'Uh…'
'I was just…'
-"Not a single word!"-
-"Damn! Just how stupid can you be?"- Lucas was surprised yet again.
"…"
And with all the sarcasm, Rei decided to ignore Lucas once again.
All the goblins in the cave drooled as the orc chief munched down the piece of meat.
He threw some pieces at the goblins and screamed. "Here, fill your filthy stomach with the precious meat."
"Be grateful!"
Almost all the goblins dashed toward the pieces.
Rei quickly grabbed six pieces of meat and then dashed towards his home.
He was so agile that many goblins just couldn't see him leave the cave.
Of course, this was his only way of surviving!
He was weak, so being fast was probably the one thing he could aim to be.
Well, he could have eaten the meat here, however, he wanted to take them home, after all, he said to his siblings that he would bring some food for them when he returns.
"Brother!" soon he spotted Nia and the other four kids.
They dashed towards him for yet another hug, but before they could even touch him, he pushed the meat towards them.
"Here.", he started to give each a piece of meat.
"Brother, what about you?", Nia thought that Rei had nothing for him.
"Ah, I will eat this…", he said as he flashed a small piece of meat.
"But brother, it's so less…", she wanted to share her portion with Rei too, however, Rei wanted the best for her.
"I ate my stomach full and brought the leftovers,", Rei said with a playful voice and with a teasing smile.
Nia knew that he was lying but the other four were too small and could only give an envious glance at him.
Rei watched the young ones eat as he filled his own stomach.
Soon then he thought about leaving and planning the mission with Gaburu and the rest.
"Well, now goodbye. I am going to complete a very difficult mission and might not return for some days. Nia, take a good care of them, alright?", Rei asked this by pulling her aside.
"Some days…?"
"How many days exactly, brother?", Nia asked.
"I don't know…", emptiness filled his eyes.
"Perhaps, two to three days.", he added.
"I see…", Nia was worried about many things.
Food, protections and whatnot!? But out of all of them, her biggest concern was for Rei, who would probably be facing danger somewhere.
As for Rei, he pushed his hand forward and flashed a mana stone.
"Here."
"I got this as a reward. Sell this and get the children food.", he said with a smile.
With one mana stone, they would get as many as 6 pieces of meat, each comparable to the size of a fist.
Today's quota was done and they could use the mana stone for tomorrow. Rei expected to be back after a day!
"Yes, brother." Nia said with a determined look. Rei had gone to many missions and many wars as canon fodder and survived during those times Nia was the one who took care of the children always.
In any case, Rei took the children inside for some more interactions.
After telling them another story and making them fall asleep, Rei walked out of his house to go back to that cave or at least near it, where he could discuss about what they had to do with the rest.
-"Hey…"-
-"Bro…"-
-"Just when will you answer me?"- Lucas asked after waiting for all this time.
"Answer what?"
-"About Baramun."-
"Ah…"
"Baramun…"
"He is the orc chief of the western part of the Jungle of Raya. Our orc chief, Rout and the orc chief of the western jungle keep on having official battles with each other to have more land and authority."
"Ha…"
"But now, for some reason, he has ordered us to do something dirty…", Rei shook his head.
After explaining all these, Rei finally snapped back to reality as an ominous feeling engulfed him.
He had an ominous feeling in his heart that something bad might happen but looking at the blood-red slave crest on his hand he could only sigh.
He tried to think about what could possibly go wrong, and just when he thought a bit more, he finally realized something.
"Wait a minute…", suddenly his eyes widened.
'Why? Why are they only sending high-ranking Goblins for this mission…?', Rei asked himself.
-"Bingo! See? I told you something smells fishy."- Lucas spoke all of a sudden yet again.
"Damn it! Just how many times should I tell you? We don't have fish over here!", Rei protested.
-"..."-
"..."
Regardless…
The slave crest on Rei's hand was known for its cruel effects. If the master wants and wills it, then he can make the slave crest explode, killing the slave with it.
Lower-rank slaves didn't create that big explosion but higher rank did!
The higher the rank of the slave, the bigger the explosion would be!
And just when Rei connected all this, he had only one thing to say…
"Is that bastard planning to kill us all!?"
-"Yes. He is."- Lucas, who didn't actually know about the slave crest and its effect, just randomly said this.
"Damn it! Now, what the fuck do I do?"
-"Escape!"- Lucas shouted.
"No… I can't do that.", Rei replied, shaking his head.
-"Huh…?"-
-"Why not?"-
Rei didn't answer and remained like a statue for a second. Lucas was forced to guess.
-"If you are worried about your siblings, then just take them with you!"- Lucas raised his voice yet again, causing another headache.
"Ugh! What the hell! Can't you stop shouting?!", Rei screamed at top of his lungs before inhaling deep breaths.
Lucas remained quiet. He realized that he was indeed shouting.
Rei realized that Lucas didn't know about the slave crest and its functions and thus decided to explain it.
"Look here…"
"This is a slave crest.", Rei said as he flashed his left hand.
There was red-coloured mark, as if it was painted. But soon, it started to glow and the number '1' appeared levitating above it. Right above the number, yet another glowing crest, completely similar to the slave crest appeared, suddenly causing a burst of shock and pain.
"Ugh…"
Rei stopped whatever he was doing and just shook his head.
-"T-that's a slave crest?"-
"Yes."