I watched as Roland assisted in carrying Finley back to the warehouse. He left with the rest of the other kids, leaving me alone. Once the last of them turned the corner, and I made sure no one was doubling back, I snapped my fingers.

A Klearan Mark IV Riot Drone popped into existence right beside me. I extended a hand and gave the top of it a head pat, because all good drones deserve head pats.

[If you want a pet, get a dog. It’ll actually love you back.]

I gasped. “Don’t say such terrible things, Kle loves me. Isn’t that right?”

The drone made several beeping noises and shook its body in affirmation.

“See?” I jazz handed triumphantly.

I swear I could tell she was rolling her eyes at me.

[You would mistake pre-programmed responses with sentience. I can imagine you using one of the sex bots, and think it loves you because it is programmed to drain your balls.]

I stiffened and looked around before answering with my mind.

We have sex bots? Theoretically how far off am I from being able to summon one of those?

[Of course you’d want to fuck one. Sorry to burn your fantasies, but that would be a terrible idea. They were designed to breed abominations meant for war.]

Where have I heard something similar before? Alright I think we burned enough time with that tangent.

I needed to make sure that the loud noise I was about to make would go relatively unnoticed.

“Bring it down,” I sighed and plugged my ears.”

Kle beeped one last time before firing two shots, one from each of its guns, into the entrance of the tunnel that used to be Dustin’s base. Unlike normal bullets, these shone a bright pale blue, similar to tracer shots. Unlike them, they exploded with the force of a hand grenade.

Clouds of dust and rubble obscured my vision. When it settled down, the entrance was blocked by debris. Burying the bodies of the Black Scarf members and John.

“It’s strange,” I muttered and crossed my arms. “I just buried four men that died as a result of my actions. And I feel almost nothing.”

[Why should you? Not only did you have no personal ties to them, they were both your enemies. It’s hard to care about the wellbeing of those that have no qualms with slitting your throat over a handful of gold coins.]

“Fair enough,” I sighed again. Giving the kid named John a silent prayer. While Armeria was right, and I hardly knew him, he had talked Tim down from ending my life. For that I was grateful.

[More importantly, we need to talk about that girl, Finley.]

“What about her?” I asked, my voice more heated than I had intended.

[Permission to manifest, Master?]

“Granted.”

On my shoulder, Armeria’s small form popped into existence. Reminding me that Kle was still here. I gave the drone one last head pat before dismissing it. Turning my full attention to my partner in crime. If I had to put it into words, she appeared to be contemplating something. Her head was tilted to the side and she was examining me.

“Now that I think about it, your old self was pretty numb to the loss of life as well. I had originally attributed it to your past self being a seasoned veteran, but perhaps the true reason runs deeper?” Armeria said, almost to herself.

However, the implications of what she said was interesting.

“You weren’t always with him? I mean the past me” I asked.

Armeria’s brows furrowed and she seemed hesitant to respond. “No, I wasn’t your original partner. In fact, I was assigned to you after a past incarnation of yourself had your original Linked Weapon. Hmm. Perhaps that is why…”

“Why what?”

“Nothing, it’s not important.” Armeria deflected.”More importantly. What are we going to do about Finley?”

That was a good question. I had been putting it off, but it was an issue that needed to be addressed. Too many people had seen her use her power. This was both a plus and a negative. Her power would make my control of the organization that I was trying to found more concrete. At the same time, if any of those kids failed to control their mouth, Finley would attract a fair amount of attention.

Attention. Why was I so afraid of it?

True I could probably be squashed like a bug or forcefully conscripted into service by those more powerful than I, but if I let myself be run over by any random schmuck off the street, what was the point of getting stronger?

“Maybe I need to reevaluate things,” I said and began to make my way back to the warehouse. “I’ve been letting fear rule my every move.”

It was an undeniable fact. Granted, City Lord Norrotos probably deserved it, but was I going to hide forever? There were bound to be more powerful people than him in this world. Trying too hard to remain hidden would only hinder my growth and the growth of the organization I was planning to build around myself. Sometimes, taking risks was the only way.

No more from now on, I will try to be more open to using my powers. If I had, perhaps John would still be alive. All I can do now is do everything in my power to prevent a repeat of today. For that I was going to need to take care of a few errands before heading back.

***

“You call this place a home?” Dustin huffed. His trademark machete was nowhere to be seen. If I had overheard correctly, he had let someone borrow it in order to chop up some firewood.

“It may be more on the modest side, but it has its own charm,” I refuted.

“Charm? Think you have your words mixed up. This place is a dump!”

The moment I made it back, the others were in the process of getting settled in. Many of the boys I had originally recruited were here as well. Apparently the encounter with the Black Scarves was more impactful than I had initially assumed. I guess it was foolhardy to assume things would be that simple. It hardly ever was.

On the other hand, Dustin was being a complete premadonna. Sure this place was far from the Ritz, but it was hardly proper for a guest to be this harsh about accommodations.

“You were living in a literal hole in the ground. I hardly think you have room to criticize!” I shot back. Immature? Sure it was, but I blame the hormonal impulses of puberty.

“Are you looking to get cut?” Dustin snarled and reached for a machete that wasn’t there.

“Enough!” Emily interjected, a hand massaging her forehead. “Dustin, we are guests here, have some respect.”

I nodded in agreement.

“And you,” Emily continued, making me pause mid nod. “There is no benefit to antagonizing my little brother. I would appreciate it if you keep it to a minimum. Do I make myself clear?”

Dustin and I both bowed our heads in defeat and grumbled words of agreement.

This made clear that while Dustin was the “boss” of his group, the real leader was his sister. That was… Interesting. Especially considering her disability. From what I could gather, the others turned to her for guidance and answers. Dustin may be the muscle, but Emily was undeniably the brains.

“Now,” Emily continued. “As my brother was trying to say; while this place does offer four walls and a roof, it is a questionable hideout. You need to understand, Arlo, we have powerful enemies, and now you do as well. It is only a matter of time before the Black Scarves notice they are missing men.”

“You think they’ll be able to tie it to us?” I asked and bit down on a nail. “It will be hard for them to find the bodies.”

Emily shook her head. “They won’t need to. For the gangs, the lives of their members are secondary. What they truly care about is reputation. It will be easy for them to leverage the influence they have on the streets to get a general understanding of the events that led up to their disappearance.”

“And a warehouse that should be abandoned, filled to the brim with snot nosed brats will be hard to miss.” Dustin cut his sister off. “Even if we had nothing to do with the disappearance of their men, they will find us a juicy target. They’re always on the hunt for young girls to force into their brothels.”

It all made sense now. The reason why were they living in such a shithole. It was in a secluded enough place and the smell was enough to deter any random passerby. It also contextualized why those Black Scarf members wanted the girls so bad. I had thought them scum, but they were truly rotten to the core.

“We need a safer place to hide. Lay low for a bit.” Emily said.

“No,” I shook my head.

“No?” Dustin frowned, his brows furrowing. “Did you not hear what we just said?”

“I did,” I nodded and stopped biting my nails. “However, we can’t hide forever. The timing could be a little better, but at some point we need to make a stand. Show the gangs that they can’t just walk all over us.”

“Welp, looks like his pebble sized brain has finally overworked itself,” Dustin sighed.

“Here me out,” I raised a hand. “Is this warehouse an optimal place to live? No, we have clearly established that. Yet with all things real estate, it's all about location, location, location!”

“You know what Little Brother, I think I'm tempted to agree with you.” Emily blinked.

Please spare me the look of concern. I promise all my marbles are in my head!

“Think about where we are,” I continued, trying to ignore the nagging feeling they might be right about me. “I did some research, and as it turns out, we are sitting on the edge of both Black Scarf and Red Hand controlled territories.”

“Great!” Dustin threw his hands up. “Now we have to worry about the Red Hands too. They might not be as bad, but they are known to have close ties with the owner of the coal mines. They will be more than happy to sell us to them.”

“Quit being so negative,” I huffed. “Normally I would agree with you. Living in an area contested by rival gangs sounds like a nightmare. The constant turf wars alone should make living here unbearable. Thomas, come here.”

I gestured towards one of the boys I had managed to recruit to my budding organization. A thin and small boy with a bald head shuffled forward. The freckles on his face and large watery blue eyes could make one’s heart melt.

“This here is Thomas,” I raised a hand and introduced him. “Don’t be fooled by his puppy dog eyes, one of the best pick pockets I know.”

“So?” Dustin butted in. “That’s hardly an accomplishment. I bet my boy, Tim, could rob circles around this toothpick.”

“Is that a challenge?” Thomas’s eyes twinkled.

“As I was saying,” I grunted. Trying to take back control of the situation. “Fun fact, Thomas’s preferred hunting grounds are taverns and bars.”

“Drunk targets make for easy pickings,” Thomas said.

“Thank you Thomas, that will be all.”

“Where is the sport in robbing drunkards,” Tim said. The kid literally popped up from nowhere, and inserted himself into the conversation for no reason. Making his face a tad bit more punchable in my book.

“Oh yeah? Want to see who is better?” Thomas puffed out his chest.

I palmed my forehead and slowly dragged it down my face. Questioning if it was too late to pursue a career as an arms dealer.

I’m working with idiots.

“Please continue, Arlo.” Emily smiled while giving Tim a side glance, making him swallow whatever lame comeback he came up with.

Had I mentioned how I was absolutely falling for this woman?

“Thank you, Emily,” I gave her a nod. “While casing the bars, Thomas not only steals coin, but secrets. One night, a particular guardsman boasted how the captain of the guard had met with the leaders from each of the three biggest gangs in the city. Where an arrangement was made to make certain places off limits to territorial disputes without an attempt at mediation with the captain. Meaning that so long as we stay within this no man's land, we are essentially untouchable.”

“Is that true?” Emily turned to Thomas who was nose to nose with Tim.

He turned away from their self imposed staring contest. “Heard it myself. The guard’s ma lives in one of those areas, and went out for a drink to celebrate.”

“Why would they agree to something like that?” Dustin asked.

He had a point. For as long as I have been alive in this world, the gangs have had a strong presence. Despite the City Lord having magical abilities, that man has done little to curb crime. In fact, I would not be surprised if some of lord’s inner circle has ties to these shady organizations. So this agreement was certainly a surprise, and not common knowledge.

This allowed for small pockets that had a power vacuum. Making it a prime spot to live if you wanted to be free of the gangs.

“You really think that will work?” Emily appeared to be skeptical, justifiably so.

“No, not by itself,” I said, and plopped my money pouch onto the ground between us. I pointed at it. “We will need two things. The first, is property that is in our name. The second, is a core group of fighters that can keep the wolves away from our doorstep.”

“Kids with sticks aren't going to do much.” Dustin retorted. “If anything, all we need to do is have that girl display her power. The Black Scarves probably won’t want to risk pissing off the other gangs by breaking the agreement and mess with someone mana sensitive at the same time.”

“That could work,” Emily held her chin in a thinking pose. “Do we have enough money to legitimately buy a home though?”

“Already done,” I said and dropped several papers I had hidden up my sleeves. “These are two deeds for properties well within the areas I was talking about.”

I had wanted to buy this warehouse, but it was too difficult to try and track down the owner. Besides, I probably wouldn’t have had enough to afford it anyways. So, instead I found two rather dilapidated buildings that resembled apartments. Each building had three floors, and two rooms per floor.

If this were Japan, those buildings would be deemed unlivable and torn down. Whether it be the shoddy construction and poor maintenance, it was a miracle there was a single tenant.

“It’ll be a tight fit, and we will need to do some touching up, but we will probably only take up one whole building.” I said and began doing a head count. “For the rest of the rooms, I was thinking of renting them out. If we offer a clean and safe place to live, I think we can find those willing to pay.”

I gulped as I realized how the numbers were starting to add up. If my count was right, then there were well over twenty total bodies I’d have to pack like sardines.

Let’s see, I’m willing to part with eight rooms, I could stuff around four to five people per room. It’d be a real tight fit, but it was doable.

“That could work,” Emily said. Her twinkling eyes betrayed her excitement. “It’s been so long since the girls and I lived above ground.”

Wow, that was sad.

“It’s settled then,” I clapped. “I hired someone to do some repairs; which will take a few days. Staying here for the duration of that time shouldn’t be a big risk.”

Dustin began to tap his foot against the ground, and I could tell his lonely brain cell was going into overdrive trying to find a hole to poke in my plan. Not that I minded. This plan involved the lives of just under thirty kids. Such a weight was too heavy to allow my ego to shrug off any criticism.

Eventually he scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “It’s not a half-bad plan. I am just struggling to understand why you are doing this. What are you hoping to gain?”

“The same thing you were hoping to build,” I replied and spread my arms to my sides. “A community that protects its own. To live life unafraid of starvation and kidnapping. While I have grand aspirations for the members of this community, for now I will settle on fostering goodwill.”

“You trying to make your own gang?” Dustin asked, narrowing his eyes.

I shook my head. “No, the community I build will serve as a talent pool that I will hire from for legitimate business ventures.”

Dustin blinked at me, his and his sister’s wide eyes telling me that my answer was different from what they had expected.

“We’re just a bunch of uneducated children. How do you expect us to start a business? Bloody hells, I would be lucky if any shop decided to hire me as a clerk. I doubt even five of us know our numbers and letters.”

I grinned in response. “It’s a good thing that those who join my community gain access to free math, reading, and writing classes.”

“What?” Emily gasped.

“One of my guys knows his letters, and I teach others numbers,” I reiterated. “That brings me to one of my business ideas. Once enough have been taught to a sufficient level, and the teaching process is hammered out, I want to open a school. For a small fee, parents can have their kids taught the basics.”

If Dustin and Emily were surprised before, they were now picking their jaws up from the ground.

I had thought long and hard about this. Sure the tuition rates will be on the low end as the target market lives in poverty. Still, if we charge three copper a month to join a class, and each class has thirty kids, that's ninety copper. If we schedule properly, and have three classes minimum, that means two hundred and seventy copper per month. A hefty sum, that has a good degree of scalability.

Seeing that they were slow to recover, I coughed to regain their attention. “So, are you in?”