Humiliation

Ilya stepped on Horn, pulled out a metal water bottle from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and leisurely poured a bit onto Horn's head.

The water from the metal bottle was crystal clear and seemed very pure, mixed with strands of pure white light.

This was holy water from the Holy Light Church of the Western Continent, effective against all malevolent creatures. While its effect on powerful evil beings was not significant, there was still a reaction.

Ilya marveled at the Holy Light Church's formidable strength, yet found it odd they only occupied the Western Continent, about half the size of the Eastern Continent, and did not expand further.

The water flowed down Horn's hair to his cheeks. Where the holy water passed, it left a cool sensation, and the cheeks that had been reddened by high temperatures the day before recovered.

In a different setting, Horn might have moaned in comfort!

But now, Horn had no time to appreciate the nice feeling of washing his face with holy water.

All he felt was humiliation!

"Tch, a wild witch, huh? How disgraceful. I can't believe I was mistaken," Ilya spat upon seeing no reaction from the holy water poured on Horn's head.

Scratching his head and tightening the bottle cap, he took the little girl's hand, intending to leave. After walking a few steps, he felt something was off, looked back at Horn lying on the ground, fumbled in his pocket for a bit, and then threw a gold coin next to Horn's head.

"That punch of mine was quite heavy. Go see a doctor for treatment."

After saying this, Ilya left the shop with the little girl without looking back.

"Ilya, Ilya, aren't we going to capture that brother and get some money?"

The little girl, holding Ilya's hand in one and waving the wooden sword with the other, bounced around and asked.

"No need, those wild witches are quite pitiful as is, and besides, they're not worth much..." Ilya said casually.

Lying on the ground, Horn felt a sense of relief hearing this but also felt a surge of indignation. Am I not even worth capturing?

Ilya! I'll remember this name!

Two days had passed since Ilya had beaten Horn, and Horn was finally able to get out of bed and walk, though he still felt pain with any significant movement.

Enoch had ranted about seeking revenge on that man, but Horn stopped him. Not to mention that even he had no chance to cast spells in front of Ilya, but also that pervert showed a comfortable expression facing a first-level spell. What would Enoch do if he went? Get himself killed?

After being able to move around, Horn visited Douglas's room.

"Teacher, aren't you going to ask who injured me?" Horn felt somewhat hurt by Douglas's indifference, as he didn't even inquire about his injury.

"He only injured you, didn't kill you, and didn't report you, so he probably didn't have much malice towards you nor was a threat. So, what's there to ask? If there was something important, wouldn't you tell me without me asking?" Douglas said nonchalantly.

Douglas continued carving something in his hand, now appearing to be a stick-shaped object, possibly a walking stick for some noble lord?

"The man who injured me is named Ilya. He said he's a bounty hunter, and his target is a magician!" As Douglas said, even if he didn't ask, Horn would still tell him.

"Oh, the child of the Oduin family. He must have grown up by now," Douglas chuckled behind his glasses.

"What, you know him?" Horn was surprised.

"I saw him once when he was little," Douglas continued carving, apparently working on something delicate.

"And then? What happened to make him come after you now?" Horn asked curiously, interested in Douglas's various stories.

"And then? That's it," Douglas said with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"…Fine, I won't ask anymore. You wouldn't tell me anyway," Horn left Douglas's room disappointed, hoping to hear some gossip.

Although Douglas didn't say much, if Horn just wanted to learn about this person, there were ways. The target was his respected teacher, and he couldn't just do nothing; at the very least, he had to understand this adversary.

Horn tasked Enoch with some work, leaving behind a sulky Enoch, and went to Aunt Meiz's house with gifts. Aunt Meiz's son, Locke, was also a bounty hunter who had been injured and was recuperating at home.

Horn knocked on the door, and a messy-haired, robust man using a cane opened the door, his physique almost identical to Aunt Meiz's, truly her son.

"Big brother Locke, I've come to visit you." Horn handed the gifts he bought to Locke.

"You kid, why so formal? Come on in," Locke and Horn entered the house together.

Locke poured Horn a glass of water, and holding the cup, Horn asked Locke, "Big brother Locke, how did you get injured?"

"Ah, don't mention it," Locke began, sitting down heavily, "A few days ago, we took on a bounty saying there were magical beasts appearing in the north of Lien City. A big group of us went, and after several days of searching, we found a beast. It wasn't very strong, and we killed it easily."

Just as Horn was about to compliment him on killing the beast, he noticed Locke had no proud expression on his face but instead said angrily:

"The infuriating part is the beast disappeared after dying! Without a corpse, the client didn't acknowledge our kill, so we got into a fight with them. In the chaos, my knee got injured, and I had to come home to recuperate."

Horn's forehead was covered in black lines, realizing Locke wasn't injured by a magical beast but in a fight with the client.

After exchanging pleasantries with Locke, Horn finally got to the point: "Big brother Locke, can I ask you about someone?"

"Sure, ask away," Locke said generously.

"Do you know a man named Ilya? He wears black leather armor and carries a greatsword about as tall as me," Horn described the man from his memory to Locke.

"Oh, you mean the Dragon Slayer, Ilya? That guy is incredible, a level six warrior. It's said he killed a dragon by himself and made his armor and weapon from its skin and horns. He's a hero among us bounty hunters! Why do you ask about him?" Locke said without hesitation.

"I recently saw him in Lien City and was curious, so I came to ask you," Horn explained to Locke, "By the way, Big Brother Locke, since he's such a high-level bounty hunter, won't there be trouble talking about him?"

Locke laughed heartily, unconcerned, "What does it matter? His information is known to any bounty hunter, nothing secretive about it."

After getting the information he wanted, Horn chatted with Locke a bit more before leaving Aunt Meiz's house.

Leaving Locke's house, Horn felt heavy-hearted. A level six was a real big shot! To know that typically the head priest of a city is only a level five cleric!

Getting back at him just got even harder…