Chapter 96
Hands On Work
Lexton had finally managed to finish constructing Erin’s new hand, so it was time for them to attach it. The kobold had been making preparations to do this, as it wasn’t as simple as simply putting the new mechanical hand where the redhead used to have her original body part. The prosthetic hand would have to connect with the nerves within Erin’s body in order for her to be able to operate it properly. This would be a very painful process that the redhead wasn’t aware of yet.
“So, you ready to get your new hand in place, Erin?” Lexton asked with slight excitement in his voice. “The prosthetic is ready and all I need is for you to say the word and it shall be part of you!”
“I’m as ready as I can be,” the redhead said with a small smile, happy that she would finally have both hands again. “Besides, I’m going to have to do this at some point, so might as well get it done right away.”
“That’s the spirit!” the kobold said. “Now, why don’t you take a seat on that chair over there?”
Erin looked at the specific piece of furniture that Lexton had pointed at. It was one of the chairs from the dinner table, except now it was simply sitting in the middle of the living room for some reason. Despite being confused by this strange set-up, the redhead walked to the chair and sat on it.
“Now, place your right arm on the armrest,” the kobold instructed. “Once you’ve done that, we can finally begin.”
“...Okay?” Erin said, still confused as to why they needed to be so elaborate about the whole thing, yet did as she was instructed. “I don’t see why we need to make these preparations. I mean, can’t I just sit on the couch and-”
Before the redhead could finish her question, Ryle’s whip flew at her from behind and wrapped around her body, tying her to the chair. Right after that, the blonde herself rushed over to hold down Erin’s arm on the armrest.
“Ryle!?” the redhead yelled out of shock and confusion. “What the hell are you-!?”
“NOW, LEX!” Ryle shouted, ignoring her tied up friend.
Upon being called over by the blonde, Lexton quickly ran over to Erin and started to place the prosthetic hand where the stump was. It took some work, but the kobold was able to put it in the correct place, connecting the hand with the nerves with the arm.
As soon as the connection had been made, a wave of excruciating pain washed over Erin’s body, with the worst of it being concentrated on the spot the new hand was connected at. It felt like her body was on fire from the inside, as waves of fire kept washing over her, causing her to scream in agony and cry. The horrible agony she was feeling was so awful that she began to trash in her seat, trying to desperately get out of her restraints and tear the prosthetic hand off her arm, as her body was now operating on pure instinct instead of rational thinking.
After what had felt like hours, the pain finally came to a stop, leaving Erin panting and sweating from the horrible and agonizing experience. Seeing that she was no longer thrashing around wildly, Ryle removed took the whip off the redhead, releasing her.
“Erin?” the blonde called out to her friend. “Are you okay?”
“What… the hell… was that?” the redhead managed to ask while still breathing heavily. “That was easily the worst freaking thing I’ve ever had to go through.”
“That was your new hand connecting with your body,” Lexton answered. “The thing is that prosthetic limbs have to connect with the user’s nervous system, which isn’t exactly a pleasant experience, as you’re probably now aware.”
“...Would it have killed to give me a GODDAMN WARNING!?” Erin shouted angrily as she tried to get her hands on the kobold, only for Ryle to hold her back. “Why the hell wouldn’t you warn me about this!? I would have liked to know just how awful this was going to be, before you do it!”
“I get that you’re upset, Erin, but I didn’t want to risk anything!” Lexton explained. “Had you been aware of how painful this was going to be, you might have hesitated or even backed out of it! Even if you were still willing to go through with it, you might have unconsciously tried to resist us putting it on!”
“You really think I would have done that, you asshole!?” the redhead yelled. “I was more than willing to go through with this, as I know I need my new hand! Not only that, but I have the utmost trust in you! How the hell can you distrust me like this in return!?”
“IT’S NOT THAT I DON’T TRUST YOU! I JUST DIDN’T WANT YOU TO HURT YOURSELF!” the kobold shouted as loud as he could. “Do you think this is the first time I’ve taken part in an operation like this!? I’ve seen this done multiple times and every single time the one who had a prosthetic like this implanted on them, they lost control from the pain! I’ve seen how even hardened soldiers lose themselves to the agony they feel and tear their new limbs out of their bodies, which only further damages them! Is it so wrong for me to avoid seeing that happen with you!?”
Completely taken aback by Lexton’s sudden outburst, Erin almost fell over in shock. She had been so preoccupied from being angry over what she had gone through that she hadn’t even considered that her companions might have had a legitimate reason for what they were doing.
“It wasn’t just Lex, Erin. Neither I nor any of the others wanted to see you get hurt, which is why we did this,” Ryle added to the explanation. “When Lex explained what kind of a procedure it would be, we immediately set up a plan to make sure that you wouldn’t end up accidentally hurting yourself.”
“I… I get it,” Erin said with a sigh. “I’m sorry for my outburst. It was just not exactly a fun experience to go through, okay? I hope to God that I won’t have to ever go through that again…”
“Well, if my work is as good as I think it is, that shouldn’t be an issue in the near future,” Lexton said with a small smile, happy that they had gotten through to the redhead. “Speaking of which, mind trying to move it around? I’d like to see if it works properly.”
Doing as she was requested, the redhead focused on her new hand and tried moving it around like she would with a regular one. To everybody’s delight, the prosthetic was moving perfectly. Had it not been for the way it looked on the outside, one would have easily assumed that it was just a normal hand.
“It seems to be working just fine,” Erin said with a smile. “How do I operate the little trinkets that you put in this thing, though?”
“You’re talking about the one on the palm and the index finger, right?” the kobold asked. “That’s simple. Try focusing your magical energy on either the tip of your finger or the palm, depending on which you want to use. However, I do have to ask you to not put too much power into it, as that might not end up well indoors.”
Following the instructions she had been given, the redhead focused a small amount of her magical energy on the tip of her right index finger. This resulted in a small flame appearing at the tip, like one you’d get on a lighter. Once she stopped focusing magical energy on it, the flame quickly disappeared.
After the successful testing of the finger, Erin then focused a small amount of magical energy on her palm, specifically where the red mana stone was located. Upon doing so, a small flame shot up from the stone, almost hitting the redhead on her face. It was safe to say at that point that the new mechanical hand built by Lexton was working perfectly.
image [https://i.ibb.co/LNYspht/Ch-96-Pic-1.jpg]
“Seems to work just fine, Lex,” Erin said with a smile, happy over getting a new hand for herself. “You do some really good work.”
“Naturally,” Lexton said with a smirk. “After all, it is MY work that we are talking about here. You can expect nothing less than absolute perfection.”
“Oh God… Don’t make me puke,” Ryle said, not liking the kobold’s bragging. “Also, don’t take this the wrong way, but if I ever lose a hand or something, I think I’ll prefer not to have one of your replacements. That shit Erin just went through? I don’t any part in that.”
“Your loss,” Lexton said with a shrug. “Although, you could do with a replacement. With your head that is.”
“You slimy little-!”
“Okay, let’s not get into any pointless fights here, alright!?” Erin quickly said, stepping between her two friends. “Now that we are done here, we should try to get back to work. That being gathering information in regards to Gotzmeyer’s base here.”
“That should already be getting taken care of, actually,” Lexton said. “Arkay was able to find the location of the local black market and gained entrance for us. The only thing we need now is to find an information broker capable and willing to sell us what we need.”
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“Hey, that’s great!” the redhead said happily. “How likely is it that we can find such a person?”
“Shouldn’t be too hard. Whatever you have, as long as it has value, can be sold and bought on the black market,” the kobold replied. “The only question is whether we can find someone willing to sell it to us for what we have.”
“So there is the most pressing issue then… Financial woes,” Erin said with a sigh. “I suppose it’s to be expected, though. Selling military secret level info isn’t exactly something that they wish to do for cheap.”
“Well, strangely enough, they do want to sell it. This is because those operating through the black market don’t really appreciate the current military or the police, because they are rarely willing to make mutually beneficial trades and often simply take what they want,” Lexton explained. “But while they are happy to sell this kind of information to us, they are still merchants and want to see as much profit as possible.”
“Speaking from experience, huh?” Ryle asked with a smirk. “I suppose you’d know how they think and operate, as you’re cut from the same cloth.”
“Up yours,” the kobold said while flipping off the blonde, before turning back to Erin. “There is also another issue. Due to the nature of where Gotzmeyer’s base is located, we might need to hire a guide of some kind. Otherwise, we might risk getting lost in the cave system we need to go through.”
“I see… That is certainly an issue,” the redhead said thoughtfully. “However, we don’t have any other choice, as we still need to find a way to get to that base. If it means risking going through a perilous labyrinth, then we have no other option except to do it.”
As Erin and Ryle began to head towards the door, Lexton remembered one more thing that he had prepared for the day.
“Hold on just a second, Erin! There’s still something I’ve got prepared for you!” the kobold said, stopping his two companions from walking out. He then went to grab something from a nearby drawer and brought it to the redhead. “Here. I think you might need these.”
Erin looked at what Lexton had brought to her and saw that it was a pair of leather gloves.
“Thanks, Lex, but what are these for?” the redhead said as she accepted the pieces of clothing given to her. “Do these have some strange runes in them as well or something?”
“No, nothing fancy like that. Those are just some ordinary gloves for you to wear while outside,” the kobold explained. “I just figured that you might want to wear them to hide your new hand, so you can use the element of surprise to your advantage.”
“I see. Thank you,” Erin said with a smile as she put on the gloves, which fit surprisingly well. “Wow, these fit really well. I had no idea you were good at sewing as well.”
“Hey, when you’re living on your own, who is going to take care of your chores? Since there’s no one else, might as well get it done myself, right?” Lexton said with a smirk. “And in case you’re wondering, I can handle torn clothes as well, if I’m not too busy with something else at the time.”
“Good to know,” the redhead said with a smile. “You truly are a man of many talents, aren’t you?”
“This reminds me of how my brother used to handle task like this. If I ever had tears in my clothing, I could just given them to him and he’d get them fixed right away,” Ryle said with a smile on her face as she was getting lost in thought. “Of course, that wasn’t the only thing he did. He also handled laundry, cleaning, cooking… Come to think of it, he took care of all household chores you could think of.”
“...Had you been an only child, you would have certainly perished,” Lexton said with a frustrated sigh.
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Some time later, Erin, along with Ryle and Lexton, joined together with the rest of their group, who were waiting for them in a cafe close to where the entrance to the black market was located. The other three members of their group were enjoying some warm drinks, until they saw their companions approaching, upon which they began to motion for them to come over.
“About time you guys got here,” Zeldana said as she sipped her coffee. “How did it go? Did Erin start crying like a baby as you put in her new hand?”
“Hey!” the redhead shouted.
“No. She simply got so pissed off that she almost beat me up,” Lexton replied.
“HEY!” Erin shouted louder,
“You know, I could have been there to help you guys out,” Durge said. “I’m sure I would have been able to hold her back well enough, so that there wouldn’t have been any worries about her kicking your teeth in.”
“While I appreciate the offer, I think this was still the best viable option,” Lexton said. “Not only was it necessary to have someone here to keep Arnie safe in case things got tough, I also fear that you might have ended up breaking Erin, seeing as how wild she got.”
“Meh. That’s fair enough,” the orc said with a shrug.
“What about me?” Zeldana asked.
“...I simply wanted you as far away from me as possible,” Lexton said with a slight glare directed at the elf.
“Meh. That’s fair enough,” Zeldana said with a shrug.
“Okay, would you guys mind and stop talking about me like I’m some kind of animal!?” Erin asked angrily. “At least have the decency to do it while I’m not around!”
“We’re just being honest here,” Lexton said. “But we’ll keep your request in mind from now on and only talk about you behind your back.”
“That’s better- WAIT A SECOND!”
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After finally settling down, the members who had just arrived took seats at the table and ordered some drinks for themselves as well. With everyone gathered at the table, the discussion over what they would be doing next could finally begin.
“So, you guys were able to locate the local black market?” Erin asked, to which Arkay and Durge nodded. “Where is it located exactly?”
“That’s sort of the surprising part. It’s actually located close to the local prison,” Arkay answered. “Usually the types of people that gather in such places would rather avoid law enforcement as much as possible, but I suppose they had the idea of hiding in the last place anyone would look at for them.”
“That’s not all. It turns out that the warden of the prison apparently has a nice deal with the ones behind the black market,” Durge added. “Turns out, some of the people imprisoned there are essentially help that you can rent for yourself. This might come in hand for us, as we need to find someone who can guide us to Gotzmeyer’s base.”
“...Any idea how much the information for the location of the base and the guide are going to cost altogether?” Erin said after thinking about it for a moment. “Do you guys think we have enough money?”
“We should have enough. Our side business has been doing pretty well and I’ve even been able to get my hands on some nice minerals close to the caves that brought in a good amount of extra,” Lexton said. “All in all, I’d say we’ve got enough prepared to get a deal done. If nothing else, we can still at least get an estimation as to how much it will all cost.”
“Alright, might as well go inside then,” the redhead said. “So where do we find the entrance to this place?”
“That’s actually going to be the tricky part. The entrance is within the prison itself,” Arkay replied. “Apparently, we need to be able to pass off as relatives to the prisoner who is essentially the doorman to the black market. While some of the guards are part of the whole scheme, they still need to keep up the appearance of an actual prison.”
“...And just what might this doorman look like?” Erin asked.
“It depends on who is asking. There’s an elf, a lizardman, an orc, a human, basically any race you can think of is within that prison,” the cat boy explained. “However, if we are to make it seem like we are related to that specific prisoner, we all must look like we are actually related to them.”
“So in other words, if I want to go there, I must go there along with others who look like they could be humans?” the redhead asked to which she received a nod as an answer. “Well, that already limits our candidates… I doubt Lexton or Durge could pass on as humans.”
“I probably should stay out of this one as well,” Zeldana suddenly said. “While it could be fun, I doubt you guys want to risk me being recognized by any of the people there. My face should be pretty well known by local authorities.”
“Good point. So in the end, the ones going inside will be me, Ryle and Arnie,” Erin said.
“Huh? Me?” Arkay asked, having not expected to be chosen for the group to go inside. “But I’m not a human!”
“That might be true, but you can easily be disguised as one,” the redhead explained. “As long as we cover your ears and tail, you should be able to pass off as a human.”
“I… I guess so,” the cat boy said. “Alright. I’ll come along and do my best to help you out!”
“I know you will, Arnie,” Erin said with a smile. “What about you, Ryle? Are you okay with this set up?”
“I don’t really care as long as we get things done,” the blonde said in a bored tone while picking her nose. “After all, we’re not getting anywhere, unless we go to that black market place, right? So if I need to be there to get it done, I’ll be there.”
“Good to know I can trust you to have my back. Although, it would be more effective, if you could have at least a bit better manners while saying stuff like that,” the redhead said before looking at the rest of the group. “Anyways, the group going to the black market will be me, Ryle and Arnie. Is everybody else okay with that?”
Durge and Zeldana immediately agreed to the suggestion, as they didn’t see any problems with it. However, Lexton didn’t fully agree with everybody else.
“I’m against this,” the kobold said, surprising the others. “I should be included in the group to go to the black market as well.”
“I appreciate that you want to help, Lex, but that just isn’t possible this time,” Erin said. “You heard what Arnie said. We need to make ourselves look like we could pass as relatives to the inmate we’ll be meeting inside the prison. And unfortunately, you would stick out too much to allow us to pass.”
“Yeah, unless you can somehow make a potion that transforms you into a human, I don’t see you coming along, Lex!” Ryle said. “Just sit this one out! Me, Arnie and Erin will be more than enough to handle this!”
“Oh really? Tell me something, are you guys able to tell if a map is a sloppily drawn fake or the real thing? Are you able to pick up on the way someone speaks if they are actually lying?” Lexton asked. “Unless you can do any of that, I honestly fear what will happen to us. You guys are far too inexperienced and naive to tell when you’re getting screwed over, so I’m coming along to make sure you guys won’t mess up.”
“Lex, I am not doubting your abilities at all, but the fact of the matter is that we cannot pass you as a relative. It’s just not possible,” Erin said with a frown, not liking how she had to argue with the kobold like this. “Besides, we have experience with these types of things, so I’m sure we can handle ourselves in there.”
“Oh really? You guys can handle yourselves?” the kobold asked in a sarcastic tone. “Did you perhaps think that as well, when you got screwed over by ME?”
“Woah! Hang on just a second!” Zeldana suddenly said loudly, breaking the tension. “Now THIS sounds like a story! Care to tell me what happened!? And don’t you dare skip on any details!”
“Zel, not now, okay?” Erin said with a frustrated sigh, before turning her attention back to Lexton. “Okay, Lex. Let’s say that you’re right-”
“You goddamn right I’m right,” the kobold interrupted.
“SO, since you are supposedly right, what do you suggest we do?” the redhead continued, annoyed over being interrupted. “How are we supposed to pass you as a relative to a human? How do we do that?”
“For the love of… Do you really think that humans only have relationships with humans? Have you ever heard of people of mixed heritage before?” Lexton asked in a frustrated tone. “This isn’t the time of the insane puritans anymore! There are countless of people getting together with representatives of other races! Do you really think that there isn’t a way to make up some story to pass either me or Durge as the spouse of either you or Ryle?”
“Just for the record, I’m not doing that with you,” Ryle quickly said. “I doubt I’d ever be able to feel clean again after pretending to be YOUR significant other.”
“The feeling is mutual,” the kobold said as he glared at the blonde. “What I’m saying is that it should be easy to make up some fake story that would allow me to get inside as well. It just requires us to create a story and stick to it.”
“You say it like it would be easy, but I doubt that’s the case. I mean, pretending like you’re my boyfriend or something isn’t exactly something I want to do either for personal reasons,” Erin said, thinking back when she had pretended to be in a relationship with Devin and the mess it caused. However, she then had an idea. “Wait a second… To be part of the family, it doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship, right? How about trying to pass you up as someone who was adopted?”
“Huh? That would work, except I don’t think I’d be convincing enough as an adopted child,” Lexton said. “While I’m still plenty young, most people think of little kids, when you talk about an adopted child. I don’t think I’d be able to make that look believable.”
“Oh, I think we have our ways to make it look VERY convincing,” the redhead said with a big smile, as she turned to look at Ryle. “Don’t we, Ryle?”
At first, the blonde didn’t understand what Erin was referring to, but soon picked up on it. Upon realizing what the redhead was talking about, a big grind spread across her face.
Lexton couldn’t help but be slightly worried over what the two of them were thinking of.
image [https://i.ibb.co/NtgMfPW/Ch-96-Pic-2.jpg]