Chương 27: Chapter 25 — A Matter of Interest

"Ma'am… are you Adriane Wixx? The Silver Sword?" Morris asked. Adriane's expression tightened slightly at the title. She let out a quiet, annoyed breath, then turned away.

"Come along, Chelsea." She didn't wait for a response as she started walking, leaving the two men kneeling in the aftermath. Adriane bent down and picked up the spear, turning it once in her hand as if judging its balance before keeping it. Behind her, Chelsea turned back to the two men, her expression softer now, almost awkward compared to what she had been just moments ago.

"It was nice to meet you," she said, giving them a small, polite nod.

"Again… sorry for the trouble." She even added a slight curtsy, the motion strangely formal against the backdrop of bodies and blood, before turning and jogging to catch up with Adriane. It took her a few steps to fall in beside her, the adrenaline still fading out of her system, leaving behind a strange mix of pride and unease.

"Adriane… did I do okay?" she asked, her voice quieter now. Adriane didn't answer immediately. She walked for a few more paces, the spear resting easily in her grip, before finally speaking.

"It wasn't exactly what I had in mind," she said.

"Your tactics were efficient, though. Very efficient." Her eyes shifted slightly toward Chelsea.

"You left two alive. The instruction was to kill all of them." Chelsea looked down at the ground as they walked.

"I do have to commend you on taking out the runner," Adriane continued.

"Did you do what I think you did with him?" Chelsea's face tightened slightly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said.

"I kind of… got lost in the moment. And… yeah. Humans taste really good." Adriane let out a quiet chuckle at that, shaking her head faintly. Behind them, two quick thumps echoed through the trees. Both of them turned to look. The spot where Ben and Morris had been was empty. Chelsea let out a small breath. They must have taken their chance and run. She couldn't blame them. Surviving something like that probably felt like being handed a second life. They continued on, and soon the rest of the group came into view.

"Little sister," Dewey said immediately, his face lighting up as he saw her.

"That was glorious. I commend you in bathing in the blood of your enemies. You honor our family with your brutality."

"Bathe in their blood, you did," Edgar added in his steady, muffled tone.

"Glorious showing." Chelsea wasn't sure how to respond to that, but before she could figure it out, Dewey stepped closer.

"Oh, little sister, let me help you with that," he said, reaching toward her. Her eyes followed his hand as it moved to her midsection. Only then did she notice it. The hilt of a sword, embedded in her.

"Dewey," Bea said from off to the side, her tone dripping with annoyance.

"I wanted to see how long it would take her to notice." Ignoring her, Dewey gripped the hilt and pulled it free in one smooth motion. Chelsea watched it slide out of her body with a strange sense of detachment. There was pressure, the faint awareness of something being removed, but no real pain.

"Thanks," she said, almost absently.

"There is a river a few hundred yards that way," Adriane said, pointing through the trees.

"I'm taking Chelsea to wash up. The three of you, check the bodies for anything useful." Bea let out a long, exaggerated groan but didn't argue.

"Come on, Chelsea," Adriane said, already turning. Chelsea followed. The trees grew thicker as they moved, the forest closing in around them. Branches brushed against her as they passed, leaves catching on her clothes, but it was still easy enough to push through. Eventually, the sound of water reached them. They stepped out onto the bank of a river, its surface moving steadily, clear enough to reflect the light filtering down through the canopy. In the distance, the rise of a mountain hinted at where it came from.

"Undress and get in," Adriane said.

"It might be cold. That water's coming straight off the mountain." Chelsea stared at it for a moment, then looked down at herself. Blood coated her hands. Her arms. Her clothes. It had dried in some places, still wet in others. She bounced lightly on her toes, hesitating.

"Um… first, can I…" she lifted her hands slightly, indicating the mess. Adriane let out a short laugh.

"Sure. Go ahead." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Chelsea didn't hesitate. She brought the back of her hand to her mouth and licked. A soft sound escaped her almost immediately, her eyes closing for just a second as the taste hit her again. Adriane lowered herself onto the riverbank, the tension in her shoulders easing just slightly now that the immediate danger had passed.

She watched Chelsea for a moment as the girl continued absentmindedly licking the blood from her fingers, then finally asked, "How confident are you that you can fix our debt?" Chelsea didn't answer right away. She dragged her tongue across her knuckles one more time, thoughtful now rather than indulgent, then glanced up.

"I won't be able to make it disappear overnight," she said.

"But I can fix it." She tilted her head slightly.

"First I need numbers. How much gold do we have right now? And how much do you usually make in a month?" Adriane rested her forearms on her knees.

"It varies," she said.

"Right now, we have about fifty gold between us. As for income… before the payment gets taken out, I bring in somewhere between one hundred and one hundred fifty thousand gold a month." Chelsea froze mid-motion, her tongue still against her skin. Slowly, she lowered her hand and looked at her.

"How long have you been making that much?" Adriane shrugged.

"Three… maybe three and a half years." Chelsea stared at her, something shifting behind her eyes as she started putting pieces together.

"I'm almost scared to ask this next part," she admitted, glancing back down at her hands and absentmindedly cleaning another spot of dried blood from between her fingers.

"What was the total when you first started making that kind of money?" Adriane frowned slightly.

"How would I know that?" Chelsea paused, thinking. Then she adjusted the question.

"Okay. What's the highest you remember it being?" Adriane exhaled through her nose.

"Four point eight million. That's the highest I ever saw it. Made me want to cry." Chelsea's mouth fell open. For a few seconds, she just stared at her sister, trying to process what she had just heard.

"What?" Adriane asked, a bit defensively.

"Please tell me you're joking," Chelsea said slowly.

"Like this is some kind of test, or you're messing with me. Haha, very funny." Adriane didn't laugh. Chelsea's expression crumpled.

"Oh no," she whispered.

"That's… oh, that's so bad. That's really bad." She looked genuinely distressed now, like she had just been handed a problem far worse than she expected.

"I told you," Adriane said, her voice quieter.

"It's not something you can fix. We just keep working, keep paying it down, and eventually…"

"Adriane," Chelsea cut in, her tone suddenly firm.

"If I wasn't covered in blood right now, I would hug you and tell you that your little sister is going to fix this." Adriane blinked, caught off guard by the certainty in her voice.

"And when we do fix it," Chelsea continued, "we're going to find whoever's been doing this to our family and have a very serious conversation with them." Adriane's brows drew together.

"What do you mean?" Chelsea didn't answer immediately. Instead, she started pulling off her gear, her movements quick and practical now that her mind had locked onto the problem.

"How many months are in a year here?" she asked as she worked.

"Thirteen," Adriane replied.

"Okay." Chelsea slipped off her boots, then reached for the fastenings around her tail.

"And how good are you at math?" Adriane hesitated.

"I can add and subtract," she said cautiously.

"Is there… more to it than that?" Chelsea let out a small breath.

"Yeah. A lot more." She twisted, trying to reach the buttons around her wings, but her arms didn't quite make it. After a second of struggling, she scooted back toward Adriane.

"Can you get these?" Adriane reached forward and undid them without a word, her attention now fully on what Chelsea was building toward.

"Alright," Chelsea continued, turning back around.

"Let's be generous to the debt and say you were only making one hundred thousand every single month for three years. That's the low end." She held up a finger, pacing slightly now despite being half-undressed.

"That means you paid about three point nine million gold into that debt." Adriane's expression shifted. Chelsea raised a second finger.

"And on the high end, if we average closer to one hundred fifty thousand, you've paid somewhere around eight million." Now Adriane was staring at her.

"And yet," Chelsea said, lowering her hand slowly, "the debt only went down by six hundred thousand." Silence settled between them. Adriane's mind visibly worked through the numbers, her lips parting slightly as the realization crept in.

"That…" she started slowly.

"That's… the interest." Chelsea stepped closer, lowering herself so they were eye level.

"I'm going to fix the interest problem," she said quietly.

"But I have two conditions." Adriane's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Chelsea, that…" Chelsea shook her head, cutting her off before she could finish.

"The Wixx are allowed to have luxuries," she said firmly.

"No more of this 'we don't deserve nice things' nonsense. You've earned it ten times over." Her gaze didn't waver.

"And two," Chelsea continued, talking right over Adriane before she could object.

"I am handling the family's finances from now on." Adriane let out a long breath, rubbing at her temple.

"Chelsea, you can't just decide that. And allowing luxuries doesn't magically erase the debt. Fixing the interest doesn't make it disappear." Chelsea's smile didn't falter. If anything, it grew.

"Oh, sweet sister," she said, almost sing-song.

"It kind of does." Adriane's brows pulled together as she searched Chelsea's face, trying to figure out if she was being serious or just overly confident. Chelsea leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Adriane's nose.

"Do we have a deal?" she asked brightly.

"It's a great deal. Debt gets handled, money gets handled, and all you have to do is say yes. And when I fix the interest, I will make you the best meal anyone in this world has ever had." Adriane stared at her for a second, then shook her head with a quiet laugh.

"You are way too charming for your own good. You know that?"

"It's my Attract skill," Chelsea replied, her voice turning playful. Adriane huffed out another laugh.

"That is not how that ability works." She paused, then sighed.

"Fine. I give in. If you really think you can fix this, then deal. But I'm not blindly trusting it. I need to see real results first." Chelsea's face lit up.

"Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air.

"I am going to look so good on his shoulder." Adriane blinked at her.

"You are doing all of this just so you can sit on Dewey's shoulder?" Chelsea didn't answer. Instead, she turned and ran straight into the river. The water was cold, sharp enough that it made Chelsea gasp.

"I guess that means I can feel cold temperatures. She waded in without hesitation, the current tugging at her legs as she went deeper.

"Hey, Adriane!" she called back, turning with a grin.

"Call me Chels. That's what my family and friends call me." Adriane watched her for a moment, something softer settling into her expression as Chelsea dipped beneath the surface. When she came back up, she scrubbed at her face with handfuls of sand, working away the dried blood with determined focus. By the time they made their way back through the trees, Chelsea had been sworn to secrecy about her plans. Apparently, hope counted as a luxury.