The tumult grew as the hours passed and the last inhabitants of the town arrived at the central square, having parked their daily tasks for the occasion.
The entire population of the town was in the square, waiting, some excited and others fear and fear the arrival of the hunters. Mayor Takun tried to calm his fellow citizens as best he could, remembering again and again that any kind of bandage and first aid material would be helpful if the hunt had been complicated... but... unfortunately, after so many days incommunicado and without new provisions of resources they could contribute were insignificant.
Something really dangerous if someone had been seriously injured... especially if Erin was the one who had been hurt.
No one in the village had trained in militias or had received basic combat lessons, all to a greater or lesser extent were either descendants of refugees and exiles from the surrounding kingdoms, or simply normal people who had fled to places further away from magical centers, so before a crisis like the current, the only hope to take down the beast that frightened the ways were the four brothers woodcutters of the Frago family and the mercenary in charge of the security of the village.
While the knot in Takun's stomach was still growing as the hands of the clock advanced, a sour voice brought him back to reality. "Mayor... if they have already hunted the beast... what are we going to do? If they havent been able to kill the beast, we have no place to hold it or lock it up... and we havent had time to prepare dinner for them either... and you know... and if the mercenary has been injured? " Oswald, the farmer and the main provider of food for the village, was visibly nervous, sweating even more than usual to the point that his bald spot served as a perfect reflection of the sunset.
"Calm down, okay?" Takun pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, offering himself to Oswald as he turned back to the town's main road. (Calling it the main road was redundant, as it was the only cobbled village road, encircling the bronze clock that marked the center of the town and ending right in front of the town hall)
"We'll think of some idea later, so let's wait and see how everything has gone... just make sure the dinner is ready as soon as possible... Erin and the quadruplets are reasonable people but I doubt that their stomachs are so reasonable after 10 hours of hunting"
And without asking permission to join the conversation... or just follow the social forms, the voice of the harpy rumbled in the square, causing everyone to turn to her. "My children will know how to wait if necessary! Unlike that bodyguard of yours!" Lady Marian Frago, the matriarch of the family and direct descendant of the founders of the town, approached Takun cane in hand (with a speed that many women her age would want for them)
"That whim of yours has done nothing but bring us misfortunes! One after another! First bandits and now this!"
"Please, Mrs. Frago! You sure knows that accusing Erin of all that is wrong. She is who has taken us out of every problem! We have had to live in a dangerous time, so this town needed a guardian not to end up like so many others, with its inhabitants dead and turned into bandit posts!"
"We spent a lot of money paying, feeding and accommodating that whim of yours, until we had to deliver our beloved stable to her! And she isnt even able to avoid these misfortunes! What if one of my children is injured? Are you thinking of taking charge, Takun?!"
"The first thing is that Erin doesnt see the future! When a problem occurs she is the first one to go out and solve it! The second thing is that your children are the ones who offered you your stable and those who have presented themselves first to accompany her! And third..." Takun took a breath, not used to arguing so much or so often. "Dont you think it's better to have her hired than to have ended up dead? Having her in the village has saved our lives, that already makes its price enough!" And although Takun knew that the statement was true, as mayor he couldnt ignore the doubts of his friends.
"Our harvests have been quite good this season, and Erin has agreed before to not charge until the town has paid their debts and needs, so I doubt that this time will demand her salary in advance. The most important thing right now is kill that beast so that the roads are safe, bring our crops to the capital and with the money buy as much "Grungust" as necessary to be able to plant and raise animals to feed us, to Erin and have surplus to sell. If someone has a complaint, you can express himself without fear"
And in the face of everyone's refusal to complain, Takun breathed a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and relaxed as much as the situation allows.
"Oswald, go to your farm and start preparing the best pork that you have frozen, Erin and the quadruplets deserve a good dinner today" Oswald could only shrug and nod, running back to his farm.
Erin was a reliable mercenary, her salary wasnt too high and her only two conditions were easy to fulfill, so Takun was determined not to give the mercenary any reason to want to leave.
3 quarters of an hour passed before the hunting group appeared on the driveway to the village, the four brothers at the head (full of small cuts except the eldest of the four, who carried his right arm in a makeshift sling, carrying a rather large wound all over his arm) and Erin behind them dragging the beast, tied to a thin trunk to facilitate transport.
The mercenary was even more full of cuts all over her clothes and her face was reddened by the overexertion, her facial expression was a real poem: part anger, part disgust, part fear and all the rest of sheer weariness, each step with enough strengt to made the ground shake under her feet.
Everyone started running towards the brothers, ignoring Erin who dropped the beast directly to the ground before leaning against one of the trees that bordered the road. "ERIN! THOSE TREES ARE VERY OLD-" Takun shouted as he ran towards the giantess, worried about the integrity of the trunk ... but a single glance from the giantess was necessary to silence him.
"Come on!... I'm leaning back a little, I'm not dropping my full weight..." Between snorts, Erin dropped to the ground raising a great cloud of dust and dirt.
Erin served the village as a mercenary/guardian for almost a year, using both her four-meter and fifty-seven centimeters (almost as large as most of the one-story houses in the village) and all the physical power they carried in harmony with her knowledge about magic to protect the village, a great point in her favor that differentiated her from the majority of mercenaries that Takun valued.
The giantess had helped the town in many ways, both directly by her duty ending a group of bandits who lived in a nearby mine or indirectly, both getting more visits from itinerant merchants thanks to their contacts and as an impromptu doctor thanks to the healing magic. Unfortunately for her and Takun (her biggest support in the village), none of this made the rest of the town improve their views on her.
This was partly because of their old age , with most of the people over 40 years old, enough older to still be consumed by old misgivings against the giants... and, although nobody want to admit it openly, the "extreme annoyances" that Erin's working conditions implied:
- 50 Silver moons per week.
- A dwelling (provided by the sacrifice of one of the two stables of the Frago family)
- And a breakfast and two meals a day (which translate into a large pile of wheat, milk and at least one calf or pig a day, not counting the labor to prepare all food, mainly that of Oswald and his wife)
A price that although Takun saw more than reasonable taking into account the efficiency of Erin and the utility that the giantess contributed (helping in repairs or helping the Frago brothers with firewood), it wasnt a sentiment shared by anyone else.
"It was a bear..." Erin said while looking for wounds on her arms and legs, leaving her precious trenchcoat next to Takun. "A damn bear infected by MotherNight... we found a deposit in a small cave north of here"
"What...? MotherNight here?" Takun sighed heavily as he picked up the huge trenchcoat, already tired of just thinking about cleaning and repair it.
"Yep, Garb, Bastian, Nam and I are going to go tonight to try to undermine all of MotherNoche's vein while it's off" With an exhausted sigh, Erin stretched both arms forward, letting the weariness fade as she applied to itself a simple anti-fatigue spell. "We're going to need some picks, a couple of boxes to transport it, a car for the same thing..."
While Erin continued to list what was necessary for the nighttime operation, Takun's mind made the necessary click to turn something terrible like a MotherNight deposit into benefits for a people that needed them. "You know, Erin... MotherNight, from what I understand, is quite valuable if you know who to sell it to" Erin was silent, narrowing her eyes. "It's quite valuable-"
"And extremely dangerous," Erin said at once, turning to the mayor with a very obvious expression of confusion.
"That too, but maybe... you know... it couldnt happen... that you know... someone..." Slowly, the mercenary's face was turning from red to a completely stunned white. "Who could be interested... to buy MotherNight?"
"Mr. Takun, we dont get a surplus of money when we sell all the weapons and clothes of the bandits of the mine? We dont need to sell MotherNight! We arent talking about selling weapons that we have no control over the utility that they are going to give them... We are talking about MotherNight, a type of Magic Crystal whose only use is to twist the flesh of the living and turn them into monsters infected by darkness! We cant do business with this!" Erin hit the ground with her fist, drawing the attention of all the inhabitants who were still in the square taking care of the injuries of the quadruplets.
"I know! But ... but ... and if someone is interested in buying it? Between calling the royal guard to take it away and destroy it... or someone to pay for it...would we get the same result? We get rid of that crystalline curse in both cases! The only difference is that in the last one we gain a benefit of a misfortune like this! Please Erin... be understanding, we have been incommunicado for two weeks... we need money fast to restart all our business" Erin tried to protest, but there were many people who, behind the giantess and the mayor, offered their support to the idea of r03;r03;selling MotherNight.
"Listen to this Erin, your ask in the guild of adventurers of the capital if someone can interest to buy MotherNight... and if in a week nobody answers I will write a letter to the royal guard to come for it, do you think it's OK?"
"The truth?" Erin leaned on the floor, getting up quickly and grabbing her trenchcoat. "I dont like it, but I guess it's that deal or none, right?"
Takun nodded smiling. "Thanks for understanding, Erin... dont take long, okay? Oswald left a while ago to prepare a feast for your feat" Without saying anything else, Erin put on her raincoat and ran off in the direction of Hyalgan's capital, GreenGate.
There were few hunters who turned around frightened when they heard the noise, reacting quickly when they recognized the figure that was moving through the woods. Erin had been in the region for less than a year, but she had quickly become a celebrity in the area. Her huge but elegant figure, her shiny white skin, her bright blue eyes and her orange hair (as dyed by the twilight as Takun used to show off before the other mayors) made her stand out instantly wherever she was.
Many claimed that the beauty and tone of Erin's hair should be indicative that the giantess belonged to the royalty of some more northern kingdom (although the giants used to be more numerous when one travels to the south), but at the refusal to speak of his past, something common among mercenaries, the rumors quickly stayed in just that, rumors.
Which didnt prevent Erin from being known as a princess by all the people of the region.
Stopping abruptly, Erin leaned against one of the trees that surrounded the main entrance to the city, unable to move. "What am I doing... selling MotherNight? Come on Erin... you wouldnt do that..." The giantess said to herself, hugging her stomach while thinking what her acquaintances would say about her if they saw her at that moment.
Unfortunately, the work as guardian of the villa was too good, providing her with a discreet place to think while at the same time having a roof under which to sleep and food secured. A job too good... so far, obviously.
"Selling weapons is one thing, I cant know what use they are going to give you..." Erin repeated, closing her eyes. "Selling Mother Night has only one possible way... one totally terrible for the poor victim who crosses the path of the buyer...
Is this the person I want to become? Anyone willing to sell MotherNight?" Lost in thought, Erin sighed before a single memory dominated her, one terrible enough to put her in a worse mood instantly. "No, but he made it clear that I can never become the person I want to be"
GreenGate acted as capital of the forests of Hyalgan, mainly because it was the largest and closest town to the edges of the region, so there were few services that were accumulated in the city. From a small hospital or a permanent market to more exotic things such as a modest magic academy to instruct and redirect the few apprentices in the area or to a headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild, mainly for the large mansion that stood in the center of the forest, former residence of the Penumbra walkers, now converted at the whim of a lesser god in an unknown Territory.
"Good night princess!"
"Still working at this time, Erin?"
"Be careful on the way back, princess!"
Everyone still on the streets turned to greet Erin, the giantess waving as politely as the rush allowed her as she made her way to the Guild.
As always, Erin ducked in front of the double doors of the building (Installed precisely by her), opening them and waiting a few seconds before entering, seconds that served all the usual as an indication that they had to get away from the entrance.
"Good evening everyone" Erin said as she crawling, the roof of the Guild just high enough for the giantess to be sitting on her knees.
There werent many people that night in the Guild, just a small group of adventurers drinking in silence at one of the tables, looking defeated. Bad luck in the mansion, Erin thought to herself.
"Mah dear elite mercenary!" The kitchen doors flew open, and although it seemed that nobody had left them, Erin waited a few seconds until moved a stool behind the bar. "Whew! someone gid enters 'ere th'day, oncom tae lose hawp o' seeing someone with...you ken whit ah mean, muckle lassie!" Gus, the dwarf and branch manager of Hyalgan Guild of adventurers, was as loud as ever, honoring the said that most dwarves wore with pride.
Make a lot of noise, let them know you're here before you kill them!
(Interestingly, Gus boasted so much of the saying that he even had it embroidered on top of the bar on the tavern side of the Guild)
"I'm also glad to see you, Gus" Erin said as she pushed aside some stools to make room at the bar, letting Gus prepare her usual drink before starting the awkward conversation.
"A menthol horn, am ah wrong? " Gus asked, already leaving the huge (still more in his hands) jar on top of the bar.
"Shouldnt you ask me before you serve?" Erin joked as she took a first sip, enjoying the taste of mint.
"A dinnae need it! ye hae nae ordered mair than 2 drinks in a' this time! if ye dae nae come fur th' fairn ah ken whit ye expect is mentholated horn, in trial yi'll waant tae sloch a guid heavy tis whit yi''ll need!"
"You know me too well!" Erin enjoyed the complicity of the dwarf, beginning to fear the reaction to the theme that brought her that night.
"Ye ken it, muckle lassie!" Gus flopped down on the stool, sitting with one arm on the bar. "That's how come ah ken that th'day ye come wi' something terribly tairible in mynd, richt?" Erin nodded, drinking half a jug before beginning to speak.
"The reason I didnt come in these last two days is that there was a bear infected by Mother Night near the village..." Gus's surprised look is within what Erin expected, so the giantess kept talking. "Thanks to the gods, we have found both the bear and the MotherNight vein... and now Mayor Takun wants to sell it"
"...Ye wull nae be serious, wull ye?" Gus rubbed his ears for a moment, hoping they had failed him.
"He knows it all too well, but he says that in order to give it to the royal guard to destroy it, he prefers to try to sell it to whoever needs it..."
"By a' th' gods... Ah think ah havent heard sic a twisted reasoning or in th' geggy o' th' maist hurdie elf... Listen erin, ah wull fin' it pernicketie tae fin' someone wi' a need... Or a buzz..."
"I know that very well! You search among your contacts if someone would want to buy it discreetly, I'll make a couple of calls and try to delay the sale for a week so that Takun has no choice but to send the MotherNight to the royal guard... it's the only way I see to do the right thing in this situation..."
Gus sighed, looking at the giantess out of the corner of her eye. "Ye'r tae guid tae be a mercenary, ye ken? nae mony mercenaries wull huv a go tae deliver something as valuable as mothernight tae th' ryle guard"
"It's called principles! And they arent exclusive to mercenaries or adventurers" Erin smiled, proud of herself. A silly pride, Gus thought, but if the girl made him happy...
"Principles, conscience, yer educated 'n' cultured wey o' speaking 'n' th' fact that ye ken me in mah native leid... Urr ye sure you'rent royalty?"
Not a second step before Erin hit the bar with both hands, blowing everything that was on it. "No! It doesnt matter how many times I was asked! My parents just raised me with love and affection, tried to give me a good education within their possibilities... I wish there were more, but it's all my story"
"Okay... Dae nae git mad, muckle lassie " Gus sighed, jumping to the floor and approaching the desk that served as a counter for the adventurers. "Ye dinnae need tae pay me fur th' dram, ah will charge ye whin takun pays ye th' dosh he owes ye"
Sipping the rest of the mentholated horn, Erin peeked around the bar, easily leaving the jug in the sink. "Is there someone in the Tapirus academy?"
"Th' auld tapirus left this mornin' wi' twa promising apprentices near th' mansion, something o' wanting tae see th' natural dexterity o' they twa weans"
"Then I will have to open the door carefully, I dont want to jump back the security measures like the last time..." With a sheepish smile, Erin turned to the door, saying goodbye to Gus for the last time while leaving as well as she could through the gates of the guild.
Gus continued writing the offers on Mother Night for two hours, bid farewell to the unsuccessful adventurers in the process. The sky become cloudy and the rain threatened to break out during the night, so the old dwarf's intention was to close the guild earlier than usual to go to bed early and enjoy the sound of the rain.
Even so, fate had other plans. For shortly before finishing the last letter, the guild door burst open, a male figure dressed in a black suit, the legs of what appeared to be an intricate red, black and dark blue armor (colors that, in combination, were often attributed to older adventurers; a habit for rookies to know who they could ask for help in case of need) and with their heads covered by a completely closed helmet of the same design.
The figure took a couple of steps, bowing politely before Gus "Good evening gentleman, are you still open?"
Gus blinked a few seconds, confused at the situation. That a veteran adventurer might have been lost in such quiet lands as Hyalgan was the only thing the dwarf could think of. "For now, brother. What do you need?"
"A hot dinner before going on my way, I have always relied more on the guilds than on taverns or restaurants for a business as vital as dining"
"Wise choice, brother! I make the best chops in the area, with quite a difference, I can assure you" Gus kept the letter half written on the desk, jumping from the chair and running to the bar. "Table or do you prefer a stool?"
"Stool itself, I'm not capricious" The figure pressed some kind of mechanism on the back of his neck, the helmet fading in a golden glow... although the bar prevented Gus from knowing his guest personally. "Do you mind if I check the requests? I want to take advantage of the trip to take away some difficult request from the novices"
"No problem! Check them out as much as you need, dinner I'll take it out in 10 minutes "Leaving the adventurer alone, Gus went into the kitchen.
After a few seconds of courtesy to make sure the dwarf did not come out again, the adventurer sat at the desk, opening the drawer and reviewing the message halfway. "Mother Night?... Selling Mother Night? Mr. Mayor Takun ... talking about bad guys... and the intermediary is..." A smile crossed the face of the adventurer, keeping the letter inside his jacket.
"A year later, our paths cross again... fate has played the cards... let's see what hand awaits, Erin"