Chapter 59: The Hangover

Rune sighed and started toward the stairs.

He was so done with this crazy day. He didn’t care about anything or anyone. Right now, all he could think about was getting back home.

None of this was his problem anymore.

Getting out of the underground facility was surprisingly easy. Well, almost everyone inside it was dead.

Rune climbed the stairs and eventually emerged into the crowded darkness of the Elderwood Biome’s black market.

Almost immediately, he felt the change in the atmosphere as all sorts of smells and sensations washed over him.

He moved between tightly packed stalls beneath hanging lamps. There were so many people here that it made him anxious. The stares he got didn’t help in making him feel any better.

Rune’s ragged appearance attracted attention.

His work shirt was torn in multiple places, his trousers were covered in dust and blood, and his beloved craftsman’s apron was in a pitiful state.

Apart from ’Qash is King, there was another unwritten rule of the lower ring. It extended over to the black market too;

Mind your own damn business!

But the people who kept staring at him didn’t appear to understand that simple rule. It was even worse he knew what exactly they were thinking.

’They must peg me for a runaway slave. Tch, damn idiots’

Fortunately, nobody approached him.

That was the nice thing about the black market.

Unlike some people, most possessed a very healthy understanding of when something wasn’t their problem.

With a bored expression, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept walking.

Three minutes later, a commotion erupted behind him. Rune turned his head back to look at people moving away from the building he had just left.

It was burning. Flames erupted from its windows and spread throughout the entire structure while people hurried away.

The ones responsible for this fire were figures in green overalls surrounding the building and restricting access to the nearby streets.

"They sure took their sweet time"

These were the Exterminators.

Now that they were here, whatever bodies remained inside would be dealt with. The fire will destroy the corpses before spiritual corruption can produce a swarm of Wraths.

This method made sense.

With that many corpses inside, there was no point carefully removing everything one body at a time. This was the safest option to go about it. They probably did reconnaissance before carrying this method out anyway.

They weren’t that irresponsible.

Rune exhaled a long breath.

This made it official. It truly wasn’t his problem anymore.

He stared at the building he spent the last 10 days in. He imagined himself still chained inside while it was burning.

His face became uncomfortable.

"Yeah... I definitely got out at the right time. That crazy bitch made the right call"

He turned around and continued walking.

Along the way, his thoughts moved toward someone else. The only person he truly blamed for this disaster.

"Loki, I swear the next time I see you...I’ll strangle that thin neck of yours"

Rune’s face fell when another realization hit him. He looked down at his ruined apron and sighed.

"Master’s going to kill me"

***

At one of the quieter wings of the hospital, inside a small private room crowded with medical equipment, there was a massive mechanical pod large enough to fit a grown man. Thick metal plating surrounded its base while tubes, cables and crystalline conductors disappeared into the wall behind it.

Beneath the transparent glass lid, submerged completely in glistening blue green water was a young man with deep red hair.

Red Deer Rhos was unconscious.

His hair floated around his head, freed from its usual ponytail while a breathing regulator covered his mouth and fed oxygen into his lungs. There were small sensors resting against his bare chest, neck and temples which monitored the condition of his body.

For some time, nothing inside the room changed.

Then a sudden beeping sound came from the pod as several indicators changed from red to green. The water surrounding Rhos began to ripple when the locks surrounding the transparent lid released one after another, and with a mechanical hiss, the entire upper section of the pod began to open.

Cold white vapor poured over its edges and spread across the tiled floor as the water inside slowly drained through vents beneath the patient.

Rhos’s amber eyes flew open.

He immediately sat upright, water spilling over his shoulders as he ripped the regulator from his mouth and sucked in a desperate breath.

"Gah!"

He coughed several times before drawing in one deep breath after another till he found a steady flow.

When he looked down he noticed that he was completely naked, but it didn’t bother him that much. Especially because there was no hole in his chest anymore.

He touched the place where Ripley’s knife had entered him. The skin was completely closed, but there was still a small vertical scar above his heart. He traced it slowly before placing his palm flat against his chest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Hearing the sound of his heartbeat made him exhale in relief

"Oh, thank Morrigan"

Rhos knew he had been stabbed through the heart. There was no mistaking that sensation and he distinctly remembered losing feeling throughout his body before passing out.

"I knew I could rely on you, Rip"

He knew he was going to end up in this place. This was the reason why he wasn’t worried he suffered a fatal wound, because Ripley was right there beside him. But his brow twitched.

"She was also the one who stabbed me, so she doesn’t deserve any credit"

Rubbing his wet hair away from his face, he drew his attention to his present environment.

The place looked exactly what one might expect from a hospital room. It had white walls, medical equipment here and there, and a folded gown resting on a nearby chair.

What truly stood out was the enormous machine he was in.

This was a healing pod. The fact that he was the one inside it made his face pale.

"Oh, fuck.... I am so screwed"