The black clad person wore the same uniform as the guard from before. The only difference was that he wore it neatly without a single stain or dust on it.
His hellfire-red hair was short and stood upwards like a blazing flame. A pugnacious smile was on his lips, showing his sharp and ghost-white teeth.
He pulled a trolley behind him with food bowls on it. He pulled it so fast that the rattling and shaking from it made some bowls fall of the trolley, spilling the food on the ground.
The guard didn't even bother to pick them up or glance at them. He continued pulling the trolley with a grin and went towards my cell.
When he arrived before it, he didn't even stop. He just grabbed a food bowl from the trolley and tossed it towards my cell.
The food bowl crashed with a rattling noise against the iron bars and fell towards the ground. The rice from the bowl spilled over the dirty ground and emptied the bowl.
"Enjoy your main dish!" he haughtily said to me and snickered with a grin on his face. "And put the bowl before the cell so that I can collect it later!" he added.
He kept striding forward and tossed the next food bowl at the iron bars of the next cell. The food spilled over the floor again, and he giggled haughtily. He did this to every other cell, and each time he felt it more hilarious.
My blood boiled in rage and with gnashing teeth I stared at him. I engraved his expression into my mind to never forget him. I was already at a low point in my life: imprisoned in a cell; and he kicked me while I'm down.
Now I understood why the guard from earlier put HP-Potion drops in the soup. If he hadn't done that, we wouldn't have had enough food to regenerate our HP. He knew that the next guard would spill all the food, leaving us with spilled rice.
My gratefulness to the earlier guard grew bigger and my hate towards the new guard grew immensely. I still have a week to stay in here before I have to fight again. So, I made up my mind to teach that guard a lesson.
Remembering him saying that he would collect the food bowls later, I thought of a plan. I could either buy a weapon and kill him with it, or I could buy a grenade, hide it under the bowl, and blow him up with the iron bars of my cell.
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With my motto: Safety first; I went to the Marketplace app and bought a spear and a grenade with the remaining 945 coins I had. I was now broke, but I acquired a green-circled spear and a green-circled grenade.
I moved to the edge of my cell and grabbed the two bowls. I put the grenade in one bowl and covered in with the other one, hiding the grenade.
Slowly, I pulled the pin from the grenade. Sweat rolled down my face as I tried to suppress the urge of shaking my hands from nervousness.
This grenade wasn't like a normal grenade. This one would explode at the simplest movement after the pin is pulled. It was obviously not a grenade made for throwing, but for traps.
Finally I pulled the pin completely out. I put it into my pocket and kneed before my work. I put my fingertips against the bowl. I pushed it cautiously – oh, so cautiously; cautiously that it won't explode.
I did this bit by bit; step by step. Not too hastily; not too slow. My fingertips trembled and I stopped. Shaking my hands and shaking the fear out, I returned back to work.
Again, I pushed cautiously, even more gently than before, against the bowl. Only the scratching noise of wood against stone echoed in the silence.
My heart raced, my lungs deflated, my breathing stopped, and my blood pulsated. Stuffy air filled my lungs, trying to calm my heart to no avail.
I gulped, swallowing my fear. I took a deep breath, sighing the air slowly out again when a sudden scream startled me, "WHO'S FINSHED?!!"
My hand slipped. My sweaty palm pushed a little too much. A scratchy noise came from the wooden bowl scratching at the stone ground. But nothing happened.
I felt relieved. My eyes fell closed, my shoulders drooped, and a deep sigh rolled over my lips. It was as if a heavy burden was taken away from me – freeing me from its grasp.
Hastily I turned my widened eyes towards the source of the voice. 'It's him! He's back!'
I stalked his every movement. Patiently I waited for my prey to tap into the trap. He began collecting the bowls starting from the other end of the room.
Even though I had an emotionless expression on my face, my pulse and heartrate acted the opposite. My patience was limited, but I remained calm nevertheless.
My gaze was as focused as a hawk stalking his prey. I slithered my hands around the iron bars on the other end of the cell. Coiling my fingers around the bars and tearing spider nets down calmed me in no way.
I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage. The noise it made grew louder, louder, and louder!
'Can he hear it?' I panicked.
'Yes, he hears it!' I went insane.
I stuck my thumb into my mouth and gnawed at it. I paced up and down in my cell while he drew nearer.
The beating of my heart got louder. Louder! Louder! Louder!
'Oh God! What if he notices? What if it fails?!' I raved –I swore –I shouted!
'He sees my nervousness! He knows I am up to something! Yes, he knows! HE KNOWS!!' I couldn't stand the pressure anymore and my mind went mad, crazy even!
This would be the first time I killed a person after all. A person like me!
'What did I do? I shouldn't have done that! It was a mistake!! I- I- I only did that because I was in a grumpy mood…' I began to feel remorse and guilt.
The guard wasn't far away now and I hastily looked at the explosive. 'It's already too late. I can't move it now…'
I continued to gnaw at my thumb. The bitter taste of blood filled my tongue.
*creak--*
A creaking sound interrupted my train of thought and I gazed towards the source of it. Seeing the good-natured guard walking in through the door, my heart stopped and I remained motionless.
"I will help you, Ling," said the sleepy-faced guard to the other one.
He glanced at me and a kind smile blossomed onto his otherwise emotionless face.
'No. No, no. no. NO! I have to warn him!'