Me and Regina sat over the skeleton praying I was never a religious man myself and I don't know what religion Regina follows if any but I really just felt like I should. I noticed one key difference between a game and real life which should be apparent but trying to tell myself this is all real and not a video game is harder than you think. When you see something that makes you sad in a video game you think oh that's really sad but when you read a man's final weeks of life and then see his skeleton on the ground you just can't help but think there's no way this could be fake feeling the emotion.

"Hey Regina let's give him a proper burial." I said causing her to look up before nodding her head.

Even though it took an extra hour of time it did feel right, he didn't want anything feasting on him well he was down there but to me I couldn't just leave his skeleton now that there was no meat on the bone for a creature to eat. After he was safely buried in his junkyard I did go back down to the basement to find nothing else he probably gave whatever he had to the people who left. My thoughts go to that guy Leroy or whatever his name was because someone like him could have been a good leader I only hope he found some kind of place to settle and I hope that guy and his fiance found his uncle's place because the world actually needed more people like him who step up and take some responsibility. The more I think about this man's story the more annoyed I get I just how similar this world was to my own despite the drastic difference in technological advancement I couldn't help but see the problems of my world were made worse in this one which makes me really concerned for the future of my world.

After wasting enough time here we just kind of took a little bit more scrap with us by shoving it into the melee weapon and then although it was a detour we decided to check out that shopping center John talked about in his diary. At this point it was likely picked clean however there was always the chance there was something decent there hell maybe it's reopened, but when I said that Regina gave me a blank stare and then busted out laughing I guess it sounded like a pretty funny joke but you never know someone else could have moved in. After a half an hour long walk up the road which during that time I made a makeshift sheath for the hunting knife out of some leather in my inventory. we reached the shopping center I was surprised to see there were people camped out front and behind counters.

We walked up to the camp and people although eyeing us a little curiously they didn't stop us from entering in fact one girl walked up with a bright smile on her face and greeted the both of us.

"Hello it's a pleasure to see some faces that ain't trying to shoot us." She said with the only thing I can describe as a customer service smile but it was appreciated nonetheless, not to mention her accent was a thick southwestern accent that you see in a cowboy film which added an extra bit of cheeriness to her voice.

"Yeah, sorry but is this some kind of caravan." I asked looking around to see a small Brahmin area with a feeding trough.

"Yep even though we ain't moved in a few weeks we just needed to take a break and sell our wares you always need money in this world." she said with a sigh before giving us both look over, "listen I don't mean to insinuate but we've had a lot of unfriendly visitors recently and if you want to barter with us could you at least put your weapons in that locker over there."

Regina handed over her weapon which made her a little sad I guess she like the gun as much as Lanius liked his, but I handed her the melee weapon which was in its hunting knife form and she nearly jumped out of her skin when it appeared back on my waist in the makeshift sheath a fashion for it. I figured that would happen but even still It was a little annoying and more than anything got us some cautious looks from people who had their hand on their weapons. The greeter girl held her hand up saying that she was fine suddenly she got a look on her face and as I figured she realized who I was.

"Jump'n Jesus on a pogo stick are you really one of those heroes with the fancy weapons."

"Yeah I am the melee hero so It seems to be stuck on my hip although I was hoping it would make an exception just this once." I said kind of shrugging my shoulders hoping that that would satisfy her.

"Okay we'll make an exception just go have a seat and I'll get you a drink do you like prickly pear cactus fruit?"

"Yeah can you get one for my partner too?" I said a little more excited than I intended it to be considering prickly pear cactus fruit was one of my favorite fruits.

I guess this could be some kind of a trap but all in all meeting the locals would probably be better early than later and if she's being so accommodating all of a sudden they might actually need help. Me and Regina take a seat in what I guess was the pharmacy from John's terminal. It's still hard to believe 200 years later this place is being used as a rest stop for a caravan. I looked around at the people staring at us I didn't really like all the attention but I didn't really sense any malice from them God hearing myself even thinking that made me feel ridiculous given that that's something a damn anime character would say.

"Here you go prickly pear cactus juice." The greeter girl said while she gave us our glasses of juice.

The juice tasted pretty good although a little watered down it had an unmistakable taste of prickly pear as an experiment I put a little bit into the weapon and it analyzed the recipe and it didn't say there was any poison in it so I guess there's that. The greeter girl sat there wide-eyed as the melee weapon which was in its hunting knife form absorbed a few drops of my drink which I guess everyone has that reaction but still it was kind of adorable.

I looked up to the greeter girl and figured I should just break the ice and get right to the point, "All right I appreciate the juice but let me guess y'all need some help with something."

"oh shoot was it that obvious."

"Kinda the way your face lit up when you saw I was the one of them heroes said it all and then you offer a free drink on a hot day."

"Well if you say it like that it sounds like we are trying to strong arm ya." she said I guess realizing what it looked like on the outside, "by the way my name is Daisy for future reference sugar."

"It's fine I do appreciate the juice prickly pair is one of my favorites."

"You do this for us honey and you can drink as much as you want." Daisy said pulling a map out of her bra not even joking she just pulled a roll of parchment out of her bra which by the way she did have a nice rack on her and given the sour expression on Regina's face I guess she caught me staring.

It was kind of hard not to stare at Daisy because she had the most vibrant blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes not even mentioning her body because she had at least a DD bra size and she had a good figure with curves and all the right places.

"Listen honey the other day we were hit by the legion we managed to get away but unfortunately a few of us got captured." she said with a bitter expression on her face which got me to cringe a little considering I was actually summoned by them, "but to be honest I think they confused us with someone else considering they were talking about the legion's justice or something."

"Okay so where are they now?" I asked.

"They're over in a fairly big farm about a mile up the road, but the one thing that's got everyone nervous is that they haven't been back since I mean we can camp right here but they just ignored us since then." she said handing me the map which I put into my weapon.

I did have to explain that I had a personal map in my status window that no one else had and she although confused stared at the weapon with a lot of wonderment I guess is the word I could use. I'm not too sure of how I would do this considering I was still level one and probably wouldn't be able to take on an entire camp of legionnaires if it's possible I didn't want to provoke Caesar after I already made a deal with him. Regina got her gun back and the two of us set off down the road, but after we got right next to the farm which was a broken down and dilapidated one. Regina looked over to me and I knew she was about to ask an obvious question.

"Do you actually have a plan or are we just going to walk in and go with the flow." she asked just giving me the are you freaking kidding me line.

"If I'm being honest I'm hoping this insignia I got from Caesar will give me a little pull." I said causing her to quirk one of her eyes as I pulled out the small insignia and rite of passage.

"Well having the insignia might be enough to convince that you're not an enemy but they might still make you pay to have the people released."

"That's what I'm afraid of I might be able to convince them to send the bill to Caesar however worrying about it right now isn't going to solve anything."

Before she had time to protest two legionnaires walked out of the barn with their weapons what looked to be an assault rifle in the other had a shotgun both aimed at us. A third one followed them out he was a larger and more decorated man literally he had two spears on his back and a fancier helmet indicating some kind of status.

"I do not know you but you have a slave of the legion tell me are you with us or against us?!" The large man said with an almost monotone voice.

"Well I guess you could say we're with you." I said holding the insignia and the rite of passage causing him to lose his monotone expression and actually gasp seeing Caesars insignia.

"This marks you as the left hand of Caesar himself giving you the same authority as Lanius how do you have this." he asked in a more respectful tone but clearly it wasn't ready to believe it just yet.

I held up the melee weapon and showed him the transformation and explained to him the details of my summoning which caused him and his comrades to listen to me intently for any hint that I was making it up. The large man grunted before removing his helmet and gave me a full kneeling bow followed by his other two guards I guess they would be.

"My most sincere apology sir." he said still staring at the ground with his eyes closed respectfully, "We almost mistook you for a leatherback in fact we were about to shoot you when we saw the slave girl at your side."

"leatherback is that some kind of gang?"

"Yes sir, they're a bunch of chem pushing scum." he said with a growl in his voice clearly having a lot of animosity for them.

"I see but why did you attack that caravan they don't seem to be a gang of savages or chem fiends."

"It was an honest mistake although we captured some of the women who will make good breeders so I suppose it wasn't all that bad." he said finally looking up, "How did you know about the caravan if I may ask Sir?"

"Well they actually asked me to come here after they saw the weapon they figured out I was a hero and asked me to negotiate the release of their friends."

"But sir these five women could provide dozens of soldiers and slaves in the future releasing them would hold no value." he said a little more aggressively although he still stayed in a kneeling position, "In truth we've already used a week's worth of supplies keeping them fed and watered."

"How much information do you have access to about what's been going on at the main camp?" I asked.

As it turns out they had little to no information about anything except for the four heroes in truth they didn't even know I was summoned by the legion until I showed them the badge and explained it to him. I explained that Caesar himself has sent out a messenger offering a truce with the NCR and New Vegas which made all three of them look at me with the most glorious shocked Pikachu face imaginable. I also explained that keeping those slaves would hold no value as if anything the legion has more important priorities than potential soldiers and slaves in the future.

"I see in that case we will release them at once." he said figuring there was no point in arguing as in terms of rank just having the insignia was enough to have him demoted if he disobeyed.

"Good I only have one more question and that's about the leatherbacks that you mentioned."

"They're a gang that specializes in making chems and other than that we believe that they've moved on as we haven't seen any in a few days."

"In that case return to base."

"Can we have that in writing I don't doubt you would have the authority to order a return to base however we will need to convince the others of this."

I nod my head and he pulls out a piece of paper which is already filled out and just needs to be signed by a higher ranking official. Giving the old John Hancock he took the paper and looked kind of happy I guess ready to be out of the desert sun and a camp where he's not likely to get shot. I asked him to keep it a secret that I was summoned by the legion and to tell the captured caravanners that I had negotiated their release and would escort them back myself. He agreed of course and sent the other two men to get the women out of their cells he did inform me that they killed the five men that were taken as they believed them to be leatherbacks until the women confirmed otherwise.

"I suppose I should know your name." I say.

"My apology sir, My name is Commander Bowser." he said which nearly made me bust out laughing I managed to hold it in and he didn't notice but he was named Bowser for God's sake.

"Very well Commander Bowser safe journey back to camp."

"Safe journey to you as well sir, but I just have one question why is that woman holding a weapon and following you?"

"Her name is Regina and her stats are pretty good so I decided to travel with her that's really all there is to it."

He gave me an odd look but nodded and just let it drop I guess in a way it was like an agree to disagree situation. The six women were led out of the barn house and brought before me and commander Bowser.

"Today is a fortuitous day for you all because your caravan has sent a messenger to negotiate your release and he has succeeded he will escort you back to your caravan and we will depart never to pester you again."

The women looked at me overjoyed a few of them started crying happily which kind of broke my heart a little I can't deny I don't think I would ever get used to this.

"Feel free to take what we leave behind as a way of compensation for the mistake of assuming you were those chem pushing animals, but know this we were going to enslave you however with the world facing this crisis it was indeed not worth the effort." he said, "What you should do now is bow your heads and thank this man for going out of his way to save you a summoned hero wasting his time with slaves is beyond preposterous."

That last comment was kind of annoying to me as he obviously really felt that way but whatever he's free to feel however he wants as long as he returns to base. He gathered several weapons and ammo boxes and he got his two dozen men out of the area It turns out they were all hidden well in the barn and the farmhouse so I guess they were ready for a fight if it turned out I was hostile. With that they began walking off towards lake Mead probably to catch a raft back across and I was left with the six women who at this point ran up and hugged me and gave me every thank you possible before we set off back to the caravan.

Walking a mile wasn't difficult even in the desert especially when you consider the fact that there was still a road partially there. when we got back the girls went and ran up to their caravan hugging their brothers, fathers, mothers, and friends, etc. Again I was showered with more praise and thanks then I really knew how to handle I'm not even joking, because all I could do was smile and wave and Regina also looked a little uncomfortable considering we basically just deceived them in a time of crisis. The leader of the caravan was an old man with a false leg who had the common sense to ask me how I did it.

"It turns out a wave is coming up and legion territory and I had to agree to help them with it." I said giving the best half truth I could because telling them I was summoned by the legion would probably just make them pissed off and skeptical of me.

"I see, so that means these waves of monsters really could be the end of the world." he said quietly making sure not to alert the others as he didn't want to spoil the mood.

The only other person that overheard was Daisy from earlier who at this point had walked up and said, "It sucks you have to save them too, but at the end of the day I guess you're doing your job."

"Yeah at the end of the day there are civilians in legion territory that don't normally interact with the legion all that much except for paying taxes, but that's not even talking about the slaves I mean they deserve to be saved." That was the complete truth the only reason I was helping the legion was for other people although without a doubt I would likely have to save the legion as well.

"Well it doesn't really matter if you're lying or telling the truth you helped us today and we never forget to pay a debt." The old man said with a wink I guess he caught onto the fact that I was telling a half truth at the least but he walked away to join the others as they fetch some food and water for the girls.

"Yeah I agree with him there must be more to the story than you let on but without you we wouldn't have got those girls back so you're all right in my book." she said planting a kiss on my lips quickly before winking at me and saying, "do give me a call sometime sugar."

I just stood there and nodded my head like an idiot I mean even though it was only a peck on the lips like I'd received dozens of times from my ex-girlfriend Maria that Peck felt different like I'd never been kissed before. I snapped out of it when Regina nudged my arm and gave me a sour look like seriously why was she getting so pouty. Either way I didn't even notice that she had slipped the large bottle of the prickly pear fruit juice into my hands before walking back to the group. I put the bottle of juice into my inventory and gave a smile and wave before walking away back to the other location where my training would continue.