Moments later, each of the Syndicate members was escorted out by authorities, handcuffed, to face the consequences of their actions.

After subduing them, Sigurd left the shantytown warehouse, sure that his blows had thoroughly left all of the criminals unconscious, and contacted Miltonshire's guard. It was one of the buildings he took note of prior.

He explained the situation and the head of the guard thanked him for his cooperation in taking down the organized crime group. The captain told Sigurd they had been looking for a way to arrest the Syndicate for a long time, but since they controlled most of the town, and corruption was rampant, it was nearly an impossible feat.

While he knew there would be stragglers, he assured Sigurd their criminal empire would crumble without their boss, and Miltonshire would be safe once more.

As he watched each Syndicate member be escorted out of the warehouse one by one, Sigurd stood next to both cat girls while he counted the gold coins.

‘It's a good thing I decided to subdue them without killing them,' he thought, looking at the older cat girl. ‘It would've been really messy had she witnessed bloodshed.’

Placing the last gold coin in his burlap sack, Sigurd blurted out, “I got my gold back! Suck it, Jeremy!”

“Who's Jeremy?" the older cat girl asked.

Sigurd cursed silently at his outburst, not wanting to find a way to explain.

“Uh... no one," is all he replied with, dismissing the question altogether. “Anyway, you should've waited for me to exit earlier.”

“But you were so cool back there, mister!” her eyes lit up, her pupils dilating.

“And that's another thing. My name isn’t mister, don’t call me that. It makes me sound like an old man.”

“But you are an old man," the younger cat girl interjected.

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“Watch it," he pointed at them both as they giggled. “My name is Sigurd. What are your names?”

“I'm Mia!" said the older cat girl. She was the spunkier of the two. Her big blue eyes belied a sneaky mischievousness.

“And I'm Nia. I'm six years old," the younger cat girl calmly added. Her expression was deadpan, giving off the assumption that she was perpetually bored. She was the calmer of the two, and her pitch-black orbs hid wisdom beyond her years.

If not for their slight height difference, and their eye and hair colors, Sigurd noticed it would be difficult to tell them apart. Their names didn't make it easy, and harder still was the fact that Mia was shorter for her age, though he surmised that was likely attributed to their malnutrition.

“And though I may seem like a kid to you, I'm already twelve! So even if you insist on doing it with me, you'll still have to wait at least three years!" Mia smugly proclaimed, sticking out her tongue in a mocking gesture.

Sigurd shook his head violently, scrunching his face in disgust. “No. Stop bringing up those nasty subjects, that, even if you were three years older, you're still just a kid. So act like one!”

‘Unless cat kin age in a similar proportion to how cats aged on my planet? Cat year to human year equivalents?' Joyce pondered, thereafter shaking her head.

Thinking about it made her even more uncomfortable, so she changed the subject.

“Speaking of nasty things, you sneaked up the brothel wall and opened the window when you stole the gold, right?”

Mia nodded happily.

“How did you get past the locked safe?” he then asked.

She looked at her younger sister. They shared a stare before she answered.

“That was easy. I was watching when you deposited the gold in there and saw the combination you put,” she scratched her nose proudly. “I then just waited all night, watching you sloppily flop around on that bed, until everybody was asleep, sneaked in, and made away with the bag!”

Sigurd took a hand to his face, disappointed by all Mia said, “But wait, how did you know I had a bag of gold?”

“I followed you from the teleporter, the moment you arrived in town!" she giggled. “I mean, you were walking around, drunk, and carrying a very large sack over your shoulder, practically letting everyone know you were loaded.”

He shook his head, trying in vain to forget how indiscriminate and reckless he had been that evening.

“But anyway, where do we go from here?" she asked.

“We?" he scoffed. “There is no we. I got my gold back and now I need to get back to my domain, or else the king will have my head. As for you two, I'll be escorting you back to the orphanage."

Sigurd began to walk away as the final criminal was taken away.

“We can't go back there," Nia spoke up.

Flustered, he turned to them, “Why not?”

“We were thrown out. The head of the orphanage was scared the Syndicate would target him or the other kids after we got into debt with them, so he banished us and forbade us from returning," Mia explained.

“We're homeless," Nia added. She still had a deadpan look on her face, but tears surrounded Mia's eyes.

A sucker for how sad they looked, Sigurd gave in. “Alright. You can come with me until I figure out what to do with you. After all, what's the worst that could go wrong?”

Mia's face lit up and she wagged her long, black tail. As Sigurd said that, though, he fell over, landing flat on the ground.

Both girls rushed over to him, worried something might have happened, but Sigurd knew the truth. A window popped up in front of his face, letting him know [Seek and Destroy]'s side effect was kicking in:

“In exchange for the boost in strength and agility, you will now suffer sluggishness and lethargy.”

Next to the announcement, there was a timer counting down.

‘At least this crappy side effect has a visible cooldown, but this isn't good,' Joyce thought.

“I'm just exhausted after that fight," Sigurd reassured the girls. “Help me up, we're going straight for the teleporter.”

Leaning part of his weight on Mia, he hobbled with her and Nia back to the main road in Miltonshire.