Trash: Chapter 165 Hangry Decisions (Patreon)

Chapter 165

Hangry Decisions

Being tired is never a good thing. Being hungry and tired only makes the decisions you make while being tired more amplified. As you are both angry and trying to resolve a perceived conflict as quickly as possible. I know these facts, as I have lived through not one, but two lives now and attempted to help others fix problems that come up from poor decisions made, particularly those bad decisions that occur when people are hungry.

These thoughts come to my head, as I realize I am likely causing more trouble for not just me, but my teammates who are suddenly caught in a pit of slime covered bodies, with a random guard behind them with a clearly magically glowing sword held in his hands, demanding that Luna and Lucia both surrender.

Seeing that this is about to go sideways quickly, I raise both my hands in surrender and begin trying to talk my way out of this, unfortunately I haven’t had much interaction with people during this lifetime. I realize this after I open my mouth, while trying to draw the attention away from my two friends and towards me.

“Hey, shit-face, stop that now,” I demand, only realizing just how stupid I both sounded and was now acting, while trying to protect Luna and Lucia from a blade to the back. I couldn’t help it though, I was already tired from not one, but two fights today, and I was still more than a bit creeped out by being down here. Also, the guy comes down and immediately points a sword at Luna, not his best move. All in all, I’d say that I was doing well. Well, as good as could be expected given the circumstances.

That said, my words worked, as the boisterous leader instantly shifted his gaze from the clearly startled Luna and Lucia and back to me. I could almost see the moment his eyes recognized that I was the person he was looking for, as a thick golden hue filled his eyes as he seemed to look right through me. Then as if trying to reconcile what he was looking at, with my disheveled appearance, he asked incredulously, “you are Healer Candidate Bloom?”

“The one and only,” I replied, but then realized there might be more Blooms here, and thought I might have just stepped in that one.

There was a pause, as I could see calculations flashing across the old man’s face, while two more guards dropped down to flank the seasoned leader. Fortunately, these two new soldiers also had glowing golden swords, which helped highlight the sacred patch on the sleeve of the fearless leader who dropped down here first. Seeing the patch, I instantly realized that these were Royal Order of Watchers, which only made me grimace at the sight of what was going to happen next.

While I had heard the legends of the ROW members, legends and reality often have two very different versions. This is especially true for ROW members, at least from my experience, as they always seemed to be the type of people who act first and think second. The kind of people who presume you are guilty, before doing any real investigatory work on their end. It didn’t help that the last time I saw any of these people, they had gathered in mass to kill otherwise innocent victims. That is, they tried to kill my own countrymen for having been exposed to Death Eaters. I ultimately managed to save my fellow countrymen, but it wasn’t a good look overall for the ROW members that were assigned as guards for the whole event.

As if realizing something, the lead officer paused and then looked around the room. With his and the others’ glowing swords around him, aided by Luna’s own torchlight, the hidden laboratory was laid bare for all to see. Then I could all but see the moment the officer’s eyes landed on the scattered piles of bone on the floor. It was the moment that the color left his face, as shock and barely constrained horror filled his eyes.

“You-, you cleansed this?” The lead officer began, his words stammering out in fear before he raised his sword and pointed at the cursed corner. A corner that once held a violent spider spirit queen, and now just contained the cleansed silhouette of said spider spirit queen.

“Yes,” I reply, a bit more grumpily than I intended but I was hungry, exhausted, and the fumes of adrenaline that helped push me through using the very taxing Healing Flames* Skill were now leaving me. Replacing my energy with a want to leave this muck and filth behind as we attempted to find yet another, smaller living space.

There was a moment of silence, as the other guards took in the scene, then one of the newer ROW members looked down and saw the same pile of bones that the officer asked, “are those the remains of our former members?”

Then as if compelled to look through the remains of the rotten corpse, he moved forward, waving his holy glowing sword over the corpse, as if to dispel an illusion. Once he saw that there were no ripples, or reactions, the soldier bent down and picked up a patch of worn white cloth. But on that patch were the clear and unmistakable signs of a ROW officer badge.

“It is,” the second ROW member declared, going back and showing the patch to both his backline accomplice and then over his head to the other ROW officers that were still watching from the floor above.

Seeing their reaction, I realize why at least two of those brutes seemed so excessively large, they were ROW soldiers who had died down here. Likely during a purging attempt.

“Why were you down here?” The lead officer finally asked, the anger and agitation gone from his voice as he seemed to take in my nearly exhausted appearance.

“We wanted a bigger house to train in, and our runner told us that if we cleansed this place, it would be ours,” I admit with a bit of exhaustion in my voice. Remembering how I got down here in the first place, but now that I got the place I really didn’t want to put in all of the effort that would be needed to make this place habitable again.

“You can’t live here,” the lead officer said.

I was about to nod and agree with the obvious statement, as again this was one of those pyrrhic victories. One where you win, but you really lose in the end. Just as I am willing to call it an end and just get out and rest, that’s when Lucia shows off her years of being the center of attention.

“But we like this place, and we won it fair and square,” Lucia cut in, shifting attention away from me and back to herself.

“No, this is now an active crime scene. You can’t take it—” the lead officer began but then cut himself off as he seemed to conclude on his own.

“That said, we might be able to get you a better accommodation than this,” the officer trailed off as he tried to work quickly through the problem at hand, “is it just a matter of size and training space?”

With that question, Lucia turned to me, to try to get my opinions on the matter. Seeing as that was all I could really think of, I just shrugged my shoulders while nodding my head. I was too tired to do much more at this point. Seeing my response, the officer paused for a second, and then seemed to come to a conclusion.

“Well if it is just size and training space, we could clear out the auxiliary gym on the west quarter,” the lead officer said, turning to the officer on his right, the same one who still held the old and rotting ROW emblem in his hand. There was a pause as the second officer contemplated the location, and then seemed to nod and shrug on his own as well.

“Sounds like a plan, Sinclair, take them up and let the others know that the auxiliary gym is being repurposed for living quarters for this group,” the second ROW officer ordered, turning to the third ROW officer that had mostly been silent up until this point. Seeing their interactions, I understood now that the first person in was not the actual leader, but more of the advanced scout, while these second person who was more focused on the remains of the fallen brethren was the actual leader of this squad.

“Roger,” the third ROW officer declared snapping to attention as his feet made an odd squishing sound as they slid through the thin layer of moist slime that lined the floor. Then as if trying to work out the logistics, he asked the one most important question, “for how long?”

“For as long as Healer Candidate Bloom remains here to train her squad and finally feel confident enough in their abilities to lead them to battle,” the second ROW officer declared.

“Roger that,” the ROW officer declared, then looked at the three of us. “If you will, please come with me, this is now being changed to an active crime scene.”

Hearing this, I once again wondered about the use of Psychometry, about how people could read the history of items, and of what ROW officers would do with the dead. But ultimately, I just wanted out of here. Nodding to the officer I went forward. Lucia and Luna both guided me and waited for me to pass them as I made my way up. As I walked, I felt a bit shaky, which is apparently how I must have looked as I could see Luna reach out a hand at one point to catch me if I fell. Fortunately, I didn’t fall into the pile of filth and slime. By the time I made it towards the vertical ladder, I had regained enough composure to lift myself out easily. I was still shaky, but I made sure to focus heavily on my grip on each ring of bars. Knowing that as long as I kept my grip, I would not fall.

Then finally, I ascended out of the trap door. Where I thought I would need to do some type of odd flopping movement forward, to get out of the hole. Though the ROW members that were still above were apparently ready to help, as I felt no less than two grab me from under my armpits, one on each side, and easily lift me out of the shaft. My sword being the only issue as a third had to grab the hilt and angle the sword down at the right angle to make my exit easier. For that one brief moment, I felt weightless, as if I had somehow jumped out of the exit with my superhuman strength. Once on the ground, I took a second to breathe and relax. Then I was guided forward as Luna, and then Lucia followed suit and were also lift-hoisted out of the trap door.

I began moving forward, before catching the long skinny frame of someone familiar. Even with a veil covering his face, I’d recognize the skinny frame that looked nothing like the bulkier ROW members around him.

“Mousey?” I asked.

As if confused for a second, the tall kid paused, then just nodded before pulling back his thick veil to reveal his face in confirmation.

“Mousey?” Luna and Lucia both exclaimed, rushing forward to stand on my sides as they too took in Mousey’s new look. For a moment, it looked like Mousey was going to say something, but was quickly cut off by the ROW officer, Sinclair, that had himself just cleared his way out of the trap door and was now following us.

“Come this way,” Sinclair demanded. As he spoke, I could see the look of fear fill Mousey’s face as he likely got a scowl from his fellow ROW member. Glancing to the side, I could see the look of anger filling Sinclair’s face, as Mousey dropped his veil and let his mask of anonymity fall back into place.

I wanted to say something, but Sinclair was already exiting the building at a fast pace, forcing me to catch up. As we exited, I felt the warm rays of the sun shining down on me, and seeming to melt away a layer of the cold sludge that still coated my clothes. I would need to cleanse myself with my Skills, but only after I no longer felt like walking was too much of a chore.

Then as we left, I saw the rest of my team, Junior, Lelia, and even Marcus waiting just outside the gated boundary for this house. Seeing our state, Junior was the first to speak.

“What happened?” Junior asked.

“Boss cleaned the place, but now it is an active crime scene, so we are getting a new place,” Lucia responded in a very succinct manner. A fact that I was grateful for as I was just trying to enjoy the feeling of warmth permeating my body.

Then before anyone could ask any clarifying questions, Sinclair continued his mad march away.

“This way,” Sinclair demanded and we followed.