Chapter 56
Bruised, Battered and Broke
To say that the battle against Dryzal had been rough to Erin and her group would be an understatement. The fight had left all of them tired and roughed up. It was only thanks to Erin and Lexton having some medical knowledge that they were able to treat their injuries at all, as Lexton’s healing elixirs had all been either used or lost.
Speaking of the young kobold, he was technically in the worst shape. Not only had he suffered some pretty nasty hits from his RV crashing, but the fight itself had also bruised him quite a bit. However, the physical injuries were the least of Lexton’s concerns, as he was mostly devastated by the loss of all of his equipment and materials in his RV.
While the wolves had been busy with devouring Dryzal, Erin and most of her group had decided to use the opportunity to run away, not wanting to face the remainders of the large pack of beasts. The only one who had been against this idea had been Lexton, as he would be losing everything he had spent most of his life building up. Unfortunately for the kobold, his protests were easily ignored, as Ryle simply picked him up and carried him along as they made their escape.
But while they had managed to get rid of a deadly assassin and escape from the hungry beasts, the group wasn’t completely safe from troubles yet. Without their vehicle, they were now forced to walk through the wastelands, hoping to reach some form of a settlement at some point. This wasn’t exactly a well-liked idea, as this meant they would have to bear with the terrible heat of the day and the bitter cold of the night without much of a cover, as well as whatever other creatures the wilds might provide. Yet this was the only option available to them, so they had no choice but put one feet in front of the other and keep moving.
“Anybody got any idea how far we are from the next town or city?” Ryle asked while walking. “I hate to be a whiner, but I’d like to find a place to rest my feet. I’m sure they’re covered in blisters by now.”
“We’ve still got quite a distance to make, I’m afraid,” Erin said while looking over a map, one of the few thing that were saved from the attack. “The closest place is a town called Hangman’s Post, but it’s going to take us a few days until we’re getting there.”
“Just freaking great! Like this whole situation wasn’t enough of a nightmare for us!” the blonde said with a groan. “You know, I almost miss the stinky dump that Lex called a car. At the very least I can finally travel while being able to breathe properly…”
Upon hearing his RV get mentioned, Lexton’s body seemed to twitch and he balled up his hands into fists. Erin could even hear a faint sound coming from the kobold that she could only assume was from him gritting his teeth.
“Ummm… Ryle? Maybe you shouldn’t mention Lex’s RV anymore,” Erin said, worried about her friend’s sudden behavior. “I think he has had a bit of a rough day and we should really give him some time to calm down.”
“Huh!? The hell you mean by that!?” Ryle asked. “Don’t tell me that you actually believe all that crap he said about that stinky crap he had in that dump of his!”
The redhead was about to respond, but the kobold was much faster. With a furious look on his face, Lexton turned to the blonde and let all his pent up aggression flow out freely.
“FOR THE LAST TIME, THAT “STINKY CRAP” WAS ALL VERY HIGH QUALITY INGREDIENTS AND MATERIALS!” the kobold yelled at the top of his lungs. “Seriously, do you have any idea how much I went though to gather even a fraction of all that stuff!? The blood, sweat and tears I’ve shed to get my hands on even one of those things!? I doubt you’ve ever even imagined how hard it is to get a jar full of Stone Titan urine or the silk of a Mountain Spider Queen!? I’VE NEARLY LOST MY LIFE TRYING TO GET SOME OF THOSE!”
“...What fun hobbies you have,” Ryle said. “So what’s the big deal? Just go and collect all that junk again or something.”
“I CAN’T, YOU ASSHOLE! I HAVE NOTHING LEFT!” Lexton yelled. “Before I even started my own business, I had a lot of tools left from my father that I used to collect materials! Not only did I lose those valuable materials, I’ve lost all of my tools as well! In short, I HAVE NOTHING! I’M FREAKING BROKE!”
Before Ryle could say anything to further anger the kobold, Erin decided to speak up.
“Lex, I understand that this has been a hard hit on you, but you must not let this bring you down,” the redhead said in a comforting tone. “I know that things are looking bad right now, but this isn’t the end yet. You’re an incredibly talented and skilled person, and I know that you can build yourself up from this again. Trust me.”
“I… Maybe you’re right,” Lexton said in a somewhat sad tone. “There could be a way for me to start again from scratch. It’s going to be hard, but it should be possible…”
Erin smiled, seeing her friend calm down and starting to move past his losses. It looked like things were finally turning for the better.
Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Ryle had to open her mouth again.
“Yeah, and maybe you can this time collect stuff that doesn’t stink like shit!” the blonde said.
This was the last straw for the kobold.
“GAAAAAHHH!” Lexton screamed as he threw himself on the ground and started to throw his arms and legs around, like a child throwing a tantrum. “IT’S NOT SMELLY SHIT! THEY WERE VERY VALUABLE MATERIALS! MATERIALS, GODDAMMIT!”
The rest of the group just watched for a moment as their friend was having his meltdown. Erin then turned her attention to Ryle.
“Alright, you’re going to have to deal with this,” the redhead said simply.
“What!? Me!?” the blonde asked. “Why do I have to deal with this!?”
“Because YOU are the one who opened her mouth again and again, finally bringing him to his breaking point!” Erin said angrily, causing Ryle to back down a bit. “Now that you left him in this state, you’re going to have to do something to get him moving again! Get to work!”
“...Fine,” the blonde grumbled as she walked up to Lexton. “Honestly, we should just let him tire himself out. Doubt it would take all that long…”
Erin was expecting that Ryle would apologize and try to calm down Lexton by talking to him. However, she was in for quite the shock, as instead of saying anything the blonde did an elbow drop on the kobold, knocking him out. She then simply picked him up like a sack of potatoes and carried him over her shoulder.
image [https://i.ibb.co/zJjjpgw/Ch-56-Pic-1.jpg]
“...WHAT THE HELL, RYLE!?” Erin yelled, finally breaking out of her shock.
“What!? You told me to deal with this!” Ryle said. “You didn’t specify any kind of a method!”
“But that’s still-! Never mind… Let’s just get moving already,” the redhead said with a sigh, giving up on the argument. She was about to start walking again, but she noticed the youngest member of their group looking rather tired. “Arnie, are you okay over there?”
“Y-Yeah… I’m alright,” the cat boy said while panting a bit. “I’m just a bit tired, as I haven’t ever walked this long before…”
Deciding to help her young friend a bit, Erin walked in front of him and knelt on the ground with her back towards him.
“Hop on. I’ll carry you for a bit,” the redhead said.
“W-What!?” Arkay squeaked, a bit surprised at the sudden offer. “N-No need for that! I can walk by myself!”
“I appreciate that you wish to do your best, but I can tell that you’re pushing yourself. So just get on and let me help you out,” Erin said with a gentle smile. “It’s okay to accept help from others when necessary. Besides, it will only be for a bit.”
Seeing how serious the redhead was, the cat boy decided to accept the kind offer and got on Erin’s back, who the effortlessly carried him.
The rest of the trip was done in relative peace, with the exception of Erin feeling the jealous glare of Ryle burning against her back. To say the least, the blonde wasn’t exactly happy with who got to carry who.
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It took them a couple of days of hard travel, but the group was eventually able to make their way to the nearest town, Hangman’s Post.
Back when this whole world had just been a game, Hangman’s Post had just been a small town for players to go and stock up on things like potions and other necessities. There wasn’t anything all that special in regards to it, except for one thing. Due to its location, the town often had all sort of criminals staying there, almost like a central base for criminal activity. A lot of bounty hunting missions often led to this town, as the ones you were hunting were often staying there, trying to keep a low profile. You would also find a lot of other work there, if you were playing as a less than law-abiding character.
Upon getting closer to the town, Erin’s group saw the landmarks that were familiar to those who used to play Five Realms. These were corpses hanging metal poles with ropes around their necks. This was done to deter those who wanted to cause trouble, such as chase bounties, away from the area. It was a marking that it belonged to the criminals and wouldn’t welcome anyone else.
However, Erin was in for two big surprises. First was the fact that the amount of hanging bodies was much larger than what she remembered from the game. The second was the town itself, as it had changed completely.
What used to be a small town with haphazardly built houses that looked like they could break at any moment had been replaced with tall, meticulously designed buildings that were now reaching for the skies. There were bright lights of different colors everywhere, turning the area into a shining sea ocean, as numerous neon signs shined on just about every single place. And the town was now practically bursting with life, as the sounds of people moving about could be heard from far away.
Erin could only stare at the sight before her with a wide eye, while her companions didn’t look all that surprised. They did notice the state the redhead was in and got curious about it.
“What’s wrong, Erin? You look like a dragon or something just popped out of the ground,” Ryle said. “Is this your first time in Hangman’s Post?”
“No… Well… Kind of, I guess,” the redhead said, struggling to find the correct words. “It’s just that the last time I was here, this place was nothing like THIS.”
“Oh, so you didn’t know about the renovations Golorath did around here?” the blonde asked, getting a nod in response. “I guess I can see why you would be surprised then. It’s true that this place used to be pretty much a dump just waiting to fall down. However, the gracious overlord himself decided to turn this place into a gambling paradise. Pretty much any criminal group with any power has a branch here and they rule over this place however they see fit. In return, Golorath gets a small percentage of the profits.”
Erin could only let out a small sad sigh upon hearing this. To think that one of her old friends had gone and created something like this. A safe haven for the worst the Western Continent had to offer, just so he could get some cash.
It was all the more heartbreaking, when considered which of her friends specifically was the one doing all this, Gabriel “Gabe” O’Donnel.
If there was ever a person that embodied kindness, it would have to be him. When Erin had first “befriended” Devin, her integration to his group of friends hadn’t been easy. After all, back then she had been one of the “popular people”, so her even associating herself with people like Devin and his friends was completely unheard of. Pretty much everyone else in the group had been wary of her upon their first meeting.
The only one who wasn’t like that had been Gabriel, who welcomed her with open arms. In a way, it was only thanks to him that the rest of the group accepted her as part of them. At that moment, she had been grateful to him for making her job of getting into the group easier. Later on, she was grateful that he had been such an open-minded and great guy that was willing to accept her. Not to mention for being her friend.
Besides his overwhelming kindness, there was one other thing you would soon learn about Gabriel. It was that he had a passion for food. This wasn’t due to the fact that he was overweight, but the fact that he really loved to cook and learn more about cooking. Erin couldn’t even count the times she had been surprised by the delicious snacks and other things the rotund boy had made for them when they were hanging out. Gabriel was also interested in the same hobbies as his friends, but cooking was easily his top hobby.
Unfortunately, his kindness wasn’t enough to keep him safe from the torment of others. Not only was Gabriel a constant target for bullying due to his weight and interests, but he also faced similar torment from home. The overweight boy’s mother might have been a kind person, much like her son, but the father was another deal entirely. Gabriel’s father considered his son a disappointment and would often rage at him for his poor physical condition, which in turn deflated any confidence he might have had. Because of this volatile atmosphere around the house, Devin’s group came there very rarely.
Erin might have only seen the way Gabriel was treated by his father a couple of times, but she had witnessed plenty of times how he was bullied in school. Looking back on it all, the redhead could only regret the fact that she had decided to betray such a kindhearted person, especially after everything he had been through.
Now that same kind boy had turned into a monster, who ruled over this part of the world around them, making it into a living hell. Had she been told that Gabriel of all people could do something like this before seeing it for herself, Erin would have never believed it.
“Erin, are you okay?” Ryle asked, breaking the redhead out of her thoughts. “You seemed to get all sad suddenly. Is something wrong?”
“No. I’m fine,” Erin quickly answered. “Just… reminiscing on some things….”
The others decided to not push further on the subject, so they simply decided to go into the town. As one would have guessed, there were all sorts of gambling dens all around. From regular card and dice games to the more extreme ones that would normally be illegal, this place had everything one could use to make a quick fortune.
The people walking around the town were also a sign of the wealth it had, as people dressed in glamorous and expensive clothing with tons of jewelry covering them were walking around, surrounded by well-dressed bodyguards. Just one look at one of these local monarchs was enough to plant the idea in your head that you could rise to the same level of wealth here.
However, one only needed to glance into one of the darker alleyways to see the other side of this glowing paradise. The alleys were filled with those who had bet all they had on a chance to make it big, only for them to end up losing it all. Dirty and ragged figures were lining up the darker places of the city, out of the sight and minds of those who had yet to taste bitter loss for themselves.
Erin’s group wasn’t fooled. They knew that not only could you win a lot, but you cold lose a lot as well. And the latter was the most likely outcome for most people.
“So, what do you guys think? Should we try our luck at something here?” Ryle asked. “I mean, we are in need of some money after all that just happened.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Ryle. While I do agree that we should try and earn some money for the future, I don’t like the idea of using gambling for it,” Erin said, disapproving of the risks they would have to face by playing this town’s games. “I think it would be better if we simply stick with Lex, as he seems to have a good idea as to how we can make some money.”
Upon hearing this, said kobold suddenly stopped in his tracks. The others turned to look at him, confused as to why he was acting like this.
“Lex? Is everything alright?” Erin asked.
“...How the hell do you expect me to make a damn thing here?” Lexton asked.
“What do you mean?” the redhead asked in return.
“Let me repeat myself. HOW IN THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE ANY GODDAMN MONEY AROUND HERE!?” the kobold yelled angrily. “Haven’t you been paying any attention to what has happened to us!? TO ME ESPECIALLY!? I have nothing on me anymore! NOTHING! I can’t just pull a magic wand out of my ass or something to suddenly summon money out of thin goddamn air!”
“Woah, Lex! Calm down!” Erin said awkwardly, hoping to not cause a scene. Some of the people around them were already looking their way. “It’s just that you have a knack for business and how to earn money, so I thought you’d be our best option as to getting us out of this issue that we’re in!”
“Oh, that’s so freaking sweet of you! My heart is so goddamn touched by that!” Lexton kept ranting angrily. “Too bad it doesn’t actually provide ME with a single freaking thing! Don’t you realize that in order for me to make us any money I need to have something of my own!? Like potions, enchanted items or just something! Anything that I could make into something that I could sell! But do you know where all of that stuff is now? IN THE CAR WE ABANDONED! SO HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING WHEN I HAVE NOTHING!?”
Taken aback by their friend’s outburst, the others were looking at each other in awkward silence, afraid to say anything in fear of upsetting the kobold further. Unfortunately, Ryle got over such feelings quickly and decided to open her mouth yet again.
“Well, do you even really need anything?” the blonde asked. “I mean, you’re a con artist, right? Isn’t taking money from people while giving them nothing kind of your specialty?”
Both Erin and Arkay turned to stare at Ryle in horrified shock, before looking back at Lexton. Both were expecting to see him blow up again over getting insulted in such a manner. However, they were surprised to see him only let out a very deep and sad sigh, as his shoulders slumped and he stared at the ground at his feet.
“Sure… That’s all I do… Screw people over,” Lexton said in a broken tone, before walking over to a wall and sitting against it. “I never did anything else, except sell actually helpful medicine and even made you guys new weapons. All I do is give people nothing…”
For a moment, the only thing the others could do was stare at the kobold in an awkward silence while wondering if there was something they could do. After all, they couldn’t just abandon their friend and leave him sulking on his own.
“...You want me to handle it this time as well?” Ryle asked while looking at Erin.
“How about no?” the redhead asked sarcastically while glaring at the blonde. “I doubt having you break his bones is going to make things any better.”
Before an argument could break between the two of them, Arkay walked up to Lexton and sat next to him.
“Hey, Lex. What exactly do you need in order to start any sort of a business around here?” the cat boy asked. “If we can get it for you, do you think you could do what you’re best at?”
“...I don’t know. Maybe I could do something, if I got my hands on some decent materials at the very least,” Lexton answered with a sigh. “Even then, I’d need a bunch of tools to at least make something halfway decent to be sold. The problem is that I have no tools nor any materials.”
“Do you think we can buy the tools you need here?” Arkay asked. “We have some money of our own. Maybe we could get the tools for you? After that, we could all go hunt beasts and do other such things to get the materials.”
“I suppose that could work… But I wouldn’t be able to do much,” the kobold replied. “You see, before we lost everything along with my workshop, I had every possible tool I would have ever needed because I inherited them from my father. Besides that, I spent days upon days of gathering those rare materials I had. I honestly doubt that we’ll be able to get the same results in the short time we spend here.”
“I’m sure we can manage at least something. Besides, we are in a gambling town, so we can turn what little we do make into something much bigger,” the cat boy said with a smile. He then took something from underneath his clothes. “In the meantime, this should get you started.”
Lexton looked at what Arkay had taken out and his eyes went wide upon seeing that it was the knife he had made for the cat boy.
“Why are you giving that back to me?” the kobold asked. “Don’t you need it anymore?”
“Of course I would like to keep it, but I know that there are currently more important things that we need to take care of. And those are things that only someone like you can handle,” the cat boy explained. “Letting go of a great weapon like this is just a small price to pay for that.”
Before Lexton could say anything in response, Erin and Ryle had walked up to him, offering their own specially made weapons to him.
“Arnie’s right, Lex. We can always get something new and better, especially if it’s from you,” the redhead said. “If this can help you out in getting a new business started around here, I’m more than willing to sacrifice this much for it. You shouldn’t be the only one giving up your belongings.”
“Yeah… Besides, as good as this thing is, I can work without it,” the blonde said. “I’m more than enough with just my hands alone.”
Lexton stared at his companions with wide eyes, having never imagined that someone would be willing to give up on something of their own for his sake. All of his life had been nothing but a contest of taking from others before getting taken from. Now, for the first time in his life, he had met those who were willing to actually help him out in his time of need.
The kobold smiled confidently as he stood up. He stared at his friends and spoke up.
“Thanks for the offer, you guys, but that’s not necessary. I gave those things to you and I don’t intend to take them back,” Lexton said proudly. “Besides, I already have an idea on how to start a business here. So let’s get to work already! Time is money!”
Erin smiled at the enthusiasm show by the kobold as well as at Arkay’s kindness. With companions like these, she was certain that they would get past any obstacle they might come across on their journey.