Chapter 25: Good News and Bad News

Luke walked out of the monster hunter base significantly much richer than he had before, which wasn’t exactly hard, as he had started off with nothing.

Now that he had money, he found himself at a loss on what to use it for.

Should he head to a restaurant to have a decent meal or should he go shopping for new clothes to replace the ones he had been wearing?

Perhaps he should find a hotel or inn to stay at and experience some actual comforts.

His mind swirled with indecision when someone bumped into him. Without thinking, his hand snapped out and grabbed the person by the back of their clothes.

The person struggled and snapped, “Hey, let go, you creep.”

“I will once you hand over the money you pickpocketed from me,” Luke said dryly.

While he had never experienced being pickpocketed before, he had seen and knew enough about them to spot it happening.

Of course the person vehemently denied it, saying, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You shouldn’t go around accusing innocent people.”

“If you don’t fess up, I’m going to turn you into the authorities,” he said with a straight face.

Obviously, Luke had no intention of going to the authorities.

If he did, it would only be more trouble than it was worth. It would practically be the same as turning himself in. There was no way they would let him walk away without prying some information out of him.

Well, it wasn’t as if the person knew any of that.

The blood drained from their face as they blurted out, “Don’t. I’ll return your money. Just don’t turn me in.”

They shifted through their clothes to give Luke back the money pouch that had been given to him by the manager at the monster hunter base.

Since he didn’t have a wallet on him, they had given him a money pouch for free to carry his reward, though he wondered if it was actually a bribe to get on his good side. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

Accepting his money back, Luke said, “You better think twice before robbing someone. You may never know when you pick a fight with the wrong person.”

The person frantically nodded and said, “I understand. Please let me go.”.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Luke released his grip on them. They immediately bolted, vanishing from view as if afraid that Luke would change his mind if they stuck around. Luke frowned in the direction they had disappeared.

He had actually intended to give them a little money and suggest other ways to survive other than pickpocketing.

Unfortunately, they were quicker than he expected.

Of course they weren’t as quick as any of his ex-comrades, but they had decent reflexes and speed. It wouldn’t be difficult to find a decent job if they put their mind to it.

However, the point was moot as Luke doubted he would see them again.

He quickly came to a decision and headed to a bar. No one paid him any mind as he sat down at the stool next to the bar and ordered a drink. As soon as the bartender realized Luke was loaded, they were quite amicable to any requests he had.

“What would you like, sir?” the bartender asked, giving Luke a brilliant smile that practically shined.

“I want to start off something light if you have anything,” Luke said, resting his arms on the counter.

“Right away, sir,” the bartender said before rushing off.

Luke chose that moment to listen to the conversations around him.

This place was significantly larger compared to the last one he’d gone to and a lot noisier. It was hard to make out what was being said, but he was able to grab some interesting tidbits from the other customers as the bartender returned with his drink.

Apparently, something was going on in the capital, but the exact details were unclear.

All anyone knew was that the higher ups were being angsty and that security had become even stricter, making it nearly impossible to breach.

Fortunately, Luke had no intentions of sneaking into the capital.

At least not yet anyway. He wasn’t crazy enough to go to the one place where he would be discovered almost instantly without a plan.

Still, he couldn’t help worrying that the reason the capital was in an uproar was because of him. It was the only possibility he could think of that would explain why they were being so serious and afraid to let the public know.

He would have to be even more careful from now on.

Even though he had been lucky so far that no one had pushed him to pull down his hood, it wasn’t a foolproof solution. Either he had to find a way to disguise himself or deal with the fallout of people discovering his return.

Luke took a sip of his drink as he thought about what else he had learned.

Hearing them talk about his ex-comrades being on the move to handle the monsters wasn’t surprising to hear, as he already heard others mention it before. He still didn’t know where they were currently.

Were they on the outskirts, or were they heading back to the capital?

Suddenly, he heard something that caused the glass in his hand to shatter.

Blood and alcohol spilled over the counter as people who heard the noise looked in his direction. The bartender rushed over to check on him, fretting over the possible loss of their customer.

However, Luke didn’t pay any of them any mind.

All he could think about was what one person had just said moments ago, his blood boiling at the thought.

Were his ex-comrades really in the city?

He had never imagined that they would be so close.

After all, what were the chances that out of all the towns and cities in the country, they would be in the same place?

The very thought of being in the same space as them nearly sent him into a rage. He had to find them and deal with them. He couldn’t allow them to get away.