Of course, the Count wasn't going to fight Annan over two children. "They're yours," he said casually, ordering his men to keep scavenging the Town.
He still owed Annan fifty thousand gold coins.
"I'll send you to my Territory in a little while," Annan told the Joan Sisters. "It's safe there, and there are lots of other children."
"We don't want to go!" Little Joan sat before him, gesturing with a handful of breadcrumbs. "My Sister's really good at fighting!"
Big Joan played along, miming a sword swing.
Annan believed them. They had all seen the Ratfolk corpses in the kitchen. Even adults might not have managed that.
"Can I pet it?" Little Joan's attention shifted to Lily and the Silly Cat as they came over together. She reached out a grimy hand toward the Silly Cat.
The Silly Cat ran away, so Little Joan reached for Lily instead. Big Joan pulled her back. "We're too dirty."
Lily came forward on her own and rubbed against the grimy hand, making Little Joan giggle.
Annan didn't ask about their parents. The answer wouldn't be pleasant. Once the Joan Sisters had eaten, he sent them back to Gemstone City through a Portal. He also temporarily armed the Count's men with fifty Muskets.
The Count wanted fifty suits of Plate Armor too.
"Plate Armor is too heavy."
Annan pointed out that the Count's malnourished men, after drifting at sea, couldn't bear dozens of pounds of Plate Armor. He gave him only ten suits, one for each of his ten Warriors.
They pressed on, growing steadily more practiced at "accepting inheritances" from the ruins along their route. The dead were gone, but what they left behind would help the living.
The closer they drew to Sorlen Heights, the slower the group advanced.
Ratfolk appeared