On the southwestern border of Maple Leaf Territory, a convoy of individuals disguised as humans was escorting around a dozen fully-loaded horse-drawn carriages as they hurriedly rushed towards the direction of the Elven Forest.
Occasionally along the way, some members would voluntarily leave the convoy as they draw their weapons and willingly take on the duty of protecting the rear of the caravan.
These were the players who had scammed the major blackmarket companies back in Maple Leaf City.
Apart from players who were impatient and committed suicide on the spot, there are nearly a hundred people currently escorting the rescued NPCs back to the Elven territory.
Of course, this number is also gradually decreasing because the black market slavers who have discovered their whereabouts are relentlessly chasing after them from behind.
Hence, the players have to periodically assign someone to delay their pursuing enemies so that their caravan can continue to move forward with the rescued NPCs, akin to tin cans, in tow.
At the forefront of the caravan.
HootyBird glanced at their current position within the mini-map, whilst slightly furrowing her brows.
“I thought we only agreed that you guys should teleport over and take a quick look? So how come you ended up luring all our enemies at our location?”
Standing on the opposite side, Tomato was sporting a conflicted expression.
It was actually him who ordered some members of the First Legion to go and check the situation back in Maple Leaf City. Alas, his people were immediately exposed the moment they returned, and as the acting Guildmaster of First Legion, he had to shoulder the blame for this incident.
Tomato remained silent for a moment as he replied with a frustrated tone,
“I emphasized to them and instructed my people to change their appearance before they went back. Moreover, as an added precaution, I even ordered them to teleport a familiar first to check if the opposite side of the array was safe.”
“But…those human NPCs are simply too cunning. Who knew they were secretly laying an ambush near the teleportation array all along? They even purposely let the familiar that went there in advance return without interfering with it to give us a false assumption that the courtyard was safe so that we would go back and be caught in the act…”
After hearing his explanation, HootyBird sighed in helplessly.
“I see…sigh, we truly underestimated these NPCs.”
“Don’t worry guys, I’ve already informed Li Mu and the others of our situation. I even asked them to quickly bring Meryer and Aél over for support. Plus, after rescuing so many elves this time, maybe Zero and Alice will also come along too. As long as we hold on a bit, we’ll definitely be able to return smoothly.”
On the other side, Little Salty Cat encouraged everyone.
Calabash whose sitting in front of the carriage while holding a whip and pretending to be a coachman, chimed in,
“Our main problem is that there are just too many people within our caravan, resulting in our travel speed being too slow as the horses are now hauling a heavier load. Guys, what if we let those elven NPCs run with us instead of keeping them stuck inside the carriage? It could lighten the load on the horses, making the carriages move more faster.”
Little Salty Cat shook her head helplessly and replied,
“Hmm, that sounds good, but earning the trust of those captive NPCs might be tough since they’re completely wary of us and think that we are slave traders.”
“So what? We’ll just remove our disguises then turn back into elves and talk it out with them! I understand that we initially agreed to disguise ourselves as humans to keep our real identity hidden but that’s unnecessary now!” Calabash reasoned but Little Salty Cat only shrugged her shoulders and let out a long sigh.
“If only it were that simple…I’ve already tried it you know, but those NPCs just flat out didn’t believe that we’re here to rescue them. Even after going back to my original appearance and bringing up the matter of the goddess, they still remained skeptical and just think that I was brainwashed and only following the orders of my southern slave masters…”
Everyone was left speechless after hearing her words.
It was a very awkward situation.
Clearly, they were doing all this hardwork to rescue these elven NPCs, but these fellows just didn’t believe in their real identity and even thought that they were tricking them!
Of course, the players also realized that the first impression they left upon these clueless NPCs was partly to blame for their mistrust, but still!
To strike a deal with the blackmarket companies, the players had to resort to either mischief or disguised themselves as slave traders during their transactions.
At that time, their shameless behavior completely portrayed the actions of a shady merchants, not to mention their greedy appearance when touching the slavers items.
Throughout that entire time, what the players had overlooked was that the captive elves also witnessed their behavior.
And more importantly, there were captive elves who had also seen some players demonstrate the capability to make an elf fully obedient just to gain the trust of the slave traders!
Shameless actions like those carried out by Demacia were not entirely uncommon among the players throughout this entire time!
Some players even went far and ordered some elves to be totally subservient, as they happily pretended to give massages and shoulder rubs just to gain the trust of the slave traders.
Yes, we’re talking about Demacia here, with that despicable appearance that even players wanted to beat, let alone the native elves.
It can be said that, in the pursuit of gaining the trust of the slave traders, the players have instead completely disregarded the trust of the captive elves.
After the players rescued the elven NPCs and quickly loaded them into carriages without explaining anything due to time constraints, the newly liberated elves convened for a discussion….
Their talks naturally revolved around their new owners, and as they pieced together the experiences of everyone, the players’ image became firmly etched within their minds.
It can be said that the first impression the players created was a group of southern slave traders who preyed upon and insulted the elves, reducing their fellow kind to helpless playthings devoid of will and dignity.
After all, genuine elves would never behave submissively like that.
In addition, despite the players having gradually learned how to impersonate the elegance of an elf, the imperfections within their actions still became apparent when observed by genuine elves.
No matter how well they pretended, they still couldn’t appear authentic enough in front of true elves, let alone imitate the inherent lofty and aloof demeanor of the natives.
Hence, no matter how much they insisted on their true identity or shed their disguises, these stubborn natives still ended up not believing them at all.
After all, these captive elves have experienced various devious methods that the humans had employed to somehow trick them, which in turn made them extremely wary and suspicious.
Thus, the players’ lack of credibility, coupled with the natives’ mistrust, eventually culminated into the current awkward situation wherein the players despite revealing themselves as elves had no other way to further prove their real intentions and identity…
They couldn’t showcase the power of faith like the Saintess, nor could they wield the goddess’s power like a Godwarden, and to further add insult into the injury, the rescued elves even regarded the players that revealed themselves as elves as poor brainwashed brethren which frustrated many players almost to the point of vomiting blood.
Naturally, if they were given enough time to explain their side, the players should be able to convince and gain the elves’ recognition and understanding.
Alas, the pursuing forces of the human slavers were so quick to catch up to their trail, denying the players the opportunity for an in-depth conversation with the captive elves to adequately clarify the situation…
Nonetheless, just when everyone within the convoy was feeling despondent, Boxlunch who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke:
“Untie them and give them weapons.”
“Huh? Untie and give weapons to whom?”
“The Captured Elves.”
Tomato frowned.
“But we haven’t really earned the trust of these native elves yet. Plus, we can’t really untie them since they’ll just instantly run away, and it usually takes a lot of effort to capture them back again.”
“Yeah, our task is to send them back safely to the Elven Forest. How are we supposed to complete the quest if they run away?” One of the other players chimed in.
“Besides, what if some of these natives decide to act recklessly and attack the slave traders that’s pursuing us? The safety of these elven NPCs is one of the priorities of our quest!”
Yet despite hearing their concerns, Boxlunch still reiterated:
“Untie and give them weapons.”
However, after saying that, he also added:
“This is our chance to prove ourselves.”
While Tomato was about to respond, Calabash finally figured out the meaning behind his team leader’s words as his face lit up and exclaimed,
“That’s right! Let’s untie the native elves and give them weapons! Listen guys, since they don’t believe that we are here to save them, then perhaps seeing us protecting them with our lives on the line should convinced them, right?”
— 284 —
【 THE UNTRUSTWORTHY PLAYERS 】
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