“I didn’t! I’m not! I don’t know!”
When Mo Tan was pressed to the ground by the swarming crowd, he was completely bewildered. Putting aside reality, he hadn’t done anything outrageous in the game, had he? Even if he had… it definitely had nothing to do with this character, right?!
So, could someone please explain what exactly was going on?
A few seconds later, the female receptionist who had processed Mo Tan’s paperwork a while ago walked gracefully from the other side of the hall. Like a little delinquent, she half-squatted in front of him, glaring at him with gritted teeth: “I finally waited for you.”
“Um…” Mo Tan was pressed to the ground by a tall Ogre adventurer, rubbing against the smooth marble, and said helplessly, “I think there must be some misunderstanding.”
Indeed, such a scene of being ganged up on by a crowd should absolutely not have happened to him, or at least it was highly unlikely to happen to the ‘current’ Mo Tan. After all, in the game, this lawful good Mo had never done anything bad. The style of a certain chaotic neutral personality could never appear on him at this time. From any perspective, he was a law-abiding citizen.
But now, the law-abiding citizen was pinned to the ground by a bunch of people, and the head of the receptionist lady from the Anka Market Adventurers' Guild branch was practically steaming.
“Misunderstanding?” The lady sneered, “They’ve already come knocking, and you’re still talking about a misunderstanding?!”
Mo Tan was even more confused. First, he didn’t know who had come knocking, and second, he had no idea what this had to do with him…
“Tsk tsk, now tell me honestly!” The lady clicked her tongue, her voice suddenly rising by eight octaves: “Why did you let your dog hurt people?!”
Huh?!
Letting a dog hurt people? What dog, hurting whom?!
“Don’t know?” The receptionist lady raised an eyebrow, turned her head, and scanned the large crowd of onlookers: “That big guy, yes, you, bring her over!”
…
After a while, the crestfallen One-Eyed Troll adventurer returned, pushing a large iron cage mounted on four wheels.
Inside was none other than…
“Ya Ya?!” Mo Tan looked closely. Goodness, those pointed gray beast ears, the listless tail hanging by her side, two sharp little fangs, and a look of grievance on her face—wasn’t that the dog-girl who couldn’t even speak the common tongue, and whose ‘woof’ even had an accent?
There seemed to be some scorched marks on her body too…
How did she end up here, and why was she locked up?
For some reason, a very familiar feeling suddenly arose in Mo Tan’s heart, just like the feeling he got every time he returned to his current state after doing something bad while in his other (as everyone knew) personalities.
It was a very bad feeling…
“Two nights ago, our branch simultaneously received two complaints.” The lady glanced at Ya Ya in the large iron cage and said expressionlessly, “The complainants were the publishers of E-level quests number 17502 and 10308, Ms. Molly and the Guro couple, respectively.”
Gulp.
Mo Tan swallowed.
“Woof~” Ya Ya’s ears also drooped.
“Among them, Ms. Molly highly praised our branch because the pest control quest she issued was completed with very high efficiency.” The lady revealed a sweet smile: “And she demanded 30 gold coins in compensation from us.”
Mo Tan chuckled dryly, “Um, why would she demand compensation if the completion rate was so high…?”
“Ask your dog,” the lady continued to smile.
Mo Tan turned his gaze to Ya Ya.
“Mmm… Woof!” Ya Ya hugged her knees tightly, her tail wagging in circles beside her, muttering indistinctly: “So many woof… bugs woof! Scared… a big woof!”
“Scared a big woof” was quite something.
Mo Tan’s comprehension skills were quite good, and he immediately deciphered (correctly) the meaning of Ya Ya’s words.
That quest was about pest control. After leading her to the destination, she saw many bugs, and then she was scared a big woof.
“Yes.” The receptionist lady spread her hands: “So, startled, she, for some unknown reason, suddenly slaughtered… yes, that’s what I mean, slaughtered all the bugs, plants, and flowers in Ms. Molly’s garden with extremely high efficiency, and then she tore down half of their house.”
Mo Tan’s gaze towards Ya Ya instantly became extremely horrified.
“Woof… gulp…” The dog-girl’s tail, which was constantly wagging in circles, was almost moving fast enough to leave afterimages.
“Alright.” Mo Tan sighed deeply, looked up, and asked, “And then?”
They said there were two complaints, so this matter certainly wasn’t over yet…
“Then she darted to 11 Incense Avenue, which is the Guro couple’s mansion.” The lady said calmly, “She seemed to be looking for you, but you weren’t there at the time, so she…”
【No! Don’t say it! I don’t want to hear it!】
Mo Tan really wanted to shout that out, but out of a strange sense of guilt, he still obediently listened on.
“So she conveniently helped you complete quest number 10308, which was to ‘weed’ for the Guro couple.” The lady spread her hands: “She completely leveled their yard, including twenty percent of the weeds and eighty percent of the precious magical plants. By the way, she also seemed to intend to tear down the Guro couple’s house, but she failed because their steps suddenly exploded, and then she was captured by those two Goblins, interrogated, and directly brought to the branch!”
A human axe warrior nearby trembled, shaking his legs, and stammered, “Those two Goblins are absolutely insane. They almost blew up our branch directly!”
“Oh, look on the bright side.” A tall Dark Elf Thief rolled her eyes: “If people like that didn’t become botanists but adventurers instead, would we still have a living?”
The Orc Shaman not far away leaped up, exclaiming, “So they were botanists! I thought those two were into battlefield Engineering!”
“Anyway, that’s pretty much it.” The lady glared at Mo Tan with a furrowed brow: “The Guro couple came here and made a huge scene, demanding an explanation and asking the person in charge for three thousand gold coins in compensation. Of course, the actual loss certainly wasn’t as much as those two money-grubbing Goblins claimed, but a tenth of it is still a lot, and then…”
She glanced at Ya Ya, who was trembling in the cage, and spread her small hand: “She has no money.”
“Woof…”
Mo Tan suddenly felt a bit contemptuous of himself, because he realized that he had, for a moment, had the thought of ‘it would be great if I could just get kicked offline right now’…
Sure enough…
“So, combining the large amount of information provided by witnesses near Sunward Avenue, as well as the adventurers who saw both of you at the branch entrance at the time.” The lady handed a piece of paper to Mo Tan: “And considering this Half-Orc girl’s action of helping you complete the quest, please, as the temporary owner, pay a total of 340 gold coins in compensation and 90 copper coins for food. This girl truly eats a lot.”
Mo Tan’s vision went dark… He failed. He couldn’t faint in the game…
“I…” Mo Tan sighed, “I don’t have that much money either.”
“You can pay it off within three days.” The lady shrugged: “After all, the Adventurers' Guild still has some influence. Of course, you can also distance yourself from this matter, as it was this girl who went crazy at the time.”
By this time, the surrounding crowd had released Mo Tan and pulled him up from the ground.
Ya Ya let out a confused whimper from inside the cage.
“But she will be stripped of her adventurer qualifications and blacklisted by most neutral organizations on the Innocent Continent.” The receptionist lady reached into the cage and patted Ya Ya’s head, saying with a wry smile, “Her future life will probably be very difficult…”
“Woof?”
“Good girl, I’ll give you a big bone to chew on later.”
“Woof!”
Mo Tan was slightly speechless for about two seconds, then readily nodded: “I understand. I will find a way within these three days. If I can’t gather enough money in the end, I am willing to accept all consequences on her behalf.”
This calculation was simple: he was, after all, a player. Even if this incident led to some very unpleasant consequences, it was still far better than Ya Ya, an NPC, losing her place in this world.
One should know that many organizations like the Adventurers' Guild, Mercenary Guild, Thieves' Guild, and Mage Guild all belonged to ‘neutral organizations.’ Once one was on that so-called ‘blacklist,’ the consequences for a native of the Innocent Continent were obvious.
So Mo Tan took this matter upon himself with almost no hesitation.
At the same time…
【You have triggered a quest event: Debt Repayment. Reward: Optional 500 experience points, one random excellent equipment; Failure penalty: Reputation -5000 with all neutral organizations except Tian Zhu Mountain.】
Mo Tan knew without looking that the quest content was naturally to pay off Ya Ya’s debt of 340 gold and 90 copper within three days.
Although he felt that the failure penalty was already quite high, this matter wasn’t entirely unrelated to him. Mo Tan was quite open-minded and began to consider in his heart if there was a way to obtain this huge sum through legitimate means.
By the way, does this world have lotteries…?
“Alright, it’s settled then.” The lady’s gaze towards Mo Tan softened considerably. She gently tapped the iron cage beside her twice, and the iron bars in front of Ya Ya instantly disappeared.
“Woof!” The girl darted out with a whoosh, then quickly ran behind Mo Tan, whimpering softly: “Woof-sorry, I… caused you… trouble woof…”
Hmm, very cute.
Several single men watching were practically mesmerized by this scene.
“Come to the branch to pay within three days.” The lady instructed Mo Tan, then whispered, “I’ve left a few quests for you. Although time is a bit tight, if you push yourself, you might still be able to complete them, and the rewards are quite good.”
Mo Tan could only nod and thank her with a wry smile, but he felt no joy at all…
One should know that Dave had not yet received his due judgment. When the time came, he would definitely have to switch accounts to handle that matter. Trying to have it all was simply too difficult.
But he had no choice. After all, it was already very good that they gave him three days. He couldn’t not help Ya Ya, and he couldn’t not punish Dave, so…
“I’ll do my best,” Mo Tan said with a wry smile, “I’ll pay as much as I can.”
However…
“No need.” A sharp voice sounded from the entrance of the first-floor hall: “We’ll pay these gold coins.”
【You have completed the quest: Debt Repayment. You have gained 500 optional experience points. You have gained equipment—White Lion Round Shield.】
Huh?!
Mo Tan was instantly shocked!
Not only him, but even the receptionist lady in front of him and the surrounding onlookers were stunned.
The crowd parted slightly, and three Forest Sprites, like green matchsticks, walked over. The one at the front walked straight to Mo Tan and nodded to him: “I haven’t had the chance to thank you in person, and I don’t know how to repay you for saving our caravan. Let us pay this money.”
People from the Forest Sprite caravan!
Mo Tan immediately reacted, but waved his hand at once: “How can I accept this?”
He wasn’t being pretentious; he just felt that he hadn’t done anything remarkable before, and it felt a bit awkward to let the other party help pay this ‘huge sum.’
“It’s alright.” The Forest Sprite with a large, leek-like beard seemed to smile: “It was just a small favor.”
With that, he took a shimmering green fruit from his kin behind him and handed it to the receptionist lady, who was busy staring blankly, and said softly, “This Azure Jade Fruit should be enough to cover our friend’s debt, right?”
His tone was as calm as could be, and as wealthy as could be…
Although he couldn’t see the item description, Mo Tan’s intuition told him that this thing must be very valuable.
“Enough, enough.” The lady’s hand blurred in mid-air, and the fruit, which was continuously emitting a refreshing fragrance, disappeared into her pocket. Then she chuckled awkwardly: “But we don’t have change!”
Well, I’ve taken the item anyway, and now I don’t have change, so what do you want to do…?
The Forest Sprite, however, shook his head indifferently: “No problem. Could you just arrange a quiet room for us? We have something we’d like to discuss with our friend before we leave.”
“VVVIP Room 7 on the third floor is currently vacant,” the lady smiled as sweetly as possible, “and is available for the… esteemed guest to use at any time~”
If Mo Tan wasn’t in such a good mood right now, he would definitely be complaining!
“Woof…” Ya Ya tugged at Mo Tan’s sleeve a little timidly, muttering, “Woof-want… to follow…”
Mo Tan paused, then turned… and looked down at the seemingly high-ranking Forest Sprite.
“No harm.” The other party nodded: “This level of linguistic ability basically eliminates the possibility of leaks.”
Ya Ya: “Woof?”
Mo Tan: “…”
Two minutes later, VVVIP Room 7 on the third floor of the Anka Market Adventurers' Guild branch.
“Please allow me to introduce myself.” As soon as the Forest Sprite sat down (leaped onto the chair), he bowed slightly to Mo Tan and said, “I am Broken Branch Xuan Yuan, one of my tribe’s elders, and the person in charge of this caravan.”
Broken Finger Xuan Yuan, huh…
Of course, Mo Tan wouldn’t make such a remark at this moment. He simply returned the bow politely (it’s always right to follow suit): “My name is Mo, and I thank you for your generous assistance.”
He didn’t say any superfluous words. Since the other party was determined to help, being overly sentimental would be pointless.
“Actually, it’s like this.” Broken Branch Elder didn’t beat around the bush at all; he went straight to the point: “I have a presumptuous request…”
Chapter 36: The End