Evan opened the door. Rufus burst inside at full speed. He was shouting.
"CLOSE IT!!!"
Evan didn't even have time to ask why before he felt a sudden impact that knocked him to the floor, and then he felt another weight. Next he heard something that sounded like the voice of a tacky presenter.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what a surprise. What have we stumbled upon?"
Evan recognized that voice. He opened his eyes and saw two faces. He knew one of them.
"Cody."
"Yes, that's me. Cody Varran from the Coyote Cam channel. Hunting influencer. Allow me, our sponsor is…"
Evan narrowed his eyes. Cody Varran, the tacky hunting influencer who two days ago had chased Rufus for a stream.
"And who's the other one?"
"Dave Varran. Owner of the Wild West Grill."
Evan furrowed his brows a little. Another coyote.
"Wait. Didn't you happen to see a rabbit running… wait… what's that smell. A significant amount of spices, and high-quality ones."
Evan furrowed his brows. He still smelled of Zahira's spices.
"Saffron… Cardamom… Pomegranate…" Then he looked at him. "A human? Are you the one the Saffron Tigress tried to roast?"
"Get off me… wait, how do you know that?"
The coyote widened his eyes and looked at him as if stunned.
"So it means it's true?"
Suddenly he pulled out a business card and handed it to Evan. On it was the name of a restaurant written in a Wild West-style font.
"Let me say it again. Dave Varran, owner and head chef of the Wild West Grill."
"Nice, could you get off me?"
"In connection with the rumors I've heard. I'd like to offer you the role of star in an event my restaurant could organize."
"Meaning as the main course."
"Yes. I don't present myself with such aristocratic craft as the Saffron Tigress, but I'm proud of my BBQ technique."
Evan shouted at him several times. So did Cody. It did nothing. Evan recognized the state. Dave had switched into cook mode and was talking on autopilot.
"I propose a classic BBQ feast. Main course roasted on a spit with my spice blend. Classic spicy BBQ. The smell of chili, smoke, and meat from the spit. As sides: baked beans, grilled corn with butter and chili, cornbread, coleslaw, and pickles. All accompanied by country music."
"That's a good menu, but I refuse."
"Bro! Bro! Bro!"
Both tried to get through to him, but Dave was completely numb from the vision of his Western feast.
"For dessert, apple pie."
Finally Cody roared into his brother's ear.
"BRO!!!"
"What?"
Cody pointed ahead of them and above them. There stood Arslan, Ernst, Gator, Evan's girls, and Rufus's protruding ears. It was clear they were very unhappy with the current situation.
"It was only a proposal…" His voice was very thin.
"Lawyer!" Cody shouted. He and his brother were in the academy's butchery room. They stood tied up like bacon against the wall. "You can't just process us like that!"
"Calm down. No one is going to process you. Yet…" Ernst's voice resembled the sharpening of a knife. Perhaps because the girls themselves were sharpening knives and preparing tools. They were still keyed up after the action with Zahira, and now someone was talking about cooking Evan again.
"Commissioner Vollmond, are we even allowed to be kept in a room like this?" Cody looked around the room. Everywhere was full of all kinds of butchery equipment.
"This room is currently serving as a temporary holding cell. In this building it's the place best suited for it." Cody seemed to be intensely searching for some counterargument when Frida approached them.
She had a knife in her hand.
"You know, your BBQ menu is very good."
"Thank you."
"You just need to make two changes."
"What?" Dave was surprised.
"Swap the main ingredient for two coyotes."
Both brothers trembled. The girls nodded. Rufus gave a thumbs-up. The council members looked on with stern eyes.
"Frida. Put the knife down."
"But they…"
"Put it down. They are detained, not sentenced."
"Yes, Dad." She said it with reproach. As if she wanted to accuse her father of stiffness.
Evan felt awkward. His dissatisfaction mixed with the voice praising Dave's menu. He decided to buy himself time.
"You mentioned some rumors about me."
Dave looked left and right before saying what it was about.
"So I heard a rumor that the Saffron Tigress tried to cook a human."
"And you believed it?" Ernst looked at him as if he were about to read him several paragraphs.
"No. I didn't believe it." Dave shook his head so hard that Evan was sure he was about to twist his own neck. "At least until I smelled that scent myself."
"You entered the academy grounds!"
"The rabbit was a legal target." Cody shouted.
"You've already chased him on academy grounds once. I warned you it was a bad idea." Evan had no mercy for him.
Ernst looked unsettling.
"I got a tip that he had to take care of something outside the academy."
"From where?"
"Well… someone from his dorm gave us the tip."
"I'm listening…" Arslan's voice sounded as if he were about to start gutting.
"Well… he claimed he was from his dorm. He sold me the info for five tens. Everything was through DMs on my socials. The tip turned out to be true." Cody smiled strangely.
"Do you have a record of the conversation?"
Cody nodded.
"Five tens?!" Rufus shouted.
"That's what the tip cost." Cody nodded.
Rufus dropped to his knees and for a moment looked as if he intended to laugh.
"Five tens…"
He clutched his head.
"Five tens… a measly five tens… that's practically free…" He began to laugh like a madman.
"They kicked me out of the athletics club, the boss said he'd fire me, and now this! A measly five tens." He began to cry and pound his fist on the floor.
Finally he curled up on the floor and stopped moving. He only quietly repeated how low his life had been valued. Evan knelt beside him. He remembered that he himself had wanted to eat Rufus to spare him humiliation. Seeing him in such a state, he felt truly vile.
Arslan grabbed Cody by the jacket.
"Five tens? Meaning fifty, right?"
The coyote nodded energetically.
"Who from my Academy dared to stoop to something so… pathetic?"
"I don't know… it was only a nick."
Arslan looked at Rufus. He was already sobbing with all his strength.
"I have no idea who." Then he began spilling various surnames and room numbers, but it was easy to notice that in a surge of grief he was throwing out random names.
"How did you pay?"
"With Flik."
Arslan furrowed his brows. He growled angrily. Evan knew that look. He had looked at Maurice de Coeur in a similar way when reading his files. He felt that someone was going to be in considerable trouble.
Ernst crossed his arms.
"If you have anything else interesting to say, you'd better say it now."
"Actually…"
What Dave said made even Arslan's, Ernst's, and Gator's legs buckle.
"Did I hear that correctly? The Black Market is mobilizing to obtain Evan?!"
"At least that's what I heard." Dave said very thinly.
"From where?!"
"My spice supplier told me he accidentally overheard a conversation between two guys at some gas station. He claimed they had outright forbidden mugs. When he said it he was strangely pale."
Arslan looked at them.
"What exactly did they say about this mobilization?"
"I'm not sure. Something about hunters, auctions. He was driving off at the time."
"The matter is very serious. Even if it's only a rumor we cannot ignore this information." Gator fell into thought.
"Why! Why have they all suddenly fixated on Evan?!" Aiko couldn't hold back and began to shout.
"Exactly, why!?" Callisa and Frida answered her.
"What is legendary awakens the desire to possess it. What is legendary and unattainable awakens desire because it promises much more. Whoever manages to possess it will himself become a legend."
"The young lady is right, Miss Florentine. If the rumor is true, then the members of the Black Market have recognized Evan as something more than ordinary prey."
"Meaning?" Aiko asked timidly.
"As someone who could ensure legendary status in the underground." Gator clenched his jaw. "Reputation there is an extremely serious currency."
Ernst clapped his hands and turned to the Varran brothers, who were soon back on their feet.
"You are detained for trespassing and hunting on protected grounds. If you cooperate, it will be counted in your favor." Rufus muttered with dissatisfaction.
"So we can go?"
"You will stay here until the patrol arrives. I haven't decided yet whether and what punishment you will receive."
Everyone left the room.
Ernst, Arslan, and Gator looked at each other, at the girls, at Evan, and at Rufus.
"We have two boys. One is a legal hunting target. The other is protected by law that more and more people want to break." Ernst spoke.
"We need to develop a plan." Arslan muttered.
"And quickly." Gator agreed.