"Ugh…" The tied-up boy finally started to slowly open his eyes.
As much as she told herself she was prepared to deal with the previously unconscious Reptilia, in truth, her hands shook, her heartbeat quickened, and she fumbled to grab the small pistol she had carried all the way here.
She pointed her shaking gun at the horned boy as he woke up and tried to ready herself to negotiate over that crown.
"Ugh…"
"H-hey. Don't t-try anything or I will shoot!" The Vogel girl put on her toughest façade and meanest face as she firmly yelled out her orders.
It took a second before Grey was awake enough to understand what was happening and hold a conversation with someone else.
"Where… am I?" were the confused words that escaped his mouth.
Before he could even hear an answer, he immediately noticed he had been bound by ropes tied tight around him, preventing any movement.
"Troteros, in Gtomika," Titiana answered while exhaling the worried air she had been holding inside her lungs. "Wha—"
"What day is it?" he asked, not giving the Vogel girl time to form her next question.
"I make the—"
"What day are we in?" he asked again, not surrendering any authority to the one who had captured him.
"Seventh month, twenty-second day."
At that information, Grey widened his eyes. That meant he had been unconscious for two whole weeks. Yet he still felt his hand tightly gripping the crown he had been told to protect, refusing to let it go.
"What is your name? And what is that thing in your hands?"
"Name's Grey. And this thing's a crown."
"I can see that, I'm not dumb! I want to know more o—"
"Sorry, but this crown is not for sale. I have things to do with this thingy."
Although the crown was better off destroyed—being the cause of Trudeia's and many others' deaths on the ship—his sense of duty to Trudeia stopped him from simply tossing the item away.
He was told to protect it no matter what, so that's what he'd do. No one would take this crown away from him.
"Y-you're not in a position to act like the boss here. I've got you at gunpoint! I want to do this the easy way, so please cooperate!"
"I'm not scared of an unloaded gun."
"U-unloaded!?!?"
"That is a K-99 pistol. If you found me on the beach—which I'm one hundred percent certain you did—you also looted anything that washed up there, that gun included. I can clearly see the damage the detonator took. Once that crystal is broken, there's no way it'll work."
"D-detonator crystal?" the girl asked in surprise as she looked at the dark-colored crystal at the back of the gun.
"Every gun is made using an Explosive Detonation Crystal to fire its bullets, and the only way to activate the EDC is by pouring the required amount of mana into the crystal. You don't look like someone who can use magic. That gun is as useful as a paperweight, sadly." The Reptilia calmly sat up.
"Y-you…"
"I've learned a thing or two working with freaks on ships. You can't fool me."
Titiana was shocked that, in a single second, she had lost her lead as the one in charge of the exchange.
"Y-you're still tied up. D-don't thi—"
Before she could finish her sentence, a loud noise of something breaking echoed in the room.
Grey had freed himself using the Body Strengthening technique: Sharp Scales, a technique exclusive to people with scales like him.
"Unlucky. But I've got to go." With that, Grey cut the ropes tying up his feet and stood up.
"No…" In contrast, Titiana fell to her knees. Her breath left her lungs in an impotent gasp as she gripped the useless pistol tightly.
But she wasn't going to let it end there. Now that he was walking away, was she really going to let him go? She needed the money to escape her family, to finally be free.
"Wait! I'm sure there's a way I can buy it!" She rapidly stood up and grabbed his shirt before he walked away. "I-I'll do anything! E-even…" The Vogel girl lowered her head.
Titiana's breath was heavy, her hands shaking with the offer she was about to propose. She never thought she'd stoop this low to earn money, but here she was.
"Don't." Grey stopped the girl by grabbing her arm. "I have a responsibility with this crown. In the end, people died for it. I don't think it'd be just to them if this item doesn't arrive at its destiny."
Titiana bit her lower lip in frustration but understood there was nothing she could do.
"I will compliment you. Not many would look at this dirty crown and see something valuable in it," Grey mentioned while lifting up the crown.
"Whether I like it or not, I've learned a thing or two from my job selling lost things. I know a valuable object when I see it."
"Why do you need the money so much?"
"Huh? Why do you care? You'll just leave and forget about me as soon as you step a foot outside this city. There's no reason for you to care about someone you'll forget."
"You clearly took care of me when I couldn't even open a single eye. I want to repay you at least a bit— and before you say it, no, the crown is not negotiable."
Titiana huffed in irritation over her plan being over before it even began. "I don't have a good family… that's all I'll say. As for help, you could help me loot and sell some things at my spot to repay me. I guess that's all I want."
"I won't pry into your family's situation, but I'll help you."
"Fine… that can work."
The two of them agreed to the arrangement with a shake of their hands.
"I do need to find a place to shower though. I must smell horrible, right?" Grey commented, remembering the last bath he took was before getting on that ship two weeks ago.
"Like rotten fish and other things I can't describe. You smelled horrible on the first day, though."
"Hm? Does that mean you washed me?"
"N-no! Well, yes…" Titiana's cheeks turned as red as the feathers on her head. "I only splashed you with clean tap water, don't get any weird ideas!" She anxiously stomped the ground with her foot.
"I do need a place to properly wash myself, though." The way Grey acted as if the embarrassing moment were nothing made her feel inexplicably angrier than if he'd acted even a little embarrassed.
"Hmph!" She pouted and walked past him. "Make sure to follow me. I'll take you to a public bath and then I'll leave you, okay?"
"Aye, cap'n!" Despite how unseriously Grey was taking the whole interaction, his voice tone remained calm.
Grey followed the fire-headed girl until they both exited the secret cave.
However—
"D-dad!?" Titiana's scared voice escaped her lips as she saw her father standing on the sands of the beach with a machete in his right hand.
"You little shit! You escape from our house to spend time with some scaly swamp-crawler!? What, am I just expected to wait for some disgusting reptile grandchildren!?"
"Dad! No, it's not like that!" Titiana yelled, both anger and embarrassment clouding her thoughts.
The feathered man—missing an eye and with a body ruined by years of alcohol and fights—approached Grey, preparing to strike with his weapon.
"I still do so much for this family and this is how I'm treated? My sons steal from MY house, my woman is a cheating whore, and my daughter sneaks off like a—"
The man raised his weapon.
"No!" Titiana yelled, terrified that her father was going to kill Grey.
But using the Body Strengthening technique: Hardened Scales, Grey raised his arm in defense.
The blade struck directly into the back of his forearm, hitting his scales and breaking immediately.
"Huh!? Y-you monster!" the father yelled, stumbling back now that he realized he was dealing with a freak of nature.
"Just shut up." Grey calmly ordered as he walked past the man. "I'd rather not waste my time with you. I have other, more important things to do."
"Who do—" The Vogel man stopped himself, deciding not to challenge the Reptilia now that he understood how dangerous provoking someone that strong could be.
And, just like that, Grey walked out of the spot. He worried if the man would sneak attack him, but relaxed once he could no longer see them when he looked back.
"So that's the kind of house you want to escape from..." Grey muttered to himself.
He understood the feeling she had within her. Growing up in a disgusting place where you're not welcomed is heavy on the mental of any person.
"Hngh..." Grey took his hand to his forehead as he suddenly remembered the last time he saw the orphanage he grew up on.