Chapter 140
Among the Trash
Erin and Arkay had made their way into the slums of Graven Hills and were now moving around in the search of Rayleen’s underlings. As soon as they had gotten near the edge of the area, both were forced to cover their noses in response to the awful smell that hit their noses. Erin pulled her mask over the lower half of her face and Arkay pulled his scarf over his nose.
The smell was only a sign of the filth and trash that they were walking into, as it only took a quick look to tell where the horrid stench was coming from. While Erin had been somewhat aware of the terrible living conditions from when she had been looking at it with her binoculars, that had just been a mere glance at what she would find.
The ground beneath their feet was uneven, soft and muddy. Every step they took was followed by a splashing sound and a feeling of sinking. Just walking around was proving to be tough, so running was something you would want to avoid as much as possible. The muddy ground had numerous pieces of trash sticking out of it, including empty cans, bottles and everything else you could imagine finding inside a trash can. There were even mounds of garbage between the buildings, making it impossible to move through them.
Looking around her, the redhead could tell that the buildings were even worse than what her initial look had told her. Every single one of them had been haphazardly built from different pieces of scrap metal that were covered in rust. There were no actual windows, just very large gaps between the metal pieces that formed the buildings that the inhabitants used to spy on the two newcomers.
Speaking of the inhabitants, Erin had already been aware of how bad they looked, but a closer look revealed that they were in a far less shape than she could have ever imagined. The people were barely clothed at all and whatever clothes they had were makeshift clothing made from scraps of cloth or actual pieces of clothing that looked like they were rotting. However, the lack of proper clothing was the least of their issues. Everybody around them was incredibly thin to the point their bones were visible and they had numerous signs of sickness. The redhead couldn’t help but wonder how some of these people were even alive.
To make matters worse, there was no level of security in the area. This was made obvious to Erin and Arkay, as the passed by a house that had been torn through by a wild beast of some kind. The inside was now a blood covered image of a nightmare, a sign of the horrors that transpired there.
What was truly shocking to Erin was that it seemed like no one cared. People went past the building and gave a mere glance at it at best, if even that. The people living close to the place were simply continuing their lives, like nothing was wrong.
“They don’t consider it as worth their time, as they have their own issues to look after. That’s why they don’t care,” Arkay said, breaking the redhead out of her thoughts. “Sorry. I saw how you were looking at that house and figured what you were thinking about.”
“That’s okay. You were completely right about what I was thinking,” Erin replied. “But why aren’t they the least bit concerned about what happened? Shouldn’t they at least a bit worried? And should they be just so uncaring towards what happened to their neighbors?”
“The reason for why they’re not worried is a bit tough to say. It could be that such attacks are rare, so they don’t pay it all that much attention. Not to mention, since their defenses against such things are nonexistent, they probably don’t see it worth worrying about. They just hope that next time it happens it’s somebody else and not them,” the cat boy explained. “However, it’s not that they are completely uncaring towards people they know. They just know that they need to look after themselves, before worrying about others.”
“What do you mean?” the redhead asked.
“Basically, if you can’t look after yourself and your own family, you’re in no position to help others,” Arkay explained. “If you can barely feed yourself, you can’t afford to give food to others. That’s something that happened back in my village during tough times as well. Some of our neighbors would come to ask for food and my dad would only give them very little, despite having much more in storage. It wasn’t because he didn’t care about the people in need, it was because he wanted to look after my mom and I first and foremost.”
“I see… Isn’t this a bit too much, though?” Erin asked. “Shouldn’t these people be doing something in order to help their neighbors?”
“Just looking around, I can tell that even the toughest times in my home village were a paradise compared to this place,” the cat boy replied. “These people look like they struggle just trying to stay alive, let alone doing anything else.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” the redhead said in a sad tone, until she lifted her head upon realizing something. “Speaking of these people… Is it just me or are we being watched?”
“I just noticed the same thing,” Arkay said as he glanced at his surroundings. “My guess is that we look so different from the regular residents that we are sticking out big time.”
Just like the two of them had just stated, the people around them were observing them very closely. If you looked close enough, you could see eyes peering at them from every possible hole that was in the walls of the buildings. There were also people looking at them from behind corners, piles of trash and from the roofs.
“...Try to not let them know we know about them,” Erin whispered. “These people could be working for Rayleen, so we need to be careful about this. Even if they are not, it’s a better idea to simply lure them into a false sense of security.”
“Got it,” Arkay whispered back.
The two of them continued walking, making no indication that they had noticed the people watching them. As they had suspected, at least a good amount of those who were observing them had decided to follow after them. Even then, neither Erin or Arkay made any moves that would show that they were aware of this.
This continued until the duo had walked into an alley that came to a dead end in the form of a large mountain of trash. Some of the pursuers took this as a moment to make themselves known, as they began to come out of their hiding spots.
With their pursuers now out in the open, Erin and Arkay turned towards them, not showing any surprise on their faces at all. All they were wondering about was whether these people were working for Rayleen or not.
One of the pursuers stepped forward, grinning widely. From his outward appearance, he appeared to be nothing more than a regular resident of the slums. He was a human male with a very tall build. The clothes he was wearing were dirty and ragged as one would expect of someone living in the area. But while he showed signs of malnourishment on his body, he had somehow managed to keep a decent amount of muscle mass on his body. Erin could only guess that he had been born with a strong build, which allowed him to get more food than others, either by theft or by hunting nearby animals.
“He he he… Would you look at that? Two dumb tourists decided to take a walk in our neighborhood of all places!” the big man said mockingly, causing his companions to chuckle. “What’s the matter? Didn’t the upper part nobility like you enough to allow you to live in their luxury or something?”
“...We didn’t come here to cause any trouble,” Erin said sternly, yet softly to avoid aggravating the people surrounding them. “All we came here to do was look for some associates of ours. If you don’t know where they are, you can just leave and nothing bad will come from this. Okay?”
The big man and his companions all burst into laughter. He then pulled out a large knife from his worn out jacket, holding it up in a menacing manner. While the weapon itself was covered in rust and the blade was chipped in many places, it would still be a deadly weapon if used correctly.
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“How kind of you… Offering us the mere plebs to leave without trouble. Problem is that WE want to cause trouble to YOU. Get it?” the large man said while pointing his knife at the redhead. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll hand us everything you have on you. And I do mean everything. You’ll walk out of here completely naked, if you don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
By now, all the other thugs had pulled out their weapons. Much like the big man before them, their weaponry was not in the best of condition, consisting mostly of sharp or sturdy objects they found from the piles of garbage. This would have been a very dangerous situation to your normal person, but Erin and Arkay were far from normal.
“I don’t think these are the people we’re looking for,” Arkay said. “Do you mind if I take care of this quickly?”
“You think you can do that?” Erin asked. “That’s fine by me, but try to avoid causing any kind of a scene, okay? We don’t need to attract any unwanted attention to us.”
“No problem. I’ll just show these people that we are not to be messed with,” the cat boy said as he charged some electricity on his right hand. “I’m sure that once I do that, they’ll scatter like rats.”
Before any of the thugs could even react, Arkay shot a small bolt of lighting from his hand at the large man before them. The shock was intense, causing the man to scream in pain for a short moment. Once the crackling of electricity had disappeared, he simply fell backwards on the ground, completely unconscious.
Seeing their biggest and possibly toughest member get taken down so easily, the other thugs stared at their two targets for a second, before dropping their weapons and running away in terror. They knew that they were no match for these opponents and chose to flee.
“Not bad, Arnie. That was some impressive control you showed,” Erin said with a smile. “Guess we didn’t need to worry about any threats around here at all, huh?”
“That might be true, but we still aren’t any closer to finding the people we’re looking for,” the cat boy said. “If we are not going to be contacted by Rayleen’s people in the slums, where could they be?”
“Well, seeing as how we’ve made our presence here known, the way I see it is that they’ll either come get us now or they’re hiding in a different area of the city,” the redhead said. “And knowing just what type of person Rayleen is, it wouldn’t surprise me if they are actually located at the place where I think they might be…”
“What’s that?” Arkay asked.
“They’re hiding in the upper part with all the rich people,” Erin answered.
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Figuring out that they needed to find some way to get to the upper part of Graven Hills, Erin and Arkay began to search their way through the slums, looking for a place to get to the gated community looming over everybody else. This proved to be more difficult than one could have imagined, as the slums were essentially a labyrinth made out of hastily built shacks and piles of trash from the upper parts. Not only that, but their first encounter with thugs trying to rob them wasn’t the last, as a few others decided to try their luck at attacking the two newcomers. These attacks were easily driven back by either force or by Arkay using his invisibility spell to allow them to simply sneak past some of the hostile residents.
Eventually, the two of them were able to discover what was essentially a main road of sorts. This was a wide road that led from the outskirts of the slums straight to the main gate of the upper part of the city. Once they found this, the two of them were able to follow it all the way to the main gate. As one might have suspected, the gate wasn’t one that could be easily breached. Not only was it very tall, thick and made from iron, but there were guards on top of it, looking over anybody that might try to get inside. The controls for opening the gate were also most likely located there as well.
“Doesn’t look like there’s any easy way to get inside,” Erin muttered as she looked over the obstacle before them. “What do you think, Arnie?”
The cat boy looked around, noticing a closed door close to the gate. This was most likely meant for guards to get down from the top of the gate in case there was something going on at the bottom. The main thing that he took notice of was the electronic lock next to the door.
“I think I can get us inside through that door over there,” Arkay said, pointing at where said door was. “If I use my invisibility, I should be able to get us close to it and then use my technomancer ability to open the lock. That should at least get us into the insides of the wall itself, if not pas the gate.”
“Sounds like a plan,” the redhead said. “Let’s go for it.”
The cat boy nodded and began to prepare his invisibility spell. He was about to activate it, when suddenly something unexpected happened.
“THERE YOU TWO ARE!” a seemingly drunken man dressed in rags with a hood over his head said with his words slurring, as he put his arms around the shoulders of both Erin and Arkay. “I’ve been looking all over for you guys! Why the hell are you here!? You know this isn’t the way to the house! Come on! The wife’s waiting for you two with food at the ready!”
Having been taken by complete surprise, it took a moment for Erin and Arkay to register what had just happened. It was only after the man had been leading them away from the gate a couple of steps did they realize what was going on.
“Hey, hang on! I think you’re mistaken, pal!” Erin said as she began to struggle against the arm holding her. “We’re not your-!”
“Don’t cause a scene and ruin this, you two,” the man suddenly whispered to them, his slurring now completely gone. “I might be able to fool those guys with this act as long as we’re able to keep it up, but if you start acting up now, I doubt I’ll be able to keep it up.”
“What the-?” the redhead said in surprise, but quickly calmed herself. “Who exactly are you?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m an associate of a certain mutual friend we share,” the man replied. “Just keep going along and I’ll take you two to a place where we can talk a bit more freely. There are eyes and ears everywhere.”
Upon hearing this explanation, Erin glanced to the side a bit and noticed some of the local residents staring at them. While this wasn’t unusual, as this had been happening ever since they had entered the slums, these people were different. Unlike most people whose bodies were ravaged by hunger and sickness, these one were in good health and had a different look in their eyes. Instead of the hazy eyes of desperation, their gazes were sharp and determined, like they were on a mission. The redhead quickly realized that these were other guards or agents of sorts, tasked with watching over the immediate area for any troublemakers.
Guessing by the way this man was acting and the fact that he had mentioned a “mutual friend” told Erin that he was most likely one of Rayleen’s people that they were tasked with getting into contact with. All she could hope that her guess was right and they wouldn’t be walking into their doom.
It took some time, but the man managed to eventually lead Erin and Arkay to his supposed base deep within the slums. Much like all the other buildings, it looked like a hastily built shack that could topple over from a strong breeze. However, once inside, Erin noticed that there were runes covering the walls. These were obviously not something a regular resident in this area would have, so it seemed like they had found their contact.
Once the door was closed, the man walked to the middle of the room, where a lantern was sitting on the ground. He lit it up, but not by using matches or a lighter. Instead, he flicked his fingers, shooting a small ball of fire that caused the lantern to light up.
“Alright, now that we have some much needed privacy, I think it’s time we get down to business,” the man said pulling down the hood that had been covering his head, revealing his face. “I know it’s not exactly a nice place, but do make yourselves feel comfortable.”
With his face now revealed, Erin and Arkay could take a proper look at him. From what they could tell, he was young human male with short black hair. He had a white bandana tied over his head, covering it from the top. Unlike Izra or Wargas, he didn’t look intimidating at all, as he had a lot more friendlier aura. Still, he was a direct subordinate of Rayleen, so his looks could be deceiving.
image [https://i.ibb.co/Y3CnvGK/Ch-140-Pic-1.jpg]
“...Thanks for the help back there,” Erin said, still somewhat unsure as to how she should behave around this new person. “Had you not interfered, we might have ended up arrested or worse.”
“Don’t mention it! That sort of stuff comes with the job!” the man said with a smile. “Besides, I do have to take some responsibility over what almost happened?”
“How come?” Arkay asked.
“You see, I kind of knew about you guys almost as soon as you came here. In fact, I started following you guys around the time those thugs began to follow you,” the man explained. “I know I should have gotten your attention earlier, but I was curious to see your level of skill. I was a bit impressed, honestly. Although, I did get a bit confused, when you didn’t head towards my hideout. Weren’t you provided with a map?”
“No. All we got was an order to come here and get in contact with you,” Erin said with a frustrated sigh. “No offense, but your boss is really reckless when it come to giving out orders.”
“None taken! I kind of expected that to happen somewhat!” the man said with a chuckle. “Anyways, my name is Ao and I’m the contact Rayleen left here to meet with you. And judging from your looks, I’m guessing you two are Erin and Arkay, correct?”
“That is correct,” the redhead replied with a nod. “Were you perhaps provided with detailed descriptions in regards to our looks?”
“Kind of, but I have to say that they are not exactly fair,” Ao said as he pulled out a piece of paper and began to look it over. “Two of the people I was told about meeting were described as “an insanely incompetent redheaded girl who oozes naivety” and “a kitty boy brat.” Most of the others are very similar, except for one.”
“Just out of curiosity, what did it say about Lexton?” Erin asked with a frown, already guessing the answer she would receive. “He’s the kobold in our group and I’m guessing the one with a pleasant description.”
“Oh, you’re right! There’s a description in regards to a kobold, who is “inexplicably handsome and cute, yet has an aura of intellectual and sexual nature,” the dark-haired man said with a surprised look in his eyes as he read the description. “How did you know?”
“...Those were all written by Izra, weren’t they?” the redhead asked in return.
“Well, I’ll be damned! You got that completely right as well!” Ao said, completely surprised. “Are you perhaps psychic or something?”
“...Just a lucky guess,” Erin muttered unhappily. “Anyways, you guys needed us to do some sort of a job for you here, right? I’m guessing you need us to assassinate someone close to Golorath.”
“Close, but not quite,” the dark-haired man said. “What we need you to do is something a bit… different. Your job is to kidnap someone important.”
“Kidnap?” the redhead asked, receiving a nod in response. “Then who is it that we need to kidnap for you?”
“Here’s her picture,” Ao said as he gave a photograph to Erin.
Upon looking at the picture, the redhead could feel how her face turned pale. Despite having not seen her for a few years, she could still recognize the person. After all, they had been close friends for a few years, for better or worse.
In the picture was Stacey Merreth, one of the people from her high school friend group.
image [https://i.ibb.co/7j8Mqv9/Ch-140-Pic-2.jpg]