Recounting Tribunal

  My tail thumped on the wood floor every second we had to wait before we were called into the meeting for Tanner's tribunal. Keagan was taking the wait better than I was. He at least had a book to read.

  I tilted my head back. “Ugh, how much longer are they going to make us sit here? I wanted to be headed home by now.”

  My partner didn't even look up from his book. “When they are done interviewing Poppy and Tickles, they will interview us.”

  The door to the waiting room we were sitting in opened. Poppy walked in. She was wearing a dark blue dress with a grey jacket with the Monster Association emblem on her right shoulder. Tickles, her electric squirrel partner, sat on her left.

  The young woman waved us over. “Your turn.” Her playful voice softened the seriousness of the situation. “Don't worry, they'll just ask you questions, and as long as you answer them truthfully, you'll be on your way before lunch.”

  That probably means she heard me complaining.

  Keagan closed his book, put it in his bag, and jumped out of his chair. “I'm not worried. And Lucia's just getting stir-crazy. This is fine. She needs a day off anyhow.”

  I flattened my ears as I stood up. “As long as he's not in the room, I'll behave.”

  Poppy shook her head. “He's not even in this building.”

  I padded behind the boy as he followed Poppy. We were taken into a long room with three desks side to side on the far side. Behind the three desks were two people and one monster.

  The man on the left had long, teal, straight hair that was tucked behind his long, pointed ears. His face held a half dozen small wrinkles, and he was dressed in the Association's mandated uniform. The collar on his uniform was pressed extra stiff.

  The woman next to him had short, spiky, blonde hair. She looked to be in her late thirties. More striking than her stare was the scar that ran from her forehead along the outside of her face and down to her chin. It was like someone tried peeling off her face, got halfway, and then stitched it back. Her top was opened an extra button.

  On the left side was the most humanoid-looking monster I had seen yet. She was reminiscent of fairies from stories in my first life. Standing in at a whole fifteen inches, with dove wings and a look of impatience that rivaled mine, she also wore plate armor that was very form-fitted.

  “Ooh, a cherub,” Keagan said reflexively as he gawked at the tiny monster. “I haven’t seen a pixie with dullahan ancestry. Cool and cute.”

  There was a chair set before the three. The cherub pointed to the chair. “I’m flattered, but sit down. Then when we ask you a question, answer it, and only the question we ask. No sidebars, no tangents, no backstories, and by all that is holy, no singing.”

  I tilted my head. Is that really a problem? I’m sure there’s a story behind that one.

  Keagan sat first, a little too eagerly, his legs swinging. I eased down beside him, my claws clicking faintly on the wood. The cherub leaned back on her miniature chair, crossing her armored legs like she owned the place.

  The teal-haired elf cleared his throat. “For the record, please state your names and ranks.”

  Keagan perked up. “Keagan Bramble, a licensed trainer, partnered with one E-ranked monster, Lucia.” He gestured proudly toward me.

  I huffed. “Lucia, E-rank.”

  The scarred woman scribbled notes, her eyes sharp enough to slice. “Good. Now, recount your involvement with Tanner Galland and his monster, Gravelox.”

  Keagan straightened. “The first time we met him was during a tournament. Tanner was… aggressive. Toward us, but mostly toward Gravelox. He berated him constantly. Publicly. I didn’t like it and put in a complaint against him.”

  Her pen scratched faster. “Ah, yes. We have the record for a complaint against him within the last month. You were the one who placed it? What happened that would drive you to put in the complaint?”

  I growled low, remembering. “He called us cheats and threatened us. Then he tried to have us assassinated.”

  The cherub pointed her tiny gauntlet at me. “Stick to facts and to the question asked. Did you witness physical abuse?”

  “No.” My ears twitched back. “But he was talking with someone who then burned our home down that night. He probably bought her right there.”

  The man turned his gaze to Keagan. “Can you please stay on track? That matter was already investigated, and not enough conclusive evidence was found.”

  Not enough conclusive evidence? Probably because there wasn’t much of the bodies left after I was done with them. It was because he threatened the boy; my wrath drove me to kill him at the very sight of him. Because of that, we now owe a lot of money for the reconstruction of our home.

  Keagan clasped his hands in his lap as he bit his lip while giving me a sidelong glance. “Don’t be mad at her. She can’t always help it. It’s because she has the Wrath Demon Ancestry trait. But during the rank-up tournament, he said some things to Lucia that had me worried. So, we tried to handle it ourselves. We even tricked an enforcer into witnessing the abuse directly, so there’d be no chance of Tanner talking his way out.”

  That earned the faintest flicker of a smile from the cherub. “Resourceful, but brazen.”

  The scarred woman leaned forward. “Let’s be clear. You accused Tanner Veylan of cruelty to his monster. We also know of Lucia’s nature. There are also several reports of highly influential individuals vouching for your character. The enforcer responsible for the arrest gave you a glowing review of character.”

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  The boy beamed. “She did? Thanks. But I didn’t want Gravelox to be treated like that. No monster should be abused like that. I did what was right.”

  The man tented his fingers. “If you were in our position, what punishment would you feel is fitting for Tanner’s actions?”

  “Well,” Keagan crossed his arms. “I would say that he shouldn’t be allowed to train or do anything with monsters again.”

  I turned my head and muttered. “I would want him torn to tiny pieces or eaten alive.”

  That drew a grimace from the man. “Noted.”

  The cherub finally stood up on the desk, cleared her throat, and folded her hands. “Thank you. Your testimony matches the others. This tribunal will deliberate, and a ruling will be issued once a consensus is reached.” Her wings twitched. “You are excused.”

  Keagan hopped off his chair. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it,” the cherub said, already looking at the next file. “And thank the gods you didn’t sing.”

  I got up and turned to leave. “That’s because I don’t sing.”

  “Come on, Ms. Grumpy.” Keagan placed a hand on my shoulder as he caught up to me. “Let’s get you food. You’re getting extra cranky.”

  “Am not.” I turned my nose up. “Talking about that guy riles me up; you know that.”

  Keagan laughed. “I do. But tell me, are you not hungry?”

  I scowled. “Fine, I am hungry. There better be something juicy on the menu. I’m not in the mood for vegetables.”

  “Okay,” the boy chirped. “We did just win all that money from the tournament. It’s fine to treat ourselves. I’ll have to stop by the guild then to see when the next E-rank tournament in our region is. We still have to pay Bob back. Uh, how much did we owe him?”

  I rolled my eyes as we entered the street. “20,000 at the end of this year, then another 20,000 next year. Although, if we’re a little short this year, I doubt he’d hold it against us. Although, I’d rather not abuse his goodwill.”

  The kid clenched his fist. “No, we will succeed. I will prove that I can do this, that I will be the best monster trainer ever.”

  I stopped. “Mr. Best Monster Trainer Ever, we’re getting food here.”

  We stopped in front of a butcher. I could smell the blood from inside.

  “Going right for the source, you must really have an appetite.” A small voice called behind us. Tickles scurried up to me and hopped onto my back.

  “Get off,” I growled.

  Poppy skipped up and held out her hand to him. “Don’t torment the giant murderwolf, Tickles.” Tickles jumped down and then climbed up his trainer’s extended arm. “If you really wanted good meat, I wouldn’t recommend this place. Yeah, Brauson is cheap, but you get what you pay for.”

  “What are you doing?” Keagan asked. “Don’t you have to work?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. It’s my off time, and I wanted to hang out with you for the rest of the time you’re here.” She placed a hand on his head. “I kind of like you. You used me to help a monster in need; that… that was something.”

  The kid blushed.

  I pushed her hand off the boy with my snout. I didn’t bite, partly because she didn’t deserve it, but mostly because her electric squirrel was a much higher rank than me and very likely more powerful. “If we don’t want food from here, then where do you suggest?”

  Poppy tapped her chin, pretending to think hard. “Depends. Do you want quality or quantity? Because if it’s the latter, there’s a tavern two streets over that serves slabs of beef the size of your head. If it’s quality, the Silver Skewer’s where you want to go—roasts, stews, grilled everything.”

  Keagan’s stomach growled loud enough to make Poppy laugh. His ears reddened. “I vote Silver Skewer.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Poppy. “Why are you suddenly our guide?”

  She smirked. “Because you were going to drag him into a back-alley meat shack and call it a feast. And he—” she ruffled Keagan’s hair “—deserves better.”

  He swatted at her hand. “Hey!”

  I snorted. “If you want to tag along, fine. But don’t get in my way.”

  Poppy arched a brow, amused. “Relax, big bad wolf. I’m not here to steal your trainer. I just think he’s interesting. Not many kids trick enforcers into catching abusers red-handed.”

  Keagan scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “It wasn’t that big a deal…”

  “Yes, it was,” Poppy cut him off. “And you should own it. Most people just look away.”

  Tickles glared at me from her shoulder, little sparks dancing across his whiskers. “Just because we’re off duty, that doesn’t mean I won’t do anything if I have to. So, behave. Got it?”

  I turned my head and flicked my tail. “Yes.”

  We started walking, with Keagan in the middle, Poppy on one side, and me on the other.

  “You know,” she said casually, “if you two stick around town a while, I could show you more places. Best library, best monster gear shops, even the underground training gadget suppliers.”

  “Absolutely not,” I growled.

  Keagan perked up. “Wait, underground training gadget suppliers?”

  I swung my head toward him, baring a hint of my fangs. “No.”

  He wilted, muttering something about “always the boring one.” Poppy laughed, bright and unbothered, like she enjoyed needling me.

  “You’re fun,” she told me with a grin.

  “I’m hungry,” I grumbled.

  She winked at me. “Exactly.”

  The boy clapped his hands together before I could retort. “So how about that food? What kind of things can we get?”

  She’s playing at something. I don’t know what it is. All I can tell is it has something to do with the boy. This is more than a passing interest. I’ll put up with it while we’re in the capitol, but once we leave, we won’t have to deal with her until the next rank-up tournament. Hopefully by then, something else can catch her attention so we don’t have to deal with her at all.

  “Remember, once we eat, we’re leaving,” I whispered to my partner.

  I looked at my status sheet, remembering the stat upgrades I had gotten in the morning.

  Wrath Demon Ancestry increases Power and Arcane stat gains. Wrath Demon ancestry impedes Toughness and Resilience stat gains. Training summary: Power +6, Agility +1, Speed +1, Arcane +2, Toughness +4, Resilience +1.

  — — —

  Name: Lucia Silverbreeze

  Species: Fenris (Dire Wolf/???) [Ice Subtype]

  Level 3 [0%]

  Power: 299

  Agility: 194

  Speed: 216

  Arcane: 154

  Toughness: 106

  Resilience: 110

  — — —

  Traits:

  Clawed

  Fanged

  Wrath Demon Ancestry

  Ice-born

  Gorging

  — — —

  Special Attacks:

  Ice Shard

  Ice Block

  — — —

  My stats were still not where I wanted them to be. We made a deal that if I could get my stats other than Toughness and Resilience above 250, we would go hunting.

  I wanted to get to that point as soon as possible. My two unique traits would then really accelerate my stat growth. And I would finally get some new special attacks.

  Gorging: Any living creature you kill and then consume will grant a small permanent increase in stats. Stat increases will be based on the creature consumed.

  Wrath Demon Ancestry: Power and Arcane stats receive a bonus when increased. Toughness and Resilience receive a penalty when increased.

  There are too many threats in this world for me to stay this weak.

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