Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 41
When Lannor rode back into Auridon on Pope, the villagers were nowhere near as anxious as he had imagined, nor did they suspect he had simply abandoned the work halfway through.
Trust had already grown between him and the people here, and after resolving the case of Melitele’s desecration by the man-eater, he truly had earned a measure of good repute in Velen.
The fact that Fergus had been willing to speak plainly to him on only their second meeting was proof enough of what such a reputation could do.
Bad men might live more freely, but good men gained many friends.
Lannor’s goal in this world was to be a good man.
And when he saw the smiles that bloomed on the villagers’ faces at his return, he felt he was indeed walking the road that led there.
“Yes, sir, you are on the right road, but I still advise that when riding a horse you refrain from sing...”
Before the intelligent voice in his mind could finish, its master pressed it back down.
“Ho, old Aaron. I’m back.”
Dropping down from Pope’s back, Lannor greeted the village elder at the entrance.
“Hah, our hero who defended the Goddess has returned!”
Old Aaron came over with a grin around his pipe and stopped in front of Lannor.
“‘Hero who defended the Goddess’?” Lannor led Pope toward the abandoned hut as he spoke. “You mean me? A Witcher?”
Old Aaron walked with him and shook his head carelessly.
“Witcher or not, the Goddess teaches us to show kindness far and wide. Before, we were misled by rumors and prejudice, and that’s one thing. But now, if we denied your deed in catching the man-eater just because you’re a Witcher, we’d have no right to call ourselves followers of the Goddess.”
Old Aaron looked in good spirits. And after a little asking, Lannor learned why. In the days he had been away, the villagers had not been idle.
Under Bernie’s guidance, they had already begun cautiously expanding the fishing grounds into the waters Lannor had cleared.
Lannor had not worked there long, but a single Drowner pack’s territory was large enough to begin with.
By now, the fishing grounds of Auridon had expanded by nearly a fifth.
And expansion meant more fish, which meant more income.
The future Lannor had laid out was becoming real, step by step.
When benefit landed directly in the hand, there was no argument stronger than that.
It left the people of this fishing village feeling even warmer toward the young Witcher.
And at that moment, Lannor himself dearly missed the life in Auridon where food and lodging cost him nothing.
Since coming into this world, the life where he paid for his own meals and shelter had lasted only that single day in Gors Velen.
Before that, Bordon had kept him half-fed at best. Afterward, he had slipped seamlessly into Auridon’s free board.
And yet even that one day had been enough to teach an eighteen-year-old Witcher how hard life truly was.
Damn it, paying for food. Every mouthful felt like biting into his own flesh.
Lannor was a young man with a native’s old habit, saving.
The sharper a native’s sense of crisis became, the stronger his urge to hoard coin.
Since arriving in this world, Lannor’s sense of crisis had been permanently at the breaking point.
So every Oren that slipped from his pocket made his heart bleed.
At the Silver Heron, he had slept with his coin purse clutched to his chest.
When he saw old Aaron again after returning, he almost felt tears in his eyes.
The old man’s wife cooked badly, the bed in the house was poor, but the food and lodging were free.
“Ho, Lannor, you’re back!”
As he passed the little tavern in the village, Bernie’s voice came from the window.
He sat at a wooden table. The bandages on his hand had clearly been changed several times, but he waved and lifted his mug without the slightest stiffness.
It seemed mostly healed.
Lannor, holding Pope with one hand, waved back with the other.
“Bernie, any trouble starting work again tomorrow?”
“Ah ha. My bones are about to rust. Harbor, first thing in the morning.”
And that settled tomorrow’s hunt.
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