The Bathrobe Knight: Volume 2 (26 page)

“Justin, do you want to keep that uniform?” Alex asked, walking up and patting him on the back.

“Yes, sir,” he answered immediately.

“Good,” Alex said, walking back to the table to get him the other four outfits. “Take these others, distribute them at random until everyone has a pair, and make sure they get three made with the proper wing modifications for the new members too.”

“Oh, you’re going to make me one too?” Valerie asked, her face unclear to Alex.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we? You’re one of us now. We will never leave you out of anything,” Alex said, patting her on the back, a somewhat difficult task as he had to work around her wings to do it.

“Umm, thank you, sir,” she said. “I guess we should get going then.”

“So soon?” Alex looked at her. “I thought the three of you were going to help out around here before departing. Is the offer still good?”

“Oh! Oh, yeah, what did you need?” Valerie said, her smile returning.

She must not be used to being included in honors like this,
Alex thought, happy he had made sure to let her know she wouldn’t be left out of getting a uniform.
She must not be used to being part of a group.
“Well, for starters, there is a matter of unloading all the spoils from the beach battle . . .” Alex began his laundry list of things that needed doing. He knew they were probably just as eager as he was to see the city in its fullest, so he made sure to give them tasks that would have them wandering around the town, things like finding merchants and the like. After seeing how Valerie had been so moved, how she had been left speechless, just from being truly recognized as one of the faction, he was sure that he’d be able to more heavily rely on them in the future.
I will become a good leader just like the Great Lord Darwin,
he thought, eagerly looking forward to his new uniform.

Kass
:

              Kass found herself doing everything in her power to look at Darwin’s face, but given that she had somehow managed to end up in the very back of their small group, and he was at the very front, it was starting to feel like an impossible task. Darwin had somehow already managed to cozy up to the NPCs that they were sent to kill and was walking side by side with the guard in the front, chatting about God only knows what. In fact, Darwin was talking to the very same guard that had locked his arrow on her in a tight hallway less than an hour ago.

              None of that mattered though. All that was important now was the fact that there wasn’t a single reflective surface in even one of these corridors that would let her see Darwin’s face again. She just couldn’t shake it.
Horns. He has horns!
she kept thinking.
It doesn’t make any sense. Well, it makes sense given that he’s a Demon, but it doesn’t make sense given he didn’t have them before the gas. How is it that everyone else passes out, and Darwin grows horns?
Kass thought, baffled by what was going on.
Were the horns a reaction to some event in Tiqpa that I missed?

              No matter how much she tried to puzzle it out, she couldn’t find herself resting on any one idea or conclusion regarding Darwin’s transformation. All she knew was that she couldn’t take her eyes off the new additions to his head. They were so weird, yet so cool. Darwin may have been a Demon for as long as she had known him, but now he actually had the horns to go with it. Coupled with his red eyes and already large physique, he was shaping up to be a real devil.

              “Big sis, what happened with Darwin?” Minx asked, bumping into Kass again. It was like she had no sense of personal space when she walked. Kass was almost sure the reason Kitchens always rested his hand on her head when the two were walking was to establish where he was relative to her so that she wouldn’t run him off the road doing one of her impromptu impersonations.

              “I’m just as curious as you are. I have no idea why he grew horns,” Kass said, still trying her best to look for any reflection that would let her see him again.

              “Not his horns, him. Look at him. Earlier he was all--” She bit into fake cookies and then did a smiling head swing side to side, “but now he’s all--” she folded her arms over her chest, pursed her lips and wrinkled her brow.

              “Are you sure? He doesn’t look grumpy to me,” Kass thought, unsuccessfully trying to listen in on him now too.

              “That’s cause you’re too busy checking to see how horny he is,” Minx said, causing Kass to giggle a bit. It was wrong, but every time Minx talked about how horny Darwin was, she couldn’t help but snicker.

              “I’m still not convinced he’s grumpy. I mean, sure, we got poisoned, but everyone came out okay, right?” Kass asked, looking at Darwin’s bathrobe.
Everyone came out okay . . . and your white bathrobe is soaked red. His bathrobe is . . . completely soaked in blood. Ugh, how did I not notice that sooner?
Kass wanted to hit herself. In the game, holes or injuries to an armor almost always repaired themselves within seconds to minutes, mainly as a precaution put in to stop people from having inappropriate body parts flying around, but blood stains could take hours to fade. Sometimes a player could spend an entire day with blood stains on their outfit.

              It wasn’t just on his sleeves or splattered on him either. It was a deep soak, almost as if . . . As if it had come from his own injured body. It didn’t make sense to see it in huge blotches across his legs and abdomen without much spray elsewhere.

              “See, big sis! I know that face. You see what I’m talking about! Minx the Lynx is right again!” Minx said, smiling in a way that made it look like she was showing her teeth to the dentist, “But he’s scary again now.”

              “He’s scary again?” Kass asked, becoming confused even more.

              “Yeah, he was scary earlier . . . like he was going to eat me, and now he’s scary again,” Minx said. “He’s not going to eat me, is he?”

              “No matter how horny he gets,” Kass assured her.

              “Okay okay. If big sis says so,” Minx said, and then nuzzled into Kass as they were walking. “Comfy sis.”

             
Darwin, what did you do to scare Minx to death earlier? What did you do while we were passed out,
she thought, watching his back.
Why does your back seem so much bigger than it used to?

They came to a dead stop when the archers and Darwin arrived at a giant pair of wooden doors at what felt like the end of a mile-long walk. “We’re here,” Louie said, opening one of the doors for Darwin.

              Kass wasn’t able to see exactly what was going on at first, still being a ways from the room, but what she did make out instantly was the leader. Everyone else was wearing some off-brown uniform like they were less archers and more rice farmers, whereas the man in the middle, sipping tea and talking to two other men, was wearing a full samurai outfit like he was straight out of a
ronin
movie. As soon as Darwin entered the room, he dropped his tea cup on the table next to him and stood up while pulling on his mask.

              “Who dares intrude on the gre--”

              “Weak,” Darwin said in one word, ignoring the man’s attempt at a boastful introduction.

              Kitchens looked at Darwin, just as surprised as Kass was.
What are you doing, Darwin?
Kass thought, watching Darwin push out his chest and walk arrogantly into the room.

              “What was that? How dare you t--”

              “I said, ‘Weak.’ As in you’re weak. As in you would be dead right now, scattered like bits of flesh across the ground, if not for my generosity,” Darwin said, walking closer to the little, would-be warlord.

              Minx tugged on Kass’s dress and whispered, “See, big sis. He’s scary again.”

             
This is not Darwin. Darwin doesn’t talk like this. He gives rousing speeches. He inspires men. He leads men; he cares for men. This is not how Darwin talks,
Kass thought as she watched the spectacle.

              The two men that the leader was talking to started to protest, started to say “wait” or “stop” or something, but as soon as they got up to reach for Darwin, he took his sword and slammed it into the ground. “Move again, and I will butcher everyone here,” he said, staring at the two.

              “Young man, what is the meaning of this?” the masked samurai shouted.

              “Darwin, honey draws more flies than vinegar,” Kitchens cautioned from the doorway.

Everyone had crowded in at the door, but neither the four archers nor Darwin’s three companions had entered.

              Darwin didn’t even acknowledge that Kitchens had spoken. “Your men, they threatened to kill my friends. I forgave that. Their incompetence--it almost cost me and my friends our lives on our way to see you. I forgave that too. But,” he paused, looking around at the scene where the three men had been casually drinking tea, “this I cannot let slide. I was almost killed defending the lives of my friends and your men while you were, what? Casually sipping tea? Playing war in the back, dressed up for battle?”

              “Young man, we weren’t just sipping tea, we were talking abou--”

              “If you interrupt me again, I will rip your tongue out and make you eat it right here, right now. Have I made myself clear?” Darwin said, his eyes pulsing a red that Kass could see all the way from the door without even having a good angle on his face. Minx, also clearly noticing the eyes, had grabbed onto her dress and was holding it as if her life depended on it.

             
This isn’t Darwin,
Kass just repeated to herself, unable to process the actions of the man in front of her.
This isn’t Darwin.

              The leader under the mask stayed silent, gulping under the threat.

              “Speak now, boy. Have I made myself clear?” Darwin’s voice pushed the man back again.

              “Ye . . . Y es, yes, you’ve made yourself clear,” he stuttered, shaking a little as he spoke.

              “Just so you don’t forget, here’s a reminder,” Darwin said, pulling out a spoon and stabbing the handle through the man’s armor into his arm. As he started to yell in pain, Darwin put a finger to his lips and another hand on the sword he still carried.

             
Darwin!
Kass found herself containing a muted scream. Part of her had thought it was all a bluff, that he was only acting tough, but as soon as the spoon had pierced flesh, she knew it was real.

              “Now, you see, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them. I already know the answer to most of them, so keep in mind that every time I think you are lying, I’m going to stab you. Do you understand? Nod if you understand.”

              The man nodded vigorously.

              “First question: how long have you been working for the Panda King? Go on. Answer me,” he said, tapping the spoon in the Daimyo’s arm.

              “I don’t work fo--” Before he could finish his denial, Darwin had pulled out his blade and stabbed the man’s leg, leaving it in for a second and then pulling it back out.

              “That’s bad. You lied to me on the first question,” Darwin said, looking down at the man who had fallen from his chair to the floor as he grabbed the wound on his leg in pain. “Let’s try again, but without the lies. How long have you been working for the Panda King?”

              Everyone sat in silence. Even the archers, who had previously looked like they wanted to stab Darwin themselves--even the guards, who had gritted their teeth as he waltzed around like he owned the place--all of them were now docile and quiet, staring at the wounded man on the ground.

              “A year before the organization started,” he coughed.

              “See? The truth wasn’t so hard to say, was it?” Darwin said, nudging the victim with his foot. “Second question: why does the Panda King want me dead?”

              “I don’t know,” the man said, and as Darwin pulled his sword up in exaggerated preparation for stabbing him again, the samurai pleaded further. “I swear! I don’t know! I swear he just sent word an hour before you came that he was going to send some people by to dispose of you.”

              “Did he tell you that my mission was to kill you?” Darwin asked.

              “No, no, he didn’t. He just said you’d be coming by to talk and to have my best guards ready to kill you if his team failed . . .”

              “Louie, Reginald . . . Guys, guess what. You’re the best guards here,” Darwin shouted back in an out-of-the-blue cheerful tone at the four archers. “Congrats.” Then, he turned back to the main on the floor. “Third question: how do you communicate with him?”

              “He sends messages via a drop spot outside. He always lights two fires side by side and, when it’s time to read them, I exit the cave through the secret tunnel and check the drop. If someone spots me, I just say I thought I saw enemy movement.”

              “I see. So there isn’t any way for him to know if I killed you, is there? There isn’t any way for him to know if I completed my mission or not?”