Standing before a tall, skinny, almost slenderman-like figure, Noah and Antela were pretty tense. And fair enough, considering they were surrounded by a ton of armed guards, swords and all, with a dragon tail just plopped on the ground like ordinary trash, but in reality this was a gold mine.

The skinny bastard scratched his chin, so hard Noah thought he might tear the skin off from beneath his beard. If his nails were any sharper, it’d have been called shaving.

“You’re saying the two of you killed this dragon alone?”

Evidently sceptical.

“Yes,”

“Why the hell would we lie,” Antela stared daggers.

“You must understand this is hard to believe,” the slenderman sighed. “My instincts tell me that it is indeed a dragon tail. Underground, it’s likely an earthdragon. Would you lead us the way?”

“You’re coming too, guildmaster?” one of the guards seemed a bit shocked the skeleton was leaving his dungeon.

“Not everyday you can see a dragon in your withering old age,” slenderman smiled.

“It depends,” Noah said, gaining him some hostile looks. “Will you look past our methods of entry?”

Guildmaster Hyon didn’t hesitate.

“That’d be no problem,”

“Then let us go,”

Deep in the cave, a repugnant stench weaving it’s way into all their nostrils, their eyes set upon a huge corpse. It took up a good 60% of the room, maybe even seventy.

“By the Gods…” the guildmaster’s face grew a smile.

“That’s a real fucking dragon,” one the hunters said.

“No kidding, I can see it myself,” the black-eyed hunter replied.

“And you’re saying you’ll give this to the hunters guild?” Mr. Skeleton asked, still astonished by the sight. Though, Noah felt he was more shocked by it living in such a small cave than it being dead.

“Not for free,”

Holes were stared.

‘Still so hostile, damn’

“Of course not,” Guildmaster Hyon smiled. “We’ll get this moved out of the cave and we can discuss a figure back at the guild. Don’t worry, you’ll receive a number worthy of the kill.”

With sulking faces, the large group of hunters got ready to start slicing, dicing, and dragging the heavy ass bodyparts out the damned cave.

The two injured hunters, thanks to a couple of criminals, were ready to shove their blade down their own throats, their aching bodies about to be thrusted through hell, no condom.

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“I…wanna quit” they said in unison, tears forming in their eyes.

“Hop to it!”

***

Now, dragon body parts secured, along with tons of looks from nosy bastards on the way, the two sat side by side, facing the skinny Guildmaster.

Ahead of them was a sheet of paper with a ton of words on it, then a few large numbers in bold.

“This is a lot,” Noah nodded in approval.

“Oh, you can read?” Guildmaster Hyon seemed impressed. A lot of people ended up hunters because they couldn’t receive proper education; it was all they had left, if they were strong enough.

Better than a shitty underpaid normal job.

“We’ll take it,” Antela said, speaking for both of them now.

“I haven’t even told you the figure yet…”

“I can read!”

“You can?!” Noah tilted his head.

He took her for a moron.

“Oh so it’s some big surprise I can read a few numbers? You really do underestimate me, Noah. And where do you get off being so shocked, huh? We’re both commoners.”

“Right,” Noah looked away, to the Guildmaster. “Number works. I assume we’re getting checks instead of a load of coin, right?”

Guildmaster Hyon burst into laughter. “If we gave out coins for things like this, we wouldn’t have any left, ahaha”

Guildmaster Hyon grabbed some slips off his desk and began writing, then signing.

“Five, one-hundred-gold checks each. I’d recommend you cash one in, get yourself some nice things and bag the rest. If you’re spending the others, spend big. Less coins to get stolen, ay? But it’s up to you.”

Sliding the checks over, five to Noah, five to Antela, Guildmaster Hyon reclined in his chair, throwing a few stretches around.

“The guild will forgive your entry methods from before,” Guildmaster Hyon snatched a couple of cards from the desk and handed them over. “But make sure you have these next time,”

‘A new card,’ Noah chuckled. ‘Dragon slayer. This old man is definitely enjoying this one.’

Finally, he slipped a form off the pile, nabbed a pen from his load, and handed them all over to Antela.

“We need your details on record,” he smiled.

“But I hate doing paperwork,” she gritted her teeth.

“Do it quickly then,”

***

Finally away from Antela, for the first time in forever, Noah was checking himself out in the mirror. Not because he was handsome, though he was, he did cheat afterall, but because he was seeing how possible new clothes looked.

A fancy, custom-tailored suit. If you’re going to a big event, you’re going to need one of these. It looked very noble, making Noah almost seem like the son of a Duke, or something like that.

“Not bad,” he smiled.

Swapping back into his poverty attire, he left the changing room.

“I’ll take it,”

And that made the beautiful woman bare a huge smile.

Leaving the store, Noah was feeling good. Life was good. Money. Noah was a rich motherfucker now; he meant business.

‘Where the hell do I put it?’

He paused in the streets.

‘Where the hell do I put it?!’

Noah lacked a humble abode now. He was too worried to reintroduce himself to Lilia, in case the Goddess tied him to her. He’d cut all ties from his old life; one that Hiro knew.

Though Hiro assumed he was dead, thanks to the fake corpse, he was probably still checking in from time to time; or maybe his minions were.

Noah had no idea who Hiro might have control over.

So, Noah was a bit homeless at the moment.

For the past few months, he’d been leeching off Antela, but he only crashed on the sofa. He wanted his own wardrobe now.

‘Maybe I’ll ask her.’