Chapter 38
The Bad and The Good
Erin’s group had finally managed to find a place for them to set up their store and things seemed to be going rather well for them. Thanks to Erin and Arkay’s enthusiastic and friendly approach towards potential customers, they managed to get a steady stream of people coming in and buying their goods. While the medicines they were selling weren’t exactly flying off the shelves, they did get enough sales to make the endeavor worth their time.
However, if there was something that was turning away customers, it was Lexton. Erin didn’t know why, but some of the people she and Arkay managed to get interested in their products would turn away as soon as they saw the kobold. The redhead guessed that Lexton simply looked too suspicious with the robes he was wearing.
The kobold was doing his work from the back of the cart they had used transport their merchandise. He had spare change as well as a device that allowed card payments on him, along with a calculator just in case. From what Erin had heard, he was still giving out the similar sales pitch speeches that he had used back in the underground arena when they had first met him.
But while the others were working hard, Ryle wasn’t doing anything like that. After dragging the cart, the blonde woman had found a nice and cool alley nearby to sit down and take a nap. Erin had expected Lexton to tell her to get to work, but it seemed like he didn’t have anything planned for her at all. Instead, it seemed like he was content with letting Ryle slack off.
Erin spotted another potential customer, a human woman that seemed to be having neck pains, as she kept rubbing it. Putting on a friendly face, the redhead skipped over to the woman, ready to tell her about Lexton’s medicines.
“Excuse me, madam, but it seems like you’re in pain,” Erin said in a friendly tone, catching the woman’s attention. “Would you be interested in a cure that could take it away instantly?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. I would like that very much,” the woman replied. “But does such a convenient cure even exist?”
“Of course it does! Just follow me!” the redhead said as she began to lead the potential customer to where Lexton was waiting. “I promise you that what my employer sells you is more than enough for that!”
Upon reaching the kobold waiting at the cart, Erin gave a bright smile to the woman, who gave a questioning look at Lexton. The redhead guessed that she was a bit put off by the merchant’s appearance, but didn’t mind it too much.
“Just tell him what you need and he’ll provide you with the cure you need!” Erin said happily, introducing the merchant to the new customer. “Customer satisfaction guaranteed!”
“So, you’re telling me that the stuff you’re selling can cure what I have then?” the woman asked. “Can it cure neck pain as well?”
“Oh, absolutely, my good lady!” Lexton said happily as he took out a bottle filled with green liquid. “Just rub this one the area that’s sore and-”
“Hang on a second! Are you a kobold!?” the woman suddenly asked angrily, cutting off Lexton. She then turned around and began to walk away. “Like hell I’m buying anything from your kind! Anybody with a brain knows not to trust kobolds! They’re just a bunch of con artists and thieves, the whole lot of them!”
Erin was taken aback by the rude outburst, before getting angry at the woman. She herself had tried the medicine Lexton was selling earlier and it had worked like a charm. There was no reason for him to be doubted just for his race alone.
“Hey, what is your problem, you-!?”
“Erin, stop!” Lexton shouted, stopping the redhead from going after the woman. “Nothing good will come from you chasing after him! Just go look for another customer and forget about this.”
“But Lex, what she just did was horrible!” Erin tried to argue. “How can you be calm after what she did!?”
“You can’t force someone to change their mind, no matter what it is. This is just something we have to accept,” the kobold said calmly. “In fact, if we try to do something, we’ll only reinforce whatever image she has of me and other kobolds. It’s best to just focus on what we can do and move on.”
Erin wanted to keep arguing, but she noticed something. While Lexton acted and sounded calm, he was anything but that. This was evident from him clenching his hands as tightly as possible while also looking away. The redhead guessed that the latter was done to hide any possible tears from her.
Realizing the truth behind the kobold’s words, Erin decided to let the whole thing go. Causing a scene would only bring further problems to them, so it was for the best. However, she couldn’t help but regret that she hadn’t been able to help her companion.
The group continued doing their business for some time, managing to sell some of Lexton’s medicine, while others refused to buy it. Despite the setbacks, they were making a decent amount of money, so it was far from fruitless.
“We’ve been doing pretty well so far, haven’t we?” Erin asked Lexton with a smile, hoping to brighten his mood a bit. “Don’t you think we should take a break, though? We’ve been going at it for quite some time now, after all.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve been feeling hungry for some time now,” the kobold said. “I guess we should get something to eat.”
“So are we going to pack up and leave to find something to eat?” Arkay asked.
“Absolutely not. We can’t leave the merchandise unguarded, as someone could come and steal it while we’re away,” Lexton said as he turned his attention to the last member of the group. “I have a better idea.”
“Huh? The hell are you staring at?” Ryle asked, noticing the kobold looking at her.
“Someone completely useless,” Lexton answered. “While the rest of us were busy working, you were sitting on your ass, not doing anything. Mind making yourself useful for a change and go get us something to eat?”
“Why do I need to-?” the blonde began to ask, only for her to notice Erin and Arkay staring at her as well. “...Alright! I’ll go get some grub for us! Can you give me some cash for it, though?”
“Good girl. Here you go,” the kobold said as he handed Ryle some money. “There’s a bit of extra for you. Use it to get yourself a lollipop or something as a reward.”
“Smart-ass little…”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Without further complaints, aside from her unhappy grumbling, the blonde walked away from the group. With nothing else to do, the others decided to go back to doing business, hoping to earn some more money before Ryle came back with the food.
Some time passed and the blonde hadn’t returned yet. Erin was starting to consider going after her friend, when a sudden commotion caught her attention.
“Stop! What are you doing!?” a kobold screamed in a sacred tone, as three people were standing over him and pushing him around. “I swear I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about! Just leave me alone! Please!”
The three people harassing the kobold were obviously not the law-abiding type of people. Two of them seemed to be thugs belonging to a criminal group, a male orc and a male human, both very muscular and tall. The third member of the group that was most likely the leader was an overweight elf woman, who was dressed up in expensive clothing and jewelry. The woman was holding what seemed like a very small dragon in her arms, petting it like one would a cat.
“This the punk that scammed ya, boss?” the orc in the group asked. “Seems he don’t know ya.”
“I suppose it isn’t. These damn kobolds are hard to tell from one another,” the elf said in an unhappy tone. “However, they’re all the same trash in the end. Might as well teach this one a lesson as well, just in case.”
Realizing what the three criminals were planning to do to the innocent kobold, Erin was about to walk up to them and step in. However, a scaly hand grabbed her wrist before she could do so.
“Stop! What do you think you’re doing!?” Lexton asked in a whisper. “If you go there and pick a fight with them, we’ll only get into trouble!”
“What are you talking about!?” Erin whispered back angrily. “We can’t just let them beat up that poor kobold! How can you-!?”
“Because I know who those people are!” the kobold answered. “The fat elf is Zidaya Dezzen, leader of the Dezzen family! An influential criminal group that is protected even by the police! If we pick a fight with her, this whole city will become our enemy!”
“How do you know these people?” the redhead asked.
“Because… I sold them my fake golems before you guys came to my shop,” Lexton answered. “They obviously didn’t get the real ones, so once they found out I had screwed them over, they came after me.”
“Huh? They were after- Then that’s just more of a reason for us to help him!” Erin said after getting over her initial shock. “How can you just let someone else take the fall for what you did!?”
“I don’t like it anymore than you do! I want to help him out as much as you do, but it will only cause bigger issues for us!” the kobold said. “Not only would we get their group after us, but we could also draw the ire of the people around us. Just look around you. No one cares about what happens to us kobolds.”
The redhead looked around and just as Lexton had said, the people around them didn’t seem to be bothered by the thugs attacking an innocent kobold. In fact, she could hear some of them muttering some rather nasty things as well, such as how “kobolds were always causing trouble” or how “this one was getting just what they deserved”. It seemed like they couldn’t even hope for someone else to step in and help.
As this was happening, a certain blonde woman entered the scene.
“Man, why do I have to take the place of food delivery?” Ryle was mumbling to herself, as she was carrying bags take out in her hands and sucking on a lollipop at the same time. “I swear, that scaly bastard better watch out or else I’m gonna…”
The blonde trailed off in her thoughts, as she noticed the scene of the two toughs beating up the kobold. This caused her to stop in her tracks and stare at what was happening with wide eyes.
Meanwhile, Erin and Lexton had both noticed their companion’s arrival.
“You see? Not even your friend cares about what happens to people like me,” Lexton said in a bitter tone. “In fact, I’m sure she’s going to enjoy the sight because she hates me.”
“No way…” Erin mumbled, not willing to believe that her friend would be okay with something like this happening.
Suddenly, Ryle put the bags she had been carrying gently on the ground, before doing something that surprised everybody there.
image [https://i.ibb.co/4KrSHtF/Ch-38-Pic-1.jpg]
“THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, YOU PUNK!?” the blonde yelled as loudly as she could, as she kicked the orc thug in the head so hard that it sent him straight to the ground and knocked him out. “What kind of losers are you!? Picking on someone who can’t even fight back is just pathetic!”
“W-What the hell do you think you’re-!?” the human thug began to ask, but was cut off as a small bolt of lightning hit him on the back. The electrical shock caused him to fall to the ground unconscious.
All eyes turned to where the lightning had come from and saw Arkay with his arm stretched out, indicating that he had just fired a spell.
“I’m not all that fond of bullies either,” the cat boy said as he glared at the criminals.”
“Nice teamwork, Arnie!” Ryle exclaimed happily as she ran up to him and scooped him up in a tight hug. “Man, the two of us are just the best together, aren’t we!? We need to do this more-”
“Umm… Excuse me?” a quiet voice that almost went unheard by both Ryle and Arkay said, belonging to the kobold they had just saved. “T-Thank you both for helping me…”
“No biggie! No biggie!” Ryle said with a big grin. “Just try to avoid people like that, okay?”
The kobold gave one last bow of gratitude before running away. Meanwhile, the boss of the two thugs that had been knocked out cold, Zidaya, had been watching the whole thing before her with wide eyes, unable to believe that someone would have the guts to get in her way.
“H-H-HOW DARE YOU!?!” the overweight elf screamed angrily, getting all eyes turned on her. “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I’M-!”
“Oh, shut the hell up!” Ryle shouted as she whacked Zidaya over the head, knocking her down to the ground. “The hell even are you? Some sort of a mutant breed of a pig and a troll?”
“Y-Y-You dare strike me!?” the elf said in shock. “I-I’m going to have your heads by the end of the day! Trash like you should know not to-!”
“What’s this now? It seems the pig has quite the attitude,” the blonde said as she grabbed Zidaya by her hair and lifted her up, causing her to squirm in pain in the process. “Maybe I should take this to a butcher and see what they can turn it into? Bet we could get a lot of quality meat from it.”
It was at that point that two police officers came to the scene. Apparently, someone in the crowd had decided to call them upon seeing things escalate.
“This is the police! What is going-!?” one of the police officers began to ask, only to stop upon noticing Zidaya’s predicament. “M-M-Mrs. Dezzen! W-What is going on!?”
“Can’t you idiots tell just by looking!? I’m being assaulted by this thug!” the overweight elf screamed while pointing at Ryle. “And that cat boy over there is her accomplice! Get them both!”
As the police got their batons ready, Ryle was preparing for the new opponents by throwing Zidaya aside and taking a stance. Arkay was trying to talk the blonde out of fighting the local law enforcement, but his warnings fell on deaf ears. This battle was going down no matter what.
Suddenly, a bottle smashed on the ground in front of the police, producing a thick red smoke cloud that caused the police to cough and rub their eyes from stinging.
Before either Ryle or Arkay had fully understood what had happened, they heard Lexton yelling at them from behind.
“WHAT ARE YOU TWO STANDING AROUND FOR!?” the kobold yelled. “WE NEED TO RUN! NOW!”
Almost instantly, Ryle grabbed Arkay and began to run with the cat boy in her arms. She quickly made her way to her other two companions, who were ready to start running as well. However, before either Erin or Lexton could even start moving, Ryle grabbed both of them and threw them along with Arkay on the back of the cart they had used to move the medicine they had been selling.
“Ryle, what are you-!?” Erin began to ask, only to see the blonde give her a big grin as she got ready to pull the cart behind.
“Get ready to ride!” Ryle said before going into a crazy sprint, dragging the cart behind her at the same time.
Erin, Lexton and Arkay were all terrified over the speed they were moving at. It didn’t help that Ryle lkept narrowly dodging different objects, such as pedestrians, cars and other objects. All three were showing their terror at their situation in different ways. Erin was screaming with tears falling from her lone eye, Lexton’s eyes were wide and his red scales had turned pale white, and Arkay had actually passed out.
image [https://i.ibb.co/18fM4rF/Ch-38-Pic-2.jpg]
After what had felt like an eternity to the three passengers, they finally came to a stop at an alley that didn’t have anyone around. Ryle was panting and sweating from the workout, but she had a satisfied look on her face.
“Well, that was fun!” the blonde said with a grin to her companions. “Does anybody want to go on another ride?”
“Please… No more…” Erin managed to say, as she got off the cart with her whole body trembling. “I never want to go through anything like that again…”
“I agree!” Lexton said angrily as his scales were returning to their normal color. “I’ve been chased by horrifying beasts in the wastelands and all sorts of dangerous criminals, but NONE of them were as horrifying as what I just went through!”
“Oh don’t be such a-!” Ryle began to say, only to notice the state Arkay was in. “AH! What happened to Arnie!?”
“I wonder what…” the kobold muttered sarcastically. “Seriously, why did you have to put us in such a predicament in the first place? Why didn’t you just leave those thugs alone?”
“Huh? You mean the fat elf and her buddies?” the blonde asked as she was just about to give the unconscious cat boy mouth to mouth. “They were bullying that kobold kid. What other reason did I need to kick their asses?”
“...No one cares about us kobolds,” Lexton said almost inaudibly. “Had you not helped him out, no one in this city would have looked at you badly.”
“So? Doesn’t mean what those three were doing wasn’t wrong,” Ryle stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, causing the kobold to stare at her with wide eyes. “When someone does something that is simply wrong it doesn’t matter what the majority thinks. There are just some things that shouldn’t be accepted like it’s normal.”
“...You’re all too much for me to comprehend,” Lexton said as he turned away from the rest of the group.
“I wasn’t asking for you to do that anyways,” the blonde stated, before looking at the unconscious Arkay in her arms and grinning widely. “Now back to work…”
“I doubt that would actually help him,” Erin said, pulling Ryle away from the cat boy, despite the blonde’s protests, before turning towards Lexton with a smile on her face. “You think you could give us a chance then?”
“...I suppose you’re not all bad,” was all the kobold said in response.