"I was wrong, I was really wrong. I betrayed the Holy Light and abandoned the glory of my ancestors."
Tears streamed down the Dwarf Warrior's face as he charged at the gravely wounded Elekk.
"I forgot my people's pride and forgot what justice meant. Earth Mother, please forgive me." The Worgen Druid transformed into a leopard, rushed back and launched a fierce attack on the Elekk.
"Gnomeregan has yet to be reclaimed. How could I abandon the ideals in my heart? Technology is the primary productive force." The Gnome rogue activated his Gnome Rocket Boots, and in a flash of fire, returned to the Elekk's rear.
"Great Elune, please forgive your child." The Night Elf hunter activated Aspect of the Cheetah and returned to the battlefield.
Now that was more like it!
Using Yrel's Mass Mercy as a reference, Robbie had developed Mass Repentance, and it worked quite well.
The gravely wounded Elekk, Kurat, soon fell, and the herd scattered in all directions. Robbie stepped forward and cut off its enormous white tusks, ready to take them back and claim the reward. The four were still in a state of repentance.
"This shield is a family heirloom." The Dwarf Warrior, his tears not yet dry, handed the shield to Robbie. "I hope it can make up for my wrongdoing. I'm deeply sorry for offending you."
Robbie accepted it without hesitation.
The Worgen Druid handed over his staff, and the Gnome rogue gave him a pair of replica Chromatically Tempered Swords. When it was the Night Elf hunter's turn, he was crying the hardest and repenting the most deeply. He pulled a hardcover art book from his robes.
"This is the hardcover edition of 'The Eredar Twins' Temptation,' which I've treasured for a long time. It's my most precious possession. I hope it can atone for my sins and earn your forgiveness."
"The Eredar Twins' Temptation," and a hardcover edition at that.
Robbie's eyes went wide.
The Eredar Twins were a pair of sexy, beautiful twin sisters. Plenty of things unsuitable for children, commonly known as "doujin," circulated among Azeroth's adventurers.
Vanessa was right beside him, so he had to mind his image.
Robbie put on the air of a gentleman and quickly waved his hands. "This gift is too precious. I can't accept it. Give me your family heirloom, the ancient bone bow, instead."
Robbie had made a huge haul on this trip. Beaming, he waved goodbye to the four of them.
Once the effects of Repentance wore off, those four would probably regret it bitterly.
Halfway back, Weldon stepped out from behind a tree, grinning from ear to ear.
He had changed into a set of Fang armor and was wielding two barroom weapons. Clearly, he had stripped the Undead rogue bare. When he saw Vanessa, he put on a fawning expression.
"Commander, thank you for your help. This is a small token of my appreciation." With that, he handed her a trinket.
The Barov Lumberjack Caller.
Vanessa accepted the trinket without hesitation and glanced at Weldon.
"You know that Undead rogue?"
"Yes, he's my brother, Alexi Barov. You've done me a great favor."
Vanessa nodded. "Someone from SI:7 will be here to collect him shortly." She gave Robbie a meaningful look, then went off to rest.
Weldon was quick on the uptake. He secretly slipped Robbie three sixteen-slot bags. "Senior, these are for you."
Robbie opened them and found more than two hundred gold coins inside. Vanessa didn't lack bags or gold, so it didn't matter if he kept these things for himself. The important thing was to handle the matter properly.
"Wasn't your younger brother working under Med'an? How did he end up in Shadowmoon Valley?"
"I asked him about that." Weldon looked delighted at his brother's misfortune. "My brother used to be about as good as me, but after he became Undead, he forgot a lot of things and fell far behind me. When his commander saw him, he said he was from Africa. I don't really understand what that meant, but he probably wasn't satisfied with my brother's abilities, so he sent him here to gather information. He told him to keep an eye on a rogue carrying a Dragonfang Dagger. There's no way someone like him could manage that, and he didn't find the person, so he took the chance to make some extra money."
This guy must have misheard, or Alexi had misheard, mistaking the Fangs of the Father for a "Dragonfang Dagger."
"How many jobs has this bunch of bastards pulled?" Robbie asked.
Weldon looked startled and said through gritted teeth, "Those people are scum. They murdered three commanders, seven Followers and eleven adventurers, picking on newcomers who had just started out. Alexi ate all the bodies. They seem to be acting on someone's orders."
Robbie sucked in a sharp breath.
He had thought they were only sapping people and stealing their equipment. He hadn't expected them to have so many lives on their hands.
Robbie had let the four go because adventuring was a profession that existed on the fringes of the law. Too many people cheated, swindled, ambushed and attacked others for him to root them all out.
As the saying went, water that was too clear held no fish. When ordinary people were cheated, they just chalked it up as a lesson learned.
But killing members of one's own faction was a completely different matter. They had to be hanged.
"Good work on the investigation. Hand it over!" Robbie held out his hand to Weldon.
"What?"
"The Orb of Deception."
The Undead rogue had looked like a Night Elf only because he had used an Orb of Deception.
"What's an Orb of Deception?" Weldon played dumb.
"Barov, you don't have to hand it over, but don't complain later when the commander makes you clean toilets every day."
"Don't do that. I was wrong, I was wrong."
Weldon handed over the Orb of Deception with a pained expression.
The Orb of Deception was full of magical power and exquisitely made. It was actually of Epic quality.
A faint fragrance still lingered on it, leaving Robbie a little puzzled.
Vanessa came over from behind them. Her expression was cold, but her face looked normal as she waved a hand at Robbie.
"Don't bother. I heard everything. I thought a light punishment for those four pieces of trash would settle the matter and let everyone save some face. But since they've been murdering people for their belongings, they can't blame me for showing no mercy. I'll dig those four out for sure. Robbie, do you have any ideas? Let's hear them."
Robbie gave Weldon a meaningful look.
Weldon stared blankly for a long moment before taking the hint. "I'll go mine some ore."
Robbie rubbed his chin and said:
"To act so brazenly, they must have a powerful backer. We took advantage of them once, so they definitely won't let it go. We don't need any schemes. We just have to walk openly into Embaari Village, and their backer will surely show themselves. But I find it strange. Why would they go so far?"
Ordinarily, sapping people, ambushing them and stealing their equipment was already a good way to get oneself killed.
Murdering people for their belongings went far beyond that. It would only get them wanted, and there was no need to take such a huge risk.
Vanessa frowned and said angrily:
"I understand now. These people are all willing to die for their cause. If Hogger were here, he might recognize them. They were probably his fellow inmates in the Stockade."
"The Stockade?" Robbie didn't quite understand.
"I'm afraid this isn't so simple." Vanessa gritted her teeth. "Someone released them from the Stockade and gave them new identities, then had them trap and kill Alliance adventurers here. It wasn't for a little equipment, but to ruin the Alliance's reputation and drive a wedge between us and the Draenei."
Robbie was a little bewildered. He stood there stunned for quite a while, unable to quite understand the reason behind it.
Vanessa sighed. "It's all because of land prices. The Horde's Frostfire Ridge has a far worse environment than Shadowmoon Valley, and its potential has already been fully developed. Now Thrall has set his sights on Shadowmoon Valley. If the Draenei become dissatisfied with the Alliance and cooperate with the Horde instead, Thrall can definitely make a huge profit."
"The Draenei in Shadowmoon Valley could never cooperate with the Horde." Robbie would never believe such a thing.
Vanessa said coldly, "Don't forget that the Orcs and Draenei lived together for thousands of years. Compared to them, we're much more unfamiliar to the Draenei."
That seemed to make some sense.
It was like a group of aliens of all different shapes suddenly showing up at your home. If one of them was the same race as your old neighbor, you'd naturally feel closer to that one.
He had to admit that, as a low-level adventurer, it was hard to consider things from that angle.
Vanessa said angrily:
"Those people in SI:7 are getting more and more out of line. How can they let scum like that run wild? If SI:7 can't handle it, then it'll be up to our Brotherhood."
Was that sort of thing under SI:7's jurisdiction too?
Shouldn't there be something like an Azeroth disciplinary committee?
On the continent of Azeroth, which department was supposed to deal with adventurers who committed crimes?
It really was a bit of a headache.
The good news was that Vanessa wasn't interested in the Epic-quality Orb of Deception.
"You can keep the Orb of Deception. I already have an Orb of the Sin'dorei."
Robbie privately thought that Vanessa didn't want to turn into an ugly female Orc.
After the delay, Robbie called Weldon over, and the three continued on their way. When they reached the hunter camp, that little brat Yrel was nowhere to be found.
They asked the others and learned that four adventurers had passed through earlier, telling everyone they met about a female Priest in an Enchanter's Robe who had gone out to cheat and harm people before even graduating from Northshire Abbey.
They had also deliberately spoken ill of Vanessa in front of Yrel, describing her as utterly incompetent and a bad person besides. Yrel had actually believed them, packed up and headed back to Embaari Village.
Vanessa had an unusual way of doing things. She liked to be direct and never explained herself to anyone. Yrel surely hadn't been left with a good impression by what she had seen and heard along the way. With those four pieces of trash embellishing things, it seemed reasonable that she would set off on her own.
Weldon followed behind them, full of suspicions, and privately asked Robbie:
"Is our commander really that bad?"
"You're underestimating the commander."
Robbie didn't forget to add, "You're underestimating Yrel too. If I'm right, we'll run into that little brat soon enough."
Without the little brat Yrel causing trouble, they traveled much faster. They hadn't gone far before, sure enough, they ran into her.
Yrel sat on a large rock by the road, holding "The Eredar Twins' Temptation" and reading it with great interest. Armor, weapons, clothes, purses and other things lay neatly arranged beside her. By the look of it, Yrel had stripped the four adventurers bare, probably leaving them with nothing but their underwear.
"You're too slow," Yrel complained.
"Yrel, that book isn't suitable for you." Robbie stepped forward to snatch it, but Yrel nimbly dodged and rudely brandished a hoof at him. Robbie had no choice but to give up.
"Picking herbs, mining ore and skinning beasts is hard work. Robbing people is much faster."
Yrel was extremely pleased with herself. "I saw through those four pieces of trash and what they were after at a glance. They dared to rob me, Yrel? They must have been tired of living."
Seeing was believing. Robbie finally understood.
Why the future Yrel would become the Draenei archbishop.