How About a Fur Coat?

When Rhodes and Elfman returned to the Weiss home with the two children, Hunter was mostly unharmed aside from the tear and faint bloodstains on his cotton coat.

Mrs. Weiss immediately burst into tears as she hugged her children, relief overtaking her. The children clung to her, crying too.

Rhodes had already explained the situation with his usual knack for hitting the key points. Jenny and Hunter added their own versions, recounting their snowy adventure in broken pieces.

Jenny spoke about how scared she had been, and how powerful her two big brothers were. Hunter, meanwhile, talked about how painful it was to get hit, and how amazing the red healing magic had felt.

Weiss was simply overwhelmed with gratitude.

"Thank you, truly. If anything had happened to them. I don't know what I would have done."

"It was just something we did along the way," Rhodes replied modestly. "In fact, it was your daughter who ended up completing the mission."

He scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit awkward now about accepting the reward. "We should let the doctor examine Mr. Karut first."

"Yes, of course. I'll go fetch him now!" Mrs. Weiss took a few hurried steps but turned back to hug her children tightly again.

"Mom..." Jenny sniffled, remembering the lecture she'd gotten from Elfman on the way home. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have climbed the mountain without telling you."

Hunter followed quickly. "Me too. I'm sorry, Mom."

Mrs. Weiss gave them a soft smile. "First and foremost, I'm just glad you're both safe. I'm proud of how brave you were and how much you care about this family."

The kids looked comforted, until their mother released them and her tone turned firm.

"But from now on, you are absolutely, one hundred percent not allowed to do anything that dangerous again. Understood?"

"Yes!" they both chirped.

Whether the message truly sank in was hard to say, but Elfman certainly seemed to have taken it to heart. Even after the doctor arrived, he was still repeating her words to himself under his breath:

"Bravery… and caring for your family…"

Rhodes gave him space to reflect and followed the doctor to check on Mr. Karut.

After inspecting the Divotian herb Jenny had brought back, the doctor quickly began brewing a potion on the spot. Not long after Karut drank it, his eyes fluttered open.

"Can a lung treatment work this fast?" Rhodes whispered to himself. He wasn't an expert in healing magic or medicine, so maybe it was just a very potent local recipe.

As Mr. Karut was helped into a sitting position and began speaking again, Rhodes could practically feel the joy radiating from Mrs. Weiss.

Wait a second… something about Karut's face looked familiar.

"You're… wait, aren't you that wizard—?"

Karut coughed between words, his voice still weak. Weiss gently helped steady him.

"Yes, dear, that's right. These wizards rescued Jenny and Hunter."

"No, I mean—he's the one who turned into a wolf!"

Rhodes blinked. "Hold on, you're the carriage driver from that time! The guy who worked for that miser who'd rather save coin than his crew!"

Back then, the businessman had been memorable for all the wrong reasons, and Rhodes had felt genuinely bad for the man driving his cart. Now he could finally put a name to that face.

Recognizing him, Karut laughed faintly, nodding. He didn't seem to mind the not-so-flattering description of his former employer at all.

That businessman was the kind of stingy person who valued profit more than lives.

To be honest, Karut believed that his illness might have stemmed from working for someone like him.

Whenever Ban chose routes for his deliveries, he only cared about shortening the distance. He never considered the dangers involved and always took the paths other merchants avoided.

He'd often boast that he built his wealth by daring to tread roads no one else would.

Karut sighed and said, "You saved me again."

"To be precise, it was your doctor and your family who saved you," Rhodes replied sincerely. "You've got an incredible wife and two wonderful children."

Karut turned to Weiss and took her hand into his own—rough, weathered, and trembling.

From the calluses on her fingers, he could feel just how much she had endured over the past days. His lips moved to silently mouth two simple words: thank you.

Weiss smiled and shook her head gently.

All she had wanted was for him to get better.

"Doctor, how is Mr. Karut doing?" Rhodes asked, hoping to wrap up the task and return to the guild.

"He's stable for now," the doctor replied. "But the illness has gone untreated for too long. He'll need at least one more dose of the medicine tomorrow."

Rhodes nodded. "One more dose, huh? What about a full recovery?"

"With proper rest, he can recover gradually. That second dose will speed it up significantly," the doctor explained. "But there aren't enough herbs left."

"That's no problem. We'll go gather more," Rhodes said without hesitation.

Weiss grew anxious. She thought of the blood still crusted on her son's coat and said, "Mr. Rhodes, the snow mountain is too dangerous. Do you really intend to go again?"

"Yes," Karut said, though his voice was weak and interrupted by a cough. "Please, rest… take it slowly…"

"This is our job," Rhodes answered calmly. "And besides, most of the herbs were found by Jenny. That counts as your contribution, so you don't even need to pay."

"Mr. Rhodes…"

Rhodes gave a simple wave and walked out of the room, leaving behind only the image of his confident back.

"Elfman," he said, "can you still fight?"

"Yeah," Elfman said, now completely composed. "What's going on?"

"We'll need to make another trip."

"Alright, but are you okay to go?"

"We've already rested long enough. We can take it easy on the way up. By the time we reach the mountain, I should be fully recharged," Rhodes replied. "And this time, let's avoid fighting if we can."

Had it not been for searching for the missing children earlier, Rhodes wouldn't have stormed the mountain and thrown himself into battle with a horde of beasts. After all, their mission was to gather the herb, not clear out monsters.

The two bundled back up in their thick winter clothes and set off once more for Galantos Snow Mountain. Before dusk fell, they returned to the village.

Without the chaos of a search-and-rescue operation weighing them down, Rhodes followed his original plan with flawless efficiency.

Not only did they gather a hefty bundle of Divotian Grass, he also brought back two unconscious Labons on their way down the mountain.

Rhodes joked that the beasts might've suffered heatstroke. His plan was to bring them back, strip the fur, cool the bodies, then either give them a hot bath or toss them beside the fire to defrost.

"Elfman, what do you think about turning the fur into coats?" Rhodes asked as he nudged one of the beast's thick pelts with his boot.

"Coats?" Elfman reached down and stroked the Labon's snowy-white fur. "It's actually really high quality. If I give this to my sister, I bet she'd be thrilled."

Rhodes nodded with mock enthusiasm. "Exactly. I was thinking the same thing."

"I'm the one giving it to her!" Elfman shot him a glare.

Rhodes raised both hands in surrender. "Of course, of course. Yours goes to your sister. Mine's for myself."

After all, he did help take them down and had the idea in the first place. If they were splitting the spoils, he'd definitely earned at least half.

And besides… heh heh.

Elfman narrowed his eyes.

Something about Rhodes's tone didn't sit right.