Posts from ☀️ Arselia and Akonia Auto-translated

- Oh, could you at least spare ten coins? For my beautiful... eyes? - Beata leaned slightly forward, batting her eyelashes.
Seducing.

"I can understand that."
-- Well, ultimately, the task of our government is to identify problems and find solutions. I think, in this case, it's simple: there are many owners who keep animals in unsanitary conditions, keeping many of them in a small rented room, not letting them out, and not even cleaning up after them. And if there were dark times in history when poor hygiene in the streets led to terrible epidemics and human casualties, then now, observing such irresponsibility, one can only assume whether these careless owners will give rise to a new smallpox or plague?
-- But still, I'm sure they won't pass any law prohibiting this," -- if there's a shop nearby, Aiko is already sitting down by that time. -- Domestic animals are not only a pleasure to look at, but first of all, they are helpers, and what will our economy do without cats that save grain from mice, without dogs that herd sheep, without horses that pull carts? No, responsible owners definitely have nothing to fear.

— Your words reminded me of home for a moment... Did you happen to grow up in Cridaar?

Added 3 minutes ago

- Oh, can you at least give me ten coins? For my beautiful... eyes? - Beata leaned slightly, batting her eyelashes.
I'm flirting.

— Well, all right, I'll pay extra for a nice pair of... well, you know, haha, — the man licked his lips greedily and put 60 rem on the table, — look, they'll ban wearing normal clothes, this won't work anymore.

— Your words reminded me of home for a moment... Did you happen to grow up in Kriedaar?

— Could it be that you are from Kriedaar? I spent the best years of my youth there, although I was born in Noire.

— Alright, alright, I’ll pay extra for a nice pair of… well, you know, haha, — the man said greedily, licking his lips, and slammed 60 rems onto the table, — see, they’ll ban wearing decent clothes, this won’t work anymore.

— I anticipated that, — Beata smiled alluringly, took the money, and left the gems.
Then she goes to “Melody.”

-- Are you from Krideraar? I spent the best years of my youth there, although I was born in Noire.

— Yes, that's right, from there. I didn't expect to meet a fellow countrywoman here. But anything can happen in life.

Kenshiro receives 60 experience points.

and a heart attack

I'm drawing an artifact. I don't need the card...

you're doing the right thing. What if they stop serving you in stores? And then what? What's the point of living?

Interesting, has anyone noticed that the newspaper's abbreviation is "ХВ"...

— Yes, yes, exactly from there. I didn't expect to meet a fellow countryman here. Still, anything can happen in life.

— Perhaps. Although, as a merchant by profession, I shouldn't be sitting at home, so it's not surprising that my path eventually led me here... And what brings you, Mr. Creon, to the capital?

...and Harold?



The door creaked open, and an unkempt, disheveled, fair-haired man stumbled into the room. A tall skeleton in a leather jacket jumped off the worn windowsill and directed its empty gaze at the newcomer.
— What's the news, brother?
— The best there is. A little bird chirped about an extraordinary artifact and shared the address. So get ready, we're going out tonight.
— Awesome, finally. What about "Dracena," have you changed your mind?
— No. Forget them, they screwed up the first mission, they betrayed us to a bunch of pathetic goblins, and you saw it all yourself. Associating with such people is disrespectful.
— Haha, I see. Well, we're a great team on our own. We'll grab your artifact and disappear, and let them keep getting beaten up by goblins and villagers.

***

Some time later...

The duo of thieves found themselves in a small hall. In its center, on a marble pedestal decorated with intricate carvings, lay the coveted artifact, which looked like an ordinary quiver for arrows or bolts. At first glance, it was completely unprotected.
Harold grinned menacingly and pointed at it.
— Look, here it is, heh-heh. It looks rather unassuming, we'll have to figure out how it works. So, shall we grab it and run?
— Hmm... It seems too easy. I have a bad feeling.
Garret cautiously approached and began to examine the pedestal.
— There are some runes here... Definitely a trap or a signal.
None of these runes were familiar to him. Running his fingers over them, he felt a slight tingling sensation. Meanwhile, Harold was starting to lose patience.
— Are you going to just stand there and stare? I know you're not an expert in magic besides necromancy.
His brother's impatience was contagious, and the irritated Garret cast a scathing glance at him.
— Oh, you're such an expert in security magic, aren't you? Come on, take a look yourself, you empty head.
The skeleton approached and stared at the runes with a blank expression.
— What the hell. We're not going to figure out these scribbles anyway, so stop wasting time. — He reached for the quiver.
— You'll regret it. — Garret "encouraged" his brother.
— Whatever.
With a sharp movement, Harold snatched the artifact from the pedestal. At that moment, a dazzling stream of golden sparks shot up to the ceiling, and the room was filled with a thunderous clang. As everything subsided, Garret shook his head, coming to his senses, and snatched the loot from the skeleton's hands, who had taken it much easier, but still stood frozen.
— Satisfied? Let's go, quickly.
With these words, Garret stuffed the strange quiver into his bag and hurried out, Harold followed him.

Of course, they didn't get far, and very soon the unlucky thieves found themselves surrounded by guards.
— Ho-ho, gentlemen... How nice of you to drop by.
In one motion, Garret raised his crossbow and sent a bolt through the eye of the nearest guard, broke through his position, and ran away, giving Harold a silent order to cover their retreat. Behind him, he heard the clashing of swords, but he wasn't too worried about his brother – this pile of bones could withstand a lot.

However, apparently realizing that the stolen artifact was with him, most of the guards rushed in pursuit. Eventually, running into some alley, Garret found himself cornered – it was a dead end. Hearing the clatter of iron-shod boots behind him, the robber, breathing heavily, turned to face the pursuers. Now they were approaching slowly and smugly, baring their malicious smiles, the blades of their drawn swords aimed at his throat.
It seems this is the end. And yet... Suddenly, a glimmer of hope appeared. Behind the guards, a familiar bony face loomed – Harold was sneaking up, raising a heavy knife, from which drops of blood were dripping. Maybe, if he could distract them for a couple of seconds...
— Hey... Hey, gentlemen... You need this, right?
Garret pulled out the stolen quiver. The nearest guard was already raising his sword with the expression of an executioner preparing to carry out a sentence.
— What if I...
The bony shadow darted forward, the blade flashed in the dim light.

...But today, Lady Luck was not on the brothers' side. Just at that moment, the guard who was swinging his sword slightly deviated to the side. Harold's knife whistled past and plunged straight into Garret's rib. He gasped and collapsed backward with the grace of a sack of potatoes. A critical miss.
— Damn... — Harold, who was left alone surrounded by guards, managed to comment on the situation. They had all the advantages.
A wide swing of the sword, a blow – and his skull flew off. Describing an arc in the air, it landed right on the twitching Garret's forehead, driving the knife into his chest up to the hilt.
Still clutching the fateful artifact in his hand, Garret looked with a look full of pain into the black voids of the eye sockets.
— Hr-r-r... You stupid idiot...
At that moment, consciousness left him, and he plunged into the bottomless darkness.

And so ended the story of the brothers-robbers from Aster. Or not?

Origin: Aster

Belief: Miss Cosmos
The character arrived in Anush from another world.
Profession: adventurer
Luck +8.

Skills:

Shooting


Rogue
Poison
The character's attacks deal +100% additional damage with wood and cause poison.
Stealth
The character can use stealth.

Characteristics:
Strength: 10
Endurance: 10
Perception: 10
Agility: 10
Luck: 10
Spirit: 10
Intelligence: 10
Speed: 10
Faith: 0
Beauty: 10
Charisma: 20

I'm not spending experience points yet

Equipment:
Weapon 1: Crossbow
Weapon 2: Harold's Combat Knife
Head: ---
Body: Clothing
+5% to dodge.
Shoulders: Cloak
+2% to dodge.
Hands: Leather gloves
+2% to accuracy.
Feet: Traveler's boots
+1 to SP.
Accessory 1: Garret's Ring
Accessory 2: ---
Other 1: Sylphid Quiver
One of the four legendary elemental artifacts.
Arrows and bolts are infinite.
Damage from arrows and bolts is converted to air.
Affinity (air) +100%.
Not destroyed.
Other 2: Faceted Emerald x2
Restores 90% health.
Other 3: Ordinary Amethyst x3
Removes all negative effects from the character.

Bag with other equipment:
Harold's Skull
no effects

It was very easy to draw an obvious parallel between this whole story and the phenomenon of slavery. The "entrepreneur" finds a non-sentient human body, brands it as his own, and puts it to work in exchange for food, and then puts it up for sale like livestock. No law written by bureaucrats can fully regulate such a phenomenon, and even with individual compassion, the merchant's business acumen will easily find any justification for dehumanizing the product – and why wouldn't he? When there are no objective laws of conscience in society, and there cannot be due to its very imperfect nature, the immutable principles of Kami are also ignored due to ignorance or an excessive degree of knowledge of the material, which is itself elevated to the only true life absolute, and the surrounding world encourages the worship of Mammon – no adept of "rational thought" will be able to openly dispute anything here. "I would like to hope that it will not fall into the wrong hands," Myco finally said. "They deserve at least that. Otherwise, it's too tragic." Taking one last look at the doll and the saleswoman, she added: "Thank you for the interesting conversation. Unfortunately, I don't have enough cash with me to buy anything right now, but you have an intriguing enterprise. I hope you won't mind if I come back sometime – even just to see these two. And who knows what tomorrow will bring? Perhaps one of us will encounter an expert sorcerer in the field of human souls in a narrow alley?"

- I anticipated that, - Beata smiled alluringly, took the money, and left the stones.
Then she goes to "Melody".

Balalaika Manufacturer: Korobeyniki. Made in the city of Merzlyaki (Zimivia) Increases the morale of allies by 0.1 for each point of the musician's charisma. Adds its charisma to Willpower checks against effects of slowing, immobilization, and stunning. Requires the Musician profession. Slot: weapon. Cost: 300 gold. Accordion Manufacturer: Korobeyniki. Made in the city of Merzlyaki (Zimivia) Increases the Willpower of allies by 1% for each point of the musician's charisma. Requires the Musician profession. Slot: weapon. Cost: 120 gold. Harp Manufacturer: Melody Made in Margel (Welfern) The character cannot move and play at the same time. Restores (charisma)% of the characters' health. Requires the Musician profession. Slot: weapon. Cost: 500 gold. Horn Manufacturer: Melody Made in the city of Margel (Welfern) Requires 1 Action Point: reduces the Willpower of opponents by (charisma)% of the musician until the end of the battle. Slot: other. Requires the Musician profession. Cost: 200 gold. Drum Manufacturer: Melody Made in Margel (Welfern) Increases the attack of characters by (charisma)% of the musician. Slot: weapon. Requires the Musician profession. Cost: 200 gold. Violin Manufacturer: Melody Made in Margel (Welfern) Increases the defense of characters by 0.5% for each point of the musician's charisma. Slot: weapon. Requires the Musician profession. Cost: 500 gold. Bassoon Manufacturer: Melody Made in Margel (Welfern) Increases the affinity of characters (fire, water, earth, air) by 0.5% for each point of the musician's charisma. Slot: weapon. Requires the Musician profession. Cost: 400 gold. Trumpet Manufacturer: Melody Made in Margel (Welfern) Decreases the affinity of opponents (fire, water, earth, air) by 0.5% for each point of the musician's charisma. Slot: weapon. Requires the Musician profession. Cost: 200 gold.

"Ah, it's a pity that I can only play mind games. Otherwise, I would have joined in."
For the remaining hour, Beata goes to XXX.
"A very intriguing name."

-- Perhaps. Although, as a merchant by profession, I shouldn't be sitting at home, so it's not surprising that my path eventually led me here... And what winds brought you to the capital, Mr. Creon?

— I am exploring the world, if you will. By the way, would you happen to need a cat? You seem to have kind hands...

In a person's soul,
You won't immediately see the truth.
Shame is not for oneself.

-- Hmm. Well. Heh. Where did I end up?
Kenshiro suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to drink a jug or two of sake. He should at least read about murder, to distract himself and calm down. He opens the second newspaper.

That feeling when reading about murder is more comforting than the alternative.

Added 39 seconds ago
Kenshiro reads this news article and gains an additional 60 experience points.

Added 4 minutes ago

It was very easy to draw an obvious parallel between this whole story and the phenomenon of slavery. The "entrepreneur" finds a non-subjective human body, brands it as his own, and puts it to work for food, and then puts it up for sale like livestock. No law written by bureaucrats can fully regulate such a phenomenon, and even with individual compassion, the merchant's business sense will easily find any justification for dehumanizing the product - and why wouldn't he? When there are no objective laws of conscience in society and there cannot be due to its very imperfect nature, the immutable principles of Kami are also ignored due to ignorance or an excessive degree of knowledge of the material, which in itself is elevated to the only true life absolute, and the surrounding world at the same time encourages the worship of Mammon - no adept of "rational thought" will be able to openly dispute anything here.
- I would like to hope that this will not fall into the wrong hands, - said Miko finally. - They deserve at least that. Otherwise, it's too tragic.
Taking one last look at the doll and the saleswoman, she added:
- Thank you for the interesting conversation. Unfortunately, I don't have enough cash on me to buy anything right now, but you have an intriguing enterprise. I hope you won't mind if I come by again sometime - even just to see these two. And who knows what tomorrow will bring? Perhaps one of us will encounter an expert in the field of human souls in a narrow alley?

— The walls of "Phantom" will always be happy to welcome you, Miss Ayame. — Gaheris bowed again. — All the best to you, and may the gods smile upon you.