The Princess And The Lord

The reason hunters are known as one of the most dangerous professions is that even though they are paid quite a lot to complete their missions, that only applies to high-level hunters.

For new hunters, they have to prove their abilities first before getting support from their Guild, as a result, at the beginning of the mission, new hunters have to pay for their own needs, such as health potions, mana potions, weapons, transportation, and even recruit their own members.

Alas, the pay is not too high either because the task given is relatively easy so if anyone wants to get more money they have to raise their level which means they have to dare to take on a more dangerous job or try to be recruited by a group of hunters who are already at a high level but as a result, those rookies sometimes only be used by experienced hunters as bait or stepping stone, but most of the time just simply die during missions due to lack of abilities or bad luck.

In the end, only a few could survive living as a hunter, and therefore anyone who managed to reach the highest level as a Hunter would be rewarded with fame, status, and wealth beyond even that of high-ranking soldiers.

Jack looked at Lory with an inquisitive expression "It seems Miss Jane knows about hunters and guilds more than I expected"

Lory sip her tea calmly "I think that common sense Mr. Quaid"

"Call me Jack" he cut in.

Lory flicks a smile "Then…Jack, you can call me Raven then" Lory put down the teacup.

"The truth is…Raven" he raised his brows playfully "That's still how it works in the Guild around the world, but we…"

"But we chose the higher road and compensated every time we gave misinformation which quite often so that why our guild is broke…" Maddy interrupted while placing a piece of paper in front of Jack.

"We're not broke, we're just tight on budget" Jack corrected her before signing the papers and Madeline took them while secretly rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm not complaining, because Miss Jane is deserved to get compensation for the mistakes we make" she smiled sweetly at Lory.

But Jack scoffed "But you didn't say that with the previous hunter..."

She shoots a dagger at Jack "So what, I like Miss Jane more besides the previous Hunters shouldn't need to get compensation just because the target is a bit stronger, what's the difference between Orcs and Gremlins they are still at the same level Beast" Madeline spat her anger freely.

"Uhm…Orc and gremlin are quite different…..Oh, nothing...." The big man quickly shut his mouth cause his little assistant send dead glared at him.

It's funny how big guy Jack acts like a scared grizzly in front of his squirrel-like assistant, Lory thinks this is more like a fight between lovers than a fight between boss and assistant.

However, Lory's mouth twitched as she realizes she suddenly become a third wheel, now she regrets she didn't bring Zhao Li Xin with her.

Jack cleared his throat to ease the awkwardness around them "Other than that can I ask you what happened at that time I heard you meet with Garrof Winfield so you must meet with Lloyd too?"

"Yeah, I met them when we were hunting wild Hounds, it seems they got secret information to hunt Zhyger, and I also saw Owen took the Zhyger's liver so it's easy to guess whoever hired them must be rich caused Zhyger is not easy to subdue" explained Lory.

"Yeah, you're lucky you're still alive!" Jack scratched his head in clear frustration and anger "The difference between big and small guilds has become so apparent to the point it's embarrassing, just for example, the big guilds get better clients, better payouts, better resources, and most importantly better information but the problem is they don't accept simple tasks like killing vermin like Wild Hounds that attack village or little orc that steal from human farm so they leave that task to the small guilds like us but the problem is they only provide minimal support to us which make small guild hard to survive  and the problem is, if small Guild gone who else going to help the ordinary people?!"

Madeline let out a sigh of exasperation "What else we could do? it's because the Guild Association is in disarray that the monitoring for the Guilds has lessened and as a result, we now have to bribe the guild association manager to get accurate information...but we broke,"

"It got so bad, huh?" Lory was amazed at how bad the situation become compared to the past.

Even though fairness it's not always happening between the guilds but the disparity between big and small guilds shouldn't be as obvious as this cause in the end they need each other.

"But talk about Zhyger's liver" Madeline contemplated for a moment "Could it be the rumor is true" She look at Jack with an anticipatory look.

Jack leans his back on the backrest then crosses his arms in front of his chest soon his whole expressions become tense "It seems that way…"

"May I know what you two are talking about?" since they discussed it freely in front of her Lory guessed it might not be a secret.

Jack took a sip of hot coffee and then took a deep breath "There are rumors that the oldest Hamilton grandson was seriously injured after he led an expedition to the Quet Peak mountain in the north"

"Quiet Peak mountain?" Lory reiterated "That dangerous place, why?"

"Do you mind if a smoke?" he suddenly asked.

"Sure" Lory answer nonchalantly.

Jack cut the cigar with the cutter then the lighter in his hand sparked after that he slowly lit the cigar, he gently puffed a few times before releasing white smoke into the air, soon a thick smell of tobacco filled the room causing Madeline pouted then she turned on the exhaust in the room to remove the smell.

Jack was used to his fierce assistant, he continued his story "You know the Hamilton family right?"

Lory tried to remember Hamilton's name but couldn't get anything but after a lot of things she had been through, it was only natural that she would forget a lot of things.

Lory shook her head, "Should I?"

Both Madeline and Jack looked at Lory incredulously, they couldn't believe anyone didn't know about the Hamilton family.

Okay let me explain briefly, the Hamilton family is from Wellinburg they lived in the city of Edington for generations until that annoying black dragon Nazareth appeared and destroyed half the world including Wellinburg and the entire city of Edington.

Like most people, the Hamilton family was forced to flee to another place, however, after the Dark Ages war ended they moved here, to Eagle rock city for some reason, I think they're waiting for Edington to rebuild before they returned to their hometown." Jack took another puff on his cigar and then gently tapped the cigar on the tray

"The Hamilton family was originally known for making weapons but the current head of the family decided to shift their main products to electronics, home appliances, cars, ships, and so on and it proved to be a smart move because after the war most people would rather spend their money for a house, furniture, home appliances, and vehicle, right" 

"Someone has keen observation..." Lory makes a casual comment.

"Indeed, unfortunately, Hamilton's eldest grandson had an accident during the expedition from searching rare material or something and only Zhyger's liver could help him," said Jack.

"The curse of the Ice Queen's, heart" Lory said absently.

Jack and Madeline were stunned "So you know?" curiosity pique his mind

Lory is taken aback and then shrugs "I read a lot" she answers perfunctorily.

Of course, Jack didn't believe her but he did not probe further instead he deliberately lead her to see how much this strange woman knew "Yes, and Zhyger's liver will help to lift the cursed"

Lory pondered for a moment then she took a sip of her tea, Jack could see something going through her mind "It seems you have another opinion, may I know what it is?"

Lory smacked her red lips while thinking whether it was necessary to tell him about this but again this was not a big secret "Zhyger's liver can indeed help but it depends on how severe the curse is and how long it infected the victim's body because like any other curse when the cursed reside too long, it will take root in body and when it does it will be difficult to break the curse but worst comes to worst even if Zhyger's Liver cannot heal him it still able to prolong that man's life until a better solution is found."

Lory felt sorry for the man because even people who survived the curse of the Ice Queen's heart would become disabled from the side effects of consuming Zhyger's liver.

"You know a lot about cursed, Raven" A glint flashed in Jack's eyes.

"My Uncle used to teach me about this stuff" The corner of her lips involuntarily lift as she remember the memory of her study with Uncle Dorian who is one of his father's Archknight.

"Your Uncle sounds smart," said Jack 

"He is..." Lory remembers Dorian as a gentle and quiet man, Lory clears her throat and then continues to ask "But If the Hamilton family is very rich why don't they ask The saintess for help, with their influence, it wouldn't be difficult to contact the S.A.I.N.T organization right?"

"Well, I don't know about that, but they do contact the S.A.I.N.T organization for help and they were introduced to the Great Saber group to hunt Zhyger at the Riverblade" Jack sounds quite upset.

"That explained where Garrof got the information" Madeline chimed in.

"So that's how Lydia Boyd joined Garrof's group!" Lory contemplate as some of her questions were answered but what about that strange Zhyger? could it be The S.A.I.N.T. organization already know about it but why send  Garrof and especially Lydia, their own people to that place? furthermore, there is also the possibility Luxemborough involve in this.

"I don't understand, why contact Garrof and the others? why not ask the Saintess to help directly" Madeline didn't understand why The S.A.I.N.T. organization choose a roundabout way to help the Hamilton family.

Jack puffed his smoke "Who knows..."

Lory took a sip of tea while reminding herself to find out more about the Hamilton family's connection to the S.A.I.N.T. organization as well as Lexemborough.

Jack stared at Lory for a moment then clapped his hands "Well that's all I want to say, I thought you deserved to know what happened and we truly apologize for what happened!"

Lory put down her teacup "No hard feeling, Jack" Lory give a friendly smile. They both then shook hands and Lory left the room.

Jack plopped down in his chair while lazily leaning his back on his chair, he puffed smoke in the air while deep in thought.