“Stop, please~! Aaaah~!”

“Tell me. Who hired you?”

“No one! We’re just bandits! We rob people! Aaaah~!”

“You honestly expect me to believe that?”

Verna rolled her pretty blue eyes, “Alright, Myrtle, stop. Myrtle!”

“Aaaaah~!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I was having too much fun, hehehe~!”

There was a tall and muscular man dangling from the ceiling by his wrists. The arrow wounds and other injuries on his body were being rubbed by various ‘ointments’ by the short and chubby 15 year old girl. She still had the same brown hair, gray eyes and light-brown skin tone as when she was younger, just that she became more mature after having a baby and growing up. Compared to Verna though, her height was still very short.

“I’m not lying! I’m just a Bandit! You understand, right?! These damn Words! Whether we like it or not, we don’t have a choice!”

“I understand!” Myrtle grinned and nodded her head, “It’s not your fault that you have to rape, murder and steal. It’s all because you’re ‘Cursed’! Hehehe~! Just like I was Cursed~!”

“Aaaah~! Stop~! Aaaaaaaah~!”

“Don’t break him, Myrtle! Even if he’s just a Bandit, his word is still worth a few thousand gold to the right buyer!”

“Okay~! Okay~! Don’t worry, I won’t let him die or kill himself. I’m a professional.”

She stuck out her tongue ‘cutely’ but there was actually a black tattoo across it: ‘Torturer I’!

“You’re not a professional. I’m not paying you for this. It’s just your hobby! Your real job is to sell herbs and medicine for me! Don’t forget it, or I’ll replace you!”

“Then replace me, whatever~!”

“Please! Don’t leave me alone with this crazy bitch! Please! Aaah! Wait, I’ll talk! Verna~! Verna you whore! No~! Aaaaah~!”

Verna closed the door of the basement and went upstairs to the Herbalist Shop. There was a beautiful woman standing at the counter, with brown hair, blue eyes, light-brown and a buxom figure in a simple yellow dress. She didn’t seem to care about the screams coming from the basement.

“It sounds like Myrtle brought another boy over again… I hope you can keep this a secret from little Irving.”

“Irving knows.” Verna shrugged, “They have an… ‘Open’ relationship. Hyahahaaha~!”

“Really? Kids these days are so promiscuous…” The short woman sighed and shook her head, “Though I guess I shouldn’t be one to judge.”

Verna left the shop in the middle of the night, but the village square was still lit up brightly by various porch and street lights. The big warehouse to the north was gone now, but a new one in the southeast was already built. Instead of the Greenstone Mining Company, it had the logos of ‘Verde Trading House’ and ‘Vernakres Corporation’.

“Congrats, Bitch.” 

A blonde-haired, green-eyed girl emerged from the shadows nearby. Peridot was wearing a loose green t-shirt and gray pajama pants. She was only 175 cm tall though. Which was much shorter than the 180 cm tall girl who was wearing high heels.

“I heard you got attacked by bandits again. Sure you’ll make another pretty gold penny selling them like livestock.”

“They killed four horses and a Wordless guard. Almost made Irving lose a nose. And my poor carriage was wrecked by those pathetic losers!”

Verna narrowed her bright blue eyes and glared at that pale, freckled face, “Unlike you, I’m not content to sit around moping all day long! Every single gold coin I earn is a step closer to my dream!”

“I’m sure there were plenty of higher-ups in the Greenstone Mining Company that thought the same way when they were younger.” Peridot sneered, “Didn’t the previous CEO recently shoot himself in the back seven times… With a crossbow?”

“Oh, funny you brought that up. I also remembered something strange from a year ago. I remember Jessie had an unfortunate accident… She fell on a mining pick from what I recall~!”

“Yeah, very ‘unfortunate’.”

“Hmmm, don’t worry, Peri. I’m not an idiot.” Verna giggled, “It’s not ‘slavery’. They’re just repaying their debts to me through labor or other options. If I handed them over to the authorities, do you think their fates would be any better? Then I would need to deal with the tedious legal bullshit again and again.”

“That’s exactly what they want you to do… Those bastards wanna drag us down into the gutter with them.” Peridot frowned and looked back toward the tall mountain to the north, “Not just those losers. You’ll have other competitors and enemies soon. It’s better to just kill them and destroy the bodies. Don’t leave any evidence at all. A few thousand gold is a small price to pay to buy some slaves to testify against you in court.”

“It’s all about money in the end. As long as I have enough money, all my problems will go away…”

“Money is also the source of all your problems, Dumbass.”

“Hah~! You’re one to talk!”

“Screw you! I’d trade all my money away in an instant if it brought Ollie back to me!”

“Only Ollie? What about me?!”

“What?!”

“Ah!”

Hearing that familiar voice, the two of them looked over at the giant 2 meter tall stone woman who walked out from behind the warehouse! Jade was wearing a simple green dress made from actual jadeite that she conjured and manipulated.

“Jade?! Where’s Ollie?!”

“You’re still like that! I was worried sick about you and you don’t even miss me?!”

“Damn it Jade, I knew you wouldn’t die so easily! But what about Ollie?! Is he okay?!”

“I’m better than okay, haha~!” Oliver snickered and hopped down from the roof of the five meter tall warehouse, landing in front of the two girls and hugging them tightly into his muscular arms. Even Verna looked pretty small when compared to the 190 cm tall borderline bodybuilder. 

“Ollie, Jade! I’m so glad you’re back!” Peridot started crying her eyes out and rubbing snot on his gray t-shirt, “Why the hell did it take you so long, Bastard?!”