POV: ?????

I slowly stand up from my little bush, with confusion plastered on my face. There was a rather fancy carriage with clear and expensive looking windows passing by.

Did I just see a noble woman molesting an unconscious kid?

I turn to a person in light armor, with small daggers strapped to their legs. Their hair was impossibly glossy, making me squint from the supernatural glare. Because of this glare, and their tendency to have long hair, no one has ever seen their face. They have a small body and their clothes beneath the armor are more akin to rags, much like my own. To be honest, my parents just guessed their gender, since somehow even the sensitive parts are hidden.

"Hey Bob, did you just see a noble woman molesting a kid in her carriage?"

"Where the hell did you come up with that, Jake!? We're in the middle of an open dungeon! Who the hell would bring a carriage in here!? Do you even know how much a carriage fucking costs!? Especially a noble’s carriage!!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down man. No need to get so aggressive, Bob."

I guess it was just my imagination.

"Why the fuck wouldn't I be calm!? All you did was lose our lives savings and make us go in debt! On top of that, you transferred our fathers’ property to some snobby bitch who seduced you!!"

"Glad you understand."

"Fu-!! Haaaah... You know what? I'll just stop trying."

"Stop trying what?"

I think Bob is mad.

If I could see their face right now, it would probably be really red. Like, really, really red.

Close to the color of Dab root.

"We should get going, Bob. We still have a debt to pay."

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 Bob and I continued our trek through the dungeon. It was horrible.

After leaving the cavern zone, you enter into a forest with all types of carnivorous and poisonous plants. There is always some sort of camouflaged monster, no matter where you go. On top of that, the trees try to eat you, and when you fight back, there is a high chance that a forest guardian will come to kill you.

"Hey, Jake, what the hell is that?"

"That, my sibling, is the perfectly maintained ruins of a mansion."

Oh, wow. I used all of my difficult words for that sentence.

In front of us was a large mansion. That's all. A large mansion

Is it even considered ruins if it's not ruined?

We walked to the gate, which was still far from the mansion itself, and glared at the symbol of a phoenix.

It was made of solid gold.

We turned to each other, a villainous grin making its way across our faces.

At least I have one, Bob just has that strange light around him turn black. Actually, it seems more purple. Weird.

"I guess we don't have to worry about debt anymore."

I say this while looking directly into Bobs light.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I guess so."

They respond.

Shit! This is starting to hurt my eyes.

I turn away as naturally as possible, and sneakily wipe my dry eyes.

"So, how are we going to separate that from the gate?"

Bob asks me with a troubled look, still sporting that villainous light, now with a hint of pink.

"Through good old manual labor."

"Haah... I guess we should get started."

We make our preparations, making crowbars out of the carapace of giant centipedes, that were in the cavern zone.

There's a long way to go.

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After many failed attempts, we finally made a single crowbar.

Bob starts to complain about the unfairness of the world.

"What the hell did you expect, Bob? We're not blacksmiths."

"I know, but still. It's just so annoying."

"It doesn't matter. We have a phoenix to steal."

We start the slow and irritating process of prying the phoenix off the gate.

We occasionally had to use a firestone to help separate it from the bars.

Even after a few hours, we had only removed a section of the head.

"We'll have to satisfy ourselves with this for now. This is already almost too heavy for me to carry."

"Let's get out of here. There are probably some monsters trying to find us from all that noise we made."

We start to leave the dungeon, Bob scouting the area, while I protect the gold.

We only came across a monster once or twice, since this is usually the time that they sleep.

When we were close to the entrance of the dungeon, we set up camp.

Both of us dropped to the ground, taking our much-needed break after that small journey.

"How much do you think this is worth, Bob?"

"I don't know, but it's probably a lot. We could probably use this to buy a noble as a slave!"

"Huh, I never thought about that. Maybe I'll finally be able to be with the princess?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I never told you, did I? It was a very long time ago. I was friends with a princess, and... you'll hear the rest of the story later."

"What!? Which Princess!? How come I never knew this?!"

"Like I said, the rest of the story later. For now, we have more important things to do. Like paying our debt."

We start packing up the camp, and make our way out, keeping the gold carefully hidden.

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Walking up stairs to the closest checkpoint, we had to be even more careful.

There are adventurers roaming around the area, trading with each other, and if that doesn't work out, they murder and claim the objects that they 'found'. This is the area we need to be the most careful, until we get to the warp pad.

To be honest, it isn't too dangerous unless you make yourself look suspicious.

Which won't be much of a problem, since I'm rather good at acting, and no one understands how the hell Bob is acting anyways.

We slowly stroll through the checkpoint, eventually making it to the warp pad.

Of course, not before the cloth hiding the phoenix head slowly falls, revealing the solid gold.

I hurriedly drape the cloth back over the head, sighing in relief.

"It's good that nobody saw that we have this solid gold that weighs at least 20 kilos, eh Bob?"

After saying that, the area goes silent, and everyone in the immediate vicinity takes time to process what I just said.

"Can you repeat what you just said?"

Someone from the crowd asks that question.

"What? Are you stupid? I said, it's a good thing that no one saw that we have solid gold that weighs at least 20 kil- Shit."

"What the fuck Jake!? Run to the warp pad!"

We start running to the warp pad while adventurers all around are making preparations to attack, with the mages already firing mediocre spells without the access of their staves.

A fireball flies right past my face, and I yell at Bob with an accusing tone.

"Run faster, Bob! Why did you have to say that!?"

"Why the hell are you blaming me!? You're the one that brazenly said we have gold!"

"What the fuck does brazenly mean!?"

"Stop wasting your breath, Jake!! Does it really matter what the hell brazenly means!?"

We make it to the warp pad after a full on twenty-meter sprint.

Turning back, we see a horde of adventurers running at us with weapons drawn. Frozen in shock, we watch for some time.

Until, of course, a wave of arrows is shot.

"What the hell!? Is this a war zone or some shit!?"

"Warp, activate! Destination, Jorgen Flein!"

Bob starts to say this, and jumbles his words, saying Jorgen Flein instead of Yorgenheim.

Huh, I wonder where we're going this ti-

My thoughts are cut off, as the wave of arrows washes over us, just as we teleport.

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-me.

Oh, wow. I actually finished my thought.

Now, we are standing in the middle of a crowd of beast men, who stare at us, flabbergasted by our appearance.

Once again, someone shouts from the crowd.

"Humans! It's humans!! They've found us!! Everybody, run!!!"

A few seconds after that statement, we are overrun by panicking beast men trying to escape from the area.

Eventually, the place is cleared, allowing us to see that we are in some sort of shopping district.

Considering that we were trampled by hundreds of people, I'm surprised that we are still alive, only with a few broken bones.

A Werecat wearing armor that seems more for practical uses than for decoration walks up to us, saying only one statement with a gruff voice.

"Under the name of the Queen, Refina Indred Saguinus the fourth, you are to be taken into custody immediately."

I see one of his people smacking Bob until he fainted. Turning back to the Cat (no racism intended), I see a hammer swiftly making its way to my face.

"Oh, shi-"