CHAPTER 10: STOLEN SPRINGS, STEAL A SUMMER

The next week passed calmly… well as calmly as you could expect with us fighting in an arena every day. The good news is that we were now level 5 and doing well in terms of skills. Of particular note is that Charlotte’s base [Heal] got upgraded to an enhanced version called [Isha’s Embrace] that can target multiple targets at once. Jacob and Ivan just got upgrades to their existing skills, with the powers going up. They didn’t get any dramatic transformations like Charlotte’s skill.

As for the names of the three slaves, we four Heroes came up with names for them. The pink haired fox girl I decided to go with Momo, meaning peach in japanese to compliment her bright pink hair and fur. Plus I realised on closer inspection that her robes have a cutting that resembles a japanese courtesan kimono, a very skimpy Japanese kimono. The torso with it’s cloth folding over her chest is quite a giveaway, I didn’t realise at first because her legs are basically totally exposed and there are holes cut where her shoulder and upper arms are. Also as expected her back is totally exposed to help with cooling. Although I admit it makes me uncomfortable to see what is basically a teen girl walking around in clothes that looks like it should be worn on someone a decade older than her.

Momo is also the boldest of the three and also the most needy. She behaves the closest to a normal person, probably because she spent a lesser period of time as a slave. Well technically she still is one officially, but her life isn’t anything like one. She eats as well as any of us and that’s pretty damn well. As for the needy part I look up to see her holding onto Charlotte’s hand as they walked down the road in front of me.

For you see all of us are out for a day in the city. We were given a day off by the king after a week of training and also a sack of gold for us to enjoy ourselves. Quite the kind gesture, I would almost thank him if he wasn’t a lecherous bastard that couldn’t keep his eyes off Charlotte. I turn around the side and I see Amethine, holding onto my arm nervously. She’s the second most needy of the girls and she seems quite attached to me.

If you saw her fight you would think she was bold and daring… but no outside of a fight she’s timid and shy like a mouse. Even right now her cloak is over her head and her head is down. To be fair I don’t blame her, she mentioned she spent most of her life trying not to be seen. Her hair is a dead giveaway that she is a Blood Heir. This combined with the fact that she is always in shabby mage attire means that she has a relatively high level cap and that she’s bastard. Since mages are usually from noble families due to the equipment requirements. Especially when they learned her name was Amethine Errat.

The few decent people she meets avoid her because nothing good ever happens if you associate with the bastard of a noble that is a Blood Heir. All that succession crap is just too messy and you can never tell which noble sired the child which gives a dangerous unknown quantity. So in summary, Amethine never had a friend, she’s been alone save for her mother with whom she parted with four years ago to get mage training. It’s lucky that she’s a girl, high level capped mage candidates are rare and thus they took her without hesitation. The problem came after actually when her older half-sister found out she was in the school as well. It turns out her paternal family is one of the most powerful in the nation and few in the school dared to defy her.

That girl, that is if you call someone like her a human… made it her personal mission to make Amethine’s life as miserable as possible. You see Amethine lost her purity when her half-sister had a half dozen boys corner her in one of the classrooms and let them have their way with her. After that boys just using her whenever it was convenient. Eventually, she just let them do it and she tried not to think about it as it happened.

Amethine confided to me that the only thing that kept her going was the hope that she could maybe become someone with enough means that she could earn enough money so that her mother could leave the flesh trade. She also told me that never wanted to have sex again and if I’m honest I don’t blame her. Her mothe

r is a prostitute and with her experiences, anyone would think like her. To her sex must be this painful thing that has no joy in it. If I ever get my hands on that half-sister of hers I’ll make sure she ends up with half the amount of teeth she had when I first met her. Or at least that’s what I tell myself, I know I can’t actually do that… you know, daughter of a powerful noble and all that…

I let out a sigh as my wanders to the dark corners of this world. I feel a slight tug on my arm and I turn to see Amethine’s shining purple eyes look at me.

“Katsuro sama is something wrong?” I hear her ask.

“It’s nothing Amethine.” I reply with a smile.

She blushes ever so lightly and looks away quickly. I’m not stupid, this poor girl has a crush on me. The gods are so cruel… this poor girl knows no affection from a man and knows only pain from a man’s touch. So when I’m the first person of the opposite sex to treat her with any shred of dignity she latches onto me in perhaps a misguided desperation. At the end of the day she’s still a young woman and no matter your past your biological tendencies are not that easy to ignore.

Amethine is confused plain and simple, she mistakes a healthy relationship and the warmth it brings with love. It would be cruel to get close to her knowing all this, she needs time to heal and come into her own as a person. To find someone she cares for, someone she truly cares for, not some random guy that showed her some basic human decency…

Well for now I’ll settle for helping to heal her mental scars, Charlotte, Ivan and Jacob are all a great help in this department. Jacob with his American humor causes her to let out small laughs, Ivan with his quiet support, always there to listen if she needs someone to talk to and then there’s Charlotte always with a warm hand and kind words. In truth she almost looks happy when we are in the room, I’m glad we picked her. She deserves this, much more than those idiots who have so much pride shoved up their ass they can taste it at the back of their mouth.

I feel another chill on my neck and I see a bunch of thugs glare leeringly at the girls. I shoot them a glare and they pause for a moment, a trace of fear dancing across their eyes. That’s right you shits, look the other way, with a face like yours the only way you’re going to get a girl is if you pay her.

I look ahead and I see Ivan chatting with one of the twins, this one had her dark red hair up in a ponytail so we could tell them apart. She was the one with war glaive and she seemed to get along best with Jacob and Ivan. The twins were uncannily identical, to the point of being unnerving. I suspect that bastard Tavis did this intentionally perhaps to satisfy some weird fetishes.

Ivan named her Volva after a famous Russian river, his reason is that her charging attack style reminded him of how the river flowed through his country winding across the landscape. It is a good name even if I don’t really like the Russian language… for obvious reasons. Still, it works and I have nothing against Ivan or his people in his world. It’s just the sound of the language that brings back some old hatreds...

The two worked well together in a fight, they seemed to have a kind of natural chemistry. When they attacked together they were a relentless force. Volva is the more reserved of the twins, although yes the both of them don’t really talk much so the difference is marginal. So I guess the two make a good pair, two of them both soft-spoken and hard as nails.

I look to Jacob and see him talking to the other twin Alfonsine, Charlotte gave her this one, it apparently means noble and eager for battle. It’s quite appropriate considering she and Jacob are the vanguard who are the first into battle to engage the opposition. However, Alfonsine is quite a long name so we just started calling her Alfie. Which is a much cuter name if you ignored the fact that her spear can find throats with deadly precision. The two also seemed to get along quite well although Jacob seems to be most of the talking and Alfie just listens most of the time.

The three of them are smiling more and more, they are recovering from their horrible past day by day. It’s going to be a long road probably years before they recover enough to be considered borderline normal but it’s a start. As for full recovery well… I’m not sure if that’s even possible. We will try of course but still, some scars don’t fade, this I know well... I can start to see some of the hollowness in their eyes start to fade, it’s amazing what even a week of care and kindness can do… well I suppose I’m a receiver of that too...

In terms of raw training, Alfie, Volva and Momo are far superior to Ivan, Jacob and Charlotte. However, after examining their stats, we the Heroes living up our title have greatly increased stats. Thus often in spars, Jacob and Ivan can beat both Alfie and Vovla one on one most of the time just by using raw brute force. That is not to say that their training means nothing, they fared far better than any of the other recruits who were of the same level.

So although our slots are only half filled our team is quite balanced. Jacob and Alfie are the front line tanks, Ivan and Volva are the flankers and interceptors, Momo and I are the ranged specialists. I also double as a reserve interceptor to buy space for Momo and the supports. Finally there are the supports, Charlotte and Amethine, they also serve as secondary ranged fighters.

I realised due to the complete lack of HP and MP system, your ability to continue the fight is based on preventing injuries, taking a hit is quite crippling and it will disable you until you are healed. This means combat is much more lethal as compared to your standard RPG game. Thus damage mitigation and evasion is the most reliable way for defence.

Soon we arrived at our desired lunch destination, we were led along by one of the attendants that was standing at the front. We were walking through the high class district, the road was paved white stone and the walls were covered in a pearly white. As we got close to the restaurant I realised there was a sign on the door.

I watched as Charlotte told the man at the door how many were to be seated and I could sense there was something of an argument brewing.

“Wait here.” I say to Amethine as I walk to the head of the group and I see Charlotte glaring at the door man.

“Please Life Hero Sama, it is against our establishment's protocol for slaves to be seated at the table. We have a holding area for the slaves, I promise they will not be damaged.” the doorman said nervously.

I look over to the sign and I see it says that slaves are not allowed to enter the dining area and violence towards them is not permitted as well. This is done in the interest of maintaining the appropriate dining atmosphere of the establishment, or at least so the sign says...

“Is there a problem?” I ask as I walk over. I see the doorman’s eyes narrow at the sight of me.

“Slaves are not permitted in the dining room.” the doorman says getting slightly hostile at the sight of me.

“We aren’t dumping our slaves in whatever pathetic excuse of holding area you have. Unless you tell me you have a vault lying around in the basement that is impervious to theft?” I say coldly.

“What?” the door man sputters, stumped by my reply.

“Get the owner out here. I don’t want to talk to a minion.” I say dismissively as I gesture to the door. The man glowers and opens his mouth as if to retort.

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“I am questioning your restaurant's security, I don’t think you are in a position to answer my questions.” I say coldly, cutting him off.

The man slams his mouth shut and stands there glowering for a moment before wheeling around and entering the restaurant.

“You don’t think he’s just going to leave us out here?” Jacob asks.

“Doubt so, imagine his reputation, leaving the heroes waiting on your establishment’s doorstep. If he does this he might as well close this place tomorrow.” I reply calmly.

Sure enough a few minutes later a well dressed man exits and bows slightly at us.

“Are you the owner?” I ask curtly.

“Yes… my employee mentioned you take issue with my establishment’s security?” he asks cordially.

“Yes, I don’t want my property being stolen while I’m having lunch.” I reply.

“My establishment has never had an instance of theft I assure you Heroes.” the man replies calmly.

“Your establishment has never had slaves like these stored. Just look around the street and see how many people are leering.” I say, I see the man raise his gaze and peer at the street around me before lowering his gaze. I know people are staring and not just out of curiosity judging by the chill on my neck.

“These three are the best the Brareil family has to offer, they are slaves worthy of a king. The king himself mentioned that he was going to purchase them if we turned them down. They are also our attendants whose task is to help us battle the Rifts. So tell me good sir, can you afford to lose them under your care?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“I assure you, your property will be safe with us.” the man says standing his ground. So he has guts and confidence in his business. This I can respect, but sorry. I’m hungry and I want some food, so here it is, time to throw in some veiled threats.

“I can tell you are confident but let me ask you this, what would you lose if the worst comes to pass? I mean if you lose them, you wouldn’t just have to pay. You will need to explain to the king how you managed to lose three out of four of the people who are supposed to help save the world. So I’ll ask you this…” I say as I lean forward so our faces are barely five centimeters apart.

Can you afford to be wrong?

I say quietly, I see his eyes flicker for a moment and he lowers his gaze.

“How many seats do you require?” he asks softly and I smile.

“Eight.” I reply as I stand back.

“This way.” he says as he opens the door for us. As we enter the dining area I see there is an opening to the dining room ahead and a small counter on the right with a door. I look behind the counter and I see demi-humans locked in cages. Most of them are listless either sitting on the floor hugging their knees or leaning limply against the back of the cage. Most of them were women and beautiful ones at that. No doubt many of the rich like their servants to do double duty…

I see the man wave the person at the counter away and we follow him deeper into the building. The first thing we see is the dining area and immediately the whole room stares at us. Well Volva, Alfie and Momo are much more well dressed as compared to your average slave who wore barely more than rags. They were wearing courtly dresses as their normal attire is combat equipment and would be ill suited for a day on the town. Amethine and the rest of us however were in full gear. For us the Heroes we decided looking the part of Heroes would have it’s advantages as most would probably just leave us alone rather than get any funny ideas. Amethine just liked having a cloak to cover her face so she stuck to her mage attire. Although I notice she wears that Steam Cloak everywhere and it seems she’s quite attached to it.

As we took our seats at a large circular table under the stares of the entire room, we tried our best to ignore it. I found myself with Charlotte on my right and Amethine on my left. I noticed Amethine had her head down and was fidgeting uncomfortably under the stares. I look up and glare at each of the nosy pair of eyes and they all look away one by one. These soft fat shits, can’t even look me in the eye without cowering.

“Better?” I ask Amethine.

“Yes, thank you.” Amethine replied shyly.

“Relax, enjoy yourself.” I say with a smile, which Amethine returns shyly slightly pink in the face.

“That was well done.” I hear Charlotte say as she flips open the menu.

“Yeah well, fear is the best motivator in my experience.” I reply as I turn to face her.

“Shouldn’t the best motivator be love?” Charlotte asks me, her gaze shifting to mine.

“Fear of losing those you care about is fear too…” I reply softly.

“Hmm… I suppose.” Charlotte replied thoughtfully as she returned her gaze to the menu.

Seeing this I turn my gaze to the menu and I examine what’s available. There’s a lot of things here I don’t recognise.

What the hell is Foe Grais? This thing here too Fillet Mignon?

“What’s Foe Grass? Some kind of vegetable?” I ask Charlotte, assuming she would know given her noble background.

“Oh it’s goose liver made into a paste, it’s french thing. It’s quite good although I don’t like to eat it much.” Charlotte said with a laugh at my grass comment.

“You don’t? Why?” I ask curiously.

“Well the goose isn’t treated the most humanely when the Foe Grais is prepared. So it’s more of a moral disapproval than anything. Like shark fin soup I guess.” Charlotte replied with a sigh.

“Well guess I’ll pass on that then, then what about Fillet Mig None?” I ask, to another giggle from Charlotte.

“It’s a cut of beef. Alright, how about this? Tell me what kind of food you want and I’ll pick something for you.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“Surprise me.” I reply with a smile of my own.

“Alright then, but judging from…” Charlotte said as she cast a look over everyone else. I look up and it looks like everyone else is as confused as I am.

“Ok, everyone just tell me what kind of food you want and I’ll order a set meal for you.” Charlotte said.

“They got good steak?” I hear Jacob ask.

“How well done do you want it?” I hear Charlotte ask.

“Medium rare. Also I want barbecue sauce if they have it.” Jacob replied.

“Right, what about you Ivan?” I see Charllotte ask.

“Something like Solyanka, a hearty stew if they have it.” I hear Ivan say.

“That’s a beef stew right? It’s sweet and sour?” I hear Charlotte ask.

“Yes. Thank you Charlotte.” Ivan said with a nod.

“Then what do you want Momo?” I see Charlotte ask sweetly at Momo who was seated to her right.

“Anything…” Momo said softly. Those three still weren’t that good at talking, mostly a lot of yeses and nos, Sama this, Sama that…

“What do you want?” I turn to ask Amethine.

“I’ll have what you have Katsuro Sama.” I hear her reply softly.

It turns out the twins wanted “anything” as well, it’s definately an improvement. Previously they were denying food so it’s a definite step up.

“Then what about you Amethine?” I hear Charlotte ask.

“Surprise us.” I say with a smirk, to another giggle from Charlotte.

“Alright then.” Charlotte said with a smile.

I watched as Charlotte ordered with practiced ease. Nobles really were different huh? I’m not really a fan of powerful people obviously. The nobles in this world haven’t actually done much to improve my opinion of them. Charlotte however, seems so different, I’m starting to understand power is just like a gun. You can use it for good or for bad, you can use it to protect or as a weapon to oppress the weak. If all the nobles in Charlotte’s world are like her then her world must be a gentle one.

“Katsuro are you alright?” I hear as Charlotte turns to focus on me.

“You’ve got that far away look in your eyes again.” she said as her brows furrowed in worry.

“No, it’s nothing.” I say with a sad laugh.

“I know that tone.” Charlotte said sternly.

“Sharp as always, no I was just thinking…” I say as I look at her beautiful face.

“Thinking?” Charlotte asked.

“I wish I could have met you someplace else…” I say with a sigh.

“Oh Katsuro…” Charlotte said gently as she reached out and held my hand.

“Sorry, I know I’m ruining the mood. Let’s talk about something else.” I say with a smile.

“Alright... you know this is progress.” Charlotte said with a giggle.

“Progress?” I ask, surprised at the comment.

“You’re talking to me about these kinds of things. It feels better right? To talk about it…” Charlotte said with a warm smile as she gripped my hand a little tighter.

“Yeah, it does…” I say as I grip her hand with mine. We stay there for a moment just looking at each other.

“You know we’re all right here? You know… watching everything.” I hear Jacob say from the side.

I turn to see Jacob leaning back in his chair smirking at me, his hands behind his head. Ivan had his usual stone like expression on his face, he looked as if he was staring at a pair of rocks. I feel Charlotte’s hand fly out of my hand. I turn to see her sitting prim and proper, back straight and slightly pink in the face.

“Ahem… right.” I say uncomfortably.

The rest of the meal went by as smoothly as could be expected. The food was quite good, it’s nice to get some of my sense of taste back. It still tastes bland as hell but at least I can taste something. Charlotte ended up getting me the Fillet Mig None… Mignon... steak thing. It’s strange the meat was covered in this sauce and I could smell the spices radiating from the plate. I look at what’s on Jacob’s plate, his steak was covered in a simple brown sauce while mine was drenched in this thick black sauce and it had more herbs on it than I could count.

I smile as I take another bite, I think Charlotte chose the strongest tasting thing on the menu. I told her about my inability to taste anything and as usual she gave me that sad worried look. I laughed it off but she still seemed bothered. Later I overheard Jacob asking Ivan if he felt the food was saltier. I have a feeling Charlotte had something to do with that…

I turn to see Amethine quickly eating her food, she was obviously trying to copy Charlotte and be prim and proper. But judging by how fast her knife is moving over her steak she is getting quite impatient.

“Just eat it, forget all the fancy manners.” I say to her. She freezes as she turns to me and her cheeks go pink. She looks like a child I caught doing something they shouldn’t. I tilt my head in Jacob's direction who is tearing into his plate with such gusto that I’m afraid he might cut the plate in half.

Amethine lets out a small laugh and she starts to eat in a slightly more relaxed manner. I survey the table again and I catch Ivan wiping Volva’s mouth with a napkin as he explains to her how one must always keep their mouths clean during a meal. Volva to her credit is listening to Ivan with rapt attention.

All in all it was… peaceful… no war, no empty chairs that were filled a night ago… no someone accidentally taking an extra ration for someone that is not around anymore… no quiet weeping in the corner of the room...

There’s actual conversation instead of the miserable silence of a suddenly depopulated platoon that is only broken by the occasional sniffle. The silence of a room that was so much more full just a night ago… If there is anything to be gained from this insane deal I struck with that god… I think this… this is good enough.

If it ended here I would be happy with just this…

“Katsuro?” I hear Charlotte ask.

“Yes?” I reply with a smile.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile after one of your introspections.” Charlotte said with a smile.

“It’s so peaceful, like a slice of heaven…” I say wistfully.

“Yes… like a summer’s day.” Charlotte said as we both turned our gaze to the table.

“Summer’s day?” I ask, turning to her.

“My mother once told me that our lives are like the seasons, it’s an analogy from Icelandic nords of the distant past.

They called it Árstiðir, meaning seasons.

They say your childhood is spring, where everything is bright and only going to get better, where the chill of winter is too far away to even contemplate. So you smile as you prepare to plant your fields.

Then as you come into your own you enter summer, with all it’s happiness and you prepare for a share of pain. You plant your fields and work so you have a good harvest.

Then as you settle down, find a partner, have children, your life turns to autumn. Your hair starts to fade like the autumn leaves and you start to feel aches and pains like the first chills of winter. Here you know sacrifice and living for someone else rather than yourself. You reap the rewards of your harvest as the light starts to fade.

Then as you grow old and grey you enter the winter of your life. You hold your family close as the snows come, you sit in your home by the crackling logs. As you wait for the end you have a moment before the end to remember what made your life worth living… and try to forget the chill of your regret…” Charlotte said wistfully.

“That sounds very poetic, I assume there's a song about it?” I ask.

“Of course, these four…” Charlotte said sadly as she looked at the small figure of Momo to her right.

“Their springs are stolen… they’ll never get it back. They won’t know childish wonder and happiness. What it's like to look at the future and without a care in the world.” Charlotte said.

“We can still try to give them a summer.” I say as I reach across the table and take her hand.

“Yes, I think that would be nice…” Charlotte said as she interlaced her fingers with mine.

“I hope you’ll give yourself one too…” Charlotte said as she turned to face me.

“I’ll steal one if I have to.” I say with a smirk.

“That’s good.” Charlotte replied with a giggle.

“So do I get to hear that song?” I ask with a playful smirk.

“Not here at the table Katsuro. This isn’t the Berlin Opera.” Charlotte said with a roll of her eyes.

“Neither was that balcony.” I say playfully.

“Alright, just one verse... of summer…” Charlotte said as she closed her eyes and began to sing softly. Just loud enough for me to hear...

Walking with the burning sun,

As it boldly calls my name,

I feel it invite me,

To accept a share of pain,

And to work to shape my destiny,

That my future days be happy,

The summer and the daylight,

Bring me struggle, love, and delight…

Charlotte finishes as she opens her eyes and looks at me shyly.

“You’re right, just like that balcony this isn’t exactly the Berlin Opera.” I say jokingly. I smile as I look back at those talking and laughing at the table.

Charlotte’s gaze follows mine as she looks at the table and I feel her squeeze my hand a little tighter.

No…

This is better than Berlin…