When the party finally finished travelling for the night, Megumi climbed down from the saddle and stretched her legs. The spot where they had chosen to camp was in a sort of alcove within the rock next to the road, but the only way that monsters could approach them was from the road. A sheer cliff face was at their backs that had to be at least fifty feet tall. Poro-tan was setting up their tent while Kieren rubbed down the horses and then tied them to a large outcropping of rock that stuck up out of the earth nearby.

Once their large tent had been set up, Megumi went inside and prepared the bedding for the three of them. There was more than enough room and Kieren had agreed that it made the most sense to only use one tent in case they had to run in the middle of the night or if nothing else, it would be faster to break camp in the morning. While she set up she heard the two men outside talking while they made a fire.

"The best way to start a fire is to stack the wood up like this, see."

"No. It's better to build a little cabin. Trust me."

"What would a high and mighty lord know about survival stuff?"

"More than you apparently."

The two of them were joking around as they bantered back and forth and she ignored the rest of their conversation. it wasn't really very interesting to her. When she got outside once more the fire had already been lit; the wood had been configured in the shape of a little cabin, and the two men were warming their hands in front of the fire. Megumi joined them.

"How much further will we need to go in the morning, do you know?"

"We made good time today, even considering the incident with the troll and horses, so we should be able to get to the town by mid-afternoon so long as we don't have any more problems along the way I think," Kieren answered.

 

"Have you been to Feng before?" Hideki asked Kieren.

"Not in years. I came to handle a monster subjugation quest. Monsters had overrun the mine and a team of us went in and cleared them out. At the time, they hadn't been using orphans to mine the ore. That was only a recent development." 

Megumi turned around to warm her back and rubbed her hands together as she thought about what he had said. She wondered who was behind the whole orphanage thing and made a mental note to herself to find out and pay that person a visit one day. A gust of wind brought frigid air into the alcove and she shuddered despite being in front of the fire.

It was time to turn in. She had no desire to sit out here exposed to the elements. The sky appeared to be darkening and she wouldn't be surprised if they got snowed on tonight. "Megu is going to sleep."

"Don't you want to eat something? We have some dried meat."

"No thanks. Megu ate while we rode. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She made her way inside the tent and heard the two of them talking about taking turns keeping watch. She didn't intend to do that at all, either. Poro-tan didn't exactly need a lot of sleep, and he could take her shift. She crawled under her blankets and snuggled up as best she could. In just a few minutes she had fallen asleep.

---

 

Megumi awoke to Poro-tan shaking her shoulder gently. "Hey. It's sunrise. You wanted to wake up early, right?"

She slowly sat up and blinked at him. "Right. Was there any trouble last night?"

He shook his head.

"Great. Let's get everything put away and go. Megu wants to finish this job and get back down where it's warmer already."

When she stepped out of the tent she was greeted with the sight of about a foot of fresh snow. The sky was overcast, but it was calm at least. She shivvered in the frigid mountain air and Poro-tan got to work breaking down the tent and putting away all the belongings. Kieren stood next to the fire. She wondered if they had kept it going all night. There was a kettle sitting atop some coals to the side of the small firepit and he smiled to her as she approached.

"Would you like some tea? It'll help warm you up."

She nodded, doing everything she could to keep her teeth from chattering. He poured some of the green liquid into a metal cup and handed it over to her. Steam steadily rose from the liquid gold and she held the warm cup against her fingers for a moment, letting the warmth run into her cold hands. It smelled good and he said that it was called green tea; a fitting name for it she supposed.

After taking a few sips and feeling the warm liquid spread down into her stomach, she felt more awake than she had before. It was surprising, but the warm beverage had really made a difference in her morning. "Thanks. It's really good."

"You're welcome. Once he's done putting away the tent we can get moving."

"Sounds good. Megu can't wait to rid the world of those scumbags."

He nodded his agreement and then went off to help Poro-tan get the camp packed up. She helped herself to another cup of the warm tea while they did their thing. 

"What can you tell us about the people who live in Feng?" she asked.

"There isn't much to tell. Last time I was there, it was mostly miners. No one had their families here, if they had families at all, and there was only one inn and a general store in the whole town. There are large quantities of precious minerals deep within the mountain and although it's dangerous work, it attracts a lot of people seeking to dig it up."

"Do you think they know about the experiments?" Poro-tan asked.

Kieren hesitated for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "I couldn't imagine they would know. At least... I hope they aren't so horrible as to let something like that happen under their noses."

Megumi wasn't so sure that the people in the town wouldn't know about it. Something like that would be hard to hide in a small place. She would assume the town was rotten to the core until proven otherwise. They put out the fire and then got back atop their mounts. The next several hours were some of the coldest, most boring hours that she had spent since leaving the dungeon behind. There wasn't anything to look at other than snow and more snow. They finally reached the top of the mountain and just over the ridge, nestled into what looked like a humongous crater, stood a tiny town.

Smoke billowed out of several buildings and she thought she could see the building that was likely the orphanage off in the distance by the far mountainside. It was larger than the other buildings in town and even from this distance, she could tell that it looked to be shabby looking.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Kieren asked.

"Megu is more than ready. Megu is eager. Let's go."

The group followed the road down into the town and she stared around at the snow covered roofs and empty streets. The place looked dead to her, and she supposed that most everyone here would still be down in the mines at this time of day. 

"Why build an orphanage way up here anyway? If there aren't any families here, then where do all the orphans come from?"

"Ah... well that's the thing. Children make for good mine workers as they can fit into all kinds of tight spaces. The lord of this town actually pays nearby villages to send their orphans his way. In exchange for food and shelter, the town has the children work in the mines. It's despicable if you ask me." He spat to the side.

It was infuriating that things like this were allowed to happen. She would definitely be paying a visit to this city lord before they left, with or without Kieren's knowledge. 

Kieren shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're here to stop the experiments, not stop the mining operation. It's sad, but that's the hand the kids were dealt. At least they will have a roof over their heads. Let's get a room at the inn and we can spend some time figuring out how we want to approach the problem."

This is unacceptable. They are human beings, not cattle.  

Painful memories rushed to the surface of her mind and her face grew hot with anger. It took everything she had to suppress the feelings she had when she thought of her own time spent in one of those horrible establishments. The pieces of trash needed to pay.

The group continued through the small village and Megumi formulated a plan in her mind. Just as they arrived at the inn, she spoke up before they dismounted to go inside.

"Megu has a plan. Megu will play the part of an orphan that you two are bringing here to sell. This way, we can infiltrate the orphanage and figure out what is happening inside."

Kieren looked at her incredulously, but before he could protest, she urged her horse into motion and headed directly towards the orphanage. A moment later, Kieren caught up to her.

"Hold on. This plan is rash. You know what is happening in that place, why should you needlessly put yourself into danger? We should think things through more. I don't care how powerful you are, going in there alone is suicide."

"They won't expect it. Megu will have the element of surprise," She didn't stop and just kept going in the direction of her destination. She was determined that this would be the best way to take the place down. Charging in with their swords drawn would not work, no matter how she looked at it.

"Her mind is made up, man. Give it up," Poro-tan said from behind her.

Kieren let out an exasperated noise and threw up his hands. "Fine. If you're going to do it, then at least look the part. You're way too well dressed and your hair is too well kept. We need to dirty you up first. Follow me."

Kieren directed his mount into a dark looking alleyway and Megumi followed. His reasoning about her appearance was sound; she didn't look the part of an orphan. The three of them dismounted and Kieren got to work dirtying her clothes with some exposed dirt that lie between the houses where the snow had been unable to accumulate. The dirt was more like mud and he threw it on her. She rubbed the filth into her clothes and then retrieved a small knife from her inventory bag; cutting holes into her clothing at various points. In a few minutes they had her looking pretty disheveled.

"It's not perfect, but it will be believable enough. Do you have a way to keep your item bag hidden by chance? I can't condone you going in there unarmed no matter what you say," Kieren said in a stubborn tone.

"Megu doesn't need her staff to cast spells, but there is something that she can use to hide the bag."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a medium sized teddy bear. She grinned and shoved her item bag inside of the back and then activated the bear's special enchantment. The back sealed up and looked just like any other sealed stuffed animal. It didn't weigh anything more than normal and she didn't think that an orphan holding onto a stuffed teddy bear was anything suspicious. It would work. It had to. Satisfied that she had done all she could as far as going in armed, she tossed the bear over to Kieren for him to give it a once over. 

"This will work I think." Kieren said.

"Are you sure about this, Megumi?"

"Yes. This is the best plan to take them out without having a ton of chimeras to fight all at once."

"How long do you intend to infiltrate the place for? We will need to come for you sooner than later. We don't know how many chimeras they have actually been able to create, or how many enemies are inside. For that matter, we have very little information at all."

"Megu will find out as much as possible from the orphans and take action only if necessary. Megu will try to find a way to get outside and leave a note for you hidden by the fence of the property. Check there once per day, and if anything goes wrong, Poro-tan will know and come running. Megu has a way to get in touch with him."

Kieren looked over at her pet with a puzzled look on his face. "How do you contact him?"

"You don't need to worry about how."

"If we're going to work together, you're gonna need to learn to be a bit more trusting than that, Megu-chan."

"Just drop it. You don't really want to know," Poro-tan said.

"Fine. I'll drop it for now, but think about it at least. We're a team now, and we shouldn't keep secrets from one another; especially ones that might help us all get this job done safely. Let's get a move on."

Megumi just nodded and got back onto her mount.

Megu's child-like appearance will come in handy once again after all. Going into an orphanage again is something Megu would have never predicted that she'd do again.

A couple mintues later and the large structure of the orphanage loomed in front of them. The building was surrounded by a tall metal fence and there was a gate with a guard house next to it in front. Razor sharp wire lined the top of the sturdy looking fence and she couldn't help but think that the place resembled a prison more than a place for children to be taken care of. She gripped the reigns tightly and swallowed a bit of apprehension that was trying to bubble to the surface of her mind as the gatekeeper exited his little shack and swung the gate wide open at their approach.

The man was one of the boniest men that she had ever seen. He reminded her of one of her skeletons with his tight skin and sunken eyes. He was half bald and frowned at the party as he approached. The three of them dismounted and she did her very best to look meek and sad while they headed inside the property.

"What business do you have here?" He eyed Megumi appraisingly.

"We heard that you buy orphans. We brought you one." Poro-tan shoved her forward and she stumbled and fell onto the ground.

Megu is a great actor! 

The ground was cold and she stayed there for a moment, letting out a soft whimper before getting back up to her feet. The bony man let out a snort and stepped over to her.

"This little wisp of a thing won't last a week down in the mines. She's got no muscle and looks half starved."

"You don't want her then?" Kieren asked.

"I didn't say that. She won't be very useful, but... we can find other things for her to do around here maybe if she can't pull her weight in the mines." There was a glint in the man's eye that she didn't like one bit.

It was time for her to continue putting on her show. She thought about a particularly sad moment in her life, and it was easy to force tears into her eyes. She backed away from the bony man, who also smelled awful, and got behind Kieren. She grabbed onto his shirt and looked at him pleadingly. "Please! Don't leave me here. I'll do anything! Just don't leave me in this horrible place."

"Shut up, girl. Can't you see we're negotiating here?" Kieren yelled at her and shoved her away hard.

She flopped to the ground once more and continued crying. 

"Mouthy one, isn't she? We'll beat that out of her in time. The standard rate is 2000 GP. Take it or leave it. We don't negotiate."

Kieren and Poro-tan exchanged a look and then reluctantly agreed to the price. Megumi had gotten back up and had continued sniffling quietly as the man led them towards the orphanage. The large wooden door creaked loudly as he opened it and she noted that the inside of the structure was only warmer by a small margin than the outside. It brought back terrible memories of huddling together with her sister, after not having eaten enough in a cold attic of the orphanage she had stayed in.

There was a notable absence of noise and she supposed it was due to the fact that all of the children were probably in the mines or being experimented on somewhere in this place. She frowned and rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her dirty shirt.

"Wait here. Don't wander off. I will go get the head mistress and your money," The old man shoved the door shut and then headed up the creaky staircase that stood to the side of the large entryway. A few moments later, a large woman with short cut brown hair came waddling down the staircase with the bony man.

"I hear you have a poor unfortunate soul in need of rescue. We will gladly take her in. My name is Theresa."

She waddled over to Megumi and grabbed her face between her plump fingers and squeezed. "Not much to you, is there girl? Worry not, we will find some work for you and in exchange you get to live in our lovely home."

Megumi had to stifle a laugh when the woman called the dilapidated building a nice home. She noted that the woman had a large ugly mole on her right cheek and Megumi had to stifle the urge to vomit when the woman got close to her. It seemed as though neither of the two people in charge of this place ever bathed. The smell was appalling and Megumi wanted nothing more than for the woman to let go of her face so she could get a few feet back.

"She's a cute one, albeit she's pretty flat. I'm surprised you're selling her to us, rather than somewhere... that pays better. No matter though, we're always happy to have more help around here. If you're a good girl, you'll find that life here isn't so bad. However... if you're naughty, well then... let's just say we have ways of dealing with bad little girls. Do you understand?"

The woman finally let go of her face and she stepped a few feet back. She did her best to look frightened, and truthfully, she didn't really know what she was getting herself into here, but she nodded to the woman. "I understand, miss Theresa."

Theresa smiled at her and seemed to accept her act of meekness. The large woman turned her attention to her two companions once more and handed over a money pouch that clinked as she completed the exchange. "Thank you for your patronage. If you run across any more unfortunate souls in need of shelter, bring them to us, alright, boys?"

Her companions nodded and the bony man led them back through the doors leaving her alone with the portly woman. After a few long seconds the woman turned, her demeanor shifting from kindness to cruelty.

"Well, don't just stand there crying all day, girl. Pull yourself together. You can sleep in one of the rooms upstairs on the third floor, I don't care which. Any time you're not working the mines, you'll be doing chores. You will get two meals a day. One in the morning, one at night, only so long as you're good though. There are a few other kids who cannot work in the mines that are cleaning the west wing today. You're free to go just about anywhere you want, but stay out of the basement in the north wing of the building. Children who don't do as they're told are beaten on the first offense, and you don't want to know what happens to you after that. Understand all of that?"

Megumi pulled herself out of her thoughts and nodded. It wasn't easy pretending to be meek, when she really wanted to turn this monster of a woman into a pool of goop on the floor. Gritting her teeth she turned and was about ready to head off into the direction she had been told to go in when the woman grabbed her arm tightly.

"I'll be taking that stuffed bear of yours. If you're good, then you can have it back later tonight. Good little girls are rewarded, you see?" Theresa yanked the teddy bear out of Megumi's hand.

Megu is going to get her bag back and fucking kill you if you hurt that teddy bear in any way!

Defiance must have touched her eyes when she stared at the woman because a second later her entire world was spinning and she hit the floor with a loud thud. Her face stung and she knew it was getting red. She looked up at the woman who was frowning down at her.

"I don't like the look you just gave me. Get out of my sight. You wont be getting this back today. Think about what you've done and try harder to learn your place!"

She hated the idea of not having her book and family portrait more than the lack of her various items, but she would play along, for now. She wiped the small drop of blood that was beginning to fall from her now swollen lip. Shoving down her pride she stood back up and looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Miss Theresa. I'll be good from now on, you'll see." She excused herself and headed to the west wing of the horrible building. Apologizing to that monster of a woman made her physically ill. She wanted to vomit but forced herself to keep walking. Megumi consoled herself by imagining blasting the woman at point blank range right in the face with her magic. The imagined image of Theresa's head exploding brought a small smile to her face.

Megu WILL work hard. Megu will work hard to burn this entire village to the ground for turning a blind eye to what is happening here, starting with you, bitch. Megu vows this here and now.