Rika hastily led Leon toward an outer part of the city. The dense buildings now become large houses with spacious plots of land.
"Farm boy... You trust me right?"
"Yeah why? Is this about Valeria or is this why you've been looking guilty?"
"I'm losing my edge if a farm boy can tell something like that."
"So what is this favor you need that's been eating you up?"
She thought for a moment.
"I was going to tell you. Give you a chance to back out. But consider your new vampire friend. I'm not saying."
This girl is actually being bratty while asking me for a favor?!
"... So uhh, why aren't you telling me anymore?"
"You said you trusted me, so trust me."
"Can I get a hint?"
"Nope."
Is she upset? Is she jealous? I can not figure this girl out
"We're here"
They stood before an ornate manor. A carved stone fence surrounded the perimeter, tall enough that only the upper floors of the house were visible beyond it. A heavy metal gate loomed over the road, marking the only way through. Inside the grounds, carefully kept flower beds lined the path, and a circular carriageway curved gracefully toward the manor's front doors.
"Wow! This place looks fancy! You live here?"
"Nope."
She pushed the gate open and led him onto the property before closing the gates behind her. Then Rika continued to drag him along as she rushed towards the front doors.
"So then why are we here? Or can you still not tell me?"
Inside the mansion was completely empty. The candles were all out but wisps of smoke still came from them. The place was clearly still well kept. Whoever was here must have only just left.
Rika kept leading him deeper into the manor. He knew she wasn't going to answer so he just kept following her. She led into the basement, still holding his hand as they descended . Eventually he heard the voices of two women arguing amongst themselves.
"We have no choice. Even if she's against it, the King will kill us if he finds out."
"You can't force her. Don't doubt my cousins will, she has already lasted this long. Just focus on finding a way to save her!"
"I'm checking all the books! This isn't something people just regularly do, you know."
Rika and Leon entered the room. 3 women in the room, all of which were freshly injured like Rika. They were her hunting party; 'Rose Thorns'. The 1st voice belonged to a short woman in glass and a wizard hat, scanning through books at a table. The 2nd belonged to a blonde in knight's armor. Lastly, the 3rd was wearing vines and leaves. She was druid and wasn't taking part in the fight
"I'm back. And I brought along a farm boy"
"See! Rika is using her head, sacrifices need to be made."
Sacrifices? Wait did Rika bring me here because she figured I could survive whatever it is they are fighting about? This cheeky brat!
The female knight, eyes burning with a silent rage, walked up to Rika and looked down at her
"I know you and Cersei have always had your issues with men, BUT that doesn't make it ok to sacrifice them. I don't know what issues you've had with him..."
"Woah woah calm down! I'm not heartless. Farm boy here is actually a hunter. His name is Leon and I met him this morning. I paid for him to join the guild and saw him roll his stats. He is completely useless but his vitality is at least that of a dragon."
"At least?"
"I had to leave for the raid but he rolled a 20 for vitality. With the rest of his stats being trash, he needed a 32 to pass."
The female knight looked at him.
"Well yeah...."
Do I tell them I have a 100 in vitality? I doubt Rika wouldn't tell them if I told her. And she'll definitely ask me at some point. Plus she did watch as I fed a vampire. No point in hiding it from this group.
"I have a 100 in vitality. However, even that was unconfirmed since there weren't any large dice."
The room went silent. It was only at this moment it started to occur to him how much 100 could actually be.
90 is half way to 100
A common saying among MMOs. Used to give a better visualization of the difference in experience. Rika had already explained to him that the gap between each level grew larger. What would the true value of his vitality be if translated to a linear scale?
"So umm yeah... I'm sure I'll be able to help your friend..."
The air hung heavily. Shock. Disbelief. Doubt. He had claimed the impossible.
Rika was the first to regain her composure and break deafening silence.
"He's not lying. So let's just..."
"You're kidding, right?"
"There's no way you believe that!"
"Rika! Now's not the time for this!"
The druid, mage and knight had all called out such an impossibility. Cutting off Rika as they spoke one after another.
"Hey. I literally saw him roll a 20. When I got back to look for him, I watched him feed a vampire! She also followed us here and is waiting outside but that's later. Maybe he's insane or misread the dice but he's not lying."
Hold up, Valerie followed us? I know Rika called her out on it but I didn't notice a thing.
Meanwhile the 3 girls stared. They know Rika was trained to read lies. They also knew a vampire could drink a human dry in a minute. Yet even so.
"So uhh Rika, now what?"
"We'll let these 3 calm down. In the meantime, I'm going to chain you to a chair and blindfold you."
"...huh?"