Arthur sat in the back of the rickshaw, glad that he’d gotten rid of the card that slapped against the spokes to create the fake engine noise.
At first, he’d considered keeping it around. It was fun, and it would let people know he was coming, which could be a useful marketing tactic. However, within moments of it running, his mind flashed back to the alleyway.
His skin itched once more than he remembered the way the bag sat over his face. Then his mind went to the brawl. All of that, combined with his not knowing how the farmers would handle it, made him take it off.
This left little but the sound of the wheels going over cracked asphalt as a backing track.
Theobold didn’t seem inclined to chat, his head shifting to keep a constant eye on their surroundings. Arthur appreciated the gesture. With Riccardo’s old crew scattered to the wind, he wouldn’t put it past them to try something like this.
Not that he’d heard anything about them. Even the knights who patrolled hadn’t spotted them.
That didn’t stop him from examining the city himself. He knew he would have, even if he wasn’t worried. It remained so odd to him to see crumbling buildings and broken lampposts. A destroyed city and a dragon goddess wanted him to bring back capitalism.
The entire idea would have been funny if he knew there weren’t consequences for failure. While he didn’t know the specifics, he didn’t need to. They would be bad. At least this supply line would be the next step toward that.
If he could get that up and running, he’d get food and also bring another group into his network. With the goddess bankrolling it, coins would spread through the city, which would lead back to him. Once they did? Well, something like Riccardo wouldn’t happen again.
Theobold kept their speed steady as they moved towards the city’s outskirts. As they moved towards the outskirts, he could see the tops of trees in the distance. Though they weren’t the only sign of greenery.
At first, it was simple vines and grass that grew amongst the ruined homes. Small things that could have been easy to miss if he wasn’t paying attention.
Next, were entire buildings covered with moss. Some of which had bloomed with flowers. Arthur marveled at the sight until they reached a dirt road and vanished into the trees.
As soon as the light from the sun all but vanished, a familiar popping sound filled the air.
Arthur noted the name and winced at the rank before waving the pop-up away. It was the highest rank he’d seen so far, and he didn’t know why. He hoped it was for something other than the difficulty of the monsters.194Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4U8vrnRdVn
As the canopy grew darker and blocked out the sun, blue lights all around them sprang to life. He couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer bioluminescent nature of the plant life here.
Lines of light wrapped around tree trunks like veins. Flowers glowed overhead, their petals acting as natural streetlights. Even the grass and shrubs shone. Veins of blue light cover each strand and leaf.
While he struggled to take it all in, the sounds of the woods hit him as well. Above him, birds with glowing blue plumage chirped and sang as they swooped overhead. Squirrels and cats darted about the ground, chasing each other. The cats mewled, and the squirrels chittered, blending together in a strange harmony.
Theobold kept to the well-worn path in the middle of it. He never stopped or slowed, even when creatures looked as though they might run into the road. Most of them seemed to avoid them, with a few even running into the trees.
Arthur wondered if that was because of Theobold or the rickshaw. They might have simply learned to avoid the vehicle by now. He could easily imagine Riccardo taking potshots at the wildlife if he had spare ammo.
His shoulders relaxed at the thought. If that were the case, then it should be smooth sailing to the farms.
That was when a large stone fell from a tree into the center of the road.
***
The squeal of the brakes was loud as Theobold did his best to make sure they didn’t crash.
Arthur gripped the side of the rickshaw, his knuckles white, as he looked around.
“An attack? By who? For us, or did we trigger some kind of monster trap?”
Another stone smacking into the ground nearby answered his question with a loud thud. He ducked low at the sound. Theobold did the opposite, jumping off the bike and drawing his sword. Another stone came from the opposite side of the road not long after, this one flying overhead.
Theobold spun, sword raised, before he charged. Someone screamed in alarm as Arthur hopped out and crouched low, looking at the opposite tree line. He couldn’t see anyone, but he could hear them.
“The gang? Why would they ambush us here?” Arthur thought as he reached up and grabbed his pipe cane from the seat.
A loud, angry whinny followed a series of breaking branches. He didn’t dare look away from his side of the road, unwilling to risk getting hit by a rock.
His assailant was somewhere in the foliage. They were hiding. Without a doubt, his assailants were preparing to strike as soon as he let his guard down. With his cane pointed towards where he hoped they were, he squared his shoulders and tried to sound imposing.
“Come out; no one needs to get hurt!”
As he waited, a figure slowly made its way out of the trees. It wasn’t the angry gang member coming out to fight that he’d expected. Before his eyes was a skinny teen dressed in patched clothes covered in bark and leaves.
He held up his shaking hands as he paused at the edge of the road.
“I surrender.”
“Good.” He nodded before calling over his shoulder. “Theobold?”
“Got them, Boss.”
Arthur kept his cane pointed at the teen, gesturing for him to sit at the edge of the road. From behind him, he could hear Theobold snorting and a set of heavy footsteps. In his peripheral vision, he saw another teen walking around. This one had shaggy blonde hair, and even in his patched clothes, the sneer he wore reminded him of a typical jock.
Though the way his eyes flicked around as if looking for an escape route showed how they really felt.
When both teens were sitting next to each other, Arthur let his cane fall to his side. He looked at them both while Theobold strode forwards, his sword clenched in his hand. Both of the teens flinched at the movement.
“What was the plan here?” Arthur asked.
The jock spoke up, trying his best to sound tough. “We wanted to show that we wouldn’t let you gangsters onto our turf anymore!”
“I’m sorry. What?”
“You heard him,” the skinny kid said, shaking as he did. “We, um, want you gone.”
Arthur could feel a headache coming on as he tried to figure out their plan. “So you set a trap and threw rocks? I’m assuming you knew this was Riccardo’s rickshaw, right?”
“Yes.” The jock almost looked proud of it. “We wanted to show we’re not afraid of him!”
“Are you stupid?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Let me get this straight. You saw the leader of a dangerous gang and attacked him with rocks. What was the plan here if he was inside? Or, goddess forbid, his sister was present? You know he had a gun, right?”
That seemed to shock the skinny teen, who was looking at him open-mouthed. Before he could speak, Arthur cut them off.
“You know what? Doesn’t matter. You, skinny. What’s your name?”
“Wyatt, sir?”
“Great. You two with the farmers?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get in. We’re heading in the same direction.” Arthur made a gesture to them. “You can ride with us.”
Both teens looked hesitant until Theobold let out a snort and raised his sword.
“He said to get in.”
Neither spoke a word after that.
***
Their exit from the woods was as abrupt as their entry. The tree line simply stopped at a point, and the dirt road continued through grass fields. Arthur squinted as his eyes got used to the natural light once again.
After a few minutes, they encountered their first farm. It wasn’t much to look at, and nothing like the farms he’d visited as a child for school trips. There was a single rectangular field surrounded by a low-built stone wall.
Nearby sat a well-kept farmhouse, at least from what Arthur could tell. There were no obvious signs of anything being broken or crumbling. Someone had even planted flowers in neat rows nearby to create a blooming garden.
He recognized some of them, but in the sun, none glowed as they’d done in the woods.
At the sight of the place, Wyatt sank deeper into his seat.
“Your house, then?”
“Yes, sir. Though it looks like no one’s home,” he said, sounding both nervous and pleased at that fact.
That was annoying, but he supposed if their parents weren’t here, they might be with others.
“Do you know if there is anyone we can talk to?”
“Um, Johnathan’s dad, Richard? He is sort of in charge? He might be there?”
Arthur looked over at the sullen teen, who was nursing his cheek and glaring at the ground
“Of course he is. Where are we going?”
They continued to follow the road, passing empty fields and broken farmhouses. In the distance, he could spot several barns and some trees alongside more houses. He wondered how many of them were occupied.
When they approached the next intact farmhouse, he could see a group of men and women standing around. Upon closer inspection, he could see them examining a familiar two-headed corpse.
“You get Multipups out here?” Arthur asked.
Jonathan rolled his eyes, but Wyatt nodded.
“That’s going to change things.” He thought as they pulled off to the side of the road.
As the brakes sounded out, the group turned, several grabbing weapons. Including one of them that he recognized, Richard, the one whose barn Riccardo had burned down. He still wore his straw hat, though his overalls had lost a button.
His eyes traveled over the rickshaw before he frowned.
“What does Riccardo want this time?”
“You haven’t heard?” Arthur asked.
“Heard what?”
That came from a heavy-set woman near the back. At the sound of her voice, Wyatt flinched.
“His mother, perhaps?” Arthur thought as he did his best to smile before dropping the news. “Riccardo is dead.”
There was silence before the crowd yelled questions at him. Theobold took a step to cut them off, but someone beat him to it. An old man with a long white beard tucked into his belt clapped his hands.
“Shut up, you lot!”
Everyone stopped speaking as he continued. “First off. I’m Jeremy. My farm is near the back. You. Boy. Are you the one who owns the shop Richard, and the others got dragged to?”
“Yes, sir.” Arthur nodded quickly.
“So, what happened? Who killed him?”
“I did.” He tried to keep his gaze on the crowd as he spoke, but it was a struggle. He couldn’t make himself feel disappointed about Riccardo’s death. Still, he didn’t like the fact that he was instrumental in it.
A part of him knew he should feel worse. However, he didn’t have the time for a proper breakdown.
People swarmed him, and he lost sight. Theobold looked overwhelmed as farmers cheered and shook his hand. Most appeared overjoyed, however. He saw a few looking apprehensive as they glanced between him and the dead pit monster.
He could understand why. Riccardo wasn’t pleasant, but he protected them. He supposed that would be something he’d need to add to the deal. After another few minutes, Jeremy and Richard pulled him away from the crowd.
“Come on, let’s get you inside,” Richard said. “You can explain why my son is with you and what you want. I somehow doubt it’s purely to deliver the news.”
Over the man’s shoulder, he could see Wyatt standing next to Alice. From the look on his face, she didn’t approve of what he was telling her.
“That sounds great. Though, I might need everyone, unless you have a leader who can make group decisions?”
“Jeremy, Alice. We need you. The rest of you, grab the tables. Lunchtime feast!”
That announcement received cheers and a rush of people. Theobold joined their small group, and together they all headed inside with the sounds of celebration growing from behind them.194Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5KVKhKnKU
