Episode 1: The Hound

 

In this episode, a mysterious wanderer strides into a tavern. But it turns out he isn't a wanderer at all.

Eiji walked into the tavern, the clink of his armor growing loud as the chatter quelled to simmer as he entered. He'd immediately drawn glares from the worn, dirtied faces of other grizzled hunters who sat around the various tables littered through the dingy, unassuming hospice. This is how it was on the eve of a treasure hunt.

This collective of hunters had descended upon this lowly humble town south of the Kingdom of Jersey for one reason. And one reason only.

Because a world treasure was rumored to be close by.

But more hunters in the area meant more competition, so pleasantry between hunters was virtually non-existent. They'd have all tried to kill each other, but the town had been declared a tranquility zone—no fighting, and certainly no killing was the law of the Order—one of four hunter's fraternity that had operational authority in this region.

Between all four fraternities, however, the tranquility zone law persisted. And to break it by fighting would cause a hunter, at the very least, to be demoted -1 rank. At worst, a hunter would lose their license to legally pursue and acquire world treasure.

A hunter decides to chase world treasures without a license? Or worse, commits a murder in a tranquility zone? They'd be pursued by a Hound—specially trained warriors who are legally authorized to hunt and kill Hunters who break's a fraternity's bylaws within their jurisdiction.

Eiji strode past tables, his leather boots causing the wooden floorboards underfoot to creak with each step. He brought the scarf around his neck higher, until it covered the bottom half of his face. The hunters all returned to their own business after getting their introductory scowls out of the way.

He bumped into The lone maid in the tavern; she perfusively apologized, combed her dark hair strands back and rushed along. She frantically worked her way around the tables, placing down mugs of frothing ale in front of impatient hunters who accosted her as she strode away. She nervously smiled and tried her best to remain cheerful, but Eiji could see in her innocent eyes that she was stressed. A small menial establishment like this tavern tucked within an inconspicuous alleyway had never seen this much traffic, never had to deal with the attention that came with having a world treasure nearby. Naturally, the maids and perhaps the tavernkeeper themselves, felt a bit overwhelmed.

Eiji's eyes darted over to a corner of the tavern at the slightest twitch, detecting someone moving.

A hunter rose up from one of the tables—a female hunter. Young, spry, couldn't be other than nineteen years, Eiji surmised as he cast a casual gaze her direction. He appraised her with expert discernment:

Her brown leather armor was barely scuffed—meant lack of experience, no fights under her belt; her face was without blemish, no scars, no bruises. Her hair, blonde and plentiful, not coarse and spindly. And her eyes—blue as the ocean—were too energetic, not worn and weary like Eiji's and the other hunters who'd seen the worst of what treasure hunting brought out of a man.

A black bandana was wrapped snug around her lush blonde hair; she wore a black neck scarf too. Perhaps her innocent, if not naive, idea of what a hunter should look like.

The female hunter clumsily wrestled to climb out of her chair. She got free, and walked between the tables of grizzled hunters, maneuvering around them like they were landmines. Her eyes darted this way and that, self-conscious of the way she was being perceived.

A man kicked his leg out, blocking her path. A bald headed hunter spinning a dagger on the table. His hearty chuckle revealed a half dozen missing teeth.

"My, my," the bald headed hunter said with a throaty voice. "That's an impressive set of leather armor you're wearing, little lady." The statement caused the other hunters sitting around the table to chuckle and sneer. "You get that fresh from a merchant stall?"

The female hunter swallowed. "No," she replied, her voice straining to sound deeper than it was. "As a matter of fact, my father made it for me."

The bald headed Hunter's eyes grew wide. "Oh, is that right?" He said, feigning surprise. "Well, how nice. Daddy stitched together a potato bag so his princess could play dress up." More chuckles came from around the table. "And what's that on your head?"—he reached to snatch the bandana off her head, she pulled back quickly—"what are you a damn pirate?"

Eiji turned away from the commotion and continued on to the front. He sat on a stool in front of the bar, his scabbard clunking against the wood as he adjusted himself on the flimsy stool top. The bartender, a fellow on the older side who wore a red bandana and had a dozen crease lines etched under his eyes, gave Eiji a cursory glance.

"... I wonder why Saint Illsa saw fit to curse us this day...a world treasure on the outskirts of this little town," he grumbled, shaking his head. "Brings your kind into our small haven causing all sorts of trouble."

Eiji said nothing.

"What'll it be?" He croaked, wiping the inside of a mug with practiced ease. "Town may be small, but we got the best ale west of the kingdom. I can guarantee it."

Eiji raised a finger, his gauntlet twinkling under the lantern light. "Actually, just water please," he said coolly.

He heard a chorus of snickering rise up behind his back.

"What's the matter, can't hold your drink?" A hunter muttered conspicuously.

"Poor bastard's a light weight!" Another chided.

"Guess that badass armor's just for looks.. Bet he's a one-star hunter like the rest of us," another voice hissed.

Even the bartender had an eyebrow raised. "...Water?"

"Yes," Eiji said. "And I don't like repeating myself."

The tavern keeper opened his mouth to say something, but then he caught Eiji's gaze...the mysterious man's red colored eyes forced the bartender to close his mouth and swallow whatever words he was fitting to say. Clearing his throat, the tavern keeper, instead, hastily fetched a jar and went into the backroom to pump water into it.

Eiji's ears perked up, hearing the commotion between the baldheaded hunter and the female hunter raise an octave or two.

"G-Give me back my sword!" the female hunter called out, reaching out as the baldheaded hunter held the sheathed shortsword away from her outstretched hand. And with his other, he pressed against her chest, preventing her from getting any closer.

"Sword? You call this a sword?" The baldheaded hunter scoffed. With the barest of effort he shoved her to the floor with his free hand, and with his other that held the sword, he unsheathed it and smashed the hilt against the edge of the table. It broke apart and crumpled to the floor. He tossed the hilt-less blade, cackling as it landed by the female hunter's polished boots with a clang. "The Federation is giving anybody a license these days." He glared at her as the female hunter got to her knees and retrieved the hilt-less sword with a trembling hand, tears swelling under her eyes. "Get the hell out of here. You give even one-star hunters a bad name."

The female hunter got to her feet. She wiped her face with the back of her blouse shirt sleeve and turned to walk away. The bald headed man wound back his hand then slapped her ass as she went past, grinning impishly as he watched her cheek jiggle from the impact. "The only time I want to see you back in here is if you're aimin' to go upstairs to the rooms with me or one of my buddies."

She flinched. Tears now streaming down her cheeks. A few idle seconds of whimpering past, then the female hunter spun around in a fit of rage. She raised the sword high above her head with both hands, lines of blood racing down her palm from gripping the now hilt-less end of the sword. She stood over the bald headed hunter, who put his palms out. "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said warned gleefully. His palms were out defensively, but his eyes never showed honest concern. "You take a swing at me in a tranquility zone, and that pretty little head of yours will be on the chopping block. The Federation will send out a hound to come find and kill you."

"What kind of hunter doesn't know that," a bystander muttered.

"Are we sure she even has a license?" Another chirped.

The female hunter slowly lowered the sword. After internal deliberation, she sniffed then turned away. She gingerly continued on, clutching her sword with both hands like cradling a broken toy, the blood from her cut palms blotching over.

"Here's your water, sir," the tavern keeper said, reappearing with a jar. He placed it down in front of Eiji. He stammered, "I don't... I don't really have a price on water, nobody asks for that. So let's just make it... two duponts?"

Eiji reached for the pouch tied to his waste, and undid the lace. He reached in, the clinking of coins ringing out as he rummaged inside. He pulled out 3 duponts and placed them on the gnarled countertop.

"I...I said it was only two," the tavern keeper said. Eiji said nothing, so the tavern keeper cupped his hand and brushed the money toward him. "Gee, thanks mister..."

Eiji went to his other hip where rested a satchel, and he lifted the flap and dug inside. He took out a rolled parchment and brought it topside. He laid it out on the bar, and began unfurling it.

The tavern keeper, back to polishing mugs, glanced at the letterhead of the parchment. His eyes widened. "Hey, that's a... that's an official Federation seal..."

"That's right..." Eiji said with an air of indifference. He reached into the satchel again and took out another parchment. Unraveled it.

"... So, you are a hunter right?" The Tavern Keeper asked timidly. "Not that I doubted it, of course, it's just—"

"No, I'm not a hunter."

The tavern keeper grew apprehensive, his hands froze, no longer wiping the mug in his hands. "But... But the seal... It is from the Federation, isn't it? And that looks like an official document. Are you some sort of official?"

"Some sort," Eiji said flatly. He unraveled the new parchment. It was the charcoal sketch of a man. Above the sketch were the letters in bold: WANTED. The man sketched out was bald, and was smiling with gapped teeth.

Underneath the sketch, there was more context:

CORIN GRAINFAULK

TWO-STAR HUNTER

FOR BREAKING FEDERATION LAW.

"That's... That's a human bounty," the Tavern Keeper stammered. His eyes shifted between the two parchments side by side. Things started clicking in his head. "If you're from the Federation.... And that's a bounty slip... Then that means—"

Eiji brought a finger to his lips. Shhhh. "As the owner of this establishment," Eiji said lowly. "I'm obligated to inform you that the tranquility law is about to be broken for matters of legally sanctioned recourse. I've located the gentleman in question, and I will be fulfilling my duty here shortly," Eiji tapped the first parchment, the Federation document. "You can verify my authority to do so in this document."

Eiji snatched up the jar of water and gulped it down. He emptied the jar, placed it on the table and wiped his mouth. "Now then," he said. He kicked the stool back and stood up; it went soaring across the tavern, hitting against a wooden beam and shattering into parts. Splintered bits scattered over the nearest table, where the hunters sitting down shielded their faces from the shrapnel.

Anxious chatter swelled to life. All eyes turned to Eiji, who still has his back to the room. He shook the jar in the tavern keepers face. "Have a fresh jar of water ready when I'm done."

The tavern keeper nodded frantically. "Uh huh," he said, dumbly.

"Hey!" A hunter called out from somewhere in the room. "You got a problem, asshole!?"

"That stool almost hit me!"

Leg chairs began to screech against the wooden floor as hunters began rising from their tables one by one.

"Think you're so tough with that reinforced armor, huh!?" Another hunter barked. "How's about we take a little trip out of town, get out the tranquility zone and find out how tough you really are!!"

Eiji finally turned around and faced the wider room, seeing reddened, angered faces casting seething glares at him from all directions. He gripped his scarf, then pulled at it. It uncovered the bottom half of his face and as he continued to pull, it exposed his neck.

All the hunters collectively gasped. The air was sucked out the room instantly.

On the right side of Eiji's neck was the tattoo of a wolf's head. It was depicted as bearing it's teeth in a fit of rage. A terrifying ink that immediately seated every hunter who's once had the gall to stand up.

"He's... he's a hound!"

"Right, but who's he after!? Someone in here!?"

"I've never actually seen one before. Only heard the tales."

A handful of hunters shot up from their tables and darted for the door, tipping over their mugs, spilling ale across the tables. A billow of playing cards fluttered to the floor in their hasty departure. They fought to be the first out, squeezing shoulder to shoulder to escape the tavern. The door was left open, bringing in the brisk evening, swinging softly on it's hinges as the clattering footsteps of the fleeing hunters dissipated over time.

For the hunters who'd remained in the tavern, a look of terror etched itself onto their faces, eyes wide, mouths agape. It was to be expected, Eiji knew. This was a room wherein the highest hunter rank was a two-star. Most were one-stars, those who had a few hunts under their belt, shook off their rookie smell a while ago, but were nowhere close to the top hunters who wouldn't shit their pants at the sight of a hound.

The young female hunter from earlier appeared in the open entrance to the tavern. She was off to the side, craning her head into the doorway to peek inside and see what the commotion was. 

Eiji snatched the bounty parchment off the counter top and held it up. "I'm looking for a hunter by the name of Corin Grainfaulk," he said, moving his outstretched arm from furthest left of the room to the right, making sure everyone got a good look at the parchment.

Of course, Eiji knew who Corin Grainfaulk was the second he strode into the bar. The fugitive's shiny head shimmered with the glow of the nearest oil lantern, and right before the room quieted down to appraise Eiji's entrance, he'd seen the man cackling among his party at the table, which showed, for a fleeting moment, his horrid set of teeth. That was all the info Eiji needed to know who Corin was only seconds of stepping past the door threshold and into the dingy tavern.

Corin shot up from his chair, causing it to fall backward, his toothy grimace showing as he scowled at Eiji. The men around his table were like frozen photo stills; they knew not whether to high tail it out of the tavern like the other hunters, or stay with Corin, who all but seemed to be their leader. The trembling hunters took occasional glances at the open entryway, their boots tapping nervously against the wooden floorboards.

"Who do you think you are!?" Corin shouted, his words slurring. "You're not a hound, you're a rat! Yeah, that's what you are...a...a rat!" he snatched his dagger from the table and jabbed it toward Corin, his weight shifting uneasily on his feet. "So you wanna go, huh?"

Eiji walked toward the table. The hunters who remained seated all stood up, holding their hands up.

"P-Please mister...we don't want any trouble," one of them said.

"I haven't broken any laws!" another yelped.

Eiji's crimson eyes stayed locked onto Corin like a predator stalking its prey; he slowly reached put his gauntleted hand on the gold-encrusted hilt of his sword while closing the distance. Corin frantically backpedaled until his back smacked into another table, sending mugs and hunters' equipment careening onto the floor.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots! Kill him! He's after us!" Corin stammered, putting his hands out behind him to feel for any more obstacles as he continued to drunken stamper back.

His party of hunters reverently stepped aside as Eiji strode confidently past them, utterly unconcerned about them or anything they thought they could do.

"He's not after us..." one of the parting hunters said.

"What!? What do you say, you ingrate!?" Corin shouted, redirecting his dagger at the assembly of timid hunters. "You, you conniving, spineless punks! None of you would be anything without me!"—he backed into another table, sending his legs in the air as he smacked onto the floor. He began scurrying back, kicking his boots out to scurry away from Eiji, who'd slowly drawn his sword. It was a haunting sound of metal screeching in the suffocating silence as Eiji retrieved his longsword from its sheath, the intricately-carved golden accents of the hilt gleaming in the lantern light all the while.

Corin had reached the open entryway into the bar, running smack dab into the young female hunter who'd been peeking in. She gasped. "Out of the way, bitch!" he screamed, shoving her aside and jumping out onto the cobblestone street. He spun his head left, then right, frantically thinking which way he should go. His legs wobbled underneath him. He clutched his dagger tight, glanced back at the shadowy doorway of the tavern, seeing a bulky silhouetted figure working their way between the tables and toward the door like death itself coming for a dead man.

He opened his toothless mouth and hollered at the top of his lungs. "Y-You can't do this! I'm in the tranquility zone!"

The female hunter gathered herself on the cobblestone ground, looked at Corin with a delightful smirk as she rested on her knees. "Someone didn't read the hunter's handbook. A hound has the authority to kill in tranquility zones, asshole!"

"N-No!" Corin said in a huff. He feverishly wiped the saliva spooling from his open mouth.

Eiji stepped out of shadowy cove of the tavern and into the evening light, his silhouetted dissolving, and in its place a white-haired knight with a prominent scar stretching over his left cheek emerged. Each step onto the cobblestone path caused the armor to clink as Eiji squared up with the frail baldheaded hunter. The longsword gripped in Eiji's hand was as long as the young female hunter's body length, perhaps longer. And yet, Eiji held it up with ease, and with only a single hand. It gleamed in the receding glow of the setting sun.

Eiji pointed the mighty gleaming longsword right between Corin's eyes, the swish of air as the blade came down sounding like rushing water. The thickness of the blade was almost as wide as his skull. "Corin Grainfaulk," Eiji began with an even, unaffected tone. "two weeks ago in the seaside town of Perlesa, you committed an act infringing upon The Order's laws—murder in a tranquility zone."

"W-what...?" Corin muttered, his eyes widening, perhaps due to surprise or...something else. "What are you talking about?"

"The victim—Gwen Silverwood—was found mutilated in her room at an innkeep. The Eyes of the Order witnessed you as the suspect."

The female hunter sitting on the cobblestone road just off to the side raised her eyebrows and gasped after hearing that name spoken. "Gwen...?"

Beads of sweat raced down Corin's face as he'd gone cross-eyed staring at the apex of Eiji's sword between his eyebrows, mere inches away; he could see his breath fog up the surface of the blade, it was that close. "Wait a damn minute!" Corin begged, backing away. But for each step he took backwards, Eiji took a patient step forward, keeping the distance the same. Keeping the point of the blade breathlessly close to injecting itself between Corin's eyes. "I was told I wouldn't be pursued!"

"You were told wrong," Eiji said coldly.

"The Order said I'd have immunity!"

Eiji flinched at that statement, but only for a flash of a second; he quickly reasserted, "you are here by sentenced to death."

Corin held his chin, snickered. "T-That's right, you're just their lap dog, aren't you? True to your title. A hound"—something flashed in his eyes, a steely resolve. A resignation in his glare, recognition for the inevitable outcome of this encounter—"You've come to kill me, dog? Well, I won't I won't make it easy!"

Corin jumped back, shockingly spry for a man in his condition. He'd created instant separation between him and Eiji's extended blade, landing on his feet in a stumbling motion. He raised his dagger, a renewed conviction in his eyes. "Skill activation—BloodFlame Dagger!"

The dagger in Corin's hand became enflamed with a riveting red aura that writhed and whirled around the blade. The crimson glow of the dagger blade alighted his smirking, sweaty face like a scarlet mask.

"I'm a two-star hunter!" Corin growled, jabbing the flaming dagger at Eiji. "You're gonna have your hands full with me!"

Eiji lifted his longsword and rested it on his shoulder; the blade hit his shoulder plate with a loud clang. "Skill activation—" he uttered darkly. "Twenty Slash Nightmare."

His longsword became imbued with black writhing flames; Blackness began to overtake the metallic gleam of the sword in blotches, section by section, until the metal had become entirely dark, as if dipped in a pool of ink. With that, Eiji readied himself, dug his back foot into the cobblestone and leaned forward, prepared to lurch.

Corin shifted his feet, his drunkenness replaced by astute awareness. The female hunter on the ground had heard the bald headed utter under his breath while Eiji's own skill was activating, whispering, "Hunter's Clarity." She saw a fleeting blue aura around his body, turning his bloodshot eyes to a look that was sober and discerning. And then it was gone.

"A support skill," The female hunter whispered to herself as she watched on.

Corin held his flaming dagger out in front of him as he parted his legs, getting into his own fighting stance. "Well...what are you waiting for, dog? Didn't your master tell you to sic"—his speech was interrupted by bloodcurdling choking noises.

Eiji was behind Corin; the rush of wind from his quick movement was felt seconds after the move was already complete. The force of it ruffled the buckles on Corin's belt.

The female hunter's big blue eyes stretched wide as her jaw went slack. She was on her hands and knees, leaning forward, stammering, "H-How did he..!?"

As Eiji replaced his longsword into its sheath, the metal of the blade singing against the casing as it slid in, Corin's hands were wrapped around his own neck. Spurts of blood squeezed through his fingers and shot out into the air, landing on the cobblestone with a splick! Seconds passed, and Corin's fingers were drenched in blood, unable to make an airtight seal on his neck.

But that was the least of it.

Blood was seeping out from under Corin's leather vest. His trousers were cut at various angles, from his thigh all the way down to his ankles—a dozen scarlet cuts. Both legs. Lines of blood oozing out of every cut. 

His arm sleeves were torn, ripped into fine slices, and beneath the sleeves, more red lines of blood that dug into the skin.

A loud clink rang out as Eiji's longsword made it all the way into its sheath, and in that instant, Corin exploded into twenty pieces of meat chunks.

A few bloody chunks rolled in front of the female hunter, who'd yelped and fell back onto her butt as one of the chunks was a piece of Corin's head that held his left eye. It blinked at her. 

"AHHH!" She kicked the chunk away from her and trembled against a wooden column she placed her back against. In a panic, she unfastened her bandana and checked to see if anything had gotten on it.

The front of the tavern had blood graffitied over the windows and wooden support beams. The sign gently swaying above the door entryway had a few splotches of red covering the crude etching of a pint mug.

Eiji walked to the large pool of blood on the cobblestone that had jagged edges from the explosion, where once stood a man. He looked down at the mess, assessing his work.

A ruckus rang out. A quick glance showed the dozen or so hunters still in the tavern rushing out in a stampede and darting off in all directions, some losing all pretense and screaming as they fled.

Eiji turned his crimson gaze toward the female hunter, who'd just then turned white as a ghost and squeezed her eyes shut. "Please don't kill me!"

Eiji looked away and walked back into the shadowy cove of the tavern.

He approached the bar and sat down. The tavern keeper tried to polish the mug in his hand but his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"So," Eiji said, reaching up and grabbing a chunky piece of Corin that had got tangled in his white hair. He flicked it away. "You got that water refill I asked for?"