A group of children huddled together in an old house lit only by the moonlight. They stared at a large armored figure standing before them. The oldest child held a dagger, pointing it directly at him.
"Don't co near! I'll use it!"
Rusty tilted his head slightly at the boy's feeble attempt at defiance. The dagger in the child's hands trembled, the tip wavering as he struggled to hold his ground. His legs were locked in place, frozen with fear.
" ( •̀ - •́ ) "
Rusty raised his hands in mock surrender, the motion slow to not scare them. His towering, tallic fra lood over the children, and for a brief mont, an uneasy silence settled in the ruined lair. Gleam didn't look too happy but just kept to his shoulder.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
After a mont of silence, Rusty's deep voice finally broke the tension. Yet, even though he assured the children he wouldn't hurt them, they didn't seem to believe him. The three smaller ones curled up behind the oldest boy, who looked on the verge of tears. To Rusty, this was unfamiliar. He had never really interacted with the young of humanoid races before.
To a monster like him, they were strange beings. They were older than him yet less mature, unable to defend themselves. The mont he was created he was already capable of killing a regular person and other monsters were similar, born to be able to defend themselves.
"Rusty, you're scaring them. It would be better if you stepped back. Why don't we examine those two first? See if they're from the thieves' guild."
Alexander, who had once been human, urged Rusty to move away rather than loom over the children and Aburdon nodded in agreent.
"The hero is right. It would be wise to know who we are dealing with."
"(„• ֊ •„)੭ "
"You'll take care of it Gleam?"
Gleam hopped down from Rusty's shoulder and approached the group of children. Her silvery-white body reflected the moonlight, making her shimr in the dimly lit room. The children stared at her, and the boy instinctively pointed his dagger in her direction. But before he could react further, his eyes widened in surprise. Suddenly, Gleam began wiggling around, performing the little dance she sotis did when she was happy.
The boy's grip on the dagger loosened slightly as he watched the strange creature wriggle and twirl. The younger children, who had been cowering monts ago, now peeked over his shoulders with wide, curious eyes. One of them, the smallest girl, hesitantly reached out a hand toward Gleam, her fingers trembling.
"No, don't touch it! What if it bites you!"
The boy shouted at the youngest in fear that the monster ant would snap her mandibles at her but instead, Gleam continued to wiggle.
"But… Is… is she dancing?"
Rusty, who was now going through the two thug's belongings nodded and tried to assure the children that everything was fine.
"She does that when she's happy. Don't worry, Gleam doesn't bite and neither will I, so calm yourselves."
" (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) "
The children exchanged uncertain glances, but their fear was slowly fading, giving way to curiosity. The smallest girl, emboldened by Gleam's harmless display and Rusty's assurance, took a cautious step forward. Gleam wiggled her antennae in response, sensing the shift in their emotions. The girl knelt and gently poked Gleam's hard, silvery body, her face lighting up with wonder.
The older boy still gripped the dagger, though he didn't lower it completely. His tense posture eased slightly as his gaze flickered between Rusty and the unconscious n he was patting down on the floor.
"You stopped them..."
"Yes. This is my territory."
"Your territory?"
The boy repeated Rusty's words, glancing around the run-down building. It looked even worse than the place the children had been staying before. Everyone assud it was just an abandoned ruin, destined to collapse in a few years. Rusty straightened from his crouched position, shaking his head as he tossed aside so of the thugs' belongings while pocketing their coins.
"No thieves' guild tokens."
That was good news. It ant he wouldn't have to deal with the guild. While these two had combat classes, their low levels indicated either a lack of effort or an inability to rise through real combat. So people with combat classes never pushed themselves to grow stronger. Rusty didn't understand that mindset. For him, the drive to evolve into the most powerful monster he could was instinctual, an unshakable goal. Yet many feared risking their lives against monsters, and without killing opponents, leveling was impossible.
"They might not have anything identifying them as mbers of the thieves' guild, but that doesn't an they aren't. Not everyone carries a token, and they could have been hired by a mber to do this. There are many possibilities"
Alexander said, trying to make Rusty understand the situation. While these two n didn't seem particularly important, their attack could still bring trouble to Rusty's doorstep in the future.
"Still, you bought this ho, so you're free to deal with anyone who enters without your approval, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Let's just toss these two out for now. Better not to kill them."
There were so rules even among thieves. If soone was caught trying to steal another's loot, the victim had the right to retaliate to protect their property. There were not many rules, and people were free to steal from others, but if they were caught red-handed, retaliation was allowed.
Rusty dragged the unconscious n toward the door, their bodies limp as sacks of grain. The armored figure made no effort to be gentle, letting their heads bump against the uneven floor as he moved. The children flinched with every dull thud, but none dared to speak up. Their fear had lessened, but unease still clung to them like a thick fog.
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With one final heave, Rusty shoved the thugs outside, letting them collapse onto the cold, dirt-covered ground. He didn't bother locking the door as there wasn't much left of it to lock. It had been hanging on one hinge, and now there was nothing left to salvage.
The night air was still, aside from the distant sounds of the city's nightly entertainnt districts. Even in a place like this, surrounded by monsters and enemy tribes, people still found ti to drink themselves silly and forget their troubles. Rusty dusted off his hands and turned back, his gaze settling once more on the children.
"You should leave."
His voice was calm but carried a warning.
"This place is mine now."
The oldest boy tensed again, but his shoulders sagged slightly. He had expected this outco. There was no kindness in the world for people like them. Still, he had to try.
"There's nowhere else we can go…"
He muttered, his grip tightening around the worn handle of his dagger before he pointed it down, knowing well that he would not be able to do anything to Rusty.
"They'll find us if we leave."
Rusty remained silent, his shiny helt reflecting the boy's defiant expression. He understood survival. He understood desperation. And he understood that if he turned them away, they would likely be caught. Maybe worse. If that happened, he might have to deal with soone complaining that he had interfered, making it harder to start his workshop if he had to fend off the local gang.
"Rusty, won't you reconsider? They're just children. We should help them—not like you need the other rooms."
Alexander tried to convince him, but Aburdon was quick to counter.
"Are you crazy? You want Rusty to take care of so slum kids when he just got here? They'll be fine. Soone else will take care of them."
Logically, it was best not to get involved. There weren't many benefits to keeping them here, and he was still a monster. Having more people around who could discover that made little sense.
"That's not my problem."
As expected, all of them frowned. What Rusty didn't expect was the one who looked the most saddened.
"( • ᴖ • )"
"Huh? Don't look at like that, Gleam…"
The small creature had already taken a liking to the youngest child, gently tickling the girl with her antennae. For so reason, she seed particularly fond of her, though Rusty wasn't sure why.
Normally, he would have tossed them out into the night. There were probably other run-down hos where they could hide without causing him trouble. But if Gleam wanted them to stay, he was willing to make an exception. It wasn't likely to cause him much trouble either way. These kids didn't seem important enough for whoever sent those thugs to waste even more resources hunting them down.
"Fine… they can stay for the night but once it's bright, they will have to leave."
" (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) "
Gleam did a little twirl and Rusty stepped towards the four children to repeat his statent.
"Stay if you want for the night but then leave."
"T-thank you."
The children hesitated at first, unsure if Rusty's offer was genuine. The oldest boy's grip on his dagger finally loosened, and he lowered it entirely. The youngest girl, now attached to Gleam, clung to the creature's side, finding comfort in the soft, warm glow her tiny body had begun to emit.
With his decision made, Rusty strode through the shattered doorway into the cool night air. Outside, he noticed a pile of heavy logs stacked near the crumbling foundation of the building. The underground basent needed reinforcent, and so of these logs were thick enough to serve as support beams. Many were too short, but a few looked long enough to work.
While the children settled inside, huddling around Gleam's gentle warmth, Rusty sorted through the logs. Once he found two that were both long and sturdy enough, he hefted them, one in each arm, and carried them inside. The kids watched him move back and forth but were too preoccupied with the small creature, who had cast a simple heating spell to keep them warm. Just as Rusty was about to finish with the logs, he heard low grunts from the side, the thugs were beginning to wake.
Their groggy eyes widened as they took in the sight of Rusty towering above them, logs in hand. Even though they recognized him as the one who had beaten them, they still clung to so shred of courage.
"Oi…"
One of them croaked, his voice trembling despite his earlier bravado.
"What did you do to those brats…?"
Rusty paused, turning his visor toward them.
"They ran off. Didn't want to stick around."
His answer was blunt, leaving no room for argunt. He turned to leave but stopped after a few steps, glancing back at them.
"If you ever break into my ho again, it won't end at just this."
His voice was cold and carried an obvious warning.
"Now get out, otherwise…"
Rusty placed the logs down and rested his armored hand on the sword at his side. Luckily, the two thugs did not need to be told twice. Their bodies were sore from Rusty's punishnt so they scrambled to their feet. One of them muttered sothing about retribution but was quickly silenced when Rusty began to draw his sword. They stamred out so half-hearted threats he did not understand, but their priority was escaping the armored man. Limping away, they disappeared into the shadows, their dignity clearly shattered.
After sliding his sword back into its scabbard, Rusty picked up the two remaining logs and carried them into his ho. The door, though damaged, could still be leaned against the entrance to create the illusion of being intact. Gleam seed to have taken a liking to the young ones, so Rusty left them undisturbed and used the ti to reinforce the underground basent. After about an hour, he returned upstairs to find the children fast asleep in one of the corners, huddled together. Even the oldest had succumbed to exhaustion.
" (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) "
"You like that one? and no, we can't keep them, they need to leave in the morning."
"( • ᴖ • )"
"Lady Gleam, listen to our dear Rusty. It's too dangerous for us to take care of these… orphans. This will never end well."
Just like clockwork, Aburdon agreed with his decision but Alexander was opposed to it and took Gleam's side.
"End well? What are you even talking about, they pose no threat to us. Let them stay here, they're just kids. We got enough coin from those two thugs to keep them fed for more than a week. They could even help us. I'm sure the oldest knows about the situation in the city and could act as a proper guide."
"… I don't know…"
Rusty was not fully convinced, but he was not entirely opposed either. It all depended on what kind of trouble these kids were really in. Perhaps once they woke up, he would listen to their plea and make a final decision then.
"I suppose we can ask them once they wake up…"
" (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) "
Gleam was happy at his response and the two soon began going through their new but dirty lair. There was a lot of work to be done here and both of them started cleaning. While Rusty took care of the bulk of the work, Gleam still used her mandibles to carry smaller rocks outside to get their new ho clean.
As the first light of dawn crept through the broken slats of the ruined house, Rusty found himself watching the children as they stirred from their slumber. The oldest boy was the first to wake, his body tensing as he took in his surroundings. His fingers instinctively reached for his dagger, only to find it still clutched in his hand, loosened but not lost. He exhaled slowly, eyes darting around the now sun-lit space. Rusty stood near the entrance, arms crossed, his fra as unmoving as a statue. Gleam was curled up near the youngest girl, who still had one hand resting on her silvery body, murmuring softly in her sleep.
"Good morning."
Rusty's voice cut through the silence, making the boy flinch slightly. He straightened his posture, shaking off the last remnants of sleep as he glanced at his siblings. The other children awoke, stretching groggily, their expressions shifting from comfort to guarded apprehension as they rembered where they were.
"Tell , who are the forces that control this city…"
If he was going to involve himself with these four, he needed to know who ruled this territory first. The boy's answer would determine his next move and probably decide if he would allow them to stay here longer than he had previously expected.
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