Chapter 153
Unexpected Helper
The next morning, Erin’s group got their van ready and continued their travels. Even though they didn’t have any specific destination in mind, they had been told to find a nearby place to stay low for the time being. From what they knew, Rayleen would get in contact with them once she had a new plan for them, so what they needed was a place to hide for now.
After consulting Lexton, who had the best idea about the nearby towns and cities, their destination was set as the town called Crashport. Like the name suggested, the two was located by the sea and had a lot of businesses that utilized this connection. The name apparently came from a history of ships crashing against the shores back in the day. The survivors of these shipwrecks then built their community in the area, since further ahead was only what seemed to be empty wastelands filled with bloodthirsty beasts. In time, it became a hub of travel through sea and a great spot for fishing and other activities that required such a connection.
Erin’s plan was to use the bustle of the town to their advantage in order to hide themselves. With all the people busily running around, they would be able to hide themselves within the crowds in order to avoid detection. Not only that, but since the town was mostly used for commercial use, there was a low presence of soldiers there, especially since it wasn’t as wealthy as most would hope. Most of the residents were poor fishermen, making it a location mostly devoid of criminals, as there wasn’t much for them to steal.
However, while they might have found a place to hide, the redhead was still very much troubled by the current atmosphere hanging over her group. The others were still not on good terms with her, as they were holding a grudge over the whole thing with Stacey. The way they saw it, Erin was playing favorites with the new addition to their group, as she had specifically told them to not engage Stacey in any manner at all. While she tried to convince them that this was only in order to protect them from any further incidents, they only saw it as the redhead protecting her new favorite from them.
Still, despite these issues, Erin hoped that she could somehow mend the relationship she had with her friends. Not only did she need them in order to survive in this world, but she also needed them to just be around her. To make her feel like she was part of something and to show her she wasn’t completely alone.
Right now, the redhead was driving the van with Stacey sitting next to her. The others were sitting at the back, all trying to pass the time in their own activities. This didn’t seem to include talking, though, as there was complete silence inside the vehicle.
“Hey, we’re about to arrive,” Erin called out, seeing the town ahead of them. “Get ready to get up.”
There was no response from the others, as they only talked to the redhead when it was necessary. Even if they weren’t throwing insults at her, the silent treatment was enough to cut deep into her heart and almost made her shed a tear.
Almost as soon as the van came to a stop, the others got out. It seemed like they were all tired from the long drive and needed to stretch their legs a bit. They couldn’t simply stay around and relax, though, as they needed to search the town for a suitable place to hide. Erin felt like she should do this job, but didn’t want to go at it alone. She felt like it would be for the best to have at least one more person with her. The problem was getting someone to come with her.
“Okay, I’m going to go to the town and find a place for us to stay and lay low. I could use a partner, though,” the redhead said, looking over the group. “Anyone willing to volunteer?”
The others remained silent and only stared back at her.
“...Anyone?” Erin asked desperately.
“Why don’t you ask your new best friend?” Ryle asked sarcastically, pointing over to the front seat of the van where Stacey was still sitting. “You seem to really like hanging out with each other.”
Hearing the cold response from the blonde nearly broke the redhead, who had to turn around in order to hide how much she was hurting. She was starting to move towards the town in order to look it over alone, when Zeldana decided to speak up.
“Oh, for the love of… This is just sad at this point,” the elf said as she rolled her eyes. “Wait up, Erin! I’m coming along!”
“...Thanks, Zel,” Erin said with a small smile. “It really means a lot to me.”
“Don’t get all mushy with me now!” Zeldana said as she rolled her eyes. “I’m just accompanying you for a bit. It’s not something to get overjoyed with!”
Just as the redhead was about to go to the town, she decided to do one more quick thing. She walked up to Stacey, who turned to look at her.
“What is it?” Stacey asked in a bored tone.
“Look, just because I’m going to be away doesn’t mean you get to treat my friends like crap, got it!?” Erin whispered to her former friend in a threatening manner. “If I find out that you’ve done anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, bad to them, I will make sure that you’ll regret it!”
“Yes, yes, you’re a really scary person. I’m so afraid that I’m practically shaking here,” Stacey said in a sarcastic tone as she rolled her eyes. “Do you really think that I’m going to be scared of you? Have you forgotten that it’s me who can screw YOU over big time? If you decide to actually cause me harm, I just need to tell your buddies about your past. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“...Don’t tempt me too much. I might just see it as a worthy price to pay,” the redhead said as she glared at her former friend. “The last couple of days have been hell to me and I’m willing to pay pretty much any price to put an end to it. Wanna guess what that includes?”
While Stacey managed to keep her composure, there was a small bead of nervous sweat that went down the side of her face. Even though she was doing her best to put on a tough act, she still knew that she was nowhere near strong enough to survive on her own. Her only hope for survival was to use Erin for her protection, but it seemed like the redhead was starting to reach her limit. If she wasn’t careful, Stacey might find herself at the wrong end of the redhead’s sword.
The slight sing of nervousness from Stacey didn’t go unnoticed by Erin, who was satisfied that her threat seemed to have shaken her former friend to some degree. If it was enough to keep her in line, then the redhead would consider it a success. The last thing she needed was for things between her and her friends to get even worse than they already were.
With her threat to Stacey given, Erin walked over to Zeldana, so the two of them could proceed into the town and look it over.
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The town of Crashport was as lively as Erin had hoped, but it didn’t take a deep look for one to tell that it wasn’t doing well financially. The buildings were built from proper materials, which was mostly bricks and clay, but one could see signs of deterioration on them. A lot of the buildings looked like they had been in use for centuries and were starting to break down, making one question how long they would be able to survive. Only very few of them were even painted and the ones that were had their colors break apart or turn into fainter tones.
The roads were also uneven and the pavement had cracks all over it. This once again showed the lack of proper maintaining, which was most likely from the lack of money the town had. Another thing that was plaguing the roads, even though it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as in the lower parts of Graven Hills, was the large amounts of trash piling up. It seemed like there was a very minimal amount of resources devoted to cleaning up public areas. This led to the smell of rotten fish lingering in the air of the town, which made it a rather unpleasant place for travelers.
“Hey, Erin. Did I ever tell you that I hate seafood?” Zeldana asked as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Just so you know, I’m probably going to have a hard time staying in this place. Not only do I have to deal with this stench all the time, but I can already guess what meals are going to consist of most of the time…”
“Try to bear with it for now. I’m not too fond of fish either, but we have to do what we can in order to get by,” Erin said with a sigh. “Besides, it’s not like you’ll be the only one that has to endure this. I’m sure none of the others are going to be enjoying this either.”
“Maybe, but some of them at least have built up a tolerance for this shit!” the elf argued. “You do know that Lexton works with smelly stuff pretty much all the time because of his work, right!? And since orcs have a natural resistance to all sorts of gross stuff, I doubt Durge will be too bothered either!”
The redhead was going to response to the argument, but stopped upon realizing something. They had been walking around the town for some time now, yet they hadn’t seen any of the residents at all. There were no men or women walking around in order to do their daily tasks, children running around and playing or even homeless people laying on the streets. If it weren’t for the lights coming out of some of the windows, you’d think that the town had been abandoned.
Erin wondered if there was something strange going on in the town that they should be aware of. Unfortunately, since there were no locals around to ask about it, it seemed like they wouldn’t be finding out if that was the case.
It was then that the redhead noticed someone leaning out of a nearby window. It was an elderly dwarf woman, who was smoking a cigarette. Almost as if she had sensed someone looking towards her, she looked down to see Erin and Zeldana staring up at her. The redhead tried her best to put on a friendly appearance by giving a smile and waving at the elderly dwarf. Despite her efforts, the woman didn’t seem to appreciate the gesture at all, as she simply glared at her, before dropping her cigarette down to the ground below and closing her window.
“...Well, that was kind of rude,” Zeldana remarked with a frown on her face. “What was up with her? It’s not like we have really done anything to deserve such treatment! At least no yet...”
“I don’t know and that’s what worries me,” Erin said. “Have you noticed that we haven’t seen anyone at all ever since we got here? If there is something strange going on, I would like to know what that is. But if that’s the attitude these people have towards newcomers, I doubt we’ll be getting answers anytime soon.”
“You shouldn’t let her actions get to you. That’s pretty normal around here, especially among the older residents,” a rather familiar voice called from behind the two. “Same thing with the lack of people going around. That’s just a daily thing around here.”
Both Erin and Zeldana turned around to find someone they thought they would never see again. Julianna, one of the maids that had served at the hotel Stacey had stayed at, stood before them.
At first the elf woman didn’t recognize the two people before her, but after a couple of seconds, it clicked in her mind. She recognized the two standing before her as the new maids that had come to her workplace right before everything went to hell. She especially recognized Erin, as it was kind of hard to forget the person who suddenly knocks you out and steals your clothes.
“Julianna!?” Erin said in a shocked tone. “Why are you here!?”
“That’s something I should be asking you two!” the elf maid asked angrily. “Why the hell are you two in my hometown!? Haven’t you already caused me enough trouble already!?”
The redhead was struggling to explain herself and was left in a stammering state. It was only thanks to Zeldana that she managed to break out of her messy state.
“Erin, who the hell is this?” the elf asked bluntly. “I don’t remember meeting her anywhere.”
“...Right, you never really interacted with her back at the hotel,” the redhead said with a sigh. “This is Julianna. She was one of the more higher-ranked maids back at the hotel we were at just a couple of days ago. You probably saw each other at some point, but since you didn’t interact with one another, I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t remember her.”
“Oh, is that how it is!? I’m not worth remembering even after everything you did to me!?” Julianna asked angrily. “Well, I certainly remember YOU! How could I forget someone who knocks me out, takes my clothes and leaves me tied up in a closet!?”
“I-I’m so sorry about that!” Erin quickly apologized. “I swear, I didn’t want to do it! I was acting out of desperation and I didn’t know what else to do!”
“Woah! What is this about undressing people and tying them up!?” Zeldana asked with a wide-eyed look on her face. “Should I give you two some privacy? This seems very personal what you’re talking about here!”
“Shut your mouth, Zel! It wasn’t like that!” the redhead shouted angrily at the elf, as an embarrassed blush appeared on her face. “I simply took her uniform in order to disguise Stacey as one of the maids!”
“You even did maid cosplay!? Damn! This is getting hot!” the elf said with a grin as she waved her hand in front of her face to cool herself down. “Forget about giving you two privacy! I want to hear every detail about this!”
“LIKE I SAID! IT WASN’T LIKE THAT! YOU PERVERTED ASSHOLE!” Erin shouted with her face red from anger.
image [https://i.ibb.co/pWd2zNG/Ch-153-Pic-1.jpg]
“Would the two of you mind and stop ignoring me over here!?” Julianna shouted, getting the attention of the two back at her. “You just claimed that what you did to me was out of desperation, right!? Mind explaining yourself!? I think I deserve at least that much!”
“I… You’re correct. I should explain myself, so that you can know why I did what I did,” the redhead said in a saddened tone, feeling shame over her actions. “Like you’ve probably guessed, I needed a spare uniform for a job that I was taking part in. I failed to find one that was the right size from the spare uniforms, so I was forced to take yours. Since I didn’t have the time to explain myself nor was there any guarantee that you would agree to it, I ended up choking you out so I could take your clothes.”
“Holy crap. Now we’re even including choking?” Zeldana asked with a grin. “Mind telling me what was your safe-?”
“SHUT. THE. HELL. UP!” Erin said in a tone that barely held back her anger. “I don’t want to hear another goddamn comment from you in regards to this ever again! Got it!?”
“...You’re no fun at all,” the elf said unhappily.
“Ignoring your friend’s perverse commentary, what did you need my clothes for exactly?” Julianna asked. “You already had a uniform yourself, so it wasn’t for your own use, right?”
“No it wasn’t. I needed the uniform in order to disguise someone that we needed to sneak out of the hotel,” Erin explained. “That person was none other than Golorath’s lady.”
It took a moment for this to really sink in for Julianna, as her eyes slowly went wide and her mouth went open. She looked at the redhead in a manner that was questioning whether she was being serious or not, only to realize that she was being completely honest.
“You… You mean to tell me that YOU were the one who kidnapped Golorath’s wife!?” the elf maid said with a shocked look on her face as she pointed at Erin. “I mean… I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised, seeing as everything that happened, like you choking me out in her room and disappearing right after… But still, for you to just admit it!? You didn’t even try to hide it!”
“Well, I did say that I should explain why I did what I did,” the redhead said with a shrug. “Not only that, but I was pretty sure that you would have already figured it out by now. I didn’t see any reason as to why I should try to hide it.”
“I get what you’re saying, but at least try to hide it a bit! Most people wouldn’t just straight up admit doing something like that!” Julianna argued. “Seriously, do you just tell everything to people who ask anything about you!?”
“Pretty much, yeah. She has pretty much no common sense at all,” Zeldana said. “She does keep some stuff hidden, but it’s the type of stuff she should tell others. She’s honestly so naive it’s almost adorable, if it wasn’t so infuriating.”
“Thank you for that comment, Zeldana! I really needed that!” Erin shouted out of annoyance with her elf companion, before calming down and addressing Julianna again. “I get that this must be a… surprise, to say the least, for you.”
“That’s putting it really mildly!” the elf maid shouted. “Now that you’ve told me about this, are you going to kill me in order to silence me or something!?”
“NO!” the redhead shouted in a panic. “We are absolutely NOT going to do anything to harm you! We don’t want to hurt you at all! We just want you to understand what happened and why!”
“Yeah, and if you need proof of that, think about this logically,” Zeldana added. “If we were such bloodthirsty killers, wouldn’t she have just killed you back when she took your clothes? Would have saved us a lot of trouble and minimized the risks.”
“Thanks for the help, Zel,” Erin muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m sure that makes her feel so much better!”
“Hey, don’t mention it!” the elf said with a grin.
“That wasn’t meant to be-! Whatever… I’m wasting my brain cells in this argument,” the redhead began to argue, only to stop herself. “Anyways, Julianna, like we just told you, we have no intention or desire to harm you any further. You were just… an unfortunate victim of what happened. Not that I’m trying to excuse what happened. I’m just explaining why it happened.”
“...Okay, I guess that makes me feel at least a little better,” the elf maid said. “But why did you need to kidnap Golorath’s wife and what have you done with her? She isn’t… dead, is she?”
“No, she’s completely fine! In fact, she’s traveling with us right now!” Erin quickly replied. “Also, we didn’t exactly kidnap her… She wanted us to save her from the clutches of Golorath himself.”
“...Yeah, not gonna lie, THAT sounds like total bullshit!” Julianna said in disbelief. “You mean to tell me that the wife of one of the most powerful people in the whole world wanted to get away from him and needed you to do that? I’m sorry, but do you see how insane that sounds?”
“I get it! I get it! It doesn’t sound sensible at all! Just… listen to me, okay?” the redhead pleaded desperately. “This might sound crazy and all, but the truth is that she was being abused by Golorath and his people. It’s why she was so terrified of everyone and would easily scream in terror. She personally asked us to get her out of there, which went along with our job.”
“Alright, I guess I can believe what you’re saying somewhat,” the elf maid said thoughtfully. “Just out of curiosity, you just implied that you were working for someone, which means that someone asked you to kidnap her, right? Who exactly was it and why did they need you to do that?”
“I… I don’t think I can tell you that,” Erin said awkwardly, fearing what Rayleen and her people might do if she were to tell the truth. “All I can say is that they needed her for something that she couldn’t provide and we’re now looking after her.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Just a quick correction. SHE is looking after her,” Zeldana pointed out. “The rest of us didn’t want anything to do with the bitch.”
“Thank you, Zel! We really needed that!” the redhead said angrily.
“...Okay, I guess I could believe you. You don’t seem like the type that would lie about stuff like this,” Julianna said after thinking over everything she had learned so far. “The only thing that I’m curious about is why you’re here? What exactly brought you to this town specifically?”
“We just needed a place to hide at for the time being and thought this would be the best place to do so,” Erin explained. “We only arrived recently, so we’re kind of in the middle of looking around to see what this town is like.”
“No wonder you guys were so confused as to how quiet and unfriendly this place is. A lot of outsiders that come here tend to leave after just one or two days, due to the unwelcoming atmosphere. Tourism is pretty much non-existent around here,” the elf maid. “Are you looking for anything in particular? I could show you around, if you’d like.”
“That sounds great! Thank you!” the redhead said happily. “We’re looking for a place to buy food and somewhere we can stay for the night. Do you have any good places in mind?”
“For those needs, I’d recommend going to the market to buy the food. The freshest and best stuff can be found there,” Julianna explained. “As for lodging, I can’t really recommend anyplace here. Most of the hotels and motels are pretty much closed due to lack of business. The ones remaining are dirty and rundown, which will most likely lead to you leaving them carrying at least a couple of diseases you didn’t have when checking in. Not only that, but a lot of them are just warehouses that are trying to earn an extra buck by doing a side hustle.”
“Well, beggars can’t be choosers… I’m afraid we have to choose one of them,” Erin said before looking over to Zeldana. “Think you and Lex can prepare us with medicine in advance?”
“How about we just sleep in the van?” the elf asked in return. “It’s cheaper and won’t get us sick.”
“I have a better idea. How about you guys stay at my place?” Julianna suggested, surprising both Erin and Zeldana. “It’s not much, but I can promise that you won’t get any unwanted companions from sleeping there.”
“That’s… very generous of you,” Erin said with a surprised look on her face. “But are you sure about it? There’s quite a few of us and some of the guys can be a bit… rowdy.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine! This town is full of sailors and fishermen, so I’ve seen more than my fair share of less than polite behavior!” the elf maid said with a grin. “Just as long as you don’t get my sick sister involved, we should be good!”
“You hear that, Zel? Keep away from the little sister,” the redhead said jokingly.
“Ha ha… You’re a real freaking comedian,” Zeldana replied with a frown on her face. “Besides, isn’t it your other friend that you should be more worried about?”
“She’s not into girls, so she should be fine. And her experience as a big sister will most likely keep her in line, as well,” Erin answered, before turning back to Julianna. “We would be happy to stay with you for the time being. Thank you once again for your kindness.”
“No need to be so formal! Besides, I’m curious to meet Golorath’s famous wife!” the elf maid said with a smile. “Anyways, we should probably start by going to the market first. I was just heading there to buy stuff for tonight’s dinner.”
“It’s not going to be fish, is it?” Zeldana asked with a grimace.
“I’m afraid if you don’t like fish, your options will be very limited around here!” Julianna said with a giggle. “That’s most of the stuff they have available!”
“Oh, nice… Life here is going to be HELL for me,” Zeldana said with a groan.
“Stop being so childish, Zel!” Erin scolded her companion as she elbowed her in the ribs. “Let’s just ignore this idiot for now, Julianna, and go to the market. I’m sure my other companions are more than fine with seafood.”
“Sure!” the elf maid said happily. “Just follow me!”
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Erin and Zeldana followed Julianna, as the maid led them towards the center of the town, where the market was located. As they got closer towards the place, they began to hear more noises that they didn’t hear at first. There were a lot of people ahead of them, unlike before when they had just gotten into the town. They eventually arrived at a bustling market with a bunch of stalls set up by people trying to sell their products. There were people going around left and right in a hurry, trying to get their hands on everything they needed. The people behind the stalls themselves were doing their best to attract customers by shouting as loudly as they could about whatever it was they were selling. It was a chaos of mass, motion and noise.
“Wow… There’s a lot going on over here,” Erin said as she stared at the market with a surprised look on her face. “How do we even find what we’re looking for?”
“Judging by the smell, there isn’t anything here that we are looking for,” Zeldana said as she held her nose out of disgust. “I doubt there’s anything that’s fresh here.”
“Shut it, Zel!” the redhead shushed her elf companion. “We don’t need you turning the local population against us anymore than they already are!”
“...I was just saying,” Zeldana mumbled.
“No need to worry! You’re in the presence of an experienced local, who has been going through these places for years already!” Julianna said with a confident smile. “It won’t be hard for me to find the best sales here at all!”
Erin and Zeldana watched, as Julianna went through the market, inspecting the products and explaining which ones were the best ones for their needs. She could tell which of the fish, crabs and other such things that were on sale were of the best quality and safe for eating. The elf maid also knew which stores they needed to go to and which ones to avoid, like they were the plague.
In almost no time at all, they had gathered enough food not only for dinner, but for the whole week. However, as they were at the last stall, something put a stop to Julianna, who had a concerned look on her face.
“Hey, is something wrong?” Erin asked in a concerned tone. “You were just going around like crazy, but now you suddenly stopped. Did something happen?”
“N-Nothing… It’s just that… I kind of wanted to buy these, because I’ve heard they’re really good for people recovering from illnesses,” Julianna explained, as she held a couple of crabs in her hands that had shells with a strange coloring. “I just… You know… I thought I should get them for my sister…”
The redhead remembered how bad the elf maid’s situation was and how far she was willing to go in order to make it better. She was willing to put her life at risk in order assist her sister in any way possible, so it made sense for her to do so even here.
“Those are… Sapphire Crabs, aren’t they?” Zeldana asked, looking over the products that Julianna was hoping to buy. “They do have some very good nutrients within their bodies, especially if you cook them properly. While they don’t actually heal sick people, they do make people feel better. Is there someone in your family who might need them?”
“Yes. My little sister has been sick for quite some time. It’s the reason why I worked at that awful hotel where you met me. I needed the money to pay for her medicine,” the elf maid explained. “I feel like every chance I get that might help her recover is something I should take, since she can barely even move around in her current condition.”
“It’s that bad, huh?” Zeldana asked to which Julianna nodded. “Mind if I take a look at her? I happen to have some medical skills and knowledge. I might be able to help her out.”
“Really? That sounds great!” the elf maid said happily. “I did get in contact with the local healer, who has been providing me with medicine that is supposed to help her get better, but it’s very expensive and it’s a treatment that takes a long time. If I can get any additional help, I’d appreciate it! Although… I do have to ask one thing. How much will it cost?”
“Well… When I take into account my level of skill and-” Zeldana began to explain, only to receive a glare from Erin that stopped her. “I was just joking! Sheesh! Get a sense of humor, will you!?”
“Not the time for that,” the redhead said.
“Fine! Be like that!” the elf healer said as she rolled her eyes. “Anyways, like I was about to get into it, I’ll do it for free. Heck, I’m just going to perform a basic checkup, so I doubt it really requires much in monetary funding anyways.”
“Are you sure?” Julianna asked. “I’d hate to be using you for my benefit.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not much of an issue to us at all,” Erin said with a smile. “As for those crabs… Mind if I pay for them? We should have more than enough credits on our hands to be able to cover the costs of those. And the other food and lodging costs, too.”
“W-Wait a minute! I was the one who offered to let you stay at my place!” the elf maid said. “I never made any demands for a payment!”
“It’s not that you needed to make any to begin with. After all, we are the ones who are imposing on you, so I feel like it’s only fair that we pay you back at least a bit,” the redhead explained. “And you don’t need to worry about us. One of the friends I’m traveling with is actually a very skilled merchant. I’m sure that he’ll be able to make back ten times what we pay here.”
“I… I see. Thank you,” Julianna said. “By the way, I know that there was that blonde lady with you, so I know there’s at least four of you in total, since she didn’t look like someone with a lot of business sense. How many of you are there in total?”
“Including the two of us, there are seven people in our group,” Erin replied. “Will that be an issue?”
“Well, we might have a tough time finding space for everybody, but it should be manageable,” the elf maid said, thinking about it. “Some of you are probably going to have to share beds, though. I hope that won’t be an issue.”
“We’ll be able to manage that. In fact, I’m sure there is at least someone who will enjoy it,” the redhead said, thinking back to Ryle. “We’re not going to be making any special demands, considering you’re willing to help us in our time of need.”
“Great! Once we’re done here, I can show you how to get to my home!” Julianna said. “It’s located at the edge of town, so you should be able to have some level of comfort, considering your… Ummm… Profession, I guess?”
“Much appreciated,” Erin said with a smile, knowing what the elf maid was referring to. She then took out money from her pocket and proceeded to pay for the crabs Julianna was looking to buy. “Excuse me? I would like to buy those crabs. Here should be the exact amount.”
The vendor at the stall didn’t say anything. He simply took the money and put it into his pocket, while giving an unfriendly glare at the redhead. The vendor did let out a small grunt, almost as if to acknowledge that their purchase had been completed.
“...Okay? Thank you for your business,” Erin said awkwardly, as she and her companions turned around to leave the market. “What was up with him? We noticed similar behavior from an old lady when we got into town. Is there some sort of a general hatred towards outsiders or something?”
“Don’t take it too personally. This town has a lot of old wounds that the locals are not letting heal,” Julianna began to explain. “You see, over the years, there have been a lot of outsiders that have come here only to make things worse for our town in the end. The issue is that the people here only really know how to handle fishing and other such work, which is why there have been bad actors that have used us for their own benefit. Our general level of education around here is quite limited.”
“I’m guessing a lot of scammers and con artists have come through here?” the redhead asked, while making a mental not to warn Lexton about this.
“If that was the only problem, then maybe the general attitude towards outsiders wouldn’t be so bad,” the elf maid said with a sad sigh. “Unfortunately, there have been a lot more damaging groups and individuals that have also had a hand to play in how bad things have gotten around here.”
“One of these groups wouldn’t happen to be the army or other officials working for the Five Overlords, would they?” Erin asked, already knowing the answer.
“They were the first major ones to do so,” Julianna replied. “This town kind of fell under their control without any major battles, as the former officials in charge of this place pretty much ran away as soon as they heard how bad the Five Overlords were. With no one to lead us, the town fell into their hands just like that. At that point, we still held no ill will towards them, as we were already under the control of some really shitty people. It wasn’t until the Overlords started issuing their orders that we began to have some serious issues.”
“What did they want from you?” the redhead asked.
“The one thing that all crazed dictators need. Soldiers to do their bidding,” the elf maid answered. “Pretty much anybody that was of decent physical fitness and age was forcefully taken into the army and sent out to battlefields. Most of the people that got taken didn’t return and even those who did were often damaged physically, mentally or even both. This left a huge gap in the town’s workforce, forcing the elderly and children to go to work in order to keep the town going. That’s the main reason you don’t see many people outside, like kids playing. Almost everyone has been forced to work to support themselves and their families.”
“Were you one of the people that got sent out by any chance?” Zeldana asked.
“No. Ironically, my sister’s illness helped in that regard. The military doctors feared that whatever my sister had might have been affecting me, except I wasn’t showing symptoms yet. Fearing that I might bring that along to other soldiers, I was not taken from my home to go die in some faraway battlefield,” Julianna explained with a sad smile. “However, that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be facing issues, as the town faced economic collapse. With productivity at a low, investors and businessmen from outside the town were able to buy a lot of the companies here next to nothing. This didn’t help, as they themselves had no idea how to turn any of the places here profitable. All they managed was get a few mercenaries and soldiers on vacations to come here and cause troubles. They all left soon, leaving us at a worse state than ever before.”
“With a history like that, there’s no wonder that the people here don’t like new faces,” Erin said. “They must think that anyone that’s coming here is going to screw them over in some manner.”
“Pretty much,” the elf maid replied. “Problem is that their hatred of outsiders doesn’t just affect people like you, but those who are like myself. People who get out of this town in order to find work outside our town and make a living that way.”
“Why would they hate you?” Zeldana asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not your fault things went to hell around here, so why aren’t you allowed to seek your fortune somewhere else?”
“When our lack of workforce became an issue, it was seen as a problem that we all needed to tackle together as a community,” Julianna answered. “However, people like myself couldn’t simply do that, no matter how noble it sounded. My sister’s medication costs too much for me to try and earn the payments here alone. That’s why I was willing to risk my life working at the hotel we met each other.”
“Have you tried explaining your situation to the people here?” Erin asked. “Surely they wouldn’t blame you, once they know about how you need to look after your sister!”
“I’ve tried, but it doesn’t matter. The people here either don’t believe me or don’t care. I haven’t really bothered trying to understand them,” the elf maid answered with an angry frown. “I get that everybody here is having a tough time, but a lot of people here go way too far in holding their grudges! It’s not like I wanted to have a life like this, where I have to take the absolute worst jobs imaginable just to get by! If it weren’t for my sister, I would have left this place like so many others!”
Julianna’s angry rant was brought to a stop by a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked to her side and saw Erin give her a sympathetic look, understanding the pain she was going through.
“Hey, I get that things are tough, but you have to hang on, okay?” the redhead said in a soft voice. “Please don’t forget about who you’re doing all of this for in the end. I’m sure that once she gets better, you’ll be grateful that you went through all of these hardships.”
“...Thanks. I know,” Julianna said with a smile. “It’s just… It’s just hard sometimes, you know? Especially now that I’m no longer employed. Places around here aren’t hiring me and it’s hard to find work outside that pays me enough.”
“Hang on… You’re no longer employed at the hotel?” Erin asked. “What happened? Don’t tell me that because of me you-”
“It wasn’t because of that!” the former maid said quickly. “When you “kidnapped” Golorath’s wife, something else happened that kind of put an end to the whole business.”
“Really? What was that?” the redhead asked.
“I’m not completely sure about the details, but apparently there was a big ruckus in Madam Goldjoy’s office,” Julianna said, causing Zeldana’s eyes to go wide. “If I understood correctly, a bunch of guys suddenly went there and began to trash the place in anger. No one knows why they did that, although, there is suspicion that they were on drugs of some type.”
“That’s… weird,” Erin said. “But why did this lead to you getting fired? I doubt that whatever happened there was because of you.”
“It’s not that I was at fault. The problem was that Madam Goldjoy no longer wanted to risk herself by running such an operation,” the former maid explained. “Up to that point, she had been able to avoid all the violence caused by our guests, but now that she faced it herself, she no longer wanted any part of it. Not only that, but the damages to her office and the hotel as a whole were so bad that it would have cost a fortune to repair it all. Instead, she decided to call it quits and retire early, leaving all of us to figure things out on our own.”
“Why weren’t the people who destroyed her office forced to repay her for the damages?” the redhead asked. “And wasn’t there anyone who would have wanted to buy the place, once Goldjoy was out of the picture?”
“The people that destroyed the office were part of Golorath’s own guard. No one is going to have the guts to prosecute them,” Julianna explained. “As for the other damages, those were caused by you guys, so…”
“...I’m sorry,” Erin replied in a low tone that had shame in it.
“It’s okay. You had your reasons,” the former maid said. “Anyways, no one was willing to buy the place after such a huge scandal. You might as well try to sell a restaurant that’s infested with pests ans covered in mold at that point. Personally, I just want to know what caused those guys to go on a rampage in Goldjoy’s office all of a sudden. It’s not like she had been mistreating them.”
As Juliannna and Erin were pondering the strange behavior of Golorath’s guards that had caused damage in Goldjoy’s office, Zeldana was looking around nervously. She had a pretty good idea as to why the guards had suddenly decided to go crazy the way they had, since she herself had been the one directly responsible for it.
The elf had been purposefully giving potions to the guards and instructed them to go to Goldjoy’s office. The vials she had given were stimulants that caused the people under their effect to lose control over their emotions. When used even the smallest of annoyances would send the calmest man into a blind rage. The guards that had taken it had thought that they would be meeting a beautiful elf maid, only to be met with an old and ugly dwarf. Such disappointment had obvious consequences to the guards, who then had gone berserk. While she didn’t have anywhere near the same level of skill in alchemy as Lexton, Zeldana was more than capable of making certain potions and poisons, even though most of them she had learned in order to mess with people.
While at first Zeldana had simply planned to do it as a simple prank against Goldjoy due to her comment regarding elves, it had gone along really well with their overall plan of rescuing Stacey. Not only had she been able to get back at the rude dwarf lady, but she had managed to reduce the amount of guards they were forced to deal with. All in all, it had been a great success.
However, it looked like the elf’s potions had been a bit too effective, as she hadn’t planned for the guards to go on such a rampage that caused the whole hotel to be shut down. She never had any intention of causing harm to the workers there, who were simply trying to make ends meet. It seemed like one of her pranks had finally gone too far, which was something she had been told numerous times in the past.
“Uhhh… Y-You said that there were suspicions that the people behind wrecking the office were on drugs, right?” Zeldana asked while doing her best to look away from Julianna. “D-Did they ever determine what exactly were they on?”
“Not really,” the former maid replied with a shrug. “It was more of a suspicion, as there was no real proof of any such substances. Goldjoy had a history of providing her guests with all sorts of substances in order to keep them happy, so finding the one that caused the whole mess is pretty much impossible. Not only that, but since they were Golorath’s guards, any and all evidence was most likely swept under a carpet anyways.”
“I see,” the elf healer said as she let out a sigh of relief.
Just as Zeldana was about to continue walking normally, she was stopped in place by Erin standing in front of her. The redhead was giving the elf a glare that told her she was suspicious of her. In fear of having been caught, Zeldana started to sweat a bit under the heated look.
“W-What is it?” the elf asked, trying to appear oblivious.
“What was with that question just now?” Erin asked while narrowing her eye. “And what is with you all of a sudden? You’re sweating like you’re in a heated sauna and stuttering. I don’t think I’ve seen such behavior from you before.”
“I-It’s just a bit hot! That’s all!” Zeldana replied while letting out a nervous fake laugh and waving a hand in front of her face to cool herself down. “As for my stuttering, it’s just such a tragic story that I can’t help but get a bit emotional! Can you really blame me for that!?”
The redhead kept giving the same look to the elf, signifying that she wasn’t buying any of her excuses at all. This caused Zeldana to sweat even more under the intense glare.
Suddenly, it looked like something clicked inside Erin’s mind, as her lone eye went wide from shock. She then grabbed Zeldana by the collar and dragged her towards a nearby alley.
“We need to discuss something really quick! Mind waiting for us a second!?” the redhead asked Julianna so fast that the former maid almost missed what she said, but nodded nonetheless.
Once out of sight and far enough to not be heard, Erin slammed Zeldana against a wall and gave her one of her angriest looks she could ever muster.
“This was YOUR fault, wasn’t it!?” the redhead hissed in anger. “You’re the one who caused those guards to go crazy and destroy Goldjoy’s office!”
“W-Whatever could you be talking about!?” the elf stammered as she tried her best to hide her guilt. “I swear I had nothing to do with-”
“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Erin said angrily. “I just remembered how you were handing out vials to those guards that you flirted with! You were being all coy and mysterious about what it was all for, but I guess we now know what you were really planning, don’t we!?”
“Okay! Okay! You caught me! It was my doing! I was hoping to get back at Goldjoy for her remark about us elves, which also helped with reducing the amount of guards we had to deal with!” Zeldana quickly explained. “I get that it had some… unfortunate damages that were completely unintentional, but it all worked out in the end, right? I mean, it helped us get your friend out of there and it really messed with the racist fat dwarf! All’s well that ends well!”
“Yeah, except the many innocent people that are now out of a job! Including Julianna!” the redhead said angrily. “That’s a pretty big mistake on your part! How do you intend to make up for that, huh!?”
“Hey, in my defense, I had no idea she was in such bad financial troubles, okay!?” the elf tried to defend herself. “Besides, the way I see it, I did her a favor! Don’t you remember just how bad of a place that hotel was!? The best thing that could happen to you there is that you lose your job!”
“You’re freaking unbelievable… Listen. I don’t care how you see this. You messed up big time now and I’m gonna make sure that you pay for it! Got it!?” Erin said with a growl. “Once we meet her sister, you aren’t just going to give her a check up. You’re going to do everything you can to cure her and make her feel better! If you don’t, I’ll make sure to hold you down, while Julianna gets to do whatever she wants to you! Understood!?”
“...I got it,” Zeldana said meekly.
With their quick conversation done, the two of them joined up with Julianna again, who proceeded to lead them the rest of the way to her home. Like she had told them, she lived at the edge of town, so there weren’t any neighbors around. This was ideal for Erin and her companions, as they wouldn’t have to worry about nosy people catching wind of them and talking to the authorities. The place was also located on top of a large hill, giving them a good view of the town and anybody that might be approaching them.
The house itself was rather small and looked like it had seen better days. With the way it looked, one couldn’t help but imagine it falling down from a simple strong breeze. The building was made from wood and resembled an old cabin of sorts. One you would go to in order to escape from the noises of a busy city. There wasn’t any clear path leading to the house itself, as its surroundings were covered in long grass, meaning that there was no one to tend to the yard. There were some trees behind the building as well, but they seemed to be in a bad shape, like they had been dried up from a drought.
As they were getting closer, it seemed like Julianna noticed something important, as she put her groceries on the ground and rushed towards the house. Almost as if summoned by the sound of her footsteps, a young elf girl appeared from behind the house.
The girl was wearing a dirty dress and sandals on her feet. Much like Julianna, she had blonde hair, but in a short pixie cut instead of a long ponytail. Unlike other elves, her face was far more pale than normal. She also looked very frail, like anything could break her. It didn’t take long for Erin and Zeldana to realize that this was Julianna’s sister.
“Silvia, what are you doing out here!?” Julianna asked as she rushed over to her sister. “You should be resting in bed and not going outside! What could have brought you here!?”
“I… I was just getting some fresh air,” Silvia replied awkwardly. “You know how stuffy it can get, when you spend all your time indoors…”
However, it looked like the elder sister wasn’t convinced by the explanation. Instead, she grabbed her younger sister’s hands in order to take a closer look at them. By then, both Erin and Zeldana had managed to walk up to the two elf siblings and saw what Julianna was looking at. Silvia’s hands seemed to be covered in what looked like stains from paint.
Apparently, this was enough to give the older sister an idea as to what had most likely happened, as she made her way to the back of the house, even though her sister tried to stop her. Following after the sisters, Erin and Zeldana soon found out just what had happened.
The back of the house was covered in graffiti, spelling out all sorts of less than kind words. Terms such as “traitor” and “coward” could be seen, along with a lot more explicit ones as well.
Julianna turned to look at her sister, who was looking down at the ground in shame. The older sister didn’t even need to say anything for her question to be clear to the younger one.
“...They came while you were in town,” Silvia explained. “I could hear them painting all around the house. I tried to get it all cleaned up before you came back, but…”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s not like this was your fault, right?” Julianna said with a smile as she put a comforting hand on her younger sister’s shoulder. “I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but what I really need you to do is try to get better. And that’s not going to happen, if you keep getting out of your bed like this, okay?”
“...Okay,” the younger elf said. “I’ll go back to bed and rest.”
“Thanks, sis,” the older elf said as she playfully ruffled her sister’s hair. “Also, we’ll be having guests over, so it won’t be too boring. I bet you’ll get to have some actual fun for once!”
image [https://i.ibb.co/cbKQTBQ/Ch-153-Pic-2.jpg]
“Really?” Silvia asked with hopeful eyes, as she looked up at her sister before looking over at the two guests. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t notice you two! I’m-”
The sickly girl suddenly stumbled and was about to fall on the ground, but Zeldana was able to quickly catch her.
“Are you okay?” Zeldana asked the younger elf, as she helped her on her feet.
“I-I’m fine,” Silvia replied with a smile. “I just tripped. That’s all.”
“Whatever the case is, we need to get you to bed right now!” Julianna said in a worried tone, as she came to take her younger sister back inside the house. “Come on. You’ve spent enough time outside already!”
Erin watched the two sisters with a small smile, feeling warmhearted from the closeness of the siblings. She was about to follow after them, when she noticed that Zeldana was acting in a strange manner. The normally calm and relaxed elf had a look of concern on her face, like she was expecting something terrible to happen soon.
“Hey, is something wrong?” the redhead called out to her companion. “You look a bit odd.”
“I… I can’t really say yet,” Zeldana replied in a serious tone, all of her previous joking nature completely gone from her voice. “Can you get the others on your own? I kind of want to start that girl’s checkup as soon as possible.”
“I can do that, but what’s with the hurry?” Erin asked, now worried herself. “It isn’t something bad, is it?”
“Like I said, I can’t really tell right now. I need to do a proper checkup first,” the elf explained. “Let’s just say that I hope I’m worried over nothing.”
The redhead gave a simple nod in response before leaving to fetch their other companions. As she was walking, she couldn’t help but fear what Zeldana might have found.