Liam led his group into the dimly lit secret tunnel. The door silently closed behind them. Directly in front was another door. But this one was guarded.
The guard was a fearsome looking orc carrying two bloody sabres and thick plate armor, which looked quite tacky thanks to the golden trimmings. His rough ears were adorned by large golden rings and pearls were entwined in his white hair. Despite the jewellery he emitted the air of a seasoned killer, giving off a weak threat just from standing there.
Lenn gulped imagining heaving to block a strike from those sabres. Intimidated, he cautiously used [Inspect].
[Dragon Guard Sefrex
Level: ???
HP: ???/???]
[Lenn: Please tell me we are not supposed to fight that guy!]
[Bleary Mirage: Of course not.]
[Quickstep: I suppose that orc is guarding the key, right? So how do we get past him?]
[Bleary Mirage: It will be Braag's time to shine. You raised your Bribery auxiliary skill to level 2, didn't you?]
[Braag: Eh, of course... Am I supposed to bribe that guy?]
[Bleary Mirage: Yes. Your goal is it for him to allow us to take one item away.]
[Braag: I'll do my best...]
[Fortune: Nice! Let me record that! Alternative solutions to quests are always well received!]
[Lenn: Haha, the pressure is on you Braag. Don't fumble this one!]
[Braag: Tsk. I'm born for this. Watch me!]
Taking Lenn's provocation as motivation Braag stepped forward with a proud chest. Liam gave him a few quick tips. A moment later Braag got too close, and the Dragon Guard began to move.
"Halt! What are you doing here? Leave now before it's too late!"
Braag endured the imposing voice, answering calmly:
"Hello, Sir. We are adventurers. We stumbled upon this secret path and hoped to find treasures. Are you the guard here?"
"What does it look like?! There is nothing here for you, adventurer! Leave!"
"Oh but we came all the way. Is there nothing you could do? Just let us take a small reward. We would be willing to pay for it."
"I am not a merchant! Go! Now!"
Sefrex took a step forward, raising one of his sabres. A bloody smell wafted towards Braag, sending a chill down his spine.
Braag kept a composed expression. He turned around, letting out a sigh. A few rings and necklaces appeared in his hand. They were of low level, but their appearance was quite outstanding, golden and inlaid with gems.
"Haa, I was ready to pay quite generously to still my lust for adventure. It seems these jewels will continue to collect dust in my inventory."
Slowing down his pace Braag walked away. He could almost feel the guard's eye fixed on his hand. A faint smile flashed on his face. Finally, the orc's voice came again:
"Wait! Perhaps we can negotiate."
"Oh?"
Braag turned around deliberately hesitating.
"Yes. I can allow you to take a peek inside. Just give me all that gold in your hand."
"Only a peek for so many valuable jewels? Do I look that stupid? I will at least take away one treasure per ring."
"Preposterous! Don't you dare touch the manor's treasures!"
Instantly the orc's eyes were brimming with rage. Braag understood that he pushed too far. He hastily tried to salvage the situation:
"Wait! Ok! All of those in exchange for three pieces! You can watch me!"
The orc calmed down a bit, but he still looked displeased:
"Are you trying to rob from our Flood Dragon Manor? Do you not want your life anymore?"
"Rob? Who spoke of robbing? Isn't this a fair exchange? Ten rings can surely buy two pieces of treasure, don't you think so?"
"Well... if you put it like that. The treasury is quite full. I don't think anyone will notice if one or two pieces go missing. But I am still taking quite the risk here..."
"Ten rings. One piece. My last offer."
Sefrex pondered for a moment. He definitely looked tempted, but it wasn't enough to make him forget his duty. Eventually he shook his head albeit reluctantly.
Braag was not disappointed by the reaction though. According to Liam his real killer was prepared for the end. Recalling his best acting skills Braag gritted his teeth and put the rings away, taking out a chest plate instead.
It was made from pure gold, extremely heavy and not at all practical. But it looked quite good under the dim light. Braag secretly wondered where Liam got such a level 1 armor which appeared purely ornamental. The latter didn't dare to reveal that he had kept his eyes out for it, buying it from some random player for an overpriced 90 silver. If Braag knew he might refuse to give it away.
As soon as the armor appeared Sefrex couldn't keep his eyes away. Braag noticed this and felt extremely confident as he continued negotiating:
"I admit I didn't want to lose this precious armor. But now I am too curious. I will gift you this armor in exchange for a single piece of treasure."
The orc's breath heated up as the struggle in his eyes was evident. Finally, he gritted his teeth and gave in:
"Alright! Make it quick! And don't you dare take a single piece too much or I will cut you down!"
"Yes!"
Braag smiled brightly. Before he could even blink the orc's hand flashed and the golden armor changed hands. Realizing that Sefrex was too fast for him to even react, Braag shivered faintly.
At this moment Liam approached, patting the dwarf's shoulder.
"Well done. Let's go."
Everyone praised Braag as they carefully passed the entranced dragon guard and reached the door behind him. With a gentle push the door opened easily. Obviously, the Flood Dragon Manor thought Sefrex alone was enough security.
And the orc was indeed quite powerful. No thief would be able to sneak past him. Unfortunately, he had this weakness for gold and jewels, which was easy to exploit if known.
Finally, the players got a good look of the treasury. Immediately Braag was somewhat disappointed. On the first glance the treasury didn't seem impressive. It wasn't big and didn't hold any equipment. Instead, it was used for herbs, ores, and other material. The manor made sure that the treasury held nothing which could entice Sefrex.
Only Liam let out a sigh. He would love to plunder everything here clean. The materials were unbelievably valuable. They could be used to craft equipment with a level requirement of about level 80, or even advanced potions. But Liam didn't dare to take more than a single piece. He knew that Sefrex' threat was not empty.
Thus, he reluctantly ignored the materials and looked for the key. The others helped as well and soon they found it amidst a small pile of ores.
It was unclear if the Flood Dragon Manor didn't know the real purpose of the key or if this was their method of hiding it by letting it appear unremarkable.
But now that the key was in the players' possession the reason didn't matter anymore.
"Let's go."
"Mirage... can't we try our luck? Look, this is blue scale iron! I have seen a recipe using it to craft a level 82 great sword! Wouldn't it be improper to let this treasure collect dust here?", asked Lenn with a pleading expression. The others looked at him in surprise.
"Are you a blacksmith?", asked Fortune.
"Yes! I'm not far from intermediate rank! Although I can't use the blue scale iron yet, one day I will be able to!"
Liam let out a sigh, dramatically putting his hand on Lenn's shoulder.
"I understand your pain, brother. But it is futile. We won't be able to take it with us. And in the worst case we will even loose the key."
"But... isn't this a colossal pity. Ores are there to be used! They want to be used! It is their destiny to become a glorious weapon radiating their might far and wide!"
Quickstep rose her brow looking at the duo.
"Why are you so melodramatic all of a sudden?"
"Haha, got that. My viewers will love it.", laughed Fortune.
Liam let go off Lenn shaking his head with a chuckle.
"Ok, but really. We can't steal anything from here. Let's go."
Lenn reluctantly let go off the ore and followed the group out. When they entered the secret passage Sefrex glanced at them briefly before continuing to caress the golden armor.
Smiling politely the players sneaked past him while inwardly looking down on the high-level NPC with such an obvious weakness.
The group returned the way they came from, coming back to the teahouse. Braag still eyed the chess players outside. Seeing him like this Liam had a small thought.
As the group managed to recruit Scholar Feng earlier than expected they actually saved a lot of time. Maybe it wasn't wrong to indulge once or twice. Fate of Crunaboul was still a game after all. It was alright to have fun sometimes.
Thus, Liam offered his friends to relax for a bit in the teahouse to which everyone readily agreed.