6 A Good Hunting Dog

The tragedy of Tragoedia was eternalized through the Marines' records.

After killing the culprit, Venator took his corpse along with the sole survivor to the Marine base, stationed in the town he first arrived in.

Venator received suspicious look from the citizens of the town as he dragged in a corpse along with a bloodied young boy, but no one dared to stop him, making his journey to the Marine base smooth.

When he arrived, he headed straight for the receptionist, "I'd like to redeem this bounty.", and threw the Slasher's corpse over the counter.

The Marine receptionist caught the corpse with ease, as if he had practiced this for many times, and he searched through the wanted posters for the corpse.

As he found the poster, he rose an eyebrow when he saw that the man was worth $20,000,000, but that was overlooked in favor of calculating the final money.

"Due to the fact that the culprit is dead, you will only receive 50% of the bounty."

Venator's eyes hardened at that, but he accepted it regardless, not wanting to make a scene.

That was also when the receptionist extended an offer.

"We offer this to many bounty hunters; but few accept it. Would you like to join the Marines for the full bounty regardless of the criminal's status, dead or alive? At higher ranks, you will also have access to the Marines' resources to do what you wish, as long as it is within the boundary of the law."

Venator listened to his offer, and a part of it caught his attention.

He could care less about the full bounty of a criminal, but the resources is where he was interested in.

The current objective of the hunt was Erobus Sova, his traitorous younger brother.

He wanted to find and kill him, but there was just one problem. He did not know where to find him on the vast seas.

With the Marines' resources, he would be able to find his younger brother, and possibly his other siblings as well.

When he considered all the factors, Venator did not hesitate to join the Marines.

"I see. Then please ready up, as we have a ship loaded with recruits heading to Marineford soon, in 2 days."

Venator nodded in confirmation, and was prepared to leave before the receptionist asked another question.

"What will you do with the boy following you? We could take him in, if you wish."

The boy in question flinched at the sudden attention given to him, and he hung onto Venator's mercury coat.

Venator extended a question to the boy, "Would you like to follow me?"

He received a nod as an answer, and he turned to the receptionist, who nodded as well.

"I see."

"Is there anything else?"

"No, you're free to go. Thank you for your time, and welcome to the Marines in advance."

Venator and the boy left.

They were heading to an inn, but this time, they were loaded with money.

He paid the inn owner extra for a room with a shower, and to not ask any questions about the state of the boy.

When they entered the room, Venator turned to his companion and asked, "What's your name?"

The boy finally spoke for the first time since the tragedy, his voice was raspy. "Stes."

"Age?"

"12."

Venator nodded at the new information he received.

Stes asked Venator a question.

"What's your name?"

"Venator. Venator Sova."

"Then... can I refer to myself as Stes Sova?"

Venator rose an eyebrow at the unexpected question, and replied, "Why? Would you not like to keep your family legacy in your name?"

"They're all dead. I'd rather leave the past behind."

"I see... then feel free to do that... when you learn how to be a hunter."

"A hunter?", Stes asked curiously.

"That's my family profession. Wash off the blood, then I'll show you how to be a hunter."

Stes gave a non verbal confirmation, then headed to the bathroom, before realizing something.

"But... I don't have new clothes...?"

Venator also forgot about that.

"Then let's go buy new ones now."

Venator took off his mercury coat and laid it onto Stes, the coat covering most of his body and his bloodstained clothes.

...

The duo of Venator and Stes headed out onto the street, and headed for a clothing store.

Venator allowed Stes to pick whatever he wanted, as he had a lot of money, and Stes did just that.

Stes picked simple clothes that would allow for good camouflage, something that Venator approved of.

He also picked clothes that would be easy to hide bloodstains with.

Another thing that Venator approved of.

Venator decided to pick some clothes for himself as well, and just like Stes, he picked simply designed clothes, some black t-shirts and pants.

In total, the duo's shopping spree only costed about $20,000.

They then headed back to the inn for Stes to wash the blood off of him, and after that was done, Venator also took a turn in the shower to refresh himself.

When they were finished their business at the inn, Venator took Stes out to a nearby forest, but not before buying an axe from a local carpenter.

"First lesson: Create your own bow."

Venator gave Stes the axe, which looked quite comical with the small size disparity between the two.

"Choose whichever tree you'd like, but be warned, some trees are," Venator gave Stes some adviced, "sturdier than others."

Stes absorbed the advice like a sponge to water, and he started moving around and using the axe to create small cuts on each trees that he found, using the same amount of force for each one.

Then he circled back around and tried to find the tree with the smallest cut.

That ended up being the third, red-colored tree.

"That's not a bad way to find the best trees. Now, start chopping."

Stes started chipping at the tree, creating small chips every time the axe collided with it.

Eventually, after hours, the tree started falling, and Stes went in for the finishing move.

Stes finally chopped his first tree.

"Good. Now, I'll teach you how to make a bow. First, shape the pieces, like this" Venator took the axe from Stes's hands and showed him how to shape the wood into right pieces.

Stes, surprisingly, did it perfectly on his first try.

It seemed like Stes was naturally attuned to this, and if they keep going at this rate, it wouldn't take long at all for Stes to make his first bow.

'He'll make a good hunting dog.'

That thought lingered in Venator's mind.