[LIT RPG] The Bayani - Isaiah

Chapter 16 - Escape from Sardis

It had been a week since he had lost Porridge.

Try as he might he could not find him and when he went to ask his boss what happened to the slaves he was told they were sent to a nearby construction project down south. He wanted to visit this place but could not find the time to do so. This only increases his worries and so in the event that Porridge tells the wrong things to the wrong people he decides to hide some of his stuff around the city. Though this increased his expenditures it was a worthwhile investment for his survival.

Even with all these preparations he was still getting more and more anxious, he eyed every movement in the port with suspicion and unable to focus started making many mistakes. This only made others focus on him, worried about their safety and the state of their most prized worker. However, to Isaiah, this worry only looked like suspicion on him as if they were trying to figure out some rumors circulating about him and so he began to associate less and less with his peers

That said, as it had been seven days since that happened and as of yet nothing had occurred, Isaiah was slowly relaxing and his mental state started to recover. From Koln and Sardis, there had been no suspicious activity and no unnatural movements from anyone that he believed might have some connection to the slave trade.

Thus he felt safe, he felt that either Porridge died or nobody believed him. Either way, it works well for him.

It was the afternoon, the sun was at its zenith and shined with all its might onto the pier below, the glistening heat was mirrored by the crystal waters below them, intensifying the afternoon warmth. Having finished lowering the box on the boat he then retreated underneath the shadow of a crane, except for high-ranking officers and himself all others were forced to continue working while under the heat, this was a perk of his rank.

Though there were some problems the week had also been filled with many upsides. His weekly salary was increased from 3,600 marks to 4,000 marks after a competing guild tried to scout him out and he had noticed that many of the upper management started treating him well.

Isaiah wiped the sweat off his brow, he was tempted to just throw away his clothes to allow his body to cool down but feared having his tattoo spotted. As he closed his eyes to calm his body, one of his superiors was slowly making his way over. Though he didn't notice him at first, when he called out to him his heart jumped,

"My master would like to speak to you, Herr Isaiah."

Isaiah was quickly on guard, as he prepared himself for combat, looking around he could see about 10 armed men patroling the area while 7 bronze-ranked adventurers worked alongside him, Isaiah knew that they weren't that dangerous but he wanted no surprises.

However, the merchant's next words made him feel embarrassed,

"The contract for the commission is ready, if you will.." The merchant added, and by this, Isaiah calmed,

"I see... Will I see him now?"

"Yes... If you must, please."

Isaiah felt hesitant, for one thing, there was Porridge but if he showed signs of anxiety here they might feel suspicious, especially more so if their purpose was really to just give him a contract. He looked at his eyes and found something strange about his look but couldn't figure out what, the merchant was perhaps just jealous of his promotion or something. He nodded to the merchant to lead the way and followed after,

They entered into a large building that bore the name Britannica in bold font. The building was three stories tall with a large open space on its first floor. Many merchants lined the counters whilst boxes and crates of all sizes were placed in different areas while carts lined up the sides unloading or loading goods. They went past this busy floor and into a stairway the second floor was much more calmer as stacks of papers and books filled the many shelves. They continued to climb up the stairs until they reached the third floor and he was told to enter through an imposing double door. Inside was a spacious study corner with books and papers lined up on the shelves whilst a globe graced the massive dark desk in the middle. Behind the desk sat a man with grey hair yet one whose face was too young for such a color, he was busy pondering on a paper, scratching his head every now and then before looking up, upon recognizing Isaiah he gave a smile,