TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 25

"What about the spyglass?" Kashka suggested, but Kal shook his head.

"If she uses that to protect the lord and his land, then he might come after the Scarlet Bitch to get it back. Leave it here," said Kal despite moving toward the window where it stood. Moving the spyglass out of the way, he held out a hand to Kashka. "Let's get out of here in case those two decide she isn't worth saving. I haven't seen it personally, but Kelthor said those who die like that leave a mess."

Kashka stepped into his embrace, wrapping her cloak around them as best she could. Kal's strength rune lit up as he floated out the window, then activated the jump rune to send them streaking away from the castle. An alarm went up from the castle behind them, but Kal and Kashka were already beyond the castle grounds before the first archer could ready their bow.

---

Ayako and Takeo looked at each other, then at the kneeling woman twitching as indescribable pleasure coursed through her body. Both understood that they were nowhere near powerful enough magic users to take her place as the lord's counselor but having someone as powerful as Miyaki owe you a life debt could be powerful leverage in the future. The two apprentices picked up their new mana crystals and pressed them against either side of Counselor Miyaki's neck. The discs immediately lit up bright white as they began absorbing the excess mana from the woman's body.

---

Holding a hand out in front of him, Kal poured more power into the strength rune and dove into the forest, blasting through the couple of branches that got in their way. Instead of landing, they floated in the city's direction above the undergrowth but below the canopy.

"Do you think they'll save her?" Kashka asked, peering around the. "Those two didn't exactly jump in to rescue her when you flipped the situation around."

"Would you have killed them if they had?"

"Probably."

"I'm guessing they will. I didn't see any looks of triumph when I laid her life in their hands."

"Assuming she's still alive, do you think she will come after us?"

"I doubt it. With this medallion, I can kill her with a touch, and she still has no real idea of how powerful I am. With that in mind, I think we should stay away from the busier sections of town."

"How about visiting the monster girl part of the city?"

"I think it's sad that I'm becoming more comfortable with monster girls than my own kind. Sure, do you have an idea where it was?"

"In the southern portion, I think. It looked like slums in that direction, and I think I saw a cat-girl walking up one of the streets."

"I'm not going to ask how far away that cat-girl was," he said, angling south.

A short time later, they startled a young cat-girl gathering food out in the forest. The child yowled and bolted toward the wooden shacks and huts they could just make out through the trees. The cat-girl had created a pouch for her berries by gathering together the front of her ragged, worn-through shirt. Unfortunately, the little blue fruits were flung all over the ground as the child switched to feline arms and legs and bolted.

"Ria," Kal called. Once she appeared, he traced a circle in the air with his finger, "Could you store all of the ripe berries on the ground in this area? If you can, grab any ripe ones from the bushes too."

"Not without taking the entire bush, I can't," she said, sounding a little testy, "but if you shake the bushes so the ripe ones fall off, I can get them for you. By the way, you forgot to dismiss me before you flew off. The apprentices saved Miyaki."

"Did she immediately sic the hounds on us?" Asked Kal, landing and giving the bush the little girl had been working on a rough shake.

Ria waved a hand, and a blanket of lights appeared on the ground around the bush, which floated into the air and streamed into her bag. "I don't know. She collapsed once the mana crystals pulled enough magic out of her and hadn't woken up by the time I returned. What are we collecting these for? Are you making jam?"

"No," Kal chuckled as he and Kashka both shook one of the berry bushes. "We frightened a little girl picking them, and I want to make it up to her."

"Wait, Kal," said Kashka. Plucking her tiny book on toxic plants and animals out of its pouch, she flipped through it while moving over to a bright spot where light streamed through the canopy. "The plant is toxic," she announced. "The plant's leaves can be boiled down into a weak numbing salve, but the juice from the berries can be added to tea to help those passing on their way and take away the pain." She closed the book and dropped it back into its pouch, "I don't think these were for an afternoon snack."

"That can't be good. Can you track her?"

"That's not really a cat thing," she replied while sniffing around the first bush, "but I think I can."

"What about the berries?" asked Ria.

"Keep them for now, maybe her mother is an apothecary, and she was just gathering supplies."

"There's that youthful optimism, Miyaki was talking about," the sprite chuckled.

"Let's hope I never lose it," he said, following Kashka through the forest with the sprite in tow.

Minutes later, the assassin and mage squeezed through a gap between two shacks and out onto one of the Kuji slums' main roads. Monster girls out on the street reeled back in surprise at the emergence of the well-dressed human. Some took one look at his clothing and ran in fear.

On the street were more monster girls than he had ever seen in one place. Many were cat-girls like Kashka, while others looked like Velt but sported two or three tails instead, and some looked to be a kind of raccoon but with canine features. There were also turtle-like monster girls with the tops of their heads shaved bald while black hair sprouted around the sides and back like an old man's. Kal also noted a few cow-women and a handful of monster girls with only a single large eye instead of two.

The monster girl closest to them was one of the turtle-women. "We are looking for a young cat-girl that just came from there," Kal said, pointing at the gap between the shacks. "Did you see where she went?"

"Leave the poor kappa alone," Kal and Kashka turned to find an old cat-girl speaking to them. she wore the standard kimono, but the tips of her ears had turned completely gray, as had the skin around her nose and mouth, but without looking sickly. "We don't tell on our own kind."

"We found her picking berries that are toxic," said Kashka, startling a few nearby women as they noticed her standing there. "We just want to be sure she is okay."

"Poison berries, you say?" the old cat-girl sighed. "Leave the child be. Her mother is dying, and she's just trying to take away her mother's pain."

Kal grunted and stumbled. It felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

"Kal?" asked Ria as she landed on his shoulder.

"I'm fine. Kashka, are you alright?"

"Yeah. That was a lot stronger than expected."

"For me too." The mage looked back at the old woman, "The girl isn't in any trouble. Where can I find her and her mother?"

She peered through slitted eyes at Kal and Kashka for a long moment before shaking her head. "Maybe this old neko's senses are finally failing her, but I can't see any ill intent in you two. Mika and Miko live two streets up," she said, pointing. "If you've got her scent, you should be able to find their house from there."

"Oba! What are you doing?" hissed the kappa Kal first addressed.

"I don't know, Ume. But I feel you should trust me on this."