Kill The Old Ones!

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”Allow me to apologize on her behalf.”

Derek bowed, and he bowed low. As the new party leader, unofficially, that is, this was his responsibility.

”I should’ve restrained her more. It’s my fault for not being able to control her.”

”I’ll talk to Sir Justin; we’ll give you a proper explanation and compensation for what happened. Please be patient and excuse her for the time being. She’s normally not like that.”

”Nah, it’s all good.” Ren waved off his apology and his need to compensate him. ”I agreed to her challenge so anything that happened was my responsibility. Even if I was injured, once I accepted that challenge, I lost the right to complain. Don’t sweat it.”

”Besides, I won anyway,” Ren shrugged. ”So, we’re all good. Oh, I’m Ren, by the way; nice to meet you.”

”Derek, the pleasure is mine,” he replied.

Inwardly, Derek was relieved. He thought that Ren would begin by saying that he’s going to file a report or sue them through his lawyer.

If that happened, it’d truly be over for the Green Tea Party. Sir Justin would call it quits, pack his stuff, and leave for good. His promise to Travis be damned.

Derek would follow, since he too made that decision. But he also was reluctant to break off with the party. He wanted to try to save it as best as he could to preserve Travis’ legacy.

But if Jen was determined to ruin everything, not even he would be able to stop her.

Fortunately, Jen just ran away after the humiliation she suffered from Ren. She didn’t speak a word, nor did she look anybody in the eye. She didn’t even bother getting her sword off the wall where it’s still embedded.

”This is Jules and Kaycee,” Derek continued with the introduction. ”The one you fought just now is Jen, short for Jennifer. We’re the Green Tea Party of Q-City. Thank you for coming all this way to meet us. We appreciate you giving us a chance.”

”Thanks for giving me a chance, too,” Ren replied. ”I hope that by the end of this week, we’ll be able to explore dungeons together.”

In truth, Ren isn’t an official member of the Green Tea Party just yet, even though he defeated Jen.

That’s just an impulsive decision that she started. Ren was just playing along. The one who would truly decide if Ren becomes a member of the party or not was the whole team’s vote and Sir Justin’s decision as well. Not just Jen. She doesn’t have that much power over this party.

That said, Jen certainly made it difficult for the party to have a replacement. Her grief was too much, and she’s lashing out at anyone.

Even today wasn’t different. The only difference is that she was the loser this time, and she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even look at anybody in the eye after she lost.

She’s probably off to somewhere to cry her frustrations out.

Derek proved to be a good host and gave Ren a tour of the facility. According to him, the Rosewater Inn was owned by the Green Party mainly to sell off their loot. It’s also the front that hides their headquarters away.

It’s not really a top-secret hideout. Many other parties also do it like this. It’s not uncommon for some businesses out there to be secretly owned by parties, clans, or guilds. Everybody has their agenda after all.

At some point in the tour, Kaycee parted with them, saying that she’s concerned with Jen, so she’d look for her.

The boys didn’t mind and continued on the way.

**

”I knew I’d find you here.”

Jen didn’t react when she heard Kaycee’s voice. She just felt her sitting right next to her.

They’re in some forest right now, located behind the Rosewater Compound. The two of them are sitting on some flat rocks near a stream of water. The sounds of flowing water were relaxing, even meditative.

This was one of the places where the party usually comes to relax, eat, or just hang out. It’s also where Travis used to take a bath, his little sanctuary he shared first with Jen.

He could often be found here when he’s stressed, feeling ill, or overwhelmed, especially when the world’s moving a little too fast for his liking.

Only Jen has returned here frequently since his death. Kaycee, Jules, or Derek stayed clear of this place because it held too many of their memories, and they felt heavy whenever they tried to approach it.

”Derek’s giving him a tour of our home now, isn’t he?”

There’s bitterness and accusation in her voice that refuses to be hidden.

”He’s probably acting too nice because he’s afraid that the new guy would serve us more complaints or another lawsuit.”

”Well, he wouldn’t need to if somebody managed to reign in their temper. She even gave us her word that she’d try to play nice, but it’s clear that she’d completely forgotten about it just now. So, Derek now has to cover for her because if he doesn’t, and we got served again, this party’s over. Sir Justin is gone, and so was Derek.”

Kaycee calmly expressed her thoughts, unafraid of how Jen would react to it.

”Ah, well...if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions. How fucking terrible.” Jen sagged further into her knees as she said this.

It was somewhat surprising for Kaycee. She was prepared for a bitchy Jen, like always. She wasn’t ready for a convincingly sounding repentant Jen.

If Derek were here, he’d probably say that the sun was rising from the west this time.

”My sword?”

”Still where you left it...on the wall of the training grounds,” Kaycee replied.

She didn’t show any changes in her physical expression. But inwardly, she was really surprised that Jen was calm instead of raging like she expected.

”He’s good,” Jen grumbled underneath her breath. ”Not even Derek or Trav could handle me like that.”

”Neither Derek nor Trav could also disarm you when you’re using that final technique,” Kaycee pointed out, adjusting her glasses. ”Trav used to say that not even a raging bull with a rope tied to the hilt could pry off the sword in your hand when you’re serious. So what happened there?”

”He aimed that kick on my wrist, not my hand. His foot struck precisely where I’m sensitive and vulnerable. But it’s controlled,” Jen stated, still sounding uncharacteristically calm.

”His only intent was to disarm me. Nothing more. He could’ve used more force, and it would’ve been justified. After all, that was indeed an attempted murder.”

”But he didn’t. All I felt was a sting and a burst of numbness to my wrist when he struck. Then, my sword was off my hand.”

”Yeah, that’s another thing that confused me,” Kaycee frowned. ”Why would you use your killing technique on him? What did he do to deserve that?”

”I panicked, okay!?” Jen raised her head and sharply glared at her. ”I got so embarrassed because he kept tripping me over and over again. I was already in a foul mood to begin with, and then that?”

”But the real reason was because he saw through my weakness.” Jen sounded gentler this time, as if she were admitting something he was unwilling to.

”He saw that I was leaning a lot on my right leg and that my left leg was unstable and my weak point.”

Kaycee’s pupils shrank after hearing that, but only for a bit.

”Was it because of...?”

”Yeah, it is,” Jen nodded in admittance, weakly, though. ”I’m still recovering from the side effects of my temper flares when Trav died. Our physiotherapist told me that it’s improving, but it’s going to be slow, so it’s going to be like that for a while.”

”Anyway, he saw it. And as much as Sir Justin hates me now, I am sure that he wouldn’t expose me like that. His dogma wouldn’t allow him to. That could only mean that he discovered it on his own.”

”And I got really scared. My only thought was that he needed to be silenced. And well...you know how I get when things don’t go the right way.”

Kaycee now understood why Jen did that. And now, she couldn’t actually blame her anymore.

Fear does many things to a person. One of them is forcing them to be irrational. Jen became a victim of that.

But at the same time, Ren couldn’t be blamed either. So, the situation becomes awkward.

”Is that why you’re calm, now?” Kaycee asked. ”Did the fear drown all the fearlessness and explosive temper of yours?”

”No. It’s because I’m here,” Jen stated, staring at the flowing stream of water. ”This place allows me to relax and be calm, just like it did one with Trav.”

”Jen...”

”I know, alright! I know,” Jen huffed. ”I know that I should start moving on, and I’m trying, okay? But it’s not that easy. I didn’t even think that it was possible before; you know what I feel about him.”

”But I also know now that I can’t stagnate. Believe it or not, I also want to preserve this party.”

”So even if it’s hard...I’ll try.”

”Even if it means dealing with that gangster-looking guy.”