Chapter 23: Book One – Chapter Three – Part Six – Joining Warden, A New Friend, And A Loss Of Innocence.

“Heya, you two! How was it? Any trou—” the guard, Arty, said when Servi walked through the door with Momo. His happy demeanor suddenly changed when he saw Momo, still covered in a bit of blood and reddened eyes. He quickly got to work.  

“Here, come on over to the bed. You can take a rest there.” Arty reached out to take Momo’s hand. When he did, she yelped in fear and clung tightly to Servi.  

“Dear Gods above, what happened?” he asked Momo, but she wasn't able to speak. Servi answered in her stead.  

“It was going fine, and we took out a rat. Then we heard sounds of battle and ran to check it out. We saw a boy get knocked out by a rat, so we killed it. When we went to check on him, and he blamed everything on Momo and attacked her. He tried to steal her bag and potions,” she explained as she led Momo over to the bed. It took a bit of work, but Servi managed to lay her down.

A few moments later, Momo closed her eyes and went to sleep. Her chest moved up and down slowly. Servi smiled. She liked Momo, even if she was a bit chatty and a bit afraid of practically everything. After all, it was Momo’s first time adventuring as a member of Warden. It was a difficult day for her, and she did the best she could. Even though they were total strangers, Servi was proud of her new friend.

“Well, where is he?” Arty demanded, interrupting Servi’s thoughts. Her smile turned sour.  

“I knocked him out and left. Who cares about that?! He attacked my partner!” 

“Wait, so you left him for dead?! What if the rats get him?!” Arty stood up and threw his hands out in anger.  

“Like hell if I care! Did you miss the part where I said he attacked my partner?! He’s lucky I didn’t kill him myself,” Servi herself stood up.  

By now, the two on-duty nurses, the three shopkeepers, and the ten Rank 10s in the room all stopped turned to the pair. Some were sweating nervously and glancing around the room awkwardly. This was supposed to be a Rank 10 base ran by Rank 10s. They were supposed to look after each other, though it was plain to see that wasn’t always the case.

“Well, you have to care. We Rank 10s need to look out for each other!” 

“Attacking her for his own failure is out of line!” 

“How do I even know that you’re telling the truth?!” Arty said after a few seconds of thinking.  

Please let me kill him. Once again, Itarr desperately wanted to kill. I don't like how he's talking to you.

It took all that Servi had within her to not give permission. “You think I’m lying to you?!” 

“I’m saying it’s your word against his.” 

Servi growled and sat back down. Arty did the same.  

“I can’t believe this. We should not be in trouble. We’re the victims.” 

“Regardless of the truth, I’m disappointed in you two.” 

“I don’t even care anymore. This whole place is full of morons and idiots,” Arty took offensive to that and was about to say something, but Servi cut him off. “If I’m remembering right, I knocked him out in a bit of a dangerous spot. If you don’t hurry, he might die. Not that I would care," Arty glared at the audacious woman who wouldn't bat an eye if an enemy perished.

He stood up and looked at Momo. Then he glanced at Servi. “I hope she finds a better friend than you. Who knows, you’ll probably abandon and leave her to die. Path—” 

“….Shut up…. Servi saved…..me,” a weak voice said, cutting the tension. Servi and Arty turned to look at Momo, who spoke with tears in her eyes.  

“That guy… was gonna hurt me and…. Servi saved me again….. If not…. for her, I’d….. be dead,” Momo soon passed out again. It seemed it took all of her strength to say those few words.  

Secretly, Servi was beaming with happiness on the inside. Though they’ve only known each other for less than half a day, she realized she felt good when someone said good things about her. Arty struggled to reply, but he couldn’t think of anything that he hadn't already said. With a shake of his head, he jogged over to a metal box with holes that had a weird-looking handle. He put it to his ear and pressed a button.  

“Yes, this is Arty from the Rank 10 SB. We have an unconscious and lost member somewhere in the sewers… Yes, ma’am. We’ll start looking right away.” 

With his conversation over, he put the handle back to the box and jogged over to the merchant stalls, where five adventurers were staring at him.  

“Listen up! Emergency quest. The reward is 20 dupla and 2 Potential for the safe return of an adventurer lost in the sewers. All those who want in follow me! Burt, you stay here and guard the door. Don’t let those two back in,” he specifically pointed to Momo and Servi. The man named Burt, tall and bald, nodded and took his place while Arty and five others entered the sewers.  

When the door finally closed, and she couldn’t hear the footsteps, Servi turned to Momo, who was staring at her. It seems that she woke up when he left.  

“How are you feeling?” Servi said with a smile.  

“I don’t know...” she responded as her pink ears twitched. “I feel so pathetic an—” 

Servi held up a finger. “Sorry, but I have to stop you right there. Three things. One: you aren’t pathetic. Two: you did really good out there. Three: I’m proud of you. Sure, you froze up, but that’s normal. The important thing is that you overcame that and acted. Not to mention that you dealt the finishing blow twice.” 

Momo smiled again, but it wasn’t like before. This smile was pure and genuine. “So I did good?” 

Servi smiled and rubbed Momo’s head like a mother would her daughter. She closed her eyes in joy, and her tail wagged under her. “Yes, you did. And I’m sure you’ll do good tomorrow as well. Now, once you feel better, we can head back to the office and turn in the quest.” 

“What happened to the guy in the rusty armor?” 

“I knocked him out. He’s somewhere in there.” 

“I see. I was scared and afraid,” Momo sighed.  

“It’s okay to be scared,” Servi said, trying to reassure her. “Being scared in unknown or scary situations in normal."

“Can we go? I feel fine now.  I guess I wasn’t tired physically, just mentally, but I feel better now,” Momo said. Though she said that, Momo really wanted to ask Servi why she wasn’t afraid. Ironically, Momo was scared of Servi’s answer.  Perhaps that was why she chose to ignore her own feelings and pushed the question away.

Servi held out a hand, and Momo took it, using it to get up. She looked down and noticed the bed was all bloody.  One of the nurses on duty smiled while the other walked over to a small chest. She pulled out another blanket. “Don’t worry about that. We have a lot of spares,” one of them said. 

Momo thanked the two and left with Servi.

A quick walk through the tunnel later, fresh air entered their nostrils. The smell of flowers, trees, and the faint scent of grilled meat was heavenly compared to the gross sewer. The sun, ever so high above, was setting. A beautiful and deep crimson filled out the horizon as the moon and stars prepared themselves for showtime.

“That red is the same color as your eyes. Pretty...” Momo said quietly. Though she intended for it to only be heard by herself alone, Servi managed to eavesdrop. She could only smile in return.  

Servi and Momo stared at the red sunset for a few moments before walking around the building. Just as they reached the door, they heard a loud noise behind them. Turning around, they saw a large man in a fancy red suit. Such clothing was only worn by the wealthy.  He was a noble.

In his hand was a red whip, dripping with presumably, the blood of the young child in front of him. He had what looked to be brown scraps of paper, crudely sewed together, covering his waist, and a plain black bracelet was attached to his left hand. No shirt or shoes covered his chest or feet. Multiple red lines went down his back, and each dripped crimson. A messy pile of boxes surrounded the boy. To Servi, it appeared the boy had dropped them.

“Bwahaha! You little shit. I coated the end of this here whip with Red Scythe. Do you know what happens when you embarrass me? This! Now face your punishment! Know the pain!” 

The noble lashed out at the boy with all his power, and the whip snapped through the air. It struck with such a force that bits of flesh and muscle came back on the whip’s return trip. The boy’s cries of sorrow and anguish echoed loudly in the crowded street.  

Servi and Momo looked on, horrified. But that wasn’t the scariest thing. A lot of people passing by didn’t do anything. Servi foolishly expected someone to offer a word of protest, but it was the opposite. Some cruel and heartless fools cheered on the heinous act of violence and child abuse. While it wasn't the majority of them, it was much more than a few. They were the vocal minority, and their loud screaming did little to stop the man with the whip.

“That bastard!” Momo turned to Servi and was taken back by her anger. “Why is he doing that?” she asked Momo.  

“That bracelet on his hand means that he’s a slave. That’s really the only reason. He has no rights. Heck, slaves aren’t even considered to be alive. In the eyes of the law, they’re property. It’s terrible, isn’t it? A stupid thing like slavery shouldn’t exist. People aren’t property. They’re people. Why can’t they realize that?” Momo said, with a hint of sadness in her eyes and voice. "I think people want to do something, but they can't. Slavery is pretty much legal everywhere, so helping them will mean breaking the law."

Should I kill him? 

Servi shook her head no and stepped forward, but the moment she did, the child took off running.  

“AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” he screamed as he ran down the street. But something was wrong…. The crowd in front of him scattered like they knew something was about to happen.  

 The man laughed and spoke a particular phrase. A moment later, the ground and air shook with the force of an explosion, covering the entire area in a fog of dust and rock.  Servi immediately ducked to the ground, ready to face whatever threat, but Momo shook her head.  

“Servi, that was the slave bracelet going off,” she said, tearing up.  

The dust cleared, and Servi saw the brutalized corpse of that young boy. The entire left side of his body was gone, and blood quickly leaked from the large opening.  

He was dead. A red soul floated up from the corpse and landed on Servi’s ring, disappearing within it. Even though everyone should have seen the soul, nobody realized it was there.  

Well, we know for sure that the soul is invisible. We don't need to worry about that.

“Bwahaha!!! A good show, ain’t it?” the noble laughed, bringing forth the silent rage of Servi.  

“That was a damn good show, Mr. Brick Bri.” A fellow adventurer clapped for the man who just killed a child. A pair of silver dog tags hung around his neck. His armor was a bit fancy. It was metal and not the rusted kind, either. A red sword with a shiny blue jewel in its handle dangled from his waist.  

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He took a bow. “My dear man, you are most welcome. If you find any more slaves for me, you’d be sure to let me know. Right, Rowan?” 

A devilish smile appeared on Rowan’s face. “Yes, sir,” he promptly replied.  

The two then nodded and went their separate ways.  

I shall remember their names. Brick Bri and Rowan. I assume that we’re going to kill them tonight? 

Servi nodded. She was so entranced with her own rage that she didn’t see Momo shaking next to her. Her tears were replaced by an unyielding hatred. Then as quickly as it came, it was gone.  

Grandpa…. I swear I’ll get stronger. I won't let it happen again...  

And with that incident fresh in their minds, the two went inside the building. It was moderately packed. By this time, most of the adventurers who took on quests local to the area were coming back to report in. After that, they would usually head upstairs, grab a bite to eat, chat with their party, then head to bed after a warm shower. For those who stayed elsewhere, a trip to the local pub, then a drunken march to their inn was their ritual of choice. The former would be what Servi and Momo chose.  

They went to the shortest line and waited. Servi took out sixteen claws from her ring and stored them in her pouch.  

"You managed to get the claws from that last rat?” Momo asked when she noticed Servi’s hand was in her pouch.  

“Yeah. It wasn’t too bad, thanks to this sword. It’s actually pretty sharp.” 

“I’m sorr—” Momo went to apologize, but Servi cut her off.  

“Come on, no more apologies,” Servi said in her kindest voice.  

“Alright. I’m sor—I mean okay,” Momo giggled.  “Umm...” Momo fidgeted, “What kind of quest do you wanna do tomorrow?” 

Servi had a few choices here, and she took the time to think them through. Thanks to her eavesdropping on the other adventurers around, she discovered there were different types of quests. A kill quest, which involved killing a monster and bring back its parts as proof, was what Servi and Momo took on. A retrieval quest, where a party was asked to retrieve a required item, was similar to a kill quest.  The single difference was the lack of a target monster. Then there was an escort quest, where a party was tasked to protect someone while they went about their business.  Said business could be something as innocent as picking flowers in the forest or escorting a noble from town to town.

The last type of quest, emergency quest, could be anything.  Emergency quests were only issued when, as its name suggested, an emergency was afoot.  The rewards for completing one of these quests were generally more lucrative than completing a standard quest, but it depended on the severity of whatever was happening.

“Hmmmm…. How about another kill quest? Hopefully, there’s a good one that doesn’t require going into the sewers. It’s gonna be hard to get to the smell off of me,” Servi said after thinking about it.  

Momo giggled. “I know what you mean. Hey, I have some good smelling soap and shampoo. You can use some if you want,” Momo said.  Like before, when she offered to lend Servi money, she fully expected to be turned down.

“Thanks, Momo. I’d like to try it,” Servi said as she turned around. She was next in line.

“ID and items, please,” a young man said. He looked to be in his twenties. Blond hair and green eyes. He spoke with such a monotonous voice that Servi had to do a double-take. His looks and voice didn’t match at all.  

“Here you go,” Servi handed him her ID, the sixteen claws, and the dog tag she found in the sewers.

The man inspected each one before chanting something. Suddenly, the sixteen claws disappeared. Next, he picked up a small red vial and opened the topper. He allowed some of the liquid to drip on her ID, which glowed a faint red. Then he took the dog tag and handed it off to someone.  

“Congratulations on your first quest done,” he said, still speaking in a monotone voice. He slid the ID and a single 10 coin dupla through the small gap. “As a special first-time completion bonus, you’ve earned an extra 5 Potential. Please, use it as you see fit. There's one more thing. If you have any spare monster parts, you can sell them to our sister building, which is right down the street. Your loan has decreased to 95 dupla. Have a good day,” Servi grabbed the coin and ID, then walked over to an empty table.  His odd tone of voice and way of speaking stuck with her for a few seconds before she realized she didn't care.

I never thought about selling the monster parts we collect. Seems like an easy way to get rich. I wonder how much we can get from the rats? Itarr asked.

“Probably not a lot, but we can go there tonight. Speaking of which, I need to try to find a disguise,” she said as she sat down. Dropping her ID and storing the coin, Servi waited for Momo.  

Disguise? 

“Yeah. I don’t want to be spotted when I’m going out. If I can buy two or three different outfits that don’t stand out, I can use my ring to quickly change between them. That way, even if someone spots me, I won’t be wearing the same thing. I need to make sure to get a mask, though.” 

That makes sense. We can think about that later when we're alone. I believe Momo has finished up.

A moment later, Momo walked over and joined her.  

With her tail wagging excitedly, she spoke. “Hey, Servi! Did you get a bonus? That man said I got an extra 5 Potential for a first quest completion bonus.” 

“I got it. So the extra 5 plus the one from the quest. You have 6 Potential, right?” 

Incidentally, you have 84.  

Momo summoned her ID and looked. “Yep! That’s enough for at least one skill. Maybe two if I get one of the cheaper ones.” 

“I see. I’ll take a look at it later.” 

“Umm…” once again, she was fidgeting and playing with her tail. Servi had to admit it was cute. “Do you wanna look over the skills together? Maybe during dinner? If we’re going to be party members, it might be a good idea to learn the skills that complement each other. You know, I can cover you, and you can cover me?” 

“That sounds good, but why don’t we get cleaned up first? It’ll be hard to enjoy our dinner if we smell like this.” 

“Alright! You still gotta buy your bath and food ticket, right?” 

“That’s right. Let’s go do that.” 

“Okay!” 

The two went upstairs. Servi bought her meal and bath ticket from Rakred, who reminded the two of the checkout time, then they went to their separate rooms to get their clothes.  

Five minutes later, Servi walked out of her room and locked it. She was clinging tightly to the overalls that Momo had picked out for her. With a bit of a bounce in her step, she made her way to the fifth floor.  

It was around 6:15 PM. Their excursion into the sewers had taken them a little longer than six hours, even though it didn't feel like it. Considering how dark it was and how little light passed through the grates, it was easy to lose track of time when exploring the sewers. It was also easy to get lost if someone wasn't paying attention. Itarr was the only reason they found their way back to the base, considering Servi didn't remember the path they took.  

The fifth floor was where the showers and baths were located at. Momo was sitting down at a table staring at her ID when she heard footsteps. She looked up and saw Servi looking down at her. With a friendly smile, Momo dropped her ID and stood up.   

“I hope I didn't take too long.  Are you ready?” Servi asked.  

“Yep. Let’s see….. The women’s bath is over there,” Servi looked where Momo was pointing at and saw a very well-detailed painting of a woman. It was hanging above a moderately large door. Servi then looked over to the opposite side and saw a painting of a man above the door. 

Considering that they were girls, they naturally made their way over to the women’s bath.  

“Now, if I’m remembering right, there’s a small machine where we have to insert this ticket in….. Well, I don’t see it out here.” 

“Maybe it’s inside?” Momo answered.  

Servi shrugged and held open the door. Momo entered first, then Servi.  

“Thank you!” Momo said.  

Inside was a hallway with fifteen doors on each side. Attached to a small space beside each door was a small, black plate. It was thin and small, probably a bit bigger than a dagger. Its face was completely smooth, except for a single hole and word. About half of the black plates had the word ‘Occupied,’ and the others had ‘Vacant.'

“You probably put the ticket in there, and the door unlocks,” Momo said, standing in front of a nearby door. The plate said ‘Vacant.’ She put her ticket in, and a few seconds later, the door clicked, allowing her to open it. It then changed to say 'Occupied.'

“I was right. Oh, before I forget, take these. I have a few extras. You can give them back to me when we meet up for dinner,” Momo reached into her bag and pulled two bottles.  

One had a picture of a pink unicorn on it that said ‘Unicorn’s Delight,’ and the other had a rainbow on it that said ‘Rainbow Trail.’

Momo, looking a bit red in the cheeks, explained. “I-I-I know it looks childish, but it seriously smells good. It leaves your skin smooth and your hair soft.” 

Servi accepted them with a smile and thanked her. “How about we meet up for dinner in about an hour or so. That sound good?” 

“Okey dokey,” Momo said with a smile while her tail danced around. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Servi said the same, and the two girls entered separate bathing rooms.

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