Stealthily Stored

"Ugh, I've tried everything, why are you worried about the ring right now? You should worry about the ring when you don't look like you got hit by a truck!"

"Truck? Bah, I doubt you've tried anything at all. That ring is worth more than your life, do you know how many bits that expedition cost me!"

Oh no she's going full Karen mode, I'm so glad I don't have a manager.

"Well, if you must know, I did try using the hospital's kitchen oil to remove the rin-"

"You did what!"

"Pfffft...nothing."

Jeez, was this ring really that important? She seemed much nicer when she was captured by bandits or buying apple products.

I decided to take a break from the argument and walk outside the servant's quarters for a breath of fresh air.

"How does someone go from waking up to yelling at someone that fast," I mumbled as I sat down on one of the benches outside.

Tine had only been awake for an hour or two. She and Brim Stone talked a little bit before I was brought up in their conversation. I introduced myself as the person who saved her stupid ass two times. Somewhere during the small duration of our talk, she noticed my ring and before I even noticed we were neck-deep in an argument.

"She must have really wanted this ring."

A stallion in a fancy suit exited from the servants quarters. His face was the epitome of professionalism, no hint of emotion whatsoever.

"That would be an understatement sir."

Ah, an eavesdropping butler. How stereotypical.

"Uh...cool...I could give two shits."

"Madam spent many months tracking down that ring."

"Cool, I got fucked in the ass by a blizzard with a personal vendetta."

"The ring is very close to her. Please be understanding with the madam."

And just as quickly as he entered the conversation he left.

This world is so stupid. Can't a guy catch a break? It just seems like it's one thing after another since I got here. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Visions, hydras, magic, witches, and visions. Well...at least this beats being a librarian."

I sat down for a few more minutes before getting up and cracking my back.

What should I do now? I really don't feel like going back in that room just yet.

I should check on Hugo, that big lizard probably got himself in trouble. I'll come back and talk to Brim Stone later.

Where'd he say Hugo was? Behind the manor right? Now that I had a location in mind and a distraction on the horizon, I made my way over to find Hugo. The manor itself was a short walk from the servants quarters. Once I got behind the large solid foundation of the manor I glanced around.

In the distance, I could see a large building. Maybe it was the storage for the manor or something. I walked over to the storage building which was actually quite tall. Its stone foundation and walls making for an intimidating building. The doors of the storage building were rather big, I guess they needed it to be so they can get large items in and out.

Next to the large doors were two stationed guards in armor similar to the guard at the entrance to the estate. I walked up to the entrance to talk with one of the guards.

"Hello there gentl-"

"We don't want to buy anything, go away."

"Yeah go away."

What? I didn't even do anything.

"Well, look I need to get my giant alligator friend or at least see him."

"Pfffft...yeah right buddy! Like we would believe you," The stallion said snarkily.

"Yeah, we don't believe you."

That second guard is pissing me off.

"Okay, well there must be some way I can convince you to let me in to see him."

"Nope."

"Nada."

I hate them.

"Okay take care of yourselves, don't accidentally trip and snap your neck."

I took a little walk around the building since the guards didn't seem persistent on following me after my not so subtle threat to beat them. I walked to the back of the stone building to find nothing of importance but was instead pleasantly surprised by a small window.

"You know what, fuck it, I've been through worse recently. Breaking into a building won't be the stupidest thing I've done."

The only problem was the window was a bit up there. Which means I would need to scale the wall, I'm totally screwed. I put my foot on a loose brick and pushed myself up. Using my fingers to firmly grip the windows sill I hoisted my torso up. The window was jammed, just my luck.

I leaned on my right shoulder and prepared to push the window. Once I was positioned correctly I started pushing and right when I applied enough force it swung open unexpectedly causing me to fall through.

I let out a yelp as I collided with a pile of unorganized junk. My whole back hurt so I gave myself some of that sweet sweet healing magic. However using the healing magic made me tired, but hey, being tired is better than being in pain. I looked around the storage building. It was two stories tall with a flight of stairs leading up to the top floor.

I spotted a familiar reptilian tail and walked over to it while avoiding the random stuff stored around. There were many interesting things stored like telescopes and piles of old pictures. I rounded a bunch of barrels to find Hugo happily munching on some kind of crystal that was prepared on a platter.

Right before I said something, I noticed on the platter there was a note that read the following in big letters.

Courtesy of T. Roogna.

I guess someone was thinking and looking after Hugo for me.

"Hey, bud. How do the crystals taste?"

He just looked up at me and I swear to god he grinned.

I sat there for some time and talked more to myself than him. I guess I just needed to let off some steam bit, the past few days have been something else.

Also, crystals taste like garbage...not that I tried.

Author's Note

Sorry peeps I've been super busy preparing for some performances. Thanks for being patient.

Thanks for reading.

If you see any errors please tell me.

HAVE A GREAT DAAAAAAAAAAY.