BXBX NOVEL Chapter 21: Quest Conditions Made Clear
It belonged to the Langlot Gang who had made New Freudein their Territory and mark long before the arrival of Angus Dionisio and his gang.
There had been many fights between both gangs. So many that Triss, a relatively new member of the Dionisio Gang, looked at the men with intense distaste.
Henry, however, did not recognize any of them because the Old Henry never joined the rest of the Gang in battle and their many skirmishes.
The man leading the group waltzed into the saloon, his grin getting even wider across his rough face while his fellows chuckled sinisterly from behind him,
"Knew yer couldn\'t stay away for too long. Would only be a matter of time, I said."
Triss relaxed a bit.
\'They couldn\'t possibly attack me here,\' she thought.
"Colm O\'Hearn and the Langlot boys," She said with a small smile, "How bold of you to show your face here."
"I can say the same abou\' you," Colm said with a laugh as he got even closer to Triss. He glanced at Henry and although he did not recognize him, he knew instinctively that he was an enemy.
Triss scoffed,
"Why would I have anything to fear? It\'s not my face on the wanted posters. It\'s yours."
"And yet, here I am," Colm said with his arms spread.
Triss\' eyes narrowed and she cocked her head to the side in slight confusion,
"How ARE you here?"
Why would Colm risk capture or worse, death, to come here?
\'Something doesn\'t feel right.\'
Colm chuckled,
"Temporary pardon.
You\'ve all been very busy. Robbing a train and killing so many… Why, I\'m almost impressed."
"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about," Triss said. Her hand gripping the handle of the gun in her holster.
Colm sniggered confidently while shaking his head at Triss,
"I wouldn\'t do that if I were you."
As one, the sounds of guns being pulled out of holsters sounded from the men behind Colm O\'hearn, and in barely a second, four gun muzzles were pointed at Triss. All cocked and ready to fire.
Henry frowned from behind her. He hid his hand away from sight and reached into his inventory to pull out his normal revolver while keeping his senses keened for the moment to attack.
Triss took her hand off her gun and placed it on the bar instead. The bartender looked between the two opposing sides with his eyes wide but his mouth shut.
"Good," Colm said, "No reason to have this get messy."
"What do you want?" Triss asked. Henry saw her hand moving closer to the glass she had been using to drink only minutes ago.
Colm rolled his eyes,
"What do you think? You\'ll lead us to that hideout of yours, of course. Been driving Doran crazy not knowing where you bastards are holed up."
Doran Langlot was the Leader of the Langlot gang. Just as he didn\'t recognize Colm and the others, Henry had no idea what Doran looked like but he knew the name.
Triss\' hands kept inching toward the glass but stopped when Colm said,
"And it\'s not just for us.
Yeah, we were out raiding when they came. Let me tell you, they were strong. Numbers meant nuthin\' to \'em.
They would have killed us but they wanted information. Information on that thing yer lot stole on the Train."
Triss looked troubled,
"What— Who are you talking about?"
With a delighted grin, Colm continued almost like he hadn\'t heard the question,
"They thought we was you but then one of them sort of sniffed the air and said it weren\'t us.
Doran knew then… He knew it could only be you lot. So we struck a deal. We told \'em we could get you. I said you\'d eventually show your faces. We just had to wait.
The momen\' I saw you walking in here, I sent the signal. They\'ll be here soon and we can get this \'little\' issue sorted."
Triss leaned closer to the bar as she whispered to Henry behind her,
"Henry?"
"Hmm?"
"Jump over!"
Triss acted then. She grabbed the glass her hand had been inching toward and tossed it at Colm\'s face.
It shattered and broken pieces pierced his face as he let out a cry,
"Ahhhh. Bitch—!"
For a second, the Langlot boys froze, and then, when Triss and Henry leaped over the bar as one, they opened fire.
The frozen bartender fell to the ground soon after, with holes all over his chest from where he had been struck by bullets meant for Triss and Henry.
"We need to get out of here?"
Henry\'s eyes widened as the shots kept striking the wall above their heads and the people in the saloon continued to yell in fear at the gunshots,
"You\'re not going to fight?" He asked.
Triss shook her head and quickly crawled toward a door behind the bar with Henry following her closely,
"Too many of them," she said, "Plus, from what Colm said, we need to get away from here as fast as we can."
She pushed the door open and she and Henry leaped through it before getting back on their feet and sprinting down the corridor towards a door on the other end.
The shots paused and Henry knew their opponents were following after them quickly on foot.
Sure enough,
"There they are!" Colm yelled and more shots were fired, "Aim for their legs! Don\'t kill \'em! We need \'em alive!"
Even as Colm yelled for caution, the Langlot boys could hardly be bothered to be precise. They were not skilled enough for that.
That was fortunate because, had they had half as much skill as Henry did, they would have gunned them down already.
Triss pulled open the door at the end of the corridor and dashed out of it to the very back of the Saloon. As Henry followed after her, he allowed himself a small glance behind them, pointed his revolver, and fired a shot.
He didn\'t watch to see his target fall and die but the System let him know of his success.
[Kill-Reward: 8 Exp]
It was lesser than what he had gotten for the uniformed men on the Train.
\'Well, of course, it\'s smaller,\' Henry thought without much surprise. The Langlot boys were not as skilled as the men on the Train. It made sense.
Triss led the way around the Saloon with their pursuers hot on their heels. They had to get to their horses and get out of New Freudein as soon as they could before things got worse.
"Loosen the reins on the horses," Triss said as she pulled her gun from her Holster, "I\'ll cover you."
She sounded so grim and resolute and at first, Henry was going to insist that he cover her instead but then he decided not to.
"I\'ll be quick," he said.
Compounding his agility with the Strength in his muscles Henry gained an incredible boost that got him to the horses in three seconds.
Another second to pull the reins off the Hitching Post and the horses reared their heads and whined. Henry patted Nyx\'s coat as he hoisted himself into the saddle on her back,
"Come on, girl," he said as he motioned for her to move. Nyx immediately obeyed.
Triss\' Chestnut brown horse galloped to her side right when she had fired a few shots that sent the enemies in front of her seeking quick cover, she mounted the horse and galloped to Henry\'s side before going past him and leading the way out of town.
But things were not so easy.
Their path out of town was blocked by men with Rifles who were ready to fire at the moment\'s notice.
Henry raised his gun and fired before Triss could and the redhead watched, impressed, as the bullet pierced an enemy\'s head and caused instant death.
[Kill-Reward: 8 Exp]
Nyx continued to gallop and she put herself between two men with Rifles.
A man pointed his gun at Henry and he kicked the muzzle up to send the fired shot harmlessly into the sky. He then grabbed the gun and pulled it out of the man\'s hand before blessing him with a bullet to his head.
All within the space of four seconds.
[Kill-Reward: 8 Exp]
The man on the other side of Nyx tried to fire but the horse reacted, reared her hind legs, and stomped hard on his head with wicked-sounding *Thuds*. Killing him.
[Nyx has made a Kill]
[Nyx has received 10 Exp]
Henry made sure he clicked the \'Loot\' button the system presented and was flooded with notifications of his gains. Most notable of the gains were Rifle Ammo boxes holding 20 bullets each.
Triss handled the ones who had been blocking her way and she and Henry rode out of town. Seemingly toward safety.
But then, in the distance, two figures with cloaks over their bodies were mounted on horses.
[Your ability to perceive the elements of the world has been strengthened…]
As a reminder of a message he had received days ago, appeared in Henry\'s mind, his Perception went off like an alarm and with such intensity, that his body shook.
One of the figures raised a hand and it set ablaze in a fiery glow.
"Magic!" Triss said, sounding shocked.
Meanwhile, Henry received an alert from the System. The previously unclear Quest conditions were now made clear;
[Grand Quest Updated!
Main Quest: Aftermath.
Quest Conditions;
-Head into Town With Triss.
-Return Alive to Hadron Mansion.
Reward 1: {If Triss survives} 150 Exp
Reward 2: {If Triss dies} 100 Exp.
Good Luck.]