92 The scapegoat 1 (1/2)
After the threat had left my mouth, I had to hurry up to avoid drawing any more attention than necessary. Yet I did not think, that the moment I had finished speaking the NPC began to scream.
” Help, someone is rebel..” he could not speak anything more than those words as his throat had been slit by my nail. Keeping my hand on his mouth I prevented any unnecessary noise escaping from his lips. This extortion failed horribly and now there is a new corpse that had to be resurrected. I was just lucky, that he had yet to see my face.
I fell back and escaped into another direction to move away from the body and to try my luck elsewhere. After successfully apprehending the next target, I began to switch my approach and started with stabbing my target numerous times to not leave any room for thoughts of betrayal. This was another blunder from my side, as this NPC had a very low pain tolerance and started to scream bloody murder forcing me to end its life sooner than expected.
I was left with no other choice than running away yet again to search for more potential captives. This time I decided to act more thoughtful, using violence might not be the best approach. Instead of brutal force, I decided to implore my soft skills.
I decided to speak loud and clear while standing amid the resurrected NPCs. If those NPCs were still deeply troubled with the nightmare they had yet to escape from, then it might work if I work with it not against it.
With their freedom lost, they are forced to obey every of their master. They are likely to put their master above all else, at least that is what they are programmed for.It is quite hard to have any form of pity for them, knowing that their entire existence can change by any second without them noticing it.
Looking at my surrounding I saw the fear deeply ingrained in their faces and their covering stature. This behaviour was lifelike, I do not doubt that the humans from Earth would have reacted any different.But alas, this minor detail did not make any difference to me.If things like these would deter my judgement than I might as well just join them and listen to their orders.
One glance at the players and I still could see them resurrecting one NPC after another. With the window of time closing in, I had no time to waste.
” Just look at you people. Our new masters are standing in front of us and yet you ungrateful bunch just stand here and do absolutely nothing.Do you think you can be of any use whatsoever acting so timid and cowardly? ”
These words caught everyone attention and their eyes began to try and locate the voice that had just scolded the NPCs.But they had no chance to find me as I had switched my location.
” Absolute pathetic. Scum shall not serve, scum should die. ”
The people were dazed trying to rationalize the meaning of those words. They could not fathom what words had just been spoken.
” But yet this scum was given a chance.A chance to become something different. A chance to have a purpose and do something meaningful. And yet you waste, do not grovel and thank your new lords or do your best to repay them. No, you just stand there, as if you are something better. You deserve death.”
The players surrounding the crowd were confused at first and some of them began to order their NPCs, only to be stopped by their leader, whose attention was currently pinned entirely on searching for the NPC. Behaviour like these was uncommon and not something he had expected from such pitiful creatures.
” With nothing to offer us, the only way to repay this enormous debt is to offer up our entire selves.We have to give them our everything, nothing less is acceptable. ”
The players could not help but nod at these words. This treatment was something they deserved by being forced to spend so much of their time on these NPCs.
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” So go on your knees and grovel. Do it for your Master”
The NPCs fell to their knees with great reluctance, but they could not do anything else because it was for the sake of their masters. Whether they were still petrified and haunted by their torture was negligible.
Silence filled the place as all of their eyes focussed on their masters waiting for them to speak, before lowering their head on the ground where they remained without moving. The players were not awestruck by the spectacle that had currently unfolded right in front of their eyes. It was beneath them to ponder too deeply about it. After all, they were dealing with fictional beings.
First and foremost they would not pay any more attention than necessary to those who were just kneeling. They were neither special no had the qualifications that would warrant that. Far more interesting was the NPC that caused this occasion but he was nowhere to be found in the crowd of kneeling slaves.
Even after multiple orders, not one person had moved forward. They all remained kneeling, with their heads facing downwards not daring to look at their masters directly. A great deal of confusion was caused by this event.
Why did the NPC did not step forward after hearing order? Could he refuse to do so, even after being a slave?But this can not be possible, because every individuum in front of them was enslaved and listened to their every order. So what exactly was going on? Was a dead person responsible for this?
This idiotic thought was directly erased from their brains, because how could something like this possibly happen.Logic still applies, even in this fabricated world and dead bodies suddenly starting to talk about honour is not common sense.
They went forward and demanded that every single NPC speak to them and pledge their alliance. That way, they wanted to find the NPC, but even after this procedure their target was still not found. Its voice was heard by player and NPC alike, so why had no one ever seen it. It can not be a product of their imagination, they wholeheartedly refused to believe such a thing.
Still, they were running out ideas and likely explanations, while the mystery remained unsolved. The perpetrator had removed himself from the crowd and found shelter in the shrunken pile of dead bodies.
I have bought enough time for myself and I could confirm that these fools would do everything for the sake of their masters. This distraction was a big success although it may seem like my accomplishments lead to the exact opposite of my intended results.
Why would I draw attention to my existence, if I do want to escape unnoticed? It is quite simple, the attention is not gathered at me directly but on the mysterious NPC, that gave this speech to the rest of the NPCs.At the moment they are looking for that NPC not for me the young boy with burning hair.
As long as my face is not associated with this mysterious entity, it could be anyone else. The more time passes the more details will be lost and they will likely not even see the difference between my voice and another one especially after hearing so many voices.
The only thing I still need is to find a suitable scapegoat. This NPC should be easily identifiable compared to the other NPCs and my choice has to be part of the corpses that are currently surrounding me.
it would be foolish to just search and pick one of them. It is far easier to create the ”special” NPC myself, all I have to do is to add or change some minor details on its body.Participation is not mandatory, just speak up if you do not want to be chosen.I mumbled softly and to no one surprise, no answer came back.
It is always great to see this level of dedication to help for a truly great cause. Picking the body of women was not an option, as the voice, I had used as belonging to a male. The voice I had used was vigorous, so I should avoid the person that look meekly or frail eliminating elderly and children as suitable choices.
The attitude of the mysterious NPC, would likely not be associated with a youth that had just grown up and neither with an adult, whose children are still small yet. What I am looking for is a middle-aged man in great shape, that should carry a feeling of great wisdom with him.
With so many restrictions and criteria to look out for the potential choices had diminished and I could only choose between 3 corpses in my surroundings. The dim light would make this selection impossible if not for the faint ray of light, that came out of the lines carved into my forehead. The splitting headache aside, it was a wonderful tool for situations like this. Though it drained a lot of the residue mana inside of my body.
My first option would be to pick a man who had a lot of grey hair, that never had to worry about the food shortage in his prior life. At least his physical body did not suffer from malnutrition. His expression was pained, but there was a certain level of spite and stubbornness etched into it. Even in death, his eyes appeared to be full of conviction.
Another suitable candidate had a face full of wrinkles. Looking at him conveyed anoble charm and a feeling of authority. This face had seen every aspect that life has to offer. His body was nothing out of the ordinary but it still underlined his inherent traits. His brown hair was disappearing leaving behind many bald spots. It would not take long before the rest of it would vanish as well leaving behind no trace of its former glory.