Cless felt the sensation of power over others to be both exhilarating and dangerous. She was about to dish punishment to her rapist, a harsh punishment. Hector was going to have a rough fifteen years ahead of himself.

"Hector. Your punishment will be as follows. You will now and forevermore sport the title 'the Rapist' in your status screen. You will be a criminal for your class. You will take Pleasure worker for your profession. You are forbidden from any kind of paid activity except whoring yourself out to other men. You will never drink alcohol or take drugs. You will live on meager rations and housing. All the excess coin you obtain, at least twenty ducats per month, are to be deposited in the bank split equally in the name of the twenty-three boys you dragged here with you. The three that didn't take the amendment are not included."

The other three that didn't take the amendment had very sorrowful faces. They realized how screwed they were.

She turned to the other boys, "You will have some coin to your name when the term of your service ends. None of us will touch the coin Hector will deposit in the bank."

The twenty-three boys smiled just a little. They would have almost a gold crown at the end of the fifteen years.

"Hector, did you steal anything from my room at the inn?"

Hector shook his head.

"Tomorrow you will sell everything you own except for your clothes and one dagger and start the bank accounts I mentioned before. All the other rules remain, Hector. You will go away and good luck with your new life. You can speak freely so long you don't shout at me or insult me."

Hector froze and tried to fight the orders. He started to choke and fell down with seizures. He crawled to the exit of the warehouse and recovered control of his body. Hector bolted for the exit.

"And now we know what happens if any of you try to fight my orders," Cless said while the boys gulped in fear.

She stopped to hear the heartrending screams Hector was uttering far away enough to not be considered shouting at Cless. After he was far away enough, she clapped her hands.

"Okay. Now we need to adjourn our meeting. You will respect the five rules, and after I dismiss you go home and get a good night's rest. We will meet at the north gate a week from now at mid-morning. Finally, I need new clothes. Since you are all responsible for ripping them off, each one of you will pool five solidi on the table. Once we have one hundred thirty solidi, whoever has a silver ducat will swap it and Lyle will hand me a pouch with one ducat and thirty solidi. If any of you don't have enough coin I expect you to borrow from the others.

"Boys, we are all in this together. I expect every one of you to help one another during our time together. One last thing. All messages regarding our contract will be displayed to everyone. If a notification is issued when someone is asleep, they will wake up."

Settings changed. All messages regarding the contract between Cless and Joe, Lyle Serrano, Edward Hensley, Johnnie Graham, Andre, Jerry Fuller, Alan Dunn, Hector Simmons, Gerald Lindsay, Arnold, Jimmy Carter, Elmer Love, Don, Lance Benson, Martin, Douglas Jones, Alan Wood, Collin York, Eugene O'Brien, Herbert Kramer, Matthew Pratt, Lawrence Paul, Samuel Wilkins, Brett Randall, Brendan Hunt, Shane Scott, and Kevin Sanford are now broadcast to all contract participants. Notifications from the contract will wake up asleep participants.

The sound of coins clinking together filled the next few minutes. Afterward, Lyle brought Cless a coin bag.

"Lyle, you will escort me back to the Beaten Hare before going home."

Lyle nodded. He pointed at his mouth.

"Oh, of course. You can speak now but don't shout near me or badmouth me or the others. Failing me is failing yourselves. This is divine punishment for your transgression. Go now, sleep well and meet me at the designated location in a week. Goodbye."

The other twenty-five boys hurried out jeering, apparently oblivious of their new indentured servitude. Only Lyle remained behind with Cless.

"Should we go, Cless?" Lyle asked. He seemed to be in a good mood, but he was probably trying to butter Cless up. He even offered his arm.

"No. You will walk two paces behind me and avoid physical contact. Once I am inside the inn, wait a minute and then leave. Lyle, I know some of these boys will try to break the contract, but they will only meet their doom. I hope it won't come to this, but I know some of them won't make it. My Skill cannot be denied, Lyle."

Cless was impressed with her sudden intimacy with the boy. She knew he should be disgusted by being near her, but the make-believe of having him as a supporter was too enticing. So she let herself be deceived by her own fantasies.

"I understand. It will be bad. Was this the reason you shared the notifications? So we know when someone messes up?"

"Yes. And it will happen soon enough, I am afraid. Lyle, I am not an evil person. I have this ugly appearance, but it is not my fault. I was raised in the church, I believe in God's mercy. And I got this Skill that got me in all sorts of trouble. Just my damn blasted luck."

She started to move, her shoe squelching from the partially coagulated blood inside. Lyle followed her and asked something that made Cless stop.

"Can I ask what rank is your Skill, Cless?"

She answered without turning around. "You just did, Lyle. If you behave, I won't have to do bad things. The rank of my Skill... you can guess, can't you? After all, God gives us all equal chances. I wonder what rank of Skill he gave a pauper orphan that looks like me." She sniffed and dried her eyes with the rim of her borrowed cloak. "I'll return your cloak tomorrow. It is too big for me."

"Don't worry about the cloak. We'll be together for the next thirteen years. Let's go. Lead on, Cless."

Cless walked through the night streets absorbed deep in her thoughts. She moved in autopilot until she reached the door of the Beaten Hare Inn. Karen and constable George were outside.

"Cless! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Karen took a good look at the girl. The lanterns outside the inn gave the area outside good illumination. "You are bleeding! Poor girl. Come inside the inn, now!"

Cless opened her status and dumped her four remaining status points in Health. It would help her heal the wounds. She whispered "Status" to check her condition.

Name: Cless (no surname)

Race: Human.

Level: 10 ( 46,833 / 55,000 Exp)

Class: None

Profession: None, None

Base Stats: Strength: 6 — Agility: 6 — Health: 14 — Intellect: 20

Available Status Points: 0

Skills: [Absolute Contract (S)]

Proficiencies: Prayer: 2 — Scribe: 2 — Houseworking: 2 — Math: 2 — Reading: 4 — Leadership: 1 (+1) — Intimidation: 1 (+1)

They entered and Cless saw constable George glaring at Lyle.

"Why were you following her, boy?" George asked, his tone of voice alone accusing him of doing something.

Cless took a step back, "Constable, Lyle here is a classmate of mine. He found me in the streets and gently decided to escort me back. He even let me borrow his cloak. Please let him go. I am fine now, Lyle. You can go away. Constable?"

"Is what she said true, boy?" Cless nodded behind the constable and Lyle mimicked her. "Off you go."

"Thank you, sir!" And with that, Lyle bolted away.

Cless entered the inn and Karen placed her hands on her arms over the cloak. On the corner of her eye, she could see constable George entering the taproom behind Karen as she activated her Skill.

"Restoration!"

Karen's Skill 'Inn Domain' manifested. Inside her inn, she had a lot of abilities available. Healing magic was one of them, apparently. Cless felt the itching on her wrists and ankles vanished.

"Thanks, Karen."

"Are you okay, Cless? Your clothes are backward," Karen pointed out, worried sick.

"Can we go somewhere private?" She asked, looking around at the inn patrons staring at them. "Constable, please come with us. I know you want to hear my tale as well."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, miss," He stated in his usual mean tone of voice.

They retreated to a private dining room that was not being used at the moment. Karen asked the barmaid to bring them drinks before closing the door.

"Well, miss Cless, you seem to be the focal point of a lot of trouble. What happened this time? You were kidnapped, right?"

She nodded. "Hector, the nephew of the late merchant Cornelius kidnapped and raped me."

Cless lowered her head and Karen hugged her. Both women cried. The constable was considerate enough to wait for them to calm down. Three mugs of ale arrived by then and they took a few swigs.

"That boy Lyle is friends with Hector, everyone knows that. With my Skill, I also know you were lying when you said he found you on the streets. Care to change your statement, miss?"

Cless stopped to think. She needed to clear Lyle. And now the information that constable George could discern lies with his Skill. "I'm sorry. I was covering up for Lyle. He went in the place I was when Hector was already abusing me. I got Hector to stop and Lyle let me free and covered me with his cloak. He even gave me money to buy a new set of clothes. Then he escorted me here. I swear Lyle never touched my skin today."

The constable grunted. "That is a tall tale, but a true tale. I'll have a talk with them, as usual. Get yourself a good night's rest and remain available tomorrow."

"Yes, constable. But please be kind to Lyle. He is not in the wrong..." She did it on purpose to try and gauge George's reaction. He raised an eyebrow, "Maybe he could've done more but he didn't touch me. It was all Hector." The constable gave an inscrutable smile and left.

Alone with her female tenant, Karen broke the girl talk, "Cless, you need to visit the midwife tomorrow. You can't bear that man's children. She can clean yourself up. Also, get yourself checked, the midwife can testify that you were indeed raped."

"Thanks, Karen. I decided what I want to do. I want to go to the dungeon. I'll be a dungeon delver." Cless confessed with a few more ounces of liquid courage.

Karen sighed. She knew Cless would have a really hard time in a strange town. People would still loathe her but at least here in Tambrill, everyone knew her and despite the hostile looks nobody attempted to directly hurt Cless. In a new town, especially one plagued by monsters, Karen had doubts Cless could stay safe.

"I won't let you go until your month here with me ends. And if you are going to the dungeon, you'll need training. I know for a fact that you've never touched a weapon, much less swung one. I'll get some of the regulars to train you."

"I can pay for the training," Cless said absentmindedly. She was remembering the two gold crowns in the bank.

"Two gold crowns won't buy you the kind of training I intend to make available for you, Cless. Keep your coin. It is no good here."

Cless held Karen's forearm. "Why are you so kind to me, Karen? Getting even experts to train me." Her voice was just a little slurry by now. The girl had no contact with alcohol in the church.

"Cless, your mother was my third cousin once removed. When she was pregnant with you, she was unmarried and I pressured her to go to the midwife and terminate her pregnancy. I told her terrible things. So yes, we are kind of related. By the tenth degree anyway, but you are all the family I have."

"Are you my aunt then?" She looked at Karen with upturned eyes.

"Sort of. Would you be my niece?"

"With pleasure, aunt Karen. But you have to let me work in the inn then. It is a family business, after all."

"Right. Somehow I'll make a barmaid out of you!"

"Now?" She asked, the terrors of a couple hours ago forgotten between the ale and the joy of finding family.

"No. Now you should stop drinking and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll get down to business."

"As you command... Aunt Karen. I am not feeling so well, I'll go to my room if you don't mind," Cless hung her head as she stumbled up the stairs to her room.