Battlepaws zeroed in on a hamster. The rodent was plump and had a shiny fur coat. The hamster narrowed its eyes at the kitten, which had been skulking towards it for the better part of the last 30 minutes.
Battle companion and mob took each other's measure. Both knew that only one could survive.
"Battlepaws, don't eat the hamster! It was in a dungeon just an hour ago!" Kai called out from his bed. He was bundled up in enough blankets that he felt like falling asleep.
He could not do so, for the mayor was making him send off all of his mobs to repair the damage after the Hamster Apocalypse.
"Your hamsters will need a lot of feed," the old elf said, as he sat on the floor. The elf had been born as a dwarf elf, and so, the local gnomes thought of him as one of their own.
Even though Rodge was about half as big as Kai's house.
"And I will be grateful if you provide it. The hamsters are useful," Kai lied through his teeth.
"Oh, how so?" But Rodge was not born yesterday, and he could always tell when someone was lying to him. The truth pendant around his neck helped as well.
"They can mow lawns?" Kai tried, not coming up with anything better. The mayor narrowed his eyes; Kai smiled.
So far, so good.
"For free?" The old elf was not born yesterday, either. He knew that if he did not play his cards right, then the gnome was just going to let loose his hamsters on the village.
Most gnomes were like that. With their green hair and small figures, they were deemed as good. Looks could be deceiving.
Rodge knew better than most.
He did have to clean after his neighbor's Shih Tzu every morning. The lady refused to stop walking the dog through his garden.
"Yes," Kai was also not born yesterday. He knew full well that should he not throw the mayor a bone, things would turn ugly.
Rodge nodded, already letting his secretary know that she should get the first point of their agreement on paper. The gnome lady nodded, and she began to draft the contract.
During her 30 years as Rodge second in command, she had managed to steal five licensed inventions, two private properties, and an entire forest.
She prided herself on what she did. Would have become a shark if she had worked in the private sphere.
Annita was a gnome with a mission, for… she hated her fellow villagers.
They kept on singing until 4 a.m., danced in the streets, and refused to sort their trash.
Annita did her work with a smile, fed on the tears and huffs of the gnomes who did not follow the law.
Karma knew, but it did nothing.
It feared Annita for personal reasons.
"I hear that you have a wind elemental in your employee?" Rodge asked, Kai nodded.
"He is tricky. Eats human flesh," and Kai wanted to save him for quests he could not do by himself. Oh, how good would it be if he ended up being able to really say he was an SSS ranked adventurer, without having to clarify that it was only because he was a gnome!
"Oh, then you can keep him," Kai would have done a victory dance if he was not buried under a mountain of blankets. "And I heard you also had something that could make a battle companion grow?"
Kai could see the greed in the mayor's eyes. It made the elf's eyes shine in the dimly lit room.
The gnome narrowed his eyes and eyed Annita. The secretary was busy using the tiny shrift rune-engraved pen. Oh, this simply would not stand!
"Mayor Rodge, if you try to rob me blind, there will be a new apocalypse in the making!" Boundaries had to be made. That was the law of Give and Take in general.
Mayor Rodge sighed. Oh, if he had only learned air sorcery like most of the elven and elemental folk, he would have been capable of stomping his foot on the ground.
Sure, there was a slight high difference between him and the gnome, heck, he was even taller than the fairy, but the days when he could have flung magic around were behind him.
No, now he had to just make a compromise.
"Will you agree to sign a non-aggression pact with this village?" For Mirstone was a small village. Hamsters were considered as boss mobs in their sleepy streets, constantly covered in leaves in the hopes that the thick cover would stop the hamsters from eating up all of the plants in their gardens.
Rodge looked at Lin next, who was holding Kai's hand in his, looking half-asleep himself. Oh, why not bag two bunnies with one trap?
"And you as well, necromancer Lin. Will you agree to become a protector of this village?"
Hugo blinked. Oh, that was good! That was his chance!
The system paused his game, glad that he had not been playing against Reginald, a faraway former PVPer system, who tormented his very own gnome, and grinned.
"Tell him to sign this, or pack up and move towns," Hugo said, as he drafted a contract from the grand total of three auto-texts. The elf should be honored, the system thought to himself, normally he just used one.
As Rodge read through the contract, he could not believe his luck! Not only did Lin agree to patrol the forest, but he also agreed to provide food for the village!
As Hugo read over the signed contract, he narrowed his eyes. No, this couldn't be right! There was no way that he had given away so much!
The flying pig oinked in pure joy, as it felt the contract it had swapped Hugo's for settle.
Oh, that was good, too good, in fact. The flying pig looked around, fearful that Karma would crash it into another tree. Then it realized that there was sand below it, and no trees in sight.
It oinked in triumph. Oh, nothing could stop him now!
Its oinking woke the sand demons who had not been eaten for years now, since the desert had been runed off 10 years ago.
The flying pig did not know that. It kept on flying ever forward, as the sand demons googled dishes with pork.