Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Survive the freeze, please! part

Bob was spooning Veronika while holding in his hand a soft treasure he found hidden on Veronika’s chest. He was busy kneading it absent minded and she gladly allowed him to have his fun. Things may have gone even further, but there was a loud knocking on the door at Hiraku’s trading outpost.

The southern lights had just appeared in the sky and people were already busy in town trying to get enough supplies for winter.

“Mister Hiraku! please open up! it’s an emergency!”

Rudd yelled to the top of his lungs, startling Bob who accidentally pressed Veronika’s breast a bit too hard making her yelp, more surprised than pained. Bob got up hurriedly and put on his pants.

“Good morning Rudd, what’s the matter?”

“Bob, my friend! I need help, Is Hiraku awake?”

“I don’t know, me and Luke are in charge of the warehouse for now, Hiraku and Ayumi are at the house”

.....

Bob went to wake Luke up and they headed to the house with Rudd. Hiraku was already awake because he heard Rudd yelling, and he let everyone in.

They sat on the table as Ayumi started to serve breakfast to everyone. Sophie was now in charge of cooking every meal, but she liked to serve the table anyways, especially since she was already used to tending her husband.

“I’m sorry for bothering too early in the morning, but Ironwoods is in trouble and we need your help. Today the southern lights appeared, meaning that the freeze will start anytime now. I was busy patrolling the town when we received a messenger from the mine, the place was overrun by beasts and they are barely holding on.

I was wondering if mister Hiraku would consider lending me Bob to help in protecting the mine. I’ve heard you made some deals with elemental stones and ore, so I think it’d be in your best interest to protect the mine too. If the mine collapses it’d be impossible to get anything out of it”

“Before agreeing I need to know how dangerous it will be, I won’t be sending anyone if it’s unsafe”

Hiraku replied.

“It shouldn’t be as dangerous as the battle he already survived, the only problem is that we will be locked inside the mine until the freeze is over and we won’t be able to get any reinforcements if things don’t go as expected”

“Listen, I would love to help, but we are nothing but a small trading group and I’m sure there are more capable hunters in town”

“To be completely honest, that’s not true. If it wasn’t for Bob, the wolves would’ve taken many more victims. Please consider this mister Hiraku, you will be paid in advance and the people of Ironwoods will be grateful too”

Rudd sounded anxious the whole time, the fact was that once he lost his crew mate the other two left the crew in bad terms. They were angry at him not only because they lost a member, but also because he let Bob keep Big bro’s warhammer instead of selling it and splitting the coin as it was accustomed.

It’s not like he had much choice in the matter since it was a weapon so heavy that carrying it was already a tiresome task. The only one who could carry it effortlessly was Bob.

“You must understand mister Rudd that it won’t matter how much we get paid if we lose one of our members, Bob is not just an employee, we’re like a family and it’s my duty to keep him safe”

Hiraku’s words made him wonder just how strong was Hiraku that he could afford to worry about Bob’s safety, since Bob was the strongest man he’d ever seen except for his own father.

“Hiraku, I think I should go”

Bob said with a determination face, he didn’t look scared nor worried.

“Don’t say things like that so lightly, you could die...”

“I owe it to mister Rudd, I am indebted to him and this may be my only chance at repaying him for his kindness”

Hiraku intertwined his fingers and leaned forward.

“I can’t stop Bob, but... I need to know, who else is going?”

“Just me, Bob, my father and one of his guards that will be acting as support”

“I’ll go too”

Said Luke suddenly standing up with a fist clenched.

“Mister Luke, I don’t mean to belittle your courage, but this will be a dangerous endeavor. The only reason my father, the town’s mayor, is going is because he’s the strongest in here”

“I’m not a weakling either and I won’t let bob go alone”

Rudd pondered for a minute, but decided to agree with Luke.

“My father will be coming in here soon since this place is on the way to the mine. We will bring supplies for everyone and weapons too, but we would appreciate it if you were to bring some croquettes with you, those things are like a full meal in a single piece and since we only sell to madame Bianca they are impossible to find on the market”

Bob and Luke started getting ready for their adventure and grabbed with them some basic supplies. Veronika took care of dressing Bob with his leather armor and his coat, she even took care that everything was properly placed before allowing him to go outside. Luke felt a little envious by seeing the lovely scene, he didn’t have a close relationship like that with any slave, but Bob was the closest to him among his companions and he was happy for him too.

Whenever Luke felt down, Bob would cheer him up by talking about fantasy books or games. It wasn’t that Bob wasn’t talkative like everyone thought, actually he enjoyed talking a lot about the things he loved. They could spend hours talking about magic and special abilities, about characters, shows and many other things. But since both were a bit embarrassed about it, they kept it somewhat hidden from everyone else.

Once the mayor came with his guard he frowned when he noticed Rudd came with Luke.

“What’s the meaning of this Rudd? you know we cant go with extra weight”

But before Rudd could answer, Luke replied with a straight face.

“You can put me to the test if you want, mister mayor”

“Fine”

The mayor said as he unsheathed his sword, he stood tall and looked mighty with a heavy studded leather armor and a cape.

Look didn’t take a fighting stance, he just walked to the mayor barehanded.

Being the veteran he was, the mayor wasn’t planning on going easy with Luke, the only way a spoiled brat would understand how big the world is was to teach him the hard way. When Luke was almost in range, the mayor took a step ahead with a quick blow from above, but Luke dodged it by crouching and stood close to the mayor’s face with a knife pointing at his throat.

Luke hated his thief class, but he couldn’t deny how useful it was for dueling.

“I yield!”

The mayor said reluctantly.

“It seems mister Bob is not the only strong man at Hiraku’s group. You may come mister Luke”

The mayor said before sending his guard back to his manor.

Veronika was worried sick for Bob, her time with him has been too short for her liking and one of her biggest fears came true. She didn’t like the idea of him going into a dangerous task so soon, she didn’t even have enough time to adapt to her new life at Hiraku’s trading group.

Everyone was well fed, dressed and treated with respect, which surprised her. It was way better than she expected at first. There was also some sort of hierarchy among slaves at Hiraku’s group, and she was at the top next to Sophie. This meant that she had the authority to order the younger ones around if convenient.

But the only thing she really cared about was Bob, he was her everything. More than a master he behaved like a loving husband. The sight of him leaving pained her because she knew how broken he was and even if he came back it would be her task to pick up the pieces and put them together.

But Bob walked with his head held high until he eventually became nothing but a spot on the horizon. Despite the carnage he witnessed and the guilt he felt for not being able to save everyone when they were attacked by wolves, he wasn’t worried in the least but he was a little anxious.

Although he wasn’t scared to face danger and he would always put other people’s safety before his own, now he had a reason to come back safe. That was the reason why he couldn’t find the strength to turn back and look at Veronika one last time before leaving.

Still, he had a debt he needed to pay to Rudd and he couldn’t ignore his plea for help. When he had trouble at the brothel Rudd saved him sparing his own coin and even though he was grateful towards him, it wasn’t until he saw the hardships everyone faced that he realized that it was actually a big deal. Two silver coins could mean the difference between life and death to an average citizen and Rudd didn’t hesitate to spend them to save him, a stranger at the time, so Bob intended to repay his kindness however he could.

Even if it meant putting his own life on the line.