It was a quiet night in the office of the richest man alive. It seemed that his poor reputation among the common people had been carried over to the post-pillar world along with whatever curse made the media report his every action as malicious. Him ordering the death valley village to be taken hostage certainly didn’t help his reputation with anyone sympathetic to the villagers, but the fact that his most elite knights were taken out and the hostages already escaped angered the part of the population that didn’t care about his actions as long as they made the guild look strong.
“Sir! We’ve got news back from the asian sub-branch.” An employee rushed into the pitch dark office holding a letter that replied to the billionaire’s request for more reincarnators. The west was in constant battle thanks to the many guilds fighting each other for more market share of the adventuring business, or with the communists who barely managed to get past each other’s differences just so guilds don’t steal all the adventurers and instate whatever corporate dystopia they want. That meant every reincarnator from America and Europe was busy, so they didn’t have anyone to make the people who cleared the hardest dungeon fall in line and join the golden guild.
“Give it.” The employee quickly shoved the letter in the billionaire’s hands and tried to leave before the billionaire pulled him right back. “No. You’re gonna send them my response.” The letter was very simple. It was only six words long, and those words were ‘No, we have our own problems.’. “What?! Do they think they can just… refuse?! These arrogant pricks. I swear, once we stamp everyone else out we’re gonna march on these Asians and set better terms. Tell them they don’t have the option of saying no, and contact the king of the world as soon as you can, ok?” The employee nodded quickly before running off. The billionaire just rubbed his forehead as he thought of what he could do to stay in the game without just asking the king of the world to go force the people who cleared the dungeon to join by force.
“So… what now?” Christian asked as we walked through the nearest town to death valley. We weren’t about to stay there after everything that happened. I still had a very clear goal in mind, but I couldn’t actually tell everyone I wanted to get my cat back from the king of the world because Sam was here. That annoying little rat was my main obstacle at the moment.
“We should help take down the anti-guild adventurers.” Sam said.
“What adventurers?” I said back.
“You know what I’m talking about. These ‘communists’ or whatever they’re called. Why do you people feel like creating new ideologies when we already know the best one?” The last thing I wanted to get involved in was politics. The only acceptable time where you could be interested in politics is if you were insane, because insane people are the only people that write intriguing political manifestos.
“Look, we really don’t need to be toppling governments right now. Especially not toppling them so we can put a worthless king on top.” Said Anna, much to Sam’s chagrin.
“What’s the problem with monarchies? The masses clearly don’t know who to put into power.” Seriously? A debate on monarchism? This was not only boring but also brain melting. You had to either be unbelievably submissive or incredibly stupid to not actually want to have a say in things.
“So we should let inbred people decide what gets done?” Anna said before Sam scoffed.
“Incest is a passtime only enjoyed by a few royal families.” Hold on, what?! That was possibly the most insane statement I have ever heard.
“Why are you talking about it so casually?! It’s incest for fucks sake! There should be NO royal families who do it.” Anna said. Even Christian was weirded out by Sam.
“Why’re you so weirded out? Haven’t you met someone into that type of–” I slammed him into the ground before he finished.
“No. We come from a normal world, unlike you.” I get up, already tired from Sam’s stupidity. “Anyone else have any ideas?” After several moments of silence, I realised me and the nano-chatte probably had to improvise a plan. “Really? Fine, I’ll come up with something. We should–” I was cut off as a tophat wearing man in a red and black suit interrupted me while approaching us.
“Salutations young adventurers!” There was literally no way he just said ‘salutations’. He couldn’t look sleezier if he tried. “I just so happened to notice your little quarrel there, and I’ve diagnosed your party’s problem with a simple glance.” My expectations couldn’t get any lower at this point. I’ll automatically know he’s lying if he doesn’t say purposelessness.
“Spit it out.” I said as plainly as possible.
“Why the hostility, young man? Is it perhaps related to the massive gender imbalance in your group.” Remember how I said they couldn’t get any lower? Well, I lied.
“What?” I said with a raised eyebrow. What did I do to deserve not only one statement that left me utterly confused, but two in only one day.
“You heard me. You have a critical absence of new world girls in your party. New world girls I just so happen to be selling.” Why?! Did I anger god or– Oh, yea, I did.
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“Mhm, yea, sure, I’m going to get back to you on that.” I start walking away before he pulls me right back. “Oh for fucks sake, what do you actually want?”
“I’m just a humble merchant looking to solve your team dynamics.” Christian yanked me back after seeing my clear disinterest. “Oh come on. Do none of you want someone who will listen to you no matter what?”
“No. Slavery is wrong. That’s just a fact.” I said.
“Hold on now, are all of you going to follow his orders? Liberate yourselves a little.” I fully expected Sam to say something.
“Well… I would like a–” See! I had to interrupt Sam before he could do anymore damage.
“Nobody wants to hear your opinion right now Sam.” The salesman saw his opportunity and ignored my glare.
“Now now, this all sounds like over controlling behaviour to me. Why don’t you let the boy make his own decisions?” I had to enforce morals by myself if the law didn't exist anymore.
“I swear to god Sam, I will literally become John Brown if you buy a slave.” I said, to no reaction from Sam.
“Who’s John Brown?” I stood there and sighed. Of course he wouldn’t know anything about our world.
“Are you suggesting you’d burn down my establishment? You’re so high and mighty about not buying people and then threatening to do something so heinous?”
“You know what? Fuck it. You guys down for some arson?” The salesman’s face dropped as soon as I said that.
“Hell yea! Sign me up.” Anna said immediately.
“More loot for me.” Christian said, following up Anna’s response.
“N-Now hold on–” It was very clear this wasn’t what he expected to happen. His business probably thrived after every incel that got off their ass because real life turned into a game bought several girls from another world. He probably expected us to not be an exception to the rule, and especially not to literally burn his store down. I grabbed him by the wrist and made the nano-chatte put a splitter of metal in every possible area it could as a message.
“Take us there.” He began shaking as he looked down and began trying to take the splinters off one by one. “I’ll fix your wrist for you if you do.” The salesman gulped and began walking in a certain direction. We just followed him in silence. I was just thinking about what Sam could possibly be thinking. He’s probably a lot weaker mentally, so the seed the salesman planted in his head will probably make him leave this party at the first opportunity he gets. Maybe I should be a little kinder so he doesn’t.
“H-Here.” He pointed over to the second floor of a three story building… dammit. A normal apartment was on the third floor, and a perfectly innocent weapon shop. It would be immoral to burn the place down after evacuating it.
“Alright gang, arson is off the table. We’re just gonna rob him blind and give each person there enough money to start their lives over.” I grabbed the salesman’s wrist again and took out all the splinters before entering the shop. The windowless room was lit up with torch after torch as we looked at the bountiful amount of cages with several types of demi-humans in them.
“Jesus. They’re treating these people like animals!” Said Christian before walking up to one of the cages and ripping off the door. The cat-girls inside just looked up to him with a tired expression. “Oi! Wake up. You’re free.” While he did that, I took Sam with me to the cash register and saw Anna go to the backroom to free whoever’s in there.
“Is it really fine to just… rob someone?” Said Sam. I, in my infinite mercy, decided to be gentler with him.
“It’s not a robbery if you’re giving the money away. We’re just… redistributing the money. The rich don’t need it.” I said, to which Sam nodded hesitantly. It was utterly baffling to see a man who argued fervently for a monarchy tentatively agree that stealing from the rich and giving to the poor was good. He probably just argued for it because he had to live in a world fully influenced by the Revifier. I mean, I would probably go morally insane too if I was stuck in a generic fantasy lit-rpg.
“Ian! Come here right now!” I slowly got up after Anna screamed at me.
“Give the demi-humans money while I’m gone, alright Sam?” Sam nodded again after I said that, and I quickly went to the backroom. I walked past several demi-humans talking to each other and made it deeper and deeper into the backroom until I saw Anna in front of a door.
“Look at the plaque. What do we do with this one?” It read ‘Demon Princess. Caution: Is only to be used as a show off piece. Not to be freed under any circumstances. Being threatened into doing it is still a circumstance, and thus not allowed.’
“I think we should free her anyway.” Anna chuckled at my response and opened the door.