The Protagonist System

On one hand, I was quite glad I wasn't in a world where random were people gathered up on the night of the full moon, howled and transformed, and became feral and ate any locals stupid enough to be outside.

On the other hand, their beastification skill was only a minor boost to their stats, unless they levelled up several times and then it could reach a double boost and sometimes a triple boost, if they were lucky. The problem was that it was still limited to the one night a month and could only be activated while under moonlight and pretty much useless in the dungeon.

I had a sudden thought and shared it. “What if a werewolf activated their skill first and then entered the dungeon?”

Rose laughed a good laugh and it sounded pleasant to my ears. “Even our strongest werewolves would run out of stamina and become exhausted before reaching the second floor. It's unthinkable that any of them would get lower than that.”

I knew that was true, since each descent to a lower level was that much farther away than the last and you always had to cross it to the other side to go down to the next level. Rose then explained that they did have spells and enchantments they had researched and created over the years, just so they could simulate moonlight, only they were expensive and still only worked on the night of the full moon.

I reached across the small table and took her hand. “I'm so sorry that your people's main racial skill is so limited.”

Rose looked stunned and needed a moment to recover. “You are genuinely sorry about that.”

“I really am. You have this great addition to your life that you can't take advantage of, just because it only makes you exceptional on one night a month and only if you stay above ground.” I said and for fun, since I was holding her hand anyway, chose to check what I could do with her as a temporary party member.

I barely managed to keep my face straight as I read that for a measly 300 karma points, I could essentially upgrade her and unlock her ability to be used once a day and it was another 100 to give her both the werewolf and full wolf forms. Since everything was about ten times the cost here, that was laughably cheap.

“Have you ever wanted to become an adventurer?” I asked her instead of what I really wanted to ask.

“I... no, I... why would you ask me that?” Rose asked.

I patted her hand and cast the truth spell. “Tell me what you really think about your job.”

“I hate having to watch adventurers go to their deaths. I can only advise them to not go and I can't stop them from being hurt. I have to force myself to not care when men pledge eternal love to me, because I know they will one day never come back from that deathtrap and I'm afraid I'll be alone forever.” Rose said, her voice full of conviction, then she gasped and pulled her hand away from mine.

“I assume you are a member of the Ouranos Familia?” I asked and she nodded. “Would you be insulted if I asked you to leave and join my Familia?”

“I would be.” Rose said. “They took me in when I had nothing and I have a job and a life now.”

I did not remind her that she hated her job. “Then forgive me for asking you to give that up.”

“I will consider it.” Rose said.

I reached into my backpack and created a single rose. The wide eyes she gave me let me know two things. One, she could feel magic when it was used near her. Two, she couldn't tell what the magic was. With that in mind, I created five more roses and her tail puffed out as her ears stood straight up.

“A gift for you, to match your name and eye-catching coloring.” I said and changed the color of the roses to match her bright red hair and took out the half-bouquet from my backpack.

Rose gasped when she saw them and her hands shook as she accepted the six roses. “Th-thank you.”

I smiled and stood, gave her a slight bow, and left the small private area. I walked over to the exchange area and the dog-man was there with a large treasure chest. I nodded to him and he nodded back. I took out the Golden Egg from my backpack and held it up.

Rehmer placed the wooden chest onto the counter and sighed. “I'll call some helpers to help count it and prove that it's all there.”

I cast a diagnostic spell on it and inside was 1,000,000 valis. It also had three tracking spells on it and a magic beacon inside of it. A second casting couldn't tell me who put them there or who would be tracking it. That made me change my plans for the rest of the morning.

“There's no need of that, Guild Section Leader. I will completely depend upon your honor and will trust the Guild to not cheat me again.” I said as a direct challenge.

The dog-man's face drained of color and he reached for the chest to try and take it back.

I placed the Golden Egg into his hands and intentionally misdirected him, picked up the chest, and signed the receipt. “I hope the Guild enjoys the fruits of their labour.” I verbally prodded him and his eyes never strayed from the chest. “Have a good day.”

Almost as soon as I turned around, he ran around the counter and over to the main one, went around that, and entered the office at the back of the room. I chuckled under my breath as he tried, probably quite fruitlessly, to contact whomever he hired to retrieve the chest.

My having the chest as evidence was damning enough for him. If I also caught the thieves and brought them and the chest back to the Guild, his reputation would be ruined after my loud proclamation. He might even lose his job or his life.

I glanced back when I reached the door and saw the pink-haired girl giving me a glare. I gave her a little wave and left with a smile on my face. Now I wondered when they would discover that the Golden Egg was only a transfigured piece of armor with a copy of the same magical signature inside?

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times? Fuck you, too.

*

Canoe Belway was a crafty and greedy raccoon-man and a member of the Soma Familia. He was a terrible drunk and did not treat his friends well and treated his subordinates worse. Everything he did was to get money, just as the head of his Familia had ordered, and he was good at it. He abused the poor support member the Familia owned and he always stole things from her after he beat her.

“Make sure you grab that chest as soon as we distract the idiot.” Canoe ordered and kicked the short girl with the giant backpack to the ground. “Do you understand? Grab it and go! We get a quarter of whatever is inside of it and we won't lose this chance because you're too slow!”

Liliruca Arde held her tongue when she was tempted to insult the actual idiot. She rubbed her side and slowly stood as she swore in her mind that she would get her revenge on him and all the other members of the Soma Familia someday. No one steals from her and beats her without consequences. Her thoughts went to the chest and whatever it contained.

If it was so valuable that they got to keep a quarter of it for returning it to the Guild, then maybe it was worth keeping all of it and never telling the guild? Lili asked herself and adjusted her too light backpack. She hated that the fool thought she could move faster by forcing her to empty most of her pack. The truth was, she moved slower because her skill wasn't activating with so little weight for her to carry.

“The magic beacon is down there.” One of the other men whispered and pointed down an alley.

“Great! I know this area like the back of my hand.” Canoe boasted, a bit too loudly.

“SHHH!” The other two men hissed at him.

Lili just stood behind them and shook her head as she wondered how the Soma Familia survived with this many drunk fools as members.

“Split up.” Canoe said as he ignored them. “You go that way, you go there to the basement. It goes through. I'll go this way and the shrimp can come around the side to swipe the chest when we jump the guy.”

The other two gave each other looks, shrugged, and moved off.

“Did you hear that and understand it, stupid?” Canoe asked Lili. “Go to the side and do your job!”

Lili gave him a blank face and moved off to where he said to go. As she walked, she grabbed everything she could along the way. She needed more weight to move and she almost rejoiced out loud when she saw several stone blocks used for building. They went into her backpack and she sighed when her skill activated and she felt light as a feather.

“GET HIM!” Canoe yelled and ran down the street. The other two idiots came out from the other directions and the guy stood there over the chest. He was bent over and looked tired from carrying it.

Perfect! If it's heavy, that's even better for me. Lili thought and started to move.

The short girl that was 3 feet and 7 inches tall, had taken exactly seven running steps and was only three away from the chest when the three attackers seemed to freeze in place. Literally. They were covered in ice from head to toe. A second later, all three heads fell to the ground.

Lili gasped when her backpack caught on something and she felt an immense presence all around her. Her hand was only an inch away from the treasure chest and she despaired as her dreams of robbing the robbers died a quick death.

“Hi, there.” A pleasant voice said as the pressure disappeared.

Lili blinked her eyes and wondered what was going to happen now, because she still couldn't move. Her fingers seemed to move on their own as they wiggled to try and at least touch the treasure chest.

“Oh, you want that?” The voice asked and armored man walked into sight.

Lili caught her breath when she saw the beautifully crafted orange-yellowish flame colored armor. Her eyes appraised it all she shivered at how much it could be sold for. Her gaze went up and up and stopped at the Familia Emblem on the chestplate. She knew that symbol and everyone thought it was a joke Familia because no one had joined it in years.

“Here you go.” The man said and picked up the chest and handed it to her.

Lili couldn't believe it. “You... you... are you an idiot like them, too?”

The man laughed and laughed, bent over, and slapped a hand on his knee. “You're... too... funny!”

Lili saw the clear amusement on his face and in his eyes. She couldn't stop her own laugh from bubbling out and laughed with him.

“Go... go ahead and open it.” He said and motioned to the chest. “Hooo. Hoooo. That was a good laugh. I needed that.” He stood up and took off his backpack.

Lili stared as he put the frozen heads into the bag and she accepted that, then he shoved all three ice covered bodies in as well. “Those aren't supposed to fit in a bag that small!”

The man chuckled. “I fixed it.” He said and slung it over his shoulders. “Are you going to open that or what?”

Lili thought he was playing a trick on her or something, so she shook her head and put the chest down.

“I want you to have it.” He said and bent down onto a knee and used a hand to open the latch and flipped it open.

Lili gasped at what it had inside. Valis. Piles and piles of valis.

“I believe the Guild said you could keep a quarter of whatever was inside the chest, didn't they?” The man asked and she nodded without realizing she just admitted the Guild hired them to rob him. “That's 100,000 valis. Do you want to take 25,000 now or after we head back to the guild?”

Lili was too stunned to speak. Plus, her backpack was stuck on whatever it was and her feet weren't touching the ground to move anyway.

“The Guild it is. That's a great choice. Thank you for helping me, Lili.” The man said and closed the chest and handed it to her.

Lili could only nod because she was too shocked by him letting her carry 100,000 valis! 100,000!

The man chuckled at her stunned face and picked her up, backpack and all, and carried her through the city's back streets towards the Guild Hall. It wasn't until they were passing through the doors of the Guild Hall that Lili realized he had carried her and her massive burden all that way.

“Hello, Guild Section Head Rehmer! Guess what happened to me on the way home?” The man asked.

The pitiful whines of a sad dog-man echoed loudly throughout the whole Guild building. All Lili could do was wonder who this flame-covered man was and why he willingly gave her 25,000 valis for robbing him.

*

I was not surprised when the Guild shut down for the day and I was granted a very rare meeting with the god of the Ouranos Familia himself, Ouranos. His right hand man that led us to the meeting was just a floating cloak filled with bones. I wasn't going to judge him, though. His concealing spells were quite good.

The meeting room was a gigantic room the size of a stadium and the only chair was atop a partial pyramid and only part of the massive room was lit by magical lights. It caused an eerie and I suspected a quite intentional atmosphere of intimidation.

“You are causing the city a lot of problems, Bell Cranel.” The deep booming voice of the man in the high throne said. Well, orated. Only Lili and myself were his audience, so it was kind of a waste to use his divine power for something so mundane.

“It's not my fault your Section Leader is a crook and a thief.” I said and then smiled. “It is my fault the corruption was discovered, so you're welcome and I expect recompense of an appropriate nature.”

Lili made a choking sound and I lightly patted her back.

“You are in no place to demand anything.” The cloaked being said.

“I'm pretty sure I was the one that was being ripped off and robbed by the Guild. I could easily demand that you fire everyone for incompetence and then hire people who actually want to do the job.” I said.

Lili shifted in my arms and I patted her back again. “You can put me down now.”

“I can't. I need you as a hostage.” I said and both Lili and the cloaked figure sucked in sharp breaths. “Just the chest, the magic beacon, the tracking charms, and my word is not enough. A witness to the Soma Familia's compliance in robbing both the Guild and the Hestia Familia is needed to bring their god to heel and clear out their criminals.”

Lili looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights as she stared at me.

“I'm going to demand Soma hand over all of his current stock of wine to me, even the good stuff. No one tries to rob me of a million valis. No one.” I told her and she fainted.

“I cannot enforce that.” Ouranos said.

“I'm not asking you to. I'm telling you to announce that as the judgment against their Familia members and that everyone else is forbidden to buy anything from them until they do.”

“I don't see how that would work.” The cloaked figure said.

“The Guild will refuse all business with anyone not in compliance.” I said and looked up at the god of the guild's face. The small smile there let me know I had won.

“It will be done as soon as you hand over the real Golden Egg.” Ouranos said.

I took it out from my pocket and tossed it to the cloaked figure. “I was only holding it in trust.”

Ouranos chuckled. “You planned this.”

“Only when the pieces fell into place. If there hadn't been charms on the treasure chest, I would have handed over the real egg. Half of the proceeds belong to my dungeon partner.”

“Honor and honesty. How refreshing.” Ouranous said.

I laughed. “Do you want the bodies to show off? They made cool ice statues.”

It was the cloaked figure that chuckled this time. “It might be fun to show what happens to thieves.”

I shifted Lili to one arm and dug into my backpack with the other. A summon spell brought out the ice pieces and both Ouranos and the cloaked figure chuckled at the severed heads and dramatic poses of the bodies.

“This will definitely be fun.” The cloaked figure said happily and gathered the pieces up.