Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest
Chapter 69: First Beast Contract (1)

Chapter 69: First Beast Contract (1)

The person who walked out from between the soldiers was not what any of the poachers had expected.

It was a boy who looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, at least that’s what his build suggested. He was tall for his age but still had that lean look of someone who hadn’t finished growing yet. His clothes were fine quality—definitely noble-born—but practical enough for travel.

The soldiers stopped in their tracks as the boy came forward, clearly waiting for his orders.

Behind the boy were two men who couldn’t have been more different from each other. One was a thin old man with a long white beard who didn’t look threatening at all. If you saw him on the street, you’d think he was just some drunk who’d crawled out of a tavern. The other was clearly a knight, wearing full armor with a sword hanging from his belt. This one looked like he could kill all of them without breaking a sweat.

But it was the boy who walked in front, completely without fear. Like he owned the entire forest.

"You have a lot of courage to enter the forbidden forest regions without permission," the boy said, his voice calm and controlled.

The poachers shifted nervously, suddenly forgetting all the excuses they’d been trying to think up. Till now they had doubt whether the people attacking them were some thieves or bandits, but now it became clear that it was neither but the officials from the Grim family.

But that didn’t mean they would surrender easily.

Pike was the first to find his voice. "Listen, we don’t know who you think you are, but—"

"I know exactly who I am," the boy interrupted smoothly. "The question is, do you know who you are? Because right now, you’re trespassers in our territory, carrying stolen goods."

"Stolen?" Rodriguez stepped forward angrily. "We hunted that beast fair and square! Lost eight good men doing it!"

The boy tilted his head slightly, like he was considering this. "Hunted in forbidden territory without permission,. That makes it poaching, which makes it theft."

"What permission?" Garrett demanded. "We hunted in the Great Green Forest! Nobody owns this place!"

A small smile crossed the boy’s face. "Is that what you think?"

Jenkins, still clutching the cage, spoke up nervously. "Look, we don’t want any trouble. We’ll just take our stuff and leave."

"I’m afraid it’s too late for that," the boy said, glancing at the cage. "You see, that particular creature you’ve captured? That belongs to me, and I am here to retrieve it."

Dutch spat on the ground. "Belongs to you? It’s a wild beast! We caught it, it’s ours!"

"Actually," the boy said, completely ignoring Dutch’s anger, "you entered the Great Green Forest without permission from any nobles. You hunted beasts..." He glanced at the bloody materials clutched in the fleeing mercenaries’ hands. "Many beasts, from what I can see. By the laws of House Grim, anyone who disturbs the forest is a criminal."

The name hit them like a punch to the gut. House Grim. One of the eight great families. The beast masters who could tame creatures that would tear ordinary men apart.

Sure, they’d thought about getting permission first. But that meant giving up half their profits to the house - and that was before the corrupt officers and knights took their cut. By the end, they’d be risking their lives for scraps.

So they’d rolled the dice.

"House Grim?" Pike whispered, his face going pale. "You’re from House Grim?"

"I am," the boy confirmed. "And you’ve taken something that doesn’t belong to you."

The poachers looked at each other nervously. Stealing from one of the great families was a death sentence. Everyone knew that.

"Now," the boy continued, his voice still perfectly calm, "I’m feeling generous tonight. So I’m going to give you two options."

He gestured toward the cage that Jenkins was still holding.

"Option one- you hand over that creature and come work for me. I can always use experienced hunters who know their way around the forest. The pay is fair, the work is dangerous but legitimate, and you get to keep breathing."

Some of the poachers perked up at this. Working for a great family was actually a pretty good deal, if you could get it.

"Option two..." The boy looked around at the circle of soldiers surrounding them, their lanterns making the forest bright as day. Each soldier held a crossbow aimed directly at the poachers.

"Well, I think you can figure out option two for yourselves."

The silence stretched out as the poachers realized just how trapped they were. Armed soldiers all around, nowhere to run, and they’d apparently stolen from one of the most powerful families in the continent.

Jenkins looked down at the baby Keth’mor in the cage. Those golden eyes stared back at him, and suddenly he felt sick about the whole thing.

"What kind of work?" Rodriguez asked carefully.

"The same kind you’re doing now," the boy replied. "Hunting beasts, capturing live ones and such. The difference is you’ll be doing it legally, with proper equipment and backup. And you won’t have to worry about getting shot full of arrows by people like me."

Garrett looked around at his surviving crew. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and apparently out of their depth. Fighting wasn’t an option. Running wasn’t an option.

"And if we refuse both options?" Dutch asked, though his voice had lost all its earlier bluster.

The boy’s smile didn’t change, but somehow it became much more frightening.

"Then you’ll discover why House Grim has ruled this territory for so long."

The threat hung in the air like smoke. Nobody moved. Nobody even seemed to breathe.

Finally, Jenkins stepped forward, still holding the cage.

"Fuck it, my life is more important, I’’ll take first option," he said quietly.

The other poachers looked at him in surprise, but nobody argued. They all knew he was making the smart choice.

And one by one, they started moving behind Jenkins.

The boy nodded approvingly. "Excellent. You’ve made the right decision."

He gestured to some of his soldiers, who stepped forward to take the cage from Jenkins’s hands. The young poacher hesitated for just a moment—that cage represented more money than he’d ever seen—then let it go.

"Welcome to House Grim," the boy said. "I think you’ll find working for us much more profitable than whatever you were doing before."

---***---

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