Vol.2 Ch.25 - First day at Bilgam Brothers

Immediately after we woke up, we got dressed and went to the BilgamBrother’s Territory. We didn’t really have any time to spare, because if wedawdled for too long, we wouldn’t be able to get in the BBG. Running likeour life depended on it, we followed Cecily and Carter all the way to theother side of town. This was tiring, but it served it’s purpose. You see, if theysaw how worn-down and out of breath we are, they’d be more inclined tohear us out.Making it to the base, which looked like a smaller castle (or at least a fort),we ran up to the nearest gang member, who wore more professional lookingattire than the gang members of yesterday’s battle. He greeted us with apeculiar-looking smile and started speaking in a pseudo-formal tone.“G’day, chaps! What’s all this huffin’ n’ puffin’ yer’ on about?”“The… (huff)… The Blue Lions… They attacked us out of nowhere! Theythought we were part of The Brothers.”His happy-go-lucky attitude had suddenly contorted into a serious-lookingfrown, he muttered something while holding his chin then said:“We’ve been getting more and more reports on those ruffians attackingcivilians, you may refuge in here for the time being and we’ll escort you allhome after we deem it safe to do so.”“Yer’… Yer’ not gonna do sumthin’ ‘bout this?” Carter asked between hisbreaths, “Y’know they’re jus’ gonna keep attackin’ us if y’all don’t smacksum’ sense into ‘em!”“Rest assured,” answered the gatekeeper, “for we are looking into the matteras we very well speak, but unless they step over the agreed-upon line, wewill not act rashly.”His tone aggravated Carter to no end, but Ed intervened and calmed thesituation down.“I’m sorry for my friend’s temper! He’s still a bit shaken up from the attack.We thank you from the bottom of our heart’s for giving us a place to stay.”“Ah, no worries, chap.” The fellow answered back, “We understand yourdistress, do rest as much as you can, and if you have any questions, look forJorgen. He should know a bit more than me.”“Don’t put yourself down so much,” Ed inquired, “to whom do we owe thisfavor?”“Oh, you’re asking about me? I am William, a guard of this community.”We told Ed we’ll be heading inside, but he said he’ll join us after he finisheshis chat with the guard. His accommodation skills are coming in handy rightnow, befriending as many people here will do us plenty good. I wonder whothis Jorgen is, though…***The BBG base of operations (henceforth referred to as “The Fort”) is, inshort, a spectacle. We’re talking about a giant courtyard which looked morelike a castle grounds than anything else, it spanned a few kilometers in bothlength and width with the main building being situated near the back. It wassurrounded with large brick walls which seemed almost impossible to climb,at least with our 4 team climbing strategy.There were multiple buildings in the area: the sleeping quarters reserved formembers and refugees, the dining hall where everyone eats their meals, thegym where the muscle-heads spend most of their time, the generals’ office,the library and I believe I even saw some crop-fields in the back…Honestly speaking, this was a beautiful community they’ve built, and seeingas the people who are situated here were all previously homeless, it justmakes it all the more amazing. Thinking about it now, there really is no needfor us to be in the inn, it’s just a waste of money in comparison…We walked around the courtyard for a bit, getting acquainted with it more andmore with each step, as we noticed how we’re garnering quite a lot ofattention by the members. We noticed them looking at us with wary eyes fromthe start, and some even stopped us to check if we’re enemies. After havingexplained to them the same thing we said to the guard, they happily let usthrough and even offered some tips on getting along with the others.The thing we most appreciated was info on the generals, whom we wanted tomeet from the very beginning. Apparently, there is a total of 5 generals, witheach commanding their own groups. This idea of leading was foreign to me,but the siblings assured me that this is simply how it’s supposed to be ingangs. The generals are all on equal standing, but Jorgen is by far the mostreliable, as he was the founder of the gang, as well as the forerunner of mostof their successful battles.The other four were Maxwell, Julian, Quinn and Leonard. As I saidpreviously, they are all meant to represent a pillar of Bilgam Brothers, butwith how much praise Maxwell got from his own crew, Quinn’s crewdisliked him by a proportionate amount. In a way, you could say that theirreputation is more ‘local’, while Jorgen’s is absolute. Even still, we weretold that infighting had little to no chances of happening, as all the generalsmaintained a friendly attitude of one another.The next stop of our little tour was the dining hall, as we were quite famishedfrom running all the way here. Making it inside, it truly did feel like aboarding school with everyone sitting around a long, room-length table onwhich the food is served. We were sat next to each other, and started diggingin.The food was… disappointing, to say the least. It was something that lookedlike stew, but honestly speaking I have no idea what it was. Cecily andCarter didn’t seem to mind at all, instead digging in with the same vigor asthey always do. I had asked them about it, and they simply replied It’s warrations, dumbass, they don’t have the luxury of using meat as much as wedo. After thinking about it like that, I felt a bit bad, so I still finished myplate, if barely.Just then, a person sitting next to me asked for me to pass him the salt, so Iobliged. He thanked me with an honest tone, I could feel no ill intent in hisvoice. I’m not sure if this was good or bad, since I still didn’t wanna let myguard down around them too quickly. They are gang members, after all…***After eating our fill, Carter went to visit the gym, while Cecily and I went tothe library. I still didn’t understand many of the Hianic colloquial terms beingtossed around, so I was hoping to find a more in-depth dictionary that’llserve as an upgrade to my little handbook. I had no idea what Cecily wasinterested in, but she quickly orbited to the other part of the library, so Idecided to leave her be.I wanted to use this situation as much as possible, so I browsed some of thepopular books from each shelf before leaving. The fiction section was quiteeye-catching, it explored the idea of magical powers with the most popularfiction being the “Guide to Magic” series. Each volume was given a namecorresponding with the different colors of Iro, and every one of themexplored the shenanigans of a different main character. It seemed interesting,so I spent my time in the library reading the first volume.After an hour or so of reading, I put it back in the shelf and went to search thenext section. Remember, I’m known in my home village as the GreatBookworm, after all…The next section was an interesting one, it was scientific in nature andseemed like it had some merit to it: mechanics, or more specifically, “TheWonders of Inventing” written by a local engineer in Bilgam. The book wasamazing from start to finish, within it were in-depth explanations andschematics of some appliances we used in our day to day lives like thetransport wagon’s engine or the streetlights systems. This book really mademe want to learn more, but sadly when I asked the librarian if there wasanything else like this, he simply shook his head.Thinking about it now, the Sun has already set by this point, and Cecily stillhasn’t shown up, so I went to look for her and hopefully scare her. I knowlibraries are places of peace and quiet, but I gotta get her back for almostslicing my leg into mince-meat somehow.I spent a couple minutes looking around, then finally found her huddled up toa bookshelf looking as if she’s really into the book in her hands. I decided myplan was to spook her by popping my head through the bookshelf thenwhispering something into her ear.Slowly leaning in to her ear, I could feel her breath getting more and moreout of sync. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t even hear meapproach her. Leaning right up against her hair, to the point where it’sactually tickling my face, I had slowly whispered her name in hopes ofsounding scary.She shivered, or was it a quiver? Either way, she responded in surprisingfashion. She probably heard me coming from a mile away, so she’s playingalong right now.“Lune… Don’t…” she replied with a soft-spoken tone.“Don’t what?” I answered back in earnest.She suddenly realized what was going on and jumped up, tossing her book tothe ground in the frenzy. She was bright red and heaved heavy breaths. Didshe catch a cold or something?“L-LUNE! Wawawawhat are you doing?!?” she screamed out.Just like that, she slapped my face through the bookshelf. Thank goodness sheshowed kindness and did so with her non-dominant hand, otherwise it’dprobably sting a lot more…Still bright red, she panicked a bit more while shouting Not funny! at melaughing at her. I really got her good, I thought to myself, but why’s she soupset? She ran out of the library a couple moments later, leaving nothing butme and the book she was reading in the library.The only logical explanation is that I interrupted her reading time, Ithought, but that’s hardly a reason to get so mad. I was intrigued at the book,though, so picking it up I went to read the title:“Love Between Us: A Heart-Pounding Love Story!”………….…………………………………….Ooooooooookay, let’s analyze this:She was reading a love story.The dog-eared page she was reading contained pretty graphicdepictions of the two characters engaging in skinship.Her face was as red as her hair, and she was panting like crazy.She moaned my name even though she didn’t know I was behind her.With all these pieces of information, it didn’t take a detective to figure it out.I suddenly started getting red in the face as well, honestly I wanted to throwthe book on the ground myself after just reading a few words! But wait, doesthat mean she…Nonononono, it can’t be! But then again… No! Why’d that be the case?!?But… These thoughts occupied my head for the time being as I left the libraryand slowly made my way to the sleeping quarters…***As I was about to enter the quarters and recollect my thoughts, I wasimmediately pushed outside by Ed and Carter. They were holding back theirlaughter as much as they could, but it finally burst out after they closed thedoor from the outside.“PFFFFFFT-Hahahhahahahahahah! What the hell happened in that library,Grim??”“Y-Yeah…hah…th’ hell happen’d, bro? I left y’guys alone fer’ a second andshe comes back home bright ‘s a tomater!”Guess their little wingman shtick was coming in at full force. I gotta clear myname otherwise I’ll feel really bad for Cecily.“Oh, shut up! I didn’t know, okay?? I just wanted to prank her, that’s all!” Iexplained to them.“Of course you’d do that, Grim.” Sighed Ed.“Ser’sly, ya’ got no tact with these things, man. How ya’ gonna get her ta’like ya’ if y’act like that?” Lectured Carter.At this point her feelings were obvious even to a dense idiot like me. To behonest, I wore a pretty flushed face from the ordeal myself, so I might haveactually caught feelings for her too? By the Gods, I don’t even knowanymore!Making my way into the rooms, Cecily was laying in her bed wearing hernew pajamas I had bought for her a couple days earlier. Her back was turnedtowards me, and honestly, saying anything to her was gonna be reallyawkward. So as not to end the day on sour terms, I mustered up the courageand said the only thing I thought was appropriate:“Uhmm, that book… was a pretty good read…”“!!!- YOU READ IT?!?!” She screamed out as she jumped up from her bed.Apparently, even with that characteristically cute reaction of hers, theseweren’t the words she was expecting to hear from me at all…