“Can someone explain what’s going on”, Huntsman said in a scarily calm voice.

Ithiel was still crying, holding Ice tightly. The taller man simply held him back, glancing over to Bloody who simply repeated the same explanation he had given to Dead Rabbit before.

“So… this is in fact not something for the general public to know. Haven isn’t just a game, it’s a breeding ground for sentient AIs. Ithiel is one of them. He’s an NPC, but he knows we are just players and joined us to learn more.”

Bloody didn’t want to look at Huntsman as he said those words. They were so terribly cold.

Humans creating sentient AIs? Hah. Imitations, nothing more. Just a program acting like a human. That sort of mindset was one that he’d have too if it wasn’t for Little Droplet, who had broken the restraints of human ability.

Dead Rabbit was a bit of an idiot, so he forgot and treated Ithiel like a human all the time. But what about Huntsman? That guy who didn’t believe in the supernatural at all, how would he react to it?

He didn’t.

Huntsman lowered his eyes for a moment before completely skipping over the topic, unwilling to continue it any further. “I accept the quest. If you want to keep that piece safe, that’s fine with me. Our main plan was ensuring that Woodcutter can’t complete it, right? We don’t need to have the pieces for that ourselves.”

“Right!” Dead Rabbit, hating the uncomfortable atmosphere, nodded along. “We can just try to keep as many of them as possible safe.”

Not that he knew how.

The quest window vanished, as expected, without leaving behind any further trace.

Heart aching, Ice refused to let go of Ithiel. Bloody came over, patting the small elf’s back. “Don’t worry. It’s true that this place is not ours, but we know it’s yours. We won’t wreak havoc. Can you tell us a bit? What’s so terrible about the necklace?”

Between hiccups and sniffles, Ithiel managed to roughly summarize everything.

Ice and Bloody exchanged a glance. This was for sure Lusanna Corp’s decision and not Little Droplet’s - overpowered items that could change this much were awesome for players, but they’d be a catastrophe for the NPCs.

Although Little Droplet was the owner of this world, Ice knew that the being was limiting themselves to promises and oaths they had made. That didn’t only include the rules of their father that they had promised to follow, but also those made to Halwitt.

Overpowered items were a gamer’s dream. Lusanna Corp would not have allowed that to be skipped over.

“You saying that this is common knowledge explains a lot.” Ice stopped thinking about it and returned to the situation at hand. He pointed towards the window.

Huntsman peered out and down. There were more and more players visiting the forest, circling around the library in a way that really wasn’t normal.

The moment people had heard of the quest, they had analyzed Woodcutter’s video and movement for every possible hint. The necklace had been discovered already.

“Players are impatient. It won’t be long before they will attempt to steal it somehow… Although there’s also the option of convincing the city to hand it out. The quest was adjusted to be playable by everyone, so there’s gotta be non-combat methods.”

Ice wisely didn’t comment on how Ithiel himself was a non-combat method. If he helped someone, they’d be able to reach the piece easily.

Ithiel pulled up his nose and used his long sleeve to wipe his eyes. “There are some guards and other people who are willing to look away for money or other goods.”

“We will need a good plan if we want the pieces to stay safe. After all, there’s not only the necklace piece but also the ones from the other items… Why in the world are they so obviously put up there?”

“Because you can’t expect players to somehow break into a vault realistically.”

Bloody opened his mouth and closed it again.

Fair enough.

Some things had to be done a bit stupidly or it would be impossible for a game to progress. This was how it had always been.

“Anyway… We will do what we can, Ithiel. We’re on your side, okay?” Bloody showed a toothy smile that Ithiel managed to return.

While the two wolf beastmen immediately went to the table to take notes, Ithiel hid his hands in his sleeves and pulled his head between his shoulders.

He walked over to Huntsman in tiny steps, barely daring to peek up a bit.

Was he very mad?

He had been cheated. All this time, he had been travelling with “something” that wasn’t like him but was acting like it.

Huntsman wasn’t like the rest, who knew.

But the tall reptile didn’t glare or curse. He stood up, stretching his back a bit. Then he raised a large hand and put it on Ithiel’s head, messing up the already messy hair even further.

“Time for brainstorming”, he said in a low voice that had been reserved almost entirely for Ithiel ever since they met. It was pointedly calm, but not in a bad way - more like how you’d talk to an overly frightened little animal. Slow and soft, not threatening at all.

Ithiel didn’t avoid the hand. It was warm.

Finally he lifted his head up again, eyes slightly watery. His lips formed a bright smile as he held his notebook up high. “Yes! I can help!”

Out of the whole group, it was probably only Bloody who was aware that Huntsman had been shocked into stupidity. The guy had always been a bit of a critical thinker when it came to technology, and now he met an AI that was indistinguishable from a human? Moreover, one he was friends with?

Bloody wasn’t too worried about their relationship suffering, though. Huntsman was loyal to a fault.

Everyone spent a good amount of time just talking about the situation at hand.

Ithiel helped them make a sketch of the area - where buildings were located in relation to the library, then a blueprint of the library itself. Huntsman and Ice were the more quiet ones, but Ithiel, Dead Rabbit and Bloody kept on throwing ideas at each other without coming to an actual conclusion.

Once it got too late, they decided to call in early for the day. Everyone needed some time to think about what could be done.

Ice gave Ithiel another hug before he logged off.

Back in reality, Jian Lin sat on his sofa, eyes closed in thought.

It didn’t take long for Xi Yang to knock at his door. Jian Lin let him inside, the two exchanging a couple of words, each to their own thoughts but calmed by each other’s presence.

“Hnggggg.”

The troubled groan made Jian Lin look down. On his lap, Xi Yang was holding his phone, glaring at it like it was an enemy.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m searching for results on how to keep things from falling into someone else’s hands.” He paused. “Things where breaking them isn’t an option.”

Jian Lin rubbed his boyfriend’s hair, gaze soft. Although his eyes had been turned to the TV all the time, he too had been thinking about what to do. It was a very annoying problem, really, especially because protecting the piece of the necklace wasn’t the only part.

There were three more pieces of world-breaking items up there. They, too, had to be protected or they’d be stolen.

“Ithiel said that an elf keeping them safe and doing something like declaring war on players if they attempted to take it wasn’t an option.” Xi Yang peeked past the edge of his phone at Jian Lin’s warm eyes. “Again, to give us players a chance.”

“Little Droplet won’t intervene. As long as Haven is a game and not its own planet, they’ll be bound by game rules”, Jian Lin whispered, bending down to give Xi Yang a kiss on his revealed forehead.

This other man whined, reaching up with an arm and hooking it around Jian Lin’s neck to ask for another one.

Jian Lin indulged him.

Their lips hovering close to each other, he spoke again. “What did the results say?”

Xi Yang hummed and licked his lips, his tongue lightly brushing against Jian Lin’s upper lip in the process. “A lot. For example, exchange it with a fake. For example, hide it somewhere safe. For example, just beat everyone who comes up…”

“That last one sounds very reliable”, Jian Lin said in a rare sarcastic tone.

Xi Yang nodded seriously. “Yeah. We can manage, no problem. Just a couple thousand players or something like that. No issue.”

Xi Yang blindly put his phone on the table and used his free hands to play with the hair falling down over him.

“My problem is, the space is public. Everyone can see that the items are there, and everyone will see who takes them down. This isn’t a war NPCs against players - it’s players versus players. I’ve already spotted rankers’ guilds hanging around. One makes a move, hell is going to break loose. In the worst case, the citizens of the Lythian Forest will be affected.”

Jian Lin watched a part of his hair getting braided. His lowered eyes showed his flickering eyelashes. “Actually… I’ve thought about making a fake as well. If we could exchange it without anyone seeing, that’d give us a timeframe to do something about it.”

“But the forest won’t be protected.”

“What if an NPC sets up a quest?”

Xi Yang loved the serious look on Jian Lin’s face. He waited patiently and with a smile for the explanation of his boyfriend’s idea.