Rain continued to pour heavily outside, drumming against the rooftops. A rumble of thunder echoed through the town, jolting Erik awake. He groaned, shifting under the covers.
The bed felt warmer, softer—more inviting than ever. Even though he was awake, he hugged his pillow close, rolling onto his side, savoring the comfort for just a little longer.
After lazing around for a while, he finally forced himself up, took a quick wash, and dressed. The adventurers' guild was as busy as ever, filled with chatter and the clinking of mugs, but the reception desk stood surprisingly empty. Erik made his way toward it, spotting Shasa behind the counter.
"Oh, good morning, Erik," Shasa greeted him with a warm smile.
"Morning," Erik replied as he pulled out a chair in front of the counter and sat down. "Anything new for me?"
Shasa turned to her right, sifting through a stack of papers before pulling out two sheets. "These are the hot ones," she said, handing them over.
Erik glanced at the bounty posters. One detailed a bandit group that had been attacking and robbing noble carriages. The other described a monster preying on hunters near Hozami Lake.
"Also," Shasa added while counting some coins, "I heard the Oblok family is looking for bodyguards to protect their carriage. They're paying handsomely for each trip."
Erik nodded but kept his focus on the first bounty. "What else do you know about these bandits?"
"Not much beyond what's written on the poster," Shasa admitted with a hint of disappointment.
Erik scanned the details. It mentioned a group of seven men responsible for three attacks over the past two weeks. All the incidents had occurred on the road between the capital and the town of Valhein, as well as near Kali Village, which is a village on the same road. That wasn't much to go on—tracking a bandit group with just this information would be near impossible.
He shifted his gaze to the second poster. "What about this monster? There's no mention of what it actually is."
Shasa sighed, flipping through a journal. "It's been going on for a while. The problem is, no one who went to hunt it has ever come back. So yeah, there's no real description of what the monster even looks like. The only information we have is from the first bounty poster, and even that's vague. Supposedly, the friend of the first victim managed to get a glimpse of it before dying. The report says it was black and tall."
Erik frowned. That wasn't much to work with either.
"Hmm, black and tall, huh…" Erik mumbled to himself. Then, his eyes widened in surprise as he asked, "Wait, are you telling me no one has been able to kill this thing for the past three months?"
"Well, the thing is, after the first attack three months ago, there weren't any victims for a while," Shasa explained, putting the journal back in its place. "But then, the first new victim showed up three weeks ago. Since then, it seems like the monster has been on a rampage. It's killed several hunters since that day."
Erik furrowed his brows. "Hmm… A black, tall monster. Killed once, went into hiding for two months, then came back and started a killing spree. It's not winter, so it didn't go into hibernation… Maybe it got injured and went into hiding to heal itself. A werewolf, maybe…"
As Erik got lost in thought, Shasa interrupted him. "Don't tell me you're actually going after this thing."
Straightening his posture, Erik smirked. "Well, I am intrigued, at least."
Doom! The thunder rumbled loudly, echoing through the hall. For a brief moment, the entire guild fell silent.
Shasa glanced at the window behind her. "Doesn't look like the rain is stopping anytime soon," she said before flashing a playful grin. "Well, you're welcome to stay in the guild hall for as long as you want—so long as you pay, that is."
Chuckling, Erik handed over the payment for a room and headed upstairs. Inside, he settled into a chair near the window, pulling out a book and flipping it open.
"Looks like I'll be stuck here until the rain stops," he muttered to himself.