The clerk at the Hunters' guild couldn't believe his day.

What a crazy day, I nearly died but I got lots of gold as payment. I can’t tell if it’s a good or a bad thing... The clerk counted his blessings. He got four gold coins today. That was equivalent to three months of work at the guild, minus the guild bonuses or customer tips that sometimes boosted one’s income. That sorts out rent for the next few months, and I can use the earnings from the job to get whatever else I want. I can eat a lot of meat with this!

The clerk salivated at the thought of being able to afford multiple bowlfuls of Townsend’s renowned lizard tail soup. Dorothy made it best, according to his manager. The most he’d gotten was a whiff of the sweet, yet bitter, aroma that one would come across should they enter the soup's vicinity. The tail was the supposedly best part of the soup, since it came in chunks that were meant to melt in your mouth. For a clerk at the Hunters’ guild, such a delicacy was to be savoured when one could afford it.

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As the clerk fantasised about his future, an hour passed by. The only thing on his mind during the hour was lizard tail soup.

At the end of the hour, the guests who went in seemed to have finished their business. They came out of the sparring grounds. This time, the clerk felt none of the same suffocating pressure as before. He was both relieved and somewhat sad. The possibility of nearly dying and getting paid for it was something that he'd been exposed to once... and he really enjoyed it.

This was a realisation.

Or something like a revelation.

Or he was just greedy for more money.

Either way, it was a bittersweet feeling to see the two, now jovial, kids led by the two adults. The clerk felt like he’d gone through a pivotal part of his life.

With a salute in his heart, and a tear in his eye, the clerk at the Hunters’ guild silently thanked the red haired demon for showing him a part of himself that he didn’t know existed. He wondered if the after-hours red light district in Aurum's capital had any positions that could fuel his new cravings. I suppose the only thing to do now is to check, he thought to himself.

I’ll go on my next weekend break.