chapter 26
#26 of Wolves' Legacy Saga
"Well, what do you think?"
They all got dumbfounded by the carriage Albreich had made. It was two times bigger than his previous one, and it now required a machine to pull. A motorized engine was installed to pull the carriage and was controlled with a kind of a wheel in front while the living quarter was towed behind. The carriage itself was metal-framed.
Thorough inspection of the interior revealed that it now had a group of folded-up beds, metal-framed like the rest of the carriage. While it wasn't in use, the beds were stowed away. There was also a double bed in the back of the carriage, where the folded-up beds were put on one side of the carriage, near the main double bed. The central room had a vacant multi-functional room, with a folded table and chairs stored in storage behind it was for the dining room. There was also another storage room put at the side of the carriage, and from it, Albreich put his trading goods there. The door now was placed at the side, not at the back of the carriage, and the whole thing itself was red in color.
"Goodness, Albreich," said Lilac in awe. "This is far bigger than the old berth of yours. How much do you spend for this...this caravan?"
"This is a mobile home, Lily," said the trader while smiling. "We can't rely on the horses now that this thing is longer and wider than my old carriage. Adaline people used cars to pull their carriages, and my mobile home is also a common thing."
"Well, it looks like it can't be pulled by the car. I'm not a fan of machinery, but this long-haul is bigger than the car could hold."
"You'll be fascinated by the marvel of motor engines, hound. Now with this, I can trade more than I usually get, and we can have more holidays."
"Holidays?"
"Like what we're doing right now. I bought a map from here to a beachside community. It takes around three days to reach the beach and we have a better home to live in."
"Wait a second, are those five days of waiting the carri...I mean, caravan, is not a holiday?"
"How can we call that a holiday if we spent our time selling hunting goods? Look, Eshdar, if this is the way you like to spend your holiday I suggest you enjoy the scenery, okay?"
The group had been staying in the bungalow for five days without trying to find any other ways to entertain themselves aside from selling goods and hunting. Albreich tried to invite Lilac and Ifrit into a theatre play, but both of them couldn't find any fun from it. The group ended up wasting most of their times hearing music and hunting (since three of them were anthropomorphic wolf races and a demon dog).
Albreich understood the natural urge a wolf needed, especially a werewolf's needs, but he couldn't believe hellhounds also had that kind of urge when Ifrit also followed Eshdar in hunting, using the rifle he looted from the ambush at the restaurant. Their activities were only involving their travel to the beachside town, nothing more. In fact, Albreich clearly liked the way the three of them wanted to help the trader despite of knowing that they were still in vacation. Lilac was busy buying food ingredients whenever she had the time to stop in a small town, and her boyfriend was still too busy on studying the world he was drawn into in the mobile home.
In the town they were staying for the night, Albreich spotted a tavern, and he went there without asking his companions, thinking that he needed to be alone for a while. As he opened the door into the tavern, he was greeted with the liveliness of the place, and unlike most Adaline taverns, this one was clearly Tragorian in origin. There's a lively band playing a folk song while some patrons with green-themed clothing would dance around with the music while others clapped their hands. There's also a man wearing knitted cloth wrapped around his waist down playing an instrument that looked like a bag with pipes jutting out from it (it's a bagpipe). Albreich didn't heed the music. They could be as lively as they could.
The silver haired trader then reached the bartender, and said, "One please."
"Scotch?"
When Albreich just nodded, the bartender poured the brownish tea-colored alcoholic drink to the glass in front of him. Albreich drank it down his throat, and the sensation of heat came into him, running down his throat.
"What else, mate?"
"I want some information regarding some Lycan's movements."
"Lycans? I have some patrons here if you want to ask."
"No, Tim, the other one."
The bartender then put down the bottle with the scotch in it, where his eyes became serious. He turned to the Lycan attending the bottles and said, "Oi, lad, cover for me, will you? I have some matter to talk with a friend."
Albreich was then invited to the second floor, where the man also stayed. It was a simple room with all the amenities to be as cozy as home. There were newspaper clippings on one side of the room, covering the brick wall behind it. The cozy jazz song covered the folk song on the tavern below, where it died out when he closed the door behind him.
"So, what do you..."
Suddenly, the man just pulled a gun from behind a counter and pointed it to Albreich, saying, "Give me a reason to believe you."
"What are you doing, Timothy?"
"Where did you hear about the hellhounds? I thought you're retired."
"I have one as my companion, and that young 'Lycan' that's covering your job has slit pupils. Also, you do realize that there's a recent death caused by burning, right?"
They went silent for a bit, giving the place a sense of danger itself, before Timothy withdrew his gun and said, "One hell to another, eh, silver head?"
"Tell me, what do you know about these hellhounds?"
When prompted to sit, Timothy poured another drink almost similar to the one Albreich was drinking down at the tavern. As he drank, the bartender said, "Rumors come and go at the bar. Drunkards give more of them. There are recent attacks to some smaller villages around Adaline where the whole place is suddenly cut off from the trade routes. I suspected that these bloody demon werewolves are at it, and there will be an invasion coming."
"I don't believe in that. They're disorganized and they look more like raiders. Even two hellhounds can defeat them easily."
"There's another rumor, though," said Timothy. "Do you know a wanted Lycan with brownish fur and carrying a rifle? He killed some men already. He killed hellhounds, Lycans, and humans, and he somehow had this weird addiction to explosives. Some say the victims were blown up, but I dare say they're shot."
"You mean, they are shot by an explosive bullet?"
"That aside, he somehow was targeting hellhounds still loyal to the prince or whatever. I don't know if hell has a kingdom but the boy you saw down there? He's a survivor."
"Prince? You mean, like the royal families of Schelkz and Winsel?"
"You know that much on demonology? You really are different from the rest."
"I know that much because of the crown princes currently accompanying me as bodyguards."
Upon hearing that Timothy spilled his glass and quickly grabbed his bottle, seeing the writings on it for a while before saying, "Bloody hell, mate, I thought I drank too much!"
"You haven't finished that glass yet, Tim."
After hearing that, Timothy just scratched his head and said, "Well, I'll be damned to know that you have two most wanted hellhounds in the whole region. I can say you survived some attacks?"
"They are the best bodyguards I can get. Never thought princes can fight."
"You don't feel like they'll give a hell of your life?"
"I don't. Now tell me. Who is this assassin? Why is he targeting the loyalists?"
"You have to ask him yourself. Other than giving him a name, I can't do more to help you. The assassin is quite popular in Dusdolf. Your hometown, I presume. His name is Rhynsa Vantwork."
"Rhynsa...that's a name I've never heard in a very long time."
"It is. He stopped assassinating 5 years ago. Now that he came back I'm not sure if you would ever cross path with him, but I must tell you. If he's a hellhound, then the least you can do is run. Don't engage him. He's a seasoned hunter, and a cold-blooded killer."
"I'll be careful, then."
As Albreich finished the glass he was given, Timothy said, "You know, Al, back when we were still active, we used to be mentor and student. But now, I can see you are becoming a mentor yourself. Retirement is a bugger, isn't it?"
"Well, it's better living as a trader than a warrior, right? Besides, it's safer to make money this way."
"Hah! You never changed, Al."
The tavern was not as noisy as before, as the patrons there now only consisted of those midnight strollers who didn't have time to sleep or having trouble sleeping. The hellhound was going home for the next shift to come, in which Timothy said, "Ah, it's time for both of us to go to our beds. That Merigon lad is a nice one. Hellhounds with a heart is better than most of our world's Lycan, isn't it?"
"I've lived with that."
"Hey, Al. If there's time, come back to this village, yeah? We've got a lot of catching up to do from these past 10 years."
"I feel older already."
"Ah, don't worry, lad. 35 is still a young age. Good night."
Albreich then left, contemplating on his discovery. Rhynsa was like a household name to him. He killed many men in Dusdolf for at least 4 years. Last he heard, the assassin retired and changed his name, but the discovery made him unsure on what to judge to the assassin. Rhynsa, like some of the characters in the books he read, is an amoral character. He killed for profit, but he killed those who did harm to others.
As he wandered of the night, a shadowy figure saw him getting out from the tavern. The figure was targeting him with the iron sights of his rifle for a while, before Albreich was lost from his sight. He relieved his aim, took out a cigarette, and lighted it with his own fire. He then blended with a group of Lycans walking out from the nearby tavern. As he was bathed with streetlamp, he stared back again to the trader with his completely alien and completely black eyes, like a dark void.
"Take a good breath, kid," said the canine figure. "It may be your last."