Chapter 62: A Debt in Blood and Iron

After struggling to buy clothes and patiently answering every question Celes asked so she could understand, they all headed back to the inn. Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie, lugging numerous shopping bags, looked thoroughly exhausted, while Celes, walking ahead of them, appeared bright and refreshed.

The four could only stare at Celes from behind in silent resignation; on one hand, they were happy to see her so cheerful, but on the other, teaching Celes was exhausting, like dealing with an inquisitive child who possessed boundless curiosity.

"Finally... today is over," Craig said softly.

"Yeah... our inn is just up ahead," Casca added under her breath.

"It was just shopping... but I’m so drained," Corie chimed in weakly.

"Keep it down, guys, we don’t want Celes hearing us. Cut her some slack, she was locked inside Chimaera Z-X all this time and never lived in a simulation. It’s only natural she acts like a kid, so try to be understanding," Clyde replied quietly.

"Hey... hurry up! I want to try on the new clothes we just bought," Celes called out, turning around.

"Yeah... hold on. Our inn is right up ahead, just a right turn away," Clyde replied, forcing a smile.

"Sigh," Casca, Craig, and Corie let out a collective sigh.

They kept walking toward their inn, but as they rounded the right corner onto the street where the inn was located, all five froze. Clyde, Casca, Craig, and Corie stood flanked to the left and right of Celes in the middle. Outside the five-story inn, which featured a restaurant on the ground floor where they were staying, stood a crowd of men from various races dressed in black suits, black dress pants, dress shoes, and unbuttoned white shirts without ties.

Their faces all bore ruthless, menacing expressions. Meanwhile, facing them was a plump man in his mid-fifties with brown fur, fox ears, and two tails behind him, who was actively speaking and gesturing as if explaining something. Clyde, Celes, Craig, Casca, and Corie watched as a blue-skinned man, a fierce crocodile-man, a massive centaur-like horse-man, and two tough-looking human men shouted in unison, aggressively pointing fingers at the middle-aged fox-man.

"Brother Clyde, they don’t look like good people," Craig whispered to Clyde.

"Yeah... they’re definitely not military... more like gangsters," Clyde replied.

"Gangsters?" Celes asked, turning to Clyde.

"I’ll explain later. Right now, what matters is that Uncle Oscar, Mr. Walter’s father, seems to be in a tight spot," Clyde said.

"What are we waiting for? Let’s go," Corie said, instantly marching forward.

"Hey... wait!" Casca yelled, trying to stop Corie.

Too late, Corie was already strolling over, casually swinging her shopping bag with one hand tucked in her shorts pocket. Naturally, Clyde, Craig, and Casca pulled Celes along as they sprinted after Corie. By the time Corie reached the scene,

"No excuses! Your debt was due last week, and we were generous enough to give you an extra week... Pay up right now or hand over your daughter-in-law to us! The boss said if she comes with us, your debt is settled in full!" barked one of the human men, who was bald with a scarred face.

"But... I don’t have the money yet... business at the inn hasn’t been good... and there is no way I am handing my daughter-in-law over to you as collateral!" Oscar, the middle-aged fox-man replied, his voice trembling.

"Ha! You pulled that exact same excuse last week! If you couldn’t afford it, you shouldn’t have taken out a loan! We don’t care, pay up or we break in and drag your daughter-in-law out ourselves!" the fierce blue-skinned man roared so loudly his spit flew everywhere.

Hearing those words, the middle-aged man fell silent, but he refused to budge from the doorway. Instead, he spread his arms wide and gripped the doorframe to keep the men from forcing their way inside. The five men before him looked at one another and "hahahaha" burst into laughter. One of the human men with a mohawk stepped forward and grabbed the middle-aged man’s shoulder, making him flinch.

"Blocking us is useless. If you think your body is big enough to block this door, you’re dead wrong," the mohawked man smirked.

"Enough... we don’t have time for this. Marco... kick him," the blue-skinned man commanded.

"On it, boss."

Marco, the suit-and-shirt-wearing horse-man, spun around, rearing his hind leg to kick the middle-aged man guarding the entrance. The fox-man squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw, bracing for the impact. But suddenly "WHACK!" a heavy strike rang out, followed by the sound of something massive falling and crashing heavily into the ground.

The middle-aged man opened one eye slowly, only for his eyes to go wide. Craig was casually rubbing his knuckles, which were smeared with fresh blood, clearly not his own. Meanwhile, the horse-man called Marco lay sprawled on the ground, being helped up by the crocodile-man and one of the humans.

The middle-aged man turned his head slowly to see the blue-skinned man holding both hands in the air, while the tip of Corie’s shoe rested directly beneath his chin. She periodically tapped his chin upward with her shoe, a broad grin plastered across her face.

"Yo... you kids?" the middle-aged man stammered upon seeing Craig and Corie.

"Who are these guys, Uncle Oscar?" Clyde asked, stepping forward.

The middle-aged man named Oscar remained silent, offering no answer. But out of nowhere, "You little brat!" the bald, scar-faced human threw a wild punch toward Clyde. Clyde moved like lightning, catching the fist squarely in his palm. The human man’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. Quickly recovering his composure, he reached inside his jacket and drew a pistol. As he raised the barrel "ZIP!" the gun vanished from his grip. "CRUNCH!" Casca, who had snatched the weapon, crushed the pistol into a mangled scrap of metal with a wide grin on her face.

The crocodile-man stood up, preparing to charge Craig, who stood casually with his hands on his hips, tilting his head with a smirk. But before the beast could lay a hand on him, Celes appeared right in front of him, her leg executing a high vertical kick. "WHAM!" Celes slammed her heel straight down onto the crocodile-man’s head, driving his snout and skull directly into the dirt. He went completely motionless, either knocked out cold or dead.

"So? If Uncle Oscar won’t talk, how about you do the talking?" Corie asked, using her foot to lightly slap the cheeks of the blue-skinned man standing before her.

"Wh... who are you people?! This guy owes our boss money! We just came here to collect, and the deal was if he couldn’t pay, he’d hand over his daughter-in-law Ellie because our boss wants her!" the blue-skinned man yelled frantically.

"Ha! Can’t pay a debt, so you pay with a daughter-in-law? What kind of messed-up rule is that?" Casca demanded furiously, grabbing the blue-skinned man by his collar and raising a fist.

"That’s just what the deal was! Please don’t kill us!" the blue-skinned man cried out, raising his hands to cover his face.

Clyde, who had his hand clamped tightly around the scary bald human’s neck; Casca, who was hauling the terrified blue-skinned man up by his collar; Craig, who held the mohawked man by his hair; and Celes, who was crouching down poking the crocodile-man with her finger as if inspecting him, all exchanged glances. Clyde drew the bald man’s neck closer to his face, tightening his grip so hard that the man began frantically tapping Clyde’s arm, his face turning an ashen gray as he gasped for air.

"Tell your boss there’s no such deal. A cash debt gets paid in cash. Pass that message along and get your buddies the hell out of here," Clyde said in a low, heavy voice.

The suffocating bald man turned pale as death as he stared into Clyde’s glowing red eyes, which burned with a terrifying intensity. Struggling against the chokehold, he nodded repeatedly in agreement. Clyde released his grip, and the man immediately scrambled to his feet alongside the mohawked man released by Craig. Together, they hauled the crocodile-man and the horse-man to their feet and dragged them off, leaving the blue-skinned man behind. Still clutched by Casca, he looked utterly terrified and betrayed as he watched his crew abandon him.

"Let him go, Casca," Clyde said.

"Oh... okay," Casca replied.

Casca released her grip, and the blue-skinned man instantly bolted in a desperate sprint after his crew. Shouting and cursing quickly echoed down the street as he kicked his companions for abandoning him, only to be beaten back in return. The five companions then turned to stand before Oscar.

"Thank you. You saved me and this inn," Oscar said, offering his sincere gratitude.

"Can you tell us what’s going on, Uncle?" Clyde asked, without a trace of a smile.

Oscar fell silent. He lowered his head, his jaw tightening and his hands trembling into tight fists. After a long moment, he raised his head and looked at the five young people before him.

"Come inside first... We’ll talk inside," Oscar said, swinging the door wide open to invite them in.

When they stepped inside, they saw Walter holding a rifle with Ellie standing behind him, both looking tense and pale with fear, until they caught sight of Clyde, Celes, Craig, Casca, and Corie, letting out a collective sigh of relief.