Chapter 3: The Hunting Club
Lumin let out a sigh to himself and took out 15 bronze coins, handing them to the carriage driver.
A creaking sound echoed in the place as Lumin entered the hunting shop.
After the shop achieved great success, and by order of Mr. Lomet, it was expanded into two floors. The ground floor remained dedicated to selling hunting supplies and weapons, while Lomet's former house on the first floor was turned into a gathering place for his assistants. Because of this expansion, the shop became open at all times, even at such an early hour.
Lumin saw before him a man over two meters tall, with short blond hair and an excellent muscular build. It was none other than Lomet, the owner of the hunting shop.
Lomet spoke cheerfully as soon as he saw Lumin and said, "Welcome, Lumin. Are you coming back?!"
Lumin ignored Lomet and began searching in one corner of the shop. Lomet had designated the left side of the shop for light hunting clothes and heavy armor.
Meanwhile, the front side of the shop was dedicated to hunting and protection requests.
The right side was designated for selling weapons and hunting tools, from small daggers to massive swords and arrows.
Lumin noticed an axe with "Lomet Company" written on its handle and bent down to examine it.
Lomet looked at Lumin crouching on the ground and said, "Your eye is still good. When I left two years ago, I established a weapons manufacturing company with an investment from Count Vicoth. Its quality is high, but I don't think you can afford it."
Lumin remained silent and turned his neck toward Lomet without standing or speaking. Lomet continued, "I can give it to you, but you have to return to the club."
Lumin fell silent for a moment and didn't hold back in taking time to think:
'I currently earn no more than one pound a week, and that's less than what I spend weekly on meat. One silver coin for a piece of meat, which means I have to spend one pound and four silver coins just to buy enough meat for a week—four silver coins more than I can handle.'
'I don't mind returning to the club, but there's no one I trust enough to tell what happened to my sister and ask them to take care of her except Diko and his wife. They will return to the village today, but I don't know exactly when.'
'They may not be ready right now to protect Rahel. They've been away from their home for more than seven months. It would cost them three consecutive days every week to go to Rahel, which could exhaust them.'
Lumin stopped thinking and decided to ask Lomet, "What about me joining for one trip and giving you my decision before the next one?"
Lumin chose to try going on one trip to allow Diko and his wife to try handling things once before making their decision.
Lomet smiled and said, "Alright, normally I completely refuse this, but I can give you some exceptions considering her."
Lomet sighed quickly and spoke directly without giving Lumin a chance to respond or think, "But if the people in the club find out, they may refuse you. So I can let you join for one trip with some conditions."
Lumin sighed to himself, saying: 'I hope the conditions aren't difficult.'
Lomet raised his right fist, then lifted his index, middle, and ring fingers and said, "Your contract will be like anyone who goes with me, but with three special conditions."
Lumin stood up and nodded for Lomet to continue.
Lomet lowered his ring finger and said, "First, we'll take 75% of the value of the corpses and items you obtain on this trip instead of the usual 25%."
Lumin nodded.
Lomet smiled, lowered his index finger, then laughed and said, "Ha ha ha, don't mind my fingers—focus on what I'm saying instead."
Lumin could only smile and think to himself: 'You and your silly habits.'
Lomet continued, "Second condition: you won't be my priority like the others. If you're in critical condition and near death, and someone else has only a minor injury, I'll go treat them—and I doubt you'll even get injured."
Lumin nodded and said, "That's fine."
Seeing Lumin nod, Lomet lowered his middle finger and said, "Third, your family won't receive any compensation if something happens to you. Those are the conditions—what do you think?"
Lumin thought quickly:
'He didn't include a condition forcing me to return the axe after this trip. I'll be returning to the club for this trip, which means I can take the axe. After the trip, I can sell it and get money in the worst case.'
'These conditions won't cause me any problems—no, they might not make a real difference. They'll take a bigger share? I'll just bring more corpses. Killing a three-horned boar is easier than killing a large group. Its value will be enough for a few weeks, but it's extremely fierce and rare. I must be at my peak focus while hunting.'
'I trust my experience. I don't need special attention like beginners. And anyway, there's no one in my family to take money if I die. These conditions are entirely in my favor. In the best case, I'll leave with a three-horned corpse and the axe. In the worst case, I'll leave with the axe.'
Lumin looked at Lomet for a moment and said, "No problem. Let's go sign the contract."
Lomet smiled, placed his elbow on Lumin's shoulder, and walked with him to the table to sign the papers.
After reading the papers twice, Lumin signed the contract and said, "I'll come tomorrow."
Lumin stood up from his chair and walked toward the axe while Lomet spoke behind him:
"Only three members you know remain in the club. Most of them gained the wealth they dreamed of and went to Trakis to live a refined and noble life. Faljan stopped coming due to old age, but he still visits the club from time to time…"
Lumin interrupted him, "Don't tell me more. I want to be surprised tomorrow by the fools who never left the club."
Lomet laughed, "Ha ha ha, you're still the same."
Lumin ignored him, took the axe, and said, "I've returned to the club for this trip. I'll take the axe as we agreed."
Lomet was shocked by Lumin's cleverness, then laughed loudly and said, "Alright, alright—you're right. Take it."
Lumin left the hunting club after paying one silver coin for a weapon case—it would be strange to walk out holding the axe.
He noticed someone sitting in the coffee shop across from the club watching him.
He looked closely and recognized him—it was Charney from the inn.
Charney noticed that Lumin recognized him, which made him leave his drink and run away.
Lumin approached the table Charney had been sitting at, sat down, and continued drinking the hot coffee.
After about half an hour, Lumin decided to leave and wait for Diko and his wife since Charney hadn't returned.
He chose to walk instead of taking a carriage—he wasn't in a hurry.
After some time, Lumin stopped in front of a medium-sized house. He saw a wooden sign hanging on the door written in Foden language: "Daisker House, no one is home."
Lumin sat near the door and waited until he noticed a girl with a swollen belly, with black hair falling to her shoulders, slightly over 1.67 meters tall, holding the hand of a man beside her.
The man was taller than Lumin, with medium-length hair combed back and a large build.
Lumin focused on his face and recognized him.
It was none other than his childhood friend Diko, and the girl beside him was his wife Fiona.
From afar, Lumin noticed Fiona pointing in his direction.
Lumin stood up and waited for them to arrive.
Diko and Fiona approached him. Diko took out a copper coin and tossed it to Lumin, saying, "Don't forget to thank the moon and pray for me."
Lumin smiled, then laughed and said, "Heh, you're still filthy even after getting married."
Before Diko could laugh and explain, Fiona's laughter was heard, making him smile and say, "It wasn't my idea—she told me to do it."
Fiona elbowed Diko in the ribs and said, trying to change the subject, "We haven't seen each other for seven months. How about we go inside and talk?"
Lumin didn't refuse. Diko opened the door, then held Fiona by her arm and waist to help her step inside. Lumin followed them in.
Lumin was surprised by how clean the house was—as if they had never left for seven months.
Fiona noticed his surprise and explained, "I wasn't ready to come back and clean, so before we left, I forced him to talk to Count Vicoth and hire one of his maids twice a week to clean the house."
She smiled and added, "I threatened him with divorce if he didn't."
Lumin glanced at his friend and laughed mockingly, "Looks like she found your weakness."
Lumin thought to himself as he spoke: 'Good… I don't have to worry about them being busy cleaning.'
Diko laughed, "Ha ha, I think I've become the losing side between you two."
He continued quickly, "Do you want a drink?"
"Some tea," Lumin replied.
Diko hung his gray coat on the rack and went to the kitchen overlooking the living room.
Fiona went to the living room, with Lumin following. He sat on one sofa, while Fiona sat on another, with a small wooden table between them.
After some small talk, Fiona asked, "So Lumin, how did you know we'd come today?"
Lumin acted surprised and glanced at Diko in the kitchen, seeing him shaking his head and moving his lips silently.
Ignoring him, Lumin turned back to Fiona and said with a smile, "Diko sent me earlier that you were on your way back, and that you might arrive yesterday morning at best—or today at noon at worst."
Lumin looked toward the kitchen for Diko's reaction but didn't find him. When he turned back, he saw Diko standing behind Fiona.
Lumin wanted to ask, 'Why did you return? Wasn't your trip supposed to last a year?' but Diko interrupted him by kissing Fiona's head.
He said quickly, "She's already in her eighth month. I don't want little Lumin to be born outside."
Lumin was shocked—for two reasons: the pregnancy and naming the child after him.
He said, astonished, "Eighth month?! But… the wedding was ten months ago—and you even decided to name him after me!"
They both laughed at his exaggerated reaction.
Diko returned to the kitchen and heard Lumin ask, "What if it's a girl? What will you name her?"
Diko turned his head with an exaggerated smile.
Fiona said, "That's fine, we'll think about it later. Though I feel it'll be a boy."
After a long conversation and just before sunset, Lumin adjusted his posture and decided to tell them about Rahel.
He sighed and said, "Ah… Diko, Fiona, I have something very important to tell you. I haven't told anyone before."
Diko understood and nodded, "Your secret will stay here."
Lumin continued, "Do you remember when I told you about my sister's disappearance?"
They nodded.
He said, "Actually… I know where she is. I hid it from the church because it's hard to believe."
"A week before I sent that message, I came home and found a dog crying… no, actually, a female dog crying in front of the house."
He paused, thinking.
Diko tried to speak, but Fiona pinched him to stop.
Silence filled the room before Lumin continued:
"I don't know how to say it… but that dog is… Rahel."
"I don't know how it happened, but that's the truth."
"Before she disappeared, she used to go with a group of people to some kind of gathering. After that night, not a single one of them came to our house to ask about her."
"Because of this incident, I was forced to sell some of the furniture to buy supplies for her in her new form. I also wrote a book to earn some money, but sales stopped… it became difficult for me to earn enough to buy meat for her."
Lumin stopped speaking and turned his gaze toward Diko "I had no choice but to return to the hunting club under Lomet, but I'll have to leave Rahel alone at home during every trip."
"I want your help when I go out. I'll give you some of what I earn from each trip."
Diko remained silent for a moment before saying "No. We won't take a single coin. I should be the one taking the initiative to help you.
"
Fiona nodded and said "Don't think about anything except going and coming back safely. Every time you leave, I'll take your place."
Diko continued:
"Yes… I may not be able to go with you right now because of my responsibility toward Fiona, but I'll be the first to join you on future trips after she gives birth."