A Casual Collection: Season 2

Ep7: Bounty Hunt

"Harder Lao! You're not putting as much power into your swings!" Melisa said while watching him. "You want to go fuck that kitsune right?"

"That came out of nowhere," he said sarcastically.

"Well, are you? You have to be feeling horny right? I forgot how incubi worked."

"I'm not an incubus," Lao said before swinging into the dummy again. It reformed itself once his blade pulled out, having not been fully sliced through. "I'm still as human as I ever been."

"Then slice through that already, it's just metal so it should be easy." Alas, it was mana-infused iron; normal iron was hard to get through with only a shortsword. He reared himself for another shit, bringing the blade halfway through the metal dummy before his momentum came to a screeching halt. "It is hopeless, my weapon is too weak for this Melisa!"

"Impossible, you just aren't strong enough," she took the sword out of his hand and swung herself, falling short of cutting through by a long shot. She then got serious and put power behind her next swing, once again falling short, but by a closer margin. "Hmm..."

"You see?"

"Shut up weakling I got farther. Now, your weapon seems to be weak. You need a new one."

"Is there a blacksmith in the castle?"

"A blacksmith? Ha! There is only one true way to get a powerful tool. And that is in the wild!" She gestured to the great beyond of the forests illuminated by the moon. "And I know how we can do it!"

They traveled back to the tavern, Melisa marching right up to the bulletin and taking a paper off the board. "This would be an interesting start! Our captive even has a projectile weapon we could steal." Lao peered over, seeing the price that was on his head. It was a small Orderite king that seemed to have escaped a monster realm, only to turn around and start killing innocents and dogs left and right. His depictions showed him with a revolver held to his chest, dressed in old and torn royal garments. "I swear Lao, the Lilims are even worse than my mom. At least she doesn't leave people alive to turn."

"This looks awfully high profile for a starter bounty."

"Exactly why it is perfect! Besides, I can always revive you as an undead if you die. That would mean you are my husband, however, so don't die." With paper in hand, she went back out of the busy interior, Lao following close so he doesn't get lost behind. Once in the forest, she went up to full sprint, hopping from tree to tree while Lao followed from the bottom. She left no room for getting up into the trees, less risking losing her cape flowing in the night.

Traveling for miles, they came up to a small, quaint house with a smokestack attacked on the side. Melisa slowed down and looked at the address, wondering why such a bounty was located here. "Are you sure you ran the right way?" Lao asked, out of breath as he came to a stop as well. Melisa, unsure herself, went up to the door and knocked. It opened to reveal a girl with red eyes, albino skin, and gray hair, wearing a nightgown. "Ah, company! Have you come for the bounty?"

Lao's hand fell on his sword out of sheer suspicion, but Melisa waved him off. "Yes, I assume the issue is an incubus out of control?"

It is quite hard to explain. Come with me," she walked inside into the main room of the cozy home. Once everyone was inside, the door magically shut to trap them all inside.

"Melisa..." Lao said wearily.

"Not yet. Go on," the vampire said.

"Thank you for being so trusting. I must first admit, I have a bit of a few problems with my past, but one of the problems has come back to haunt me."

"So you want us to track him down?"

"No need sillies!" A small orb appeared between the three, showing the man depicted in the drawing trapped inside. He was banging on the glass, trying to break it through sheer force to escape.

"You are all harlots! And you," he said point to Lao. "You look under their spell. Let me out so I can send you to heaven with no regrets! You can repent with the Chief God!"

"Oh my lord." Lao did not know what to make of it. "Why didn't you kill him yourself?"

"I can't!" The girl responded cheerfully. "It is too mean to murder him. I just wanted him to be happy, but he had other plans."

"This crazy bitch looked me in a cage and forced me to watch my wife be corrupted!"

"He could have closed his eyes. See, problem." Unusually cheerful for someone that has seemly ruined a person's life, she broke the orb, the man growing to giant size as he fell on the floor, wet and covered in the orb's glass. Melisa acted quickly, pinning his arms behind his back before he could recover. "Lao, your shot."

"Don't! Ack-" The cut was swift and short and in a moment, a life had been silenced. Lao slowly wiggled his sword, the regret already starting to set in as he pulled his short sword out the man. Melisa let him go, watching him clutch the hole in his chest while he dropped down onto the wooden floor with a thud. The act made him feel sick to his stomach, but he held himself until they were paid and given the corpse to do what they wish with. "Thank you, come again!" She said, closing the door once they had moved the body out.

"Now, we get guns. So how was your first bounty experience?" Melisa searched the body, seeing where the revolvers were stashed under the dead man's coat. "Were you expecting a fight?"

"I was..." he had a notion in the back of his head that something was still wrong as he looked back at the house. An off-putting aura was emitting from the inside, worse than when they first came.

"Oi Lao." His attention was brought back as Melisa put the two revolvers in his hand, along with a bag. "Bullets. Apparently, he had a lot..."

"Melisa, I think I'm going to go back in there." Lao started seeing how the gun worked, watching the Cylinder pop out as he pushed on its side.

"But why? We got our...money." Her voice trailed off when she saw the lack of light in his eyes. "No....no no no. You are not going back in there."

"She monsterized a kingdom!"

"And he killed dozens of people," she retorted back, pointing at the body. "We got the money and your guns. Lets go." Shaking his head, he ran back into the house, kicking open the door and pointing it at the Lilim cleaning up the blood. "Tell me what you did!" The Lilim looked up, looking around the empty room before pointy at herself in question. "Yes, you."

"It is a bit rude to barge, but fine I will. Want some tea?"

"I'll pass." He lowered the gun, but kept it firmly in his hand as he watched her summon a thermos. "You wouldn't know what this is, not even my sweet hubby knows. It's shiny isn't it?" She asked as she poured hot chocolate into a cup. She didn't seem to notice her clothing getting stained with fresh blood as she settled herself onto the floor. "Now then, I must tell you I only did so in retaliation."

"You're as bad as him if you took his wife and kingdom away!"

"Am I? He's the one that said 'I'll do anything, don't monsterize us!' Then again he was cowering in fear from something~." She took a long, drawn-out sip from her cup. "I guess taking away his kingdom was mean...alright, you can shoot me."

"What?"

"Shoot me with the .357 you have; at least, it looks like one. I think that is the first gun I have seen myself that is not from my home." She pointed to her heart, raising apart her hands and leaving herself wide open from Lao to take aim. He did it before he could have second thoughts, sending a bullet into her. She fell backward and went limp, lying in her own pool of blood to pay for her crimes. Lao went back outside, seeing Melisa counting her counts to pass the time. "Did you get what you wanted? Are your hero senses satisfied?" She started packing up the coins, sliding them all into her sack.

"She admitted guilt and I shot her."

"Anything else?"

"Nope." He put the guns in his pockets, feeling nothing more than an emptiness inside.

"Though you would feel some type of accomplishment, huh?" Melisa said with a coy smile.

"...Let's go back to the castle."