Chapter 173: Kasia Starsage

Rein looked at the brown-haired woman with a blank expression, not reacting to the revelation that Yusuke had just told him.

"Hey, aren't you gonna act surprised?" Yusuke asked, somewhat disappointed at his lax reaction.

"Why would I be surprised? Now that I look at her, the 2 look pretty similar," Rein pointed out.

"Stop wasting my time already you deadbeat. Just tell me what you want so I can get you outta my hair," she puffed on her cigarette as she insulted Yusuke.

"Haha, sorry. You see Rein, she pretty much owns the under-belly of this entire area and it's surroundings. Anyone who enters and leaves, she knows about. She probably expected our visit too," Yusuke explained as he heard Kasia tapping her feet in impatience. "Oh, sorry sorry," he panicking turned around and apologized.

"Just get to the point already. I assume you want to ask me about the refugees that came here after the attack?" Kasia deduced.

"Bingo. And also, if you could tell me the whereabouts of your sister, that would be cool too—"

"I ain't telling you where my sis is you idiot," she bit down on her cigarette, which made Yusuke shriek inwardly and recoil backward. "But as for the refugees, I heard a couple of students passed by here, but left as soon as they came. Looks like they were being pursued by some strong soldiers too. To be honest, I don't know where they went afterward, all I know is that they left through the north exit," she said as she threw the crushed cigarette into the trash can in the corner of the dimly lit room, then held her hand out to Yusuke, indicating the need for another one.

"Could you tell me anything about them? Their descriptions, maybe?" Rein interjected, which made Kasia glance over at him with a pensive sound, then stare at him for a while. "Um… Excuse me miss, is there something on my face?" Rein asked in confusion.

"Hey, kid. Earlier you said I looked like my sister. How the hell can you see my features in this dark?" She asked, which made Rein freeze up slightly, the thought of his night vision completely having slipped his mind. "And the way you're acting, you can see through this dark, can't you?" She deduced.

"Ohh! Nice catch, little sis!" Yusuke remarked, making her glare at him with murderous intent, shriveling him back into his corner.

"Yeah. I can see through this dark. I was just born with really good eyesight. It's not my Spring or anything though," he lied, though his heartbeat didn't increase, nor did any physical change occur in his body to indicate his untruthful statement.

"..." Kasia continued to stare at him, looking him directly in his yellow eyes, devoid of life, as dark as the room they were in. "Alright then. I wasn't accusing you or anything, I just found that a bit weird," she stated as she put her new cigarette in her mouth and lit it.

"Descriptions, huh? If I remember correctly, it was 2 boys and 1 girl. The girl had black hair and blue eyes. One of the boys had yellow hair, and the other had brown hair," she revealed. "I know the 2 boys are on the wanted list, but I don't think the girl's there," she added.

Rein instantly knew who she was talking about. It was Reggie, Sho, and Lillia, who seemed to have passed through Stogue on their escape from the gulf.

"And you said they went up north, right? Thank you. I'll be on my way now," Rein headed for the door and put his hand on the handle when he was suddenly stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, wait a minute kid. There's still more I've got to ask her," Yusuke said, to which Rein raised an eyebrow.

"So what? Ask her then. I don't need to be here," he answered, to which Yusuke grabbed his own chest and squeezed on it in seeming pain.

"Oh, how cold can you get? I'm here to help you, got it? Just wait for me for a bit longer," he pleaded, to which Rein reluctantly agreed, remembered the debuffs given to him by the artifacts.

It would be a great help having someone else in his party during his search, as he wasn't as powerful as before. And Yusuke seemed to be incredibly powerful from what Rein could gather from seeing his Spring when the 2 shook hands earlier.

Original effect:

Any sharp object affected by this Spring will cut through anything, no matter how hard.

Inverted effect:

Any sharp object affected by this Spring, no matter how sharp, will not cut through anything, no matter how hard.

Though the inverted effect was virtually useless, Rein was impressed by the ability of the original effect, which weighed on him in the decision to stay with Yusuke.

"Make it quick Yusuke. I don't have much more time," Kasia rushed him, to which he turned around and looked at her sincerely.

"Look. I want you to come with us. We could use your strength," Yusuke requested, to which Kasia took a long sigh.

"I knew you'd ask. The answer is no. If you find my sis, I'm sure she'd be happy to join you, and she's much stronger than me," Kasia refused, which didn't make Yusuke give up.

"Please, the continent is about to face its biggest obstacle yet. We need all the help we can get," he continued begging, his expression becoming more desperate as the conversation went on.

"I hate persistent guys. I already told you, I wouldn't be that much of a help. I'm better off staying here and protecting my city than being some side character on your adventure," she said, then took the cigarette out of her mouth and looked at the ground with a sad expression. "Just look at what happened when my sister left. Everything went to hell," she said, which made Yusuke wear a pitied and sorry expression.

"I see. Alright then. We'll be on our way," Yusuke followed Rein to the door.

"Wait. Since the Ranger guild is in shambles, I can arrange a carriage for the 2 of you. It's the least I could do."