Kou dropped from the rooftop and down onto the streets of the hill. He looked around it, noticing that he ended up getting closer to the mansion.
"I still want to know whose mansion that is." Then the girl punched Kou in the jaw and caused him to drop her on the floor. "You creep!" she shouted, watching Kou holding his face. "What the heck was that for?!"
She seemed not bothered by his shouting and then backed away. "You're here to steal this artifact too, aren't you? You brought me here so you could take it all for yourself!" he looked at her, uncomfortable.
"You're crazy! I only saved you! I don't care about that artifact. I don't even know what that artifact does." She quickly became calm, "Oh," and stood up straight, "Guess I was wrong." She crossed her arms and looked away.
"Yeah! Now, at least apologize for punching me!" he exclaimed. She hmphed and looked away from him. "Not doing it. You deserve that for touching me without my permission." Kou's eyes became unimpressed. He surrendered and sighed, then walked away.
"Look, whatever. See you around, maybe. Next time when somebody saves you, try to be nicer." He crossed his arms behind his neck and then immediately walked away.
"Wait!" she blinked in front of him and caught him in an astonishing condition. "You've gotta help me find my brother." Kou looked at her, uninterested. "Yeah, no way. If you wanna look for him, do it yourself. I did my part. Now continue without me."
He walked around her only to feel her arm grasp his. "Please, I need someone who can keep those soldiers off me! I'm not a fighter. I'm just a runner!"
Kou continued to disregard her request. "You're older than me, yet you need me as your bodyguard? Why is everybody treating me like I'm some kind of a hero?!"
The girl rolled her eyes to the side and whistled. "Because you are? Well, kind of." His eyes twitched, and the sweat dripped down his head. "Wow, a good boost of confidence, missy."
"Look, please, help me. My name's Louisa Dillinger, and I've been trying to find my brother for days since I stole this artifact from them."
Kou yelled at her. "You stole it?! So, then I saved a thief?!" Louisa quickly became unimpressed. "I stole *MY* artifact that brother made for me. I didn't steal a public artifact that is important."
Kou crossed his arms and then nodded and closed his eyes. "Huh, fair enough. But I'm still not going to be your bodyguard." Louisa gently reached for his hand and begged him kindly. "Please, I promise it'll be worth your time." His body became overheated, and his heartbeat started to beat rapidly. He gently looked to the side, blushing. "I-I guess it won't hurt..."
"Really? You'll help me out?" she asked, smiling. "Y-Yeah." She jumped in excitement and quickly thanked him. "Thanks a bunch, kiddo!"
His eyes quickly trembled from anger. "Stop calling me a kiddo when we're just one year apart!" she chuckled loud, and then Kou realized something. "Hold on. Did you say your name was Louisa Dillinger?"
For a moment she halted, then nodded. "Yeah, why?" Kou quickly tilted his head to the side and wondered. "You wouldn't by chance be the younger sister of Harry Dillinger?"
She slowly nodded for Kou to quickly became impressed. "He didn't mention he had a sister!" Louisa leaned in closer. "You met him?" Kou nodded in response and then looked down at the city.
"Yeah, I do. My friends and I came to this island because of your brother and luckily found him at a workshop down in the district. He's been forging weapons for Niklas and many others."
Louisa hurriedly became fantasized. "Really? That means you can bring me to him sooner than I thought. You *ARE* useful!" Kou looked at her in disappointment, yelling. "Why do you treat me so awfully?! I saved you, and you still see me as a fool!"
"No, I treat everyone like this, even if they saved me, so, sorry. You'll have to get used to this, but I promise you I'm not a bad person; physically."
Kou backed away for his hair to spike up, his body shivering. "You're making yourself sound horrible!"
She chuckled and scratched the back of her hair. "Yup. Now, tell me. Up for running?" Kou looked at her confused, still watching her innocent smile. "Uh, what? Um, not really."
"Well, too bad. You don't have a choice. Our new friends are heading this way." She pointed her thumb behind her for Kou to see a group of soldiers running at them. "You're insane!"
"C'mon, no time to waste." She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him behind her. Both ran through the streets.
Tim and his companions came to the same district in which Ralphie stood. "Yo, Ralph! Found ya!" Tim called, laughing out loud and waving forward. Both Ralphie and Harry looked at him, accompanied by Yumiko and Ayuka.
"Don't tell me that he's your captain, Ralph..." Wondered Harry, awkward, and Ralphie just smiled and confirmed. "Yup. Not hard to miss him, huh?"
Harry grabbed his forehead. "He and that white-haired girl came earlier to visit me when one of the men tried to ruin my workshop. Oh, and would you look at that... The blue-haired girl. I will never forget her... Guess I should thank them."
Ralphie looked at Harry, confused. "So, you've met each of them? Wow, I guess they found you before I did. I just wish you would've introduced yourself to them."
Tim came bouncing in front of Ralphie and gently slapped his shoulder. "So, have you found your friend? Also, I'm hungry! Cook for me!"
Ralphie shared an unimpressed look and sighed. "I did, but also... Can't you at least wait until we get back to the ship?" Tim grabbed his chin and began to think. All they could see in Tim's eyes were pieces of meat that couldn't mask his impatience.
Dots slowly floated above his head and started to squish, until he suddenly daydreamed about a hill of meat. His mouth slowly shaped into a wide grin and became surrounded by saliva, and drooling. "Meat..." he said until he suddenly became swallowed by his thoughts.
"And he's gone..." Added Ralphie. He saw Ayuka gently slap the top of Tim's head for it to bow forward. "Wake up." She said. Tim shook his head and put his hands on his hips.
"So, where's your friend, Ralph?" he asked. Ralphie pointed his palm and introduced Harry. "It looks like you ran into him before, based on what he told me." Ayuka and Yumiko looked at Harry unimpressed, sweat dripping down their faces. "Oh, it's this guy..." They said simultaneously.
Tim stood still and watched Harry, dumbfound. A question mark bounced above his head, stretched left and right until he suddenly questioned. "Do I know him?" Yumiko, Ayuka, and Ralphie slammed the top of his forehead and planted him on the ground, shouting simultaneously.
"You did!!" Tim received a triple bump on his head as he showed a thumbs up. "Guess I did..."
"I thought you were taken captive." Ayuka pointed out, then continued. "Although, you seem to be doing fine for yourself."
Harry sighed as he dropped his hammer. "That's what you think, but trust me. I don't want to be forging weapons for somebody like him, but the problem is I don't have any other choice but to do it, especially now that he took my younger sister hostage."
Tim got back to his feet and listened to him. "Your sister?" Yumiko asked, waiting to hear what he would say.
"Yeah. Without creating these weapons, I have been unable to free her from that prison. He promised to release her once I've made exactly 10,000 weapons or earned $5,550,000 in sales. But because there are so many other craftsmen here, the business has been difficult to maintain and has been slow."
Tim listened and made sure not to miss a single detail. "It took me months to even get to this point, and I've only sold around 70 weapons and made approximately $125,000. Because of their fame and the fact that certain craftsmen had already achieved their peak and made over $3,000,000, no one dared ask me to forge them a weapon."
Ayuka added. "So, that's why you didn't give that guy a discount earlier while we were here." Harry raised his hand.
"Believe me. I wouldn't mind offering discounts to people. I enjoy creating weapons, but I can't afford to create the impression that I'm a skilled craftsman who offers free discounts. I might lose my business if I did that. The final payment for the counterfeit weapons must remain with me. That is the only way I can free my sister from his captivity."
Tim became serious, listening carefully. "I made numerous attempts to free her, but I was never able to. Even if my sister is alive or safe, I have no idea. For all I know, he might be telling a lie, and I'm making these weapons solely for his benefit. Even keeping up this house has been difficult for me. The additional issue of monthly rent simply reduces my gain."
Tim covered his head with the red hood and smiled. "He thinks he can just enslave people and scare them? I think not. Harry, we came here because we tend to fix this issue, this slavery. I never go back on my word, so please, trust us. Your sister will be saved. You'll finally be free and enjoy what you do. For as long as we're here on this island, you don't need to worry about anything else.
"We'll take care of everything, and it doesn't matter the consequences. You want to save your sister? Well, we want to save this whole island. I can't stand people who torment others, and experience that so many times by now is slowly becoming a hobby I need to keep. I'll stop this - the instant I find Niklas's whereabouts. I'll make due and hurry up to kick his ass.
"Trust me. Niklas will be an imprisoned chicken the moment I get my hands on him, and you have all of us to help you, isn't that right?"
Ayuka, Yumiko, and Ralphie all nodded and smiled, reminding Harry he wasn't alone, that he finally found someone who could help him.
To be continued...