut, where I dropped my invisibility.
“Cheater!” - The gremlin jumped up when he saw me in front of him.
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“Quiet! No one must know of my presence here.”
“Of course, O messenger of the Dark Powers. I obey your will.” - He trembled. Apparently, my Massacre God Aura is working on the NPC, making them more compliant.
“Do you know what would happen if you had to attack the Star Forest?” - I asked a provocative question.
“Yes, all of us will be exterminated.” - The gremlin gave an unexpectedly sensible version.
“Exactly! So you must prepare a trap, lure your enemies into it, and then destroy them all in one blow.”
“Destroy them? But we...”
“Don't tell me that your tribe survived these mountains by relying only on brute force? You must have some secret ways of killing crowds of opponents.”
“Yes, there are.” - The artificial intelligence controlling the game agreed with me. As I suspected, if you logically justify some circumstances, the game will automatically adjust the world to this picture. Although it was a game, the 'role-playing' part of it was quite advanced, so that the players had no doubts about the reality of this world.
“Now, listen to the Dark Lord's real orders. You must pretend to attack the Star Forest. After the players try to stop you, your warriors must run away, trap your enemies, and destroy them all. After that, you can attack the Forest for real and plant polar cactus, thereby making the Forest part of your lands.”
From the description of the plants that I had reviewed before I took my druid exam, I knew that this cactus was called a polar cactus not because it grows in the north, but because the temperatures near it decrease. So, if you plant the forest with cactus, it should have turned into a 'winter' location.
“And by the way, do you have a Polar Cactus seed?” - I asked suspiciously.
“Yes, I do, as if I didn't.” - Immediately the gremlin nodded.
“Then give me one. I'll take part in the capture of the forest, too.”
The Gremlin sighed, and then gave me a pretty rare seed of Polar Cactus. This plant couldn't attack, but its bushes were an excellent obstacle for enemies. Some players used it to split a crowd of enemies apart or temporarily block them. I think I could use such an opportunity.
After the gremlin chief assured me that he would carry out my plan, I put on my invisibility again and headed out beyond the boundaries of the village. Five minutes later I found the cheerful company of my companions eavesdropping on the conversation of several gremlins discussing the coming war.
“So, is the mission accomplished?” - I asked cheerfully.
“Yes, thank you, Cheater.” - Destroyer smiled. – “The Gremlins are going to attack the Star Forest. As soon as I heard that, the mission immediately changed. Now I have to report it to Ninja Master.”
“Then, let's go!” - I shouted as I led the procession.
My assignment was also changed to reporting on the upcoming war. When we came down from the mountains, we walked through the forest and reached the grassland marked on the map. There an impatient NPC was already waiting for us.
“Well, what did you find out?” - He asked a question as soon as he saw our company.
“The Gremlins are going to attack the Star Forest.” - One of the warriors burst out.
“What?! How dare they? I need to report this to the guild right away.”
“So, our mission is complete and we can be Ninjas?” - Destroyer asked hopefully.
“You have learned valuable information.” - Secret Penetration nodded. – “But five of you broke my recommendation. Instead of sneaking into the enemy's lair one by one, you banded together and marched forward, killing all enemies in your path. You don't deserve to be Ninja. Only two of you will be able to complete the next task. The rest of you must return to Crab City.”
“What!!!” - The magician shouted. – “Cheater! This is all your fault! You suggested us to band together.” - He found the guilty one.
“Who knew that would happen? Anyway, I knew this would happen. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“You!”
But before my former allies could attack me, I hid under the invisibility and jumped aside.
“Enough! If you attack your former allies, you can forget about being a Ninja at all.” - The NPC spoke sternly to them.
After that, the five losers headed away, muttering angrily to themselves.
“You two, come over here.” - The Assassin and I approached the NPC. – “Your final task will be to support our army. In two hours the gremlins will be attacking the forest. By this time, there will be an army of Guardians waiting for them. You will have to secretly follow them and watch the battle. Also, you must kill five gremlins each. At the end of the battle, find me at the Scout Camp and tell me what you saw. Now, go and get ready.”
With that advice, I hid under the invisibility again and ran away. The assassin looked after me, but decided not to pursue, but to move on his own. It was already an individual task, so there was no point in doing it together.
I went to the Polar Mountain again, and found a group of ordinary gremlins there, through whom I passed information about the planned attack and a demand to send me five gremlins 'to slaughter', so that I could complete my task.