Can you still be good after you've played evil too well?
The answer is no, you can't.
Not really.
Rei and I reached the Oni Shacks, seeing some adults shuffle between the dirt streets. Rei recognized a few of them, called out and greeted. Their eyes lingering moreso on the Poncho and Golden Insignia than her face.
Even their eyes are magnetized to the sign of authority, no matter who wears it. Regardless, none of them took her seriously enough. Might've seen her as another oblivious teenager being a pawn of a basic human ranchmaster.
Disgusting, but I've come to accept it for what it is.
This place…this area was just as bad I remembered it to be. Poorly kept, but the Oni are trying everything in their power to keep it tidy and clean. It's not their fault, it's the system. This doesn't even mirror half of their skills, though. Most of them are nurses, accountants, and even store clerks inside the inner realms of Korioh Landings. Not just...miners or ones who take care of crops.
They work alongside humans, at least near the main entrance and lobby. They have actual...actual jobs.
Ah, and I remember the days of my ignorance where I blamed their shortcomings on karma. What a load of bullshit that was.
Despite everything, it felt medium-busy. I must've came here at a peak time last time around, all the Oni would have been at work. But some were resting, off maybe. Unlike some other forms of crueler slavery, every oni had a certain shift that came with their job, just like real life did.
Do your task, and get out as fast as you can.
Still, despite of it, none of it granted freedom.
Rei and I walked, felt like a mimic of a town that I never knew. Last time was a ghost town, but now? Reminded me of a lesser version of New Marell.
I remember the path, the route and everything. My knuckles colliding with a wooden door. Rei's Grandmother's house. Or what remained of it.
But Rei herself was a bit…paranoid, I guess. Looking around, her eyes darting from Oni to Oni. Maybe waiting on someone? Whole point was that I did not believe that there were children not here.
So far, I haven't found any.
And the one person who could help me, with good intent or not, could be her grandmother.
The door widened open, and it was none other than her grandmother. Different in color though, didn't notice that on my first time around.
"Grandmother Kon!" Rei calls out, although it's moreso a call for identity than for greeting. She smiles warmly, and there I go remember again. She's blind. Can't tell anything.
She feels for Rei's hand, and can tell. Smiling greatly, next was my turn, and she was slightly taken aback.
"M-Master Lucien?" She asks. I smile, even though I know she won't see it.
"Yeah, it's me."
She invited for us to head inside, and Rei was going to proceed. But what I was going to ask her grandmother couldn't be a makeshift Breakfast Roulette. I've seen one how fast Rei can get uncomfortable.
Don't need to see it again.
I put a hand on her shoulder, the poncho. "Hey, stay outside for a moment."
She was initially confused, her eyes darted around in the streets. Apprehensive again. Uncomfortable again.
Whatever was out there, was something she didn't want to meet. That was for sure.
But I didn't want to do that while asking personal questions she wasn't comfortable with yet either.
Lose-Lose.
"R-Really…? Do I need to?" She asks. This is the first time she's ever really directly questioned my command. But, I understand. Bargaining, she thinks it is.
I nod, "Yeah. Adults will be talking. You have my Poncho, you have the star. If anyone questions you, boss them around."
My smiles widens.
"You're Lucien now."
She nervously laughed, maybe shy. Slowly understanding what that entails. I won't really explain, it's up to her and think what I really do.
"O-ok…!" She agrees, and turns walking away.
"Don't go too far!"
I reassure her.
"...and definitely don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
I shut the door.
Business time, now.
Grandma Kon is already walking back, probably to sit on a rocking chair like she did last time. I don't sit yet, I still have my manners. But before I could do anything, she speaks first.
"Taken a liking into Rei…have you?"
I furrow a brow, and even can't hide how…how appalled I am. A direct accusation, and I don't know if Rei may be behind the door listening. That's how curious she is.
But even then, I have no reason to lie. I want the truth. And the only way I can get there, is not by lying.
I sit down on a worn out sofa. "She's bright, smart. Amazing, helps out when she can. Anyone would take a liking into her."
Grandma Kon subtly laughs. "I sure have. She's a sweet soul, naive, but sweet."
Naive when she wants to be, Grandma. You haven't played Breakfast Roulette and give Rei bait to an answer she really wants.
"I agree. Sweet." Comes out from my mouth instead.
There's a soft silence. A little bit of tension. Not cutthroat, not suffocating either. There.
Grandma Kon then speaks.
"...just…make her feel nice, okay? She…she has her own set of problems, we all do."
I nod, even knowing she can't see it. "Will do."
But yes, she's not wrong to say that all the Oni have their problems. Rei's? Bright tomato skin that sets apart from the rest. More like a shiny variant than anything really.
"You know, she's talked a lot about you." Grandma Kon says.
For once, I'm amused. "Really?"
"Oh yes. During the times she comes home, she does. She marvels at you, nothing but compliments and praises for you. She really does admire you a lot."
I laugh softly. Sweet coming from Rei. Just another role model for her I assume. We are not that far apart in age, so it makes sense.
"...sometimes she does get attached too quickly."
The tone of her voice…it didn't seem to be good. None of that was treated as a joke or a slight jab. My laughter dies down awkwardly.
Rei being attached to quickly does not seem like a good thing.
But Rei doesn't get attached too quickly. No, not at all to my memory. She's her own person. Hell, she writes in a journal I got for her.
I wanted to play it off as spite from Grandma Kon, maybe to run me away from Rei? I have to reassure her I'm not doing anything bad to her.
"We are talking about the same Rei? She's pretty much independent. Does what I tell her, does her tasks, and writes away pretty much."
Grandma Kon laughs at my attempt, I don't think she bought it once.
"I'm surprised you haven't already seen it."
"Seen what?"
"Her tendencies."
I scoff, "What? She's Oni just like the rest of you. There's no harm in having a little role model to look up to, right?"
She scoffs back, "A ranchmaster for a role model? Can you hear yourself?"
I bite my lip, shaking my head. Poor analogy made in poor taste.
"I apologize. I take it back."
"At least you have the decency of a regular person, unlike other ranchmasters. If Rei wanted to climb into your skin and wear it, she would."
There was a silent pause.
I didn't even get to digest her compliment made towards me before she told me about Rei. I didn't believe it. And yet, there's still no damn way I can tell if this old hag is lying.
"Grandma Kon, surely you don't believe that, right?"
"I've known her since she was born. It's a stage—cycle almost. She gets attached to one ranchmaster, take a certain trait from them, and that's even saying if the ranchmaster doesn't punish her in bad taste."
My eyes narrow, "There's been more than one?"
"More than I can count. Flugel was the only one who remained from year to year. And almost each year, Rei suffers from her attachment issues."
"Maybe you're wrong." The venom is laced in my words. I don't take a brief moment to realize that I'm defending Rei here.
She laughs, mocking even. "Me? I'm wrong? Please, go on and tell me."
"How do you think Rei got into books?"
"Natural habit," I reply.
"And how she learned to garden?"
"Part of her job in the quadrant."
"Ohoho, and also do tell me about her stalking endeavors?"
"She—"
Wait.
What?
She laughs at my silence. Even more so. Coughing hardly.
"I…I…" I can't say anything. I don't say anything.
First, I thought it was Jex. That maybe she had her own trauma and problems. Then I realized all the Oni do. That this was all something that had to deal with.
I never really included 15 year old Rei, into this.
Never did.
I don't know, I thought she would be different. It's hard to give a 15 year old like Rei trauma when she's had a normal upbringing albeit different from the norms. She's never really had a problem other than occasional punishments.
So, if nobody could've gave her a problem.
Why did she give herself a disorder, almost?