Chapter 44:Leaving the Factory

It was very early Tuesday morning when Xio woke up and she saw that the fire was still burning and Holmes was sitting looking out the window.

Looking around she could finally see what the place where the man had chosen for them to spend the night looked like and she noted that it appeared to have been an office.

"We are in the office of the owner of the abandoned ceramic factory in East Borough" she heard the voice of Holmes who answered her question without looking at her.

Looking at the man again she could see how his torso was bandaged due to not having a shirt on and she could see how he had a black bracelet on his left forearm that ended before reaching his elbow and several scars along both arms.

He was now wearing a much shorter windbreaker that barely reached below his shoulder and his hood was up and the mask as always on his face.

Averting her gaze, she didn't care that Holmes was shirtless, she wasn't a little girl after all, and after everything she sees at work in the East Borough, the muscular torso of a man didn't affect her at all.

Raising her hand to rest her head, she only asked the man a question.

"Mr. Holmes, do you know who I am?"

She no longer had her scarf or hood covering her and the makeup she had applied was completely ruined from everything that happened the night before, leaving her face for the man to see.

Mr. Holmes just looked at her while shaking his head.

"Does that matter? I couldn't care less but if you prefer I can call you Miss Xio or do you prefer just miss?"

'Of course he knew' she thought in defeat and just shook her head.

There is no one in East Borough who does not know the face of bounty hunter Xio Derecha and it is for that reason that she had decided to wear a disguise in the first place.

She didn't care that the others knew who she was, what she worried about was putting Fors in danger for having provoked that thing.

"Keep it Miss Mr. Holmes"

"Understood, miss" the man answered calmly and silence returned.

"It may not be my place to say it Miss, but what do you plan to do with Joseph now?"

The question made her freeze for a moment but without looking at the man she answered.

"I don't know Mr. Holmes, I want to kill him, torture him for what he did..." her voice dripped with pure hate but...

"But I know that after what happened I don't have a chance against him" her voice dropped until it was little more than a whisper.

That monster in human skin would have killed her with the explosion and she wouldn't even have been able to see it's shadow, how is she supposed to kill something like that?

No matter how much she wanted to avenge Coin, she still had many other things to take care of.

Her younger brother, her mother,save Fors,clear her father's name and avenge him...

Before more such thoughts filled her head, she heard Holmes speak.

"It is impossible for you to face Joshep, it is very likely that he is a sequence 6 beyonder..."

This information surprised her and caused her to clench her fists tightly.

'A monster without a doubt' was what she thought in defeat, the information crushing her desire to avenge her little sister but Holmes kept talking.

"My recommendation is to report this to the forces of the 3 churches to deal with it" the man said with obvious amusement and Xio could swear that the man was smiling behind that mask.

'But that plan isn't that bad…the church forces are strong enough to get rid of a monster like Joseph….'The more she thought about the masked man's idea the better it sounded to her.

After all she had an idea of ​​what officers did to wild beyonders, if there was anyone who deserved that it was that thing.

But there was a problem...

Turning to look at the man, she asked her biggest question.

"While that's a good idea Mr. Holmes the officers will be able to use the report to track us down."

She had various ideas of the officers' capabilities and she also knew that tracking someone using something of theirs was the norm so she was very troubled on whether reporting would be a good idea.

At her words Holmes only let out a short laugh while shaking his head, this made her quickly annoyed but before she could say anything the man spoke.

"You don't have to worry about that, miss, the officers will never be able to track us using them. I have my methods to ensure that."

"In fact I was planning to do it tonight but it's better to ask your permission miss after all, what you have with Joseph is more personal"

"Don't say it like that" she replied darkly and the masked man just shrugged.

"It's the truth" was the only thing he answered.

Ignoring the man she thought back to the idea he proposed and despite how much she wanted to be the one to kill that thing she knew better that she didn't stand a chance so gritting her teeth she nodded.

"You can do it Mr. Holmes"

"At your service"

The man only made a slight bow as he answered.

"Miss, how does your leg feel?" Finishing the bow, Holmes asked her, making her try to move her leg and it felt better.

"I feel like my leg is better and I can walk" she replied to Holmes who just nodded.

"We have to leave East Borough do you think you can bear the journey?"

Xio nodded, what she had had was a sprain and this was not the worst she had had, after all when she trained as a knight she always suffered them because she did not stand correctly.

Walking the distance from the East Borough to her house was no problem.

"Perfect then we will move through the alleys...."

With the exit plan ready, she watched as Holmes just waved his hand slightly and the fire went out.

Already having an idea of ​​the man's strength, she just ignored this and they both left the factory in the morning when the red moon had not yet set on the horizon.

As they both moved through the alleys and darker parts of the East Borough, her conscience and heart were very heavy.

'How am I supposed to tell Tree about Coin...

This will destroy her...'