novelraw Chapter 21: The Criminal Gang
Chapter 21: The Criminal Gang
The carriage rocked just like it had when Fischer was aboard—only now, his tall human figure was gone. In his place stood the Spiderkin named Sia, holding two guns.
"Can’t believe someone expanded a carriage this much... Hey, little Dragon, what did that human do for a living?"
"Uhh..."
Sia pressed one of her guns to Larr’s head, making her face go pale. Mill lunged forward without hesitation, hugging the small girl tightly and using her own body to shield her.
"Don’t touch her!"
"Tch... You lot are going to be sold off, why would I hurt you? Besides, looks like I got lucky—caught a Dragonkin going through her Coming of Age."
She looked toward Raphaëlle, who sat weakly at the step, and grinned. "Sure, it wasn’t done in your tribe, so the quality’s a bit off—but humans can’t tell the difference... Anyway, let’s see what kind of treasures are in here."
She opened the first door on the left, revealing Fischer’s room. After scanning the books and opening the desk drawer, she found a men’s leather wallet on the top shelf.
Sia flipped it open and counted the cash—only a few thousand Euros of Nary.
She’d robbed enough humans to recognize their currencies by now. The blue notes from Nary were called "Nary Euros," red notes from Schwalli were "Vali Golds," and those from Cardo were "Saint Coins." To demi-humans, money was just numbers. Remembering the rough value was enough.
She curled her lip.
"So he’s broke. Great. Who knows if these books are even worth anything..."
Outside the room, Raphaëlle used the distraction to quietly call Fassil over. She pulled aside the girl's clothes to check the Slave Mark on her chest—it was still glowing. That meant Fischer was alive.
For some reason, Raphaëlle let out a breath of relief—but then immediately felt like she’d done something terribly inappropriate and wiped the expression from her face.
The giant spider-woman made the cramped carriage even tighter. When she entered the changing room to look around, her massive spider body stayed outside, scaring Larr so badly she buried her face in Mill’s chest.
"Clothes... clothes... nothing but clothes. Hah, these are women’s clothes, but not for Dragonkin, that’s for sure... Korriri, come take a look."
Korriri floated over to the door and glanced at the deep-purple dress Sia was holding. It was a full outfit—stylish short jacket like a human’s, made of pale silk, matched with a floral-embroidered bonnet and a beautiful purple skirt.
Korriri’s cheeks flushed. She was drawn to the elegant design—it fit her tastes perfectly. She said to Sia:
"This one’s mine."
"Huh? I found it first!"
All of Sia’s eyes glared at her, but Korriri’s one visible eye stared right back.
"Can you even wear it?"
She glanced at Sia’s huge spider body. Sia opened her mouth, then gave up and tossed the outfit to Korriri before crawling back into the dressing room in search of human treasures.
Korriri caught the dress—only for it to suddenly heat up like magma. The searing temperature burned her illusory hands, and rings of violet light radiated from the garment.
Then glowing letters appeared—illegible to them, but in Naryan, they read:
"Anyone other than Fischer is forbidden from touching this garment. If you do, you’ll be cursed. This is your one and only warning. Please tell Fischer—I know."
As the purple words faded into the air, Korriri felt the room grow a degree colder.
She stared at the burn marks on her translucent hand and didn’t try to touch the outfit again. Even a fool could tell it was enchanted—messing with it further would only lead to worse injuries.
"This skirt is enchanted. Don’t touch it."
Korriri spoke calmly, and Sia smirked at her misfortune—maybe as a little payback, since her spider body could never wear it anyway.
The third room was the Dragonkin girls’ quarters. As expected, nothing of value there. When Sia tried to open the fourth room, she found it locked.
She pulled out her gun and aimed at the lock, but Korriri stopped her.
"Don’t shoot, you idiot... The carriage is layered with space magic. If you break a rune, we’ll all be crushed in here."
Sia clicked her tongue.
"Fine, fine, you're the expert. You’re right... That human really was dirt poor, though—nothing worth taking..."
Little did she know, that was all Fischer owned.
"This carriage and those Dragonkin alone are already a nice haul. We can sell them to humans and make a decent profit."
Korriri floated to the front of the carriage—it seemed they had arrived. She gently tugged the reins, slowing the horses to a halt.
Darkness surrounded them. There was nothing in sight but empty plains. But then, after Korriri muttered a few words into the air, the ground suddenly caved in, revealing a ramp and a tunnel glowing with torchlight.
"Finally home."
Sia hated being cramped in the carriage, so she got out first and led the horses down the slope.
Raphaëlle leaned against the door, watching them enter the tunnel. It led into an enormous underground space, the first thing visible being a stone hall packed with all kinds of items: human firearms, medicine, currency, gold...
On one side, there was a makeshift jail. A few humans peered out from within, but seeing the spider-woman again, they slumped in disappointment.
So these guys... were robbing humans in this area?
"Anything valuable?"
A small girl came running out of another tunnel, covered in dirt, with a long, tough tail swaying behind her—like a pangolin’s. Her hands were huge compared to her body, perfect for digging through stone and soil.
A Pangolinkin, a burrow-dwelling demi-human species from the mountains. Raphaëlle had never seen one in her tribe—only read about them in ancient texts. And now, her first real encounter was under these circumstances.
"Nothing much. A few Dragonkin and a carriage with some fancy magic etched in. Not a total loss... Tomorrow, contact that human and see if he wants to buy."
"Why me again? I still have to dig!"
"Dig, dig, dig! All you ever do is dig. Can’t you rest for one day?!"
"If I don’t dig, where would you lot even live?! Sia, I’m telling you—I'm not going tomorrow!"
"You want me to go into a human city looking like this?"
From the carriage, they couldn’t see what was going on—but they could hear the two demi-humans arguing fiercely.
Larr peeked outside, then looked over at Raphaëlle.
"Lady Raphaëlle... I’m scared..."
"It’s okay. Fischer’s still alive."
If Raphaëlle weren’t so physically weak right now, she would’ve said she’d get them out herself... But somehow, just saying that human was still alive made her feel oddly reassured—like she was relying on him.
No—that wasn’t it. She wasn’t relying on him. It was just... with her body in such poor condition, and with how strong he was, there was no way these small-time thugs could beat him.
If she were fully grown, she was confident she could take him on. So this wasn’t dependence—it was just the smart move for now.
That human wouldn’t abandon her.
Yes. That had to be it.
Just then, she looked up and saw Korriri’s illusory form watching them with a blank expression.
"Even if that human’s alive, he can’t save you. Give up. Now—off the carriage."
No way the humans would send troops beyond the walls just for one man. Raphaëlle knew how human cities treated the wilderness.
They hadn’t even established a real foothold on the Southern Continent yet. If they sent troops out here, someone like Korriri would just sell the info to the northern Goblins.
Those idiots hated the humans hiding behind walls.
And if it was just one human...
Heh. If he’s foolish enough to come after them—he can hand over the life he barely clung to.
...
...
In the foggy night, Fischer walked slowly back to the river, picking up the hat he’d lost when he dove to dodge bullets.
He adjusted it on his head, then picked up his staff.
He turned toward a shadowy corner of the darkness—and walked that way, disappearing into the mist.