Chapter 61

Red and Leon ran up the stairs into the kitchen area. Trouble followed, having refused to jump into the inventory. Red stopped Leon.

“I’ll go get him, okay?” She ran toward the stairs. “Stay here.”

Leon looked up the stairs. He sat down on his knees and felt her over. She was warm, but not warmer than usual. At least he didn’t think so. She also didn’t seem distressed in any way, but let him patiently look at her, lifting her ears and checking under her chin.

“What’s this then?” Crag came down the stairs with Red at his heels. “Red said Trouble’s been poisoned?”

Leon nodded and let the man approach the rabbit. His stomach churned. “Do you know anyone who can use the skill you talked about? The antidote one?”

Crag shook his head and cupped the rabbit’s cheeks. He looked into her eyes. “She doesn’t need a cure. She’s not poisoned. You are, so you better drink an antidote.”

“What do you mean?” Leon said. “She got sprayed with spores, right into her face. How do you know she’s not poisoned?”

“I just do,” Crag said. He patted Trouble’s head, then scratched her cheeks. “She’s as well as can be.”

Leon looked from Trouble to the old man. “But…”

Crag scratched at his cheek. “If she got directly hit with poison and she’s not poisoned, it can only mean she can’t get affected by it.”

“But she’s not poisonous!” Leon said. “I mean, those are the only ones who can’t get it, right?”

Crag shook his head and turned it to look at him. “Don’t go thinking you know everything, boy.”

Red walked forward and kneeled beside Trouble. She stroked her cheek. “Are you sure she’s okay? How is that possible?”

“My best guess, dearie,” Crag said, “is that she can’t get poisoned because she’s once been corrupted.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Leon said as Trouble rested her head on Crag’s shoulder, making his knees buckle a small bit. She seemed to like the attention.

“Sure it does, lad. Corruption changes the very nature of what it touches, be it man or beast. It’s entirely possible.”

“Corrupted?” Red asked.

“Corruption changes the genetic code?” Leon asked, looking at Trouble.

“She’s still a rabbit,” Crag said. “But corruption can do funny things to a creature, and that goes for players, too. For players, there’s a way to stop it though.” Crag patted Trouble one more time, then stepped back from her. “Now, I’d better get back before Nila breaks my bar.”

“Nila?” Leon asked as Crag walked up the stairs.

“She’s his helper,” Red answered. She rubbed Trouble’s cheek, and Trouble accepted the touch. Why was she so fond of Crag, but could only stand Red’s touch? Leon thought of how Trouble reacted to Ava after the tower, but he’d thought it was because Ava had tried to use Trouble to get away from the wolves. Maybe it was a female rivalry thing?

“So, what are you going to do now? Go into the woods again?” Leon asked. He opened his bag, and Trouble reluctantly entered it.

“Maybe. I still have some MP left.”

Leon started toward the stairs. “Have you thought about what I asked? About the training? The streets are less crowded now, if it makes a difference.”

Red nodded. “I’d like to take you up on your offer. But no running today.”

“Great!” Leon said. “Let’s meet up tomorrow morning for the run, and then I’ll help you with monster hunting in the afternoon?”

Red sucked in a breath. “Is… is it okay if we start my part of the deal now?” She held up her hands. “Not for very long, just to see how it goes?”

“Sure. Should we head out immediately?”

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Red put her lute into her bag. “Sounds good. Just drink your antidote first, and then we’ll go buy some more.”

Leon looked at his HP. Not as low as it could have been, but he’d been too worried to get Trouble healthy to look out for himself. He took out the bottle and drank the potion, wondering when he’d have enough money for a ring. It was a blessing if Trouble couldn’t get poisoned, especially since she couldn’t drink potions. He’d been on really thin ice, and this could have ended very differently. Would a cleric’s spell even help if Trouble needed it? He hoped to never need to find out, but if she was going to face stronger beasts with him, that was just a matter of time.

They exited the kitchen and walked toward the entrance. More than a few gazes followed them, a few with disgust. He hoped Crag was right about the NPCs never doing anything, but even the looks and the comments would probably make this season quite unpleasant. They exited the inn, bought some antidote potions, and then Leon lead the way toward the Drowned Goblin instead of taking their usual route. As he thought of the man who had begrudged him, he felt uneasy. He wouldn’t need to be here for too much longer, but that meant he’d also lose the title and become vulnerable to other players. He thought the main reason for people being here was that they were scared of clearing the first floor of the tower, but this was a part he’d never really thought of. Did players really become such a danger to other players later on? The encounter in the wheat field dungeon said yes, but then they’d done something to really piss them off. Finn had made it sound like people went after others because of no reason, but Finn was Finn, and Leon couldn’t back down now, even if that was the case. He’d just have to be much more careful and watchful than he’d been so far.

“Why are we going this way?” Red asked, looking around. “It’s been a while since I needed to go here.”

Leon smiled. “I don’t really feel like running into the wolf king this late in the day. Do you?”

Red shrugged. “I kept myself close to the road, and that seems to work. So far, at least.”

“That’s still quite dangerous.”

“There’s always fewer people there. No one really thinks to go that way unless they’re on the way to the E- ranked forest, so I can do things how I want to without getting looks or comments,” she explained. “Besides, if I was to get in trouble, I could just take a few steps and be out on the road. It’s really comforting to know that’s an option.”

Leon looked at the bridge in front of them and started up it. “It’s still dangerous.”

“And it’s my business, and my concern, not yours.” The tone she said it with wasn’t malicious or defiant, but matter-of-fact.

“To be fair, it’s going to become my business if we work together,” Leon said.

“I can always rethink my reply. It’s not like we’re in a party.”

“That’s true.” They walked in silence for a while.

“How’s it working with Finn?” Red asked.

“Great,” Leon said. “He almost got himself killed today, and caused a bit of trouble.”

“Yeah, he does that,” Red said. “From what I’ve heard.”

“I honestly don’t know what to do about him,” Leon confessed. “I let him join the party to boost us, but he doesn’t care for others in the way that’s needed to make it work. Seems like he joined us for the same reason, but even that isn’t enough to make him change.” He looked toward the cloudy sky. “Soon enough, he’ll need to be kicked from the party, which I’m sure Ava, our cleric, will be angry about.”

“Do you think she’ll go with him when he’s kicked?” Red asked.

Leon shrugged. “No idea. A while back, I promised I’d take her up the tower, but if she’s going to leave and not hold me to that promise, I won’t stop her.”

“Because she’s a Cleric?” Red asked. Her face glowed a little redder.

“For many reasons, but never because of that.”

Red sighed. “If you care about her, don’t let her go with Finn.”

“Why not?”

“He was in a party with my sister once. I tried getting her to leave, but she wouldn’t. And now she’s dead.”

Leon stopped. “Wait, did Finn kill your sister? And your sister was here, with you?”

Red bit her cheek and looked at the verge of tears. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Please, don’t ask.”

Leon looked at her for a short moment. “Please, just tell me one thing. Did Finn kill her?”

Red shook her head, making the brown waves dance over her shoulders. She looked toward the sky. “But he was the thing leading her down the path that did. He tried getting me to join him too, and maybe I should have. But that’s all in the past.”

They entered the tutorial forest, and Leon discarded the thoughts about Finn. That was a mystery he needed to think about at a later time, when they weren’t about to fight. Maybe, if given a bit of time and patience, Red would divulge more about what happened.

He shook his head and peeked at his inventory, wondering about letting Trouble out. He knew he might be more overprotective than he needed to be, but what flashed into his mind weren’t very pretty pictures. A bat trying to lift her, a toad swallowing her whole... and then there was that snake thing he’d come across, which still confused him. Its tag had been white, but that only confused him more. No, Trouble would stay in his backpack for now, if he could help it. He knew she wouldn’t be happy with it, though.

“So, what monsters did you come across earlier?” Leon asked, stepping into the swamp. He saw one of the round areas he’d already learned belonged to one of the toad groups.

“A bat.” Red took out her lute. “It tried to grab my hair, but when it couldn’t lift me, it sat down and bit me. Their bite is poisonous.”

“It’s not carrying rabies, right?” Leon asked, thinking of Trouble again.

“No, just normal poison.”

“Have you come across any frogs and toads? Maybe a snake?”

Red shook her head. Leon told her about what they had found out this morning, about the toad groups, the air being poisonous, and about the snake he’d seen.

Red groaned. “Shit. Now I actually need to fight enough to get money for potions, too.”

“Just making sure, but you’re not going to freak out about the insects in here, are you?” Leon nodded to the trees.

Red took a step back. “Wow, that’s really gross.” She chuckled. “I can’t say I have any love for things with more legs than they need to have, but I have my priorities. As long as they don’t start crawling over me, I won’t have much of a problem.” Still, she swallowed hard, then took a deep breath. “So, how do you think we should do this?”

“I have an idea.”