Chapter 15

A Place To Stay

When Erin finally woke up, she was greeted with the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling in a rather dark room. By looking around herself a bit, she could tell that she was in a building that didn’t belong to the wealthiest of people. The stone walls were completely barren with the exception of a few cracks here and there. The room itself was mostly empty, with only a few pieces of furniture there. These included the wooden bed the redhead was sleeping on, a small wooden nightstand next to the bed with a candlestick on it and a single wooden chair also next to the bed. The room also had a small wooden window that was closed.

The door to the room suddenly opened. Erin turned to look who the person was that had arrived and saw two little children. One was a boy that was at best ten years old, while the other one was a girl that was younger and smaller than the boy. The girl seemed to be shy, as she was hiding behind the boy, who had a basket full of medical supplies with him.

“Hey, you’re awake!” the boy said with a smile. “Big sister Ryle was worried that she had brought you here too late. Glad to see that’s not the case.”

“Hang on… Ryle brought me here?” Erin asked as she sat up on the bed. “Where am I? And who are you?”

“Oh right! We need to introduce ourselves obviously!” the boy said. “My name is Pete. The girl with me is Beth. We kind of met you before, when you were brought here, but I don’t think it counts when you were unconscious.”

“I don’t think it counts either,” the redhead said with a small smile. “You said that Ryle brought me here and that she was worried about me. Why is that? I thought she wanted to bring me to the police in order to claim the bounty on me.”

“Yeah, that was the original plan, but things apparently changed,” Pete began to explain as he put the basket of medical supplies he was carrying on the nightstand and started to sort through them. “I don’t know what exactly happened, but I guess big sis took some sort of a liking to you or something. Instead of getting you arrested, she decided to save your life.”

“I see. I guess I should thank her then,” Erin said. “Where is she?”

“She’s right outside, waiting to hear about you. She’s been there pretty much ever since you were brought here,” the boy explained as he took fresh bandages from the basket. “Just as a heads up, though, she might seem a bit cranky. She’s been cursing about how you “made her lose on a sweet bounty” and such, but I don’t think she’s actually angry at you. She just gets all sulky when things don’t go her way.”

“Good to know… I suppose…”

Pete and Beth proceeded to change Erin’s bandages and gave her some medicine to ease any pains she might have. With the treatment over, the redhead got up from the bed and began to make her way outside, despite the protests of the two children. Erin told the two that she was feeling fine and felt the need to get moving after spending so much time in bed.

The redhead was soon outside and could now take a better look at the place she was in. Judging by the buildings and the people, she was in a slum. The clothes the residents were wearing looked dirty and worn out, like they had been wearing them for the last couple of years. The buildings didn’t look all that better, as they were either haphazardly put together from wooden planks or made from stone and looked like they were full of cracks and ready to break down.

At first, Erin thought the settlement she was at was in a cave, as hard bedrock seemed to surround them from all sides. However, there was plenty of natural light coming from one side of the slum. It was then that the redhead realized where she was. Part of Grand Ravine’s lore was that the poor and unfortunate people lived in the deeper parts of the town, with the large ravine the place got its name from right next to it. Not only was this a dangerous place to live at due to the possibility of falling down, there were also dangerous beasts living at the bottom of the ravine that would sometimes climb up to attack the residents.

“Hey, about time you woke up!” the familiar voice called out. Erin looked behind her to see Ryle walking up to her. “You sure took your sweet time resting. I was starting to think you were going to kick the bucket! Would have made things easier for me, though…”

“I heard that you were the one that was worried about me,” Erin said with a raised eyebrow.

“WHAT!? Did Pete tell you that!? That little… Always saying things that should be left unsaid!” Ryle ranted angrily with an embarrassed blush on her face. “Don’t go thinking you’re somehow special or anything, got it? I was just returning the favor for saving my ass back there.”

“If you say so,” the redhead replied. “So what’s going to happen now? Are you going to claim my bounty now that your debt has been repaid and you no longer have any obligation to help me?”

“How low do you think of me? Of course I’m not going to do that! I’m not some disgusting opportunist who stabs people in the back! I’m not General Lune, you know!?” the blonde argued angrily. “Although, you sure would have made things easier for me, if you hadn’t saved my ass. Had you been just like any other bounty, I could have tried to claim your reward without any feelings of guilt at all. Why did you have to make this so damn complicated?”

“Are you saying you would have preferred getting shot then?”

“Why you little smart-ass!” Ryle said in response to Erin’s remark, before suddenly putting her in a tight headlock and beginning to rub her knuckles against the top of Erin’s head in a painful manner. “You keep that up and I will take you back to that piece of crap general!”

“Ryle, what’s the point of saving someone, if you’re just going to kill them yourself?” a new voice called out. Erin looked up to see a boy in his teens walking towards them. “At least keep her alive, so you can collect the bounty.”

The boy was the complete opposite of Ryle. While the bounty hunter was brash and wild as well we a picture of strength, this person had an air of calm and intelligence around them while looking weak, almost sick. In fact, he seemed to be quite pale and thin, which was visible even with the clothes covering his body. He looked similar to Ryle, as he had similar blonde hair, except much longer. He was also considerably shorter, which was most likely due to being younger.

“Zeke, you shouldn’t be walking around!” Ryle suddenly said in a worried tone, dropping her redheaded prisoner from her clutches to the ground, before rushing over to the boy. “You know what the doctor said. You need to rest a lot and not strain yourself too much. It’s important that you follow his instructions, you know?”

“I’m fine, sister,” Zeke said with a warm smile. “Besides, I need to at least walk around a bit. The fresh air does good for me.”

“Still, you shouldn’t take unnecessary risks…”

“Says the person who goes around bounty hunting and even ends up bringing the biggest bounty to her home,” the teen said with a smirk. “Which one of us is the reckless one here?”

“Oh come on! I had my reasons!” Ryle argued.

“If you say so,” Zeke said before turning his attention to Erin. “Hello there, miss. My name is Zeke and I’m the younger brother of Ryle as well as her partner in bounty hunting.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” the redhead said in response. “Forgive me if I seem rude, but how exactly are you her partner? I didn’t see you either time I met your sister.”

“That is quite alright. I know I don’t exactly look like a deadly bounty hunter,” the blonde boy said with a smile. “The way I’m Ryle’s partner is that I gather her information on potential bounties and prepare some of the equipment she uses. I’m sure you witnessed the effects of the disguise potion that I mixed for her.”

“You mean how she looked like a little child at first?” Erin asked to which she received a nod. She remembered that the game actually had potions that would make the character affected by them look like a little kid. They were only used to fool around when playing the game, but in this world they seemed to have a practical use. “Did you make that for her?”

“Well, not originally, but with enough trial and error I was able to duplicate its effects. It helps cut down expenses, you see,” Zeke explained.

“It seems you were able to pull it off perfectly,” the redhead said. “Also, I would like to thank you for treating my injuries. You really saved me.”

“What makes you think it was me who treated your wounds?”

“Sorry for being blunt, but your sister doesn’t seem to be the type who could do such delicate work.”

“HEY!” Ryle yelled angrily while her brother let out a small laugh.

“No need to thank me. After all, you did save Ryle’s life, so it was only natural for us to return the favor,” Zeke said with a smile. “No need to feel like you owe us anything.”

“I appreciate all the help you’ve given me, but I’m afraid I can’t stay for much longer,” Erin said. “With General Lune after me, I’m afraid of what he might do, if he even gets an idea of looking for me here. I’ve seen that monster destroy an entire town for no reason.”

“You must be referring to Rockmoore Town, correct?” Zeke asked to which the redhead nodded. “I heard that the town was destroyed recently and the rumors said it was done by him. I guess those stories were true, like I had suspected.”

“I don’t understand. Why would he do something like that? What could he possibly gain from causing so much death and destruction?” Erin asked.

“Nothing aside from his personal satisfaction, I think. That general’s a real piece of crap,” Ryle began to explain. “Lune doesn’t have any real combat skills himself, but he does know how to persuade people, a real silver-tongued devil. That’s what allowed him to rise up in the ranks of the military and gather his troops. With the power he now wields, he can effectively do whatever he wants with no repercussions at all. The higher-ups don’t mind as long as he doesn’t cause them problems and those beneath him keep silent in fear of retaliation from Lune. His personal troops don’t mind doing his dirty work, as they often get to loot the poor folk that become his victims.”

“How the hell did such a person ever get into such a high position?” the redhead asked. “How does simply being good at talking get you so far?”

“I don’t know all the details, but I heard he has a nasty ability of sucking up to those who can help him reach higher places before turning others against them,” the blonde began to explain. “Apparently, he started by finding higher-ranking military personnel that he would then proceed to kiss their asses. This in turn gave him all sorts of bonuses that he would use to his advantage further. In case someone tried to go against him, he would get someone else to handle them for him. This all allowed him to finally reach the rank of general, all due to empty words and kissing up to the right people.”

“No wonder he’s able to do such horrible things without any regrets. He sounds like he has no morals at all,” Erin concluded. “All the more reason for me to leave as soon as possible then. There’s no telling what he might do to this place, if I don’t get out of here.”

“You shouldn’t worry about us so much. I can assure you that we can take care of ourselves, if something was to happen,” Zeke said with a kind smile. “Besides, you don’t need to worry about what happened in Rockmoore Town repeating here. The only reason Lune was able to do what he did was because that place held no great significance to anyone that was of similar or higher ranking as Lune himself. Here, on the other hand, the mayor is a relative to one of the military officers above him, so I doubt Lune would be stupid enough to cause a similar ruckus around here, no matter what.”

“Still, you can never be too sure about people like him. There are just some people who do whatever they want without any regards to those around them, no matter what it is,” the redhead continued as she started to walk away. “The longer I stay here, the more danger you all will be in, so I should just-”

Erin was suddenly cut off by Ryle giving her a swift punch right in the place her injury was located at. Pain shot through the redheaded assassin’s whole body, causing her to fall to the ground while a couple of tears fell from her eyes.

“You think you’re going anywhere like that? Take one step outside of these slums and Lune’s thugs will catch you right away,” Ryle said in a frustrated tone. “So just stay put and get yourself fixed, got it!? There’s no use in going out there just for you to get killed!”

“If it’s about getting her killed, I feel like you are doing a decent enough job at that yourself,” Zeke said with a sigh. “Seriously, have you ever heard about being gentle?”

“Hey, I’m gentle enough! She’s still alive, isn’t she?” the blonde woman said as she picked up Erin by the back of her collar and lifted her up. “Look! She’s pretty much the picture of health, isn’t she?”

“...If that is your idea of healthy, I fear what an actually sick person looks like to you,” the younger brother said bluntly as he looked at the pale and pained expression on the redhead’s face. “At least take her back to her bed, so she can rest properly.”

“Fine! I’ll play mommy for her just a bit longer,” Ryle said as she rolled her eyes, before walking away while carrying Erin on her shoulder.

It didn’t take long time for Ryle to carry Erin back to the bed she had been resting in. There the blonde decided to take a look at the redhead’s bandages and tried to change them, only to somehow end up almost strangling Erin with the spare bandages. Luckily for the redhead, some kids came in to see the new visitor, including Pete and Beth, who were able to give her injuries the treatment they needed.

“Thank you for your help,” Erin said with a pale face, having been just rescued from being strangled. “Had you guys not come here to help, I’d be a goner now. I’m starting to think Ryle actually wants me dead after all.”

“Oh, no need to be worried about her!” Pete stated with a big smile. “Ryle’s great at fighting and other things that require a lot of strength, but once a bit of smarts is needed, she’s pretty much useless! Believe me, you’re not the first one she’s almost killed by trying to take care of them.”

“HEY! No need to tell her any of that!” Ryle yelled in protest. “Besides, I took care of you that one time you had the flu, right!?”

“I sure remember that! It was the first time in my life that I almost died!” the boy yelled back.

“Ungrateful little prick…”

As the children laughed at Ryle’s expense, Erin looked around at the group gathered around her. There were quite a few children there. What surprised her the most, however, was how well they seemed to be handling whatever tasks they had. Whether it was cleaning, preparing food or even helping out with the redhead’s treatment, all of the kids were able to perform the work they had to do.

“Hey, Ryle, who exactly are all these kids?” Erin asked. “Also, while I am grateful for all the help, shouldn’t they be with their own families?”

“They would be, if they had any families to go to,” Ryle answered. “The fact is that all these kids, along with me and Zeke are orphans. Pretty much all the people in these slums is someone who either lost their family or got abandoned. We are basically a collection of those no one either can take care of or doesn’t care about.”

“I… see… I’m sorry if I was insensitive,” the redhead apologized.

“Meh. Don’t let it bother you too much. We’ve all pretty much come to terms with it already and have taken it upon ourselves to take care of each other. We all use our abilities to help out to the best we can around here and we do get those that offer some assistance to us from time to time. The problem is just that even most of the people that have it better than we do are facing hard times due to the current leadership, so we can’t rely on any outsiders to offer help,” the blonde explained. “However, the worst are the rich bastards that like to pretend that they understand us and claim they relate with our struggles. Nothing but empty words to fool those who are dumb enough to believe them.”

“So is that why you were after the bounty on my head?” Erin asked. “To help the people of this slum?”

“Pretty much, although I wasn’t simply going to help everyone here. Just those that are important to me, like Zeke and these kids,” Ryle answered. “I mean, I could try and help everyone here, but that would just mean less to give to the people that actually matter to me. We might stick together around here, but not to the point where everything has to be shared. Besides, with Zeke’s condition, he needs more help than anyone.”

“He seemed to be ill. Is he sick or something?”

“Wish it was something as simple as that. He has a rare disease that can be transmitted from the beasts that live at the bottom of the ravine. While it can be cured, it requires a lot of money to do so. A lot of the money I manage to get goes to just keeping the symptoms to a manageable level, so he doesn’t die from them. If I can’t get some serious cash, it’s only a matter of time before…”

The blonde woman didn’t even need to finish her explanation, as the expression on her face was enough to tell Erin what would happen. The redhead was saddened to learn that things were tough with the people that had decided to help her. She felt like she needed to do something in order to repay them for their kindness.

“...Hey, are you perhaps going bounty hunting anytime soon?” Erin asked.

“Huh? Maybe. I mean, it depends if Zeke has any good info gathered,” Ryle answered. “Why do you ask?”

“If there’s any good bounties to be hunted, then I want in,” the redhead answered. “I want to work with you to collect some good cash from that.”

“WHAT!? Hell no! I work on my own!” the blonde woman yelled. “Besides, I need that money myself! Weren’t you listening at all to what I was telling you!?”

“I was listening. Now I want you to do some thinking,” Erin began to explain. “With the two of us we’ll have a much easier time taking care of bounties, as we can do much more than by working alone. Not only that, but we can even take on bigger and more dangerous outlaws together instead of going solo. Also, this should ensure that we have a better chance at surviving, which is something you should keep in mind. After all, who is going to take care of Zeke, if you’re gone?”

“Nice try. If you think you can manipulate me that way, you’re-”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Zeke said as he suddenly walked into the room. “I’ve been hoping for you to get a partner for some time now as well.”

“ZEKE, YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!” Ryle shouted at her younger brother. “You should know better than anyone that I can take care of myself! Besides, if I have her go with me, I’m going to have to split the bounty!”

“Well, the money won’t do much good if you end up dead anyways, even if you somehow manage to claim it before that,” Zeke said as he walked up to his sister. He then pulled her into a sudden hug that surprised her. “Also, do you think I could live with myself, if you died because of me?”

“...That’s so not fair. Striking me in such an underhanded manner,” Ryle said as she gently embraced her brother in return.

“I would also like to add that you don’t need to give me half of the bounty. I’m fine with getting less than 20 %,” Erin said. “I just want to get some money for when I travel out of here. I honestly simply want to pay you back for helping me out.”

“While I’d like to say that there is no need to feel indebted to us, I have a feeling that you’re not going to back down on this, are you?” Zeke asked with a smile. “Very well then. Let’s set up a bounty for the two of you. In fact, I have the perfect target located just nearby.”

“Hang on. Why wasn’t I aware of this?” Ryle asked.

“This one is quite dangerous, so I didn’t want you going after it on your own,” the blonde boy answered.

“HOW COULD YOU NOT TRUST ME!?” the blonde woman cried out.

As she watched the two siblings argue together, Erin couldn’t help but smile. It seemed like things were finally going for the better for her.