Rargnes passed through the portal with a groan, feeling like thousands of ants were sliding and eating him.
He fell to the rock ground in pain. As he rose, he saw an ordinary ceiling that felt like heaven compared to the dust-falling sky.
"Where are we?" he asked RedStar, who knelt, gesticulating with tools on the portals.
"We're in the enemy base!" he said. "We need to move quickly! Just give me the time to make it inoperative."
"I meant, in what kind of place are we exactly? We know we're in the enemy base!"
"It's an area where people who are not accredited come because they didn't want to pay to enter the world illegally!" he told him. "we got lucky."
As he acted, the portal became dimmer, its blue light almost extinguished.
"Wait, I won't be long!"
Rargnes opened his pants and took out two packs of 6 bullets, loading each of his two guns, handing one at his waist.
"You still got bullets?" asked Sengrar
"Yeah, barely. These are my last."
"Can I have a few orrr?"
"You already have your magic."
"Yeah, but it's not effective enough."
"These are my last ones, I can't."
"Yes, you can; it's just -"
"Will you fucking shut up?!" the goblin roared. They calmed down, and
after a few dozen seconds, the portal's light stopped entirely.
"It wasn't fine before?"
"There's always accidents with magic, and they have a mage! Sengrar, give me your magic."
Sengrar approached and transmitted him through his arm. Then, the goblin got to the left and lifted some levers, changing the portal's color to an orangish one, making the orbs turn slowly.
"The portals are stopped from their side," he said.
"Can't we destroy them?"
"If you never want to go back home, that's a good idea, and besides, I'd prefer not dying in an explosion or by soldiers coming this way.."
"Well, go ahead first," said Rargnes, pointing towards a guy.
"What? Why me?"
"Because you're the last one who came to join us, I trust Sengrar, Redstar, and basically the other two we recruited, but not you and I got a fucking gun, so just go first if you don't want the mush you use as a cell to blow up."
The guy erupted in anger: "You're gonna let him do that? Fuck him up. He is only one and has so few bullets!"
No one answered; they just looked at him.
"But you dumbasses, if I die, it will be your turn next! You can't just fuck around like that!"
"We don't care," said Rargnes, "and they don't care either. You know what? If you die, it'd be because it was dangerous, and they can't help but want you to take the risk; if it's not dangerous, they don't want to be labeled as a traitor like you. You crashed the car once; now assume it."
"I crashed? I made us survive!"
"Go first."
He removed the gun's security.
"No. What are you going to do? Go on, shoot!" he said smugly "oh what? You don't wanna make sounds? Ohhh, that's so sad you can't just use anyone."
He threw a somber glance at his former two comrades.
"You really think you're smart?"
Rargnes signaled to Sengrar, and each smashed their fists on his dirty face while he screamed and begged to stop. Rargnes grabbed and shut his mouth with a hand.
"Okay, either you come first, or we kill you, okay?" he pulled out a knife. The man was terrified and nodded. Rargnes retired his hand.
"I'll do whatever you want as long as you don't kill me! Spare me! Spare me!"
"Look!" he said smiling; "it wasn't so complicated!" said Rargnes. "Go on, show us the way!"
They traversed a deserted place, following the man from a dozen meters. Enough to shoot him dead and establish his reputation. As he held his gun in the dark, RedStar whispered: "Don't shoot. They hated firearms. It's banned."
"I'm not gonna use it, hopefully."
"Don't show it. Only use it at the last moment."
They went by and saw a poster that looked of a goblin.
[Goblin RedStar-Courage-To-Live betrayed the king. Reward: 60 silver crowns, only dead. On a mission, he was possessed by the Red Star, went crazy following His butterfly, found a firearm and shot one of his colleagues in front of witnesses, then fled with humans and derailed the portals, leaving two dead.]
"Wow, they really expect someone to swallow that?!" said Sengrar, shocked.
The goblin remained silent, mouth agape. With a faded glimmer in his eyes, he said painfully, "They didn't want to feel like they suffered too much loss... be seen in a bad light..."
"But following the butterfly? Seriously? How much alcohol had they taken?"
"It's an administration thing; it's to mock the Red Star."
"They don't respect their own God?"
"He is not their. But I didn't know you could read our language? Can you speak it?"
"With an accent. An opportunity gave me such." Rargnes lied, thinking about his first life. His master's exploitation wasn't far.
"Seriously? Me too!" Said Sengrar. "but without accent."
He flexed as he spoke with a perfect accent.
Seeing the faces of the others, Sengrar said: "He didn't actually do it."
"And he was alone?"
"Who?"
"RedStar, where there other goblins with him?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because then they would just have to ask them - if they can't tell lies - if it was the truth."
"It's not their problem if a goblin talks to earthing and teaches them, even teaching humans gifted with powers. What if the task is done poorly? It's not their problem. They are paid the same, but it's best for their reputation to say that they wouldn't have to pay compensation for my life."
And, they could receive most of the compensation they weren't allowed to receive through their friends holding the funds and waiting to receive the favor in return.
They preferred a less competent person. That one wasn't a problem. As one was less effective, one could easily be promoted to become more efficient, compared to his rock-bottom ability.
Weakness is a strength when used wisely.
"But, I mean, just a confirmation."
"How many of my colleagues compared airplane prices, in your opinion? Zero, it's paid by the company. They can ask, they can do shit, but they don't wanna."
As long as you're social, you're promoted! Why does it matter if the company makes millions? It's not their dad. The colleague they recruited would still be with them from Monday to Friday, no matter how much money he made, but it would be better if he was integrated into the team.
Merit? It wasn't about benefiting society - something nonexistent - merit was about pleasing those in power so they would agree to give you your pittance to stay.
That's why Rargnes never did more. The company hired him for a task, not to babysit his company; his manager took him for his reason, and so, understanding the manager's motivations, he was barely profitable for the company.
He had promotions more often than the idiots who destroyed their own bodies—their beings, those to whom they owed everything—for simple promises their inner self told them.
"It's this way." Said RedStar.