Depthless Hunger

Chapter 83: A Peasant's Reward

"Looks like some illegal hunting." Barroguk hefted his greatsword up to his shoulder and sneered. "That's bad enough on its own, and worse when it's by someone who's been permanently banished from the Hunters Guild."

"I took this assignment of my own volition." Zae Zin Nim spoke politely, but Kai could see that she assumed the conversation would end in a fight. She gathered what strength she had as she watched Iroaki circle around them on her diamond.

"So you say. By the time this story gets back to the Guild, the facts won't be so clear."

Kai took a deep breath and tried to think of a viable strategy. He wanted a rematch against the two elite mercenaries, but this was the worst possible time. Given their current condition, he didn't see any path to victory. Even escape might be difficult under such circumstances...

"Hey!" The shout took all of them off guard because there was absolutely no power behind it. All four combatants turned to the side just in time to see a farmer standing at the edge of the damaged field.

No, there were a lot of farmers. Some were just peering to see what the commotion was, but a lot more of them looked determined. The man who had yelled before spoke up again. "No Guild nonsense now. We paid good money for somebody to kill that thing."

"This is none of your concern." Barroguk swung the greatsword off his back and held the heavy piece of steel at full extension toward the crowd. Many flinched and a few gasped, but they didn't retreat.

Then a piece of fruit slapped into the side of his head. Barroguk turned to glare at the older woman who had thrown it, as did the others.

Beside him, Kai felt Zae Zin Nim tense. She looked like she expected an explosion of violence and intended to throw all her strength into one more attack, but none came. The silence stretched for a heartbeat, then a child threw a rock at Iroaki. Several others began to cheer and the old woman stepped forward with her hands on her hips.

"We saw those two nice young folks kill the beastie! You can't just swoop in and take it now. You may do things that way in the big city, but not here." Her words were joined by a chorus of jeers and a few more projectiles.

Taken aback, Barroguk and Iroaki actually retreated. The locals crowded around Kai and began urging him to follow. A few of the burlier farmers managed to pick up the Gomodo head and carried it back, cheering.

Having so many people around them shout over one another was a bit dizzying, but Zae Zin Nim looked absolutely flabbergasted. Kai leaned closer to her and spoke low enough that the crowds couldn't hear. "What is it?"

"Why didn't they attack the peasants?" she asked numbly.

"You expected them to just slaughter a bunch of random civilians?"

"Of course. They actually threw things at the elites! A few swings of that sword, or one good cast of those crystals..." She shook her head slowly. "I'll never understand this continent."

That suggested rather grim things about Cloudspire, but Kai's mood was too good to be brought down by that. He'd been keeping his eyes on the mercenaries the entire time and it looked like they were giving up. There were too many witnesses now, especially since the locals were spreading out. Even if the elites worked for the most powerful clan in the city, they couldn't just carry out an assassination in public.

He was a little surprised that everyone was so enthusiastic, though. If the villagers had been there in time to interfere with the final standoff, then some of them must have seen him eating the Gomodo. The crowds were a bit less rambunctious now that they'd reached a village square, so Kai decided to ask an older man.

"You were watching us?"

"Oh, not the fight. Too dangerous. A couple tried and didn't make it." The man shook his head sadly. "But when I heard everything get quiet, I figured I had to go look. Monster wouldn't want to eat my old bones, heheh."

"Then you, uh, saw me...?"

"Oh! Yes, that was right strange. But all hunters are strange, and at least you came out to help us. I figured you must be hungry after all that hard work."

Kai sat back, smiling in befuddlement. He was fairly sure that no hunter in the world would respond so positively to seeing him eat a monster like that. Most likely citizens in the north would have been after him with torches and pitchforks. But maybe, here in the south, he was just a curiosity. Hopefully they wouldn't go talking about it.

Though a lot of people wanted to talk to him, they came and went so quickly that it was all a blur to Kai. They were definitely happy that the Gomodo was dead, since it had been terrorizing their farms even longer than he'd known. When he made extremely clear that they weren't hunters acting officially, for the sake of the rumors, that only seemed to improve their mood. The Hunters Guild didn't seem to have such a good reputation among the villagers.

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Everyone wanted them to stay for some sort of feast, but Kai insisted that they needed to get back. The entire event seemed to have rendered Zae Zin Nim catatonic, so he wanted to get her away from the crowds before anyone looked too carefully beneath her hood.

Once he insisted, some of the better dressed villagers brought him a heavy bag with the reward money. A full four thousand Eagles, instantly multiplying their funds. The Eagle was the highest denomination of Goralian Currency, so the payment included a lot of heavy gold coins that Kai had heard veteran hunters refer to as "fat Eagles." Each was worth a hundred Eagles on its own, which somehow made the whole thing even more unbelievable.

Their way back was equally strange. They stuck to major roads just in case the elite mercenaries might attempt another ambush, which meant a lot of people recognizing and waving at them. Some tried to invite them in, but Kai always made excuses. He soon discovered that he could use "being a hunter" as an excuse for nearly anything. Most likely he could march into people's homes, declare hunter business, and start smashing their pottery.

Eventually they saw Rayakan in the distance and he realized that they had actually gotten away with it. No signs of the city on fire or under siege by Irunian forces, either, so maybe everything was actually fine. As that fact slowly settled, he glanced over to Zae Zin Nim.

"What do you want to do with all this money?"

"I... don't know." She blinked at the bag as if unsure what it was. "Buy some cultivation resources, I guess."

"Obviously that's a good choice, but I don't know if we can find anything valuable enough to really help us. Even if we did, a few purchases would use this up quickly, so we'd have some left over. We couldn't have won without you. Surely you want something."

"Not unless they sell those floating Krysali vehicles. I'm sick of walking."

"I don't know if we can afford that, but I think you're lying." He glanced over her tunic, which was already stained with her dark blood even though she wasn't expelling it anymore. "I saw how carefully you've preserved that silk robe. I don't know if anything here will be to your standards, but would you like to buy something nice?"

"What would be the point?" She spoke with surprising venom and looked away, definitively ending the conversation. Kai sighed and let it go.

Truth was, he wasn't sure what he wanted to buy either. It just seemed that, with his luck, all the money would end up stolen if he didn't use it soon.

As they drew closer, Kai realized that one side of the river leaving the city was unusually busy. He saw quite a few Irunians walking on the docks, moving various goods. That could be a positive or negative sign, but he was just happy it was a sign they weren't attacking the city.

Once they returned, they found their old inn. The innkeeper welcomed them quickly enough, though she couldn't give them their old room. Her next offer was cramped but still had two beds, one of which Zae Zin Nim immediately used to fall asleep.

He stayed awake a while longer, both to keep watch and to think. Of course he'd always known that life wasn't fair and that the largest clans exploited their positions. That lesson had become even clearer in Rayakan. For some reason, though, it was seeing all the villagers so happy to have someone come and help them that pushed him over the edge.

Goralia couldn't continue like this. Kai still felt some resentment toward his former mentor for abandoning him, but Gunjin had been right about one thing: the whole country needed to change. To be healthy enough to survive against the monsters, it needed more than just strength or wealth. Somehow they needed a society where farmers were respected as much as hunters.

How that would happen, he had no idea. Apparently on Cloudspire villagers could be slaughtered for daring to stand up to anyone above them. Maybe there was no solution at all.

Still, when Kai heard that Razz Lantrian was here to see them, he responded quickly.

The young merchant waited in the bar downstairs, grinning to himself and then even more broadly when he saw Kai. He swept up and hugged him, which seemed a bit much. Finally Razz pulled back and thumped him on the shoulder.

"You've saved me several times, Kai. I wouldn't be here without you."

"Where is here?" Kai asked.

"My clan has a new deal with the Irunians, which won't be slowed down at all once we pull our permit trump card. We've gone from struggling to make ends meet to having enough money for new investments." Razz shook his head in disbelief. "And here I thought it was a lucky break when you showed up to save me from those monsters. You're my lucky charm, man."

Because his own luck drained into others, presumably. Kai managed a chuckle and tried to calm Razz down. "It can't be this easy. The Corinin clan must be planning to retaliate."

"Of course they are. I'm most worried about their political schemes, because Dommag is a clever old bastard." His grin finally vanished. "But it seems likely that they might plan a direct attack. Rumor has it they've hired a third foreign elite. Normally they wouldn't dare send someone to assassinate me, when it could be pinned on them, but if they're desperate..."

"And I'm guessing you don't have someone ready to fight them."

"They already hired the strongest mercenaries! No, if I'm going to get through this, I need the two of you. I know you're a bit outclassed, but you only need to be strong enough to defend me during the length of an assassination attempt."

Just as he'd feared. But since he had nowhere else to go... "If you want our support, we'll need yours."

"I already have a few ideas. I didn't expect you back so soon, so I'm not ready."

"We can talk later. But I also need strengthening options... potions, foreign pills, scrolls, whatever you would normally send north. We have almost five thousand Goralian Eagles to put down."

"Five thousand?" Razz whistled. "I was going to say that training resources are difficult to find, even for me, but that will make the difference. I'll get back to you once I've finished my research. You rest for now."

Kai nodded and let the man go. But as he sat in the tavern, he felt like there would be no more time for rest.