Chapter 76 - Where To Start?
"You're sure we're still in Galtaire?"
"I literally just told you."
"Yeah, I know, but..." Gerald reaches over to trail his fingertips across the indented patterns in the wall as he slowly follows along behind his sister. "I woulda remembered a place like this."
"Took us the better part of a day to demolish an entire block and build this."
The tall human male rotates his head all the way around in order to look at the prideful young puppy-mage. "A day?! No, no. That can't be right."
Mishone offers a curt nod to reaffirm her statement. "It's true. And we've built four other hotels in the same way."
"Carson... I clearly struck my head in the Dungeon. Heal me."
"I can't heal stupid."
"Fecking Dog!"
"Here. This'll be fine." Zen chooses a suite that she already knows is empty and free of other guests in a wide swath on either side, and uses a skeleton-key to flip the lock. "C'mon. We'll lend you two a pair of these."
Gerald feels his un-trapped eyebrow quickly rising up on his forehead as he paces into the wide and deep apartment, which was complete with a kitchenette, large lounge, a pair of comfortable-looking beds, and which held some rather nice furnishings. "Hey, now... this is great!"
Carson pretty much ignores the trappings, instead opting to pace all the way to the back of the room in order to crack open the wooden shutters. "Huh. This's where The Four Corners was."
"No way."
"Yup. Two blocks in, right against the main street."
The former vanguard looks to the cocky grin trapped on his sibling's lips. "You demolished the hotel we stayed at just to build a new one? Why the Hell'd you do that?"
"Sit down. You, too, mutt, before you fall over."
"Fecking Cat."
Zen snorts out a breath of amusement as she heads over to the lounge, which had three large sofas and four over-stuffed recliners arranged in a square. "I'll tell you the whole story when Jo gets back. You been keepin' in touch with your stupid father?"
"You mean your father? Not really." Gerald follows his sister, though mis-times a motion and kicks the foot of a sofa, since it was in his blind-spot. "Damnit. Uh, yeah, last time I sent a letter was about a year or so back. I bounce around so often that I rarely get messages from him, though."
"Just as well."
"Your mother was pretty pick a couple years ago. Took her almost six months to get back to her usual, charming self."
"Hmph." The small Scout flops into one of the recliners with a slight frown crossing her lips. "No-one will really care when she dies."
"Mizuki."
"Shut it. She was only ever concerned about herself."
"You haven't written her at all?"
"Not a word since we left. And her parting to me was just 'Go'."
The human male allows a heavy sigh to escape as he eases himself down into a spot that would allow him to most-easily survey the entire lounge with his one good eye. "So, uh... you were tracking me, huh?"
"Failing, mostly. Spent a fecking fortune trying to."
"Yeah. Same. All of our money goes to buying information from some rather shady people."
"I went through the Adventurers' Guild. And recently the Merchants."
"Huh? The Merchant's Guild doesn't take requests."
"They do when you're feckin' rich."
Gerald blinks twice, then glances around the stately apartment before realization finally dawns on him. "Wait... you own this place?!"
"Feckin' idiot." Carson snorts out a noise of derision as he flops down onto the opposite end of the sofa from his long-time companion. "They literally just told you they built five hotels."
"Y-yeah, but... I thought they were just working as craftsmen. Or... crafts-women? Would that be the proper term?"
"Sexist prick." The short Cat-woman flashes a wicked smile towards her sibling. "But, yeah. If you were trying to impress someone. But no-one in this hotel, or our others, would fall for it. Or you. Ugly bastard."
"Okay, I get it. I'm no longer handsome."
"You look like a homeless wanderer."
"I am a homeless wanderer."
"Then your appearance suits you." Zen snickers at the way her brother glowers and is unable to offer a retort. "But, because of my Goddess-like generosity, I'll grant you a suitable tithe. As long as you refer to me as 'My Emporer'."
"Feck you, Mizuki. Jus' 'cause you got a little lucky, or somethin'..."
"Not a little. A lot."
"How much's a lot?"
"Commanding more wealth than this country?"
The former vanguard holds his breath for a few moments, then hurries to check the expressions on the teenagers. Since each of them were just smiling as usual, he decides he was just being played for a fool. "Hmph. Yeah, right."
"Mish? How much do we command?"
"Oh... about three hundred thousand white-gold, along with two hundred priceless works of art and a hundred or so sculptures and reliefs made by true masters of their crafts. And a hundred and eighty slaves."
Gerald blinks twice, and again convinces himself that he was being lied to. "Y-you all must think I'm a world-class idiot. Tryin' t' make me believe that."
Zen leans a little to the side in order to access her enchanted hip-pouch, then withdraws a large, heavy burlap sack and spills the contents across the central, low-slung table.
"Gods damned."
The large human gapes at the sight of the obvious mass of a thousand white-gold coins softly glittering in the available lamp-light. Once, when he was nine, his father showed him a coin made of the exact same precious metals... and he'd been enthralled. But, to see so many littered across a table... it made that wonderous moment in his life worthless in comparison.
"Yeah."
"Pretty, huh?"
"Remember that huge pile we made in Kileah? That was fun."
Jessie giggles and nods towards her wife. "I can't believe what we did on it."
"Good times." The short Cat-woman nods at the hilariously raunchy memory. Oddly, that Founder's Night had been instigated by Jo. Though she still denied it. "So, yeah. Our influence is growing by the day. You know the Devil of the South?"
"Huh? Uh... Brahm? Alyssa?"
"Yeah. She's going to be our Director of Operations in another month, when she retires from the Merchant Guild."
"The Devil can't retire."
"She is. And she's coming to work for us."
"In a hotel."
"Idiot. They've clearly organized something far greater."
"Huh?"
Carson offers his party-mate a slow shake of his head. "Five hotels, a massive fortune... and you think Mizuki wouldn't take the opportunity to do something grand?"
Zen's wicked smile grows wider as she begins to remember just how sharp this Labrador had been back in the day. Of course, his paranoia probably kept him from being a truly high-ranked Adventurer, but he was still one of the smartest people she'd ever met. "Our hotels are all staffed by slave-girls that we've bought. Each are in their teens, former tools, and we're training them to both defend themselves, and to dive into the Dungeons in order to help save even more girls."
"See. Grand."
"Mi... you're send young girls into the Depths? How could you?"
The small Scout issues a snort of derision towards her brother. "By the time we allow them to enter, they're more capable than most A-Ranked adventurers. They learn a universal way of safely proceeding, and stick to the first five floors."
"Still. Girls. Teenagers."
"I assure you, there's little that would be able to hurt them, let alone kill them." Zen neatly lifts one leg to sit atop the other as she sends a cold stare across to her sibling. "And it's voluntary. If any of our girls don't want to help free other women going through the same horrors that they did, then they simply work and provide a safe environment for their Sisters."
"Sisters? You buy families?"
"Why do I even..."
Jessie clears her throat as a prelude to picking up on the explanation. Less Zen got frustrated and broke something. "We call ourselves the Scylla Sisterhood, and each of the members are Sisters."
"Oh. Like nuns?"
"N-no. We don't have any religous trappings. Only the ideal that all women should be free to live their lives without fear."
"Fear, huh?"
"Fear of men. Of being abused. Raped. Murdered. Or sold into slavery by their fecking parents." The short Cat-woman tosses a frown towards her clueless brother. "Our goal is to provide training that ensures our Sisters can defend themselves against any threats, and if someone raises their hand against one of us, then we rise up as a single entity and slaughter them."
Gerald politely coughs before offering an apology. "I'm... sorry for not quite understanding what it's all about... but I do hope that you all succeed in your goals. Besides, that whole... slaughter-thing sounds like a great deterrant."
Zen notices the Lab slightly stiffen, and just two seconds later she hears the soft foot-falls of her wife on the plush hallway rugs for herself. "Yeah. If things go to plan, we'll have one or two hotels in every town across the country in a matter of a decade. Tens of thousands of Sisters."
"T-that's an army!"
"Better than." The small Scout flashes a charming smile towards her beautiful mate, who was carrying one of their public-use sacks which would be filled with all manner of snacky-goodness. "Armies have agendas. A thirst for combat. Our girls will only be watching out for each other."
"So you told them about the Sisterhood, huh?" Joanne sachays over to the lounge and briefly dips down to a knee to start spreading out loads of foods and alcohols onto the table, around the giant pile of white-gold coins. "It's an ambitious project, of course... but our goals are rather noble."
"It'll create chaos." Carson barely manages to conceal a scowl while continuing to think of what horrors awaited them all. "If you manage to buy every single slave-girl, then this nation's army will need to conquer adjacent lands just to meet the demands. And beyond that, the vast majority of men will go crazed. Attempt to attack women in the streets just to satisfy their carnal lusts."
The red-headed healer passes the dour Labrador-kin a large bottle of whiskey, as he seemed like the type to enjoy the burning. "When we've got thirty thousand women as capable as A-ranked adventurers... do you really think that we'd allow something like war to occur? Let alone innocents being attacked in the streets?"
The male dog pauses in un-corking his bottle to stare at the human who smelled of his former Scout. "Not allow it?"
"If we were in control of a tenth of this nation's population, and amounted to twice this nation's military-potential... whom do you think would hold the most sway?"
Carson's eyes briefly go wide at the guided realization. "You... mean to control this nation? Through sheer numbers?"
"The only control that we'll exert will be to ensure that our Sisters remain safe and happy." Joanne offers a smile, along with a platter of freshly-baked breads topped with melted butter. "They can't be safe without laws protecting them, and they wouldn't be happy if there was a war going on."
"But... why stop there? Why not just take full control?"
"The sheer amount of idiots and imbeciles. Who'd want to look after them?"
"True..."
"Exactly. So, aside from things concerning our girls, we'll simply allow the country to run at it's own pace."
The black-furred Labrador-kin lets out a heavy sigh as he finally accepts the platter of breads. "Allow it... that's terrifying..."
Zen issues a purely sinister chuckle as she watches her former party-mate take a large swig from his bottle. "An' just think... in a hundred years, the Sisterhood will stretch clear across the continent."
"Then here's to hoping I die well before that." Carson raises his whiskey in a salute to the damned demonic Cat before fortifying himself with another pair of chugs.
"So!" Gerald slaps his knee and sends a wide smile across the lounge. Clueless as ever. "Now you'll tell us what you've been up to, right?"
"Idiot. Yeah, I guess." The small Scout draws in a deep breath, then lets it out in a rush before starting her very long-winded explanation of the events from when she first stopped into Galtaire.
Metting Jessie, going to Nabreaa, saving Joanne and making her first fortune, returning to Galtaire just to leave again with Jessie and Mishone in tow. Then on to liberating Banditville and creating Jozejemi, the founding of the Scylla Sisterhood, creating a branch in Kileah, wreaking havoc in Zeitstad and obtaining a vast fortune, then on to creating a second hotel in Kileah and Jozejemi, and ending with building their largest structure yet in the place it all started.
By the time her story ends, it was well into the early-evening, and everyone was nicely sodden, though in a comfortable sense, and not down-right drunk...
Except for Carson, who never had been able to pace himself. But they'd fill him in on the parts he slept through, later.
"I'm sorry I missed your wedding. It sounded wonderful."
"Thank you, Gerald." Joanne flashes a charming smile towards her brother-in-law, and absently squeezes the cute kitten sitting on her lap. "It was one of the happiest days of our lives."
"One of. The happiest was our scheme in Shitestad."
"Mizuki!"
"Whut. Oh, come on. Don't act like you weren't giddy the entire time we were makin' our getaway."
The red-headed healer clears her throat while glancing towards the snoring Lab splayed out on one of the beds. "T-that was just..."
"Just?"
"That's different. A different kind of happiness."
"True."
"Still can't believe my baby sister is rich..." the large male shakes his head slowly while staring down at the spilled coins, still located in the middle of the table. "I mean, we always had it good back home... but the kind of lifestyle that you could live, now..."
"Jessie's a noble."
"I was a noble." The chestnut-haired mage displays a frown as she nuzzles tightly against her sweet puppy's flank. "And it's nothing more than a gilded cage. No freedom. And you've got to spend so much effort in presenting the proper image at all times of day. It's terrible."
"I lived in a three-room shack with my parents and four siblings, farming potatoes. A golden cage sounds pretty damned good."
Jessie issues a snort of derision before sending an awkward grin over to the grizzled man slouched on his sofa. "I bought her family a huge plot of land outside of Jozejemi. Got our Sisters to create a lovely manor for them all to live in."
"It's got thirty rooms. And seven bath-rooms."
"Six! One is a powder-room!"
"Oh. That's rather small, isn't it? Gerald raises his un-undered eyebrow while swirling a large amount of port around in his glass. "My family's estate held seventy-six rooms. And twenty-seven bath-rooms."
"And yet the servants lived in a barn."
The former vanguard tosses a frown towards his younger sister. "It was a proper wing in the exact same style as the rest of the estate."
"Whatever. No gilding for us, though."
"That's because you scraped it all off."
"I did that once. 'Cuase I wanted to see if it was solid gold, like you claimed."
Gerald issues a snort of amusement at the memory that plays through his mind. "I can't believe you bought that."
"I can't believe you got your arse burned by a couple of little salamanders."
The large male sends an expression of horror to his sibling's venomous wife, then drops his gaze down to the grinning Cat. "You told her?!"
"'Course I did."
"Why?! You promised that you'd never utter a word!"
"I thought you killed Maggie. Thus, all promises we made were null and void."
"Hmph. You're horrible. Breaking your vow." Gerald issues a snort of annoyance, though then slowly starts to grin at the prospect of getting a little revenge. "Hey, Joanne. Did you know Mizuki only goes to the bathroom from the top of a pine-tree?"
"Yes. She told me that just a few days after we met."
"O-oh. Uh... w-well how about that she's got zero affinities for the elements?"
"Learned that at the same time. But she's since then found a few tools that has allowed her to become a powerful mage in her own right."
"Huh? Really?"
The ginger-healer lightly bites one of her lover's furry ears in a silent threat, then pulls back to offer a wry smile. "Who do you think teleported us out of the Dungeon?"
"T... teleport... that's what that was?!"
"Mm! And Mizuki learned how to do that just yesterday."
Gerald sends an expression of utter horror towards his grinning sibling. "O-okay... I'm... clearly sodden. All this... fantasy about Mizuki besting a Titan and amassing a vast fortune has addled my brains. 'Cause there's no way my sister could learn how to teleport people."
"I can do a lot more than just that." Zen continues to languidly stare over at her brother as her tail pridefully twitches at her side. "And to prove it, I'm gonna track down that fecker who killed Maggie, and cut him to ribbons without breaking a sweat."
The former vanguard's features slacken at hearing his Scout's declaration. "You'll not deny us our vengeance."
"Revenge will be mine, and mine alone. I'm the one who lost the most."
"You selfish Cat. Carson and I lost just as many friends. And until today, I believed I had lost my sister."
"As you can plainly see, I'm fine. In a much better state than you."
"Hmph. Despite my wounds, I'm still far better than I used to be. Carson, too."
"Then, tomorrow, we'll have a match. Winner gets to kill that fecker."
"You're on."
"Good."
"Fine."
Zen continues to trade a glare with her brother... until one of her ears is softly bitten again.
"You'll let the girls watch, right? It'll be good to let them see what hard work can do for them."
"Uh... okay?"
"Then we'll hold the match mid-morn, so everyone can attend." Joanne issues a musical giggle at the thought of how amazed their Sisters would be.
"Alright. I'm hungry." The small Scout struggles to break free of her wife's embrace, then pops up onto her feet before helping her human to stand. "It's dinner-time, right?"
"It's a bit early."
"Feels like dinner. C'mon, stupid. Lemme introduce you to our newest Sisters, so I can give them an example of the worst kind of human male."
"Damned Cat. You know I like mature women."
"Yeah, mother issues."
"L-leave my mother out of it!"
"Whatever. You even think about touching our Sisters-"
"Yeah, yeah. Cut me in ways, blah, blah, blah."