As soon as Rocky handed over the package to the village chief, a floor announcement rang in their ears.
[ Floor Administrator Announcement:- Congratulations adventurers! You have successfully completed the floor quest within the best possible evaluation time.
You have been rewarded with :-
+4 return tokens.
+Right of passage to the next floor.
+17,000 TG
+4 high quality dragon bones
+100 dragon scales ]
A system notification rang in the ears of all four team members, as a return token and heaps of loot appeared in front of them all.
Immediately, with a wave of his hand Rocky stored all the loot within his system space, as he did not wish for the locals here to have any bad intentions over their wealth.
Unfortunately, it was too late, as with the Floor Administrator presenting their rewards in public, the village guards and some other locals had already seen the extent of their payout.
"Those are a lot of gold coins you have received there...." a guard said, his eyes glinting with greed as Rocky ignored his words and bid his farewell to the Chief, who was busy inspecting the package.
"NOOOOO—" The village chief screamed, his voice echoing through the village square as he clutched his now-throbbing eye. His rage was palpable, and the sheer disbelief that he, the cunning leader of his people, had been outwitted by such a basic trick was too much for him to handle.
He stomped around in a circle, waving his arms wildly as if trying to shoo away invisible flies. "That wretched little scoundrel! A basic health potion?! I fell for a basic health potion?!"
His men, who had been inching closer to Rocky just moments ago, now stood frozen in place, their faces drained of color. They knew all too well what was coming; the chief was notorious for his vicious punishments when in a foul mood and any small misstep on their part could easily turn his fury on them.
The chief's face turned a deep shade of red as he kicked at the shattered vial on the ground, his foot slipping slightly, which only fueled his frustration. The guards flinched, some of them taking involuntary steps back, trying to stay out of his line of sight.
"I'll make sure the next adventurer who steps foot in this village pays dearly for this humiliation!" he roared, shaking his fist at the empty spot where Rocky had been standing just seconds ago.
The guards exchanged terrified glances, each one silently praying that they wouldn't be the target of his wrath next. They remained perfectly still, terrified that any movement might provoke the chief further.
However, all his rage did not matter to Rocky who simply did not care for it, as upon returning to floor zero, Rocky found himself to be on cloud nine.
"Sir Rocky! You're back! We were worried... we thought you were caught by the bad guys because you were too late to crush the token!" Erin said, sounding worried as Rocky wagged his finger and pointed towards the box nestled between his broken arm.
"I didn't get caught, Erin.... I was just busy trying to save the life of this young one–" Rocky said, as immediately the team burst into a bubble of elation to see Rocky return with the box.
Everyone had questions as to how he did it?
As to how, out of the blue, he came back with the box?
As while the entire team was sad over handing such a previous thing over to the village chief, nobody really had hopes of saving it without a fight.