Chapter 006

"I-I… I don't believe it…" the village chief stammered in absolute astonishment. In front of him was a sack filled with the heads of the bandits who had been tormenting his village. There was a burnt head among the pile and he could think of no one else but the bandit leader. "Is that the bandit leader's head?"

"Yes," Robert answered. "Forgive me for the disfiguration. He was a tad harder to deal with than the others, so I had to resort to some more drastic means. But rest assured, that is his head."

"How was this burnt man dressed?"

"Fancy. The three pieces and everything."

"It's him alright. You have my undying gratitude, hunter. Thank you so much." The village chief bowed at Robert in front of half of the village.

The crowd was formed from the moment Robert sauntered into the village, dragging a large bloodied sack. At first, the villagers were frowning with displeasure at the mess Robert was making but when they started connecting the dots, they realised Robert might have been true to his words. Their belief became true when Robert stopped right in front of the village chief's cabin and untied the sack. Their hostile gazes turned amicable in an instant.

"I don't need your undying gratitude. I'm sure you know I didn't do this out of the goodness of my heart. So, where's my money? That's ten in total, including the ones I have killed in front of the tavern."

"About that…"

"You don't have the money?"

"I-I do but… the reward isn't per head. It's collective."

"Huh…"

"Paying you per head will be too steep for my funds."

"How about this, good hunter? Free meals and a free room for one night. How about it?" suggested the bartender, who came to the village chief's rescue. "Of course, along with the chief's reward too."

"In that case, I want the best dishes and the best room."

"Done," the bartender nodded.

The village chief sighed in relief. "Thank you, Belteor."

"It's nothing, chief. He did help the whole village. It's only right."

"It feels like we are being swindled here," Olivia whispered.

"It can't be helped. It was my fault in the first place. I didn't make my rate clear first before doing the job. Besides, we got plenty of money from the bandits themselves."

"I hope they don't come and haunt us as ghosts."

"We burned their bodies already."

"I know… Still, we desecrated their corpses."

"What's done is done. If they become ghosts, we'll deal with it then."

Olivia glanced at Robert with an expectant look. "I'll be holding you to that…" she muttered with a faint smile.

Undeads were real, Olivia had told him when she insisted on burning the corpses' headless bodies. They were usually the results of corpses that didn't receive a proper burial and died under terrible circumstances. Though headless corpses rarely rose back up as undead, Olivia wasn't keen on leaving it up to chance.

****

The bartender, the tavern owner to be exact, had kept his end of the bargain. He had provided Robert and Olivia their finest and most lavish dishes on the menu. The two ate to their stomachs' content but were moderate with how much they drank. Olivia was a terrible drunk and she found that out the hard way. As for Robert, he wanted to keep a clear head for the deep contemplation he would be having in bed later.

And contemplation time was now. Robert was currently lying in bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. The room wasn't as lavish as the meals but still better than what he had expected. It was clean and comfortable. That was all Robert wanted. He had expected a bed of straws but to his delight, the bed and the pillow were stuffed with feathers.

Olivia was in her own room, which she had rented yesterday. Robert didn't mind sharing as there was another bed in the room but she insisted on using the room that she had already paid for even though the owner was willing to refund her.

Robert surmised Olivia was either embarrassed to share a room with a man or she needed some private time to clear her head of today's events. Much like him, a great deal of things had happened to her.

"What to do…?" Robert mused absentmindedly as he continued to stare into the darkness. There was a lantern on a small dressing table in the corner of the room but Robert left the room unlit. The darkness was just more suitable for some deep contemplation.

Now that everything was quiet and still, Robert realised how much of a mess his head was. He didn't even know where to start sorting his thoughts. He thought about finding a way back home but then it hit him. Strangely enough, the thought of finding a way back to his homeworld barely crossed his mind at all. He had only thought about home around the first hour of his arrival in this world but after that, he did not think about it again until now.

The reason was simple. He had no attachment aside from the luxuries and comforts of the modern world. He did have friends and family that would miss him but he doubted they would make much of an effort to look for him. He knew he wouldn't if it was them that went missing without a trace. That was the kind of environment he grew up in.

So far, he kinda liked it here. There were significantly less restrictions on his actions here. The people barely frowned when he killed someone. In fact, they cheered for him when he presented the heads of his slain foes. Granted, his victims were bad people but the point being, they were more accepting of this disposition in comparison to his homeworld. He felt a sense of belonging to this world.

"I need power and money if I am to keep on living and thriving in this world," Robert came to these conclusions. He no longer desired to return to Earth. There was nothing for him there. With his disposition, this world was far more accepting of him than his homeworld. He could make a living here by adhering to his true nature.

In order to thrive without fear of being obstructed by various obstacles, he needed strength and power and what better way to obtain them than to reawaken his Vis. He didn't lose his Vis. He could still feel it within his body but he just couldn't utilise it no matter how hard he tried. It was as if something was blocking or preventing him from using it. He did have an idea as to how he could reawaken his Vis but it was a dangerous method. Ironically, it was how he first awakened his Vis.

The next on the list was money, which he could gain if he had the strength and power. Might makes right, this was what he had seen so far in this world. Political and bureaucratic bullshit was still present but one could get away with a lot of things if they had might. The bandits he had slain were a prime example.

"Hmm… Olivia might be able to help me in the reawakening. Should I go ask her now or wait until tomorrow?" Robert asked no one in particular.

But he received a response in the form of knocks on his door. He quickly got up from the bed, put on his boots, and trotted to the door. When he opened it, he found not just Olivia but also some man he had never seen before.

The man was more muscular than Robert was and he was just as tall.

Robert didn't bother hiding the warping of his expression. The stench wafting off of the man was just plain unbearable. He reeked of alcohol and judging by his flushed face, he was most likely drunk too. The man's clothing was a mess. He was wearing a simple tunic and a pair of trousers, all presumably stained by his meals and drinks.

"So, you're Olivia's new companion, huh…" the man said as he eyed Robert closely.

"Yes, he's my new companion. Now that you have confirmed it yourself, please leave me alone, Cobb. We are done. I have said the same thing to Flint."

"Oh," Robert muttered in understanding. "So you're her former party member. I see."

"Watch your words, buddy." Cobb pointed at Robert with a scowl. "That's still undecided."

"Damn it, Cobb. What else do you want?" Olivia seemed like she wanted to yell but kept her voice low for the sake of the other patrons.

"You, Olivia. Rynn already left town and it's just you now. The obnoxious coward, Flint, is gone too. There's no reason for us to not form our own party."

"I already did, Cobb. I formed a party with Robert here."

"Why him!?" Cobb shouted. "We were together for two months but you would rather be with this man that you have only met today? What does he have that I don't?"

"Tact, for one."

Cobb dismissed Olivia's retort with a snort. "I have tact, certainly more than this man here. You think I don't know what you're scheming?"

"Cobb, that's enough! You're drunk."

"And what am I scheming exactly?" Robert responded dryly.

"The trolls… the bandits… I heard it all. You probably schemed everything to make it look like you're so good and capable… But I know better. I'm good at judging someone's nature."

"Oh, and what is my nature?"

"Robert, you don't need to amuse him."

"It's alright, Olivia. I wanted to hear what he has to say."

"You are good…" Cobb said. "But I know people like you, crafty and cunning. You just want to fuck her. When the opportunity arises, you will push her down and fuck her to your heart's content. You will fuck her hard and good."

"Let's say that's true," Robert looked at Olivia, "what will you do, Olivia?"

"Huh, me?" Olivia was caught off guard by Robert's question. She was baffled for a moment but she caught his ploy and went with it. "I suppose I will let you do as you wish," she said with a titter.

"W-what?!" Cobb bellowed. "Olivia… since when were you such a bitch!?"

"Fucking hell," Olivia scoffed. "You and Flint are one and the same. I'm suddenly a bitch for fancying a man other than you two."

"I-it's you…!" Cobb growled, glaring at Robert. "You manipulated her. She's acting like this because of you!"

"Quiet down out there!" shouted someone from one of the rooms.

"What's going on here?" asked the tavern owner who had come up the stairs to check on the noise. "What the— you again, Cobb? Since you're back, I assume you have the money to pay for your tab?"

Like a child caught in the act, Cobb froze on the spot as he turned around like a rusty cogwheel. "Belteor, I—"

Robert saw an opportunity. He grabbed Olivia by the hand, pulled her into his room, and slammed the door shut before Cobb could react.

"Hey, open up!" shouted Cobb as he banged and hammered on the door repeatedly. "Fucking bitch, open up!"

"Enough, Cobb!" Belteor berated the muscular man. "You have cause enough trouble in my tavern already. You're disturbing my patrons."

The clamour and row went on for sometime before finally coming to an end when the other guests had enough of the racket. They came out of their rooms and abrasively escorted Cobb out of the tavern. Cobb resisted but from what Robert could hear, the guests most likely responded to Cobb's violence and resistance in kind.

Peace and quiet eventually returned to the tavern.

"T-thank you, Robert," Olivia said. Her heart was thumping due to the fact Robert had his arm wrapped around her supple and slender waist. "Can you let go of me now?"

"Why? Are you uncomfortable?"

"Uh… no. It's not that."

"Do you hate it?" Robert asked, wrapping his arm tighter.

"I don't hate it… It's—"

He chuckled and uncoiled his arm from her waist. "Sorry about that. You are just too cute."

"You jest, Robert. I'm no longer a child."

"Who says you have to be a child to be cute?"

There was no response from Olivia other than her cheeks reddening.

Seeing such an Olivia, Robert couldn't hold back anymore. "Care to join me in bed?"

"No thanks," she answered calmly instead of getting all flustered. "I-I'm not ready yet… This is too fast for me."

Robert smiled. "I understand," he said. Despite how much he wanted to get laid, he didn't want to force himself on Olivia. "Well, good night, Olivia. See you in the morning."

Olivia nodded. "Good night," she greeted and left.

Robert instinctively touched the pocket on the right side of his trousers but the empty feeling reminded him of his circumstances. "Oh, right. I don't have my phone with me. Stupid," he rebuked himself.