Looting in Thirty-Minutes or Less

“What did you do? We weren’t ready!” Rionriv grabbed me by my collar, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand.

“Hey, I’m sorry, but this will be fine. Just don’t waste your arcane energy on punishing me. Save it for the monsters.”

I flashed a smile, keeping my hands up as she scowled. With narrowed eyes, Rionriv let go of me and huffed angrily. She stepped back, looking over at Aesandoral.

“Aesandoral, what’s up?” She asked, slowly approaching the archer, whom I noticed to be immediately more alert.

“Something knows we’re here,” She muttered in reply, nocking an arrow. “And is watching us.”

“Well, that makes two of us then,” I said with a smile, turning to look at the group. “Okay, the ghoulies aren’t here right now because they’re sleeping in the cave. But they can sense us and give us the creepy crawlies. We have about an hour until sundown, so let’s quickly loot the village, move to the cave, and hunt them down before they’re all awake.”

With a wave, I began to march away from the creepy, abandoned docks towards the rundown and deserted cluster of homes in the distance.

Walking to the center of the village, I placed a hand to my head and closed my eyes. I felt the information from my past life rushing through my present consciousness as the layout of houses appeared vividly in my mind.

“Artificer’s Shoppe.” I pointed to a medium-sized building in the southwest. “There’s a false floor under the carpet in the kitchen; grab all the gold jewelry, weapons, and those iron bars, too. Oh! And look through the debris under the anvil. There should be a magical ring there.”

“On it.” Sharzin said, and her footfalls raced away until they disappeared.

I thought for a moment longer before pointing towards a wagon to the northwest. “Psychic’s Vardo. Grab the wine casks and silken fabric, leave the food—it’s poisoned. And check under the divining table; there should be a bag of gold and a ledger.”

“Okay, boss.” Rionriv groaned sarcastically as she stomped away towards the cart.

“And finally.” I inhaled, turning to hug the tree behind me. Reaching up and into the knot above me, I gripped the necklace that dangled two platinum rings from its thin chain—a remnant that had been hidden there by long-dead lovers.

“A necklace from this tree.” I tossed it to Aesandoral, who inspected it and then hung it around her neck.

“That’s pretty neat,” She remarked, tucking it into her shirt as she continued to scan the space. “And how do you know this stuff exactly?”

“I, umm,” I stuttered for a moment. “I can’t reveal my method, obviously. It takes away from its magic. But I do know what I’m talking about. Guarantee it.”

“I mean, I believe you—”

With a quick glance up, her blushing face hardened, and she nodded in the direction of Rionriv, who had already begun to return.

“But she’s always a bit skeptical. Has been since we were kids. She might need some convincing.”

“What are we doing now?” I asked, shocked. “If she’s not convinced after this, then I don’t know what else I could do.”

Rionriv closed the distance with determined steps as she shoved the haul of loot into her backpack before heaving the bag over her shoulder. She grunted against the weight.

“Okay, hopefully there’s more than this.” She grumbled, shifting the pack. “And hopefully, someone else can carry it.”

“There’s more; once Sharzin is back, we can move into the Magistrate’s Manor for a hot minute.”

As though by command, Sharzin emerged from the shadow of the tree.

“I’m back.” She replied quickly.

Bah-dump! Bah-dump! Bah-dump!

“GYAH!” I jumped, grabbing at my panicked heart. “Don—Don’t spook me like that.”

“Hmph.”

Confirming what everyone gathered, we pushed towards the creepy manor, where I noticed a figure moving behind the curtains of the open windows.

My heart began to race once again as I wondered if this story had stayed true to the lore or if things had changed.

With a shake of my head, I reassured myself that I was simply succumbing to the effects of the beasts that slept in the nearby cave system. And since they were napping, we would be fine until entering their lair.

Taking a deep breath, I confidently pushed through the doors of the manor and began to direct the triop to the various rooms hiding beneficial loot. After a few minutes of searching, they returned with a collection of jewelry, magical items, and a beautiful painting of a coastal scene that I asked to take.

In and out quickly, thirty minutes had passed since we arrived, and we were already moving towards the caves. A move that was well ahead of schedule and would give us an edge going forward.

When I originally wrote this bit into the story, I had imagined that this area would be where the heroes found themselves at the end of the night, fighting for their lives before daybreak. Alas, as with all stories, I never saw a good place to slip this into their journey. It was a shame, but now it was our risk and reward to benefit from. And if I had a choice in the matter, which I do, we were going to be slaying these sleepy boys while the sun was still up.

“Can we go over the strategy one more time?” Aesandoral asked again as the cave came into sight.

“Well, remind me again of what your roles were? Like when you fought before today, who did what?”

“Aesandoral acted as a shield and drew the monsters’ attention.” Rionriv started. “Sharzin used underhanded strategies to achieve maximum damage. And I called down the storm to strike our foes.”

I looked between everyone as Rionriv spoke for them.

“Mmmhmm—hmm, and everyone’s happy with these roles?”

“I’ve never been a fan of my role,” Aesandoral spoke up, raising a hand to her head. She fiddled with her short hair, trying not to make eye contact with Rionriv. “I like to use my bow from much farther away.”

“And I don’t think stealthiness is underhanded,” Sharzin said as she tugged at her hood. “Everyone could benefit from being quieter.”

“Okay,” I said with my arms crossed, nodding my head in agreement. “It sounds like this is the perfect opportunity to try something new. Now, I don’t want to die, so we’re going to do something very simple, ‘kay? Listen up…”

And then I told them my plan. It was a simple one where I would offer myself up as a meat shield if they promised to pop me back up in the event that I became incapacitated. Then, all three of them would be free to do what they did best, so I could also gauge their total capability.

Taking a stick, I drew out a quick battle map into the dirt road. I detailed the top three areas where the creatures could be and made a note of the biggest threat, the dynamite at the back of the cave. It was rigged to blow if one of the wounded creatures got close enough to touch it. A range of five feet.

Taking a few more questions, I cleared up any issues before retying my laces and tightening my clothes.