Chapter 28: Insane Gamers
Due to the unexpected accident, the Merchant Band came to a halt. The Beetlemon that was involved in the accident appeared frightened. After the “Pom” sound that indicated flesh being squished, crimson blood spewed out and formed a pool of blood underneath the Beetlemon’s leg.
The Beetlemon looked at its leg and felt uncomfortable with the sticky liquid. After lifting its leg, the Beetlemon looked at the mess underneath its leg before putting its leg back, making a “Pa-ta” sound.
Not only was the entire Merchant Band as silent as the graveyard, even the whispering gamers were quiet. Sherlock thought they were not anxious or angry but rather were stifling their laughter.
NotWearingPants peered out and looked at the stopped Merchant Band. He shouted, “What’s happening? I posted at the discussion forum. What did I miss?!”
The previously silent gamers immediately started chattering.
“Peasant was squished by a moving NPC. It’s too realistic.”
“That pool of blood. It’s Peasant.”
“Can a squished Goblin be saved? Doctor!”
“D*mn, are you trying to kill me with laughter so that you can inherit my +2 Short Sword? Hahahaha!”
The quiet gamers became boisterous and burst into a series of laughter.
Nicholas did not understand why the Goblins were laughing casually when their comrade had been squished. He was not laughing. He looked at the frowning Sherlock with his pale face. He had not expected things to turn out this way and said to Sherlock, “Lord, Lord Sherlock, this…”
“This is tricky. I didn’t expect such things to happen. I don’t blame you. The Goblin is responsible for being careless.” Sherlock frowned and looked unhappy.
Nicholas thought that the matter was more than being careless. The Goblin had been squished! It was meaningless to shirk responsibility. Fortunately, Lord Sherlock was not angry. In order for them to maintain their business relationship, Nicholas thought he had to express his sorrow.
“Lord Sherlock, I’m willing to compensate your loss and the Goblin’s family. I’ll not make things difficult for you,” Nicholas said.
“This is not your fault, but the Magic Stones compensation should be sufficient for his grandpa, grandma, parents, wife, tens of children and a bedridden sister to live comfortably.” Sherlock sighed and looked helpless.
What? Grandpa, grandma, parents, wife and tens of children? Why was the bedridden sister included?
Though the expenses of a Goblin was not huge, his family consisted of twenty members and a bedridden sister, and they had to live comfortably?
Consider the pension of his grandpa, grandma and parents to be 500 Magic Stones. His fifteen children would be awarded 1,500 Magic Stones for education and living expenses. As for compensation of the forgone earnings, a Goblin’s salary was five Magic Stones a month, 60 Magic Stones a year. Assuming that the Goblin would work for 30 more years, that would be 1800 Magic Stones.
Psychological loss and funeral expenses would be 200 Magic Stones. With all those miscellaneous costs, it would be 4,000 Magic Stones! If his bedridden sister was included, that would cost an additional 1,000 Magic Stones!
Big trouble!
Though 5,000 Magic Stones was a small pittance to Nicholas, it made his trip to Eternal Kingdom unprofitable. He had only intended to compensate 100 Magic Stones, but it turned out worse than he had expected!
Nicholas’ first instinct was that Sherlock was ripping him off. Most Dungeon servants who accidentally died were given a fixed compensation according to position and capability. For the lowly Goblins, 50 Magic Stones was considered excessive!
Nicholas was only willing to pay 100 Magic Stones so that he could maintain a good relationship with Sherlock. He was wary because he felt Sherlock was ripping him off.
“Baron Nicholas, I know your difficulties. It’s not easy to make a living traveling all over the places and the Magic Stones are your hard-earned money. As the Dungeon Lord of Eternal Kingdom, I have to bear some responsibility. You’ll pay 200 Magic Stones as a token and I’ll bear the rest. Oh, it’s a few thousand Magic Stones…” Sherlock noticed Nicholas’ pale face and sighed.
“Wait, Lord Sherlock, you intend to pay a few thousand Magic Stones? Perhaps this is your first Dungeon and you don’t understand. The compensation for a Goblin’s death is at most 50 Magic Stones.” Nicholas was shocked. Even a wealthy Lord would not pay out a few thousand Magic Stones for death compensation casually.
“Though it’s my first time as a Dungeon Lord, I know the norms. Everyone’s been eyeing my position, and they frequently comment on and criticize my actions. I spent a lot of time reading their feedback. Though I have recruited many servants, there’s still a queue with tens of thousands of applicants for my Dungeon. My head is almost bursting. I’m unable to recruit them now, but I will need them in the future. This is the first Goblin accident, and I have to set a proper precedence so that my servants will work with ease,” Sherlock explained as Nicholas became more astonished.
Tens of thousands of applicants? Lots of people were paying attention and discussing the Dungeon? Is Sherlock that wealthy? And that famous? Could he be a descendant of a noble? Could he be the son of Satan? Nicholas trembled at his thoughts. If he was Satan’s son or a similar second generation Devil, it was understandable that Sherlock would be generous. His Dungeon was developing fast, and he could recruit that many Goblins. Nicholas was puzzled why Sherlock had developed his Dungeon in such a poor, desolate and dangerous place with so few Magic Stones. Nicholas supposed that Sherlock must have been chided by his parents who had said, “Here are tens of thousands of Magic Stones. Go forge your own destiny!!” Sherlock must have been chased out by his parents to experience the commoner’s life and a challenge.
If Sherlock was that wealthy, Magic Stones would be like normal stones that he could toss away casually!
Nicholas began to understand and thought it was highly possible. If he could continue to do business with Sherlock and become his lackey… Nicholas saw a bright vision of his future—
Respectable Dungeon Lord Nicholas! He could become a noble Vampire with his own Dungeon! He would have the same status as the Devils!
Nicholas had been unwilling to pay 200 Magic Stones initially. He hadn’t wanted to pay more than 100 Magic Stones. After thinking of his future, he was now even willing to pay 2,000 Magic Stones!
Of course, there was also the possibility that Lord Sherlock was bluffing and trying to scam him out of his Magic Stones! However, Nicholas felt that spending 200 Magic Stones for the peace of mind and potential fortune was worth it.
Paying 200 Magic Stones was like plucking a hair. It gave him a chance to enter the Dungeon peacefully. Nicholas would take his time to find out about Sherlock’s background. At this thought, he felt relieved.
Nicholas did not believe that a Devil Lord would be that unscrupulous just to scam him of 200 Magic Stones. Sherlock could not be that poor.
“Lord Sherlock, pardon my mistake. Please pass the 200 Magic Stones to his family. Though it’s little, it’s a small token to express my regret.” Nicholas took out his Magic Stones Card and transferred 200 Magic Stones to Sherlock.
After confirming the transfer, Sherlock said confidently, “Of course, don’t you worry. The 200 Magic Stones are not for me. It’s compensation for his family. I’ll send them to his family as soon as possible.”
Everyone pretended that nothing had happened. With Sherlock’s lead, the fifty member Merchant Band brought along thirty large carts and Beetlemons to the newly excavated space originally intended for the gamers’ Rest Chambers. The space would be used temporarily by the Merchant Band.
The squished corpse of Peasant was thrown to one side by the other gamers who cleaned up the area. Eternal Kingdom was particular about cleanliness.
Everyone was happy. Nicholas was smiling merrily, and he understood why the surrounding Goblins had burst into laughter. He was sure Sherlock was no ordinary Devil.
It was understandable that the servants of such a high-status Devil Lord would exhibit insane behavior.
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