Lion's Quest: Trinity: A LitRPG Saga

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “Sir, I am quite certain he is insane. Now that he is sleeping, should we attempt to put the chains on him again?” one of the crewmen asked as he pointed to the metal shackles in the corner of the gnome’s cage. It looked as if they had been twisted a bit so he could pull his hands out.

  “No. I think he’ll be okay,” I said, but I felt my stomach drop a bit. The small man was totally unstable and dangerous, but he had said he would do as I wished. I just hoped that he would keep that commitment. I’d feel all sorts of bad if he went on a rampage and killed innocent people. I knew I tended to trust too quickly, but the man had seemed rather committed to following me.

  I needed to log out so I could talk to Jennifer about the UI bug, but first I had to do some interviews. There was still a spy on the ship, and Chrysa’s life would be in danger until I figured out who it was.

  I gave one last look at the sleeping gnome and then walked out of the hold. It was going to be a long day of talking to NPCs. The process would have been terribly boring in any other game, but Ohlavar Quest’s NPCs were incredibly detailed and fun. I was really looking forward to these interviews.

  Chapter 7

  Quest Failed: Find the spy onboard the ship

  The words scrolled across my UI just as the First Sunset pulled next to its dock in Sanduport.

  “Damn it,” I groaned and rubbed my palm over my face. Cornalic and I talked to everyone on the ship and asked them a ridiculous amount of questions. We figured out everyone that could send Mind messages and had done multiple sessions with them to make sure their stories matched. We hadn’t found any sort of leads that convinced us that anyone was a spy, and I’d grown more frantic as the days on the ship passed.

  We hadn’t gotten attacked by pirates again, which was good, but the failure of the quest didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t used to failing things, and I had really worked hard to find the spy. Ohlavar Quest definitely had some challenging NPC interactions. A lot of games had a highlighted dialogue tree with responses that a player could pick to push the conversation. Ohlavar was just free form, and you could talk to the NPCs about whatever you wanted. I’d never been trained in any sort of police interrogation technique, so I was running with a bit of inexperience.

  At least Chrysa was still alive, and that meant there was still a good chance that I could access her father’s treasure hoard. I didn’t know if the next relic would be in there, but I didn’t have any other leads.

  The conquered pirate ship sailed into the harbor behind us, and it docked right beside our spot. The crew, passengers, and even people on the docks let out a cheer as soon as the two ships came to a stop, and the workers began the task of tying everything down.

  “Wow. It is a pretty city!” Allurie commented. The turquoise eyed elf was leaning on the ship rail beside me, and the ocean wind made her silver hair dance behind her head like a glittering flag.

  “It really is,” I agreed as I studied the city again.

  Sanduport had a bit of an Arabian or Moorish kind of feel. The homes, buildings, and temples were made of brightly painted brick or covered with stucco. The roofs were all domed and had arching eaves. The color palette of the city was varied, but the main colors of choice seemed to be gold, bronze, and burgundy. Like Arnicoal, Sanduport was located on the coast of a bay and was in a bit of a valley. The north and south side of the city were set on high cliffs, and I could see that the homes there were the size of palaces.

  But where I had been impressed by the size of Arnicoal when I first saw it, nothing had prepared me for the scale of Sanduport. This new city was at least twice the size of Arnicoal, but the far edges seemed to roll over the hills and cliffs. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was three or four times the size. The streets also appeared to be more densely packed, so I guessed that the population of Sanduport dwarfed Arnicoal’s by much more than I’d be able to guess from just estimating by square acre coverage.

  “It is beautiful. I will admit I don’t remember anything of the city.” Chrysa was standing on my other side, and the woman smiled at me before she turned back to the city.

  “How old were you when you left?” I asked her.

  “I had seen four winters. We have a few grand cities such as this in my home country, but I do have to admit that something about the architecture and coloring of this place brings me comfort. Perhaps a part of me remembers my birth here, and my mother,” she said, and there was a bit of sadness in her voice.

  “Will there be an escort waiting to take us to the palace?” I asked as I studied the crewmen working on the docks below.

  “No. I had thought about going to the first inn and then alerting the council by messenger, but now that it is apparent assassins are after me, I do not know what to do. I would like to leave the matter in your hands, Leo. Should we go to an inn and then send word for an escort, or do you think we should head directly there so that my enemies have less chance to prepare?” The woman’s pretty brown eyes stared into mine, and they were filled with hope.

  “It is a big city,” I said as I looked from the beautiful woman. “With a lot of streets and paths we could take to reach the council. I’m guessing they are all in that palace in the middle?” I pointed toward the south, at the center of the valley. There was a multi-roofed palace there that seemed larger than any other building in the city.

  “Yes, dearest friend. That is where the king lived,” Cornalic said from behind me. I hadn’t heard the man walk up to me, but that in itself wasn’t surprising.

  “I say we hit the streets. Wind through the less direct paths and then get there before our enemies have a chance to prepare.”

  “But we will have no more guards than just the three of you. Will it be safe?” Chrysa asked, and her eyes opened wide with fear.

  “Two of us, actually.” I laughed. “Allurie isn’t much of a fighter,” I said as I gestured at the elf.

  “Also, what of my things? I suppose I can have porters return to retrieve them.”

  “Yeah.” I looked at the potential queen and then glanced at her three handmaidens. I really didn’t think that any of them were traitors, but I hadn’t found the real traitor, so it could be anyone. “We’ll leave as soon as they lower the ramp.”

  “But there are some possessions that I will need to bring with me. Jewelry and such that--”

  “Leave them for now,” I interrupted her.

  “Leo, I cannot. They must be retrieved. They are priceless family heirlooms.” She crossed her arms, and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to convince her.

  I turned to my two friends and gestured for them to step away with me a few feet so that Chrysa and her servants couldn’t hear us.

  “Do you both have all your things?” I asked them.

  “I do travel light, friend Leo. Everything is already on my person,” the half-orc said.

  “All I need is you, Leo. Oh, but I did like all the dresses that Chrysa gave me. They were beautiful.” Allurie gestured down at her clothes. She was wearing a simple cream colored summer dress that hugged her upper body delightfully before falling loosely to her ankles.

  “Yeah. We need to get you some pants and adventuring type gear. That dress isn’t going to help us much if we get attacked.”

  “Can you take me shopping? I will try all of them on for you, and then maybe, if you like one, you can come back in the dressing room with me and--”

  “Go talk to Chrysa and find out what jewelry she wants. Then go to her room and get it all. Come back here, and we’ll all leave together. You’ve got five minutes. Can you do this job?” I asked the elf girl before she could tell me what she wanted to do alone with me in the dressing room.

  “Yay! A job! I’ll be back!” Allurie stepped around us and almost jumped on Chrysa.

  “I’m going to tell the captain we are leaving. You’ve been to this city before. ” I looked at Cornalic. “Can you take a look out across the docks and plan a route for us to take?”

  “Yes, I can, de
arest friend.” Cornalic nodded to me, and we parted.

  I walked across the deck of the ship and looked for the captain. The man should have been easy to find since he was a bit taller and more regal than the rest of the crew, but I didn’t see him. I asked a few of the sailors, and they said that he had already gone down below.

  The ship was filled with frantic activity. Crewmen were leading passengers through the halls, hauling goods, or carrying luggage. Heading back down into the depths of the ship meant that I was going against the flow of traffic, and I had to stand aside a few times so that people could leave. It probably wouldn’t be that hard for Allurie to get down here and out, since the elf girl was smaller than me, but my shoulders almost filled the entire hallway, and no one could walk by me unless I turned to the side and pressed myself against the wall.

  I finally reached the captain’s quarters and raised my fist to knock on the door. Then I noticed that it was slightly ajar, and I heard a muffled shout from inside the room. I jumped inside and saw the captain on the ground with a woman sitting on top of his chest. The woman wore tight leather pants, a leather jacket, and a wrap over her hair. She was leaning on a dagger that was just a few inches from poking into the chest of the gray-haired man.

  He was at 40% health.

  I cast Guardian of Fortune on the captain and then dashed toward the woman. As soon as the captain’s body began to glow, the assassin turned to me. She had a veil over her face so that I couldn’t see her nose or mouth, but her dark eyes widened with a tiny amount of surprise.

  I aimed my kick right at her face.

  But it was as if I had just kicked through smoke.

  The woman was no longer where I had aimed. She had twisted out of the way of my leg by ducking down lower on top of the captain’s chest. I saw her try to yank the dagger away from him, and I guessed that she would have used it to cut my leg. The older man also guessed her intent, and he tried to hold onto the blade so that she couldn’t use it on me.

  It was a bit sloppy, but I let the momentum of my missed Muay Thai kick carried me around in a circle so I could reach down to grab the woman quicker. I should have just drawn my sword to kill her, but we wouldn’t be able to get any information out of her if she was dead.

  My hands closed around empty air. The woman had disappeared from on top of the captain. The man still held onto her dagger, but he looked just as surprised as I did.

  “Behind--” he started to shout, but I had seen his eyes widen a fraction of a second before he spoke, and I was already turning.

  The woman was somehow behind me, and she stabbed forward with another dagger. My hand reactively slapped down to knock the trajectory of her wrist away, and I used Guardian of Fortune on myself. Her blade didn’t extend far enough past my guard to touch me, and she took a step back to study my face.

  “You aren’t going to get out of--” I began to say, but the woman suddenly turned into a puff of dark smoke.

  I guessed that she was going to try to appear behind me again, so I drew my broadsword with a smooth swinging motion while I spun. The blade connected with the woman’s stomach, and she let out a surprised scream. She stumbled back through the room while she clutched her bleeding midsection, and I saw the captain reach up to hook the back of her leg with his arm. Her health bar text said Smoke Assassin and was at about 60% full. I figured that another attack would probably incapacitate her.

  Her body started to glow red and her health bar filled to about 85%. Shit, she must have some healing abilities.

  I stepped forward and aimed a vertical cut at her dagger. I figured that she’d try to step back so that I couldn’t disarm her, but then get entangled by the captain. Instead she seemed to understand what was going on, and she turned into smoke again.

  I spun around and waved my sword through the air behind me, but then I saw a shadow on the wall and realized my mistake.

  “Shit!” I shouted as I jumped to the far wall of the captain’s quarters. The woman was at the glass window of the room, and she was wiggling her hips through the small opening.

  I jumped over the captain’s desk and reached out to grab her dangling legs, but she slipped through the window half a second before I got there. I felt the edges of her boot when she fell, but I was just a fraction too slow to grab her.

  I heard the splash below and poked my head out of the window. I didn’t see the woman for half a minute, but then I saw her head pop out of the water about eighty yards away. The veiled woman turned to wave, blew me an exaggerated kiss, and then dove back down into the water.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I returned to the captain’s side. I hadn’t seen an injury on him when I first entered his room, but now that he was struggling to sit up, I did notice a deep stab wound on his back. I used Breath of Life to heal him and then pulled him over to one of his couches to lie down.

  “She was on me as soon as I got back into the cabin. She was looking through my desk. I don’t think she was intending to kill me, just looking for information.” The man coughed when he finished speaking, but his health bar was a bit over 55% now.

  “Where was she looking?” I asked as I glanced over at his desk. I took four long steps to get there and looked down at the assorted paperwork.

  “My passenger manifest and captain’s log. If I were to guess, this is someone one going after you know who.”

  “Right.” I glanced through the paperwork and found his log. It was a beefy leather bound book with neat handwriting across its pages.

  “I kept my thoughts about the matter we have discussed out of the log. She would have found nothing,” the captain wheezed.

  “Good,” I sighed and pondered my next move. Every second I was away from Chrysa put the woman in danger. I did want to investigate the room more, and talk to the captain more about how the assassin got into his office, but I guessed I would come up with little more information than I already had. I decided to stick to what I originally planned.

  “We are going to escort our friend to the destination. I’ll send someone to let you know where we are staying. Can you have someone take the gnome to the local healer? I can reimburse you with my share of the profits from the sale of the pirate ship.”

  “Sir Lennox, I would be more than happy to do that for you under most circumstances. However, the man is too dangerous. The best I can do is leave him in his cell until you return. My crew is terrified of him, and none wish to let him out of his cage unless you are here to safeguard them.” The captain’s health bar was close to full, and he stood from the couch.

  “Shit. I get it. I’ll return then. Might be tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “Of course, Sir Lennox. I will do my part. May the Light be with you. Thank you again for helping me. I’d be a dead man if not for you. More than once.”

  “Just trying to help my friends. You would do the same for me,” I said to the captain with a nod.

  “Aye. I see that. I must admit that I was a bit frustrated about the gnome prisoner, but now I am ashamed to say that it was because I might not be quite the man you are, Sir Lennox. You have done the right thing. Thank you for convincing me not to throw him overboard. I justified it at the time, but I believe it would have haunted my dreams for many years. Being a captain often means having to make difficult decisions. I am fortunate you kept me from making a poor one.”

  “Uhh. Thank you,” I said. The stoic man’s words were unexpected, and I could see that it was a bit of a struggle for him to say them. “I’ll speak with you tomorrow.” I gave him one last nod and then fought my way out of the hallways of the ship to reach top deck.

  I found Chrysa, her handmaidens, Cornalic, and Allurie waiting for me beside the flow of traffic leaving down the exit ramp of the ship.

  “Did you get her jewelry?” I asked the silver-haired elf as I gestured to the backpack that she wore.

  “Oh yes, and I got all of Chrysa’s dresses, and the handmaiden’s dresses, and her coins, and her gems, and her--”

&n
bsp; “They are all in that backpack?” I asked. I didn’t quite see how that was possible, and none of the other women were carrying any sort of pack.

  “Oh yes!” Allurie smiled at me and clapped her hands together. “Did I do a good job?”

  “Yes. You did.” I looked at Cornalic and then pointed to the city. “You have a route?”

  “Yes, dearest friend. Let us make haste through this city.” He gestured to the ramp, and we all began our walk down to the dock.

  New Quest: Follow Cornalic’s route to Sanduport Palace. Chrysa and her handmaidens must survive.

  “The captain was attacked in his room,” I whispered to the half-orc after we made it down the ramp. “It was a female assassin with some sort of teleporting abilities. I fought her, but she escaped. She was looking through his logs. I was able to heal him.”

  “I must confess, this clandestine trip will only be the start of our worries.” The half-orc man had put his arm over my shoulders and whispered in my ear so that Chrysa and her servants couldn’t hear him.

  “What do you mean?” The sensation of having the man’s arm over my shoulder was somewhat strange. Garf, Jax, and I had been friends for most of our lives, and we had no problem bro hugging, but just a few weeks ago I’d wanted to run Cornalic through with my sword for swindling me.

  But even though the half-orc’s arm of my shoulder felt strange I didn’t mind it.

  “We won’t be able to count on the royal guards to protect our new friend. Not as long as this queen debate is active. Even if the council decides on the pretty young lady in our care, she will probably be at risk until her competition has been escorted from the country.”

  “Yeah. There are going to be more assassination attempts in the palace. I had already thought of that,” I said.

  “It could come from anywhere. Perhaps I am wrong. Some might see her as the rightful heir and desire to protect her as such, but I think that we are metaphorically stepping into a den of hungry bears while each of us carries a hunk of raw meat. Never fear, friend Leo. Once, when I was but a wee lad of only knee height, I came across a group of hungry bears, and rode one as a steed for a year or so.”