The Hunter's Guide to Monsters

"Welcome!" Krow greeted Amaleo and Frai with a grand smile, winking at the children behind them. "Let me direct you to your booth tonight ---oh weeping skies, one moment."

Ban was arguing with three sirens which were evidently having fun with his hotheaded personality. He grabbed Ban's collar and dragged him away, to the laughter of the table.

Stopping before Amaleo, he returned to his pretend greeter persona. "Sorry about that. Ban is one of our temporary servers here, he'll lead you to your booth."

The boy cursed at him. The young ones giggled, and Ban turned. "I'm---uncle! You're finally here!"

"Yes." Amaleo glanced around the tavern. "What did I say about saying those words."

"It was an accident!"

Gaven, Rurel, and Atimur were being cooed over at one booth as they emptied their serving trays. Nari was telling off a half-drunk draculkar in another, smiling dangerously, backed by a scowling Talebrech.

Amaleo saw all this and the edges of his lips twitched into a small smile, eyes lightening. He nodded at Krow. "I see. Will you be finished soon?"

"Another half-hour, according to Maga," Krow nodded to the bar where Kalorke's wife presided, taking over for her husband as he ran out for a few supplies. "Most of the lunch rush will be over then."

"I'd like to help," Frai said.

"Can we as well?" "Yeah!" "It looks like fun."

"There's nothing fun about this," Ban told them.

"Fun is a state of mind, kid." Krow led them toward the bar, earning a lift of Maga's brow as she filled pitchers and poured cups. He turned to the younger ones. "Tavern rule. If you're not taller than the counter, you can't work here."

Maga, hearing him, chuckled. The bar was elevated, just enough to be out of the reach of anyone not at least a teenager.

A chorus of protests went up as none of the younger ones found themselves tall enough.

Ban laughed at them. "That's why you're midgets and should listen to me. Come on."

"Ah, here." Maga tossed Ban a cask of young cider, and topped it with a tray of stacked cups.

"Thanks," Ban grimaced, tottered a little as he led the others away, answering a deluge of questions. "What? Why would you ask that, no, I'm not doing this again."

Krow caught the draculkar cook's attention. "Maga, this is Frai."

"Another one of yours?" Maga smiled at Frai in good humor. "Come on then. Who knew a caravan would be stranded nearby? We need all the help we can get."

She directed Frai to the back room where the others got their aprons.

Krow glanced at Amaleo, who hadn't followed after Ban. "How was the place?"

"It's got potential."

"So are we going to do it, then?"

Amaleo studied Krow with a slightly unnerving gaze. "I find myself feeling lucky to have you want to be an apprentice."

"Just don't skimp on the wright skills, master." Krow waved the sentiment away lightly.

The other made chuffing sound of amusement. "Even if you're a greedy one."

"Greed feeds motivation, the old adages say. Who am I to dispute old wisdom?"

"Frai told me you're trying to assimilate us into the village. I see now it's true."

Huh.

He didn't think anyone caught that.

And after one interaction with Lumanel and a few instructions from him? The mafmet girl was perceptive, wasn't she.

He'd have to remember that.

Krow shrugged. "People won't trust what the workshop sells if they don't know the people."

From the half-disgruntled and half-relieved sound Amaleo made, he'd thought the same.

Krow smirked. "Don't worry, my dear master. You can just keep having drinks with Gysavur and the other old people. Me, I'll just pimp your kids to the village as cheap labor."

Amaleo shook his head at his humor.

A thought came to Krow. "Oh, do you know how to make that mafmet jerky you had us try?"

Amaleo blinked slowly at the out of the blue question. "You want to sell charque from the shop? I thought you'd be planning your own butcher shop, once your apprentices became wrights."

"It's easier to expand an already existing institution than create a new one. Besides, is there really a need for a dedicated butcher in this small village?"

The only workshop he planned to make himself was an enchanter workshop, and that was months in the future still.

The old mafmet made a considering sound. "Yes, I know how to make charque. Would've starved if I didn't. Think it'll sell well?"

"We're draculkar."

Was there need to say more? As long as it was meat, it was worth at least one try to draculkar.

"I'm not likely to forget," was the dry answer.

Krow paused. "You've warred against draculkar before."

"A long time ago. But yes."

He mulled that over. "So, can we harvest ingredients from the Forest, or?"

Amaleo snorted. "Need to explore that bedamned Forest first."

There were five sub-objectives to the workshop quest.

-          Help harvest 100 plants

-          Help hunt 100 monsters

-          Help buy or lease workshop premises

-          Help produce 3 different products

-          Help sell 100 items

The harvest had been finished this morning. He was planning on hunting in the afternoon. Amaleo was working on the premises. It was the production that Krow was thinking about when he asked Amaleo that question.

With the leather polish recipe, and the leather curing solution, that was two products. Two types, anyway. The polish would produce [Good Leather Armor Polish] and [Superior Leather Armor Polish]. The curing solution would produce different basic leathers from different monsterhides.

The quest probably meant 'items', which meant they were covered already.

But in case the quest meant types instead of items, Krow suggested the mafmet jerky.

They left lunch early, going to review the workshop Contract at the First Tower.

Sarnaan looked like she hadn't slept all night. Her hair gathered at the top of her head, falling down in waves, slightly frazzled, a simpler style than usual. Dark crescents shadowed the underside of her eyes.

She handed them the Contracts, and lurched away.

Krow read.

No wonder they hadn't seen her all morning.

Gysavur and Amaleo made yesterday's preliminary contract a bit complicated with everything they wanted to put in there. Streamlining it had to be a nightmare.

Krow paid particular attention to the rights of the workshop's employees, the conditions needed to become part of the workshop, and the rights and allowances given by the village to the workshop.

Not bad. He had a feeling most workshops didn't have so many freedoms.

He glanced at Gysavur. The old draculkar smiled to himself, pleased at what he was reading.

Krow frowned, reread the contract.

Still the same.

The village head was probably pleased he managed to argue in the clause about locals being given priority for employment. Amaleo had countered that somewhat by insisting on a recommendation system and an entrance examination.

His Scribe subclass suddenly notified him he'd mastered Third Apprentice rank and was being promoted to Second Apprentice.

He knew it.

These last few days, there had been too much paperwork.

Sarnaan had done a great job. Only a few minor changes later, they signed the workshop into being.

"Ah, Krow. The bandit belongings have been appraised and logged." Gysavur handed over a list and steered him into a storage room.

Krow eyed the prices noted beside the enumerated items. "You're…offering to buy them?"

He'd forgotten about the loot from the bandits they'd encountered.

The village looted them for him, it appeared.

"The least we can do."

Krow blinked. "There are six Spells on here."

"Since you downed most of the bandits, the rest decided to give you first pick of the scrolls." Gysavur pointed at a particular shelf, and then left with Amaleo.

"Kind of them."

Krow wasn't going to refuse said kindness.

Two of them were light-element Spells, unsuited for him.

There were two movement spells. One was Double Jump and the other was Moonlight Walker.

[Moonlight Walker]

[Movement] [Active][3 Rank]

[Under the moon, walk fearless.]

He snapped it up.

He already had Stormglide Steps, but he couldn't use it until he bought another MND item or got lucky. Stormglide, a rank-six Spell, needed 500MP to activate. He only had the MP to activate it once before becoming prey that couldn't run away.

Moonlight Walker, as a rank-three Spell, only needed 200MP.

This was the flickering-ghost movement spell the bandit captain used?

Very cool.

The other two spells were Stonespike, rank-one, and Zephyr Slice, rank-two.

He took all the Spells but Double Jump.

It was possible to enchant an item with a Spell. Apart from the movement spells, all were spells that could be placed on weapons.

From the armor and weapons, though there were two Rares, there was nothing he needed. He'd just end up selling them.

He crossed the five Spell Scrolls off the list.

Even with the biggest money-makers off the selection, the village still owed Krow about thirty thousand drax. Mostly the Rares and the [Double Jump Spell Scroll].

Excellent.

He turned the list over, grabbed an old charcoal pen from a shelf, and started listing down items he wanted to buy.