[VRMMO] Dead One

"Huh. You didn't lied human. So far, we have not encounter a single mummies." – said the lamia Alin.

"I told you." – said GreyHunt.

"Even when the sun would rise, none of the mummies would even dare to enter the oasis. I even tried that by having some of them chase me around and they immediately stopped the moment I got inside."

"Anyway, look sharp, we are entering to the center of this place."

The entire party as well as the entire Sand Cobra tribe were fallowing GreyHunt through the oasis, until they arrived to the center of the oasis.

"You see that building over there? It's an entrance to that underground temple."

After arriving to the center of the oasis, the party left their caravan with the food and the lamias belongings.

The lamia leader as well as her daughter and guards headed straight to the temple alongside the party and began inspecting it.

After inspecting the storage rooms and the sleeping quarters, the group enter the dining hall.

"…Question. Why the hell the dining hall is so big of the mess GreyHunt?" – asked Oron.

"Oh. The bandits right hand man kind of made me sweat and he was kind of throwing the tables left and right at me. And he also send me flying across the entire room with a one punch, so yea…." – said GreyHunt.

"Well, I saw some tools in the weapon storage. Maybe we will be able to fix some of them? So don't worry much about it." – said lamia Alun.

"Anyway, the food storage room was indeed filled with food like you said. We should be able to survive two or three weeks on it."

"Yea. By the way, there is nearby a murder scorpions den. So, if you run out of the food, you can just go there and hunt some of these big scorpions for their meat." – said GreyHunt.

"Rampage found it."

"Huh. Anyway, we checked everything expect that main room you talked about. Shall we head there?" – asked ClownFrog.

"Yea. I'm quiet curios about it." – said the lamia leader.

The group left the dining room and headed straight to the main room where the giant statues are located.

"Wow. This place ginormous!" – said Shri.

"Mother. This place, do you know what is it?" – asked lamia Alin.

"Hm… Kind of?" – said the lamia leader.

"The 5 statues over there represent the 5 tribes that founded of the Umil kingdom."

"Hm? Excuse me. But could you please explain? I know that the Umil kingdom consisted of the humans, lamias, harpies and the sobeks, but from what I see there are 5 figures here and one of the figures wears the jackal mask?" – said ClownFrog.

"Well then, allow me to explain."

"Those 5 figures represent 5 tribes."

"The mask of the cobra represent our Sand Cobra Tribe."

"While the person with the snake mask is wearing the mask of the rattlesnake. They represent the other lamia that lives in the desert besides us, a tribe called Melody Tail."

"Hm? Wait, there is a second lamia tribe besides your tribe?" – asked ClownFrog.

"Yes. We the Sand Cobra tribe specializes in the sand magic as well as poison, while the Melody Tail tribe specializes in close range combat. From what I know, they are apparently also a great farmers and alchemists."

"!"

"Alchemist? I kind of want to meet them now!" – said Blueberry.

(So, there is a second lamia tribe living in here?) – though ClownFrog.

(Well, it does mean that we will spend a more time looking around for the allies, but we would end up with another tribe backing us up.)

"Anyway, what about the rest of the statues?"

"The statue wearing the volute mask represent the Desser Vulture tribe that consist of the harpies. My mother told me that their tribe would dominate the entire sky of the Umil kingdom."

"The mask of the crocodile represents sobek tribe called Fang And Sand tribe. Their tribe consists of the might warriors."

"And lastly, the figure in the middle wearing the jackal mask represent the humans. They were once a tribe called Umil tribe, but it got changed later on when the kingdom was formed."

"The Umil tribe consists of the necromancer and powerful at that."

"Their leader at that time called U'g Umil was the person that manage to untie all our tribes together and form our own kingdom in the dessert."

"The symbol of the jackal is the symbol that repressed the Umil tribe long ago. It apparently represent the creature called underworld jackal. From what I know, the symbol and the mask of the black jackal represent the humans living in this country."

(Huh. So, kind of like Anubis? Anubis was a jackal and he was the guide to the underworld.) – though ClownFrog.

"I think this place is something like a marriage grounds? Or maybe it was once a temple where the people would pray?"

"Sorry, but I don't know really. My mother or grandmother would knew, but they are long gone Probably some other tribe would know something."

"Hm… I see. Well, thank you for that information. At least now I get meaning behind those masks." – said ClownFrog.

"However I have another question."

"Will this place do?"

"…"

"Yes. It definitely will." – replied the lamia leader.

"An oasis and enough space for all of my people to hide."

"On top of that nobody will dare to approach this place because of the mummies and we even have enough food for everybody and there is even a proper hunting grounds for us to hunt the food."

"I honestly was starting to doubt you and your people, but I got to say, you did it."

"The entire tribe Sand Cobra tribe are grateful for everything you did to us and as promised, the Sand Cobra tribe shall lead you their aid in the times of the need."

[You have completed the quest: Rescue the Sand Cobra tribe.]

[You have received the EXP.]

[The Sand Cobra tribe has pledged their alliance with you and shall assist you during the time of the war.]

[Favorability with the entire Sand Cobra tribe increased significantly.]

[You have received the title.]

[The Friend Of The Sand Cobra Tribe]

[Rarity: Rare]

[You can now be called the friend of the lamia tribe called Sand Cobra and will be known among the lamias as their friend.]

[Title Effect]

-Increase the favorability with the members of the lamia race.

-Receive 30 free skill points.

-Receive 30 free stat points.]

(Huh. We got the title. It increase our favorability with the lamias? Well, it will be useful when we will be trying to recruit the Melody Tail tribe.) – though ClownFrog.

"By the way. Now that we helped you out and can trust us somewhat, can I ask you some important question?" – asked ClownFrog.

"Sure, go ahead." – replied the lamia leader.

"Okay. Here comes the questions."

"Do you by any chance know the location of the other tribes? We know what happens to the humans, but we cannot rescue them right now. We want to recruit all demi humans monsters tribes as of right now."

"Hm… I know the location of the Melody Tail tribe as well as the area where you could meet up with harpies, but the problems are sobeks."

"Sobeks home was completely taken over by the humans from the Adernul kingdom. We also lost contact with them long ago, so I won't be able to help much. Maybe the other tribes know their locations?"

"Oh, I understand."

(Well, at least we know how to get in touch with the other two tribes at least, but how we will find the sobeks?)

(The power the sobeks possess is something we will definitely need in the war at all cost!)

[Quest has been generated.]

"?"

[The Umil Kingdom Tribes]

[Quest Rank: ???]

[4 tribes alongside the humans were once ruling the kingdom the Umil, but now their kingdom was stole from them.

However, you and your party managed to recruit one of the tribes to your side for the upcoming the revolution!

You who promised to seek out the other tribes and recruit them for the revolution!

If you succeed in recutting the other tribes, not only you will gain their trust but also their loyalty to you.]

[Recruit:

-Sand Cobra tribe 1/1

-Melody Tail tribe 0/1

-Fang And Sand tribe 0/1

-Desser Volute Tribe 0/1

-Free 10000 enslaved human desanders of the Umil kingdom – 0/10000]

[Reward: Depends / Title [The Rising Hero Of The Lost Umil Kingdom].]

[Failure penalty: Favorability decrees of the with all tribes as well as the desanders of the Umil kingdom.]

"!?"

(A quest was formed suddenly?!) – though confused ClownFrog.

(But she didn't request anything from us yet?)

(Weird.)

(Normally the quest were formed when somebody request something from us, but this time something completely different happened?)

(So does that mean the quest can form on their own, without having the NPC ask us to do something?)

(Huh.)

(I wonder if you can even end up having quest being created, without having being involved with any NPCs?)

"Well then. Our business is concluded for now. If something comes up regarding the situation, we will try to reach you, but for now, goodbye and take care." – said ClownFrog.

"Wait." – said the lamia leader.

"?"

"Well, we have a gift for you. Come."

The party fallowed the lamia leader as well as her daughters back to the surface.

After getting back to the surface, a lamias approached their leader while caring something.

"Here. These two chest are filled with gold coins. They are not that big chests, but they are still filled with riches. We kind of can't use this money in the first place, considering out situation, but for you it will quite useful." – said the lamia leader while the two chest filled with gold coins were placed right in front of the party.

"Also here, for your tamer friend."

"?"

"An egg?" – said Shri while receiving a giant egg.

"Yes."

"The giant cobra you saw working for us is called Jumu and her race is called the cruel cobra."

"The egg we are giving to you is one of her eggs she laid recently."

"We normally wouldn't be willing to give you any, but as of right now we don't have means to take care of all the eggs and we do kind of own you and since you are the tamer and all, you should be able to take care of the egg and help it hatch."

"Also, ClownFrog, take this."

The lamia handed over a small golden mask of a cobra.

"A mask? But its… Kind of small?" – said ClownFrog.

"Well, this thing isn't for wearing at all. It's a sigil that each of the tribes possess. If you show it to the other tribes, then talking with them should go much more smother." – explained the lamia leader.

"Oh! Then I will gladly take it!" – replied ClownFrog.

"Well then, thanks for everything. Goodbye for now."

We successfully manage to make the Sand Cobra tribe to join our side and not only that but we also got the info where to locate two other tribes. Things are going smoothly for now.

After our business with the lamias was done, we boarded our caravans before ridding back to the Blue Sand city.

"…"

"Hm…"

"?"

"Is something wrong Blueberry?" – asked Shri.

"No…. Well…."

"Don't worry. Just spit it out." – said Shri.

"…"

"Well, I was thinking…. Aren't we technically becoming the good guys?" – said Blueberry.

"Huh. Now that you mention it, aren't we accidently becoming the heroes? We even got the quest that will give us "Raising Hero" title and all." – said Rampage.

"…"

"Shri. Stop for the moment." – said ClownFrog.

"…Okay?" – replied Shri.

Both of the caravans suddenly stopped.

"???"

"Em… D-did I said something bad?!" – said panicking Blueberry.

"Nope." – said ClownFrog.

"Your question is quite good."

"However I'm going to say it straight right now. We are still the bad guys in the story and will continue to be even if we rescue all the tribes and revive the Umil kingdom."

"???"

"Wait. I don't get it." – said Rampage.

"Y-yea. Aren't we helping out people in need right now against the cruel Adernul kingdom?" – asked Blueberry.

"You are correct and also wrong." – said ClownFrog.

"Let me ask you something first, did you see any incident involving the corrupted nobles or guards or anything like that?"

"…Well, you did told us about the stuff that the king did when he was still the prince." – said Rampage.

"Yes, but beside that, did you see anything evil?"

"Em…. The slaves? The people are using the slaves as the tools?" - said Blueberry.

"Yes, that is correct, but only the merchants are using the slaves. Average citizen are not using any at all and the slaves are only present in the dessert."

"What I'm asking about is the evil revolving around the people in the control or anything. Obviously beside the king."

"…"

"Well…. I mean…. Huh… I cannot think of anything?" – said Rampage.

"S-same here. I don't think I can recall anything." – said Blueberry.

"But wait! What about that Emerald city?! Didn't the guys in power there were evil?" – asked Rampage.

"Well, kind of. We only know that they murder a group of merchants and were handling an illegal goods or doing assassination request, but we don't really know how bad the stuff they did really was."

"Did they sell drugs? Or by any chance the assassinations involved dealing with corrupted merchants and nobles?"

"Lets say these two are really evil, but then if you look at the entire picture, you will realize that we only killed those 2 evil people."

"We killed 2 bad people and shit tons of innocent people that were just living their life."

"Let's say that those two, the noble and that merchant from the Emerald city were really bad guys and let's include those bandits the GreyHunt just killed."

"Now, how many bad guys did we really killed?"

"…"

"Wait. Are you saying- "

"Yeb. So far, we mostly murder innocent people. We barely killed any real bad people."

"Even when we were killing the people in the Emerald city, we only really killed 2 bad people and besides them all the people we killed or caused to die because of our actions were just innocent people."

"I'm going so say it straight."

"There is corruption in this country, in each country be it fictional or real there is always corruption."

"But this country? There minimal amount of corruption."

"True. The king is evil and sadistic bastard, but he isn't a mad tyrant that does fuck up shit every day that causes an death of many people every day or other stuff."

"Pretty much, the Adernul kingdom can be consider a good kingdom."

"True. People don't like the king and fear him. If we were to take his head, then we would be called heroes by some, but this is not our plan."

"We are planning on reviving the Umil kingdom and destroying this kingdom."

"We are planning on committing genocide on the innocent people."

"So not only we will be killing that king, but also a lot of innocent people."

"And most of the people living in this country are innocent."

"True. We did saw the ugly side of this kingdom, but that does not justify anything."

"Every country has an ugly side, but you just don't go "Let's have revolution!". No. That is not how thing works."

"Some people can debate that what we are doing is just, but the smart people will always realize that what we are planning to do is just evil."

"By no means we are the heroes of the story. We are the villains from the start to finish and this is reality."

"…"

"So, you are saying that all the good stuff we did and are planning to do, is in reality evil?" – asked Rampage.

"Pretty much." – replied ClownFrog.

"We are helping out the tribes in need, but those very tribes are the danger to the innocent people and because we are helping them, a lot of innocent people will die because of our actions."

"Same goes for the slaves."

"Let's say we somehow manage to abolish the slavery in this country or rescue every slave. This could be consider good deed, but obviously kingdom will not like this and will deem us as enemy, since the slaves are the important resource for them."

"True. Those slaves are probably innocent people, but how do we know that those slaves won't try to take the revenge on the people of the Adernul kingdom and began not only to target the merchants that used as the tools, but also innocent people that are just living their lives?"

"What we are currently doing is both consider good and evil."

"HOWEVER!"

"Our actions right now and our goal will bring way more evil than good."

"So here is the answer. No."

"By no means we are good people."

"We are the bad guys."

"…"

"Ohhhhhh…." – said both Blueberry and Rampage.

"So, wait, all the actions we do are evil?" – asked Blueberry.

"Well, our guild goal is to be the villains."

"So we will be obviously the bad guys."

"HOWEVER!"

"That doesn't mean we cannot play as the good guys."

"We are planning on doing whatever the heck we want, without the care about the world!"

"We will do the good stuff when it will benefit us, so we don't mind pretesting to be or be the good guys if necessary."

"But obviously we will do the bad stuff since we are the villains."

"Let me make you remember something."

"We want to be villains."

"We don't want to be just some guys that go around and do crimes at random, but instead we want to play it smart."

"We want to be a proper villains and we will do whatever the heck we want that will benefit it us. Be it either good deed or a crime."

"Do you get it now?"

"…"

"Em…. Yea? Kind of?" – replied Rampage.

"I-I think so?" – replied Blueberry.

"Good."

"Well, you two did decided to join us by your own free will. So, blame yourself if you don't like it." – said ClownFrog.

"Any questions left?"

"…."

"…."

"No? Good."

"Well then, lets continue getting back to the Blue Sand city."