"Ninety, Ninety-one, Ninety-two, Ninety-three…" Arun then stopped. He could not feel the heartbeat anymore.
He looked down at the beaten and tortured Tavern Owner, this old man was the one who had been giving him a living for the past week. Although he is grateful for what the old man did for them, but game is game. He urgently needed a guinea pig for his experiment.
And there was no better option available to him, than this old man. The tavern owner didnt have any spouse or kids. He was a terrible man who treated the poor with a lot of contempt, and no one would bat an eye if his establishment were to one day, vanish from this place. He was the perfect candidate.
Arun needed a guinea pig because he wanted to test the green gooey stuff that he found on the arrowheads of the goblin's arrows. He might have sold the bow, but he kept the quiver with him thinking that the substance on the arrowheads might come in handy one day. That is why, he wanted to know what the substance could do. He knew that there were some tribes on Earth, who used paralysing agents for hunting, but he felt that the goey substance was not a paralysing agent. And he was right. It was poison.
So wait a minute. That day, the goblin was carving the boar, how the hell did it plan to eat the thing if the boar's meat was poisoned?
He figured that this poison might not work on goblins.
After his experiment was finished, he went to work. He was currently in the basement of the tavern, it was a dark humid place, and best of all, it had barrels and barrels worth of it stored. So he poured some oil on the floor and lit a fresh candle on the spilled oil. When the candle would come near its end, it would ignite the spilled oil. If he is right, then this place would be burned straight to hell with the amount of oil that is in this place. By the time the candle would be fully burned, he would be out of the place along with Calux and no one would be suspicious of them….
Arun when got upstairs, he woke up Calux. That boy didnt suspect a thing, and they started heading towards the Adventurer Guild. They were supposed to meet with the Scavenger Group early in the morning. When they got to the guild, Barnabas, their boss for the day was already waiting for them along with three other guys.
"You are late!" Barnabas yelled. He was a man of small stature, had a balding head, and looked like he was in his late forties.
Calux was about to say something, but Arun pinched him from the side and then said, "I am sorry boss. It was my fault. I will make sure that Calux and I will never be late again,"
The baldy scoffed at his apology and then signaled them to follow. "What was that all about?" Calux asked in a hushed voice when they started moving.
"I didnt want to jeopardize our trip to Dungeon," Arun said truthfully.
"I was about to tell him the truth. We are on time…" Arun then pushed him and whispered, "Look at the man. He looks like a scumbag. If you even would have said that you were Lord Nornorin, he would have still found a way to yell at you" Calux was not convinced, he refused to believe that someone could be so unreasonable. But in the end, Arun was able to convince Calux to let the matter go.
After a long time when Arun stepped outside the great walls of Sleetrest, he was able to breathe fresh air. There they saw, three carts waiting for them, which were being pulled by big black horses.
Wait there are horses in this world? He didnt see any in this world, so he was taken a back a little bit.
Without any delay, they all sat down in one of the carts and set off. And it is then Barnabas started telling them what to do…
"Some of you know what you have to do." The bald man said, "But you three dont," he said as he pointed his finger at him, Calux, and another new guy.
"Rule number 1 of this job is that I am the boss. What I say, goes… Rule number 2, you dont talk to barbarians, or give them a look. Those slaves are around Level 20 and they kill you all without a second thought. Also, you dont talk to clients as well. You dont talk to anybody but me…" And like that bald man told them all the rules and how things worked in the Scavenging group.
It was a pretty simple operation. As the raid would start, the clients would barge into the dungeon and start killing. They were going in a Kong dungeon, it was a monster that looked like a chimpanzee, but it had green hair.
According to Barnabas, they would be divided into two teams. The first team would be just behind the Adventurer party, as soon as those guys would kill the beast, they would have to take the carcass, take out the internal organs, and throw them in the basket. The second team which consisted of porters, would do the job of taking the meat out of the dungeons. There will also be a separate basket dedicated to the valuables and weapons that might be found in the dungeon. And this way, they would conquer the dungeon.
The bald guy also threatened them beforehand, that they were not supposed to take anything from the dungeon. Otherwise, death will be the most merciful punishment that they would receive…
The dungeon was very different from what Arun had envisioned it to be. When he heard that dungeons were like caves, he thought that the people would be talking about real caves there. He figured that the dungeon must consist of underground cave systems or something, but the dungeon before him was way different. In front of him was a 9 feet tall double-sided gate, made of rocks. That was the entrance of the dungeon.
And the dungeon was located in the middle of nowhere, it was located in a small clearing in a forest. If he were in the noble's shoes he would have at least made a barricade around the place to make sure that no one would be able to enter the dungeon. He asked Calux about it, and he told him that this was the only Kong dungeon in the quadrant. Which meant that only a few people were allowed to sell the meat. If someone else is found selling Kong's meat, then they would be on the other end of the noble's wraith.
By the time they unloaded everything, another cart arrived. Leading the new cart was a middle-aged man, with a thick beard. He was a big guy and was carrying twin swords around his waist.
"That is Bron, the twin blade." Calux whispered, "He is a very senior Silver Star adventurer,"
Behind Bron were four Earthlings, evident from the collars around their necks. There were two Asian women in the mix, one looked like she was in her late 20s while the other looked like she was in her late teens. The other two were men, one brown-skinned and a caucasian.
Barnabas immediately ran up to Bron with a very big smile on his face, "Sir Bron" he said, "Everything is ready sir. We were just waiting for your group to start."
"Good," Bron said, with a hint of arrogance in his voice. "We will start shortly. Do you have everything that we will need?"
Barnabas nodded, "Yes sir. We have. Just like you ordered me to bring, I bought exactly 2 sacks of salt. And the rest…" Before the small bald man could complete his words, Bron turned around and punched the caucasian in the face.
The punch broke the man's nose, and he fell to the ground, "Didnt I tell you to order 5 sacks of salt? How the fuck are we supposed to take care of all the meat if we dont have enough salt?"
"I am sorry sire," Barnabas quickly added, "I made a mistake as well. I should have known that this amount of salt won't do,"
"No," Bron said firmly, "It is not your fault. These fucking barbarians are the ones who need to get their shit straight,"
Arun looked at the unfolding drama with interest. The small bald man and Bron were acting as if they were part of a very trashy play. Anyone could tell that all this was a premeditated drama. But the main question was, why the hell was this being unfolded now?
"Now what are we supposed to do?" Bron asked the caucasian man, who was holding his stomach as Bron had kicked him a bunch of times.
"I know sire," Barnabas said, "We can send a cart back to Sleetrest. They could bring the rest of the salt. I have a few sacks ready at my warehouse,"
"Good man," Bron said. Then he turned towards other Earthlings, who were all staring at him with anger. "So-Young." The youngest woman felt terrified hearing her name.
So-Young? Sounds like a Korean name. Wait do i know Korean… Yes i do. Well, this would be helpful.
"Why dont you go with one of the men of Barnabas here, and fetch the salt." Bron said.
"She doesn't need to go!" yelled the brown-skinned man. Rather than beating this man up, Bron took out a small 12-inch tall baton from his belt. Bron pushed a button on the baton, and the brown-skinned man started squirming in pain.
"What the hell is that?" Arun asked Calux.
"I dont know," Calux whispered back.
It was then one of the men, that would be working with them that day spoke, "It is an enslavement baton. Lord Nonoroin specially made it to keep barbarians in check,"
"And they control the collar around those barbarian's neck?" Arun asked.
"Yes. I have heard that when pushed, that collar sends thunder through the bodies of barbarians. It is very painful," the man said.
Arun didnt pry further. Bron on the other hand after having a little torture session turned towards Barnabas, "Now that nuisance has been shut down, let's get back to business,"
"Of course sire," The baldy said, "I will have a newbie accompany your slave. They both will bring back the salt,"
"Good,"
The baldy then turned towards, "You.. Kuclax, come here," Luckily Calux was chosen to accompany So-Young. Arun was ordered to unload one of the carts, which So-Young and Calux would use.
When Arun was emptying the cart, he saw that So-Young came and sat down by the wheel of the cart. She was crying. Seeing this as an opportunity, he looked around. Everyone was busy in preparation for the raid. So he spoke in a hushed voice, "Ulji maseyo. Modeun geos-i gwaenchanh-eul geos-ibnida."
He spoke fluent Korean and said Dont cry. Everything would be alright.
So-Young's sobbing stop at once. She looked in his direction, but he kept acting as if he was working. "Dont look at me. Pretend that you are still crying," And she did just that.
"Tell me. Is there anyway that I can get rid of the collar? Will taking control of the baton help?" he whispered.
"Yes. That baton can free us. But we cannot touch it. It can sense when a barbarian with a collar is touching it." She quickly whispered back.
"Okay. How does the collar work? Is it like hypnosis? Or its function is only to give you guys shock?"
"It can only give us shock.. But the pain could kill any human," she said.
"Alright. I want you to do two things. Number one, I am leaving a pair of ropes here. After you made some distance from the dungeon, knock the guy that you are going with and tie him up. Then, turned the cart around. Get off the main road, and hide the cart and horses somewhere. And return back on foot. If my plan is successful, the rest of your teammates will be out of the dungeon waiting for you."
"Okay," she whispered.
"Secondly thing, tell your friends to be ready. I will try to free them during the raid. Do you understand?"
"Yeah," With that Arun finally unloaded the last sack of the salt from the cart. And then he waited for an opportunity to come…