The woman's cries as he was walking away echoed in Rudy's head. He couldn't bear to listen to her mournful voice, the pain of her heart made manifest. She wanted freedom; she'd seen hope through him, and yet all that he could do was walk away. Dejected, the hero walked beside the owner of the slave. The reptilian may have been harsh to him before, but with a gentle hand placed on the hero's shoulder, he tried to talk some sense into his head.
"You can't save them all, little hero," ruffling his hair, the beastman walked him to the main floor, where the sudden sound of approaching steps finally made Rudy lift his head. "Oh, if it isn't big sis, Kisser."
"Shut up, Croaker!" Quickly reaching for Rudeia, Charlotte pulled him away from the man. "I'm no sister of yours, and what were you doing with him?"
Too rattled to speak from the tug, Rudy looked up and around at the girls who'd come looking for him. A mix of embarrassment and anxiety bloomed on his face, but after hearing the woman's cries, he could feel little of any emotion, especially fear for some reason.
"Me? I just saved the boy from one of the whores!" Folding his hand, the beastman stood firm. "He wanted a partner, so I showed him some slaves. Better them than a passed-around slut!"
"What?!" Glancing down at Rudy, Charlotte's eyes furrowed on their own. "What in the world were you thinking?! Coming here for something like that!"
"I…"
"Just…stay quiet before I tell your mother!" Shutting him down by yelling at him, Charlotte looked at the beastman one last time. "And you, don't you go around calling me Kisser. Not everyone knows my last name, and that might give them the wrong impression."
"Whatever, sis, now if you would leave me alone, I have some business to conduct," lowering his glasses, the beastman Croaker waved at the girls behind Charlotte. "Be careful around her gals, she's had a nasty habit of biting folks ever since she was a kid."
"Oh fuck off…" Punching him in his scaly chest, Charlotte began dragging her whole party away from the mess. Rushing through the pathway, she shoved away anyone who got in her way. Some looked at her with narrowed eyes, others complained, but upon noticing her tail by clenching one of her swords, nobody dared come close to the big and angry cat.
"That was moronic…" She mumbled as the group began walking upstairs.
The other two were feeling no less fierce, and the look in their eyes, boring into Rudy's back, was enough of a deterrent for the young man to breathe a word. Rudy knew that he'd made a mistake, a fatal one at that, and yet in that moment, he couldn't care for it all. His mind was distracted by the voice of the pleading woman–who he was sure would be bought away by some monster since she was the most beautiful of the slaves held by Croaker.
Who knows what her fate would be then? Who knows if he would ever see her again? The thought depressed him, and it reflected in his hollow gaze. Even as the party moved past Hissy at the door, mocking Charlotte with bitter words, Rudy was too occupied by his own thoughts to realize that he was being taken somewhere.
It wasn't until the party was outside and on their way to the inn that he finally snapped out of his head, and that too was only because Charlotte had suddenly stopped and turned to look him right in his face. Staring angrily at him, she moved his face upwards so that he was looking back at her as well.
"What the hell were you thinking going into that dangerous place?! Do you have any idea how many people go missing there and are never seen on the surface again?!"
"I–" Before another word escaped the youngster's lips, Charlotte for the first time slapped her nephew.
"SHUT UP AND JUST LISTEN TO ME!!" Gasping at the sight, the other two took a step away from the demi-human as her eyes burned with an auburn flair. Sharp as a knife and glowing in the dark, her eyes were honed in on her nephew like a predator does prey. "I don't care why, what, and when, you're just coming with us, and we're never talking about this. If your mother knew where you were, she would lock you in a room and never let you get out, much less go out and hunt monsters! SO JUST STAY QUIET AT LEAST TODAY!"
As soon as Charlotte was done screaming her heart out, a hint of regret became apparent on her face. Twisting into a grimace, her expression loosened up from the anger, and the twitching of her eyelid made it clear that she wasn't done yet.
"You two…" Heaving a sigh, she turned to the girls. "Take him home, I'm gonna stroll a little and try to cool off."
Thus, without waiting even a second more, the demi-leopard began walking away. Watching her closely while getting closer to Rudy themselves, the girls figured that she was heading towards the market for whatever reason that she might've had in her head.
"We should go," grabbing Rudy's hand, Roxanne began guiding the group again. "But don't think I'm letting you off as easily as your aunt Rudy. You're gonna tell us why you were there…"
Keeping her head straight, Roxanne didn't wanna look at the hero–the so-called man who supposedly had a crush on her and yet was wandering in the Greenhorn market. And since Audrey was just as frustrated with Rudy as she was, she too grabbed him by the hand and dug her nails into his arms..
"Yeah, that was fucking dumb, you idiot!" She complained, hoping to find out every piece of detail about what had happened and why in the hell a hero would be in such a place.
Finally feeling the tension and the weight of his actions bearing down on his shoulders, the young hero took a hefty gulp, trying to suppress his anxiety. But, of course, with two angry women leading him, nothing could soothe him, and things were only about to get worse.