Chapter 210

"Old man, are you feeling alright? What nonsense are you talking about?" Hal stared wide-eyed at him.

"Maybe..." Peter sighed and turned to look at the distant figure walking away. Had he just been lonely for too long?

"Come on, don't scare me like that." Hal let out a sigh of relief. He'd been working with this old man for years, always relying on Peter's wisdom to secure their bounties.

Peter shook his head. He really did feel a bit tired. He had been a bounty hunter for nearly thirty years now, and each mission took at least six months, sometimes even a year, without returning home.

Ever since Peter's wife had passed away, he hadn't been home in over three years. He had spent all his time with Hal. This time, they were after a bounty ranked tenth, trying to capture an elf known as the "White-Haired Enchantress."

"Old man, you're acting kind of strange today." Hal remarked, grinning.

"When you get old, you start having strange thoughts." Peter replied in a low voice.

"So, after this job, are you going to retire?" Hal asked cautiously, his eyelids drooping. "I plan on sticking with you, you know."

"Hahaha… You're almost thirty. Why don't you go find a wife and settle down instead of hanging around with an old man like me." Peter scolded, though his tone was filled more with affection than irritation.

"No way. Women are nothing but trouble. Those frail little bodies? Not my type." Hal turned away, displeased. The old man was always telling him to find a wife, but he wasn't interested in those skinny women.

Peter was at a bit of a loss for words. What's up with this guy? He looked like a walking mountain of muscle and still had the nerve to judge others.

"I'm gonna take a leak. Wait for me." Hal said as he strode toward a building at the edge of the street, looking for a corner to deal with nature's call.

"Hey, hey... go over there." Peter quickly shouted, noticing a notice board and a few people heading toward what was clearly a public restroom.

"I can't hold it." Hal didn't even turn around as he found a random corner and relieved himself.

"Unbelievable." Peter sighed, not making much of it. After all, everyone has been through such situations…

But then, Peter began to feel a growing number of eyes on them, filled with disgust—and even a bit of pity?

"Who just relieved themselves out in the open?" 

A woman named Ayesha emerged from the crowd, wearing elegantly crafted leather armor, a sword strapped to her waist, and a baseball bat slung over her shoulder. Five patrol officers followed closely behind her.

"What's going on?" 

Hal turned around after finishing his business, glaring at the group in front of him with the expression of a dead fish. His massive frame blocked the puddle behind him, though the smell still lingered in the air.

"Uh-oh..." 

Peter immediately realized this wasn't good. There were six of them, and they were well-equipped. This could get dangerous.

"Didn't you see the signs?" Ayesha asked, frowning. It was her first day on the job, and here she was dealing with something so petty. She had expected to break up some fights, not this.

"I saw them, but I didn't care," Hal retorted, his temper flaring up. "It's just taking a piss. Why so many rules for that?"

"You'll need to pay a fine. Given your bad attitude, it'll be ten copper coins. And you'll have to clean up that mess." Ayesha said, stepping back to escape the stench.

"What? A fine for peeing? This is extortion." Hal's mood exploded. Since when has his urine become so valuable?

"Are you resisting authority?" Ayesha narrowed her violet eyes, gripping her baseball bat tighter.

"No, no, that's not it, ma'am. We'll pay the fine." Peter quickly shouted, trying to diffuse the situation. If this went on any longer, a fight was inevitable. Offending the local nobles right after arriving was not a smart move.

"Old man, step aside. Everyone does this all the time. How come here, even taking a piss costs copper? Whose idiotic rules are these?" Hal barked, his temper rising.

Peter shot Hal a warning glance, knowing they were walking on thin ice. Picking a fight with the authorities could land them in serious trouble.

Hal shoved Peter aside, his eyes blazing with fury. "I'm not paying a single coin today. Let's see what you can do about it."

In the capital, Hal had even dared to relieve himself right in front of a noble's gate. Though he couldn't go back there now, his stubborn, reckless nature hadn't changed one bit.

"How dare you." 

The patrol officers shouted angrily, outraged that someone would question the laws laid down by the great Lord of the city.

"It looks like you'll be the first 'guest' of our watch today." Ayesha said coldly, gripping her baseball bat as she advanced toward the burly man. Defying the rules set by her young master was unforgivable.

"A female beastkin? Heh, I've beaten male beastkins before, let alone a female one." Hal taunted, his tone dripping with provocation.

Peter, standing to the side, quietly slid his hand into his bag where his weapon lay. His eyes scanned the surroundings carefully. Though he wasn't worried about Hal's strength, he knew this could turn ugly quickly. In fact, he saw it as a test of their current situation—if they couldn't win, at least they could escape.

Hal was known for taking on two or three beastmen at a time. Even a group of five or six noble knights couldn't handle him. In fact, he had beaten them so badly that he stripped them of their armor and sold it for meat.

With a roar, Hal moved first, swinging an arm as thick as a tree trunk toward Ayesha. If it connected, even someone in full knight armor would be sent flying several meters.

"You big oaf. You dare strike first?" Ayesha dodged his blow with ease, stepping to his side and raising her baseball bat high, aiming for his massive thigh.

"Let's see if your legs are tough enough." Ayesha remarked calmly.

Peter, watching from the sidelines, shook his head slightly. With Hal's sheer bulk and layers of muscle and fat, a regular wooden bat wouldn't be enough to hurt him... or so he thought.

"Ahhh." 

A scream echoed as Hal's legs buckled beneath him, and he dropped to his knees. His body, once unstoppable, was suddenly at Ayesha's mercy.

"I only used half my strength," Ayesha said, her voice flat and unimpressed. "Now that you're down here, it's a much better height."

"What...?" Hal could barely comprehend the searing pain in his leg, as if it had been set on fire.

"Thud."

With one more swing, Ayesha slammed her bat into Hal's head, knocking him out cold. She shook the bat off casually and muttered, "If you'd just listened from the start, none of this would've happened."

Peter stood frozen, in shock. 'Hal, taken down by just two swings from a female beastman? How could this be?'

"Drag him back. Lock him up in the 'black room'." Ayesha ordered, turning to the patrol officers behind her.

"Yes, ma'am." The officers responded with respect, their eyes filled with admiration for Ayesha as they moved to carry the unconscious Hal.

"W-Wait. I can pay a fine to get him released." Peter shouted in desperation.

"Ransom?" Ayesha waved her hand dismissively. "Come to the guard office in three days and you can pick him up."

With that, she and the five officers hauled Hal's massive frame toward the patrol guard station.

"Will the young master praise me for this?" Ayesha wondered to herself as she walked away.

Peter stood there, dumbfounded. All of this... over a simple act of relieving oneself? What kind of crazy place was this Sedona City?

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