Chapter Nine: Char's "Side Job"

Chapter Nine: "Shaya's Side Job"

Shaya immediately collapsed onto his back, chest heaving, breath rasping like a broken bellows, his heart pounding like a drum. His limbs felt weak and powerless, sweat pouring down his entire body.

He rested for a long while before finally sitting up. The wound on his back tugged painfully, making him inhale sharply. He glanced over at the wolf; its body was already stiff, its hindquarters raised high, and the half-broken tree branch still protruded from its rear.

“Haha! Haha!” Shaya laughed madly. “You wanted to eat me? Hmph! I still aim to become the greatest demon hunter on the continent—how can I die here?”

After a pause, a fierce look appeared on his face. “You wanted to eat me, but today I’ll eat you first.”

With those words, his strength failed him; he struggled twice but could not stand, so he called out, “Hey! Miserable one, are you dead or something? You didn’t help earlier, and now you see I’m wounded and won’t even lend a hand?”

Only then did the miserable one poke his head out from behind a pile of rotten branches, his face pale with fright. Seeing Shaya still alive, he shouted with joy and ran to his side.

“Don’t pull me yet… There are herbs in my bundle. Help me apply them… The wound’s on my back, I can’t reach it myself,” Shaya said weakly, waving his hand.

But soon he regretted asking this fellow for help. Clearly, the miserable one had never in his life bandaged a wound. He spent ages wrapping a strip of cloth around Shaya, making a lopsided mess of it.

“Hey, what kind of knot are you tying on my chest?”

“Uh, to secure the cloth.”

“I know it’s to secure the cloth, but it’s so weird. What is this? So complicated, wasting so much cloth.”

“…A bow knot.”

“A bow knot? What’s it for?”

“Uh… It looks nice.”

“…………”

Due to this unexpected turn of events, both were now wounded and could only rest where they were. Shaya recuperated for half a day before regaining some strength. At first, he felt aggrieved about the wasted cloth, but soon his gaze fell on the wolf carcass beside him, and a smile broke across his face.

“Hahaha, I’ve struck it rich!” Shaya crawled over with hands and feet, looking as though he desperately wanted to hug the wolf’s corpse and kiss it.

He had previously dabbled in hunting magical beasts—only two or three times, catching some low-grade, not-too-dangerous creatures. The only time he managed to capture a fire-tree lynx was with the help of a trap.

But this bloodthirsty direwolf before him was a full-grown beast, robust, with glossy fur. Though bloodthirsty wolves ranked as low-level magical beasts, this specimen could be considered mid-grade. Shaya hadn’t severed its head, nor marred its body much; its pelt was intact. If properly skinned and taken to Wildfire Town, it could fetch several silver coins!

A few silver coins could support Shaya for a month or two.

There was also the wolf’s bones. Normally, bloodthirsty wolves’ bones weren’t worth much. But this beast was a strong, mature direwolf. The magical properties of bloodthirsty wolves belong to earth magic; their bones are useful for earth magic elements, and some shops are willing to buy them.

Calculating carefully, if he could carry the wolf back, with a bit of luck, the skin and bones together might sell for seven or eight silver coins.

Shaya’s heart skipped a beat; maybe he could just carry this fellow back to Wildfire Town and avoid risking his life catching a lion cub. The money from the wolf’s pelt would let him repay the advance at the buyer’s shop on Black Street, with enough left to last two or three months and even buy a proper sword. With luck, he might even pick up a decent set of leather armor.

Watching Shaya’s thunderous joy, the miserable one was somewhat unimpressed.

A bumpkin is a bumpkin—getting excited over a wolf carcass?

But seeing Shaya dancing around the wolf, his excitement tugging at his wounds, making him laugh and wince, the miserable one couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for him.

“Hey…” the miserable one called out. When Shaya turned his face, the miserable one’s cheeks flushed red. “Um… thank you for saving me again.”

“No need to thank me. I wasn’t saving you, just myself—if I didn’t kill it, I’d be dead too.” Shaya waved his hand dismissively.

His boisterous, indifferent attitude toward gratitude actually made the miserable one like him a bit more, and he smiled, lips pursed. “I’m starting to believe you’re really a demon hunter.”

“Why?”

“You’re strong.” The miserable one flushed, gesturing weakly with his hands. “I know bloodthirsty wolves are powerful, but you managed to subdue one. And when you fight desperately, your aura is frightening.”

His eyes brightened suddenly, an idea sprouting in his mind. “What are you going to do now? You must be here hunting, right? Now that you have prey, will you head back?”

What he really wanted to ask was: Could you take me back with you?

After everything since yesterday, the miserable one knew full well that without protection, he wouldn’t survive a day on the Wildfire Plains. If not eaten by magical beasts, he might be slaughtered by some sinister black tribe or ruthless adventurers. Worse, his appearance might bring even more unfortunate encounters.

Staying with this bumpkin might be safer. At least, he was skilled enough to kill a direwolf, and he couldn’t even tell a woman’s beauty from her plainness—so there was no fear he’d have designs on him.

Shaya thought for a moment, looked at the wolf carcass, and sighed, “No, I can’t go back yet. I… still need to find a lion beast.”

“Why?!” the miserable one shouted. “Isn’t a wolf enough? Carrying such a big wolf back is hard enough, you don’t need more prey.”

What he really meant was: I don’t want to wander around these dangerous plains with you any longer—better to trick this bumpkin into escorting me home.

“Wolf…” Shaya reluctantly looked at his prize. “The wolf’s good, but… I made a promise. I signed a contract, and I can’t go back on it.”

He puffed out his chest. “The old man taught me: Never say what you can’t do! But once you promise someone, you must see it through! A man’s word is as good as a nail!”

Though still young, his heroic bearing—especially after showing his fierce fighting side—made his chest-out declaration seem genuinely bold.

“But…” the miserable one was anxious. “But we’re both hurt, and I need proper treatment. You’re injured too… Could you take me back to town first?”

“Absolutely not! This concerns a man’s dignity!” Shaya shook his head firmly.

“But…” the miserable one, frustrated, suddenly remembered Shaya’s joyous dancing with the wolf, and his eyes rolled. “Then, I’ll pay you. Think of it as hiring you to escort me back. How much is your dignity worth?”

“Bah! You think I’d give up my ideals for money?” Shaya struck a righteous pose.

“Fifty gold coins.” He actually wanted to say five hundred, but feared it would scare the bumpkin.

Shaya’s eyes lit up, his resolve wavering. Fifty gold coins! Such a fortune, he’d never even seen so much money.

Fifty gold coins would buy him a top-notch demon hunter’s kit in Wildfire Town, let him drink the finest wine, dine in the most expensive restaurant. Maybe… even visit the legendary “Rouge Street” and see the world…

But after thinking it over, Shaya shook his head, looking disdainful. “Fifty gold coins? If you really had that, you could hire a team of warriors. By your looks, you’re a fallen noble, maybe even a fugitive. I don’t believe you have that much.”

The miserable one smiled proudly, reached into his clothes, and pulled out a deerskin pouch, richly made with gold-embroidered patterns—clearly not an ordinary item. He shook it twice, making it jangle, then opened it and poured out a heap of glittering coins.

Gold coins!

Genuine gold coins! Gold coins of the Byzantine Empire!

Shaya was stunned. He rushed over, grabbing a few and weighing them in his hand, even biting one hard.

Real gold!

He looked up at the miserable one—so this fellow was actually rich?

“Well?” Seeing the bumpkin lose composure over the gold, the miserable one’s face showed a hint of disdain. “This sum should be enough to buy that so-called dignity of yours, right?”

Shaya took a deep breath, tossed the coins aside, and looked up at the miserable one with a strange, almost amused expression.

His gaze was calm, even with a touch of wry humor.

“To be honest, you really shouldn’t have shown me so much money,” Shaya said seriously.

“Why?” Sensing something off in Shaya’s tone, the miserable one grew nervous.

“I forgot to tell you.” Shaya smiled, lips curving slyly. “Though I am a demon hunter, in certain special circumstances, I don’t mind occasionally taking on another profession.”

“What profession?”

Shaya grinned wide, revealing all his white teeth. “Bandit!”

He sighed, speaking lazily, “Especially when a defenseless fat sheep shows a pile of money in front of me, in the wilderness, where cries for help go unheard and the earth swallows secrets. Kill, loot, dig a hole for the corpse—maybe fifty years would pass before anyone finds out…”

He deliberately spoke slowly, then laughed, “Whenever such a situation arises, I don’t mind taking on a ‘side job.’”