Chapter 13.Crates

"If you want, we can even make a deal. Your life for…. I don't know," I whispered. "Interested?"

I was slightly taken aback by what I said. A deal? Why would I make a deal with this low life? No, it would be easier to kill them now and- 

"Yes! I will tell you everything I know! I will tell you, man, just let me go!"

"...Tell me what?"

With curiosity, I pressed my feet, sinking his head into the mud. 

"W-We have drugs! Lots of it! Sell for a pretty penny! I will tell you. Just let me go and I will tell you where it is."

"Drugs?"

I stayed quiet as I thought. What do I do with them? I could sell them, but I need to figure out how to do it. Destroy them? But that would be a waste.

"Hey, what type of drug do you have?"

"We-We have Pink dust! They are clean! And some new stuff that hasn't hit the streets yet."

"... I will raise my foot now. Slowly stand up and lead me to the stash. Do anything funny and I promise you, you will end up worse than your friend did."

"Y-Yes, I will do so."

I slowly raised my foot, and as he was getting up, I quickly took the dead guy's knife and put it away, since my usual weapon was now in pieces.

"Move slowly. And do anything funny, and you'll see your insides on your outside."

"Y-Yes."

Quietly I followed him, my bad leg slowing me down. I need to fix this leg of mine. This is getting stupid.

As we moved to the worst parts of the slums, a couple of people were staring at us but they quickly turned their heads away, probably because of the bloodstains on my clothes.

Soon, the guy stopped before what seemed like a warehouse in quite a bad state with a lock and chain on it. 

"This is the place."

"Seems a little shabby. You know what will happen if you are playing me."

"I-It is here I swear! I will just-"

After fiddling with the lock for a while, the lock finally opens, and the chin falls on the ground as he opens the door.

"Go in first."

He nodded, and I followed him in. The place was dark and moist from the constant rain with the smell of rotting wood in the air.

"They are here."

He pulled a drape of several crates that, to my surprise, had markings that I recognized immediately. A sword with a crown on it. It was the royal insignia, the stuff you would see as a badge on high officials or important documents.

"The crates... where the hell did you get them?"

"It was the boss! He didn't tell us how he got them!"

"...Damn it."

This is dangerous. If word's out, I even saw these crates I will be hunted down by this boss. But if I do not do anything, and the royals learn about me seeing them, I will be thrown into jail since I am a commoner from the slums. What to do?

I sigh and point at the man.

"Open them."

I already saw these things, no point in thinking about denying them, at least I want to see what I am dealing with.

He stared at me for a while, but then he slowly took off the top of the crate and stepped back as I looked inside. Sure enough, the crate was full of vials that were filled with tiny red pearls.

"These are Devi balls, right?"

I never took them myself but I knew several junkies who were addicted to them. One of these will give you the vigor and stamina of 3 men for an hour but after the effects wear off, you will become lethargic, feeling weak till your next dosage. It was one of the most difficult drugs to acquire, and you could get the death sentence for selling it.

"You guys sure have a lot."

I reached out and took a vial into my hand. There were about 50 of these pearls, enough for me to buy a house.

"Hey, the Angel Dust? Where is it?"

"They are here!"

As he was opening the crate, I quickly took 4 more vials and put them into my bag and went over to him.

"Yup, this is it."

Angel dust is an aphrodisiac that will put others to shame. But this was also illegal for very good reasons. Not only was it addictive, but it dulled the senses. Use it enough, and you will lose the sense of touch from your body, and you will overdose to get some of it back.

I counted about three crates with this stuff and several others with the devil balls. If I sold all of them, I could get serious money, probably enough for me to move to the upper levels, maybe even to the top.

"... We are transporting the crates."

"What?! The other will know, and I will-"

"Think of it as them not being here, but I am. So if you do what I say, you will live longer."

Wait a second. They are not here. There are such valuable substances here yet there were no guards around. As I turned around, I activated my power, seeing the world in gray.

And I was right. Aside from the spirits of that guy, I could see several others. Maybe they were hiding well, the spirits that were attached to them were sticking quite out.

"Sigh, and I thought this was going quite well."

I raised my hands.

"Hey! You are not fooling anyone! Come out! I surrender."

There was an awkward silence then from the shadows, several people came out, all rough-looking, with weapons and armor.

"So ya noticed, well it's too late to beg! Ya came here and saw what we have. Ya will die."

"Did you not hear me? I said I surrender. So take me as your leader."

The one who just talked to me looked shocked then he started laughing, which his friends also did.

"And what gives you the idea of us letting you meet our boss? Why not kill you now?"

"As I said, I surrendered and it's a common courtesy to meet the boss of the opposite group. Also, I might possess information about things that your governor might want. Or you can just kill me here and something bad might happen to you, which was caused by you."

Come on, take the bait. You don't look smart, so just take me away. I don't have the confidence to kill a fully armed person.

The guard stayed silent for a nerve-racking minute then he finally spoke.

"Fine. You are coming with us. But you put this over your head."

One of the grunts handed him a dirty-looking bag.

"Ugh, you could have least washed."

I put the bag on and let them escort me to wherever.

*****

"Don't let them through!"

"Protect the captain!"

The guards rushed at the enemy but they couldn't do anything.

"Liquefac."

In a short flash of green light, the running guards fell on the ground, their bodies melted into a green goo, leaving only their armor and weapons behind.

Slowly walking was a woman in a witch's cap and holding a scepter made of wood.

"How did this witch get in here?!"

The place they were in was the royal prison, one of the most tightly secured places on the upper levels.

Here, the most notorious criminals were kept, those who committed sins against royalty or the holy knights.

In normal circumstances, there would be high-ranking officials as well as some holy knights who had volunteered to patrol the area.

But not today.

Not with the commotion happening outside.

"Terra, conterere inimicos meos."

Gently, she tapped the wall, making its surface ripple like water.

"MAGIC!"

The remaining guards tried to run away, but they were too slow.

Around them, the walls and ceiling moved, slapping together and when they parted, the bodies fell, lifeless.

Without a word, the witch moved past them, not bothered by the gore.

"Claves, ad me venite."

With a flick of the wrist, a keychain flew up from one of the corpses and floated next to her.

With steady pace, she walked down a flight of stairs where rows and rows of cells could be seen, filled with prisoners.

These criminals were amongst the worst this city could offer, all scum.

But they were not only humans here.

Hunters, those who committed crimes in Dis, were sent here as well. Now they were imprisoned here, shackled by mana-dampening cuffs, blocking their powers and skills.

As the figure moved between the cells, the prisoners moved to the edge of their cages and bashed at them, demanding their freedom.

"I will free you all later. I have an ork to detusk first."

The witch stopped at the one at the end of the corridor, which had a big metallic door.

"Clavis, aperire ostium."

The key chain flew to the door as one of the keys turned in the lock, the door slowly opened.

"...Who is it?"

The voice behind the door sounded tired and cold, as if it had lost all life.

"I am from the church of silence. It's time for you to return to your duties."

"You are saying this as if I have been on a vacation. I didn't get caught because I wanted to."

"If half of what I heard is true about you, you could have easily escaped."

"...Damn, you are a smart cookie."

The sound of chains rattling could be heard as someone approached the door.

"Did the church send you?"

"The cult is no more. The holy knight decimated us. It is in pieces, and there is not enough strength to put it back together. But we cannot allow them to win."

From the darkness of the cells, a human walked out.

They wore a brown leather cloth, rough and full of holes with their hair obscuring their faces.

Chains bound their legs and arms, arcane symbols carved into them that shone in a bluish hue.

"Where do we start?"

The witch smiled as she produced a key and unlocked the chains.

"You will do what you are best at. Taking souls."

The prisoner took off the handcuffs, and as they cracked their wrists, a ghostly black hand slowly formed on their shoulder, and a smiling demonic face showed up behind them.

"Damn time. We were getting hungry."