Chapter 21: I'm the prey, and he is the predator!
The goblins in Bozo's cell were also pleading for mercy. There were eight in total, two of whom remained mum while the remaining six continued their pleas. When Bozo arrived, one of them even got out of the cell and fell at their foot. However, only a kick was rewarded for this act. They were thrown back inside and locked once again.
Bozo was a new member. Goblins weren't comfortable in socializing with a stranger. It would be like an alien. It didn't matter if the next party was a goblin; if they didn't know them or heard about their feats, it was an enemy.
With Bozo, now there were nine in total. The eight remained far away from Bozo, who sat with a missing limb in one corner.
"Boss, look at him, a new slave," Grub, a goblin with many scars on his face and a missing ear, sat with folded arms and addressed the issue to a bigger and fatter goblin.
Rumblebelly - that was the boss's name. Seeing his overgrown abdomen and double chins, any monster would run behind him and eat him. He was a walking dinner! He and Grub were the ones who didn't care about what happened to them. While Grub had a missing ear, the left one, Rumblebelly didn't have an eye. In his mouth, he held a small twig that he continued to chew - it was just a fashion.
The six who were pleading for help almost instantly tended to the Boss and knelt before him.
"Boss boss, was that much scream enough?"
"Boss, was my acting enough?"
"Boss was-"
"Hmm!?" Rumblebelly had both of his eyes closed, but upon hearing their constant chatter, he opened his right eye. This was enough of a sign for Grub to get up and kick the rest.
"You bastards, can't you see that you are disturbing the boss!? Shut your damn mouth. You didn't do some great job. It's just simple acting; in that too, you fail. Putui!" His words seemed harsh, and his raised voice silenced the rest. They lowered their gazes and sat quietly.
"You have one job, act when the guards come. Never let them know about 'that', got it!?"
"Yes," they replied in unison, after which, only silence surrounded the scene.
Grub looked at Bozo who remained mum with his eyes wide open, staring at empty space in front of him. With a smug expression, Grub looked at his boss and said, "Boss, the new slave looks like a fool. Let me take care of him."
Rumble's turned his eye towards Bozo and after scanning his features, he closed his eyes with a nod, agreeing to what Grub said.
With a smug, Grub stood up. He cracked his neck and then his fingers before turning towards Bozo. He took short strides, the sound of his steps audible.
As he walked, he too scanned Bozo's features. 'Skinny, maybe malnourished. No limb, maybe met an accident. No ears… a survivor of human attack?', Grub seemed somewhat smart. He could roughly guess how Bozo had lost his parts.
However, the last part did make him question a bit. 'How could a skinny goblin survive the attack of mighty humans? Was it a case like me?', Grub briefly recalled how he survived the attack.
He and Rubble were part of a different village which was attacked by humans. It was completely ravaged and destroyed by them with only a few survivors. If not for Rubble, Grub would have been as good as dead.
Using his minimal wit, he played dead, thinking that the humans would leave him alive after a simple cut of his ears. His life mattered more. He didn't care if he was called a coward or garbage later on. He just wanted to survive! Unfortunately, the humans were not fooled by his act, especially when his body trembled uncontrollably in fear when they held him to chop his ears off.
If not for Rumble, he would have been killed. It was Rumble who came to the rescue, using one of his skills to help Grub and run away at the same time. In the process, Rumble lost an eye.
Having seen Rumble's prowess, Grub started referring to him as Boss. He was thankful and at the same time, a little bit cautious. Boot-licking was the best way to keep Rumble pleased, which he did.
Grub had always been weak, but thanks to Rumble's company, he could finally assert dominance on those that seemed weaker. It was Bozo now.
In fact, Grub thought that he could take on Bozo easily when he scanned his features. 'With all that, looks like he is blind and mute too.', Grub said to himself.
It was because Bozo was staring into empty space without blinking even once, as if he was unaffected. Other than that, he didn't beg for mercy or speak anything. That too made Grub believe that he was mute.
A thought did come across his mind, 'It could be possible that he is simply traumatized or maybe he is strong and is trying to keep a low profile.', but he quickly dismissed that thinking, 'Nah, I'm overthinking here.'
He walked forward and was just ten steps away from Bozo when suddenly, he heard faint whispers that were finally audible to him. "A human…", as this escaped Bozo's mouth, Grub paused.
'Did he just speak?', he gulped a large amount of dry saliva the instant he was alerted.
He looked back once, noticing the six others who curiously anticipated what Grub was going to do. With that, he turned towards Bozo again, 'I mean, so what if he can speak? He is simply not a mute. He is still weaker than me! He is still someone I can pick on!'
But then, as Bozo continued his murmur, Grub started getting a strange feeling.
"Why was a human talking to a goblin?"
'…'
"Haha…", as Bozo gave this laugh, his eyeballs momentarily turned towards Grub without an actual turn of his face. It was as if he was giving side-eye.
'He can see.', Grub concluded with further adding, 'I mean, so what if he can see? He is simply not blind. He is still weaker than me! He is still someone I can pick on!'
Fake words set a new belief in Grub, but he couldn't have mistaken any more.
"How was he able to talk to a goblin? How were they able to understand each other…"
"No, more importantly, why was there a human here!?"
"Haha…"
"Haha…"
Grub had started to lose his confidence here, 'He is still weaker than me… right? He is still someone I can pick on, right?'
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!", as this maniacal laugh echoed in the surrounded, Grub's teeth started trembling against each other.
Through his eyes, he could see a weird shadow cast over Bozo, a shadow that had a pair of red eyes. The shadow, as if manifesting, covered Bozo entirely - starting with his eyes to complete upper part of his face.
Seeing this, Grub became a statue, 'I can't. He is not weaker than me. He is not someone I can pick on!'
'I-'
'I'm the prey here and-'
'He is a… PREDATOR!'
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