Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Pirate that Artemis had repeatedly beaten, and then had Applebloom heal, was curled into a ball. His voice was little more than whispers asking for mercy. The fact that he never apologized for what had happened was more than enough for Copper to understand exactly what his mind was like. If he’d had the chance to do to any of the others what he’d helped do to the women they rescued he’d done it in a moment. Instead he was docile, his eyes closed tightly, and he whimpered every few moments.

For Copper this was fine. The man certainly deserved worse than this, but he wasn’t going to push for more. What he received would have to be good enough for now. The mother and her two daughters were brought out of the smuggler’s cavern, and they were given clothing. Copper noticed that Diamond Tiara was trying to get them to eat, but they showed so little interest in it. He wasn’t sure how he could help, but at the moment the one thing he knew they could do was at least get them to a temple.

The best choice would be the one at the capital, but the problem was how far away it was. The closest choice was the border temple. It was smaller, but it did not lack in the resources to help them. He’d asked Artemis to have her other avatar lead his Dad toward where they were. It was easier than to go search for him. Within a few moments he heard his father, and he walked out to greet them. When he came down to see what had happened his Father’s fists balled in rage.

He noticed the pirate lying on the floor, curled into a ball, whimpering and pleading for mercy. For a moment he thought his Father was going to shoot the pirate and just be done with it. Instead he kicked the man hard, causing him to cry out in pain. His Father stood there, and then shook his head, “Is he the only one?”

Copper nodded, “The only one we’ve found so far,” he admitted, “I guess there could be more, but I wouldn’t know for sure.”

His Father shook his head, “If there are then likely they’re in the estate,” he said as he looked above them, “We’ll go through it room by room. If it’s clear then we have no trouble, but if there’s more then we’re going to collect them, and we are going to deliver them directly to the guard. This is something I’d gladly do without a promise for a reward.”

He nodded, “I feel the same,” he admitted after a moment, “What they did was unforgivable.”

Copper Plum watched as his Father Gold Bit nodded, “Absolutely. When this is over, we’re going to help set things right here,” he said as he looked at it, “It’s not that we need the island, but rather I would like to make sure that they have something to come back to. Something that will help them sustain themselves for now on. It could be that they don’t want to return, and if that is the case then we can request to purchase it from them, but doing this kindness for them would only be right.”

Copper understood what his Father meant. Personally he didn’t see them coming back to their home. What had happened likely would remove all feelings of being safe this place had given them. Instead they likely would opt to live somewhere else, maybe the capital, and just live in a reclusive peace. That was the most likely answer. Still, he wanted to do what his father suggested. He wanted to ensure that they had something to fall back on. With that they slowly moved the women up and then to the ship itself. Bow Hothoof offered to stay behind and keep an eye on them.

Artemis’ other avatar did the same, and the rest of them moved toward the estate itself. The home had obviously been something grand at one time. It had been built to show wealth, power, and everything that the border regions weren’t known for. The money that the Baron who lived here had obviously went to making his home look more inviting and bigger. It was something that showed more wealth than his farm would have been providing. Instead it was something that obviously had come from the smuggling that happened.

The Captain of the Serenity had obviously had a deal with him, but he had a feeling that other smugglers had a similar deal. That had lead to him raking in more money. Maybe one of the pirates had learned of it, or maybe he’d even had a deal with one of their crew. Still, when they realized how much he was worth they had decided to cash in. The problem was they were being stupid about it. They were doing a single take instead of trying to spread it out. They couldn’t threaten to turn him in, but they could have threatened to do what they did. Then again there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t have requested help if that was the case.

The help would have likely come from the knights, and they would have made sure the pirates were dealt with. If they searched more or not would have been completely determined by how much they were being paid. In and of itself the knights for the kingdom had their own form of extortion, but at least they did provide a true service. They did protect those that called upon them. But how much they protected, and how far they went to ensure that protection was mostly up to the payment made.

He got his head back into what they were doing when he realized that they were back at the estate itself. He tried the door, found it unlocked, and slowly opened it. The interior of the house was dark, nothing seemed to be stirring inside of it, and he could see evidence of it being left to rot. Cobwebs covered every corner. It was as if the pirates had basically just left the house alone.

Any and all evidence of the attack was absent. At least it was until they walked into the foyer. There Copper saw the remains of what had to have been a young man. A single bullet hole had been shot through his forehead, the wall behind where his head had been was splattered with blood and bits of gore, and he lay slumped on the ground. Even after death his hands and feet were tied. He’d been killed execution style, and it had likely happened after the attack. Whatever it was that he had been protecting he had obviously kept the information about it secret from the pirates. There was a sense of pride he felt for the deceased young man. He felt that pride swelling up inside of him. Whoever he had been, he had done what he could to protect whatever it was that most precious to him.

It was something worthy to be praised. He looked around the body, but the pirates had simply executed him and then left his body here to rot. There was evidence that they had torn things apart, but again whatever it had been they were looking for the evidence pointed to it not being found. He studied where they’d torn things open, and he noticed a very familiar situation throughout. They weren’t looking for valuables but instead he saw papers strewn across the floor.

The paperwork didn’t really amount to much in and of itself, but it told him something. They wanted information. If pirates were after information then it stood to reason that they wanted information that was going to be valuable to someone. If this baron was involved in smuggling it stood to reason that others were. That kind of information could have gotten the pirates the chance to work in other domains without worry.

The realization struck him, and he looked again at the young man. He was protecting those that they were associated with. The other families, the other domains, he wanted to make sure they wouldn’t fall prey to these predators either. He looked at him, and he tried to consider where he would have hid the information if it had been him. Slowly the realization began to dawn on him. It wouldn’t be hidden in the house. It likely wouldn’t even be hidden in the smuggling cave. No, if it was him he would have hidden it somewhere that no one would ever think to look. A place that wasn’t associated with wealth or family. He hated that he knew right where to find the paperwork. It meant going back outside, and he would after they finished searching the house itself.

The paperwork itself would be somewhere that wouldn’t be noticed, it would be secure, and it would be a small training shack that was behind the home itself. If it would have been him then that would be where he would have hidden it. The shack was barely noticed, a place that was cold as death in the winter, hot as hell in the summer, and where he was expected to be most of the time as he grew up.

They moved from room to room finding nothing else on the bottom or second floor. The top floor was a step into something that resembled a nightmare. Paintings were ripped apart, doors were busted in, and clothing was torn and thrown around. All of that was the normal kind of thing that would be expected from those hunting for something. It was the other sight that caused him to stop. Strapped to the floor were the remains of a servant. At one time the servant had been a beastman. Something was shoved into his own mouth, and with the bloodstain between his legs it wasn’t hard to figure out what that was.

He’d obviously died quickly, although if it was from lack of oxygen or from bleeding out he wasn’t sure. Another room revealed another servant, this time he was hung on the wall. Knives were sticking out around him, a few were inside of him, and Copper could see the crude circles that had been drawn around him like a dart board. They had treated his death like a game. Another room and this time it was locked. The door looked as if it was bent at an awkward angle, but the door itself was still firm. He looked at the lock, and he could see where it looked like a pick had been broken off inside of it. Still, he began working to get the broken pick out, and he searched his pockets.

The lock picking set he’d gotten from the wreckage of One Eye Mash’s ship was still with him. He began using it, and he felt the tumblers in place. Thankfully it wasn’t just his playing this game, but other games that relied on lockpicking that drew from. Slowly he moved the pick, feeling along the tumblers, moving them accordingly, and he found another set. He moved them as well, until he heard the soft click of the lock disengaging. With some slight strain he began to push the door open.

Inside he saw what looked like a cradle, and he saw a sleeping form in it. Near the ground was another sleeping form. He moved toward him, only to see that they weren’t sleeping at all. They had ran into the room, locked themselves in it, and they had died in that room. He could see the placement of the pillow near the small body in the cradle. He understood what had happened. The one that took the infant into the room had likely understood that they were on their own.

There was no help coming, and they would be there for who only knew how long. The pillow was moved, pressed, and the infant left this life in what could only be considered one of the less violent ways. It wasn’t peaceful, not really, but considering everything else he’d seen he couldn’t deny that it could have been worse. Still, there was little doubt in his mind that this would be something that haunted him for ages to come. The dark way this world behaved made him wish that he would have paid more attention to the lore, but at the same time he was glad that he didn’t. They finished looking through the house, and the entire time the sight of what he’d seen both outside of the home, and inside of it, weighed heavily on him.

There had been so much had happened here, and there was little doubt that the events that happened here would exist throughout the rest of the lives of the women they’d saved. What Artemis had done to the pirate wasn’t just justified, but it was absolutely necessary. The pirate himself deserved a fate far worse than having his body broken and then repaired only to be broken again. In more than one way he felt like the pirate’s fate should have been made to last for an eternity.

Still, there was a possible way that they could deal with him. The fact remained that turning him over the kingdom meant that he would either be executed, or he would be sold into slavery to atone for what he’d done. With the slavery there was a chance that he would be sold somewhere that he would have to toil. That in and of itself was at least a little better. It wasn’t perfect, but then he wasn’t sure that there was a perfect solution. He felt a hand and he looked at his father.

“Son, I believe the rest is clear,” he said as he stood there, “we’ve covered the estate, and we’ve checked the island. I don’t think that there is much more to do here.”

He nodded, “So, what happens now?” he asked as he looked at him, “I mean the pirate, we’ve got to do something to make sure that he pays for this. Everything, I can’t believe everything that I’ve seen so far. How could it have gotten this bad? Isn’t there anyway that they could have reached out for anyone to have helped them?”

His father shook his head, “As a border baron it’s unlikely that any request for aide would actually be answered in time, and even if it was from what we’ve seen the baron in charge here would have likely been found guilty as well. Even if there wasn’t evidence of smuggling he would have likely been brought up on charges of assisting pirates.”

Copper stood there stunned for a moment, “Wait, why would he be changed with assisting pirates? They attacked him, that makes absolutely no sense!”

His father shrugged, “The kingdom needs to make examples of those that it can. Border barons are a convenient source to pull from. There’s plenty of us out here that they can make an example of one, and usually the island itself is absorbed by the most influential baron that lives close enough. The goods are usually sold to cover the fines, and the men and women are typically taken in as slaves or servants until their dues are paid. At that point they’re given a choice to either remain servants for the crown, or to make it on their own.”

It sounded barbaric, and Copper took a moment to really consider it, “That’s insane,” he replied after a moment, “How can they expect all of us to ensure the safety of the borders if they’re willing to destroy everything that we are? How can they believe that we will actually stand with the kingdom if another force comes knocking? They have to know that we will just allow them to come through, right? I can’t see it going any other way. It’s almost as if they want to make us rebel. Like they’re waiting for the moment for us to turn, but I can’t see why they would.

It took him a moment, but Gold Bit finally shook his head, “Son,” he said as he studied him, “What you’re saying isn’t wrong. The kingdom sets things like this in motion to test and see which barons will continue to serve the kingdom. My father, your grandfather, told me that when he was a boy there was a single baron that chose to defy the kingdom. This baron had amassed a great number of servants, and he had also managed to gather far more resources than it was believed he could. He then turned his sights on the kingdom.”

Gold Bit stood there a moment, “Son, I don’t know everything that happened. My father didn’t talk about it all, but he did say that after the baron was stopped, there were a lot of things that were changed. We were taxed differently, and there was a new institution of how things should be done,” he said as he looked at him, “I know that our taxation is based solely on the level we occupy. If we’re barons then our taxes are bad enough, but manageable. Being promoted further than that means having a larger estate. That in turn means being watched far closer by the kingdom.”

He listened and he felt his head hurt from the implication. The more someone gained, the more they proved themselves, then the more the kingdom would do to ensure that they would betray them. It was paranoid, it was insane, and it flew in the face of logic and reason. He wanted to throw his hands up and be done with it. How was this even remotely fair? The realization came to him that it wasn’t. There wasn’t a thing fair about it. There wasn’t going to be a thing fair about it either. The simple fact was that he lived in a kingdom. The rules for that kingdom were put in place by those in control, and as it sat he had little say in the matter.

Still, none of this set right with him, and the only thing that they could do was to help those that survived, keep the island intact, and see if they wanted it back. If not then it would be up to them what to do with it. Before the idea of gaining more land, more resources, seemed beneficial, but with what he had learned he saw the downside as well. He looked at his Dad, “Do you really think the temple will be able to help those girls?”

His Father looked at him and shook his head, “The temple will help them deal with some of it, but they will do so by making them devote themselves completely to the kingdom’s religion,” he said before he sighed, “Son, those women will never be whole, and they will never be free of what has happened. I fear that we’re likely to hear of the mother’s death before long.”

The words hung heavy, and he knew that it wasn’t wrong. There would be no going back for them, no second chances, and he wondered if this was setting the stage for what returning to the Academy would be like.