The Troubled Factory Owner

“Alyssa…” The taller neko cradles her head, her hand flowing through her daughter’s hair.

“My sweet child…”

The alchemist and I stand beside her, all three of us gathered before Alyssa’s unconscious body.

After Alyssa had been stabbed in the city, I quickly brought her to the old man’s house, seeking any help he could offer. After laying her to rest and talking about things out, I was ready to head off. However, I needed to inform Alyssa’s mother, not daring to hide something this substantial from her. She asked me to show her where is now, so I led her here. In the present, she’s just now seeing her daughter.

“How is she, Boyle?” I ask with a serious tone.

“Her breathing has become more stable. I have also switched out the bandage for a clean one.” He hands me my lab coat that I used previously to cover her wound. It’s now fully drenched in blood.

“I’m sorry. I should have looked after her.” I apologise to Alyssa’s mother after a moment of silence.

For a while, she doesn’t answer.

After that however, she speaks with a warm and hopeful tone, “It’s…alright. This is not your fault. You only wanted to do good. Still…”

A tear flows down her cheek.

“Who would do something like that to my innocent daughter?” Her voice cracks.

“Do you think they can stay here for a while? They probably want to remain at Alyssa's side.”

“Eh, sure…But I only have two beds, one of them occupied by Alyssa.” He scratches his neck.

“That’s fine, my son and I had slept on the ground for a long time anyway,” she answers with what little humor she can muster currently.

“What about you, Friedrich?”

“I’ll be gone for some time, until I’ve found the one responsible. They’re probably after me as well, so I don’t want you to get involved as well.” My gaze wanders towards the wounded neko again.

“Stay safe, please.” Alyssa’s mother tells me as I leave the room.

Hanging the bloody labcoat on a rag, I leave the house, making my way to Previl yet again.

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“Here ya’ go. Visit us again sometime.”

“I will, thank you.”

On my way towards the city, I tried to form some sort of plan in my head. The first step is the one I took just now. That is to buy clothes, specifically something that would cover me up. I ended up with a darkish green fabric that concealed my face from a distance thanks to the hood. It’s not at all stylish, but that isn’t the point. Whoever stabbed Alyssa probably knows my face too, so I have to be cautious at all costs.

Right now, I’m heading towards the same place where I found my partner, just shy of the most northern part of South-Previl. A bit further and she would have been in another district entirely. Just what was she thinking…

During all the heart-racing events today, time flew by in an instant, as the sun is already setting and the sky has taken on a yellow taint. While this would be beautiful, it does nothing to slow my pulse and I approach the ever so dark backstreet in which the incident took place. Though, everything seems normal. Lit dumpsterfires, people sleeping on the ground and the same empty potion vials besides them.

Once I found the pool of blood that has already dried and covered the ground, my breathing stopped for a moment, a chill crawling on my back. I was in such a shock, I can’t even fully remember finding her here. Though, I’m certain this is the right place.

I seek throughout the passage for any clues, any evidence. The same goes for the alleys connected to this one. But there is nothing. No people, no other blood stains or anything, not even any sounds beside me feet colliding with the ground beneath.

This goes on for the rest of the evening, until all I can see are the stars that fill the night sky.

“It’s pointless.”

I’ll come back tomorrow, not like I can even see in this darkness.

Finding a way out towards a wider road, I seem to have walked a great distance from the main way. There are way less houses here, though the ground is still parched. The reason for this is a large, connected factory complex occupying the still relatively free space.

Under one of the very few street lights that exist in this corner of Previl stands a man with small glasses. Though I am still a distance away, he is loud enough to hear his mumbling. Though, as I stare at him for a while, he suddenly looks towards me, making eye contact. It doesn’t take long until he decides to make his way towards me with loud, heavy steps.

“You!” The small man shouts at me.

“Me?” I answer in confusion

“You’re one of those ruffians who made that mess!” He points accusingly.

“W-what mess?”

“The mess in my factory!” The man now points his finger directly on me.

“What? I have nothing to do with that!” I take my hood off quickly.

“Huh?” He suddenly pauses, looking at me up and down for a while.

“Well…Now that you say that…You don’t exactly wear the same clothes as them.”

The red haired man takes a step back, adjusting his monocle and rasping.

“You must excuse me. It seems I have mistaken you for some other people,” he speaks, now in a much more elegant tone.

“What people?” I furrow my brow.

“According to my workers, apparently a group of punks stormed my factory, messing up the place and harassing my workforce, stopping the production. Apparently, they have been doing that for multiple days now.”

“And I look like one of them?”

“From a distance, yes. But they wore something else. Some black, studded fabric along with gloves in the same color.”

My hood is dark green…?

“They're probably part of some gang.” He flattens down his suit.

“A gang?”

Boyle spoke of this, that a gang might have gotten Alyssa. It may be a long shot but…

“I also happened to get heckled by someone of this ‘group’. They pushed me and tried to steal my money!”

"Preposterous! That those people are allowed in Manoford is simply unacceptable!”

While the factory owner is rambling on, I do my best to agree and add upon his hate towards that gang, along with other stuff I don’t really agree with…However, it’s worth it. If that group is at fault for what happened to Alyssa, then I need to gain this guy’s trust. And hate is one of the strongest things to bond over. So I even need to agree to things such as “The gang should be executed like those nekos!” and “Workers shouldn’t be paid at all!”, even if I wouldn’t otherwise.

“I have to say, you really are an upstanding man. I do apologize again for accusing you this rudely before.”

“Oh it’s alright, really.” I wave him off.

“I’m Garrick, Garrick Wanderson, owner of the Wanderson Factory for Electricity.” The bearded man holds out his hand.

“I am Friedrich, pleased to meet you.” I shake his hand in return.

“No surname? Well, Friedrich, what do you do for a living?” he asks suddenly, a rather sly look forming on his face.

“O-oh, well…” I scratch my neck, trying to come up with something that meets his standard, though I remember that in truth, “I work as a scientist, mostly on my own.”

“My my, most impressive, I must say. Though, I could tell that you must do something…sophisticated. That tunic couldn’t get paid for otherwise.” He points towards my grey shirt.

It’s what I’ve been wearing under my labcoat the entire time, and now under the hooded cloth. Maybe since it’s modern, it seems like higher quality here than it actually is. Because I didn’t pay a lot for it…

“Say, why don’t you come to my gathering tomorrow? As a thanks for listening to my ramble.”

Wow, this is unexpected. Thing is, if it’s a sort of gathering where nobles and business men meet, then I definitely won’t fit in. On the other hand, I could make invaluable allies.

“There will be many high ranking people there, from nobles to ambassadors and the likes. Even company owners like myself. So come with something that looks like. But I’m sure you know that already.” The suited man hands me a letter, a formal invite to the gathering.

“I’ll expect you there, Friedrich!” He walks off with a straight posture.

Once he is gone, I’m left, alone in the dark again.

“I’m gonna need a suit,” I sigh.