Most would say that making a little girl clean up pools of blood and pieces of human organs was inhumane, and I would agree. I just didn't realize it until we were back at the training hall that looked like a scene from a slasher film. I had long been so used to the sight of my blood and innards littering the ground that I didn't stop to think how other people would handle their sight, much less kids.
To my surprise, Bessi didn't react like a normal girl her age would. Instead, she just scolded me with a cute wag of her finger when I told her that all of the blood was mine.
“Neksh time, don't shcatter your blood everywhere, Mishter Hero! It'sh dishgushting!”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
The last time I cleaned up the training hall by myself, it took me an entire hour of constant scrubbing to get every last splotch of dried blood off the walls and floor. This time, it only took Bessi and I half that time until the ground where Camille cut me open like a fruit was sparkling clean. Embarrassingly enough, Bessi did most of the work.
“How the hell do you even clean that good?” I asked with a bit of awe as the floor literally gleamed.
“I have the Cleaning Shkill at tier two!” Bessi boasted with a smug grin.
I didn't even know there was a Skill for cleaning. No wonder a single wipe of her rag could clean the floor completely of blood. Her rag even absorbed more blood than it possibly should, probably caused by some System fuckery.
“Since you helped me with all this, let's go grab some dinner at the cafeteria to celebrate,” I said as I began gathering the cleaning supplies.
“I already ate dinner,” Bessi murmured, but her eyes sharpened at the word ‘dinner.’
“Well, who says you can't have dinner twice? Point them to me and we'll see if I can make them reconsider their poor choices,” I said as I put the giggling Bessi on my shoulders. With how thin she was, it was like carrying a sack of feathers.
“Big Mama shaid sho! I want to shee Mishter Hero talk shome shenshe into Big Mama.”
“Oh. Well, maybe one dinner is plenty enough.”
After returning the cleaning supplies, I took a quick bath to wash away the blood from the training before making our way to the cafeteria. People looked at me weirdly as I carried the giggling Bessi, but I ignored them and went straight for the line. Fortunately, the line was short given that it was already quite late. I hoped there was still enough food left because I was starving.
Just like yesterday, I intended to get one of every dish available to sate my voracious appetite. When I tried to get Bessi her own portion, though, I suddenly found Big Mama on the other side of the counter. The big woman was giving us the stinkeye. “What do ya think yer doin' 'ere, little missy? Didn'tcha get yer portion already?”
Bessi whimpered and hid behind my leg, causing Big Mama to turn her glare to me. This little squirt, shifting the problem to me.
“Long time no see, Big Mama,” I greeted.
“Didn't expect ta see yer fat ass again,” Big Mama snorted. “I'd have thought ya to be scrapin' muck off ship hulls by now.”
“Yeah, well, a lot of things didn't go to plan, and now I'm working for the Governor. I actually just finished cleaning the training hall with little Bessi here, so can't you give her a little something as a reward?”
Big Mama rolled her eyes at me. “The midget's malnourished, ya muscle-addled bum. She can't have no solid foods fer two weeks. Only gruel fer the little missy.”
I went silent as I looked at Bessi in pity. How could a child deserve to be fed that horrendous food?
“I know what yer thinkin', bastard. It ain't the free garbage we hand out ta degenerates like ya. We feed 'em rescued slaves with better fare,” Big Mama said. “Just take a seat and I'll see what I can get fer the little missy.”
Bessi raised her hands in celebration. “Yay! Thanksh, Big Mama!”
Big Mama shook her head, but I could tell she didn't mind it that much. I almost envied children's ability to have their unreasonable requests granted.
As I reached the end of the counter with my trays brimming with food, I saw Cassi doling out pies as usual, meat this time. When she saw me, she gave me a bright smile. “Good evening, Mister Bob. I'd like to thank you for your help the other day.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“What help?”
“Lance told me about what you said to him,” Cassi said with a knowing smile. “Somehow, your criticizing words managed to get through that thick skull of his, unlike mine. Lance apologized to me.”
“I'm glad that helped, then, though you're giving me too much credit. I just enjoy knocking assholes down a notch,” I said as Cassi placed a large slice of meat pie on my tray which Bessi was eyeing hungrily.
After bidding Cassi goodbye, Bessi and I took our seats and waited for her gruel to arrive. As much as I wanted to just start tearing into my meal, I waited for her meal to arrive so we could eat together.
We didn't have to wait long. A young man brought over Bessi's gruel, and unlike the liquid hell that Big Mama served for free, this one had a very fragrant smell and looked really appetizing. It even came along with a cup of fruity-smelling juice.
Just as I thought we could begin eating, the server spoke to me. “Mister Bob?”
“Eh?” I looked at the young man, and he looked quite familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on his identity. “Who's asking?”
“It's me!” the young man said happily. “I never got the chance to thank you, Mister Bob. Thanks to you, I managed to land a job here in the City Hall. I don't think I could continue working at the hotel after what happened.
“Oh, you're the valet.” No wonder he looked extremely familiar. He was my would-be savior who tried to warn me about the latest assassination attempt, though his efforts went to waste when I burned his letter. Yeah, that was embarrassing. “I'm glad you're happy, then. You can rest assured that no assassin would wrap his tentacles around you and poison you to death while you're here.”
The young man's face paled. “Y-Yeah. Well, I gotta go, Mister Bob. It was nice meeting you!”
As the young man left, I realized I didn't get his name. Bah, not like I cared that much. I'll just forget it anyway.
With all that out of the way, I began digging into my meal with gusto. Today's menu was roasted beef and chicken, a bowl of mashed potatoes drowning in gravy, a serving of garlic fried rice, sweet and sour fish fillets, three slices of watermelon, a plate of vegetable salad, and Cassi's still-hot meat pie. It was quite a spread. It almost canceled out all the shitty and bloody parts of my job.
“Mishter Hero, I'd like to be as famoush ash you shomeday!” Bessi said while she slurped on her gruel. “Everybody here sheemsh to know you.”
“Nah, I just knew those people by chance. Big Mama helped me get a job at the Laborer's Guild, even if that didn't turn out so well. Cassi, the lady who gave out meat pies, is the ex-girlfriend of another acquaintance of mine. And that young man who served the gruel was the valet of a hotel I used to stay in.”
“But everybody elsesh talksh about you,” Bessi said, which caught my attention. “When I clean roomsh, I alwaysh hear people talking about how you rescued ush! About how you raided an entire shmuggler den all by yourshelf! Everybody knowsh you ash a hero now!”
“What?”
I looked at the people around me, most of whom were constantly glancing at me. Some were even outright staring. I always assumed that they looked at me because of my unusually large stature, just like people did back on Earth, but now that Bessi pointed it out, their stares seemed more like they were looking at a celebrity. What in Skorm's asshole is going on?
“Didn't they try to limit the spread of the news regarding the raid on the smuggling den?” I asked Bessi. The little squirt gave me a confused look with a tilt of her head.
“No? From what my shenior shishtersh told me, the city criersh announced the raid in public the day after! You're famoush, Mishter Hero! They even have drawingsh of your face!”
The meat pie fell out of my mouth. What the fuck was Camille doing?! I was hoping to disappear into the background once my Constable stint was done. Now I've got my face plastered all over the city!
Shit, I bet this was her plan to make it harder for me to leave her service. The wily bitch. To make matters worse, I didn't even learn about it until now, which was entirely my fault. I usually didn't give a shit about the people around me, so I rarely stayed updated about the going-ons around me. That habit was now biting me in the ass.
“That damn woman.” I ate my food with more fervor, my anger getting the best of me. When I saw the people in the cafeteria staring at me, I stood up and glared at them. “What are you fucks looking at?”
That quickly made them mind their own business. I didn't give a shit if they thought poorly of my behavior. If it meant messing with Camille's plan to turn me into a public hero, then it worked for me. An asshole was always far easier to forget than a damned hero.
The rest of the night went by uneventfully with my mind occupied with this development and Bessi's random ramblings.
•••••
The next day, I barged into Camille's office again. “What the hell?”
“What is it this time?” Camille asked without even looking up from the document she was writing.
“Everybody thinks I'm a hero! What's up with that?”
“I did hear about that, but do not blame me. I reported the facts as they were. It was the slaves you saved who went around touting your name as a hero.” Camille smiled mischievously. “They call you Bob the Hero. Quite a nice nickname.”
“The slaves? I didn't even tell them my name.”
Camille gave me an innocent look. “I told them, of course. Who wouldn't want to know the name of their savior?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You knew this would happen.”
“I do not know what you mean, Constable.” Before I could continue questioning her, she quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, our raid on the Siren's Call is tonight, so we will be postponing our lessons. Spend the rest of your day training and preparing, I'm busy. I'll call for you once the operation begins. You are dismissed.”
Insufferable woman.
I left the office grumbling and went straight to the training hall. Might as well try to get my Axe Mastery another level before the raid. Any advantage I get now could be the difference between life and death later on.
For the rest of the day, I practiced swinging my axe in the training hall, pausing only for lunch and bathroom breaks. Unfortunately, Axe Mastery remained at the same level, but the practice still taught me several ways I could improve my swings.
When dusk finally arrived, a man clad in a black cloak and mask entered the training hall. If not for the fact that I was in the City Hall, I would've thought it was another assassination attempt. But I knew it was just one of Camille's secret operatives that would be part of the mission tonight.
“Greetings, Constable Bob. The Governor requests your presence in the armory.”
It looks like Operation Siren Tears is a go.