Chapter 240 – Involved in Red

[Did we get ourselves into something again?] (Syrus)

[Something is a very broad term, but it also does feel appropriate.] (Luna)

[We are only here for a few more hours… it hasn’t gone bad yet.] (Eva)

[I wonder how long that will last.] (Luna)

[Or how many people we need to knock out before people learn.] (Syrus)

For the fourth time. Anlesa had knocked someone to the ground. People in the crowd were a little worried her anger would eventually reach them. 

Perhaps the first one could’ve been solved with a more peaceful solution. Syrus did jump the gate and went immediately into action. The second, by all accounts, deserved it according to Anlesa. The third and fourth… the shock that people hadn’t learned THE LESSON yet was awe-inspiring. 

The lesson in question. Don’t fuck with the redhead guarding the potions. It was simple. Fundamental even. But for some reason, certain people were unable to obey simple, basic instructions.

Anlesa planted her foot on the woman’s back. The fourth victim of stupidity. 

She called out to the popcorn gallery. Luna's eyes narrowed in a glacial glare. “So. I need to ask. Does mining make people stupid? This isn’t meant to be an insult. I am just unable to comprehend your seemingly incapability of following basic instructions. This isn’t even a don’t fuck with the angry woman situation. Even if perhaps some of you might believe that this situation is just that. No. This situation is even simpler. Don’t do something stupid that could accidentally break the important medical supply that had been bought and delivered here to save the sorry lives of your comrades. 

Do you want them to die? Because that feels like the most probable situation. Why else are you constantly risking the supplies? There are still thirty four people whose status is unknown. Thirty four people. Thirty four people who live who could be reliant on those potions. Not even counting the people still on the verge of death who are being treated. Not even counting the people who have stabilised but were suffering from painful injuries that require so much healing to return back to, at the bare minimum, working condition. 

So let me ask again. Do you want them to die?

Because that is what it appears to me. 

As said before, this isn’t even a don’t fuck with the angry woman. Why is that? Well, I have been informed that there had already been potions damaged and destroyed before I even arrived. I came from what was supposed to be the last batch, but another additional one had to be ordered because of the sheer number that had been destroyed.

So, will you answer me? Are you malicious or incompetent?” 

[Fuck, that was venomous speech.] (Syrus)

[Nothing of such. It was just the facts.] Luna didn’t elaborate further, but her glare to the ground spoke ten thousand more words that were like a serrated knife cut to the stomach. 

“If you are unwilling to answer—” Luna took a slow, long look over the whole crowd. “That is fine. Just don’t fuck up more.” 

Anlesa began to turn around to walk back to the medical bench. Many potions had been taken inside the to medical tent, so the amount left on the table had been greatly reduced. 

In the corner of her eye, she saw something that made her spin back around. 

“You!” Anlesa pointed at the duo who were dragging an unconscious man away. It was the third person who they had knocked out, shortly before the fourth person made an attempt. “Where are you taking him?” 

“Um-argh–” One of the duo started mumbling while the other was silent. “The medical tent—?” 

“No, you are not. Return him back to the room with the other people injured from the fight. That is an order.” 

“But—” 

“If you don’t, you will join him in the land of dreams.” Luna’s words convinced the duo to bring the living body back to the room. Her words were so scary that the crowd itself watched the duo take the body back to the room.

Though the situation was starting to stink.

[It is almost too ridiculous.] Luna hated the fact that people were risking the lives of their fellow coworkers but also understood that there could be something going on. However, there was also the opposite worry. That she had been too caught in schemes and conspiracies that she was seeing them in places they didn’t exist. 

[Do you think there is something large going on behind the schemes?] Syrus asked. She had mostly been head empty about the whole situation. She saw no reason to stay once their verbal contract was complete. 

[Doesn’t have to be large.] Eva suggested. [It could be small. Perhaps the mine owner could get a payout if people are dead or permanently injured, so he just paid a few people to cause some light chaos.] 

[I don’t know if that is worse than a large conspiracy.] (Luna)

[Certainly a pain, but if it is a larger one, do you think it was the church?] Syrus decided for the sake of argument, but the light of the boogeyman in their lives.

[No…] Luna slowly blinked in anguish, thinking of the past. [If they were involved, their response would be faster. This would be in line with a propaganda situation. Unless something else comes up… well, even then they would try to take full advantage of the situation. The potions bought have been mostly from other locations. From what we asked earlier, only one small box of potions had been sent from the Cancole branch of the church.]

[I… like that outcome… I don’t feel like dealing with the church at the moment.] Eva, of course, wanted there to be no greedy schemes going on in the background, but if there were, she just didn’t want them to be Aurora Church related. She had enough of them, and the cooldown of dealing with them hadn’t reset yet.

The next three hours or so were mostly peaceful. Plenty of people were still moving about, but at least for Anlesa, nothing was disturbing them. From the angle they were stationed at, watching the extraction effort was clear, and it was their primary source of entertainment during the wait. 

Anlesa hoped the mines could be cleared and the final people freed. During this time, fourteen people were able to be rescued, with the majority of the rest suspected to be in the deep central area that had been completely closed off.  Dirt and rock were flying out of the hole, with other people moving that dirt far away to ensure the process could continue without any delay.

“WE HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE MAIN ENTRANCE!!!” One man’s voice echoed throughout the whole town. Then a large cheer from the crowd as finally the remaining people could ideally be rescued. 

[Thank…] Eva was delighted that the last few people could finally be rescued.

[A job well done.] (Syrus)

[I would love to snap back by saying we didn’t do much.] Luna looked back to the near-empty table of potions. [But, concerningly, we did have an impact on today’s events.] 

“Syrus, can you move the rest of the potions inside?” Nicole exited from the tent and immediately went to Syrus. “We have used all the ones currently in the tent, so there will be enough room for the remaining boxes on the table.” 

“Sure, I can do.” The duo worked together to move two boxes into the tent before Syrus completed the rest of the job.

[Well, no more guarding.] Syrus received thanks from Nicole, and they were now free to leave.

[I hope they had enough…] Eva noted they were draining through the potions fast. 

[There should be more coming, but there is nothing we can do.] Luna reminded Eva. [This area doesn’t have the supplies we need to craft potions, and our equipment is back home.]

Eva and Luna did wish they could do at least a little more, but in the same breath they knew they had other priorities. 

“ARGH WHAT IS THAT THING!??” Another panicked scream came from the same direction.

[That doesn’t sound good.] Syrus turned to the doctor. “I’m going to investigate that.” 

“Please do.” The doctor sighed. “I hope they are shocked by another mangled corpse.” 

Anlesa walked out of the tent and towards the source of noise. Running over the entrance, she broke through the crowd to reach the large hole the crew had dug to reach the collapsed tunnel. 

People were trying to climb up the hole using the rope, but at the bottom was one man unable to scream for his friend's help. They were all too afraid to touch him.

The man’s skin was melting in real time. Life had been sucked away as his body withered and broke apart. 

In the darkness of the tunnel, Syrus saw a thing crawling towards them. The horrid sound of bone dragging along the ground. The dripping drops of tar. Those familiar and unforgettable sounds. 

Syrus’s eyes widened, and she commanded. “EVERYONE STEP BACK FROM THE MONSTER!” 

She jumped into the hole and threw the remaining men up the hole. They were unprepared for the violent launch. 

The dying man’s eyes looked up towards her, but Syrus could only look down in pity. “I’m sorry you had to face such a death.” Her words were like the final command, and the man’s body stopped functioning as most of its muscles had fallen apart. 

[How long was it down here…?] Eva could feel their heart beating rapidly. The creature was alive in all ways it shouldn’t be. Seeing a living monster for the first time brought an instinctive fear out from her soul which strangled her throat. 

[For as long as it was buried.] Syrus raised her sword, and the blade was engulfed in a crimson fire. The duty, rage, disgust, and need filled the flame, and for a moment the crowd had their fear smoothed by the bright light of the scorching blade. 

The monster finally emerged from the tunnel. Two large arms made from a collection of black bones with no rhythm or proper function. Its centre was a collection of bones that appeared shattered. The headless and legless thing dragged its body across the ground. 

The monster was incomplete. The shattered bones spoke of past damage, and the slow movement was the other damning sign of damage, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous. The tar that dripped from its body scarred the ground.

The flames around Syrus’s blade burned brighter with every second, and so finally, she raised her blade high.