The shiny magical gems of Ruby lay rested deep inside the mine's walls, the sounds of pickaxes clanging echoed throughout the cave. Inside the mines, miners were working diligently, scouting the cave and collecting the ores.
The newly recruited set of miners had just arrived through the entrance. They were carrying large cages throughout a pathway inside the mines.
Their boss told them to just ignore them, as these guys were "important," so they carried on with their work. Additionally, the workers were too tired to care, as they had been working all day and needed a much-deserved break.
The guys walked to a very secluded section of the mine. They placed down the many cages that were now covered with a large cloth to prevent anyone from seeing the captured adventurers.
The leader of these 'men' raised the cloth with his arm and peeked inside the cage. There, he saw the many women they had captured, tightly tied up and with a cloth stuffed in their mouths. Their clothes were torn, leaving them almost naked.
The leader began salivating but kept himself in check as he still needed to follow the orders given to him. He let go of the cloth and let it drop, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Paper Talisman.
The man then poured magic into the talisman and it burned before activating its magical effects. A bright light consumed the men and when the light died down, their skin turned green, their backs were hunched, and they had a nasty grin on their faces.
The goblins cackled in pure excitement as the leader placed a hand on a wall of the cave and poured some magic into it. The wall began to rumble slightly as it then rose to the ceiling like a secret entrance.
After the wall rose, it led to a secret dungeon inside the cave, and the goblin leader turned to his followers and spoke, "This way, let's hurry," the goblin leader said.
The goblins nodded and began to transport the cages inside the dungeon. One of the goblins looked behind him and noted that one of them was missing. "Boss, Galuracio is not here yet," the goblin said, very worried about his friend.
The leader of the group scoffed, "If he's late, he's going to miss out. Plus, he'll be punished heavily by that Beast Tamer if he doesn't arrive soon," the leader said before walking inside the dungeon.
The goblin was uncertain whether to wait for his friend and face punishment alongside him, or just leave him to get punished by himself. After a few seconds of pondering and recalling the excruciating pain of the Blood Contract spell, the goblin finally entered the dungeon.
Once it was on the other side, it pulled out a talisman and burned it, and the entrance to the dungeon closed, making it look like a normal wall. The goblin let out a frustrated sigh before walking deeper into the dungeon.
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Liora and Talon stood hidden behind a dense set of trees and bushes. They had just arrived at the Ruby Mines. Liora observed the place carefully. In front of the mine's entrance stood two men. These men wore hoods and large robes, so you couldn't see them well.
What got Liora's attention, though, was that these men had stone daggers in their hands—the exact ones used by the goblins she had fought before. Liora's heart began to beat faster as she felt like she was onto something. These people just acted so weirdly.
After a few minutes of waiting and pondering how to get inside without alerting the guards, the miners inside the mines walked out. They were very tired and were carrying large bags of the ore they had just mined.
The miners bid goodbye to the guards at the entrance of the cave and started to walk towards the forest where Liora was hiding to leave. She quickly opened her bag and grabbed her Fox Mask.
She then put it on and quietly moved behind another set of trees. Liora leaned her back on one of the trees as she began to listen to the sounds of the miners walking—their boots digging deep into the sand—and to some of their conversations:
"Urgh!" one of the miners said as he stretched his arms, his bones crunching back into place as he let out a satisfied sigh. "Today's work had been pretty rough. I wonder what those newcomers were transporting, but it's none of my business."
Another miner nodded, letting out a tired yawn. "They were awfully strange, but the boss told us to ignore them. After all, they'll be taking our shifts till morning, so we can rest peacefully tonight," the second miner said.
"But guys," the third miner began, "I thought I heard something strange coming from one of the carriages. It sounded like…a moan," the miner said.
All the miners looked at him before bursting out laughing. "A moan? Are you sure you're not tired, mate?" one of the miners said, still laughing hard.
"He must've been missing his wife, to the point he began to fantasize about her," another miner said, trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.
The third miner put a hand on his shoulder, trying to catch his breath. "Don't worry, brother, you'll be home soon. Then you can make your fantasies a reality," the miner said with a playful wink before continuing to laugh.
The miner that told them this news clicked his tongue in anger and annoyance. "Tsk! Forget it," the miner said, frustrated, his expression sour.
Liora listened very intently to their conversation and noted it all inside her head, particularly the part about the 'moan' from one of the carriages.
'Yeah, this can't be a coincidence. These are definitely the people that captured the women,' Liora thought before peeking by the side of the tree and checking the guards stationed at the entrance of the mine.
'It was the goblins that have captured the women, then why do I see people here? Maybe the adventurer that reported was wrong about the appearance of the criminals but was right about the women disappearing.'
Liora nodded to herself, thinking of this as the most logical conclusion. She still needed a way to enter the mine without being seen. She didn't have a special pass, and didn't work here, and that made things much more difficult for her.
Just as Liora was pondering about approaching the guards and using her status of nobility to gain entrance, the sounds of footsteps approaching made her quickly take cover behind a dense bush.
She saw a man walking through the forest and towards the mine. He wore thick robes and a hood to hide his face. The man then began to check behind him and noted at how far the miners were for anyone to see him. He scanned the area some more before nodding to himself.
The man then pulled out a talisman and burned it. A bright light engulfed him, and he turned into a goblin.
'H…huh?' Liora stared at the goblin with wide eyes. 'I…it's...' Liora thought in disbelief.
'A goblin!?'
"Damn! These clothes are so fucking hot!" the goblin yelled in frustration as it began to undress, throwing the robes and hood on the ground violently, its green body drenched in sweat.
Liora almost vomited, picking up the gross and vile smell the goblin emitted, with the help of her Fox Mask, asking herself how long the goblin wore those robes for.
The goblin then started to proceed with walking again, now that the cold night air was cooling its body down.
'I'm not letting this guy go. I need to try something,' Liora thought as she came out of the bushes and dashed towards the goblin. Her footsteps barely emitted any sound, making her as quiet as an assassin.
The goblin's eyes caught movement in the corner, but before it could react, the figure pounced on him, tackling him hard onto the ground. Liora brought her palm onto the mouth of the goblin and pressed on it hard, muffling the screams of the goblin.
Liora then looked at the sword on her waist. She wanted to use her [Blood Contract] Skill, but it required cutting herself, and she couldn't do that with one hand.
She then stared at the flesh between her index finger and thumb and swallowed hard as she realized what she had to do.
'1…2….3,' Liora mentally braced herself, taking off the Fox Mask and placing it on the ground as she brought her hand to her mouth and bit hard enough to draw blood. Pain coursed through her hand as she tasted the metallic taste of her blood in her mouth.
'Fuck that hurts!' Liora noted inwardly, breathing heavily.
'Alright then...'
Liora brought her bleeding hand to the head of the goblin. "Shhhh! It will be over quickly," Liora said as she smeared a good portion of her blood on the forehead of the goblin before activating her [Blood Contract] Skill.