The sky was dim and cloudy, like rain would fall soon. Among the five who'd joined Yove's venture, three of them scattered around the village, announcing they'd set up shop in the square. They asked various people what they needed too.
Whether they had it or not, they said they had everything.
Vicious Sejebon was with Yove. Sejebon was thin and small with a vicious face, looking wicked.
The reason Yove accepted him was simple. To chase off troublemakers, and he fought well too.
'Don't know where he rolled in from, but sharing intent is like hiring a mercenary.'
Since they'd share the mountain merchant group's profits, it was cheaper than hiring a mercenary. Sejebon kept his hands behind his back, watching what Yove did, trying to learn his know-how.
"Come! Come! Peddler Yove is here!"
Outside where he'd set up, poorly made branches were arranged as barrier fences. To prevent onlookers from taking goods, and reflecting Yove's preference for serving one person at a time.
"Heard you're looking for something?"
"What do you need? Just say it!"
"Looking for a thick padlock. I was going to commission the blacksmith, but it's too expensive..."
He showed a fist-sized padlock, but the customer shook his head.
"Don't you have thicker ones?"
"No! Next!"
"Wait, you said you had it! You definitely said you had it! This padlock is it? Nothing else?"
Seeing the angry customer, Yove signaled Sejebon with his eyes. He immediately stepped forward, getting in the man's face. Just glared.
The villager immediately backed down awkwardly, then cleared his throat and turned away.
'Well done. Good job. Haha!'
Yove, full of smiles, grabbed Sejebon's shoulders, made him step back, and raised his voice.
"Someone else come!"
Barter mostly happened with leather or minerals that had fairly fixed prices, and sometimes he traded for necessities like shoes in good condition. He'd loudly say he'd lower the price more if they paid in currency.
Patter. Pat.
Around sunset, raindrops started falling. Villagers hurried back to their houses, and the peddlers, including Yove and Sejebon, hurriedly packed their bags and headed for the empty houses.
"Where's the raincoat."
"Gotta eat dinner before going."
"Gotta grab bread and go. It's something big."
When peddler Yove really hurried, Sejebon got interested. The other three seemed to want to eat.
"Eat and rest. Just Sejebon and I will go and come back."
"You said something big? I'll come too."
The youngest, Jekun, who'd taken one bite of lukewarm soup that hadn't even boiled yet along with some bread, followed along. The other two were too tired to think of going.
The rain was heavy, but not much had fallen yet.
"Looks like it'll rain a lot more..."
Nobody answered Sejebon's muttering. The road to the ranch was muddy from the rain. If you didn't focus, you could slip and fall.
"Whoa!"
The youngest Jekun slipped and staggered. He slid, waving his hands in the air. Fortunately, he didn't fall.
"Be careful."
At Yove's words, Jekun made a sound acknowledging he understood.
"Buying livestock at the ranch?"
"No. This village has one hunter with real guts."
As the rain fell, Sernhac and Haldanak, who ran the ranch, were both home. Rowan also didn't stay long in the forest because the weather was cloudy. A forest without sun and moon was where darkness descended easily—a scary place.
Rowan had already experienced true darkness once. He had enough experience to change his decisions based on the environment.
Only fifteen, but Rowan's height exceeded 170 centimeters. Having experienced real combat several times, plus Sendabil's Close Combat Tactics, made his presence tremendously sharp.
Nobody would think he was fifteen. Many villagers said he'd changed after the bandit attack. Sernhac and Haldanak already considered Rowan a man.
"Who is it?"
"Peddler Yove!"
Yove, who'd visited here many times. The leather Rowan brought from the deep forest was on a different level from others, and there was another reason. His slip of the tongue.
'Thinking of that time still makes me thirsty for booze.'
There had been one really good whole hide, and while talking about how to sell it, he'd accidentally mentioned the actual sale price. Thanks to that slip, the negotiation for that item—that big thing—was still ongoing.
First, it was big-bodied, so the hide was large. That alone could sell for extra money.
Second, it was mostly a whole hide with few holes. Rowan's technique of skillfully cutting hides whole was something everyone knew, but it required meticulousness, so not all hunters did it. Also, catching prey with few holes or by inflicting wounds on the inside that didn't show on the outside made them very good as taxidermy hides.
'Taxidermists line up.'
Peddler Yove had already profited quite a bit from Rowan's whole hides. Any taxidermist would readily open their door at the name peddler Yove.
"Rowan! Your customer!"
"Yeees!"
Calling back, Rowan came down from the second floor. Seeing him, Yove broke into a full smile. His merchant's face, practiced many times before still puddles, was his specialty. Round and round, smiles suited him very well.
'The money pile's coming down!'
Unlike the cheerful Yove, Sejebon hardened his expression.
'Blood scent...'
The blood scent he felt from Rowan's presence and bearing. It wasn't the beast blood scent unique to hunters. The presence of someone who'd killed multiple humans was mixed in. He knew it naturally. Because Sejebon had worked with rough guys.
"Long time no see, Mr. Yove. I'll grab a raincoat for a moment, so please wait there. The item is elsewhere. It's a pretty big one."
At his calm tone, Sejebon's eyebrows twitched.
'Completely opposite the presence he gives off. Because he hunts roughly?'
While waiting, Yove spoke to Sejebon and Jekun, who were standing blankly behind him.
"A man called deep forest hunter Rowan. Looks like that, but he's only fifteen years old. But don't think of speaking casually. A man who greatly values mutual respect."
"Fifteen? At an age when most are still greenhorns..."
The youngest Jekun was amazed. Plus, he was called "youngest," but that fifteen-year-old had the cool title of deep forest hunter.
"The deep forest has quite a few beasts and monsters appearing. Does he hunt there?"
"Yeah. He sets traps at the forest entrance and hunts in the deep forest. Amazing."
While they whispered, brown wolf Dono, stimulated by the new scent, poked his head out and looked at them.
"That's a wolf, isn't it?"
"The head's a bit big for a wolf. Is it a dire wolf cub?"
At Sejebon's serious words, Yove giggled and laughed.
"Lives here. Unlike wild wolves, he eats so much he got big."
"Ah..."
While chatting, Rowan came down. Wolf Dono, flaring his wet nose wide, stuck to Rowan's side.
"Let's go."
Rowan led the way. A small warehouse not far from the ranch was the destination. A personal warehouse Rowan had built with help from some youth association people. Of course, he had to give them hunted goods in return. The youth association existed to cooperate and help each other, not to help for free.
Outsiders could never enter the youth association, and to enter, you had to make considerable effort for the village. Unless you brought ten criminal serfs like Rakson, you had to endure village hazing.
The criminal serfs, after Rakson died, were owned by Black Mountain Village and became youth association members. They couldn't leave the village, but they were in the process of marrying and becoming village members.
Most had become serfs due to debt, so they could blend into the village.
Clang clang!
Unlocking the padlock, he removed the chains. All sorts of noise-making things hung in clusters on the iron bars surrounding the warehouse.
Whoosh!
He lit torches fixed in three places inside the warehouse. Yove exclaimed as he entered.
"Wow!"
A bear's whole hide was spread out on wooden tables. Six tables were pushed together. It was that massive.
"An incredible one. Not an ordinary bear?"
"Even monsters avoided it."
Rowan spoke excitedly. He didn't explain the hunting method in detail, but lifted the head hide.
"Cut below the neck and killed it by bleeding it out."
"Amazing. Amazing."
Yove said that while carefully examining the whole hide. Carefully combing the fur backwards, he nodded while looking for holes. There were none anywhere.
"Ah. There's a bite mark on the back leg here."
"My wolf bit it. Had to distract it when I was cutting the throat."
Even that mark was covered by fur, and taxidermists especially loved such stories. Yove asked frequent questions about hunting the bear while listening to Rowan. Today's story would be retold, inflated and exaggerated.
Sejebon stuck out his tongue. The bear's paw was bigger than his face.
"To think of cutting the throat of something this big..."
He absolutely couldn't do it himself. The moment that massive bulk stood firmly on two legs, his legs would go weak and he'd be busy running. Just thinking about it made his spine tingle.
"Ugh."
He rubbed his forearm.
Rowan chuckled at the sight. His forest experience killing Sendabil had been a great benefit.
He'd gained the courage not to fear even when facing something massive.
"How much do you want?"
Peddler Yove asked carefully.
"30 silver coins."
At that, the youngest Jekun gasped. Tremendous money. A family of four could live frugally on one silver. An enormous amount.
"Let's do 10 silver. This hide is truly amazing, but taking it to a taxidermist barely gets 25."
"You should say something sensible. Something this big has never been put on the market... hasn't it? If you take enough time, 50 silver is easy."
"Wouldn't that take time? Mr. Rowan can't go far to sell it, and wouldn't it be hard to carry 30 silver? Merchants don't come to this village often either."
"I need to get at least 20 silver."
Peddler Yove shook his head. He sighed deeply.
They talked about all sorts of things. The youngest Jekun and vicious Sejebon watched, holding their breath with pounding hearts.
They talked for over fifteen minutes but never came any closer to an agreement. Peddler Yove nodded.
"If not 15 silver, I won't do it."
"Then come back when you have 20 silver ready."
Rowan said so. Yove's hands trembled, but soon he clenched his fist and put on his raincoat. The negotiation had already broken down; if he tried to negotiate again, Rowan would raise the price. He'd known from the start that the hunter wasn't an easy opponent, so he figured time would solve it.
'He can't leave it sitting too long either. I'll come again next time.'
A very big one. Given time, even 1 gold coin was possible. Or it looked like he could sell it to a big merchant group for 60 silver.
Coming back to the empty house empty-handed, Yove's expression was bright. Seeing the big one in person had been truly amazing.
"The deal failed, but why so smiley?"
At Sejebon's words, Yove talked excitedly, drinking warmed liquor and tearing bread.
"Can't help being happy. A big one like that's welcome anywhere. At least I'll get 40 silver."
He'd lowered it by 10 from what he'd originally thought. Because if he talked too big and couldn't get it, only his face would crumple.
"If it's 40, just buy it for 20."
Sejebon didn't seem to understand. Same for the others. Yove laid out a long speech to those gathered in the empty house.
"For peddlers, touching copper coins is work. Sometimes we can't even grab copper. Did anyone here even see silver from selling goods today?"
"..."
Yove continued.
"For peddlers, big deals maybe come once a year. Don't you get why he's called deep forest hunter? Anyway, he's a hunter living in this countryside. Who knows how many years it'll take before he goes outside. Until then, I've gotta profit for sure."
"His age is fifteen, so you're targeting that."
Sejebon understood perfectly. Stories about how Rowan wanted success but still thought it was too early because of his age—everyone in the village knew. Peddler Yove had learned everything from Rowan's training under Rakson to all the village gossip while sharing drinks.
Yove had a late dinner, drinking warmed liquor while talking about Rowan. Until the mountain merchant group entered a stable period, Rowan had to be a good customer.
'Training him as a contact.'
After chatting here and there, it got late. Sejebon left the empty house and went back to where he'd unpacked his things.
While lighting a fire in the furnace and settling in, past midnight, a downpour started.
Whoooosh—!
'Weather where sound and smell don't travel far.'
He felt for the dagger against his chest. An old bad habit was resurfacing.