The Reward

I stared at the enemy in front of me. The tree-like demon stared back.

I can feel cold sweat running down my back. My hands were trembling from fear. The madness and strength I can feel coming from this Greater Demon alone is more than a dozen-fold of a normal demon's strength.

I haven't tried receiving a blow from a normal demon yet but I know that getting hit by this one will lead to a terrible ending. That's what my senses are telling me.

When I felt another warning from my mind, I jumped away.

Similar to before, a sharp tipped wooden protrusion appeared. Looking closely, it was the greater demon, the tree demon's root.

The tree demon attacked continuously making me jump around like a rabbit. Honestly, it slightly makes me feel a bit irritated. However, the attacks never came more than one at a time. Also…

"… Looks like I'm still a bit faster than the enemy's attacks… The problem is…"

After I figured out the attack pattern of the enemy, I started to fight back.

I dodged the next attack and quickly dashed towards the tree-demon. As expected, once I reached the range of its branches, I was attacked. I dashed to the side to avoid. However, the demon couldn't turn around quick enough.

"So that's your weakness…"

I have now found a total of 3 exploits. This was already good enough. I dashed to the tree-demon's back and let out a spinning kick.

The tree demon was surprised after having been attacked from the back. It let out a loud cry, seemingly in pain. Due to it being slow in turning around, I kept my position standing behind it.

Of course, I didn't let the chance escape and piled up one attack after another, not giving the enemy a chance to counterattack. After my tenth kick, the trunk suddenly cracked and broke down.

The tree-demon stopped moving and the black colored bark turned into light grey. Looks like it was already defeated. The moment I realized that, the sound of glass being broken resounded in the surroundings.

"What the…"

When I looked up, I noticed that the sky was cracking. Just like glass, the cracks ran wildly and pieces started falling down. Then, when the cracks finally covered the whole sky, it broke with a loud crash.

What was revealed was the normal looking sun hanging up in the sky. The barrier or something seems to have been destroyed together with the greater demon.

"Oh, right! I need to get the proof…"

After asking around earlier, I came to know that there was something like a core inside demons.

The core seems to be the reason how demons can keep their corporeal form in this world. Also, the size and color of the cores vary from demon to demon.

I searched the body of the tree-demon and found a green looking orb deep inside it. It was about the size of a softball. Being made with something like glass in texture, it was a bit hard to hold. I quickly placed it inside my pocket, making it bulge.

The warning sounds didn't ring on my way back. It seems that there were no more demons here. Or maybe, they disappeared together with the broken barrier. That sounds possible.

When I reached the capital's gates once again, the sun was almost at the zenith. I greeted the guards casually and entered. I didn't need to go and stand in line as I properly made preparations and got a permit that allows one to enter and exit easily.

My stomach was already grumbling the moment I reached the Adventurer's Guild. I quickly headed towards the counter and presented the orb.

"Good noon! Well, if it isn't Nazo? What may be your business here?"

The lady at the counter quickly noticed me. She's the one whom I asked for details this morning so she knew my name then. If I recall, her name should be…

"Good noon, miss Brune. I came here to submit this proof of subjugation."

As I greeted, her attention quickly turned to the large glass ball that I placed above the counter.

"… That's quite a peculiar core… And is even abnormally large… Wait a moment, okay?"

As it seems that she couldn't identify the core by appearance, she headed towards the office at the back. After about a minute, she came back while carrying a small contraption. She quietly placed it above the counter as I stared.

It looks like a weighing scale with a bowl shaped part above a white rectangular base. It looks plain but after inspecting, I noticed a magic circle engraved at both sides of the base.

"Thanks for waiting! I will now confirm the core. Please place the core here."

She quickly spoke while pointing at the bowl shaped part. I did so as she told me to.

Then, a second later, the core floated a little while the device's magic circles release light particles. The light particles slowly gathered in front of the device and gradually built a figure. About half a minute passed and finally a clear 3D rotating image could be seen. It was a mini version of the tree demon I fought.

"...!"

For some reason, Brune's face turned pale after seeing the monster's image. When I asked if there's something wrong, she asked questions instead while slightly stuttering.

"I-Is this core… That of the Greater demon in the nearby forest…?"

"Yeah. That's what's being shown right now right?"

"… D-Did your party subjugate it? I-If I remember correctly, you just asked about it this morning right?"

"I fought it alone though. As I don't know the degree of danger it possesses. It was frightening at first but I quickly got used to it while fighting."

After hearing my answer, her face turned even paler. Is she feeling sick or something? Then, once again, she told me to wait and she carefully brought the device together with the core towards the inner office.

A couple of minutes passed but she still hasn't returned. I quietly spent my time waiting while looking at the few crowds of Adventurers hanging around the interior of the guild. I could feel that the number of gazes towards me was more than this morning despite having less crowd. Was it my imagination?

"Ye'r Nazo?"

A rough voice suddenly came from behind me. When I turned around, a burly man full of scars all around his body and face was standing behind the counter. I was slightly taken aback by his intimidating appearance. Then, I noticed that miss Brune was standing slightly behind the man while holding two brown leather bags.

"… That's me alright… Is something wrong?"

I asked while forcefully pushing back the goosebumps that I felt. Hearing my answer, he leaned against the counter and scrutinized my appearance up close. He swept his eyes from head to toes. His eyes turned wide when his stare reached my legs.

"… 'S dat a magic tool…?"

He asked while pointing towards my boots. When I looked towards it, I saw that I forgot to turn it back to normal. It was still on the form of the knee-high silvery-white boots.

"… Yes…" I answered with a small voice.

His sharp eyes squinted into slits as if he was appraising me. It felt a bit uncomfortable but I stood still. A few moment later, he withdrew and motioned towards miss Brune. In turn, she quickly moved and handed me the two brown leathers.

"The first bag is the reward for the posted subjugation request by the city while the second is the payment for you as a Demon Hunter. As for the core, we will be handling it. Thank you for your hard work."

She quickly explained with a slightly strained smile. I took the bags and peeked inside only to be surprised with the amount inside. I could see a couple of white golds, several large gold and even silvers. It was a large amount enough to make me live comfortably for a year. On the other bag, the amount is only at the range of 2 large golds and tons of silver but still, it's quite a large sum.

"… Isn't this some kind of mistake…?"

I skeptically asked. I couldn't think of a demon being worth this much gold. However, miss Brune quickly shook her head in denial.

"This is the price put up by the city for the successful subjugation of the «Elder Treant». As it was under the assumption of an army taking it out, the prize naturally became this large. So there's absolutely no mistake."

Hearing her explanation, I was slightly convinced. If the assumption was that over a hundred will fight it, then each participant would get around 3 golds each at the very least. It only got this big as I, alone, received the prize money intended for over hundreds of participants.

"…"

I stopped speaking as throwing rhetorical questions would just waste time. I thanked miss Brune and quickly went out of the Adventurer's guild. The Burly man was staring at me all the time until I got out.

"Haaaaa… Now… What should I do…?"

It's just a little past noon and I suddenly winded up with a lot of money. It may sound good to go around and buy random things but I weirdly felt tired. I better go back to the inn to rest.

I ran down the road with the help of the boots. In less than 10 minutes, I reached the inn. I quickly headed to my room, deactivated and removed the boots, hid the money under my pillow and finally laid down to take a short nap.

After lying down, I noticed that I couldn't sleep. I am feeling weirdly tired but not sleepy. It also felt a bit different from mana exhaustion. Then, I suddenly noticed.

"… I'm… Shaking?"

My hands were shaking uncontrollably. As if I was left in a freezer, my hands were both cold and shivering. I didn't even need to think of the reason why.

"… So really… I was that afraid… Hah."

I placed my arms above my eyes. Then, I reflected upon the battle that I had experienced.

… It was really dangerous. One misstep and I may have died. Not only due to the greater demon but even because of the countless surprise attacks of dog like demons. I may have survived thanks to my boots but upon thinking calmly, if ever the monsters attacked me in groups, I may have been in grave danger.

… I should not let my guard down…

… I… Better… Make more… Equipment…

As the tension left my body, sleep gradually came.

…

"Again…"

I felt my consciousness quickly returning. It hadn't even been a minute after I fell asleep. I grumbled as I opened my eyes.

"… Huh?"

However, I was not inside the inn anymore.