Chapter 45: Blood Hunter
Su Xiao walked into the headquarters of the Holy Healing Church. Compared to his last visit, it was noticeably livelier this time. Several Witch Hunters stood before a bulletin board on the left side of the hall, discussing something. Su Xiao vaguely caught phrases like "third-stage witch" and "cooperation."
Most Witch Hunters in the Holy Healing Church could only hunt first or second-stage witches alone. To deal with a third-stage witch, at least five to seven White Hunters needed to cooperate, or a Black Hunter would go. As for fourth-stage witches, Red Hunters had to collaborate. Fifth-stage witches required the Holy Healing Church to convene a Holy Council, gathering a large number of Witch Hunters to hunt them down—and even then, success was uncertain.
White Hunters were the bottom-tier combat force of the Holy Healing Church. Most were responsible for gathering intelligence and dealing with first and second-stage witches. Black Hunters formed the backbone; they weren't too few in number, and each was experienced. Red Hunters were relatively rare, with most roaming the Crow Continent. Whenever a troublesome witch appeared somewhere, they would rush there swiftly.
The strongest in the Holy Healing Church weren't actually the Red Hunters, but a few of the twelve Holy Councilors. They could face fifth-stage witches alone without fear.
The few Witch Hunters by the bulletin board were clearly White Hunters. Fortunately, there was no power struggle within the Holy Healing Church, and no hierarchical relationship existed among the three ranks of hunters—they were all managed uniformly by the Holy Council.
Su Xiao approached a counter on the right side of the hall. Behind it, Shirley was smiling as she explained something to a middle-aged woman.
"She really is a witch, I swear, just yesterday, she..."
The middle-aged woman grew more agitated as she spoke. Shirley, though exasperated, maintained her smile.
"Ma'am, we will handle your feedback carefully. Regarding whether your neighbor, Ms. Sinclair, is truly a witch, we will certainly investigate thoroughly."
"But..."
The middle-aged woman wanted to say more. She looked over forty, but her actual age was only a little over thirty. Commoners in this world aged prematurely due to backward medical standards.
"Rest assured, ma'am, we will take care of this matter."
"Well... alright."
The middle-aged woman left reluctantly, all because she couldn't get the bitch who seduced her husband labeled as a witch.
After she left, Shirley slumped weakly over the wooden counter, her soft hair spreading out flat.
"Give me a break~ How could Sinclair the seamstress be a witch."
Shirley was exasperated. The position of Commission Officer at the Holy Healing Church headquarters sounded impressive, but it was mostly front-desk work. Every day, she dealt with chuunibyou teenagers or bitter wives. Truly useful intelligence was one in a thousand.
Thump, thump, thump.
The knocking made Shirley sit up and tidy her hair that had fallen over her chest.
"Hello... Oh, it's Mr. Kukulin Bai Ye. You're back. Safe travels."
Shirley smiled at Su Xiao. Facing a Witch Hunter, her smile was no longer formal—after all, he was one of their own.
"I have some bounty warrants to settle."
Su Xiao pulled a large roll of bounty warrants from his chest. Seeing this roll, Shirley's mouth twitched as she recalled the scene when Su Xiao had accepted all the commissions.
Only a few days had passed since then. Shirley remembered Holy Councilor Carmen's assessment of Su Xiao as a monster, so she was somewhat curious about how many commissions he had completed.
Su Xiao pulled out over a dozen from the large roll of bounty warrants. Seeing this number, Shirley raised an eyebrow.
"Except for these, the bounties on the rest can be settled. These are incarnation fragments."
Su Xiao placed two large cloth bags on the counter. One was filled with fragments of witch incarnations, the other with blood samples.
Looking at the large roll of bounty warrants before her, Shirley's mouth twitched again. She had lost count of how many Witch Hunters she had received. Others completed a few bounty warrants; this time, it was a whole roll. It seemed... bounty warrants had never been calculated by the roll before.
"Uh~"
Though shocked by the number of witches Su Xiao had hunted, Shirley didn't show it. That was the most basic quality of a headquarters commission officer. When she opened the cloth bag, various-colored incarnation fragments scattered across the wooden table.
Various elements wafted through the air. Some incarnation fragments, dull in color, came from first and second-stage witches. Those with different elemental attributes were from third-stage witches. Fourth-stage fragments were like gems, and one fragment emitting a golden light was Morisha's remains.
Shirley picked up the fragment filled with light elements. Just holding it, she could feel how powerful its owner had been in life—a sharpness, a speed, a sense of trying to decompose everything that made it impossible to ignore.
"This... is hers?"
Shirley pulled out a bounty warrant and placed the golden incarnation fragment on it.
"Yeah, that's right."
Outside the counter, Su Xiao looked half-asleep. He was already injured, and the constant travel had made him drowsy. After settling these bounties, he planned to find a clean inn for a good sleep, then have a hot meal.
"Mr. Bai Ye, did you... go to West Port?"
"There were more witches there."
"Ah~"
Shirley packed all the incarnation fragments into the cloth bag and gestured for Su Xiao to follow her upstairs. She led him to a rest room on the third floor, told him to wait a moment, and left.
In less than ten minutes, an old man with a wrinkled face and a slight hunchback pushed the door open. Leaning on a metal cane, he limped into the room. Su Xiao hadn't noticed last time that Holy Councilor Carmen was a cripple.
"You killed Morisha?"
Carmen quickly approached Su Xiao, his eyes burning as he looked at him.
"Obviously."
"Good, that poisonous thorn is finally dead. How's West Port now?"
Though excited, Carmen didn't lose his composure.
"Just one castle left."
"Hahaha, tell me, how did you deal with that tumor in West Port..."
Su Xiao briefly explained the situation in West Port to Carmen. He had already guessed why Carmen was acting this way. After all, he wasn't a very senior Witch Hunter, and Carmen had to put on a bit of a show for appearances.
"You've worked hard on this journey. As for the bounty..."
At this point, Old Man Carmen smiled, revealing his two remaining teeth.
"It's fine if you can't pay it all at once."
"I was waiting for you to say that."
Old Man Carmen waved for Shirley to enter the room. She handed Su Xiao a leather bag. He took it and opened it, revealing it was full of gleaming gold coins.
After just a glance, Su Xiao placed the leather bag by his foot. Noticing this, Old Man Carmen subtly rubbed his fingers together. He had already realized that Su Xiao wasn't very interested in money.
Was that really the case? Not exactly. Su Xiao wasn't a saint. If he had been given Paradise Coins, he would have kept them safe. As for the gold coins of this world, they were at most temporary currency that couldn't be taken out of this world.
"There's one more thing."
Su Xiao spoke, and Carmen looked at him curiously.
"Now, there shouldn't be any problem with me becoming a Red Hunter, right?"