Jean watched the scene in his thoughts. 'It's Sengrar who has the power for sure. But how did he develop such great strength? And is talent his power? What is it?'
They took the hostages, and Sengrar invited everyone to celebrate - which Noah, Truckdriver, and Jean did with joy once Jean helped Noah to bandage his wound, taking first aid kits from a nearby pharmacy, and they all used the energy they had gained from their fight to gradually convert it into their energies.
They talked more among themselves on the way back inside the truck. They had locked up the future slaves inside. Sometimes, they heard cries.
"Ha! It was so good!"
Rargnes watched, thinking he hadn't gained much energy. RedStar wasn't really with him. Yurs was impossible to understand. He turned to Roeas, who could only be on his side because he was afraid of death.
"You gave the right order," said Roeas. "no matter the outcome, it wasn't certain."
"But we won..." Rargnes put on a fake smile.
"Listen," said Roeas after a little discussion. "I heard that Jean and everyone might want to live a good life, and for that, use the power's one and give it to the noble."
As he spoke, he looked at the group that was heavily drinking. It reassured him to continue.
"They think it's between you and Sengrar. I think it's Sengrar, do you know?"
A chill entered Rargnes' heart. Damn, was his power that obvious?
"It's not me anyway. Sengrar is really strong, though."
Rargnes signaled RedStar to join them.
"Yes, he's insanely strong... it's not a talent you normally see. I've never seen anything like it, it can only be talent... it takes time to absorb magic... there's no way someone could build it up so quickly. Even with the opportunities, even by killing people who would have magic - which he hasn't done as far as I remember - he couldn't get as strong."
So, looking at each other, Yurs driving expressionlessly, an alchemy was created between the three.
As they were about to enter the gates, Rargnes said, "Is there any way we could find someone to return the slaves and get a bigger reward? We should do it before we can return with the guy who gives us the wooden token."
"That could be a good idea," said Jean. "Just, we need to ensure that if we're screwed, we have enough to hold on for at least a week. So how many should we keep? 5 out of the 8 and try with 3?"
They asked the two guards who thought about it and found a group. They had agreed: 500 silver pieces each. Once through the portal, Sengrar went to the goblin salesperson and offered 5 slaves, all sold for 500 silver pieces in total.
The fact that the goblin made ten times the price was absurd, but Sengrar only gave him a dark look. Even he didn't seem confident enough to beat them.
A few hours later, the guards reported that the deal had gone well and gave them 1500 silver pieces. Sengrar pocketed them.
The layout of the rooms didn't change, seeming to displease Sengrar.
As he lay down, Rargnes thought, 'I have to be stronger! I have to resist! We don't have time!' The voice inside him urged.
Meanwhile, another voice asked, 'Do you really want to? Have you looked closely at what you're doing to these humans? Do you want to get into this power struggle? Really? Don't you remember?'
Rargnes blinked his eyes, and for a moment, the scene blurred.
He got up, as usual, tired from his night where he had woken up several times. He went to his desk, earphones in his ears, took a train and embarked on an hour-long journey. Upon arriving, he greeted his colleagues and locked himself in his office. A colleague told him to come because two other colleagues had come exceptionally.
"They are members requested by the shareholders," a colleague whispered to him. They were known in the industry. They were the ones who said what the boss wanted to hear.
They examined the various expenses for tens of minutes, and, finding a pretext, they spotted a line.
"No accidents... that's very good, but the expense? We can't have such an expense. It's a good way to save money."
The company was thriving.
"Sir, this expense is for the passengers safety. We may lack security if you remove it."
"Come on, there haven't been any accidents!"
"But it's because we monitor every day!"
Funds were deducted.
And then, one day, Rargnes's phone rang.
"Rargnes?"
"Yeah, what?"
"There has been an accident. A seat was improperly adjusted, someone fell from the top of the ride and died."
Rargnes felt a chill run through his body. Could he have prevented it if he had raised his voice? No. Of course not. The guys didn't care about safety; they just wanted to make money. They said what the people in power wanted to hear was that they could make profits by cutting costs.
But after all, they were already gone when the repercussions came back. It took several accidents and lawsuits for tens of millions to be taken from the company just to remove a few hundreds of thousands of salary.
Worthy!
Sometimes you just can't do anything. Sometimes, people are stubborn. They didn't necessarily have to make the cuts, they just had to make sure to check the accounts. Maybe the CEO and the shareholders really thought they were doing good and optimizing. But they wanted to hear something unconsciously or consciously.
"You see? It's not a big deal if you act like a whore," a voice said in his mind, "go ahead, suck. Do everything to stay alive. That's how the world works. You don't have to worry. Your clothes were made by slaves, too; nothing has changed; you just participate more. Thus, do not feel bad. It's okay. Everyone's in power, allow it."
And so, he continued. His hand held his head, his dark eyes glaring at the hardwood bed, alone.