Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 23.2: The Hanged Man

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CLINT KINO

A year after Odetta left, I began to cough up blood. It happened occasionally at first, maybe once or twice a month. But the older I grew, the worse that condition became. It got so bad that there was a span of time where I had gotten so pale just by coughing alone.

By the next year, it happened so often that it was something my family got used to. We all thought it was a nuisance.

One day, a traveller asking for refuge stumbled upon our village. After a long interrogation with the chief, he was let in on the condition that he agreed to a contract that prohibited him from harming anyone.

Our house was the only one in the village that had a vacant room, so the traveller stayed with us. He settled into Odetta's room quite well and helped around the house as much as he could.

The traveller and Father got along quickly. They sat outside after dark drinking ale and telling stories.

The traveller had nothing except the clothes he wore and a small bag filled with ammunition for his pistol, an empty waterskin, and hardened bread. It was apparent that his clothes used to be a bright and vivid brown but were tarnished by the sun to match the desert. A wide-brimmed hat sat on his head that kept his face from burning.

He didn't say how long he was staying, just that he needed somewhere to lay low until the heat he was in cooled down.

On his first night here, I approached him with a message. "This is my big sister's room. Please take care of it."

"I see..."

He patiently waited for me to write. "She left to go adventuring."

"So she's an adventurer? I thought it was a different thing. You look up to her?"

I nodded.

"Have you ever thought about becoming an adventurer and going after her?"

I shook my head.

Mother passed by. "Clint, let our guest rest. He must be tired."

"It's okay, Ma'am.." He set his hat on the desk. "He's not bothering me."

"Either way, both of you get some rest," she said as she went to finish her chores.

"Yes, Ma'am." The traveller urged me to sit on the bed. "Clint, huh? You're a pretty quiet kid."

"I can't hear. I use this book to talk."

"That makes much more sense. I thought you were just shy. You read lips pretty well."

I nodded. "What's your name and why do you want to lay low here?"

"I'm Axel Rose. Your village has a concealment and repelling stone so it's the perfect place to hide in."

"..."

"Relax, Kid. I'm not a bad guy—the opposite really. I'm a bounty hunter. It's just that my recent bounty's gotten me into some hot water."

"What's a bounty?"

He took a sip of beer. "It's like a reward. The government puts a bounty on someone. A bounty hunter's job is to bring in the someone, dead or alive."

"You kill people for money?"

"Certain people and the badder they are the bigger the bounty. This job is the definition of the greater the risk, the greater the reward."