Ch. 6: Treasure Hoarders

I returned again to this place... the cave, the place where everything began. In a dark corner, I felt a shiver of tension cross the air. The same feeling when I was stared at by the boss. A condescending gaze squinted at me, sending a tingle down the back of my neck.

"Sorry, am I late, boss?" my sweat poured out. Looking around me, many Treasure Hoarders were preparing themselves.

In the darkness of the cave, my eyes swept around and found the Treasure Hoarders wandering there. With large backpacks on their backs and weapons hanging from their waists, they seemed to be ready to depart.

The moment was like a painting that seemed to glow behind the dim light of the torches carried and held aloft by them.

What is this? What was going on? Are they preparing to rob the treasure? Or are they moving?

What about the mora? Can I take part in carrying it when traveling from one place to another?

"Where have you been?" The boss's voice sounded cold. It seemed to be very curious about my reasoning.

Probably, I'm going to die...

I know that if I say something wrong here, I'll lose my life. For example, if I said "I'm in the city." And he'd have me arrested because he thought I was reporting that there were Treasure Hoarders in this cave.

Doesn't that make sense?! This isn't pessimistic. It's the most likely possibility!

I cleared my throat. "I mostly spend my time patrolling around the city, boss. As you know, my face is unfamiliar to the guards, so they won't suspect me. Inside the city, I have the face of an ordinary person."

When I answered. The boss continued to look at me without speaking a word.

He doesn't suspect me, right? I'm not going to die, right?!

Was it the right choice to come here?! Or should I have chosen to run away with the bag of mora I stole yesterday? What if they chase me to the end of the continent?

And what if they prevent me from getting Ei?!

"Bring the equipment. We'll leave now." The boss turned around when he finished saying that.

I breathed a sigh of relief. This means I'm safe!

With that in mind, I went to the mora place. Perhaps there were still some left behind!

However, at this moment.

"Wait." The boss stopped me.

I turned around while tilting my head. "Yes?" I felt my heartbeat increase.

"Introduce yourself, your name and where you're from. Do that when on the road later." He paused for a moment. creating an aura of inevitable menace. "We're going to seize people's property."

The boss paused again. As if he just remembered what he said to me next. This feeling really scared me.

"That woman, you take care of her."

Yoyoyo wtf?!

***

What about the boss's height? It looked like he was less than 2 meters tall.

With that in mind, I entered the cave. But I froze instantly.

I looked around the cave wide-eyed, realizing that the sparkling gold-colored mora that usually illuminated every corner had disappeared. The golden light that gave a magical touch to the dark environment of the cave was now all gone.

"No way," I said sadly. I didn't get the part! I fell pitifully.

Disappointed, I returned outside the cave. I carried a backpack that I didn't know what was in it, I just carried what I was told. Seeing, means death. That thought has kept me going this far.

Then I gathered with some Treasure Hoarders. I was still waiting for the young man who was guarding Amelia to come out of the cave. It was a bit long. However, after a while he came too.

An unremarkable young man. I squinted my eyes. His face looked like Fontaine's. His height was no more than 2 meters, probably around 170 centimeters.

I walked up to him. "Hey, how are you? It's been a while since we've seen each other."

The young man nodded gently. "Long time no see. Where have you been all this time? Don't you think as a new person you should be working like me." He paused. And turned his gaze towards the woman, Amelia. "I mean, look. Like I did. Taking care of her morning, noon, evening."

"In exchange I'll take care of you too."

"I see, that will be very helpful. I don't have anyone to talk to." He exhaled. "This woman doesn't want to talk."

I looked over at Amelia. She wouldn't talk?

"Seriously?" I asked.

"I'm not going to lie about this. What's your name, by the way?"

"Cavendish. I was told to introduce myself in front of them later." I looked at the Treasure Hoarders one by one in turn.

"Cavendish, my name is William." He watched me for a few seconds. "Are you shy?"

I shook my head. "I'm not used to this kind of introduction.

"Just once, take it easy. You'll get the hang of it," he explained.

At this point we started walking, led by the boss. The front held a map in their hands. A Treasure Hoarders who accompanied me during my tour yesterday.

I, on the other hand, was behind Amelia who had her hands tied. She was no longer in the cage.

Beside me, William was always paying attention to his surroundings. He would find time to look to his left and right. I didn't know if he was used to doing that or if he was just being overly cautious during this trip.

With a random feeling, I was still wondering when I started introducing him with this fake identity. I exhaled my breath. When will this all end?

I felt the gentle twilight breeze caress my cheeks as the sky slowly changed color, from bright blue to warm orange to welcome the sun that was setting slowly behind the horizon.

The sky that was originally bright now began to fade.

I was transfixed, letting myself be mesmerized by the changing colors of the sky that depicted both beauty and departure.

"The rhythm of the wind blowing. The soft dress flowing along her body was decorated with lace and ribbons. Her hair neatly arranged under a wavy hat, her gaze full of elegance."

Huh? What does that mean? I looked in the direction the voice came from. William. He looked back at me. However, he tilted his head.

"What's wrong?" asked William.

I shook my head. Maybe I heard wrong.

"We'll continue our journey tomorrow morning!" the boss shouted. "Prepare a campfire. We'll camp here."

In the glow of the slowly creeping twilight, the campfire burned gently, dancing among the fading light.

I felt compelled to draw closer, feeling the soothing warmth enveloping my body chilled by the twilight breeze.

However, the sharp gaze of the boss caught my attention, implying that the time had come to introduce myself.

With cautious steps, I approached the bonfire, and began my most embarrassing self-introduction.

At that moment, I had completely forgotten everything. No, I remembered a little. Like Alexandre, the name of the young man who showed me around and who was too serious.

And the boss, he introduced himself too. Olivier was his name.

It was probably almost midnight by then, I slowly drifted into the euphoria that filled the air in the crowd.

Some people danced with irregular steps, some people also used their belongings as musical instruments.

The drunkenness that came over me made the world around me spin even more, and I welcomed it with uncertain steps.

Laughter and smiles signaled that tonight was about freedom, this was freedom!

"FOR MORA!" I shouted while holding the liquor bottle.

In these final moments, the world seemed to fade into shadow, my vision became very blurry.

And Amelia's gaze burned brightly in the remaining darkness. Her emotionless eyes were directed straight at me, piercing through the layers of my consciousness with a piercing coldness.

In the final moments with my blurry eyes, I watched as the system opened up and displayed the latest Daily Quest:

[ MARAUDERS ]

Completing this quest will reward you with a random crate. [ COMMON, UNCOMMON, RARE, EPIC, LEGENDARY, MYTHIC ]

Exp (+50)

My eyes widened. I realized that I still didn't know who the murder victim was.

The realization slipped into my mind like an inescapable dark shadow. My mouth curled up and my eyes closed.

How could I have been so stupid.

***

Maybe it's time for action for the next chapter. btw in the end I still wrote two chapters for today :)

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