Apocalypse respawn

They entered the inn on the second floor of the portal's site. According to RedStar, several existed to teleport to different locations in their original country.

As he ascended to the resting floor by the creaking wooden staircase, Jean glanced down at the warm atmosphere filled with the laughter of massive people. A few faint candles, almost dim, lit the room, making it a haven compared to the dark and frostlike night that still made him shiver.

The odors of the hot alcohol rose to him, making him sigh, casting one last look before he rejoined their group.

"Nah, Jean, go to the other one." he heard Rargnes' voice. "I can't stand him talking."

"Yurs," Jean gestured.

"Hmm?" Yurs came over.

"Try to acquire some information."

They had paid for two rooms. Rargnes, Sengrar, RedStar, and the man they had recruited with Jean shared one, while the other four shared the other.

"Hey, what's their name already? Of all them but Jean?" Rargnes asked as he unpacked his bag with little food remaining on his bed - a mattress of poor quality, made of hard wood and hay.

The dust made him coughed.

"No idea." said Sengrar

"Heszer, Reaos, and Noah."

"Oh, thanks, and yours...?"

"Yurs."

Jean sat on his bed in the other room, content with the room's distribution.

"So? What do you wanna do?" asked Jean. "Because I don't feel any safe with Rargnes, Sengrar and RedStar."

"You're still on this? Goblins can't lie," said Noah, a partner of Trunk's man. "if he said he wouldn't talk about this, just accept it."

"But who the fucked told you goblins couldn't lie? Themselves?"

"Bro, their society is based on that. You can't have millions of people just believe a lie they can check at every moment of their life."

"Yeah, and it doesn't change the fact they got us to sign a fucking contract to work us to the bone. Do you wanna follow them?"

"That wasn't the question."

"That was the sense you'd understand had you more than 70 iq."

"Listen, don't piss us off about that, we get it," said Reaos. "What's done is done. What more do you want? Prove your smart? We got it. You wouldn't have to prove it if it was true. But we can't go back to the past, so just accept it."

"They had blood splashed on their clothes as they came to our group and Yurs. And they dared to abandon their allies to run away."

"Is that true?"

"Of course. You'd better expect nothing from them."

"Ohh, now you understand?" asked Heszer - the Truck's driver. "so what's your plan after leaving me alone?"

"They have probably chosen the room's disposition so that nobody would kill them in their sleep. Why have they taken Yurs? I heard Rargnes didn't want me because I talked too much, so it was only between Yurs and me. They consider you three in the same group. That proves they are way too dumb. Dumb because they hide in a fortress and can't gather information on us. That only makes them more attackable."

"So?"

"Didn't you hear RedStar? He asked if they had powers. I don't. If you all don't have any, it means either Rargnes or Sengrar have one."

"Why wouldn't we have?"

"Because otherwise, you would be stronger." 

"But it's not sure they got one."

"Sengrar's perfect accent, his physique like a native, his tattoos, his magic and strength. Did you see anyone as strong? Even for the native, he is a genius - that's RedStar word."

"So now you trust a goblin's word?" Asked Heszer, Truckdriver.

Jean ignored it.

"As long as we grabbed the gun and figured out their power, wouldn't we be able to trade with the noble? At least enough money for us to be free and maybe citizens, or even be awarded land and a few slaves? Enough to enjoy our remaining life?"

"The man's literally sleeping with them as if they were his babies," said Reaos.

"Even without them, they're too strong, and we need to keep the money to recover the contract. These sons of bitches forced us. And you and you!" Heszer pointed to Noah and Reaos, face bruised. "you fucking said nothing when that fucker had his gun on me! Like him! You're all cowardly dickless bitches. That contract is a blessing as he won't be able to kill us or do shit to us too much. I don't have a power, nothing to be scared about. Not my shit. Now shut the fuck up and let me sleep." He lay down, turned around, and put the blanket on his face. 

The remaining three talked for a good part of the night before they left Jean to sleep.

"I should sleep, too," Jean said, his imagination wild as he considered the situation.

The creaking sound of the floorboards before his door made him wake up. He stealthily went to the door and looked through the keyhole, the outside barely illuminated by a small blue torch. Apparently, it was a magical torch, so there was no risk of firing the wood. Employees were forced to administer their magic inside the tool in a way he had no interest in understanding.

He had a massive figure. 

'Sengrar?'

Sengrar was passing with an expressionless look, softly descending the stairs, the wood creaking as he walked.

'Could he be a native of this world? He speaks the language perfectly well. He has the physique. He has mastered both his energy and his magic well. There's something fishy going on.'

Jean hesitated, then gently pushed down the door's handle, grabbing it toward him to diminish the door's noise. He used this technique as a child and continued it as an adult to avoid disturbing. 

He opened the door lightly, then squeezed through on the tiny opening without closing the door behind him. 

Sengrar was passing through the doors and went outside.

Jean descended on tiptoe, the wood creaking slightly, waiting a few seconds before heading in the night.

He lost sight of him.

As stress built up inside him, Jean discreetly returned to the room, took his bag containing the little money he had hidden from the others, and went back down with less carelessness.

He heard an annoyed grunt from another person due to the noise he was making, which he ignored. 

He positioned on the building opposite the portal's one.

After a few dozen minutes freezing in the cold night, he saw Sengrar returning to the inn. He waited a few more minutes and headed back to his room. 

'There's something going on.' 

He directly labeled Sengrar as a native. But what could be his purpose? Why would the administration goblin swear he wouldn't denounce them? 

Wait.

A goblin wouldn't get attacked by its curse by saying an awry-leading true answer.

As mentioned in the contract, the administration goblin wouldn't denounce them, but that didn't apply to Sengrar.

Jean fell into his bed, thinking:

'It won't happen this night... probably...'

But it also meant he wasn't the man with the power the noble researched? An error was possible, but... or maybe he was using his power.

He glanced at his three companions sleeping. Could he trust them? It would be his word against Sengrar's, and they needed Sengrar.

---

"Jean! Wake up!"

"Fuck, let me sleep."

"It's already late, dumbass. Got you right for talking all night. I slept well." said Heszer, kicking him out of the bed.

"The fuck?!"

He heard the man laugh.

Jean rose up painfully, his body cold from the non-warming bed and the lack of sleep. His body was sore, and his clothes stinked his past sweat.

He tried to ignore his headache, prepared, gathered with the others, making remarks before closing to Yurs.

"Got any news?"

Yurs shook his head.

"Did you hear someone leaving your room?"

"No. Something happened?"

"Tell me about what they did first in the night."

"Their classic thing, we took each a quarter of the night of guard."

"What was the order?"

"RedStar, Me, Sengrar, Rargnes."

"So you woke up Sengrar?"

"Yes."

"And then?"

"I slept."

"You heard nothing?"

"No."

"Thanks."

"Wait, what happened?"

They talked as RedStar, Sengrar, and Rargnes talked to the receptionist. 

"We take that quest?" Rargnes asked in the native language.