Chapter 100
The Guide
Keenan was in the middle of enjoying card games and beer with his colleagues, when Erin and her group came back. To say that the inmate was less than pleased would have been an understatement, as he was just in the middle of a good winning streak and had a few drinks.
“Well, you guys are back early,” Keenan said in a clearly upset tone, as he stood up from his seat. “I know I told you guys there was a time limit, but couldn’t you have spent at least a bit more time over there? Hell, if it’s the baby you’re worried about, I’m sure there’s a daycare that could have looked after him!”
That remark earned the inmate another one finger salute from Lexton.
“...You really need to get that kid some better influences,” Keenan said to Erin. “I honestly worry how he’ll end up, if you don’t get away from that partner of yours.”
“Hey!” Ryle cried out, feeling offended by the comment.
“Oh, trust me. I’ve already been preparing the divorce,” the redhead said. “I just wanted to give her some extra time to show that she can still be trusted with the kids, but that was clearly a bad choice.”
“HEY!” the blonde cried out again.
“Good for you. Don’t get me wrong, I understand giving those you love another chance as much as anybody else, but once you have kids you gotta focus on them,” Keenan said. “I just hope they turn better than their secondary mom over there.”
“Okay, are you guys just looking to piss me off or something!?” Ryle shouted angrily.
“Sorry to say this, but truth hurts,” the inmate said. “Anyways, let’s get going back already. Unless of course you’ve suddenly changed your minds…”
“Actually, there is something that we still need to do, although, not here specifically,” Erin said, taking out the piece of paper they had gotten from the information store. “We were told that you would be able to understand what’s written here.”
Keenan took the paper and read through it. Upon reading the message, his eyes went wide for a moment, before a big grin spread over his face.
“Oh… Well, if this is the case, I’ll be more than happy to help you guys out,” the inmate said happily. “Let’s get back to the elevator and return to the prison itself, alright? That’s where you’ll get what you’re looking for.”
“Hold up. What’s with the sudden switch in attitude?” Ryle asked as she looked at Keenan with a suspicious stare. “Just a moment ago, you were upset that we had returned so early and now you’re all smiles about it. What gives?”
“Simple. It’s all about money,” the inmate answered. “Whenever I get to help the warden with selling some of his special services, I get a small fee from that. Not only that, but this came at a perfect time, as I’ve been looking to buy a new TV for my cell.”
“You have a TV in your cell?” Erin asked. “How is that possible?”
“That’s easy. You just gotta do good work for the right people. They needed a human escort here so that they could get more customers for the Black Market and I was there to fill that void. Once I showed that I could do the job and do it well, I was on my way to the easy life behind bars,” Keenan explained. “Anyways, enough of this talk. The warden can’t be available forever, so we should go to him as soon as possible to get this deal done and you guys get to be on your merry way out of my hair.”
Erin’s group followed after the inmate back to the elevator, where he input the secret code, allowing them to travel back up. Once their elevator reached its intended floor, they walked out to see a place they hadn’t been to yet.
“This floor looks different than the one we were at before traveling down,” Erin remarked. “Is this a different place?”
“That it is. In order for you to make a deal with the warden, you have to speak to the man himself, right? Well, this floor has his office, along with all the other big shots working here. Excluding people like yours truly, that is,” Keenan explained. “Also, no need to worry about keeping up the act here. Everybody on this floor is a part of the dealings that go down here. Just remember to not mention things like the Black Market, once we come out of here.”
The redhead nodded, as she and her companions followed the inmate’s lead to the warden’s office. They soon arrived at a large door leading to said room. After Keenan knocked on it and received permission to enter, he opened the door, allowing them all to go inside.
The office itself was honestly very luxurious, to the point that it looked more like a room in a high-class hotel than any type of a working environment. There was a very fancy looking carpet leading to the intricately decorated desk and there were several paintings on the walls. The warden had even installed a small bar in his office and he also had a sculpture of himself in one corner of the room.
The warden himself appeared to be a dwarf with a bald head and a long white beard. He was wearing a very fancy-looking suit, with decorated shoes and a tie that had a big jewel attached to it. He also had apparently switched his normal teeth with gold ones, as there was a strange shine coming from his mouth.
As the group entered the office, the warden had been in the middle of getting a massage from a beautiful human woman, while also smoking a big cigar. Upon seeing Keenan entering the office, his attention was fully placed on the inmate and the people with him.
“Keenan! What a pleasant surprise!” the warden said happily. “What might bring you to my office?”
“The same as always, warden Magrath. Business,” the inmate said with a smirk. “My friends here are hoping to use your services.”
“I see… That sounds just perfect. I was hoping to make some changes in my office,” Magrath said with a small grin. “And just what type of a service might your friends be looking for exactly?”
“Apparently, they need a guide. One who is familiar with the caves on the outskirts of the city specifically,” Keenan answered. “Think you can provide them with that?”
“That shouldn’t be an issue, as this is not the first time someone has asked this. Just a moment,” the warden said as he looked at his computer that was sitting on his desk. “It seems that I have three perfect candidates for you. Would you like to meet them?”
“That would be perfect,” Erin replied. “Do we go meet them or will they be brought here?”
“Oh, there’s no need for you to go over to them. I can have them brought here with just a single message,” Magrath said as he began to write something on his computer, which the redhead assumed was a message to some people working under him. “There. Now we just need to wait a moment and your potential guides will soon be here.”
“May I ask what type of people are these candidates exactly?” the redhead asked. “While I do appreciate you lending us those with the skills we need, I would like to know just how bad of criminals we are dealing with here.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. We only select those who are capable of cooperation. After all, it would be bad business, if our customers ended up getting harmed by them, right?” the warden with a chuckle. “Besides, we’ll have an insurance in place, so you can work with them at ease.”
“What would that be?”
“You’ll see.”
Deciding not to come off as too nosy, Erin stopped asking further questions and simply waited for the potential guides to arrive. Once they came, she was certain that all possible questions she had would be answered.
It didn’t take too long until there was a knock on the door. Magrath told the people on the other side to come in, upon which the door was opened. Five new people walked into the office, with two of them being guards and the last three inmates. The inmates were all wearing the same uniform Keenan was and had shackles on their arms and legs, making it difficult for them to move.
The shackles worried Erin a bit, as she couldn’t help but think about the danger she might have been putting her friends in. Even if she knew that Ryle and Durge could easily handle themselves in a physical fight, there was always the chance that the person they picked as a guide could get a surprise attack on them or even take someone like Arkay hostage. Still, she had come too far to back off now, so she steeled her resolve to see what the warden had for offer to them.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The first inmate was a human, although, he was easily the scariest of the three. His head was completely shaven and he had a very strong build, one fitting for a man that could kill you with their bare hands alone. What made him even scarier were the markings on his body that were from what she assumed were past battles, as he had scars covering his body and even one running over his left eye.
The second inmate was a dwarf, which didn’t surprise Erin at all. Most of the population in Grand Mine Central was made up of dwarfs, as they often lived in underground settlements or inside mountains. However, while she expected the dwarf to be someone who might have knowledge about the caves, as they often worked in industries like mining and mechanical work, this one didn’t fill her with confidence. The dwarf had an angry scowl on his face and seemed to be twitching constantly. His hands were balled up into fists to the point that his fingers drew blood from his palms.
The last inmate was a male ratfolk, much like the receptionist they had met at the information store. Unlike the other two, he seemed to be completely calm and collected as he waited to be addressed by the warden or one of the guards. Unlike the other two, he didn’t seem to have any unusual markings or mannerisms, which made him look like a normal person.
image [https://i.ibb.co/4MGWQBL/Ch-100-Pic-1.jpg]
“These are the three guide candidates we have for offer,” Magrath began to introduce the newcomers, as he walked up to the human first. “This here is Halligan. He used to work as part of a mining company that was actually inspecting the caves you intend to explore. However, he got into a rather violent fight and ended up killing someone, which is why he’s now spending time here with us.”
Erin felt a shiver run down her spine. The man before her certainly looked like someone who would get arrested from deadly fight.
“Next up, is Berhund,” the warden said as he moved on to the dwarf. “He has had a long history of exploring caves for their rare minerals, which has given a lot of experience on the field. Unfortunately, as you can probably tell just by looking at him, his obsession has gotten a bit out of hand. He was arrested after our officers found out that he had purposefully led his last expedition group down a wrong path, causing them to be devoured by beasts. He apparently did this due to a disagreement in regards to the pay he had promised them originally.”
“AND I’D DO IT AGAIN TO THE GREEDY BASTARDS!” the dwarf began to violently rant as foam fell out of his mouth. “THEY WANTED MORE THAN WE AGREED TO! WHEN I WAS ALREADY PAYING THOSE SONS OF BITCHES TOO MUCH! I HOPE THEY SCREAMED IN PAIN AS THEY WERE EATEN!”
Due to the sudden outburst, the guards were forced to go and subdue him by violently beating him with their batons. After he had seemingly calmed down, he was lifted up from the floor and he continued to stand there like nothing had happened, despite being bruised and bleeding from several places.
“Umm… My apologies for that,” Magrath said awkwardly. “Berhund has a bit of a… passionate temper to him. I do promise you, though, that he is still a very reliable guide.”
Erin had her doubts in regards to the warden’s statement.
“Last, but not least, is this gentleman here. Skeets,” Magrath said as he introduced the ratfolk inmate. “His experience comes from working for a transportation company. Before he ended up here, he used to drive trucks full of all sorts of commercial goods by using the caves to do so. Sadly, it was discovered that he had some connections to some less than likable groups, which is how he ended up here.”
Erin looked over the rat man and couldn’t help but consider him to be the best option so far. After all, the other two seemed to be more or less unreliable, with one being a terrifying monster of a man and the other being psychopathic. There was also the fact that he had driven trucks through the caves, which possibly meant that he knew how to get to Gotzmeyer’s base, as he was probably one of the people delivering supplies.
“Would you like to ask any of these fine gentlemen any questions?” the warden asked. “You can ask them anything you want to help make your decision.”
“Alright then. Let’s see what they say,” the redhead said as she walked up to the human inmate. “Do you know how to get to Gotzmeyer’s base?”
The man before Erin didn’t say anything. Instead, simply stared at her in silence, which she could only assume was anger.
“...Okay, I’ll just move on to the next candidate then,” the redhead said, terrified of the silent man. She now faced the dwarf inmate. “Do you know how to get to Gotzmeyer’s base?”
“WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT THAT!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT’S INSIDE THOSE CAVES!?” the dwarf began to rant immediately. “THERE ARE INCREDIBLE MINERALS OF VALUE THAT NO ONE CAN EVEN IMAGINE! AND HERE WE ARE, TALKING ABOUT SOME WORTHLESS CRAP REGARDING A BASE!? LET ME OUT OF HERE, SO I CAN-!”
Seeing as the inmate had once again lost control of himself, the guards once again responded with force, until he calmed down.
“Well, that was constructive… Hope the last one is at least a bit better,” Erin said with a sigh, walking up to the ratfolk inmate. “Be honest with me. Do I need to repeat the question to you?”
“Not at all, miss,” the rat man said with a chuckle. “You need to get to Gotzmeyer’s base, right? Well, that is something that I can do for you. Very easily, in fact. I’ve been there quite a few times, after all.”
“The warden mentioned that you used to work for a company that did deliveries by using the cave system,” the redhead said. “Was Gotzmeyer’s base perhaps one of these places you used to make deliveries to?”
“Indeed! In fact, I’d say that place was our most frequent customer,” the inmate replied. “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m fairly confident I could find my way to that place even while blindfolded.”
After having interviewed, or at least having attempted to interview, all of the inmates before them, Erin decided to gather with her companions to discuss their options. They walked away from the others and huddled together in order to have as much of a private discussion as possible.
“So, what do you guys think? Which one should we choose?” the redhead asked. “If I may give you my input, I’d say that the rat guy is our best option.”
“Yeah, I’d say that’s a fair assessment,” Ryle said. “The human guy seems to be some sort of a coldblooded murderer and that dwarf is a complete lunatic. I would NOT want to share a room with either of them. The ratfolk guy is the only relatively normal guy.”
“I-I agree,” Arkay said. “I don’t think there’s any question about who we should choose.”
“I actually disagree,” Lexton said, surprising the others. “Out of those three, the ratfolk guy is the last one we should trust with anything at all.”
“What are you saying, Lex?” Erin asked. “How can you say that?”
“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be a baby?” Ryle asked. “Shouldn’t you just stay quiet and let the adults do the talking here?”
“Compared to you, even the youngest of infants are reasonable adults,” Lexton said. “But I’m telling you that the rat guy isn’t someone we should get close to at all. Instead, we should go with the human.”
“Are you insane!?” Erin asked, shocked by the kobold’s suggestion. “Did you see that man!? Just meeting him like this is probably going to give me nightmares! Why would you ever want to work with that guy!?”
“Look, while I completely agree with you assessment on the dwarf, as he is obviously a complete nutcase, you’re just going to have to trust me with the other two,” Lexton explained. “I’ve dealt with all kinds of scum my whole life, so I can tell when someone is either full of shit or has some ulterior motives. And that guy? I wouldn’t trust him to watch over a rock, much less our lives. His mannerisms just scream danger to me. Do NOT trust him at all.”
“But what about the scarred bald guy that you want us to work with?” Ryle asked. “That guy doesn’t exactly look like a model citizen. I bet the moment you turn your back on him, he’ll have his hands around your neck!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. He didn’t give me that feel at all,” the kobold explained. “While I’ll admit that he certainly looked intimidating, something about the way he acted didn’t strike me as dangerous. I can’t quite place it, but he certainly didn’t seem like a dangerous guy.”
“B-But he killed somebody in a fight! He has to be dangerous!” Arkay argued. “Do you really think that someone who kills another person with their bare hands can be safe to be around!?”
“Hey, we don’t know the full details of what happened, okay?” Lexton said. “How do we know that he was the one at fault? It could be a case of self-defense gone bad or something similar. All I’m trying to say is that he’s our best option. And I’m even willing to say that the crazy dwarf is a better choice than the ratfolk. Just trust me on this, okay?”
Thinking about what the kobold had said, Erin and the others looked at the human inmate that he recommended them to pick as their guide. Seeing as he was being given attention, the inmate stared back at them. Unfortunately, the look in his eyes didn’t give them much confidence.
“...We’re picking the rat guy,” Erin said, looking at her companions.
“Yup,” Ryle replied.
“Fine by me,” Arkay said.
“Alright, if you say so,” Lexton said with a frustrated sigh. “Just don’t blame me, when you get stabbed in the back by that guy.”
Ignoring the kobold’s warning, Erin walked up to the warden. The dwarf man had a smile on his face, as he was expecting a good deal.
“So, have you come to your decision yet?” Magrath asked as he was rubbing his palms in anticipation. “I do hope that the guides we had for offer were to your liking.”
“Yes, we did come to a decision. And we decided to hire one of your guides,” the redhead answered, causing the warden’s smile to grow wider. “We decided to pick Skeets as our guide.”
“...Pardon?” Magrath asked, as his hands suddenly stopped moving from excitement.
“I said that we would like to hire Skeets as our guide,” Erin replied. “Is there an issue with that?”
“Well… Not exactly… It’s just that…” the warden tried to desperately explain but was unable to find the correct words.
“M-Maybe you should reconsider this a bit?” Keenan suddenly said, stepping in. “While we are more than happy to make a deal with you, the thing is that we can give you a great offer on Halligan!”
“What do you mean a great offer?” Erin asked.
“You see, these guys aren’t just working to earn us some extra cash. They do this to take some time off their sentences,” the inmate explained. “It just so happens that Halligan here has only very little time left on his sentence. So by picking him, you’ll be able to help him and us greatly! I’m sure the warden would be willing to give you a discount on his services, right!?”
“A-Absolutely!” Magrath quickly said. “How about a 10 % discount!? Trust me, you can’t get deals like these every day!”
“...Yeah, I think we’ll stick with Skeets,” Erin said, giving one last glance at Halligan. “Our decision is final.”
“B-But Skeets is-!” the warden tried to argue.
“Excuse me, warden Magrath, but I believe there was an agreement in regards to me taking this type of work for your benefit,” Skeets suddenly said, cutting off the warden. “If I recall, you were NOT allowed to play favorites, which includes specifically promoting certain inmates or discussing any “unnecessary information” in regards to others. Did I perhaps misunderstand the contract I signed?”
“...Fine,” Magrath said, although he was obviously not happy. “As per your wishes, Skeets shall be your guide. Thank you for doing business with us.”
Despite the odd behavior from the warden, Erin simply paid the amount necessary to hire the rat man and listened to the further instructions she was give. A special collar was placed around Skeets’s neck that would give him a very painful electrical shock from a remote that was given to the redhead. This was so that they could ensure his cooperation during his job.
With their business done, Erin thanked the warden and left the office with her companions and the new addition to their group. Before they left, however, Keenan had something to say to Ryle, as he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“What do you want?” the blonde asked rudely.
“Look, I shouldn’t be saying this, but keep your eyes on that guy. Especially when he’s around the kids,” the inmate said in a serious tone. “You might be a bad parent, but you should be able to do at least that much, okay?”
“Goddammit! How am I the bad parent here!?” Ryle said angrily. “And you don’t need to worry about that! I know how to keep those around me safe!”
With the final piece of advice having been delivered, Erin’s group left the warden’s office. Once they were gone, Magrath sank into his chair and let out a heavy sigh.
“That wasn’t something you should have done, Keenan,” the warden said as he rubbed his temples. “If the Black Market found out about this, they could get pretty upset with us.”
“I know, but I had to do it,” the inmate said with a frown on his face. “You know how Skeets is when it comes to kids. There was no way I could just allow them to go without a warning at least.”
“...Dammit! If only Halligan didn’t look so damn terrifying!” Magrath cursed. “Why the hell couldn’t at least say something to make yourself look at least a bit less intimidating!?”
“I can’t help it… I get nervous around girls,” the human inmate said in a surprisingly timid voice. “I knew I should have said something, but I just locked up.”
“Cut the guy some slack. He can’t help how he is or how those people didn’t know just who they were getting involved with,” Keenan said. “How could they know that Halligan here is a model inmate who ended up in prison after accidentally killing someone while defending a child, while Skeets is one of the worst scumbags out there?”
“I know… Although, they must have really come from afar, as they don’t know who he is,” the warden said. “We can only hope that the infamous “Grand Mine Stabber” from the insane Brotherhood of the Worm cult doesn’t get the drop on them.”