Chapter 129
Back to the Surface
There were many reasons as to why Brega was seen as severely incompetent lift operator among his colleagues. For starters, he had a bad habit of trying to save up money by trying to buy his equipment as cheap as possible. This had its obvious problems, which many of his unfortunate customers had suffered. He even had a tendency to put his customers at risk in order to protect himself, which was not looked upon favorably in his industry.
However, one of his biggest issues had to be his inability to recognize danger properly. Even when beasts were heading straight towards him, it would take until he was essentially able to smell their breath that he’d realize the danger he was in. Numerous signs of danger, whether it was sounds or tremors, would go pretty much ignored by him.
While most of the time this bad quality of him would lead to misfortune for his customers, this time it would be a good thing for Erin and her companions. When the recognizable screeches of the Reaper Maggot were heard through the pit, the other lift operators had called back their customers before leaving the area. Meanwhile, Brega had simply sat back, listening to music and reading his comic as he waited for the return of his customers.
The lift operator himself was quite surprised upon seeing his customers return. Not because he had expected them to have perished, but because of the state they were in. Two of them were being carried by others, while another one seemed to be having trouble walking around.
Ryle was still suffering from the aftereffects of her berserker state, which caused her to wander around uncontrollably, like she was unable to walk a straight line. If it wasn’t for Arkay assisting the blonde, she would have been crashing into things constantly. Ryle was also carrying one of the Reaper Maggot’s claws as proof for Rayleen that they had completed her request.
Zeldana seemed to be doing completely fine for herself, as she didn’t have any visible massive injuries. However, she was carrying Lexton underneath her arm, like he was a piece of luggage. The kobold himself was simply hanging limply with a frown on his face, as drops of blood kept falling from behind him.
Out of all of them, Erin was having the toughest time, as she had been forced to drag Durge across the ground behind her. The redhead held the orc by his legs, while struggling to carry his paralyzed body along. Durge himself was obviously not happy with his situation, but couldn’t really do anything about it. All he could do was look around, hoping that they would get back to their hotel room.
“Well, you guys seem to have been having fun!” Brega said with a smile on his face as he walked up to his customers. “Did you guys find the bounties of the pit to your liking? I hope you found what you were looking for!”
“...Do us a favor and just operate the damn lift,” Erin grumbled as she glared at the orc.
Sensing the not so subtle hostility in his client, Brega wisely kept his mouth shut and simply did as he was told. It didn’t take long for Arkay, Ryle, Zeldana and Lexton to get into the lift, but Erin was having a lot of trouble. Dragging Durge’s limp body was proving to be more difficult than one could have imagined.
“Goddammit, Durge! Would you mind and lose some damn weight!?” the redhead cursed as she tried to get the orc up the stairs of the lift. “What the hell do you even eat!? Bricks!?”
Durge let out a garbled response that no one could understand due to his paralysis, but one could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn’t exactly fond of what he had just been told.
“I doubt there’s much he can do about how heavy he is. He’s a big one, after all,” Zeldana remarked nonchalantly. “Besides, most of his weight comes from his muscles, which I don’t think you’d want him to shrink.”
“Oh, thanks for the clinical explanation! Now would you mind and HELP ME OUT HERE!?” Erin shouted at the elf. “This is pretty difficult to do by myself!”
“Hey, you’re the one who lost the coin toss, remember? Don’t be a sore loser now!” Zeldana replied with a small grin, enjoying the redhead’s troubles. “Besides, my hands are currently full in taking care of our amputation patient here!”
“Bite me, elf,” Lexton muttered angrily.
“I think someone already did,” the elf joked.
“Can anybody be useful and help me out over here!?” Erin asked angrily.
“I’ll help! We’ll be sure to get Durge’s ass up in just a-” Ryle began to say as she tried to rush over to the redhead in order to help her. However, she just ended up running into a wall. “Where did the door go!?”
“Uhh… How about you just wait here, Ryle?” Arkay asked. “I’ll go see if I can help Erin.”
The cat boy ran to the redhead and took a hold of Durge’s leg. With the two of them, they tried to drag the orc’s massive body up to the lift, only for him to barely move an inch. Arkay wasn’t exactly built for such feats of strength, so his contribution didn’t amount to much. In fact, for a short moment, Erin wondered if he was actually making the task more difficult instead of easier.
“I appreciate the help, Arnie. I really do. But I think this job requires a bit more muscle than you can provide, okay?” the redhead said politely, trying not to let her bad mood get the best of her. It wasn’t the cat boy’s fault that they were in this mess, after all. “Go wait with the others. I’ll figure something out.”
“O-Okay… Sorry,” Arkay apologized awkwardly, realizing how little help he had been and meekly walked back to the lift.
With all of her other companions not being able to help, Erin once again tried to get Durge up to the lift by herself. Just like before, her efforts were admirable, but didn’t provide the results she was hoping to get, leaving her and Durge outside the lift.
Since she had no other options, the redhead decided to call out the last remaining person.
“Brega, could come over here and lend a hand?” Erin asked, giving up on dragging Durge by herself. “At this rate, we are never getting out of here.”
“I’m terribly sorry, miss, but I’m going to have to refuse,” the orc replied. “You see, I am only tasked with the transportation of you and your accomplices, and I will not be held liable for anything that happens outside the lift transportation. This not only includes your activities here, but also any of the belonging you might be trying to bring along. Any additional work will require an extra fee.”
“...Alright. Since you want to be like that, how about I make an offer?” the redhead asked before turning to give Brega the most rage fueled glare he had ever seen. “You come over here and help me, so you don’t have to worry about the blade of my sword ending up inside your body! How does that sound!?”
“S-Sounds like a reasonable offer!” the orc said as he quickly walked up to assist his customers. “I will be happy to help!”
With the help of Brega, Erin was finally able to get Durge into the lift. It had still been a very straining task, but the two of them were able to handle it despite the difficulty.
With the whole group now inside, the lift was finally ready to take them back to the top. This time, there were no attacks from Cave Bats or any other creatures. Erin guessed that because they had a piece of the Reaper Maggot with them, all the creatures within the pit would stay away from them, as the smell of what was once the apex predator in the area scared them away. While unplanned, the redhead happily welcomed this surprise, as she was too tired both mentally and physically to deal with anything else at the moment. All she wanted right now was to crash in a bed and sleep for as long as possible.
Unfortunately for Erin, a peaceful return to the surface was not something that she would have, as her companions had to start opening their mouths.
“Hey, I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but why does Zeldana have to carry Lex?” Ryle asked. “I get that he lost his tail, but it’s not like he lost a leg or anything like that. Can’t he just walk?”
Erin let out a deep sigh, as she could tell where this would go.
“Losing my tail is on the same level as losing a leg, you sad experimental life form!” Lexton said angrily. “My tail has been a part of my body my whole life, so of course suddenly losing it is going to cause me issues! This is close to pure hell for me!”
“...Okay, I get that you’re having trouble, but aren’t you going a bit too far by calling it pure hell?” the blonde asked. “I mean, you might not be able to grow it back, but I’m sure you can just build a prosthetic in its place. Not that big of a loss, when you consider what else you could have lost!”
“IT’S NOT THAT DAMN SIMPLE!” the kobold shouted angrily. “For reptilian people like myself, our tails are more than just a simple part of our bodies! Among people like us, losing your tail is one of the most humiliating things that can happen to you! Those who suffer such a fate and can’t replace it, often go into hiding as they can’t bear to show their faces in public! Do you get it now!?”
“I… think I do,” Ryle said with a thoughtful look on her face. “In other words, losing your tail is basically a specific version of those guys who worry they have a too small-”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“RYLE! DON’T YOU EVEN GO THERE!” Erin suddenly shouted as loudly as she could, shocking everyone around her. “Can we just… Just go back to the top in SILENCE? I’ve had more than enough to deal with already and I don’t need you two having one of your childish fights once again! Is it too much to ask to have just a bit of silence!? JUST ONCE!?”
“Uhh… Sure, Erin! No problem!” Ryle said with an awkward forced smile, as Lexton hastily nodded in agreement. “We’ll drop this whole thing right now and you won’t have to hear about it! Promise!”
“Much appreciated,” Erin said as she rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming up.
“...So this seems to be very usual in your group, right?” Brega whispered to Arkay, who nodded while looking down in shame. “What exactly happened down there that caused this whole mess? Or is this just how you guys normally are with each other?”
“Let’s just say that a lot happened and leave it at that, okay?” the cat boy replied. “Although, I fear that this would have happened regardless…”
Having heard the secret conversation between Brega and Arkay, Durge let out a gurgle that was his way of saying “no kidding.”
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After a silent and very awkward lift ride to the surface, the group shuffled out to find a large group of people gathered there. This was made up of the other lift operators, who had escaped upon hearing the screech of the Reaper Maggot, as well as their customers, who had done the same thing. It seemed like they had noticed Brega’s lift had stayed down, causing them to worry over what might have happened. Obviously the worry had been towards the orc’s customers, not him specifically.
The crowd immediately turned their eyes upon Erin and the others, as soon as they arrived. The redhead and her friends were taken aback by the sudden attention they were receiving. Same had happened with Brega, but he managed to quickly regain his composure.
“Ah! My fellow colleagues!” the lift operator greeted the group. “How thoughtful of you to arrange a welcome party, even if-!”
Brega was cut off, as he got pushed out of the way so that the people in the crowd could talk to Erin’s group.
“Are you guys alright!? We heard the sound of the Reaper Maggot and escaped right away!” one of the other lift operator asked in a worried tone. “We can get you medical assistance, if any of you need it!”
“We’re fine. Just a little roughed up and tired,” Erin said. “We had our own medical expert provide us with treatment, so we are in no need of any urgent help right now.”
The redhead then glanced at her companions and took note of the conditions Durge and Lexton were in.
“Actually, even if they’re not in any life threatening danger right now, we actually have two-”
A sudden shushing sound from Lexton cut Erin off. She looked back at the kobold to see him doing his best to hide his missing tail.
“...Scratch that. We have one member of our group who could use some help,” the redhead corrected herself, before pointing at Durge. “He got struck with paralyzing poison and can’t move around at all. He can still breathe, so his life isn’t in any danger, but it’s pretty hard to move him around. Do you think you could help him?”
“Absolutely! We’ll have the paramedics give him an antidote right away!” the lift operator said.
People from the group then came over to take Durge with them to get treated. Despite there being a lot more people this time, they still struggled with the orc’s heavy build. Regardless, Erin was glad that she no longer had to worry about dragging him around.
“So…” the voice of Brega suddenly spoke up, causing a fresh wave of irritation to wash over the redhead. “I believe that I’ve managed to uphold my end of the bargain pretty well, wouldn’t you say? Now, we agreed that I would receive the rest of my fee, once we were done, so… Mind if I get paid now?”
Erin, who was already reaching the end of her limit when it came to tolerating annoyances, was about to blow up. However, the other lift operator, who had come to offer them assistance, did that for her.
“You’ve got some nerve, Breag!” the lift operator yelled angrily. “Not only did you put your customers through a ride in an unsafe lift that was deemed inoperable, but you also failed to do your basic duties as a lift operator and needlessly endangered their lives when the Reaper Maggot arrived! Have you no shame or any sense of responsibility at all!?”
“Hey! Hey! MY job was to simply take these fine people down the pit and back! That’s all!” Brega said defensively. “Everything that happened besides was THEIR responsibility! I cannot be expected to look after people who venture into one of the most dangerous places in the world, like they were children, can I!? Besides, we signed a contract and I’ve followed it completely! Don’t I deserve compensation for my work!? How cruel is that!?”
The other lift operator was about to continue berating Brega, only for Erin to step up and stop him from doing so. The redhead took a deep breath to calm herself, before speaking up.
“As much as I hate to say this, Brega is at least somewhat right,” Erin said. “While his lift was in less than proper condition, he did do his job in transporting us down to the pit and back. In other words, he has done his job and we need to pay for it.”
The redhead then handed the credits she owed to Brega, who smiled widely while holding the money like a child with a new toy.
“Thank you so much, miss! It has been a pleasure to work with you!” Brega said happily. “If you ever need to take another trip down to the pit, please keep my business on your mind! I’d be happy to take you there again!”
“Yeah… I’m sure you would be,” Erin muttered in response.
Having received his payment, Brega turned around and left, practically skipping as he ran off. The way he left somehow further irritated the redhead, but she kept it from showing.
“I can’t believe that you actually paid that hack for his crap service,” the other lift operator said.
“Well, it couldn’t be helped. Like I said, he did do his job, no matter how low the quality of it was,” Erin said with a shrug. “Besides, I’m not exactly in the mood or position to start haggling.”
“Just out of curiosity, how much did you pay him?” the lift operator asked. “I’d honestly be pissed, if I had to pay anything to him.”
“36 000 credits in total. 6 000 for each person in our group,” the redhead replied. “From what I heard, it was cheap when compared to others.”
“...You’re kidding, right? My service is seen as expensive and I require 500 credits for a person,” the lift operator said, causing Erin to freeze up. “And that covers the trip to the pit and back!”
“Are you serious!? That son of a-!” the redhead began to blow off, only to stop herself. “Never mind! Never mind. At least the money went to a good-”
Erin then noticed something on the ground. It was the picture Brega had shown of his children. However, she was in for another revelation that would further push her anger.
“Hey, I’ve been looking for that picture!” the lift operator said happily, picking it up with a smile on his face. “I honestly feel terrible, when I don’t have the picture of my kids with me at all times!”
“That… Yours!?” Erin managed to say, her shock and anger making it difficult for her to form proper sentences. “But I thought that was a picture of Brega’s kids!”
“Brega’s? Are you joking? Who the hell would ever get together, much less have kids, with a slime like that!?” the lift operator said. “Besides, even if he had kids, do you think he would be traveling through the city’s gambling dens, bars and brothels on a daily basis? No decent father would ever do that!”
“...I’M GONNA KILL THAT LYING SON OF A BITCH!” Erin screamed in fury as she grabbed her sword and ran after Brega.
image [https://i.ibb.co/48gQ0Pd/Ch-129-Pic-1.jpg]
As the redhead chased after Brega, who had started to run much faster in response, her companions watched from the side.
“So are you going to chew her out for this later?” Zeldana asked while looking at Lexton.
“Nah. I’m pretty sure she realizes the magnitude of her screw up. No need to cause additional drama,” the kobold replied. “Besides, why bother wasting my vocal cords yelling at her, when I bet I can make her squirm with just a glare and a few carefully selected words? I’m going to enjoy that as much as possible.”
“Isn’t that a bit mean?” Arkay asked. “I get that she made a mistake, but shouldn’t we try to get along and not argue with each other?”
“Normally, I’d agree with you, but after what I went through? Screw that,” Lexton said bluntly.
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After getting Durge fixed, the group was able to return to their hotel room with much less trouble than they had originally thought. Now that no one needed to drag the massive orc behind them, the pace they could go at was much faster. Durge wasn’t fully healed from the venom that he had taken into his body, though. He still needed to take a break here and there, as he would occasionally feel sick and dizzy.
The most trouble, however, was caused by Ryle, who needed to be watched over constantly by Arkay. The cat boy needed to make sure that the blonde didn’t walk into anything or get separated from the group by accident. Erin was honestly amazed by how well Arkay had been able to guide the blonde through their whole trip. No matter how exhausting it had been, the cat boy had made sure that nothing bad happened to Ryle through their whole walk back to the hotel.
Once back inside their room, Erin declared that she would go and take their proof of slaying the Reaper Maggot over to Rayleen in order to show that they had fulfilled their deal. Some of the others wanted to go along as well, but the redhead refused. Not only was there no real need for more than one of them to do this, but none of the others really could come along. Ryle, Lexton and Durge all needed to rest in order to recover from their battle and were nowhere near fighting shape. And while Arkay had been healed to the point he could defend himself, he was needed to look after their resting companions along with Zeldana.
Erin assured the others that nothing bad was going to happen, as Rayleen obviously saw more use in keeping them alive. Otherwise, she would have already either killed them or had them arrested. While this managed to convince the others to stay back, the redhead kept to herself the fact that even if all of them went together they wouldn’t stand a chance anyways. It was better to sacrifice just one of them, instead of the whole group.
By the time Erin began to look for Rayleen, it was already night. The moon was shining down on them brightly on a starry sky, similar to when they had first met the warlord. As she walked down the deserted streets, holding the wrapped up Reaper Maggot’s claw in her hands, the redhead wondered how she would contact Rayleen? After all, the first time they had met was done by the warlord baiting them into coming to her. It hadn’t been them finding where she lived or anything like that.
Rayleen had said that she would find them, once they were done with their job. However, this still didn’t tell Erin much. How would the warlord contact her? Not to mention, how would she know that they had killed the beast in the first place?
Just as the redhead was wondering about this, she felt a gust of wind on the back of her head. It wasn’t just a regular wind, though, as it felt like it was specifically aimed at her. Not only that, but it came from straight above her.
Looking up, Erin saw a winged figure flying there, circling around her like a vulture waiting for its prey to fall dead. The large wings were attached to a humanoid figure, much like a certain warlord she knew.
“Rayleen?” the redhead wondered out loud, but soon realized it wasn’t the warlord. While similar, she could tell that the figure of the body was different and the wings also had a different shape. “Not her… Is it an enemy then?”
Almost as if in response to Erin’s question, the figure flying above her suddenly landed right on front of her. With the person now much closer, the redhead could have a good look at them. Like she had determined, it wasn’t Rayleen, as it wasn’t a demon. Instead, it was a person from the race know as dragonbred, who were humanoid lizard people, much like kobolds and other lizardmen, but they took after dragons. This was often seen in things like wings, horns and the ability to use their breath as a weapon, such as breathing fire.
The person before Erin was a female of the species and was same height as her. Her skin was made of bright red scales and she had a pair of small black horns at the back of her head. She also had a long mane of black hair that reached her lower back.
“You sure took your time,” the dragonbred said. “I was honestly debating if you guys were actually going to do it or not. Seems like you have at least some level of skill at the very least.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” Erin said sarcastically. “I’m guessing that you’re one of Rayleen’s people then?”
“Correct. The name’s Izra. I am one of Lady Rayleen’s closest aides,” the dragon lady answered. “She sent me to watch over you, just in case you decided to run away. I’ve been reporting on your progress ever since you left your meeting with her.”
“So was it you who was eavesdropping on us in the hotel?” the redhead asked.
“As embarrassing as it is to admit, yes it was. Seeing how I was so easily found out, I had to switch my tactics a bit,” Izra explained.
“If you were so close to us all this time, then why didn’t you help us?” Erin asked as she glared at the dragonbred woman. “We could have used your help in our battle against the Reaper Maggot.”
“Why should I help you? It wasn’t my job. Lady Rayleen specifically sent your group to handle that matter,” Izra replied. “Besides, if she had wanted to, Lady Rayleen could have just sent out her forces to eliminate that damn pest at any moment she wanted. However, that would have been a waste of her forces, as she could simply get you and your “merry band of misfits” as she likes to call them to do the job for free. It was only smart of her to not get her own hands dirty doing it.”
“Yeah. Sacrifice others for the sake of your own wants and needs,” the redhead said, her words practically dripping with disgust. “I’m sure she and all the other crooked warlords and other thugs all think the same.”
Erin’s remark was met with a hand suddenly grasping her by the throat and lifting her up in the air. Izra was glaring at her with such intensity that the redhead could have sworn she saw small flames appear in the dragon woman’s eyes.
“You watch your damn mouth, scum! You are in no position to speak ill of Lady Rayleen!”Izra said in an enraged tone as she tightened her grip around Erin’s throat. “She is far more honorable than you and all of your companions combined! You better show some respect or I will personally tear you apart! Understood!?”
The redhead gave a weak nod in response, as she couldn’t do much else. This still seemed to satisfy the dragon woman, who let her go.
“Good. Now follow me,” Izra said as she turned around and began to walk. “Lady Rayleen is waiting.”
Not wanting to upset her escort anymore, Erin stood up and followed after her. She could only hope that her meeting with the actual warlord would go better than this.