Stray

“What are you talking about?” Oliver asked blankly. He just woke up, and his brain buzzed like a honeycomb, feeling pain as it overflowed from every bone in his seams. The misty dizziness disappeared as he shook his head, and Nemo’s voice sounded a lot clearer.

“I just said that Miss Savage gave us a proposal.” Nemo sat beside him. He was a little blue, while the gray parrot sat on his head. “She suggested that we mix into Noer and then qualify for a black badge.”

“It turns out that you humans call ‘I’ll kill you if you don’t do this’ a ‘suggestion’?” The gray parrot jumped a few times. “I’ve learned something new.”

“Black badge?” Oliver turned his head and looked at the female warrior who was maintaining her weapon, “But we don’t—”

“I’m not interested in whether you’re innocent or not. I’m pretty sure my conscience is not worth three thousand gold coins. It’s just a transaction.” Ann rubbed her cloth on her hunting spear harshly. “Noer’s black badge certification has three days left. That’s why I rushed back for this matter. It doesn’t matter if you disagree. Regardless, I’ll get it.”

“But…”

“Do you prefer I exchange your heads for gold coins?” The corners of Ann’s mouth turned up, but there was no smile in her amber eyes. “Look, I think this deal is very good. With me, you’re guarantee to pass. What you have to do is very simple. Form a team and let me join it.”

“You should already belong to a team though,” Oliver coughed a few times but his throat was still dry and itchy.

“Yes, it’s a pity that everyone’s dead. I have to find a new team to register. That’s the rule,” Ann said. Her face didn’t look sad.