FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 24

"Bloody horses.... I'll never ride on one again."

"Don't complain. Look, we've reached the town."

Upon nearing the outskirts of the town, Lilac could hear the sound of sawing from one of the wooden buildings. Aside from that there were sounds of clanging and loud buzzing noises that caused the canines to winch, which apparently didn't affect Sammael at all. While Albreich was talking to a man near the street sign, Lilac saw the building had a wood-carved sign with a wolf carved in a traditional way, alongside the word 'Running Wolf Logging Co.' near the bottom of the sign. Apparently the man directed the trader to a sitting Lycan carrying a blunderbass, all brown colored.

"Wanna find a new carthouse? Sure, I can help with that. Just find any carpenters in the town and ask them one. Either they want a single request or not, it's up to the carpenters," said the brown Lycan while blowing out smoke from his maw. "One suggestion, though. Don't ask for single carpenters. They're chippers, unless you want to decorate your house a little bit."

"Thanks for the tip. Oh, and uh...don't mind with the furless one. The dog is a rare breed."

Lilac knew that too. The Lycan was staring at Sammael all of the time and somehow was very curious on why a 'dog' would use the skull of another dog. The Lycan kept changing his views between his master and the dog, but he relented and said, "Maybe I need to see what the world is right now. I'm getting older..."

While riding their horses to the town, Eshdar started to say, "Hey, Albreich?"

"Ask me anything, Eshdar. I'm okay with what you did two days ago."

"To be sure, I'm feelin' unsecure lately. I mean, not because of losin' a trusted bow, but...don't you feel weird that no hellhounds are attackin' us again?"

"Maybe they fed up on us."

"Not really, though. Hellhounds are still organized beings. I am sure they are waitin' for the best way to expose me and Ifrit one day."

"As for that, just be calm, alright? You have travelling friends. Just share your thoughts with us. Don't be a loner. You've got friends now."

"Guess so. Sorry for the doubt, Al. Hunter's instinct."

Reaching a custom post, the man who guarded it scanned the group, which made Ifrit anxious (as his overgrown mane didn't cover his horns completely). But his gestures proved that he didn't notice the horns, so he just let them pass without asking about the hellhounds, making Ifrit sighed in relief.

Without a place to stay cheaply, the group was forced to rent a condominium for the four of them. As the place they stayed consisted of wooden houses, Sammael was allowed in since they allowed pet. During there, Lilac proposed that they went back in business to benefit from the loss they obtained, but Albreich said, "Lilac, a trader will not back down with only a chance. You want to thrive in this business, you have to have a backup plan."

"Backup plan? Is it important? I never dwell into the world of trading before, and I'm completely blind about it."

"Well, apparently, since you came from a village, I can say you don't even understand the meaning of banking. Do you, Lilac?"

"Banking?"

"If you've got too much money and you don't have any place to put them while you travel a lot, you need to save the coins into the bank. I don't reserve a storage compartment in a house carriage for money. That's too risky with my line of job. That's why I used a national bank service to save money. You do understand that I went out to the back and store some money, right?"

"I thought you spend the money outright."

"And then," continued Albreich. "I'm a member of a trading guild based in Dusdolf. Apparently I found one resource center in Woodburn, which is this city, and I want to ask for insurance with the carriage. I can buy a new carriage, better and bigger than the one we used before."

"Why the trouble?" asked Eshdar. "I am startin' to like sleepin' near the horses. In fact, I don't really stay in your carriage that much."

"I need better house anyway. The previous one starts to fail me just some months before I met you two," said Albreich while staring at Lilac and Ifrit. "I plan to reach this city, spend some holiday moment while waiting for a new one, and introduce all of you to city life. Apparently, my line of job is so annoyingly dangerous with marauders, bandits, and murderous hellhounds attacking the carriage more often than attacking the occupants."

"Uh...maybe we both owe you an apology," said Ifrit, knowing that he referenced him.

Albreich just sighed and said, "I don't blame you two for having a dark past, but try not to make my house as a cover. The least you can do to earn my apology is the next time you found an enemy, draw them away from my new carriage."

"If we are able to, okay, Albreich?"

They all turned to Eshdar, who only made a sigh while staring at his own quiver, which took the trader's attention and said, "Well, I think if you want to defend our house, you should find a new bow. Apparently Woodburn is a carpenter city, so if you want one, you can find anyone here willing to make one for you, if you got what they needed."

"I don't have that much of a fortune. These people are professionals, and they want more money than normal. I can make one myself, but maybe it will be a little crude."

"Oh, don't be a stranger to us, Eshdar. Look, if you really want one, just ask. I have more money to cover it all up."

This statement gave a surprise to the group, with Lilac said, "You mean, you have more than the one in your safe box."

"My carriage and all in it is protected with insurance. If you broke it, I can ask for the bank to give me the replacement money. Aside from that, there's another policy in the trader's union, and I like it. 'All union traders are free to take the banked money accumulated by the traders all around the regions, with a warning that under any circumstances that the money is not used in gambling, paying off debts, and personal inquiries like food supply and personal interests. The union pays all the taxes a trader indebted to.'"

"So...basically, you want to use the union's money to buy me a bow and yourself a carriage?" said Eshdar. After the human nodded, though, he said, "My bow is a personal inquiry. You're violatin' the rules if you do that."

"I can tell them that your bow is used for trading purposes. You used that for hunting, right?"

"Yeah, true, but..."

"It's done then. I'll just rush to the bank and get me some checks."

Before Eshdar could say another word of protest, Albreich had quickly rushed out and closed the door behind him, leaving the three of them inside. Dumbfounded, they just stood there for a while until Ifrit said, "(Maybe you shouldn't go around with a generous human like that. Just...go on with it)."

"(You don't make that as a problem?)"

"(Hey, a human like Albreich is pretty rare, you know. What I'm concerned about is about this compound bow he was talking about)."

"Oh, I forgot a thing," said Albreich after returning. "I should've told you about this bow. It's different from your string-type bow and...it's not a flexible wood."

When they had reached the archery shop, Eshdar was again dumbfounded by the 'composite bow'. It had pulleys on each side of the bow, and it was heavier than his kind of bow, which troubled his aiming.

"Goddamn it! What the hell is this?!"

"Dusdolf archers used this bow," said Albreich. "I know it's heavy and..."

"Albreich, no hunters use this kind of bow! It's too heavy and all it does is makin' me even more tired than I used to be!"

"Sir, this bow is not for hunting. Archery is at craze in Adaline so, yeah, this is for sports purpose."

"But they said it gives a nice kick!"

"it's not designed for hunting. I'm sorry, but I can give you a bamboo-core flexile bow for only a gold coin."

Albreich just grumbled while Eshdar asked, "What's this bow look like?"

After the shopkeeper showed him the bow, he took it and felt that it was even lighter than his old bow. It had a unique ornament on the hilt, and also it was polished smooth with a good grip.

"This bow can stretch more than a normal wooden bow should be. It won't break and you'll get a longer shot."

"Can I try it?"

"Sure, I have a range for helping you adjust to this bow. Follow me."

Ifrit followed the two, feeling that he really needed to understand the use of bows. Aside from seeing how happy Eshdar was from having his bow returned to him, he was eager on how he could shoot things without killing.

At the range, which was a long vacant room behind the shop, Eshdar started to take an arrow and immediately shoot the circle target some meters in front of him, hitting a close mark to the middle red area. The shopkeeper made a small whistle and said, "You're one natural-born hunter, wolf. Never thought you can quickly adjust well to this new bow."

"Thanks for the compliment. Now, Ifrit."

"Yes?"

"Wanna try a shot?"

"I prefer...guns, actually."

Eshdar just sighed and stepped aside, while the shopkeeper gave him a wooden rifle for a free use. Ifrit was still unsure if that sense of his could be used again, knowing that he wasn't excited. Nevertheless, he took the rifle and aimed through the metallic aim, and he realized how shaky he was. Again, something kicked into him and his aim became steadier as he held his breath, and he shot, hitting the red target.

"Sweet lady luck! That's one hell of an accuracy you got there, kid. Well, you both are hunters after all. I can sell this rifle for you for only 3 gold and 45 silver coins, bonus 5 bullets for starters."

"Maybe I'll consider that...not sure if I'll use a rifle, though."

"Well, suit yourself. So, archer? How's that bow?"

The red hellhound stared at the bow for a while, before making a smile and said, "Yeah."

"Good if you really like it. Never thought you're still a traditional hunter. People nowadays use rifles for hunting, or for some other Lycans, with their own body, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, I still used that a lot," said Lilac while blushing. "I'm not as skilled as my brother, though."

"Missy, you don't need to hunt that much. Just look at you! You looked like a furry role model."

"I get that a lot, thank you."

Eshdar was satisfied on getting back a new bow, though it felt very different from the usual crude bow that he made when the previous one broke. He was accustomed to broken bow and unlike his friends, he never made one a favorite. He only made them as tool, nothing more. But, just thinking on how long he had been spending with the previous bow made him feel a little lonely.

"(Now you've got a new bow. What will you do? We want to quickly open store while waiting for the carriage to finish)," said Ifrit after he saw the red hellhound's satisfied face.

"(Nothin'. I am not really in a mood for hunt. Better make myself some huntin' equipment)."

"(You sure you don't wanna buy some in the market?)"

"(Hey, you do know that I'm a traditional hunter, right? Yes, I know you're trying to tell me that I'm a hellhound and we're using Hordo right now, but, I lived on the surface of earth, not in the middle of it, so without people knowing that I have a set of curvy horns and a long tail, I am a lycan, and you should be doing that too)."

"(Maybe you need to buy something? Like an herb or something? I read Albreich's book about poisons and stuff, and I think it's kinda useful in...)."

"(Dude, that's not...how I hunt, except if I want to be an assassin, poisons are not a way to take down a prey. You want good money? I suggest hittin' them with arrows instead of wasting bullets. Arrows leave minimal harm to the meat, got it?)"

"(Alright...if that's what you want)."

Eshdar did go to the market to buy some spare woods and some feathers, including some other equipment that required the use of fire enhancer, knowing that his instinct told him about the danger the group might get. Though he took Ifrit's suggestion as a way to survive, he was not a sadist. He was uncomfortable with seeing others die slowly and painfully. The idea made him sick. If people die, they died quick, not with a torture.

As he walked back to the bungalow, he saw his friend's pet sleeping on the floor, oblivious of Eshdar's presence only after he was close enough for the demon dog to smell him. Sammael quickly raised his head, trying to greet Eshdar, but of course the hellhound, who was very much confused, said, "(Never thought to see your kind to not address me aggressively)."

"(I learn to live in harmony with hellhounds. It's just weird, but I've got this...thing I normally never carved on some years ago. What do you think they are called...feelings?)"

"(I'm not sure..., but maybe we can talk about it while trying to make my arrows, hmm?)"