"You were never dead…"
"You went missing…"
His bitter grin kept getting wider as if he was forcing himself to smile
"Yes…"
The boss stared directly into Auel's eyes
"You're the lost prince"
Auel stared back into his eyes
"So" his voice remained completely calm "are you scared?"
The boss flinched
"Heh, why should I?"
"Then, why don't you let me out and we make a deal?"
"Make a deal?" the boss scoffed "Hey boy, know your place"
"I know you're an important person, but why should I let you out and make a deal with you?"
Auel became silent then he leaned backward
BANG!
He slammed his head toward the cell bar
Everyone in the room flinched
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" one of the bandits shouted
Auel lean his back again and slammed his head toward the cell bar again
BANG!
Again, and again
BANG!
Blood began to stream from his forehead
He didn't stop and kept slamming his head toward the cell bar
"Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Auel stopped for a moment
He looked at the boss through the blood running down his face
"Let's see if you forgetting something or not?"
Then he continued to slammed his head
The boss's expression changed
He thought for a moment
Then he remembered, the pendant
His eyes widened
"Hey let him out"
"B-but boss-"
"I said let him out!" he raised his voices
Without any more complaint the two bandits quickly opened Auel's cell
They removed the restraints from his wrist and stepped away
Auel walked out from the cell, brushed the blood from his face with the back of his hand and looked at the boss's face
"Now let's talk"
The boss forced himself to smile
"Yeah…"
"Let's talk"
Auel and the boss then went into the boss's private room
The room that usually used by the boss to discussed about the deal
Auel started to talk first
"So, let just straight to the main point"
"First, I want you to set my party free"
"And the second thing, I want you to set all the slave here free"
The boss frowned
"Hey, hey, hey"
"Did nobody ever teach you how to make a deal?"
"A deal supposed to be benefit for both sides"
"Then how come in this deal only you get the benefit?"
Auel kept calm
"Doesn't staying alive count as a benefit?"
The boss clicking his tongue
"Tch… even if you said something like that, it still doesn't count"
The boss scratched his scar beneath his eye and thought for a second
"How about this…"
"Let's keep the deal beneficial for both of us"
"First, I'll let you and your friend free"
"But you need to leave all of your belongings behind"
"Then the second, I'll set free half of the slave here and I got to choose which one to let free"
"So… what do you think?" the boss said really calmly toward Auel
Auel thought for a second
"How much slaves do you have?"
"Hmmm… maybe around fifty" the boss said
"To make it simple, I'll only keep twenty-five of them, while set free the rest" he continued
Auel leaned on the chair and went silent again
"Hey come on"
"Don't you think it's enough?"
"It's already hurt my business so much"
"Let go half of my profit is hurting me"
"That's why to make it fair, I asked you to let go of your belongings"
"At least we can sell those"
Auel let out a quiet sigh
"Fine…"
The boss finally smiled at him and extended his hand toward Auel
"So, is it a deal?"
Auel took his hand
"Yeah, it's a deal"
"Then, I'll take my friends first, you can handle the slave"
The boss didn't give any more arguments
"Yeah"
Auel walked out of the room, leaving the boss alone
He began clutching his head, and the veins on his head started to bulge.
"That fucking prince"
"From all people why him?"
"And how the hell did he came here?"
"Why he is the one who kept interfered?"
"Why?"
"Why?!"
"WHY!?"
Then the door opened again, this time it was the two bandits
"Umm… boss what happened?" One of them asked
The boss took a deep breath and tried to calm himself
"Don't mind me just set free all the low price slave, and keep the high price"
"W-what?" the two bandits stared at him in disbelief
"B-but why?"
"Just do as I said, there is nothing we can do"
"Quick!" he finally snapped
"Y-yes boss"
Without any more question they immediately did his command
After a while, Auel already waited outside of the cave
The rain still continued
One by one the slave was coming out from the cave
They gathered beneath the trees, waiting for everyone to be released while trying to keep each other warm
Sylffie was also there, sitting beside Erin who still unconscious and making sure she was safe
She gently brushed the rain from Erin's cheek with a piece of cloth
Then Erin slowly opened her eyes
"W-where are we?"
"Ahh… Erin, you finally woke up" Sylffie immediately hugged her
"W-what happened?"
"We just got kidnapped by the bandit, but everything is fine now"
"Bandit?"
Erin looked around and noticed something
"A-Auel!" she immediately stood up and ran toward him
"Y-your forehead"
"I'm fine, just heal Rikka first" Auel said while pointing at Rikka unconscious beside him
His body was full of bruise
"R-Rikka, what just happened?"
"He got beat up by those bandit" Auel answered "Heal him first"
She looked around once again
"W-where is my staff?"
"Sorry, I couldn't get our equipment back"
"T-that's fine, it's not your fault"
"I can still use my magic"
The she sat down and began to heal Rikka's bruise
His body was covered with green light
Then Sylffie walked closer
"So, what are we going to do now?" she crossed her arms "I don't think we can submit our quest"
"And what about our equipment?"
"How do we manage to find money if we got no weapons?"
"Just wait until tomorrow, I'll think about it later"
Suddenly, the boss emerged from the cave and walked through the rain toward them
He stood right in front of them, while Sylffie immediately clenched her fist
"That's the last one"
"Now you can leave"
"Hang on, how do we know if you are not going to follow us when we leave?" Sylffie asked
"Hey, calm down…"
The boss raised both hands
"We have principles ok; a deal is a deal"
"We won't take or follow you back"
"He is right" Auel added "Thank you"
The boss gave him a faint smirk
"You're welcome"
He turned around and walked back toward the cave
"Hey, how come you just believe in what that bandit said?" Sylffie frowned
"Just accept it, there nothing we can do"
"Just bring Rikka back to the city first, I'll talk with them"
Then Auel walked toward the group of slaves taking a shelter under the tree
"Hey, Erin" she crouched near Erin and whispered "Do you know something about Auel being a prince and his pendant?"
Erin thought for a moment
"I-I don't know, what happened?"
"Never mind, just forget what I just said"
She stared at Auel's back
What the hell with that guy?
Auel approached the slaves
Most of them were frightened and shivering from the cold
"Don't be scared, I won't harm you"
"You can go back to your own home"
"But if your village had been gone"
"There is a small village at the east of this city"
"They are welcoming people, they will accept you"
Some of them immediately ran away, while the others hesitated at first before they ran away
But one of didn't go, it was beast kin
She was half tiger with a big belly
Suddenly kneeling in front of Auel, her body was trembling
"T-Thank you"
With a cold voice Auel answered
"Just go"
The beast kin immediately walked away from there
The night kept rising, the rain already stopped
The party had returned to an inn and gone to sleep
Everyone except Auel
He sat awake on the edge of his bed
Eventually, he quietly left the room
He slipped out of the inn and walked into a nearby alley
He kept moving forward until he one of the alley doors opened
A silhouette of a man came out from that door
He gently closed the door and then stood still in the middle of the alley
The moonlight revealed the person
A tall, refined older man stood right in front of Auel
His white hair was neatly slicked back
A thin mustached framed his upper lip
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, with white gloves, and polished shoes
Every detail of his appearance was immaculate
He carried himself with the quiet dignity of someone accustomed to serving nobles
Auel stopped his step
At the same time the old man bowed at him
"It's a pleasure to see you again, milord"
"Stand straight Sebas" Auel commanded
The old man calmly raised himself
"Sorry…, so what's kind of help do you need?"
"I want to ask, when was the last time the guard patrol around the forest?"
"If I'm not mistaken it was last month"
"Even Gilbert?"
"Yes, Gilbert was placed to command the troops and adventurers against the demon army"
"So, he couldn't do anything" he continued
"Is there any problem, milord?" Sebas asked
"Yes, I think you can handle this alone" Auel said
"There is a bandit base in the forest and I need you to take care of it"
"I already save half of the slave, but they still have another half"
"And also, they have all my equipment, so can you do it"
Sebas gave a small, confident nod
"Yes, I can handle that myself"
"Then what about that village? Any progress?" Auel asked
"Yes, everything proceeded according to your plan"
"And I think it should be enough now, you don't need to worry about anything else milord"
"Great, then I'll wait for your report"
Auel turned around
He was about to return to the inn when Sebas spoke again
"Milord, I have a question?"
"What is it?" Auel turned his head
"What about the next plan? Are you certain you intend to proceed?"
Auel silent for a moment and then he looked forward
"Yes, there is nothing I can do" he answered without looking at Sebas
Without anything to said Auel went back to the inn, while Sebas opened one of the doors in the alley and went inside
The night kept going, it was almost morning
Auel sat on the chair in his room staring at outside the window, while Rikka still sleeping
Then the door knob moved
The door opened without making any sound
A man wearing a black mask decorated with red lines stepped in
The mask resembled the face of a demon
He quietly closed the door behind him
"So, how is it?" Auel turned around and asked
The man slowly opened his mask and revealed his face
"All clear"