The walk back to town should’ve taken a day. It stretched into two.

  Training summary: Toughness +2.

  Once the euphoria of the kill wore off, every step dragged fire through my ribs. My lungs rattled shallowly, each breath hissing between my teeth. Keagan tried to keep up beside me at first, then fell behind, then darted ahead again, as though my pace unsettled him. I hated the look on his face every time he glanced back to check if I was still moving.

  “Lucia…” His voice carried that edge of fear. “We could stop again. Just for a while.”

  I shook my head, and even that small motion lanced pain down my side. “We stop, it’s nightfall before we get there. I don’t feel like being on someone else’s menu.”

  The boy chewed his lip. “It’ll be nightfall soon anyway.” He just adjusted the straps of the saddlebags as he looked around. He waved over to a grassy knoll. “Let’s stop there. That way we can have a better vantage point to see if any is coming our way.”

  I wanted to argue. We should be close, right? This has already gone on longer than it should’ve. We crested the hill and mercifully, the town came into sight, the sun had dipped to orange and red.

  Keagan gawked. “Oh, we’re closer than I tought.”

  A small measure of commfort seeped into my muscles. Still, the blood on my fur made the rest of my body itch. My fur had dried stiff in patches, and my side throbbed where the bandages were already starting to seep through.

  “One last push,” I wheezed. “Come on. I’ll make it.”

  Since our ranch was on the other side and outside of town, we decided to hold up in the inn for the night. That way, if there was a healer in town, we’d see them at breakfast. We didn’t make it three streets before someone muttered about a filthy beast.

  Keagan puffed up, voice cracking as he barked, “She’s my partner! And she killed a wild gryphon on the trail here.”

  A few gasps, some shutters slammed shut, and an the occasional apologies were given. That was fine. People hear there’s danger, running is normal. I didn’t care for their approval, just their indifference.

  Then I saw Noma and Nana. Noma the small kappa with purple skin because of her king viper ancestry came running to me. “Oh no. You’re hurt. Do you need help?

  She wasn't wearing her patchwork armor from the last time I saw her.

  Nana, her trainer, an older woman with light wrinkles on her soft face. Her greying hair wasn’t up in its usual bun but down and pulled in front of her shouler. She looked to Keagan. “She looks hurt bad. What happened?”

  The boy put a hand on my mane, where it wasn’t covered in blood. “There was a wild gryphon on the way here. We didn’t sneak past it while it was eating. Lucia killed it though, so there’s that.” He put on a smile trying to force the positivity.

  “We didn’t sneak past it because you had to tell me that it was a gryphon,” I added. “But, seriously, I need healing. This is a lot worse than it looks. Please tell me there’s one in town.”

  The elderly woman frowned. “I saw the reports of the gryphon in the Association’s Branch Office. They put a bounty on it and were sending for a healer to be escorted here because of it. There had no baring on how powerful it was and so they only allowed B rank monsters to take the bounty.”

  “Well, it’s dead now.” I winced as Noma tried to pick at the patches of dried blood. “Can we get the reward and when were they expecting the healer to arrive?”

  “Tomorrow at the earliest,” Nana answered. “Though they were expecting the day after. Did you bring proof that you killed the gryphon.”

  I slowly turned my head to the boy. “Proof?”

  His face went pale. “Uh oh. I, uh, sorta, maybe, just a little—” his voice dropped with each word until he was whispering, “—forgot.”

  I hung my head and groaned. “Are you really saying we just did that for nothing?”

  “Not nothing,” the boy chirped. “You got a free meal out of it.”

  I slowly inhaled, then exhaled through my nose even slower. “Next time, we’re taking the head and you’re carrying it. Afterwords, we can mount it on a wall.”

  “Are you serious?” Noma asked.

  I shook my head. “No! That thing will reek within a week. A tooth or claw, should be enough, right?”

  Nana waved to the direction of the inn. “Well, to say thank you for what you did, let me at least stitch wound on your leg. That looks like it was done by an amature and opened back up. And while we’re at it, get you a much needed bath. You’re starting to smell pretty ripe yourself.”

  I clicked my tongue. Amature is being generous. And believe me woman, if you could smell a quarter as well as I do, you’d be saying something far less polite.

  Keagan’s eyes darted to my flank. “Ah, it’s not that bad, is it? Why didn’t you say something, Lucia?”

  “Kid, it was your first time.” I kept my tone flat and natural. “While I felt it open up this morning, I haven’t been dizzy from blood loss yet. So, I’m not overly worried about it.”

  Noma bounced ahead. “You’re tough. I would’ve loved to watch you fight the gryphon. Nana says I’m still much too weak to take on wild monsters.”

  “It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be,” I moaned as I tried to follow the little kappa.

  Keagan leaned next to my ear. “Weren’t you the one who was pushing to fight wild monsters?”

  “Not fight, hunt,” I hissed. “There’s a huge difference.”

  He flinched. “Okay, okay. Whatever you say.”

  The inn had spare rooms and a spare bath for me to fit into. Nana paid for everything. It was her way of rewarding us for such a huge undertaking for something we never should’ve had to do in the first place. It wasn’t nearly as much as if we had claimed the bounty itself, but it was better than nothing.

  I still can’t believe the kid forgot. He was more interested in what raw gryphon meat tastes like than considering that a wild monster like that could be a bounty. In my last life, one question with my hand on a magical lie-detector and there was no more questions.

  We started with the bath.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The ‘tub’ was nothing more than a wide wooden barrel cut deep, Keagan fussed with buckets until it was half full. Noma sat in the corner watching the water with an almost longing look in her eyes. Nana told her to not go in the water. She could play in the river tomorrow now that the gryphon was gone and it was safe.

  Nana focused on my bleeding hind leg. She cut off the bandage and cut out what remained of Keagan’s attempt at first aid. Then she cleaned the wound out. Her hand wasn’t nearly as gentle as Keagan’s, but she said that it needed to be thoroughly cleaned out since we only used water before.

  It stung, a lot.

  But, like a soldier, I sat there unflinching. When she poured some oil on it, it soothed the pain and relaxed the muscle. Her stitching was masterful. She’d give Zenny a run for her money. And Zenny was the one who taught me how to stitch a wound. I just was never good at it since holding a needle wasn’t very easy with my beastkin hands.

  I got into the tub and Nana hummed a listful tune as she scrubbed me from snout to tail, careful of my ribs once I told her about them and my stitched wound.

  Keagan helped; I made him.

  If Nana needed anything, I made Keagan go fetch it for her. When it came to drying, he did most of the work. I may have snapped at him a little bit when he pushed against one of my cracked ribs. He worked much more careful from that point on. And most importantly, he had to brush all of my fur. Noma wanted to help brush my fur, but I made it clear that it was Keagan’s responsibility.

  I do my best not to make things difficult, but sometimes, this wolf gets a little bloody.

  Noma did get her chance to run her fingers through my fur after Keagan was done. She liked its softness. The long day, all my injuries, and finally being clean left me craving a nice soft bed. With as late as it was getting, Noma was just as sleepy.

  We went our separate ways for beds. Nana didn’t spare expenses on our room. It was probably the best room in the entire inn. We still lived in a small town, so it wasn’t that impressive, but it was spacious and the beds for both Keagan and me were almost a little too fluffy. I was afraid my claws would puncture something when I stepped on it.

  They didn’t. And I slept more soundly than I had in a long time.

  Training summary: Toughness +2.

  — — —

  Name: Lucia Silverbreeze

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

  Level 3 [33%]

  Power: 301

  Agility: 194

  Speed: 219

  Arcane: 154

  Toughness: 112

  Resilience: 110

  — — —

  The next morning, the air in town still smelled faintly of a storm that rolled in last night. I slept so soundly that I didn’t hear it. Wet wood, damp cobble, and that sweetness of heavy pollen had been little voices telling me we were someplace safe. My ribs still ached, but I could breathe without feeling like my lungs were folding in on themselves. That was an improvement.

  Keagan led the way, bag bouncing at his side, while I followed behind at a slower pace.Every step made the new stitches in my leg tug just enough to remind me they were there. Noma and Nana walked with us. They also had business with the Association.

  The Monster Association’s local branch wasn’t much to look at—two floors of stone and timber, the sign out front fading where the paint had started peeled off in thin flakes from the constant spring moisture. As I had come to expect, no special markings, engravings, or stylization; just the words “Monster Association Branch Office.”

  Inside, the familiar scent of ink hit me like a wall. The same desks, the same noise of a quill scratching but a new faint drip of water somewhere behind the walls. And at the front counter—just like before—stood Lily.

  Her bun was a little looser today, and her glasses perched even lower on her nose as she scribbled something on a trio of papers. When she looked up and saw Keagan, her expression shifted through at least three stages of disbelief before landing on a mix of exasperation and reluctant amusement.

  “Well, if it isn’t the boy who reached rank E within a month of getting his first monster,” she said, tapping her quill on the paper. “You’ve been gaining some weight. Your face looks healthier. Good.”

  I eyed the boy. His cheeks are a little less gaunt from when I first met him now that she mentions it. Eating actual meals every day will make you look less starved. I’ve seen him every day so it’s hard to notice the slow improvements.

  Walking past us, Nana waved to the boy. “Wait until you hear what else he’s been up to. He’s solved this town’s gryphon problem.”

  Her glasses fell off her nose and hit the desk as she blinked several times. “Please tell me that’s a joke. You did not go out and hunt a gryphon with unknown capabilities with an E rank monster.”

  Keagan puffed his chest. “It’s true! Lucia did it. She’s a little banged up, but you should’ve seen it!”

  Lily leaned over the counter, her gaze flicking between the two of us. “Do you have proof?”

  I gave the boy a side-eyed glare. “He forgot.”

  Her lips pressed thin as she sat back. “Then you don’t get the bounty.” She gave Keagan a long, measured look. Then she turned to look at the bandages on my back leg. “Is that from the tournament?”

  I shook my head. “No, that was the gryphon, about a day away from here. Broke a few ribs while it was at it. If it had been from the tournament, we’d have had a healer take care of it and I wouldn’t have run all the way here with it.”

  “That’s understandable,” she mused. “Forgive me, but I find it very hard you fought the gryphon. Maybe you could have and just scared it off. A false claim like that comes with serious consequences.”

  “I'm not lying,” Keagan whined. “You know me; I don't lie. Lucia really did kill it.”

  Lily sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, I believe you. It's not me you need to convince. The Association doesn’t pay out without evidence. Next time, bring a trophy. A feather, a claw, something. Unless there is proof it's dead, we have to act as if we're still alive.”

  “When they walked through town last night, Lucia was covered in a substantial amount of blood,” Nana added. “I believe them.”

  “I understand your position,” I said flatly. “What if we go and collect a trophy, or show you the corpse, would that be sufficient?” My ribs twinned with pain. “Or what if we told you the location of the corpse?

  Lily tapped her pen on the desk as she thought. “One time. Give me the exact location and list all the wounds inflicted.”

  Keagan laughed nervously. “So… about that.”

  Lily raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “I ate half of it.” Lily, Nana, and Noma turned to stare at me as their jaws dropped. I flattened my ears. “I was hungry.”

  “Is it even recognizable at this point?” Lily asked exasperatedly. “I would say that's something that could help your case, given Nana’s earlier testimony. The Association policy gives me some liberties, but I can still check it.”

  “That would be appreciated,” I said. “I broke its neck a quarter of the way up and snapped its right wing too. Those are wounds you can find that will be visible even though I ate a lot of it.”

  Lily scribbled what I said on a spare sheet of paper, then looked at me. “Where's the corpse?”

  “Straight East,” I answered. “Follow the road until you find the small forest. It's a little ways off to the North.”

  Lily wrote every word. She then folded the paper and put it in her pocket. “Go home, get some rest. I will visit you with the results of my investigation. If I can attribute the kill to you, I'll be authorized to pay you the bounty.”

  She reached under her desk and pulled out a small sign saying, “Closed.” With a wave of her hand to the door, she escorted us all out.

  “I have to complete this investigation as soon as possible,” she said. “I apologize Nana, any additional business you have will have to wait until I return.”

  The older woman waved her hand. “No apology necessary. I'm here for Keagan and Lucia.”

  Lily nodded then ruffled the boy's hair. “I'm glad you're safe, Keagan. Also, good job with the tournament.

  Keagan’s face lit up at the compliment. “Thanks, Lily. I told you we’d prove ourselves.”

  She smirked. “You proved something, alright. Mostly that you can survive your own bad decisions. Still, I’ll forward your report about the gryphon to headquarters.”

  “I have a question,” I said, my tail flicking once behind me. “Why didn't Marrin take care of the gryphon if it was so dangerous?”

  “He’s busy,” Lily answered flatly.

  “Doing what?” Keagan tilted his head. “What's more important than defending the village?”

  “If he's successful, you'll never need to know,” Nana said. She lightly nudged the boy away. “Let's get you home. Lucia needs her rest.”

  I’ve heard that before. People say “what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you.” That’s not been my experience. I know certain beings exist that make decisions that shape whole realities.

  Lily marched on without saying a word. She was headed South, probably meeting up with the one who was hired to handle the gryphon in the first place.

  What would be that important and then be something we never need to know about? Something doesn't feel right.

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