He Who Hunts Demons Chapter 20: 20-Bound By Death

Read chapter 20 of He Who Hunts Demons by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

As soon as I was done eating, a contract was presented to me, slid across the front desk by Alma’s fair and slender hand. I picked it up under the watchful gazes of Gaston and the receptionist, and quietly studied its text. It was very detailed and would, on average, take anyone from quarter an hour to perhaps half of it to fully digest what the words written in the contract were. But I was a fast reader. I had to be. For someone who had spent ten years of his life as a peasant, surviving on farm work at an early age, and as a porter in his earlier teenage years, books were hard to come by. So when they did, I had to read them quickly so I could pass it on to the next peasant lad waiting patiently in line. The skill I’d learnt to help me cope with such a demanding process was summarizing. Pick out the most glaring points while seeking out the hidden ones and arrive at a quick conclusion. It took me a minute and a few seconds to do that for this contract. “A confidentiality agreement?” I said as I placed the piece of paper back on the desk. “Why?” Gaston leaned on the desk and shrugged. “What do you mean ‘why’? Is it not obvious?” He was right. It was obvious. I had not heard about the Iron Eagles until a day past—more than a week ago, to be precise, considering my Dreamscape exploit—but I knew about the Golden Eye. They were a secret organization under the Cathedral of Ur. I assumed the Iron Eagles were the same. But considering when we waddled into the cathedral grounds, passersby bowed at the emblem, I was wondering if that was truly the case. Regardless of that, though, their inner dealings were obviously secret. Just like with the Black Market. So I understood them trying to ensure that their secret remained a secret forever. However, why was it that the repercussion of spilling, even if by mistake, was that my heart would stop immediately? Even the Black Market’s condition was a lot more tame. After all, humans were fickle. We were prone to mistakes. I made my thoughts known to Gaston and he rolled his eyes with a sigh. “All you have to do is say ‘nothing’ whenever anyone, who isn’t affiliated with the inner workings of the church, asks you. Please don’t make us repeat that hectic negotiation we had in your room.” Negotiations were meant to be hectic so I gladly declined that proposal. “What about in my old age?” I asked. Then I pointed at my head. “What if I have dementia and babble to my grandkids or something?” Gaston’s brows pulled in. “Seriously?” I didn’t say anything. He sighed. “You do not have to worry about that. Most human hunters never make it past forty anyways.” “I fancy my chances.” And I meant it. I had no intention of dying without having children. Gaston’s expression slacked. He looked frustrated. So I decided to ask a more obvious question that touched on an instance that could lead to an unnecessary loss of my life. Hopefully that would force Gaston to understand my perspective. Maybe it would be hard for a vampire, a demon, to fully understand humans, but there was no harm in trying. “And an arrest?” I asked. “In the slim chance that I am arrested by law enforcers and questioned about my dealings, what then? Surely, you don’t expect me to fight them when they’re just upholding the law.” “Presenting yourself as an Iron Eagle should suffice,” Gaston replied simply. “They will let you go.” “I highly doubt that,” I replied. “I’ve had my run-ins with officers a few times, and not all of them are willing to just let you go just because you work for a—secret—organization affiliated with the church.” Gaston raised a brow. “Oh. And how would you know that? They’ve never arrested you for being affiliated with a high ranking organization, have they?” I frowned. “Peasants learn a lot of ways to survive at an early age or we would never reach our fifteenth birthday. One of them is figuring out a person after a single interaction. I repeat, not all officers would be willing to let me go just because I present a bad