Chapter 101 - ...Goes Unpunished
Gren had no way of leaving with Robert's knights watching him. The gun would just gather more soldiers to the area with its noise and he didn't want to kill the people that weren't involved. He already had a taste of what would happen if he tried to fight skilled knights back at the guild. Nonviolent solutions wouldn't work since there wasn't enough room to put on armor in the cell that he was in. Gren couldn't use any magic with the interference either so there was no way to heal himself if something went wrong. If he tried to act now then it'd be an instant checkmate.
Sitting in the cell was boring. This wasn't the first time that Gren had been in captivity but it never got easier. "Do I really have to sit here until tomorrow?" The knights didn't respond to Gren's question. "Can we at least talk? I don't want to do nothing for an entire day." Still no response. How could they just stand there for so long? Being a knight must be boring.
Gren turned to his system for help. He had plans of making vehicles soon so now was a good time to look through the different models from Earth, or Tommy-1 as it was labeled by the Administrator. He mostly used public transportation and the vehicles that he saw people driving usually looked the same to him. He did own a cheap motorcycle for a while--a late 90s Suzuki GS500 that he bought for around $900--but it got stolen and the cops never recovered it. Learning how to drive something with four wheels would probably be difficult and would need a large open space so that Gren had room to make mistakes.
Gren would be building at least three vehicles but they would be for different purposes. A small vehicle that can get around quickly, a supply truck that can double as a transporter, and an armored vehicle with mounted weapons. The biggest problem that he faced was that the roads in this world weren't paved. He could probably drive a small car on the cobblestone streets found in the richer neighborhoods but most of the roads were just dirt that sometimes had some gravel mixed in.
Gren had already looked through hundreds of SUVs and trucks but couldn't find anything cheap enough. They required Platinum or some metal called Palladium somewhere in their designs; both metals were part of the Metals Four research project, an investment that would cost him two hundred research points. He would need to kill another two or three lesser dragons in order to get that which might be possible but wasn't feasible since he didn't know where to find more of them.
There were too many options to look through so Gren decided to limit it to military vehicles. The Humvee that Gren knew of required Palladium so it was immediately removed as an option. The model that he finally decided on was an old jeep from way before his time. The blueprint had it named as M151A2 which was just a series of letters and numbers to him. It needed Circuitry, Batteries, Carbon Byproducts, and Metals One unlocked; Copper and Manganese--whatever that was--were both included in the same research project.
After doing the math, Gren wanted to bang his head against the bars. Fifty five points. He already had that. He could have made the jeep long ago. Why didn't he think about looking for older vehicle designs? Using the same idea for the transport, Gren found something called the M814. As for the armored vehicles, Gren was a bit interested in the M60 but wasn't sure if he could drive a tank. The US military vehicles had really terrible names during that era but the important thing was that he could research them.
After finding out that he could build vehicles, Gren was happy; even if his happiness only lasted for a short while. Returning to reality, Gren was still stuck in a cell. There was nothing that he could do to escape right now that wouldn't result in him becoming an actual criminal. Gren decided that it would be a good idea to start researching Circuitry and try to get some sleep. It wouldn't be finished when he woke up but it would only take ten hours so it would be close to finished by the end of his rest. There was just one thing that he wanted to do before starting the research.
{Tell me a joke.}
That didn't make sense to Gren. Maybe it'd be funnier if he knew what a cross trainer was but he wasn't familiar with the term. That just left him confused so he needed to try once more.
{Tell me another one.}
That took longer for him to get than he would like to admit. When Gren did understand it, the joke did get a chuckle out of him. It didn't improve his situation at all and the stone floor was really uncomfortable to sit on but getting his mind off of things for a bit helped him to fall asleep. For some reason, Gren's dream was about the three knights yelling at him during his combat training under them.
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Gren didn't know how many hours he was asleep for before he was rudely woken up. The knights left by Robert and some soldiers were currently being attacked by three people; one of which was a familiar face. Why was the female knight's hairstyle changed? She now had pigtails for some reason.
The group of them didn't look right when next to each other. The female knight was wearing armor but the other two were just wearing regular clothes. The older man with a moustache was using his bare hands to redirect the spears that came thrusting towards him; his style of fighting was almost elegant with the way that he moved just barely out of the way of each strike. The younger man with a healthy tan and thick muscles was just catching the spears with his hands and pulling the soldiers closer to kick them if they didn't let go. The fight was completely one-sided and ended when the muscular man threw a knocked out soldier at the last remaining knight.
The female knight--the person in their group that did the least amount of work--approached Gren's cell. "I knew that you'd be in here. That guy is too predictable."
"In that case you should have said something sooner. We wouldn't have needed to check those other places." The muscular man wrapped his arm around her neck before grinding his knuckles on the top of her head.
"Ahhh, I give, I give! It was a lie!" After the muscular man let go of her, she rubbed the top of her head.
"I knew that it was a lie. That's why I punished you." The muscular man tested the bars before speaking to Gren, "You might want to shield yourself, just to be safe." After Gren covered his face and neck with his arms... nothing happened.
"You don't need to do that. These locks are easy to pick." Gren looked up and saw the older man focus on the lock for a short while before opening it. When the man worked on Gren's shackles, Gren could see just how practiced his skills were. Each lock only took a few seconds for him to open up.
Gren's body was a bit stiff so he stretched when getting up. "Thanks for the rescue, guys, but I've got to get back home." The play was fun to watch but Gren didn't want to stick around while they tried to guilt him into doing something for them.
As Gren tried to leave, an armored hand landed on his shoulder. "You're going to leave just like that?" The only armored person still standing was the female knight so he didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"Yeah." What else was Gren going to say?
"The Duke wants to meet with you." The older man removed the female knight's hand from Gren's shoulder. "He'd like to talk with you in person."
"He's welcome to stop by the guild when he's free." If they still forced him to go with them then there'd be no doubt in Gren's mind that this was just an act. "As long as I'm not doing a request then I'll meet with him."
The female knight was angry but the older man held her back. "What about Henrietta? Weren't you going to heal her?"
Gren shook his head. "I really tried to but look where it got me. I'm not going to make that mistake a second time." There was no reason to help her and Gren didn't want to be charitable to his enemies. "Find someone else."
With the older man holding her back, Gren was able to leave. The other soldiers that had gathered because of the noise didn't try to stop him on his way out. The place that they had him locked up was a dungeon on the far west side of the city. When Gren left, he could see the market that was between the richer districts to the city's northwest and what would be considered the middle class districts to the city's southwest.
It looked like the sun was setting so Gren wasn't asleep for long. The dungeon was pretty warm and humid which caused him to swea; it was pretty uncomfortable but he just needed to take a bath when he got back home. Gren had some pretty rough days before but this one kept pushing him towards insanity. He didn't have an answer to what happened in the early morning, he didn't know how to process the death of a guild member, and everything that happened with the Adiers happened so quickly that it didn't feel real. If it weren't for Estella and the kids then today would have been completely terrible for him.
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There was a saying back on Earth; 'when it rains it pours'. Gren wasn't wearing any shoes which meant the cobblestone streets were hurting the bottom of his feet. He couldn't access the pocket dimension so the only choice that would get rid of the irritating pain was to get off the main streets. The dirt paths with few pebbles were all narrow side roads and alleys; neither of which were particularly safe places to be.
It was pretty much guaranteed to happen. There would have to be at least one more thing go wrong. Gren could hear the sound of a child crying coming from one of the homes as he walked through the alley. If that was all then he wouldn't have done anything; kids often cried for silly reasons. However, Gren just happened to hear the voice of a man telling the kid 'shut up or you're next'.
The system was still busy so Gren couldn't use it to break in to the home but it turned out that he didn't need it. The back door's frame was busted and Gren could just open it by pushing it. The door led to the storage room next to the kitchen and Gren could hear the sound of a men grunting when he entered.
The voice of the child became muffled. "I fucking told you to shut up." Gren entered the living room in time to see a rough-looking man... no... a monster trying to pull off a child's clothes. There was a limp woman currently being violated by a different monster. "Who the fuck are you?" The first monster noticed Gren.
Gren didn't need to see more to know what to do next. The primary job of a mercenary was to kill monsters, even if they looked human. Long range magic would be dangerous to use since Gren's control wasn't good enough to ensure the safety of the woman and child. The monsters had simple weapons; a dagger and a sword. Neither looked sharp enough to kill someone instantly.
Gren rushed towards the monster holding the child first since he wasn't sure if the woman was still alive. They had the dagger in their hand and stabbed towards Gren but didn't seem to expect Gren to use his hand to stop the blade. Gren's hand was pierced through but it gave him the opportunity to grab the monster by its neck and use his fire magic to burn it from the inside. The scream didn't last long as its throat was carbonized by the flames.
The other monster had the sword against the woman's throat; she must still be alive if it wanted to use her as a hostage. It was shouting something at Gren but the words of a monster weren't worth listening to. Even if the monster cut her throat, there would be time to heal her. Gren was no longer unarmed now that he had a dagger in his hand; he just had to pull it out to be able to use it.
As Gren ran towards the second monster, it didn't cut the woman's throat like he thought it would. Instead, it used its sword to swing towards him. The two blades collided, causing the dagger to get chipped. The fight didn't last long as Gren grabbed the monster's arm and burned it before using the dagger to stab it into the monster's chest. That dagger was done for but it got the job done. Gren just needed to finish it off the same way as he did the other one so that it couldn't hurt anybody in its final moments.
The woman was still breathing. Bruises on her neck suggested that she had been choked but it didn't seem like her throat was crushed. Still, Gren healed her neck to be safe before turning his attention to the rest of her body. Her dress was ripped apart so there was nothing covering her injuries.
She was beaten pretty badly. There were probably a few broken bones but it was hard to tell without the system. He'd need her to be fully conscious to tell him about her injuries but a basic healing spell used on her internal organs wouldn't hurt her. She would need to be cleaned up before Gren could heal her lower body.
Gren turned to the kid that was shaken up. "Do you have a bucket?" The kid hesitated before nodding. "Can you bring me it?" The kid tried getting up but was struggling. Gren didn't think that the kid would be injured as well. "Wait."
The kid seemed a bit scared when Gren approached but was relieved at his words, "Where does it hurt? I'll heal it." There were bruises on their legs and sides, probably from being kicked. "Your muscles will be a bit stiff for a while. Try to get up and move around. See if there's any pain."
The kid was awkward on their feet for a while but didn't seem to be in pain. While they went to get the bucket, Gren moved the bodies to the corner of the room. He'd need to contact the guards to dispose of them but after a quick search he found that they both had identification on them. "The Bloodletter Guild, huh?" The fact that they were mercenaries wasn't so surprising but the name of the guild was weird. They were probably one of those gangs that tried to legitimize themselves by becoming a guild.
Right now, Gren was thinking about investigating the old gangs. If all of their members acted like bandits then he'd need to get rid of them. He didn't know where to begin so he'd have to talk to Annie about it. The only guilds he had been in contact with were both damaged to the point that they were going out of business so it wouldn't be productive to go after them.
The kid came back with the bucket and, as Gren washed the woman, he thought about the state of the city. The streets weren't patrolled as well as they could be. The common person had no way of calling for help and they didn't have their own mercenaries or soldiers like the rich merchants and nobles did. The houses weren't secure enough for these kinds of conditions. It was like the city was designed to benefit criminals.
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The woman recovered her consciousness while Gren was healing her and started to yell. Gren didn't know what to do but the kid came to his rescue, "Mom, it's okay. This guy isn't bad. He saved us. He's a hero." Gren didn't think that he was being heroic so it felt weird to be called a hero.
She stopped yelling after her child hugged her but Gren could see that she was wary of him so he didn't approach her. "Sorry for scaring you. My name is Gren and I'm just here to help you. Can you tell me if there anywhere on your body that's still in pain?" Gren had to slowly heal her without her or the system telling him where she was injured which took much longer. Her being awake would speed up the process.
The woman felt around her body before wincing when trying to sit up. "My hip." Her child held on to her from behind to give her support. "I don't think that I can get up, my hip hurts too much."
Gren looked at where she was holding, the right side of her hip. "Can I heal you? If it's broken then it's best to heal it now. I won't charge you." A couple of months ago, when Gren was testing his automatic rifle against some animals, he encountered a party of independent mercenaries that had injuries. When Gren asked them if they wanted to be healed, they all said no because they couldn't afford it. They only accepted when they heard that it was free and, since then, Gren always made sure to tell people up front that there was no charge.
Her feelings for Gren were painted on her face and her words only confirmed that Gren was right in his guess that she didn't trust him. "I don't need to be healed. We've got nothing to offer you and you've got nothing to gain by doing it for free." While true, Gren didn't really care about gaining anything.
"I don't need anything from the two of you. It doesn't cost me anything to heal you and I don't want to leave you injured." Gren tried to seem unintimidating to her. "If you want to pay me back then just try to raise your child to be happy and healthy. They seem like a good kid."
Bringing up her child was a good idea. "Len is the best kid that I could ever ask for." She held on to Len's hand and smiled back at them. "Alright. Please heal me."
With her permission, Gren started healing her. After using a basic healing spell on her hip, Gren put pressure on the area. Since she was still in pain, Gren used a spell to heal her bones. Putting more pressure on her hip didn't cause pain this time but that was only one part of her body. Her legs were thin so Gren was careful while touching them. Her right thigh and left ankle were still injured but they weren't broken.
A small sound escaped from her lips when Gren was checking her feet. "Can you tell me which part hurt?"
"It didn't hurt. It felt surprisingly good when you grabbed my foot like that." Gren wasn't expecting that answer.
"My wife, Jessica, often asked me to massage her feet when she was pregnant. She hasn't asked since giving birth a month ago but, sorry, it must still be a habit." Jessica hadn't asked for a massage lately but she was busy catching up with her work from when she was recovering. She had become a workaholic again so Gren would need to force her to take a break when he got back.
"It's alright. You don't need to explain it to me. Len's father was also interested in feet." She was wrong but Gren wasn't going to tell her since she thought it was amusing. He didn't want to ruin the carefree mood that she was in since she might start to think about what just happened. "If you want to massage my feet as payment for you healing me then I'm okay with that."
"No, that's okay. I already told you that I would heal you for free." That was just more work with no reward. "Do you think you can walk? This house isn't safe with its busted door and I need to go back home. I can bring you to the Church if you don't want to come home with me."
The woman held her arms out so Gren helped her up. "It seems much better now but my thigh is a bit stiff. I should be able to walk on it." She tried to put pressure on her leg but she was off balance. "I'll go with you. Can I take some things with me?"
Gren didn't see any problem with her packing a few things so he helped her walk to the other room. There was a small jingling pouch that she pulled out from her bed, a wide-brimmed straw hat that she put on her head, and a sack that she filled with small valuable things like jewelry and paperwork. "I don't know if I can pack all of our clothes."
"Don't worry about bringing extra clothes. Just find something to change into for now. I should have some that fit the two of you at home and I can afford to buy you some." He could even make some nice clothes with his system now that he had the blueprints from 'Tommy-1'. Guns and vehicles weren't the only blueprints included. The system had blueprints for everything from Earth that he could think of, even things he didn't expect like video game consoles that would be useless without the software to run it.
"Okay, I think I've got everything. Can we go now?" Gren was too tall to give her a shoulder so he let her hold on to his arm as they walked. The child took his other hand as they walked through the side roads. People watching from outside would probably think that they were a family if it weren't for Gren looking like a homeless person without shoes right now. "You know, I'm really glad that you helped us. Even if they wouldn't have killed us, I don't think that we would be fine if you didn't show up."
"I wish that I could have gotten there sooner." She was acting tough but Gren didn't know how she really felt. "It's a travesty that the mercenary community has people like that in them. You'd think that the Duke's Army would crack down on them."
Her grip on Gren's arm got a bit tighter. "My late husband was in the Duke's Army and they've got their hands tied; it's not their fault. Mercenaries outnumber the soldiers and the Duke's attempts at shutting down some guilds just ended up with his men being killed in retaliation." Gren didn't know that there were attempts to shut down the guilds in the past but it didn't change that the problem was caused by decisions made in the past. "There's no easy solution except to just keep going on with your life and to let those criminals go unpunished."