The motor revved next to the shack and parked itself with a beep. Rose, however, rested her hands on the steering wheel, sitting within as she stared at the three men that had turned her way.
A brunette haired male, dressed in a suit that actually appeared prim and proper within these slums took the lead in front of two other men, who wore simple shirts with a pair of shorts and swords to their hips.
She hopped down from the vehicle.
"Excuse me, what brings you here?" She asked.
"Pat your head and bark."
". . .what?"
The dressed man smiled and she noticed a certain weapon at his side too. His eyes were not kind but he laughed, "Simply making sure you aren't an homunculus."
"Are you insulting me?" She raised a brow and her eyes sharpened, quick on her feet.
"It's customary, especially with that sweater covering your neck," He said with a frown and pointed, "—say, are you new around here? Who are you, and why might you be driving Lux's motor?"
Her mind worked fast with the hum of her core, she filtered all the knowledge she knew, what may or may not work, her thoughts flew unrestrained with speed, and in that single exchange, she soon gave a thin smile.
"Yes, I am," She replied, "I came to visit Lux and that ungrateful, ugh, that guy ran off!"
She kicked at the ground, clunking her sandals against the asphalt road. She wasn't originally one for deceit but the alternative of telling the truth did not seem like a bright idea.
"He's probably in the red district then. . ." The man narrowed his eyes slightly, muttering under his breath, "I took my time to come in person on my way but he goes wasting my money?"
Then he glanced at her, to the two beside him, and back at her.
"And he left you alone? That's quite a reckless decision on his part."
Rose saw his eyes scan her body. He nodded slightly and there was a soft smile on his face when he looked back up. His face was narrow and she only saw craftiness in his expression.
"Miss, would you like to come with us?" He asked.
"I don't think so," She shook her head. She would very much like it if she could stop being ordered around by every human she met.
His smile deepened and the two grunts at his side drew their blades. They were western in nature, and there was a mana orb embedded just below the hilt on each one.
"Oh, but I insist."
Rose, however, was more than up for defending her new-found freedom. She lifted her hoodie and plucked the gun from her hip before pointing it at the trio.
"We could fight," She shrugged, "But I don't think anyone of us wants to get hurt."
Yet, their reactions were far from what she had expected. Instead of deterrence or caution, they looked between one another before speaking up.
"That toy?"
She could see their expression and neither of them took her with any seriousness.
"Toy?" She asked, the muzzle of the weapon still aimed squarely at the leading man and her finger at the ready to pull the trigger.
"You really are new around here," The leader glanced at her, "That thing, that gun, that's just for show."
"So it doesn't work?"
"It works, sometimes. Sometimes it fires right, sometimes it's wonky and does nothing—but that's lucky. Other times, it's just a beta weapon that explodes in your hand. Maybe if you got a real, functioning gun your threat would work but that, that thing is only used to deter people that don't know any better."
Rose looked between the gun and the trio. 'Lux lost his life due to this toy. . .was he only trying to scare me. . .?' A sudden part of her thought she had acted rashly. Yet, in such a situation where a weapon was being pointed at her, orders were yelled at her like she was a puppet, and tensions ran high between them—what was she supposed to do? She hadn't even known she could summon the weapon until it was in her hands.
"I don't know what happened between you two. . .but Lux must have played you for a fool if he gave you that."
The man chuckled and reached to his own side, pulling out a gun much like her own—except, that one actually looked like a finished product. It was fully white, smaller in build, and it looked more plastic than metal.
"This is a real Peace-Maker," He said, pointing the muzzle at her as his finger rested on the trigger, she could feel the mana flow from the orb and into the weapon. "Now, should you choose to come with us as collateral, there won't be a need for it to fire."
Her core hummed. In under a second, she took the trio in. Their figures. Their expressions. Their drawn weapons. From their nonchalant stance to their ease. In under a second, she concluded that they were not lying in the least bit. They truly did not fear her weapon, at all.
"Very well," Rose clipped the gun to the back of her hip and clapped her hands together.
"?"
Fire sparked. She drew a sheathed weapon from nowhere.
"Is this enough to deter you, then?" She asked, one hand on the sheath and the other on the grip of her sword.
He narrowed his eyes. He took in her weapon but the smile was still maintained on his lips.
"Interesting, a Geared? How did Lux meet someone like you?"
Rose shrugged, "Did you think I, a lone 16-year-old girl, would walk around the slums without any protection?"
That was a bluff, of course. Gear or not, skilled at fighting or not, she would have walked around the entire place none the wiser. He didn't need to know that, however.
The man pondered for a moment.
On the outskirts of Alos, within the slums, a Geared was someone uncommon enough to be rare. They were people who could shape their soul into a weapon, humans that could then use their Gear to get their way.
A Gear was a serious deal. It wasn't just a weapon. It was a weapon with abilities to be found. A weapon that was key to entering dungeons, something that could make one filthy rich if used right. But what was someone with such a thing doing next to someone like Lux, a man who couldn't keep up with his payments? It didn't matter, fighting and trying to capture a Geared was not worth it simply to make the man 'open his eyes.'
He reattached his weapon back to his side before patting his suit with a smile. She watched as he fixed his collar and turned around.
"My name is Paul, Paul Walker."
He waved her goodbye, steps already moving with the grunts to depart the place.
"Tell Lux to hurry with my payment, Alos has taken a tougher stance on us slummers and I'll need his 1,000 lixels. Every piece of meat counts when a big dog comes biting."
Rose narrowed her eyes.
The cost of living here was what she had just made.