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The Persian lunged at the unflinching Sanzoku, jaws wide and fangs bared, and received the length of her Kanabō as a bar gag for its efforts, the sellsword pushing forwards to keep its maw occupied even as the heavy clawed paws slashed and batted at her armored form.

[color=b03300]”Gotcha!”[/color] she laughed in the face of danger, before loudly requesting aid by shouting [color=b03300]”Now if someone could-”[/color] and getting it before she could even finish the request when Lady Hanabi stepped around her (and a fire spitting Marrow) and delivered a final blow to the attacking beast, brutally and effectively parting its head from its body.

The great cat’s body slumped, its severed neck spraying Sanzoku’s armor with blood  as it fell while leaving the head hanging from Sanzoku’s Kanabō by its teeth. The one eyed sell-sword blinked once at the climactic ending to the conflict and then gave a bark of a relieved laugh that caused the head to drop from away from her guard and hit the dirt.

She let out a little sigh to release the last of the tension and then, with considerably less grace than the one who had performed the killing blow, stashed her Kanabō back by her side. 

Then she did her best to wipe/shake the blood off of her armor, during which William approached to thank her for saving his life.

[color=b03300]”Ah, it was nothing”[/color] Sanzoku said, modestly waving off his thanks, before quickly adding [color=b03300]”Not that I’m going to say no to being paid mind,”[/color] because of her profession. As a mercenary she didn’t exactly go around doing selfless heroics after all, at least if she wanted to cover her expenses. Such fixing as the dents and claw rends on the armor that had allowed her to pull off the little life saving maneuver.

Speaking of getting paid, it turned out that would not be a problem, because the local lady (and expert head chopper) tossed her a bag of coins for her efforts, but giving little else in terms of pleasantries. While she found her treatment a little rude and dismissive, the coin purse the sell-sword had received without even asking more than made up for any unpleasantness. 

She gave her a respectful bow in response and a [color=b03300]”My thanks to you as well, Lady Yasashi, a few more moments and I [i]might[/i] have been in trouble”[/color] regardless, the thanks a mix of genuine appreciation for the assist/save, and a subtle bit of marketing/politicking. It never hurt to try and get in the good books of the rich and powerful in the sell-swords opinion, considering that's where all the best employment opportunities are.

After that she carefully stashed her earnings away (she’d count them later, doing it right now would not look good and she had a vague idea just based on the weight anyway) as people started to drift off away from the battle site. She had no interest in engaging with the argument surrounding William’s attempt at capturing the monster vs its death. A few weeks ago she’d have been solidly on the side of death, but little Marrow had changed her, and so as of now she didn't really have a firm stance on the matter. 

As if knowing she was thinking of him, the Houndour gave a muffled yip, which drew her attention down to him. 

[color=b03300]”Hello little one, you did so well in your first real battle”[/color] she told him, a little guilty about not checking in on him earlier, crouching down next to the pokemon and giving him a scratch behind the ear, before frowning and asking [color=b03300]”Oh? What do you have in your mouth?”[/color] upon seeing what had muffled his yip. She reached out and the mon obediently dropped the, now slightly drool covered, pokeball William had been prevented from using to try and capture the Persian into her hand. 

[color=b03300]”Huh. I guess he forgot about it?”[/color] she said as she tossed it up in the air once while thinking and then, upon catching it, stashing it in her pouch. [color=b03300]”You're a good boy, finding that for me Marrow. We’ll give it back to William when we see him again later today”[/color] she told Marrow, giving him a rewarding pet before standing and stretching. 

She briefly considered whether she could get away with looting the severed head of its valuable forehead jewel, and then decided against it. If there was any justice it would go towards supporting the dead guard's family. She’d gotten plenty out of the situation already after all.