Chapter Five: The Beginning of the Escape Operation
Some time passed. On the other side of the cell, the three kidnappers who had been gambling and drinking were clearly entering the drunken stage, their half-conscious minds lost in laughter, food, and glasses. Then, suddenly, one of them raised his voice, complaining, "Enough with the drinking…"
After a brief hesitation, the other two reluctantly agreed, though the signs of intoxication were clear on them.
Daniel seized the right moment—not too soon, not too late—and quietly approached one of the three with him. He spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper, but made sure it was audible to those outside.
"Hey man… how many drinks do you think you can down before you're done?"
The first, a big guy, answered in a rough voice similar to Daniel's tone: "About six big ones."
The nervous second laughed and said, "Six?! I could drink ten!"
The first immediately shot back proudly, "Didn't I tell you they're big? Each one's worth more than two of yours!"
They got into a rising argument—just a bunch of guys boasting about their drinking abilities.
Outside, one of the kidnappers caught the conversation and laughed, pointing to his partners, "Look at these chicks… talking about six and ten drinks!"
The second laughed sarcastically, "Chicks? Did you forget when you came before? You drank two drinks and passed out like a baby! That was hilarious."
The first guy's face turned red in annoyance, "That's only because I'd already been drinking outside before coming in!"
The second burst out laughing, "Yeah, yeah, I know you drank outside... Of course, I believe you!"
Then the first asked, trying to regain his pride, "What about you? How many drinks can you handle?"
The second raised his head proudly, "About twenty."
The first laughed, "Nonsense! You barely finish ten and you're telling me twenty?"
The second challenged, "Then let's bet… keep going… and see who can drink more!"
At that moment, the third chimed in, more cautious, "Take it easy! If the leader finds out, we'll regret this…"
The first waved his glass, "Don't worry, we've got no work left for the day. No one's coming from outside. Everyone out there's celebrating and no one's checking on us."
The man added with more enthusiasm, "And who's coming to check on us anyway? Everyone's relaxed now. Honestly, no one's tried to escape so far today."
The second mocked, "Watching? Ha! They just make us watch so they can plot against us! And even if someone tries to escape… do you really think they'd succeed?"
The first turned to the third, "What about you? How many drinks can you handle?"
The third hesitated, "About twelve…"
The second shouted excitedly, "Then join us in the bet! Winner takes one hundred copper coins! What do you say?"
"Deal!"
"Alright, deal!"
Daniel was very surprised by what he heard... He hadn't expected things to go this smoothly.
(I never imagined… they'd be this naive.)
He even added two extra steps in his mind to trick them later. The first was to talk to them personally, distract them with a topic, then make them nervous so the drinking would be their way to relax... But as it seemed, neither step nor the second plan was needed now.
He smiled lightly, knowing deep inside that they had been waiting for any excuse to lean on and keep drinking.
Some time passed.
Outside, the noise had died down, and the sounds of laughter and arguing gradually faded into heavy murmurs barely escaping the lips of the three. Signs of drunkenness were clear—half-closed eyes, unsteady heads swaying, and tongues barely able to form words.
The second man, the most talkative, had completely collapsed, his head resting on the table as he muttered unintelligible words before drifting off right there. Two remained awake—one of them the third guy, the one with the keys hanging from his waist.
At that exact moment, Daniel quietly approached the cell door, his eyes locked on the keys.
He had taken a small piece of the third man's clothing—a tiny circular scrap about the size of a gold coin in this world, dull gold in color. He'd learned the coin's shape and size from the others during their earlier talk.
He gently dropped the scrap outside the bars, letting it look as if it had accidentally fallen.
Then he raised his voice, deliberately loud enough for everyone to hear:
"There's a gold coin on the floor! It fell!"
Instantly, all eyes turned toward him... from the other cells. The first man, lazily leaning on the table, noticed too, as did the third, who wobbled as he looked.
Daniel pointed with his eyes and finger at the third man and said:
"I think it fell off you."
The third chuckled, his laugh rough:
"Haha… I knew that."
Then he started moving, staggering, almost falling twice along the way. He steadied himself against the wall with one hand, taking slow, unsteady steps toward the supposed coin.
At that moment, Daniel picked up the scrap from the floor and extended his hand to the third man, as if to help him grab the coin. But every time the third man stepped closer, Daniel's hand pulled back behind the bars. When the third finally reached out, Daniel's hand was indeed holding the scrap safely behind the iron bars.
Meanwhile, Daniel's other hand was, naturally, ready for the next move.
The third man sighed impatiently and stepped closer:
"Give me the coin, you bastard!"
Then—in a swift, lightning-fast move—Daniel snatched the keys hanging from the man's waist without him noticing.
The third took the circular scrap, stared at it, then muttered:
"Why does this coin look like this… Is it soft?"
He brought it close to his half-open eye, but his distracted gaze couldn't make sense of it.
He looked at Daniel suspiciously and said:
"This coin… is weird!"
Then added:
"The coin's totally normal, right?" Daniel's gaze shifted toward the others inside the cell.
The man looked to the rest of the men in the cell; they all nodded at once, saying:
"Yes!" — their voices tense, stunned by Daniel's audacity and reckless plan.
The third shook his head:
"I think I drank too much."
Then he carefully slipped the fake gold coin into his pocket as if it were a treasure, and staggered back to continue the challenge he'd started… only to find the first man already asleep.
He laughed and shouted triumphantly:
"That means I'm the winner! Hahaha!"
Then he sat down to continue his bet alone, drinking even more.