Chapter 167: Down on Their Luck
Simon crawled into a chest, and as he crawled out of the other side, he realized that was exactly what he’d crawled out of as well. That was weird enough, but he was somewhat reassured to see that it wasn’t the same chest. That might have meant that there was some other magic at play.
Going down the wrong path like that would be kind of funny, he thought as he slowly got to his feet and stretched his aching back. Even if it would kill the run.
The chest in the dragon’s lair had been a weighty, ancient thing with rusted steel banding. It had been built to hold something valuable, like golden jewelry or religious artifacts. The one he climbed out of, on the other hand, was a flimsier thing, made for books or bolts of cloth; it didn’t even have a lock on it.
Simon looked down to the unfamiliar blade in his hand and studied the red leather scabbard. The thing was crisscrossed in gilt lines, and though most of the gems that decorated it were missing, it was easy to see that this saber had belonged to someone very rich or important. The thing was fancy enough that he almost pulled the slightly curving blade from its sheath to see if it was magical. It was only then that he realized he wasn’t alone.
The light fall of rain had dulled all other sounds, but a word cut through the gloomy afternoon when someone yelled, “Heave!”
Simon whirled around and understood a lot more about the scene. He’d noticed the chest and a few of the crates next to it, but now that he’d turned fully around, he could see that they weren’t alone. Someone had emptied an entire wagon, and now the people who had done so were trying to push it out of where its wheels had gotten in the thick mud.
I was summoned to this level to help people get their wagon unstuck? Simon thought, smirking as he studied the group. It seemed pretty ingenious, but he supposed that history turned on such things. He’d been hoping for a beast, but this, at least, was straightforward.
The group didn’t seem dangerous. On the contrary, they seemed almost helpless. Two wagons drawn by oxen had been pulled forward quite a ways, and everyone from those wagons was trying to get this one unstuck. The only people still inside the thing were the driver and a woman with her child.
Simon wondered if they were merchants, but as he looked past them, he decided that they were probably refugees. The surrounding countryside was in rough shape. The fields had been planted but never harvested, and the village passed, which had mostly been burned down.