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Anne said the second Ryu opened his eyes.

“I don’t know I just felt dizzy, the amarok?”

“It’s fast asleep, he tried to get up at first but couldn’t resist for long”

“Good, now I have to feed it, help me get up”

“Why would you feed that thing? we should kill it now and be over with it, its too dangerous to keep around. If what you said about him being the cause of the absence of prey, all the more reason to kill it”

“I don’t expect you to understand this, but I have a feeling this wolf is not as stupid as it seems. Also, it’s just a cub, would you really be up for killing an innocent animal?”

.....

“If anything you should’ve said that when I killed the deer near the cave, I still have nightmares about it”

Anne said with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Anne, I know it was difficult, but our survival was on the line. Now, instead, we have nothing to gain by killing it but we may get a powerful ally by our side”

“I’m not sure, if it eats as much as Mochi does, we would just get another couch potato pet”

She giggled.

“I missed this”

Ryu sighed.

“Risking your life for something stupid?”

“No, I’m being serious. I missed being with you like this. You’ve been too distant lately, I feared for our friendship”

“Are you being serious? how could I stay nearby when you’re so close to Rina now”

“So you’re saying that If Helena was my girlfriend you would have drifted away all the same?”

“No, its not that. But put yourself in my shoes, how was I supposed to deal with rejection and live under the same roof with you guys? we could’ve made a great couple you know”

“I know”

Hearing that hurt Anne more than any wound she had sustained in their hunting trips, but somehow it also felt good, as if another kind of wound was healing.

“You’re so stupid, every time we’re honest to each other it makes my blood boil and then I think why things couldn’t be different, until I remember its all my fault. Anyways, I guess it was good to have our last hunting trip together”

She said as she helped Ryu get up, with a pretty smile on her delicate face.

“Since we found the amarok so early in the morning, the best thing would be to start feeding it now instead of bringing it back as it is. Though I must warn you that if I feed it, its energy will replenish and there’s a chance it’ll regain enough stamina to wake up. You need to be on alert, because if that happens we’ll need to knock it out again and start over”

Anne nodded at Ryu and took some distance. They spent hours feeding it croquettes, which Ryu was able to acquire through the billboard at the tavern, and whenever the amarok showed signs of waking up Ryu fed it a few drops of stamina draining potion.

“According to my consider skill it should be friendly now, I’m amazed at how much food it consumed though”

“Is it safe to let him wake up?”

“I’m not sure, last time Mochi hurt me it was still neutral, ever since it reached the friendly status I’ve had no incidents. I can’t be sure though”

This time, instead of dragging the amarok downhill they took turns to carry it on their arms. It wasn’t that heavy, but walking with something as dangerous so close to their bodies made them feel as if they had a ticking bomb on their hands.

When the trading outpost was on sight they both felt relieved and knocked on the door to rest a while before heading back to the tavern, but no one answered the door. The building was completely empty.

“This is weird, every time they go out they leave someone behind. If not even Sophie is at home it means trouble”

“What should we do? I can’t fight with this stupid dog on my arms”

“Anne...”

“What? hey stop staring at my chest”

Ryu’s face was pale as if he had seen a ghost.

“It’s awake...”

Ryu said in a whisper, Anne froze on the spot and looked down at the exhausted beast as it opened its eyes. She was just about to throw it as far as she could when a moist lick ran through her cheek.

“Guess that answers our question, it seems it’s not mad at least. Hey look, its even waving its tail!”

Ryu chuckled as Anne slowly placed the amarok on the ground.

“What are you doing, I don’t think it can walk yet”

“It’s your dog, if you want to keep it, the least you can do is carry him back”

She said cleaning the thick drool on her cheek with the sleeve of her huntress outfit. Ryu walked heavily with the amarok on his arms, watching careful the situation in Ironwoods. At first, the town seemed to be deserted, making them both remember the first time they entered. Only this time there was a crowd gathering in front of the brothel.

“Why is everyone in here?”

“I don’t know Ryu, but we better hurry up. If this has something to do with Bianca it may be bad news”

Many scenarios crossed Ryu’s mind, in some, Bianca returned with an army, in others, Rina screwed up and clients got mad. Yet, nothing prepared him for the truth behind the gathering of so many people.

“Luke! you’re back!”

Anne shouted as she threw herself into his arms. He looked a bit taller, considerably more handsome and a lot stronger than before.

“I’m so glad you’re back, what happened? what took you so long?”

Ryu spoke as loud as he could, the crowd didn’t stop to cheer at their new heroes.

Bob, Luke, Karl and Rudd came back to Ironwoods, along with the missing caravan. They brought all the supplies that weren’t delivered before the freeze, and the reason why they were at the brothel was because they needed to unload the cargo.

“Hey Ryu! it’s been a long time, we’re a bit busy now but we can catch up later”

Luke managed to say before being swarmed again by the swarming crowd. Luke was wearing light armor made with blue leather and pieces of shiny metal and Bob stood tall with a new chainmail and his well known two handed hammer. They looked like mighty heroes that came back from the battlefield to receive the glory at the hands of the people.

Karl and Rudd stood by the caravan trying to put some order into the unruly people, some were desperate to see if their loved ones came back alive, while others just got close to see if they could snatch something without being noticed.

Whatever the case, the chaos spread like wildfire and if it wasn’t for the mayor it could’ve gotten out of hands.

“Where’s Kaya?”

Karl asked scanning the crowd.

“We really need to talk, mister mayor”

Hiraku said while pushing people that attempted to get past the caravan guards. By the time they finished unloading the cargo it was late already, everyone was hungry since they were able to grab only a quick snack to guard the caravan properly.

“It took some effort but we’re finally done!”

Luke clapped his hands.

“You speak as if you worked hard, but all you did was stand on the side and grope distracted women”

“So you noticed”

Luke replied to Anne in amazement.

“Nothing can escape my eyes now”

Anne said, obviously exaggerating, tempting Luke for a split second to try his Luke with Anne. But even with his newly acquired skills and armor, he wasn’t willing to bet his life on the odd chance that Anne was bluffing.

“Mister Ryu, since now you’re the legitimate owner of both the tavern and the brothel, we delivered everything in here. Is that ok?”

The mayor inquired.

“Of course, there’s no problem. Though now the tavern is located inside the brothel, and the old building is going to be a drugstore”

Ryu said pointing at the direction of the old Silver goddess tavern.

“I still don’t know exactly what happened with Bianca, but I’m guessing we won”

“Something like that, there really is a lot of catching up to do. Why don’t we go inside and grab some decent lunch?”

Ryu invited everyone but the guards to come inside. The crowd disappeared now that there were no more goods to be delivered, but the guards were still on duty and kept watch on the outside.

Karl and Rudd ordered the stew since they didn’t want to risk ordering something they might not like, but they quickly regretted it when the table was filled with different kinds of dishes. Claire was on cloud nine seeing everyone enjoying the food she cooked and when the mayor thanked Ryu for cooking for them, she was even happier taking it as the best compliment possible.

During the meal no one dared speak about anything, except to say how delicious the food was and to ask for another serving. It was a joyful diner among friends, and if it wasn’t for the occasional tears running down Ayumi’s cheek, it would have been completely uneventful.