Chapter 9: Scavenger Settlement

The signpost in front of the settlement was made from a rib bone the size of a tree trunk, driven into the ground and carved with jagged, angular script that Koda understood without effort.

GREVALL TOWN.

He stood at the edge of it for a long moment before entering.

The wasteland behind him was filled with chaos; scattered violence, territorial scavengers, creatures that killed on sight because killing was simpler than deciding not to.

But this town was vastly different.

The surrounding walls built from the ribs and skulls of creatures far larger than anything Koda had killed so far, packed together with black volcanic stone and something that looked like hardened tar. Smoke rose from cookfires instead of wild burning. Demons walked between the buildings instead of stalking each other through them.

"There’s order here."

It unsettled him more than the wasteland ever had. Chaos, at least, made sense. This required a different kind of caution, cause you never know what happens behind this curtain of peace.

Koda kept to the edges as he walked deeper in, observing the settlement as he’d done every threat since waking in Hell.

A wide, open market occupied the center of the town, demons of a dozen different shapes and sizes haggling over goods spread across makeshift tables in every stall. Koda slowed as he passed.

The sales were mostly valuable body parts of demon beasts and monsters. Claws, fangs, hide sections, organs still glistening with preservation runes carved into the stone beneath them.

Small, dull stones changed hands constantly, passed from buyer to seller in exchange for goods, weighed and inspected before every trade.

"Currency? They’re using those stones as currency."

Further along, a vendor displayed something different; polished gems that shone faintly with dark light, each one radiating a low hum that Koda’s instincts immediately recognized.

"Those gems aren’t the same as the dull stones. They’re likely worth much more."

The distinction was quite obvious. One kind of stone held power, likely Infernal Essence. The other kind just represented value for trade, the way coins back on Earth had never actually been worth anything beyond what people agreed they were worth.

"This place has an actual functioning economy, built entirely out of demons trading pieces of other demons and monsters."

It was the closest thing to civilization he’d seen since waking up in Hell.

Koda didn’t get far past the market before trouble found him.

Three demons cut across his path, moving with the unhurried confidence of creatures who did this often. The one in front was broad-shouldered, missing one horn. A jagged scar run down one side of his face.

"New meat in town, aye." The demon looked him over, unimpressed but not dismissive either. "Don’t recognize the face. You’re not from Grevall."

"No," Koda said, without much thought. He wasn’t from around here, but the wasteland.

"Then you owe the newcomer tax." The demon held out one clawed hand, palm up. "Standard rate applies to every newcomer that enters Grevall Town. Whatever Soul Crystals you’re carrying, or whatever material you’re carrying that’s worth something. These are town rules, not mine."

Koda didn’t move. He could tell this demon was lying straight to his face. How could he not tell, when he wasn’t the only one who entered Grevall Town from the direction of the wasteland?

This demon had obviously picked him out as the weakest among them, to scam.

’There’s no newcomer tax. He’s making this up. But I don’t know that for certain, and if I’m wrong, refusing could get me in trouble with the officials, having just arrived.’

A small crowd had already started gathering at a comfortable distance. They knew something interesting was about to happen to this newcomer. A few of them were laughing already, nudging each other, clearly expecting the newcomer to either pay up or get made an example of.

"I don’t have anything on me," Koda said, which was true.

"Then we’ll take it out of you instead." The scarred demon’s grin widened, and the two behind him fanned out slightly, cutting off any easy retreat. "Newcomers who can’t pay still owe something. That’s how it works here."

Koda’s fists tightened at his sides. ’I could win this. Probably. But winning a fight in the middle of a town I know nothing about, against enemies I don’t understand the consequences of killing, is a different kind of risk than winning a fight in the wasteland.’

"That’s enough."

A soft voice cut through the crowd’s murmur before Koda could make up his mind.

A demoness pushed through the onlookers, moving with an unbothered confidence. She had a lean figure with curves at the right places, dark red scales, and quick eyes that swept the scene and clearly understood exactly what was happening before anyone explained it to her.

"Serah." The scarred demon’s grin faltered slightly. "This isn’t your business."

"Yeah... I know. But rules are rules... No fighting in town." Serah said it flatly, "Town Lord’s rule, not mine. You want to shake down a newcomer, take it outside the town walls. Do it in here, and it’s your problem when the enforcers show up, not mine."

The scarred demon’s jaw clenched for a moment, clearly weighing whether this was worth escalating.

But since it wasn’t, he backed off, muttering something under his breath, and the other two followed him without much argument. The crowd, deprived of its show, began drifting away, a few of them still laughing quietly at Koda’s expense as they went.

Koda watched them go, then turned to Serah.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don’t thank me." She looked him over the same way the scarred demon had, though her assessment was quite different. "I didn’t do that for you. Fighting in town gets the whole street shut down for some time while enforcers sort out who started it. That’s bad for everyone’s business, mine included."

"I’m Koda," he said, when she didn’t offer anything further. Regardless if she wanted or not, he still had to thank her.

"Serah." She studied him a moment longer. "You’re really new in town. Nobody who’s been here more than a week falls for the newcomer tax scam."

"Is it not real?"

"There’s no such thing as a newcomer tax. Grevall doesn’t tax individuals at all, only registered stalls and scavenger teams." She said it like it should have been obvious. "Since they saw an unfamiliar face, they assume you don’t know that yet. Most newcomers pay just to avoid trouble."

Koda nodded and kept that info away carefully.

"How do I know what’s real, then? The rules, I mean."

Something in his tone must have landed right, because Serah’s expression shifted, settling into a less guarded expression.

"You don’t, not at first. That’s how they get you." She started walking, and after a beat, Koda fell into step beside her. "Grevall runs on one most important rule: don’t cause trouble that draws the Town Lord’s attention. Everything else, the taxes, the fees, half the threats you’ll hear, is just demons testing whether you know any better."

"And if someone doesn’t know any better?"

"Then you get robbed, or worse, beaten up until you learnn. Or even... Killed." She glanced at him sideways. "You’re strong. I can tell that much just standing here. But strength doesn’t mean anything in a place like this if you don’t know who not to fight."

"Oh?" Koda didn’t need to ask as she continued.

"These people must be avoided at all costs. Anyone wearing a Lord’s mark or emblem; basically a member of nobility. Registered Scavenger Teams, and rich Merchants." She counted them off. "Everyone else is fair game if you’re strong enough, more or less, but even then, killing someone in town without a reason the Town Lord accepts gets you exiled. Or worse... Killed."

Koda absorbed all of it. ’Hell isn’t just a mindless killing realm. It also has a hierarchy, with actual consequences for stepping outside it. I need to learn where I stand in it before I do anything else.’

A horn shattered the relative quiet of the street, rolling out across the entire settlement.

Every head in the market turned toward the sound. Serah’s posture changed instantly, sharpening.

"That’s the return signal," she said. "A scavenger team’s coming back in."

"Is that unusual?"

"Depends on what they found." She was already moving toward the source of the noise, and Koda followed without needing to be asked. "That horn only sounds like that when a team’s bringing back something big enough that the whole town needs to know about it."

Ahead, through the gathering crowd, Koda caught his first glimpse of the returning team; a dozen armed demons moving in loose formation, hauling something enormous behind them on a sled built from lashed bone and hide.

A massive carcass, easily the size of the armored beast Koda had watched from the ledge days ago, its hide torn open in places to reveal something dark and glistening underneath.