Chapter 94 94 Wandering

Chapter 94 Chapter 94 Wandering

"You're preaching to the choir, I already know how this works remember?"

"Protocol says–"

"I don't give a damn about protocol," she rasped absentmindedly as she looked over the document; ". . .this says the total pay out is nine hundred gold coins?"

The receptionist nodded nervously;

"I converted all your silver coin earnings into the gold equivalent, and I added them to–"

"You added them to my gold earnings for the B-rank wolves. Got it."

The short woman lingered nervously behind the counter, wondering whether Monica was done with her inquiry.

From behind the parchment she was inspecting, Monica's eyebrows shot up when she saw her still standing there;

"What're you still doing here? I need my payment as soon as yesterday, go get it."

With a surprising quickness for a woman her size, the receptionist disappeared in a quick blur into the door behind her.

Suddenly, behind Monica, a sharp cry rang out into the air;

"Cheers to the Lady Monica!! Cheers to the Russell clan!!"

A resounding boom of throaty voices- both masculine and feminine, both old and young, both hunter and inters, all boomed into the air in one accord;

"CHEERS!!!"

But Monica didn't even as much as turn back to acknowledge the hailing.

While the thunderous roar of their collective respect erupted all around her, she simply leaned forward on the receptionist's dask, clutching the piece of brown parchment paper tightly- and examined it closely under the light.

Or at least, that was what she was pretending to do.

The small audience of hunters melted away in the background after the brief ecstatic moment. Like foxes to their holes, their forms shuffled back to their respective tables and chairs- eager to begin new discussions about this particular case.

Softly, as if in deference to her accomplishments, the hunters chatted away excitedly in groups of twos and threes.

"Did you see that big fuckin' head?!"

The hushed ecstatic whispers continued;

"Imagine how large that wolf was. . ."

An over enthusiastic hunter suggested enthusiastically;

"I suggest we get together a team and for get some ourselves! How hard can it be?"

He was shut down immediately;

"Fuck no. . ."

"Man you got a death wish or something?"

"Leave the wind wolves to the Russell clan Fred. . .unless you can make things literally blow up, don't even think about it. . ."

Still putting on a mask of indifference, Monica acted like she was aloof beyond it all.

But her sharp ears, and mind had honed in on that particular conversation.

She stifled her smile on the outwards, but a river of joy bubbled through her, and flowed within- melting away all other suppositions.

The honor of her clan was the most important thing to the redhead.

She loved money. She loved blowing up shit. And she loved the reverence that came with it. But all that was nothing compared to the burden of restoring her family honor. In that moment, the innermost part of her cringed a little when she remembered Ni Yang.

In this case, the glory was actually his.

But, since it was elevating her family's status, Monica was only too glad to snatch it from him.

At the table, bent over the parchment, pretending to read it, while actually listening to the gossiping tongues, Monica's eyes missed the small chubby form of the receptionist re-entering the space;

"Here's your full pay Miss Russell. . ." she waddled towards her with four packages- two in each hand, and hoisted them onto the table; "The management has ordered that a ten percent bonus be topped on your earnings for this quest, which brings your total earnings to–"

Monica quickly did the math in her head; "Nine hundred and ninety gold coins."

"That's right."

She pushed all four bags towards the redhead.

Twitching at the sight of the small fortune, Monica's arms spread out greedily- like a mother hen embracing its young, and swept all four bags towards her. This was the part of the job she loved best. This was the whole reason she existed.

As the four bags of gold dragged across the table towards her, the wonderful familiar jingling sound of hundred of gold coins, rang joyfully in her ears- like the sweet sanctimonious song from a group of carolers singing peacefully over the still waters.

"You can count it if you want, it's all there."

Monica shrugged her shoulders as she stored the package in her spatial ring;

"It'd better be. If not, you'll find me standing over your bed at three o'clock in the morning."

It was a joke.

But an albeit misguided one.

The woman's face went deathly white at the threat. Her mouth opened to say something, but it barely came out in a squeak.

Resisting the urge to smile, Monica pulled up her hood over her head, and strode out in a confident bounce. Even as she glided out of the hunter's lodge, she felt the strain of several eyes boring into her back. Their gazes- laden with respect.

As she placed her hand on the door handle, one hunter could not help himself. He shot up on his feet like a rocket, punched his fist in the air and cried out his lungs;

"THREE CHEERS FOR MONICA THE FURIOUS!!!"

It was as if that was what the whole lodge was waiting for. The entire hall erupted with a contagious energy;

"CHEERS!"

They cried out with all their repressed respect and admiration;

CHEERS!!

Before they could boom the third one, Monica's hooded form glided out in a blaze of glory- closing the door on them, and on that chapter of the day.

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Meanwhile, after Nexus had watched Monica literally ride off into the sunset, he remained there for a few seconds, watching to make sure she hadn't doubled back to try trail him.

It wasn't paranoia. The girl was weird like that.

Nexus found a stack of hay, sat on it and struck a match- lighting a cigarette. A long wisp of smoke curled out from the end of the lit stick and rose up into the air.

His eyes twinkled with satisfaction as his lips sucked voraciously on the cigarette- sending a a deep gust of smoke right into his lungs. He held his breath for a moment, and his lungs collapsed- releasing an equally long stretch of white smoke out of his nostrils and mouth.

His eyes remained pinned on the road ahead- watching.

The seconds rolled into minutes. One stick rolled into four more. But Monica never came back.

Feeling relieved, and frankly a little disappointed, Nexus squashed the smoldering stub underneath his feet and turned backwards- right back the way he had come.

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Nexus spent the better part of the precious hours of the late evening- wandering.

He had left the outskirts of the city. Abandoned military outposts, and dilapidating buildings dotted the better part of the outskirts. With the setting sun behind him, and the cooling? south wind goading him on, Nexus plunged right ahead, trudging in the dust- feeling like something was pulling him on.

The stony ground beneath him soon gave way, and ushered in the lush greenery of the countryside.

The sweet rich scent of nature's goodness soon filled his nostrils, and seeped into his being.