Saving the Prince

We were just a little bit down the road from the abandoned mine. As we approached, I spoke up,

"Alright, everyone knows what they are supposed to do, right?"

"Don't you worry, Arno, you can count on me. They won't suspect a thing until it's too late." Cal responded.

"You're sober, right?"

"Unfortunately I am. I don't even have any alcohol on me at the moment."

"And what about you, Girl? Are you ready."

"Of course, I am. You seem a bit concerned, Mr. Arno. Do you not trust me?"

"Well... It's not that I don't trust you... It's just that your...you."

"I'm not really sure what you mean by that, but you don't have to worry. As your apprentice/master I won't let you down!"

I really hoped that would be the case.

We pulled up to the mine's entrance. There were two cloaked men waiting outside.

"Afternoon gentlemen. We've returned." Cal said.

The two looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Let's get this over with. Gino's not here, so I was hoping I wouldn't have to do any real work today."

The one walked around to the back of the cart.

"I need to make sure you're not trying to short us. Show me everything you collected."

Cal Chuckled.

"You guys know I wouldn't do that. When haven't I delivered?"

"That may be true, but I can't just assume. I don't want to deal with an angry Gino."

"Ha. No, we wouldn't want that. Go ahead and open those cases, Erika and Arno."

We proceed to simultaneously open a crate...

"Wow, I think that's the most you've ever delivered." The cloaked man said.

I was concerned Erika wouldn't be able to handle casting the illusion spell on this many objects, but she handled it well. Everything was going better than expected so far.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Cloak man. I have to pee really bad. Can I use the bathroom?" Erika asked.

"Yeah, whatever, just make it quick. You three have to unload this cart cuz I sure ain't doing it."

"I have to go as well." I said.

Cal picked up a crate

"You guys go. I'll start unloading the cart."

Erika and I entered the mine. We ended up lucking out. Gino wasn't here and his lackeys seem to not be all that motivated today. I wondered if this was a coincidence or another result of Erika's luck stat.

"Ha, jokes on them, Mr. Arno. I actually do have to pee."

"That's too much info, but even if you do, make it quick. We can't take too long or they'll get suspicious."

"Okay I'll be right back."

She ran down the corridor towards the bathroom. I started making my way toward the holding cells. I assumed she'd catch up to me when she finished.

I had to be cautious around here. I wasn't sure if someone was on guard duty. I looked in each and every cell trying to find who I was looking for. According to Brandy, that prince was supposed to be incredibly handsome, so I guess I'm looking for someone around those lines.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be over here."

I was noticed by another cloaked guy.

"Oh my bad. I got lost on my way to the bath-."

I quickly threw some gray powder that Cal had given me. The guard stumbled a bit before passing out. Cal had said this was a tranquilizer powder strong enough to put a person out for an entire day. I grabbed the guards key ring and his cloak, then drug his unconscious body into an empty cell. By the time anyone found him, we'd be long gone.

I continued searching. Eventually I came to one cell in particular that was occupied. It housed probably the most plain and generic looking guy I've ever seen. He just stood staring blankly at the wall. I could definitely say it was safe to assume that this guy definitely wasn't the prince…

"Hey, Mr. Arno, you find him yet?"

Erika had returned from her bathroom break.

"No, I'm still searching. I'm starting to think he's not here."

"Okay I-... Isn't that him right there."

She pointed to the plain looking guy in the cell.

"What are you talking about, there's no way this guy's the prince." I responded.

"I think you're wrong, Mr. Arno. There's no way that incredibly hot guy right there isn't the prince."

Incredibly hot? What the heck was she talking about? That guy had to be the most average looking person I've ever seen.

"Are we looking at the same person?"

Erika walked up to the cell.

"Um excuse me, but are you a prince?"

The black haired young man turned to Erika. He spoke in a completely monotone voice.

"Yes, I am Prince Douglas."

...I couldn't believe she was actually right.

"You're coming with us." I said.

"Okay, sounds good."

It was as if he had no emotions. For someone who was next in line to the throne, he didn't seem to have an ounce of charisma.

Erika whispered to me,

"Hurry up and let my future husband out."

I put the key in the keyhole and unlocked the cell door. The door was open, but he just stared blankly at me with his brown eyes.

"Are you coming or what?" I snapped.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"You do understand you were imprisoned, right?"

"Yes."

“We're breaking you out, so come on."

He took a step out of the cell.

"Wait, put this on."

I handed him the guard's gray cloak that I had taken.

"We better hold hands so we don't get lost, Mr. Prince."

Erika boldly grabbed his hand. The prince didn't seem to have any reaction.

"Cal's probably waiting on us, let's head back." I said.

We made our way back to the entrance. Erika was firmly grasping the prince's hand while essentially dragging him behind her.

At the entrance there was another cloaked man. I tensed up a bit.

"You two done with your little bathroom break? That drunken moron won't shut up. Go help him finish unloading that cart... Wait a second..."

He looked directly at the cloaked prince.

"...Do I know you?"

The prince instantly answered,

"I am Prince Douglas."

The lackey paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. He patted him on the shoulder.

"Hahaha. That's a really good impression mate. You should be a performer."

He started walking in the other direction, still laughing. By some stroke of luck we were somehow able to laugh our way out of that situation. Still, I wasn’t not sure about this prince though. It was as if he just blindly went with the flow of everything. He'd be an easy person to manipulate.

We exited the mine.

"O-oh hey guysss. I-I gots the c-c-cart unloaded."

Cal was holding a bottle of liquor. Unfortunately, he also wasn't alone...

"I-I t-think you t-t-two are my new f-favorite employees."

Gino had shown up with an entourage of lackeys. It looked like he was completely wasted too.

Cal stumbled over and put his hand on my shoulder.

"G-gino and I a-are j-j-just having a cel-celebratory d-dr-drink."

"Y-you th-three br-brought b-back S-so much." Gino said.

The bottle of alcohol he was holding looked expensive.

"W-with sm-smugglers like yo-you, I'll m-make a f-fortune. Y-you w-were a-always my favorite...uhhhh... w-whatever yo-your name isss."

Cal didn't notice that Gino didn't even know his name.

"Yo-you know wh-what b-boss, I-I b-bet I c-can get you even mo-more."

Gino got an excited look on his face.

"I'll t-take you u-up on th-that. T-take th-these t-two with y-you again... I-in fact y-you th-there."

He pointed at Prince Douglas.

"Yes." Douglas said.

"Y-you g-go too. Th-the more the m-m-merrier."

"Okay."

Douglas spoke in a flat an obedient tone.

"I-I L-lov- blehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

Gino began violently throwing up rainbow colored puke. I noticed a slight smirk on Cal's face.

"Wh-what are Y-you look- bblahhhhhhh... L-looking at. G-go d-do it a-again... Bluhhhhhhhh.

He puked one final time before passing out from drunkenness. A couple of cloaked men picked him up and drug him inside.

"Let's get out of here." I said.

Cal got in the back of the cart. I began pulling it, as Erika was giddily following behind while holding the prince's hand.

"So Mr. Prince, you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Hee hee, that's such a shame."

I couldn't figure out what she and apparently all the women in this kingdom saw in this Prince. He had completely average looks and zero personality. For some reason though, women go wild over him. I would say that I was better looking than him when I was alive and even Cal, if he were to clean himself up, would be better looking. In all honesty, that blank look in his eyes creeped me out a bit too...

"How did you get captured anyways?" I asked.

"I walked outside and a man said to get in a carriage. I said 'okay' and went with him."

"..."

I'm not even sure how to respond to that. It's almost like he was a sheep.

Cal suddenly jumped off the cart now that we were out of site from the mine.

"How'd you guys like my performance?"

"You weren’t actually drunk?"

"Ha, silly Arno. It takes a lot more than a single bottle of liquor to get me even a little tipsy."

"What was all that back there anyways. I didn't think that dwarf would show up."

"As I was unloading, he pulled up in a carriage. He was already wasted as it was. When one of his men told him how much we brought in, he got all excited and threw me a bottle of his expensive liquor. I was afraid he'd check the crates himself, so I kept him distracted until you guys got back... Oh, and I also slipped a bit of my 'special mixture' into his drink."

"You mean that rainbow puke powder from earlier?" I said.

Cal Grinned.

"I prefer the term 'Emetic Agent'."

We were taking the same path as earlier, except once we got to a crossroad we headed towards Stercusville rather than the Fungallands.

"So what now, Mr. Arno?" Erika asked.

"We're not far from Stercusville. As soon as we arrive, we’ll take the Prince to the guild."