I pulled out my phone and took a few photographs of the city beyond the fog, and of the houses in the clearing, and the pocked carriage. After that, I dragged the ratman who had the rifle out of the house and set him on the cobblestone to snap a picture. How cool would it be if I got the photographs of Efra? I bet it’d go viral. While dragging it, I notice the twinkle of something metallic on its tail. After taking a picture of its face, I pushed it over with my foot and saw it again: a copper ring on the thickest part of the creature’s tail.

I suppose it’s time to look for and gather the loot. It was my right as the victor, right? If I died, surely they would do the same thing, right? I tugged the ring off and felt its heft in my hand. It felt as heavy as a handful of coins. I stuck it in the front pocket of my jacket and checked to see if the other ratman had something similar. Instead of one, however, this ratman had two. One the same size as the first, and another slightly smaller one about three inches down the tail from the first. While it had a smaller circumference, the band was thicker, and the weight was about the same.

I walked up to the top floor of the building I had stepped out of, and set the spear down by the grate, and looked around the room. First the branches. I pulled the spear out of the ground pinning the green cloth to the floor, and tossed it toward the grate as well. I picked up the green cloth, and tens of bones; bleached white from age, and cracked, rattled to the wooden floor. They were small; about the size of a child. Ribs, thigh bones, arms. One of the thigh bones looked as if it had been snapped clean in two. The last bone to roll out was a skull. It wasn’t human, nor was it ratlike. This one looked decidedly more feline. I turned it over in my hand, set it back down on the ground, and covered all of it with the green cloth before walking over to the bed.

I picked up the photograph sitting on the nightstand right by the head of the bed. Inside the frame was the photograph of three figures; all bipedal cats. They sat on a blanket beneath a large tree that bore thick, red berries in clusters. Behind that, the beginnings of The first of them was a figure dressed in a green tunic. It had bright orange fir, like a ginger cat of our world, and bright green eyes. Next to him, with their shoulders pressed together, was a nearly completely white catman, with bright blue eyes wearing a flowing pink robe. Both held a broad smile, as they pressed their cheeks against another catlike creature in the middle of the three.

This one was obviously a child. It was a little more than half of the other two’s size. It had a bit of each of their fur color mixed in with its own fur: the primary color was white from one, with orange stripes going across its round face like the stripes of a tiger. It had one blue eye, and one the brilliant green of the other. A family had lived here once...I looked to the bones...ah. I wonder which one of these three it was. I set the photograph down and looked through the drawer. A wooden box sat on top of a penned letter. I couldn’t make out any of the words, so I set it aside and opened the box.

A brilliant white locket sat within the wooden box. I opened it and a new photograph sat in it: the white and orange catman stood in a shining suit of armor: carrying a bow in one hand, and a quiver in the other. I put the locket back into the box and set it by the letter. I suppose I’ll take both with me. I picked them up and put them in my bag; near the front, so the letter didn’t get wrinkled.

Books lined the shelf that shared this windowed alcove. I took them as well and placed them in my bag.

Why take those?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I could see the Shard glow from inside of my pocket.

“I want to decipher the language.” I said, “Perhaps I’ll learn something useful about how to actually win this war eventually.”

Win this war? There is no winning. All we can do is hold back the inevitable for as long as possible.

“If I’m going to fight, I’m going to fight to win,” I answered the spirit.

Ha. I’ll try not to laugh...if that’s the case you need to get strong quick, don’t you?

“That’s the goal.”

Then what are you still doing here?

“I just told you.”

Wouldn’t it be quicker to build your strength by quickly doing doors?

“It would...fine, let me gather a few more things and I’ll step out.”

I put the books in my bag and headed back downstairs. The rifle I carried upstairs with me. I found the bullets in a pouch attached to the belt of the ratman I had dragged outside. I grabbed those as well. I set both by my bag and the two spears set there. After that, I searched the trunk by the foot of the bed. Nothing but clothes that would never fit. Perhaps the cloth could be reused for something. I stuff those in my backpack as well.

You’re...you’re just trying to take as many things with you as you can, aren’t you?

“Well. Yeah.”

Why?

“So I can finish that Looter I quest quicker? Now, would each bullet count as a single item?”

I suppose that’s one way to get stronger as well. Good. I approve. And yes, I’ll count each individual bullet as an item. Spend as much time as you want in here~

I suppose that’s true, but I just want to be able to see without glasses.

I searched the house across the street as well. I found a copper pot that I brought with me, more books, and what looked to be a kitchen knife. Anything of value, or could be of value, must be taken.

Once all of those things were either in my bag, or sitting by the bigger things by the grate that I had stepped into Efra from, I take a deep breath, and drink from the bottle of water I had stored in my bag. All of this walking around...up and down those stairs. My legs felt like jelly already, and I felt like vomiting, with how exhausted I was. Just one more thing to check, and I’ll be out of here. I take a deep breath and set down the stairs one more time, with a piece of cloth from the trunk.

+1 Endurance, +1 Strength came a notification on the Shard.

I suppose that’s a reward for pushing myself. Good. Good.

I took another deep breath as soon as I stepped off the last step and made my way back out the door to the carriage. Faded paint shows the picture of a full moon, partially eclipsed by a crescent moon on a blue background in the middle of the large door. Varnish peeled off the wood in long strands, and blue curtains blocked out the view into the carriage. I pulled out one of the arrows, and then the next. When I had a handful of them, I wrapped them in the piece of cloth I had brought along with me, and set them on the ground by the front door to the wattle-and-daub building the grate back to Earth was in.

I grabbed hold of the door. It hissed as I pulled it open, as foul air escaped from the inside, and the corpse of a long-dead catperson fell from the cushioned interior. I turned to the side and vomited on the street. The stench was unbearable. Once my eyes stopped burning, I glanced at the body. Patches of white fur still clung to its shrunken skin, and a pink dress draped over its emaciated form. A bullet had torn its way through its stomach, judging by the blood stain in the middle of its dress. It wore a golden bangle on its wrist, inlaid with brilliant white stones, that, despite the rot, managed to maintain its glimmer. I hesitated for a moment, before deciding to leave that bangle where it was. This thing wasn’t an enemy of Earth. No, this was an enemy of Roki. Killed as it tried to flee the war. This thing had a family...so I left it there, on the ground; draping out of the carriage door.

“I can’t...I don’t feel right just leaving it here.” I told the Shard. “I want to bury it.”

Did you bring a shovel?

“No…”

Then it is unfortunate, but you must leave them where they are.

I swallowed the bit of sorrow building up in my chest and headed back into the house with the bundle of arrows. I climbed up the stairs for the last time and tossed the bigger stuff into the grate. They vanished as soon as they entered, and I followed after the last was done.

[Looter 1 Complete]

+5 Perception, +1 Strength

[Looter 2 Unlocked]

The Shard notified me as soon as I set foot back down on Earth. A burning sensation spread across my eyes and through my legs. By the time I managed to open my eyes once the burning had faded, I no longer needed my glasses.