Extermination jobs were a lot more straightforward than that, with the Hunters Guild putting up a bounty for a specific Monster that had been terrorizing an area. That was what I did with the Chimera, and the 8 extra gold sitting in my coin pouch testified that it was as simple as that.
Sometimes, however, there were extermination jobs to wipe out a Monster nest that was growing too big; typically these types of requests would pay incredibly well, and would require multiple Hunters or Hunter teams working together to complete. Otherwise, however, the Hunters Guild did not pay you for going out into a Monster’s natural habitat and killing it for no reason— that was what auctions with rich nobles, merchants, Alchemists, and the like were for.
After learning all that, I began to question the Dwarf about his home country of Taw, pretending that I was curious about going there (which was not a lie).
"The Taw Kingdom is a far better place than this damned country. Hah, you think this place is great and its mana tech advanced? Look at it! It doesn’t even have a working television!"
Gennady stood up, and kicked the side of the wooden box. The screen flickered to life, a dull gray static covering the screen for a moment, before the outlines of a vague figure began to take shape.
"...and the storms clouding over the Capital city of Luke for the last month seem to be clearing up, which could see more pirates—"
"Oh," the Dwarf said, voice flat.
"Hey, looks like it’s working now," I giggled, grinning to myself.
Gennady stomped back to our table, as heads turned to watch the now-working television broadcast the news. "Stupid machine," he grumbled. "How does hitting it get it to work? Bah, ours in Taw are far better, and they even have color unlike this black and white crap."
"Maybe just touching it with your Dwarf hands fixed it since you guys are so much better with technology than us," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"Hah, I wouldn’t be surprised. It probably hasn’t felt the touch of a real Tinkerer in so long, that’s why it stopped working properly."
"So you’re a Tinkerer then?" I asked, glancing at his mountain of a backpack.
"Why yes I am. Although I would prefer the term inventor, since I actually create new stuff, and don’t just work off of shoddy old trash like most of the Tinkerers here seem to do."
"Is that why you like Taw so much? Because their Tinkerers are better?"
"Hmph, not really. On average? We are the best in the world— better than even the Holy Xan Empire, producing higher quality mana tools and even using a large amount of golems for security. But it’s all the same. The Holy Xan Empire leads the world in innovation, and we’re still trying to play catch up. However we’ll never catch up when they call my creations crazy, but accept that mad Scientist Bertrand without a second thought." The Dwarf scowled, leaning back on his chair.
I was interested in what the man meant when he referred to his ‘creations’; he prided himself as an inventor, and I wanted to know what kind of tools he made. However, my focus was on the Taw Kingdom— I had to know more about it. Necessity trumped curiosity in terms of importance.
"This Scientist, is he from… the Holy Xan Empire?" I garnered a guess, remembering what Felix had told me.
"Bertrand? Yes he is," Gennady said, shaking his head. "A fool exiled because of his insane ideas. Honestly, I don’t understand why we’re even giving him refuge."
"But aren’t the Holy Xan Empire allied with Taw? Why provide asylum to an enemy of one of your allies?" I asked, confirming my suspicions.
"We’re not allies. Hardly. That damned Empire likes to throw its weight around as if it ruled the entire world, but it does not rule us. Our common enemies are the only reason why we’d work with them, and you best believe we’d spit at their faces any chance we got when it benefits us."
"That’s… vindictive," I pointed out the obvious. But I felt slightly relieved, knowing that Felix had not lied to me about this; the Taw Kingdom and the Holy Xan empire might have had an alliance, but they rarely acted the part.
"Us Dwarves may tolerate insults, but we do not appreciate condescension. Remember that the next time you meet one, because that would save you from getting a hammer to the back of the head when you turn around," the Dwarf chortled, as if he made a joke which only he would understand.
I was not sure how serious that warning was, so I made note of that and stored it in the back of my mind. With the conversation finished, and me feeling tired from a lack of sleep, I decided that that was enough information gathering for the day.
I had not inquired about anything regarding magic to Gennady, and would not unless the flow of the conversation naturally shifted in that direction; I did not want to arouse any suspicion, especially not so soon after meeting him for the first time. Maybe once I had gotten to know him more, I could go prodding further, try and ask the question at the right opportunity.
From what I had gathered from speaking to the Dwarf, it seemed as though he was probably looking to expand his bestiary— confirm the rankings of as many Monsters as possible.
