Wolf of the Blood Moon: A Blood Magic - Book 3: Chapter 65: The City

The City Gate

Durgok growls at the random antical demon in front of him as the overgrown ant tries to sneak into the city past him. And when it doesn’t stop, he moves up to it faster than most of the demons at the gate can keep up with their bare eyes before he flattens it into a paste on the sand before lifting a hand and spraying acid from underneath one of the wraps around his hand, burning the corpse until nothing remains. Then he steps back to his post and growls, “Next.”

The next demon steps up and Durgok immediately states, “Pay five coppers or leave.”

Durgok feels a mixture of disappointment and relief when the sand weaver reaches into its silken pouch and pulls out the coins before dropping them in his hand and moving on through the gate. Disappointment because nowadays his only real source of EXP in this dump of a city has become killing the many demons who try entering without paying the fine, and relief because he’s grown sick of dealing with it today.

A mug of ale would be great right now…

Gradually, time passes, and dozens of demons all pass through, some trying to sneak by and being killed, others actually paying the fine. But after nearly an hour, Durgok feels chills run down his spine at the sight of the next demon that begins approaching him from the line standing back a few meters from him and the gate.

And those chills only grow worse when he identifies her despite his clear advantage in levels and Class.

|[REDACTED] – Hu/bl-m-oo/d-a/ly-/cn-an – Level 257|

What under the Demon King’s rule is that supposed to mean?! A redacted name? Some sort of messed up species?

The demon in question is slowly walking up to him with a baggy brown cloak covering most of them. One so baggy that if it weren’t for their size and figure, he wouldn’t be able to tell if the demon was male or female or not as he can’t see their face.

A beggar? No… that cloak is clearly designed to hide the appearance of the one wearing it, and it looks expensive… fuck, I don’t care. It’s not my problem as long as they pay the fine.

“Seven coppers,” he states his usual fee for newcomers to the city who don’t know the actual fee, only to be handed five coppers, making his mouth part open slightly. But the demon just walks past him without a word, not even giving him the chance to refute them.

You know what? I don’t care.

Durgok shakes his head at the sight of their back, only to pause for a moment when the wind suddenly picks up, pushing the demon’s hood off of their head to reveal wolf ears before she quickly moves it back over her head again – and by this point, he realizes for sure that the demon is a she just form the glimpse he got of her without her hood.

But from just that one single glimpse at the she-demon’s head, Durgok can’t help but feel shivers run down his spine.

She can’t be… can she? It was just the back of her ears… so maybe they aren’t a wolf’s ears? Maybe I just mistook it for them? She did pick the hood back up so fast no one below Class III would be able to see it…

After debating it over in his head for a bit, he lets out a low growl and turns to the next demon in line while shouting, “Next!”

No one else seems to have noticed, so best not to tempt fate.

Scarlet

Well that was easier than I expected it to be. And figuring out the gate guard’s little scam was also rather easy thanks to my hearing.

The guy was literally scamming about a third of the people there. Most of which he seemed to treat more coldly or apathetically than the ones he didn’t try scamming.

Probably because he already knew them.

I am kind of surprised he just let me go when I gave him five copper coins, completely ignoring his words in the process.

“It was probably because he saw you when your hood was blown off,” Tar comments, making me frown a little. “Or just base instinct.”

That’s annoying, but I guess it probably saved me a hassle that would’ve been annoying otherwise.

Then there’s the other guard who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there despite him being on the other side of the gate also scamming people. Just a lot more often than the guard whose line I joined.

I look around the inside of the city after I finish passing through the rather wide gate to find myself standing on a wide street with buildings mostly made up of sandstone on either side of the street. Meanwhile the demons who are walking around all vary in species, with some being the same mummified orcs as the guards at the entrance, others being those rather large ant people, and some even being large lizards or even lizard people named kobolds.

Overall though, they all share the theme of clearly being desert dwelling creatures at a glance. With a couple of exceptions that are probably travelers like me.

The main thing that catches my attention though isn’t the demons, the buildings some of which are shops and others homes, or the random stalls on the street. It’s the large manor sitting much further in the city towering above the rest of it.

Guess that probably belongs to the guy who runs this place.

Wonder if they’re a Noble or not?

“They probably are,” Tar comments as I put my hands in the new pockets that I managed to nag Leonidas into putting into my armor while walking through the street, glancing back and forth between the stalls and shops.

Yeah, probably. From my understanding, most walled cities are owned by a Noble after all. Although probably only a Baron. And only one who had just recently become a Noble as well.

Anyways, I need to find a store that sells food and supplies. Which doesn’t look too hard considering that a lot of the stores and stalls here sell just that.

Probably because it’s in high demand in a desert.

But first I should listen to some of the conversations around here so I’m not scammed.