Chapter 97
Family Visit
One of the guards at the Grand Mine Central Prison, James Rothfield, had been told that there would be a family visit for one of the inmates, which on itself wasn’t that surprising. However, it was one of the more “popular” inmates, who seemed to have a very large family with members coming over for a visit very often. There were a few other such cases, where an inmate seemed to have an endless supply of relatives coming over for a visit.
Now, this guard wasn’t stupid. He could tell just by how things looked that there was something strange going on in the prison. The prisoners who got almost daily visitors were always of the same race as them and seemed to come for rather long visits. These specific prisoners were also the ones who got special treatment within the prison, like they were local royalty or something. Not only that, but the warden seemed to be exceptionally wealthy as well. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots and figure out that there was some major corruption going on within the walls of the prison and that several members of the staff and prisoners were involved in it.
He obviously didn’t like this one bit. Despite not being an actual participant in the corruption that was going on, he still felt like he was partially responsible for it. However, seeing as how he needed a job to feed his family, he couldn’t simply go and fight against it. James had heard more than enough stories about those who tried to expose corruption, who ended up jobless and on the streets, if not worse. With no other options, the guard had decided to simply keep his head down, do his job and save up money to move to a better place. It was the only thing he could really do that would allow him to get away from the corruption, while also keeping his family safe.
Despite having seen all sorts of crazy stuff during his time working as a guard, he still had to look twice at the “family” that was visiting them this time. It consisted of two women and two children, who all seemed like the strangest match up of individuals he had ever seen.
One of the two women was a redheaded young woman, who wore her long hair in a manner that covered her right eye. She wore a very simple red dress with a light gray jacket over it. While trying to act like a normal lady, her whole act just seemed to scream “fake” to the guard. It was clear with the way she behaved and spoke that she was putting on a show and not being her normal self.
The other woman was even less convincing somehow, as had the presence of a street thug, as she had her hair spiked up, wore sunglasses over her eyes and had clothing that made her look like some punk from the streets. The way she seemed to slouch and speak were not signs of your average citizen, but rather a gangster that would end up in their custody at some point.
The older of the two children seemed to be extremely nervous and even scared. He was wearing clothing that seemed to cover him up as much as possible, like he was afraid of being recognized. He wore a thick jacket with a hood pulled over his head so that you could barely see his face. The guard wondered if he had done something bad not too long ago and was afraid of being caught. Despite this, the way he acted politely and respectfully was something that made him the least worrying member of the group.
The last one was a baby kobold that the redheaded woman held in her arms. Apparently, he had been adopted by the two women at some point. While this on itself wouldn’t have been anything strange, as there were adoptions like this all the time, the baby was actually the weirdest part of the whole group. Normally a baby would be looking around in curiosity or trying to move around or at least making some noise. Yet this one seemed to be completely still, like it refused to act the way a baby would. Not only that, but the look on his face was not something a newborn child should have been able to make, as it seemed to speak of nothing but anger and annoyance, instead of curiosity and wonder.
image [https://i.ibb.co/vP8wS01/Ch-97-Pic-1.jpg]
Despite this, James just decided to do his job without any complaints. It wasn’t like he would get paid for pointing out these strange things anyways.
However, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to satisfy some of his curiosity.
“So… I see that according to the notification we got that you’re related to one of our prisoners, Keenan Calgar, correct?” the guard asked, to which the two women nodded. “He seems to have an incredible amount of relatives… Well, it’s really not my business how families go about their business. Although, could I ask you some questions? Just out of curiosity.”
“O-Oh! Of course!” the redheaded woman, Erin, replied after being taken aback by the sudden interest from the guard. “W-What might you be interested in?”
“Well, excuse me for being nosy, but I’m a bit curious as to what the relationship between all of you is. Mind telling me about that?” James asked. “For starters, are you two a couple or something? I mean, you don’t look like sisters.”
“Yeah, we’re a couple,” the other woman, Ryle, replied quickly, shocking Erin. “Why the surprise? Never seen two girls get together before?”
“Not at all. I’ve seen my fair share of same sex couples in my life,” the guard replied. “It’s just that… How do I put it? You don’t look like a couple. Like you’re not close with each other at all.”
“What? You need a demonstration from us or something?” Ryle asked. Upon realizing what she had just said, her and Erin’s eyes went wide as they quickly glanced at each other.
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Meanwhile, a certain elf got a tingle in the back of her head.
“I sense like I’m missing something extremely entertaining,” Zeldana said as she instinctively stared off in the direction of the prison. “Wonder what it could be?”
“Probably Erin and Ryle trying their best to appear as a couple,” Durge said lazily while reading a newspaper. “By the way, was it really necessary to pass them off as lovers? Wouldn’t it have been enough to call them cousins or something like that?”
“That might be true, but it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fun,” the elf said. “God, I wish I was there! I’m sure I’d have something to laugh about for months!”
“I’m sure Lex or Arnie can tell you the details later,” the orc said as he turned to the next page on his paper. “Considering how much Lex hates his role, he’ll probably give you ALL the details you could ever want.”
“...Oh, I cannot wait!” Zeldana said while chuckling to herself like a maniac.
“Twisted freaking creep,” Durge muttered to himself while shaking his head.
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“Well, it’s not necessary for the two of you to go that far. I just happened to be a bit curious,” James said, causing Erin and Ryle to let out sighs of relief. “Although, is everything going alright with you two? Seems like you’re a bit too distant with each other to be called a couple.”
“Uhhh… Well, you see… We are kind of going through a… rough time in our relationship,” Erin quickly explained. “Things haven’t been going all too well between the two of us, so that’s why there’s a bit of a wall between us.”
“Oh, I see… That’s unfortunate to hear,” the guard said sympathetically. “I hope you get it all sorted out as soon as possible for the sake of both of you.”
“That’s very kind of you! Thanks!” Ryle said with a big smile. “You know, I’m sure we could get along, if she just stopped being such a nagging- OUCH!”
Unbeknownst to the guard, Erin had secretly stepped on the blonde’s foot very hard, which led to her cry of pain. She glared at the redhead, who had put on a sweet smile in order to hide what she had done.
“That’s funny, I always considered the problem being how YOU like to stare at others,” Erin said with barely hidden venom in her voice. “Especially the way you like to look at my little brother is something that I- GAH!”
Now it had been Ryle’s turn to stomp on the redhead’s foot in secret.
“Well, I’m sure I wouldn’t be looking at others, if you had the qualities that I like in a potential partner!” the blonde said with a fake smile as she was holding back her own anger as well. “I mean, would it really hurt you to go to the gym every now and then!?”
“I doubt the gym will magically make me younger, honey!” Erin said as even her mask was starting to slip. “At least not enough to catch your interest!”
As it started to look like a fight would break out between the two women, the older kid, Arkay, decided to step between them. He was able to keep the two women from immediately jumping at each other, but it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to do so for long.
“Alright! Alright! Settle down already!” James said, hoping to stop the fight. “Sheesh! If you two have such issues with each other, you should just go to counseling or something!”
“We’re sorry,” Erin and Ryle said simultaneously.
“Anyways, I mostly feel sorry for the kid, who has to live with you two going at each other all the time,” the guard said looking at Arkay. “And he was the younger brother of who again?”
“Me,” Erin answered while raising a hand.
“So in other words, you are simply a second sister or something?” the guard asked while looking at Ryle.
“Oh, I do hope to be more than that in the future,” the blonde said with a grin. “MUCH more.”
Ryle’s comment earned her a swift elbow to the side from Erin, who let out an obviously fake laugh in order to pass off the blonde’s comment as a joke. This obviously didn’t fool James one bit.
“...Kid, do you mind and tell me what she meant by that comment?” the guard asked. “I just want to make sure that nothing suspicious is going on in your household.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Honestly, I have no idea what she meant by that,” Arkay answered truthfully, as he indeed didn’t know about Ryle’s motives. “Although, you don’t need to worry about anything bad happening to me. They both treat me very well and I am fortunate to have them in my life.”
The cat boy’s earnest response made Erin let out a sigh of relief, while Ryle beamed with joy.
“I see… Thank you for clarifying that,” James said, before turning his attention to the last member of the group, the baby kobold. “And mind if I ask just who is this cute little guy?”
The baby kobold was in truth Lexton. Erin and Ryle had come up with a plan to sneak him inside the prison as part of their “family” by giving him one of Ryle’s age changing potions. The blonde luckily still had two of them left, so they were able to use it in order to make Lexton look like an adopted baby.
However, this plan came with one issue, which was that the kobold himself hated the idea. This was obvious by the constant irritated expression on his face.
“Oh yes! This is our little bundle of joy!” Erin said with a forced smile as she slightly bounced Lexton in her arms, which seemed to only irritate him further. “We found him during our trip here and we just couldn’t leave him all by himself! The poor little guy deserved to have a loving family around him!”
“Speak for yourself,” Ryle mumbled. “I still say we would have been better off leaving him to the wolves.”
This comment from the blonde earned her another elbow blow from the redhead.
“...You say he’s a bundle of joy, but he doesn’t seem too happy, though,” James said while staring at the tiny kobold. “Is he alright? Maybe he needs to get his diaper changed?”
The guard’s comment regarding diapers caused Lexton’s frown to intensify.
“Oh, you shouldn’t worry! He’s just a bit… Nervous! That’s it!” Erin lied, as she was starting to sweat nervously from having to come up with excuses constantly. “He gets like this when we go to new places! I’m sure once we’ve been here for a while, he’ll be to his usual energetic self!”
“As for the diapers, it wouldn’t matter, as he’s already full of-” Ryle began to mutter again, but was cut off by yet another sharp elbow hit to the side.
“I guess that makes sense. I’ve got a baby boy back home and he can get pretty nervous around new people, too,” James said while nodding. “Well, kids just need time and proper nurturing. And before you know it, they’re already speaking, walking and running.”
“That’s so true!” Erin said with a forced laugh. “In fact, we are still waiting for his first words and-”
“Waa. I’m a baby. Waa,” Lexton sudden said in a dull monotone voice, causing all eyes to focus on him.
“Did… Did that baby just speak?” James asked with wide eyes.
“OH, LOOK AT THAT! HIS FIRST WORDS!” Erin quickly said, trying to desperately play off the act even though she was clearly panicking. “I’M SO HAPPY I COULD CRY RIGHT NOW! I JUST WISH THAT YOUR FIRST WORD HAD BEEN MAMA OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT! RIGHT!?”
“…This isn’t going too well, is it?” Arkay whispered to Ryle.
“Not at all,” the blonde whispered back. “Although, I gotta give her credit for doing her best to stick to the act.”
James stared at the “baby kobold” before him for a moment, still processing what he had just witnessed. Eventually, he let out a sigh and decided to let the whole thing go. Not like he had much of a say in the matter anyways.
“You know what? Whatever. Just go,” the guard said as he pointed down the hallway to their left. “Just go straight from here. You’ll eventually find the meeting hall, where you’ll get to meet Keenan.”
“Thank you so much!” Erin said happily as she bowed down and even a couple of tears escaped her eye. “We are truly grateful for all of your help!”
“...I didn’t really do anything to actually help, except point you to where to go, but alright. You’re welcome,” James said. “Hopefully your little bundle of joy manages to smile at least once while here.”
With their business with the guard now concluded, Erin and her group walked away from James. As they were leaving, the guard gave them one last look and had to do a double take, as he could have sworn that the baby just flipped him off.
James would never forget this day for the rest of his life.
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Once the group had walked far enough from the guard and saw no one else around them, Erin let out a sigh and dropped her act.
“What the hell was that about, Lex!?” the redhead asked angrily while staring down at the kobold in her arms. “Are you trying to get us caught or something!?”
“Hey, I’m not the one who came up with this retarded plan!” Lexton shouted back. “Why the hell do I have to be a goddamn baby of all things!?”
“Because you demanded to be part of this group! You weren’t going to take no for an answer, so what were we supposed to do!?” Erin said. “Besides, I don’t see what you’re upset about! All you have to do is lay on your back and stay quiet! We’re the ones who actually have to keep up the act!”
“Oh right! Your “act” that is so convincing that even those with severe brain damage could be fooled by it!” the kobold ranted. “Seriously, I’m sure there are preschool plays with better acting than you two!”
“I don’t know. I think I did a good job as playing the part of an unsatisfied lover,” Ryle said. “Still a better act than yours “bundle of joy.”
“Eat a dick, Ms. Cheating Wife!” Lexton said while flipping off the blonde, before looking back at Erin. “Anyways, how long is this crap going to last!? I’d like to regain a more dignified look as soon as possible!”
“That-!...I actually don’t know,” the redhead said thoughtfully, before turning to the person with the most experience with this specific potion. “Ryle, how long does it last?”
“Beats me. How would I know?” the blonde said with a shrug. “I just used it. I never actually made it myself.”
“What the-!? By actually using it, you should be aware of how long the effect lasts!” Erin said. “Did you ever pay attention to how long it would take you to change back!?”
“Not really… I mean, I knew that I would turn back at some point, so what was the point of doing something like that?” Ryle asked in return. “You know, my brother also wanted to know such things, but since I could never give him an answer he just gave up.”
“Your brother had the patience of a freaking saint,” Lexton said. “Can you at least give us a rough estimation? Are we talking about minutes or hours here?”
“The best I can tell you that it varies quite a bit. It can depend on the quality of the potion or the amount you drink,” Ryle explained. “If I had to guess, I’d say my shortest transformation ended in minutes, while my longest took a couple of days to end.”
Silence fell over the group, as the others simply stared at the blonde with wide eyes. This was the calm before the storm, as uncontrollable anger soon exploded and shattered the silence.
“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?” Lexton shouted as loud as he could, furious over his predicament. “YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT I MIGHT BE STUCK IN THIS LARVA STAGE FOR DAYS!? WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE ME DRINK SOMETHING THAT-!?”
Hoping to keep up their disguise, Erin quickly covered the kobold’s mouth to keep him silent. As two guards walled over to them, hoping to investigate the sudden noise, she also turned around so her back was facing them. To keep up with the act, Ryle also pretended to be on the phone with someone, like the noise had just come from there.
“Sorry about the noise. Family issues,” Arkay quickly explained to the guards. “It’s a bit of a nasty fight that has been going on for some time.”
The guards seemed to nod in understanding, before turning around and walking away. With the threat of being exposed averted, the group was able to let out a sigh of relief.
“Lex, what the hell!?” Erin cursed at the kobold. “Why are you trying so hard to blow our cover!? I’d expect this from Ryle, but not you of all people!”
“Yeah!” Ryle said in agreement, before thinking about what the redhead had just said. “Wait a minute, what!?”
“Oh, who the hell cares if we keep this stupid charade up!? It’s not like this place has any honesty in it to begin with!” Lexton argued. “Seriously, this place is about as honest and trustworthy as a used car salesman from Moonstone! Why can’t we just be real about who we actually are!?”
“Weren’t you paying attention!? That’s because not all of the people are in this whole scheme!” Erin said. “Even if there are a lot of corrupt people here, they still need to keep up the appearance of an actually honest establishment! That’s why we can’t simply come in her like nothing and have to put up with this! So would you please do your part!?”
“...Fine,” the kobold said unhappily. “But you better not allow anyone to pinch my cheek or kiss me.”
“No need to worry about that. I doubt anyone wants to do either of those things,” Ryle said. “You’re not exactly the cutest of babies.”
“Coming from someone who looks like you, that’s essentially a compliment,” Lexton snapped back. “Besides, I’m not cute. I’m freaking adorable.”
Erin let out a deep sigh of exhaustion, as she regretted bringing the kobold with them like this. She and Ryle had thought it was a funny idea, and it had gotten a good laugh out of everyone, but the sheer amount of frustration she had to go through because of it was slowly draining her strength and spirit.
The redhead just hoped that they wouldn’t have any other instances of her friends trying to actively blow their cover.
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It didn’t take long for them to reach the meeting hall, where they would be seeing Keenan Calgar, the inmate who would take them to the local black market. Apparently, he had been a high-ranking officer in one of the numerous criminal organizations that used to operate in the city, which made him a very influential and dangerous person.
However, once the group was destroyed by rival gangs, he needed a safe place to stay. By an incredible stroke of luck, the former human escort for the black market had an unfortunate “accident” where a sharp piece of metal had found its way to his back soon after the warden had found out he hadn’t been completely honest about the pay he had been receiving. With an open spot as an employee for the black market, the former gangster got himself protection and a steady income. While his life might not have been as luxurious as before, it was far more preferable to living on the streets with people constantly hunting for you.
Erin looked around the hall and saw a multitude of prisoners being visited by those close to them. Most of the inmates were either orcs, dwarfs or goblins, but there were plenty of humans as well. There were even a couple of races that weren’t all that common in the Western Continent, such as elves and lizardmen.
Just by looking at how some of the conversations were going, one could tell which ones were the hardened criminals and which were the people who had just made a bad call in life. The people who belonged to the former were relaxed or didn’t let any emotion show, which told you that they were used to the life they were living and had come to terms with it. The people in the latter group showed signs of shame, fear and sadness, as they either couldn’t look their families in the eyes or were breaking down in tears.
However, Erin didn’t have the time to be looking around for long. There was no telling which of the inmates or the guards patrolling the area were part of the black market scheme and which ones weren’t. They needed to find their contact person and go to him as soon as possible, before anyone started to get suspicious over them.
“Hey! Long time no see, you guys!” someone called out, causing Erin and her group to turn towards them. “How have you folks been doing?”
Before them was a human male, wearing the light gray jumpsuit that the inmates in the prison wore, along with a pair of white sandals on his feet. The man had a long mane of hair that was stylized into spikes on top of his head and was colored purple. He had some stubble on his chin and had a dragon tattoo on his chest, which was visible due to him leaving the zipper on his jumpsuit somewhat open. He had a relaxed look on his face, as he sauntered over to the group while smiling.
This was Keenan Calgar, the person that would take them to the Black Market. Some of the inmates surrounding them were glaring at him, either because of past grudges or jealousy over his special standing within the prison.
“I’m glad to see you guys finally come in for a visit! It gets pretty dull around here seeing the same faces over and over again!” Keenan said jokingly. “So, what brought you over to my home? Did you start to miss me?”
“Hello, Keenan. It’s bee a while,” Erin said, getting into the act. “We came over as you apparently have something to-”
“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here!” the inmate said in a slightly nervous tone, as he quickly glanced around him to see if anyone had picked up on what the redhead had said. “Besides, it’s been so long since we last talked, so we should really find a more comfortable and private place to talk at! Luckily, as a model prisoner, I have just that! It really pays to do your work and behave like an angel, I tell you!”
“O-Of course,” the redhead said, a bit embarrassed how she almost blew their act. “Just lead the way.”
Keenan was about to lead the group to a more secluded place, but he noticed Lexton in Erin’s arms and was a bit surprised by how the apparent kobold baby looked. The face of pure irritation on his face was something that the inmate would have never imagined on a newborn.
“Hey, is the little guy there alright?” Keenan asked, pointing at Lexton. “He seems a bit… strange.”
“You have no idea how right you are,” Ryle mumbled.
“Hush. Don’t make this any worse,” Erin chastised the blonde, before turning to the inmate. “You don’t have to worry about him. He’s just nervous from being surrounded by so many new people.”
“Oh, I get it. A shy little fella, huh?” Keenan said with a smile as he leaned closer to the “baby” and smiled. “You don’t need to be afraid, little guy. We’re all friends here.”
After getting such loving words of encouragement, Lexton turned to look at the inmate and promptly gave him the one finger salute.
“Did… Did that baby just flip me off?” Keenan asked, shocked by the behavior a toddler was showing him. “How did he learn to do that?”
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I swear that he didn’t do it on purpose!” Erin quickly apologized, as she was starting to nervously sweat yet again. “He’s been surrounded by some bad influences lately! I fear he might have picked it up from one of them!”
“...I see. That makes sense,” the inmate said, looking at Ryle.
“Huh!? The hell is that supposed to mean!?” the blonde asked angrily. “How am I automatically the bad influence!?”
“Please, your whole appearance practically screams it,” Keenan said. “I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover and all that happy horseshit, but I think this is one of those times that’s perfectly reasonable for me to do.”
“Oh go to hell! The others can tell you that I’m not a bad influence at all! Right, guys!?” Ryle said, turning to Erin and Lexton, only to receive blank stares from both of them. “Hey, what’s with that look!?”
“Do you even need me to tell you?” Erin asked with a sigh.
“Come on! Arnie at least agrees that I’m not a bad influence!” the blonde said before turning to the cat boy. “Right?”
Arkay’s response was to simply look away from her.
“How could you!?” Ryle cried out.
“Honestly, shame on you for infecting an innocent baby with bad manners! Even crooks like me have a limit to what can be allowed to be done!” Keenan said in a disapproving tone. “Anyways, I think we’ve spent enough time here. Let’s go to my private room, so we don’t have to worry about others listening to our conversation. I doubt any of us want that.”
Erin and the others followed the inmate, as he led them to where they could enter the Black Market. The redhead could only wonder what they would see in such a place and hoped that they could get what they needed.