Chapter 32:

The Secrets Of Emperal

The Creature Hunter: Soul Of The Wind


(Two Years Ago, At Emperal)

Me, Yuma, and Mr. Roam were going to sell the creature to a merchant. And for this, we went to "Ellesmere", the capital city of Emperal.

It was a sunny usual day, nothing was wrong at first.

And after walking for about fifteen minutes, we arrived at our destination.

The merchant's shop we arrived at was quite close to the port, and the inside was one with the outside. It had no entrance and had a large counter. There was a lot of creature meat around, different kinds of fish, marine equipment such as hooks, fishing rods, and nets.

It looked like a cozy place.

And after we arrived, The merchant examined the creature, approached us quickly and said,

"It's a very rare creature, Mr. Roam! I am really grateful to you. Please accept this payment!"

He then passed a couple of pouches with gold.

Then Roam said,

"Thank you. This was hard work after all."

But as soon as he got the payment, he looked at me. He was looking at me with proud eyes. Like I did something great.

He then looked at the merchant and said,

"Even though we were in this together, Tatsumi did everything. So I think he is the one who should get paid."

He then passed me the pouches and said,

"Here you go, Kid."

I was very shocked by him saying that. And when I looked at Yuma, he was smiling too. But Mr. Roam helped me so much in this too, I thought I couldn't accept this payment. 

So I said with a surprised voice tone,

"But Mr. Roam, you helped me a lot and you have-"

He interrupted me halfway, gave me a serious look, and said,

"If you are under my rules, you are going to accept this payment." He said while passing me the gold.

I silently took the pouches and thanked him.

And after that, he walked out of the entrance and said,

"Come on, Yuma, Tatsumi. We are going home."

While we were getting out, Yuma said still smiling,

"Sometimes his tough attitude can bring pretty good things with him. I guess that is his special ability."

He was right. Even though he was tough, he cared very much about us. Since Mrs. Giselle told me that, I have never forgotten her words.

And I don't know how they look like now, but Emperal had stone-clad roads, stylish shops, and narrow streets at that time. We couldn't walk that freely, but it was still good for us to travel.

After we did our job, we were about to leave Emperal, but just then we saw two people arguing.

As a middle-aged man bent down and hugged his child, the man looked at the Earl in front of him with a nervous expression and tried to talk with him. It was obvious that something bad had happened and for the first few seconds, nothing happened. They just looked at each other with furious eyes. 

Then the middle-aged man said with a loud and anxious voice,

"Mr. Ryker, Please stop! My child did nothing wrong. And I will pay you when I am able to. Please, just give me some time for now!"

I asked while I watched them,

"Mr. Roam, What is happening there?"

He replied with an annoyed voice tone,

"They're probably throwing random people in the dungeon because their clothes are dirty again or something."

"Isn't that too much? Why are they letting something like this happen?"

Yuma had a nervous expression on his face and he said,

"Yeah, the people are here are very harsh about that. It is said that they don't care about other's feelings. They usually do what they find "right" to them."

While we were talking, The Earl gritted his teeth and shouted,

"You unworthy scum!"

Then he kicked the man and shouted once more,

"Do you know what it means to say things like this to an Earl? Worthless pieces of rubbish like you make me sick!"

Then he turned to his guards and said,

"Put this man in the dungeon! And give him the punishment he deserves!"

"You should feel lucky, that I didn't get you the death penalty." He added while pulling his hair and looking at him deep in his eyes,

Then the middle-aged man said while his face bleeding,

"I did what was needed to be done. I protected the person I was supposed to protect. I don't care if I disobey a stupid order."

"Don't worry, you'll get the punishment you deserve as soon as possible." The Earl replied smiling.

I was furious and I was about to pull my sword. But Roam stopped me and said with a serious expression on his face,

"Kid. Don't ever do anything like that. If you cause trouble here, we'll be in a lot of trouble with the government."

"But Mr. Roam, if we let something like that happen, what is going to happen to the man? We can't let something like this."

"I know we can't. But there is no other option. We are leaving now, and that is my final word."

On the other hand, Yuma didn't say anything too. He looked like he was holding his emotions, but he had to do what Roam said. 

So I was just able to stand there for a couple of seconds. Then I turned my back and started walking.

But as they carried the man to the castle, his child screamed,

"Papa! Papa!"

And the screams that I heard were making me much angrier as I walked. But I couldn't do anything, So I just walked and got away from there.

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"They were all a long time ago, and I helped many people on Emperal before that. However, after that incident, I didn't do any business with the Earls neither go there and thought it was necessary."

Caitrin had a strange feeling after what Orano said. 

Since she knew being poor and having somebody to tell what you have to do, better than anyone else, she understood their pain.

She then looked at her necklace once more and said to herself,

*I have to do this. For them.*

And after flying for six to seven hours, they finally reached the sixth kingdom, Emperal. 

From a distance, the entire city of Ellesmere looked like an extremely bright ore. It was just like Tatsumi told her. It had luxury streets, different kinds of shops, shiny buildings, and people dressed stylishly. 

And after gliding over the landing area for a few minutes, they finally landed and started walking again.

When they got out of the air balloon and started walking on the streets, Caitrin turned to Orano and said with a nervous expression,

"Hey. Ummm. I forgot to tell you but, I saw a clock tower at the rift. Do you know where that is?"

"Fortunately, I saw a clock tower too. It looked like a place where people in the city stopped a lot. But the bad thing is, I've never seen it before. It must have been freshly made." Orano said as he looked around.

Caitrin's expression changed and she sighed and said,

"This makes things more difficult for us, doesn't it?"

And at that moment, out of nowhere, a "Bona" stopped in the middle of the road and groaned with pain. It was like Orano described before. It was the size of a bull and had big blue horns, white fur, and a long whitetail.

And it seemed like it was running away from something.

So Caitrin asked scared and excited,

"Hey! What is this?"

"It is a Bona. The creature that I told you before." Orano said as he got ready to approach the creature.

And after standing there for a couple of seconds, the creature started running again and made its way to the center of the city.

Caitrin asked once more,

"But why is it in a city like this?"

Orano took out his sword and said,

"I have no idea. But we have to track that creature before it hurts someone."

He then started following the creature while running after it.

Caitrin shouted behind him scared and said,

"Hey! Wait for me! Don't leave me here!"

And now they were both following the creature.