After we discussed our plan, the three of us did not bother staying at the Hunter’s Guild. When we talked it over, there really was the chance that it would take the Mad Monk an entire day to reach Jansen. However, at the same time, there was the chance that he could arrive in the middle of the night. Either way, none of us wanted to conduct this battle inside of the city, where there were plenty of places he could hide.
Instead, we left to the north of the city, walking until Jansen was no longer in sight before setting up camp. The surrounding area was a flat plain, so even if he took a slight detour to avoid the road, we should still have the chance to spot him. It was just a matter of time and luck.
Our camp was small, just a collection of three tents erected at the side of the road. From what Kahli and Mander had said, most of the farmland around Jansen was to the south and west, making this the best place for a battle.
“I’ll take first watch.” Mander said as we all sat around the center of the camp, atop stone benches that we had created. Kahli nodded with a smile while watching him stand up and move a bit further down the road, looking like he was just going for a walk.
After he left, she turned to face me. “Are you sure that he won’t just find a druid to send him directly to the city?” She asked, concern evident in her voice. From our previous discussions, it was easy to figure out that Kahli was the brains of their little duo, while Mander was there mostly to punch things.
I shrugged my shoulders lightly at the question. “From everything we know, he’s never done anything like that before. All of the deaths were spaced out long enough that it would have only made sense for him to manually walk or join a caravan between cities. Even then, he would have to have spent a couple of days inside the city before he actually got to work, likely to find a proper target.”
Kahli’s face darkened as she listened. “You’ve been after this guy for a while, haven’t you?”
I blinked slightly in surprise, but could only nod. “That’s right. I was one of the first on the hunt. And if he ever stayed in one place long enough, I would have caught him by now, too.” Out of all the hunters dispatched, I was easily the one closest to catching him so far. “What about you two?”
“Hmm? We just got the message to join the hunt a month ago, and most of that time was spent traveling to the region. Though, I must say that I really do enjoy staying in this country.” She had a knowing smile as she spoke, leaning back on the bench. “Would almost be worth it to set a gate here.”
I was just about to say something when she glanced at me, and suddenly started laughing. “I’m just joking, Theol. I have no desire to get a price on my head. No, my place is elsewhere. It’s not exactly like we can have a permanent residence in our line of work, after all.”
I nodded my head briefly. “Wherever the hunt takes us. But, at least you aren’t doing the job alone.”
Once again, she started laughing at my comment. “Yeah, like a bard could ever hunt solo. Mander and I cover each other’s weaknesses pretty well.”
Well… “Bards aren’t entirely useless on their own.” I said with a noncommittal shrug. “One of my first targets was a bard. He was able to use his voice to hypnotize people, make them see him as a god. Was even in the process of making his own church when I got called in.”
“The False Prophet?” Kahli asked with some surprise. “I heard about that guy. Never really figured out how he did what he did, though. The most I can do offensively is lull an enemy to sleep. My voice is mostly to support others. Whenever I try to do something else with it… I just can’t find my muse.” She looked up to the sky as she spoke, a pensive expression on her face.
For a bard, not being able to find inspiration was a fatal flaw, and also why there were so few specialists of the class. Whether it was singing, or simply humming a tune, they had to completely give themselves over to their power and let it guide them. In exchange, they could make any warrior stronger, empower the magic of any mage, even make an archer’s arrows fly true. And unlike the support magic of a mage, a bard’s power applied to every ally that could hear their voice, letting them turn the tide of an entire battle.
“That’s not a bad thing. If nothing else, it ensures that you won’t be able to use your voice for wicked deeds.” I said with a slight nod, glancing to the direction that Mander left.
“That’s true, I guess.” After saying that, she looked back over to me, a slight grin playing on her lips. “So, what do you suppose we should do while we wait for Mander to come back?” She asked playfully, leaning forward with her hands in her lap.
From her posture, and more importantly her tone, I could tell what she really wanted to know. Hence, I could only let out a sigh. “Can’t you take this more seriously? Our target could arrive at any time, and you’re more interested in having sex?”
“Hey, I am taking this seriously.” She said, giggling slightly. “I can’t help it that I like to take my mind off of things before a battle. It helps me stay calm.” Her grin only grew wider as she looked me over, only to let out a sigh when she realized that I wasn’t going to give in and play with her. “Fine… I’ll be good.” She huffed slightly, crossing her arms in front of her.
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I chuckled, shaking my head. A moment later, both Kahli and I shot to our feet, our eyes looking to the north. By now, Mander was already beyond the horizon, so there was no way that we could see him. However, a ball of white light had been shot high into the air, a typical sign of distress.
“Mander!” Kahli called out anxiously, her feet kicking at the ground. The tents around us burst apart as we explosively began running up the road. Even I knew that Mander wouldn’t easily send out that distress signal. Given that he hadn’t been gone long, there were only two options. Either he met a monster along the road that he couldn’t deal with… or he met a real monster.
With both of us using our full speed, and not worrying about our ki expenditure, it took us less than a minute to arrive at the spot where Mander had sent out the light. When we arrived, we found blood scattered along the ground, with Mander lying against a rock on the side of the road. His hunter badge was still clutched tightly in his hands, but the life had long since left his eyes.
Along his sides were two deep cuts, followed by a third across his neck, the blood still flowing from it. “Mander!!” Kahli screamed as she saw him, running up and cradling his body in her smaller arms. I could see the tears streaking down her face already as she buried her head in his shoulder and began to sob.
My eyes, meanwhile, were scanning the horizon. There had been very little time to flee after Mander sent the signal, and he had clearly not been dead at that time. Channeling what ki remained into my eyes, I enhanced my sight enough to catch a figure flashing in and out of existence in the distance.
Contrary to my expectations, the figure was not that of the slim-bodied man that I associated with the Mad Monk, but a seemingly elderly woman carrying a large pack on her back. Her body was slumped over slightly, her hair almost completely grey. Nevertheless, with the movement technique that ‘she’ was showing, there was really only one possibility.
“He learned body morphing, too?” I couldn’t help but call out in surprise. There was a technique which allowed you to maneuver your ki to alter your physical appearance, but it was an incredibly rare one due to its advanced requirements. I myself was not specialized enough as a monk to take care of it, but with the Mad Monk’s ability, as well as his identity as a scholar of Hanbei, it made sense that he was able to practice it. Hanbei was known as the birthplace of monks, after all.
Unfortunately, I was in no position to give chase, at the moment. Both Kahli and myself had depleted the majority of our ki simply getting here, so I did not have enough left to chase after him, whereas he likely had plenty to run for as long as he wanted. I could only curse under my breath, and turn back towards Mander’s body.
Kahli was still bent over him, her tears soaking his shoulder. It was obvious that the two of them were quite close if she was mourning him like this. I walked over to her, and placed my hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked at the sudden touch, while she slowly brought her head up to look at me.
“He’s… he’s…” She tried to speak, her voice breaking with every word.
I nodded my head, gently pulling her back. “I know. Let’s do what we can for him, and make sure you have your chance to say goodbye before Her angels come for him.”
Her eyes widened slightly at my words, but she seemed too weak to resist me right now. “O-okay…” She stood up next to me, her legs shaking as tears continued to stream down her face. “C-could you?”
I nodded once again, knowing that she was in no position to do the ceremony. Briefly closing my eyes, I focused my mana through them, allowing me to see spirits. When my eyes opened, I saw Mander standing above his corpse, looking sadly down at Kahli. “Well, this isn’t really what I thought would happen.” He said, his voice appearing more in my mind than my ears.
Forming a layer of mana over my mouth, I spoke in response. “What happened? You shouldn’t have been taken out that fast, even if he caught you by surprise.”
Hearing me talk, Kahli quickly seemed to understand, her eyes glowing slightly as she also started to look up at him. Her sadness appeared to lessen as she was able to see him. “I’m.. I’m sorry, Mander. I should have been here.”
It was clear that he couldn’t hear her, though he saw her mouth moving. This is why Kahli asked me to do this. If she made a mistake talking here, she might damage his spirit. “Don’t fret, Kahli. It was just my time, I guess.” Afterwards, he turned to face me. “He masked himself really well. Didn’t even think it was him until I noticed his ki.”
“As soon as I decided to attack him, he vanished. I saw a strange energy coming off of him, something I’ve never seen. Before I knew it, he had used his hand to cut open my sides without breaking his disguise, so I called for help. Wanted to keep an eye on him until you guys arrived, but that damn vanishing move. He just appeared in front of me with his hand at my throat.” Mander shuddered slightly as he recalled that, glancing down to his body.
“It’s not your fault, Mander…” Kahli spoke under her breath, before turning to look at me. Her eyes were still wet, but her fists were clenched tightly. “What… what now?”
I could only look at Mander for that answer. “Do you have any requests for burial?” The standard policy set by the guild was to burn a hunter’s body if their spirit was not around, but if so to respect the hunter’s wishes.
Mander nodded his head with a serious expression, crouching down to be eye level with Kahli. “Hey, Kahli.” At first, she didn’t respond, so he waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. “Mind taking me back home? You should know the place, right?”
Kahli nodded her head, the sorrow slowly returning to her features. “I’ll do it, Mander… After we kill that man, I’ll take you back home. Just… don’t do anything stupid until the angels come, okay? I want to be able to see you again on the other side…”
Mander still obviously couldn’t hear her, but seemed to have an understanding of what she was saying. “I’ll be fine, kid.”
Already, I could see the glow in her eyes starting to dissipate, likely meaning that Kahli was running low on mana. “I can’t say I knew you for long, Mander. But you seemed like a fine hunter.”
Mander nodded his head, standing back up to look at me. “You take care of her, alright?” He motioned his head towards Kahli. “She can’t do this job on her own, but it’s all she’s got.”
I gave a simple nod of understanding, while I watched Kahli take Mander’s body into a quest scroll. Once she had it in her hands, she clutched it close to her chest. Her voice was quiet as she spoke. “Goodbye, Mander. Wait for me.”