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The next week came quicker that Caira could process. The bard—Jaskier—had been tagging along with the two hunters once again and began singing songs that caused local townsfolk to request their services quite often. Geralt and Caira were growing in popularity due to their efficiency and haste when performing the tasks they were paid for.
On this particular day, Geralt and Caira had just finished slaying a selkiemore. The beast had swallowed Geralt and Caira whole, but, using their swords, they managed to slice their way out of its belly, killing it immediately. For Geralt, it was a breeze, but to Caira, holding her breath for that long was quite exhausting and in the moment made her panic. She took note to herself to return to her stealthy approaches to kill the monsters rather than try to keep up with Geralt.
Caira and Geralt were covered in a thick, sticky layer of putrid selkiemore guts. It was disgusting and Caira was gagging the entire way back to the pub where they were to collect their coin. "Afraid to get a little dirty, huh?" Geralt teased her as she had her arms out and her head turned away from her body.
"I can feel my nose hairs burning." She coughed, exaggeratedly.
Upon entering the pub, Geralt and Caira were met with shocked faces of the townspeople in the tavern. They looked like they had seen ghosts. At the same time, everyone covered their noses once the stench of the selkiemore guts reached their nostrils. Jaskier chuckled at the sight of everyone's shocked faces. "What's that stench?" The man that owed the two money held his breath as he spoke, if that were even possible.
"Selkiemore guts." Geralt responded. "Had to get it from the inside. We'll take what we're owed."
"Toss a coin to your witcher O, Valley of Plenty—" Jaskier began to sing, hoping the song would eventually catch on.
The man quickly tossed Geralt the large sack of coins, and he caught it with much ease.
"Toss a coin to the rogue one, A friend of humanity—" Jaskier continued singing, then everyone in the tavern began to join. Geralt didn't seem impressed by the sight of dozens of men and woman singing such a horrible song, then walked over to the bar top to order an ale. Caira followed pursuit, feeling the need to intoxicate herself in order to forget about the disgusting layer of guts sitting on top of her clothes and skin.
Once the song was over, everyone cheered and Jaskier followed Geralt over to the bar. "You're welcome. And now, you two, it's time to repay your debt." Jaskier spoke as the bartender slide two ales toward Geralt and Caira.
Caira took a big gulp of her ale. "'What debt?' you're probably asking, well, I'll tell you. I've made you two famous. By rights, I should be claiming ten percent of all your coin, but instead, what I'm asking for is a teeny, teeny-weeny little favor." Jaskier continued speaking as the bartender handed Geralt a large plate of food.
