Chapter 80: Messenger.

Chapter 80 - Messenger.Even with how hungry and tired Lee was, he happily took a deep breath of the humid underground air as they went deeper. His reaction was misunderstood though.

"I don't like it either." One of the farmers said.

"Why can't they prepare food on the surface?" Another one joined in, "There must be hundreds of people coming down here every day."

The sudden chatter caught Lee off guard, but he wasn't against it. Four of the guys were from the big-eyed race, and he felt like meeting Butalax's brothers.

"It's closer to the stored provisions." The shorty said, "Only deep underground it's possible to keep them frozen."

Lee looked at the guy in surprise.

His voice was deep and sonorous, as if he was a man of a large stature. But he was even shorter than Lee, although not as thin. The most eye-catching thing about him were the oddly short legs, but they didn't slow him down on the way one bit.

"What's the difference?" One of the big-eyed guys argued, "Now we have to bring our blobs down here. They could've as easy bring the ingredients out."

"My guess is that the mines where the cursed ones work are much deeper." One of the farmers, a guy covered with dark feathers, said, "Someone is preparing meals for them as well."

"Why can't they feed the cursed ones outside?" The big-eyed argued, "Look, they walk in the line out and then back in."

"First of all, the cursed ones are here for a reason and it's no good for them go to the surface." The shorty said, "In addition, there are so many in there ... if everyone would come out every day, the place would turn into complete mess."



"You know it the best." The leader of the farmers ended the discussion.

They had almost arrived and the guys were already pulling out their waterskin bags, but Lee was trying to grasp the implications of what the shorty said.

If it was really the truth, how many slaves, or how they were called here – the cursed ones, were there? On the other hand, it couldn't be any other way – with the regular raids kidnapping people they had to be somewhere.

Not everyone was lucky enough to poke blobs in farms or train to become vanguard. Even becoming a regular citizen, called treasure hunters, was more than fine compared to what these slaves went through.

When the group was served the regular stew, they went off to a remote corner to slurp the hunger and thirst away, and Lee began to ponder how to separate from the rest while avoiding any suspicions. Unfortunately, he wasn't given an opportunity.

"Who exactly are you?" The leader of the farmers was done first, and asked Lee a question that was on his mind for some time.

To be honest, Lee was surprised the question was brought up this late. He was prepared for this moment already when he began chasing the group at the fortress. Now he only needed to go along with the scenario he wrote while lying in the crate, and later revised multiple times in his mind on the way.

He pretended to involuntarily touch something that was hidden beneath his dirty clothing, and said, "I'm a messenger."

This was the least risky job one could pretend they were doing. Lee often heard messengers bringing news to the fortress, thus he didn't shy off to pretend to be one. The reaction wasn't what he expected, though. The seven faces turned weird, even stupefied, with the shorty becoming seemingly upset.

"What?" He asked.

It was obvious Lee had chosen the wrong role to play, but there was no going back. Once again he touched his shirt, this time making sure the shape of the wooden plaque hidden underneath was noticeable and repeated, "I'm a messenger."

"I am a messenger!" The shorty stated, and it became clear why the confusion was there.

Apparently he was a regular one and was used to traveling with the farmers either for safety reasons or to lessen boredom on the way.

"I know." Lee said without the slightest change in his expression, "Why do you think I was ordered to travel with you?"



He had pretended to be a very secret special agent before, and this was nothing new. The people here were relatively simple and he only had to stick to his guns – after all no one could prove he was wrong.

"What's the message? Whom are you bringing it to?" The shorty asked, refusing to back down.

The rest of the group grew curious, but Lee disappointed them. He said, "You can't be serious. We're only traveling together. I have no right to disclose anything."

Apparently this was an ironclad argument and the leader of the farmers immediately gave in. He laughed and said, "How come only shorties like them are able to become messengers? I bet I could run much faster!"

Everyone laughed, except for the shorty. Apparently he took pride in his work.

He said, "I want to see how you would fare in the lower mines. One should either cut off your head or legs to your knees so you could pass though the tunnels there."

"Fine, fine!" The big guy waved him off defensively while still laughing, "I'll stick to my blobs!"

The group rested for a while and departed after filling up their waterskins. Only Lee and the shorty remained.

"What's your name?" The shorty asked.

"Leax" Lee said.

Initially he intended to pick up new alias, but with how suspicious his new companion seemed to be, it was safer to use something he had been called the whole time he was here. After splitting up he could pick up whatever-ax name he wanted.

"Dwafex." The shorty said, "Alright, Leax! Let's go! We have a long way ahead of us."

Contrary to what Lee expected, he didn't go towards the exit, but from what it looked like, intended to go deeper in the cave.

"Shouldn't we fill up our bags first?" Lee asked, but seeing the confusion in Dwafex's expression, added the get out of jail free card that was supposed to solve most of his problems, "It's my first run, you know? Why do you think they assigned me to you?"

"Damn it! I hate newbies!" Dwafex cursed, "Nothing personal, Leax! It's just you guys always ask so many questions ... it's annoying!"



"Don't worry!" Lee said, "You won't notice I'm there. We can do it this way – I won't say anything at all, but you speak only when it's necessary. Let's enjoy the silence together."

Obviously Lee's idea earned few respect points in Dwafex's eyes, but the shorty wasn't too happy nevertheless.

"Promises, promises ..." He mumbled under his nose and departed, ignoring Lee's earlier suggestion to fill their waterskins.

***

If Lee wasn't in the mood for a healthy nap, he would've loved the walk underground. The air was humid and felt fresh, the moss covered ground was soft and he felt safe. Of course, if someone tried to catch him, he had no ways to escape, but it was the same on the surface, thus it didn't matter.

They weren't running, but the shorty picked up a quick pace, and Lee didn't have too much time to observe the surroundings. But there wasn't that much to see.

They mostly were walking through seemingly endless tunnels and only occasionally arrived at bigger and smaller cave halls, similar to the first grotto they visited. In most of them there was some housing and people cooking meals, and soon Lee realized how redundant his suggestion to carry food was.

The cursed ones, the slaves, where continuously carrying their boxes, sacks and baskets and at some point Lee realized he got so used to the sight he almost stopped noticing them.

It was clear that he needed another meditation session – his body and mind was becoming increasingly polluted, but it had to wait. First he had to get rid of the shorty walking in front of him.

By now it was clear why Dwafex disliked being a senior messenger – any normal person would be bored out of their minds in these tunnels. And, in addition to striking a casual conversation, anyone would be interested where these tunnels led to, how many there were and when they were built.

In fact, Lee had dozens of questions, but he had to hold back to not provoke his companion.

Fortunately Dwafex soon spoke in his own. After passing another grotto, he said, "From now on it'll become interesting. But don't touch anything!"