Chapter 154

“The problem is,” whispered Lyra, “Is if anyone starts asking questions. I can’t prove I’m strong enough to control you Rain, any check on my level and they will instantly know that you aren’t anyones slave, especially as you have no heart pin I can prove exists, and that’s not even to mention that I don’t hold a permit for you from the Ranker.”

“Questions will come because you don’t look strong enough to control me.”

“Hey! I resent that accurate statement!”

He tilted his head, the chains around his neck shifting and rattling, his ‘slave chains’. In reality they weren’t doing much, copper chains, enchanted with something or other and a little corroded with verdigris, they hung loosely around his shoulders. They weren’t really chains to bind but reins for someone to direct what they were riding with, specifically the dead tiger monster he had acquired them from.

Still useful enough to give the illusion of being bound, even if they made him feel uncomfortable and itchy to the point he half wondered if the enchantment on them was doing something.

The main advantage was that a lot less people were interested in him in the higher leveler quarters, barely drawing a glance as he appeared pretty much as the elf and her tiger had, a powerful influential leveler allowed by the Ranker to own a dangerous monster slave through dint of might.

That facade of protection of course didn’t work so well once they started to leave the higher levelers quarter where the desperate and more observant noticed the issues with the disguise. More than once a number of levelers approached, only warded off by Lyra’s words about terrible injury and death, but it seemed eventually even that wasn’t enough. The desperate saw opportunity, the ambitious saw riches of levels.

The largest attack came once they stepped into the city slums.

Nearly a hundred levelers swarmed from the alleyways, surrounding Rain on all sides and drawing blades, axes, clubs, glancing at each other as much as Rain, wary of how much the value of the monster might be lowered by sharing it with so many.

“You’re seriously going to try this? Just look at this monster of a monster! He’ll tear your arms and legs off and eat them! And just think about it, if a monster is this strong I’ve got to be super ultra strong to control him right?”

One of them stepped forward and raised his arms.

“Then kill me where I stand girl, god knows it would be a good enough farewell to this hell city.” He spat at Rain’s feet. “Somehow I doubt you’re capable.”

Lyra looked at him blankly. “Uhhh, Rain, little help?”

Rain lifted a paw.

“Wait wait, maybe don’t hurt him, just show him you mean business.”

Rain hesitated, a talon covered centipede half emerged from his paw.

“How?”

“What do you mean how?”

“I can’t touch him without his skin disintegrating. How am I supposed to show I mean business without touching him?”

“Err ... well, bring out that horrible cat chimaera thing you keep around, that should scare them silly.”

“It will likely slaughter them all in seconds.”

“So hold it in place and tell it not to slaughter them all to death in seconds!”

The group of increasingly concerned levelers were pushed aside as someone made their way into the circle, bashing at legs with a cane to get them to move out his way.

An old man, one with a heavy furred coat, pierced ears, a gold pair of spectacles perched on his reddened nose, and with ring encrusted hands appeared.

“Back off now, back off you silly buggers!” he bellowed at the levelers waving his cane around.

Lyra blinked and turned her head to see the man. He wasn’t alone, two scantily clad Lapine girls followed on either side, each of them weighed down by an impressive array of jewelry and corsets.

“Hey, don’t I know you...?”

The old man grinned, flashing many gold teeth.

“Don’t recognise the one you saved from your big bad beast lass?”

“The old man in the cabin, after we left the dungeon, it’s you!”

He gave a dramatically low bow, tipping his hat. “The one and only. A man reborn thanks to your most wonderful generosity.”

His gaze drifted down to the swell of her belly.

“Uhh, I don’t quite remember-

“I just ate a lot, ignore it.”

“But-

“Do you want me to take the gold back?”

“Okay okay, I see you don’t want to talk about it, reckon you must have been hiding it with some fancy city magic last we met, not being your husbands I assume.”

“Something like that.” Lyra glanced at the uncertain looking levelers around them. If they were going to attack, the moment had more than passed. She made shooing motions with her hands.

“Well? Go on then, you aren’t getting anything from us so shoo!”

Reluctantly the crowd disappeared, filtering back into the slums.

“Names Horus by the way.” He eyeballed the chains around Rain’s neck. “And I Know for a fact that those chains are doing diddly squat because that ain’t a slave.”

Lyra grinned. “You know how it is.”

“No lass, I don’t, a monster is a monster, even one befriended.”

“You can think what you like, I don’t care.” graveled Rain.

Horus eyed rain, having to lean back a bit with his new height.

“Aye I can, and I can say it’s a tad worrying seeing you’se so much larger, what the hell have you been feeding this thing lass.”

“Oh you know, a few nicely cooked steaks, some sausages, a clan of orcs, a glass of milk.”

“Wait what was that one-”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fiiine.”

Rain had started walking again and the old man followed, the two Lapines stepping in his wake.

“I do worry, I worry because this monster of yours just oozes danger,” he paused in thought, “Which reminds me, what did I unleash on Lynthia by letting you go?”

“Er...”

“Lynthia is gone,” graveled Rain.

The old man froze. “G-Gone?” Rain didn’t stop walking however and he had to hurry to catch up.

“Dammit Rain, you didn’t need to to say it like that,” hissed Lyra, then louder, “It, uh, came under attack from a succubus, but don’t worry everyone made it out okay, I believe the refugees are headed here as we speak.”

“I suppose that’s ... good, as much as those fuckers fucked me over with my Class the town didn’t need to disappear.” The old man stroked his beard in thought. “Let me guess, this succubus had something to do with the Ranker.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I didn’t, but I was well aware that authoritarian prick was involved with the occult.”

“The town survived, but he didn’t, or his harem.”

Horus perked up hearing that, “Is that so? that’s good to hear, I’ve never met such a vicious cruel group in all my years, just the things they did in public alone,” he shuddered. “Thems get their comeuppance and the rest of ‘em being made refugees? That’s some damned tasty karma that is.”

“Aren’t you kind of a refugee yourself?”

“Me? No lass, I-” he puffed out his chest, “-Am an investor.”

“...”

“That means I buy up merchant houses.”

“Yes, I know what bloody investment is, but you are, no offense, a herdsman who literally lived in the backwoods of bumfuck nowhere not long ago.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not straying from my woodtrack on this, I only invest in houses that deal with livestock and horses and the like, what I’m familiar with, the sort that I got the expertise to buy up cheap.”

“Uhm ... You, uh, d-do that? Ch-cheaply?”

“Course I do, you would not believe the bargains I’m getting what with everyone being spooked away by the thefts, all that cattle stock just up and vanishing into thin air.” He tapped his ruddy nose, “I’m in for the long haul though, so many animals can’t keep getting nicked by rustlers forever, at some point things will go back to normal and then I’ll be so rich it’ll curl your fingernails.”

“Uhh, y-yeah, sure...”

He held out his hand and one of the scantily clad Lapine’s produced a metal box from which he plucked a folded scrap of paper.

“I best be going, I’m off to buy half a hundred mark of horse flesh, but if you’re ever in trouble lass come visit me and mine at this address and I’ll try help. Mind, that’s a point, if the refugees are coming here I suppose I can prepare something of a welcome for them, if only to see the expressions of those who wronged me.”

A wicked gold toothed grin appeared on the old man’s wrinkled face and a spring appeared in his step as he practically skipped away, the two Lapine bunnies hanging off his shoulders.

Lyra waved vaguely at him as she watched him go.

“He seems ... nice,” she mumbled.

Rain grunted non-comitally in reply.

They made their way deeper into the slums, and as Lyra calmed down she managed to regain her invisibility, mostly, only a few moments of blinking back to visibility before they reached the empty zone of alleys. There Lyra made them wait until Rain started to soften, then awkwardly pulled herself free as he sat. She struggled up, legs quivering, breath coming in pants as Rain cleaned off with a cleaning potion.

She bit her lip as she looked down at her rounded belly, practically holding it up with her arms.

“I uh, need to empty...”

“So do it here.”

“In this dirty horrible alley? With Bean hanging around somewhere?! No way!”

“So what are you going to do?”