A man walking on the poor town's road in the afternoon of Bortox Town, one of a hundred towns in Petra Empire that established in the Middle Realm, located at the west. Kandar Corvus, a man without a steady job, but a seasoned hunter in the town. However, even though he is a seasoned hunter, the slots of the job were tight, thus he mostly working as pest control and courier.
He walked along the side of the road, wearing an old brown vest and ragged trousers that probably hadn't been washed for over a week. Kandar's destination was to the guard post near the market. On the way, he waved at the people who greeted him, he smiled back at them. His red eyes scanned the road ahead, and his mind is empty.
Kandar arrived at the post, opened the wooden door, and immediately caught the scent of hideously strong perfume. His nose flared as he peeked in. Inside, his friends were lazily relaxing and lounging in their comfy spots. Without much thought about why the room suddenly felt clean, Kandar entered the room.
There was Kyle, an old man who's already married and had a daughter, reclining on a desk chair, his feet resting on the edge and his face covered by his hat. On the desk side was Gilbert, slumped as if he'd been knocked out, unconscious and sleeping, with a cigarette hanging between his lips.
On the table sat a block of tofu that looked wet and probably sticky. The table was suspiciously clean. Kandar glanced around… Why was this post clean? Not only did it smell good, but it was also tidy. At the table sat Geralt beside Antha, who was half-asleep on the surface. Geralt looked at Kandar, standing by the door, and gestured for him to come inside.
Kandar approached the table and sat in front of Geralt. He asked him why the post suddenly looked like a proper room. Geralt, who had already taken a cigarette from Antha's pack, lit it with a match. After blowing out a lot of smoke, he answered Kandar.
"Your goddamn ex came here hours ago and started mothering us to clean this mess up. I told her—" Geralt paused mid-sentence to exhale another cloud of smoke, "I told Silvy this was a dude's post, that it was normal for us to be messy. But she started giving us such a hard lecture that even Kyle couldn't fight back. Damn—women nowadays are scary, aren't they, mate?" Geralt chuckled while holding his cigarette between his fingers.
Kandar's eyes glanced at the tofu, and he slid the plate in front of him. He nodded at Geralt's answer, acknowledging that Silvy, his ex, was a well-disciplined woman who didn't tolerate messy spaces. Geralt's index finger pointed toward the tofu Kandar had taken. "Mate, that tofu has been there for three days. Don't tell me you're going to eat it."
His fork picked up the wet tofu, his expression still, as he brought it closer to his nose to smell it first. Geralt, sitting across the table, smirked mischievously as Kandar paused before putting the tofu in his mouth. Geralt's head jerked as he snorted.
"Bet an asshole's musk smells better than that wobbly shit." Geralt snorted again, restraining his laughter as Kandar froze, the tofu poised before his open mouth.
Blinking emotionlessly, Kandar brought the tofu back. He looked at Geralt with narrowed eyes and sniffed the tofu again for a second time. The smell hit him, and his tongue shot out as he grimaced in disgust. Kandar grinned stupidly as Geralt, trembling with laughter, looked down at the floor.
"Just lost a few brain cells from smelling it, fuck… it's so putrid." As Kandar muttering about the tofu's scent, Geralt burst out laughing. Kandar's chest heaved with restrained chuckles.
While Geralt was distracted by his own loud laughter, Kandar shoved the tofu into his mouth and swallowed it whole. The tofu slid disgustingly down in his throat, its putrid taste lingering on his tongue. When Geralt noticed what Kandar had done, his laughter nearly knocked him backward off his chair.
Kandar slammed his fist on the wooden table, startling everyone in the post, and followed it up with a hideously loud laugh. Kyle woke from his deep sleep, snatched up his fallen hat reflexively, and placed it back on his head. Gilbert, who was sleeping on the right desk side, suddenly jolt backwardly, accidentally pushing the desk sharply to the left and spilling a cup of coffee.
"Gilbert, you son of a bitch! The papers are wet because of your stupid spine. Get up, you slacker!" Kyle shouted above Gilbert's snoring head, and he splashing water on him and waking Gilbert up. Gilbert's elbow taps the desk and looked around groggily, unbothered by Kyle.
Kandar and Geralt, holding back their laughter as best as they could, looked at each other across the wooden table. Kyle, pissed off by the noise, lunged at Geralt and kicked him out of his chair with his boot. Adjusting his hat, Kyle points his index finger toward where Kandar was.
"You bastard, coming here and laughing like if you're part of the guard. Get the hell out, jackass!"