Demon Hunters

The Demon at the Inn II

"I thank you for not freaking out. The incident that left me like this occurred a long ago, so I've grown used to it. I do tend to cover my mouth, however, as not just everyone is as resolute as you are."

Florian took a swig from the ale and was pleasantly surprised. Regardless of the high praise Laura had heaped on the drink, he had assumed that such a small and out-of-the-way establishment couldn't possibly have something so great to offer. He was pleased to have been wrong. When he laid the mug down, however, he noticed that Solomon's expression had changed.

"Err... You are a demon hunter, are you?"

Piss.

The innkeeper must have noticed Florian's tongue when he had been speaking. Indeed, there was a runic marking carved into Florian's tongue, something every demon hunter received as they become old enough to start working. However, in his case, the marking had gone awry, which had resulted in his face becoming hideous but also, perhaps more importantly, his tongue becoming more sensitive to demonic signals.

"Indeed, I am," Florian sighed.

Just like countless times before, the innkeeper's mood had changed completely. He was now sweating and occasionally laying a nervous glance toward the kitchen.

"Tell me, what might be someone of your... profession doing here," the innkeeper said, swallowing nervously. "It's not like sleepy little backwaters like this tend to get a lot of demons, right?"

"That is actually not necessarily true. Some demons are feral, and live in forests, eating wild animals. Sometimes they wind up near a little town, at which point my services are needed. Not that I'm on a contract now, though. I'm merely wandering through," he added, when the innkeeper audibly gulped.

"That is... That is good to hear."

Laura returned from the kitchen, carrying a fresh loaf of bread. She now noticed Florian's face and visibly recoiled but managed to keep her calm.

"There you go," she said, turning to her father. "Why don't you tell me what's the word around town? It's been quite some time since I've last visited, so I bet there's some new rumours floating around."

"Ah, not now. Why don't you go and prepare a room for our guest instead?"

Laura was obviously confused by Solomon's sudden nervousness and laid an evaluating glance at Florian.

"Sure... But first, I must wipe the tables off. Let me know if you need anything more," she added to Florian.

Solomon was obviously not happy with this, but he decided not to argue the matter any further, perhaps in a vain hope of not offending Florian any further.

I am a demon hunter. I'm not a criminal, I only go after demons. You don't need to worry about your daughter, was what Florian would have wanted to say. Some fifteen years earlier, during his training, he might have snapped at the innkeeper for his rude attitude, but not anymore. He had grown used to this kind of behaviour, and simply didn't care anymore. Instead, he took a bite of the bread, which he found to be delicious, though quite hot. In fact, it was so hot that his tongue appeared to be on fire...

"Ow!" Florian yelled.

This startled the innkeeper, who looked over. He was afraid now, for some reason, to the point that he was shivering.

"Something wrong with the bread?" he asked in an exaggeratedly apologetical tone.

His face grew pale when a stream of blood started to flow from Florian's mangled mouth. Florian spat out the bloodstained piece of bread and stood up. As the innkeeper was apologizing profusely, the demon hunter shook off his coat, revealing his armour that had a pistol and numerous different little gadgets hanging from it. He drew his sword and turned to look at the innkeeper who had by now fallen from his chair.