The Witch's Relay

Chapter 13: Tavern Dinner

"Oh hey! Kade! Heather!" We both turn to see Linda walking towards us with her hand raised in a wave.

"Hey Linda!" I stand up to respond to her wave.

She comes up next to our table and puts on a wide smile.

"I'm so happy I found you guys! I thought you might be staying at this inn but I haven't seen you around."

"You've been looking for us?" I ask her curiously.

"What? No!" Her face gets a slight tint of red. "I always eat here, and Vannessa happened to mention something about a couple staying here, and according to her description I thought it might be you."

"Who is this?" Heather asks, leaning in.

"Oh, excuse me." I guess introductions are due. "Linda, meet Heather, she is the jeweler merchant I've been traveling with. And Heather, meet Linda, a clerk from the adventurers guild, she also happens to be from my home-town.

"Aha, I've heard about you from Kade. It's nice to pair a face with the name." Heather reaches out her hand for a shake and Linda takes it.

"You have?" Linda looks at me slightly uncertain.

Heather laughs. "All good things I assure you, and not in too much detail, and basically Kade didn't expect to see you here."

Linda looks both slightly disappointed and happy at the same time, although the former emotion was only visible for a slight moment.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" The clerk suddenly asks.

"No, of course not!" I exclaim.

"Then, do you mind if I join? All the other tables seem to be taken." She gestures to the busy room.

"Not at all, it would be nice to have some real company for once." Heather replies.

"Wait what? Excuse me!? What am I then!?" I exclaim slightly louder than I meant to, causing a few heads to turn. I sigh.

Heather sighs. "What did I just say about causing a scene?"

Crap. She got me.

"Hmf." I cross my arms as I have no answer.

"Anyway, how's your stay in Northerton been so far? I remember moving here myself was quite an adjustment." Linda asks both of us while taking a seat.

"It's been fun." Heather replies.

"It has been." I agree. "It's been fun to get a second chance at adventuring, and sleeping in a real bed again has been nice."

Heather suddenly shoots me a glare that immediately disappears, but then she discreetly kicks me under the table. Hard. Did I say anything?

"Hmm.. Speaking of adventuring.." Linda begins. "How did you get so strong? I mean it has been a while, and the feat isn't unheard of, but the time you completed it was impressive."

She means the quest I recently completed. Hunting 10 monsters in 5 days which I completed in 3.

"I.. Uhm, had a little bit of tutoring and have been doing daily personal training since then?" I unsure of myself glance at Heather who doesn't give any reaction.

"Tutoring?"

"Yes." Heather jumps into the conversation to aid me. Or rather- make sure I don't let anything slip.

I sigh. I caaan handle this you know..

"Despite my current occupation as a traveling jewelry merchant, I am ranked as a B-rank adventurer at the guild."

"B-rank?!" Linda backs away a little in surprise. "Now that is something, there aren't too many of those around, at most there should be about a dozen of them stationed in this city, you could be in the top 10 ranking fighters around! Or even 5 if you're good!"

"Really?" I inquire a little surprised myself, but for a different reason. "Are there no A-ranked adventurers in town? This is the second largest city in the kingdom afterall?"

"No, not really. Not at the moment at least." She seems to shudder a bit. " Apparently they've all been called out on an important mission ordered directly from the king."

"Oh?"

"I don't really know any details however, at least any solid ones. Rumor has it that a witch has been spotted near the old forest, and they even took out a couple A-ranks. As a result the king ordered a mandatory hunt involving nearly every A rank and quite a few B-ranks. Many adventurers are quite bummed about it, considering witches are basically just urban legends at this point. They say it's just a wild goose chase, since it seems no one who saw the magic user came out alive, so there are no direct eye witnesses. The reward money is no joke however."

"How much?" Heather leans in, her eyes lit up with a sudden interest.

"The reward?"

"Yes."

"You can't be considering joining the hunt? Right?" Linda asks, tilting her head in confusion.

I turn towards Heather worried. You never know what might be going on in that head.

"Oh heavens no!" Heather burst into a laugh. "I'm just curious about the amount, since it's been such a long time since witches were thought to be eradicated, how much is one worth nowadays?"

"Aha, ok." Linda once again tilts her head and puts her hand to her chin, much like Master has a tendency of doing. "If I remember correctly the sum of the reward money is a single royal-platinum coin! A pretty hefty amount! and they say that for every month passing that reward will increase by a royal-gold coin as well!"

"Wow.. Now that is something." Heather leans back apparently content with that answer. I bet she just wanted to know what her kingdom thinks she is worth.

"Do you think the rumors are true? Is there really another witch running around?" I ask, turning to Linda. "You work in the guild, and pretty high up at that, so you probably have a better idea than most."

She pauses for a few moments thinking over what to answer.

"It would not necessarily have to have been a magic user. A skilled A-rank could have pulled off killing one or two other A-ranks, especially with the element of surprise. But given that the particular party which was attacked happened to be the crown-prince Leopold's personal guard, they were about as prepared as they could have been."

My eyes go wide and Heather sits up straight. That.. Is both unexpected and very bad. No wonder the high bounty.

"Unless the victims were truly slacking off, or the terrain was just that disadvantageous, there is no way that someone could have pulled off that stunt alone in such a short amount of time so that none of the other party members could catch up. So the only real solution is some sort of supernatural solution. In other words, a witch."

Silence covers our table as we listen to music from the opposite side of the room and loud voices colliding with each other until nothing could be distinguished.

"Here's your order!" I jump as our waitress slams a couple trays down with a grin. "I hope the meal is to your liking!"

Turning to the third person at our table Vannessa exclaims "Linda! It's so nice to see ya again! Your usual together with some beer?"

Linda giggles. "Yes to my regular, and no to the beer. Like I say every time, if I want something to go with other than water, I'll let you know."