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After selling the loot that day at the guild, we went into the labyrinth for a few hours to try to climb a few floors.
As the monsters continued to be no challenge for Azur and me, we climbed with ridiculous ease. But that may be just because our weapons are made from orichalcum.
After all, it's natural to notice the difference between having weapons made of the best metal there is and our old weapons.
And today, after a week of fighting on these floors, Deirdre finally got used to the monsters on the 61st floor.
At first, she was reluctant to face the gnolls and kobolds, as they are somehow similar to therians and reptilians.
But, after realizing that the little monsters have no intelligence, and that it is impossible to communicate with them, she turned her full focus back to combat.
During one of those days, Deirdre explained to me the reason why she wanted me to hold the money for her.
As we fought I remember the conversation.
"The truth is, I don't have anyone I trust besides you and Miss Charity. I didn't know the other crew members before I got on the boat that brought us here, as I was only included in the operation because of my stealth skills. Since they needed me to get the blueprints of the orcs' ships, their plans, and so on" says Deirdre, while we were resting after beating a challenge room.
"But isn't Drok Charity's assistant? Shouldn't you know him too?" I ask quizzically, suddenly understanding why she is the only member of the crew at such a young age.
"Not really... Yes, he is her assistant, but only since we got on the ship. Before, he was only the treasurer of the resistance. That's why he cares so much about money..." says Deirdre in a voice devoid of emotion, and a fragile smile begins to emerge on her face, "I know I've only known you for a little over two months but, for some reason, I feel I can trust you..."
It is very hard to understand why she told me those things at that moment, but I am grateful for the vote of confidence.
I was able to catch the meaning of the words she didn't say that day in her last sentence.
'Don't disappoint me'
And, again, the feeling of wanting to protect her arises strongly in my chest.
I have to get stronger!
I can't let what happened with my parents and Joseph happen again.
...
As we leave the labyrinth, we encounter some problems that are starting to become the norm.
After the attack, there has been a certain tendency towards discrimination against refugees, as some believe that outsiders are allied with the orcs.
Which doesn't make any sense… but I guess it's normal for people to take it out on someone. After all, a lot of people died during the battle on the beach.
Several of Deirdre's companions have been in trouble because of that tendency. We have also been approached by people with hostile intentions several times.
But the problems have never been bigger than receiving some insults and malicious insinuations towards my partner, things that we decided to ignore without giving them much importance.
However, today they seem to be especially determined to act, as they have been following us since we left the guild building.
When I noticed that we were being followed, I decided to propose to Deirdre to accompany her home.
And, although she probably doesn't need my help, since she can easily make herself invisible with the help of her skill in combination with the smoke bombs we bought from Ozy, she gratefully accepts my proposal.
As we were passing through an alley with few people, our pursuers decided to make their move and block our exits at both ends of the alley.
There are two young men with hostile faces and drawn swords at each exit of the alley.
It looks like, this time, we're going to have to fight our way through.
"Kid, we have nothing against you. We just need you to slowly back away from that beast," says one who seems to be the leader of the gang.
"What beast are we talking about?" I ask, feigning confusion.
"I mean that monster who walks and talks like us, and who brought the orcs to our land," he says, as he and his companions slowly make their way towards us.
As we speak, the few people in the alley run out in a hurry, taking advantage of the fact that they were not the young men's objective.
"Ahh, so... what if I don't want to..." I begin to ask with a sinister smile. "What did you say? Ohh, yes, if I don't want to back away?".
"This!" they reply in unison and rush to attack us.
"I'll take the two in the front, while Azur takes one of the ones in the back. The other one is yours, Deirdre," I say and run to eliminate the threat.
However, despite my directions, Deirdre seemed to freeze at the approach of the attacker, so Azur and I kept an eye on her as we took care of our respective foes.
But, a second before the horizontal slash with which the boy who is attacking her reaches her, her instincts kick in. And, blocking the blow with a dagger, she takes advantage of the momentum of the enemy blow to turn 360 degrees and slit the attacker's throat, from where the blood starts spurting out in large quantities that soil the little therian's face.
"Good," I say when, after defeating without much difficulty the two boys, I approach Deirdre to help her up, as she is lying on the ground with a horrified expression on her face, which is stained by the blood of her dead enemy, "that was a good move."
But her legs can't seem to keep her up and, looking at me with a confused expression at my words, she says in an anguished voice, "I... I didn't want to kill him... I acted out of reflex. I thought he would avoid the counterattack easily and thus keep him away."
"It's okay, don't worry. They attacked us first. We were just protecting our lives," I say, kneeling next to her and trying to reassure her while holding her tightly by the shoulders, as I see she is shaking from nerves.
"But what if, because of this, I am now in trouble with the law? After all, I'm not an inhabitant of the kingdom..." She speaks in a rush. And, she says in a shrill voice, trembling more and more, without taking her eyes off the corpse of her attacker, "They could imprison Miss Charity for this!"
"Hey, look at me!!! Look at me!!!" I say and put a hand on her cheek to force her to focus her gaze on mine "Do you trust me?"
"Y-yes," she says, stuttering from nervous tremors.
"Good. I promise you that nothing is going to happen" I tell her firmly. And I stare her straight in the eyes until, slowly, she stops shaking "I'll take care of cleaning up this mess. Go home, wash up, and don't worry about any of this. It's not worth it."
...
When Deirdre left, accompanied by Azur, to her house, I got ready to put away in my inventory the corpses of the four young men who tried to attack us.
As I do so, I think about Deirdre's reaction.
Maybe... is that the normal reaction to the death of other people? Am I the weird one?
The first time I killed someone, I didn't know if I was killing an intelligent monster or a person.
And, at the time, I was two years older than Deirdre…
She's so young. She's only 12 years old...
At that age, I was still living with my parents…
And she is alone on another continent, far from her family…
Anyway, for me, the answer is simple. If someone wants to kill me, I have to kill them first…
Hmm, maybe it's because of Azur's influence that I think like this…
...
I decided to meet Lilian to explain to her what happened, and ask her if we would have any problems because of this incident.
So, I used the enchanted object to communicate with her and ask her about her address, and went to her house.
Her dwelling is a huge mansion with a large garden in which there are several species of peacocks and pheasants living as pets.
We are sitting in the large garden of her mansion, in plush-looking armchairs, which are in line with the look of the rest of the place.
"No, you won't have any problems, since you only acted in self-defense. I trust your word" Lilian says, resting a hand on mine, earning me a scowl from Sebastian, who is standing behind Lilian, as usual, "I'll tell you later where you can leave the bodies. And I'll do a background check on them. It's a shame these things happen, but we can't do much more than what we're already doing to stop them. The problem is, for every soldier on the streets, there are two or three dissidents. And the outsiders aren't the only ones being targeted, they're attacking every non-human in the kingdom... But let's stop talking about those dark things! Now I'd like to talk to you about a more important matter..."