A few hours later, I left the prison with the still subdued urchin in my custody. It would be my responsibility to stop the aforementioned urchin from misbehaving for the next two years, so I would have to keep an eye out. I was also legally required to be aware of the location of the truly staggeringly dangerous criminal at some point every day, or at the very least have a trusted person watch over them.

“If you're coming with me, we'll need some more food, right Hissy?” I said looking down at the young boy? girl? I still wasn't sure. 

“I'm not called Hissy,” they said, a hint of their previous fierceness returning. 

“Well then, what is your name?” I asked.

“I'm Tear.” (Pronounced as in crying)

“Ah, and I'm Lyte. It seems I keep forgetting to introduce myself. And how old are you Tear?”

“I'm 16.” 

“Hmm? I thought you were younger. You're small for your age huh?”

Tear bristled and bared sharp canines in a snarl. “I'm big enough to win in a fight!” 

“Yes, but not against me,” I said calmly. The teenager wilted a bit at my words, then squirmed, attempting to escape as I ruffled the tangled, filthy hair between the cat ears. 

I put my serious expression back on, reached under my top and pulled out a knife: the attempted murder weapon. It had been damaged by the attack of my Stardust Guardian, but I had repaired it while passing time in the cell. 

“Here,” I said solemnly, holding it out to the urchin, who took it cautiously. “I will trust you enough not to use this. Well, unless they attack you first anyway. We both know it wouldn't work on me.”

“What about if I stabbed you in the eye?” Ah-ha, testing the waters are you? 

I grinned and tapped the invisible visor covering them. “My armour has that covered, and,” I pulled back the arm of my ninja costume, “if you think about attacking me if I’m not wearing anything, my armour has that covered as well.” The Solar Armour separated from my skin, forming into a solid looking armguard. A tiny corona of flame danced across the surface of the bright orange metal before being sucked back in. 

“A Holy Armament,” Tear breathed in awe, staring at wide eyed for a long moment then, then meeting my gaze.

“A what?” I was confused, I had never heard of any such thing, and once again the God's knowledge proved spotty. I was increasingly thinking that he’d made a mistake somewhere because I was certain I’d known more before I’d reincarnated. 

“Eh, it isn't?!” the kid asked, sounding disappointed. 

“It almost certainly isn't,” I replied, thinking of what it was made of: metal harvested from the defeated corpse of a Lovecraftian Elder God combined with Fragments of one of the towers used to summon it. “Thinking of which, I wonder what effect the summoning items would have,” I mused internally, while simultaneously asking Tear “What are these Holy Armaments?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“You know, the super powerful weapons and gear the strongest knights and adventurers have; like an armour that makes the wearer super fast, or a sword that can fire copies of itself.”

I nodded pensively and stood from my kneeling position. That sounded awfully like a large amount of the equipment I had on me. Maybe I should try getting my hands on some ‘Holy Armaments’ to see how they compared.

“Well anyhow it won't affect us. Right now, we need to get some supplies for you.” I headed off down the street, beckoning for my now slightly less unwilling charge to follow. 

I eventually found my way back to the Main Street and bought a large amount more food of all varieties, storing it all in half a dozen extra large packs, which I connected together with a rope and carried, slung casually over one shoulder. They were a little uncomfortable pressing against my wings, but otherwise the weight didn't really bother me. 

Tear looked at me easily holding around 200 kilos of stuff, and appeared to sink into thought. I didn't know exactly what was being contemplated, but I was fairly certain it was something like: “I tried to stab this person!”.

I bought a few more bits and pieces, including several bars of soap, then turned to the not-as-young-as-I-had-thought teenage. “Is there anywhere you'd like to go before we leave?” I asked, receiving an immediate head shake as answer. “Anyone you'd like to say anything to?” Another shake, but sadly this time. 

“All my friends are either dead or betrayed me when the kidnapper attacked us,” Tear said, eyes downcast and shining with warring sadness and anger. I nodded, not saying anything, and lead the way out of the city. 

At the gate, a guard beckoned us over. “Captain Illupay told me about you two. She said I should ‘tell the grubby urchin kid that once they step out of the city, they won't be allowed back in.’”

The grubby urchin kid’s head hung for a moment, then looked up, seemingly having accepted his words, and Tear walked without hesitation through the gateway. 

I made to follow her but the guard caught my arm. “Captain Illupay told me to deliver a message to you too sir: ‘Keep an eye on the kid’ she said.”

I nodded. “Please tell her that the kid is safe with me,” I paused for a moment, “and that I'm safe from the kid too.”

“I will.”

“Thanks,” I said, and continued on to where Tear was waiting. 

“So, how far is it to The Outpost?” 

“Not far, only about seventy kilometres I reckon,” I said airily. 

“Not far!? And how do you plan on getting us there? Don't tell me we're walking!”

I smirked at the catkin, the expression easy to see through the tight cloth of my mask, and headed off down the road at a decent pace. I could almost feel the stare trying to set my back on fire. 

A few moments later Tear caught up, but soon started flagging behind again, so I reduced the pace a bit. 

“I don't need your pity!” the teenager snarled between puffs. 

“Oh, give it a break,” I said, “acting tough doesn't help anyone. And besides, this is our stop.” I veered off into the forest. 

Tear followed me automatically and seemed to liven up under the trees; I put this down to natural cat beastkin affinity with woodland. Once we were about 500 meters from the road, I stopped and put down the bags. 

Tear looked at me in confusion, which changed to surprise as I flicked my hands (purely for visual effect) and dumped them into my inventory. 

“Aaahh, that's better,” I moaned, stretching out my arms. 

“So this it then?” Tear asked sarcastically, “I didn't know 70 kilometres was so short.” 

“Nope, we’re barely even 700 meters away, let alone 70 kilometres,” I answered, deliberately ignoring the sarcasm.

“So what are we doing here then?!”

“I didn't want anyone to see, since it’s not exactly usual.”

“See what?” Tear demanded impatiently, body language shifting to wariness. 

“This,” I replied, spreading my wings.