8 Guild of Magic

Since Luke had already received the clue, he decided not to bother the grieving girl and let Harlem console her.

Instead he tried to focus on what to do next.

'Gard would follow Harlem to the ends of the earth, and I'm pretty sure she has some feelings for him as well. I doubt they will be willing to follow me into a life of constant battle. I can already see my future, constantly battling and earning experience, clearing dangerous and monotonous quests alike, and grinding away at skills while stealing hidden quests from players before they even get to know about them.'

'Hmm, instead, I should try and find a place to settle the two of them so I know where to go to find them.'

'Yes this seems like a completely reasonable plan. One that only the great Luke could come up with.'

He didn't want to implicate people who he himself did not know about. All the kindness and fondness towards them was not from him, but from the original Lucas. It was a sort of subconscious care produced from a point within Luke's heart that he didn't know existed. For now, he already had a plan on how to release the half-married couple, and become free.

While his internal thoughts had already wandered off to a place beyond redemption, the door to the room opened, revealing the burly build of the tobacco plantation owner, Jacob.

"It is done. From this moment onwards, you are free citizens of the Leon kingdom."

Saying that, Jacob fished out 3 sets of documents, along with three leather pouches from his inner pocket, and handed one set to each of us.

Curiously, Luke and the others opened the pouch to see 18 gleaming silver coins, each the size of a bottlecap, and 30 silver coins the size of one's fingernail.

"20 silver in total. Starting expenses which should last for about a month or two."

Without saying another word, the burly man turned around and walked away.

Both Luke and Harlem had finally understood the reason why Jacob had bought them. It was not to work them to death, but to help grow them into able-bodied humans. It was not that his caring demeaner during night time was a façade, but that his strict lectures were fake.

Luke was suddenly reminded of the story of Gard, Harlem, Lucas, as well as the three new slaves. They were all small kids when their parents died, and were, due to various reasons, brought into slavery. Now, Luke, Gard and Harlem had been released from slavery.

Furthermore, before Harlem and Gard, who were childhood friends from the same village, came to the plantation, there must have been other slaves who had worked the field by day, and enjoyed life by night.

Suddenly, Gard broke out into tears and collapsed onto the ground in weeping mess of snot and tears.

Harlem turned to look and Luke, who had a sudden urge to reach out and grab a hold of the departing figure across the corridor, his eyes blurry.

Harlem too felt similar emotions as she finally broke down into soft weeping.

Within mere moments, the burly figure which belonged to their mentally unstable owner, transformed into the figure of the man who reached out a helping hand during their time of need, the light in the cruel world of darkness, the hero that saved them from the pitiful death that awaited slaves.

…

A while later, the three now free citizens walked out of the slave market with slightly red eyes and puffy eyelids.

"Sigh… He was a good man" Luke expertly broke the ice that had formed.

"Y- Yes he was" replied Gard as he once again began to cry like a child who had been robbed of his candy.

Just as Harlem was going to follow in Gard's footsteps, Luke expertly changed the subject.

"Ahem. So… where do we go?"

He had already reigned in his emotion. The sudden outburst he had experienced was the result of the remnant will inside his body, along with the mental pressure he had faced while battling the two-headed monster.

Sniffing quietly, Harlem said, "I don't know."

At this moment, Gard suddenly recovered and said, "It doesn't matter what we do, but we all should stick together."

While saying this, his eyes couldn't help but betray his emotions as they veered towards Harlem who was walking beside him.

'So I am the third wheel here huh?'

With this, Luke made a self-deprecating comment, and made an internal note to settle these two love-birds down as soon as possible.

"Let's find an in to rest in, we will take the rest of the day to rest in our rooms."

Both Gard and Harlem agreed, and the group set off to find an inn.

Soon, they found one through the recommendation of a friendly patrolling officer. With 2 bronze each, they decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in their rooms, and meet up for dinner.

Naturally, Luke had no intention to laze around for 5 hours until it became 7 pm. Time was one of the few things that was brought to this world by the 'gods'. Luke assumed that this was the 'admins' and 'developers' way of addressing themselves.

Instead, Luke had planned out the most efficient use of his time. The Guild of Magic, one of the few international organisations tailored towards the Magician Pathway.

Although its name was rather simple, the people backing it were not so. As far as Luke could remember, it was backed by many high level characters, including a level 79 character with the 'protagonist build'.

In version 1 of 'Ultimatum' there was a level cap applied to all players of 40. NPCs however were not limited to such a cap, however, they did not have the system, and could not level up by completing missions. Instead, they would have to follow their instincts to increase their level slowly over time.

The only exception to this rule were 'Protagonist build' characters who had overpowered talents like 'Undefeatable Luck', and 'Advanced Growth Multiplier' Which worked together to allow the character to rapidly grow in levels once they reach the climax of their plot.

Joining such an organisation was one of the main goals of his trip today. He waited for a while until both Gard and Harlem had settled down before writing a letter and leaving it on the table, just in case one of the two decided to barge into the room while he was gone.

He tried his best to remember the route, but since he hadn't spawned in this continent, he did not bother learning the different routes of an already destroyed kingdom.

Therefore he had to ask a few passersby along the way and finally arrived at his destination nearly an hour later.

One had to admit that the capital was pretty big. In the game, players would replenish energy and stamina by simply eating, however, that was no longer the case. He had to walk slowly and pace himself to not become out of breath. Although his dexterity and energy were increased, his stamina remained as pitiful as ever. However, all of that would change from this moment forward.