"Can we stop talking about the goblin babies?" Kal pleaded as the Tank dissolved into mana. Westmarsh had come into view just as the sun was starting to set. He was emotionally and physically exhausted after the chaos that was his Token day.
"Most people have lovely little celebrations on their Token day. I get your wonderings on how many babies can fit in a goblins hut." He griped.
"Most people don't commit genocide on their Token day, but you always were an odd one." Jase continued annoying him until they reached the gates. He had kept up a constant stream of annoying nonsense to keep his little brothers mind off of the slaughter. He gave Kal another shot to the ribs just in case he had any lingering thoughts before bursting into a run.
Kal watched the heavily overburdened Gromch hop after Jase. They had transferred most of the loot onto the Toad's back and tied it down with some salvaged rope. Kal headed for the town hall to report the bounty and offload the salvage. Jase had already agreed to get a room for them at one of the small inns and pay for it, Kal hoped. He'd need all the money he could get to fix the house. He ran a hand over his tired eyes just thinking about it.
"How has it only been one day?" he mumbled and joined the queue to get into the town hall. He cursed at himself for not realizing there would be a queue. Most people doing bounties all day would logically come to report them at the end of the day. There were around fifteen people in various forms of armor all lined up ahead of him. Doing bounties was a rare job, even for people with a combat-focused summoned monster or item. Kal figured this small group made up the bulk of the bounty hunters in Westmarsh.
"Hey, haven't seen your face around here before." a friendly voice said behind him. Kal turned to see a short blond man in expensive-looking armor. Now that he was paying attention, he could hear the chainmail jingling under the padded red vest the bounty hunter wore.
"It's my Token day, and I decided to do some hunting to test it out." Kal didn't want to explain the whole ordeal, so he tried to keep it short and polite.
"Ha, the first day, and you're already getting stuck in. That's what I like to see. Well, happy Token day. I'm Randal."
Randal proceeded to talk nonstop until Kal was next in the queue. As soon as he'd heard Kal was new to the 'hunting game' as he called it, he listed everything Kal would need to start out, what the best bounties were, who gave good deals on armor, and so on. Kal would have appreciated the advice any other time, but all he wanted was to get some dinner and sleep. Handily Randal explained the process for reporting a completed bounty. That way, Kal wasn't surprised when the clerk at the desk told him a scout would be sent out the next day to verify the bounty's completion. He was a bit annoyed that he had to wait to be paid, but he supposed the rules were the rules. They also gave him a short list of owners for the salvaged goods, and he could either return them for the stated reward or keep and sell them. He decided to rummage through the pile in the morning and see if anything was worth selling.
Jase was waiting for him outside and took him to the inn. The Oaks was one of the nicer places in Westmarsh. There was a small area for guests to eat, and while they served a nice beer with dinner, there was no bar or rowdy taproom.
"Food and a bed. I can't wait to sleep. Kal said, taking a seat while Jase waved over one of the maids.
"Yeah, I could do with a bath as well, but you should have seen the price they were trying to charge for a bit of hot water."
The maid came over, looking as weary as Kal felt. "Can we get two plates of whatever you have for dinner and two beers?"
"You're too late for dinner, but we've got some soup that's still warm, plenty of meat in it," she said, making a half-hearted attempt to sound cheery.
"Throw in some bread, and you've got a deal, beautiful," Jase said with a wide smile. The maid gave him a disgusted look and stalked off. "What? I was just trying to be nice."
"I can't believe we share blood." hiding his face in his hands. "She's going to spit in our soup."
"It's not my fault she can't take a compliment from a handsome rogue," Jase said, puffing up his chest and looking down his nose at him.
Kal kicked him in the shin under the table.
"You stink of dead goblin guts. You're not handsome enough to overcome that, not with a chin like yours." Kal laughed. Jase's hand shot straight to his chin like he'd been punched. The maid brought over two mugs of beer which Kal subtly inspected for signs of tampering. He did the same with the soup when it arrived.
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The following morning Kal was dragged from sleep by the furious banging on their room door. His whole body felt like it had been badly beaten. Despite not physically fighting anything, the stress had left him a clenched mess for most of the day. "Who's there?" he asked before Jase, who had just woken, had the chance.
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"The guard! Now open up, or I'm kicking this door in."
"The guard?" he asked Jase, who was equally puzzled. "What do you want?" he asked louder. The guard kicked the door off its hinges.
"To come in!" he yelled. He was a broad-shouldered man in full leather armor and had a brown and yellow tabard showing the Towns crest over it. Behind him were three other similarly dressed men. "Don't even think about it!" he barked at Jase, who raised his summoning hand. Kal didn't really have that option inside the small room. "If I see a hint of mana from either of you, I'll..."
"You'll what? Kick in our door? Tell us what the hell you want before I level this entire place." Kal didn't care what the idiot's problem was. He would turn the entire town to rubble if they tried something.
"The Lord Mayor wants to speak with whichever one of you done in the goblins. We're taking you straight to him." The guard stepped closer, but Kal lifted his right hand. He didn't know what would happen if he summoned the Tank somewhere it couldn't fit, but he guessed it would be worse for the building than the Tank.
"What does he want?" He asked while pulling on his clothes with one hand. The guard had deflated some but still spoke with authority.
"You can ask him yourself. Let's go."
Jase gave him a why not shrug and followed the guards out. Kal felt dazed from the sudden aggression and surge of adrenalin. "Fine, let's go see the Mayor.
"You guys know we were coming here later anyway, right?" Kal called from the back of their tense group. He shook his head at their refusal to talk now that they had broken into his room and force-marched him through town. The Mayor's office was in the town hall, and there were already a couple of people waiting to get inside. They grumbled as the guards escorted the brothers past them into the locked building. Inside was as close to opulence as a small town could get. The walls had old tapestries showing great battles against legendary monsters. At the same time, the odd mirror or painting took up the odd space. Everything else was dark expensive-looking wood, from the walls and floor to the benches and tables. They were led up to the top floor and quickly ushered into a bright room with a huge window that looked out onto the town. The space was dominated by a large desk that dwarfed the skinny man behind it. The Mayor had to be well into his sixties, Kal guessed from the man's thinning grey hair and sunken face.
"Welcome. I'm so glad you could join me. I am Mayor Winfred" he reached over the desk and shook both of their hands before waving the guards out.
"We didn't have much say in the matter after they kicked down the door," Kal complained, earning a wince from the man. Jase shook his hand and introduced them both.
"I swear that wasn't my intention. I only requested that you be brought to see me. I'll be sure to have a word with them." Winfred apologized politely. Kal didn't believe him, but he was too curious about what the man wanted to argue about it.
"I'm sure you're wondering why you are here." he straightened himself in his chair and took a deep breath before continuing. "We had a guard ride out to the Broken Hills earlier this morning, part of the routine patrol with goblins in the area and also to check on your bounty. The...devastation he described was harrowing, to say the least. According to his report, two nests had been so destroyed that he couldn't count the bodies accurately, while the third nest was completely abandoned, and he expected the goblins had all fled. Then he found the mound of corpses on a nearby hill." He stopped to take a sip of water. Kal took the chance to cut in.
"So why are we here?" he asked, a bit annoyed at the man for bringing up the mess of the day before.
"Ah, well, you see. As grateful as the town is that someone of your caliber is willing to help. We feel that your strength might be of better use somewhere else." The Mayor had an odd expression that Kal couldn't place. Despite the early morning chill, he saw that the man was sweating buckets.
"You want me to leave because I'm too good at killing goblins?" he asked slowly, not believing his ears. Jase was just as stunned but decided to hold back and let the man explain himself.
"It's not easy maintaining stability in any region." he began. "There's a certain balance that needs to be carefully tended to. An order to things that, if upset, can throw ordinary people's lives into chaos." he paused again, and Kal could tell he was gathering his strength for what he was about to say. "Whatever it is, you can summon, be it a giant demon, dragon, or something else. It doesn't belong in Westmarsh. We can't have you roaming the countryside with the power to destroy whole towns in a single day." He let out a relieved sigh as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders and sat back in his expensive-looking chair.
Kal didn't even know what to say to that. He'd never heard of someone being asked to leave because their Token was too strong. Jase finally decided to enter the conversation.
"I've met plenty of people with powerful summons. Lots of ex-soldiers and guards could take out a nest on their own. I'm not seeing a good reason for this."
"Exactly as you say, there are guards and soldiers who have such strength. Men and women who are loyal to the town and the kingdom, and they are people who have earned our trust."
"I've had this thing for one day. I'm not some out of control murderer." Kal protested.
"Neither was Scourge or Bantry." the Mayor said grimly. "Thousands died because a boy was given too much power and left to his own devices. I won't have my town's legacy be just another cautionary tale. You have two days to settle your affairs, and then you are to be out of Westmarsh. If you want my advice, join some border lords army or a mercenary company. They would love to have you."
Kal was struggling to accept reality, so he tuned the man out. Since he'd gotten the Tank, his life had been flipped upside down. He hardly noticed Jase ushering him out of the office and out into the cool morning air.
He couldn't believe he was being asked to leave the area because they thought he was some kind of threat to civilization. There was also a strange part of him that wanted to go. His Token was basically made for battle, not the little monsters around Westmarsh but big proper battles with real threats to the land. He noticed Jase leave and come back after a few minutes with a large pouch.
"What's that?" he asked numbly.
"The reward for the goblins, and they also took all the loot to speed up our departure. The Mayor, in all his benevolence, added a hefty incentive on top of the regular bounty. To ease our travels, the clerk said." he spat towards the building.
"Fuck it, let's just get the bloody glass and go home before I start blowing this place up," Kal said and let Jase lead him toward the glassblower. "I wonder what else will go wrong?"