Breaking News
After about an hour of me being in pain from the scale treatment, I hear a door open and Sher Aka’s voice shouting, “I’m back!”
“Sherry? Come over here, quick.”
“Oh no did he get wor-Thoma Ahad!? You’re awake!?! Why is he whimpering? Is he getting worse?”
Rayla answers, “John and Scarlet did some painful treatments on her but she woke up and she’s getting better.”
“Thank the six…Before I address them, did they ask you to change how they wanted to be treated now that they woke up?”
“No but we talked about it in private before. She does prefer being called Rose, it’s just that she doesn’t want us to feel weird about it.”
I hear some steps getting closer and a hand gently pets me, “Try to think of yourself first, Rose. I’m glad you’re back.”
“...”
“Is something wrong with her? She’s not reacting.”
“Oh, yeah she can’t move in her draconic form. Her muscles have atrophied too much.”
“I see…”
“Actually now that you’re here, would you mind holding her for a bit?”
“Of course not.”
I can feel myself being picked up by Sher Aka now. Afterwards, I hear some walking and a door open and close.
Sher Aka then starts to gently pet my head while humming a tune. It feels relaxing.
—---------------------------------------------------
In the other room, Rayla talks to Scarlet, “So? What are you going to do? She obviously doesn’t want to go.”
Scarlet shrugs, “Maybe, but she also doesn’t know any better. It’s best to disregard her wishes and get her to Blaze.”
Letting out a sigh, Rayla sits down at the foot of the bed, “I understand where you’re coming from and ultimately I will agree with your decision but I also want you to consider her side. She is an adventurer and she has met every good person in her life through adventuring. She just recently lost a lot of strength and is used to her body being more durable than it is now. Not knowing her new limits she tried to prove to us she is still ‘useful’ and overworked herself and now we tell her it’s best to stop adventuring.
She also doesn’t seem to want to go to your home yet. She’s probably really scared about going there because of what happened with my family. If we disregard her wishes and send her there now, she’ll probably see it as some sort of unfair punishment and it will be even harder for her to find happiness in Blaze. On top of that, we can’t know if your parents will actually want her.”
“Of course they will!”
“Again, we can’t know that. Do you even have a contingency plan for what you will do if they don’t want her?”
Scarlet seems slightly offended,“Of course not.”
Rayla now gets back up and pokes Scarlet on the chest, “Then you aren’t qualified to make this decision. Really think about the implications of what that would mean. She’d be a renegade illegitimate princess-”
“No, she would never be. If our parents did that it would mean they’re insane, not that Rose is an illegitimate princess.”
“Sigh Alright, she’d be seen as a renegade illegitimate princess by others. She would probably have to leave the country when that happens and all the options of where to go are horrible. Either she goes south where they’ll either publicly execute her if they find out she’s a princess of Blaze or at least face heavy discrimination just for being a dragon or she goes north to the countries known for their slavery, discrimination of women and religious zealotry. Going to Blaze now is not the safe option, it's just an option with less unknown dangers.”
Scarlet stomps on the floor, “Then what should we do to keep her safe!?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think there is a right decision right now. There are more unknowns if we keep adventuring but it is what she wants.”
“Tsk I’m not going to make a decision yet. But the second I think it’s clearly safer to leave even if it goes against her wishes I will do that.”
“And I will support your decision when that time comes.”
—-------------------------------------------------------
I hear John’s voice, “Guys! You need to look at this. Sherry bought today's newspaper and they’re reporting on what happened at the company town.”
I hear a door open and Rayla yells, “Really!? What does it say?”
“Let’s see…Breaking news, Tennison corp. company town raided by the adventuring guild. On February 2nd , after getting a tip from an anonymous source, the guild went to investigate the claim of slave work in Serenity, a town owned and operated by Tennison Steel corp.
What they found there can only be described as harrowing. Beneath the company town, unbeknownst to anyone besides the highest ranking supervisors of the company, lies a secret mine, run by cultists through slave labor. Thanks to the valiant efforts of the guild, 587 slaves were able to be recovered and a heavy blow has been dealt to the cult's finances. So far, the tally of dead and injured has not been completed but this paper was able to confirm the deaths of three occupants of the town. Their names are Jenny Mason, Mark Caplin and Tino Carera. May they rest in peace. As this is still a developing situation we do not have all the facts yet but will print them as soon as we learn of them.”
Sher Aka, in awe, says, “So, thanks to our help we were able to free almost six hundred slaves…I’m glad all this was worth it.”
Scarlet interjects, “No, Rose suffering was not worth it. There is no number of lives worth her life!”
“Perhaps you’re right, but to me it still feels like we have done a good deed worth the suffering we went through.”
Before those two can start a fight, Rayla asks, “Is there anything else interesting in the news?”
“Hmm…Let’s see. Huh…”
“What?”
“Apparently the Five Winged Angel broke up.”
“What!? Let me see that! After eight years of service to the north…yada yada…There we go. The reason for the break up according to the Red Valkyrie were aggravated sexual crimes by a member of their group…Holy shit, I never thought any of them would do that.”
John answers, “Guess you never truly know a person till you meet em, now continue.”
“Right, right…Uhum, the Red Valkyrie alleged that her sister, the Healing Nun, had committed the crime of…Aggravated homosexuality with the Vice-Guildmaster of Rostock. That’s the ‘sexual crime’ they broke up for!? And not just that, she reported it to both the guards AND the news! How could she do that to her sister!?”
“It’s not uncommon. I know many homosexuals that were disowned or reported by their families and friends.”
“But why? Even if you think it’s disgusting, why would you hurt your friends or family over it!?”
“Because to them it’s the same as saying ‘I sleep with children or animals’. People are so misinformed and xxx that they think they’re doing the right thing. Does it say anything else?”
“Let’s see…The rest of the Five Winged Angel declined to comment but we were able to get a comment of Shara Seleen aka the Dancing Ballista, Guildmaster of the home guild of the Five Winged Angel in Rostock and ex S-Ranked adventurer of the disbanded adventuring group the Southern Lotus. She said:
‘Anyone who thinks they can harm my staff or my child Thoma Ahad will have to deal with me’
I can’t believe she just smuggled that in there…Anyways…According to our sources, every member of the Five Winged Angel except the Red Valkyrie is currently employed as staff in the Rostock guild.When asked to comment on what the Red Valkyrie plans to do from now, she answered, ‘I will dedicate my life to my faith and attempt to join the holy knight order of the White City’. As for the identity of Shara Seleen’s child, we're still unsure at this moment in time.”
Scarlet scoffs, “Hmph How dare that woman call Rose her child.”
Rayla responds, “I recommend you don’t say anything bad about her in front of Rose. She does genuinely think of her as her mother. I’m sure if she could react she’d be agreeing emphatically.”
“Gao.”
“See, you can’t get clearer than that…I think.”
“Fine. I’ll leave it at that.”