Celebrations and worries

The whole town was ecstatic and the militia-man who delivered was carried around town like a great hero. It was understandable, they had just defeated one of the most feared behemoths without a single injury let alone death.

The hunters though had a slightly different opinion. Dalene for one chose not to say anything about the talon marks he saw on the behemoth carcass, a sure sign of ptedons with young. From his point of view, there was no indication of where and when it was wounded and he did not want the vanguards to be sent on a suicidal scouting mission to find the nest.

- I understand why they are happy, and they certainly deserve to... But despite the fight being so heavily stacked in our favor we still struggled to take it down. (Chris)

- They are getting overconfident and that's bad news. I think we should hurry our work and get the hell out of here. (Belina)

- I concur, staying here is gonna get troublesome, I don't want to die from some stupid irrealistic demands. (Dalene)

- I tried to explain the mayor and the other officials that the behemoth was hurt and malnourished but they are turning a deaf ear. (Belina)

- It should not be too hard to get a little more help and equipment with the current state of affair. I propose we recruit more people, even if we lose some money in the process. Which remind me, is the carcass worth something? (Chris)

Dalene thinks for a moment before answering.

- The hide is worth a considerable price, but considering the damages, we can't expect anything better than two third of the normal price... The meat tastes horrible but we might be able to sell it for a few half silver because there are tons of it. (Dalene)

He smiles then add.

- The glands, hearts and some of the other organs can be sold for a small fortune though. If we desiccate it and sell it ourselves in a powdered form, we can expect at least six crowns... Although, if we do that, we will have to pay a pharmacist every single time we want to sell to prove its origin. (Dalene)

- Goddamn thieves! (Arc)

- If we sell it directly to the pharmacists, three or four crowns at best. (Dalene)

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- I propose we gift the meat to the city to garner some goodwill, recruit more workers, hurry the rest of the project and scram as soon as the contract end. (Belina)

- I concur. (Dalene)

- Agreed. (Arc)

- The sooner the better. (Chris)

Success could be dangerous, it easily leads to overconfidence and the Quickhatches all lost precious partners to the hubris of small times nobles. It wasn't hard to see what was coming next, the citizen would ask to reclaim more forest land for their field, disrupt the ecology even more and before long, there'd all sort of pests and hungry behemoth roaming the place. It was just as stupid and dangerous as Arc previous proposition to burn the forest down.

- You were right about Gise, Dalene. Now I regret telling we should kill it. (Arc)

- Gise? (Dalene)

- The giant serpent. (Arc)

- You really have the worst naming sense ever. (Dalene)

Luckily for the hunters, there was no major incident during the next part of the project, only having to deal with a drake-lings that somehow managed to get into the walled fields and eat some goats.

The team was currently speaking with the mayor.

- Here's your due. Seven crowns as per agreement. (Mayor)

Overall it was a lucrative contract, besides the bonus for the finished contract and their daily wages, the team got six more crowns from selling behemoth parts. Although they had to spend a whole two crowns to speed up things, none of them regretted that choice. And the reason was...

- Are you sure you don't want to become our resident hunters? (Mayor)

- Quite sure, we like our current lives, and settling down is dangerous. When the work becomes routine, you lose your edge and then you die. (Belina)

- I've learned I wasn't ready to take a wife and settle. Maybe when I am older and wiser. (Arc)

- That's too bad. At least the militia learned a lot, and the sites you designed are perfect. (Mayor)

- There is no such thing as perfection. My sites are designed with forest dwellers and flying behemoths in mind. You should really think about putting grates on the river unless you want more drake-ling incursions in the city. (Belina)

The suggestion disturbed the mayor quite a bit, the walls had been constructed in a hurry when the town was first settled twenty-four years ago since then it had only seen minor maintenance. Putting decent grates in place would mean rebuilding the wall in places, or creating a second one, two very costly prospects.

- I will think about it, we will have to pay taxes soon, and after paying you we don't have much margin anymore. (Mayor)

- Understandable, the taxes get heavier every year while the army is nowhere to be seen. (Dalene)

- You said it! (Mayor)

The mayor calls for the army intervention have been ignored all this time, and most frontier cities he has a connection with are suffering from the same problem. The initial settlement had been financed by the Crown, but the new king had been cutting costs wherever he could. Frontier cities with constant threats and low taxes income were not in his list of priorities.

Dalene had some theories about that but for the moment he did not want to worry the others by sharing them, things were already hard enough without brooding over things they couldn't change.