30 – I Can’t Believe It Really Worked
Crow ran until he found a corridor that opened into a wide chamber, heat rolling off it before he even cleared the open doorway. Then he looked at the room; there were no hostages tied to posts or bodies on the ground. He could see 3 men hauling crates between anvils, sweat cutting clean lines through the soot on their faces, and 1 older guy barking measurements at someone outside his sight.
Crow slowed at the threshold.
Huh? I’m sure I didn't just have a hallucination... So why?
He looked at the room again, everything supposedly fine with a working forge, nothing burning that shouldn’t be, nobody screaming, and definitely no hostages being used as meat shields.
This is strange… after the gunshot everything is just fine; this doesn’t make sense. It’s a little loud here because of the forges, but are those guys deaf? Hammers can’t drown out a gunshot. Either way, maybe running here too fast was a mistake; it almost got me caught. Let’s just be stealthier again… if they didn’t hear that, better for me anyway.
He backed out before anyone turned around, boots finding the one dry patch of stone in a floor slick with quench water.
Where is Sharon? Just when her stealth skills would be perfect… don’t tell me she is lost in the labyrinth puzzle… for real?
He kept to the wall after that, moving along the corner and using the objects to cover his passage. A little further down, a side passage branched off near a stack of crates. For some reason, nobody had bothered to light that hallway well, good for Crow, it seems.
Holy… To be honest, maybe I would be a good rogue…
DUNNNN!
A man came out in front of Crow too fast, like a jump scare. “Was that a rat? I’ll pretend I didn’t see any dirt here, then I don’t have to clean it… hehe. Leaving it to the newbie is the right thing to do… yes, yes. Oh, I’m talking to the floor again; I need to stop doing this… Mama’s gonna think I’m going crazy after that day…” After muttering to himself, the guy glanced back over his shoulder before ducking past a support beam and disappearing toward wherever the passage led.
Crow flattened himself into the gap between two crates at the exact moment of the jump scare, and waited there.
Maybe I was wrong… being stealthier is too hard for me, that was a close one—
He heard some voices close to him. “Billy, maybe we should stop fencing items.” The voice was young and tired. “Mama’s angry with you. Didn’t you hear? She’s asking you to go talk to her… Remember… just don’t say my name to her… please.”
“I heard, I heard you, OK?” responded the guy who was probably Billy. “I just need a little more money OK? You know how I roll, we’re smooth. The ones I picked are from the… you know, haha it’s a cakewalk picking bags from them OK?”
“Right… I can fence those for you again Billy. But let’s make sure this is the last time we fence our own gang’s loot. Er… Okay? I don’t want to be butchered by Mama, and I want 20% more of the cut this time... you know… for the risks and all…”
Someone is going to turn into XP, it seems.
After a brief pause.
The Billy guy sighed and said, “Okay, this will be the last time... let’s roll.”
Something changed hands, a soft clink of metal, a leather strap creaking as it passed from one grip to another.
There they are, my things.
Crow didn’t need to see it to know what it was. He recognized the sound of his swords, and the rest of his things.
The two split off, Billy shuffling back the way he came almost closing the distance to where Crow was, muttering something. “Now I will be known as Master Billy, hehe. After I go to another city… I will be a boss after this jackpot.”
Right… I don’t remember a boss named Billy, so… yeah.
The other one, the one with Crow’s things, looked around nervously. After making sure no one had seen him, he headed to an isolated area that was almost outside the main forge complex.
Splash…
A low sound near Crow, but it didn’t come from him.
Just my luck, wait a cat?
“Yo, rat! I know you’re posted up back there. Step out, nice and quiet. If you chirp to anyone about what you just heard… you’re done for. Your run with the crew is over, fam.” After not receiving a response, Billy approached the crates and said, “Found you rat… Cat?”
From behind a cloth on the crates, a voice said, “It’s sleep time.”
“What—” Billy started, but before he could finish, Crow slammed a hand over his mouth, cutting him off. Crow forced him behind the crates, out of sight of anyone passing near the place, putting him to sleep as he whispered, “Shhhhh, it will be over soon...”
Billy fell asleep under makeshift cloth blankets on a bed of crates.
Where is the other guy? Found him; a bit further away, but I can make it on time.
Crow advanced toward the guy, but further down the hallway, two men were walking in their direction, chatting. Before they could notice him, he glued himself behind the man, moving like the guy’s shadow.
When the 2 guys get close, I will launch a surprise attack on all 3... Maybe that is the best way…
As they drew nearer, one of the two men glanced over and gave a casual wave. In perfect sync, the guy waved back. Right behind him, Crow mirrored the exact same gesture, keeping his body completely hidden. The two men didn't notice a thing, just nodding and then the 2 guys turned to their right into the cross corridor.
To think the walk I had seen on Baki would actually work... Maybe I will try to train stealth until I gain some skills.
After a brief time walking, the guy stopped at a door near the end, checked both directions once badly, and let himself in without any problem; the place was very silent after all. Crow was still moving like the guy’s shadow, perhaps trying to gain some skill moving that way, and entered at the exact same time. When the man turned to close the door behind him, he didn’t find it; there was only Crow’s face. The surprise made him jump 2 steps back. He fell after slipping on a bottle on the ground, dropping all his items.
Crow eased the door shut behind him without saying a word. The click of the latch sounded enormous in that quiet room.
“W-wait, I can explain this.” The guy scrambled backward on his palms, eyes wide with some fear after the surprise. “Tell Mama I was only trying to make sure Billy really was the one behind... I-I am innocent, those items are the proof for Mama, see!? I have proof that Billy was fencing items, I would never—"
Crow closed the distance and hit him once, still without saying a word; only the fist spoke.
The man's head snapped sideways, hitting the floor. “P-please, I would never betray Mama’s gang—”
Crow hit him again as he said, “Go to sleep already, I don’t have time to waste here.” His tone was the same someone uses to ask for the salt.
Third punch, and the guy fell asleep.
Infiltration successful. What must I do now? Right, right. Pick up my items, then go rescue the NPC—no, the girl. Afterwards, I will rescue the rest of the innocent people here, and find Sharon… Please don’t be in that labyrinth… I really don’t remember how to solve that.
Crow crouched, grabbing the ring first and sliding it back onto his finger.
[Dude… never do this again… er, please?]
Yeah, yeah, now be quiet, I need to think.
He collected the rest of his belongings shortly after. Sadly, his Claymore was nearly broken; only his Zweihänder remained in perfect condition, as he hadn’t used it that much. Finally, he picked up his coin purse, the same one he had looted from the bandits in the dark alley upon arriving in the city.
When he looked at the room, he found a sofa sitting against the far wall, one of its legs shorter than the others, propped up with a scrap of wood. Crow hooked an arm under the unconscious man and dropped him onto it, arranging him there, slouched, head tipped back, mouth open.
Maybe this will solve the problem if someone finds him… nah, I need something more…
Crow looked around the room, then found a magazine sitting on the small table beside the sofa. He picked it up and glanced at the cover; it was something about crossbow maintenance, badly printed. Then, he laid it open over the man’s face.
There you are... Sleeping on the job; how professional.
After leaving the guy alone sleeping, he kept moving to the other side of the room and opened an odd door there.
I think I remember this place. Maybe I can find the secret corridor that leads there.
Crow stood in the center of an empty room that looked like a storeroom waiting to be used.
Yeah, this is the empty room that has the secret passage speedrunners used, I remember looking at the game forums to see what the other players did, because I almost dropped the game because of the labyrinth. So yeah, it’s definitely here, but... it doesn't look like there's any way through. I'd better check. I know it’s one floor down, so it's gotta be in the floor for sure...
He started searching the floor for any slightly different areas, trying to find some kind of mechanism.
Maybe this isn’t the right one... No, I’m already here, so I might as well make this worth it. Wait, this brick here is scratched, let me see… no, nothing. Wait a moment… for real? Haha, so this is how it is hm? Let’s take them all out.
Crow began removing the bricks that were slightly out of place, only to realize they were actually attached to a hidden hatch. After lifting it, a faint light became visible, revealing a small metal ladder leading to the floor below. Once he slipped through the opening, he simply reached up, pulled the brick-covered hatch closed behind him, and descended the rest of the way.
Right, I’m close now. If things keep going like this, then it’ll be easy. Ha… I just raised a flag, hm? Better not think that way again, if I can help it.
After climbing down the ladder, he looked around and could see that a passage led back into the main chamber from a different angle, the area resembling a prison that he had seen earlier. He had decided not to descend the stairs back then because there were too many guards, but now, he had just returned to that place, but without being seen.
Right, makes sense, makes sense. So this route is the hidden part for the rogue playthrough, and the other one was the hack and slash style. I just need to go a little further here.
2 guards stood at the far archway, spaced a short distance apart, spears resting against their shoulders. They weren’t particularly alert to their surroundings; however, too much was on the table for Crow to just risk it here.
Straight through would work. Probably. But with that distance between them… one would for sure scream for backup, and then every guard in this place would converge on a room full of hostages, turning them into meat shields or worse, and everything I’d done up to this point would be in vain. The problem is... I don’t have stealth skills to get past them without raising the alarm; if only I had something like temporary invisibility. What do I do now? Think, Crow, think…
He looked to the sides and then upwards, tracking a line of thick iron pipes that ran along the wall. They clearly came straight from the forges, radiating a mysterious heat as they vented into the dark above. The pipeline followed the wall past the archway and disappeared through a gap in the stone, an opening cut just wide enough for a person, assuming they didn't mind the heat.
Crow tested the nearest bracket with a tug. It held.
He climbed, keeping his weight over the bolts instead of the pipe itself, and moved along the wall crouched, trying his best not to make a sound with his boots, until the 2 guards below shrank into shapes he didn't have to think about anymore.
Just a little more…
“Hey… did you hear that, Jones?” said a guy below Crow.
After a yawn, the other responded, “Heard what?”
“Hm, forget it. Maybe it’s a rat; we need to clean this place.”
“Nah, we are not paid for that; why would we clean it?”
“Not us, I mean someone else…”
“So why didn’t you say it before?”
“Oh no, not you too Jones…”
“Not me, what?”
“Forget it…”
After crossing over the guards from above, Crow found a gap, and after a quick check to make sure the place was clear, he dropped through, landing in an empty room.
Seems like the hidden boss’s office, and luckily she isn’t here, so I can just take that door ahead and finally leave this place for good. Oh, right, after picking up Sharon, but where is she, anyway?
When Crow was walking to the door, he heard some heavy footsteps.
Just my luck.
He didn’t wait, moved to the first big wardrobe in the office and entered.
Maybe I picked the wrong wardrobe, judging by the heavy footsteps… It's probably the hidden boss, “Mama.” If she comes to this wardrobe to get clothes, then I am cooked. She is too strong for me to deal with without wasting too much time. I was almost there without being caught… I’ll try entering another one—
“Where is Billy?” The voice belonged to someone old.
Yeah… No time to try another one.
“Mama... Billy, he is... er... I think he is running from you—”
SLAP!
Whooa, that must hurt.
“Didn't I teach you to use honorifics?”
“S-sorry Mama... I-I—cough… will go and bring Billy—”
“No. He will be here soon.”
Heavy footsteps from one side of the room to the other, stopping just as they neared the door. Through a small crack in the wardrobe, Crow could see a bit of the outside. The woman was nearly 2 meters tall and was holding a massive machete.
“Hm, I feel like someone is listening to us…”
“Mama… No one is crazy enough to be eavesdropping on yo—Mama, here in the private office.”
Did she realize? How?
Heavy footsteps close to where Crow was.
“Hm, seems like I will need a new machete after this…”
She opened the wardrobe and moved something inside. “Hm, maybe not this one, let me see the next—”
The main door opened. “Mama, here is Billy as ordered.”
THUD!
They threw the man to the floor, and he wasted no time. “Mama, this is a setup, I would never betray the gang for money...”
She raised her free hand. “Billy, I gave you a good position… I forgave every single mistake… and you just couldn’t do a simple thing, which is to obey… You know what I do to those who don’t obey, right…” she said while leaving the wardrobe behind and approaching Billy.
“It’s a SETUP! MAMA! THAT'S RIGHT, WE WERE INFILTRATED BY SOMEONE—”
In a flash, she pressed her massive machete against his throat and said, “Quiet... You think I will just let you off because of this? I already know you are trying to recruit traitors. You think you can be a boss? You are too weak, little boss junior. A grandma could kill you bare-handed if she wanted, little boy...”
“It’s… it’s true Mama… we don’t have time for this; we need to go elsewhere! We were infiltrated by—”
SLASH!
“AARRRGGH! Mama STOP! I-I am telling the truth… a guy built like a small fridge knocked me around…”
She pulled the machete slightly away from his throat. “Hm.”
Seems like the party will start soon…