Chapter 28
Bruised All Over
The fight between Ryle and Lexton hadn’t been a match, as it was essentially just a one-sided beating. All of the blonde’s attacks were rendered practically useless, as the liquid body of the golem she was forced to fight just reformed after being damaged. In worst cases, her limbs could also get caught up in the slimy mass, leaving her open for attacks. Ryle had tried to go for the golem’s master himself, but wasn’t fast enough to take the kobold out.
In the end, the fight ended with Ryle knocked out and covered in the dark gray sludge of the golem. Luckily for her, the fight pit did have an infirmary, where she could get treated for her injuries. While having such a facility in an underground fight club where the competitors could get killed seemed odd at first, it did make sense once you thought about it. If all the fighters were dead, what kind of a show could there be any longer? Not to mention, there were some fighters that had become quite popular, so it only made sense for the people working there to try and keep them alive to the best of their abilities.
Erin and Arkay had obviously been very worried over the well-being of their friend, even if the doctors working there assured them that the blonde was going to be fine. Once her treatment was over, the two of them went to wait for Ryle to wake up. Both Erin and Arkay were sitting next to her bed, hoping to see some sign that would tell them their companion was alright.
“She… She’s going to be fine, right?” Arkay asked in a desperate tone. “I-I mean, the doctors told us that Ms. Ryle would make a full recovery, right?”
“I… Yes. I’m certain she’ll be okay,” Erin said, trying to comfort the cat boy. “After all, she’s the toughest person in this whole place. You saw how easily she handled all of those people, before that kobold showed up? Someone that strong can easily recover from this!”
The two of them were so caught up in their conversation that they failed to notice Ryle stirring slightly upon hearing the word “kobold.” It didn’t take long from that until her eyes shot open and she suddenly sat up on her bed, like she was possessed.
“WHERE THE HELL IS THAT LITTLE LIZARD BASTARD!?” Ryle shouted, causing her two companions to fall to the floor from surprise. “ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, I’LL TURN HIM INTO A GODDAMN HANDBAG AND-! ….Where the hell am I?”
“Ryle! You’re awake!” Erin called out to her friend happily. “I was starting to get worried!”
“Worried? Why? I don’t-” the blonde began to say only to suddenly stop. She sniffed herself a bit, which caused her face to turn into a disgusted grimace. “EW! Why do I smell like shit!?”
“T-That’s because you ended up covered in the slime of that golem you were fighting, Ms. Ryle,” Arkay explained. “Don’t you remember? That kobold named Lexton created a golem from some strange liquid he kept in a vial. A good amount of that stuff ended up covering your body from the fight.”
“Oh… That explains the stench then,” Ryle said with a somewhat sad sigh, before grinning widely. “Well, it doesn’t matter! I mean, as long as I kicked his ass in the end, what’s the harm in getting a bit dirty in the process, right!?”
Erin and Arkay shared an awkward look with each other, before looking at their friend. Both knew this wasn’t going to go well.
“Guys, what’s with the silence?” Ryle asked in a slightly nervous voice. “I mean, I did beat that kobold bastard, right? I just ended up here from exhaustion due to kicking his ass so hard, right?”
“Actually, Ryle… You sort of… Well, not sort of. You totally lost,” Erin said, deciding that it was better to just be straightforward instead of beating around the bush. “You ended getting knocked out by him and had to be taken to the infirmary.”
“...Did I at least go out like a total badass?” the blonde asked.
“Define badass,” the redhead said awkwardly. “I mean, you fought until the end with all you had, but it didn’t amount to much. You pretty much got wrecked. Hard.”
“...And the kobold bastard?”
“I’m sorry Ryle, but you couldn’t even manage to touch him,” Erin answered. “As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even the least bit concerned over you. Throughout the whole match, he was reading a book while you were battling the golem.”
It took a couple of seconds for the information to register in Ryle’s head, after which she fell back on her bed. The blonde woman let out a groan that spoke volumes of her feelings, which were mostly embarrassment and humiliation. She had gone up against an opponent that she had thought was going to be an easy opponent, yet had ended up facing a humiliating defeat instead. It was a hard pill to swallow for her.
“This is one of the worst days of my life,” Ryle muttered to herself. “I’m guessing the arena has a new champion then? Good for him, I guess…”
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“N-Not actually, Ms. Ryle,” Arkay said awkwardly, fearing what the news he was about to tell his friend were going to cause. “It seems that he wasn’t interested in being a fighter in the ring at all. It was more of a means to an end.”
“...What do you mean by that?” the blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You see, the guy you fought apparently had an ulterior motive,” Erin began to explain. “Once you were out cold, he made a speech about the golem he used and told the people that were watching that they could get their own and much more from his shop. In other words, the fight with you was most likely a marketing event.”
Upon hearing the real reason behind Lexton’s challenge, Ryle’s body froze and she simply stared at her companions with wide eyes. The silence was deafening as no one seemed to dare to make even the tiniest of sounds, like it would trigger a calamity of some kind.
However, that calamity soon came, as Ryle exploded in rage.
“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT COCKY BASTARD CAME UP TO ME, TALKED SHIT AND MADE MY ASS INTO A PUNCHING BAG JUST FOR A GODDAMN COMMERCIAL!?” Ryle roared in sheer anger as she got up from her bed, not caring that she was only wearing a thin hospital gown. “I’m gonna put my foot so far up his ass that it will look like I’m wearing a kobold boot!”
“Ryle, hold on!” Erin called out to her friend, hoping to stop her from going on a rampage. “You shouldn’t get up just yet! You’re not fully recovered!”
“Not fully recovered, my ass! I don’t have time to just lay in bed while some punk is getting away with disrespecting me!” the blonde yelled back. “Just give me couple of hours! I’ll be done with that guy by then!”
“That’s not the issue! Have you forgotten why we came here in the first place!?” the redhead yelled back, starting to get angry as well. “Our real objective is to get back at Lune! Not to start petty rivalries with some merchants! Do you think we have time for such things!?”
Upon being reminded of their real goal, Ryle’s anger went down immediately. She also quickly remembered a certain promise that had been made back in the ring, which caused the blonde warrior to fall on her knees from shame.
“M-Ms. Ryle?” Arkay called out to the blonde, concerned over her change in mood. “Is everything alright?”
“I’m alright. I just… I just realized how badly I messed this up,” Ryle said in a sad tone. “I’m sorry, guys. I let you both down.”
“What are you talking about?” Erin asked, confused by the sudden change in tone and demeanor. “Just because you lost some fight isn’t a reason to feel ashamed. In all honesty, we should have done a better job at getting you to stop fighting.”
“It’s not just that. I gave you guys all that boasting about how tough I was. How I wasn’t going to lose and all that crap. Yet here I am, a beaten loser,” the blonde explained as a couple of tears fell from her eyes. “How can I ever make such promises to either of you anymore, when I can fail you like that? Not to mention, you guys trusted me so much that you actually bet all you had on my victories. Now all of that money is gone because of me.”
“Ryle, we all make promises that we fail to keep. However, what is important to realize whether it was broken because of your own actions or due to something that was out of your hands,” the redhead said in a comforting tone as she walked up to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. “At the end of the day, what really matters is that you never ran away or left us. Instead you faced overwhelming and unfair odds without any hesitation. That more than anything tells me that we can trust you to have our backs no matter what. Instead of being ashamed of yourself, you should be proud.”
“That might be true, but… We still lost all of our money,” Ryle said. “That’s not something that will be so easy to fix.”
“What’s more important is that you’re safe. No amount of money could ever replace you,” Erin said with a smile before turning around, so she was no longer facing the blonde. “Also, we didn’t exactly… lose all of our money… In fact, we still have it all.”
“….What?” Ryle asked.
“You see, before your match with Lexton started, Arkay said that he was carrying some powerful magical items on him. Because of that I got this nasty feeling in my gut,” the redhead explained awkwardly while scratching the back of her head. “Acting on instinct, I actually placed a bet on him winning. Turns out we got a nice sum of money from it.”
Silence once again fell over the room, as Ryle stared at Erin with wide eyes, while the redhead tried her best to not look her friend in the eye. Arkay was standing to the side, watching both of his friends in worry over what was going to happen. In just a few seconds, the silence was broken again by Ryle.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS!? YOU GODDAMN BACKSTABBER!” Ryle roared angrily as she went to grab Erin by the front of her shirt. “You mean to tell me that you were actually making money on my loss!? What happened to that talk about taking the risk with me!? HUH!?”
image [https://i.ibb.co/LrXq6V4/Ch-28-Pic-1.jpg]
“L-Look, I know you’re pissed, but I was just following my instincts, okay?” the redhead tried to explain despite being scared for her own well-being. “I mean, it would have been worse for us to lose everything we had, right? Besides, it all turned out okay in the end, so there’s no need to get angry.”
“Oh, I have PLENTY to get angry over! The bullshit you pulled just happens to be at the top of the freaking list!” the blonde continued to rage. “You two gave me a promise that you’d practically be facing the dangers I did with me through gambling! Then you go and pull shit like this!? How the hell could I let something like that pass!?”
“A-Actually, it was just me. Arnie had nothing to do with it,” Erin quickly corrected, hoping to save her young friend from Ryle’s wrath.
“...Is that true?” Ryle asked as she turned her attention towards Arkay.
“Y-Y-Yes. It’s true,” the cat boy answered, scared of what the blonde might do to him if he upset her any further. “I was too focused on what was going on in the ring that I never noticed Ms. Erin go and-”
Arkay was suddenly cut off, when Ryle let go of Erin and tackled the boy in a hug that was so tight it was almost crushing him. The cat boy had a pained expression on his face, while the blonde was practically beaming with joy.
“Oh, Arnie! I knew I could count on you!” Ryle said cheerfully as she spun around while holding Arkay, who was struggling to breathe. “Ever since we met, I’ve felt like we’ve had this connection, you know!? Like a special thread that binds us together! We are destined to be the greatest of companions! I know it!”
“Umm… I’m glad to see that your mood has improved and everything, but don’t you think you should ease up on him a bit?” Erin asked while staring at Arkay, whose face was beginning to turn blue. “I know you care about him and all, but you might be a bit too forceful in showing it…”
“Oh, piss off! I’m not even going to talk to you any longer!” the blonde said angrily at the redhead and stuck out her tongue as well. “In fact, who even are you? I don’t associate with jerks like you!”
“...What are you? A child?” Erin asked with a sigh. “Anyways, seeing as how you’re full of energy, I think we should get going.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Ryle asked. “Why are we in such a hurry right away?”
“Because there is someone that I would like to talk to and I don’t want to miss my opportunity in making a deal with him,” the redhead answered. “We are going to meet that kobold you fought, Lexton.”
“Oh! We are going to go see that scaly bastard after all!?” the blonde asked happily, finally letting go of Arkay, who fell on his knees and was gasping for air. “If you were going to kick his ass, you should have said so in the first place! I’m ready and looking forward to my round two with that shitty little lizard!”
“I hate to tell you this, but we aren’t going to fight him. We are going there to see his merchandise,” Erin explained with a sigh. “That golem he showed was really powerful and I’m willing to bet that he has other useful stuff for sale as well. If we are going to take our revenge against Lune, we need all the possible advantages we can get.”
“…WHAT!?” Ryle screamed angrily, as the redhead let out another sigh, feeling a headache coming along.