Chapter 154: I hope you never forget that you gave it your all
The mission to retrieve the herbs had been a success.
If there was one lingering regret, it was that they didn't take the reward, instead bringing back an IOU.
Both Rhodes and Elfman agreed—Mr. Karut's family was in no condition to hand over their last savings. They needed time to recover and rebuild. Forcing them to pay now would only make their lives harder.
But Mr. Karut and Mrs. Weiss held firm. Even if they couldn't repay the people who had saved their family twice over, they couldn't allow themselves to offer nothing in return—not even the smallest token of gratitude.
Rhodes had pointed out that most of the herbs had been found by Jenny, but Mrs. Weiss insisted. Jenny never would have made it back without their help.
So, Rhodes compromised. He agreed to an IOU—with no interest and a repayment deadline of one hundred years.
To cover their meals and stay, they used the meat from the two Labons they'd brought back. The remaining meat was saved for Mr. Karut to help him regain his strength.
Early the next morning, the two of them departed the village. Before leaving, they made a point to formally apologize to Mrs. Nepol next door and even gifted her a Labon leg as compensation.
The villagers had never seen such ferocious beasts up close and crowded around the Karut household, eager to buy cuts of Labon meat.
Rhodes didn't involve himself in those details. He simply hoped the sales could provide the family with a bit of starting capital for a new beginning.
Being able to save a family on the verge of falling apart—it brought a quiet kind of joy and fulfillment.