It hadn't been too late in the night for Jenro to be walking back to his house, but people were scarce in Klanta and customers rare—for better or for worse. However, there was no point in waiting for someone who wouldn't come.
"Mom used to love evening walks," Lyla said with a faint smile. "I was small then but I do remember a little."
"She did." Jenro looked up at his daughter. "We used to take you on walks all the time. That was her favorite thing to do. You seemed to enjoy them as well."
Lyla smiled, looking ahead. "But I don't mind it here. It's peaceful."
"Sure is," Jenro agreed. "But business was better in Sonas."
"Before the…robbery," Lyla added, looking at her steps. "Stuff like that won't ever happen here."
Jenro sighed, looking away. "That haunted me when I reopened the store in the city again, especially because that day…I could've lost both of you."
Lyla slid closer and got a hold of his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "But things are getting better, Dad."
Jenro smiled, placing a hand on her head. "Of course they are. You followed your calling and completed your studies. Shyna would be so proud to see you in that doctor's uniform. Matter of fact, I know she keeps a watch over you, secretly enjoying herself. But she won't admit it, I know her."
Lyla's eyes watered. "You think so? That makes me so happy."
Jenro wiped away the tears in the gray eyes of his daughter. They kept walking onward, fondly missing the third one who used to take these walks with them.
"I'm sorry," Lyla said, straightening her back, rubbing away the tears in her eyes. "I promised I'll be strong and never cry again."
"I don't see any correlation between the two," Jenro said flatly. "But you know I'm here to support you for anything and everything."
Lyla gave him a smile.
"We're almost a Melga's," Jenro said, pointing ahead. "Her food is always good, unlike yours, which can sometimes be a gamble."
Lyla stopped with a pout. "Hey! I thought we were having a family moment here. And didn't you say the other day that you like my cooking?"
Jenro laughed. "Of course I do! It's just that you're so good at other things that by comparison you're cooking seems amateurish. It's a gamble everytime. You shouldn't have raised the bar so high for yourself."
"Is that so?" Lyla said slyly as they entered the area before Melga's restaurant. "You know what 'gamble' reminds me of, Dad?"
Jenro's smile faded. He looked at his daughter.
Lyla laughed, walking on. "You almost lost everything in that gamble of an auction in Zephpolis, Dad. And you were so optimistic about it too."
"You weren't supposed to say that," Jenro said, flushing. "I realized my past mistakes and I'm a better man now, so please don't bring up the questionable financial decisions I made previously."
"Oh, Dad," Lyla said, holding open the front door to Melga's restaurant for her father. "You know I was just joking, silly. But…if you hadn't lost money there, you could've been off work by now."
"Once the debt for your studies is fully paid," Jenro said, walking inside the restaurant, "I'll happily retire. But until then, I have to put up against troublemakers like Ryuz—"
"Huh?" Lyla said, stepping beside him. "What's the matter, Dad?"
Jenro gulped, putting a hand over his mouth, pointing ahead with the other. "Is that…?"
Lyla's eyes widened as she looked to where Jenro pointed. She gasped, slowing walking toward the kid lying on the floor, blood splattered around his lifeless body. "Ryu…zio?"
Jenro looked around. "Melga isn't here?" He walked over to the counter. "Melga! Hey, Melga—!" He stopped as his eyes fell on the cart behind the counter.
Lyla picked up the bloodied boy from the floor, checking for his pulse, then his breathing. "It's Ryuzio, Dad. He was at our store just now!"
"Look at this, Lyla," Jenro said, showing the note previously left in the cart by his daughter. "It was on the counter. Melga read it. But she's not here."
Lyla gulped. "I don't know what's going on, Dad, but I'm afraid we have no time to go look for Melga. We need to get Ryuzio to the clinic, and QUICK! He's barely breathing, two of his ribs seem to be damaged, and he's definitely bleeding internally."
Jenro hurried to her, picking up the boy in his arms. "That's really flucking bad. I'll carry him to the clinic. You run ahead and get things ready."
Lyla nodded nervously. "I can…do it."
"There's no doubt about it, Lyla," Jenro said, walking toward the front door with Ryuzio in his arms. "You will save this boy. Isn't that the whole reason you started a clinic in this backwater village and not in a big city like Sonas? You thought if your mother could not get immediate help even in a city as large as Sonas, what would be the people of villages like Klanta be suffering through? All that has led up to this, Lyla. Time to show your mother that she walked not only her daughter, but the best doctor Imperos has seen in ages."
Lyla got up, resolve in her expression. "You're right. I WILL save Ryuzio!" With that, she exited the building and ran off as fast as she could toward the clinic.
Jenro looked down at Ryuzio's discolored face, as he forced his old muscles to pace toward the clinic. "Don't you worry one bit, kiddo. As the Chief of Klanta, it's my duty to protect you. I couldn't do bullspit for Shyna. Even the doctors of Sonas are a disgrace! But this time, I have the best doctor in the world by my side. She'll do her best to treat you, and this time…there's no way I'm sitting still!"
###
It had been an hour or so from when Jenro put Ryuzio on the bed of the operating room and Lyla started treating his wounds.
Every moment brought a surprise as she operated on the boy.
As if the energy inside him was throbbing, a wispy and translucent reddish coat seemed to cover the boy from time to time.
Lyla did not fully understand the energy coat, but it seemed to have some healing properties. She had only seen this rapid of a healing effect in patients who were treated by Healing Arts.
"The boy has that Ether thing," Jenro said, still amazed. "He is trying to hold on just as much as we are trying to help him."
Lyla nodded. "If this stays constant, he might only need some rest. A couple weeks ought to fix him fully."
"And to think his organs were ruptured," Jenro said, placing a hand on his head, "and ribs broken."
"He's not only the survivor, Dad," Lyla said, removing her mask, "he's also the savior."
"Couldn't have agreed more, Lyla," Jenro said, removing his mask and walking out the room. "I'll be waiting outside." He yawned.
"Sure, no problem."
###
Ryuzio slowly lifted his eyelids.
He heard a muffled voice.
Where was he? Why was it so bright?
"…io!"
"…zio!"
The voice was getting louder.
"RYUZIO!" Lyla shouted. "Are you feeling well? Is it still hurting in your stomach?"
"Ly…la?" Ryuzio threw out words from his dried up mouth. "Where…am I?" He could see the blue-haired doctor's face at ease.
"At the clinic," Lyla said with a smile. "You were seriously injured, but somehow…you're fine."
Ryuzio tried to get up—
"Stay down," Lyla said, gently pushing him back onto the bed. "You've not recovered from the injury. As your doctor, you have to follow what I say."
Ryuzio's head hit the soft pillow. "What is…going on…?"
"You must be thirsty," Lyla said, getting up from the bedside. "Keep lying down, I'll get you some water."
Ryuzio didn't give much thought to what she said, instead trying to figure out why his body was hurting, and why he was in Lyla's clinic in the first place.
'I took the cart from the store,' he thought, 'then I headed to Melga's. I remember talking to her—'
The image of Melga's hopeless face boiled to the top of his mind.
Lyla reentered the room. "Here's your water—"
Ryuzio gritted his teeth. "AKSEL!" He jumped out of the bed, stomach still sore. But he didn't have time for pain. Melga was in a bigger trouble anyways.
Lyla rushed to him, dropping the cup of water. "What're you doing, Ryuzio! Lay down! You're hurt really bad—"
Ryuzio looked at her, face tense, eyes watering. "They took her, Lyla! They took Melga!" He dropped to his knees, pulling on his hair. "I couldn't do anything! I'm not tough as a dragon! I'm weak!"
Lyla reached for his shoulders, pulling him up to his feet. "Who took Melga, Ryuzio? How many were there?"
"It was those Volants, Lyla," Ryuzio sobbed. "There were so many of them. They just broke into the restaurant and took away Melga."
Lyla gulped, face reflecting horror. "Volants…" She turned left, reaching for the audiophone on the wall. "We have to call the skyguards!"
"They won't come," Ryuzio said loudly. "We have to do something ourselves—" He coughed. He glanced at the hand he used to cover his mouth with…and found blood on it.
"Ryuzio!" Lyla said loudly, grabbing him by his arm, dragging him to the bed, phone falling down from her hands. "That's why I told you to stay down!"
"I can't," Ryuzio said, resisting. "If you won't do it, I'll have to save Melga alone!"
"Look what they did to you just now," Lyla said loudly, putting him on the bed. "Do you think you can take them on so easily? You don't even know where they took her! Let me call the skyguards and let them do their job."
"They'll hurt Melga by then, Lyla," Ryuzio shouted. "They said they're taking her to a hideout they have in the forest! I don't want Melga to get hurt! I'll fight them till the skyguards arrive—!"
Lyla slapped him, tears in her eyes. "Don't throw away your life like its nothing, Ryuzio! Humans are fragile beings, so we have to act smart. Did you already forget what my dad told you when you were leaving the store?"
Ryuzio's eyes widened as he stopped struggling and remembered Old Man Jenro's words.
'There's a difference between picking fights and choosing fights.'
"But it's not like we have any other choice, Lyla," Ryuzio said, shaking off the old man's words from his head. "Maybe if we get the other people to…to…"
His head started feeling lighter. It wobbled as he tried looking at his arm.
"Sorry, Ryuzio," Lyla said, removing the needle she just injected into his arm. "But it's just as you said. I don't have any other choice. I'll save you no matter what it takes."
Ryuzio's head fell on the pillow, the light above his head glowing dimmer and dimmer.
His eyelids fell shut.
###
The green-haired beauty named Melga did not struggle at all as Dref finished tying her in a corner of the hideout. Four trucks were parked inside the dimly lit building, with huge gates toward the north and the south.
"Do you think she's okay, Boss?" Dref asked Aksel.
Aksel smiled, falling on his big couch. "What're you going to do if she's not, Dref?"
Rohn and Augun chuckled. "What're you're intentions, dude?" asked Rohn jokingly.
Dref sat beside them, facing Wanney and Korb's couch, Aksel to his left. "I was just looking out for Boss, you know. He wouldn't like a silent woman."
Aksel laughed. "You know me well, Dref."
The short and stocky man with a scar on his left cheek pointed at the mountain of food. "So, we feeding them or what?" Wanney asked.
Korb smacked him on the back of his head. "Did we FIND what we were looking for?"
Dref sighed. "Stop it, you two."
Rohn passed his smoke to Augun, dusting off his hands. "If the one we're looking for is not in this spitty village, then the mountains are our best bet."
Augun inhaled smoke. "Agreed."
Aksel leaned forward, pointing toward the restaurant owner. "No one tells about her to the leader, am I clear?"
His partners nodded, the ones beside the trucks doing the same.
"So you're not the real boss?"
Aksel turned with a surprise. "Well, well, I thought I took it too far with you. Guess you can take a lot."
His partners laughed.
"Come on, Boss," Dref said with a grin. "No need to fluck with her…ALONE."
Wanney smacked Korb in the face as the laughter continued.
"She's mine," Aksel said, pointing at Dref. "Stay away, pervert."
"Up." Dref raised his hands. "My bad."
Aksel laughed.
"So, you're a trafficker?" Melga said, gulping. "Where're you going to take me? Are those trucks also full of your other victims? Answer me, you monster!"
Aksel stood, walking toward her. "Getting impatient? I thought we'd talk in private, but guess you don't play that way."
Korb choked Wanney as everyone laughed.
Aksel squatted in front of the green-haired woman, a grin on his face. "I told you, beautiful, you're special. I'm going to keep you close… Always."
Melga looked away in disgust.
Aksel reached for her chin, turning her head toward him. "Why you acting this way? You want something, just ask. Aksel will give you everything as long as you stay with him—"
Melga spat on his face. "Don't make me throw up. If you can't even give straight answers, keep that nasty mouth of yours shut."
Aksel grin creepily, licking the spit of the woman off his face. "You don't even know yet how nasty this mouth can get, but I'm glad you catch on quick."
Wanney punched Korb in the stomach as another round of laughter continued.
Melga's eyes widened as her head fell. "You're not…human."
"How innocent of you to think that way, my dear," Aksel said, getting onto his feet and walking away. "But I assure you that you haven't even seen half of what humans are capable of." He stopped beside one of the trucks. "I'm actually one of the better ones."
Melga jerked her head up, face red with anger. "Bastard!"
Aksel grinned, grabbing the cover of the truck he walked to. "This village is going to disappear in a few days, including every living thing that's here."
"W-What!" Melga said, jaw loosening.
"You should thank me for saving you," Aksel said, pulling off the cover from the back of the truck, revealing what lay inside it. "Once we find what we're looking for, we're told to not leave any witnesses."
Melga's horrified expression left her without any words as her eyes fell upon what was being carried by the truck.
Aksel walked toward his couch, facing the tied woman. "I'm your savior, beautiful, hope you understand that now." With that he took his seat. "Hey, Dref, pass me a smoke. And you lot start loading the cages with food."
The men beside the trucks removed the covers of the remaining three vehicles, sliding in food that they just got to the hideout.
Aksel puffed out a smoke cloud as he gave Melga a smile. "Thank you for the food."
His partners laughed.
Melga gasped as she saw the food disappear in the dark cages on the back of the trucks.
"Don't worry," Aksel said to her. "If any monster tries to put its paws on you, I'll rip the limb it tries to touch you with—"
The rusty southern gate creaked opened, the noise echoing inside the large building.
Aksel exhaled smoke from his nose, shaking his head. "What're you doing here, boy?"