Witches of the Frontier
Witches of the Frontier
009.
[ Quest - You Should Keep Your Promise, Right? (500pt) ]
"Hmm..."
At the sudden forced quest that popped up, I crossed my legs and began fiddling with my lips.
The quest was offering me 500pt right now if I let the prisoner go alive as promised. The AI mod really had a subtle way with these things.
"Agh... If the situation were just a little better, I wouldn't take a quest like this."
So right now, I was calculating which option would yield more profit.
In this game, the colonists' mood is quantified into numerical values.
If the colonists are in a good mood, they work better; if they are in a bad mood, they often go on a rampage and do crazy things.
If I harvested organs right now, the three sisters would take a mood hit from the thought that they had turned into organ traffickers.
So normally, it was essential to feed them good food and create an environment where you could harvest organs comfortably, but...
- "Eonni, what are you going to do with him now? Are you really going to set him free?"
- "W-wait a moment. That personage told us to wait a bit."
Our settlement had just started not long ago, so not much was prepared.
"Agh... If I do it now, it feels like all three of them will hit a mental break..."
The standard method is harvesting three in order: lung, kidney, heart.
But harvesting the heart kills the prisoner, so I had to factor in the shock of executing a prisoner plus disposing of the corpse.
I remembered how the AI mod had taken many factors into account and kept popping up [ Panicking ] for Vivian. She even had the [ Respect for Life ] trait.
"Then at most, all I can harvest is one lung and one kidney?"
Depending on how things went, even harvesting both would only yield 500 silver.
"Damn it, did it deliberately calculate all this and offer just 500pt?"
I slammed my hand down on the desk.
No wonder the quest points offered were exactly 500pt.
So calculating it all out, there were two choices.
Keep the promise and earn 500pt.
Or break the promise, perform surgery, and earn 500 silver.
Considering that silver and points (pt) in this game felt like a 1:1 ratio to me, keeping the promise to avoid mood debuffs was the more profitable scenario.
In that case, I had no choice but to pick the option with zero execution risk while squeezing out all the points.
"Phew..."
I let out a deep sigh. Since it was a forced quest, the time had come to keep the promise.
I clicked <Give Revelation>.
- Let him go. But tell him if he acts up again, we won't let it slide.
That was my genuine resolve.
If letting him go this time blew up into some kind of problem, I would drug our three sisters if I had to, catch that bastard again, and turn him into a living doll.
Sent.
[ Balance: 1,700pt ]
Vivian received the revelation, and soon [ Nodding ] popped up above her.
And then, pointing her gun, she began guiding him out of the house as he limped along with crutches for both legs.
- "That personage truly commanded us to set you free."
- "T-thank you. T-then, c-c-c-can I go now?"
- "Yes. Never come back here again."
Long-term Service Unit 1's release. The prisoner began hurriedly scrambling away.
But just then:
- "Eonni, give me that for a second."
Second suddenly appeared, did a [ Snatching Vivian's gun ], and fired a shot bang into the air.
Startled, Long-term Service Unit 1 froze.
- "H-hiieek!"
Second shouted.
- "Hey! Just try showing your face here again. Our Outer God won't let you off!"
- "O-of course, of course! I won't even come near!"
I wondered what was going on, but it was just Second laying down threats. I chuckled to myself.
But Second fired off more shots—bang, bang, bang.
- "And you!! You saw that my eonni is a crazy bitch, right? If I see you next time, it won't end with just your arms and legs. Eonni will listen to the revelations and slice your belly open too, got it?!"
- "Eek! Y-yes, yes! Understood!"
Soon, Long-term Service Unit 1 hobbled away in a frantic rush.
[ Quest Complete - (500pt) ]
[ Balance: 2,200pt ]
The quest was completed. Watching that scene, Vivian herself showed [ Chuckling softly ] while scolding Second.
Seeing Vivian like this—when she used to tremble at the mere thought of a prisoner escaping when I first saw her—made me feel proud.
Soon, Vivian knelt down on the spot and offered a prayer.
- "Reroll-nim. Today, you personally showed us what a promise truly means. Keeping faith even with that sinner... Please, do not let us become a stain upon your great mercy."
[ Faith Level: 70 ]
Vivian's Faith Level rose again. My heart welled up for a moment. Fiddling with my lips, I watched the pop-up windows appear.
[ Faith Level: 5 ]
Just then, something else went up beside her. This was the increase for Second, who had been teasing the prisoner next to her.
After finishing her prayer, Vivian did [ Pulling Second's sleeve to sit her down ].
- "Ah, why! You pray alone, eonni. Do I have to do it too?"
- "Yes, you experienced that personage's miracles too, didn't you?"
- "T-that's true, but..."
- "Our personage is one who keeps what He says. So He will be pleased if you offer a prayer of thanks."
At that, while grumbling, Second performed [ Kneeling down ] beside her and prayed along.
- "Outer God...-nim? Can you hear me? Well, I'm thankful and all, but I still haven't gotten an apology for the rhinoceros thing, okay? But well... today's thing was kind of cool. Ah, whatever, done!"
At the AI characters' reactions, I suddenly felt embarrassed and scratched my head vigorously.
Honestly, it was just a decision made for profit. It wasn't like I released him to keep a promise or anything.
And honestly, I knew all of this was fake. They were just scraps of graphics, and an AI generated by probabilities spewing plausible dialogue.
"It feels so real."
I kept feeling a sense of responsibility.
Like I have to take care of them. Like I have to embrace them. Like I have to guide them.
And though it wouldn't happen, if I saw them go wrong because I neglected them...
Or if things went wrong with them while I carelessly fell asleep, and I woke up to see it...
And if they popped up lines of text expressing their suffering...
'I really don't think I could stand it then.'
That would be pure fire and brimstone.
If it really came to that, wouldn't I mobilize every trick and exploit I know to become an Evil God of this game world?
For no real reason, I gently poked at Vivian and Second Delphine on the monitor.
Suddenly, I paused.
"Agh. You're crazy! I've lost my mind!"
I jumped out of my seat. Then I went to the fridge, pulled out a plastic bottle of zero cola leftover from ordering chicken, and chugged it down.
Immersion is a very good thing. It does make a person passionate.
But it needs to be done in moderation.
I am way too immersed right now.
"Th-th-these crazy bitches. Devilish bitches, devilish bitches."
Long-term Service Unit 1, Hans, was muttering to himself, limping, and trembling uncontrollably as he made his way out of the forest.
They should have undoubtedly been good days.
Just at the right time, his comrades had found a settlement ripe for raiding, and when they actually broke in, it was indeed a settlement perfect for plundering.
Setting fires, stealing anything of value, capturing slaves, and his comrades each ravaged the women they had captured.
"Euhahaha!!"
The raid was a success.
But while looking around to see if there was anything more to enjoy, Hans felt a sudden flutter of excitement.
"Th-this is."
He had discovered footprints of three people heading into the forest.
And when he confirmed those were the foot sizes of three women. And when he confirmed those happened to be the stride lengths of three young women.
Hans himself let his imagination run wild with all sorts of fantasies as he excitedly pursued them.
And then he got captured.
"K-kill me!! Just kill me instead!!!!"
Every time he woke up drugged, alongside excruciating pain, his severed legs kept growing shorter and shorter.
When he was caught trying to escape, even what remained of his legs was cut away.
Waking up from surgery every time, Hans would scream, begging them to just kill him, before repeatedly passing out under the influence of drugs.
This place is hell.
A living hell where he couldn't even die, forced to watch his own body get chopped away piece by piece for the rest of his life.
Every time the door to his locked room opened, Hans shuddered in terror.
"K-kill me!! Kill me!!"
Despite his screams and shouts, she merely glanced at him. Was her name Vivian?
Though she looked attractive yet modest, that vile bitch was dreadfully malicious and cruel; she would mutter in front of him every time.
"If that personage desires it... th-this level of surgery... o-of course, perfectly..."
That crazy bitch, even though there was no one in this room besides him, was muttering to someone other than himself.
Soon, every time he woke up drugged, his body grew shorter. Just how far would that bitch keep cutting Hans himself down?
So when they said they were giving him a chance to escape this place, even if he couldn't believe it, he had to grasp at any straw he could.
And when they truly sent him back.
Thus, as Hans fled, stepping on the ground with wood jammed in place of his legs, boiling with a vengeful heart burning throughout his entire body, he suddenly froze.
"W-why?"
Why did they spare him? It wouldn't have mattered to those women even if they killed a nobody like Hans himself.
Thinking it over carefully, Hans suddenly felt goosebumps rise across his skin.
They needed another prey.
"Th-th-these crazy w-w-witch-like bitches!!!"
Those witches.
They were waiting for him to come back for revenge. Bringing scores of people along. So that when they came, the witches could capture a few more and do to them exactly what they did to him.
No wonder.
He wondered why that witch bitch mercifully pressed 2 silver coins into his hand when letting him go.
That was like bait hooked on a fishing needle. Meaning: go back alive safely and bring back big prey to bite the hook.
Hans's pace quickened.
He had to get away from those witches' settlement as soon as possible. Even as he limped on those legs that had been severed and turned to timber, he hurried away.
Just in time, he found a path leading out of the forest, and after walking aimlessly along it for several days, when he discovered the largest city settlement nearby...
Tears welled up in Hans's eyes. Now Hans was saved.
To quickly quench his thirst, he headed straight for a nearby bar.
"It looks like you've suffered tremendously."
When the bartender handed him a drink and asked about his situation, tears finally poured in streams from Hans's eyes as he held the cold beer in his hand.
"I-I was captured by witches and then released."
Unbelievable stories poured from Hans's mouth.
Everyone present in that regional bar listened intently to Hans's words.
A new settlement with three crazy bitches. Approaching without knowing any better, getting both legs severed, tortured, and finally released as bait.
Hans also described the things he had witnessed.
Food and resources pouring out, god knows how they managed it. He speculated that perhaps it was because they performed some kind of black magic in exchange for his two legs.
Hearing that story, the people found it terrifying and extraordinary, and everyone bought him a bottle of beer, saying he had been through a lot.
The eyes of several nearby merchants sparkled as well.
Hans would now work hard here to earn money somehow, buy bionic legs, and attach them.
Ah, right.
Vivian and her sisters had become the Witches of the Frontier without even knowing it themselves.