Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ 27.5 ~~

Hawk's POV  

It had taken a while but we'd finally made it to Vaizel!

And along the way, we'd picked up another member of the Seven Deadly Sins. Though, against me, King was a weakling. I laughed quietly to myself and followed after the others.

"How come we have to stay?" Diane questioned with a scowl. "That's my Gideon."

"I need you to take care of Elizabeth for me," Meliodas said.

"But Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth protested, a hand curled to her chest.

"And I need more food for the Boar's Hat," Meliodas called over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Diane. We'll get back your Sacred Treasure," King assured her and floated overhead.

The four of us – Ban, Meliodas, King and of course, myself, the Captain of the Scraps Disposal – trekked our way into Vaizel. We'd heard rumour that Diane's Gideon was the prize in a local fighting festival. That and gold coins to line our pockets should we win.

But of course we'd win. I was on the team.

Ban stretched with a yawn. "Man, talk about boring. Why can't we just take the weapon?"

"Come on, it'll be fun," Meliodas said with a grin. "A bit of practice for you since you've been cooped up in that cell for so long."

Ban punched Meliodas but the latter leant out of reach of the swipe.

"Maybe we'll even hear word of Estra," I piped up.

We'd all been concerned about her disappearance – except Ban, and obviously King because he barely knew her – and the fact that she hadn't turned back up yet.

"Don't worry, she'll come back when she's ready," said Meliodas, hands behind his head. He seemed the least perturbed by the fact that our fox was missing.

"She's probably tucked her tail between her legs and scampered away." That was Ban. He was still irked that he shared a sin with a real fox-turned-human. He was supposed to be the Fox's sin of Greed, not the one of Envy.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Considering the fact she wanted to return to a fox, I don't think that's the case."

We reached the outskirts of Vaizel and all talk of Estra ceased as we stepped foot in. We made straight for the fighting ring. It was atop a huge boulder and connected to the rest of Vaizel by a wooden walkway.

Already a large group of men were in the ring, eyeing up the competition. Ban, King and Meliodas entered the ring just as a tiny figure with spindly arms placed himself centre stage. He wore what looked like a pink dress and his helmet was shoved so far down his head that you couldn't even see his face!

In a squeaky voice, it announced the rules of the fighting festival and the rundown of the event. I eyed the competition the others were up against and sighed. "They oughta count themselves lucky that I didn't sign myself up for this," I said aloud.

Suddenly I was barrelled over by a crazy woman weaving her way through the crowd.

"Hey!" I shouted after them then my eyes widened. The woman's hair was braided so that it sailed down her back like a tail. It was brilliant orange, orange like the fur of a fox's coat.

Estra? No, surely not, I thought, noting the outfit the woman wore as she disappeared into the throng of people. She'd been in armour and carried a sword on her back.

Estra could barely handle a dagger, let alone a sword. And I was pretty sure she'd never wear armour. She'd complain it was too heavy and cumbersome to move in. She was like that.