Chapter 14 - Loose Ends

“You let it go!?” Sol yelled, a whining tone in his bewildered voice. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Wanted to save a bullet.” Clint remarked matter of factly.

They were back at Brann’s tavern. Clint sat at the bar, drinking his mead. Sol was a few stools down, being inspected and attended to by Renee, who was still patching up the last of his wounds. Luna paced around nearby, struggling with Clint’s story.

“Think about the local ecology… Hell, the adventuring economy! If that thing’s out there, how’s anyone supposed to complete their quests?” She grumbled.

“No one was gettin’ ‘em done anyway. Hellhound, Slime Lady, what’s the difference?” Clint dismissed, taking another swig.

Renee backed the princess up. “It was irresponsible to leave that thing alive! Tell him, Brann!”

Brann glanced around as if to say “Who? Me?”. He shrugged, taking a sip of his own mead. “I suppose it can’t be helped. Besides, less people out there means more people in here.”

“Less people adventuring means less people in Floraison, meaning less customers for you.” Renee corrected. Brann’s face dropped, stiff like a stone, it was like he scraped as he turned to stare at Clint, who gave him a reassuring handwave.

Luna sighed. “What’s so precious about a bullet anyway?” She said ‘bullet’ with a level of apprehension, it remained a totally foreign word to her.

Clint didn’t reply, continuing to drink. Brann gave him a look. He was still the only other person who had figured it out. Clint gave him a look back. Both were slightly amused by leaving the others in the dark about their shared secret.

Of course Sol would be the one to illuminate himself. “Ahhh, you use them to do your big hero attack, right?” He surmised. “You’re limited on how many times you can do it by these… Billits?”

Clint and Brann looked wide eyed at Sol. He knew from their stares that he was right.

Luna stepped over to them now, equally shocked by Sol’s revelation. “Idiot! If you could’ve killed it then you should’ve! That thing’s a monster! It broke my wrist! It nearly killed Sol!”

“If ya want revenge, get it yourself.” Clint replied conclusively.

Luna went quiet, frowning to herself. Sol went quiet also, mind working. When he reached his conclusion, he burst out laughing. “I knew it! No matter what you say, you ARE a hero!” He beamed at Clint. “Yeah.” He thought. “To spare a monster like that… There’s no other word for it!”

“What about that reward, anyhow?” Clint asked, finishing his drink.

“We definitely killed our fair share of slimes, that's for sure… But the battle got so hectic, we didn’t manage to collect all the cores.” Luna assessed.

“Nah, I got ‘em. Check your pockets.” Clint nodded toward her and Sol. The two reached in, finding the sticky little shards dirtying their beautiful garments. “I picked ‘em up before I grabbed you two.”

“THAT was your priority? I take it back, you’re no hero at all!” Sol yapped.

“I wasn’t gonna put ‘em in my pocket.” Clint shrugged.

“I thought Luna was supposed to be the princess here.” Brann teased, grinning faux-maliciously at Clint. The gunslinger playfully tossed his mug at him, sending it clattering behind him. He missed intentionally, of course.

Clint rose to his feet, turning to leave already. “Don’t worry about the bar. I ain’t gonna put you outta business.” He spoke with his back turned, allowing his words to express what his face could not. “I’ll give you half of my gold. That should cover you, right?”

“Uh, Clint. Gold isn’t worth that much.” Renee piped up, not entirely willing to crush his dreams. “Maybe where you’re from it is, but it’s quite common here in Gallia. We use it as money because it’s cheap and easy to produce.”

Clint was suddenly very glad they couldn’t see the look on his face.

In the end, they had only killed ten slimes total. Amidst all the chaos actually striking the cores became a low priority, and the majority of the slimes available wound up as part of the Slime Queen anyway. In the end, only Clint was given credit for the quest, earning far from what was promised to him by Sol.

“Hey, it’s something at least!” Sol attempted to reassure him.

“How much does this get me?” Clint asked.

“Supplies for a couple days…” Luna replied awkwardly.

“Hey, at least you got something! We’re stuck with rations from the adventurer’s guild!” Sol protested.

“If this is a little, then how much is a lot?” Clint counted the gold in his hands, still bewildered by its meagre value. Where he came from, this much could set you up for life.

“Depends. A lot for one person is a little for another. What’s your aim?” The far more economically minded Luna took over for her brother.

“Let’s say startin’ a business, for example.” Clint suggested.

“What kind?” Luna posited.

“Blacksmithing.” He replied without missing a beat.

She exhaled, eyebrows furrowing. “For that? You’d have to kill hundreds of slimes, thousands even.”

Clint pursed his lips, coming to a realization. “You have to kill ‘em?”

“I mean, technically the quests say defeat, but how could you possibly verify that without the core fragments?”

Clint turned back to the main desk, reimbursed with confidence. He had a plan.

Luna sighed, shrugging her shoulders as Clint abandoned them. “By the way Sol, did you manage to retrieve my staff?”

Sol froze up, taking large steps back away from Luna as he spoke. “Yeah, uh… About that…”

After Sol explained that he had burned her staff to ash alongside the Slime Queen, Luna launched herself at him. Their argument drew the attention of everyone in the guild. So much chaos ensued that they didn’t even notice Clint take his leave.

Erine, the elven clerk from the adventurers guild, trailed behind Clint as he led her into the woods. She glanced around with discomfort and disinterest. Although it was her duty, she’d typically turn down a request to venture into such dangerous territory herself. She was only doing so now as a favour to Prince Sol, whom she admired.

“Are we there yet?” She complained. She was far deeper into the woods than she’d ever been before. “I don’t see why we’re even out here if it's just to verify a couple dead slimes. You just too lazy to bring ‘em to the guild?”

Her complaints fell on deaf ears, Clint remained focused on retracing his steps. It was only a short time later that he found the clearing from days before.

It was unrecognisable now. A hub of activity. Slimes hopped around all over the place, carrying wood and other materials atop themselves. Others were using said materials to construct walls and fences. At the centre of it all was the Slime Queen, orchestrating her fellow slimes like an expert conductor.

Erine’s eyes all but popped out of her head. The fact slimes were acting beyond their simple instincts was mind-blowing enough, but the existence of an impossible being like the Slime Queen? She felt like her brain was melting. “I’m hallucinating, right?” She mumbled.

A total contrast, Clint casually strolled up to the Slime Queen. “What’re ya up to?” He asked.

The Slime Queen spun to face him, a broad smile on her face, one far more natural than the face-splitting she did prior. “Clint Morgans! To what do we owe the pressure?”

“Pleasure.” Clint corrected. “And ‘we’ again? I thought ya stopped doin’ that.” Clint raised an eyebrow.

“We are a Queen, remember! It's the royal we!” She boasted, pointing to her crown.

Clint shrugged an acknowledgement. “I take it this is your kingdom.”

“That’s right! Welcome to Slimetown!” She spread her arms out, eagerly displaying her creation.

“Name ain’t great.” He snided. “But otherwise… looks good.”

She finally noticed Erine, who remained totally stunned. “Clint Morgans, who is that pointy eared human?”

“That’s why I’m here. See, this lady needs you to tell her I beat you.” Clint explained.

“Why? You truly did defeat us. Does she not understand that? Is she stupid?” The Slime Queen’ eyes narrowed, observing the elf.

Clint shook his head. “She needs to know exactly how many slimes I beat.”

“Ahah, for your quest, we see!” She beamed, taking great pride in her recently developed deductive reasoning. “Very well, Clint Morgans, we will pouch for you!”

“Vouch.” Clint corrected.

The Slime Queen approached Erine with stately strides. “Greetings, human. We are the Slime Queen. A pleasure to make your acquaintance”

“Uh. Erine. Hi.” She barely managed the words.

“We are composed of exactly ten thousand, eight hundred and sixty-seven slimes. The human Clint Morgans defeated us in combat. Therefore, we verify that Clint Morgans has defeated ten thousand, eight hundred and sixty-seven slimes” She said, some of her limitless pride being used to bolster Clint instead.

“Uh… T-ten thousand, eight…” She was so confused eyes almost swirled in her head.

“We trust you will reward him adequately?” The Slime Queen asked.

“Um. Y-yeah, sure.” Erine leaned away from the slime, who loomed over her, still somewhat afraid.

“Don’t worry. We mean you no harm. We’re very fond of pointy eared humans like you.” She smiled and took Erine’s hands, her gentle touch proving her to be genuine.

This would be a monumental first step in human-slime relations. A foundational moment that would eventually be built upon to legitimise and incorporate slimes into mainstream society.

That didn’t matter much to Clint, however. His main concern was getting paid.

It was past closing time now. Brann scrubbed his bent and battered cups. Though they were amateurish, poorly made and frankly, no good, they were his and he loved them.

He stared at their dull metal exterior, disappointed. He knew he could only blame his poor craftsmanship, but there was little more he could do with such limited equipment. A backyard crucible and scrap metal only went so far.

He didn’t even see Clint enter, only noticing him when he dropped the huge bag of gold on the bartop.

“What the hell is this?” Brann blinked hard, waiting for the mirage before him to disappear.

“Paying off my tab.” Clint said nonchalantly, already turning to leave.

“No way, this is way too much!” Brann protested.

“It’s an investment. I could use a blacksmith.” Clint smirked as he spoke. He hated others seeing him smile, so he kept his back turned and hat over his face, shielding his small grin under layers of protection.

“No way. You’re kidding.” Brann ran out of breath quickly as he spoke. “You’re just giving this to me? Why?”

Clint shrugged. “You helped me. I helped you. Call it even.”

Brann looked down at the money, then up at Clint, before bursting into laughter, joyful tears trickling from his eyes. “You bastard! I always said you were a total weirdo!”

Clint laughed too, quiet and low.

“I’ll make you anything you want! I promise! You come back here and I’ll make anything you can dream of, that’s how good I’ll be!” Brann declared proudly.

“I don’t need nothin’.” Clint replied, beginning his exit. “But if ya wanna do somethin’ for me… Make Renee somethin’ nice.”

“No problem.” Brann gave him a thumbs up that went unseen. “You’d better come back someday to see it, okay?” Although Clint never declared his intent to leave Floraison, Brann knew him well enough already to know he wasn’t the kind to stick around.

Clint turned his head just enough for Brann to see a suggestion of a smile. “I ain’t promisin’ anythin’.”

With the kindness shown to him when he first entered this world repaid, Clint made his exit under the cover of dusk. He headed to the village gates, intent on returning to his solitary wandering.

It seemed that his intent was easily read, however, as Sol and Luna stood waiting for him.

“Finally!” Sol groaned. “We’ve been here all day!”

“He was starting to doubt you’d even show.” Luna said with a sly grin.

“No I wasn’t! I’d never doubt our hero!” Sol boasted, obviously lying.

Clint walked past them, the twins quickly falling in line like baby ducks behind him. “I don’t suppose I’m gonna be able to shake you two?”

They shook their heads. “Technically we still owe you a quest’s worth of gold. That’s a reason to keep us around!” Sol said, beaming.

“We already lost out on the last quest! How’re we gonna pay for anything if we give him all our money?” Luna complained.

With the prince and princess at his side, Clint had unwittingly become the head of his very own party, thrust into the role of a hero that was as ill-fitting as any role could possibly be on a person. Out of the three though, only he knew this. The others believed he truly was capable, that he could be the legendary hero they hoped for.

In time, they would come to know the man Clint Morgans was. In time they would realise he was not a hero, and that soon, there would be no heroes at all.

The age of adventurers would soon come to an end. But for now, unaware, they walked earnestly behind him into the grand unknown.

Current Party: Clint Morgans, Sol Dragoneart, Luna Dragoneart
Bullets Remaining: 5