Ball of pride

A few days passed.

Flint didn't mourn the death of his family.

Yes, he loved them, but he didn't want to mourn them.

At least not yet.

They died right before him.

They died- protecting him.

They wanted him to live.

And if he mourned- if he went to see them and mourned their deaths-

His pain-

This horrible feeling would dampen.

And he didn't want it to dampen- it wanted the pain to burn brightly- to sting- so that-

So that it drove him-

He wanted to avenge them.

He wanted revenge.

And as he stared at the night sky-

As he stared at the stars-

'I'm doing something they didn't want-'

Of course, he had no way of knowing what his parents or sister actually want- after all, they were dead.

But-

Surely, they wouldn't want him to throw his life away in pursuit of revenge, right?

Yet, he wanted that.

He wanted revenge.

He didn't know who did this- he didn't know why they did it and he didn't know if he could ever beat them.

But-

But he did want revenge.

Not for anyone but for himself.

He wanted the souls of his family to live peacefully wherever they were.

Yet- he didn't know if they were even more anxious to figure out that Flint was going to focus on revenge or just be happy that he cared so much?

Yes, Flint didn't know anything.

He really didn't.

And that's why-

He wanted revenge.

And he wanted to move on with his life.

And the only way to move forward- was through revenge.

"It's your turn-" The demon said, coming over. "Should have slept while you had the chance."

The horse was asleep and they were out in the open below a tree.

A little past midnight. Barely any wind- no sounds in particular.

The perfect time to be sleeping-

It was Flint's chance to sleep but he didn't.

So-

"It's fine." He said, getting up and standing guard.

They did this for the last couple of days.

Since they were out in the open, monsters might sneak up and harm them- or worse, kill them. So, someone had to keep guard.

"If any monster does make it close, I'll trust you would make proper judgment."

"I will."

Anne snorted, lying down on the cart, on top of the black bags, without any issue.

A mild sigh but- this was fine.

Standing guard- just standing there- looking at the horizon and keeping his ears open-

This was good.

This helped him shift his focus elsewhere.

Whenever he slept- he got nightmares…

And when he was alone- just thinking- he thought about many things.

So-

It was moments like this-

Moments when he needed his full focus-

Were a bliss.

***

The next morning- the duo resumed their journey after a quick stale bready breakfast- with nothing but water.

Up next-

The city of Dale- said to be the stinkiest city of the north coast.

Not many people visited said place.

Yet-

They had to cross that place.

Why?

Anne didn't bother educating Flint.

"Monsters dead ahead-" Flint said-

"Yeah, I saw them. Don't worry about them-"

There were monsters by the road-

Small goblins-

But they didn't get on the road.

They didn't even attack the cart as they passed by.

"Wha-"

"They're asleep." Anne said, stopping the cart in a distance. "Go kill them-"

Asleep?

He'd been wondering how this Flack Demon used magic but-

Questioning his savior and getting on her bad side didn't seem like the best idea.

Flint looked back- "But-"

"Kill them or I'll strangle you on that tree-"

He grimaced- taking out a knife- and jumping off. "Their ears and teeth- and valuables, right?"

Anne grinned. "You know your stuff."

The goblins-

They were asleep.

Standing, eyes open- dazed.

Swiftly-

Slash-

Slosh-

Thrust-

Flint killed them all- all four.

He killed them fast to minimize their struggle- but- what death was without struggle?

If something had life- it fought back to protect that life and Flint knew that all too well.

Yet- he had to kill them.

Goblin meat was slightly poisonous and not that great tasting- so he didn't need those.

He did however need their ears and fangs- as well as whatever they were carrying in their small pouches.

Goblins were mildly intelligent, always attacked people in groups for some reason, and had a tendency to stack up on shiny things.

"They had two broken knives- and three silver coins." Flint said, yelling. "Should we burn the bodies?"

"Unnecessary. Just throw them in the distance, monsters will finish them up."

Flint didn't really like this-

But he couldn't argue.

Goblins were monsters- often harming people.

And he needed money-

Money to have a membership at the Magus guild to extract information.

The only way to get money?

Hunt these things- turn in the stuff to the guild hall in a town while stacking up on the coins they carried.

Of course, Flint wasn't going to get all these- even if they killed them.

Why?

Because Anne demanded a hefty cut.

After all-

She was the one making things easy- and she was the one carrying him and she was also the one who generously imparted practical knowledge on Flint.

And though he didn't like half of those-

Flint had to agree-

In the end-

He was both lucky and blessed to follow her.

After all-

If it wasn't for her-

He'd still be living in a daze-

And, very dead.

***

During the journey, Flint had quite a few duties.

One, fighting random monsters to gain experience and take their belongings or special parts.

Two, cooking so Anne accidentally didn't poison him.

And three-

Washing clothes.

At the middle of the day- whenever they chose to stop by a pond or something-

He always had to wash everything.

Even underwear.

Anne's underwear…

'She wears these things…'

He'd washed underwear before.

His sister was a mess and never cleaned up after her- and whenever his mother got sick, he had to do everything around the house, even washing stuff.

So, he was used to seeing and washing underwear.

However-

'How does this even work?'

On his hand were a pair of panties and bras.

Black.

With enough cloth to barely cover the privates and quite a long string.

"Are you a pervert or were you charmed by my underwear?" Anne came back- she'd brought back two large scorpions and one snake….

"Neither. And do you only like poisonous things? What about birds or even crocodiles or something!"

"Stop changing the subject. If not a pervert or if you weren't charmed, then why are you fiddling with my stuff?"

Slightly annoyed- "I was wondering how these work… women in my home wore… slightly bigger stuff."

"How dare you call me flat!" Offended.

'Huh?'

Blank stare- Flint got back to washing.

He did not look back; he did not say a word.

Anne though- yelled for a good five minutes.

Yelling for the sake of yelling- defaming all of mankind and men.

She didn't even know what she was talking about anymore.

But she still yelled anyway.

***

Later that day- they got to the city.

Fog everywhere.

The smell of farts.

"People live here?" Flint wondered.

He'd heard about this place from his old man.

But he always thought the man was joking as usual.

But- perhaps he wasn't.

"Yes. There's a lot of money to be made here, so don't screw up."

No walls-

Monsters didn't come here because of the smell-

The people though-

Walked around fine.

Muddy roads, mostly earthen houses, and some wooden buildings…

"Money?"

He couldn't see past two houses-

And he couldn't really see the sky either.

Foggy-

"Yes, why do you think we're carrying these things?" She grinned with pride.

Flint had asked before but she never answered.

She never told him what these were.

But he was going to find out now anyway- so he didn't bother.

***

"What do you mean you won't buy them!" Anne roared.

"But the price is too high miss. If we just wait two more days, we'll get it much cheaper and-" And the store owner chuckled. "Your quality isn't really that much higher either."

Anne almost foamed… "I see… Then if you'll excuse us…" She along with Flint just walked away with the cart… "Totally part of the plan." She assured Flint.

"You could have just given him a discount…" Flint mumbled.

"What? I can't do that! The price was already decided!"

'What are you, a ball of pride?'

Flint sighed. "Also do you know how to bargain?"

"Of course, I do!"

Sure, didn't seem like that to Flint.

Also- 'Why're you getting all flustered over this?' He didn't say it though.

Anyway-

Now the duo had excess black bags.

Bags full of charcoal.

Charcoal used to keep the houses stink-free…

And Charcoal- they couldn't sell.