Hunter’s Blade

C16 Walk

The bridge is dark, the visibility is low, the river was cold. Shire struggled to walk to the ugly and stinky nest. The River Giant Devil was smeared with mud near the bridge’s stump, and it smelled very fishy. Shire held back the smell. He reached his hand into the water and searched. The river was originally very clear. The moment he arrived at the River Giant Devil’s mud pit, it became extremely muddy, which showed how dirty it was.

He touched a large pile of coins and other things, grabbed them with force, and brought them to the surface of the water to take a look.

Shire’s eyes widened, and he found it hard to believe what he was seeing.

Gold coins! It was full of gold coins.

A gold coin slipped out of his hand and fell into the water. Water splashed and flowed along the waves, making Shire feel pain in his heart. Money was human life, it was hope.

Shire walked to the shore. The wind blew and his body was drenched. His entire body felt cold, but he did not care about that much. He sprinkled the gold coins onto the shore and then went into the water to search for the things hidden in the River Giant Devil nest.

He got a lot of silver, copper, and three necklaces.

There should be more inside. Shire saw through the dirty water that there were some cups and the like. He reached out to touch them, but he caught something wet and soft, which made him feel disgusted. He did not dare to imagine what it was, so he quickly left this dirty and smelly cave.

Moreover, the late autumn waters were cold. He had stayed there for too long, and his body was about to freeze. He remembered that his mother had always told him not to go into the water barefooted.

Shire returned to the shore from the deep river that reached his waist, and counted the things he had obtained from the River Giant Devil Cave.

Eleven gold coins, 35 silver coins, 25 copper coins.

He washed his hands in the water, wiped his eyes, and calmed himself down. This was a huge sum of money.

Shire found the money bag he had taken from Waren in his backpack, poured out the money, and calculated it together.

I already have so much money… Shire scratched his hair.

There was a total of 19 gold coins, 86 silver coins, and 46 copper coins. This was all of Shire’s current wealth.

The conversion of currency in Lawman Kingdom was very complicated, and Shire had never been able to remember it clearly. He roughly knew that 1 gold coin was equal to 16 silver coins. 1 silver coin was equal to 24 copper coins. This complex conversion algorithm was not first created by Lawman People, but by the Shanei Empire in the east. The Empire had once ruled a vast territory that encompassed many races. Its prestige was extraordinary, and the surrounding countries imitated its currency system.

He knew that the denomination of gold coins was very large. One gold coin could buy a small pig, or sixty catties of food. It would be enough to feed him for two months. Shire’s parents had sold him to a human trafficker before. Shire clearly remembered that he was worth 10 gold coins.

Silver coins were relatively common currency. One silver coin could buy four chickens. When the family’s scenery was good, they would have about 30 silver coins left in a year.

Copper coins were the smallest unit. One copper coin was enough to buy a cabbage.

I’m rich! Shire was quite excited. He swept all the money into the money bag and carefully put it in his backpack. He then wrapped the black cloak around his waist and continued on his way.

After crossing the stone bridge and leaving the river behind, Shire walked forward for about three miles and soon met a few farmers.

These farmers looked terrified. They saw Shire’s naked body, only his butt was wrapped in cloth, and there was a strange crossbow on his back. They also noticed that he had a weapon in his hand, and they immediately became afraid. They walked to the side and made way for Shire, afraid that Shire would kill them in anger.

“Where are you going?” Shire looked at the farmers. They held baskets in their hands. They had killed chicken and salt pork, as well as many radishes, onions, and blue vegetables.

“Let’s go and pay tribute to the River Giant Devil King. Hey, you, did you come from the stone bridge?” The farmer asked worriedly.

“Yes.”

“You didn’t run into it?”

“I did.”

“Ahya!” The farmer nodded. “You saw it. Isn’t it very scary?”

“I’ll kill it.”

The farmers exchanged confused glances, then voiced their doubts.

“How is this possible!”

“The River Giant Devil is so powerful, how can you defeat it?”

“Stop bullshitting! Those who came to challenge it were all killed by it!”

“Sigh… What a joke. There’s not even blood on your sword.”

They shouted at the same time and expressed their doubts to Shire. They looked at him with suspicion and ridicule, totally not believing what had happened.

“All of you can go and see for yourselves.” Shire knew that there was no reason for him to speak empty words. “Its corpse is on the shore.”

Seeing Shire’s confident attitude, the villagers were less suspicious. They looked at each other and said to Shire in a low voice, “Really? You really killed the River Giant Devil?”

“Absolutely.” Shire nodded.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense.” One of the older villagers shook his head. “We all know how powerful the River Giant Devil is. Its skin is so hard that even a sword can’t cut through it. Even arrows can’t penetrate it.”

“He has a crossbow with him. Maybe he was killed by a crossbow.” Another person noticed the wooden crossbow on Shire’s body.

“This is illegal!” Under their reminder, their eyes fell on the crossbow on Shire’s back, and their expressions immediately changed, “Isn’t this illegal? He was seen and wanted to be arrested!”

“Hurry up and leave! Hurry up and leave!”

“Ignore him.”

The villagers carried the basket and continued up the stone bridge, no longer looking at Shire.

Shire had a feeling of being insulted. He felt very uncomfortable in his heart. He frowned and looked back at the villagers who had left. He helplessly sighed and could only continue to walk forward.

After crossing the stone bridge, a small path appeared in the forest.

The path was filled with weeds, which meandered to the distance. If he kept walking, he would run into a village.

“Look, no one believes you,” Wang Yao said. Gradiu woke up at some point and laughed at Shire.

“It doesn’t matter.” Shire shrugged and said, “When I was traveling with my master in the countryside, people thought of us as disasters.”

“There must be a lot of people who insulted you.”

“Yes.”

“Then how do you react? You guys get rid of those guys who offended you?”

“We just… go away. Master has made me used to it.”

“Foolish! Completely foolish. You should use your spells to kill your foolish people, only then would they fear you, And then grovel before you. You have much more power than mortals, so you should enslave them. Obtaining their loyalty and value is what a powerhouse like you should do to manage a country.”

“Rule is the lord’s responsibility” Shire did not know how to reply, “We are just Devil Hunter.”

“Why can’t Devil Hunter rule?”

… “We are not nobles.”

“What determines a noble’s background and bloodline? I know what the rules of your games are. A noble man spread his seeds everywhere and created thousands of new nobles. How could such a thing happen? ”

“They have their own family… They have their own inheritance, and they have the land deed, contract, and seal in their hands. Their rule is in line with the law.” Shire touched his chin. There were stubble growing there. “We have been like this for hundreds of years.”

“You’ll drown in this mushy puddle.”

Shire was a little angry.

“Even you, didn’t you get here because you violated some sort of ‘rule’ in hell?”

These words broke Gradiu’s heart. He shrank back into a corner and fell into silence.

Shire took a deep breath. The air around him was very fresh. There were large dark clouds in the sky, separating the sunlight very blurry. It was hard to tell whether it was morning or afternoon. It was very cold. He had just crossed the river and the water on his body had not dried yet. It was freezing. He hoped that there would be a place to buy clothes to protect himself from the cold when he reached the village.

He felt that someone was following him from behind.

Who was it? He quickly turned around and saw the villagers from before.

The farmers changed their attitude. They were still carrying full baskets, but their attitude was respectful. There was no sign of disrespect anymore. When they saw Shire turn around, they all bowed to him humbly.

“Master.” One of the farmers with gray hair and a round nose walked forward. He took the straw hat off and held it in his hand. He bowed timidly, “Forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?” Shire did not understand what he meant. After a while, he came back to his senses and said, “Oh, you saw the corpse of the River Giant Devil.”

“You are really amazing.” The farmer quickly complimented him.

Shire looked at their terrified and frightened eyes. He did not feel good about it.

“It’s nothing.” He tried his best to be kind, “The River Giant Devil has caused a lot of trouble.”

… “” The farmer’s eyes turned red and he wiped his tears. “You didn’t know that you did a great deed… Ever since the River Giant Devil took over the bridge, we couldn’t go into the forest. When it was hungry, it would rob the village. Many people and animals were killed by it.”

“Where’s the lord? No guards?” Shire asked.

“God. The lord didn’t need to chop trees or get firewood. His people said to us, ‘Then why don’t you just go into the forest?’ – – -is that what people say? ”

“The forest must be very important to you”

” In the past, we earned a lot of money by selling wood. Now, there are people who drown in the water to carry wood on their backs every year… We plan… Send a messenger to ask the master of Gray Tree Hall for help. He stopped us on the way and gave us a beating. He was only released after starving for two days… He said that it would damage the reputation of the Lord… What is this?”

“In the future, you can go to Twilight Forest.” Shire comforted them.

“You have helped us a lot! What’s your name?” The farmer asked.

“Shire.”

“Are you a mercenary? An adventurer?”

They walked towards the village and chatted as they walked.

” I have a special mission. ” Shire vaguely said.

“You are the special envoy of the king!” The farmer said in surprise.

“No, I do not work for the king.” The king had been ignoring the state affairs for a period of time, at the same time sending out his secret envoys to maintain his rule.

“So you are a member of the Hundred Men Group.” They were filled with respect, “Amazing.”

“No, not really…” Shire had probably heard about this group of people from the Hundred Men Group. They were a group of gangsters formed by illegal people. There were a hundred core members, and they were very influential in the Upper Lawman.

They were robbers who blocked the road and set fire to the people. However, they were trying to gain the trust of the people by robbing the rich and helping the poor. Etienne hated them very much. Therefore, even Shire did not like these people.

The farmers guessed Shire’s identity again. He was a member of the Thieves Guild? A killer of the Bloody Brotherhood? An adventurer noble? Or an elf disguised as a human? The more he spoke, the more ridiculous it became.

“Is it a Devil Hunter?” The farmer finally guessed a reliable answer.

Shire was still hesitating whether to admit it or not, but the older farmer spoke again. “Impossible. Devil Hunter is a group of bandits, murderers, and thieves. How could they help us eliminate the Giant Demons?”

“That’s right.”

“「 That makes sense. 」”

” The Devil Hunter is a hoodlum. ” The others agreed.

Shire’s face stiffened, while Gradiu burst out laughing.