He struggled with the shape of the huge weapon, but with his newfound strength, he quickly gained control of it and stood with it raised. With a cry of exertion, he brought the blade down, severing a head from its body. He tossed the choppa aside as he approached the head, picked it up, and placed it in a bag he had. He took a deep breath and whistled low, a whinnying answering him from much closer than he expected. Trotting from the edge of the camp came Ventress, Mischief at her neck.

Grinning, Jaeger reached his horse and tied his bounty. Looking over Crusher, Jaeger could see no pockets or areas to hold things on the orc. His armor was somehow all one piece, it hardly made sense. He'd thought he'd missed the seams or straps in the heat of battle, but no, this armor was somehow one piece. The style of the legs was very different from the torso and the arms. It made no sense to keep his sanity, he just chalked it up to magic. Apart from the armor, all Crusher had with him was the choppa, and Jaeger wasn't interested in lugging it back to Patterson to try and sell it.

Looting the rest of the bandits was a relatively quick affair, most of them had almost no coin, one had a decent replacement axe, so it wasn't a total loss. It was in Crusher's yurt that he struck gold. He hadn't gotten a good look at it the first time, but without the deadly orc inside, he had a moment to check it out. Besides the throne, there was a large pile of furs on a wooden pallet and a chest in the corner. It was a surprisingly empty room for a raider chief. Passing the throne, Jaeger went up to the chest, it had no lock, just a latch holding it closed. Having dealt with bandits before, he decided to check it for any traps. He was by no means an expert, but experience had taught him that it never hurt to check. Finding it clean, he pulled it open.

Inside was a leather satchel, a handful of loose gems, and a large leather vest. Jaeger pocketed the gems and slung the bag over his shoulder. He stood ready to leave, but hesitated over the vest. Crusher was a raider chief, dangerous and famous enough to get a bounty, there's no way he would have just thrown a scrap leather vest into his treasure chest. He grabbed the vest and turned it over, trying to figure it out. On the back was a stylized orc skull, the buttons seemed to be made of some fangs, but otherwise it was just a vest. He shook his head at the vest and kept it, at least he might be able to sell it as a curiosity.

Leaving the tent, he loads all his gear into his saddlebags and mounts Ventress. Then they gallop out of the camp, heading back to Patterson, bounty in hand.

The ride back through the bamboo forest was uneventful, and when they reached the tall grass, it stayed that way. A few times the grass shook and shifted, but each time Mischief chuffed and the movement stopped. They stopped back in the way area to relax and rest for the night before re-entering the forests around Patterson.

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“Mrrw. More forests, at least these trees look good for scratching and the creatures smell fun. I will go have a look around and will meet you in your city.”

The cat leapt through the air and disappeared into the surrounding trees. Ventress did not slow down in the least; this was not the first time the cat had decided to jump, and by now it was commonplace. Jaeger knew he would just show up later as if he had never left. As they rode down the path, a familiar building appeared in the distance, an inn. He debated in his mind, but quickly came to a decision. Bounty hunting in Beseria was as much about your reputation as it was about your skills. If people heard you were a soft touch, they were more likely to come quietly, and if they heard you were a head taker, they always fought. These kinds of reputations could be won and lost, sometimes a change in your personal life made you change and so did your reputation.

But there was a reputation that never left you, the reputation of being a pushover. When people heard that they could get one over on you, or get away with cheating you, well, that reputation haunted a person's career until they retired. Jaeger had always gone out of his way in Beseria to develop a reputation for acting strictly according to the Bounty Hunter's Creed. This meant that he was feared, but everyone knew what to expect. One aspect of the Creed required that all favors, debts, and enmities be repaid. And so it was that Jaeger found himself in an inn, with his pistol pointed at the temple of a lanky innkeeper.

“Please no.”

“Those are poor last words. You should have thought more before you sold me out to those bandits.”

The innkeeper, his throat dry with fear, licked his lips as he replied.

“I... I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't sell nobody to nobody and I don't deal with bandits.”

Jaeger reached into his jacket pocket with his free hand and tossed the Killer Chain onto the bar counter. The inn patrons gathered around gasped in shock. The innkeeper groaned before plastering an innocent smile on his sweating face.

“Oh, those bandits. They threatened me, I didn't have a choice.”

“I don't care.” He turned to the small group of people around him. “Does this man have a family or an heir?”

“Why you gonna kill his whole family?”

“No. When I kill this man I’d like this inn to keep running and if his family wants revenge I want to know who I’m dealing with.”

“He ain’t got no family. An’ you can’t just kill him, that ain’t no justice. He deserves a trial, he does.”

A trial, Jaeger thought for a moment. This wasn't the anarchy of Beseria, this country had a functioning court system. Making a decision, he pistol whips the innkeeper into unconsciousness. Kneeling next to the man, he binds his hands and lifts him over his shoulder.

“Fine, I'll take him to Patterson.”

“Then who’s gonna run the inn?”

Jaeger turned back to the small gathering.

“Someone smart, I hope, because if I find out that the next innkeeper is colluding with bandits or sending adventurers to their deaths, I will be back.” He shifts the body on his shoulder and glances at random people in the crowd. “Then there will be no trial and no inn to run.”

With that, Jaeger leaves the inn, tossing his latest burden onto Ventress. He began to worry that the weight of it all might be too much for her, but she showed no signs of strain. Patting her, he hopped into the saddle and finished his trek to Patterson.