novelraw Chapter 36: Alicia
Chapter 36: Alicia
"This should be the place." Lily said as she stepped out of her hovercraft.
"Are you sure?" Maria asked as she stepped out as well glancing around. "Why would a Mid-Grade Gamma Runemaster live here?"
"According to what I know he offended someone powerful and fell into severe debt." Lily explained before beckoning to one of the kids.
Only to get silence from the frightened girl.
Instead, she just looked at some dirty-looking thugs who were wielding what looked to be makeshift club weapons that they used to beat their victims into submission.
It did not take a rocket scientist to get the implied meaning of the gaze despite it being seemingly innocent on the child’s part.
"Don’t worry about them come closer." Maria ordered with a frown.
The little girl stepped closer to them and on a closer look Lily could tell that these ripped clothes did not look to be made out of the poor-quality linen that the rest of the beggars and residents of the slum wore.
Instead, they seemed to be made of finer material speaking of a background that was out of the ordinary for the usual slum dweller.
Almost on clue the thugs walked up to them and the first one reached his hands for Maria’s shoulder.
"Hey, what do you th..." the foolish thug did not get to complete his action or his words before his face was met with a backhand slap from Maria.
He was thrown backwards, crashing unto the ground and his front teeth all fell out. The other thugs saw Maria’s eyes glow red for a second as she stared at her hand stained with the foolish thug’s blood in disgust.
The two other thugs immediately turned around and walked away as if they had no relationship with the foolish one.
Facing two women was one thing, facing two awakened women was another thing entirely.
Maria took out a handkerchief and wiped away the blood stain from her hands before dropping it to the ground.
She walked over to the foolish thug that was trying to scramble away, raised her legs and stomped on his hand that he used to reach for her shoulder repeatedly.
Lily stood back in slightly surprised as she observed Maria’s actions, ’She seemed so kind and... nonconfrontational... whatever... this pest should really learn their place.’
She paused for a second before turning to the little girl as Maria walked back to them leaving the thug writhing in pain,
"May I ask your name?"
"Alicia." Alicia responded nervously, after seeing how the women dealt with the thugs that had been oppressing her.
Seeing Lily scanning her clothes closely, the little girl then asked in a small voice filled with fear "You don’t want my clothes, do you?"
"No! Why would you even thi..." Lily was about to go off before Maria cut her off.
"I will handle this." Maria said as she stepped forward realizing that Lily wouldn’t be able to help with this situation.
Seeing how the thugs ran with their tail behind their legs after one of them had been crushed, Alicia was worried about what would happen to her and her family now that she had offended them.
While the women looked nice, who knew what their true intentions were?
She had spent months in this slum, and any innocence she once had was long destroyed in the depravity of this place where the laws were rarely obeyed.
The only power that mattered here was those of the gangs, none of the officials seemed to care about what happened here as long as they get paid.
She had even heard of stories of slave traders taking children to train and sell in the future.
They usually pretend to be nice at first before leading the child somewhere and locking chains on them and taking her away, making her fears more than justified.
Seeing the suspicion in the girl’s eyes, Lily could only sigh as she stood up and allowed Maria to take over.
"Do you want a candy?"
Maria asked as she reached into her spatial ring to bring out a children candy, trying her best to put the child at ease.
"...Yes." Alicia replied in the same quiet, childlike voice as her stomach grumbled as she reached out and grabbed the candy offered.
"How about this? I’ll buy you and your family food as long as you bring me to them."
"You just happened to have candy with you?" Lily asked before chuckling, "You do know that you look like a kidnapper now?"
Alicia froze with the half-bitten candy in her hand, and her eyes scanned the two women.
Seeing her expression Maria immediately explained, "Don’t worry she is just joking."
Alicia looked at her for a few seconds before going back to her candy.
Maria sighed in relief before turning around to berate lily for her inopportune joke, but the moment Maria turned around, Alicia turned around and bolted.