Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 146 - Robbery

Lumi looked down at the monster and spoke. "I could kill you."

He purposely let a silence ring. The Deer King was given time to think. After a couple moments of heavy breathing, the Deer King looked up at him. It was carefully weighing its options and found all of them bad. It then carefully spoke. "You... could. But you did not." Its breath shook as it struggled to speak. "What is it that you want?"

Lumi scoffed in disdain, faintly rolling his eyes. He looked at the beast as if it were an idiot. "Kill you? For what? So I can feel righteous? Leave that for the heroes. The ones who walk around blabbing about justice."

He lightly crouched to stare into the beast’s eyes closer. He spoke plainly. "I want benefits. I am here to rob you."

The Deer King’s eyes slowly blinked, and then reopened in understanding. No longer was it panicking. Its mind was now contemplating.

It was already aware that there were fairies that might come after it. However, they weren’t particularly strong. It was confident it could hide from them. If they really found it, it would win.

It had heard of a human woman helping the fairies. Someone called Lena. It figured that the only type of human that would ever help fairies with something as mild as a kidnapping case over some insignificant children would be a hero.

However, what it was currently seeing was turning its thought process entirely on its head. It was clear to it that these humans were no heroes. That was very good.

If the humans were heroes, it would be killed for what it had done. There was no argument, no appeal, no outcome other than death. But a hero would not be saying these things. A hero would not be standing there with that expression.

This was someone like itself.

If that was true, then its crimes were irrelevant. All that mattered was whether it could satisfy their demands.

The Deer King reached up and unclasped its cape. It held it out, offering it to them.

[Deer King’s Royal Cape]

[Requirements: Level 30]

[Def +30]

[Allstat +5]

[Speed +5]

Lumi grabbed it. It had exceptionally high stats for a cape, which didn’t tend to have high stats.

The Deer King removed a ring from its hoof. It was way too big for a human to put on, but it didn’t matter. It was offered regardless.

[Deer King’s Ring]

[Requirements: Level 30]

[Allstat +10]

[Defense +5]

Lastly, it shifted its body, bringing its hooves up to detach a metal plate that had been layered into its fur.

[Deer King’s Chest Enhancer]

[Allstat +20]

[Defense +35]

It was everything of importance on the Deer King. While it had other equipment on, it was purely decorative and held no stats. The Deer King also knew this and didn’t insult them by offering it unless asked.

Lumi’s gaze didn’t soften. "Now. Take us to your home. We’re taking everything you have."

The Deer King stared at him. Its expression shifted between confusion, wariness, and anger. After a moment, it slowly spoke. "That’s my home... it might have... defenses. You... are not afraid of an ambush?"

Lumi stared at it like it was a fool. "If you are so confident, then try to kill us when we get there."

The Deer King gulped. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

It moved on to its next concern. "If I give you everything... you will kill me once I am no longer useful."

Lumi didn’t hesitate. "If you don’t bring me, I will kill you here right now."

He let that sit for exactly one second before continuing. "If you bring me everything you have, and you are cooperative, why would I kill you? I will come back in a few years and rob you again. You are more valuable to me alive."

The Deer King considered this.

Profit. It understood profit. It understood the logic of a repeat victim, even from the victim’s side, because the alternative was death. There would be little risk to the humans unless it made allies, but who would ally with itself? It stood, and led the way.

...

The Deer King’s home in an entirely different location. They had to take a path hough the forest, down a pit, and into a cave. Then the cave dropped into a river, where they swam through an underground tunnel to reach a small clearing.

It was the exact reason why they couldn’t just ransack its home after killing it. In Elenora, a hidden home could be anywhere.

They walked through the entrance. The deer first, followed by Lumi, then Lena. It was more of a den than a home, with a boulder covering the entrance, leading to what resembled a dragon’s den. There were several piles of stolen goods.

First and foremost, there were piles of Ems. It was unknown what a beast might want with currency, but it didn’t matter. With a wave of his hand, he stuffed them all in his inventory.

[Ems +104,000]

Next were gems of various kinds, laying around like they were worthless objects. In a sense, they were, given that their relative value was much lower in Masteria than they would be on Earth. Afterwards, he proceeded to the rest of the items, looting various tomes and accessories of various importance.

The Deer King’s expression contorted in pain as it was forced to watch all its hard earned valuables be stolen.

In contrast, Lena watched Lumi do it with widening eyes, curious and enlightened.

Was this... a strategy? Was this something she could be doing? She had beaten monsters before, looted their bodies, and moved on. It had simply never occurred to her to stand the monster up and make it give her its home as well. She filed this away with considerable enthusiasm. The amount of loot currently going into Lumi’s inventory was impressive and she intended to apply this lesson.

When the last item had been taken, a silence rang out. Lumi turned back to the Deer King.

They exchanged three silent seconds, before the Deer King couldn’t help but break the silence. "You will spare me?" It was half a statement and half a question.