Dark Lord and I Committed Tax Evasion. Now We Mug Gnomes to Survive.

The day started off as any other day. No one knew exactly why the day started so. Peter didn't want for the days to start with him trying to get all the bed covers washed.

 But the day did start like that.

Asmodeos prepared the breakfast for all the gnomes, it was calm in the retirement home.

It was calm and nice.

 All the gnomes had a cup of hot chocolate in their hands, their plates with cookies by them, their gazes tired and downcast.

 Peter didn't want the small creatures to be like that. He didn't want them to lose hope. He didn't want them to be downcast. They deserved all the good things that could happen to them.

And so, Peter devised a clever plan. He, at least, thought it was clever, but really… it wasn't.

He went to the orc who was guarding the main gate. Ready to make a mistake.

 "Okay dude, come on. We have to do something for the gnomes. Look at them. They are one sneeze away from crying their hearts out!"

Peter had tried to cheer them up the night before, but the gnomes had just shaken their heads and ignored him.

The poor gnomes.

His attempts to try and dance with Asmodeos weren't very funny. Asmodeos had really enjoyed the dance, or so Peter thought. That did not change the fact that they were horrible dancers, and more than one cookie had been thrown at them.

 Considering how short the gnomes were, the cookies got wasted and Peter had even stepped on a couple of them.

His heart crying out for the lost opportunity for a sugar high.

 "If you really want to do something for the gnomes, then I suggest you start gathering mana crystals."

Mana crystals, as the name suggests, actually meant something to Peter. He only had a single mana crystal, and it gave out light.

He wanted to keep the crystal for himself. It was a small thing, hanging on a thread around his neck.

 If he had to be honest, then well, it wasn't really much to speak about. But if it really managed to make the gnomes feel better, then he was going to use it.

Peter nodded, went back to the gnome corner, and took off the mana crystal.

 He poured a little bit of his mana. As little as he could. He let it shine through the mana crystal. It was as if a spell had fallen over the gnomes.

They, much to Peter's joy, started to cheer. They placed their cups with hot chocolate down; ate their cookies with greater gusto.

They were happy for once. Peter could hardly believe it.

 Peter placed a hand over his heart.

Was it really all it took?

"Come on," he looked at Asmodeos, who nodded.

 "The dark gnomes have all the mana crystals in this prison. You see, normal gnomes can't live without dark gnomes. The normal gnomes don't have much mana. And if the air is not charged with the mana from the dark gnomes, then the normal gnomes are going to die," Asmodeos told him, looking at the lively magical creatures.

Peter understood that, on some level, it was wrong to take from the dark gnomes to give to the normal gnomes.

"And how do we find the dark gnomes?" just because he knew it was wrong, did not mean that he was going to just ignore the needs of his new charges.

No, he didn't know how to catch the dark gnomes. He knew they were there somewhere, or the green-haired creatures that were currently eating their cookies, so as if they hadn't eaten anything in days would all have died by now.

 But he had no idea where the dark gnomes were.

"We can explore the tunnels, and heck, we can even get some loot. If this was a dungeon before it became a retirement center, then you can be sure that it was once full of loot! Come on," Asmodeos had not given up his dreams of becoming a true necromancer.

 The phoenix PVPer was currently listening to them. He knew that the two wanted to rob the place blind. Mike, just because he was an imp, decided to indulge them.

As for selling the loot, they could find some illegal antique goods trafficker to cart their loot back to the village.

 "We will do this for the gnomes," Peter said. He was still idealistic. He really believed that he could do this for the gnomes.

He believed that, as they had given him a cup of hot chocolate the night before, they deserved something good to happen to them.

"And we won't kill the dark gnomes either. Besides, I heard this rumor: If you hit the gnome with your broom, he is going to cry pearls!"

 Asmodeos had also heard that rumor.

There was a time when he had considered keeping gnomes as pets just to get the pearls. But something about hitting his own pets with the broom did not sit well with him.

Still, those dark gnomes were going to try to attack the normal gnomes. For they didn't want their mana to be taken out of them.

"Yes! Let us go find the dark gnomes! Let us take brooms with us. And let us take the bottomless bags!"

Asmodeos turned to Mike, who ruffled his feathers. The PVPer system had waited to give them a quest. He knew that the main quest revolved around the normal gnomes. It was going to take decades to complete.

Now, he had no intentions of being immortal by any stretch of the imagination. But that didn't mean that Mike couldn't pull some strings.

After all, he didn't have to be involved, though, if time stopped in a dungeon, then everything was going to just last until the end of time.

 Besides, the only people affected by this beside himself would be the gnomes, the dark gnomes, the two adventurers, and the orc.

Mike thought that he honestly didn't have anything to lose, and so decided to just give them a quest. Before the two adventurers appeared a screen.

 On the screen, in italics, was the following message:

 "Go find the dark gnomes and get them all with the brooms.

Reward: pearls.

Penalty: fifty days of hunger.

Yes/No?"

Peter walked up to Asmodeos, who smiled, already with two brooms in his hands.

This was not a normal dungeon, no normal retirement home for gnomes. This was the world dungeon, and the core was still alive.

A small detail, but a vital one.

But they didn't know that, no. As far as they were concerned, they were just going to mug some gnomes.

And that, that was where Karma came in.