The New Job

It had been three days since he had returned the girl back to her tearful father and Haganto was now facing a door that had seen better days. It was rough to the touch, had places where small slivers of wood splintered off into the air like thorns, and it had cracks where small flickers of light shone through.

He had been to better establishments, but he had also been to worse.

So with a gruff sigh, Haganto opened the poor excuse for a door. He was welcomed by the sight of a room full of old and stained tables and chairs, dim lighting, and an odor that most would not find pleasant while eating or drinking. But apparently, people were either used to it or didn’t care since there were actually quite a few patrons, with either a cup of mead or a bowl of soup in front of them. Or both.

However, they weren’t eating right now. Instead, they were staring at Haganto with distrustful eyes, while some of their hands lingered a bit closer to the knives by their plates. Thanks to the small mirror the elves gave him before he left, Haganto knew what he looked like and understood their reactions.

He had to duck to enter the tavern, and even if he didn’t have muscles, he would still have to step into the establishment sideways as well. He had dark, mangy hair that dangled to his shoulders with piercing eyes that were the exact same color. His short-sleeved tunic was long, rugged, and dirty with splatters of blood while his leggings were in the same condition though there was a noticeable tear on the front of his upper right thigh. His leather boots were the only clothing he owned that looked alright, and that was only because this was a new pair. That and the dried blood was only on his soles.

All that combined with his fang, Haganto was just grateful that none of them seemed inclined to fight him on sight. That, unfortunately, happened more often than not.

But knowing that the tension was still high, Haganto just grunted with a nod as he headed to the nearest table and sat down on the strongest-looking chair. Despite creaking, the chair seemed to hold his weight, causing him to sigh with relief.

Haganto luckily didn’t get embarrassed easily but that still didn’t mean he wanted his chair to collapse underneath him.

“H-How can I help you, sir?” Haganto looked to his left and saw a young woman with an apron over her frayed frock standing there with her hands clasped tightly together.

“...A bowl of soup, some bread, and a leg of whatever meat you have,” Haganto requested in his usual gruff voice, as his eyes roamed across the other patrons, most of who still looked at him suspiciously.

“Do...do you want a beverage with that sir?” Seeing that the waitress was still wary, Haganto sighed.

“Just water.” Relief briefly ran across the waitress’ face before she bowed her head and hurried to the back. While he could hold his liquor, there was no need to add to the tension by letting the other patrons think they would soon have a drunk half-ogre in their midst.

However, while some of the patrons looked confused, most of them were still glaring at him like they were just inches away from attacking him. Not in the mood for a bar fight, Haganto just unsheathed his club and placed it down beside him. As he laid it against the table, he eyed the patrons that were starting to reach for anything that could cause damage, whether it was an actual weapon or not.

All patrons stiffened under his warning glare and finally turned their attention back to their meals and their companions. Well, some of them still glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes, but Haganto took what he could get.

Figuring that he could risk being able to somewhat relax, Haganto sighed as he closed his eyes and once again thought about the harpy. Tried as he might, he had yet to find a reason for her sudden departure and overall strange behavior. He had tried to push the matter aside since there were many things about life that still remained unanswered but he was unable to.

Not yet anyway. But for now, he was stuck with the feeling that the harpy’s behavior was just the beginning. Of what, he did not know.

“Here you are, sir.” The waitress brought him out of his dread as she laid the full bowl of soup, a spoon, a plate with some thick slices of bread, and a cup of water in front of them. Then she clutched the serving tray to her like it was a shield while anxiety took over her features. “I’m s-sorry, the mutton leg will still take a little longer.”

“That’s fine,” Haganto accepted with no ill will as he took the spoon and immediately started to feed himself. The waitress once again bowed her head and left to wait on the other customers, and soon after that, Haganto felt a pair of eyes focus on him.

Haganto ripped off a piece of bread as he looked around and saw a man with wrinkles on his face staring at him, though he looked away when his and Haganto’s eyes met. Haganto looked at the stranger for a moment more before turning back to his food. Almost as soon as he did, Haganto felt the man’s eyes on him again.

He sighed but did nothing about it as he continued eating his meal. A few minutes later, the waitress came back with the leg of mutton. A few seconds after she quickly left, Haganto heard a pair of footsteps which is not unusual for a tavern.

However, they were headed straight for him.

“I’ve heard of a being not quite human that takes requests to defeat monsters. Is that you? Are you the one known as Haganto?” The tavern became silent as Haganto turned his attention to the man, who looked straight into his eyes.

“Perhaps. What is it that you want?” Haganto asked as he took a bite of the mutton.

“Do you know of Sarville?”

“A village a few days walk from here. What of it?”

“Well, a little while ago, Sarville was attacked by Erzu. While they managed to drive her off, there is a chance that she might find her way here.”

Haganto, who was just about to take another bite of mutton, stopped himself.

What did he just say?

“That was two weeks ago Tolden!” a nearby patron called out as he turned around to face them. “She would have been here already if that was the case!”

“Not to mention, we’re probably too far from the mountains for her!” another patron added. “Sarville was pushing it as it was!”

Meanwhile, Haganto put down his food as his mind pondered over this new information.

“I know, but-”

“How did they drive her off?” Haganto interrupted Tolden.

“Huh?” Tolden asked confused as he looked back at Haganto before realization took over his features. “Oh, I think it was just arrows and some torches. Thankfully, only one person got affected by her venom and the poor girl managed to survive thanks to her older brother somehow getting the cure in time. Why?”

Because Erzu was Salith’s child. And as such, a few arrows or torches definitely should not have been enough to chase her off.

Haganto kept this to himself as he looked downwards with a heavy sigh, staring at nothing in particular as his earlier unease and dread grew even more. Erzu attacking Sarville wasn’t unusual. While she and most of her siblings liked to keep to dark and enclosed spaces like mountain caves, they would come out and hunt if any unfortunate, satisfying prey hadn’t stumble into their webs in a while. Even if that meant going into the heart of a nearby town.

The thing was though, each one of the spider’s hairs was stronger than the armor made for a king. As such, arrows wouldn’t be able to hurt Erzu, just annoy her much like a needle prick to a seamstress. At least, they shouldn’t.

Someone, or something, had somehow already hurt her to the point where her defenses were greatly lowered. It was the only possible explanation. It would also explain why she attacked Sarville and left just as quickly. She was probably desperate for food to help replenish her health but fortunately for the villagers, lacked the strength to fight back against them.

The question was, could this enemy also be the reason why the harpy chose to fly away?

Something in Haganto told him yes.

“I’ll find her,” Haganto finally accepted before he threw the remaining slice of bread into the soup and chug both down until nothing remained.

“R-Really?” Tolden replied, a mixture of disbelief and hope in his tone as Haganto stood up from his seat. While Haganto put his club back into his sheath, Tolden took a small pouch out of his pocket and rummaged through it. “I...uh…”

As Tolden looked more and more conflicted and worried as he looked inside his pouch, which was barely producing any jingle of coins as he tossed its contents around with his finger, Haganto sighed.

“You can pay me afterwards,” Haganto granted as he threw a bronze coin onto the table, figuring that was enough to pay for the food.

And judging by the gasps, it had been more than enough.

“Oh! Alright! I own the bakery,” Tolden told him with a relieved expression as Haganto eyed the mutton before grabbing it. “I should have the money to pay you by then. As well as much free bread as you want.”

Haganto stared at his eager face and nodded.

“I’ll be back with proof that she won’t bother you.” With that, Haganto turned around and began to leave the tavern in order to head straight to Sarville. He needed to start somewhere, as well as get a first-hand source of how things went down between the town and Erzu. Though despite there being many unanswered questions, Haganto knew one thing.

That he wasn’t going to like the answers.

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