Redempting Red

I, Silva Branwen, feel complicated with how things are between the Malachite twins and me these last few days. Since I spanked Melanie, she has been giving me a wide berth and hasn't tried to start anything with me to pass the time. I am not surprised, to be honest, but regardless I still feel unsatisfied with how I punished her for making me go through that brown-colored hell with the laxatives. But unfortunately, I had to compromise because I doubted Lil' Miss Malachite would take me mutilating her daughter lying down.

I sighed as I felt a complicated mix of emotions swirl within me; I am still angry with Melanie but also not, and I feel both gratitude and shame for Miltia. On the one hand, she helped me while I was in a bad state, and on the other hand, she saw me in a said bad state which was likely not a pretty picture. Whatever, if all goes well, I will be finished with this bodyguard gig tomorrow, and I am unlikely to see the two of them anytime soon. I dug out my Scroll and started surfing through the Cross-Continental Transmit System to see if there was anything interesting on it to kill time.

Considering the fact that Mistral is the largest producer of herbs and spices, there is no shortage of variety when it comes to food. From what I have seen so far, Mistral has a lot of oriental recipes, along with some that strike me as European, like French, English, German, Italian and Greek cuisine that I recognize from my travels back on Earth. Overall, Mistral can be considered a foody's dream, which woke up my old wanderlust from my previous life and wanted to leave the Branwen tribe behind me.

But I doubt Raven will let me run off anytime soon. I am still only 11 years old. Then there is Vernal; she will likely want to come with me if I want to travel and eventually attend Beacon with the main cast in RWBY, which will make Raven want to keep me in the tribe to prevent the Spring Maiden from disappearing. This is also part of the reason I want to repair the airship I got from the Hati tribe because it opens so many doors to the world of Remnant. Even with Raven's Semblance, she can't constantly stop me from leaving, especially if I become strong enough to deter her.

Seeing the sunset from the window, I decided to sleep for now and finally get paid tomorrow for babysitting the Malachite twins.

***

I am standing before Lil' Miss as I sign off on my bodyguard gig, but there are complications. Lil' Miss heard of Melanie's outing, and now I have to deal with the consequences.

" Now, Silva, while I do understand the circumstances of Melanie's escapades, the fact of the manner is that you let her slip away from your supervision, so we need to discuss your payment."

As Lil' Miss tried to haggle down from paying what I was due, I pointed out a suspension that I had on my mind for a while.

" While I won't dispute that Melanie got away, and I found her surrounded by remnants of the gangs you dealt with, my question is this, where did Melanie get her hands on such potent laxatives that could have killed me if I had taken too much."

I took out the bottle of laxatives that Melanie used on me in my pocket and presented it to Lil' Miss. She took a closer look at it and then opened it to examine the pill itself. Lil' Miss furrowed her brows with a slight frown as she told me.

" This is something my interrogators use to make someone... more willing to tell us what we want."

Lil' Miss turned to one of her subordinates and ordered them.

" Go fetch Melanie."

Her subordinate complied, and not long after, Melanie showed up. When she saw me, she stiffened for a moment but quickly forced herself to relax. Lil' Miss looked at her daughter and directly asked her with a sharp tone.

" Melanie, where did you get these?"

As Lil' Miss gestured to the laxatives, Melanie answered matter of factly.

" I got them from Roman when I asked him to get me something to put Silva out the way so that I could go to Sky and Sea's sale."

I immediately started planning on killing Roman before he ever got the chance to meet Neopolitan in Vale. As dark thoughts whirled in my mind Lil' Miss sighed in exasperation and massaged her temple, and told me.

" I retract my previous statement; Silva, your payment in full."

Lil' Miss handed me a silver suitcase, and I opened it to see some small mechanical parts and the old Atlesian Manta airship blueprints to confirm my payment. I closed it and thanked Lil' Miss Malachite.

" Thank you, Lil' Miss, but may I ask a favor?"

" What is it?"

Lil' Miss looked at me curiously as I told her.

" Make Roman suffer as I did."

Lil' Miss smiled maliciously at my request and replied.

" Certainly, after all, this can be considered the second time he put my daughters at risk."

I turned to leave feeling better than before when Melanie then stopped me.

"Silva, can you stay for one more night?"

I looked at Melanie and curtly asked her.

" Why?"

Melanie looked at me with a guilty expression and told me.

" I would like to make it up to you for putting you through... that."

As most of my anger was redirected toward Roman, I felt in a more forgiving mood with Melanie. So I asked her, feeling curious.

" How do you want to make it up to me?"

Melanie turned to face her mother and asked her.

" Mom, can you arrange a table at Misty's?"

Lil' Miss granted her daughter's request with a fond smile.

" Certainly, Melanie, dear, is Miltia also going?"

Melanie nodded, and Lil' Miss took out her Scroll and made a call.

" Yes, Misty, I need you to set aside a table tonight-."

***

Melanie and Miltia led me to a restaurant called Misty's hotpot. We stopped at the entrance, and the greeter took one look at me and gestured towards a sign as he said with disdain.

" Terribly sorry, ladies, we do not serve animals in this establishment."

Melanie ignored what he said and told him curtly.

" Reservations under Spiders."

The greeter paled and did a complete one-eighty in his attitude and nervously replied.

" Yes, right this way!"

We soon found ourselves at the section for something that reminded me of Chinese hotpot restaurants. I started to look forward to tonight as I am looking forward to seeing how different Remnant hotpot was from China's. As we took our seats with the twins across from me and the greeter then said to us in the same nervous tone.

" A server will be right with you in a moment."

The greeter left in a hurry, and I looked at the menu to see what kind of broths they had here to cook with and what ingredients to put into the hotpot. Melanie then asked me, looking slightly sheepish.

" So Silva, do you know how hotpot restaurants work?"

" You order a seasoned broth to cook various ingredients in it for a set amount of times for each of them, then eat it after you cook it yourself."

Miltia smiled and told me.

" I am glad you know how this works, Silva, but I am also disappointed that we did not get a chance to explain everything to you as well."

I shrugged as I looked through the lists of broths and asked them.

" Are the two of you fine with spicy?"

Melanie smiled, looking more relaxed, and answered.

" We can handle a little bit of spicy so long it is not excessively spicy."

" Okay then, how about Firestarter broth?"

The twins looked at each other to silently ask questions for a few moments, then told me together.

" That's fine, Silva."

***

I feel full and satisfied from being treated to dinner by the Malachite twins. It has been too long since I have had a good meal that I did not have to prepare myself. Bandit tribes are a lot of things, but gourmet is not one of them. Melanie got up and took a seat beside me as Miltia handled the bill. She then asked me.

" Am I forgiven, now?"

I thought for a few moments before answering. Melanie might have given me the laxatives, but Roman provided them with clear malicious intent because she asked for something to keep me from preventing her from leaving for the sale she wanted to go to and not for those specific laxatives. Plus, she was not aware of what they would do to me, and I did spank her until I drew blood. I sighed and told.

" I won't bring it up if you don't."

" Deal!"

After the bill was paid for, we went our separate ways, and I took out my Scroll and sent Raven a text message to portal me back to the tribe. Nothing beats sleeping in your own bed after being away for a while.