Neither Urick nor Nove said much when Kano told them they were leaving, though once they were in the streets outside the citadel, Nove did ask why. Now that her head had cooled, Kano felt a bit foolish, but she also didn’t think she was wrong. “An and I had an argument, and she doesn’t want us here any longer.”

“Then you’ve decided you don’t agree with what she’s doing after all?” Nove asked.

“No, not exactly. But I don’t agree with her reasons for doing it. That’s a good enough reason to leave.” An had also told her to leave, but there was no need to tell Nove that.

“But I thought you wanted to keep an eye on her, make sure she didn’t get up to anything bad?”

“I changed my mind. I realized I knew enough about her to trust her. At least in regards to what she was trying to do.” That line of thinking had had no bearing on Kano’s reason for leaving, but she discovered that what she was saying was true nonetheless.

Urick shrugged, not seeming to care much one way or the other. “Where to now, then? The Red Company?”

Kano had yet to give their destination any thought, but now that he mentioned it, the Red Company base seemed as good a destination as any. Hopefully the trouble Eomonsa was causing in the town had passed them by. Or if it hadn’t, that the children hadn’t come to harm or been kidnapped again. Kano had spent more than enough time chasing after them. Not that she had anything better to do with her time now that they were leaving the citadel behind.

Arriving outside the Red Company’s unimaginatively red building, Kano found one of their members standing outside on watch. After giving her name, she informed them that she was here to see the children. With a salute, the ghoul guided them to the large room that had been given over to the children. Judging by the cleanliness of the rest of the building, the room had once been rather neat, but it was impossible to tell from its current state. A layer of blankets, clothing, general rubbish and, to Kano’s surprise, even firearms, covered most of the floor.

Seeing Kano look askance at the weapons, the ghoul helpfully informed her that they weren’t loaded. It still struck her as a rather strange thing to do, but she supposed there was no harm in it. They did seem to have taken a liking to them. There were several that had been partially dismantled, and one of the children was currently stripping and cleaning a handgun. However, casting her gaze across the group, Kano realized there were considerably less of them than she remembered.

“Aren’t some of them missing?” Kano asked the Red Company soldier. Before the ghoul could reply, one of the nearby children, the majority of which had noticed Kano’s arrival and started to drift over, said, “They’re at work.”

“Oh.” With a little nod, Kano gave the one who’d answered a pat on the head. She’d forgotten all about their jobs at Bitest’s factory. That must be a sign of how overworked she was these days. Why else would she have forgotten all the hard work she’d done on their behalf? That was exactly the sort of thing that was worth remembering, if only so that she could bring it up later to guilt them into things. Who knew when that would come in handy?

“How has working there been, anyway?” Other than what she’d heard after Thirty-Six’s initial visit, she knew very little about what it was like there.

The ghoul glanced back at the children assembled behind it. “It’s been strange. Very different from what we were doing in the jungle, when we were still living with the master.”

“But you’ve been doing okay? You don’t hate it or anything?”

Their little shoulders went up and down in a shrug. “We get paid, so we can eat.”

It was a little disappointing to see that they weren’t more excited about it, but Kano supposed that was an unrealistic expectation. Their work was probably quite hard, definitely not something Kano would want for herself. The children being fed and relatively safe was probably about the best she could hope for.

It was only when she thought of safety that Kano realized that maybe having the children out in the town during these times wasn’t such a great idea. Particularly given the fact that Eomonsa appeared to be controlling a lot of ghouls employed as workers. Many of them were likely factory workers at that.

“Wait here. I’ll be right back,” Kano said, addressing the children along with Urick and Nove.

And with that, she hurried out into the street, wondering how she could have been so blind. For all she knew, the children could already have been taken over by Eomonsa, for use in one of his suicidal attacks. Thinking about what had happened to Seventy-Two, the ghoul who’d been cut to pieces for examination by Virtur, Kano felt ill. What if something like that had happened to the ones at the factory? Or worse? Kano ground her teeth. That couldn’t be allowed to happen again.

Regardless of Eomonsa’s intentions, she was determined to kill him now. She couldn’t bear someone wreaking this kind of havoc in her town. How was she supposed to go about her life without worrying with something like that hanging over her head? At least An, for all her faults, kept largely to herself. Other than when she’d taken over the citadel. Now that she thought about it, An hadn’t really done all that much, keeping to herself in the time that Kano had known her.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But Kano still liked her more then Eomonsa, that much was for sure. Hurrying through the streets, trying to remember where the factory was and how to get there from here, Kano wandered into an unfamiliar part of town. Hunched, decaying buildings huddled together around her in crooked rows which often spilled over into the road. In some places they even blocked off the street entirely.

She could be anywhere in the poorer side of town. It was hard to tell when, but she must have taken a wrong turn. From behind broken or boarded-up windows, ghouls peeked out at Kano, but none of them said anything or approached her. She wasn’t sure if they were always so reluctant to approach strangers or if it was because they recognized her.

Spotting a skinny man in soiled rags shuffling past on the street, Kano called out to him.

“Hey, you. Do you know where I can Bitest’s factory?”

He let out an indistinct muffled groan and, lowering his head, kept walking. As he passed, Kano caught a whiff of a strange chemical odor exuding from him. She couldn’t recall having smelled anything quite like it but dismissed it as just some exotic intoxicant or sign of decay. The lack of a meaningful response was annoying, but Kano could hardly blame the ghoul. He probably barely knew what was happening.

There was no one else out on the street, and Kano doubted she’d get much of use out of any of the residents here. No one with any sense would be content with living in such a horrid place. Picking up the pace, Kano just kept moving until she caught sight of the citadel and made her way to the streets around it. It was a long way from where she wanted to be, but now that she knew where she was, Kano reached the factory quickly enough.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the lights were still on, and the sounds of machinery could be heard from some distance away. Had it been this busy the last time she was here? Kano wasn’t certain, but she didn’t think so. An armed ghoul was patrolling the factory’s perimeter and, seeing Kano, he moved toward her.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

Kano tried not to let his surliness bother her. It was obvious he didn’t know who she was. “I want to talk to Bitest, is she here?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Kano.”

He looked her over again and blanched. “Oh, um. Yes, she’s here. I’ll just go get her.”

Kano crossed her arms, and he all but ran inside. After a while, the familiar face of Bitest, still wearing her stained overalls, emerged.

“Hey,” Bitest said with a tired but polite smile, “what do you need?”

Now that she was actually here, Kano’s worries felt a little silly. “I just came to check on how the children are doing here. I figured it was past time that I came for another visit.”

“Oh, well, things were a little rough at first while they were learning the ropes, but they got the hang of it pretty quick, a lot faster than I expected. Do you want to come inside and see them work?”

“No thanks. Just hearing about it is enough. I don’t want to disrupt their work. Especially since you guys seem pretty busy around here.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Even working at full capacity, we haven’t been able to keep up with the demand lately.”

“I should definitely let you get back to it, then. Bye.”

“Okay. Well, thanks for stopping by. Hopefully you’ll visit again soon. Maybe when we’re not so busy.”

“I’ll try,” Kano said, on the verge of leaving. Though she doubted she’d have the inclination to come back anytime soon. It was only her sudden, and apparently unfounded, concerns that had brought her rushing out here at this time of night. Then again, even if the factory workers hadn’t been affected by whatever Eomonsa was up to yet, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. Unless Eomonsa stopped or was stopped, it seemed only a matter of time.

Kano wasn’t sure how much of a difference she could make, but she decided she’d better wait and escort the children home once they were done. Past that, the factory would have to do without them and their fellows until this crisis had abated. “I think I’ll just wait out here until they’re done so I can take them home. I’m also going to have to keep them and the others at home for a while. It’s not safe for them to be out these days.”

Bitest looked like she wanted to argue until Kano shot her a glare, and she nodded in resignation. “All right, we’ll just have to manage as best we can.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t be better off shutting down the whole factory? Things are getting pretty dangerous these days.”

Bitest shrugged. “It’s as safe for my workers here as it is in their homes, if not safer. Besides, we need the business. Not much point holing up if you can’t afford to eat.”

Feeling like a fool for even bringing it up, Kano let Bitest get back to work. She waited around for a while until the children filed out along with some of the other workers. They were surprised to see Kano waiting for them, but they did as they were told and followed her.

Escorting the children back to the Red Company’s barracks was easier than Kano expected. They kept together on the way home without her having to do anything. Perhaps they were simply too tired for any mischief. She could certainly believe it from the way they walked with their heads down, dragging their feet.

But the moment they were in the door, their fatigue seemed to vanish as they babbled excitedly amongst each other. Hearing the others return, the rest of the children poured out from their room to form one large group that filled the hallway around Kano. A handful of the Red Company ghouls, nominally on guard, watched in genial bemusement alongside Nove.

Kano didn’t pay much of it any attention. She was happy that they’d gotten home safely, but now she just wanted to rest. But before she could, there was one last thing she had to do. Gesturing for Nove to follow her, Kano went into an empty section of the barracks. “Tell the children they won’t be going to work for a while, not until the trouble in town has passed.”

Nove nodded. “That’s probably for the best. They’ll be safer here.”

“So, they’ll listen?”

“For a little while, at least. Depends how long they have to wait.”

“Why would they want to go out there? Especially if it’s dangerous.” Kano couldn’t understand why they’d want to work if they didn’t have to.

“I think they’d rather work than be a burden on you. That and they’re a bit strange when it comes to danger. They generally seem pretty indifferent to it.”

Kano sighed. “Well, just do the best you can.”