Chapter 780: Capturing a Calamity Creature

Akta's squad does not return that night, but Sambik still tends the courtyard with care.

He makes sure the pack animals have been fed, then splits firewood and heats water.

Late that night, he curls up in the animal pen, burrows into the dry straw for warmth, and falls fast asleep.

A clamor outside eventually jolts him awake.

Sambik comes to his senses, scrambles up, and runs out of the courtyard.

Cries of alarm ripple along the street.

Akta and his soldiers are back, every one of them covered in blood. Sambik squeezes through the crowd. "My lord, are you hurt?"

Akta pushes him back with one hand. "Stay away! We're fine. Go home!"

Still worried and confused, Sambik returns to his crumbling little house.

Half an hour later, someone summons the village elder, the militia captain, and several others outside the village.

A pile of corpses awaits them. Their faces drain of color, and their knees begin to shake.

Akta says, "Go to Grayearth Town. Tell the constables to send over the things we commissioned."

The village elder points at several bound creatures nearby. "My lord, are those the calamity creatures you mentioned?"

The Subterranean River Bandits stand roughly 1.7 meters tall. They look almost human, but fine scales cover every patch of exposed skin.

Most striking are the gill-like organs along their necks.

They seem terrified of sunlight and huddle together beneath the trees, pressing as deep into the shade as they can.

A closer look reveals nails that taper into sharp cones and webbing between their fingers.

When the humans stare, the Subterranean River Bandits bare dense rows of sharp teeth and hiss in warning.

The instant they meet the eyes of Akta's soldiers, fear twists their faces and they shrink against one another.

The village elder and his companions soon notice the larger creature in the pit.

It stands over two meters tall. Its lower body looks like a cross between a snake's tail and a fish's.

Above that is a broad, muscular torso. A spined fin runs from the back of its neck to the end of its tail.

Its body is dark aquatic green and covered in hard scales. In addition to its nose, gill-like structures line both sides of its neck.

More spined fins line the outside of its thick arms between wrist and elbow.

Sharp teeth crowd its mouth, and membranous lids protect its eyes underwater.

Several thick chains bind it, yet it continues to thrash.

The elder's voice shakes. "Wh-what... what kind of monster is that?"

Akta ignores the question. "Do as I said. Notify Grayearth Town now. Someone will come and deal with this."

A convoy reaches the village that afternoon.

Noble household troops and Lumir garrison troops have come, along with two Holy Lake Knights.

More than a dozen Peace Haven soldiers accompany the hundred or so local troops.

After a brief inspection, they load every captive, including the water demon, into iron cages.

They take the corpses too. How the haul is divided has nothing to do with Akta's squad.

Only after everything is settled do Akta and his men return to their temporary courtyard.

Sambik already has hot water waiting, much to everyone's satisfaction.

The soldiers reek of blood and fish. Every one of them needs a bath.

Once the armor comes off, wounds appear across many of their bodies.

Akta has fared especially badly, with a long gash across his left shoulder.

The torn flesh drains all color from Sambik's face. He freezes with the hot water still in his hands.

Berio takes the water and cleans the wound. Then he produces a sterilized needle and begins stitching it closed with silk-like thread.

Akta never flinches. He simply sits there, sipping his water.

After a moment, he says, "You did well, brat. Here's your pay. Now run to the general store and buy some cotton cloth."

Akta tosses him several silver coins. Sambik fumbles the catch and drops two, then snatches them up, bows to the soldiers, and runs outside.

A few steps later, he thinks he hears something.

He glances back. Nothing seems wrong. Akta is still being treated.

The instant Sambik rounds the corner, Akta leaps to his feet. "What kind of rotten stitching is that? It hurts like hell!"

"Swap out! Get Little Pike over here! How did you graduate from the military academy when you stitch like this?"

The others roar with laughter as Akta bares his teeth against the pain.

After three days of rest, the squad returns to patrol, searching for any other calamity creatures nearby.

Sambik grows closer to the soldiers, and they learn more about his life.

He is the eldest of three children, with a younger brother and sister.

Two years ago, a falling stone killed his father while the man was building a fortress for the viscount.

The family received five gold coins in compensation.

Five gold coins for a man's life?

Not a chance!

The viscount's steward skimmed off one coin immediately.

The magistrate took another. The town constable took a third.

The man might be dead, but every copper of tax owed to the noble lord still had to be paid!

The tax collector deducted another gold coin as advance payment for the family's next two years of taxes.

In the end, a human life was worth one gold coin.

That coin could support the family for two years, but only if they stretched every scrap of food.

Those two years are now over. The tax collector will come for them again this year.

The family owns about half an acre of flower fields. When Sambik's father tended them, they could just scrape by.

Now his mother is bedridden, his three-year-old sister cries for food, and his nine-year-old brother must stay home to care for them both.

Sambik spends every day working himself raw in the fields, copying his neighbors as best he can while tending the flowers.

He was already on the verge of running out of food when Akta's squad arrived.

He gathered his courage and asked the soldiers for work. That work kept his family alive.

Because he works hard, the squad now gives him a few kilograms of grain each day.

Small errands sometimes earn him a little extra.

Whenever the squad returns at night, Sambik eats dinner with them.

He takes the leftovers home to his family as well.

The squad eats extremely well. Two or three soldiers come from wealthy families and care nothing about their modest mission allowance.

If local supplies weren't so scarce, their meals would be better still.

Another half month passes before orders send Akta's squad to help with a battle near a different town.

Once the battle ends, they must return to Lanku Village, pack their belongings, and move to another mission area.

Akta has a farewell gift ready for Sambik: a longsword forged by the town blacksmith.