"where the hell can I get one of those?" Elly whistled as she asked me while pointing at my prosthetic arm. "that's the neat part, you can't. It's one of a kind," came my smug reply with an even smugger smile.
"Fine, keep your secrets," she said with a pout. "But how are we going to reach the capital now? I can't ride a horse with my injury," she asked after a brief pause.
"who said anything about riding a horse?" I said as I lowered my poster invitingly as I stopped in front of her with my back facing her. "Get on my back and hold tight. We need to hurry up if we want to catch up with the train," I said as I gestured for her to hurry with my head.
"I'm probably going to regret this, but what the hell?" she said with a sigh as she wrapped her arms around my neck, and I held her legs right above the knees.
"Hold on tight, and close your eyes if you get dizzy," I said with a wide smile and then kicked the ground, vanishing instantly.
It took fifteen minutes of consecutive soru use for us to catch up on the train. Once it was in sight, I increased my pace and then boarded the train's last cart with a geppo step when we were close enough.
"you've been awfully silent the entire trip," I said as I turned around to look at the strangely silent Elly. 'She fell asleep, huh? I can't really blame her," I thought with a smile when my eyes fell on her peacefully sleeping face.
I spent several minutes finding my seat again and sat down as soon as I reached it while greeting my sitting companions.
"This is Elly jones. She'll be joining us, so play nice," I stated as I laid her down on an empty seat next to me. "We'll celebrate her and Laffite joining us once we reach the capital and she's awake," I continued with a smile on my face.
"How wonderful, another person to join our crew, but how did she come to join us?" Laffite said in a cheerful tone after giving the redhead a quick once over. "Is she strong?" Wilson asked with a lazy tone after giving her a once over of his own.
"More importantly, who did this to her?" they both asked, with murder in their eyes as they finally noticed her wounds.
"The people who did this are already dead and in thousand pieces, you'll have to ask her yourself when she's awake if you have any more questions," I said with a shrug as I lit a cigarette and reclined my head backward on the chair to get some rest.
The rest of the train trip passed peacefully with no disturbances, and we made it to the capital as the sky was getting dark, so we booked four rooms in a high-class inn.
I First took Elly to her room and put her to bed, and called it a day early as I went to my own room and threw myself at the bed.
Laffitte and Wilson wanted to explore the town, so they didn't go to bed and went out instead. Laffite went out to gather information and scout the area, while Wilson only went out to try new foods and drinks.
I woke up early in the morning and went down to the inn's dining area to find Elly sitting and chatting with Lafitte and Wilson.
"Morning," I muttered as I took a seat with them. "How's your wound, Elly?" I asked after I adjusted myself to a comfortable sitting position.
"it only hurts when I move my arms too much. I can't complain about anything else other than that," Elly said while rubbing her back with a smile on her face.
"that's good to hear. I also see you've already met the rest of the crew, and you seem to get along just fine." I said with a smile and received nothing but smiles from my crew as they nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. You and I should go and meet that butler of yours after having breakfast," I said to Elly, and then turned around to Laffite and Winston.
"you two can do whatever you want to do, but make a note of anything interesting you might come across and report it to me later," I said to the duo, and they nodded in agreement.
We just sat there and chatted for an hour while waiting for the inn's breakfast time, while talking about all kinds of different topics.
What surprised me the most was that Elly had decided to share her story with the Laffite and Winston. Even though both of them couldn't relate to her story, they both seemed determined to hunt down and butcher every last member of the so-called Nitti family.
Wilson and Laffite were by no means bleeding hearts that would rush in help random people after hearing a mere sob story. But Elly was not some stray person with a sob story. She was a part of our crew now, and they both understood how protective I am of my companions.
And so, after a hearty breakfast, Elly and I left the inn and made our way towards the less renowned parts of the capital, the slums, to be more precise.
After several turns and dark alleys, we were standing in front of a dingy-looking bar that screamed danger and filled with all kinds of seedy and suspicious individuals.
Once we were inside, she took the lead and made her way to the bar towards the bartender, a large man, possibly 2,25 meters long with salt and pepper hair tied in a long ponytail, who looked comically out of place in this bar with his monocles, fancy black suit, and shiny black leather shoes.
"ah, young miss, you're finally back. And who is this bum you brought along with you?" he said in a refined English accent.
'This guy's name and appearance don't match at all,' I thought as I gave the man a quick once over. 'his name should have been Alfred or Wadsworth or something like that,' I stated in my head as my eyes twitched.
"watch it, old man. Depending on your performance, I might end up becoming your captain," I said with a shit-eating grin as I raised my head and looked at him in the eyes.
He didn't fall for my bait and refused to make any remarks about my statement, choosing to stare at Elly with a raised eyebrow instead.