Chapter 12

Time was about fifteen minutes ago.

The man with the eye patch and his group, accompanied by several giant wolves, had just arrived at Rock Town and were immediately surrounded by a group of townspeople. The mayor, a middle-aged man with a beard, greeted them enthusiastically as soon as he saw them. Although he was slightly taken aback when he noticed a woman in the group, his suspicion lessened after glancing at the dead wolves. He then warmly asked if they were bounty hunters who had come to help the town eliminate the werewolves.

This question slightly surprised the few who had arrived earlier, but after the man with the eye patch and the man who seemed to be involved in multi-level marketing exchanged a glance, both of them had the same idea. These two, one in insurance and the other in multi-level marketing, were both shrewd individuals. They grasped useful information from the mayor's words almost immediately.

Their task in this space was to kill werewolves, and although they didn't know if the bounty hunters the mayor mentioned were the identities assigned to them by the space, both clearly realized that if they claimed to be the bounty hunters the townspeople were talking about, they could undoubtedly leverage the town's resources.

The man involved in multi-level marketing even had a plan for the subsequent arrangements and explanations. If genuine bounty hunters showed up later, they wouldn't have to worry about being mistaken for imposters. This place clearly had poor information flow, so even if real bounty hunters arrived, they could lie and say they had also received a task to help hunt the werewolves. To demonstrate their noble intentions, they could even tell the townspeople that they didn't need any payment!

They would be providing completely free, voluntary assistance.

By then, the issue of impersonation would be resolved, and it would even highlight their high moral character!

...

If Zhao Futu hadn't stayed behind, the man's plan would have been flawless. However, what they absolutely didn't expect was that as they were being escorted by the townspeople into the mayor's residence, Zhao Futu and the real bounty hunters also arrived. Not only that, but they even saw the scene of the imposters in action!

"Leader, what should we do?" A thin-faced warrior walked up to Cain and asked.

To actually have someone impersonate them was something they had never encountered before. After the initial anger, Cain's face showed a hint of amusement. He smiled at Zhao Futu and said sarcastically, "Your companions are quite interesting."

"I'm not really familiar with them," Zhao Futu replied with a smile, not elaborating further.

If Zhao Futu had really been close to the man with the eye patch and his group, they wouldn't have left him behind in the wilderness and gone ahead.

Cain, after a moment's thought, naturally understood this.

He patted Zhao Futu's shoulder, his expression becoming much friendlier, and said, "It's getting late. Let's not worry about them today. We'll find a place to stay in the town and deal with it tomorrow!"

It was already evening.

In this era, almost everyone went to bed early, and only wealthy families could afford oil lamps.

The inn was located in the southeast of the town. In towns of this size, there was usually such an inn, which served as a place for residents to drink and socialize, and provided accommodation for merchants. In this era, inns and taverns were often combined. When the group entered the inn, they saw a man who was clearly drunk, with a distinctly European face, a thick beard, a large nose, and deep-set eyes.

"Alcohol! Give me alcohol!" In the corner of the inn, the burly middle-aged man was completely drunk.

His table was a mess, and with the alcohol content of this era, he must have drunk a lot to be in this state. The man was quite muscular, with thick calluses on his palms, mainly on the center of his fingers, and burn marks on the back of his hand. His upper body was very strong, especially his arms. Zhao Futu glanced at him and said softly, "He's a blacksmith!"

"Oh? How do you know?" Cain, who had just entered, was taken aback and asked.

The middle-aged man looked only sturdy, with no obvious features indicating he was a blacksmith.

Zhao Futu, wanting to show off a bit, explained, "Look at his hands. The calluses are concentrated in the center of his palms, which means he either holds a sword or something else, like a hammer, for a long time. The burn marks on his hand and his strong, muscular arms suggest he has been working with iron for a long time. Most warriors, even if they are strong, maintain a certain proportion in their body, but blacksmiths mainly use their waist and arm strength, so their upper body muscles are very developed."

Blacksmiths in this era were considered high-income blue-collar workers.

There was another point Zhao Futu didn't mention: with the price of alcohol in this era, the man must have had considerable wealth to drink to such an extent.

"Hehe, interesting." Cain carefully observed and realized Zhao Futu was right; this man was most likely the town's blacksmith.

He called for someone to take the horses to the back yard and then sat down, frowning. "Where are they?"

"Probably at the mayor's place," Murphy coughed lightly and said slowly.

So many people had gone to welcome them, and the inn's staff probably went to join the crowd. It was already evening, and the townspeople would certainly treat the man with the eye patch and his group well.

Sure enough, the innkeeper returned after a while.

Seeing so many strangers in the inn, he was delighted, but then noticed that they all carried knives and swords. His wrinkled face broke into a smile, and he came over to greet them warmly. In medieval Europe, the population density was low, and Rock Town was quite remote. Cain and his group had been traveling for three or four days, so after instructing the innkeeper to prepare some food, wine, and hot water, they prepared to rest.

After dinner, Zhao Futu wasn't sleepy.

He got up and went to the main hall, where the drunk blacksmith was still there, with another bottle of wine on the table. The innkeeper was busy in the back and didn't come to check on him.

"There you are!" The inn's door was pushed open, and the man with the eye patch and the man involved in multi-level marketing walked in together.

Although Zhao Futu had to bury the bodies and was a bit behind, if he had come quickly, he should have reached the town by today. The town wasn't large, and if they hadn't gone to the mayor's residence, they would likely be staying at the inn. The two still had a keen interest in Zhao Futu's combat abilities, and he was the only one in the group with reconnaissance skills, so they needed him for many tasks.

That's why they came to find him together.

"We just received a new task, to help the people in this town eliminate the werewolves," the man with the eye patch said, looking at Zhao Futu.

"The two tasks don't conflict. This task can be done alongside the main task!"

Zhao Futu nodded but didn't say much, instead saying, "I'll stay here tonight. We can discuss it tomorrow."

His attitude was a bit cold, perhaps because of the earlier incident where they left him behind.

The man with the eye patch couldn't help but look a bit awkward. After leaving, he realized that staying to bury the bodies of the two men wouldn't have been dangerous. He had been influenced by the man involved in multi-level marketing, losing a chance to build a good relationship with Zhao Futu. Now, he was in a hurry to make amends.

In the insurance industry, one had to be friendly to everyone, and the man with the eye patch, being an experienced professional, wasn't easily embarrassed.

"Alright. We'll discuss it tomorrow," he said with a slightly awkward smile.

Zhao Futu nodded and, as he turned to leave, noticed the drunk man still drinking. He then walked to the room assigned to him in the back yard. As he turned, he heard the man involved in multi-level marketing leave with a dissatisfied cold snort, which made him narrow his eyes slightly.

...

"This night will probably not be peaceful." After returning to his room, Zhao Futu didn't go to sleep but sat on the bed in a meditative posture.

The main task assigned by this mysterious space was to survive for 48 hours and kill at least one low-level werewolf! Now, nearly a quarter of the time had passed, but they hadn't even seen a werewolf. Although werewolves weren't as afraid of sunlight as vampires, they were rarely seen during the day. The 48 hours were just two days, and if they didn't come tonight, they would likely only come on the last night.

The werewolves would definitely attack, because if the newly arrived group had to go out into the wilderness to find them, it would be no different from seeking death!

Zhao Futu estimated that there was an 80% chance that werewolves would appear tonight!