After I had finished disposing of the scum that was terrorizing Maylin's family, I continued on my journey toward the train station.
Along the way, I passed by a small town. It didn't have much since it was fairly small.
The most notable thing I noticed was the statue in the center of town depicting what looked like an extremely muscular lizard who was bipedal. He had a pair of bat-like wings that were extremely large.
I stared at this statue for a while, admiring the craftsmanship.
"Enjoying the view, little one?" an old voice said to me, drawing my attention.
I looked to see an old Imp sitting in a rocking chair. He had what I assumed to be a cowboy hat, a pair of boots covered in dirt, and his most defining feature was his missing left eye.
"Don't be scared, little one, I ain't gonna mug ya," he said with a smile on his face.
"No... I'm too old for that nonsense now. My bones aren't like what they used to be."
I looked around him to see if he was being used as bait by others but found nothing.
"You ain't from around here, are you, little one?" he asked curiously.
I shook my head to give him my answer.
"Well, that figures. Never seen anything like you before. That, and you seem to stare at this here statue of Lord Satan."
Satan... so that's who he was.
"This here statue of our Lord is meant for us to show respect to him and to accept his rule. It also doubles as a repellent against any nasty beasts in the untamed wild."
I continued to listen to the old Imp, hoping to gain some information as he continued to ramble on.
"Yes... the beasties here are terrified of our Lord. During the early years of Hell, beasts roamed these here lands, untamed and unstoppable."
"But then one day, Satan had enough of the beasts terrorizing his subjects and began culling them from the lands."
"This caused all of them to fear his power and might, eventually forcing them to hide away in a forest where they now reside."
So that's why there were so many demonic beasts in that forest — Satan basically scared all of them into hiding forever.
"It's not all he did. He began taking the remaining beasts and turning them more docile. Though they still fight, they are less prone to kill Imps as of late."
As he continued to ramble on, I felt something was off, like someone was watching me. I turned from the old Imp and looked around... nothing.
When I turned to face the old Imp once more, he had already fallen asleep in his chair.
I didn't want to disturb him from his sleep, so I just bowed to him and continued to walk toward a map in the town.
Using this map, I made a copy for myself so I wouldn't get lost on the way to the train station, even adding Maylin's farmhouse so I could easily come back.
After finishing my drawing, I looked around the town more to find a weapon shop to buy some supplies.
As I walked around a bit, I saw a large sign depicting what seemed to be a firearm.
I entered the store and quickly noticed it was covered in dust and dirt, with the occasional spider webs on the ceiling.
"Can I help you?" a gruff voice spoke.
I turned and saw a large Imp with a scar running across his chest. He only had one arm still attached to him.
I approached the front counter, and when I finally reached it, I was... too short.
The counter was too tall, so not wanting to be beat by wood, I jumped up on the counter.
The owner seemed shocked by this but quickly composed himself.
"What do you want?" he asked, almost not caring.
I reached for my back and handed him my nail.
He grabbed my weapon with his one arm and began to inspect it.
"Curious weapon you have here. Not really a sword or spear. It has good balance though, despite the cracks. I may be able to fix it, if that's what you want?" He looked at me for confirmation.
I nodded to him to confirm his question.
"Well, fixing this thing ain't gonna be cheap. How about... 100 souls? That's the cheapest I can do for y'all."
I reached for my bag and handed him the money.
He inspected it to see if it was real. Once he confirmed their authenticity, he got up from his chair and started walking to the back of his store.
I got down to follow him, but he stopped me from even stepping closer.
"Hold on now. No one's allowed inside besides me, got that?"
I nodded and walked outside to wait.
He seemed pleased with my compliance and walked in.
---
A few hours passed, and he finally finished fixing my nail.
He was covered in sweat and looked a bit tired from doing all that work.
I got back on top of his counter, hoping to see what he had done.
He placed down a piece of cloth that seemed to hold my nail. Once he opened it, it revealed my weapon fully repaired. All the cracks that it had were now gone.
"This took longer than expected, but it was well worth it. You, little one, have an amazing weapon. I haven't seen anything like it before. Its melting point was much higher than regular blades, and it was much tougher than regular demon steel."
He looked at the nail with a small hint of pride before lifting it and handing it back to me.
"Take good care of this weapon, little one, 'cause if you take care of your weapon, your weapon won't betray you."
I bowed to him, thanking him for his work. I jumped down from the counter and began walking toward the exit, but before I could leave, he threw something at me.
"Catch," he said, throwing something toward me.
I caught it in the air and noticed it was a gun.
"That there six-shooter is one of my own designs. It holds twice the amount of bullets and hits twice as hard. Just don't go wasting it on anybody — once you're out, you won't be able to reload. That gun was one of my early designs when I was younger."
I nodded to him, placed the gun inside my bag, and left the store.
"Also, don't tell no one I gave a child a gun!" he yelled the last part to me as I left.
---
After leaving the store, I left the town and headed out toward the direction of the train station.
I walked for about an hour until I noticed something was wrong — that feeling of being watched was still there.
Every time I checked, no one was there, and every time I felt it, it was like I could see through my very being.
Maybe once I reached the Pride Ring, I'd be able to find some answers.
"Hurry up! We don't have long!" a voice screamed out.
My musing was interrupted by a sudden voice that seemed to echo over the hill.
I quickly moved toward it to investigate and saw what seemed to be a fancy red carriage with apples engraved on it.
The carriage was tipped over, and six Imps were carrying something in a sack.
It was wriggling furiously and desperately trying to get out.
"We got her, man! We're rich!" an Imp said excitedly.
"Not yet! We still need to get the sweet ransom money," one said, looking a bit annoyed.
"You two hurry up! We don't have long — those cannibal savages could be here any moment now," another said, looking a bit concerned.
This was a kidnapping. I didn't really need to get involved; it provided me nothing.
But... someone needed help. I couldn't just stand by when I could do something.
Reaching for my bag, I picked up the gun I was given and got into position.
I took a deep breath and remembered the lessons I was given from my master.
"Hey, what's that on the hil—" Before he could finish, I shot them.
Six shots fired. Six bodies on the ground.
I placed the gun back inside and started running down the hill toward the sack.
Once I finally reached it, I quickly opened it, revealing a little girl about my size, passed out.
Thinking quickly, I carried her away from there and into a safe location.
The bandits mentioned cannibals around here, so the farther away, the better.
I couldn't fight while protecting someone.
---
After running a good while, I found a cave that seemed to give decent enough shade from the sun.
I checked to see if anything was inside and found nothing.
I gently placed the girl down on one of the flatter surfaces of the cave and sat down beside her.
I checked to see if she had a pulse — thankfully, it was strong, and she only had minor bruises around her face.
I got up and began collecting some dead wood to use later during nightfall. I may be fine during the cold, but I wasn't so sure about the girl.
After spending a couple of minutes gathering what I needed, I began setting up the fireplace so I'd just need to light it when it was needed.
When I finished setting up, I stood by the entrance of the cave, watching for any potential threats and anything to hunt and bring back alive.
Though it's gonna be weird when she wakes up and I ask her to kill an animal.