Band of Troubles

Chapter 12: Suicide Mission

I tried clearing out the ear wax stuck in my ear before asking Gunther again, just in case I misheard something, "Sorry, can you repeat that again? I didn't really catch what you said."

"I asked you to go deeper into their camp!" Gunther spoke once more with a louder voice.

It seemed like I had sustained a serious hearing injury, considering that I was still hearing the same bullshit from Gunther's mouth. After making a mental note to find a good cleric after I escorted Gunther and Goldar out of this place, I tried confirming what Gunther had said. "Hey, Leoric. Did our employer just tell us to go deeper into the goblin camp?"

"He did." Leoric confirmed my question immediately.

'Damn, do I have to get the cleric to treat Leoric as well? How did both of us get our hearing injured at the same time?' The mystery only deepened, but I had to prioritize getting our employers out of harm's way first before I could figure out what had happened to us.

Unfortunately, Goldar decided to dispel the delusion that I managed to place on myself. "I'm sorry, but this is a really important matter for Gunther. They took something really important, and our trip wouldn't have mattered without it. Would it be possible for you to follow his request?" Goldar asked, his voice tinged with shame. Having to ask for more favors after he just clearly said that we've done well above our pay must be incredibly embarrassing for him.

'Sigh... If only Gunther could have some of that shame. Do all dwarves have their faces plated with metal to be such hard-headed and shameless bastards?'

Putting Gunther's shamelessness aside, this request is basically suicide. If we just leave right now, we can safely leave through the path we came from, get back on the wagon, and make our escape with our lives intact. Which is why the fact that Gunther ordered us to basically throw our lives away only pissed me off.

While clenching my fist to stifle my anger, I tried finding out Gunther's reason behind it. "Um, sir? Wouldn't it be safer for us to escape immediately? What could possibly be so important that you would risk going deeper?" I asked nicely.

Gunther scoffed, "It's none of your business, punk! I already promised to pay you, so just do what you're told!"

'I'm going to tear your beard off, you goddamn rock muncher! Aaaaaaaghh!!!'

My hand was itching to resume the slapping session on this dwarf. After gathering a decade's worth of patience, I managed to extinguish the curses that almost spilled out of my mouth. There's not even any space for discussion; we'll have to reject his request. I would rather not risk our lives if he wouldn't tell us what it was for.

"We would gladly do so." Leoric suddenly interrupted the conversation. "It's only right for us to follow our employers' requests."

"L-Leoric?!" I yelped out in surprise.

"I mean, we're already here. Might as well finish the job, right?" Seraphina chimed in.

"You too, Seraphina?!"

This betrayal was somehow expected and unexpected at the same time. Even if they were a pair goblin-killing maniac and money-hungry cheapskate, I didn't think they would keep going when our rescue targets were right in front of us.

Outvoted and outnumbered, I raised my hands in defeat, "Alright, let's do it. Let's just dive into a cave full of goblins for no reason, why not?"

Before Goldar or Gunther could utter a single word, I continued speaking with a scowl, "However, if our lives are at risk, we won't hesitate to retreat. You can go ahead and find whatever you're looking for by yourself if you can't agree with that."