Chapter 159 - 160
Previously, the man had claimed that it had been forty-two years since the last time someone had visited this cave. This meant that, at the very least, someone had been aware of his existence up until fairly recently. That, and the fact that the barrels of food had been replenished at that time told Alistar that whoever this person was, they had likely been involved with whatever plot was at play here. If this man was truly speaking of Saint Limnin himself, then either the legendary saint still lived to this day, or more likely, somebody in the church had inherited this terrible secret and had been acting upon it up until several decades ago.
"Let’s say for a moment that I can actually help you leave here. How might I manage that?"
"Magic crystals," said the man, his voice full of confidence. "So long as I retain my sanity I’ll be free to use magic, only I won’t have any of my own energy to draw upon. So, I’ll rely on the magic crystals you bring me to break the curses that I’ve been shackled with. After that, I’ll take some time to recover my own energies, at which point I’ll break the seal on this cave and then I’ll finally be free to leave here."
"Magic crystals are very expensive. I can’t even afford a single high-class one, let alone the amount you’ll likely need to get out of here."
"Go fetch that rug, will you?"
Alistar grimaced as he stared at the disgusting object, which reeked of stale urine and old excrement. Evidently, even in his crazed state the man had used the thing as a privy whenever he had been able to make a movement.
"Oh, come off it. Are you a man or not?"
Alistar dragged the rug over with a twisted expression, unrolling it only to be met with a great surprise. Several bags clattered against one another as the fabric was unfolded, an old sword and a dulled dagger sitting in their midst.
"Every time I’ve regained my memory, I’ve added to the waste on this dirty old thing. This way, those greedy dogs of the church would never think to check inside of it." Reaching out with prodding hands, the man lifted one of the bags only for its bottom to give out, which prompted a large amount of golden coins to rain down upon the floor. These were oval in shape and of strange design, imprinted with the likeliness of an unknown man.
"There should be around a thousand golden crowns there. Surely enough to purchase the magic crystals that we need."
Alistar had never seen so much gold in his life, the coins gleaming in the firelight despite the heavy layers of dust that covered most of them.