NotSoHero

The  bandits den's leader had secretly come to see us in the middle of the night. He took me out of the cell under Joe's unconcerned watch who was apparently aware that this would happen. He then led me silently to his personal restroom with extreme caution, avoiding any potential encounters with other bandits. 

Upon entering his room and double-locking the door, he spoke to me.

“I had planned to give you a quick overview first, but now that I've come to this, I might as well let you see something first.”

He told me all of a sudden to look after something. BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO, I’m 100% straight okay?! Please don’t ask for the impossible! 

 “Don’t do any brainless move, hide behind this folding screen and stay still, don’t make any sound. Just pay attention to what comes next. I have no time to explain, but all your questions will be answered afterward. Got it?”

Uh? Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I wonder what his intentions were. What did he want me to watch? A sex tape of myself with some influential people to blackmail me? Or one where I crossed the line? Not that I have any recollection of it, it can always be a fake.

 Whatever, he won't be able to get anything out of me, apart from the name of the actress maybe. 

I did as he asked and went behind the screen, preparing myself for the worst. He won’t get naked and force me to look into his old man’s body won’t he? 

“Wha…” I started mumbling but stopped myself as I recalled his request. Without letting a sound escape, I inspected what caught my attention with a closer look. Something that looked like a little hole was there on the screen, and allowed me to see through the screen. 

I understand! He wants to use this as a glory hole!!!

Or not, the gap was too narrow. I didn’t see his thing, but if it’s small enough to pass through this, he has a serious problem.

 It was probably to ensure I could peek at what’s going to happen. Nice, I always loved to watch women like this, I was not taken aback at least.

I hope he has something good in reserve for me. I thought

Without a noise, I stuck my eye to the panel aperture.

There, I had a great view of the room’s center, where a cluttered desk stood alone, with a magic tool on top of it. It was a ball used for long distance calls one could easily find among the wealthy.

The boss sat at the desk facing me, keeping the ball just in front of him. 

He then spoke again.  “Whatever happens, try to stay focused, and above all, stay quiet even if it becomes difficult!”

Following which, without waiting for my agreement, he made a sign of silence and activated the magic tool.

"Moshi moshi? hello! Ah! You're here Deluc." A figure appeared in the center of the orb, however, it was impossible to discern it correctly, as the focus was zoomed out to the minimum, and his own desk took up most of the display area. At least the view on this part was pretty good.

“… I already told you to call me Luc, or Lucas”

“What do I hear!? Would you prefer I spell the whole name?”

“NO!!!”

“If so, why make a fuss about it, and even then, I don't see the problem, we are all alone now and I already know it. It's not like anyone else is going to learn your secret.”

“Sorry, Deluc will do, please sir, please continue, you should have urgent matters on hand and we should not leave them unattended.”

“Oh, you already know? How?”

“I had a hunch, please proceed.”

“Ahem, sorry. So Deluc, anything to report since last time? I’ve been informed that you took care of the hero properly, but wasn’t it a bit hasty? You’d say you would wait before the last shipment. By the way, isn't it coming soon? You should already have plenty.”

“I still need a little more time, some of the girls got sick, and the quality isn’t at its best. Maybe a week or so. It shouldn’t take longer than a week and half. As for the hero, he was a danger to our operation, so wouldn’t it be better to take care of it sooner than later? You said it yourself, that we couldn’t let him live.”

“Yes but... Still, I would have preferred that you warn me in advance. And where are we, with the purpose of our exploration, still not finding anything?”

“Nothing, our chief archaeologist has even stopped working on it. We already found every spot of interest, as she already reported, there are plenty of cavities, mine shafts and underground chambers, but that’s all. Nothing remains from its original period of use. All former buildings and working places were carefully emptied or destroyed. As for the above, apart from the ruins, some aside and more distant places were found, but they were irrelevant. We did find kind of a noteworthy place tho.”

“Yes?”

“But it only contained some good stuff, like gold and weapon and valuable, Mixed with a small lab workbench with drugs, herbs and mixtures, and before you ask, we analyzed them already, all safe and diluted concoction, with small effect, like muscle loosening, or pain killer. Certainly an old bandit's lair who was close by, so nothing related to our case.”

“How is this useful? Did they come into possession of something related to it, perhaps?  ”

 “No, but we were happy cuz we found a bunch of women's clothes and lingerie. The guys went to try some out on our goods, intending to have a good time and it was relaxing indeed.”

let's not talk about it anymore

“Are you kidding me? Who cares?”

“Well, you asked for it.”

“I… let's not talk about it anymore, I understand, TSK… I, who aimed to find some old captive belonging… Ahhhhh princess Rana…  Just thinking about it. It makes me harder than I already am. Back on track, too bad you didn’t find anything of interest. The ring didn’t have big expectations in regard to its abrupt end, despite this, we still hoped to find at least some research paper, experimentation machine or tool.”

“Do you want us to continue our search anyway?”

“Oh well! Never mind, proceed to cover your trail, and send back the whole workforce together with the next shipment, there is no point in looking after this place any longer. Oh, I will gladly accept the lingeries you found as compensation for your meager find.“

“As you wish sir, Take care of your stamina and stay in good health until next time.”

“Don’t worry too much, I take enhancing drugs. As you can see, I’m as vigorous as usual, and full of vitality. And it’s unlikely we’ll see each other again anytime soon. Bye.”

“…”

After an awkward break of several seconds, the strange man finally hung up, and another uncomfortable silence followed until I reacted to what had just happened before us.

“Is he always like that? I mean, isn’t he a little harsh? Did he want to try the patience of a saint or what?”

“Sorry, I had forgotten his latest trend. It was hard to bear wasn’t it? His manager apparently recommended it to him. But this time the framing was even worse. You couldn’t even see his face as It was meant to be. Never mind, I’ll tell you all there is to know and will give everything useful. So, where’s to start? Any questions?”

“No… Yes! Actually you know what, there is one nagging in my mind.”

“Sure, speak freely, I’m not your enemy, and I don’t wish to be. Here, let’s drink while we talk, all of this made me thirsty.”

“Do you record this conversation? I mean the video, I wish you could give it to me, this might be useful.”

“…”

“…”

“You bet I did! Let me tell you something, a secret of mine, we don’t have the visual or the sound anymore,  but It’s still running! In fact, I have more! Come, let’s have a talk while watching the rest in replay, but first, let’s have a drink.”

Perfect, in the event that I meet his… his what, secretary? Guard? Doesn’t matter, I need it to pursue the person. Maybe I could use this as blackmail material, to request the same service.

Anyway, a good AV, bitter wine and some semis serious talk about a disturbing story. What more could you ask for?