Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Royal Decree

Emm waved. She didn't wave back.

He went back to his tent and flopped down in front of the fire. It was nearly put out, but he decided not to waste more firewood on it. There was no point, they'd all wake up soon enough. Emm stirred the embers with a stick, waiting for her to arrive. He had a lot to ask her.

"Feeling better?"

Emm jumped in shock. The Guide had materialized in front of him, sitting down on a stump on the other side of the campfire. Her robe was spotless, a stark contrast to Emm's ripped clothes. She piled her long hair on her lap to avoid getting dirt on it. She looked completely out of place in the wilderness.

"Much better. The food works. Thanks for the help," Emm said. He pulled out the pouch of coins from his pockets and begrudgingly tossed it to her. "It's all I have."

He felt deep pain over the loss of his entire starting capital, but he knew it was for the best. He owed her his life. And she'd been stingy from the very start; the woman seemed to love money. It was all that he could offer her.

Bribing her might just be the only method he had at his disposal to make her stop hating his guts. It was obvious from a mile away that she was the biggest fish around here, and he'd somehow gotten on her bad side just by existing. And staying on her bad side sounded like a very bad idea.

She looked at him oddly but stored the clinking bag inside her robes without protesting.

"Five minutes. Ask what you want to know."

Emm raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been trying to get her to give him answers, but he'd take it. Information was the one thing he desperately needed.

He started with the biggest one, he couldn't stop himself from speaking out. "I don't understand. You could've told us about the whole mana poisoning thing from the get-go," he said. He hoped that Miss Simmons appreciated bluntness. "I would've eaten the damn snakes much earlier on if I knew. You saved me, and I do owe you my life, but it's your fault my life was even in danger, to begin with."

Did I go too far? Okay, maybe directly accusing her wasn't the best idea.

She stared at him impassively, then answered him.

"What do you think would happen if I told twenty otherworlders that they risked bleeding to death within an hour? It would result in nothing but panic and chaos. You lot were under enough pressure as is. I told you everything you needed to know. More than you needed to know. Time was of the essence! Normally everyone levels up promptly, and there's no issue."

Emm stirred the fire with his stick. Normally. He wasn't normal.

Miss Simmons kept going.

"Every question I answer opens the door to more and more questions. It's a neverending battle. The fact of the matter is, most of the information doesn't impact your chances of survival. The less you know, the more you can focus on the important things. You'll learn what you need to know when it becomes sufficiently relevant."

Emm felt angry at the Guide but remembered there was no way to out-charisma her. Her arguments were solid, and there was nothing more to say. He was already toeing the line.

"I should inform you that physical exercise is entirely pointless. Your stats won't increase unless you level up. The [System] is the only way to grow more powerful on Alterth."

Of course. Emm put his face into his hands.

"I don't have the [System]! There was nothing else to do. I had to at least try," he said. He was getting increasingly frustrated.

"Preposterous. There's never been anybody without a [System]. And you truly helped the [Pyromancer] kill the monsters?"

Emm nodded.

"His name is Michael, and we killed around six. I didn't level a single time. [Status]. Nothing."

He held up the stick and pointed at it. "The [System] treats me like this fucking branch! Or a rock! Michael got the same experience regardless if I helped or watched."

"Hmm. If what you're saying is true, then..." She trailed off.

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"You are hereby barred from killing any monsters in the vicinity."

What? What in the fuck?

Emm got up on his feet to speak out, but Miss Simmons raised a hand and stopped him. His voice was caught in his throat. He couldn't get a word out.

"Silence. The monsters are finite, and the experience is wasted on you. It would only hurt the others. Make yourself useful around camp. If we see you poaching, you die," she said. Her voice was ice-cold.

Emm was frozen in his tracks, unable to speak in his defense. Hunting monsters was the one surefire way he could find food he so desperately needed to keep his health up. She was sentencing him to death no matter what he did.

Miss Simmons got up and dusted herself off as if her clothes weren't spotless in the first place.

"That was ten skulls of answers. Your time is up. Come find me when you finally decide to share the [Perks] you've chosen to end up in this predicament. Your build is interesting, but believing for a moment that you don't have a [System] is absurd. Don't make trouble."

The coins are called skulls. Seriously? What is up with that?

More importantly, she still didn't believe him. It was ridiculous. He couldn't show her his [Perks], he didn't have any.

Emm flipped her off. It only made her smirk.

"By the way, you absolutely reek. I can smell you all the way from here. Do us all a favor and wash yourself down. The showers are that way, our [Water Mage] will get up any moment now. The first one's free of charge. [Quick Step]."

And just like that, she was gone.

Emm's heart was beating like crazy. He was fuming. The interaction went more horribly than he could have imagined.

Not only had he lost all his money, but she completely disregarded everything he'd said. Silenced him with some [Skill]. He would have to pay or beg for food instead of going out into the forest and getting it himself. And he'd been hoping to earn money by selling the snakes, but even that was out of the question now. Would she even let him help the others fight? It wouldn't lose them any experience!

Emm missed out on his chance to ask real questions, too. The five minutes were mostly filled with her chastising him like a little kid who got caught stealing from a cookie jar.

The Guide was making his new life a living hell. He swore to get back at her, sooner or later.

He sat back down, then started eating the cooked snake that was still waiting for him. He didn't care if it was someone else's, he'd make it up to them.

It tasted just as awful as usual, but Emm had no choice in the matter. He had to recoup all the energy he'd spent practicing through the night. His stomach growled, and he ate as much as he could, trying to clear his thoughts.

He watched a couple of people as they woke up, left their tents, and started mingling. Emm sat and ate, looking at a guy shooting arrows at a hay target–and actually hitting most of them, even from a respectable distance away. They had already gotten a lot better in the one afternoon Emm had spent sleeping. Were the others already [Level] 3? It was possible if they went out to hunt again.

Emm made a bucket list in his head.

He needed to get food, he needed to earn money, he needed to talk with all the others, and he needed to find a way to protect himself. Weapons, armor, friends. Strength. And most of all, he needed to get more information.

Miss Simmons had been right about one thing, though. A shower wasn't a bad idea. He smelled horrible, and his skin appeared to be covered with a thin layer of grime. Like a mix of sweat and mud. Emm wasn't quite sure where it had come from. His face still had crusty blood on it, too.

Reluctantly, he got up and headed toward the washing area at the edge of the camp. A shower would do, as a start. He had his best ideas while taking showers. There was always a solution, he just had to find it.

"Hey, you! The sick one!" a voice rang out from nearby.

Emm turned to see a woman waving at him. She left her stall and rushed after him.

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