Chapter 23: Intense

The next morning, we ate our breakfast and headed to the fields for our patrol. It didn't take long before I spotted one about 50 meters away from me. Standing at the border of the forest, scraping its hooves as it stared at me with disdain. I swallowed my saliva, I could tell that it was at least the size of a small car, even from afar.

"Psst, Lia. Don't make any sudden movements," I whispered.

She nodded obediently.

"I want you to back away slowly and hide behind something," I instructed. She did as I said, finding cover behind a cart whilst observing me.

I scanned the area and found no one else, then called upon my soulblade. A long, straight, silvery blade with mysterious glyphs engraved all over it. I held the soulblade up with one hand, and put another on my hips. The weapon didn't emanate any sort of domineering misty aura like it did the first time I held it, but it'll have to do. I checked and found Lia at a safe distance, then turned my gaze towards the pig and let out a cry, "El buta-dono!"

The pig charged at full speed, barring its massive tusk at me. I stood my ground, forcing myself to try not to chicken out as the pig approached. Wait for it. Wait for it. As the hog was about to skewer me, I sidestepped and delivered a slash to its side, drawing blood.

The hog passed through me, slowing down, and made a U turn. It let out a snort and pawed the ground. I personally do not like the concept of animal torture. But a man's gotta eat. I resolved myself to try and end the animal's life as fast as I can. It charged at me once more and I prepared to maneuver against it. An arrow flew and struck the hog at back of its head, causing it trip halfway, and crashed with a resounding thud. It died on the spot.

I traced the origin of the arrow and saw a figure wearing a well-fitted leather armor. She slid back her bow as she strolled away from us. I turned to the fallen swine and reluctantly decided to collect the tusks. Lia came out from her hiding spot and walked towards me. She offered a silent prayer to the beast and we proceeded to collect the tusk. I tried hacking it with my blade at first, only managing to barely chipped it. I finally got an idea and materialized my soulblade through it. Finding out that it works, I did it a few more times until the tusks came off and tied it around my back as we set out to find more.

Learning that I'm just way too weak to hunt the down the old fashioned way, I decided to change my tactics and rely on my soulblade instead. It should be fine, since there aren't many townsfolk around the field in fear of the Greater-Tusked Pigs. The only one I should probably be wary of is that person. I wonder if she saw me materializing the soulblade out of thin air. I should probably try to steer clear from her, at least until we finished hunting for the day - since we still kinda owe her for taking down the first pig. I discussed it with Lia and she also agreed that we should register the tusks as her kill.

We continued patrolling along the fields and found a few of them rummaging through the crops. Learning from my past mistakes, we decided to revise our tactics. Instead of relying on brute force, this time we'll play it smart and use some bait. I asked Lia if she knew how to brew any kind of sedative potions (aside from the K.O. potion), and to our luck, turns out she can! So we headed back to the town to acquire some of the ingredients from the local apothecary store there. We bought the ingredients (the legal ones) and began brewing an inferior version of the knockout potion. We headed back to the fields and requested to buy a bunch of vegetables from a farmer. Knowing our intentions, he gave it to us for free. We laced the vegetables with the stuff and spread it across the places where sightings have been reported. A few hours later, we came back and found some of them lying there unconsciously, down for the count. I used some of the herbs Lia had to mask my scent, and stealthily sneaked up to them. Summoning my soulblade through their head and instantly killing them on the spot. We continued the same cycle another couple times before deciding to call it a day. The tusks were made out of ivory. Being heavy and dense, I had to borrow a cart from the farmer and tow it back to town myself. It probably weighs around a dozen kilos, each! At the same time, I asked the farmer about a guy named Rando, and he told me that he was a guild associate who's in charge of every adventurer activities in this town. The farmer told me where he lived and we promptly made our way there. Thankfully, his house isn't located far from the fields, so we didn't have to travel far. We arrived and I parked the cart right in front of his house. We walked by his door and knocked.

"Coming," he opened his door. Rando was a tall, lean man. His hair was disheveled, but his beard was apparently kept short. He studied us for a moment, "Adventurers?"

"Yep. I'm Mike. The girl's Lia. Are you in any chance Rando?"

"In the flesh."

"Great."

He looked at the cart filled with tusks, "Pigs?"

I nodded, "Pigs."

"Nice. Lay them out so I can count them."

"Sure."

The conversation with men seldom require much words. I walked back to pull the cart closer and the three of us began unloading them. Lining the trophies up neatly in rows.

"Thirteen of them. Quite a catch you got right there. What's your rank?", he asked curiously.

"Iron," I replied.

He furrowed his brows, as if not quite believing me. He turned to Lia, "You?"

She took out her tags and showed it to him "Silver."

"Strange. How'd you do it?" he narrowed his eyes on us.

"Trade secret," I replied.

He snorted, "Fair enough. Come inside and I'll fill in the paperwork."

"Thanks," we followed him in. The house interior was nothing special. A fireplace, a few chairs, and a desk. He sat as he opened a ledger and wrote something down. I looked around the room and found it well lit by crystal lamps. He finished, closed the ledger and set it aside. Next, he took out a sheet of paper from the drawer and began writing again. After putting his signature on it, he passed the paper and told me to sign. Confirming that the numbers were right, I did.  He folded the paper, put it in an envelope, and handed it to me.

"Thanks."

"Sure thing. Are you both going on a hunt again tomorrow?" Rando asked.

"Yeah, it's such a waste to stop when we only just arrived yesterday. We need to get much more in order to break even," I replied.

"I see. Well, you'd better start picking up the pace, unless you want Sigrid to hog up all those tusks," he said.

I snorted at his pun. So her name is Sigrid, huh? I turned back to Rando, "Do you mind telling me more about her?"

"What? You guys didn't know?" he said, incredulity written on his face.

"Nope, we're actually kinda new to this."

"No wonder," Rando nodded understandingly. He held his chin and seemed to contemplate about something, before continuing, "Sure, I'll tell you. But keep in mind that most of the things I'm about to tell you are only based on the rumors I heard. I can't guarantee there's any factual basis to it."

"Does it have to do with why everyone in the guild are avoiding her like the plague?"

"Partly so. I've heard from a friend of mine in the guild that she was once a Gold-rank Adventurer until about a decade ago. One of the best, as a matter of fact. She and her crew are famous for taking requests that involves going against people from the underworld. Busting drug cartels and human trafficking dens, rescuing hostages from kidnappers. You get it, the vigilante kind of sh*t. Rumor even has it that she occasionally takes on assassination requests regarding irredeemable criminals whom the authorities can't even touch."

"Badass," I muttered in awe.

"I know right? But continuously taking requests like that are bound to ultimately cause trouble. One day, her crew decided to take up an official request to bust up a Polippus processing facility back in Yarawin. They entered and was caught off-guard. The cartel was prepared for them. After a few days of receiving no news, the Guild eventually decided to mobilize a huge team to storm the place. Unfortunately, there was a mole and the most of the cartel members managed to slip away just in time. There, they found out that everyone in her crew had been killed. All except her," Rando said bleakly. "This is when the story's path began to diverge, depending on your sources. Some say that she was tortured and used by her captors as their plaything. Some say that she was actually in cahoots with the cartel and was offered a sumptuous bribe in order to sell her crew out. Some even say that she's the lover of the cartel's mastermind. The truth? Nobody really knows. After the event finally blew off, she was stripped of her Tag and was demoted back into an Iron-rank Adventurer. Of course, there were complaints about that from the public too."

Me and Lia listened intently as Rando told Sigrid's story.

"That was… intense," I said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So why does everyone avoid her like that? That doesn't change that she's an excellent adventurer with a great sense of justice," Lia said

Rando shook his head, "You see, adventurers are superstitious people. You don't just party up with an adventurer whose previous crew all died. That's just bad luck."

We contemplated the story in silence, the mood in the room damp as it can be.

"Well, then. Since you're going out to hunt again tomorrow, just leave the tusks at my house for now. You can come back and collect it once you decided to return back to Barissan," Rando said.

We stepped out to move the tusks inside Rando's house. Amongst the tusks I brought were a few slabs of pork. As thanks for the vegetables, we told the farmers that they could have the rest of the carcasses. They gladly accepted and went back to get some of the hunters to help butcher the pigs. By the time we called it a day, the farmers called us by to share some choice cuts and graciously allowed us to borrow a cart.

I gave some to Rando and he grinned widely, offering to cook it up for dinner. We happily accepted and helped with the preparations. I took out the salt and spices I bought and generously rubbed it on the meat. At the same time, Rando took out a jar of his personally blended barbeque sauce and we began roasting it, brushing it layer by layer as it the sugar caramelizes. A few hours later, it's finally done. The smell of sweet, savory pork permeated the entire house. Filling my nose with its irresistible aroma and making me instinctively salivate. The last time I had a meal this good was about a week ago, courtesy of Darius. Though it somehow felt a bit longer than that. Rando un-skewered the meat and cut it to size, serving it on a plate. We proceeded to dig in. I put the meat in my mouth and the fibre just breaks apart easily, oozing out its sacred heavenly juices. Oh sweet savory lord of meat!

We savored the entire meal and sat quietly with a full stomach. Then, someone knocked.