The Smuggling Job

"Let's get going moron, you've got work to do."

One of the cloaked men pulled me out of my cell, somewhat forcefully into the hallway.

"I can't get this idiot girl up. Someone grab me a bucket of water." Another cloaked man said.

Someone got him the bucket. He tossed it on Erika. She lifted her head up from her mattress. Her eyes half opened.

"Could I sleep a little longer? The sun hasn't even come up yet."

They tossed a second bucket of water on her. She sat up this time. She was completely drenched. Water dripped down from her hair, down her back.

"Come on, we don't have all day."

We were escorted back down the hall. Erika, despite her rude awakening, still seemed like she wasn't fully awake. She drug her feet as she walked and squinted her eyes as if the light from the wall torches bothered them.

They brought us outside. It was cold enough out that there was frost on the ground. If Erika wasn't awake earlier, she definitely was now.

"C-can't we w-wait back i-inside?" She said.

The cloaked men turned to each other.

"I bet this princess hasn't worked a day in her life."

Erika wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. I would feel bad, but, she brought this on herself.

"So what's this task we're doing?" I asked.

"You'll be filled in when HE gets here... Oh actually there he is now."

A very unkempt young man, probably only a few years older than Erika, came stumbling out of the woods. I don't really know why he came that way, considering there was a dirt road that led directly to here. He shouted from several yards away from us.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I drank a little too much again last night, then I found a rare herb and got sid-!"

*THUD*

The young man tripped over a root and face planted into a tree. Despite hitting his head incredibly hard, he bounced back up surprisingly unphased.

If I saw this guy on the street I would think he was homeless. His pale sandy colored hair was dirty and scraggly. On top he wore a raggedy burlap bucket hat with a green feather on its side. His dull gray eyes instantly noticed Erika.

"You lackeys have no class. That is no way to treat a beautiful maiden."

He wore a light brown ruffled shirt that was probably once white. Over his shoulders was a ridiculous looking olive colored cape covered in dirt. He pulled it off and threw over Erika.

"Mr. Arno, this thing smells funny." Erika whispered.

He stood in front of us trying his hardest to look cool.

"Name's Cahlem Alchimia, but you can just call me Cal... And what might your name be, miss?"

Erika looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"Uh... My name is Erika... um... is your head alright?"

He had a massive welt on his forehead from hitting the tree.

"It's very nice to make your acquaintance Erika. Also that was nothing, I barely felt it."

The two cloaked men were chuckling among themselves. The one turned to me.

"Well, good luck. You're going to need it with this guy."

They both went back inside the mine and left us with Cal.

"And who are you, hooded man?" Cal said.

"Arno." I responded

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Erika and Arno. Follow me, I'll explain our mission as we walk."

He began leading us down the dirt road.

"First things first, just so you both are aware, I'm in charge of this operation. Just follow my orders and this will go smoothly."

For now we'll have to play along with this moron. We could probably make a break for it right now, but the Western Mafia has informants all over the country. They'd probably manage to track us down fairly quickly. Not to mention, I know nothing about this Cal guy. For all I know, he could have some kind of hidden ability. The mafia obviously had some use for him or he wouldn’t be here..

"So what exactly are we doing?" I asked.

"It's actually quite easy. All we have to do is travel to the Fungallands, gather some extra magic mushrooms, and bring them back here."

"... Easy!? Are you talking about THE Fungallands?" I said.

"Of course, what other Fungallands are there?" He replied.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that we're just going to waltz into one of the most dangerous regions in the West Kingdom and gather a bunch of illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms?"

"Don't you worry yourself, Arno. You're rolling with the best smuggler in the Western Mafia. This isn't the first time I've done this."

He seemed incredibly sure of himself.

"Um, what exactly are the Fungallands?" Erika Asked.

"It's an area covered by a massive mushroom forest, that's home to some of the most toxic fungi and ferocious monsters on this continent." I replied

Cal spoke again,

"It's not that bad. I mean sure, you have to watch out for the wildlife and make sure you don't touch the wrong thing, but there are also a lot of rare and highly valuable ingredients."

I shook my head.

"Even if we ignore all that, what about the wall that surrounds the entire area and the soldiers guarding it?"

"Like I said, this isn't my first time doing this. I happen to know a secret way inside."

This was starting to sound like a suicide mission. I'm starting to think the only reason Cal was in charge of this task, was because he's the only one dumb enough to do it.

As we continued walking along the road, I quickly noticed something.

"Why are we heading north, when the Fungallands are south of here?"

Cal laughed a bit.

"Oh yeah... About that... There is this special cart that we'll need, but I got kind of wasted last night... And I sort of forgot where I left it. We'll have to backtrack a bit to find it."

"Can't we just get another cart?" I said.

"No we can't. This is a smuggler cart, it has hidden compartments. It was custom built for this job. Gino would kill me if I lost it."

If I don't figure a way out of this soon, I'm afraid this guy was going to get us killed with his stupidity.