Morning next day
BANG! Ouch
Alan fell backwards from his chair due to waking up suddenly and hit his head on the floor. Quickly gathering himself he remembered he had been working on his diary before falling asleep the night before, he always tried to maintain it admittingly to his failure. The papers were still on the desk along with letters that had accumulated over the weeks he had not been at home most from friends and family. He will have to explain his long absence to the latter soon enough.
Looking around, the clock was striking half past five he observed and that was his usual waking time, quickly he started to tidy up the place and the number of books laying around made him think that he should make another one of those shelves.
The two-story wooden house he called home was in a village at the outskirts of the city not too close but not too far either, it wasn’t big and he really only used the hall for much of his time, a kitchen with a stove, sink and cutlery. The room above was mainly a store room where everything from trophies to spare equipment anything that wasn’t of immediate importance was kept. There was also a fire place because in the north it got really cold in winter.
The first thing he did after coming home was to clean himself and the house which had been gathering dust over the weeks after that his schedule mainly consisted of maintaining his equipment which was always kept to a minimum, gathering information regarding the region he was going to next through correspondence and acquiring maps or reading and writing or wondering what he was going to eat. I some sense he really is like the animals he preys on, never likes staying at the same place too long, can eat anything as long as it is edible, his tongue is sensitive enough to detect a few types poisons.
Money was never a problem partly because he didn’t spend wastefully (ignoring his books) and partly because he had bought a share in Arthur’s business four years ago (on his suggestion) back when he met him which as he had told him had now grown to quite a substantial amount. He didn’t remember how much though but the dividends were enough for him to support himself.
However, he had to also run errands time to time like normal people, when he was at home anyway. Going out the door, the sun hadn’t come up and in the vast expanse there was little other than some farms. For most village folk the day started early fetching water, cleaning the usual it was as simple and peaceful as it got on the continent.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Alan wore his hunting cloths even when he was not hunting.
Morning around nine hundred
The city of Lefora was one of the newer ones believe it or not it was just a glorified harbour and trading settlement just 40 years ago but slowly as the time passed and more territories kept getting added into the Union the population grew and the settlements on left and right sides of the river were eventually incorporated into one city.
Alan who had some work in the city left soon after his breakfast of eggs and rice. The sun was up and the yellow-coloured leaves on the trees suggested that autumn was around the corner. Ahead of him he saw an old man whose horse cart full of harvest had one of its wheels stuck in the ground.
“Mister Smith, looks like it sank in a bit, here let me help you” he said coming close
“Be careful kid, it’s pretty heavy”
Alan held the wheel in one hand and the cart in the other and lifted the whole thing up easily
“Huh! Now that I think I am getting too old for this. I swear it son you are at least ten times as strong as you look”
“It is nothing. I believe it is harvesting season already, right?” he said shrugging the remark aside
“It is indeed, the same as every year”
Suddenly he sensed someone running towards him from behind around four with three children he figured but didn’t turn around. It was a feeling he was familiar with
“Haha! Got you Uncle”
“Klaus, still running away from your mother? Come here” he lifted the four-year-old kid up and gave him a shoulder ride
Behind there was another kid running towards him followed by their mother who held an infant child in her hands struggled to catch up
“Hey! Uncle I want to get on too”
“Fine but hold tight” he lifted the girl and gave her a ride on his other shoulder
Finally, their mother caught up
“Stop bothering people you two!”
“Oh please! Mrs. Dempsey they are not bothering me although they do seem to be bothering you”
“Mr. Woodman when did you?”
“Just yesterday” he said smiling “and you two little devils, do not bother you mother more than she already is, understood? Do as she say”
“Okey” they both replied in unison
“Thank you, Mister Woodman, they don’t listen to me perhaps they will listen to you”
“Must be hard managing the three of them I imagine”
“It will be harder when the fourth one comes along.” said smith
“OH! Congratulations! I am Sorry I didn’t notice earlier”
“Oh, don’t mention it. I am almost used this by now” she replied with a sigh
Alan was compelled into thinking that Mrs Dempsey who was the same age as him and her husband who was only 2 years older already had three kids, not to mention Arthur was older than both perhaps that’s why they get along so well
Putting the two kids aside he turned his attention back to mister smith
“By any chance you have heard about mister Phillips in a while.”
“He went with you on the hunt, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but we split up in the town and I went to the local villages for more information while he said he had some work with the authorities”
“Well, he hasn’t come here that’s for sure. You sure he isn’t stuck in the forest”
Phillip was a lawyer cum accountant who usually accompanied Alan for the purpose of communication with the both local authorities and also helped him with managing his finances although Alan always hunted alone, he took all the help possible elsewhere.
“Likely not. He should on the way, if anything.”
Going ahead he took an omnibus to the city centre next to the commercial district down where all the big businesses are including Hawk’s regional headquarters.
The people walking here and there everyone had the same busy look
However, something was different as if there was a Grand commotion of sort was being held down the middle of the street with men and women both trying to have a look and Alan who was curious went in to look what exactly had caused so many people too gather around
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Feast your eyes on the biggest monster you have ever seen! I present to you the carcass of the devil itself!”
I recognize that voice it’s that damn Phillips!
Alan rushed to the front of the crowd to really see what it was although he already had the gist of it. What he saw was the corpse of that same tiger he had killed two days ago except it was on display for the masses to see and Phillips yelling Infront of it like some Bonafede salesman
“Phillip! the hell are to trying to do. I thought you were still away”
Phillp who barely heard him as he was too busy with his sales pitch eventually responded
“Welcome, Mister woodman what can I do for you”
“For starters, you could explain to me what the hell is it that you are doing here”
“As you can see, I have put in the resources needed to get this four hundred kilo beast across that forest and needless to say it costed quite a fortune. I am simply trying to make a return on my investment”
“Considering it is I who hunted it you could have at least told me you were going to bring it back or you know…… show up at my place first to ask for permission” Alan wanted to leave it with the villagers
“I was going to eventually”
“Excuse me gentleman, is it true that you hunted this beast?” A man from the crowd approached him
“Yes, that is true and who would you be?”
“I Am from the local studio if you don’t mind could we take a picture”
“of course, please it would be our pleasure” Phillip didn’t let Alan reply
Alan shrugged it off as Both of them stood Infront of the imperial tiger as the photographer set up his camera on the tripod. Alan was surprised by the amount of people that had gathered to see it. After five minutes
“Listen, since you are a hunter I hope you realise that its gargantuan skin alone would go for at least eight to even ten thousand Union marks! And I am not even talking about its nails and teeth. Do you realise that if I had been a little bit late to that village those savages would have ruined it to make heirlooms for all I know.”
“Phillip, I know you are better than that even if you are greedy, you can’t be thinking about everything in monetary terms, can you?” Alan tried to persuade him
“Four thousand cash by this evening at my office” Phillip gave a price upfront
“Seven grand and try not telling the buyer my name. I have some work around here, I will see you later” Alan gave up, he sometimes wondered whether Phillip really was a lawyer or was that just a cover dealing in exotic items but not that he cared unless it was illegal of course.
“Fine seven it is and if you ever need my help again don’t hesitate to contact me”
Yeah, I will be damned to not to Alan knew that even if he had asked around nine, he wouldn’t have refused but still Phillips had a key role sometimes important one
Walking for another thirty minutes around the city he reached the Harley and Sanson Gunsmiths which from outside just looked like any other workshop. It was run by the Sanson brothers who had the reputation of being the masters of what they did. Alan actually knew them very well in fact everyone with a gun in the whole district knew them very well.
“Good morning, Mr Sanson! how is it going?”
“The same as always. You wait here Let me get the Goods” he said putting aside his newspaper
Sanson was a middle-aged man with a stache that as well kept as his merchandise so much that nobody really paid attention to his short hight and small build. He was the in charge of day to working while Harley did the management work. Alan always found it weird that he referred to Firearms as ‘Goods’.
“I see a lot more new faces now what happened to the previous ones?” asked Alan relaxed as he was
“They left same as always; it is hard to find those who will stick around these days. It’s a shame”
“And where is Mr Harley?”
“He is out of town; Official business. Some parts are not easily available you know? Here it is….. have a look” the Rifle was wrapped around in a piece of cloth
As soon as he unwrapped the 45 calibre barrel the polish on the body was self-evident, the telescopic sight had been installed and overall, everything had been kept simple just as he had requested.
“Everything is fine….. but This scope looks loose on the barrel?” Alan questioned
“it’s not loose! That’s just how you attach it the glass is delicate hence the scope slides front and back in order to not get damaged by the recoil but still you have to make sure it does not rattle” he explained
“Honestly, this double set trigger is a new one for me. I know the other one is to loosen up the pressure on the main one.”
“Why don’t you go try it out on a range somewhere get familiar with it. I have a feeling you are going to be using this one for a long time” he said smiling with confidence
Alan held the rifle in his arms, pushing the scope forward to access the breach and fiddle with the lock
“Windage can be adjusted by the screw on the scope mount and for elevation use the rotating wheel at the front. Your friend sure made a fine piece of equipment”
Alan lifted the rifle and looked down through the scope the reticle was a simple fine crosshair. The scope also had the initials of Prof Huygens carved on it.
“It looks alright. To be honest I was curious about how you were going to mount this thing on a round barrel. Now if I had to remove it?”
“Just unscrew the dovetail and it will come right off” he said nonchalantly
Alan was getting more impatient by the second even though he didn’t show it, Sanson could tell it was a typical human reaction when getting new ‘goods’
“Mr. Sanson you happen to have some 40-90 bottleneck cartridges?”
Forty minutes later
Arthur’s villa
Sitting in the garden Arthur was having his weekly chat with Mister Soloman who was the chairman of the municipal corporation, a man in his late thirties and a friend just like Alan
“And then she said ‘you have been empty handed for a while now, haven’t you?’ Hahaha! Talk about being funny. However, I do wonder she meant by that?”
“Perhaps he she was just playing with you aren’t all women like that?”
Stolen story; please report.
“I don’t think so Mr Arthur it doesn’t work that way. You’ll know someday perhaps”
“Well, I am afraid Mr chairman I am still too inexperienced in these matters”
Arthur wasn’t exactly the busiest man by any means and he didn’t dislike idle chatter over tea time to time but first thing in the morning with the chairman who for some reason had started talking about his wife for the past one hour which was a topic he simply couldn’t relate to although still endured it partly because he was free and partly because he wanted information.
“Very well, mister Soloman. What is the current big picture in the union politics according to you? I believe you could summarise politics better than anyone in the north”
“Haha, that is certainly a stretch. The best way to describe it is a stalemate on all fronts except one”
“What does that mean? Excuse my ignorance, I have been preoccupied with other matters lately politics just hasn’t been a thing for me lately although that might no longer be the case”
“The capital province has been a slug fest lately; we are still strong with the major populus but the future is uncertain our party cadre is still the most active on the ground and I can say that proudly with outmost certainty” Chairman said with outmost certainty “and as you know the road to power goes through the capital itself. As for our coalition, it still has the majority in the parliament but those western socialists are unpredictable same with our regional allies and I am going to be honest with you its more or less an alliance of convenience and it’s surprising how long we have kept this up”
“What about the west and south or even the east if the capital front is in stalemate, then other fronts will have a more key role in deciding the power struggle”
“That should be the case but the southern and eastern province are the hub of opposition mainly the conservatives and other regional parties and independent candidates, I will not say much about the west primarily because the opposition doesn’t have a candidate strong enough to even have a base and for now it remains to be seen if they will even invest resources there which leaves….”
“The north” they both said simultaneously
“What I am understanding from all this is that the Northern province will be the centre of power struggle” Arthur remarked
“Likely, until the next election and as far as I can tell it’s still anyone’s game even though we hold the front in Lefora. Ferusberg is a conservative stronghold and Themshyl is also swinging that way Edanine is a something our leadership is optimistic about but the next coming year will be crucial for the Union federalists”
“Then you are going to be busy from now on”
“Everyone is, I hear they are expanding the heavy industries division of hawk?”
“That does seem to be the case” he said taking a sip of tea “Should I expect to see any big names around here? In future of course”
“It depends. Well, it’s about time I get to my office my assistant already doesn’t approve of my standards in punctuality”
“You could have brought him here you know I wouldn’t mind it”
“He wasn’t available at the time, said he had to visit the book store to return some things” he said standing up as he prepared to leave
“By the way you told me that Mr Simpson was in a haste, did you know why?”
“One of my employees who was with me yesterday told me after we got back. He actually saw it in person it was unfortunate to say the least. The staff at his resident was present at the time raid and when the fire started, they reportedly ran out and got killed in the crossfire the mayor was called himself to identify the bodies” Arthur didn’t tell him that Kimberley had evacuated the staff before setting the house on fire and shot everyone in the head himself. Hermann had told him that the doctor even confirmed that all shots were fired point blank it was a “gooey mess” in all sense.
“It’s a shame what this world and society is coming to these days”
“Truely”
Mr Soloman humming as he left for his carriage down the gate of the villa with two police personal flanking him saw Mr Woodman coming from the other direction whom he knew well, but his Guards got a bit uncomfortable with that rifle in his hand.
“Good morning mister Woodman, I see you have business with mister hawk”
“Nothing too specific Mr chairmen. I was just coming from Sanson’s cave and wanted to test out a few things”
“I can assure you that there is no tiger in there for you to hunt. Haha!”
Looks like everyone and their mothers know about the tiger thanks to Phillip he thought
Even though Alan had visited this villa many times its vastness always showed it. Three stories tall it had its own library, banquet hall and a ballroom, several bedrooms and a big kitchen with a bakery. The roof overlooked the city, the river and the park directly Infront of it and the view was simply aww aspiring.
Inside he was welcomed by Mister Richard who was the butler and he told him to wait inside while he fetched Arthur from the garden.
“Sir Arthur, Mister Woodman is waiting for you inside”
“Right on time!” he said looking at his pocket watch “Mister Richard, please prepare some tea for the two of us and also get that wooden case, the one with the big Cardinal on it, will you?”
Arthur went inside to greet Alan; it was uncommon for them to meet two days in a row
The guest room was bigger than the hall and bedroom and study (which are the same room) from his house Alan noted and it wasn’t the first time he had been here. It was also awfully quite he wondered likely because three or four people were present here at any given time excluding the guard outside of course.
“Well, if it isn’t mister extravagant. Learn some modesty, will you?”
“Well, if it isn’t mister minimalist we have in the room with us. Learn having a life, would you?”
“I am living a life just fine”
“In that hut of yours? Hah! I would rather live in the outhouse”
“For all I know you probably do”
“I mean if you fancy living in the bushes and trees so much I will not complain. Seriously why do even make money if you do not plan on spending it I mean looking at your dividends alone for this quarter alone are sixty grand”
“Is that a lot?”
“Do even know how money works?”
“Yes, it’s a medium of exchange but that’s about where my knowledge ends”
Arthur was dead sure that the man Infront of him hadn’t even looked at his own balance sheet in the past year
“Who even manages your funds? Cause clearly you don’t” Arthur questioned
“Phillip does that for me”
“That sham lawyer? I can’t believe you are able to put up with his antics. You are better off giving away your money in charity”
“He is not a bad person just that behaviour of his unusual, and he doesn’t mean it in bad faith”
“Yeah, I get it. And what is that thing in your hand?”
“Oh this? It’s a rifle”
“of course it is, be more specific, would you?”
“it’s that Speers rifle I told you about the model 71 yesterday, I figured we could test it in your grand lawn” he said nonchalantly
“That’s actually good timing knowing you of course”
“If you two gentlemen are done with slander then might as well drink this.” said Richard who had been standing for a while
“Oh, Good morning mister Richards. How long have you been standing there?”
“Just a moment ago”
Alan was always surprised by Richard’s ability to escape his senses undetected. That was something no beast could accomplish.
“Did you bring what I told you?” asked Arthur
“of course, I believe you meant this one” the game him a wooden case with a Cardinal engraved on it
“Yes, this one. Thank you, Mister Richards you may go now.”
“What is that?”
“What? This bird? It’s a cardinal”
“I know that’s a cardinal, I meant inside the box”
Arthur opened the box ending the suspense. Inside were two revolvers both looked new straight out of the workshop
“Cardinal hawk model-3P2 and 3M both are revolutionary top break designs as you can see”
“I don’t get it?”
“There was an arms manufacturer by the name of Falcon if you remember”
“Yes, their designs were quite well received in the market I recon”
“They went bankrupt a few months ago just around the time I got to meet with their chief designer and I offered him to jump ship and do a joint venture with me instead of Falcon”
“And he agreed?”
“of course, and in exchange I offered Mr falcon who still had the partial ownership of all patents under falcon trademark a complete buy out of his share in the company at a fixed rate in exchange for the rights of said patents. It may sound like I didn’t get a fair deal but the catch is that Falcon already has an established market and consumer base and that means I don’t have to do everything from scratch moreover the expertise also comes hand in hand.”
“I see” he didn’t grasp much and focused on his tea instead “are we going to test fire it?”
“We can”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
After finishing the tea, they went outside in the garden where the targets in the form of six buckets over thirty yards and one bucket at more than a hundred yards away.
“Let’s go with the silver one first, it’s one of the first production models and is chambered with .44 cartridges”
Alan picked it up and started inspecting the cylinder and then the most important question came to his mind.
“How do I access the cylinder?” Alan asked
“Look over it, there is a small catch to both lock and unlock it, the hinge allows the barrel to pivot down which also pushes the extractor up until the springs snatches it back” he explained
Following the instructions he quickly loaded six shots
“I will fire six times in succession look carefully” Alan said as he carefully holstered the gun, he had left his own at home.
Arthur just stood watching he knew better than to doubt his capabilities
Alan cocked the hammer back and in a split-second BANG! BANG! Arthur heard only two shots. Except all the six buckets were on the ground.
“Holy shit! How! You fired only twice, didn’t you?”
“No, I fired all six in two bursts” he said as the extractor pulled out all six shells from the smoking barrel.
“Bursts? I don’t get it”
“Trigger Thumb Index” he replied by showing his two fingers
“Oh! I get it now. It’s that trick where you cock the hammer multiple times using different fingers So quick that I didn’t even notice it” Arthur was sure that Alan had gotten better than the last time.
“Yeah, something like that. You can even use the five fingers and fire all six if you want to, I would recommend using brass blanks instead of live rounds for practice” he said as he holstered the gun again
“Now the model-3P2, it is a prototype that we haven’t yet planned on manufacturing. The immediate difference…..”
“Arthur I do not mind your due guidance but man….. let me figure something out myself too” he said as he inspected the gun.
“Fine, just don’t break anything you know it’s the only piece I have on me”
“Its fine don’t worry about it MOM!”
The first obvious difference other than the dark blue colour he noted was that the barrel and cylinder first pivoted sideways before going down, the latch was the same but extractor had no spring. Their was a
“What do you think?”
“It’s definitely unique not necessarily better I’d say”
“Which one would you choose? if you could.”
“This one just because it has less parts and looks easier on the maintenance”
“Well, how about this” Arthur slowly approached him and pointed towards the last bucket “if you can hit that last bucket on first no any try then it’s yours”
“You bet?”
“yup”
Alan loaded all six shots, took aim and fired naturally one hundred yards or two he was confident he would hit it just the same. Except it didn’t go as planned
“The bucket didn’t fell, I think you missed”
“That’s odd I am pretty sure I hit it dead centre”
“Well, everyone makes mistakes I guess” Arthur said giggling
Just like that Alan fired all six rounds but the Damn bucket didn’t fell. Arthur was giggling hard seeing him make a complete fool of himself
“I think something is legit wrong here what kind of magic are you using? I didn’t know you could use……. Wait a damn second!” Alan finally realised what was wrong as he ran as fast as he could towards that damn bucket. Arthur followed behind him not wanting to miss that reaction.
“Fuckin knew it. It’s the damn DIRT!”
“HaHa! You should have seen that jackass face of yours, almost lost it didn’t you?”
“Very well Arthur that was real funny of you, but I admit you did got me worried for second there”
“Well, I was going to be giving this to you anyway consider it a gift”
“Thanks, I appreciate it” he said holstering it “now for the rifle let’s get the target at least 700 yards away”
Thirty minutes later
“Now let’s see what do we have here” Alan said loading a cartridge and cocking the hammer. Adjusting the scope backwards
For targets they had set up some iron Pots hanging on tree branches and glass bottles (so as to prevent the sand from interrupting) at different ranges from 200 yards to up to a thousand
Arthur had his binoculars on so as to not miss anything
“How much zoom does that thing even has?”
“Around six times, I guess?” BANG! The shot was dead accurate with the shattered glass as proof and so were the next seven that followed it, even up to a thousand yards his aim was deadly.
Alan’s marksmanship tempted Arthur to also try his hand and so he did but it was much harder than it looked
“Calm down your breathing and grip it more firmly” he ordered
“You really make it look easy you know. When I was in the Army there used to be competitions at regimental to see who had the best shot and there was one man in the 26th he was something else entirely and he made it look the same way you do”
“Eh, you just need some more practice that’s it.”
“I will see to it later. For now, you see I have a request for you”
“What?”
“Do you know about professor Karl Johannes Williamson?” he questioned out of the blue
“Yes, He is a Geologist, right?”
“Correct, he is, I figured you would know him with your connections in the academy”
“Well, What about him?”
“You see he has arrived straight from San Elipzo to Edanine just yesterday and he is planning on travelling to the Grand northern Caldera”
“And?”
“And he asks me if I know someone competent enough to act as a guide and expert. I mean who am I kidding of course he is asking for you, but they all write to me for reason” Arthur said even when he knew the reason very well “It’s fine if you don’t want to I will tell him via telegram…..”
“I am fine”
“Huh? You have no objection?”
“What’s the pay?”
“180 for 1 week, more if extended”
“Yeah, sounds about right. It takes around two days more or less just to get there from Ferusberg considering he is going to conduct some study there it would likely take about that much. I assume he would have some helpers with him”
“Yeah, a couple volunteers from the academy apparently.”
“That’s good tell him to leave for Ferusberg immediately. If I leave tomorrow, I could probably get there in twelve hours if the trains are running on time that is and it’s been some time since I travelled that far out west.”
“Tomorrow! Didn’t you just get home yesterday?”
“I don’t really mind. Fall is coming and it is usually the best time for us hunters and trappers the pelt business will likely go up and companies would be flocking to get a piece of that western pie.” suddenly he decided to change the subject "By company i remember, what is the progress on the arso..... i mean raid? you figured something out?"
"eh nothing much. Except two things"
"Those are?"
"First as i suspected Kimberley wasn't the leader and their is definitely some sort of chain of command at work here. The second is that the information among this 'group' is extremely compartmentalized to the point that I suspect that no one really knows who they are working for" after thinking a little Arthur spoke again "and someone or something that is referred to by the word 'apostle' came although i am not too sure about this, for all I know it could be entirely made up to throw off the investigators"
"So, it's a dead end?"
"For now, i am still trying to get something on the source of that white phosphorus and all those guns but lets leave it at that i don't feel like talking about it. Tell me you said you will be busy for fall but what about winter?" Arthur also changed the subject
“I would be free by then most likely, but why you ask?”
“I am, no, my father is planning on organizing a party here. This time it will be a big one you know and I mean the word ‘big’ and this time I am not taking no for an answer.”
“Oh man let’s be real here, your parties are a bore. It’s always your associates from the industry whom I can never relate to and after a drink or two neither can you”
“Mister woodman, you just wait and see I swear to god if it isn’t the grandest event of your life”
“Ha! now that’s the spirit”
After waving farewell to Arthur, Alan went his way to prepare for the journey ahead. While he was left with his own thoughts
“I should invite Mister chairman too but…. What was the name of his assistant again?”
The Noble book store, Lefora
It had been a few months for her working parttime at bookstore, the owner Bill as people called him was a little unnerving but was responsible enough and he spent most of his time away from the store anyway.
“Oh! Good morning mister Hamiton, how can I help you today?” She asked with enthusiasm
“Well miss Fritz you are already helping me by being an eye candy” Thank you
“Oh! there goes your flattery again”
“But for now I will have you take care of this book. It was good, please thank mister bill for his recommendation, now if you excuse me, I have to go.”
“Come again please” she said wondering why was he in such a hurry today.
Hamilton was a regular customer and he came once a month at the very least and apparently knew Mister bill very well to her surprise because they both were a stark contrast to each other one was always cheerful and upfront about everything the other barely showed any emotion like a corpse
“Miss Fritz, are you perhaps spacing out at work?”
As she went to put the book in its place the sudden appearance of Mr bill almost made her drop it from shock
“No, of course not haha!”
“Well, please give that book to me I will take care of it” he said with that same emotionless face “and one more thing! You don’t have to come tomorrow since I will be gone for some work”
“I understand”
Handing him the book as he went back up stairs and she breathed the sigh of relief for some reason mister Bill’s presence always unnerved her.
Mr bill huh? For how long has that been? I remember it was jones at some point after that it was Antonio or Stuart, but does it even matter now? He thought as he went in his study with his intelligence report in his hand, he would have analysed it at his own leisure but due to current circumstances he had to hurry, the train to Edanine will leave in the afternoon.
The evening
After getting around the whole city as it felt to him, he was finally home. He would head out again tomorrow for another journey but presently their was another thing that had to be taken care of and that was, this big piece of tiger meat on the table. Phillips had given to him when he went to his ‘chamber’ as he called his office this afternoon saying that there was still some left after the villagers took the most of it, not to mention he had put up the hide in his chamber on display until he got a buyer.
Alan himself couldn’t eat this much he knew but he couldn’t let it spoil either and just then he had the brightest idea.
“Hahaha! That’s funny and to be honest I can relate to that because I too would run as fast as I could if a tiger roared in my direction”
“That’s not even the whole story when the party got back to the village, they instantly started fighting over which man ran first” Alan concluded the story
“Hahahaha! That must have been a sight!”
“it’s better to eat food when it is still hot you know?” said Mrs Dempsey
“Oh, c’mon it’s not like we eat tiger meat every day what wrong in savouring the taste.”
“Uncle, don’t you get scared?”
“I do, sometimes but generally I don’t see them as something I should fear, I would go as far as to say they are not the monsters often claimed to be because it’s not natural for a tiger to eat a human. It’s a topic that intrigues me the most.”
“So, you are going again?”
“Yes, tomorrow morning”
“But, didn’t you just arrive yesterday?”
“It’s autumn so there is more work to go around”
“I can’t imagine being away from home for that long”
“What about you family? I remember you saying they lived with your brother” she asked curiously
“Yes, they write to me time to time”
“You must miss them”
“Do I?” he thought “yeah sometimes but one gets used to the lifestyle”
“Well, I hope you don’t get too used to it. You are still young after all Haha!”
“This meat does have a really strong smell” It had been some time since Arthur had eaten dinner like that
The next day early morning
It is said that a man can carry a third of his own weight before physically breaking down but Alan was no fool to try test that out for, he only took what was necessary and his rifle which was in a sleeve so as to not draw to much attention. He was planning reaching Ferusberg by the night and if possible, to meet up with mister Karl and discuss their route ahead. He had already received the details about where they would be staying through telegraph.
“Isn't that area prone to ghouls? who cares that is probably why he really hired me anyway haha!” He said/thought Smirkingly