When, come dawn, the two friends reached the outskirts of the village, they saw perhaps the filthiest settlement one could possibly expect to see. It wasn't the filth of rot or excrement, of rats, or lice, or bedbugs. It was the grime of a poor mining town, where coal painted everything black.
The people, with perhaps zero exceptions, seemed impoverished beyond measure, possessing only the clothes on their bodies, and the huts they called homes.
"Lets find ourselves some accomodation before even the hairs on our asses turns black", said Dave, horrified by the thought that they might have to spend more than a night there.
Eddie readily agreed. Even the curiosity of a recently free and exploring man couldn't overcome the desire to leave that poor excuse of a village behind.
After a bit of wandering in the village, they found a small, but surprisingly clean and well built tavern. It was nothing great, but also nothing like the other buildings in the place. They stepped inside, and sat at the bar.
"What will you boys be gettin'?", the tall, scruffy bartender said.
"A bottle of red wine, and two glasses" Dave said, while Eddie was gazing around like an idiot, having never been in such an establishment before.
"What's up with this place? How come it's so ragged?" Dave asked the bartender as he was fetching a moderately good spirit.
"Time was this used to be a regular village, a bit on the well-off side. I still remember it as such, when I was a youngster. A small vein of iron ore was found, next to a huge deposit of coal. When officials found out, they quickly began operations to mine everything outta the earth, they brought slaves and everything. Of course such a village was never meant to have so many people livin' in it, and naturally, those who couldn't be properly accommodated were left on the edge of poverty, or worse. We're barely scraping by nowadays", said the bartender, a longing expression for the distant past on his face.
"And you're doing something about your conditions, I presume?", Dave asked.
"Oh it's not our place to defy our nation's orders. All this is for a good cause, y' know", the bartender readily responded, without a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
Dave and Eddie instantly realized that they wouldn't get any more answers from the naive bartender, who couldn't even perceive his own misery, and just proceeded to finish their drinks and just rent a small room. They would make their plans the next morning.
When they finally woke up, a bit dry and hungover from drinking, the two decided they shouldn't stay in the village for long. They both wanted to better the situation there, but they knew not how to go about that, nor whether any people were searching for them there. They'd just find someone to properly fix Dave's hand and leave.
As they stepped out of the tavern, after having eaten a poor breakfast, they wandered about, trying to find a doctor, or an apothecary. The search ended up being fruitless, no shops turned up, except for some farmer's stands. They changed course, towards the mines. That could be dangerous, and they ran the risk of being labeled as suspicious from the officials there, but the situation was pretty urgent, and that was their only hope of finding a doctor qualified for the job.
They reached the administrative building, situated close to one of the entrances to the mines, and asked around for a doctor.
"You can find a doctor on the upper floor, but there might be a small queue, and of course it's gonna cost if you aren't a miner here", said a well kempt guy, sitting behind his desk.
They followed his directions and took the stairs, to find a door, leading to a very plain waiting room, full of injured, downtrodden miners. The scene could only be described as horrifying, with most of them having only simple cloths as their apparel, their faces, black and grey from the soot allowed only their eyes to show emotion. And that emotion was everything but cheery or dandy. It was probably more akin to hopelessness, or despair.
They waited for their turn, until a tidy man in an all black uniform called them to the office. Dave stood up and followed him, while Eddie remained seated, not wanting to bother the doctor with his presence. He sat there for a while, until a girl, roughly his age sat next to him. She seemed just as scruffy and dirty as everyone else, her ragged hair loosely tied up so as not to bother her when working.
"You don't seem to be a miner", she said with a light accent, and a questioning look.
"I'm not. I'm just waiting for my injured friend, and we're getting out of here. You a slave?"
"Yup. Probably till the day i die", she responded, seeming unwillingly settled to her fate
At that moment, something clicked in Eddie's head. Something that should have clicked the instant he decided to rebel and follow Dave on his way to freedom. He wasn't the only one oppressed. Even saving one more person from his oppression would be a huge win in his book. He still had his sword, and the dagger, and with it, he would fight for the oppressed. Dave, always being meticulous and extra cautious, would fight that decision, but right now, that isn't his concern. His concern was saving the one person he could for now.
They sat in silence, the only sounds they heard were the pained moans and shouts from the injured.
At that moment, Dave stepped out of the doctors office and called for Eddie to follow him out.
"Meet us in this building in an hour from now", Eddie said, in a barely audible whisper.
"What?". A flabbergasted expression appeared in the girl's expression.
"Do you want your freedom?", he asked, still determined.
"One hour, be there" he repeated, without waiting for an answer, and left the room with Dave.