Main Protagonist and the Current Working Title

Chapter Three

The three men dragged Main into a nearby broom closet for the interrogation. Luckily it was an unusually large broom closet, otherwise things might have gotten awkward.

Inside the closet, Main was placed on a stool with the three men surrounding him. The priest let Main out of his bear hug and the man with the map uncovered Main's mouth. The elf, on the other hand, continued to hold the knife at Main's neck. Main was surprised to realize that he was actually starting to get used to people pointing weapons at him.

The priest accidently knocked over a mop and bucket, causing his two friends to jump into battle stances.

"Sorry about that," the priest said, smiling sheepishly.

The man with the map, who appeared to be in charge, sighed. "Look", he said to Main. "We're not here to hurt you, we just got lost. It looks like our information is a little... outdated. If you could tell us what part of the palace we're in and how to get to the Treasury, that's all we need."

Main slowly nodded, trying to absorb the situation. "I'm guessing you're here to rob the vault?"

"Hey, we're asking the questions here," the elf said, brandishing the knife.

"Cassius, cut that out," the guy in charge said. Then, turning back to Main, he answered, "Yeah, we're here to rob Tieron. You got a problem with that?"

Main weighed his options. On the one hand, he still just wanted to give up, go home, and curl into a blanket. But on the other hand, if he had people to help him rob the vault...

Alright, Main thought. I'll try one more time.

"Actually," Main said, "I'm here to rob him too."

The elf scoffed, but the guy in charge looked interested.

"I have fake paperwork in my pocket here. I was going to use it to get past the guards," Main said. He gestured to his jacket and the guy in charge nodded for him to reach inside.

Main pulled out the fake paperwork and handed it to the three men, who took turns examining it.

The priest made a low whistle of appreciation. "Not bad. Where'd you get your hands on this?"

"I made it myself," Main said.

"It looks a little too good, if you ask me," the elf said, though his knife was back in its sheath now.

"So you planned to use this to get inside, and then what?" the guy in charge asked. "You don't even have anything to carry stuff in."

Main shook his head. "I'm only after one thing. A magic ring. If you guys can get me in the vault and help me find it, then I'll lead you to the vault and hopefully get you inside with this."

The guy in charge nodded, considering. "So all you want is that ring? Nothing else?"

"It's silver with emerald arrows on it," Main clarified. "It's supposed to have the ability to teleport anywhere."

The guy in charge nodded, then looked at the others. "I think we can spare one ring," he said. "You've got yourself a deal. I'm Baylin, the priest is Hadson, and Mr Cuddly-Wuddly over there is named Cassius."

"You're dead if you even think about selling us out to the Emperor," Cassius said.

"Glad to have you with us. I had a good feeling about you," Hadson said.

Main managed to take both the friendly greeting and the death threat in stride. "Nice to meet you guys, I'm Main Protagonist," he said.

"Huh, nice. I had an uncle named 'Main Protagonist'," Baylin said.