Books of Chrona

Volume 3: Number of Pages does Matter

Jaegar decided to go to the town closest to Unowne, the town of Yuberden. It was close to the mountain areas where most monsters live. He thought that a town near such a location will be filled with requests to eradicate monsters.

"I wonder how many monsters I can get rid of here." He thought to himself after setting foot inside the town. He went straight to the tavern to check any job requests regarding monsters. He was not disappointed.

"Hey there, young knight. What are you doing in a place like this?" The old barkeep, while he was wiping a glass with cloth, asked Jaegar with a hint of interest. "Not many knights like you visit this town."

"Oh, we were given the mission of eradicating the monsters. I just thought I can do that here." He answered without looking at the barkeep and just continued to read the posts for requests.

"Now that's funny. Eradicate the monsters, you say? Isn't that a bit too late now?"

"What do you mean?" He finally looked at the barkeep.

"You capital folks really don't know what's happening outside your haven, do you?" The irritation can be felt from his voice. "We've been suffering from all the monster attacks for years now!"

"Well, you do live near the mountains. Most monsters live out there—"

"What are you knights and the other organizations even do, then? Instead of eliminating them, those damn monsters have increased in numbers! Do your job and protect the people!" Jaegar couldn't respond and quietly left while grabbing a request poster that got his interest.

---

Jaegar walked around town, reading the poster in his hand. "I guess killing monsters is equal to protecting the people. I should just kill a lot of monsters then. And this is the perfect way to start."

He walked towards the inn and rented a room. He left his small bag inside. Still grasping the request poster in his hand, he then went to the town restaurant. It was a pretty spacious one floor building. Considering the size of the town, the restaurant could easily be mistaken for the mayor's office.

He entered inside and asked a waiter that was serving the table nearest the entrance. "Hey, can I talk to the manager of this restaurant? It's about the request posted in the tavern."

"Go straight to the counter." The waiter didn't bother looking at Jaegar.

"I see. Thanks, Mr. Personality."

"I heard that." The waiter responded to him before leaving the table.

"I wasn't whispering, don't worry." Jaegar walked towards the counter without looking back at the waiter.

Once he was at the counter, he saw a pretty young lady arranging some dishes.

"Where's the manager? I want to talk about the request he posted at the tavern."

"You're looking at her."

"Are you serious? It's like you're younger than me, and that's a compliment." He didn't believe the young lady. "It may be a little too early to be killing your parents like that. Can you call your father or mother—"

"They're dead. Monsters killed them when I was younger. I'm afraid I can't call them."

"... I'm sorry. I guess I was... out of line." He lowered his voice.

"That's fine. Strangers like you don't bother me at all. Now, if you're serious about that request, then let's talk about it." The young lady was now looking straight at Jaegar, her eyes fixed on him but with no hint of anger.

"Did you request this for revenge?" She suddenly laughed at hm.

"Don't be silly!" The young lady was trying to control herself from laughing any further.

"Wait, were you just joking about your dead parents?"

"No, they're dead, for sure." She was still laughing a little bit.

"Then, why did you laugh?" He was perplexed at the strange behaviour of the young lady.

"I always tend to get one adventurer or another with that 'dead parents' stuff. The other day some mage even cried. Your reactions are priceless, I tell you."

"So this request is just a joke to make you laugh, then?" A bit of annoyance can be sensed in his voice.

"No, no, no. That request is real." She suddenly turned very serious. "Do you see this large restaurant? This is the only restaurant in Yuberden, and since we're the nearest town to Unowne, we get a bit of customers who are going to and leaving the Capital. So, we need a lot of food supply."

"And that's where the monsters come in."

"You got it. Now, if you can get me twenty wild boars, then you can have one free meal here. Just like what's written in the request."

"Music to my ears." He left the counter and exited the restaurant. "Man, I'm hungry. Better hurry up with that meal."

---

Thirty minutes have passed. Jaegar returned to the restaurant dragging twenty corpses of wild boars, tied together by rope. He went straight to the counter, thus dragging the bodies of the boars inside the restaurant. The customers eating inside didn't even flinch.

"Here are your twenty wild boars. Can I eat now? What do you have?" He asked the young lady.

"Wow, that's fast. How did you do that?"

"Just went out there and did my thing. As you can see, I am a member of the Knight's Order—"

"I couldn't care less which organization you're a member of. I have more tasks for you, if you want. There will be some money involved, too."

"For such a young lady, you really know how to entice people."

"Remember my dead parents?" She then looked at the ground and stared blankly while talking. "I had to learn quickly if I had to inherit this restaurant. It's the only thing my parents left me." Tears started to well up in her eyes.

"No need for the water works, I was going to do it anyway. Just get me my food."

"Oh, I hate quick learners." She smiled at him while preparing the food.

---

Three days have passed. Day after day, Jaegar did more and more of the requests the young lady had. Wild boars, sleepy mushrooms, lazy lizards and even crazy birds were on the list of monsters to be hunted. These monsters could be considered to be at the bottom of the monster totem pole. Suffice to say, they were no problem for Jaegar.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Jaegar asked the young lady while he was eating his meal during noon at the counter of the restaurant.

"Yes, my dear slave?"

"How come there are still monsters out there when I have been hunting them for three days?"

"That's probably because the parent monsters are still alive."

"What? So it means that if I kill the parents, then there'd be no more monsters around here?"

"Yes, probably. But, I order you not to do that."

"What? Don't tell me you don't want those poor monsters to be orphans like you? I'm not falling for that."

"Because we'll lose our source of food supply, you idiot."

"But still, if we can eliminate the source of the monsters, then why don't we do it? Why don't you people do it?"

"We would have if we could. Why do you think my parents are dead?" She stared at Jaegar.

"You should have just said that in the first place. You can still make food if you raise livestock and plant some vegetables. It'll be much safer when I eliminate those parent monsters."

"But, what can you do? You're just a single knight. Many have tried before, and none were able to slay them. Don't waste your life. We've accepted our fate as it is..."

"One thing you don't understand." Jaegar stood up from his seat. "I'm not wasting my life. My mission is my life, and now I'm one step closer to completing it." He then took out all the gold he got as payment from the previous requests the young lady gave him. "Use this to start a farm or something. I have no idea if that's enough or not, but since I'd be causing you trouble by killing those monsters, I feel I should help at least a little." He then turned around to leave. Before he exited the restaurant, he shouted at the young lady. "Don't worry; I'd get that revenge for you."

"Stop acting cool, I prefer way older men than you." She whispered as tears were flowing down her cheeks.

---

Jaeger went back to the inn to collect his things. He then asked around town about the location of the parent monsters. Some said it was at the top of the mountains, while some claimed they were deep in the forest just outside of town. On his agenda to collect information, he ended back at the tavern. He thought there was no harm in asking the barkeep some questions. He entered the tavern with some hesitation, still.

"You're still in town, I see."

"Yeah."

"So, what brings the mighty knight to my humble tavern?" The barkeep was intently looking at Jaegar while wiping the glass he was holding.

"I just want to ask a few questions. Do you have any idea about the whereabouts of the parent monsters here in this area?"

"Don't tell me you're planning on killing those monsters, too? You adventurers sure are crazy."

"Did someone else look for them as well?"

"Yeah. And I regret sending her to her death. She was here a few days ago asking around, so to get my payback on you lousy adventurers, I told her where those strong monsters live." The barkeep stopped wiping the glass he was holding. "That's her fate, I guess."

"So you don't regret it, after all."

"You bet I don't. You deserve all what's coming to you. My son would still be alive—"

"Where did you send her?"

"Now you want to be a knight in shining armor, eh? Well, even if you follow her to the northern most part of the forest, she's definitely dead by now! Maybe even before she got there! There's nothing you can do—"

"You're weak and all you get to do is complain. Suck it up. That's your fate, I guess." Jaegar left the tavern in a hurry. The barkeep didn't even see him leave.

---

Jaegar ran as fast as he could. In just a few minutes, he reached the northern most part of the forest. It was surrounded by the foot of the mountains. He then walked slowly so as not to alert any monsters lurking around. He then found a small clearing where a cave was located.

"That must be a nest or something."

"Who are you?" A guy in tattered clothing was sitting on top of a large tree branch.

"Huh? What are you doing up there?"

"I'm observing the cave. Those parent monsters haven't come out for a while."

"I mean, why are you up there? And if it's true those strong monsters are here, isn't it dangerous to be hanging around in this place?"

"It's true. I was the one who found it and told my father about it."

"Don't tell me your father is that grumpy old barkeep?"

"Hey! Don't talk about him like that! He's grumpy, old and a barkeep but... Well, he's still my father." He seemed to realize that everything Jaegar said was true.

"He said you were dead? How come you're still alive?"

"Oh, don't mind him. He's starting to be senile anyway. And I was a trainee at the Warriors Guild, though I was a dropout. So, I can hold my own in a fight.

"That's reassuring." Suddenly, the ground shook and a large wild boar ran out from inside the cave. Its size was five times bigger than the ordinary wild boar. It stood tall over Jaegar and the guy on top of the branches. It cried out a loud roar.

"Hey, come back here!" A girl with blue hair wearing a mage hat ran out from the cave to follow the huge wild boar. The boar turned around to face the girl and ran towards her.

"Darn it, she's in trouble." Jaegar prepared to run towards the girl when the guy fell from the tree. In a split second, he had to choose which one to save first.