Vivian walked in the middle of the party, obediently following along. Another Lost One screeched and darted at them, and Kors leaped forward to intercept it. Subtly, Vivian leaned forward, watching the man’s every move. Green light glowed around his limbs, and Kors charged at the Lost One. His sword slashed through the ghostly boy, and with a scream and a spray of green blood, the Lost One fell.

Kors sheathed his sword. “That’s nine.”

Vivian grit his teeth silently. Dammit, don’t clear the quest so fast! It’s barely even past noon, and I have to wait until tomorrow or else risk my Checkpoint! I don’t want to lose ten levels!

Though, on the other hand… I think I have a grasp on Kors’ weakness now.

“No sign of the kid yet. Think he left the Garden?” Lewis asked.

Renee shook her head. “We’d get the ‘Party Member has Left Quest Area’ message if he did. He’s still in here somewhere.”

“He might be using the safe room trick to avoid us,” Kors said, yawning. He stretched.

Lewis snorted. “Simple enough. Have someone wait in the clearing, and we’ll catch him real quick.”

Kors glanced over at Vivian. “Did you teach him any other tricks?”

“Not really,” Vivian said, shaking his head. I mean, life advice, sure. Tricks? No.

In the distance, a blast of fire lit the hedges. Vivian whirled around. “Hey! I said no fire!”

[Quest Complete] Anything For a Rose

Reward granted!

Kors snorted. “He’s a smart kid.”

“Not smart enough,” Renee muttered back.

Anger of the Lost

Your nonstop slaughter of Lost Ones has angered the Lady. Defeat her or flee the Garden!

Kors yawned. He looked at Vivian, then nodded. “He’s nearby. You stay here and get him to hand the rose over. Act as usual, like you’re the NPC he recruited. We’ll be right around the corner. Once he hands over the rose, we’ll leave together.”

Vivian scowled. “What am I, bait? I don’t want to face the Lady, either.”

“Party Leader’s orders,” Kors said, gesturing for the others to follow.

Lewis gave Vivian a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You’ve got this.”

Renee tossed her hair and followed Kors, bells jangling. She glanced at Lewis. “There’s no point encouraging the NPC. He isn’t a real person.”

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“It can’t hurt,” Lewis said, shrugging. He followed her around the corner.

Still scowling, Vivian put his hands on his hips. As soon as Kors vanished around the corner, though, his scowl morphed into a grin.

The opening I’ve been waiting for.

He closed his eyes, taking a moment to locate everyone. Noah’s coming at me. The three assholes are behind me, just far enough around the corner to jump us the second Noah hands the rose over. After all, they either have to persuade Noah into handing it over, or kill him so he drops it. It’s apparently frowned upon to Player Kill nowadays, so tricking him into handing it over is the first step. If that fails… well, then they’ll probably torture him, and failing that, kill him and pick up the drop. Escalate one step at a time to avoid wanton murder, huh? These mobsters are surprisingly reasonable people.

Vivian put a hand on his chin. The cynical answer is that they don’t want to lose their enchanter money tree… but you know what? I’m going to believe in humanity for one single moment.

The point is, I have Noah to myself for ten seconds. That’s more than long enough for what I have in mind.

Right now, my primary objective is getting Noah out of here alive. Once the kid’s out of the equation, I can take on the rest of the party on my own time, on my own terms. Then the kid heals his mom, heads back in, we grind a few levels, and I’ve got my level ten Mage! Together, we take on the Ruined Castle, see that Rankings board, and then, I dunno, I guess we beat Floor One together.

Vivian nodded to himself. “The perfect plan.”

Noah ran around the corner, panting hard. He looked up and startled. “Vivian? You survived? Did you beat them?”

Silently, Vivian gestured Noah over. Noah walked closer, confused. “What is it? We need to run. The Lady of the Lost is coming.”

Vivian drew his clippers and led Noah over to the nearest wall. Leaning in, he whispered, “The party is just around the corner. You need to get out of here. I’m going to cut a hole in this hedge. Sprint for the hills, take every left turn, got it? Outside of the Garden, there’s a narrow path through the woods. It’s called the Mages’ Highway. It’s a bit high level for you, but—”

“I know, I’ve heard about it,” Noah whispered back.

“Right. Grab a few levels while you’re at it. Go heal your mom, head back into the Tower, and wait for me by the barber shop in the Starter Town,” Vivian muttered. He knelt and operated the clippers, cutting a hole in the lower parts of the yew and rose vines.

“What about Kors and the others?” Noah asked.

Vivian snorted. “I’ll take care of them.”

Noah’s jaw worked. He squinted at Vivian.

“If you don’t wanna know, don’t ask.” Vivian shoved Noah toward the hole. “Go on. Scurry on out. I’ve got this.”

Kors charged out from behind the hedge. “Vivian!”

Vivian pushed Noah through the hole and stood, beaming. “Hey! What’s up?”

Kors scowled at him. “You—how… why—”

“Uh, because… fuck you?” Vivian said.

Failure. You’ve left the Party. Level -2. Gold -5.

Oh, whatever. I was going to lose those Gold anyways. Besides, five Gold? I don’t take a shit for less than ten!

Steaming, Kors yanked his sword out. “You die.”

“No, you,” Vivian retorted. He put the clippers away and drew out the rake. Taking a deep breath, he held it out at an angle, narrowing his eyes at Kors. Come at me. I’m ready.

Kors’ chest heaved, face twisted in fury. Behind him, Lewis and Renee stepped out from around the corner. Lewis gave him a disappointed frown, and Renee sighed deeply, shaking her head.

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry it up,” Renee said, adjusting her bandoliers and bells.

“Too bad. I liked him,” Lewis said. “Why did he do that, do you think? Does he have some kind of long-term loyalty scripting, or something? So much scripting for a Gardener…”

Renee rolled her eyes. “No one cares, Lewis.”

“You little piece of shit NPC,” Kors snarled. Green light glowed around his limbs.

Yes. Yes! Go for it! Vivian cheered silently. He subtly adjusted his rake, positioning the steel tines just right.