Robert Looked at himself in an old silver plate he had found rummaging through the laboratory. His dry skin had visibly recovered, and if not for the cacked blood, he would even consider himself a handsome devil.
He picked off a piece of brain from between his dark hair. "how did you even get there? hahaha." He laughed while looking at it, then stopped in contemplation as he realized he was quite hungry.
"Who cares, I just killed a man. Is that worse than eating some meat?" he murmured before popping the brain in his mouth. "Little chewy but not too bad," he said before humming bohemian rhapsody and digging through his pockets.
"mamaaaaa, just killed a man- oh, a bag of coins, do you need it? thoughts so." he said placing a small leather pouch aside. "put a gun against his head, pulled a trigger now he is DEEEeeeeaaad."
In total, beside the bag, he scavenged a wand, some chalk, a pair of non-prescription gold-rimmed glasses, a silver pocket watch, and a ring of keys.
He then stripped the man and wore his clothes. As he had focused on the head, besides blood on the collar and shoulders, the rest was in decent condition.
A white linen shirt, grey jacket with coordinated pants, and gilet. "bleah, so monochromatic, at least his blood gave a touch of color to it." he said while getting dressed. Robert then wore an overcoat he found next to the door and a scarf, fully covering the mess underneath.
"Zoink." he quickly pocketed all the belongings he had set apart.
He stared at the corpse on the floor, completely naked save for a pair of boxers. He'd rather go commando than wear someone's else underwear.
"Well, thanks for everything?" he offered weakly before leaving through the door. And then coming back in to eat another piece of brain. "It might be fresh, but I have to stop eating stuff like this, who knows what diseases I could get."
And now, he finally left the lab.
Nothing else in the laboratory interested him, besides a silver knife he decided to keep in his breast pocket. Just shelves filled with powders and rocks. Probably a chemist or whatever the unnamed man was would never be able to identify them and give an estimate but he didn't care.
Plus, he had placed a little trap he hoped would harmonize with those substances. With a little chuckle, he had extinguished the gas lamp's flame without actually closing the gas. As he walked into the sunlight he dreamed of all the pretty colors the flames would make.
The sunlight felt marvelous. Robert almost moaned right and there but kept it in. He started walking down the road ignoring the disgusted looks people gave him due to the dry blood on his face and hands. Unfortunately, there was no water in the lab besides the jug he had already drunk.
"So, first things first. I need to clean my face, attracting attention is no good. Then I should eat a bite, in no world does two pinches of brain count as a meal. Then I'll find a study friend."
His first problem was swiftly solved. A hundred meters later, a water pump stood close to a wall. Robert observed it for a few minutes to make sure it was okay to use but, seeing a dozen people fill up buckets or just get a quick drink he finally went to wash himself.
He started with his hands. However, dry blood didn't give in easily and after five minutes of scrubbing and not much progress made, an uncourteous voice came from behind.
"coff coff, my good sir, wouldn't it be better to wash at home instead of occupying the public water outlet?"
The voice came from a fat sixty-year-old black man sporting a full black outfit and a wooden cane that Robert took a fancy to. Thankfully his translation ability hadn't abandoned him, if only it worked with written words he lamented, and then with a sigh, he replied.
"Oh my, you are absolutely right! However, I reside on the other side of the city and it would be quite inconvenient for me to go back." he took a pondering posture and then added. "My good sir, seeing your beautiful attire, I'm sure you are indeed in possession of a bathtub, would it be possible for me to use it just this once?" he asked in a slightly pleading voice.
The man looked at first proud and then offended at the suggestion of letting some hobo use his bathtub. "Of course, I'm in possession of a bathtub, However-" he was about to refuse and quite rudely at that when the glint of gold coins caught his eyes.
"Naturally, it wouldn't be for free, I think this pouch should cover such a small inconvenience." Robert interrupted offering up his entire fortune. He wasn't aware of the value of his loot but whatever he had recovered should be disproportionately more than a single bath.
Caught by surprise the indignation disappeared from the man's eyes, substituted by greed and a hint of derision. "Of course! it would be my pleasure." He replied pocketing the pouch. Robert's guess had been bullseye, that much gold was enough to pay 3 months' rent for the fat man.
The two bristly walked towards the man's house, Robert made use of the walk to inquire about his host, Caras Selavier. His wife had died a few years back and his children worked in the navy. He was particularly proud of the firstborn, Luther, and spent the rest of the walk fondly speaking of him.
When they arrived at the residence, a servant opened the doors and welcomed them in; Then frowned as he noticed Robert's unkempt appearance. He was almost two meters tall and quite muscular. 'No wonder Caras trusted a stranger in his home, he had Terminator as a butler.' Mused Robert
The house itself was beautiful, a style of architecture he had never seen on Earth, between gothic and baroque. Bright clear colors dominated the entrance with sculptures chiseled out of the walls.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Gustierre! Don't show disrespect to our guest! Quick, go prepare him a bath!" Caras ordered quickly in displeasure, he couldn't allow this fat cash cow he had met to slip between his fingers.
Gustierre bowed and left, he recognized the dirt on Robert's face as blood but seeing his master's attitude he decided not to say anything.
"Sorry for Gustierre, he used to be a marine but then he took a bullet to the knee. My Luther suggested he become my butler and personal bodyguard after being discharged by the navy." Caras explained while fawning over Robert.
They entered the house and Robert admired the luxurious interior. the arch corridor had the upper half of the walls painted in a mural that went around corners uninterrupted. Armors and weapons with ancient and possibly Selavier related history decorated the way.
They finally arrived in a tea room with a high ceiling painted blue and illuminated by sun-shaped chandeliers. Packed bookshelves covered the walls and a small sofa and armchairs were placed around a masterfully worked fireplace.
The two kept talking until Gustierre came back. "Master, the bath is drawn." he made a light bow and then accompanied Robert to the bathroom. When they reached their destination, Gustierre turned to Robert.
"Take your bath and leave, I know your lot." He said with a sneer and left.
Robert sighed to himself and observed the room. The bathroom was placed at the end of a corridor and had two extra rooms on the left and the right, one for laundry and one as a toilet.
The bathroom was simple but elegant, a white porcelain vat stood in the middle of the room, with an open window on the left of the door and a white bust on the right, only noticeable when the door was closed.
The floor of grey marble didn't match the rest but looked cool so whatever. He quickly undressed and took a relaxing warm bath, playing with the foam.
He even took a sip from a crystal bottle of red liquor. "Ahh, this is life," he exclaimed enjoying his bath.
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"We have to call the constable, who knows what kind of man we invited into our home!" Gustierre tried reasoning with his master. His receding grey hairline softened his vicious air but couldn't outright hide it. He had already informed his master of his findings and then spent the last fifteen minutes trying to convince an obstinate Caras.
"Lower your voice Gustierre." Caras didn't share his servant's attitude. The police would question why he let a man in his house and upon discovering the pouch full of money would covet it and request it under the excuse of collecting proof. "Those kulas of the special civilian affairs are a useless bunch that would brew more trouble than not." He said with a hint of disgust.
Then, looking at his servant he added, "besides, are you telling me you can't handle a little punk like that?" he chuckled handing Gutierre a revolver. "To give me a hundred golden marks for a bath he must have much more on himself. It's gonna be a quick job, while he is taking a bath you just go, shoot him twice and then we can get rid of the body and share the loot, what do you say?" Caras finished with a conspiratorial glint in his eyes.
Gutierre looked at his master then at the gun and, consoling himself thinking he was making the world a better place by getting rid of a possible murderer, he accepted the gun.
Truth be told, Guitierre accepted only out of goodwill for his master's son. Luther was an incredibly talented officer, he was sure that as he rose through the ranks the nation of Lutiana would achieve greater heights than ever. His loyalty to the man and the country hadn't changed even after leaving the army and here started the Guitierre conundrum.
He had accepted this job as a butler because he understood how much Luther cared about his father, so, outside the army, the best way he had of serving him was to make sure that his father was well taken care of, at least this way he could remove weight from Luther's back.
However, Master Caras didn't make his job easy, with an empty home, he had caused all kinds of troubles. Sleeping with married and unmarried ladies, hosting banquets for shady individuals, and the last but most troublesome one gambling.
While Guitierre could fix most issues with bribes, diplomacy, or his fists, growing gambling debts were outside his reach. He could understand Caras needed the money in the hoodlum's possession or it would be his door to receive a visit. With grim determination, he steeled his will.
Taking off his shoes to soften his steps he headed to the bathroom, the red parquet perfectly masked his footsteps. He quickly reached the bathroom door, and without even opening it, he aimed the gun at the bathtub behind the door and opened fire twice.
Two bangs erupted in the quiet house, the soft birch door couldn't block the hot lead, and where the bullets passed a shower of splinters followed.
He immediately took shelter behind the wall in case of return fire But after five breaths of silence, he pushed open the door.
In the bathtub a red liquid sloshed angrily, looking at the floor he could see a trace of red liquid heading towards the window. A normal man would think that an injured Robert had been hit and escaped through the window, but Gutierre's eyes went without hesitation to the bottle of Red Dorne or at least the stand where it was supposed to be and found nothing.
He recognized the trap, using the liquor to attract his attention he intended of attracting Gutierre inside the room and then stab him in the back.
Without hesitation, he turned to shoot at the person hiding next to the bust behind the door. However unknown to him he had already fallen into the trap.
Robert kicked the door that quickly swung towards Guitierre's pistol hand. Guitierre dodged the door by taking a step back towards the bathtub and moving up his arm, however, he soon noticed a detail he had missed. The smooth floor had been covered in soap water.
His right foot slipped backward and he fell forward in a weird kneeling position, not losing his composure as well as his posture he swung his arm to aim at the man that had hidden behind the door, even shooting once in panic, however, the face of his master appeared right in front of his close enough to kiss him and then...
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"That's why you got to plan aHEAD!" a manic Robert smashed a bust of Caras on Guitierre's head. The heavy marble exploded into fragments as it met something even harder than it, leaving a dent in Guitierre's forehead and smashing his nose to paste, and blinding his left eye.
The man collapsed on his back with a heavy grunt. However Robert wasn't done, he saw Guitierre opening his right eye and staring at him.
In a fluid motion, Robert squatted, grabbed a broken crystal bottle, and leaped on Guitierre, stabbing down with all his weight. The first stab pierced the lungs, the second the heart, and from the third to the tenth just a lifeless body.
Robert finally dropped what remained of the bottle after most of it had fragmented into shards and stuck like flags in Guitierre's chest.
"ah, ah." he panted while admiring his work. "Fuck, I really should have gone for a bite to eat before taking a bath," he said in response to his grumbling stomach.
He combed his dark hair backward with a bloodied hand. "and so much for this bath too," he said looking down at his naked body sprayed in blood.
He had finished his bath in ten minutes, prepared his trap, and waited patiently for someone to come and check him out. With the warning, Guitierre had given him it was only a matter of time really. Still, to see through the fake blood trail and guess his location in one glance, the giant was unusually sharp.
"Guitierre! Is it done?" he heard Caras calling from the other room.
Robert sighed and, with a "huff!", grabbed the revolver before getting up.
A few moments later he appeared in the tea room naked, covered in blood, and pointing a gun at a shocked Caras. "My good mister Caras I am deeply sorry to inform you that Mr. Guitierre has met with an unfortunate accident and won't be able to be to your service anymore." He cocked the gun and flashed a brilliant smile at a pale Caras. "However, luckily for you, I seem to be available from today!