Chapter 73 Questionable Motives

In a world of magic and monsters, the man before him was a sight that made it all feel more mysterious and abnormal than ever before.

He nodded, “…Well, if you’re set on helping me, then–”

“Of course–your wish is my command,” Lawrence stayed bowed.

“Help me find my friend–Reno–she was just brought in here before I arrived,” he commanded.

There wasn’t any guarantee in his mind that the mysterious man would truly help him, especially with how unpredictable he was, but he went along anyway.

If he does help, it’ll be invaluable. He’s definitely strong–there’s no doubt about that, he thought.

“Ah, I see! You’ve come to rescue a friend? How admirable! A courageous feat that I’d expect nothing less of from my dear friend, Sir Emilio!” Lawrence applauded him.

“–” He raised an eyebrow.

He’s strong, but…he’s definitely got some screws loose. “Dear friend”?…Whatever. For now, this is good, he thought.

Leaving the cell with the lanky, pale-skinned man at his side, he felt a new sense of confidence with an ally at his side. To his surprise, the eccentric man seemed more than adept at this sort of thing–the man moved silently with casual steps, yet they invoked no sound.

“You never answered my question,” he said.

“Oh? Oh! You’re referring to my being here, aren’t you?” Lawrence asked.

“Mhm,” he nodded.

Lawrence didn’t seem to mind at all telling him, “Well…It’s all a bit hazy! I owed that Oswell fellow a debt, you see. All I had in my pockets was lint–sadly, Oswell couldn’t find much value in that.”

“…So, he was going to sell you off?” He asked.

The question made the clown-like man laugh, “Oh, no! I doubt anybody would see value in a fool like myself. You see, Oswell was planning to flay me as an example to the others who owed him coin!”

“That’s…totally dark,” he mumbled.

Despite the words being spoken to him being so grotesque, there was always a jovial, almost sing-song way in which Lawrence spoke.

“Still, I must say it was quite brave of you to come here alone, my friend,” Lawrence noted, “Though I mean no insult by this, you are but a boy, no? This is truly no place for the young–though I find my words are met with black irony.”

“I’m not here just to get my friend,” he said.

“Oh?” Lawrence watched him.

At first, he didn’t see any reason to bother explaining the true mission to the man, but he also didn’t find much of a reason not to tell him.

If he’s intent on helping, it’ll be better this way, he thought.

“I’m here to stop Oswell. I’m not going to stand around while this sort of thing goes on right under my nose–I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,” he admitted.

“Oh? Oh! I see–delightful–then this should be quite the fun adventure ahead of us,” Lawrence said, clapping his hands together, “You’re planning on freeing everybody here, yes?”

“…Yeah,” he slowly nodded.

Lawrence looked at him, “I’d advise against it, my friend.”

“Why’s that?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you may find the scale of operation here far too much for but just our hands to recover. It’ll be best to leave this in the hands of the ones who protect this city and its people,” Lawrence suggested.

It was somewhat surprising to find wisdom from the lips of the chaotic, clown-resembling man, though he could tell he was somebody experienced in the ways of this world.

The two were traveling down the dark corridors, which seemed to go on endlessly, looping around and holding sights of horror and death.

“Yeah, but the guards are on Oswell’s payroll…That’s not going to do us any good,” he mumbled.

“Ah, but you see, we need only to snuff out the hand that pays,” Lawrence said.

“–” He looked up at the man.

“The guards will only look the other way while the coin meets their pockets. Though if Oswell is no longer able to pay–if he’s captured and revealed–the guards will have no reason to hold back. In fact, they’ll want to jail Oswell so he never reveals their tricky, little secrets to the ears of the people,” Lawrence said.

It was almost eerie how much the man knew, but the words he gave did make sense to the boy as he nodded.

“So…we just have to defeat Oswell, then? He’s away right now, but he’ll probably be back soon. We have the element of surprise,” he nodded, half muttering his thoughts out loud.

“Precisely, my friend. The element of surprise and chaos is here,” Lawrence smiled, “We need only capitalize on it.”

He looked up at the man, “Alright, but first things first–we need to find Reno. Do you know where they keep the children they’re planning to sell?”

To his relief, Lawrence nodded after spinning around in a flashy manner, “In fact, I quite do! The men around here are always quite bored and of such hubris, you see. They talk and they talk because they have no doubts you’ll rot away in those cells–but I listened. It’s the fifth floor–though I hear it is the most guarded.”

“I see…three more floors down, then,” he nodded, “Let’s go, Lawrence.”

“With pleasure, my dear friend.”

Traversing the labyrinth built underground was both difficult and disgusting; it was an environment of waste and filth, unmaintained and simply used for acts of evil.

The sight of the people in the cells was enough to churn his stomach, but Lawrence aided him in moving forward, putting his hand on his head and gently guiding his gaze forward, away from the horrific cells.

“Keep your gaze straight, my dear friend. They will receive help soon enough–we must do our best,” Lawrence told him quietly.

“…It’s horrible. I thought it’d just be a few people, but…how are there so many…?” He questioned in disgust.

“I’m sad to say that it’s simply how this world seems to function, my dear friend. Most of these people you see are from the Elsia slums or foreigners who, by their own faultless ignorance, fell into the jaws of the predators of this city,” Lawrence explained, “…Oswell is truly an irredeemable man. I suspect the flames of hell would never stop burning for him.”

There was something he was beginning to catch on to as the man spoke; it was small, but it stuck out to him.

“You know a lot about Oswell and this place, don’t you?” He asked.

“–” Lawrence looked down at him.

“Tell me the truth, Lawrence,” he stopped, blocking the path, “…Why’re you here?”