Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Chapter 91: Good Business

"You're late" a man whose belly couldn't possibly expand any further without rupturing spoke with a face reddened by the ambient warmth, the heat of the two suns was even worse inside of the city, much less cold breezes to rescue you and a density of people and building trapping the hot, accumulating it.

"Sorry, a freaking tree had fallen in the way, and no one to help me, I had to get a change of clothes afterward, looked like I had went for a swim, but hey, fifteen whole barrels of salt, with the stop in production, this is a lot" the man spread his arms and tilted his head to side a bit.

The well-fed man shook his head, beads of sweat emerging from his forehead, trickling down his chin and neck.

"Here, that's double the usual, now help me unload" he threw a pouch of coins, rolling his eyes as he climbed up onto the carriage, the two of them carefully unloaded each of the barrels on stable ground.

Putting them in line, they were both drenched in sweat by now and chugging down on some lukewarm water, the buyer moved up to the first barrel they had unloaded, tapping on the cover.

"Is there a problem with this one?" the coachman moved up to the merchandise as well, musing over the fact that despite the two of them being inside a room with no windows, it was still impossibly hot.

"I thought that it was heavier than the others, and look, it was already unsealed" he pushed up against the cover, it was clearly moving from the slight interaction, the other man pushed his hair back and didn't hesitate to just open the barrel, wanting to see whether or not the salt had been damaged.

The bigger man had been imagining that an animal had snuck inside and reflexively backed off, nothing happened and the first man ran his hands through the salt, moving it around and checking.

"False alert, the salt is pristine! Must have come off when we were unloading them" rationalising, the coachman put the lid back on and stepped away, taking another swing of water before stepping outside, pushing open a door without any handle or locks to get back to his carriage.

His horses were busy resting under the shade of a building and drinking from a small watering though, they had been busy unloading and taking breaks for a while now, the outside had turned dark, and was only getting darker, despite this, the salt provider was intending on driving his carriage back home.

He bid his goodbyes, not lingering any long than he was supposed to, leaving the well-bellied man by himself, he remained outside for a while longer, the arrival of the night had made the outside fresher than the inside, he took multiple minutes breathing in and out, the sweat in his body drying away, leaving him feeling less filthy and ready to start working again.

He went right back in, the flimsy wooden door swinging back and forth behind him as his attention naturally turned to his latest purchase, he had paid double the usual for less salt but it was no problem, he had gotten wind of collapses in the main salt mine before most and gotten the coachman to bring them immediately, he was planning on selling it at a much higher price than normal.

He rubbed his hands together, imagining the fine prospect this would bring to him, he might even be promoted from lowly merchant to a bourgeois, he could buy a plot of land and start doing some agriculture, and from there, he would be able to passively build income.

His imagination was far from reality but he allowed himself to have hopes and dreams.

In his daze, he didn't notice something and kicked a piece of wood laying on the floor, with pain surging from his toes and looked down at what he had just mercilessly struck.

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The room was illuminated by a bright lantern, he quickly recognised the object, he almost ignored it but quickly realised that something was terribly off about its presence on the ground.

He turned to the barrels, discovering the same one from earlier had once again lost its cover.

"He put it back on, didn't he?" he muttered to himself, having difficulties trusting his own memory for a moment, he clearly remembered the lid having been put back on just a little while back, but it was on the ground now, so surely he was mistaken.

Stepping up to the barrel, the inside wasn't well lit since his shadow was obstructing the light, but it looked just fine, half-heartedly, he ran his hand through the salt, expecting some sort of animal to bite his fingers.

'Ah, I must be going crazy…' he honestly didn't know why he had gotten so scared all of a sudden, the cover of the barrel had come off, what of it?

One couldn't just start panicking over every incongruity they encountered, it just wasn't healthy and a waste of time.

Just as he was laughing at himself for being such a scaredy cat, he saw a second shadow merge with his.

He tried to question the foreign shadow but he failed to form any coherent words as he flipped around, barely catching a glimpse of the intruder, their hand already grasping the lantern hanging from the ceiling, with a crunch, all light disappeared from the room.

Raising his arms defensively, the big man backed off until he hit a wall, then moving to where he knew a corner would be, he felt more safe knowing that nothing could slither behind his back.

He tried to make himself as quiet as possible, hoping that his assailant had lost track of him in the darkness.

The living's hopes were all but insignificant.

Remaining perfectly still, slowly feeling the strength of his legs being sapped away, sliding down to the floor as he heard nothing but the sound of his ragged breathing and beating heart.

Until it spoke to him, a voice from outer-tomb, so cold and unfeeling.

He shuddered.