I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 11: Chapter 11: What? I Rendered Meritorious Service?

"Jiang Zuo, you should be careful. The thief struck again in the middle of the night."

Niu Shuanghu said in a rough voice as he cut the pork and pig’s blood Jiang Zuo wanted.

"Who got robbed this time? They found out but couldn’t catch him?"

Jiang Zuo asked.

’This thief is unbelievably bold, daring to strike while everyone’s on high alert.’

"Old Man He, the pig farmer. I just happened to be going over to his place to slaughter a pig. He only discovered the theft after he got up. If he hadn’t needed to wake up early for the slaughter, he wouldn’t have noticed until daylight. Who knows how many other families were robbed last night. The world’s an unjust place."

Niu Shuanghu shook his head.

After hearing the details, Jiang Zuo wasn’t particularly perturbed.

’The more reckless the thief gets, the closer he is to being caught.’

’Walk by the river long enough, and your shoes are bound to get wet.’

’It’s the cautious thieves—the ones who go into hiding after every job, waiting for things to die down before striking again—who are truly impossible to guard against.’

The incident did affect Jiang Zuo, however.

Significantly fewer people came to buy his large meat buns that morning.

By nine in the morning, there were still a little over ten meat buns left in the steamer.

Seeing that it was unlikely more customers would show up, Jiang Zuo ate two himself and set aside a few for Little Xiangtao and Blacksmith Li.

He tossed the rest to Great Black.

Great Black was instantly overjoyed, its tail wagging furiously.

It was still early, so Jiang Zuo decided to take the opportunity to observe the Beast Pattern.

This time, Jiang Zuo prepared himself by lying down on his bed beforehand.

The slowly swimming, tadpole-like script reappeared before his eyes.

As expected, his vision went black. Even though he had been wide awake just a moment before, he almost instantly fell into a deep sleep again.

’This Beast Pattern observation is a real miracle cure for insomnia!’

It was almost noon when Jiang Zuo woke up. He sat on the edge of his bed, dazed, for quite some time.

The feeling of having his mental energy completely drained was awful. He really needed to find a way to alleviate the strain.

’Something that could restore his mental energy would be even better.’

The good news was that, compared to yesterday, he had managed to memorize a little more of the Porcupine Beast Pattern’s structure.

It was still a while before lunch, so Jiang Zuo called Great Black to head outside.

He planned to do some training with Great Black, carefully observe the changes from its bloodline enhancement, and also move around a bit to relax his mind.

’Hmm, it seems like his strength and speed have improved a little, but it’s not obvious yet. I’ll need to observe him for a few more days.’

After a round of training, Jiang Zuo made a rough assessment.

After some thought, Jiang Zuo had Great Black stay outside and run back and forth at full speed, pushing its strength and stamina to their limits.

Once it had no stamina left, it was to rest for a bit and then continue running.

If Great Black was capable of further improvement, the results would surely be visible after a few days of this.

Even without Jiang Zuo there to supervise, Great Black didn’t slack off, simply focusing on running back and forth to train.

As a mature Pet Beast certified by the Beast Taming System, training on its own was a matter of course.

"Great Black, come eat!"

Great Black had lost count of how many laps it had run, having rested several times in between, when Jiang Zuo’s voice—a sound like a gift from the heavens—suddenly called out.

Great Black perked up instantly. Ignoring its exhaustion, it shot back into the house.

Jiang Zuo had already poured lunch into its dish.

One glance was all it took for Great Black to spot the difference.

It was an extra-large portion of lunch!

So happy!

So excited!

Great Black’s tail wagged like a blur.

...

"Thank you, Jiang!"

When he went to the smithy that afternoon, Little Xiangtao saw the large meat buns he’d brought and broke into a smile so wide her dimples appeared.

What child could resist the temptation of Jiang Zuo’s large meat buns?

"Remember to steam them before you eat,"

Jiang Zuo reminded her.

"I know! I’ll go ask Grandma to heat them up!"

Clutching the buns, Little Xiangtao dashed into the house.

Blacksmith Li wasn’t around, so Jiang Zuo found a spot, took out his block of iron, heated it until it was red-hot, and resumed hammering.

"Jiang Zuo! Jiang Zuo! You’ve done it!"

But he hadn’t been hammering for long before Blacksmith Li burst back into the shop. The moment he saw Jiang Zuo, he strode over, shouting excitedly.

"Master, what did Jiang Zuo do?"

Even the apprentices, who had been engrossed in their work, couldn’t help but ask curiously upon hearing Blacksmith Li’s words.

’Yeah, what did I do? How come I’m the last to know?’

Jiang Zuo was completely baffled.

’For the past two or three days, I’ve either been cooking at home or hammering iron here at the smithy. I haven’t gone anywhere—my vegetable patch outside of town is nearly overgrown. How could I have possibly done anything worthy of praise?’

"It was your black dog that did it!"

"That thief struck again in the middle of the night, robbing several families in a row. Just like before, he left no clues."

"However, one of the families reported that a sachet filled with jewelry had been stolen from their home."

"Upon hearing this, Chief Lu immediately took the two hounds from the Government Office. He also borrowed the Great Black you raised from Master He. He brought them to the family’s home, had them sniff where the sachet had been kept to pick up its lingering scent, and then let the hounds track the smell."

Blacksmith Li explained rapidly.

Even though he normally wasn’t interested in gossip, he couldn’t keep a hint of excitement out of his voice as he recounted the events.

"So the black dog tracked down the sachet and caught the thief?"

one of the apprentices couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course the thief wasn’t stupid enough to keep the sachet on him. He tossed it by the roadside and then led them on a wild goose chase through the town’s streets and alleys."

"The hounds lost the trail halfway through, getting completely turned around and just running in circles in the street."

"But the black dog Jiang Zuo raised wasn’t fooled! It followed the scent and led Chief Lu right to the thief’s hideout!"

"Now they’ve caught him red-handed with all the stolen goods, and the story has spread all over town!"

Blacksmith Li said, his voice full of amazement.

Many people in town knew that the black dogs Jiang Zuo raised were good, but most of them, Blacksmith Li included, didn’t know exactly *how* good.

Red Fox Town was usually too peaceful, offering basically no opportunity for a Great Black to display its talents.

Even on the rare occasion a case required a dog, the hounds from the Government Office were sufficient, so a Great Black never got its chance to shine.

It was likely only because this thief was so audacious and had thoroughly angered the Government Office that the pressure on them and Chief Lu had become too great.

To ensure they could solve the case quickly and reliably, he had borrowed the Great Black from his acquaintance, Master He.

Most people weren’t aware of the capabilities of the Great Blacks Jiang Zuo raised, but Chief Lu had witnessed them firsthand.

And it’s a good thing he did, or they really might not have caught that thief.

"The black dogs Jiang Zuo raises are that incredible?"

All the apprentices gasped in amazement after hearing the story.

Then, as one, they all turned to look at the Great Black lounging by the shop entrance.

’Speaking of a black dog raised by Jiang Zuo, wasn’t there one right here?’

Moreover, this Great Black was clearly much larger and more robust than an ordinary black dog. Its coat was a glossy, lustrous black—one look was enough to tell it was exceptional.

Being stared at by so many people, Great Black was completely bewildered and felt a bit uncomfortable.

’What’s going on? I was just lying on the ground, sunbathing. I didn’t steal any food, and I definitely didn’t make a mess. Why are all these people staring at me?’

’Do they want to fight? Talk about a fight gets me all fired up.’

’But...’

’Seeing Jiang Zuo nearby, Great Black hesitated for a moment before deciding to ignore them.’

If the news had reached Blacksmith Li’s ears, it meant that by now, everyone on the street knew about it.

The neighboring shopkeepers had noticed Great Black and were now gathering around.

"So this is one of the Great Blacks Jiang Zuo raises? It looks truly remarkable!"

Although Jiang Zuo usually brought Great Black with him, very few people had ever taken a close look at the dog.

Now, fueled by the rumors, everyone who looked at Great Black couldn’t help but shower it with praise.

"How much did the Great Black that Jiang Zuo raised last year sell for again?"

Someone had clearly taken an interest in the dog.

Most of them were shop owners. They could afford to spend a little extra to raise a big dog that could genuinely guard their homes and businesses.

"I think it was over four hundred taels, but the price is sure to skyrocket this year. I reckon it’ll take at least one thousand taels to even have a chance."

"That expensive?"

someone exclaimed.

They ran their own shops, and after a whole year of hard work, they might make a few hundred taels at most.

"Expensive? I heard that to raise one of these black dogs to this level, the food alone costs several dozen taels a year. If you feed it a bit better, it’s over one hundred taels!"

Inside the smithy, the apprentices listened to the shopkeepers and couldn’t help but exchange stunned glances.

’You can make that much money raising dogs?’

’All of them combined, the entire smithy, probably doesn’t make as much in a year as Jiang Zuo, does it?’

In reality, the Great Blacks Jiang Zuo had sold in previous years all went for around four hundred taels.

A Great Black couldn’t go without meat and bones at every meal, so over a year, the food bill really did come to over one hundred taels of silver.

Jiang Zuo’s profit was probably less than three hundred taels.

While this wasn’t a small amount, it wasn’t an outrageous sum either. It just made those in the know think that Jiang Zuo was a truly capable person, able to live without worry by just raising one dog a year.

But if it sold for one thousand taels, his annual profit would instantly multiply several times over.

When most people heard that price, their feelings would go beyond mere admiration and turn into red-eyed jealousy.

Listening to the crowd’s chatter, Jiang Zuo felt a headache coming on.

He had been worried that the Great Black would fetch too high a price, which was precisely why he had decided to use a silent auction.

As the saying goes, fame invites trouble. Earning too much money was useless to him; it would only attract unwanted attention.

He just wanted to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, if he had used a public auction, the price of a Great Black would have more than doubled long ago.

But from the looks of things now, even with a silent auction, this Great Black was going to sell for an extremely high price. There wasn’t much Jiang Zuo could do about it.

He feared the crowd’s enthusiasm for Great Black wouldn’t die down anytime soon.

What worried Jiang Zuo more, however, was that this incident with the thief wasn’t the end, but a beginning.

If that were the case, trying to keep Great Black until the excitement died down would only attract even more unwanted attention.

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