Capítulo 188: New Enemies Appeared, and... New Allies Made?(5)
At the village, Rodeo and Daniela were walking along after saying their goodbyes to Donna and Angie and leaving their house to look for the Duke and his carriage since they got some Leu (Romanian currency) that Daniela brought in case the Duke gives the information in exchange for money. Around them, the villagers were either busy doing their own activities or were staring at the two as they passed through the village. Unbeknownst to everyone though, they all didn't notice the G-man, who was standing on top of the roof of a house, watching Rodeo from a distance before strolling away.
"Back at Donna's house, your words didn't seem to be lies or were said in a way to make her think that you understand what she's been through, they were true." Daniela told Rodeo as she recalled what happened back at Donna's house.
"That they were."
"You know, we have-"
"Done some very wrong things under Miranda's orders?" Rodeo finished her sentence.
"Y-Yes."
"...You still see me as an enemy, and I understand that." Rodeo nodded, "Now I may or may not be sure what type of things you did, but judging how Lady Dimitrescu was talking about blood and Miranda about the Cadou, they were bad in nature."
To Rodeo, what he said is a complete lie, because in reality, he was actually aware of what they did from his knowledge of Resident Evil 8. Moreau's lycan experiments, Karl's soldat army, Dimitrescu's various blood-obtaining methods and Miranda's search for the perfect vessel... all of it. But Rodeo needed to tell Daniela in such a way that they wouldn't know or suspect him of knowing everything about their operations down to the very last detail.
"Look, if our mother doesn't take blood, she can't keep herself alive," Daniela explained
"So you'll kill people for it rather than use other ways of obtaining blood like from animals or medical blood bags?"
"We... could, but hunting animals was mostly a good idea and successful, but the lycans haven't made it easy to hunt since most of our animal prey numbers have been significantly reduced by them, and medical blood bags are possible to obtain, but we never considered it because we are used to taking blood from people in our way."
"I understand, but that doesn't mean you can take away lives just to get what you want, as you were planning to do to Anna."
"We do what we do to survive, Rodeo. Fate decides our destiny and now we are what we are. We can't change it."
"Perhaps" Rodeo mumbled as he continued walking forward till he noticed a carriage in the distance, "Is that the one?"
"Yes, this is it."
Soon later, Rodeo and Daniela stopped in front of the wooden horse carriage with the back doors of the carriage closed, but they could hear snoring sounds coming from inside.
Daniela could only sigh, "Who's gonna wake him up?" she asked, and soon noticed Rodeo went forward and yelled out loudly.
"Wake the hell up, Duke! We got some money to burn!"
"...Huh? What? Wait! I'll be with you shortly."
After hearing loud noises that can be heard from the inside, the back doors of the carriage open to reveal an extremely large man rolling into view, pushing the doors open wider to reveal an odd assortment of objects such as some food, weaponry and other items on the shelves attached to the doors and inside the carriage.
This was the Duke.
[IMAGES]
The man known as the Duke turned to face the two and gave a jovial grin, "Well, if it ain't Daniela Dimitrescu and the outsider of unknown origins, Mr. Rodeo."
"You know my name?"
"You have been the talk of the village since yesterday, and I saw it as well." The Duke laughed, "Your fight was a spectacle to behold, to be honest, but fate always has something planned for individuals like you."
"Yeah, that it does."
"So how may I assist you two? I have everything you need right here." The Duke remarked, gesturing to the various items he possessed.
"We need a map to the underground sections of the village."
"Why though?" The Duke asked in curiosity.
Daniela responded, "We believe we might have some unknown group digging tunnels since we saw a few underneath House Beneviento."
"Well, I do have an old set of maps related to the village's old mining tunnels, but everything has a price to it." he said with a smirk on his face.
"Will this do?" Rodeo asks as he raises his hand and displays a pouch stuffed with money.
"Ah, yes, that will do just fine."
Rodeo gave him the Leus-filled pouch and the Duke gave them the maps in exchange.
"Is there anything else that you need?"
"Do you have any weaponry?"
Daniela jerked her head to Rodeo's direction with a grave expression and retorted, "Wait! Mother also told me to make sure you don't be armed with anything, and you already have your explosive powers, so why need weapons?"
"Because whoever these guys or this Aether are, they might have deadly weaponry with them, and while my explosives abilities are useful, getting more weapons might even the playing field for us and a combination with my explosive abilities can prove useful."
"I still do not allow this."
"Do you want your mother and sisters' safe from this aether or not?"
Staring at Rodeo for a brief moment, Daniela bit her lips and could only groan, "...I'll allow it, but only use them when I need it and against the unknown group."
"I will." Rodeo replied, returning his gaze to the Duke, "So what do you have?"
"I have handguns, shotguns, rifles, and so on, along with their ammunition, but judging by how much Leu you have left, you can only take two weapons with you and a couple of ammunitions."
"Then give me a 1911 handgun and a M1897 pump action shotgun with their ammunition as well."
The Duke nodded and handed him over the weapons and their ammunition, while Rodeo handed him the remaining leu.
"Pleasure doing business with you two, if you need anything, you'll just find me anywhere."
"Yeah, we will. Later, Duke." Rodeo smiled as he and Daniela walked over to Moreau's place while looking at the maps.
"According to the maps, there were multiple mining tunnels and caves underneath the village or far from it, some of them close to your castle as well." Rodeo added, "We can't look through all of the mines in one day."
"So what do you think we should do now? Bela and Cassandra are doing their jobs, and while we're getting more clues, we're not getting a definite answer to our questions. Just who are we dealing with? Are you sure you coming here didn't bring a threat along with you?"
"I'm not sure, but for now keep the maps with you, we can't afford to lose them. If they're using the mining tunnels to move around, they might be planning something, and if it's related to what Anna saw, we need to be ready."
"Right."
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[IMAGES]
In the outskirts of the village, the two were looking over the Reservoir from a small cliff, observing many small houses made of wood submerged beneath the water and the windmills standing tall. They noticed some fishermen on wooden row boats fishing in the reservoir's waters.
"Quite a place to look at," Rodeo commented as he was observing the surroundings. While Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento were both grand and immaculate in their appearance, it seems Moreau had drawn the short end of the stick. While the reservoir was pretty large, it appeared run-down and all around, uncared for.
"True." Daniela nodded before turning to face another direction, "Come on, there is a windmill that leads into the mines where Moreau stays."
With a nod of his head, Rodeo knew why he and Daniela were here. So the two set off for the windmill, passing by a few fishermens who were minding their own business. They just went right past them and entered the rickety old windmill.
Inside, they found a flight of stairs with a yellow sign next to it that read 'Reservoir elevator' with an arrow pointing down the steps. They descended them and sure enough, reached a lift at the end. Even that wasn't as advanced as the lifts Rodeo found at Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento, this one was made almost entirely of wood with a bulky metal lever to control it.
Entering the lift, Rodeo reached out and with a little effort, managed to push the lever. The lift began to travel down with the sound of rotating gears being heard overhead. The trip wasn't all that long and eventually they arrived at what seemed to be some kind of underground tunnel network.
Walking out of the lift, they began making their way through the dark tunnels. Beneath them were a series of puddles that splashed as they walked across them. A foul odor filled the air which made Daniela cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve and mutter.
"Ugh, it stinks in here as usual, he never cleans."
"You can say that again." Rodeo responded by doing the same gesture.
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Standing in the far end of a small wooden outpost inside the mines was one of the four lords, Salvatore Moreau, who was watching a television that currently was only playing static.
"...This is fine."
"Yo, Moreau."
"Blurghhhhh!" Moreau puked a large amount of acid on the wooden floor, before turning around to see Rodeo and Daniela. "Oh, it's you." he rambled in a groggy tone.
"Are you still mad about yesterday?"
"Yes!" Moreau responded with an angry tone.
"Look, I just came to visit so that I can find out how you do your work here and be part of your... family, as Miranda said."
Sighing underneath his breath, Moreau explained, "I'm only bearing you because Mother Miranda said so, but anyways, do you see that jar?" he asked, pointing to a jar on a table.
Rodeo turned in the direction he was pointing and noticed a jar on a table right near the window with something inside. It was the cadou parasite.
"So that's what it looks like?" Rodeo said, while knowing what it looked like but not wanting to raise suspicion.
"Yes. You see, by combining human, wolf blood, and the cadou, the lycans were created, but so were other variants such as the Varcolac and Urias you fought yesterday."
"So this cadou creates unique mutations for different people or with other blood cells as well, resulting in a different set of changes to the body's biology and also gives unique powers?"
"You are correct."
Rodeo asked, "...How long have you been doing this?"
"We've been doing this since the last century, and Miranda was actually the one who discovered the cadou first and created the lycans before us four lords ever showed up."
"And you've kept this hidden from the village?"
"Well, some know, some don't, or are too afraid to stand up to us."
"And why do you do it? Because mother Miranda told you to?"
"Yes, and because of you humiliating us yesterday, she might think of you as a powerful new member and abandon us. Abandon me! I'm her son even though we are not related in blood, but you ruined it all yesterday! Made me look bad!"
"You see her as a mother figure?"
"Absolutely!" Moreau whispers as he starts tearing up. "I just want to make her proud. *sniff* I just want to be the best son to her."
"Moreau, I didn't want to humiliate you in front of the village or make you look like a failure in Miranda's eyes. I just didn't... think about how you felt about things, especially with Miranda, otherwise I would have surrendered right in front of your feet yesterday."
"You *sniff* would have?"
Rodeo shrugs, "Yeah, I would have, if I wasn't so focused on myself that day. Sometimes you need to understand what others really want before thinking about yourself, something which I didn't do yesterday." he explained confidently before his eyes narrowed, "But Moreau, you turned people into monsters, you know that right?"
Moreau went on a distressed face, "I just did what mother told me to do. I just wanted to make her proud and be like a son to her. Not feel useless. Not be left behind. Alone... in the darkness, you won't forgive us for what we did to the people, right?"
"I would never forgive ANY of you for what you did to these people, but I can understand your reasons for why you did it, but that doesn't mean I will never forgive any of your actions that were done here... ever."
"...I see. Thanks for telling me."
"Your welcome," Rodeo said with a smile, his gaze fixed on the television and a grave expression, "Do you watch static on that only?"
"I always do."
"Have you ever tried watching something on it by using a VHS player or some other device connected to it?"
"Nope. I always watch it like this."
"Good grief, this is outrageous, and I will not stand for this! We need TV! We need shows, movies and above all else... anime on it!" Rodeo yells out with his eyes glowing intensely with determination. "Moreau, where can we get some electronics?!"
"Woah, you really are serious about getting my TV fixed, aren't you?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Y E S !"
"...Maybe you'll find the things you want from Heisenberg's factory."
"Neat." Rodeo grinned if not for his stoic face, still he couldn't hold any longer to get some good entertainment for once in a while. "Moreau, have you also noticed any suspicious activities going on in these mines or somewhere deeper?" he asked.
"Well, the mine you're in is small and all other paths leading deeper were never dug further or made, why do you ask?"
Rodeo responded by explaining everything regarding Anna and the tunnels underneath Donna and Angie's house, which caused Moreau to feel taken back.
"Dear god."
"There's more."
"Noooo..."
"I still don't know who might be doing this, but if they have bad intentions and want this village and everyone dead, they're planning something big. So Moreau, if those tunnels in this mine show any activity or you hear anything suspicious, I need you to take them out."
Moreau nodded, "Alright."
"And with that we are done." Rodeo announced before turning to face Daniela, "Now let's move out to Heisenberg's factory, then we're basically done for today."
"Right, but I should warn you, uncle Heisenberg can be a bit difficult to talk with, and after yesterday's events, I highly doubt he'll give you a warm welcome."
"Well, we can't stop." Rodeo replied, gazing back at Moreau and waving his hand at him, "See you around, Moreau."
"You too, I guess."
As Daniela and Rodeo left Moreau's room and made their way to Heisenberg's factory, neither of them noticed the G-man's face appearing on the static TV before vanishing.
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It was already noon in the village, Rodeo and Daniela were heading down a road which leads to Heisenberg's factory. After leaving Moreau's territory, there was silence between them until Daniela asked.
"Rodeo?"
"Yeah?"
"Were you really serious about not forgiving any of us?"
"Daniela, where are you going with this?"
"Where I'm going with this is that I believe you have no desire in being part of Miranda's family and only want to bring us down."
"Are you…?"
"Worried about my mother and sister's safety because of you? Yes, I am! I don't even know which side you are on, Rodeo! You know we did horrible things, yet you feel bad for some of us, sympathize with us, and be honest with us, why?"
For a moment of silence, Rodeo stares at Daniela with his usual stoic face before explaining, "...Because I feel conflicted. You all did bad things for a reason. For survival, by accident, or because you were told to do it. If you think I'm gonna stop all of you or go to the outside world and tell of this village's existence, then you might be right, and yet I don't know if I should."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I just don't know, Daniela. Can we please move now?"
"...Alright."
Deciding to forget this conversation, the two continued heading down the road to Heisenberg's factory. In Rodeo's mind, he truly wants to stop the four houses and Miranda, yet some in his eyes just didn't feel deserving the fists of justice and, at the same time, he can't forgive them for what they did in the village.
Even though he viciously slain every single one of them without remorse in the game, this time this was reality, real life, and he felt conflicted.
For one, Alcina was cruel and ruthless, yet she had a great deal of genuinely care for her daughters which was admirable to an extent. With that, Rodeo didn't want to separate her and her daughters from each other by taking her out and becoming a bad guy in their daughter's eyes.
Donna, on the other hand, had lost her family and was only looking for someone to be with and not be alone, despite the fact that she may have caused accidental harm with her hallucination flowers on people which Rodeo is immune to.
Moreau, much like Donna he is like a lost child needed for affection, just wanted attention and didn't want to be tossed aside or treated as unimportant by the others, and he was willing to do anything which involved following Miranda's orders. He didn't know whether anyone should be given a chance at redemption, a second chance to fix their mistakes, or deserve the fists of justice. He simply just doesn't know at all what he should do.
'Damn it.'
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