Ball of Nothing

Truen came back with the girl smelling like blood and Bob flinched. He eyed the slave on Truen's back and wondered how the elf caught up so quickly. The stench of murder didn't escape Zero. He thought he would feel more uncomfortable at the thought but found himself secretly feeling happy that those adventurers were gone for good. The feeling horrified him slightly but he tried to ignore it. It must be Venn's memories messing with him. Ever since Zero recovered some memory fragments, he felt like his personality was going all over the place.

Ignoring the fact that his best friend might have just committed murder, Zero took a look at the mole beast girl. She seemed to be hurt and Zero frowned. He looked at Truen who hoisted the girl onto Zero's mount. She was still conscious but had obviously been mistreated under the care of those adventurers.

"Bob, could you help to harvest the rest of the bees and salvage what you can from their goods? I'm going to be late for the match so I will be leaving first. Zero, please head back to the inn and treat the girl. I believe you can keep her company until I return. Don't be afraid to spend money on things she might need, ask Dwayne to put it on my tab."

Zero nodded and Bob crawled out from inside of Zero's shirt. The mole beast girl couldn't tell what was going on and she didn't dare to ask because she didn't know if her new captors were good or bad people. The elf's threat had definitely been real and she didn't want to get on their wrong side. Compared to the adventurer party, these people were more dangerous although she was still slightly confused why they saved her.

"I will harvest everything, master. Do I just put it in the shared inventory and dismantle them later? I'm not exactly the expert and might devalue the materials."

Zero nodded. "That's fine. I wonder if there will be anyone capable of helping us dismantle the back at the village. I don't think we can dismantle so many killer bees at the inn. There isn't enough space..."

The dragon thought about it. "Actually, we might be able to dismantle them at the stable if there isn't anyone available to help us out. Truen's match will take at least a few hours. I heard that he was up against three opponents today. Even if he knocks them out flat in less than a second, the waiting time in between can take a while."

Zero agreed. "She needs medical attention so I'll be leaving first. Will you be able to get back alone?"

Bob grinned. "I'm a dragon, master. I can use magic to get back most of the way. Don't worry about me, I will meet up with you at the inn as a human claiming to be your friend to help you dismantle the killer bee corpses. You should head back first, be safe!"

Zero agreed and kicked the side of the sand walker to send it running. Bob watched his master leave and frowned when he was no longer within sight. Truen told him to stay back not only to harvest the spoils of war but also to clean up the mess. It would be troublesome if someone came across the bodies and Bob's job was to incinerate them. It was a good thing that he was a dragon capable of fire magic. Burning a few corpses wouldn't be a problem and Bob swiftly got to work.

Zero galloped with the mole beast girl who was still very stiff and afraid of him. Whatever Truen did earlier must have traumatised the poor beast girl and Zero didn't know how to tell her that they might have done bad things but they weren't bad people. It was the lawless zone after all and anything could happen. Zero thought that it would all be over if he simply healed her and sent her on her way. However, he understood that letting a fish go in a pond full of sharks was simply sending it to its death. He wasn't such an irresponsible person but he didn't know if they could afford to bring her along with them to the desert. It might be better to leave her with Dwayne to work as a helping hand in the stable like Brutus.

It was nearing noon when Zero returned to the stable. Brutus was tending to another client's mount when he saw his first friend return with a blind slave beast girl.

"What happened? Where did you find her?" he asked and took the reins of the sand walker from the small elf.

"Long story," Zero smiled apologetically, not wanting to offer more details. "Say, do you think Dwayne will be angry if we bring her up to our room? She's badly hurt so I thought I'd treat her myself."

"You can treat her?" the ex-mercenary was surprised. Zero nodded and told him that he was actually a healer.

"Oh, in that case, Dwayne should have no problems. If you need anything else you can let the innkeeper know, he can get them for you."

Zero looked at the mole girl and thought about it. "Do you know where they sell clothes for a girl like her? She needs a bath and these rags are not wearable."

Brutus nodded. "I will tell Dwayne. We can get them for you but it will not be cheap. It is Deadman Town, clothes are rare."

Zero pulled an untouched killer bee corpse and dumped the giant bee on the ground. Brutus was startled by the corpse and more startled at Zero's spatial magic.

"This?!"

Zero nodded. "We went hunting. How many of these do you need to buy her some clothes? We killed a swarm attacking the adventuring party that put her in a cage. They didn't survive, we could only save her."

Brutus examined the corpse. Although he wasn't an expert appraiser, he could tell that these killer bees were in very good condition. The stingers were not destroyed and they were mostly intact.

"Good corpse. Will sell well with the Green Hawks. I will check the price and buy some clothes. How many bees did you kill?"

Zero checked his inventory and replied. Bob was still collecting the corpses so he expected a few more to come in but not too many. "A little over three hundred although some of them are badly damaged so I will keep them to make myself some medicine. Bee venom is good for cough medicine."

Brutus nodded. "I will ask the price for two hundred and fifty killer bee corpses. Is that ok?"

The doctor smiled. "Thank you, Brutus."