The Misadventures of Rodrick and his Assistant

For a couple of minutes, there was only a long and awkward silence.

'Ah!'

As if remembering something, Rodrick stood up and looked at the girl. She had been in a daze, never moving an inch from where she had initially fallen.

"You are a noble lady, aren't you?"

She stared back at him with hollow eyes.

"Come on, don't keep me tense. You must be one… right? I mean, your dress is so fancy and you're beautiful."

The girl finally showed a reaction, though it was only a single quiet nod.

"Yes!" With fists clenched, Rodrick inwardly celebrated before sitting back on the ground. Although he was in a damp room underground, he didn't seem to care at all.

At least he succeeded today's mission and was going to survive.

More time passed, in which he just sat there, minding his own business. He thought that talking to the girl would make her more scared, so he just kept quiet.

However, it didn't take long before he started mumbling under his breath. Unsurprisingly, he was talking to his most help Assistant.

"So I'm User 69 and you're Assistant 69?"

"Correct, user."

Rodrick let out a soft laugh as he thought of something, but that made the girl look at him.

Feeling embarrassed, he faked a cough and averted his gaze.

"User, what's so funny?"

"Nothing a stupid assistant like you could understand."

Against this rebuke, the A.I Assistant remained silent for approximately 5 minutes.

After that, it said,

"69 is sometimes used to refer to a sex position in which two people align themselves so that each person's mouth is near the other's genitals. Is that why it's funny, User?"

"It used to be a good joke, now you ruined it. Wait! Did you search for the meaning term? You have internet?!"

"I have a finite data base. I meticulously searched, user."

"Bullshit! You used google! Also, you refuse to answer questions not pertinent to the missions yet you asked about 69. What a hypocritical A.I."

"That isn't kind, User. I'm a newly made A.I and have a lot to learn. I can evolve and obtain more information to add to my data base."

Rordrick really wanted to hurl curses at it but he held himself back when he heard a soft young voice.

"Aren't you going to kill me?"

Unexpectedly, the girl spoke up. It has been almost half an hour since her kidnapping yet she neither talked nor moved.

Of course, such behavior didn't go unnoticed by Rodrick but it was none of his business. The girl probably held deep emotional scars that turned her like this. She could even have been abused.

"I told you I'll let you go at midnight. I'm not a killer."

Rodrick flashed a smile at her, but she just emotionlessly blinked at him.

She looked around the room, finding nothing of interest except the locked and rusted door which didn't even have a knob.

Another minute passed before she said,

"Just kill me." Her voice contained resignation and sadness.

"Can't do that, miss. I need you alive."

Rodrick shrugged his shoulders as he looked at him.

"You're not an assassin." She stated before pausing for a couple of seconds and then adding, "My family is rich, but they won't pay you money to get me back."

Rodrick, looking a bit annoyed, if not a little offended, responded, "I just need you to stay confined here until midnight miss. I couldn't care less about money."

'Actually, I do.' He thought to himself, but he simply knew he didn't have the ability to keep this girl here and demand a ransom without getting caught. Even if it was possible, he had basic human decency and wouldn't resort to such things.

"User, for a con artist, you have high moral standards."

"Your flattery is more fake than your feigned intelligence."

Another half an hour passed, in which the girl stood up, patted her dress and elegantly sat down in the corner of the room, hugging her knees.

She really had a doll-like face, long raven-black hair, and a pair of mesmerizing blue eyes. Even without the clothes, it was impossible to mistake her for a commoner.

Getting bored, Rodrick began pacing around before trying to open the door, which refused to open. Unfortunately, his luck for today had really run out. There was no way to get out of this room except with the device.

Time slowly crept by, with only a long silence flowing between the kidnapper and his captive.

"You were alone in the carriage. Don't you have bodyguards?"

Rodrick was simply curious, and a bit bored, so he struck a conversation.

"I do."

"Really? Hmm…" Rodrick gave her a thoughtful look.

As he mused, the girl asked him an unexpected question.

"Are you afraid of death, mister?"

"Yeah. I'm scared shitless of dying."

"..."

Seeing her hollow expression, Rodrick approached but he didn't get too close, then plopped on the ground.

"What's with a kid asking such a profound question? Wanna die?"

"I'm not afraid of death." She stated, her voice unwavering and expression unchanging.

"Really?" Rodrick tilted his head, "Am I supposed to be impressed? I'm not one for cliché, but kids from noble families are really pretentious, huh…"

As if ticked off by his remark, the girl kept her intense stare locked onto him,

"I'm not lying."

"Sure."

"I'm really not lying." She affirmed for a second time, but Rodrick just waved his hand at her,

"Instead of trying to sound deep, how about you tell me your name?"

"Why did you kidnap me, mister?"

"Tell me your name and you'll know."

The girl maintained a brief silence before answering,

"Elizabeth Dragonclaw."

She introduced herself seriously, but Rodrick frowned and then grimaced.

"Dragonclaw? Really?"

He thought of her last name as cringy and too unoriginal, so he naturally assumed she was lying to him.

"..."

"Your family name is really Dragonclaw?"

As she nodded to affirm, he shook his head,

"It's not my place to judge, I guess."

"What's your name, mister?"

"You're expecting your kidnapper to tell you his name? Joking joking, I'm Rodrick Dick."

For an instant, there was flash of surprise in her eyes, which turned gloomy.

"What? What's with that look? At least I'm not a Dragonclaw. Hey! I know you just thought of my last name as indecent!"

It was unknown if she would know what 'Dick' would mean, and Rodrick didn't elaborate, but her eyes conveyed her feelings. Choosing not to talk about such a topic with a child, Rodrick switched the subject,

"Anyway, I kidnapped you to keep you here until midnight."

"Why?"

"It might be complicated for a child, so I'll just say that there's a voice in my head that tells me to do things and I have to obey it."

She gave him a look that seemed to say 'Isn't that the case with everyone'.

"Tsk! It's true. I could die if I fail."

Another silence ensued, though for long as Elizabeth became slightly more talkative, possibly out of boredom.

"Are you really going to let me go, mister?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to die if you let me go. Can't you just kill me here?"

"You really are one gloomy kid, do you know that? I'm getting chills."

Rodrick rubbed his arms in an exaggerated way, but the girl kept giving the same eerie and piercing look.

"Okay okay! Since you seem eager to talk about it, I'll pretend to be curious. Why are you going to die?"

"My stepmother sent assassins to kill me."

"Wow!"

He looked surprised, but even a kid like herself could tell he was faking it.

"I was going to die in that carriage. They'll come after you, mister. If you kill me here, they won't."

"That sounds logical. Okay, if you want to die, why haven't you killed yourself?"

Elizabeth dropped her head and looked at the ground. It wasn't that Rodrick didn't believe her, he just knew she didn't want to die. No one would ever want to die, especially not a child.

"Are you an illegitimate child or something?"

"I'm the heir. My father was the head but he got sick and died a year ag-"

"Stop!"

As Rodrick shouted and raised his hand, Elizabeth got startled.

"Look, I'm not trying to be mean, okay? Just know this beforehand."

She nodded.

"I can't sympathize with rich people's problems. I try to, but it's hard."

"..."

Elizabeth kept her mouth shut, and though she tried to understand what he meant, her immaturity was apparent. It didn't matter how much she tried, she was still a child in Rodrick's eyes, so he didn't expand on his opinion.

"Carry on with your story, but do spare me the details. Let's see why you're such a gloomy and pretentious child."

Elizabeth flinched ever-so-slightly, seemingly annoyed that he, despite asking earlier, he didn't really look like he cared. He even kept calling her pretentious after all she had been through.

After that, Elizabeth spoke for about four minutes, uninterrupted by Rodrick. Put simply, she just explained how her stepmother wanted her to die and how she had dangerous people working for her. She wanted to scare Rodrick and make him not release her at midnight.

"So you were mistreated by the servants and despite being the heir, your villainous stepmother took everything. Quite cliché, if I do say so myself. Ahem, is the Dragonclaw Family great?"

"Yes. My father was a powerful magician."

"Who got sick and died. Not so powerful, was he?"

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed; she lifted her petite hand, and after a second, a purple fire appeared.

This made Rodrick shout like a little girl and back away!

"Ah! What in god's name is that!"

"Dragonfire." Proudly stated Elizabeth, her lips arching upwards a little as she saw his comical reaction. It was as if he was seeing magic for the first time.

Seeing the purple fire float just above her hand, Rodrick was truly shocked to the core. Sure, that bat-man wannabe did move like a superhuman, but that was different from seeing a little girl create fire out of thin air.

"You had that fire and you didn't fight back?"

Rodrick quickly collected himself and adjusted his tone, trying to sound calm and mature.

"..."

"You seem like the type who fights back, but I guess not." Rodrick shrugged.

There was no deeper meaning behind his offhanded comment, but it did strike a cord with Elizabeth.

"Can't you just kill me, mister?"

"No way I'm getting close to you. You'll burn me to death!"

The girl put down her hand, which made the flame vanish.

"Can you create a big ball of fire?"

She shook her head.

"Still, that was impressive. If you teach me, I can help you!"

He obviously said it as a joke, but she shook her head,

"I inherited the Dragonfire from my father."

Rodrick clicked his tongue and sat down, though he really did not get close to her.

When she stood up, he flinched and edged farther, however, she went to the door.

She thoroughly looked for a handle before trying to pull it open with raw strength. This made Rodrick laugh.

As the two didn't have anything to talk about anymore, they sat in silence for hours. Although he didn't know the exact time, Rodrick felt that it was close to midnight.

When he heard the System's buzzing sound, he jumped to his feet.

"It's midnight."

Elizabeth, who showed no signs of sleepiness, also stood up. Rodrick approached her and touched the tip of her dress before activating the device.

By the next second, they were in another place. From the cold breeze and the night sky above them, it was clear that they were teleported outside, somewhere in the Lineage District.

"See? I wasn't lying." Rodrick let go of her dress and smiled.

"Can you help me, mister? I can pay you alot."

"Nope. I'm a free-spirited person."

She stood there, her eyes as hollow as ever before. She was still resigned to die.

Seeing her like this, Rodrick sighed, "No matter how much power your stepmother has, you're still the heir. Either fight back or run away. You said your father cared for you, so he must've left something for you. I don't know… check the bank or a spot you two frequented. Who knows?"

Rodrick turned around and started walking away.

"Mister."

"No use begging, I got my own shit."

He did feel sympathy for Elizabeth, but that was all there was to it. Rodrick valued his life more than anything else, and a power struggle between a young heir and her stepmother would lower his survival chance.

"Thank you for not killing me."

As she spoke those words, he stopped and half-turned his head to look at her.

"Well, if you're thankful, don't let yourself die."

Thinking he said something manly, Rodrick resumed walking only to stop again. This time, she wasn't the one who made him pause, the System was the source.

Elizabeth watched the strange man stay quiet for a couple breaths before flaring up in anger. He shouted and cursed and then flailed around, which resulted in accidentally hurting his foot by kicking the wall.

Realizing his actions, he looked at her again and laughed before waving his hand, trying to look cool. Alas, the way he limped away had the opposite reaction.

A soft momentary laugh escaped Elizabeth's lips as she watched him swiftly rush to the corner and disappear from view.