Chapter 130
A Deal Fulfilled
Erin had been expecting Rayleen to be waiting for her in a more hidden place, much like the cave she had brought her, Ryle and Arkay into when they first met her. After all, she was a warlord, one of the three highest ranking officials within the military. Not only that, but she was also inside the territory of another warlord entirely. Staying hidden and keeping a low profile in such an area was to be expected.
So the redhead was obviously quite bewildered to say the least, when she saw the place Rayleen was actually staying at. Instead of a cave or some small building located in a less populated area, the warlords had chosen to stay at what had to be the most expensive and luxurious hotel in the whole city. Not only were there people going around like ants in their nest, but the place itself was lit up brighter than a hundred Christmas trees. If anybody was trying to stay hidden, this should have been the last place they would go to.
All Erin could do was stare at the massive building before her with her lone eye wide and her mouth hanging open. She looked the hotel up and down, watching in sheer disbelief at the building that looked like it reached the sky.
“Why are you just standing there like a zombie?” Izra asked, irritated that the redhead had suddenly stopped. “Lady Rayleen is waiting! Get moving already!”
“I-I just-! I mean-! Why is she staying here of all places!?” Erin asked, breaking out of her stupor and quickly following after the dragon woman. “As a warlord, shouldn’t she try to keep a lower profile or something!?”
“Why bother? It’s not like the person in control of this area is going to do anything,” Izra said, referring to the death of Gotzmeyer. “Besides, people are already more than aware that she is here or did you forget about her nightly flights to draw you out? What’s the point of discretion now?”
Seeing the dragon woman’s point, the redhead couldn’t argue back, so she simply shrugged and went along with it. She then proceeded to follow her guide inside the hotel.
The place was even more luxurious on the inside than it was on the outside. It seemed like every inch glowed and sparkled from the beautifully crafted materials, showing everyone who entered that this wasn’t a place for an average traveler. Even the guests and the staff looked the part as well. A single glance was more than enough to tell Erin that everyone around her was dressed in only the finest of fabrics. She could even smell the wealth from the perfumes people were using and the food that was served in the nearby dining room.
“Would you mind and stop staring at people? You’re making me look bad by being close to you!” Izra scolded Erin. “Could you at least try to make yourself look like you have at least some level of class? Is that too hard?”
“I-I’m sorry! It’s just that this is all so overwhelming for me!” Erin explained. “I’ve never been surrounded by so much wealth in my entire life, so I was taken aback a bit!”
“Well, I suppose that’s understandable. Things like this can be quite a lot to take in for the first time,” the dragon woman said with a shrug. “It gets a lot easier after that. By the fourth or fifth time you stop paying attention to it.”
The redhead couldn’t help but wonder what kind of lives warlords and their closest aides lived.
Calling down an elevator, the two of them were soon on their way up to the penthouse, which at this point didn’t surprise Erin. After a long and awkward rise up, the doors finally opened to reveal the people who had traveled with one of the three warlords.
Erin had expected to see a group of well-dressed military men and women. All either wearing uniforms decorated in medals or very expensive and fancy suits. She imagined that these people would be acting all calm and collected, having small talk over drinks or possibly playing games like chess to pass the time. The atmosphere would be one of calm and class, perfect for people who had risen to the top of society and taken high positions within the military.
However, what the redhead witnessed was a loud and wild party, similar to ones college kids would throw during vacations. There was loud music blasting from the stereos, making it nearly impossible to hear anything else. The people were all either dancing like lunatics or doing crazy stunts, like jumping into the pool that was part of the penthouse from high places. Not only that, but there were obvious signs of reckless use of alcohol, as there were numerous empty bottles littered everywhere and some of the people there were either completely drunk, throwing up or passed out.
“W-What the hell is this?” Erin asked while staring at the chaos before her in disbelief. “Did you take me to the wrong room or something?”
“I wish that was the case. Sadly, I was afraid that this was going to happen,” Izra said with a sigh. “It honestly sometimes feels like I’m looking after a bunch of misbehaving kids!”
“...You probably won’t believe me, but I think the two of us are kindred spirits in that regard,” the redhead said, thinking back to her own companions.
The two of them headed further into the room, doing their best to avoid whatever the people partying had left on the floor and the people themselves. It seemed like most of them had been drinking so much that they were no longer capable of communication, so finding Rayleen was going to be a problem.
Izra eventually noticed one person, who seemed to be sober and didn’t seem to be enjoying the party at all. Said person was a wolfman, who was wearing a military uniform. He had a small glass of liquor in his hand that he took small sips out of, while observing the party with a tired look on his face.
“Wargas! What the hell happened here!?” Izra said angrily as she walked up to the wolfman. “Didn’t I specifically tell you to prevent these types of things from happening!? How is anybody here supposed to be able to fight, if we are attacked!?”
“I tried my best to convince them not to go through with this,” Wargas said with a sigh. “The problem is that the one who suggested it isn’t someone you can easily convince to act maturely.”
“Who was it? Helgen? Orben?” the dragon woman asked. “Who was the one who-?”
“CANNONBALL!” a rather familiar voice suddenly shouted, getting their attention.
Erin and the two soldiers turned around to see Rayleen herself jump into the pool, splashing water everywhere. The warlord then got back to the surface, before swimming over to a swimming ring that was floating on the water and laying on it.
image [https://i.ibb.co/sC4DXXb/Ch-130-Pic-1.jpg]
“Do I still need to tell you who the main culprit was?” Wargas asked sarcastically.
“...No. I think we have already figured that out,” Izra replied in a frustrated tone, before looking at Erin. “Come on. Let’s hope that she’s still sober enough to remember the job she sent you on.”
Walking up to the edge of the pool, where the warlord was currently lazing about, Izra tried to get Rayleen’s attention. Unfortunately due to the loud music and noise caused by the partying people, not to mention the large amount of alcohol coursing through the warlord’s body, the dragon woman was having a hard time doing this. It was starting to get to a point where she was visibly enraged by her lack of progress.
“Ummm… Should I come over later?” Erin asked, worried over how obviously angry Izra was. “I mean… If she’s not going to be able to talk to me about the job I did for her, isn’t it kind of pointless to even try?”
“I get where you’re coming from, but we need to do this now,” the dragon woman said with a sigh. “If we don’t get this sorted out, she sure as hell won’t be talking to you tomorrow. She’ll have such a terrible hangover that she’ll just lock herself in her bedroom and refuse to come out.”
“So why don’t we just give her that day to recover and I’ll come the next day after that?” the redhead asked.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Because by that point, the time you were given to accomplish your task will be gone and you’ll be deemed to have failed to deliver your promise,” Izra explained. “I doubt you need me to tell you what will happen after that, do I?”
“...Not really,” Erin said with her face slightly pale. “But what are we supposed to do now? It doesn’t seem like anything is going to get her attention!”
“Well, there is one method we can try,” the dragon woman said with a shrug. “Might as well give it a try.”
Before Erin could ask what the method was, Izra grabbed her by the front of her shirt and threw her at Rayleen. Crashing into the warlord caused her to fall off her swimming ring and plunge into the water. Rayleen quickly rose up to the surface with an angry look on her face, looking for the one who had just bumped into her.
“Alright! Who has got the balls to-!?” the warlord asked angrily, before noticing Erin. “...Who the hell were you again?”
“I… I’m one of the people you sent on a mission,” Erin replied awkwardly, but could tell that her answer wasn’t ringing any bells in Rayleen’s mind. “You know… The group that had an… incident with Gotzmeyer. The ones you beat up and threatened to take on a mission for you. The one where we had to kill the Reaper Maggot. Doesn’t this sound familiar at all?”
“Kind of, but I can’t understand why I would send some loser I’ve never even met before on a job, when I’ve got perfectly good guys all around me. ISN’T THAT RIGHT, YOU ALL!?” the warlord shouted, earning cheers from her followers. “So what you need to tell me is why the hell exactly would I ever need your help?”
Seeing how Rayleen didn’t remember her, the redhead was starting to panic. Unless someone could properly remind the warlord of their deal, she was certain that she would end up dead.
“She’s one of the people who took down Gotzmeyer,” Izra said, having grown tired of the conversation not progressing. “You forced them to take on the Reaper Maggot, so you could see just how useful they are.”
“...Oh right. I did do that, didn’t I?” Rayleen said, finally remembering the deal. “Sorry about that. I’ve been a bit bored lately and needed to do something to keep myself occupied. While fun, it has a tendency to make me forget about stuff.”
“No problem. As long as you’ve at least remembered now,” Erin said with a somewhat forced smile. Even if she was happy that her life had most likely been saved, she couldn’t help but be a bit annoyed at the fact that she and her group had been forgotten by the one who held their lives in her hands.
“Anyways, I suppose it’s time to act like an adult and get back to actual work then,” the warlord said as she got out of the pool and grabbed a towel to dry herself. “Let’s go to my private room. We can talk more about this there.”
The redhead simply nodded and followed after Rayleen. She was handed a towel to dry herself, so that she wouldn’t cause too much of a mess while inside the warlord’s own room. Izra also followed after them and they were soon in a space that was much more silent compared to what was going on right outside of it. It apparently had been built to be soundproof, so that the person staying there would have the utmost peace and quiet.
Sitting on a very comfy-looking chair, Rayleen, who was still clad in only her swimsuit and a wet towel around her neck, turned her attention to Erin. The redhead was taken aback by how the air around the warlord had suddenly changed, as she was no longer the wild party girl she had been just a second ago. In her place was someone, who despite what they were wearing, radiated power and authority. Looking at her like this, it was no surprise they had been beaten so easily.
image [https://i.ibb.co/zJYFtdN/Ch-130-Pic-2.jpg]
“I heard that you were able to accomplish the little errand I sent your group on. That’s very pleasing for me to hear. Very pleasing indeed,” Rayleen said with a slight grin. “It seems that my assumptions in regards to you and your little band of rebels wasn’t wrong. Then again, I’m hardly ever wrong anyways. It seems that you people are worth me investing my time and resources into.”
“Glad to hear that,” Erin said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Anyways, I brought proof that the Reaper Maggot has been killed by us, but I think it might not be necessary anymore, seeing as you had someone watching over us the entire time.”
“Wait… Is that what that thing you’ve been carrying with you this whole time? I just thought you had a secret weapon of some kind that you were going to try and use to kill me with,” the warlord said. “While I appreciate the gesture, I’m afraid that you’re right about it not being necessary. I knew long before you got here that you managed to do your job. I do have to say that I am a bit disappointed, though.”
“Why? Because I didn’t wrap it up into a nice gift?” the redhead asked.
“No, because I was honestly looking towards you trying to kill me. I was actually getting a bit excited, as I didn’t know what kind of a weapon that would have been. It could have been really fun,” Rayleen explained. “Not that it would have made any difference anyways. No matter what you could have prepared, I would have beaten it along with you and you would still be doing work for me. So I guess it works out well in the end, huh?”
“Trust me. I learned from the last time we fought,” Erin said. “Also, should you really be so casual about the idea of someone trying to kill you? I thought warlords were supposed to be important people, whose lives should be guarded with the best of security.”
“Listen, when you get to the point of pure badassery as yours truly, security is more of a decoration than anything else. I’m willing to bet that you could count the people who could take me on with your fingers,” the warlord boasted. “Besides, what’s the fun in life, if you’ll let someone else do everything for you? Doesn’t sound like an interesting life to me!”
“If you say so…” the redhead said with a sigh. “So do you want this thing or not?”
“Meh. The best I could do with it is either eat it or sell it for some pocket change,” Rayleen said with a shrug. “Use it however you see fit. I don’t have any real use for it myself.”
“Alright. With that out of the way, I suppose we can go back to business then,” Erin said. “You said you wanted us to go after Golorath, right?”
“That is true. Glad that you remembered our deal,” the warlord said. “I haven’t made all of the necessary preparations yet, though. I didn’t want to put in the effort only to find out that you all ended up inside the Reaper Maggot’s belly. However, I’ll soon have something ready, so you can go on your merry little way.”
“Mind if I ask something?” the redhead asked, receiving a nod in response. “Why did you have us go kill the Reaper Maggot? If all you want is Golorath out of the way, wouldn’t it have been better to just send us to him right from the start?”
“Well, I have my reasons. For starters, I’ve been planning a little project of mine that required that thing to be removed. No need for you to know more about that, though,” Rayleen explained. “As for why I didn’t simply send my own guys, not only do I wish to save my own resources for times when they are absolutely needed, I wanted to test you guys out a bit. Your group has gained quite the reputation and I wanted to see if it was earned. Besides, our fight before was such a disappointment that I needed to confirm you were all worth the trouble.”
“That leads me to another thing I’ve been wondering,” Erin said. “You’ve seen for yourself how strong we are through fighting us. What makes you think that we will perform better against Golorath than you?”
“Oh, how adorable! You actually thought I had such high expectations of you!?” the warlord said with a laugh. “Listen, I’m not expecting you to actually defeat Golorath. All I’m expecting is for you to cause him harm.”
“What are you-?” the redhead began to ask, only to realize what Rayleen meant.
“I see that you get it now,” the warlord said with a grin. “I am not at all expecting YOU to beat him. What I expect is that through my planning, you’ll harm him in such a way that it will be easier for ME to take him down. Wound him, poison him, make him sick or just destroy some of his equipment. I don’t care what it is that you do. All I care is that you’ll give me an opportunity to exploit for my own benefit.”
“So we’re just sacrificial pawns that you plan to use and throw away!?” Erin asked angrily. “Is this how you see other people!? Just some meaningless objects for you to benefit from!?”
The redhead’s outburst caused Rayleen to go silent and stare at her with wide eyes. The all of a sudden, the warlord burst out into roaring laughter.
“Oh my! Would you look at that!?” Rayleen said as she laughed. “This gal thinks she actually has the moral high ground over me!”
“What the hell are you talking about!?” Erin asked angrily. “How can you just laugh at what I just said!?”
“Because YOU, my friend, are in absolutely no position to criticize anybody!” the warlord said, still grinning. “This is what I love about you “righteous rebels” the most. The fact that you are so blinded by your own egos that you fail to realize the criminals you are yourselves! Did you ever take a moment to think about the amount of blood that’s on your hands!?”
The sudden question took the redhead by surprise and left her speechless. Rayleen took this as a sign to speak up.
“If you need me to be more specific, have you ever thought about all the soldiers who have died because of you? Did you ever take a moment to think about their lives outside military?” the warlord asked. “I’m sure you’ve met those who abuse their power and status as you can find them anywhere, but just because you put on a uniform doesn’t automatically make you evil. I can guarantee that most of the poor bastards were probably just trying to put food on the table for their kids. How do you think they’re doing now? I can guarantee that most, if not all of them are having a hard time.”
Erin didn’t speak up. She always did know this, but never let it stay on her mind. It was easier to ignore it and just move forward.
“What was that one town again? The one that got wiped out?...Oh yes! Rockmoore!” Rayleen said, shocking the redhead. “I heard all sorts of nasty stuff happened there. Not to mention, the whole place ended up getting burned to the ground! I’m willing to bet YOU had something to do with it.”
“That wasn’t me!” Erin said in her defense. “It was that general-!”
“Yes. Yes. I know. General whatever the hell his name was destroyed the town in some pathetic show of masculinity or something. I read the reports!” the warlord said, brushing off the redhead’s argument. “It still doesn’t change the fact that you had a hand to play in it. Tell me something. What led to that guy doing what he did? I doubt he did it completely on a whim. Something or somebody must have set him off to do that. Care to make a guess?”
Erin gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. She wanted to argue back and say it wasn’t her fault. However, she couldn’t fully deny what Rayleen was saying either.
“I suppose that one might be a bit of a stretch, but I’d say your latest stunt is something you really can’t brush off,” the warlord continued. “I heard something really interesting happened in the pit involving a group of innocent hunters. Mind explaining what that was about?”
The redhead was completely taken aback by this. She had not expected Rayleen to bring that up at all. In fact, she herself had somewhat forgotten about it herself. Thinking about it, how could she allow herself to forget something like that? Had she just become indifferent to the lives of other?
“I see you know what I’m talking about,” the warlord said. “I gotta say, that was some dirty playing you did there, even if it did end up helping you out. Personally, I wouldn’t have done something like it myself. I find such acts too distasteful to my liking. I suppose you could argue that I have more resources and power at my disposal, but before you do that, I want you to do something else first.”
Rayleen now leaned forward in her chair. Her eyes glared straight into Erin, who felt like the warlord’s sharp gaze was cutting through her soul.
“Can you look me in the eyes and tell me without any hesitation or doubt that there was nothing else you could have done?” Rayleen asked. “If you can, I’ll let it slide as an unfortunate accident.”
The redhead wanted to deny the accusation thrown at her. She wanted to scream and yell, saying they couldn’t have done anything at all to help the hunters. She furiously thought of any explanation possible.
She couldn’t find anything. There was no denying what had happened.
“I thought so,” Rayleen said before leaning back on her chair. “Anyways, I’ll contact you later on what I want you to do in regards to Golorath. Until then, you and your buddies better stay in that hotel room of yours. Understood?”
Erin simply nodded in response, before she was dismissed. As she headed back to where her friends were waiting for her, she was already thinking of what to say to them. Not just in regards to the work Rayleen was going to give them, but how they needed to act from now on.
They needed to clean up their act.