[Prologue] When the Tempest Rages

“Can you give back my sword now?”

I stared at the outstretched hand of my former companion. Her black hair fell just above her shoulders and covered her neck, and her eyes were dark and narrow. She wore a dark green hooded robe and a leather breastplate. There was a long staff on her back, as well as two thin swords, and a leather pouch hanging from her belt. The worn leather boots on her feet completed the look of a traveler.

Even the general air of the woman before me was too familiar, too similar to be faked. It was more than just a resemblance. There was only one Natalie the Tempest from the Million Blades.

I’d heard she’d slit her own throat, but this figure didn’t look like a ghost or a zombie to me. There weren’t even any major scars on her neck.

Because of that dog-shit sun god’s curse, I had lost my physical strength in the absence of sunlight, while Natalie had lost the use of her dominant arm. Her very way of life as a swordfighter had been taken from her. The devastation it had wrought on her mind had been hard to watch.

Which was why, when I’d heard she’d taken her own life, it made sense to me.

Someone pulled on the back of my collar. I turned around to see Arwin looking at me rather suspiciously.

“Who’s that?”

“Someone I knew a long, long time ago,” I said under my breath. “The Tempest.”

I pointed to my pocket, where I’d stashed the temporary sun. That got the message across. Arwin looked startled but did not say anything. She knew plenty about the Million Blades—including Natalie’s name and epithet.

I turned back to Natalie and asked, “Why are you here? I…thought you were dead.”

“I’ve got my reasons,” she replied, looking around the area with a smile. “Let’s find somewhere quiet and secure to talk.”

This wasn’t going to be a conversation to hold amid a crowd. It involved my hidden identity, and I didn’t need people overhearing that.

“The Adventurers Guild,” I suggested. That would be a convenient spot for discussing secrets.

“We’ll lead the way,” said Arwin, taking charge. I was going to tell her to head back on her own, but she’d cut me off. I wasn’t going to have much success trying to convince her.

Natalie just shrugged. She didn’t ask who Arwin was, which told me Dez had at least informed her about the princess knight.

Once in the Adventurers Guild, we went upstairs and helped ourselves to Dez’s room. There was a four-seat table. Arwin sat down next to me and introduced herself to Natalie with a grave expression. I tried sending her a signal with my eyes, but she was determined to stay.

After naming herself in return, Natalie got right down to business.

“The truth is, I found myself embroiled in some rather nasty business, so I faked my own death to keep my dad out of it,” she said.

In short, after the breakup of the Million Blades, Natalie had quit adventuring and traveled back home to be with her father. She’d helped him with his job and lived at home, but she’d stumbled across some old foes who were nothing but trouble.

“Remember those folks we completely dismantled together? You know, back in West Sylvester Kingdom.”

“Ahhh.”

Yes, I do remember that one.

I’d thought we’d pummeled them so thoroughly, they would never dream of messing with us again. But it seemed some of them had survived.

They’d sniffed out her location and ambushed her. She’d fought them off, but she knew it would be only a matter of time before more showed up. And she didn’t want her elderly father to suffer because of it. If she simply disappeared, they’d take him hostage. And she couldn’t bring him with her, because a long journey across the land was too hard for an old man like him. Plus, he would never want to leave their town, where her mother had been laid to rest. Natalie’s brother and his wife lived nearby, too.

“So you put together a little act.”

Natalie nodded. “However, I may have miscalculated.”

She had been planning to return home once things died down, but she hadn’t expected her father to reach out to Dez, whom he’d known well—or for Dez to go there so quickly, or for him to take Dawnblade with him when he left.

“So you came all the way to this city to track him down.”

“I was imagining I’d catch up to Dez along the way, though.”

She hadn’t encountered him because Dez had taken the Dragon Hall. He had kept it a secret even from me, so there was no way Natalie would know about that cavern.

“What do you even want with such a thing?” I asked, my eyes resting naturally on Natalie’s left arm.

“The same thing you do,” Natalie suggested, her lips twitching into a sardonic grin. “Dez told me you’d wound up with a tool that collects the light of the sun inside it.”

“It’s useful.”

“Well, the same is true for me,” she said, slowly lifting her left arm. My eyes went wide as saucers.

“You can move it?”

“Just a little bit,” she admitted sheepishly. “If I try hard enough, I can manage basic tasks with it. But I certainly can’t wield a sword.”

Her brows furrowed as she lamented her plight.

“If I get attacked while I’m like this, I will be off to the Underworld. I came back to get Dawnblade so I can avoid that. It’s for personal protection.”

Apparently, it temporarily reversed Natalie’s curse. It sounded like something that spittoon sun god would do.

“Where did you get it?”

“There was a market in a nearby village. Someone just happened to be selling it in their shop there. I could tell at a glance it was no ordinary weapon, so I bought it.”

Collecting swords was Natalie’s passion. The story was a bit on the vague side, but I couldn’t see any obvious red flags. She didn’t seem to be lying. I supposed she had no reason to hide anything.

“Why do you ask?”

“If we knew where it came from, I thought, it might give us a chance at clobbering that bald-headed bastard.”

I didn’t know if it was a holy relic or not, but I was hoping it might give us a hint that would lead us toward giving an ass-kicking to the smug fool who’d littered the world with his wretched tools. I guessed I was out of luck.

“You still have a filthy mouth,” Natalie said, scowling. “So? Are you going to give it back to me?”

“Sure,” I said.

Arwin promptly wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms with displeasure. It was Natalie’s sword to begin with. I couldn’t demand she give it to us. I had no problem with this. If she wanted it, she could have it. Keeping it around was only going to inspire Arwin to put herself in more danger.

“But I have conditions,” I said, approaching Natalie. I pointed to my feet. “Look.”

Natalie followed my lead, glancing at the floor. That was when I pounced. I came down on her defenseless head with all my weight in an elbow drop.

The resulting sound was a heavy thud. I slammed her head against the thick wooden table. My strength was laughable, but I was as hefty as I’d always been, so it had a good amount of power behind it.

Natalie’s head hit the table so hard, she tumbled out of her chair.

“Matthew!” Arwin exclaimed. She tried to intervene, but I brushed her aside. This was our problem.

“Well, that’s one way to say hello…,” Natalie muttered, grabbing the edge of the table to pull herself up. Her eyes glinted with hatred, and she spat on the floor. “Do you want to die?”

“That was for Dez.”

How much anguish had that Beardo gone through, thinking his old comrade was dead? She might’ve had her reasons, but his pain was real. When he found out she was alive, he had probably just shrugged it off in front of her, so I took out his frustrations for him, simple as that.

“You two still thick as thieves, then?” she snorted, rubbing her reddened forehead. “I’ll give Dez a proper apology after this. Are you happy?”

“Of course.”

Natalie felt some guilt over it, too; that was why she took the hit. Otherwise, she would have cut my arm off—even without the use of her good arm.

“Then give it back to me already,” she said. “Where is it?”

“Right here.”

It was why I’d brought us there.

I got down underneath the table. The nails in the floorboard were loosened up to the point that even I could pry them up. I removed two planks, revealing a long, thin cloth.

Arwin grumbled something along the lines of, So that’s where you hid it. I’d assumed she would find it if I kept it at home. But here, I suspected she would stay away to give Dez his privacy. I’d been right about that.

I handed over the package, cloth and all. Natalie yanked it loose.

“This is definitely it,” she said, exhaling and sticking Dawnblade on her hip. Power aside, it was much too big for simple self-defense.

“Going back to adventuring?” I asked.

She had reasons for not returning home. So the quickest way to make ends meet was to get back into adventuring. She had the skill, the experience, and the fame. It made sense if she came back here to get Dawnblade for that purpose. If not for the holy dregs of the sun god and his curse, she would be an absolutely top-shelf hire—a force to be reckoned with. She’d make good money in no time. And this town had the dungeon, a hunting ground where an adventurer could make their fortune.

If she needed someone to party up with, she could join Aegis. Personality aside, I could guarantee her talent. She was worth more than a thousand Ralphs.

“You’re joking,” Natalie said, smiling thinly. “I’m done with the violent life. I want to walk the straight and narrow.”

“If you want, you could be a bodyguard or an assassin.”

Her swordsmanship was high-class, but her life skills were atrocious. Her cooking was always either half-raw or charred. She gave up on laundry and cleaning partway through in frustration. Any attempt to haggle over prices led to a fight to the death. She didn’t know how to live life if it didn’t involve fighting. She just wasn’t interested. In a sense, she was even clumsier than Dez.

“I was expecting you to suggest I whore myself out.”

“I’d rather die than sleep with you,” I said.

Even her nakedness wouldn’t get me hard. Speaking for the benefit of her honor, Natalie was not without her feminine charms. But I knew her too well to see her as an object of desire.

“Good, because if you’d asked me how much, I would have cut off that member of yours.”

“I’d kill you first.”

Why was everyone so obsessed with separating me from Matthew Jr.?

“If I might ask,” Arwin interrupted, looking sternly at us, “are you planning to stay in this town, Natalie?”

“That’s right.”

“Gray Neighbor is not a safe place. It isn’t a good fit for a lady,” Arwin warned.

“I’m flattered by your concern,” Natalie said, beaming. “As I said earlier, I am on the run. If anything, a dangerous town is a better hiding spot than a peaceful and accessible farming village.”

Everyone around Gray Neighbor had their run-ins with other folks. Many of them were wanted criminals.

“Well, that’s all I was looking for, so I’ll be going now. I have to figure out where I’m spending the night. I’ll reach out again once I’m settled in. Good-bye,” she said, walking off.

The door shut, leaving me and Arwin behind. An uncomfortable silence followed. I’d been in that room many times, but it felt awkward right then.

I was just getting to my feet, hoping to get out of there, when Arwin asked me, “Are you on poor terms with Natalie?”

“We’re best friends,” I said, exaggerating slightly. “Like cats and crows, we are.”

I didn’t hate her or wish to kill her, but we had never seen eye to eye. Whenever one of us started talking, it ended in a stupid argument. There were times I missed those interactions, but once I was in her presence again, I just felt annoyed. I’d only recalled the good memories when I’d heard she’d died, but when I saw her in the flesh, the only moments that came to mind were the obnoxious ones.

“It wasn’t like our party came together because we were close friends,” I explained. We acknowledged and trusted each other’s abilities, and when the time came, we fought for each other. As long as each of us played our role perfectly, all was well. “She’s a real pain in the ass. A born troublemaker.”

“More than you?” Arwin asked.

“More than me.”

She did things her own way, regardless of who else was around, and she often made things worse whenever there was trouble. The worst part was that she didn’t ever intend for it to happen, but it always did.

For one thing, the only reason Natalie became part of the Million Blades was… Oops, hold that thought. The story’s too long to tell now.

“Anyway, it sounds like she’s not going back to adventuring, so she won’t be competing with you,” I pointed out. Natalie was not the kind of person anyone wanted as an enemy. Or as a friend.

“I see,” Arwin said, getting to her feet. “Let’s go.”

“Back home?”

“Errands. That was the plan today, remember?”

“I’m not really in the mood,” I said. I’d been raring to go earlier, but my excitement was thoroughly doused.

“Then you can sleep on the floor tonight.”

“There’s plenty of space in the bed with you,” I pointed out.

“Don’t be an idiot.”

She slugged me in the stomach, then walked out the door. It was an unprovoked assault.

I sat there in the empty room, staring at the ceiling.

“So what happens now?”

Just when it seemed like the trouble had been resolved, for once, more arrived on my doorstep. In a sense, Natalie was even worse than a stampede. I’d learned that lesson more times than I cared to count.

Her epithet of the “Tempest” was more literal than one might expect.

[Chapter One] The Witch’s Cauldron Bubbles

“I’m off, then.”

Arwin was headed for the Millennium of Midnight Sun once again. She would delve into that dungeon in search of the Astral Crystal that lay hidden at its base. With that item, she could drive out all the monsters that were roaming her homeland.

“Forgetting something?” I asked her.

“…I know, I know,” she answered, scowling as she took out her purse. She unceremoniously dropped a gold coin in my palm. It gleamed radiantly in the morning sun. I stared at it.

“What? Is that not to your liking?” she asked.

“I didn’t say that.”

An entire gold coin was a king’s ransom for a kept man like me. I could spend an entire night with the finest of women. You could ask any kept man or pimp in the city, and none of them would be getting paid like I was. Though it was probably just because she was of noble birth and didn’t have a strong sense for the worth of money.

“I’ve been working really hard, you know,” I said.

“You don’t have a job.”

“I heat up the bath when you get home, and I cook your dinner. I even clean up around the place.”

“You also seem to be visiting brothels and drinking all night in pubs while I’m gone.”

“The point I’m trying to make is that I think there should be some kind of extra income potential. Like a bonus on top of my usual allowance.”

“Just say that, then,” she grumbled. “There are…issues with your behavior, but it’s true you’ve dedicated yourself to me admirably.”

So my emotional plea got through. See, it’s always worth a shot.

“How much?” she asked.

“Ah yes,” I said, stroking my chin thoughtfully. “How about…a thousand gold?”

She considered this for a few moments, then smiled and waved good-bye.

First, I was seeing stars, and the next thing I knew, I was being tossed onto a pile of waste.

My assailant was a younger man. He dragged me behind the pub and treated me to a heaping serving of kicks and punches. Sweat trickled down between his flat, black bangs and pale, bitter eyes to drip off his chin. I recognized him: an adventurer who’d arrived in town recently. He was maybe twenty years old. I recalled his face well, because it had flushed when he saw Arwin.

“It’s too early to go to bed, maggot.” He pinned my head between the sole of his foot and the wall. There were two thin swords on his waist, so I suspected swordplay was his forte. “Don’t think being her favorite pet means you’re special, vermin.”

Again? Ever since the stampede, Arwin had transformed into the town’s hero. The people loved her, and she was under more public scrutiny than ever before. And thus, the biggest eyesore to those who called themselves her supporters was me, her kept man.

So the public’s treatment of me had gotten harsher. Two days before, a dead rat was tossed into our home with a threatening note. The day after that, someone had pulled a knife on me. Today, I was being treated to a full-course meal of violence. With service like this, I wasn’t going to be leaving him a tip.

Some moron had clearly put him up to this. He didn’t know the first thing about Arwin. But the hero with delusions of grandeur took up the role of the knight in shining armor, rescuing the fair princess from her wicked tormenter. My role as the tormenter involved being knocked on my ass and kicked around. Does a third-rate theater like this actually pay its actors?

And is he done yet? I peeked up and saw his eyes were bloodshot as he screamed insults, foaming at the mouth. He was drunk on violence. Maybe it wasn’t just a threat. Maybe he actually intended to kill me.

A normal person would be long unconscious by that point, but my body was particularly resistant to pain and damage. Some boy kicking me around was nothing. But it was also infuriating to be humiliated like that. I’d figured someone would come by and break it up, but that wasn’t happening. It wasn’t late enough for the area to be deserted, and he was causing an awful lot of noise right behind the back wall of a busy pub. You’d think there would at least be a curious drunk who wanted to watch.

He’d probably driven off everyone else. It would be easy for me to kill one man alone, but a lot more trouble if he had help.

I considered shouting about a fire, but the people around there were used to lies like that, so I generally tried not to use that tactic unless there was an actual fire. Besides, the building right behind the pub was a brothel. The patrons were going to be too busy to stop and pay attention. At best, they’d just hurl rocks at me from above. I simply had to be patient.

“Shit.”

After all his punches and kicks, I refused to say I would break up with her. So the hero decided to take out his knife instead. He pulled me up and stuck the blade against my throat.

“This is your final warning. Leave this town at once, or I’ll stab out your eyes.”

I turned to the unfortunate lead actor and shook my head. “Trite threats. No menace in your voice. Too much wasted movement. Ugly mug. Zero points.”

Instantly, the hero’s face turned crimson. I understood hearing one’s flaws pointed out could be enraging, but it was the job of a stage producer to provide constructive criticism. One couldn’t put on a good play unless they knew what to improve.

“You…you…”

“Anyway, here’s a warning,” I said, channeling all the benevolence I had. “You should get out of here at once.”

“Huh?”

I huddled down and covered my head. The next instant, something thudded loudly just above me.

“Shut the fuck up, asshole!”

I looked up just in time to see a large, burly man slamming an upstairs window at the brothel shut. He didn’t seem to appreciate being interrupted. Next to me, the hero was flat on his back, knocked out. There was a chunk of a broken wooden chair resting by his head. Hey, I’d warned him.

“What a mess,” I said. “What if I’d died, right?”

He didn’t respond. I examined the hero’s face. I started to lift him up, then thought better of it.

“Sorry, pal, the only words I say to God are blasphemies. If you want a prayer for your soul, you’ll have to say it yourself.”

I helped myself to the contents of his wallet as payment for my sound advice and medical care, then left the area.

Nobody was going to think twice about a dead adventurer. That was just the kind of place Gray Neighbor was.

“Oh, is it done already?” said a woman emerging from the pub as I passed by. She was around thirty, with her brown hair tied up in the back and a white cloth wrapped around her head instead of a hat. She was the proprietor, it seemed. A lifetime of hard work had taken some of the shine off her, but there were plenty of men who were drawn to her kind of beauty.

“Yep, sorry. Curtain just dropped,” I said.

It was at that point that I realized the name of the bar was the Golden Stagecoach. Before, it had been the Iron Bear Archer. The owner had shuttered the place due to his old age, and a new pub had opened instead. It was a shame I had to learn that way.

“The audience did not appreciate the third-rate hack’s acting and clubbed him with a chair,” I said. “The next performance will be a postmortem, I’m afraid.”

“I’ll handle the cleanup, then,” she said, extending an open hand. In other words, she would deal with the body. Presumably she’d just pay some youngster a pittance to dump the body into the dungeon. I grimaced and handed her a silver. This was a violent town, and many fights ended in deaths. Especially among vagrant adventurers.

“How long have you been here?” I asked.

“Since the stampede. The place has good bones, so I bought it, furniture included. Only needed the minimum of a touch-up,” she said, proud of her excellent purchase. I supposed she didn’t know the place had also been a secret brothel of sorts. The elderly owner hadn’t been able to get it up anymore, so he consoled himself by listening in on the dalliances of his customers.

“I know it sounds like an excuse, but I was going to go back there to clear him off— It’s just that his friends kept me occupied inside. I only just finished chasing them off now.” She grinned, apologizing as she swept her hair back.

A few stray strands blew in the wind. The pub’s sign hung above her head. It was a relief of a flying horse pulling a carriage.

“Sounds like you’ve had a time of it, my lady.”

“Just so you know, I’ve a husband. A very lazy one.”

“Is that an invitation?”

“I hate conceited men,” she snapped, patting my cheek with the flat of a bloody kitchen knife.

“That’s not your husband’s blood, is it?”

“If I recall right, it belonged to a hen…or was it a cock?”

“A veritable feast. Wonderful. A toast to the beautiful couple,” I said, smiling awkwardly as I continued on my way.

I was being put through the wringer.

Would-be heroes like that fellow were on the rise. They slithered after me and wrapped around my limbs like snakes, believing I had achieved my position by threatening Arwin. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The worst of them simply attacked with blades, their eyes bloodshot like horses in mating season. Those ones were hard at work feeding the dungeon with their remains.

I picked over my tattered clothes, clicking my tongue. I was going to need a new outfit soon; I’d have to visit the used clothing store and put together a set that suited me.

I also stank of rotting food, having been shoved into a pile of garbage. The silver lining was the entire town smelled like that, so I wasn’t going to stick out that much. Before, there were workers who wheeled the refuse away to serve as fertilizer, but they hadn’t been around since the stampede. Apparently, they would be back soon, but in the meantime the garbage had piled up and stank to high heaven. It was awful even around the dungeon. Regular folks hadn’t strayed near it even in the better times, but now there wasn’t a soul around. So the trash dump by the dungeon was turning into a veritable mountain.

Trying to ignore my strong new scent, I made my way through the streets, noting in the moonlight all the buildings that were under construction. During the day, the town was full of the sounds of hammers and shouting. It had been nearly a month. The people who’d evacuated the town were coming back, and more stores had resumed their business. When the buildings were obliterated, some folks even brought out carts and served booze in the street. Bit by bit, the town was looking more like it had before the stampede.

But only along the main roads. When I went into the side streets and alleys, I saw the many abandoned buildings that were partially or fully destroyed. The impoverished had nowhere else to go, and they eked out a living in their barely intact homes. Disaster afflicted the rich and poor alike, but the real difference manifested in the period afterward. By the time anything had been rebuilt on their lots, the majority of them would have frozen, starved, or been crushed to death.

Status and money were cruel to the have-nots. On the big streets, the mansions of the rich and the merchant storefronts were abuzz with carpenters and laborers, carrying lumber, striking nails, stacking stone, and painting walls. They worked from morning until night, then went home to the barracks, where their families awaited them.

They might have the skills to build their own homes, but neither the money nor the materials. It would be a long time before they had proper houses again.

“Oops.”

I was so deep in thought, I had failed to notice that the coins I’d taken from the third-rate would-be hero’s purse were slipping out. They were all coppers and silvers, a pittance for appearing in his little play. I’d have to make good use of them. I decided I could best foster the arts by engaging in some training at the brothel that night. It would be an all-nighter.

Brimming with fresh resolve, I bent down to scoop up the coins when I was bowled over onto my side by someone roaring with anger. I was tossed like a twig. Through slanted vision, I saw an elderly man grabbing greedily at my money and scampering off.

“Now that was uncalled for.”

There was a sour stench coming from the alley the man ran down. Several men in bedraggled clothes sat along the buildings, looking tired. They were gentlemen of the street. They had always been found around the town, but since the stampede, there were certainly a lot more of them.

Many found themselves joining the ranks after losing their jobs and their means of feeding themselves. The man who had grabbed my coins was probably one of them. Some folks had had good jobs that allowed them to support their families, only for that bedrock of safety and security to crumble beneath their feet and send them plummeting into the depths.

Their future was bleak.

They didn’t all just sit around begging and hoping for pity. There was a law and structure to their layer of society, centered around territory. The criminal underworld facilitated this system, too. If a newcomer tried to beg in the wrong place, he’d get beaten by the others.

I heard a noise. Down the narrowing alley, the gentlemen were kicking one of their own. I couldn’t tell if they were punishing a transgressor or just blowing off steam, but they were certainly going to town on him.

The gentlemen gradually noticed my presence and trickled away, sparing a few rude comments in the process. All that was left behind was a badly beaten man. Despite my suspicions, it was not the same man who’d just knocked me over. This one looked to be a bit shy of forty. His silvery hair made him look older than he was. While he was filthy, his eyes still had plenty of life in them.

“You all right?” I asked. He steadily got to his feet and rested his back against the wall. They’d stuck his head into one of those trash piles; some kind of bone fragments were stuck to his head.

“Get lost, you piece of shit.”

“Ah, with that boisterous attitude, I’m guessing you’ll be just fine.” I chuckled, taking note of the black spots around his bony wrist. Those were marks from Release use. So he’d brought about his own downfall with drugs. I wasn’t going to mock him for that; it could happen to any person of any age. Even princess knights.

“If you’re trying to work this area, I wouldn’t bother,” I said. “The Spotted Wolves are propping up the Gentleman’s Alliance around here. You don’t want to get into a fight with any scary fellows, do you?”

He didn’t respond.

“If you want to get out of town, go see old Toby in Blue Dog Alley.”

“…I’ve got money. Plenty of it.”

“Ah, of course. No wonder you reminded me of a nobleman.”

Struggling with poverty for long enough could drive people to delusions. They consoled themselves with comforting dreams, truly believing that they were bastard children of some rich merchant, that their prince would one day come for them, or that they hadn’t actually killed that man they’d offed.

“It’s only temporary… I’ll be out of this hellhole soon,” he said. That was ironic, because usually they found their way out via the hole to hell.

“I see,” I said, lending him my shoulder so he could stand on his own. “C’mon, let’s go that way. You’ll only get stomped again back here. I can take you out of their turf.”

After taking the gentleman of the street to his resting place for the night, I returned home. It was late.

I turned the corner and saw home, sweet home. It had once been crushed and turned into rubble, but was freshly rebuilt, having been finished just the other day. The floor plan was almost the same as before, but we now had a long-awaited bath in the annex.

“I’m home,” I said to no one. Arwin was still in the dungeon and wouldn’t return until the next day. I’d already eaten, and it was too much work to start a bath just for myself. Instead, I went up the stairs, which still smelled fresh and strange, and collapsed onto the bed.

As soon as I was off my feet, the pain of being beaten came back to me, so I shut my eyes, hoping to slip past the agony into sleep. The sandman arrived quickly.

Sometime later, I was awakened by an unexpected sound.

It was still before dawn. I sensed something downstairs. Whoever it was had opened the locked door and was sneaking up the stairs. They were trying to stay as silent as possible, but they weren’t entirely successful. They reached the top and walked down the hall, stopping outside my room.

They weren’t coming inside. Nor were they knocking. They were just standing there, holding their breath and listening for me. I got tired of waiting, so I got out of bed and opened the door.

“Welcome back,” I said. Arwin hunched up like a small, frightened animal.

When someone spent long amounts of time in the dungeon, they lost their sense of time. There was no sunlight, and everything looked the same. Add in the tension of combat, and it was easy to flip one’s days and nights.

So it wasn’t uncommon at all to emerge from the dungeon and find it was the middle of the night. Arwin had come back at night several times, but she always just went to her room and slept—or woke me up and demanded I prepare a bath for her.

“It’s not quite the hour for a midnight tryst, is it? A morning tryst, perhaps? Whatever time of day, I’m always up for it,” I said, trying to ease the tension with one of my classic wisecracks, but Arwin neither laughed nor snapped at me. She just looked away awkwardly. She seemed afraid, like she was fleeing from something. She rubbed her right wrist with her left hand.

“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

“It’s this…”

She removed what was covering her hand and raised her arm, showing it off.

Black spots were on the inside of her right wrist—the sign of a Release addict. She had indulged in the dangerous drug to escape the effects of the dungeon sickness that had once tormented her.

Her dungeon sickness was in remission, but she continued to take trace amounts of Release to keep withdrawal at bay. The black spots showed up where the veins were close to the surface, such as the wrists and back of the neck. When and where varied according to the individual, so she could develop the spots at any time. She had returned from the dungeon early because she was afraid of the spots.

She had experienced an unbelievable level of violence and danger in the stampede. I hadn’t noticed anything particularly off in her behavior, but it seemed it had just taken a little while to show. And if we didn’t do something, they might get worse.

Arwin hung her head in shame as I examined the spots. She looked like a child being scolded.

“Anywhere else?”

“Just here for now,” she said, hastily showing me her left wrist, which was all clear.

“You’re all right,” I said as gently as I could. “If it worries you, just wrap a bandage around the area.”

“But—”

I grabbed her wrist and pulled it to my mouth to kiss it. Arwin froze but didn’t pull her arm away. I fantasized that I might be able to suck out the poison, but naturally, when my lips left, the black spots were still there on her wrist.

“You must be tired. Some rest will do you good. Or would you rather have an early breakfast?”

“No need. I’ll sleep until the morning. I’m sorry about this,” she said, shaking her head. Her expression already looked softer. Her concerns weren’t gone, but I could tell she felt a little better after showing me.

She told me to go back to sleep and turned to go to her room.

“I’ll help you change,” I said, reaching out. Arwin flinched away from my grasp.

Instantly, things felt awkward.

She seemed to come back to her senses and apologized, then scurried away to her room and shut the door. The hallway was quiet.

I could imagine that on the other side of the door, the princess knight regretted her actions and blamed herself. There was no sign of the town’s graceful, noble hero.

The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.

“And? When will the antidote be ready?”

“That’s the first thing you have to say to me?” Nicholas grimaced.

After preparing breakfast in the morning, I headed for Nicholas’s house. The former priest had betrayed that plague-on-humanity sun god and now worked as an herbalist and member of Aegis. It was a rather sordid personal history. These days, he spent his time in the dungeon and created herbal medicines and other remedies when back on the surface. Even as we spoke, he was fiddling with leaves and ores at his desk. I took a seat behind him and yawned. There was nothing I could help him with, and if I wandered around his place, he would snap at me for distracting him.

“My answer hasn’t changed. I can’t make it without money,” he said.

He claimed he had completed an antidote to the Release that tormented Arwin. But the cost of the materials was so steep, he couldn’t make a full dose. Plus, they were temporarily hard to come by, so the price was even higher.

All kinds of tools and items for delving into the dungeon were scarce and selling at inflated prices. Arwin didn’t have any room for extra expenditures. So she’d had only one dose of the antidote so far, and nothing since.

To neutralize the poison building up in her body, we would need plenty of antidote. There wasn’t a magic cure a person could take once and be done with. Arwin told me not to worry about it, but of course I still did.

“What if you sold the recipe to the antidote to make the money?” I suggested.

There were people suffering from Release withdrawals all over the country, not just in this town. An apothecary would likely pay good money for the formula to make it. And they could get the materials, too.

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” said Nicholas. “The materials themselves are too hard to come by. And if the recipe gets around, the rich and powerful will rush out to buy them all up. There will be even less available to the poor or the one you love.”

He lowered his voice even further.

“Plus, you don’t know that the antidote will be properly mixed and prepared. I guarantee that for the people who need it most, they’ll only find crude imitations.”

Whether it was weapons or tools, there were always people looking to get into the counterfeiting game. Just watering it down would be the most benign possibility; some would substitute ingredients to save on costs. They would be much less effective than the real thing—and at worst, what should have been an antidote could turn out to be poison.

“Besides, it usually takes years to develop a solution like this. And I’ve only started on this in earnest since I came to this town.”

“That’s too long.”

“I’m not just sitting on my hands, of course. I’ve been trying everything I can. This is one of them.”

He opened his palm to show me a green ball of medicine.

“I handed out this test the other day, and it went over very well. People were asking for much larger orders.”

While developing new antidotes, he’d wound up with mixtures that served other purposes. Though they were still in the testing stages, some had turned out to be useful.

“What is that, an energy booster?”

“No, a contraceptive. It also protects against venereal disease.” That was the biggest problem facing whores and brothels. And it could prevent unwanted pregnancies. “If I can sell this, it will help me get more materials.”

“And how long will that take?” I said, shaking my head in disappointment. “Listen, I didn’t help you out to save the poor, suffering whores. It was to put a boot up that bottle fly of a sun god’s ass.”

I left Nicholas’s home. The antidote wasn’t coming along anytime soon. It was disappointing but to be expected. I had gotten what I came for.

There were black pills clutched in the palm of my hand.

I’d helped myself to them while wandering around his office. I was the one paying him anyway. Surely I deserved to help myself to some. I replaced them with a similar-looking laxative, so he wouldn’t notice for a while. He still hadn’t noticed the last batch I took.

With this, though, Arwin would gain a bit more peace of mind. I wrapped them in a handkerchief and tucked them away. If I kept them in my hand, they would melt and stink up my palm.

“Hmm?”

I was just turning off the main street into a residential area when I came across someone on the ground. He was somewhat unkempt but did not seem to be a gentleman of the street. Probably just a drunk who had failed to stumble home and ended up sleeping on the path.

As I passed him, he groaned in pain. I stopped to think.

He could be faking illness or injury to trap someone intending to do good and help him. That was a popular tactic for thieves and pickpockets. After a moment’s consideration, I decided to ignore him. Even if he really needed help, I was under no obligation to do so.

Just as I made the decision to abandon him, the collapsed man croaked, “H…hel…”

Then I noticed the dark shadow behind him.

I couldn’t quite make it out. At first, I thought it was just something silhouetted against the light behind it, but then I noticed it was a figure with black fabric covering their face. They wore a black pointed hat and a black robe that went all the way down to their feet, and they held a forked staff with a red jewel between the prongs.

If they happened to have a pointy nose, they would be the spitting image of a witch in a story. I thought it might just be a costume, but even standing there, the figure exuded a menacing presence. I intuited that whatever was standing before me, they were the real thing.

Alarm bells clanged inside my head. They were warning me not to get involved with whatever this was. But as I moved to leave, the figure swung the staff.

“O Demonic Crown,” said a muffled voice. Instantly my head began to throb. It was like I was stuck inside a giant vise. Was it sorcery?

“Who are you?” I demanded. “An agent of that obscene sun god?”

There was no response. The pain only got worse, moment by moment. Compared to this, the clobbering from that would-be hero was like a feather’s caress.

It was daytime, so I had more than a good chance of winning in the sunlight, but the witch kept the staff raised and refused to leave the shade of the alley.

For whatever reason, their target appeared to be me. No one else was around, so I would just have to fight. I squeezed the temporary sun in my pocket. Suddenly, I felt a hand grabbing at my leg. Dammit—the collapsed man.

“H-hel…”

“That’s what I was going to say.”

I’d been wary of him, but the pain caused my concentration to lapse. He had my ankle in his hand. It didn’t matter whether he was an accomplice or just another victim. If he was going to stop me from acting, I’d show him no mercy.

I lifted my leg back, ready to kick him off me—and then I gasped.

He had no eyes. The skin of his face was peeled off, and the white of his skull showed between tufts of hair. Was he undead? What was he doing there? I kicked the head out of revulsion, and it popped clean off. Like a ball with a hole in it, the skull bounced unevenly across the stones. It struck a wall and began to emit something like steam as it vanished. The torso was disappearing, too.

While I was distracted, a massive ball of light flew in my direction. A paralyzing shock ran through me and knocked me onto my back. My body was numb—an immobilizing magic spell.

Dammit. I got sloppy. Shit. Move!

Before I could even use my inner tenacity to break the spell, the witch was standing before me. They crouched, grabbed my arm, and looked at my palm. Then they rummaged around in my pocket and took the handkerchief with the pills inside.

“You…bitch…”

I just barely managed to sit upright when they thrust the staff into my face. Beatings and slashings were no problem for me, but magic was a different matter altogether. A whole incantation would take longer, but the power it delivered would be that much greater. I didn’t know what kind of spell it would be, but all signs suggested they meant to blow my head off. My body was tough, but even I would die if my head came off. I mean, I assumed. Never tested it out.

I couldn’t even fight back, because I couldn’t move. I couldn’t raise my voice to call for help, either.

Even as a non-mage, I could tell the jewel on the tip was pulsing with power. I knew that whatever this was, it would easily kill a human being. Maybe my time had finally come. But I had too many lingering attachments to allow the grim reaper to sever them all with its grisly scythe. I couldn’t give up and die there. There was a princess knight trembling in fear of her past mistakes who needed my help.

But the stone’s light only got brighter and hotter, mocking my bold attempt to struggle. A flame spell, then. The kept man would end up as embers.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?” someone behind me said.

Instantly, the light vanished from the jewel. The witch leaped back, then turned on their heel and vanished into the darkness of the alley.

“What happened, Matthew?”

Fresh footsteps approached. It was the Paladin duo—the guy with the mustache and the other one with tanned skin. They were originally town guards but got transferred into the Paladins. Apparently, they’d taken well to their new posts.

The princess knight was well-known around town. Her house had been robbed before, and attacked as well. In the wake of that, stations for both the town guard and the Paladins had been built in the area. They performed regular patrols as well. There were times I found that annoying, but in this case, it had saved my ass.

“You drunk…? Don’t look it. Bandits have their way with you?”

“Hard as it is to believe, yes.”

The magic spell was wearing off; perhaps it worked only with the caster in close proximity. Now that I could move again, I put a hand to the wall to get to my feet.

“An enormous ox-like woman just beat me black and blue with her teats. She ran off with a handkerchief meant for my girlfriend. I’d be grateful if you could get it back.”

“Not in the job description, I’m afraid,” said the mustached one. The purpose of the Paladins was preventing major crimes like robbery, murder, and drug dealing. They wouldn’t drop everything to help an unemployed gigolo who got shaken down.

“We’ve got our hands full with this underworld gang war right now, thanks to the damn stampede.”

The influx of monsters had killed many members of the Devil’s Alliance and the Spotted Wolves. That led other groups to attempt to seize their territory. Naturally, they weren’t going to roll over and allow that without a fight, so the competition and bloodshed were fierce all over.

“Get on home. Don’t make things any harder for the princess knight.”

Satisfied with their taunting, the two continued on their way. I slammed my fist against the wall.

“Shit!”

I’d really fucked up.

The pills I’d meant to give Arwin were gone.

What did someone do in Gray Neighbor when they’d been robbed? I’d already seen what service the Paladins offered, and it was pointless to rely on the guards. Sorry, pal. Just a bad break. If you were rich enough, they might pretend to do a search, but you weren’t likely to get your stuff back.

Some thieves fenced their stolen goods to a reseller, but if they found out it was just medicine, they might throw it away. Pawn shops would sell medicine, too, but usually only if it was something even an amateur could identify, like such-and-such tails or dried herbs. They wouldn’t touch pills and liquids. There was no way to tell what it did without using it, and more importantly, no one was going to pay for something like that.

The only reasons to steal pills would be to swallow them or give them to someone else to take. Even if I found that witch again, it would be too late. It was a shame the medicine I’d gained was going to waste, but that wasn’t my real concern. If they were really a witch, as they appeared to be, they would know a lot about medicines. If they realized the identity of the fool they’d stolen it from and the nature of the medicine, it would naturally lead them to Arwin. I needed to silence them.

They hadn’t spared a thought for my wallet or the magical temporary sun. It was as though they’d been after the pills from the start. How had they determined I was in possession of them anyway? I hadn’t noticed anyone following me. Had they used magic to track me down?

I wasn’t all that knowledgeable about magic and magicians. I knew magicians weren’t allowed to teach magic to anyone but their own kind. Therefore, anyone who wanted to learn had to apprentice under a master and take their last name. It was a kind of pseudo-family structure. They were reclusive and kept many secrets.

The best tactic now was to ask an expert. If Arwin was back from the dungeon, then they were, too.

“Yo, good to see you.”

Their usual haunt was the Wandering Gray Serpent, west of the Adventurers Guild. It was a typical pub and inn, with rooms upstairs and a drinking area downstairs, but with an emphasis on quality in their furnishings and food. Therefore, it cost more, and usually only four-star-and-higher adventurers stayed there. Two women whose faces looked exactly alike sat in the back: Cecilia and Beatrice, the Maretto twins. They had originally been the leaders of a different party called Medusa, but after losing their companions, they’d joined Arwin’s Aegis instead.

I sat down between them without waiting for a response.

“Running an errand for the princess knight?” asked Cecilia, the elder sister, with a glare. Her younger twin, Beatrice, rested her chin on the table and idly played with her beer bottle. I could guess why she looked bored.

“We were almost down to the eighteenth floor.”

“How many years will it take before we actually finish the dungeon at this rate?”

Based on Arwin’s reaction earlier, it was clear they had prematurely returned to the surface. Now the sisters were upset they hadn’t gone as far as they’d hoped. They wanted to conquer the dungeon to raise their own infamy, so this was an unexpected setback. Now they were sulking about it.

“I’m sorry about that. I’ll let Arwin know how you feel,” I said. I had no reason to apologize to them, but they were not rational people. By way of apology, I ordered another round of drinks for them.

“So what do you want?”

“I wanted to confirm something with you.”

I told them about the witch-like medicine thief I’d encountered earlier—all the details except the nature of the medicine. Instead, I just said it was an energy booster.

“I was wondering if you might know who would do such a thing.”

Cecilia made a show of thinking it over.

“Based on the spell you’re talking about, it sounds like a member of the Latimer school, but I’ve not heard of any of them coming to this town. Their territory tends to be much farther to the west.”

Beatrice spoke with her cheek plastered to the table. “But wasn’t there one of them who was kind of a dreamer? You know, right around when we first came here.”

“That one went missing after their party got wiped out in the dungeon before the stampede. Nothing’s been seen of them since.”

“Oh, right,” said Beatrice with a yawn, uninterested.

I asked for the person’s name and features, just in case, and it turned out I recognized them. It was someone I’d seen around the guild, but after a while, they had stopped appearing there. I hadn’t thought of them since the chaos of the stampede.

“So basically, it’s the work of this whatever-it-is school?”

“From what Grandma said, they’re a noble family. They wouldn’t stoop to stealing from people,” Cecilia commented. “But if they’re coming to this town, this person’s probably an orphan. Either disinherited or disowned. But they can still use spells, so they haven’t been banished.”

“What’s the difference?”

“In short, it’s whether you can come back or not.”

These were all methods of expulsion in mage society. A master imposed punishments on pupils for committing crimes. Disinheriting meant severing the tie between master and student. Mage society itself was one gigantic family. Losing those ties meant being unable to live within that society. However, one could still apprentice under a different master. It was common for disinherited mages to seek the help of other masters from the same line.

Disowning was the next level above that, banishing a mage from the entire school. However, one could still transfer to a different school. This happened sometimes, too, though it was much less common.

But banishment meant being expelled from magic society entirely. A magician who’d been given this punishment was forbidden from using magic at all. They were not allowed to cast spells or learn from any master.

“Magical society is a close-knit circle. As soon as you’re thrown out, word gets around immediately.”

“Sounds like a nasty bunch,” I said. That sort of thing was why I never really got along with mages. “So the witch I’m dealing with is an outcast from this Latimer family, huh?”

A lone wolf was easier to deal with, but I wasn’t any closer to their purpose or whereabouts.

“Do you know any creepy old ladies who cackle and stir their giant cauldrons full of bubbling potions?” I asked.

“Well, ‘witch’ can mean many different things,” Cecilia said, taking out her staff and waving it around like a teacher’s pointer stick. “Everyone seems to have their own ideas about it, so things get mixed up. Some are women who just happen to be good at fortune-telling or herbs and medicines. Others are real witches who have made pacts with demons. Some are sluts who have orgies and call them Sabbaths. I’ve heard of some who summoned succubi and mated with them to produce children.”

“Wait, wouldn’t that be a man, then?”

So did the witch have both parts?

“In this case, witch simply means evil magician. It doesn’t necessarily imply a woman.” She went on to explain that it was a misconception that arose from a translation of an ancient foreign language. “But the image has spread too far. It’s hard to correct people’s preconceived notions, and the fact is that most witches were women anyway, so the concept stuck.”

“You’re so smart, Ceci. You know everything,” Beatrice gushed and applauded.

“…I suppose,” Cecilia said, her lips twitching. This was probably just some elementary knowledge about magicians. She put a hand to her mouth. “But whether a witch or a mage, they must have some purpose. Why not ask around if there have been other events with the same clues? You’re in with some officials, aren’t you?”

She was probably referring to Vincent. He was too busy to bother with petty crime, I assumed, but maybe he’d heard something that might be useful. Considering the reactions of his subordinates in the Paladins, however, I wasn’t going to get my hopes up. I didn’t care if the witch was a woman or a man; whatever their intent, I couldn’t let them live.

“But if you’re going to battle a Latimer mage, you’d better be ready for war. It’ll get ugly,” Cecilia muttered. “Their specialty is necromancy.”

The whole “controlling the dead and creating hordes of zombies” bit, then. That would be the thing I kicked. Necromancers would also be able to temporarily revive the dead, speak with ghosts, bring back corpses as zombies, and other tricks like that. Given the subject matter, many people did not look kindly on it.

“I don’t intend to get into a fight. But I’ll take your words to heart,” I said, thanking them and turning to leave. A hand grabbed my sleeve. Beatrice looked pleadingly at me.

“At least use your words,” I said, pulling some raisins out of my pocket. They’d been boiled in sugar water, then dried out. The sweetness was a bit cloying, but they were a perfect snack to drive off hunger. I’d bought them to give to the squirt, thinking she’d enjoy them. I wasn’t expecting to haul in a different catch.

“I told you not to feed Bea any weird things!” Cecilia said.

“Then you should tell her off, too.”

It was starting to feel like I was feeding an alley cat. An alley cat would let you pet it, but this one had a nasty older sister who would take a swipe at you instead.

I thanked them and left the pub. It had been a worthwhile conversation, though I didn’t know if I’d call it a harvest.

Ideally, I’d be able to clean all this up before Arwin left for the dungeon again. Hmm, what to do…? So far, it seemed like this was going to affect her dungeon crawling. It could also mean less allowance for me. This was life and death.

Where was a witch likely to hang around? At an herbalist’s. I decided to cling to my one ray of hope and visit all the medicinal shops in town.

“Hello there, sir,” said a voice, interrupting me. It was Natalie, who had set up a little shop for herself. She had laid down some rags as a surface and placed some crates on top of them. “What do you think? Take a look at my wares.”

I was of a mind to ignore her and continue on my way, but when she set her mind on a target, she never gave up. Plus, it was cloudy. I didn’t want to be embarrassed by getting dragged around, so I crouched next to her crates and reached inside. Herbs.

Both Natalie and I had used many herbs back in our adventuring days. These, however, were of poor quality. There were also common weeds mixed into the bunch.

“Where’d you steal these from?”

“Do I have to kill you?”

Hey, don’t flip off your customers.

“There’s a forest south of the town, right? I picked them down there.”

They were probably nice and nutritious. There were plenty of dead bodies buried in the soil to fertilize them. I knew because I’d buried them.

“So why are you setting up shop around here?”

“I don’t have much in the way of traveling money, so I figured I should get busy earning some.”

“Surprised you got clearance.”

It might seem like one could just set up an outdoor shop anywhere they wanted, but the spots were strictly supervised. If a hawker used someone else’s space without permission, they’d fight them over it. If a person was unlucky, the scary fellows who oversaw the area might get involved.

“I’m just watching the shop,” she explained vaguely. There was definitely more to it. I’d be better off not asking.

“You can buy all this for a hundred gold coins right now. Special deal,” she said, shoving the crates of herbs and weeds at me.

“I’ve never seen a worse deal.”

“Fine, how about one gold?”

“You’re basically just admitting you tried to rip me off,” I pointed out. She didn’t even have a sign with prices on it.

Natalie nibbled a cookie. “I haven’t had any customers today. They’re all just window-shoppers.”

“Not surprised.”

She was offering a mound of nasty weeds in a crate. Nobody was idiotic enough to spend a hundred gold on that.

“And all the people who stop by look so gloomy and depressed. I can’t stand it,” she said, taking another bite.

A small figure approached us. It was a black-haired boy, maybe seven or eight years old. His clothing suggested he was a peasant, and he was looking at Natalie’s cookie hungrily. The growling of his stomach asked the question for him.

“Hey.” I nudged her.

“Absolutely not,” she said, hiding the bag of cookies behind her back. What a miser.

“Here you go,” I said, dropping ten or so raisins into the boy’s hands. He looked very excited for just a moment, then gritted his teeth and spun around. There was a little girl behind him, this one maybe five years old. They looked alike, so I took them for siblings.

The boy closed his eyes, turned his head away, and held out the dried grapes for his sister.

What a good kid. I chuckled to myself, reaching to get more for them, but the bag was empty. That was all I had. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have given any to Beatrice. The sister tried to give her brother half, but he refused.

“Oh, all right,” Natalie said, taking some cookies from her bag. She gave two of her remaining four to the boy. “Eat them right here, before someone takes them from you.”

They weren’t the only people going hungry around here. Plenty of assholes were willing to steal food from children’s mouths.

The brother and sister did as Natalie said and began to stuff the dried grapes and cookies into their mouths. They squeaked quiet thank-you’s and started to scurry away.

“Hey, kids. Do you have anywhere to go?” I called out. The brother thought about it, then nodded. I continued, “Well, if you’re ever in need of a place, seek out the orphanage to the southwest of the Adventurers Guild. Tell them Matthew sent you, and they’ll take you in.”

The boy nodded again, and the two scampered off.

“You think they’re orphans?”

“Happens a lot.”

There were certainly more kids around on the streets than before. The town had been damaged all over. The rich could withstand some pain, but the poor had gotten even poorer. Many people were living day to day. We survived the stampede, but our hell wasn’t over.

“My goodness. How will I make the money to pay for my inn room tonight?”

“You’re not getting it from me,” I snapped.

“I’ve never once borrowed from you.”

“Liar.” Not only had she once used my sword without permission, but she’d also broken it. “And let me warn you: Don’t even think about asking Dez for money, either. He’s barely scraping by as it is, thanks to a certain cheapskate guildmaster,” I said.

“What did I just hear? A parasite who borrows money from Dez at every opportunity is trying to say something.”

“Listen, I’m working to pay him back.”

One time out of every ten, at least.

Natalie rubbed her eyes sleepily. Apparently talking to me was that boring. She wrapped herself in the cloth she kept tied around her head, turned away from me, and lay down on her side.

“You take over for me. You can keep ten percent for your trouble.”

“Wake the hell up!”

I tried to kick her back, but Natalie simply vanished. My foot swung through empty air unexpectedly, causing me to fall on my butt. Suddenly, there was a knife at my throat.

“Violence is a nasty thing,” she said, smiling pleasantly. I sighed.

“Look, don’t rip me off, and don’t ask me to run your business. That’s yours to manage.”

“You’re not very helpful. But fine.”

I got up and made to leave, but then I noticed some scary fellows rushing in our direction. There was a large, middle-aged man leading them. While he looked intimidating, he certainly wasn’t one of them.

“That’s her,” he said, jabbing a finger at Natalie. “She took my spot…”

“Oh? How strange,” said Natalie, cool as a cucumber even with several scary enforcers surrounding her. “When I first passed by this spot, there was only a miserable old man squatting here.”

“And what happened to him?” I asked.

“I beat him to a pulp, and he ran off. So I’ve been watching the store here in the meantime,” she said without a shred of shame. I had a feeling it was something like that. “But it’s fine. I’m getting bored of this anyway. You can have your spot back.”

“It’s not that simple,” said the men, licking their lips as they approached her. “You didn’t think you could just walk away, did you?”

Brains and personality aside, she presented an attractive package. They clearly had some unsavory plans for her. But I wasn’t worried. Four or five chumps were no match for her, even with only one working arm.

“Ah, I see,” she replied. “In that case, I’ll leave this man here in my spot. Do with him as you will.”

She tossed a handful of herbs onto my head, then pushed me on the back toward them and sped off with the empty crates. By the time they had shouted at her, she was already blending into the crowd and out of sight.

“That bitch!”

Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

“Hey, are you with her?”

“We need to talk to you,” another said.

In no time at all, they had dragged me into an alley. They seemed accustomed to using violence. I wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight, even if they’d had only one working arm among them.

I was no match for them.

It was a horrible day.

Thanks to Natalie, I suffered an unmerited beating. She always had a knack for causing trouble and inflicting it on others. Everyone in the Million Blades had suffered on account of her, including Dez, but I got the brunt of it. She once said, “Making trouble causes me absolutely no mental anguish.” If I weren’t such a forgiving and understanding man, I would have killed her several times over.

On top of that, she’d cost me precious time. I still had no idea about the witch’s identity or plans.

The sun was setting. I needed to go home. I was worried about Arwin, too.

Back at the house, I heard voices from the dining and living room space. We had a visitor. Based on the sounds of the voices, it wasn’t a social visit.

“But I really do think you should attend, Lady Arwin, though I know it pains you.”

That was Noelle’s voice.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. I’ve no intention of making an appearance,” replied Arwin, her tone sharp. While her words suggested anger, she sounded frightened to me.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

Noelle looked at me with pleading eyes. “There’s to be a feast at the lord’s mansion to celebrate the town being saved from the stampede.”

The king would be issuing a special honor. He wouldn’t be there, of course, but a representative from the royal city would be in attendance.

“But Arwin’s refusing to go?”

“Correct,” said Noelle, hanging her head in defeat.

Arwin turned away in a huff. “The restoration of the town should come first. I do not care to celebrate something that happened an entire month ago.”

There was a logic to Arwin’s refusal. The lord should be most concerned with rebuilding the town, not winning popularity with a fancy feast. If he had the money for something like this, it would be better spent rebuilding homes and improving the lives of his subjects. That was the sort of thing Arwin would say, given that she’d ground her own body to dust to fight for the common people.

“Most importantly, protecting the town was not my feat alone. There were many who fought and many who died for it. Why would I receive an award for their hard work? It would be better for him as a nobleman to offer flowers to the dead instead,” she said.

That was clearly coming from the heart. But her dedication to speaking out was deeper than that. She was the kind of person who would stand up and proudly say what was on her mind if she believed it was true.

“All right, I hear you. I’ll try talking to her, too. Come back tomorrow,” I told Noelle, who still seemed skeptical as she left.

The princess knight still had her head turned away in a huff.

“Are you looking for a kiss?” I asked. “It’s easier to do on the lips.”

“Fool,” she said, looking my way at last. “Nothing is going to change my mind.”

“Are you worried about this?” I said, rubbing my own wrist. She scowled as though she’d swallowed something sour. Bingo.

She already had the black spots on the back of her neck. Now they were on her wrist as well and might spread beyond that. Maybe they wouldn’t suddenly appear during the feast, but there was no guarantee.

She put her elbows on the table in a gesture of penitence, holding her hands in prayer.

“…I can still hide my arms. But what if they appear where I cannot hide them?”

Arwin’s reputation would crater. And not just hers; the other members of Aegis and even the name of Mactarode would suffer. It would drag her dead parents’ reputation through the mud. That terrified her.

“Only the worst addicts get spots on their faces.”

“And that’s not me?”

“……”

My face must have given away too much emotion. Arwin came back to her senses and hung her head.

“…I’m sorry,” she said.

I wasn’t trying to make her feel obligated to me, but it would be nice if she thought about the lengths I went to.

“How do you really feel?” I asked.

“…I would like to attend if I’m able,” she said apologetically. “There are relatives of the Mactarode royal family scheduled to attend. If I’m somehow able to help those who’ve lost their homes…”

In other words, she wanted to perform diplomacy and politics. The woman was an avatar of responsibility.

“Understood. I’ll figure that out for you.”

That, at least, we could do something about. I just needed to deal with that witch.

It looked like I’d have some sleepless nights ahead.

“I never said I would attend…”

“Just trust me. Go ahead and pick out a dress,” I said. That was an area I couldn’t help her with. I didn’t have the funds. “And a necklace and rings and a tiara…”

“I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Then rent them from a jeweler.” Any business would be happy to have the princess knight sporting its wares.

“This is enough for me,” she said, reaching for my head. I thought she was going to caress me, but when she pulled her hand away, there was a slender plant in her hand.

“Oh.”

It was one of the weeds Natalie had tossed onto my head earlier. I thought I’d brushed them all off.

“A strange smell,” she said, examining the bit of grass in her hand.

“Doesn’t make for a good perfume.”

“Speaking of perfume,” she said, thinking, “I hear there are thieves going after perfume lately.”

“Oh yeah?”

One of the specialty stores along the main street had been hit. Perfume was a luxury item, so it made sense thieves would target it. Hence the shop having armed security, but they had all been put to sleep when the robbery happened.

Perfume had some challenging idiosyncrasies compared to jewels, however. It was a liquid, so it went completely to waste if spilled. If it wasn’t properly stored, it would evaporate and the scent would be gone.

“And it was all kinds, from cheap to expensive,” she said. “Put on that much perfume, and your nose will turn.”

“I doubt they intend to use it all at once.” I smirked. “All the scents would mix together and be incoherent. It would defeat the purpo…”

Something occurred to me.

“…Unless…”

“What is it?”

“I was just remembering your smell from the other day.”

She punched me.

That night, I snuck out of the house and made my way to a backstreet shack. It was near the place I’d encountered the witch.

The roof was propped up by a beam, but the roof had holes, and there were cracks in the beam. If there were another earthquake, it would collapse for sure. I’d just been trapped under rubble the other day, and it was not an experience I wanted to repeat.

But the host had circumstances to deal with, and they could only live in a place like that. It seemed the rats had gotten a group deal on the place, too; they scurried around past my feet. Even though I was standing outside, the unpleasant smell within reached my nose.

“Pardon me,” I said, ducking beneath a collapsed beam.

Inside, there was a woman with black hair. She was a little rough around the edges but quite a looker. According to what the Maretto sisters had told me, her name was Esther. Esther Latimer.

“You’re the witch.”

“How did you find me?”

The town had eyes and ears. And a nose, of course.

“I asked the gentlemen of the street back there. ‘You seen anyone who smells funny lately?’ They all told me where to find you.” I pointed at the man sleeping on the bed in the back. “This is all because of your sleeping beauty over there, isn’t it?”

A dark figure was stretched out on the bed. It was clear from the exposed bone of the face, slack skin, and putrid smell that the person was no longer alive. I’d also investigated his identity. Based on his appearance, I took this to be Damian: Esther’s companion and lover, and an adventurer who had died in the dungeon. Souls who died in the dungeon were fated to wander around it in near perpetuity. During the stampede, he had probably been hurled out into the town.

Thanks to Arwin, the stampede was quelled, at which point he should have returned to the dungeon, but Esther did not want her lover to go back to that cramped darkness.

So she had used her magic to manipulate Damian’s corpse, keeping it in town. This was an unforgivable act, of course. All she could do was hide him away, until something went wrong: the stench. She’d been buying perfumes and herbs to hide the smell of his decomposition, but she’d run out of money. So she went across town, stealing strong-smelling herbs and ransacking the perfume shop.

“I’m going to be honest with you. He’s already dead. You should put him to rest.”

“No!” Esther wailed, throwing herself onto the man. “Damian came back! He came back to me!”

“I understand how you feel. But just look at him. That’s not the Damian you loved.”

His eyes were cloudy and white. His skin was peeling away in patches. It was a decomposing corpse.

“The Latimers’ strongest medicine can bring him back to how he was in life! I’ll complete that mixture, no matter how many years it takes.”

Esther had been exiled from the school and didn’t know how to make the elixir. Meaning she’d just have to keep trying and experimenting. That was why she’d been attacking people who had medicinal herbs.

“Begone!” she screamed, tossing her hair wildly as she leveled a staff at me.

That headache-inducing spell again? Sorry, but it won’t work twice. You caught me off-guard in the morning, but I’d fought mages in my adventuring days. There was always a way to deal with them. Rule number one for fighting magic? Make the first move.

“Irradiation,” I said, causing the translucent temporary sun to shine. It exuded all the solar energy it stored, filling me with strength. “Sorry, little lady.”

I yanked out the wooden pillar serving as a support beam, ropes and all. The ceiling promptly sagged. I swung the beam down at Esther like an ax. Her expression contorted into one of fear. She held up her arms to block it, but that was wasted effort.

The wood crushed both of Esther’s arms and her skull, sending her straight through the wall. The entire structure shook with the impact. It wobbled a few times but held up. Relieved, I examined Esther. Her head was caved in, exposing the white of her skull.

Just in case, I riffled through Esther’s stock of herbs and found a familiar handkerchief. The contents were still there, too.

All that was left was Damian. He was still writhing on the bed.

It would be an act of mercy to put him at ease.

I picked up a nearby stick and instantly felt a terrible pain in my head.

“O Demonic Crown.”

I dropped the stick.

“Die, you maggot. Do not get in the way of our life together!” Esther roared, rising to her feet.

Impossible. No human could have survived that.

Yet despite having her head caved in, Esther had shed almost no blood. Her arms were broken, and so were her legs, but she attempted to stand anyway, her movements awkward and grotesque. Ultimately, she couldn’t stand up straight and had one of her legs bent at a horrific angle. It should have been blindingly painful, but she was unbothered.

“Oh,” I said. “So it was you, too.”

That was what they meant by the whole party wiping out. It was the Latimers’ necromancy at work. She had already cast the spell to raise the dead on herself. It wasn’t just a zombie I was dealing with. It was a lich, an undead sorcerer who had conquered death itself.

“All right, you know what? Sorry. I overstepped my bounds,” I said earnestly. “You deserve your privacy. I just want this handkerchief back. It’s very important to me. Then I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Silence!”

The pain got even worse.

My head was squeezed so tightly, it brought me to my knees. I could handle blows, but I wasn’t able to shrug off the feeling of my very mind being compressed like that. I fought as hard as I could to maintain consciousness.

Eventually, the light of the temporary sun went away, and I collapsed. Esther ripped the handkerchief with the pills inside from my hand.

“It didn’t work. But this time, Damian will be made whole…”

She crawled toward her lover.

“How romantic.” I grunted, getting up slowly. “Except for the part where it just looks like two zombies cannibalizing each other.”

“Stay back!”

Esther’s staff flashed white, and a translucent wall appeared between us.

“I guess I’m not wanted here.”

I knew I was transgressing into their personal problem. I didn’t like the thievery, but beyond that, I wasn’t going to stop them if they wanted to live peacefully in some far-off, preferably cold and preserving country. But this was Gray Neighbor, in the middle of the wasteland, and I had my own problems to solve.

Arwin’s medicine was coming back with me.

I steadied my breathing. It had been a while since I’d done this, but I had a feeling it would work out. Within my mind, I severed the chains that bound my body. This was my brute force method. For just a short period of time, I could use my true strength. In essence, it was the ability to go beyond my ordinary limits in an emergency. But after I used it, I would be unable to move for a good long while due to the physical agony. It would only work for a few moments, but it would be long enough to put a period on this touching but tragic tale of love.

I jammed my fingers into the gap between some floorboards and wrenched them loose. By yanking the other end of the floorboard up, I threw Esther’s footing off balance and made her topple face-forward with a thud.

Her clouded eyes rolled; she was uncertain of what had happened to her. She tried to get up again. The magical wall was still intact. Now was her chance.

She was near Damian. Her supposedly dead eyes flashed with hope, I could see. As long as the medicine was finished, she could give it to him and save him. It was an impossible delusion.

I reached over and grabbed her arm. Esther looked up in wonderment. How could I be next to her when I was supposedly kept at bay by her magic? Her rotted-out brains simply couldn’t fathom the concept that if I tore up the floorboards, I could easily crawl beneath the floor.

“Sorry.”

I grabbed Esther’s head with both hands and wrenched it off. She flopped over; I reached down to grab the handkerchief and pills from her hand.

“Ahk…gah.”

Esther’s severed head was still moving. This was enough to kill normal zombies, but she was tougher than that. I was worried she might come back even after being burned. The best way to ensure she was dead would be a purification spell from a cleric, but that was a trick beyond my abilities in numerous ways. I didn’t want her chanting spells, either, so I shoved some rubble into her mouth.

Damian was still groaning on the bed. I could see a droplet roll down his cheek—probably just the night dew.

A terrible pain ran through my chest, and not from something admirable like guilt. It was the blowback from using brute force. I dragged my body out of the ruined building. Just before I crossed the threshold, I tossed a stone at the thickest beam. The cracks spread throughout it, causing the entire structure to tremble.

I was pulling my agonized body toward the alley when I heard the rumbling collapse behind me. A mountain of rubble then plummeted down below the surface. There were many natural caverns beneath the town. The weight of the collapse must have caved one in. The witch and her lover were now far below the ground. I didn’t feel the need to worry about her. She would rest in the same grave as her lover forevermore.

I got home in the dead of night, due to the rebound of using my brute force method. I dragged myself through the door. Arwin looked ready to scream in rage until she got a good look at me.

“What happened to you?”

I was filthy after my battle with Esther.

“I was on the way back from a little errand when some scary gentlemen decided to spend some time with me,” I said, shrugging. “Sorry to leave you here feeling lonely.”

“I didn’t say I was…”

“Now here’s a question for you,” I said, spreading my arms. She pouted. “The most handsome man in all the land stands before you. What do you see?”

“A degenerate kept man,” she said at once. “Slovenly with women, profligate with money. A worthless man beyond saving.” Her answer was so accurate and left so little room for argument that all I could do was grimace. “Also, you’re not as handsome as you claim to be…”

“Uh, pardon? That’s news to me.”

I had no idea Arwin felt that way. Holding back tears, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a medicinal pill.

“Here’s a magic pill the doctor made for you. It will ease all your worries. I believe he called it a ‘decompositioner’ or something like that.”

It actually had a much longer and more complicated name, but that was what Nicholas called it for me, so I followed suit.

“So it’s an antidote?”

“The poison itself won’t go away, but it will erase the black spots on the surface of your body. One pill will work for two or three days. Just don’t take too much.”

Her eyes widened. She snatched the pill from my hand and stared at it.

“With this, you’ll be able to attend the feast. However—”

Before I could finish my sentence, she had popped it into her mouth and swallowed. As usual, she had no thought for safety.

“It tastes bitter. And my body feels heavy,” she said, rubbing her chest with a grimace on her face.

“That’s a side effect.” Every medicine could be poison. There was no such thing as a perfect medicine that only had benefits. At least, that was what the doctor had said. “You should see the effect in a little while. If you’re not feeling well, you should probably get some rest.”

“Good idea.”

Too much had occurred that day. I was exhausted and in physical agony. I needed sleep.

“Matthew!”

Arwin practically kicked my door down in the morning.

“If you’re coming for a morning tryst, I would prefer a little more bashfulness and reservation.”

“Look, Matthew!” she said, ignoring me and pulling her hair up to expose the back of her neck. “They’re gone. They’re gone! I can’t believe it…”

She seemed agitated, but her behavior was born of joy and shock. She was so beside herself that she’d probably strip if I asked her to do it.

“I hate to throw cold water on your excitement, but here’s a warning,” I said, trying to continue what had been interrupted last night. “No one can know about that pill. You understand why?”

The fact that she had the medicine at all would be the key to unraveling her secrets.

“As I told you yesterday, it lasts for two or three days. Once that’s over, the spots will come back. But you shouldn’t take too much, or it’ll worsen your condition. Think of it as something that’s reserved for special occasions when you need it, like this one.”

“Understood.”

It wasn’t for regular use. In day-to-day life, it might not be an issue, but Arwin had a higher calling to conquer the dungeon. Any kind of irregularity in her condition could be life-threatening.

“Also, this medicine doesn’t go well with alcohol. It dilutes the effect. So don’t drink while you’re taking these pills.”

Arwin nodded solemnly.

“Also, it should go without saying, but you can’t have any candy while you’re using this.” It would be utterly foolish to take the poison and the cure at the same time.

Once my explanation was complete, Arwin gave me a long look.

“What’s the matter? If you’re grateful, tell the doctor, not me.”

“Why do you keep finding me the things I want?”

“I’ve always been good at searching.”

That wasn’t a lie. I often found what I was looking for. Mom’s missing needle was on the floor of the kitchen. Dad’s coin purse was in the chicken coop out back. My brother’s cat was up in the tree.

“Once more, here’s a question for you.” I clapped my hands. “The most handsome man in all the land stands before you. What do you see?”

“A degenerate kept man,” she said again.

When I looked downcast, she giggled.

“The kept man who keeps me alive when I can’t do it myself.”

A few days later, the feast was held at the lord’s mansion.

Not only did he send a carriage for Arwin, but he even arranged for a dress and the attendants to help her change into it. The intent to honor the heroic princess knight was clear.

It would be easier to change at his mansion, of course, but one never knew who might come snooping around, trying to get a look at her. She preferred to be cautious.

“You look dreadful, though.”

“Shut up!” snapped Ralph. The entirety of Aegis was invited as well, being the companions of the hero. Ralph had shown up in the formal wear the lord had arranged for him, and it was not a good fit. Clothes did not make the man.

Noelle was also in male formal wear. She could have worn a dress, but she refused, claiming it would interfere with her ability to provide protection.

Nicholas had declined the invite, but the Maretto sisters were going to meet up with the group at the feast. They would be attending with their own private wardrobe. I wondered what kind of costumes they’d sport.

Upstairs, the princess knight was changing, converting to just princess.

“She’s taking a while.”

“That’s just how it goes.”

It was an outfit for a noblewoman. There was never enough time. Plus, Arwin’s fashion sense wasn’t exactly in line with the rest of the world’s. She might be demonstrating a unique standard of beauty that had the attendants wondering what to do with themselves.

“Part of a man’s worth is his ability to wait for a woman to change,” I was explaining helpfully when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They didn’t belong to Arwin, however. I turned around to see one of her maids, who looked fretful.

“Lady Arwin calls for you.”

At her request, I ascended the stairs and entered her bedroom.

Arwin was sitting at her dresser. She turned around.

I exclaimed in wonder. With makeup on, her skin was even more radiant than usual. She wore a strapless white dress and a jade necklace around her neck. Her shapely lower legs were exposed, and white shoes adorned her feet.

She looked like a goddess.

Arwin averted her eyes unhappily. “Don’t stare at me.”

“I can’t obey an impossible order.” How could I be forced to tear my eyes from such beauty? “So what did you want?”

“Do my hair.”

I’d once been involved with a woman who worked as a handmaid to a noblewoman. She had taught me many ways to tie up a woman’s hair. Not long ago, I’d even done some of it for Arwin and April.

“It will be faster and look better if someone else does it.”

All I could do was an amateur’s imitation. I couldn’t match a professional. If they were sending maids out to help her with this, they would know what to do. She shouldn’t need to ask a clumsy oaf like me.

“I want you to do it,” Arwin said. “Please.”

“Got it.”

Once she set her mind to something, she wouldn’t change it.

I washed my hands and combed my fingers through her hair, working it out until it was smooth.

“How would you like it?”

“The way you did it before.”

“Ah, yes.”

That was a chignon, fastened with a flower pin. She had long hair, so bundling it up would make everything around her hair feel fresh and new.

“There, done.”

In the mirror, I saw Arwin exhale with a far-off look on her face.

“You sure you wanted it like this?”

It was a pretty good job by my standards, but I was certain she could get a better shape or more volume from a professional. They could give her a more complex and fanciful hairstyle, too.

“This is what I want,” Arwin said, satisfied. “I want this.”

The princess knight had unique beauty standards. But I had to admit it felt good to see her so happy with what I’d done for her.

“It’s almost time.”

She needed to leave now, or she’d be late. I saw her off at the door.

“You’re sure you’re not coming?” Arwin asked.

“I didn’t get an invitation. It’ll probably arrive in about three years,” I said, putting on a disappointed face. The truth was, if I showed up, it would only make a mockery of Arwin. Even before becoming a kept man, I was an unsavory figure. I wasn’t meant for the spotlight.

“I’m off, then. Take care of the house while I’m gone.”

The carriage pulled away into the sunset, carrying Arwin and the others to their destination. Then I was alone. I didn’t have anything to do, so I stretched, figuring I’d go back inside to drink, when I heard footsteps approaching.

“Has she already gone?” asked Nicholas, sweating profusely.

“Yes, and quite happy about it. She was humming to herself with a skip in her step.”

“Did you give her those pills?”

“…I did,” I said, responding to his reproach with a harder edge. So he’d realized. Well, he was bound to find out eventually. I was just happy he hadn’t figured it out until she was off to the feast.

“I warned you it was only in the testing stages.”

“We didn’t have time to wait.”

She was going to have a dungeon sickness relapse. I just wanted Arwin to be at ease.

“It’s very powerful stuff. The wrong amount will put undue stress on the heart. It could even lead to death,” he said. I was used to him always smiling enigmatically, but this time he was openly angry. “You might have killed the woman you love.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that without consulting you,” I said sincerely. I would be up shit creek without Nicholas’s help on this. The real goal was the antidote, not just some temporary fix. I wanted her to be able to appear at whatever banquet or ball she wanted, without limitations.

“Just never do anything like this again.”

“And when will the finished product be ready?”

“…It’ll take another three days.”

Which meant the decompositioner would last until the end product was good to go.

“You can have this first. When you give her pills, make sure to follow these instructions,” he said, giving me a scrap of paper. It was a little manual on the decompositioner.

“Got it.”

Nicholas hadn’t gotten all his anger off his chest, but a handful of money sent him home in silence.

“Such a worrywart.”

I went back inside, ate dinner, took a bath, returned to my room, and got drunk. From the window, I could see a great many lights in the distance. One of them probably belonged to the lord’s mansion.

They would be in the middle of the banquet. I hoped Arwin was managing.

“Hmm?”

A covered wagon passed by on the street. It belonged to the Gravedigger, who went around retrieving dead bodies. Bradley worked into the night like this? He was a dedicated man.

Of course, I didn’t have any right to tease him; I was the one always giving him work to do. I’d just created an extra body for him the other day.

I sat down on the bed and opened the scrap of paper. There were very specific instructions for use.

I snorted.

“As if I’d let Arwin take such a dangerous pill without testing it first. Pah!”

I’d tested them all out. I knew how much was too much, and I knew drinking alcohol with the pills made them less effective. That was why I’d gone to the trouble of stealing more. I had nothing but gratitude for my “partner” in this matter.

I hadn’t expected him to die, though. It was nasty work, seeing him sputter and choke like that. I felt bad about it.

But if I hadn’t dirtied my hands with it, some of his fellows on the street would have eventually, and his body would be found and dumped in the dungeon anyway. The gentlemen of the street were sticklers for the rules.

I prayed his soul found its way to heaven, though. I looked up at the stars, said a silent prayer, and closed the window.

[Chapter Two] The Primordial God Opens His Mouth

The Adventurers Guild was as packed as ever. There were plenty of new faces. It seemed we’d had an influx of adventurers from other towns. It was hard to believe the place had looked so desolate not long ago. They were there to tackle the Millennium of Midnight Sun, Gray Neighbor’s dungeon. After the stampede, delving into the dungeon had gotten much easier. There was a drastic decrease in the number of monsters, for one thing. The adventurers in town had been talking about it, and the story had spread far and wide, it seemed.

Then again, maybe it was the guild doing the talking. The more adventurers going into the dungeon, the more monster fangs and claws and other such valuable loot were brought out. That led to greater income for the guild. And not just the guild—adventurers eating and drinking brought wealth to the pubs and inns in the area. It meant more visitors to blacksmiths for sharpening and repairs. And, of course, much of that money flowed into the pleasure quarter. They never knew if the next night might be their last, so they spent their cash freely. Wherever they went, gold and jewels followed, and the town flourished.

The rebuilding process still had a long way to go, but the economy was recovering. Since the local builders couldn’t keep up, help was coming in from other towns. The people who’d lost their homes had found temporary housing until the rebuilding was finished. Arwin’s proposal had gone through, it seemed.

For the time being, things were looking up. Aegis was back to dungeon crawling. On their next trip, they were going to attempt to break their previous record of the nineteenth floor. Whatever happened, I just needed them to come back safely.

While Arwin was as beloved as ever, my popularity was in the dumps. Nasty looks were thrown my way from all over the guild. It was withering.

“Ah, perfect timing.”

I wanted to get out before someone decided to drag me into an alley again, but that was when I got caught by the last person I wanted to see: the guildmaster’s granddaughter and a pain in my ass, April.

“Help me out, Matthew. I’m very busy right now.”

“Ask someone else,” I said. Whatever it was, I wasn’t the right guy for the job. “I’m not even a guild staffer. I got fired.”

“Will you ever come back to work?”

“Nope.”

As she pouted, April’s cheeks puffed out as far as they could. “But Dez is also busy.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said. “The more money he’s making, the more I can borrow from him.”

She kicked me in the shin.

“Hey, that hurt.”

It would be one thing if it had been a soft kick, but she had put all her weight into it. She could have seriously hurt someone who didn’t have my physical gifts. But she just huffed and turned away.

“And you’re just going to use that money to drink, gamble, and spend time with other women, aren’t you?”

“Well, sure.”

But that wasn’t the only thing I’d do. I needed money for Arwin’s treatment. The antidote for her Release addiction was finished. But for it to work, she had to take many doses of it over time, and because the materials were so expensive, we were waiting for the next dose.

In the meantime, we had to keep relying on the devilish drug to keep her withdrawal symptoms at bay. It meant going back in the wrong direction after we had just started going the right way.

I needed money. But my financial situation was dire.

One of the reasons was the shrinking of my income. I’d recently been banned from the cockfights in town. Not only had I bet there, but I had even done my own imitation of a betting expert by selling tips. I was good at recognizing which animals were the strongest. Not long ago, there had been a string of lucky winners picking dark horses successfully, and they’d all gotten their tips from me.

There were other rings putting on cockfights, but they were less savory. If the princess knight’s pet man wandered in there, I’d be kidnapped, held for ransom, and probably murdered, in that order. And the other forms of gambling had their pitfalls, too. Cards? Everyone cheated. Even if I could see them cheating, all I’d get in the end was an empty purse and a beating in a back alley.

“Then what are your plans for your future with Arwin?”

“Future, huh?”

It would be easy to say there was no such thing, but the little squirt was honestly worried, and it wouldn’t be wise to make her angry about it.

“What about your future, then?”

“Me?” asked April, blinking.

“You’re not just going to help out around the guild and the orphanage forever, are you? Isn’t there anything else you want to do with your life?”

At the very least, she had the money to make it happen. If she got her grandpop’s fortune, she’d instantly be one of the richest people in town.

“Well…,” she said uncertainly, her head drooping.

“Has your grandpa been against your ideas?”

April shook her head weakly.

Not only was the old man old-fashioned, but he was also stubborn as a goat. He probably had some typical plan in mind of marrying her off to some rich boy and ensuring the family was in good hands. He probably hoped she’d be happy enough for him and his deceased daughter.

From what I’d heard, the old man’s daughter had been a great beauty. After his own wife had passed from illness, she was the greatest treasure he had. He had raised her as delicately as a butterfly or a flower, until she met a scholarly man, fell in love, and had April.

They were a wonderful couple, but when they left on a research trip one day, their ship capsized in a storm. Only their two-year-old daughter survived. April’s grandfather took her in and had raised her since. He probably hoped to keep her properly sheltered this time and make her into the perfect young lady. Unfortunately, the April I knew was a rambunctious little snot who liked to stick her nose into my business.

Children never grew up the way a parent expected or wanted. The harder one tried to clamp down on them, the more they twisted to get out from under one’s thumb.

“Your life belongs to you. Not to him.”

It was a miracle she’d turned out to be honest and good-hearted in a town full of ruffians and bruisers. The old man wouldn’t live forever, either. He probably had ten more years or so. Why would she waste her prospects just to please an old man who didn’t have much time left anyway?

“If the time comes, I’ll lend you a hand.”

“The hand that can’t even beat me in arm-wrestling?”

“I can at least pull you along so you don’t get lost.”

“Matthew…”

April’s eyes glistened with emotion. I flashed her a smile.

“If you end up taking over this guild, then I’d be willing to work a job for you, even. My only conditions are seven-day weekends, working in-office only when I feel like it, and with a salary on the level of your grandpa’s.”

“Dummy!”

April stomped on my foot as hard as she could. Someone needed to teach that squirt about the concepts of moderation and respect for one’s elders.

“If you’re only here to mess with me, then leave!”

I was going to tell her that if she was that busy, then she should just hire someone new, when I saw an unfamiliar face among the staff.

“You’ve got new hires.”

“They’re here from other guilds to help.”

Each branch of the Adventurers Guild ran itself independently, but they had strong lateral ties to one another. When one was in trouble, others would pitch in to help. Several former adventurers had come to assist during the stampede.

“Are you done yet?” demanded a stern-faced adventurer, coming to the desk. This was the fellow who couldn’t read, then. He had a quest listing in his hand and looked like he was on the verge of throwing a fit. “Hurry it up, dammit! Is there anyone in this damn town who’s not just some obnoxious little kid?!”

This was the problem with ignorance. The old man was likely to have this guy hanged.

“Oh, I can—”

April moved to take the sheet, but a young man came by and snatched it first. He had blond hair and blue eyes and looked friendly. He seemed to be another staffer.

“Let’s see, now,” he said, and proceeded to read the listing in a loud, clear voice, even substituting some of the more difficult words with easier ones.

“Took you long enough,” the adventurer huffed, turning away without a word of thanks.

“Thank you very much,” said April.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” the young man said breezily, heading for another counter.

“Who’s that?”

“That’s Donald. He’s new here,” April said proudly. “He comes around to help with reception and sorting out the adventurers, but his real job is to go into the dungeon and help people in trouble. I guess he’s kind of in Dez’s position.”

The more people who went into the dungeon, the more who couldn’t hack it and needed rescuing. Depending on the circumstances, the guild could send in people to find or rescue them.

“Poor guy.”

No explanations. Learn by my example. Don’t ask questions.

That Beardo was a model of the kind of person somebody didn’t want to have to learn from. Unlucky sap. I’d recommend he find a new job or placement before he lost his life.

“Well, you seem to be busy here, so I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Oh, wait.”

Another staffer approached and whispered something into April’s ear. Surprised, she told me, “Grampa…I mean, Grandfather wants you for something, Matthew.”

“I don’t want him, though.”

Whatever that conniving old badger wanted from me, it couldn’t be good.

“Just come with me,” she demanded. I was weaker than a piglet and couldn’t fight back; she dragged me up to the guildmaster’s office on the third floor.

“And make sure you do whatever he tells you. Don’t do your usual thing of being arrogant and insolent,” she instructed me, then left. Which one of us was older than the other here? I’d have to ask Big Sister April if she could give me some allowance money next time.

“You seem to be as close to my granddaughter as ever,” the old man noted coldly when he and I were alone.

“Only because her grandpa isn’t teaching her well enough.” In most cases, she was the one who bothered me and forced me to take care of some task or another. “If you’re that concerned about the squirt, don’t have her hanging out around here. She doesn’t even have any protection with her.”

Not long before, April had armed guards watching over her, a pair named Silas and Jane. They were good at what they did, but it seemed they’d spent a little too much time together, because Jane discovered she was pregnant. Now they were married and had gone back to their hometown. So the hunt was on for new personal guards.

“I have the staffers keeping an eye on her. I’ve also got a carriage taking her to and from the guild.”

“There are always exceptions, aren’t there? This is a dangerous place in a dangerous town.”

Just being the guildmaster’s granddaughter didn’t ensure her safety. She’d nearly been abducted not long ago.

“Huh. Which one of us is her actual family, I wonder?” he said.

“Taking care of her like you’d do a pet cat isn’t the same as giving her an education.”

I didn’t think she needed to be whipped or anything, but spoiling her wasn’t going to be good for her in the long run. The old man just grimaced and changed the subject.

“I want you to do something for me.”

“No. Good-bye.”

“It’s about the sun god,” he said. I stopped and turned back. “It seems we’ve got an issue with a believer of the sun god infiltrating our guild.”

I wasn’t surprised. Since the stampede, the sun god’s teachings had been forbidden in town. His believers weren’t allowed in. But the so-called sun god’s goal was the Astral Crystal in the depths of the dungeon, and the quickest way to get it was to send his flunkies to infiltrate the adventurers and their guild. It was easy to see that coming.

So when I had time, I made my way to the guild and watched for signs of them. I’d warned Arwin about them until my face turned blue, but so far I hadn’t spotted anyone who seemed to fit the bill.

“Kill them.”

“Don’t have proof,” he spat. “If they claim they used to follow him but don’t anymore, there’s nothin’ more we can do.”

People were checked for evidence of belief when entering or leaving the town gates, but that process was a sieve that was easily bypassed. I knew they were allowed to lie about their beliefs, so there was no way to catch them. And outside town, their religion was perfectly legal. Naturally, the people in charge had heard about who was responsible for the stampede, but there was clearly more to the situation than that, because they hadn’t issued any orders nationwide.

“The problem is trying to figure out if it’s just a simple believer or if it’s someone plotting more bullshit like the last time.”

If there was another disaster while the town was trying to rebuild, it would spell the end of Gray Neighbor.

“They’re going to be watching out for me and the other staff members. I want you to figure out if they’re actually a follower or not,” he said.

It seemed to me like I’d be the one they would watch out for instead, but I kept that to myself. “It sounds like you already know who the individual is,” I noted. “Why not just torture them? You’re good at that.”

“I’d do it if I thought this person would speak after their eyes were gouged out.”

The old man was crazy enough to do it.

I could see what he was after. The old man knew about my past. He was also aware of my history with the shitstain sun god. Given that he was asking me to get involved with this anyway, he clearly had something up his sleeve. If I failed at whatever it was, I was unaffiliated with the guild. He could cut me loose and pretend he never knew me.

Honestly, the thought of doing exactly what he wanted galled me. But that paled next to the thought of that curled-milk sun god’s followers getting away with their infiltration. Plus, if his followers were among the guild staff, it meant Arwin was in danger. She was the one who had directly stopped the stampede. She was the perfect target for their vengeance.

“You’re not expecting me to work for free, I trust,” I said.

“I can pay you for the travel.”

Old skinflint.

“So who’s the potential perp?” I asked, setting aside my annoyance.

He pointed out the window. I walked and looked down at a young man near the gate, heading toward the dungeon.

“His name’s Donald. A brand-new recruit.”

Donald’s place was on a street to the east of Glowfly Lane. He lived alone in an upstairs flat on the corner.

I asked around about him and found out his reputation was quite solid. His coworkers and the adventurers themselves had only good things to say. He was friendly and responsive. When he was asked questions, he was forthcoming. He was considerate and talkative. All things that set him in stark contrast to a certain Beardo. I even asked the gentlemen of the street if they’d noticed him getting up to anything funny, but they had nothing to add. On his free days, he stayed indoors or went to a nearby pub to drink. He’d down two pints, then go home.

So he was a nice young man. Wonderful. The problem was that nice young men didn’t come to this place. And they certainly didn’t get jobs with the Adventurers Guild. Not even a saint would choose to help these disgusting grown men wipe their own asses.

I staked out a spot near his apartment and waited for him to come home. I already knew Donald’s work schedule. For now, nothing was out of line. At least, nothing was outwardly wrong, but true human nature rarely showed itself. Even the inquisitor of a different religion and the innocent-looking vegetable seller had been believers. Anyone could be one.

The voice of the beggar sun god would come unbidden to my ears.

He wanted to use the Astral Crystal to return to his true form. But his power could not reach the dungeon, so he shared some of his power with his “preachers,” who were still not capable of conquering the dungeon. Which was why he wanted more “sufferers,” who became his slaves of their own volition.

The recoil from the explosion of monsters in the stampede meant there were fewer than before in the dungeon. This would be his golden opportunity. He wanted to send his slaves into the Millennium of Midnight Sun and conquer it, once and for all.

If Donald was a sufferer, then there would be others working with him. We had to question him or torture him to get that information. I squeezed the temporary sun in my pocket, feeling the rough surface. It felt like the crack had gotten bigger. A shiver ran down my back at the thought of it shattering. But until then, I just had to keep getting the most out of it.

I took a swig from my bottle to quell my irritation and saw the door to the Golden Stagecoach across the street open. It was exactly the person I did not want to see. I spun around, determined not to say anything, but it was too late.

“Why, if it isn’t Matthew. Day drinking, huh? I could use a bit of that,” said Natalie the moment she saw me.

“What’s with the outfit?” I said, ignoring her comment. She wore a wide-brimmed hat and a tattered brown coat, and she carried a small lute in her hands.

“I’m a bard now.”

“What happened to selling stuff on the street?”

“It wasn’t making any money. I’ve changed careers.”

“A wise choice.”

She would be able to build a house with her customers’ corpses before she actually built her own shop.

“I’m thinking I’ll just play my instrument and lead a peaceful, quiet life.”

“You know how to play?” I asked. I had to wonder how she intended to play the lute when one of her arms didn’t work.

“You doubt me? Have a listen,” she said smugly, lifting her fingers to the strings.

“Don’t.”

If she started singing there on the street, it was going to attract attention.

“And what are you doing here, then? This isn’t where you or Dez live.”

“I’m going to an acquaintance’s house,” I lied. Natalie had every reason to hate that fraud of a sun god, too. I considered using her as a bodyguard of sorts, but she would only screw things up and make a mess of the situation. I could use her help later.

“Oh, a woman? Disgusting. You should die.”

Let her talk. She wouldn’t believe me even if I denied it. That was the kind of person she was.

“Well, if you want to show off your singing, you’d do better around the pubs on the main streets.”

“I heard about a fun story and thought I’d go check it out. It’ll make for a good tale. Have you heard this one?”

“If you’re talking about the story of the swordsman who drunkenly cut a priceless set of armor in two and nearly got executed for desecrating a national treasure, I’ve already heard—”

She pressed a knife to my throat. “That was an accident. It was an emergency. Justifiable self-defense. I have evidence.”

“Something tells me it won’t be admissible in court.”

That was her assertion. But she had even dumped a pile of clothing on top of the armor in full view of a group of shocked dignitaries. There was no defense for what she did.

“I’m talking about that,” she said, taking me to a building two streets south of Donald’s place. There was already a crowd present. Thanks to my height, I could look over their heads to see the scars of what looked like a battle. Walls were cracked, windows were broken, doors were smashed, and a huge hole gaped in the middle of the wall.

The onlookers were saying something had gone down there the night before.

“See? Isn’t this fun? I wonder if it was a monster.”

“Don’t say that where people can hear you.”

People were still on edge around the concept of monsters. Many hadn’t only lost their homes in the stampede; they’d also lost their peace of mind.

“They’re saying it might have been the work of a monster that escaped the dungeon during the stampede.”

“Seems like it,” I said. There was no denying the possibility. I’d just come across such an instance the other day.

“It doesn’t seem to be a mating situation, so perhaps it was a battle for territory,” Natalie noted.

“Why do you think that?”

“Have your eyes gotten worse in the last few years?”

She pointed at the way the walls were destroyed. One of them seemed to have been gouged out by something sharp, like fangs, while the other was busted down in a way that looked more like brute strength. There were huge footprints in the dirt but also trails of something slender that had been dragged along.

“Ahh, I see now.”

So at the very least, two monsters had fought there.

“What I’m more curious about is where they went.”

“Good question.”

With a battle this vicious, one would think there had been victims, witnesses, injured, dead—but so far it didn’t sound like anyone had suffered in the fight.

“Two shapes in the shadows…that came here to blows ♪, but where their storm went…only the moon knows. ♪”

“I told you not to sing.”

She strummed the lute, but only in a haphazard fashion, with no real melody. She was just making noise.

“Hey!”

There, you see? A burly man came over to confront her.

Natalie took off her hat and held it upside-down with a smile. Apparently, she was going to charge him money for that.

“Thank you for listening. But really, your attention is all the payment I need.”

“Fuck you!”

He took a swing at her. It was a good punch, with his back put into it, but Natalie could evade it easier than she could scratch her own ass. She darted out of the way by the slimmest of margins, then brought down her lute on the man’s head as he was unbalanced. The strings twanged and broke inharmoniously, and the man’s head poked through the belly of the lute like a turtle’s. Then she kicked him in the balls. The large man toppled backward, unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

“Why’d you go and destroy the tool of your trade?”

“I’m switching careers,” she said, hurling her hat with disgust. “I thought singing and playing an instrument would be fun and easy.”

“You think the world’s just one big joke, don’t you?”

“You’re the last person who should be talking.”

The hat twirled and fluttered through the air until it landed on top of the convulsing man’s face.

“Well, I should be going. Time to find a new job,” Natalie said, waving a hand and heading for the corner. Then she stopped and said, “By the way, are you familiar with a man a bit younger than me, with blond hair and blue eyes?”

“…Maybe.”

If maybe meant that’s the guy I’m looking for right now.

“He was watching you from the corner over there a minute ago.”

“Yeah, he lives right around here.”

It would only make sense that he was there. Most people, if they heard monsters were rampaging near their homes, would be alarmed and fearful.

“Well, when I turned around, he scampered off. Seems like something’s up with him.”

“You could say that.”

Natalie left, and I considered my next move. Since he’d come from farther away, I didn’t have enough information to draw upon. Now that Natalie had blown my cover and drawn his attention, it was going to be hard to sneak up on him. I’d have better luck dealing with him directly.

So I snuck into Donald’s place. It was locked, but getting it open wasn’t a problem.

Aside from the built-in closet, he had a bed, a chair, and a table. The place was desolate. Signs of habitation were scant. It seemed like he only came to sleep. That wasn’t too rare around here, though. The real question was whether he was connected to that gloomy goon of a sun god or not.

The quickest method of getting that answer would be to ask him physically. But if he turned out to be a totally innocent, regular person, I would end up on the wanted list instead.

The closet only had clothes and little things like that. Nothing interesting.

“Hmmm?”

Then I glanced under the bed and noticed something stuck to the underside. I reached down and pulled it out: a sigil for the shit-eating sun god. I traced it with a finger, and it left a trace of dirt on my skin.

“Gotcha.”

Someone was walking up to the door. It opened, and Donald came inside. He froze when he saw me.

“Who are you?”

“Your guardian angel.”

I lit up the temporary sun, got behind him, and tied him up using his own clothes. I hadn’t had time to set up a proper trap the way I had with those whoever-they-were brothers. This situation called for brute force.

Once he was immobilized, I deactivated the temporary sun. To keep him from making noise, I got out my knife and held it under his nose. If I took him elsewhere, then I could really go to town on him, but I didn’t have the strength for that.

“You must be Matthew. Why would you do something like this?”

“I’m the one asking the questions.” I pressed the knife to his throat. “You got any idea why the old man—the guildmaster—would have it out for you?”

I had a read on the old man’s scheme. He wanted me and Donald to take each other out. I’d thought this whole thing was suspicious at first, but I was only certain once I’d seen the sigil. No elite agent on a crucial mission like infiltrating the guild would leave such obvious evidence. Plus, a fervent believer would be handling that sigil every day. They wouldn’t let it collect dust like that. I didn’t even need to guess who’d put the symbol there.

Donald looked hesitant. He was clearly weighing his options.

“The old man hired me, but I’m not his confidant,” I said. “If you explain your story, I’ll let you go. Depending on what you say, I might even help you.”

After a long silence, Donald said, “All right. I’ll tell you everything.”

I undid the ties holding him down; this would make it easier for him to talk. Naturally, I took a seat by the door so he couldn’t just run away.

“So let’s start with the obvious question. Who are you?”

“I’m a monitor from the headquarters of the Adventurers Guild.”

Each branch of the Adventurers Guild ran its own business, but in addition to lateral ties, they had a vertical structure. Each country had its own guild headquarters that issued licenses to create local guilds, but that was just a pretense. The headquarters both maintained the power of the guild and prevented chaos from prevailing. Before the rules were sorted out, one town could have a dozen Adventurers Guilds. And some areas had guilds that couldn’t even manage an entire town’s worth of opportunity. The headquarters of the guild in Rayfiel was in the royal city, where it monitored the various branches.

“So you’re trying to uncover some malfeasance on the old man’s part?”

“We’ve heard stories about the guildmaster, Gregory, embezzling some of the guild’s profits, but never found any proof of it.”

On paper, his accounting was fine. They’d sent out several inspectors to audit him, but all of them swore the numbers added up. Either he was involved in some clever accounting tricks or he had bought off the inspectors. Knowing the old man, he’d definitely try something along those lines.

“The guild here suffered a major loss of personnel after that stampede. Senior leadership saw it as a chance to uncover any wrongdoing.”

“And you’ve snuck onto the staff and are conducting an internal investigation.”

I’d suspected as much. It sounded like something the old man would do. He used the tale of the skinflint sun god as bait to make me go after Donald. In the end, he’d have me either killed like Donald or blamed for Donald’s murder.

“Consider this a warning,” I said. No way in hell was I getting involved in guild politics. I was out. “Leave this town as soon as you can. If he feels like it, he can easily have you erased. Take your evidence and leave now.”

The old man was really sick of the former adventurer kept man his granddaughter was so fond of, it seemed. Part of his reasoning was the resurgence of Arwin’s popularity, leading to a fresh wave of complaints and threats to the guild about me. Maybe he’d already sent an assassin here. He could get rid of two inconvenient people at once. If I were him, it would be exactly what I’d do.

He was just like me.

Donald nodded and said, “Just a moment. I need to bring my reports,” then he opened the closet.

“Make it quick. Someone I know will help you get out of…”

I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck.

Something is coming.

The next moment, a shape flew toward the window. It crashed through the glass and the wall alike and landed.

It was a monster.

Huge, dark eyes gleamed on its hairless head, reflecting Donald’s terrified expression. Fishlike scales extended from its neck down, covering the hands and toes like armor. It looked like something between a monkey and a fishman. The thing strode toward us.

Is this another preacher? Another one infiltrated the town?

“I warned you…there wouldn’t be another chance,” it said in a high-pitched voice, directed at Donald. He turned pale and backed away.

“Is…is that…Sam?”

He knows this thing?

“What is this, your boyfriend? You gotta clear this up, then. Tell him you’re not cheating on him with me,” I said, using one of my classic wisecracks to distract them from the fact that I was pulling out the temporary sun. I didn’t like using it repeatedly in a small amount of time, but I couldn’t save it when there was a preacher around.

Donald backed away. Terror twisted his features. The monster named Sam closed the gap at once.

“Irradiation!”

The light of the sun filled me with strength, and I unleashed it in one go.

“Motherfucker!”

My fist caught the monster right on the head. It slammed into the wall and through, bursting out of the building.

“Go now! Run!”

If that was a preacher, then it would be back in moments; that blow wouldn’t be fatal. I’d have to grab it and wrench its head off. Donald was completely terrified, however, and wasn’t getting up.

“What’s wrong with you? This is pathetic! And you were trying to take down that old man? He’s ten times worse than that monster,” I said, hoping some provocation would snap him out of it.

“Sounds rather frightful,” said another voice. A white figure was standing behind Donald—a completely different monster. “Should he have gotten onto his knees and begged for mercy instead?”

It was about my height and wore nothing that resembled clothing. Its slender body was covered in black-and-white mottled tattoo-like patterns. Small golden eyes flashed on its narrow face. I couldn’t see any nose or mouth. Arms extended from its sides with massive pincer claws. If anything, it looked like a black-and-white spotted crayfish-man. Another preacher.

This wasn’t like Levi, who had multiple copies of himself. There were two different preachers here at once.

“You need not fear. We are merely purifying your tainted soul,” it said in a muffled voice, lowering the pincers toward Donald.

“Run!” I shouted, right as the massive claws crushed Donald’s skull. His body fell over without so much as a scream. I didn’t need to check his vital signs. He was a corpse.

The crayfish-man tossed Donald’s body aside unceremoniously and rounded on me.

“You wanna go, then? Sure thing. I’ll take you on,” I said. Then I felt another presence behind me and looked over my shoulder.

It was the monster named Sam from earlier. As I thought, it was back already—and completely unharmed.

Now it was two on one. And I had a time limit. It was an ugly situation.

But the crayfish-man just looked at Sam, then passed by me. He didn’t seem to care about me at all. Instead, he left through the hole in the wall, leaving behind tendrils of something like smoke. Sam briefly turned back to look at me, then went back out through the hole, too.

Silence filled the room.

They weren’t coming back. I exhaled with relief.

Who were they? Was Donald actually a true believer of that cat-puke sun god? Did they come to silence him before he spilled their secrets? A crowd was starting to gather as I contemplated what had occurred. I couldn’t blame them after the noise we’d made. There was no time to waste.

I tore through the closet. Donald had been trying to get some reports, he said. That was where he’d hidden them. Reading the reports might tell me something. I tore off the closet partition and found a brown leather satchel behind it—bingo. The hole was to be Donald’s escape route, I gathered. Well, it would become my escape route.

I took the contents out of the satchel and jumped through the hole. There was a rope ladder below that went down to a pitch-black room on the first floor. I pushed the wall, and it opened to the outside; it was a back alley. I stuffed the paper into my pocket and snuck back home without drawing further attention. No one followed me.

Back in my room, I spread out the sheets.

Most of them described an investigation into the old man’s malfeasance. Overstated expenses and exaggerated monster kills were only the start of it. He continually understated his profits and paid off various legal enforcers. The old man was doing whatever he felt like. It would be easy for him to manage protection for a young lady like his granddaughter, of course. But while this was all very fascinating, the more pressing matter was the syphilitic sun god and his preachers.

I read through the reports. Thankfully, Donald had summed them up in a convenient way. I was also grateful he wasn’t a poet. If he were, I’d have gone back to his room to wrench his head off myself.

…Interesting. According to the documents, there was an adventurer engaged in funny business down in the dungeon, and the most likely suspect was Sam.

It was well known around this town that the scum sun god’s followers transformed into monsters called preachers. Arwin had reported as much to the guild after the stampede. Donald must have seen the monster and thought he was Sam.

But there was one contradictory detail in this report.

The Adventurers Guild had no record of a person named Sam.

I made sure to check all the names and faces because it was vitally important to Arwin’s safety. So I could guarantee there was no such person. What does this mean?

Mysteries abounded, but one thing was certain: I had trouble on my hands again.

Preachers and sufferers. Just when we’d just gotten over the stampede.

I would be telling Arwin about this, of course, but the real problem was the old man. He had tried to screw me over on this one. I wanted to kill him, but he was well known around town, and that would cause too many problems. April would mourn him, too. But I could expose his misdoings to headquarters. The only problem with that was no one could fill his shoes. If he didn’t have an heir, chaos would plague the guild. And if the guild was in shambles, their support for Arwin would wane.

In the end, I decided to head for the old man.

I had no intention of getting involved in the guild’s sins or influencing its moral compass, but this matter affected Arwin’s safety. The best way to lure out any sufferers was to get the old man involved. He’d lost plenty from the stampede, too; he wouldn’t be against the idea. If needed, I could use Donald’s report as a bargaining chip.

The next day, I went to the guild around noon. Mornings were always hectic around there, so I waited until a later hour. He would have heard about Donald’s death by then. If he tried to blame me for it, then Donald’s report would reach headquarters. I wasn’t in any rush.

But when I got there, the guild was in absolute tatters. All the staffers seemed unnerved, their eyes unfocused and their minds distracted. I didn’t smell blood, so it probably wasn’t anything related to monsters.

The old man didn’t get attacked again, did he?

I tried to flag down a staffer, but they just looked at me and said, “Not now.” Others were shouting about the adventurers and getting them back out of the dungeon, and so on.

At last, I found someone who might be able to answer my questions.

“What’s going on, squirt?”

April’s face was pale. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“Matthew!” she cried, hugging me.

“What is it? What happened?”

I bent down to her eye level and patted her on the head. April rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Her voice trembled.

“The guards took Grampa away…”

[Chapter Three] The Giant Rises

“And why are you asking me?” snapped Gloria Bishop the appraiser, looking annoyed.

“You don’t seem to have anything better to do.”

“I’m incredibly busy.”

The process of taking over the position from her predecessor was finally complete, and she had her own office. But before she could celebrate her newfound freedom, there had been a sudden influx of adventurers, which meant many more items being hauled out of the dungeon, including monster materials and magical items. Most of them were garbage that idiots mistook for treasure. Ultimately, it meant a lot of her time was wasted on pointless busywork.

“Please. I’ll get out of your hair once we’re done.”

The guild staff hated me. Dez and April were the only ones who’d give me the time of day. Dez was too gruff and taciturn to be any help, and April couldn’t explain anything without crying.

Scowling, Gloria said, “He was held responsible for the stampede. Basically, he’s a scapegoat.”

Levi, the mastermind behind the stampede, had been a carrier for the guild, meaning he was staff. Whatever his background, it meant an official guild member had caused the stampede, leading to massive damage. Levi was dead, but that was cold comfort to the survivors in town. They wanted to know why they were forced to suffer like this. They needed someone to blame and punish.

Naturally, the lord and other important figures had heard their rage. If left unchecked, such sentiments could lead to rebellion, which might result in them being hanged. Someone had to be the sacrifice and be held responsible to quell the agitation. It wasn’t based on law or what was right, just a feeling of injustice. Therefore, the boss of the culprit was being blamed for the trouble. It made a certain kind of sense.

“Plus there are plenty of stories about bribes and other illegitimate actions he’s been engaged in,” she said.

The old man had done anything and everything he could to maintain his power. He’d done himself in without needing Donald’s reporting. I’d have happily laughed at him for creating his own downfall, but the situation was too serious for that.

“So what happens to the guild now?”

In other guilds, they had senior officers who could serve as proxy leaders or heirs apparent, but the old man hadn’t elected to place anyone in such a position. He hadn’t named an heir to take over, either. He had removed all those obstacles out of fear of being betrayed and overthrown. That was why he was so busy all the time. Being a dictator was like being a slave to one’s work—a leader like that was too paranoid about everyone else to delegate.

He should have been retired, taking his granddaughter to see the theater and whatnot.

“They’re saying someone will be dispatched from elsewhere, but I don’t know anything more than that,” Gloria said.

“Let’s hope everything’s still intact by the time they arrive.”

Even without the old man, certain daily duties, like mediating jobs for adventurers and buying materials from them, would continue as normal. But if there were a major incident like the stampede again, chaos would ensue. No one was in charge to make decisions. This was a real mess, especially when preachers and sufferers were involved.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked.

“Nothing. Same thing I’m already doing.”

Gloria had been kicked out of her last guild for shady behavior. The old man had chosen to hire her anyway, but she didn’t seem indebted to him for that. The lady kept her business cut-and-dry.

“Especially after I heard he’d been pocketing the appraisal funds his customers were paying the guild.” Yeah, the old bastard was good for stunts like that. “If push comes to shove, I’ll just move on to another place,” she said.

A good appraiser was always in high demand.

“But enough about me. What about you, Mr. Kept Man?”

“Me?”

“Aren’t you in a spot of trouble, being without your benefactor?”

Gloria seemed to think I was a guild inspector of sorts. It was convenient for me not to clear up her misunderstanding.

“My boss isn’t that horny old goat.”

“Oh, it’s someone higher,” she said, looking at the ceiling. She was probably imagining some kind of guild headquarters muckety-muck.

“Yes, much, much higher,” I said, taking her hand. “I think we can get that much higher together—all the way to heaven. What do you say?”

It had been a while for me, and I was with a very beautiful woman.

“Oh, what a lovely suggestion.” Gloria laughed, pointing over my shoulder. “But I think she’s going to take you somewhere even lovelier.”

Slowly, horrified, I craned my neck to look over my shoulder.

A woman was standing there with a vicious, bloodthirsty smile on her lips.

“When the guildmaster was arrested, all the folks who panicked went down into the dungeon to pull out the busy people down there. Silly, isn’t it?” Gloria chuckled to herself.

Indeed.

And I was staring at a very painful punishment.

“Things have really gotten wild.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, rubbing my reddened cheek.

I was in Dez’s room. I’d been in my friend’s place so often, I pretty much had the run of the place. I figured someplace quiet was best to help calm down April. First I managed to get her to stop crying, then I gave her some cold water to drink. I’d brought the cup and pitcher up. I also had a cold compress to place on my swollen eye.

Thanks to the chair I’d snuck in, it was much more comfortable to spend time in. All I was missing was a bottle of booze, but it was tricky to stash one without Dez finding it and drinking it.

“What will you do now?” Arwin asked gravely.

April was the old man’s granddaughter, not an official member of the guild. Everything she did was just volunteering. Now that he was arrested, she had no reason to come to the guild.

“I’ll still come here, of course,” she said brightly, folding up the lukewarm cloth. “There are people who need me around.”

Many adventurers were uneducated. April’s scribing and reading skills most certainly helped them with some of the finer aspects of the business.

“No,” I said. I had to say it. “You shouldn’t come to the guild anymore. In fact, you shouldn’t leave your home for the time being.”

She rose to her feet, clearly unhappy. “Why would you say that?”

“I’m not picking on you. I’m thinking of your safety.”

While she had a bad habit of roping me into work I didn’t want to do, April was a good girl who spread cheer and charm. Many of the staffers simply loved her.

But no one is beloved by all.

For one thing, adventurers were by and large an unsavory group. Many of them were filth who wouldn’t think twice about harming women and children. The reason April hadn’t been hurt yet was because she was the guildmaster’s granddaughter. Any funny business would get an adventurer’s arms chopped off.

And that extended beyond the guild. The power of the guildmaster could compel those uncouth adventurers with the twitch of a finger. Even the criminal underworld was likely to suffer greatly if they crossed him.

April’s safety and freedom were enabled by the old man’s presence—his money, power, and violence. An umbrella of fear spread by these three factors shielded April from the malice and cruelty of the world.

Now that umbrella had been taken away. People who had bowed and scraped would turn their backs on her. Without the old man, April was just a girl. Many people would take a dramatically different approach with her. She was going to get a real taste of harsh reality.

And that wasn’t even the half of it. All the idiots in this town were bound to have their eyes on April. She had used her grandfather’s authority to get away with whatever she wanted. Plus she was pretty and had a lot of money. Having been kept at bay, they would descend on her like starving wolves.

Even if she had guards, there was no guarantee they could keep her safe. The level of evil targeting her made me sick to think about.

April laughed shortly, though her face was stiff and tense. “You’re overthinking it. I mean—”

“Sorry,” I said. She didn’t appreciate the ramifications of the situation yet. She needed to hear this. “If all the people of this town were good at heart, I wouldn’t be beaten and kicked and robbed of my money so often.”

“……”

April hung her head. She had no rebuttal.

“You should stay safe in your home until the old man gets back. At the very least, don’t go walking the streets like you’ve been doing. If you need something from the guild, send someone to do it for you.”

The top priority was April’s safety. There was no reason for her to risk danger with so many uncultured, uneducated adventurers roaming the streets. More guild staffers would solve that problem.

“…But what if I have to come for something?”

“Ask for Dez. He’ll treat you the same, no matter who you happen to be.” I personally guaranteed the Beardo’s strength. With him around, no adventurer was going to try any funny business. “The problem is, Dez is busy. He can’t spend all his time protecting you. That’s why it’s best for you to stay home.”

“…Okay.”

“Anyway, let’s get you home. I’ll walk you there,” I said, getting to my feet and patting her on the back.

“I’ll go, too,” said Arwin. “I’ll be more help than Matthew alone.”

She touched her sword for good measure. It was a magic blade called the Zephyrus Sword. She had received it at the recent celebration.

“Good idea.”

We couldn’t be too careful, even during daylight hours. Evil sometimes came at unexpected times. As soon as we descended the stairs, all the eyes of the guild staffers and adventurers gathered on us. But the looks we received were anything but unanimous. For Arwin, they reserved respect and admiration, while I got disparagement for my slovenly ways and envy for my monopolization of her. April received looks of sympathy and pity. The affection they used to show was nowhere to be seen or felt.

We followed Arwin out of the building. April clung to my sleeve. She, too, could feel the starved beasts staring at her.

“Hey,” she said when we were outside the guild, “why are you always so nice to me, Matthew?”

“Because,” I said. “You’re the only teacher who’s willing to give a big dumb lug like me lessons in reading and writing.”

Arwin and I flanked April as we walked. I had to adjust my steps to match her pace, which was awkward, but it had to be done.

“Don’t look so gloomy, kid,” I said. “The old man’ll be back before you know it.”

He wasn’t going to play the role of a willing sacrifice. The rich and powerful always had one another’s secrets and weaknesses in their hands. It was a society of mutual back-scratching. If any of them tried to make an example of the others, their head would be on the chopping block next. They were all in the same boat.

There would likely be some kind of monetary punishment as a compromise. The guildmaster’s status was guaranteed by how much money he threw around, depending on the negotiations with headquarters. And if he was out of a job, he could move to the royal city. Then April would have better options for her education. I’d recommend that to him the next time I saw him. Whether he listened or not was another matter.

April glanced around nervously. She could feel more eyes on her.

“They’re staring at us.”

“At Arwin.”

She was the Crimson Princess Knight, and this was her time to shine.

“Do you think they believe we’re a family?”

“No parents and children look like this.”

We didn’t resemble one another, and we had different-colored hair and eyes. Most significantly, Arwin and April were too close in age. At best, they looked like sisters.

“Hey,” April said again, pulling on my sleeve.

“What is it this time?”

“Aren’t you going to marry Arwin?”

Arwin doubled over in a coughing fit. The kid had launched quite a sneak attack.

“Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of relationship we have. We’re from different backgrounds.”

“But Arwin’s not…um…”

It was too delicate to mention in her presence, but technically speaking, Arwin’s homeland was no more, so she was not an actual princess anymore. April seemed to think this made me eligible to wed her.

“Are you waiting until after the dungeon is conquered?”

“Maybe.”

We didn’t have any deal like that. There was no point, and I didn’t intend to ask.

“Is it because you don’t have a job?”

“Sure, let’s say that’s it.”

Our relationship wasn’t the kind of thing we could explain to others. I noticed Arwin wasn’t speaking because her face was flushed, and she couldn’t look at us.

“Look at that. She’s furious because of this nonsense you’re talking about,” I said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine,” said Arwin. She still wasn’t looking at us.

“Anyway, did the old man leave you any messages or anything?” I asked once some time had passed. He was a crafty, cautious man. He must’ve had some plans in place for an event like this. And even without the stampede, he was getting older. He had to be worried about what would happen if he fell and was immobilized for a time.

“Oh yeah,” April said, cocking her head. “He said, ‘Seek out Oliver.’”

My mind went blank. “Who?”

Arwin looked confused, too. She hadn’t heard of him, either.

“I thought that was—”

“What’s that?” interrupted April, who suddenly rushed ahead. There was a clamor coming from the mansion. We hurried after her.

A large crowd had gathered around April’s home. Based on their appearances, this wasn’t a crowd of looky-loos, but servants.

Guards were nailing wooden placards to the gate and the front door.

“Oh! Mistress!”

An older-looking woman hurried over. It was Nora, April’s maid and caretaker.

“What’s happening here?”

“You must be April.” A fat, middle-aged man sauntered over. He looked to be an official of some sort. He’d probably gotten fat off the scraps left behind by the noble class. He smiled smugly and spread out a piece of parchment.

“By order of the town’s lord, the fortune amassed by the former guildmaster through illegitimate means is hereby impounded.”

“No!” April screamed, clutching at the official. “Grandfather wouldn’t do that! It must be some mistake!”

“Pardon me,” I said, taking the document from him. I tried to read it, but there were too many difficult words, so I showed it to Arwin instead.

“…Facts aside, it does seem to be an official document,” she said.

“No,” April repeated, falling to her knees.

“If you’re quite satisfied, begone! That goes for all of you. Clear off!”

The servants were all peasants, of course. They couldn’t fight back against the lord’s decree.

“But it says here it’s temporarily sealed, not impounded,” Arwin pointed out, glaring at the man. “You haven’t been taking out their furniture and possessions without permission, have you?”

Beads of sweat instantly formed on the official’s face.

“T-these are the orders of His Lordship. You might be the Crimson Princess Knight, but you have no standing to quibble with official business.”

When the tables were turned against them, they used the glory of their leader as a shield. Whether officials or mobsters, the folks who could only make their living in an organization all tended to think the same way.

“Then I shall bring this up with him in person and ask him to investigate if anything has been illegally removed from the premises. Shall we proceed?”

“Y-yes, of course. By all means,” he said boldly with a dry chuckle. “A-at any rate, you are not to enter the mansion. Understood?!”

This command was directed at the servants, not Arwin. Then he stormed off in a huff. Petty paper-pusher.

“What do I do now…?” murmured April.

Nora collapsed next to her. I would have stopped her fall and held her up if I could, but the best I could do was serve as a cushion.

“Nora? What’s wrong? Nora!”

April shook her maid in a panic. The woman wasn’t hurt, but her face was pallid. The shock of so many terrible things happening at the same time had gotten to her.

“We should take her to a doctor.”

I called for help, and a gardener and a butler rushed over. They picked her up and carried her toward a nearby physician. April wanted to accompany them, but she had something else to do.

“I’m sorry, everybody,” she said. Despite the mental toll, she still had to look after the family’s employees.

They all shook their heads, reassuring her that it wasn’t her fault. She was a good girl, and no one felt inclined to blame her for this.

Most of the servants had their own homes, and those who lived on the premises would have to find temporary lodging with relatives. That left only the girl herself. The butler and other servants invited her to stay with them, but April refused all their offers.

“This is hard enough for all of you. I don’t want to be an extra burden,” she said.

The servants insisted again and again, but she steadfastly turned them all down, told them she would be in touch once things had calmed down, then she dismissed them. The old man had been arrested on suspicion of fraud and bribery. She feared that if the servants took his granddaughter in, they might be treated as accomplices.

“So what are you going to do, then? Don’t tell me you’re camping outdoors.”

“Not to worry,” she said, turning with a smile that broke my heart. “I guess I’ll stay at the Adventurers Guild instead. Or maybe the orphanage would be a better place.”

“Don’t.”

“Why not? I’ve stayed there before.”

“The situation is different.”

People were not going to act the same toward a little girl with nowhere else to go as they would toward the granddaughter of one of the most powerful men in town.

“Is there anyone else you know? Like a friend from another rich family?”

“No,” she said sadly. She might have been sweet to me, but to some nasty brat, she would look like a sanctimonious suck-up. Everyone judged others by their own yardstick.

“Then come to our home,” Arwin offered. “We can handle another mouth to feed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course,” she said, glancing in my direction. “I trust you have no complaints?”

“It’s your house.”

I wasn’t paying rent, so I didn’t have any right to argue. We could put her up in an inn, but there was no telling what might happen to her. Some inns were safe, but they also cost more money.

And it wouldn’t cost any money to keep her at our place. At the very least, Arwin wouldn’t accept any. And the guards and Paladins were stationed close by, so it was safer than most places.

However, Arwin and I had our secrets. With a curious young girl around, there was a possibility that a disastrous revelation could occur. Thinking about what I would have to do in that situation churned my bowels. But neither Arwin nor I could leave April out in the cold.

“In that case, let’s get going. You must be tired.”

In just half a day, her grandfather had been arrested, and she’d lost her home. April’s entire life had been turned upside-down, and I was certain she was physically and mentally spent. Arwin had just returned from the dungeon, so she had to be feeling fatigued, too.

As we were about to head home, I felt a strange sensation on my legs. I looked down to see a black-and-white cat rubbing against me. Its ears were black, but white fur covered its face and chin. It was a round and fat little thing, but firm and strong. It was also a bit unsteady on its feet, though. The way it walked suggested it was on the older side.

“Oh, good, you’re safe,” April said, scooping the cat up and scratching its throat. The cat purred contentedly.

“Is this your cat, April?” Arwin asked.

“No, it’s a stray. But sometimes it comes to our door to ask for food.”

It had clearly been a housecat at some point, because it was very friendly.

“Arwin,” I said, “allow me to introduce you to Oliver.”

The old cat in April’s arms meowed softly.

With Arwin’s permission, we took Oliver with us to the house. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of keeping an animal that would cough up hairballs and other things, piss all over the house, and scratch up the walls, but I was concerned about what the old man had said.

April had wanted to keep Oliver as a pet, but the old man hadn’t allowed it. He hates cats, so why did he tell her to “seek out Oliver”? I picked up the cat and examined it for clues, but I didn’t see any particular signs.

“What will we do about your clothes?”

April had been tossed out onto the street, so she didn’t have her wardrobe with her.

“There’s still time for us to go out and buy you some. I’ll pay for them,” said Arwin. They couldn’t get custom-fitted garments, but it was easy enough to buy clothes in standard sizing.

“No, you can’t do that. I still have a bit of money, so I can—”

“Don’t be shy. Think of this as a present from me,” Arwin said generously. “Buy whatever you like. I’ll pick it out for you.”

“Huh?” April and I said together.

Arwin had a unique sense of fashion that was far from typical. April was aware of it, too. She squirmed a little, then looked pleadingly to me.

“Please, Matthew.”

“Say no more.”

The last thing I wanted to do was subject the poor girl to more misery.

Somehow, I managed to talk the princess knight out of selecting bizarre and outlandish designs for April to wear, and we got a proper wardrobe for the girl. Why did she always pick out clothes that made one question the sanity of the designer? The fact that such clothes even existed was the real mystery. Maybe there were more people who shared Arwin’s sensibilities than I imagined. I let April pick her own undergarments.

By the time we got back home, it was evening.

“You go ahead and use my bedroom,” I told her. We had only two beds in the house.

“Huh? Then where will you…oh!”

April came to a realization and suddenly blushed. What was she imagining? The precocious little twerp.

“Exactly. It’s not like Arwin uses it when she’s around, so there’s no problem with—”

Arwin elbowed me in the side and said coldly, “You sleep on the floor.” The bashful creature.

Oliver promptly walked around the house like he owned the place, occasionally stopping to meow. It seemed he had decided this was his home now.

“Well, let’s eat.”

When someone’s hungry, bad thoughts tend to follow. But with a full belly, things start to look up. I went to the kitchen, where April joined me.

“You cook, Matthew?”

“In the castle, the servants prepared dinner.”

“I’ll help you,” April offered.

“Much obliged.”

We stacked up the vegetables from the pantry. There were three of us now, so I’d need to use more than usual.

“Go ahead and slice these veggies.”

“Okay.”

April helped with cooking at the orphanage, so she was used to doing these tasks; she deftly sliced an onion and chopped green peppers. Meanwhile, I heated up a frying pan and put down oil to fry the vegetables. When it was nice and hot, I added some salt and pepper for taste.

“You’re good at this, Matthew. Just like a real chef.”

“You see, there are ranks to being a kept man. The worst of them don’t even cook and force the woman to do all the work, but as you get better, you learn how to surprise her with a feast every now and then.”

“Every now and then?” April repeated. She might be disappointed, but a man who cooked every day was a husband.

“If you ever plan on keeping a man of your own, set your sights high. Don’t settle for the bums. You might like him at first, but you’ll be sick of him soon. A great big oaf of a man lounging around a house, doing nothing? Makes me sick to think about.”

Suddenly, the back of my head hurt.

“Look who’s talking. And don’t fill April’s head with nonsense,” said Arwin, who stood behind me, grumpily wielding a frying pan.

“Also, the kind who use violence are the worst of the worst,” I added. “Never stay with them. And don’t trust them when they come crying and apologizing. They’ll only do the same thing again.”

She hit me a second time. Who was going to teach this naive princess knight that a frying pan was a tool, not a weapon?

April tugged on my sleeve. “Are we going to use this bay leaf, too?”

“For flavor at the end.”

“And the eggplant?”

“Toss it right in.”

I heard a groan over my shoulder, which I ignored. Even the Crimson Princess Knight had her weaknesses. One of them was an aversion to eggplants. For whatever reason, she simply did not like them, despite their delicious flavor.

She probably thought by monitoring the kitchen, she could keep me from using them—but she was wrong.

After frying the eggplant, onion, and green pepper in olive oil and garlic, I added some tomato and spices, then simmered them with wine. It was a summer vegetable stew.

“Are you a picky eater, April?”

“Not really.”

“Very good.”

I wish a certain princess knight would learn from your example.

“…What are your father and mother doing now, Matthew?” asked April curiously.

“Don’t know.”

I hadn’t heard from them since I was sold into slavery at eight. I didn’t know if they were alive or dead. I’d told April this before, which was why she sounded so timid about it.

“Then do you remember what your father’s face looked like?”

“I try not to. Don’t want to start punching things.”

He was the sort of man who chose to get drunk on his own homemade brandy rather than work a real job, and he beat me and my brothers. Before he sold me into slavery, I’d made sure he couldn’t create any new brothers and sisters for me. At least there wouldn’t be any more unfortunate souls to suffer his wrath.

My mother wasn’t much better. She lived to lament and complained to her sons and daughters that she was the most unfortunate person who had ever lived. When a person heard the same sob stories day in and day out, they stopped even pretending to care. And then she sold her son and acted like she was the victim. Who wouldn’t want to punch her?

So I chose not to remember them. It wasn’t worth the mental effort.

“What about your memories of your daddy and mommy?” I asked her.

“I don’t have many, either,” she said weakly. “At least there are paintings of my mother, so I have an idea of what she was like. There are no portraits of my father, so I don’t even know what he looked like.”

She had only been two, so it would be hard to recall anything. I couldn’t blame her.

“It’s weird, though. I think I remember us being painted together.”

“As a family?”

“My mother was holding me, and we had to stay in the same position forever. But it’s hard for a little child, right? So I started crying, and there was a man who tried to calm me down.”

“Where’s the painting now?”

“I don’t know. I asked Grampa, but he said there’s no painting.”

Maybe April misremembered something. Or perhaps the old man had discarded it for some reason. All we knew for sure was that April didn’t remember her father’s face.

“…I wonder what Grampa’s doing right now,” April murmured, stirring the pot of food.

“He’s just fine.”

Odds were he had bribed the guards into turning his cell into another mansion. He was probably chewing on a steak and guzzling wine at that very moment.

“…I wonder if it’s true that he was doing bad things.”

He was soft on his granddaughter, but outside that, the man was as wicked as they came. I’d done plenty of things I wasn’t proud of, but just the rumors about him alone were far beyond anything in my past—in terms of money stolen and lives extinguished.

Even if these charges were trumped up, he’d certainly committed many, many more crimes. He was one of the great evils that dwelled within this town.

Teaching this pure, innocent child about the rigors of reality was one kind of education we could give her. The world wasn’t such a paradise that she could live in her little walled garden forever. The problem was, I was an ignorant and uneducated man. Teaching people wasn’t in my nature. Plus, I was a liar.

“The old man’s like…a bear.”

“He’s not that big.”

“Bears and deer do the same thing, ultimately. They acquire the food needed to survive, and they raise their children. Deer only have to eat grass to live, but to them, bears are terrifying monsters.”

They hunted living things and tenaciously pursued whatever they identified as their prey. If they had you in their sights, you would not survive. There was no evil or malice behind it. That was just how they lived.

“Bears are a threat to other animals just by being bears.”

“Are you saying it’s my fault Grampa does bad things?”

“The old man’s just worried.”

He had come up as an adventurer, too. No doubt he’d been through plenty of hell in a world where betrayal and retribution were facts of life.

“He has to fight to survive,” I explained. “And fighting means getting hurt. Sometimes it hurts you and helps you grow, but it can also make you hated. And once you step down the wrong path, there’s no going back.”

There were people who wanted to wash themselves clean of the sins of the criminal world. But no one was guaranteed a return to honest living. There was always the possibility of failing and backsliding down to the same wicked ways they started on.

The reasons were numerous: not enough patience, no forgiveness from those around you, and so on. And the most common reason was one’s former comrades.

“They’ll use any trick they can to keep people in the underworld. Temptation, coercion, obligation, group mentality. Fear of the problems that will arise if people talk about your past crimes and deeds is a big one. There’s also jealousy.”

“Jealousy?”

“People thinking, It’s not fair you get to pretend to be a good boy.”

That’s the logic of the envious: I can’t lead an honest life, so why does he think he can? People can’t stand the thought, so they try to hold others back. Otherwise, they’re forced to admit they’re simply outcasts—failures who don’t have their lives together.

“I bet the old man suffered a lot on his way to where he is in life. And now he’s one of the richest and most powerful men around. But it also means he can’t stop what he’s doing or pull back from it.”

There was no way to work himself out of the pit. They’d just kill him to buy his silence.

“But I don’t really know what he’s thinking. All I know is that he loves you in his own way.”

He was a sick old man, rotten to his roots, but even rotten roots could grow beautiful flowers. Even a wicked man could give to charity if he felt like it, and even a saint could engage in theft if caught by a sudden whim.

“……”

I prodded April gently in the side with my elbow.

“You’re not stirring. You want to serve Arwin overcooked food?”

She came to her senses and hastily stirred the pot. I pretended not to notice that she went so hard at it that some of her sweat dripped into the stew.

April scraped the bottom of the pot with her spoon and said, “Matthew?”

“What?”

“Thank you.”

The meal preparation was finished, and it was time to eat.

“Here is tonight’s dinner,” I said, acting as both chef and waiter in laying out the dishes for Arwin and April. I put a basket of bread in the center of the table. Then there was eggplant and onion consommé; a pork stir-fry with cabbage, onion, and peppers; and the main dish, a tomato stew of chicken and eggplant.

“This is delicious,” April said.

“Isn’t it?”

“You could work as a chef with this. Do you want to work at my house?”

“That’s quite generous, but I’ll have to decline. Arwin won’t have anyone left to cook for her.”

“……”

April seemed to be in a good mood. I knew a full stomach would help her feel better.

“This bread tastes good, too. Did you bake it?”

“When they rebuilt the house, I asked for a proper oven. I use it all the time, because she likes her bread softer.”

Unfortunately, the bread she took on her expeditions had to be baked harder to make it last longer.

“Oooh, wow.”

“……”

Arwin ate in silence while we chatted. April seemed a bit intimidated by the way Arwin moved her spoon and fork without a word.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” April said timidly. “Am I being too loud?”

“Ah, no. You’re fine,” Arwin said, shaking her head.

“She’s a princess,” I piped up. “She doesn’t speak while she eats, because it would be rude.”

In fact, she never spoke during meals. Apparently, it was true in the dungeon as well. Those dinners at the palace in Mactarode must have been very quiet affairs. Whenever anyone spoke during our meals together, it was always me.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason Arwin was being quiet. She was locked in a silent battle to see how much eggplant she could conquer.

“So it’s always just me talking on my own,” I said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a lively dinner like this one.”

“…Don’t worry about it,” said Arwin. “I don’t mind the chatter.”

“Really?” April said, leaning forward happily. “What’s your favorite thing to eat, then?”

“…I like fish,” she replied after a moment’s reflection. “Sweetfish, herring, trout, even eel.”

“Eel? You mean like those squirmy, wriggly things?”

“Mactarode doesn’t have any shorelines, but we do have a big lake. In the fall, the fishers put down traps to catch them as they swim up the river. The usual preparation is to grill them, but sometimes we fry them in oil. Or dry them out to preserve them.”

“Oooh.” April’s eyes were sparkling with fascination. “And what’s your least favorite?”

Arwin bit her lip slightly.

“…I don’t have one,” she lied.

“Really? What about that eggplant…?”

“You haven’t finished it,” I pointed out.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Arwin said, hastily scooping it up with her spoon. It was all well and good to enjoy a lively dinner, but not too much, lest the food get cold.

“Arwin likes to save her favorite bits for the end of the meal. Isn’t that right?”

“…Correct,” she said bitterly.

While April quickly resumed eating, I turned to Arwin and mouthed, “Liar.”

She smiled and mouthed back, “Bite me.”

“Thanks for dinner,” said April, all smiles after the meal had allowed her to collect herself. Meanwhile, the princess knight was in a dour funk after eating her eggplant.

“Just relax and think of this as home,” I told her. When I got up to wash the dishes, April stood beside me and dried off the plates. She could have stayed seated and relaxed, but I let her help if she wanted to think of it as the cost for staying with us. Too much accumulated guilt didn’t do the mind any good.

“The truth is,” April murmured, wiping a plate with a cloth, “I wanted to be a teacher.”

“You mean a professor and scholar, like your dad?”

“No, like a schoolteacher. Someone who teaches reading, writing, and arithmetic.”

It didn’t really click for me because I’d never gone to school. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Arwin was having the same reaction. Neither of us had any experience with it. Me because I was born poor, and her because she was a princess. Teachers had gone to the palace to tutor her one-on-one.

“There are people at the orphanage and the guild who can’t read or count properly. It’s not because they’re stupid; they just never had anyone teach them,” April said.

“I suppose not.”

It had been that way for me. My parents, family members, and neighbors were too poor to bother with book learning. Putting food on the table came first. Picking fruit and hunting animals fed a person quicker than reading books. Letters couldn’t fill a stomach.

But once I saw the outside world, I understood better. People without education either spent their lives poor or had whatever they earned stolen from their pockets by others. There was no escape. A child born into that system would be trapped there for their entire life. And so the cycle of poverty went on.

“When I’m grown up, I want to build a school here, where I can teach reading and writing and all kinds of other skills people can use.”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” said Arwin. It was exactly what I’d expect her to say, with how she always thought of the people first. I had a different opinion, however.

“It won’t work,” I said. “You’d be throwing money into the gutter. If you want to do it—”

“…Fine, forget it!” April raged, cleaning her last plate and stomping on my foot before she left.

“Well, that was uncalled for.”

I hadn’t meant anything bad by it.

While April took her bath, Arwin and I discussed the future. There was so much to go over that I was afraid I’d forget some of it, so I made sure to cover the important things.

The preachers and the sufferers.

“Sam? It doesn’t ring a bell,” said Arwin, putting a hand to her chin. There was no one among the adventurers or the guild staff by that name.

“It’s probably a nickname, short for Samuel or something along those lines.”

“Don’t recognize that, either.”

She said she’d check with Noelle and the others, but we were unlikely to get a lead.

“So it’s someone who goes into the dungeon but isn’t an adventurer or a staffer. Assuming he’s real.”

“He’s not a carrier. The old man keeps tabs on all of them. They’re locals.”

He had to have learned his lesson after Levi. I wouldn’t believe he’d gotten lax again.

“Then that would leave… Oh, what was it you called them…?”

“The pickers? Hmmm.”

Pickers were the folks who scurried around the first floor of the dungeon, picking up monster materials even adventurers didn’t care about, then selling them back to the guild for a pittance. They were considered bottom-rung scavengers.

There might be something to it, but it would be difficult to identify the target for a different reason this time. Many people who’d lost their jobs after the stampede had turned to picking in the dungeon to make ends meet. New people were going in and out every day. It would be a major chore just to identify them all. Plus we didn’t even know if Sam was this guy’s real name. He could very well be using an alias.

I would’ve liked to learn more, but Donald was in the afterlife.

“There’s another thing I’m concerned about, though I don’t know if it has any connection to this,” Arwin mumbled. “Adventurers have been disappearing lately. And it’s all folks who’ve just shown up recently.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

Bad luck was a part of it, but it was also just a fact of life that if you didn’t have a good grasp of your own limits, didn’t know the ins and outs of this particular dungeon, and took unnecessary risks, it would likely be fatal.

Arwin understood my point, but she shook her head. “I asked Noelle to look into it. Some of them have died in the dungeon, it’s true, but most just in town. From what the gatemen said, it was as though they were fleeing the place.”

“That sounds normal, too.”

People got a full head of steam and charged into the dungeon, only to find things weren’t as they expected. They struggled, then buckled under the pressure and fled for their lives. That was another common story. If anything, the quick thinking to turn and run deserved praise, not condemnation. They would live to see another day.

“Some of the adventurers who fled the town were four-stars. I saw them at the guild before they left, and the entire party was injured. They looked bruised, as though they’d been beaten with sticks.”

“So you think someone ganged up on them?”

Were they ambushes? Or lynchings? Such things happened to adventurers, so it was hard to say if they had any connection to potential sufferers.

“I don’t know. None of them wanted to talk about anything. I made a note to ask them later, but they had left the town by that night. So I don’t know who did it or why.”

Strength and reputation were an adventurer’s lifeline. No one wanted to announce to the world they’d been defeated.

“And it was only new folks who ran out of town?”

“As far as I know, yes.”

In that case, it was possible someone was threatening them to eliminate potential rivals. But a four-star adventurer was quite a bit tougher than the average. Whoever was driving them out had to be significantly more powerful. As far as I knew, the only people who fit that bill were the princess knight herself and her party, but they were obviously not the culprits. There weren’t many others beyond them, but I had a few guesses. I just didn’t think they were such cowards they’d want to drive off newcomers.

“So you’re saying you think this is the work of the sufferers or preachers.”

“It’s just a possibility.”

“In that case, you folks are their real target.”

At that moment, Aegis was the party with the greatest chance of acquiring the Astral Crystal.

“Just be careful. Ambushes in the dungeon can be very nasty.”

“I’m not concerned about that. At least for now,” Arwin said vaguely. “They’re after the Astral Crystal, I presume. So it should be a much safer bet that they’ll attack either just after or just before we get the crystal. Perhaps they were driving off the other adventurers to clear the way.”

Despite being recently weakened, the Millennium of Midnight Sun still held many monsters. Given that the preachers couldn’t fight in the dungeon, it would have to be sufferers taking on that task. If the sufferers had some kind of unstoppable power that would overwhelm all monsters, they would easily have the Astral Crystal already. Instead, it was Aegis that stood at the forefront of progress through the dungeon. The cowardly sun god and his minions would suffer less damage by allowing them to continue charting a path. And every scrub they cleared out of the way first was one less obstacle in Aegis’s way.

“The problem is, words like should and shouldn’t are forbidden when it comes to adventuring.” Arwin was only speaking in generalities. Seemingly impossible things could happen at any moment. And what was common logic for us was not for those fanatics. There was always the possibility that they could attack at any moment. “Anyway, I’ll focus on looking into that. Just be careful out there,” I said. Arwin nodded.

“Also…”

She looked down in shame and began to rock back and forth, getting up uncomfortably to shift her sitting position. It was about time. She must’ve run out of her supply, and we’d been with April ever since she came out of the dungeon.

“Here.” I handed her the usual candy from my little bag. It was the cause of Arwin’s past disgrace, and the only means of preventing her withdrawal.

“…Thank you,” she said shamefully after a brief look of excitement. However, she only let it rest in her palm and examined it closely.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I wonder if we’ll just have to keep doing this charade forever.”

“Arwin.”

She looked up with a start at the sound of her name.

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” she admitted.

“I’ve told you before. Don’t hold on to your regrets.”

I understood why she wouldn’t want to take the dose. I didn’t want to give it to her. Release was toxic. Continuing to use it would one day end her life in the not-too-distant future. But without a better solution, it was all we had, even if she had to deal with crippling humiliation and self-loathing. All we could do was buy her time. By limiting the dosage and the stress on her system, we could keep things going until we found a better way.

Thanks to that, we’d found someone who could mix her new medicines, and he had completed an antidote. We just needed to make more of it. One more step.

“…That’s right,” she said sheepishly. “You’ve been guiding me ever since then. What did you call it? A woman’s instructor?”

“Forget I ever said that.” The last thing I needed was to be reminded of glib comments I’d made on the spur of the moment. “It won’t be long until the next antidote dose is ready. Just hang on until then.”

As the town rebuilding continued, the avenues of trade would come back and prices would drop. I hoped.

“Now, if I’ve made my point, go ahead and take that dose. Or would you prefer it delivered mouth-to-mouth?”

“No need.”

She turned her head away from me, popped the candy into her mouth, and froze.

“What are you eating?” asked April, wearing a white nightgown and peeking around the doorframe. Her long silver hair was wrapped in a towel, and she looked exceedingly curious. Damn. I was so wrapped up in the conversation that I didn’t notice her approach.

“Is that candy?” she asked. “What did you make this time, Matthew?”

“Sorry, it’s not what you think,” I said, trying to act natural. I swept over to her and placed a piece of candy in April’s damp hand. It was the bitter kind made with herbal juice and very little sugar.

“It’s a cough drop. I just gave her one because she was coughing a little. Right?”

“Y-yes,” Arwin said. She turned her face away, covered her mouth, and began coughing. She had just put the candy in.

“Are you sick? Oh no, and just when you’re tired from coming out of the dungeon… And you had to walk all over the place because of me…”

“Don’t worry about it. This is Matthew’s special recipe. It will help me get better in no time,” she said.

I grabbed the towel and tousled April’s hair before she got any more upset at herself.

“Now, you get this hair dried and under the covers before you’re the one catching cold. You don’t want to get in bed while it’s still damp.”

I patted her on the back. April was going to use my bedroom upstairs. Meanwhile, I’d lay out some blankets and sleep on the floor of the living room. It was still much better than camping, because I at least had a roof over my head.

“Are you sure?”

“One of my skills is that I can sleep anywhere.”

I bade her good night and practically pushed her up the stairs.

Once April was out of sight, I exhaled. That was a close save. Living together would mean an increase in risks like that one. I had to be more careful for the time being.

Meanwhile, Arwin was still in her chair, looking downcast. She was probably feeling another bout of self-loathing after comparing April’s innocence to her own situation.

I put my arm around her shoulder. “Now that the child is put to bed, it’s time for the adults to play. Why don’t we make the most of the warmth of the bath and go in together before it gets cold?”

She pinched the back of my hand.

When my eyes opened, it was still dark. I crept toward the door. Someone was outside.

I could sense three of them. Not enough for a true raid, but maybe they couldn’t gather many with the guards around. Given that they were still carrying out their attack, they must have figured that as long as they caught us by surprise, that would be enough. They were wrong.

The door rattled. They were trying to pry the lock open, but it was holding firm. We’d had it custom-made by an expert locksmith, so they were having trouble with it. Rather than wait for them to destroy it, I just opened the door from the inside to greet the masked men.

“Hey.”

“Tsk!”

They turned and ran. It wasn’t a bad idea to simply flee the moment you were discovered. But they had come too close for safety, and the temporary sun was shining behind my back. I chased after them. I let them turn two corners, luring them toward a much less visible place. This would be their execution stand.

Once we were together in a narrow alley, I suddenly picked up speed. While they scrambled, I leaped over their heads, crushing one of their faces through the mask. Another one I punched in the chest so hard that it caved in. The last one I grabbed by the collar and lifted off the ground.

I could have simply broken his neck, but I had plenty of questions. However, as I strangled him, his head slumped. He had fallen unconscious. There was a way to wake them up by striking the back of the neck, but if I did it, the result was usually a broken neck and death. I tore off the mask to find he was surprisingly young, no older than Ralph.

Bradley could handle the bodies, but the question was how I would get information out of the boy I had taken alive. I would be happy to take him back to my secret lair for some enjoyable torture time, but I didn’t have the strength for it. The temporary sun was in an unstable state, and I didn’t want to overuse it. Plus, the girls were asleep at home. So I had a different plan in mind.

I rang a bell on my belt.

After a few moments, a covered wagon appeared at the opening to the alley. A woman about as tall as me got down from it.

“Hi, thanks for coming,” I said.

Her name was Chelsea, and she was a criminal courier known as a kite. They would take just about anything a person wanted to just about anywhere in town. If someone paid them, they would move a pile of literal shit. The only things they wouldn’t take were corpses. They had a business deal with Bradley about that.

Chelsea nodded broadly, then slowly lifted up the body of the formerly masked young man. I didn’t have to worry about her spilling secrets. She was a foreigner and didn’t understand the language. All she understood was money and simple instructions. Even the name Chelsea was an alias.

While she worked, Bradley appeared and took the dead bodies for me. Then I hopped into the wagon. They would carry people, too, for the right price.

“All right, this is where to take us,” I indicated.

She nodded slowly again, then got into the driver’s seat and spurred the horses on. We crossed Glowfly Lane and got to a ruined two-story building on a narrow street. This was one of my hideouts.

Once up the stairs, I had Chelsea unload the package in front of the door. She had helpfully tied up his hands and feet and gagged him, too—for a fee, of course.

After Chelsea was on her way, I opened the door with a spare key. There was a bed, a chair, a table, and nothing else. But that was all I needed.

Using my weight alone, I dragged the formerly masked man in the room and locked the door.

“Hi there,” I said.

He flinched. Poor guy. He was terrified. I felt sorry for him, so I wanted to get this over with. I straddled his chest, held a sharpened short sword to his throat, and undid the gag.

“So let’s get down to business. You’re going to tell me everything you know about what you thought you were doing and who was behind it. And I mean everything, aside from their bathroom, bathing, and sexual habits.”

The tip of the sword grazed his throat. Little orbs of blood appeared along the skin, creating a red line that dripped down toward his chest.

“And let me apologize up front: My questioning can be rather harsh. It’s not like the playtime you get with the guards and the Paladins.”

“I’ll talk. Please, just spare my life.”

He broke sooner than I expected. Young people these days have no backbone. He still had all his fingers left, and even one ball.

His name was Rob. He was a low-level thug at the very bottom of the Spotted Wolves’ hierarchy. They were one of the primary gangs in town.

“This,” Rob said, pulling out a drawing of April. It was quite accurate. Below it was the bounty placed on her head: Fifty gold to the one who brings her. That was quite a generous offer.

“The Devil’s Alliance is after the girl.”

The Devil’s Alliance was another major gang, a rival of the Spotted Wolves. They had the largest headcount.

“Why?” I demanded. The head of that group had a relationship with the old man. Whatever they really thought of each other, they seemed to have a good public rapport.

“You’re familiar with the fact that their lieutenant Heather died recently.”

Heather was a senior member of the Devil’s Alliance, something of a second-in-command type. Her actual age wasn’t known, but it was said to be over eighty. After the stampede ravaged the town, she’d been found dead in the bathroom. She already had a fatal disease and was living on borrowed time, but that wasn’t what killed her. There were signs she’d been partially eaten.

“She hated the stench her body made as it was slowly dying, so she wore all kinds of fancy perfumes. Led the monsters right to her. Pure stupidity.”

In fact, there had been reports of witch sightings in the courtyard of the mansion, as I understood it.

“There’d been rumors for a while that Heather was socking away a vast fortune. She’d been keeping it in secret with her own hired guard, hiding it from the boss. At least a million gold coins, supposedly.”

That would be quite a fortune. A person could buy ten brothels, employees included, and still have plenty to spare.

“Heather had a follower named Harrison, who wanted to steal this hidden treasure. He captured the safekeeper and tried to get him to cough up the location, but that was just when the stampede was starting, and the keeper went missing. Then Heather herself died.”

In other words, that fortune was now lost.

“Elton was the safekeeper, and he was Heather’s favorite. He was a git who loved nothing more than taking baths and getting clean. But he used to be an adventurer, and they said he knew the guildmaster personally. Maybe the old man would know where to find him…”

“But that was just a rumor, right?”

Even if the old man was familiar with Elton the safekeeper, that didn’t mean he’d know where the money was. It was much, much less likely.

“And that ‘million gold’ isn’t all going to be in coins. They say the guildmaster was helping Heather convert the money into jewels, fine art, perfumes, and other exotic goods.”

So he was involved in money laundering for the mob. What wouldn’t the old man stoop to doing?

“Plus, you know he wouldn’t let the topic rest if he ever heard about a great hidden fortune. He could’ve gotten the location out of Elton somehow. Or if not the exact spot, at least a hint or a general area.”

Rob had to be right about that. But crossing the old man was synonymous with crossing the Adventurers Guild. Nobody wanted to come to blows with that bristling group of ruffians. They’d given up on the lead when the old man was arrested.

“And so you thought going after April would be your big chance.”

Her protection was weakened, so she’d be a good target. And the old man really cared about his granddaughter. She would be a very valuable piece in negotiating with him.

Money.

Enough money would make it possible to create Arwin’s antidote. She would be able to choose her own way of life without being locked into this mad idea of conquering the dungeon.

“Handing her over to the big boss means getting your own lieutenant’s slot, they think, so everyone’s crazy to get her. Some idiot goes and talks about it, and then the other gangs find out about it.”

“And that’s why you Spotted Wolves and other groups are getting involved,” I said. The situation was more dire than I realized. Basically, the old man might be in possession of the location of a vast hidden treasure, so people were trying to kidnap April to force him to reveal the location.

“That’s right. You and that brat are screwed,” Rob said, grinning. “If you think you’re safe indoors, you’re wrong. The guards ain’t shit. Another group will be attacking your house tomorrow. How long can you hold us all off? At least make sure you watch from hell when that stupid kid finally gets drawn and quartered.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I said, then snapped Rob’s neck.

Three days passed.

I was in the kitchen, cooking again.

April was still living with us.

The mobsters continued to lurk around the area. The Paladins and guards had strengthened their patrols and checkpoints, so the goons weren’t testing us again. But they were waiting, biding their time until they could take another shot at April.

Because of that, April couldn’t go outside much. She hadn’t been to the guild or the orphanage. It was good she was safe, but being locked inside like that was affecting her mood. That was natural for a girl her age, especially one as lively and active as April.

She was upstairs, reading a book of poetry she’d borrowed from Arwin, but she seemed bored with it.

And April wasn’t the only one having trouble with the situation: Arwin was upset, too.

Ordinarily, she would be back in the dungeon, but she was too concerned for April, and so she remained at home. She laughed it off, calling it a bit of a rest, but the Maretto sisters kept bugging her for an answer as to when their next dungeon crawl would be. The sisters were in it for fame, not to rescue a little girl in dire straits.

If this situation lasted much longer, it could break up their party.

Arwin pretended to be fine with it, but her eyes and feet were restless. She was obviously irritated by the situation, but that wasn’t the entire story. The stock of ingredients for her candy was running low. The guards were patrolling all around. In other words, my outdoor trips were under strict watch as well. If I did anything suspicious, I’d be the first one in trouble. Attacking dealers and stealing their Release was going to be much, much harder than before.

Most importantly, Vincent still suspected me of killing his sister. If he had any reason to tie me to Release, he would naturally tie Arwin to it as well.

If this stalemate lasted, the first ones to break wouldn’t be the Devil’s Alliance—it would be us.

We needed to risk danger to break through. I had to reassess.

A senior member of the Devil’s Alliance gang had died, leaving a hidden fortune uncollected. The location was unknown. The safekeeper who’d managed it went missing during the stampede. Now all the various gangs were after this ownerless treasure.

There was no more information about where the one person who knew the location might be or what he was doing. If I throttled some third-rung flunkies of the Devil’s Alliance, they might tell me something, but whatever it might be, all the competitors would know already. They’d have found the treasure by that point. I wished they would.

I heard someone coming down the stairs. I put the secret ingredients for the candy in a mixing bowl and draped a cloth over it, then stuck it in the cabinet by my feet and closed the door.

Sure enough, April popped her head around the side just a moment later.

“What are you doing, Matthew?”

“Oh, it’s you.” I laughed. “Couldn’t wait until snack time?”

“What are you making?”

“I’ve already made it.”

I’d chilled some prebaked cookies and set them out on a tray, then covered them in cream. There were honey-soaked apple bits mixed into the cream. Then another cookie was placed on top.

“Here you go.”

It was Matthew’s homemade cream cookie sandwich. April’s eyes sparkled. She took a bite and promptly swooned.

“This is so yummy,” she raved. I decided to try it out, too. The crispness of the cookies gave way to smooth, sweet cream, with a little accent of tartness from the apple for good measure.

“Yeah, that seems about what I expected,” I said. The mixing of the cream was a bit sloppy, due to my idle-minded distraction while I was preparing it.

“Matthew, are you ever going to be a baker—?”

“No.”

Why would I waste my life baking cakes and cookies for other people when I never wanted to do that sort of thing?

“But they taste so good,” she sulked, taking another bite. “Were you making something else?”

“What, you want more? Getting a bit greedy, are we?”

“No, I mean I saw you putting something away down below.”

I’d been quick about it, but she must have heard the sound. If anyone saw the evidence, I would have to kill them.

April lived in Gray Neighbor. She had to be aware of Release and the danger it posed. And she was a good, kind girl. If she found out someone she knew was using it, she would do everything she could to stop them, no matter the consequences.

“Was it a mix for more sweets? What sort?” she asked curiously, reaching for the cabinet handle. I grabbed her hand.

“Sorry, it’s not finished. You have to let it sit, or the flavor will be ruined. Once it’s ready, I’ll let you have some.”

“Okay, great,” she said, backing away obediently. On the inside, where she couldn’t see, I let out a sigh of relief. Living with April was bad for the heart in various ways.

I left the house the following morning.

“I’m going to go check on the guild. You stay here and watch over April.”

I had a lot to do that day. I planned to pay a visit to Vincent, too, to see if I could get some information out of him about the old man.

“Wait,” said April hastily while I was preparing to leave. She rushed down the stairs. “You’re leaving, right? I’ll go with you.”

“Listen…”

There was no point keeping her sheltered in our home if she was just going to stroll around town.

“You already have a job, April. You need to take care of Oliver.”

“But I’m worried about the orphanage,” she said.

“You can wait until things have calmed down just a little bit before you go.”

That argument did not convince her, however.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Let’s go together.”

She was going to have to face the truth sooner or later.

“But we’re not going out to have fun.”

“Of course.”

“I will join you, then,” Arwin announced. So it was to be the three of us once again.

We were still the center of attention, like before. But there were more stares at April this time. The stories about the old man’s arrest and the seizure of the mansion had spread far and wide, but it was more than that. Some of those stares belonged to mobsters, and they looked like wolves with prey in their sights.

April did not seem comfortable with this. But the fact that it was on a main street and Arwin was walking right next to her only made it feel worse. I took April by the hand. If we had to match her steps, it would take too long.

“Sorry, we need to move faster. Keep up.”

“O-okay,” said April distractedly.

“C’mon, hurry,” I said. Arwin took April’s other hand, and we rushed her along.

The orphanage was being rebuilt. It had been destroyed in the stampede, but the children and workers were unhurt. They were living in temporary tents and huts in what had been the orphanage courtyard.

It had originally been an old mansion and was redesigned for housing many children. Its rebuilt design was going to be more like a boardinghouse. It was scheduled to be completed the next month.

“I’ll go talk to the teacher.”

“No, don’t rush ahead!”

April tore off impatiently, and Arwin hurried after her. I started to follow but stopped myself.

Behind me, some children were peering warily out of their temporary housing. Kids tended to be frightened by giants like me. But I’d been there many times when accompanying April, and it was well known in general that I was just a pushover. Maybe they were playing hide-and-seek, but they didn’t seem to be having fun.

“Yo.”

“Oh! Matthew,” replied a boy with light brown hair named Luke. He had the potential to be a kept man in the future.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

“Um, you’re not supposed to come in here.”

“Says who?”

“Mickey and Joey.”

They were among the oldest orphanage kids. I brushed Luke aside and went around the side of the building. Three kids were huddled up there, using wooden boxes as seats. When they saw me coming, a blond kid clicked his tongue and shoved something into his pocket.

“Hey!” I snapped. The snotty-looking one stood up. I seemed to recall his name was Eddie.

“What? What do you want, Matthew?” Eddie growled in a squeaky voice, flexing his shoulders. He’d picked up quite an attitude since the last time I saw him. I could easily imagine he was getting into scraps and petty theft.

“What are you doing back here? Discussing some board games?”

“Shut up! It’s none of your business,” he shouted, putting on a pointless tough-guy front to keep the world from taking advantage of him for being poor and having no parents. I recognized it because I’d been that boy, too.

Then I noticed the haze of smoke behind him and smelled it, too.

“Tobacco?”

I could guess where he’d gotten it, but there was only one thing to do. I knocked the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. “Kids shouldn’t be using this stuff. It’ll make you stupid.”

“What are you doing?!”

The kids stood up and started whaling on me. My weakness was well known here, too. Despite my height advantage of well over an entire head, they fearlessly swung at me. Because of that size difference, they didn’t knock me off my feet, but they did get me to falter and pinned me against the wall.

“Pay me back for that.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll have the teacher cough up the dough. Just come with me.”

“Screw you!”

They kicked me in the stomach this time. Of course, they were just children who barely knew how to fight. Even Ralph hit harder.

“Do you guys think this makes you cool? Every single thing you’ve said is like the starter pack of weak scrub quotes. Haven’t you ever seen a play? You’re acting like the guys who bluff and act like a big deal, then get destroyed by the knight in shining armor at the end.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“If kids like you could kill me, I’d have died long ago.”

I stood up and reached into Eddie’s pocket.

“Let me go!”

He tried to knock my hand away, but it was too late. I pulled out a knife and a small bottle. The blade seemed sharp. There was a faintly pungent smell coming from the bottle.

My nostrils flared.

“Did they say if you used this to knock out April and handed her over to them, they’d make you their apprentice or something?”

I was right on the money. The boys looked around in a panic.

“Was it the Devil’s Alliance?”

It was easy to forget this was the Devil’s Alliance’s territory, since they didn’t come to collect a protection racket from the orphanage. They would have already known April frequented the premises, so I suspected they had set up this trap for the next time she came.

“…They said, tell us if she shows up. And trick her into coming with them. If it goes well, they’ll let us join, and we’ll be allowed to help deal their drugs…”

All I had to do was guess at their deal, and the dumb kids blabbered every detail. Where was their dedication?

“What do you have against April?” I demanded. “She’s done so much for you.”

When she had time, she visited the orphanage and helped the staff. She continued to help as an act of charity. She’d never once mocked the children or looked down her nose at them.

“We didn’t ask for it,” Eddie spat. “What she’s doing is like playtime for rich people. She gets to wear nice clothes and eat good food and sleep in a comfy bed. But if I asked her to switch her life with mine, would she do it?”

“If that old man had a twisted little twerp like you for a grandson, he’d kick you out on the street himself.”

His point was that April was a hypocrite. I could neither confirm nor deny that. You could change your opinion on any person’s actions just by viewing them from a different perspective.

“Plus, what you’ve got is just a plain old loser’s mentality,” I added.

“What?!”

“Listen, if you wanna be a mobster, I won’t stop you.”

It was his life to live. If he wanted to spend it dying in a ditch, that was his choice.

“But there is such a thing as honor in life. And when you ignore all the good that’s been done for you and harm that person instead, you prove yourself to be a total bastard without a shred of honor,” I said, mentally adding, Like me. “And a bastard without honor only has two options left: kill or die.”

“Sounds good,” he said.

“Okay, then.”

I thrust the knife at Eddie. The point stopped a hair’s breadth from his eye. A moment later, he wailed and jumped backward. Too slow. If I’d meant to, I would have jammed that knife through his eye and into his brain.

“What’s wrong? Scared of this little toy? No gang’s going to take you on like that.”

“Toy?”

“Did you think they were really asking you to kidnap April for them? The big scary men in the Devil’s Alliance? Asking a little brat like you?”

I snorted in mockery.

“They were teasing you. This is just a toy knife, and that bottle’s just pepper flakes. It’s not even going to numb your target.”

I stepped away until the sun was shining on my back, then I squeezed the knife.

“Watch.” I clenched my fist and snapped the knife in two within my palm. “See?”

I showed it to them. My skin wasn’t even broken. While they reeled in shock, I opened the bottle and dumped it onto the ground.

“If you want to make your own way in the world, do it right. Live in a way that suits who you really are. Otherwise, you’re only going to end up in the dungeon.”

Graves in this town were for the rich and noble. Everyone else just got dumped into the dungeon when they died.

“You said April was a hypocrite. But it’s only because of her that you’re even here.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Who do you think the primary funder of this orphanage is? It’s April.”

“No, it’s her grandpa…”

“The old man doesn’t give a shit about you.”

He wouldn’t bat an eye at more orphans dying in the gutter. The same way most people wouldn’t.

“If it weren’t for April, there would be a gangster’s mansion here or a brothel full of women. So you’d either be gentlemen of the street or potential male prostitutes.”

They had no money and no connections. Without any skills, either, their destinations were limited. When somebody didn’t have the strength to free themself from a situation, they could only drift along, powerless to stop it. Not that Eddie was particularly incompetent—because most people ended up that way.

“……”

“And in case that wasn’t enough, it’s because of her that this place is being rebuilt.”

A home for poor orphans with no relatives to take care of them was always going to be the last priority. It was only a rich and powerful man’s granddaughter who made this place more important than it would otherwise be.

“Do you get it? Not only were you going to betray the person who did everything for you, but you were going to get yourselves killed in the process. It doesn’t get any stupider than that.”

They were killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Pure foolishness.

“……”

Eddie had no argument and nothing to add. His shoulders sagged, and he clenched his fists.

“If you really want nothing to do with April, just walk away from this place. Then you can waste your life by joining the mob or living on the street. Have fun.”

“Shut up!” Eddie screamed, mad enough to take another swing at me, but I wasn’t going to stand there and be a punching bag. I sidestepped him, and he cracked his knuckles on the wall of the shack. He howled and crouched, cradling his hand. When his little friends crowded around him with concern, he shoved them away.

“This is my house, no matter what you say. Mine! I’m not some rich girl’s helpless pet. She shouldn’t be coming around here just to make herself feel better whenever she needs a boost!”

“……”

“Loser’s mentality? Call it whatever you want. I wanna be huge. I’m gonna sell drugs and make a fortune, so I can be big and powerful like the Devil’s Alliance and the Spotted Wolves and the Birds of Prey.”

Big and powerful? He doesn’t even have the imagination or intelligence or knowledge to construct an actual vision. He was going to be the most disposable pawn to them. I opened my mouth to thoroughly disabuse him of his misguided notions when a frail little voice said, “Eddie…”

I spun around and saw the very last person I wanted to overhear this.

“Ahh, shit.”

I tugged at my hair in frustration. All this threatening and lecturing—which was not my style—was for one purpose: to keep the squirt from finding out. But somehow it always backfired on me in the crucial moment.

“So that’s what you think of me,” April said.

Eddie averted his eyes uncomfortably and said nothing. The coward.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way,” she said, on the verge of tears. “You can say what you want about me. But don’t sell drugs. Never do that. It will never make anyone happy. It’s why Vanessa is…”

“……”

I remembered how she had bawled at the funeral.

“If you hate me that much, then I’ll leave. But don’t ever get involved in drugs,” she said.

“You don’t have to leave. It’s these little knuckleheads who are going away.”

“No, Matthew. It’s fine.”

April approached Eddie and wrapped a handkerchief around his bloodied fist.

“Good-bye.”

She turned and fled from the orphanage. I followed her without a word. I might be a slowpoke in the shadows, but my legs were still long. I found April crouched on the side of the road a short distance away.

I was afraid bounty-seeking scum might have attacked her, but she was fine, to my relief. As soon as she saw me, she turned her back to me. That told me she wanted to be alone.

“There you are,” said Arwin, catching up. She took one look at April, then reached out a hand, which was ignored.

“Where will you go next?” Arwin asked. Normally she was good at being considerate, but in this case, she chose to be blunt.

“…Why did they say that? Did I do something wrong?”

“You don’t have to care about what idiots like them say,” I insisted. “You could give away every single coin you have and go begging in the street, but they’ll still say you get away with having good looks or that you had the benefit of a good life. They’re looking for things to complain about so they can feel sorry for themselves.”

The problem was Eddie’s built-in sense of inferiority. As long as he blamed it on other people and shirked responsibility for his actions, there was no saving him. If anything, showering more love on him would only deepen his inferiority complex.

“I don’t care what they say about me. But why would they get involved in drugs…?”

“It’ll only end with them becoming addicts.”

There were many reasons dealers failed to break free from the business. Money and personal ties. Getting addicted to their own supply. Those who sent others to hell always fell in themselves at some point. Even me, most likely.

“They’re probably going to get beaten by the orphanage staff until their eyes pop out.”

They weren’t going to understand without a beating. Not because they were stupid, but because they’d never had that kind of education. If they weren’t taught to approach things rationally, they wouldn’t be able to apply their intelligence properly, and they’d wind up resorting to short-term means and pleasures.

“It doesn’t mean everything you did was wasted and unwanted,” I said. “At the very least, I’m grateful to you.”

Downcast, April’s lips moved to murmur something. I pretended not to hear it. At that point, I wasn’t looking for gratitude for petty things like this.

“Shall we go home?”

“Yeah.”

She wasn’t in any state of mind to go to the Adventurers Guild. April nodded obediently.

“…I told you before about how I wanted to be a teacher.”

“Right.”

“Am I not cut out for it?”

“You’re not,” I said. April gasped. “Even if you used the old man’s money to build a school or whatever, it’d be a failure. I’d bet money on it.”

“Matthew,” Arwin said reprovingly, grabbing my shoulder. I brushed her hand away.

“You think so…?”

“I’m not saying it won’t work because you’re incompetent or anything. Just the opposite: You don’t realize just how enormous your dream is.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are fewer parents than you think who want to send their children to school, especially if they’re poor.”

When you’re poor, you need every last pair of hands to work. To the poor, children are a source of labor. Giving them an education might not pay off in the future—if they can even imagine the future at all. Money in sight. Food in sight. You can only see what’s before your eyes. There’s no investment in the future.

“If you’re really serious about improving their lives, it’s a political issue. To get children to go to school, you need a system where the rich and powerful create the structure and the rules, and then fund it. You can’t do it all on your own.”

If parents put the child to work, they’d at least have one more person’s earnings to live on. Obviously, the parents would choose that option.

“……”

“Which is exactly why,” I said, putting a hand on April’s huddled shoulder, “you can’t try to put everything on your back. Find allies to help. Create more people who agree with your ideal vision.”

It takes strength to change the world—and numbers are strength. The more people one has, the easier it is to be taken seriously.

“Nothing will work out at first, I’m guessing,” I continued.

No one would listen to her. Even those on her side might not listen. She’d feel very lonely at times.

“And if you feel like you’ve really lost your way and don’t know if you were right, go back to the beginning. Your starting point will tell you where to go next.”

Nobody was successful right from the start. Everyone had to deal with repeated setbacks and failure.

“You don’t have to start with a big goal. Try a smaller specialty school instead. You’ll probably fail at first. But eventually, everyone will notice what you were talking about was true.”

The more successful examples there were to point to, the more others would agree. Even the people in power could use some intelligent followers among the common people.

“It might not even be successful in your lifetime. But if others pick up the torch after you, your vision might one day come to pass.”

Right then, however, April’s dream was too far removed from the reality of the situation. But it wasn’t as absurd as, say, a bird trying to give birth to a horse. It might not happen at first, but depending on the methods, it could come true over time.

It was certainly much more realistic than a princess knight trying to rebuild her homeland. April wiped away tears with the back of her hand. She was about to say something when she was interrupted.

“Say, is that you, Matthew?”

“What?”

I looked up and clicked my tongue. It was the last person I wanted to see: Natalie.

In wonderment, Arwin asked, “Miss Natalie, what are you wearing?”

It looked just like a nun’s habit.

“The church over there was empty, so I helped myself to some of the clothes inside.”

“I thought you followed a more localized faith.”

“Well, I was thinking of how to make money without any money to start with, and I think this is the best way. I mean, who makes money better than priests?”

“I can’t fathom the idea of actually listening to you give a sermon. About the only things you say are insults.”

“Have you ever looked in a mirror?” she asked.

“Every single day. It’s how I know I’m the finest man in all the land.”

“Does anyone else mind if I murder him right now?” Natalie said, drawing a blade.

I quickly backed away. April looked quite curious, so I stood in front of her to block her view. Natalie’s very existence was bad for a child’s education. But Natalie just pushed me aside and crouched down, her eyes shining.

“Oh, what an adorable young lady. What do you say? Care to donate to my church?”

“I’ll beat you black and blue,” I swore.

April tugged on my wrist. “Who is this?”

“Someone I used to know. She came to this town to get a regular job, she claims. Well, seems like she’s still looking for that one.”

“That’s about right,” Natalie said. I’d instructed her not to mention she was from the Million Blades. If she did, I would send her to see her god.

“Were you Matthew’s old flame?” April asked.

“Don’t ever say that,” I responded with disgust.

“I would never,” Natalie said at the same time.

“I’d rather impregnate an orc than sleep with this woman.”

“And I have better taste than to fall in love with a man who doesn’t even have the slightest shred of tact.”

I pretended not to notice Arwin’s sudden coughing fit.

“…Well, you’re clearly friends,” April concluded. She seemed to think the way we freely traded insults suggested a certain closeness, but she couldn’t be more wrong about that. Unlike Dez, Natalie wouldn’t beat me up, but the nagging and sarcasm and insults were over the top. If we had both been men, one of us would have killed the other by that point.

“By the way, young lady, for the low, low price of a single silver coin, I’ll give you this good-luck charm,” Natalie said, pulling out a grimy necklace. There was some kind of monster fang on it. An amulet, then.

“All you need is this to be guaranteed success in business, a safe home, good money fortunes, good luck at work, safe birthing, and…uh…what else is there?”

Don’t ask me.

“Anyway, what do you say?”

Despite being asked to buy a worthless item for a preposterous price, April looked pitying rather than insulted.

“Um, right now, the people of this town seem to hate religion, so I don’t know if dressing like that is such a good idea.”

Thanks to the cuckold sun god, holy workers in Gray Neighbor were feeling the sting of public disapproval. Even the priests of unrelated religions were being persecuted. That was why April was concerned for her.

“Oh, that would explain it,” Natalie said, patting her fist with her other palm. The hem of her robe was already dirty, suggesting she’d been accosted before this. It wasn’t hard to imagine she’d gotten the better of them.

“Thank you for your concern,” she continued, beaming until she squinted, and patted April on the head. “But I’ll be fine. I’ll probably be a shepherd by the morrow.”

“There are no sheep in this town.”

But plenty of stray sheep, if you catch my drift.

“What if I were a dentist, then? I bet I’m pretty good at pulling out teeth.”

“You’d stick your fingers in someone else’s mouth?”

“…On the other hand, maybe I won’t. I don’t think I’d be that good at it,” she decided.

That was the right choice. She’d probably get so bored and annoyed with the job that she’d start yanking out healthy teeth, too.

“If you’re done here, then move along. Trouble always follows you,” I said.

“Of course. I shall do as you command, my lord,” Natalie fumed sarcastically before leaving.

“Um, wait,” said April, trotting after her. “May I have that after all?”

She pointed at the amulet and held out a silver coin she’d pulled from her purse.

“Don’t do it,” I warned. “She’s not a nun. This thing isn’t going to do anything for you.”

“But she needs money, and you know her personally. Nobody you know this well could be a bad person, right?”

Before I could point out just how wrong she was, Natalie took the silver and handed her the amulet.

“May God be with you,” she said, grinning, and added a little made-up blessing of some kind before running off as quickly as if she’d grown wings. “Woo-hoo! I can pay my bar tab now!”

“Wait a second,” I snapped, but she had already vanished into a crowd of people. I turned back to April. “Have you gone crazy? You can’t be that generous.”

“…I think it’ll all work out,” April said, smiling as she gazed at the necklace. “She didn’t seem that bad to me.”

There was a crowd outside the house when we got back. We pushed our way through it to find three unsavory men tied up with ropes and held at spearpoint by the Paladins.

They’d been spotted trying to sneak inside. Even under arrest, they just glared sullenly at everyone around them. April clung to my sleeve and trembled, so I patted her on the head to reassure her.

Not again. The greedy bastards. Things turned out all right this time, but what will the next attack look like?

“So you’re back,” said a deep voice. “I was passing by when I heard some noise and rushed over to find all this.”

I turned to see a familiar and stony face.

“They don’t seem like typical burglars to me,” said Vincent, eyeing the would-be thieves. “Let’s hear some more out of you.”

[Chapter Four] The God of the Pasture Flees

“Yes, I see,” said Vincent after hearing the story in our living room.

April’s situation was only getting worse. There was only so much Arwin and I could do to protect her. Arwin had the much greater calling to conquer the dungeon, and I was a useless lug in the shadows and at night. Not only were there too many enemies to handle, but there was no telling when they might attack. There was no solace, no moment to rest, and the stress would only build over time. On the other hand, we couldn’t just hide indoors indefinitely.

“When is the old man being released?”

“It’s not under my jurisdiction, so I don’t know the details. But it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be anytime soon,” Vincent said. April hung her head.

“Do the bosses want mutual downfall or something?” I asked.

“Guild leadership wants Gregory to be found guilty, but there are many voices in opposition. There are complex competing interests and personal stakes involved, and it’s not clear who’s friend or foe. But doing nothing about the situation will create the appearance of corruption.”

“The appearance of, or just actual corruption?”

Even the lord of this area was caught between his obligations, his greed, and his personal interests. Having the old man arrested was simply a way to show the public that the lord was doing his job.

“I’ve heard about the bounty, too. I can put out an edict outlawing it, but that’s not likely to put a stop to the practice,” Vincent said.

The people funding the bounties were criminal enterprises already; they didn’t care about the law. Even the Paladins, who enjoyed the patronage of the royal family, were limited in what they could do.

I stood up from the chair, knelt on the ground, and pressed my forehead to the floor.

“Please take April into your custody. Please.”

“Stop that!” protested April, but it was to no avail. I’d beg hundreds of times if that was what it took. The Paladins’ base was a literal fortress that was well guarded and patrolled. Your garden-variety thugs weren’t breaking in there. It would buy us enough time for all the interested parties to figure out who should pay what.

April’s safety was much more important than some mysterious hidden treasure. I knew Vincent was responsible enough to do the right thing. He would be much better at this than unreliable Matthew, who turned into a wimp when the sun wasn’t out.

“Before long, one of those people is going to figure out where in the town this hidden fortune is. At that point, they’ll no longer have any reason to go after the squirt. She won’t need protection after that.”

Vincent considered this in silence for some time. Then he said gravely, “I cannot do that.”

I felt like I’d been slapped across the face. “Why not? Isn’t it your duty to protect the populace?”

Vincent was bold and had political power. Not long ago, he had allowed the children to come into the Paladins’ base so they could safely see the festival, after all.

“Thanks to these bastards and their stupid rumors, an innocent child is being exposed to great danger,” I added.

“I have no intention of engaging in war with the Devil’s Alliance.”

“Fuck you!” I screamed at Vincent. “That’s what you’re hiding behind, after all your pompous declarations? I’m not telling you to raid their hideout. All you have to do is take one innocent girl under your protection.”

“Say what you will. I cannot do the impossible.”

“So the great and mighty captain has succumbed to the foul ways of this town, has he? How much are you getting paid?”

“It’s for the girl’s sake,” he said weakly. “It’s not only the criminal element that have shown interest in this buried treasure.”

So some rich and mighty misers want to get in on the hunt, too?

“I’ve already been asked about this in private. If I take her in, that only gives them an excuse to move ahead.”

“Speaking of private, you can’t just keep her presence under wraps?”

“The Paladins are…a large organization.”

After their heroics in the stampede, they’d earned more power, which brought more duties and obligations. They’d bolstered their ranks, but training and testing hadn’t been able to keep up, so the disparity in quality within the group had put them right back where they’d started. Vincent had put a lot of work into disciplining the ranks and turning them into an elite force, but they were backsliding. They had to take in new, less capable members, too, because of the losses they’d suffered in the stampede. Those holes had to be filled, one way or another.

“If she’s being kept here, the word will get out sooner or later.”

“…So April’s in danger if she stays here.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

We were running out of places for her. At that point, the best option was to take her out of the town, but if even the local officials were in on the game, we couldn’t go through the gates—it would be marching her to her own imprisonment. Old Toby would help her get out, but those routes were watched by the mobsters, I assumed. The more time passed, the fewer means of escape she had. The more we wanted to break free, the more trapped we were. Like birds in a cage.

I let go of Vincent’s shirt and turned to Arwin.

“Is there anyone else you know? Some heroic knight or miraculous prince who has sway with the powerful and is completely unfazed by the criminal element? Even a prince knight.”

“…I’m sorry, no.”

“Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have asked.” Taking it out on Arwin wasn’t going to solve this problem. “All right. So basically, we’re playing one big combo game of hide-and-seek and tag. Got it.”

The entire town was “it,” and if we got caught, we might die. We had no choice but to play, and refusing was likely to cost us our lives. It was a shitty game, but I could handle that. My life had been an unfair game the whole time.

“Let’s go, squirt.”

I supposed we’d go to Dez again. He wasn’t intimidated by mobsters or officials. Now it was just a race against time. Would the old man get released first, or would April be caught and suffer a cruel fate?

“……”

April didn’t respond. She just stood stock-still, staring at her feet.

“What’s wrong? If you need to piss, I can wait for you.”

“…Forget it.”

“Forget what?”

“Just forget all of this!” she shouted, trembling. Her eyes were brimming with tears. “No one’s going to help me. Grampa’s not around, and everyone’s after me. Eventually it’s going to get both of you killed…”

She shook her head back and forth, hair flailing wildly.

“I’m not going to die,” I said. “I’ve never died before.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes! Just forget about me! Let me go.”

“I can’t do that,” I said, shrugging. “Who’s going to teach me how to read?”

“Anyone can!”

“But I want you to do it.” I knelt and put my hands on her shoulders. “I know you’re a good girl and you mean well, but you can’t do this. It’s not something a child should say. This is all the fault of those mad, greedy fools. It’s not because of you.”

“But…but what should I do? I just don’t know…”

“It’s simple,” I said. “Just say, ‘Help me.’ Easy as that.”

She was too sweet and pure to ask for help. She’d lost her parents at a young age and been raised by a wicked old grandfather instead. She needed someone around she could lean on for help.

I brushed the tears from April’s eyes. “You’re free to cry, but you should save those tears for some handsome man or another. All you have here is a stubborn princess knight and her degenerate kept man.”

One day, April would be a beautiful woman. There would be plenty of men willing to step forward and be the hero for her.

“The old man’s gonna be sad if you’re not around. So will Arwin,” I said.

“Even you, Matthew?”

“Of course.”

She threw her arms around my neck.

“…Help me, Matthew.”

“Of course I will,” I reassured her.

“And I will, too,” said Arwin, kneeling before the girl. “I’ll give you my word. I will see you safely returned to your grandfather.”

“Thank you.”

And just like that, her mood was better. How quickly things turned.

“If you’re leaving now, I’d recommend the back door,” said Vincent. “There are some unsavory characters posted out front.”

“I’m not thanking you,” I told him.

“Nor would I deserve it.”

He couldn’t save her; he couldn’t even help. He knew he didn’t have the right to receive gratitude. Had to be an uncomfortable life, being forced to abandon even your own principles to survive.

“So long. We’ll see you again sometime if we survive.”

“Wait,” said April, stopping just as she walked past Vincent. She turned, bowed, and thanked him, then rushed back toward me.

“You didn’t have to thank that guy.”

“What are you talking about, Matthew?” April scolded me. “He looked like he was going to cry the whole time. I felt bad for him.”

We put Oliver the cat in a little cage for transport and left through the back door. If we took the main streets from there to Dez’s house, we’d be quite visible, making an attack less likely. Even the folks who passed bribes to the guards until their arms got tired had a limit. If rampant violence was happening out in the open during the middle of the day, things would get out of hand.

But my idea turned out to be naive. There was a barricade erected before we could get to the main street, attended to by some rather professional-looking gentlemen.

Arwin put her hand on her hilt, but I held out my arm to block her. Some of the men in the group had throwing nets. There wasn’t going to be any escape. And if we fought them there, April was likely to get hurt.

The mobsters’ presence pushed us back from the street, where we found a huge man blocking our way in the other direction. He was a bit taller than me and looked to be in his thirties. His hair was short and blond, and his eyes were sharp and beady like a hawk’s. At their thickest, his arms and legs were as wide as a woman’s waist. Even when he was fully clothed, it was clear at a glance that he was all muscle. A large scar, seemingly from a blade wound, decorated his forehead.

“Nice try.”

His voice was surprisingly high-pitched. If that was all somebody heard, he might seem like a handsome fellow, but the visuals added plenty of menace. He was clearly used to threatening people. If he tried to seduce a woman, all she’d do was pee herself in terror.

He blocked my path and said patronizingly, “There are three things that are important in life. Do you know what they are?”

“Well, I know they don’t include lecturing people by asking a question.”

One of the other mean-looking men slugged me and shoved me to my knees.

“The answer is trust, money, and time.”

“C’mon, give me a bit of a wrinkle in the formula. It’s such a straightforward answer, I find it boring.”

“The truth tends to be simple. But simplicity is boring. So people come up with all kinds of silly little word games to dress it up—but that only pushes it further from the truth. Just describe things as they are. That’s all you need.”

“Very true. You need that level of honesty to be able to tell people things like, You, too, will die one day.”

April and Arwin stepped forward to stop the men before they could beat me again. Their resolution in the face of danger was very heartening. My ladies were strong and brave. I could cry.

Meanwhile, in the face of this grave danger, Oliver’s furry little ass was yawning in his cage, the ingrate. He could at least growl and hiss or something.

“Well, let’s spare that precious time by getting straight to the point,” the man said. “Hand over the kid.”

April flinched. I saw Arwin reaching for her sword, so I quickly said, “Easy, easy,” inserting myself into the touch-and-go situation. “We’re all strangers to each other, right? Let’s start with some introductions. I’m Matthew. And you are?”

“Harrison. Fire-Lightning Harrison.”

I’d heard of him. He was a senior member of the Devil’s Alliance and clearly a fighter. From what I’d heard, he had once been a member of an illegal fighting league. Some said he’d crushed a dragon’s claw with his bare hands before. Well, so had I.

“Listen, I hate to make your hard work go to waste, but the girl doesn’t know anything. Neither does her old man. He’s gettin’ up there in years. Forgets to eat his breakfast half the time, even.”

“He’d probably remember if he heard his granddaughter screaming.”

“Just think it over. This hidden treasure—why aren’t you searching for this safekeeper’s home, his woman’s place, or something like that?”

“We did already.”

“Ah. Too bad. In that case…”

“I’m not going to wait around for you to stall for time.”

I guess I was a bit too transparent. They couldn’t just block off streets like this forever. The local lord would recognize it was like announcing the town was a dangerous crime zone. I had hoped that by buying some time, we might be able to wriggle out of the situation, but I was out of luck.

On top of that, the clouds were out. I reached into my pocket for the temporary sun. I didn’t want to give away my secret, but it was an emergency. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“What’s wrong? Done wisecracking? You’re just wasting my time.”

“Stay back!” Arwin demanded, bristling. “If any of you lay a finger on her, you’ll pay with your lives.”

“I’m not concerned with your threats, hero.” Harrison chuckled.

“Do you think yourselves tougher than monsters?”

“We have our own methods. Humans have cleverness on their side.”

The men with throwing nets stepped forward. They were going to incapacitate her and have their way with her. I could feel my blood boiling.

“Here’s your last warning. Hand over the brat.”

Arwin drew her sword. She made an eye-opening swipe at him, but Harrison stepped back just enough to evade the blow.

“This is my response,” she said. A trickle of blood dripped down Harrison’s forehead. I’d thought he had dodged it, but Arwin’s skill was too great for a town ruffian to handle her that easily.

“Then let’s make up for lost time and get down to earning some money,” Harrison said. He raised his arm—it was about time for all-out battle. I squeezed the temporary sun in my palm, but I was distracted by a scream and a commotion behind me.

Another group was quickly incapacitating Harrison’s goons, hurling them to the ground. Among them was a face I very much did not want to see.

“You’ve really made a mess of things here.”

It was Oswald the Cirrocumulus, officer of the Birds of Prey.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Harrison demanded, stepping forward as he realized his men were no match for them.

“We weren’t doin’ nothing. I was just walking through town and found my way blocked by some ugly mugs, so I merely had the way cleared.”

They were outfitted with swords, axes, spears, and shields, completely ready for battle. It reminded me of when they ran around killing monsters during the stampede.

Aggravation flashed in Harrison’s eyes. Numbers aside, Oswald’s men were battle-tested. Their experience fighting monsters had increased their skill and determination.

“This has nothing to do with you. Clear off.”

“Afraid that’s not an option.” Oswald chuckled. “I see the town hero being harassed by fools and chumps. Who is responsible for the peace and tranquility we enjoy today? You must have a damn good reason for drawing your weapons against her, huh?”

“You want to fight in the street?”

“Don’t threaten me, boy,” Oswald snorted. “I’m ready for anything. If it happens, it happens.”

The air crackled. A fight here would mean war between the Devil’s Alliance and the Birds of Prey. The Devil’s Alliance had a major edge in numbers. They would probably win a war, but they’d suffer tremendous losses in the process. And it was quite possible they’d be easy pickings for the Spotted Wolves once they won.

“By the way,” I interjected, “I’ve noticed the town guards gathering in the distance. You sure you want to keep going?”

Harrison clicked his tongue. He took a step back, and I felt the tension in the air go slack. The last thing I wanted to see was a crime war over Arwin.

“Let’s go,” Harrison growled, turning his back. Oswald let him walk.

“You all right there?” he said, approaching once the other gang was gone.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Town’s been a bit on the rough side lately,” he leered. April hid behind my back. “Don’t worry, we’re not getting involved in this one. Our business is booming right now.”

That made sense to me. After the stampede, they were making a killing with all the rebuilding and contract work. They didn’t need to risk open warfare to get even more money.

“All these folks are on edge looking for this damn hidden treasure. They were picking fights with our boys. The longer this situation drags on, the more trouble it becomes.”

“So you want us to figure it out already?”

“Us? I was speakin’ to the princess knight,” he said without a trace of shame. “You want an escort? If she needs a place to stay, we can put her up.”

“No thanks.”

The best way to deal with mobsters was not to deal with them at all. They’d claim you owed them favors and find every possible chance to collect on them.

“Well, we can share drinks some other time, then,” Oswald said, smiling widely. Then he and his goons waved us good-bye.

“Do you hate them or something, Matthew?” April asked.

“They don’t do anything unless there’s something in it for them.” Even this little intervention was meant to make us owe them. “The old man would tell you the same thing: Don’t get involved with them. You’ll only suffer in the end.”

We noticed several other shady types snooping around, but none of them messed with us. At last, we made it to Dez’s house. He looked as grumpy as ever, but he didn’t kick us out onto the street. His wife was making dinner in the kitchen. April had been through enough for one day, so we let her take a nap upstairs.

“You just had to bring your trouble to me,” Dez said. “And you show up as though you own the damn place.”

“Only because you’re my closest confidante, my bosom buddy, my one and only,” I said.

Of course I came to him. I could always count on Dez when I needed help. The unlucky sap was a mark for life, ever since the first time he helped out a lowlife like me.

“I’m sorry to do this, but you’re the only person we can ask for help, Dez,” said Arwin, ratcheting up the pressure. Dez rested his cheek on his palm, elbow on the table.

“Damn you all,” he grumbled. I followed where he was looking to see a familiar woman rocking Dez’s son in his cradle.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “You already apologized to him.”

“You’re supposed to stop by and say hello when you’re in the neighborhood,” Natalie said. Instead of her nun costume, she wore a long-sleeve shirt, trousers, and an apron. “I might end up being a neighbor after all.”

Dez’s home was in the craftsman district, where many blacksmiths lived.

“What, are you gonna be a blacksmith now?” I said.

“I was born to a smithing family.”

“I thought you ran away from home because you hated that.”

“Yeah, but maybe I’ve got some latent talent for it,” Natalie said. She pawed through the bottles of alcohol in the kitchen, then said she was going off to work. I had a feeling there was another career change in her near future.

As she was leaving, however, she turned to say, “Oh, right. I spotted some unsavory types loitering around the area, so I gave them a li’l walloping. Did something happen?”

“Just go to work,” I snapped. Natalie murmured something and left.

Arwin watched her go, then said, “You’re not going to ask Natalie to help?”

“That would turn the whole town into a battleground.”

This was Natalie we were talking about. She’d charge right into the Devil’s Alliance headquarters without a second thought. Only hell awaited the rest of the town.

“That’s true,” said Dez, who understood exactly the danger Natalie posed.

“What’s going on at the guild? And how’s the old man?”

“He’s not back yet. Hector’s been running the place.”

“Well, that’s a disaster.”

Hector was a thin man past fifty who was the guild’s second-in-command, at least on paper. The position existed because it was a law that there had to be a second to act as proxy if the guildmaster was incapacitated, but Hector was not the man anybody wanted. Despite his age, he was a coward. He didn’t have a shred of ambition to bend the rules or try to get one over on the old man. All he ever thought about was getting through the day without trouble. It was the only reason the old man had let him live that long.

So he was a nobody, for better or for worse. If another disaster like the stampede happened, he’d just foam at the mouth and pass out.

If the guildmaster position had to change, then it would have a massive effect on how the guild was run, as well as the activity inside the dungeon. Five or ten years in the future might be different, but at that moment, we needed the old man.

Most importantly, though, he needed to come back for April. She was missing her beloved Grampa terribly. The whirlwind changes over the recent days had really hit her hard. The poor thing was exhausted.

“I’ll go and negotiate with the lord to see if the guildmaster can be released as soon as possible,” Arwin said, her eyes brimming with determination. “I’ll take the others with me, too. Even the Maretto sisters wouldn’t be against it.”

The guildmaster’s arrest had paralyzed the guild. It could only have a negative effect on dungeon delving.

“Is that wise?” I asked. Bloodline aside, Arwin was officially a refugee and not even a princess.

“He can’t turn me away. I just visited him the other day.”

Who would have thought her attendance at the banquet would come in handy? I’d stay at home with April in the meantime. I wouldn’t even get a chance to be present for the discussion; I had no status.

“Plus,” Arwin said, before devolving into mumbling. She was murmuring something under her breath until she finally summoned her courage to say, “I…would like to get past the current situation.”

“That’s true.”

We needed to give April peace of mind as soon as possible.

“…And you’re our guard?” I asked in disbelief.

“Do you have a problem?”

“Obviously I do, since I had to say it out loud,” I snapped. Why was Ralph, of all people, giving me lip?

“…I’ve been apprised of the situation. Don’t worry; I will provide loyal protection in Her Highness’s name.”

“Is that so?”

Capability aside, if he was bringing up Arwin’s name, he certainly felt motivated to do the right thing.

“Then for the time being, stand outside the entrance to keep watch. Don’t worry, we’ll send out a cup of tea for you.”

I had him placed outside like a guard dog. This was the craftsman’s quarter of the city, so outsiders stuck out like a sore thumb.

April came down the stairs. She looked better after getting some rest. “Here you go,” I said, offering her some hot tea. I hadn’t asked permission to use the kitchen, but I didn’t think the lady of the house would mind. If she was married to Dez, she had to be a saint.

She picked up the steaming teacup and took a sip.

“It’s delicious.”

“Glad to hear it.”

If she felt more relaxed, she’d be calmer and have better ideas. It was too early to give in to despair.

“Hey,” April said earnestly, “why are you so nice, Matthew?”

“Because I’m a degenerate.”

I was at the very bottom of humanity. I’d done just about every depraved thing there was. But because of that, I was very forgiving of human foibles. I couldn’t lecture anyone about morals.

“What was your childhood like, Matthew?”

“Very different from yours.”

I was poor, big for no good reason, and a no-good bastard. The complete opposite of the squirt.

“As I think I told you before, my parents sold me at the age of eight. I lived as a slave. I escaped my owner and got caught by bandits instead. Then I was a slave again by a different name. I escaped again and made ends meet by thieving in town until I got picked up by mercenaries. Then I became one of them.”

“It’s so hard for me to imagine you as a mercenary,” April said, shaking her head in wonder. To her, I was always just a wimpy, helpless ladies’ man. She couldn’t imagine me going to war to fight.

“Well, fighting isn’t the only skill a mercenary possesses. There are other tasks that need doing, like hauling around food and weapons.”

I also had to fight, of course. I glossed over that part around April, because once I became a mercenary, I killed countless people. Killing earned me money, which I could use to fill my belly and sleep with women. I went from a chore boy for the band to a rank-and-file fighter, and soon I was one of their prize members. Mercenaries wanted to survive, too, so they wanted to be in strong groups. There were about twenty members when I joined, and at the maximum there were a hundred of us.

“But one day we lost, and the band completely fell apart. I managed to survive somehow, but most of my fellows died. It was hard to know what I would do next. Then another survivor invited me to be an adventurer.”

There were fewer of us, but we did the same thing—we just killed monsters instead of people. And sometimes I still killed people. I killed and killed, got paid, drank, fucked, and repeated it all over again.

People came and went until just seven of us survived. Going back to my mercenary days, I’d lost dozens if not hundreds of companions. Sometimes I abandoned them to their deaths, and other times I put them out of their misery myself.

“But adventuring didn’t work out in the long run, either. The party broke up. Then I wandered far and wide until I ended up he— Hey!”

April was sniffling and sobbing. I quickly pulled out a handkerchief for her.

“Don’t cry, kid.”

“But…but…”

I assumed she was feeling pity for my plight, but I couldn’t imagine what part of that was worthy of sympathy.

“Go ahead, you can blow your nose with it,” I said. In the end, we threw two of them into the laundry bin before April had calmed down.

“…You’ve had a very rough time, Matthew,” she said.

“It’s not worth feeling sorry about.” If anything, more people hated me and for more profound reasons.

“It’s not about feeling sorry. I don’t know, I’m not explaining well. But I think I understand something now.”

“What’s that?”

“Adventurers will laugh and cry like everyone else, but their eyes are really scary. It’s like no matter how hard they try, they can’t really get drunk.”

A keen observation. All that time spent in the guild building hadn’t gone to waste. Adventurers were an uncouth lot. They’d all done things they wanted to hide. The guilt and fear showed in their eyes.

“But you’re different, Matthew. You seem lonely or sad to me. Even when you’re telling jokes, your eyes tell me you’re crying on the inside.”

“I find that the ladies are drawn to me that way.”

“Yes, those eyes exactly,” April said, peering into my face. She was very close. “But when you’re around Arwin, your eyes are very kind and gentle.”

“……”

I stopped myself from saying she was imagining it. There was no point in arguing. If that was what April had convinced herself, I didn’t mind. No matter what I was.

“If you’ve got anything weighing on your mind, Matthew, I’ll listen to it. You can tell me.”

“Uhh…”

“As long as it doesn’t involve money, gambling, or women,” she insisted. For a little squirt, she was awfully impertinent. Now that April had said what was on her mind, she seemed deflated. “What’s going to happen now…?” she wondered.

We couldn’t stay at this house for too long. Various bounty-chasing scrubs we could deal with, but the Devil’s Alliance was determined. They would keep coming after us, even at a cost. They couldn’t hurt Dez, but they could hurt his wife and infant son.

“I’m sorry. I was the one who said I would give you advice,” she said.

“It’s fine,” I replied, shaking my head. “I think I know what we can do next.”

It wasn’t in my nature to keep running away.

“Are you planning to raid the Devil’s Alliance?”

“They’re not going to entertain any visitors who don’t at least bring some gifts,” I replied. They’d do worse than just turn me away at the door; they’d capture me and give me the seven-course torture buffet. With the temporary sun, I could easily handle the average mobsters, but there were too many of them. At best, I’d end up in a draw with their leader, if he didn’t simply escape first.

“This whole kerfuffle is about the hidden fortune. That’s why the old man was arrested,” I said. Technically, it wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to explain the real reasons to the granddaughter who worshipped him.

“In that case…”

“That’s right,” I said, “we’re going to find that treasure.”

Everything was getting worse because no one had found the treasure yet, and the stories and rumors were running wild. We needed to find the treasure that was the cause of all this, cutting off the problem at the root. I could give it to the Devil’s Alliance, for all I cared. Or offer it as a bribe to some lord or official to get Arwin some kind of preferential treatment.

Once people realized there wasn’t any hoard of treasure to gain, they would withdraw. Nobody wanted to waste their time with something that wasn’t going to make them money.

“I’m going to put an end to all this horseplay.”

Despite the moistness in her eyes, April sounded skeptical. “Do you have a plan?”

“Of course.”

I pointed at Oliver, who had already made himself completely at home, lazing about in Dez’s house. He felt like everything belonged to him. Fat lazy cat.

“He’s the key to the treasure.”

The old man wasn’t completely senile yet. If he’d left a message about the cat, there had to be some hint involved.

“Do you think there’s a treasure map on his body somewhere?”

“You’ve read too many stories,” I said. I’d looked over the cat’s body already but found nothing like that. He also didn’t seem to have swallowed anything. And you wouldn’t be able to hide anything in a cat’s belly because they were always vomiting up hairballs and grass. Of course, he hadn’t embedded anything into the cat’s body, either.

I felt something strange on my feet. I looked under the table and saw why—Oliver had gotten up and was holding a dead rat in his mouth.

“The mighty hunter awakens,” I said, reaching down to pet him. Instead, he bit me and scampered off, leaving me to take the dead rat.

“Maybe he thought you were stealing his catch.”

“This is why I’m more of a dog person,” I said, turning to April. “Why don’t you have a dog? A nice, big, fluffy one.”

“Why don’t you get one?”

“Arwin won’t let me.”

She’d kept one as a guard dog ages ago, until someone poisoned it to get back at her. That was an awful story.

…But wait.

“Hey, I need to ask you for something,” I called out to Dez in the back.

“You need money again?”

“No.” I put Oliver on my shoulder. He was surprisingly well behaved there. “I need to sneak into the mansion with him. I need you to help me get in there.”

Without my strength, just getting over the fence would be a major undertaking.

“The little girl’s mansion, you mean? I would assume it’s been scoured already,” Dez said. They must have turned the place upside-down.

“But the old man wouldn’t have left it somewhere easy to find, right?”

“And you think the cat is the key?”

“Most likely.” I put Oliver back in his cage. “Well, I’ll be back in a jiffy. You stay here and hold down the house. Sorry that you’ll only have Ralph to protect you…”

April bounced to her feet with great intention. “I’m going, too.”

“No.”

Going outside would only make her a target for all those bounty-hungry creeps.

“But you’re doing all this for me, Matthew! I can’t just sit inside under watch and wait for help!”

“You’re overestimating what you can do,” I said. I was doing this for personal profit. “I was thinking I might find that hidden treasure first and help myself to just a little bit of it.”

“You’re lying!”

How could she be so sure? She knew I was just a degenerate kept man, after all.

“Anyway, I’m going with you. This is my problem, too. I can’t just stay behind and wait.”

“And I’ll be joining in, too, of course,” said Ralph, who had overheard from behind the door. “You cannot get rid of me that easily. I’m never leaving your side.”

Don’t say that line unless you’re a beautiful and seductive woman, I thought.

There were two men standing guard outside the mansion who looked like town guardsmen. There were several padlocks on the gate to keep it shut. More guards stood at the rear gate and service entrance, which were boarded up. It seemed like there were regular patrols around the property, too.

I could hear sounds and voices within the mansion. They were getting desperate, pawing through the place in search of a hidden treasure they would never find.

“We’ll just have to jump over, then,” I said. If we could get over the wall, we’d be in the spacious yard, where there were plenty of trees and bushes to hide behind.

“Are you going to scale it with a rope?” said Ralph, pulling a rope with a grappling hook on the end from his rucksack. Adventurers had to be prepared with tools like that.

“There’s a simpler way.”

This was why I’d brought Dez along. He wasn’t built for sneaking around; his role was transportation.

“Go ahead,” I told him. Dez lifted me up with one hand. April and Ralph looked stunned, but to Dez, my weight was no harder to lift than a piece of paper.

“Just make sure you land right,” he said, then hurled me.

My body soared over the wall and landed in some tall grass. The impact left me briefly blinded, but I didn’t have time to deal with that. I could easily imagine Dez’s next move. He was softer on women and children, but he didn’t spare any power on grown men. I had to get moving before it was too late.

A moment later, Ralph came falling toward me. I jumped out of the way, and Ralph seemed to have just barely caught himself on impact. I grabbed his rope and tossed it over, ignoring his protests.

“Go on, grab it,” I called out.

I had Ralph keep the rope taut from this side. April came climbing over, carrying the cage with Oliver in it on her back. I could hear an angry, admonishing voice from the other side of the wall; Dez had been spotted by one of the guards. I’d anticipated this, of course, and told him to make up something and go back home.

The first thing I smelled in the yard was dirt. April groaned. They’d torn up the place, digging here and there in search of the “buried treasure.” At this rate, the inside of the building was going to look even worse. They just had to get impatient, didn’t they? The old man would never hide something in his garden.

I let Oliver out of his cage. There was a narrow string tied to his collar. That was our lifeline.

“Where does he sleep?”

“That way,” April pointed, taking us around the back. “He likes to sleep in the sun right here.”

She singled out a wooden chair placed against the building. There was a cushion on the seat. Oliver plodded up to it and curled up atop the cushion. He wouldn’t even respond to his name. This is why I hate cats.

“Hmm?”

Just before I could flip the cushion and cat over, Oliver stood up again. He hopped down and stared intently at the grass. I watched it, too, and saw a gray shape flicker past—a rat. The rodent turned back, suddenly noticing the cat, but Oliver took off through the grass like his fur was on fire.

“Oh, not again!” April lamented, shaking her head. Again?

“Does Oliver go chasing rats all the time?”

“Yes, it’s why they don’t go messing up our storehouse, Grampa says…”

“Aha.” What a clever little game the old man was playing. “Let’s follow him.”

“Huh? Wait!” cried Ralph uncertainly, not following the logic. I ignored him. Oliver raced across the grass, yowling loudly. For a tubby little thing, he sure was fast. That was the feline instinct in effect, I supposed.

Sensing its life was in danger, the rat sped through a hole in the wall. Oliver squeezed in after it painfully, somehow managing to slip through. Obviously, we couldn’t do the same. April looked up at the wall in despair. It divided this lot from the neighbors’. There was a black rooftop looming over the far side of the wall.

“The mansion next door, eh?”

“I don’t think anyone’s lived there for a long time,” April said.

“That’s perfect, then.”

We used Ralph as a stepping stone to scale the wall. If he had any complaints, I wasn’t going to hear them out.

“Are we allowed to go over there?”

“If anyone sees us, we’ll just say our cat snuck in, and we’re trying to get him back,” I said, leaving unsaid the question of whether the “anyone” in this case was likely to listen to excuses like that.

No upkeep had been done on the neighboring residence. The trees in the garden hadn’t been pruned, so their branches were twisted like a dancer’s contorted limbs. The garden itself was overgrown; my nose was assaulted by the potent smell of unmanaged greenery. I could only see April’s head. I crouched down, looking for Oliver’s tracks. It seemed he’d gone toward the mansion. Or mansion ruins, in this case. From a distance, it looked like an impressive home, but up close, the walls were crumbling and the roof was leaking and rotten. If we weren’t careful going inside, the place could collapse on top of us.

“Stick close to me,” I warned. April nodded solemnly. We made our way toward the decrepit building.

I expected to see the trail go right inside, but Oliver’s traces turned along the way and went toward the trees.

“Look.”

There stood a huge tree, so large I couldn’t fit my arms around the trunk. It had been there for decades. Inside a large hollow in the trunk, I found a pile of dead leaves. But there was no sign of Oliver.

“Hmm, I see.”

I stuck my hand into the back of the hollow and pulled up a lid. The leaves had been there to hide it.

The hollow actually hid a passage that went down into the ground; a mossy staircase descended behind the lid. I could see that part of the lid was missing, which was how Oliver had gotten inside. The passage was tight, but even I could fit through it.

“It’s like a treasure hunt…,” said April, her eyes shining. She was probably thinking of some romanticized pirate treasure, but this was money that had been amassed from smuggling drugs and slaves. It had been earned through the tears of the weak. There was no romance or wonder.

“Let’s go.”

Ralph got over the wall on his own, wailing not to leave him behind. I glanced at him, then made my way down the stairs. They ended in a passageway with a low ceiling. Ralph could just walk normally through it, but I had to hunch over to make progress.

“It feels weird in here,” said April uncomfortably from the back of the group. “There’s a really big hole that connects to the great big dungeon under the town, but now there’s this other weird hole over here?”

“The dungeon’s more like another world. The hole’s just the entrance to reach it,” I told her. That was how there could be solid earth under the entrance. You could dig under it and not find anything. It was just a black gaping hole in the middle of nothing.

That was how monsters that didn’t exist in this world could show up, and why their rare horns, teeth, and pelts could be traded for so much money. That process was what created this dungeon city.

“You know a lot about it.”

“I know some.”

“Oh, right, because you were an adventurer, too, years ago.”

“Many years ago.”

We were reaching the end. A large door was at the far end of the tunnel. It wouldn’t budge. There was a small hole to the side of the door, which was probably where Oliver had gone. It wasn’t large enough for any of us, of course.

I knocked on the door, and the sound that produced suggested it was quite thick. There was no keyhole, either, and not even a knob. There was only something that looked like a flat panel stuck to it. That left only one answer.

“Here, try touching this.”

“That’s all?” April asked, placing her hand against the panel. It abruptly shone with light, and the door separated into two halves that opened sideways. She said, “What is this?”

“A magic door. You find things like this at ancient ruins and stuff.”

They were built to open only for a specific person.

“You went to one of those, Matthew?”

“It was picked clean,” I said, leaving out the fact that we were the ones who’d ransacked it. “But this seems to be our treasure room.”

With the door open, I lit the candleholder on the wall. The faint light revealed a room with stone walls, probably a secret basement of some kind. The direction we’d gone through the secret passage led away from the decrepit house, though. So the whole place was a feint. April started coughing; the place was full of dust and hadn’t been cleaned. There were rat droppings all over, too.

I handed her a kerchief. “Cover your nose and mouth. Try not to breathe in too much of this air.”

April thanked me, unfolded the handkerchief, and tied it around the back of her head so it covered the lower half of her face. She looked just like a burglar, but nobody was going to blame her there.

“Where’s Oliver?” she asked.

“Leaving traces for us to follow,” I said, noting the little pawprints in the dust on the floor. We followed them carefully; the dust was already filling them up again, but the prints remained. It seemed Oliver traveled through there regularly.

“Whoa, what’s this?” Ralph yelled stupidly. So he’d finally gotten in. “Is this it? Where’s the hidden fortune?” he demanded, looking around the basement.

But there were only stone walls in every direction, and nothing that seemed to be worth money.

“Is this not it?” April wondered.

“He wouldn’t have made it so only you could open the door if there was nothing here,” I pointed out. This had to be it. “Look.”

There was a little hole in the corner. A gray rat popped out of it. But waiting nearby was Oliver, who let out a piercing yowl and rushed at the hole. A crowd of rats scurried past our feet toward the outside. Oliver hurtled after them and vanished.

“So that would explain it.”

Seek out Oliver, he’d said.

“Pardon my reach.”

I stuck my hand into the hole in the corner, reached around, and felt something sticking out. I tugged on it as hard as I could, then heard a heavy sound.

With a loud rumbling, the wall rose up into the ceiling.

There was a small chamber on the other side.

And there, piled high, was a mountain of riches. There were jewels, paintings, and even vases. I didn’t know much about the subject, but I figured they were valuable works of art.

“Amazing…” April was spellbound by the treasure before her. “Is this the hidden fortune?”

“Seems to be,” I said, running my hands through the gold coins. “But this is your fortune.”

“Huh?”

I pointed out the painting on the wall to April. It looked an awful lot like her, only older. That was probably a portrait of her mother.

“This is different from the one that came from the Devil’s Alliance. This is the old man’s hidden fortune.”

It only made sense. If he was going to tell his beloved granddaughter about something, it would be his own fortune. And Heather had passed away just recently. This was too grand and time-consuming to have been built in response to that. He had been saving this up for his granddaughter for years.

Ralph was awestruck by the sight of so much treasure.

“How much of it is there…?”

“Dunno. Probably at least as much as that hidden fortune everyone’s after.”

A guildmaster wielded great power, and the old man had used that power to enrich himself for years and years. It wasn’t shocking in the least that he’d be able to amass at least this much.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. April looked upset. “This will all be yours one day. Then you’ll be either the richest or second-richest person in this city. You’ll be able to build a school or anything else you want.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want this money.”

“I understand how you feel.”

Money was why evil men were after her and why the snotty brats at the orphanage had betrayed her. Unlike the old man, she couldn’t protect herself. Instead, she was being exposed to danger after hideous danger. Money was nothing but a plague on April’s life. Though it was still a plague I’d prefer over being sold into slavery due to poverty.

“But you’ve still got time. You can think about what to do with it.”

April could use that money to do something meaningful by donating it to charity, if she wanted to do that. It was all up to her.

“We’re not taking any with us?”

“If this were the old man’s money, I’d be stuffing it down my shirt until I had the biggest, goldenest titties in the world. But this is your money. I can’t just take it for myself, and it’d be a waste to give it away to evil men.”

She looked exasperated. “You’re so upright about the strangest things.”

“It just depends on who I’m dealing with.”

I would pick and choose who I was upright with. Simple as that.

This fortune had been left for April. I looked around the piles for something like a message to her and found a letter sticking out of a jewelry box. It was quite old and discolored—it had clearly been written years and years ago.

“A letter.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t—”

I held up a hand to stop Ralph from protesting, then opened it up.

“……”

“What does it say?”

Instead of answering, I crumpled up the paper.

“The old man wrote a love letter. Bizarre thing to leave behind,” I said. Ralph screwed up his face in disappointment. “Anyway, let’s close this door. It was easier to open it up than you’d think. If it gets popped loose, it’ll probably lift all the way up again. And we’re just tempting ourselves leaving it open.”

Ralph grumbled with disappointment but lifted his hand to the door. Then a voice I never expected to hear spoke up.

“Stop.”

I recognized that high-pitched voice. But I couldn’t fathom why it was here. Before I even had time to prepare, a figure emerged from the darkness.

“Hand over that treasure.”

The hairless monkey-like figure loomed eerily in the gloom, lit only by dim candlelight. It was the preacher Donald had called “Sam.”

“You!”

Ralph quickly drew his sword and stepped in front of April. His unleashed blade glowed with a magical light. He had recognized in an instant not to charge in, whom to protect, and this was a foe he could not attack without a plan. The boy was growing.

The basement was small enough that if he got to fighting, the squirt would be in danger. I could handle myself.

“Hey, good to see you again. How’ve you been? Remember me? John Smith!” I said, trying to buy us some time.

Sam cocked his head. “I believe…your name was Matthew.”

“Was it? Well, I’m often not entirely sure what my name is. Too much drinking.” Plus, changing my name all the time sometimes delayed other people’s reactions. “So what’s your name? What do I call you?”

“…Randy.”

I wasn’t expecting him to actually respond, even if it was just another alias.

“It’s not Sam?”

“I am not Sam.”

“I see.”

Based on Donald’s reaction, that had been the first time he’d seen the preacher. So he’d guessed the identity of the monster, but he’d been wrong, apparently. Rest in peace.

“So what do you want? Surely you’re not saying your god desires to steal the inheritance of this sweet little girl, are you?” I asked.

Sam—or Randy—did not disguise his irritation as he asked, “Where are the Scissors of Lombardi?”

That was a new one to me. I sent a sidelong glance to April and Ralph, but neither of them had any reaction.

“What’s that? You need them to cut your hair?”

I had to guess they were either another one of the dimwitted sun god’s relics or perhaps some bloodstained bit of junk like the Shroud of Bereni.

“That’s not for the likes of you to know.”

So I was getting nowhere. If I’d known this was going to happen, I would have forced Dez to come with us, trouble be damned. I lifted my hands.

“Do as you like. Search for your scissors or sewing needle or whatever else you need.”

Behind my head, I pointed to send a signal. Though I couldn’t see it, I sensed Ralph got my drift. To Randy, I knelt and said, “The treasure’s over there. Take as much as you want. Just spare our lives…”

Randy’s eyes darted toward the treasure room. I shouted, “Run!”

Then I hurled the temporary sun in my palm. Ralph picked up April and dashed for the passageway. The crystal struck the bald monkey’s head and bounced off. I snatched it back out of the air and cried, “Irradiation!”

The crystal emitted a piercing light. Strength flooded into my body. The brilliance before his eyes caused Randy to turn away, hunching his back. I took the opportunity to close the gap and punch him in the head. I felt quite an impact. His head shot backward and smacked against the wall.

“……”

Although he didn’t say anything, I could tell it hurt him. But I didn’t want him to call that crayfish monster again. I needed to wrap this up, so I stuck him to the wall, punching his stomach and face again and again. The impact pushed Randy’s feet off the floor. He wasn’t going to get the chance to fight back or use any secret attacks.

He slumped over. I took the time to draw a dagger. I easily had enough strength to cut off his head.

“So long.”

I swung it down as hard as I could but instantly felt the strength go from my limbs.

The edge struck his neck and made a hard, rough sound. It didn’t even break the skin; the tip had chipped loose.

I turned around to see the temporary sun rolling helplessly on the ground. I had given it plenty of sunlight the day before. I should have had lots more time. But the translucent orb was flickering and blinking, like it was having difficulty breathing. The crack had also grown deeper, perhaps from the impact of falling to the ground.

A shock went through my head. By the time I realized I’d been struck, I was already on the ground.

“The tables have turned,” Randy said wearily, getting to his feet. He was shaking his head, but his feet seemed steady.

“Shit…”

All that damage I’d inflicted was healed. Randy straddled me on the ground and placed his hands on my neck. He was going to strangle me.

“Sure you want to do this? Won’t killing me make your master angry?”

“We do not need weak sufferers.” Randy’s beady eyes were as clouded and grimy as sludge. “If he learns I killed you, both he and Sam will think better of me.”

“Killing out of the desire for acceptance? That’s a new one.”

“You die now.”

Randy’s hands squeezed. My mind was going blank. I tried to struggle, but I didn’t have the leverage, and I was weak. Nothing I could do was going to help.

“Hey!”

Ralph swung at Randy from behind. He’d come back.

“Let go of him!”

A magic sword would be able to inflict damage on a preacher. Randy was straddling me and not easily able to dodge out of the way. A line of light glowed in the darkness, and the magic blade stuck into the floor.

Randy had floated into the air, holding me.

Shock flooded Ralph’s features. Run, you fool!

“Begone.”

Randy grabbed my leg and swung me like a staff. The impact ran through my body from head to toe; I felt dizzy. The next moment, my body was flat on the ground again, and Ralph was slammed against the wall. He was still alive but knocked out. I never thought I’d live to see my own hardiness used against me.

“Let’s continue,” Randy said, squatting over me again and squeezing my throat.

“Hrg…gahk—”

An ordinary person’s neck would have snapped long ago. I was actually starting to enjoy it; that was a bad sign. If I passed out, the next time my eyes opened would be in the afterlife. I kicked my legs but couldn’t even twist my body. I reached for the temporary sun but couldn’t reach it from where I lay.

“Stop it!” screamed a voice that caused his hands to loosen for an instant. Blood rushed back into my head, and I felt dizzy. Through blurred vision, I saw the little form of April. She grabbed Randy’s arm with both hands and pulled.

Get out of here, you idiot, I tried to shout, but nothing came out.

“Let go of Matthew!”

“Move it.”

He swung his arm free. That was all it took to hurl April off her feet and send her sliding across the floor. For a moment, I saw nothing but white, until I heard April groaning. She tried to get up, every muscle in her body trembling. Hitting the hard stone floor like that had to hurt. She would have bruises and scratches all over. But she tried her best to get up anyway.

“Let go…of Matthew!” she screamed, extending her arms.

“Silence, heathen.”

A ball of fire shot from Randy’s palm. I reached up and grabbed his arm at the last moment, shifting it just enough to change the fireball’s path so it went past April. Though it didn’t hit her directly, the force of its passing was enough to bounce her off the ground like a ball, tumbling until she stopped near the door. The fanged amulet came loose and slid away.

“April!” I shouted, able to speak at last. “I’m done for. You must send a message to Arwin! ‘I’ll always love you!’ “

Knowing the squirt, she wasn’t going to wise up and run away. She was going to insist she’d save me and stay.

“And tell her I’m sorry for pilfering some silver from her purse the other day.”

The message could be anything. I just needed to get April to run away from this place.

“Please. You’re the only one who can do it.”

“No, Matthew…”

Instead, April stubbornly stood her ground, making her way toward us, determined to stay and save a wretch like me.

“You have to tell her yourself…”

Stop. Just stop.

There was a dry crunch. Randy crushed the useless amulet under his foot.

“Those who mistake foolhardiness for courage do not live long,” he said, and created more flames. This one wasn’t just a fireball but a wave of fire with many overlapping layers. There would be no escape.

“Just run, dammit!”

“As a last act of mercy, I will leave the girl’s bones behind,” Randy said, turning to me with a cruel smile. He lowered his arms. “So I may hear your screams of despair better.”

The storm of fire spread toward April.

“I’m sorry, Matthew,” she said, smiling, stock-still, “for not being able to save you.”

The next moment, she was engulfed by a red vortex of searing heat. The flames formed a massive pillar that burned and scoured the place where April stood.

Randy laughed. “Don’t worry. She barely had time to feel the heat.”

“Oh, no, it’s plenty hot,” said a calm voice.

The pillar of flame was cut in two. Then those parts split into smaller flames, until the whole thing had disintegrated.

In no time at all, the fire was gone, revealing a familiar woman.

Natalie.

She was dressed in the same traveling garb as when she first arrived in town. She had April tucked under her arm and held Dawnblade, her red sword, in her other hand.

“I thought I was going to get burned,” she said grumpily, setting April down next to the wall. “Don’t worry, she’s just unconscious. It won’t be fatal.”

Instant relief flooded my body.

“I ran into Dez up on the street,” she said, going on to explain that he was being arrested by the town guards when she helped him out and got an explanation of the situation. I could’ve made plenty of jokes about her insistence that she didn’t kill the guards, but there were more important things at the moment.

“I’m surprised you managed to find us.”

“I had a tour guide,” she said, pointing to an old tubby cat. It was lazily rubbing its body against April.

“Watch out, this guy is—”

“Dez already warned me. He’s one of those ‘preachers,’ isn’t he?” Natalie sighed dramatically. “Who would want this so badly that they’d willingly look so hideous and embarrassing?”

“Why do you stop me?” Randy demanded, hurling me against the wall. That hurt.

“Do you even need to ask? Did you think you would get away with such ridiculous antics?”

“There is no way this man is worthy of the holy one. So I will—”

“I’m talking about her,” Natalie said, glancing at April.

“What of the heathen girl?”

“I’m going to give you a very helpful ‘revelation’ right now, so clean out your ears and listen closely,” she said, gripping her sword’s hilt. “And be warned, I’m quite furious right now.”

In an instant, she had closed the gap to attack Randy.

“Dammit!” Randy hissed, leaping away in a panic. He hurled fireballs as he dodged, but Natalie sliced through each of them.

There was nowhere to run in the cramped basement space. Randy gave up and fled into the treasure room, then picked up coins and hurled them. The velocity was tremendous, but to Natalie, they might as well have been frozen in midair. She was in mid-swing when her eyes widened and she shifted her body, causing the coins to hit the wall and splatter into goopy liquid.

His attack had heated up the coins and melted the gold. She couldn’t be careless with her sword, then. If she blocked or deflected the coins, the molten gold might splatter and burn her.

“That seems like a terrible waste.”

“Silence, mongrel!”

He hurled more coins. He was relying on the rule of numbers, now that he’d decided this was an effective tactic. A shower of coins rained down on Natalie. But he was making a major mistake.

“There we go.”

Just before the coins could land, Natalie deftly angled her sword, deflecting the coins right back at Randy.

“Gaaah!”

He shrieked with agony as the molten gold hit his face. The sword was only nullified as a tool if she used it carelessly. But Natalie would never make that mistake.

While Randy peeled the melted gold off his face, skin included, Natalie made her move, closing the gap on him.

“You’re finished.”

Right as her sword was about to cut off his head, Randy’s body crumbled. It turned into dust from head to toe, spilling across the floor.

Did she beat him? Or did he self-destruct?

The answer was: neither.

The tiny shreds began to move on their own, scattering across the floor. But they weren’t pieces of him—they were little Randies. Each was its own fingertip-size Randy, and they attacked en masse.

The fire earlier was just a teaser. This was his real ability.

“They’re like bugs.” Natalie grimaced. As they spread out, they swarmed around her. It was easy to knock them loose, but they were too small and numerous. You could stomp them, slash them, and swat them, but a swarm of thousands of Randies was just too much.

“Don’t stop moving. If they cover you, you’re finished… Just wait.”

At last I could move again. The temporary sun was useless, but I still had my brute force method, which might be enough. I hated to show off my secret method, but I didn’t have much of a choice. As I tried to stand up straight, Natalie was suddenly blocking my path.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” she said, grabbing the back of my neck and hurling me one-handed. I slid across the floor until I bumped into the wall next to April. I guessed she didn’t want me underfoot.

“You’re responsible for her. If she gets hurt, I’m going to draw and quarter you, you big galoot,” she said before turning to slash at the little Randies, accurately severing their heads from their bodies. It was a level of dexterity I couldn’t match. Despite not having a usable dominant arm for years, she hadn’t lost an ounce of skill.

Many, many Randies died and turned to ash. But they continued to assault her. Their battle tactic was exceedingly one-note, but the numbers made it hard to handle.

“It seems you’re at your end,” said a voice like many buzzing wings. I realized that Natalie had been pushed into the corner of the basement. That was his goal; thousands of tiny Randies gathered underfoot. The moment Natalie glanced downward, a small blob of something fell from the ceiling.

“Above!”

Two Randies fell toward her, clutching one another with a small shard of metal between their bodies. They could easily catch her by surprise and slash her throat with it.

“Another cheap trick,” said Natalie, who had noticed, of course. She lifted her sword, but suddenly tilted her neck at an unnatural angle. I could see a tiny Randy on her shoulder, yanking on her black hair with both hands. Where did it come from? I realized the answer right away: the corner of the basement where the walls met.

He had been pushing her into the corner to take advantage just like that. Natalie swatted it away in a panic, but more Randies grabbed her legs and started to crawl up her body.

“Ah!”

Natalie shrieked and toppled over onto her face. They swarmed over her body.

“Natalie!” I bellowed. “You want help?”

“Has your memory gone soft, too?” she snarked, then lifted Dawnblade high. “You know this isn’t enough to beat me, remember?”

The next moment, the swarm of Randies exploded off her body.

“Sol est extrica, avasolus ix terra crea.” (The sun rules over all, absolute creator of heaven and earth.)

She must have learned how to use it ages ago. With that horrible, ear-splitting curse, wedge-shaped scales surged out of Dawnblade, knocking the divided Randies off her body.

For Arwin, the scales had been red, but Natalie’s were blue. The blue scales rapidly multiplied, encircling and covering her left arm as she rose to her feet.

“Torrisclade moa phosistoris.” (Deliver humiliating defeat and death to our enemy.)

Her arm was then covered by an enormous blue gauntlet.

“There we go.”

With a light little swipe, she created a maelstrom of blue flame. It danced, twisted, and cavorted with a mind of its own, swallowing up the divided little Randies. A rancid, burning smell filled the room, as did the screaming of little insects.

“Not done yet!”

Natalie vanished.

She sped around at blisteringly fast speed, exterminating the Randies with blade and flame. Her blue flames did not miss those that tried to squeeze into the cracks where the walls met. When they tried to flee into the treasure chamber, she burned only the Randies, not the treasure. It was not at all like when Arwin did this.

Are the properties of the magic different depending on the user?

Or is this just her innate skill?

The next thing I knew, there were no more Randies in sight.

For a moment, I thought he was truly gone, until I saw the moving soot along the floor, walls, and ceiling. Once again, they came together, swelling until they coalesced into that bald monkey form.

He was one tough bastard. Was there no way to be rid of him short of cutting off his head?

It was all having an effect, though. His body was gaunt, and his face was grim and deathly, all bones and skin.

“You…you will know my wrath if it is the last thing I accomplish with this life,” he snarled. At the very least, his willpower was still strong.

“With that body? You’ve only got moments left to do it.”

“Because that’s how long you have left?” smirked Randy, pointing. There was another tiny Randy brandishing a small piece of metal at Natalie’s neck. I’d thought that was all he had, but there was one more of the little things left.

“This is the end for you!” He cackled. The little Randy swiped the shard of metal at her throat. Natalie didn’t move.

With a harsh scrape, the shard slipped loose and fell to the floor.

Blue scales protected Natalie’s throat.

“I don’t think you heard me the first time, so I’ll repeat it,” she said, grabbing the little Randy and popping its head off with her thumb.

“Nothing you do matters anymore. You’re finished.”

The full-size Randy let out a little shriek, leaping up and fleeing down the tunnel on his hands and feet like an actual monkey. Natalie didn’t give chase. She let the sword point dangle just above the floor and steadied her breathing.

“You won’t escape me.”

Slowly, she swung the weapon up.

“Anima sol deus immortali est.” (The soul of the sun god is undying.)

A flash.

Blue light flickered in the dark, narrow tunnel. A casting of ghostly illumination against the wall framed the silhouette of Randy, his head separated from his body. He turned to black ash as he collapsed to the ground. I worried he would come back the way Levi had, but this preacher was a one-and-done. The ash dispersed into nothingness.

Silence returned.

Natalie sheathed Dawnblade and returned to the unconscious April, lifting her up.

“Thanks for the help.”

She was stupid but good at her job.

“Mm-hmm.” Natalie grunted, sticking out her hand. This was just the type of person she was.

“Here,” I said, putting a silver coin in her palm.

Her cheeks puffed out as she pouted. “Are you kidding? I risked my life fighting for you, and this is all you give me?”

“I’m broke. It’s all I can give.” I pointed toward the treasure room. “All that will belong to the squirt in the future. Send her a bill later, and she’ll pay you whatever you want.”

“If I take money from her, I’d be a bad guy.”

Who says you aren’t?

“Anyway, what’s up with Dez? Is he all right?” I asked.

“After I rescued him from the guards, an Adventurers Guild staffer came by and took him back to the guild. Apparently, there was some kind of emergency.”

He was a busy guy.

“So are we just leaving him here or what?” she asked, pointing at the unconscious Ralph.

I gave her a brilliant smile. “Yeah. We’re all good to go.”

“W-wait…” Ralph protested, extending a trembling arm. So he was conscious again after all. We picked up the two of them and returned to the surface. I had to drag Ralph, who was much heavier than the squirt, but Natalie insisted I couldn’t be trusted to carry her.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted,” I said. “Thought I was gonna die.”

I saw down next to the tree that housed the entrance to the basement.

“I wouldn’t expect the guy who carried Her Highness out of the dungeon to complain so much,” Ralph said.

“Oh, you imagine you’re lighter than Arwin? I’ll have to tell her about that.”

“No! Don’t.”

“All right, enough. Stop playing around over there,” said Natalie, who was tending to April nearby. At least she didn’t seem to have any scar-inducing wounds. If there was so much as a scratch on her face, the old man would have us executed.

“She’s a brave kid.”

“I agree.”

But she was also too reckless for her own good, risking her life for someone like me.

“Well, that should do it.” Natalie got to her feet. “I’ll be going.”

“Where to?”

“I’m doing delivery work now. I need to get my payload to its destination by this evening.”

“Is that it?” I asked, pointing to a ragged-looking satchel. It appeared to be empty. Some thug or another had made off with the contents, I guessed. “Well, at least you can still use the bag.”

Natalie slumped. “If I’d known this was going to happen, I would’ve cut them into shreds, not just beheaded them.”

Whoever she was fantasizing about killing, Natalie reached down and carefully cradled the satchel.

“Um, wait!” called out Ralph as she turned to leave. “Thank you very much. You saved my life.”

“If you want to show your appreciation in monetary terms, I’ll collect it later. Both you and that galoot owe me, so make sure you pay together,” she said. Awfully greedy words for someone who’d just received a very generous tip from me.

“Who are you? And isn’t that Her Highness’s sword…?”

“Arwin gave it back to me. It was originally my weapon.”

“Huh?”

“The galoot over there can fill you in on the story. So long,” said Natalie, taking off at last after foisting one more job on me.

“Hey, who was that? Is she an adventurer?” said Ralph, wasting no time in harassing me. I couldn’t be too careless in telling her story, because it might lead back to me. She knew that and still delegated the job to me. And she was supposed to be a friend?

“Just a madwoman,” I said, electing to ditch the question and run. “If you want to know more, ask Dez.”

Ralph persisted, but I shrugged off his questions on the way back. April was still knocked out, so I carried her. Fortunately, the sun was still out, so it wasn’t a problem. Ralph took a short lead and kept an eye out, intent on making up for his earlier failure. He would’ve struck a gallant image if not for the bulky cat cage slung over his shoulder.

As we moved from one street to the next, I felt a stirring on my back.

“Huh? Where is he?”

“You’re finally awake, Princess?” I asked.

Between her and Arwin, I always seemed to be surrounded by reckless women.

“A passing warrior slew the monster. The body vanished,” I explained. It sounded made up when I said it like that, but it was true.

“Who?”

“They didn’t give their name.”

Again, not a lie. She hadn’t needed to introduce herself.

“What was that guy?”

“A friend of the one who caused the stampede.”

Levi’s preacher form had been witnessed by many people, and April had heard about it, too, so there was no point in hiding it. I could feel her getting tense.

“Are they still trying to hurt this town?”

“I think we’re fine for the time being.”

Their goal was the Astral Crystal. Anything outside the dungeon could be set aside. Plus, Randy was looking for something else entirely. The Scissors of Lombardi. I snuck back into the treasure chamber after Natalie had left, but didn’t see anything that seemed like them. It wasn’t even clear if “scissors” was just a bit of poetic license or if they really were scissors of some kind. There just wasn’t enough info.

“The real problem is you. I thought my heart was going to give out.”

When the old man came back, I was going to tell on her. She’d get a spanking.

“Never do anything so reckless again,” I warned her.

“But—”

“No ifs, ands, or buts.”

“Let me down.”

“No.” She’d gotten some emergency assistance, but she was still injured. “You’re not feeling well yet.”

“But, Matthew, you’re too weak for this.”

“I’m strong enough to carry one little squirt like—”

But I couldn’t even finish the sentence before clouds blotted out the sun. I was back to a weakling again, and even her paper-light body weighed heavily on my back. But putting her down wasn’t an option. She’d risked her life to protect me. How could I tell her, You’re heavy, get off me?

“I do think you’re having trouble.”

“I’m fine.”

A certain princess knight was far heavier than her. Not that I could ever say that in her presence.

We stopped by a healing magician on the way to have April’s wounds healed before going back to Dez’s house. I was exhausted. So was April, because she fell asleep on my back while we were still out on the streets.

Once I’d dropped her onto the bed, I sat in the low chair and exhaled. After all that work, we’d found only the old man’s secret savings. The hidden treasure was still unfound. Another day was ending without any real progress.

“What the hell’s going on?” I wondered aloud.

We’d taken care of the preacher named Randy, but there was still the other crayfish-looking monster lurking about.

And that wasn’t the only problem. A sufferer, if not more than one, was lurking somewhere around town.

Given that the sun god was also after the Astral Crystal, it was inevitable that there would be more clashes with Arwin. If they attacked in the dungeon, I couldn’t help. And this time, Arwin would be killed before I could do anything to save her.

That meant it was Aegis I had to rely on to protect her. Noelle was fine, but the Maretto sisters were too self-interested, and Ralph was all momentum. He was outside the door right at that moment, nervously standing watch. It made me nervous to see how tense he was.

I was just getting up to blow off some steam with a drink when I heard a knocking at the door.

Dez and his wife were out, but they wouldn’t knock before coming home.

And it didn’t sound like when Arwin knocked. Ralph nervously opened the door a crack.

“Hey, Matthew,” he called out. “It’s for you.”

“Oh, it’s you guys,” I said.

It was Mustache and Tan.

“What do you want today? And let me be up front: I’m not giving cockfight odds for the time bei—”

Mustache ignored my jest and said seriously, “We’re going to speak among ourselves. This is a topic we don’t want anyone to overhear. So you’d better not listen in.”

And before I could even respond, they began to talk.

“The town guards are looking for a girl named April.”

What?

“It seems that the big shots in charge have decided to get involved in this hidden fortune business.”

“We understand that the person who watched the safe of the hidden fortune was a close confidant of Gregory, the guildmaster.”

“And the amount is so large that even split between two, it’s quite a massive sum.”

“That’s not all. Supposedly, there are records of the Devil’s Alliance’s misdeeds. Some say there’s dirt on the other senior members there.”

“They’re checking every location that April is known to visit. There’s someone on the inside at the orphanage, I hear.”

“It’s gotten the Devil’s Alliance on edge, too. They’re looking for a fight.”

“We saw a number of unsavory types near this street, in fact.”

“Probably only a matter of time until she’s found.”

“Of course, all Gregory needs to do is fess up, but he refuses to talk.”

“I guess he doesn’t care what happens to his dear granddaughter.”

After all that, Tan looked me up and down and said, “I don’t suppose you heard any of what we just said…”

I gave him an awkward smile and shrugged. “I’ve been going hard of hearing lately. No idea what you’re saying.”

“Good,” he said, satisfied, then gave me a letter. It even had an unbroken seal on it. “This is a different matter. We were asked to deliver it on the way here.”

“So long. Give the girl our regards.”

They spoke in a dreadful monotone, like performing bad theater, but I could feel the warmth behind it.

The content of their message, however, was very bad news. Even April was wanted by the authorities now. I took it as a sign that they weren’t getting anywhere in striking a deal with the old man. They wanted to take her hostage to get him to play along. They’d be raiding this house soon.

We were running out of time. Dez was one thing, but his wife and son didn’t deserve this. The only other option left was one of my hideouts, but if the mobsters started using every last man to search and they found us, we’d be screwed.

“Going down the drain at last…”

Heather’s hidden treasure was more than just riches. Even the old man’s buried fortune wouldn’t be a satisfactory substitute for them.

“So…what now?”

I opened the seal of the letter. A message from someone, perhaps?

“Maybe it’s an offer to go on a date with some beautiful lady or another.”

I opened it up—and my jaw dropped.

Then I crumpled up the paper and shoved it into my pocket.

“I’ve got to leave. Keep watch over April. If you need to, run out the back door,” I told Ralph before leaving Dez’s house.

I made my way carefully, keeping out of sight. Partially because I was nervous about being outside alone, but also because this wasn’t something other people should be privy to.

Once I had some privacy, I unfolded the letter to examine it closely.

Dear Matthew,

I write you this letter to inform you of a matter I wish to discuss.

Please come to the Golden Stagecoach tonight.

If you do not, it might result in the downfall of the woman you treasure so much.

Do ensure that you come alone.

In short, it was a threat.

While the handwriting was nice, I did not recognize it. I could not guess who the sender was. Ignoring it would be an option if not for the curious content. If it were a summons from the Devil’s Alliance, say, they would indicate the threat more directly by saying, She’ll die, she won’t live to see the morning, or Say hello to the guildmaster’s little girl for us. But the threat used the word downfall. What caused a person’s downfall varied based on the individual, but in Arwin’s case, it could refer to only one thing. And it meant I couldn’t lean on Dez or anyone else for help. Naturally, I would be prepared.

The sun was setting by the time I arrived at the Golden Stagecoach. I did a lap around the building just in case, but I didn’t sense an ambush. Through the window, I saw the proprietress wiping off dishes by herself. No one else was inside. Are they upstairs?

I steeled myself and went through the door. It was my first time going inside; a long counter ran along the right side from the entrance, with four tables on the left. In the back was a staircase going up. So it was basically the same layout as the Iron Bear Archer before it. The only differences were that there was a sign saying the stairs were off-limits, and the bar featured a wider selection of booze.

“Oh, welcome.”

And one other change: The owner was now a beautiful woman instead of an old man.

“Please, come and sit,” she said, motioning to the seat in front of her. I ordered an ale to start.

“What do you recommend to go with it?”

“The salted fish and pickled greens.”

“I’ll go with that, then.”

I drained the flagon of ale and kept waiting, but no one else was coming by. No one was walking around upstairs who might come down, either. Many people walked past the bar on the street, but no one came inside. It was unnatural. It would be one thing if the service and beer were awful, but I knew from experience they weren’t.

“Is it always like this?”

“No. The place is rented out today.”

“To whom?”

“Me,” the proprietress said with a little smile. “I’ve been hoping to have a longer chat with you. I wrote you that letter. I put out a sign saying we’re closed.”

She stepped out from behind the counter and began shuttering the windows. Lights blinking out, just like a glowfly. Then she returned to her spot behind the bar, the faint smell of perfume following her.

“I have a proposition for you,” she said.

“Is this for an affair? Or a paid evening? I’m afraid I’m under contract at the moment. And believe it or not, I’m rather busy. So if that’s all…”

“Pardon me,” she said, smiling gracefully, and hid farther behind the counter. It was a simple hanging curtain partition. I heard cloth rustling; she seemed to be undressing. By the light of the candles behind the curtain, I could see her silhouette in shadow, getting naked.

“You wanted to start right here? Wouldn’t a bed upstairs be nicer?”

Not that I wasn’t tempted.

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t the kind of topic you’re thinking of.”

From the shadow, she extended a pale and enticing arm. It was holding a small, white paper bundle. She ripped it open, revealing white pills. The silhouette against the curtain appeared to put them in its mouth.

I heard her exhale, then saw something like smoke erupt from her mouth. It had to be, because I could see it rising past the curtain. Before I knew what was happening, the white smoke covered the woman entirely, shrouding her like an enormous cocoon.

Moments later, the cocoon broke, and the silhouette that emerged from it did not belong to the woman…or any human being.

“Thank you for your patience.”

I was speechless at the figure that appeared.

It had a long, narrow body that was covered in black-and-white spotted patterns like a tattoo. Its long face had small golden eyes that shone. I didn’t see a nose or a mouth, but arms bearing huge pincers extended from its sides. It was the black-and-white mottled crayfish thing. The preacher who had killed Donald.

“Please be calm,” it said when I tried to take out the temporary sun. “I don’t intend to fight you. I just wanted to talk.”

The voice was undoubtedly that of the proprietress. It sounded and acted like a woman, but all I saw was a black-and-white spotted crayfish monstrosity. The disconnect was extreme.

“Who are you?”

“I suppose I never told you my name, did I?” It put a hand to its face and giggled. “My name is Samantha. And as you can tell, I’m a preacher of the sun god.”

Her voice was bewitching and seductive.

“But you can call me Sam.”

[Chapter Five] The Depths of Hell Are Seen from the Surface

The monstrous preacher known as Samantha extended her arms and neatly folded her clothes. I felt like I was having a nightmare.

“Do you look like that because of the pills?”

“Half-correct,” she said, gleefully showing off the white pills. “These are called Ascending. It’s like a compressed version of Release’s ingredients, and therefore more powerful. It guides your soul to a higher form.”

“You people made it?”

“Humans are a sinful species, aren’t they?”

Some priest somewhere had tricked someone else into making more drugs, then. The scum.

“And why did you turn yourself into a monster in front of me?”

One of them had worked as a carrier for the guild for years, so the idea of a preacher secretly carrying on their own career wasn’t particularly shocking to me. What confused me was the decision to show me her true self. Keeping that a secret would give her an advantage over me. It would be much easier for her to assassinate me and Arwin. Why would she give that up?

“‘Those who seek faith, fear not confrontation and strife, but offer your soul instead. Present not a false self.’”

“Isn’t that…?”

“Chapter two, verse seventeen of the Holy Book, ‘On God’s Love and Trust.’”

“Would you mind not quoting scripture? It’ll rot my ears.”

In other words, it was a typical religious teaching that if one wanted to be trusted, one should not lie. And unbelievably, this woman was embodying that teaching.

“I thought this would be quicker and more convincing than a hundred words of persuasion,” she added, offering me a glass of wine. Even for free, I wasn’t in the mood to drink.

“So is this your last day running the place?”

The people of this town despised that bloated tick of a sun god. He was the one who had caused the stampede that ravaged their homes. If I spoke up about her, the whole town would mob her place.

“That depends on you, Giant-Eater Mardukas.”

In other words, if I talked, she would reveal my secrets, too.

“You didn’t kill Donald to keep him quiet, then?”

“Too many little gnats make things complicated.”

Donald had been looking into the possibility of sufferers in the ranks. If he’d reported it to the guild, they would have taken action.

“Now, about what I wanted to discuss…”

“If you’re asking me to join you, the answer is no.”

“I didn’t think you would,” said Samantha, delightedly clicking her pincers. “Even Levi failed to convince you. I don’t suppose I’m up to the challenge.”

“Then why did you bring me here?”

“You might not join me—but perhaps you’d be willing to fight on our side.”

“On your side?”

“It’s not just you and the Sun God who seek the Astral Crystal. There are others.”

“Like who?”

“Opus, the Earth Mother,” Samantha said scornfully. “The age of gods is behind us. The ability to work miracles is nothing like it once was. Soon faith will vanish and become a relic of the past. We have kept fighting to prevent that from happening.”

It just sounded like gang warfare to me. Talking about faith made it sound nice, but it was basically a turf war over resources.

“They are attempting to snatch the Astral Crystal and our long-hatched plans for it out from under our noses. We cannot keep up, because we have few preachers, and not enough sufferers, either. We need to expand our strength.”

“Why me?”

She had to know I’d killed her fellow preachers. Dez and Natalie were in this town, too.

“To a god, humans are indistinguishable from one another.”

That made sense. Just like how humans couldn’t tell individual bees and ants apart.

“But the Sun God has a personal and distinct interest in you. This is quite rare. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it happen before in over a century of serving him.”

“Then you should take my spot.”

“It would be heresy for the likes of me to attempt to change God’s mind,” she said, snorting indignantly. “The Earth Mother’s ministers are powerful. Randy was inadequate in the recent past, and I don’t think I could beat one on my own, either.”

“Are you guys the ones who’ve been causing trouble around here?”

If Samantha was telling the truth, a minister of the Earth Mother was in town already. That church had rabid inquisitors working for them, so their ministers couldn’t be great, either. It was bad enough dealing with the pit-stained sun god, but another god? Give me a break.

“That Randy fellow came after me just a little while ago.”

“He wasn’t too rough, was he? He’s not a bad guy, but he can be a bit of a hothead.”

“Well, not anymore. He’s a not-head now.”

“Oh.”

This seemed to be news to her. It brought her up short for a minute. Served her right.

“You beat him?”

“That’s right.”

I didn’t have to explain Natalie to her.

“Then I’d better give him a funeral. Not that there’s a body to bury.”

“Who was Randy anyway? A subordinate of yours?” I asked before she could start praying in her monstrous form. The last thing I wanted to hear was prayers for that shit-splattered sun god.

“My husband—nominally, at least,” she added pleasantly. “It’s more convenient to have a husband with you than to be alone. Easier to get into the town and start my own business.”

That tracked. A married woman didn’t have to answer as many prying questions.

“He was a good man—young but responsible. You might have been friends with him.”

“I’m not going to be friends with anyone who gets off on tormenting a fourteen-year-old girl.”

“…That’s a shame.”

She didn’t elaborate on what part of it was a shame.

“Back to the topic at hand, you’ve defeated three…no, four of our preachers. I was thinking that you might be capable of counteracting the Earth Mother’s influence.”

“They get weakened inside the dungeon, too, right?”

“They have their own sufferers. But they call them ‘martyrs.’”

On top of that, the Earth Mother had tons of followers. If they were mobilized en masse, the unpopular sun god didn’t stand a chance. That was why they reached out to me, their sworn enemy, thinking I might give them a tiny advantage.

“So let your sufferer fight them. You’ve got someone here in town, right?”

“That’s true,” Samantha admitted. I’d just been guessing.

“Who is it? An adventurer?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“But we’ve been through so much together,” I said. “Let’s not keep secrets.”

“Oh, are you joining us?”

“If I were going to team up with you people, it’d be much easier to join the Earth Mother to wipe you out instead.”

“That won’t work.” The crayfish head swung back and forth. “Their ambition is to make all humanity and fairyfolk around the world into their believers.”

Fairyfolk was a term for all the non-human races. That included dwarves like Dez, elves, and brownies. Nearly all of them counted fairies as their ancestors, hence the name. Because they were intelligent and not considered monsters, they had certain “human” rights.

“You guys are pretty much the same, aren’t you?”

“At least the Sun God allows us to have our individuality.”

“Despite destroying the town with a monster stampede?”

“It was a necessary sacrifice…though it’s unfortunate that the number of monsters spawning hasn’t gone down that much.”

So they hadn’t gotten the results they wanted, but causing the stampede itself was considered a good thing. That was Samantha’s read on the situation…and the arrogant sun god’s as well, I presumed. The evil bastards.

“How many people do you think died in that event? I can’t trust you.”

“It’s partially your fault, too,” she said with tones of pity. “If you had simply reformed, your soul would be enjoying the grace of paradise. Instead, you resisted, and now you will undergo horrific, unfair torment in the underworld.”

Someone, praise my sense of restraint that I didn’t pound this monstrous creature’s head right on the spot. We were speaking the same language, but I barely understood a thing she said.

“We will have the Astral Crystal. None of your hopes or her hopes will come true. It’s too late to regret your choice.”

“You seem to think you’ve already won,” I noted.

“We will.”

I snorted. “Yes, I’m always on the losing side. I never see eye-with-eye with those who try to pick the winning horse.”

“…I see. I suppose that’s that.”

Samantha stood up. Our talks had fallen through. I reached for my pocket—it was time for action. But Samantha just vanished behind the counter curtain again. I could see the smoke erupt from her mouth by her silhouette. Once again, smoke billowed out through the cracks of the curtain. Everything went white.

“Shit!”

I took out the temporary sun and intoned the spell, then hurled a fist at the shape beyond the curtain of smoke. The next moment, my lethal punch was enveloped in something soft. There was a dark shadow beyond the white curtain. Its silhouette was now human.

My breath stopped in my throat.

This fist had broken rocks and taken the lives of thousands of monsters. It was now trapped in a small, soft palm. I tried to pull it away, but it felt like it was trapped in a vise.

Just from a slender woman’s hand.

“What did I tell you? We’re only talking today.”

Samantha peeked her human face around the side of the curtain, along with a bare shoulder. She let go of my hand, turned around, and began to change into her clothes.

I couldn’t strike. The temporary sun, shining behind my back, cast a shadow on the table. Stunned, I lowered my fist, and it smashed the chair I’d been sitting in to pieces.

“I’ll add the cost of the chair to your tab,” said Samantha, stepping out from behind the curtain now that she was fully dressed again. “And that’s all I had to talk about. It was fun.”

She hurried around, opening the windows and putting out the sign again.

“I’m going to open for business now. I’ve got to make up for what I’ve lost today.”

“You’re not going to fight?”

“My revelation was to recruit and organize the preachers and sufferers. Fighting is outside my range of expertise.”

“Not your expertise? After you killed Donald?”

“That was actually Randy’s mission. I was just there for support. I had business with the Earth Mother that had me in the area, that’s all.”

If you were there just for support, you should have cheered and shaken your ass, not gotten involved, dammit.

She pushed aside the pieces of the broken chair without much interest, then washed out the cup I’d been drinking from at the counter.

“Would you like to stay and drink? I can give you one more on the house.”

“No, thanks.”

Attacking an unreadable opponent just made it a certainty that she would give me my comeuppance later. There was no need to rush. She’d exposed her weakness for me to see. There would be plenty of other moves to play.

I was just walking to the door when Samantha called out, “Oh yes, I forgot one thing.”

When I turned back, there was a smile on her face.

“Tell the princess knight that she’d be better off never copying us again.”

I held my breath. Was she referring to the power Arwin used during the stampede? Samantha wasn’t in town at the time, but if she was managing the preachers and sufferers, then she would have been overseeing the stampede from somewhere.

“This is an honest warning to you. No matter the aptitude you may have, a person who hasn’t received a baptism will only suffer when attempting to use the power of a preacher.”

It didn’t sound like an idle threat to me. That was a power that could wipe out the monsters that trampled all over the city. Of course it would come at a considerable cost.

“The next time it’s used, there’s no guarantee of survival. If you want to live longer, don’t use it.”

“Is that a threat?”

“True faith cannot be gained by manipulating someone into fighting by using their weakness against them.”

A body that did what one wanted, but a mind that was dead inside. That was simply a puppet, not a preacher or sufferer.

“So that’s just my little secret. I haven’t told the other preachers or the sufferers.”

“I would think summoning me here was a kind of threat on its own.”

“Then will you come right away the next time I call you?” she asked.

I left without a word.

“Come again sometime,” the woman said seductively over my shoulder.

In truth, I wanted to kill her, but my sense of reason just barely won out.

Part of that was my slim chance of winning, but she also had a finger on Arwin’s secret. Even if I was able to kill her, she might have set up some mechanism to spread that secret after her death. If I tried to reveal Samantha’s true nature, she would expose secrets in revenge. And if I acted foolishly, then as the letter said, it would lead to Arwin’s downfall.

Now I had to mind my actions.

I was well and truly up against the wall.

Back at Dez’s house, the family had returned. I ignored Ralph’s wailed questions about where I’d gone, and I faced off with Dez.

“Things are bad,” Dez said with a sour expression. “The guild headquarters has sent out a notice. They’re dispatching a new guildmaster soon.”

“Damn, really?”

So headquarters was going to cut the old man loose, then.

“The topic of the girl came up, too. ‘Don’t get involved,’ they said.”

So it wasn’t an adventurer’s job to shelter those wanted by the law. That meant we no longer had the option of paying adventurers to protect her.

“I know. They wanted to keep you under their thumb.”

It was well known across the guild that Dez and I were close.

“I know what you want to say,” I insisted.

There was a dwarf saying: Even a ditch digger lets the wounded moleescape. Dez’s sense of loyalty and obligation would not allow him to kick out a friend who came to him in a time of need. He would give his life to protect her. That was the sort of man Dez was.

“But this is my problem,” he said.

Dez already had too many things to protect. I couldn’t indulge in the safety he offered.

“I have a plan. Don’t worry. Get us ready to go—I’ll go wake up the squirt,” I said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He gave me an almost apologetic look. “Listen, don’t worry. She’s not going to blame you for anything.”

“You really care about the girl that much?”

“I don’t want to be a piece of shit who delights in tormenting a child, that’s all.”

Life wasn’t fair. Good kids like the squirt suffered unfairly, while pieces of shit like me got to live out their days until natural causes got us.

“Plus,” I added, “I think a certain princess knight’s nosiness has rubbed off on me. I think I’ve gotten invested in seeing things like justice and fairness win out.”

“So have I.” Ralph came stomping into the living room and began packing his own bag. “Where are we going next?”

“You think you’re coming along?”

“Her Highness asked me herself,” he bragged, puffing out his chest.

“You might end up being kicked out of the guild.”

“Betraying Her Highness’s orders would be far worse.”

Well, at least he’d learned how to talk like a man.

“All right, I’ll go wake up the squirt. Get her stuff ready.”

That night, I asked Dez to send a message to Arwin, and we left his house.

Sneaking carefully to avoid attention, we made our way to an abandoned house near Nicholas’s place. I knew it was empty, so I picked the lock. It had once been a business, so the front of the building was a store, while the back was the living area.

But people knew about me and Nicholas, I was sure. Plenty of folks had seen me coming and going around the area. It was only a matter of time before they found us there.

For now, we set up a sleeping area in the corner of the dining room. There were enough blankets and cushions from around the house to make a bed, which would make for a slightly more comfortable sleep for April. The extra blankets could be hung up for partitions so she didn’t have to deal with Ralph’s insolent gaze.

“You must be tired,” I said. “Sleep here tonight.”

“Thank you…”

April got down on her hands and knees over the bed. Her face was pale. She was putting up a brave front, but losing her place to stay over and over again was clearly getting to her.

“I know it’s been hard, but it’s just a bit longer. The old man will be out soon.”

“Yeah.” She laughed without any mirth.

Ralph stood guard near the door. I’d told him to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious approaching the building.

Nothing good had happened since the old man was arrested. If anything, matters were only getting worse. I knew the way to solve the impasse but wasn’t able to execute it.

“Good night.”

I blew out the candle.

My eyes opened. I expected to have just a quick nap, but I’d slept longer than I’d intended. I was sitting in a chair, so I felt stiff and achy. The sky was getting lighter outside; dawn was nearing. How much longer would we need to stay on the run? Ralph was getting exhausted, and April had to be at her limit, physically and mentally.

“And in the end, the location of the hidden treasure is a mystery,” I lamented. All that hard work for nothing.

“Hey, Matthew,” April said, sticking her face around the hanging curtain.

“You can keep sleeping.”

“I’m fine. I’m really not that tired,” she insisted. When someone was too tired, the mind sometimes snapped into a hyperaware mode, which made them seem alert and fine, but I could tell she was dying on the inside. She continued, “Also, are you sure the hidden fortune is even in this town?”

I understood April’s point. She was suggesting the possibility that it had been secreted away to some other town. While it would be hard to transport such an amount at once, if it was taken in bits and pieces over months and years, it would certainly be possible.

“The keeper of the treasure was in this town, too, though,” I said. “I don’t think it’s likely.”

Coming and going all the time would draw attention and suspicion. At some point, someone would have followed him to find out where he was going, and the place would’ve been spotted long ago.

“Oh,” she said, crestfallen. “I thought it was a good idea.” Her reaction was comical, like watching a puppet’s strings loosened, but I didn’t feel like laughing. April was just trying to think of anything she could that might solve the problem.

“If only the keeper would show up—that might clear this up really fast,” she added.

“They say the safekeeper vanished during the stampede. He’s probably dead by now.”

The entirety of the criminal underworld was on the hunt. If this person was still alive and hiding in this town, he’d have been found already. No matter how much money someone had, they always left a trace to follow.

“Hmm?”

Something about that detail struck me as odd. They claimed the safekeeper had been a victim of the stampede, but he must’ve had money. Obviously, anyone keeping watch on a vast treasure could turn into a thief at a moment’s notice, so Heather must have been paying him an appropriate stipend.

So if he had the resources, why didn’t he run away?

When the first inklings of the stampede happened, the rich were the first to hightail it out of town. I didn’t hear about this fellow being injured or sick in some way that would prevent an escape. Perhaps there was some other reason he couldn’t leave.

If it was anything, it’d have to have been the hidden treasure. He was too worried about it and couldn’t leave it behind. Or perhaps he tried to, but it was already too late.

April was skeptical that the hidden fortune was even in this town. People were looking through every inch of it and still hadn’t been successful. Which meant…

“I get it now.”

I knew where the fortune was hidden.

“Thank you, Matthew,” April said, pulling me out of my feverish contemplations. “I’m so grateful to you. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Don’t thank me until this is all over.”

The old man was still in jail, and both the mob and the city officials were after us. It didn’t feel bad to be thanked, but it was still way too early for that.

“I want to say it now. If I don’t thank you now, I’ll never get the chance, I think,” she said earnestly. “Listen, Matthew. I…”

At that exact moment, the window shattered as a stone the size of a child’s head flew through it. April screamed, and Ralph leaped into the room.

“We’re surrounded!” he shouted in warning.

Through the broken window, I could see dark shapes encircling the building. The torches they held up revealed them quite plainly: a bunch of money-hungry miscreants. I’d been so absorbed in my brainstorming, I never noticed them coming.

“Damn, they were quicker than I expected.”

Ralph put his back against the wall by the window, reaching for his sword. His lips were blue, and his hand shook. He’d fought many monsters in his time, but this would be his first experience fighting for his life against other people. Some of them looked like ordinary civilians, too. Even if he had the excuse of self-defense, it was going to be painful to kill his fellow man this way.

“Don’t worry, I’ll jump out there and draw them away, while you—”

“That’s a very funny joke.” I chuckled, clapping Ralph on the shoulder. The goons outside were tightening the noose around us. There were too many to fight back against.

“Follow me.”

I led the two of them across the house to the basement entrance.

“What’s this?”

“Underground storage.”

A ladder led down a large hole.

“What is it?”

“Something some crazy folks built.”

This had belonged to Thomas, the scrivener on Sages Street. Not long ago, Sol Magni had been using the place as a hideout. I’d use anything I could, even if it was dug out by the believers of the loopy sun god.

“Follow me.”

I grabbed a candelabra, lit a candle, and descended into the hole. I’d have prevented them from following us by blocking off the hole behind us, but there wasn’t time for that.

“There’s a big open space a bit farther down, with a number of exits from there. It’s the perfect way to escape from them.”

“So that’s why you chose this location to hide in,” Ralph said, impressed.

“A solid escape route is a must-have when planning for a siege,” I said. Even the stoutest castle had its way to safety. “I haven’t checked every last inch, but I know several of the tunnels lead to the surface. We’ll be able to lose them here.”

I led them through the chamber where I’d once fought the baphomet, then down the narrow natural cave passage.

It was getting brighter; we were close to the exit. The naked rock walls turned into a plastered basement. We ascended a short staircase and finally came out into the open again. It was a church close to a main street. Though unrelated to the sun god, its priest had died in the stampede, and it had been abandoned without anyone to run it. The building smelled like piss and shit, suggesting that some stray dogs or cats had found a home there—not that I wanted or was obliged to clean it.

“What do we do now?” April asked.

We’d escaped for the moment, but there were many people coming after us. They’d arrive at this route sooner or later.

“Naturally, clever Matthew has a plan,” I boasted. “We’re taking the big street right to the center of town.”

“To the center of… You mean, to the guild?”

“No,” I said. “To the dungeon…the Millennium of Midnight Sun.”

Ralph made a noise like a strangled chicken. April’s eyes were wide.

“Have you lost it?” Ralph asked.

“I’m not positive I haven’t.”

If I were a sane man, I probably wouldn’t have lived so long.

“What if we get attacked by monsters? It’s too dangerous!”

“Who said we were going into the dungeon?” I retorted. Why would we willingly enter the den of monsters? It would be the end of us for sure. “We’re just going to the entrance. The hidden treasure is there.”

He just gaped and blinked. His mind obviously wasn’t keeping up.

“Look, we don’t have time. I’ll explain when we get there.”

Those bounty hunters were going to catch up with us if we just sat around wasting time.

“But there are guards stationed outside the dungeon. And they’re former adventurers,” Ralph said, finding his voice.

“That’s where you come in.”

They were just retirees who’d stepped back from the field. Ralph should be able to handle them. At worst, he could be a decoy. The real question was if we could get there without being spotted first. If people noticed us, they’d call the gangsters and the town guards down on us.

“Either way, we have no time to waste.”

Sure enough, I could hear faint sounds coming from the stairs.

“All right,” said April. “I trust you, Matthew.”

“Thank you.”

I found a nun’s wimple in the back and put it over April’s head. Her silver hair would stand out otherwise.

“Let’s move.”

We headed out the church door, cool as cucumbers. If we stopped in our tracks or tried to hurry, it would only draw attention to our activity. If we got attacked in a narrow alley, there would be no escape. I’d been feeling eyes on my skin for a while. Hopefully it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but I couldn’t be too careful. Walking on thin ice like this made my heart race.

April was beyond nervous. Sweat was beading on her skin.

“Don’t worry. They won’t find us that easily,” I said reassuringly.

“There he is! That’s him!” cried a distant voice. “The giant lug! Tell the boss!”

Well, shit. That stood to reason—tall people like me tended to stand out. I’d ruined everything at a critical moment.

We ran for our lives, but our pursuers were adults. Ralph could manage, but a little girl and Matthew the slowpoke couldn’t.

“Hey, that girl…”

“That’s right, the one worth all the money…”

“Catch her!”

More people fell in behind us, some of them just ordinary folks. The housewife who’d been perusing fresh vegetables, the carpenter who silently pounded nails into wooden beams, the merchant who kicked over his roadside stand—all racing after us, blinded by greed. The idiots.

Our pursuers knocked over random passersby who’d stopped to see what the fuss was about on their desperate way to capture an innocent little girl. The bastards deserved to go to hell. Or maybe we were already there—the hell where all the greedy and covetous were sent.

“Aaah! Shit!” Ralph suddenly turned on his heel and started racing in the other direction. “You keep going!”

He drew his sword and started waving it around, not to attack them, but to threaten them. It seemed to be working; the pursuers came to a stop in consternation.

“Ralph!” April cried, trying to stay with him, but I grabbed her elbow and kept her running.

“It’s okay. He won’t die.”

If he wasn’t strong enough to keep himself safe there, he wasn’t fit to protect Arwin. So stay alive, kid.

We hit the main street. All we had to do was run south until we reached the dungeon. The greedy scum pursuing us had dwindled in number, but they were still coming.

I’d thought they would slow down and behave themselves in front of a larger crowd, but I was wrong. Instead, they were even more determined to finish the chase faster. Give up, people—if you get all that money, you’ll just waste it all on booze and women and dice. Just like me.

“Matthew, I…I can’t keep…”

I squeezed April’s hand. “I know you can’t go on, but you have to find a way. And I’m not going to listen to you tell me to leave you behind and keep going. If you stop, I stop. We share the same fate,” I told her.

“Okay!”

With my lead, we rushed through the crowds of stopped pedestrians. Just when we were nearly through, April suddenly lost her balance and fell. I rushed to help her up, but someone tripped me. Then there was a crowd on top of me. It was already cloudy, and now I had a gang of people preventing me from moving.

Before my eyes, a man was sitting atop April, straddling her, roaring in triumph. He grabbed a fistful of her silver hair and lifted his other hand.

“I’ve got her! Yes! Yes! I’ve got—”

But the words had barely left his mouth when another fist slammed into his cheek, hurtling him into a nearby wall. It was an older housewife who’d struck him. She pressed April’s head to the ground and screeched for all to hear.

“You see it! I’ve caught the girl! The money belongs to me!”

“Move it, you old bitch!”

A different man kicked the woman away, and on and on it went. Each new person attacked the last one, all of them clamoring that they had the rights to the bounty on April, who could only lie on the ground, squashed under the fray.

And despite his patience and forbearance, friendly Matthew had had enough.

“You fucking bastards…”

Only death would help them learn this lesson. You want money that badly? I’ll give it to you. Sacks full of gold and silver that you can take with you to hell. Just as I squeezed the temporary sun in my fist, a small figure cut through the crowd.

“Stop it!”

Eddie the orphan rushed up, teary-eyed, and body-slammed the man on top of April to knock him off. While the man staggered, Eddie got down and covered her.

“Move it, kid!”

“Get off!”

The crowd stomped and kicked him, but Eddie just set his jaw and curled up like a turtle’s shell, refusing to move off April.

“Hey, what are you doing…?” she demanded, not understanding what was happening.

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Eddie shouted, shortly before he was yanked backward. The man he’d knocked off April had his hands on Eddie’s hair and face, lifting him up and hurling him away.

“Get off, you damn kid.”

“No, you get off!”

Eddie didn’t give up. He bounced back to his feet and flew at the man, biting his fingers. The man screamed.

For whatever reason, he’d bought us a chance. I started to rise, looking for an opening to rescue April, when the crowd suddenly opened up. All the human scum who had been clinging to me and April so desperately melted away without warning.

Strolling down the empty space in the path was a group of hardened criminals…the Devil’s Alliance. Fire-Lightning Harrison was at the front.

“We meet again,” he said, looking down at us. He raised his hand.

His toughs spread out, blocking the alleys I might have used to escape. We were trapped by the mob. They grabbed my arms and forced me to my knees. They knocked April over and took her to the ground, too.

Harrison loomed over us, condescending and smug.

“There are three certainties in life,” he said. “Meetings, partings, and—what is the last one?”

“Assholes who preach like they’re philosophers? Trust me, trying to give yourself a quirky characterization is only going to turn into a headache for you, so you should quit while you’re ahead.”

Harrison’s foot pressed down on my head, forcing me to kiss the ground.

“The answer is ‘disaster.’”

“That’s not something I really needed explained to me.”

My life had been one disaster after another. It was the farthest thing from news.

“You guys made a real impressive entrance, but you’re just a bunch of stiffs. If you entered the costume parade, you’d get last place.”

“You sound a little too pleased with yourself, wisecracker.”

This time he kicked me in the face.

“Stop!” April cried, trying to defend me. Harrison and his men just smirked.

“Don’t worry, little girl. You’ll get your turn—in front of the old geezer.”

Harrison grabbed April by the hair and hurled her. A few silver strands clung to his fingers.

“You need some lessons in how to treat a lady, boss,” I said.

“All I need is for her to be alive.”

They only wanted April to serve as a tool to threaten the old man. They could drown her in drugs, force her to service perverts and sickos, even pull off her limbs and gouge out her eyes, as long as she was alive. And I was just a gigolo who happened to be owned by a notable figure. My life wasn’t even worth sparing.

“Unfortunately, even the old man doesn’t know where the hidden fortune is. You can bet on that one.”

He still wasn’t coughing it up, even after the hell his beloved granddaughter had been through. Clearly, he didn’t know where it was.

“You should probably leave before you embarrass yourself,” I went on. “No doubt your lover is currently entwined with a much younger man while you’re wasting your time here. You’ll be raising another man’s children. I didn’t know you were such a charitable fellow, Mr. Cuck.”

Harrison thrust the end of his knife into my mouth. The tip pricked my tongue rather painfully. April watched in terror, her face pale.

“You can’t keep quiet unless I cut out your tongue?” he said. I would have offered a rebuttal, but moving my lips and tongue would put them in contact with the blade.

“Stop it! I don’t know anything, and neither does Matthew! We’ve never even met this safekeeper! It’s true, we don’t know!” April insisted, though it was more of a plea.

Harrison picked her up by the shirt and hurled her away. “I’ll be the one to decide that.”

A member of a criminal organization was brutalizing a girl in broad daylight before a crowd, and no one moved a muscle to help. No one would stop him—not because they were afraid of the Devil’s Alliance, but because these men were the sponsors of the bounty. The only voices shouting were demanding money. Not a single person was concerned for our safety.

I could see Eddie getting stomped by mobsters through the seams of the crowd. Thankfully, April couldn’t see it. He wasn’t giving up, and even lying prone on the ground, he continued to shout something. He was probably begging for April’s life, but I couldn’t hear him. He was drowned out by the ranting of the crowd, just like our own voices.

I could see guardsmen, too, but no one was beseeching them to help us. They were unable or unwilling to attack the unruly mob around us.

I sent Harrison a pleading look. There was no way we could have a conversation like this.

“What? Are you begging for your life?”

He pulled the knife out of my mouth. It was nasty seeing all that saliva on the blade, even knowing it was mine.

April was going to end up being their plaything. Arwin would never forgive me if I just let it happen.

“All right, fine. You win. I’ll tell you where the treasure is.”

Harrison grabbed me by the collar and pulled me upright. He glanced at his subordinates, who promptly pushed the mob away from us. Soon there was a large empty space around us.

“Where is it?”

“It’s right over there. You can see it from here,” I said, jutting my chin out. “The hidden fortune’s in the dungeon.”

He swung his knife upward. April screamed.

The blade was held just before my eyes, quivering.

“Quit talkin’ shit, boy toy.” He tapped me on the cheek with the blade. “You want us to look inside the dungeon? Act like the guild and go on a little adventure all the way down to the bottom?”

“I wasn’t finished.”

The dungeon was full of monsters, yes. And even on the relatively safe first floor, pickers crawled the area looking for loot to sell. It would be nearly impossible to hide a large fortune there. If the safekeeper was going into the dungeon constantly, he would draw plenty of attention.

“The hidden treasure is under the ground the dungeon sits upon.”

Many people were under the mistaken assumption that the dungeon was a contiguous space with the surface, but it was both of this world and beyond it, a kind of alternate realm. The hole you passed through was just the entrance to another world. So there was solid earth right beneath the hole. And under the surface, there were hollows and natural caves all over the place.

“It’s a big hole monsters come out of. Everyone focuses on that part—which is what makes it the perfect hiding place.”

“Even if that’s true,” he said, waving the knife under my nose, “how do you get under there?”

The way to the dungeon entrance was surrounded by walls. Guards and adventurers would see you in front of the gate and within those walls. But outside the walls was different. Normal people didn’t dare approach out of fear of monsters.

“They say the safekeeper went missing right near the dungeon in the middle of the stampede. The way to the underground space must be nearby.”

“You got any leads?”

“You already know where the safekeeper was coming and going from, right? Should be right around there.”

“We looked ages ago. Didn’t find nothin’.”

“Then it’s in a place you can’t get to.”

“Where would that be…?”

“How about the trash dump? That’s near the walls, isn’t it?”

It had always been a desolate place, even before the stampede. The entrance would be covered by stinking, foul refuse, and the perfume that Elton the safekeeper wore would have been meant to cover up the stench.

“…Come with me.”

Harrison ordered his followers over to grab my arms and march me with him. April was given the same treatment behind me.

“If you’re talking bullshit, then we’ll see to it that the girl isn’t fit to marry anymore,” he said.

“Then I’ll marry her instead.”

The costume party of goons escorted us to the trash midden next to the walls around the dungeon. The last time I’d come, it was a huge mountain of garbage, but that was nearly gone now. The trash collectors must have resumed their jobs. The rancid stench still clung to the area, however. I could feel my nostrils burning.

“Go on.”

“Yes, sir.”

On Harrison’s orders, I began pawing through the refuse with my bare hands. It was getting my fingers all dirty. As I brushed the filth aside, a recessed hole in the ground became apparent. After I dug farther into the mud, the sensation changed, becoming harder. There was a smooth floor. I rubbed at it until I felt a tiny seam. I worked at it, finding the perimeter, until it revealed a round hatch large enough for a person to fit through; the hinge was a dead giveaway.

“This is it.”

Though it was hidden by the muck, there was a hint of a handle. I tugged on it, but it didn’t budge.

“Looks like it’s locked.”

I asked him what to do. Harrison gestured to one of his men. A large, uncouth gentleman stuck a crowbar into the seam and forcefully pried it open. The round hatch popped up, revealing a dark hole.

“That must be the entrance.”

There was a sturdy rope ladder hanging from the top.

“Go in first.”

“I doubt it’s trapped or anything.”

“Go in anyway.”

They gave me a torch and sent me through the hole.

“Oooh.”

At the bottom of the ladder was a small room with stone walls. Shelves covered three of the walls, and in the center of the room were two more shelves. There were many wooden boxes on the shelves, containing books, documents, registers, and piles and piles of gold coins, jewels, and perfumes.

Jackpot.

I also saw works of art like paintings and magic items like staffs and grimoires. I’d been through hell with scrolls before; these had spells and monsters sealed inside, judging by the names on the paper strips that tied them shut.

“Well, well…”

“So this is where it was hidden,” said a voice behind me. Harrison had brought one of his men down with him. He ignored the riches and headed right for the documents and books. Perhaps they were records of illicit transactions; in any case, they were probably highly embarrassing to someone if made public.

“Good work,” said Harrison, who turned his knife on me again. As I’d guessed he would.

“You’re going to kill me here? I’d think it would leave a nasty stink of death on all this treasure.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be easy to carry out once you’re dismembered into little bits.”

“Won’t that leave the stink of blood instead?”

“B-Boss! We got trouble!” said one of Harrison’s men, who came rushing down after them. “The officials are arresting the guys up there…”

“What?”

He climbed back up the rope ladder, dragging me along with him.

Right around the hole, Harrison’s men formed a bunched-up semicircle, surrounded by heavily armed Paladins.

Standing at the head of the group was Vincent.

“That’s enough. Release your hostages and surrender,” he commanded. Harrison’s group numbered six in total. Vincent had twenty men with him. If it came to combat, Harrison barely stood a chance.

“You sure about that?” He chuckled, unperturbed. “If you try to arrest us, you’ll pay a heavy price, too.”

“We have already arrested those who were aiding and abetting you,” Vincent revealed. Harrison’s eyebrow rose. “And in what world would we not arrest lawbreakers who attempt a child abduction in broad daylight?”

I snorted. “So you guys get to claim a mobster’s fortune for yourselves?”

“The money was illicitly gained. After an investigation, it will be added to the kingdom’s coffers.”

Or in other words, into the pockets of the high and mighty.

“Hand over the treasure, and I will guarantee Miss April’s safety. I intend to negotiate with His Lordship to have the guildmaster released as well.”

“You mean you’re not acting on his orders?”

“My loyalty is to His Majesty and the kingdom,” Vincent said proudly. “I will not have my decisions affected by lesser men.”

Well, at least he’d learned how to talk like a big shot.

“Now don’t go thinkin’ any of this belongs to you yet,” said Harrison. At a hand signal, one of his men put a knife to April’s throat. With the flick of a finger, he could have an innocent girl’s life ended.

“This money belongs to Heather…to the Devil’s Alliance. No official’s gonna be makin’ off with it.”

“Say, boss,” I said, despite the knife held to my own throat, “consider this a warning. You should probably do as he says. We’re right by the dungeon.”

“What of it? You think monsters are gonna pop out of it again?”

“Nope,” I said. “Even worse.”

A dark shape descended from above. It walloped Harrison’s man, pounding him into the ground, and scooped up April as it landed, then tossed her toward the Paladins. Mustache and Tan hastily reached out to catch her.

“Treat a lady with a bit more respect,” I grunted.

“You should try following your own advice regularly, then,” said the figure, caressing his bushy beard.

My best friend had arrived.

Harrison clicked his tongue. He knew the capability of the unbeaten, unparalleled, and unfriendly dwarf. Your typical gangster around town didn’t stand a chance against him.

Dez glowered at him. His subordinates took off running.

“Matthew!” April cried, rushing over to hug me. I caressed her hair.

“You all right, April? That must’ve hurt. I’m sorry for putting you through this.”

“No…it’s okay…”

Her voice was teary. She must’ve been terrified. I was just glad she was safe.

“So the tables have turned.”

“Not so,” said Harrison smugly. While I didn’t know where his confidence was coming from, it didn’t take long to learn the answer.

An entire mob was rushing pell-mell toward us. They came down the street and spilled out of alleys, surrounding the Paladins several rows deep.

“There it is! In that hole!”

“That’s where the gold is?”

“Gimme some! It doesn’t need to be much, but I want my share!”

They were ordinary folks. I recognized some of them. All locals to the area.

“That’s right, I’ll split it with you folks. But only if you get to it in time!” Harrison shouted, eliciting a cheer from the mob. They all rushed for the hole, desperate to get a piece of the buried fortune.

“Don’t let any of them pass!” Vincent commanded, but there were just too many.

“Uh-oh.”

Dez could handle a hundred gangsters without a problem. But harming ordinary people would lead to trouble later on. He might even get kicked out of the guild. The Paladins had a professional right to attack citizens if needed, I assumed, but there were too many of them. They could try to hold off the riotous mob, but it was only a matter of time.

“We have our own reputation to uphold. After all this trouble, I can’t go back home and tell them I got beat.”

Harrison pulled out a magic scroll wrapped around a wooden rod. I suspected that it contained an explosion spell. If he used it in the middle of the crowd, dozens would die. I hoped it was a bluff, but the look in Harrison’s eyes made it clear he was serious.

“What now?” Dez asked, yanking on my sleeve.

“I’ll do something to get that scroll away from him. You handle the scrubs…”

“Move it!”

One of the rioters broke through the wall of Paladins, leading to a flood that pried open the hole. In an instant, Dez’s small form was swallowed by the mob. Then I was swept along, too. We were ripped apart.

As I was carried away, I was able to see the figure of Harrison, holding a knife, while April stood just in front of him.

I screamed.

With a howl of rage, Harrison thrust the knife at April’s chest, just as a gust of wind caught him from the side. He doubled over, losing his balance. Lightning flashed down from overhead, piercing Harrison’s body.

He was charred, suffering burns all over his body. A puff of white smoke escaped from his mouth, and he toppled to the ground.

All at once, the rioters went still. Their eyes, bloodshot with greed and lust, suddenly filled with reason and fear.

“Come on now, Bea,” said a scolding voice. “He’s an amateur. You’re supposed to give him a warning before you strike, remember?”

“Yeah, but this way is faster.”

“See, this is why people say you have Uncle Adam’s impatient streak.”

Two magicians with identical faces were bantering back and forth: Cecilia and Beatrice, the Maretto sisters.

And then she arrived from the other direction.

“Sorry about the wait.”

She always showed up at the best possible moment. Even Ralph and Noelle were in tow; she must have picked them up along the way.

The princess knight had arrived.

[Chapter Six] At the Limits of Love and Lust

“Don’t put yourself in harm’s way like that. If you died, I would be sad, too,” Arwin scolded April while giving her a bear hug. “But you were very brave.”

There was a quiver in her voice. She caressed April’s head and turned to me.

“I’m sorry it took so long.”

“Any longer and this man would have taken my chastity,” I said.

“…You seem like you’re fine, then.”

“Y-you…!”

Harrison struggled to get to his feet. The lightning bolt could have killed him, but he was still in a battle mindset. Whether out of sheer tenacity or fear of being judged by the powers that be, he glared at Arwin with pure hatred.

“I don’t care if you’re a hero; if you try to stop me, I’ll show you no mercy,” he spat.

“I’d say the same to you,” Arwin stated. “I won’t overlook your lawless behavior anymore. If you want to fight, then you’ll get a fight.”

By the time she drew her sword, Harrison had seemingly lost the physical and mental will to fight back, and he fell to his knees. But he still refused to be arrested, swinging a knife around to keep the Paladins at bay.

Arwin cast one last at glance at him, then unfurled a piece of paper and addressed the rioters.

“His Lordship has rescinded his order! It was a mistake. There is no official reason for April to be under pursuit!”

The negotiations had been a success. Since the lord couldn’t admit he was swayed by greed, his only option to save face was to simply claim it was a mistake. No longer was there any justification to kidnap her by claiming they were apprehending a criminal. But there was one problem remaining: the bounty on April’s head.

“Who cares?!” someone screamed from the mob, predictably. “As long as I get some money, I can escape this shit life!”

“My son is sick!”

Everyone had their own issues. Some were so indebted that their families were on the verge of breaking apart. Some had family members suffering from debilitating illness. Some had starving wives and children. It was a cheap cliché, but a true one: Justice existed in as many forms as there were people.

“Still! It is gravely wrong to blame April for crimes she did not commit.”

“I don’t care if it’s wrong, I’m gonna die if I don’t get money!”

Beseeching one’s better judgment wasn’t going to change the facts of life. No amount of praying to gods led to showers of coins from the sky. People still died for unfair reasons.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on our side?!” someone shouted from the crowd. “Can you really hold your head high and claim what you’re doing is right?”

But despite being faced with the cruel reality of the situation, Arwin did not waver.

“April and I have our own circumstances, just as all of you do. You are attempting to abuse an innocent girl for money. No matter how many millions of words you expend justifying your behavior, it does not change this simple fact. Are you willing to bear the price of this sin?”

It was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over the hotheads in the crowd. They asked themselves, Are we willing to become sinners for this?

Bit by bit, the madness subsided. Once they’d had a moment to reflect, they realized the hideousness of what they were doing. And critically, if they seized the hidden treasure anyway or tried to kidnap April, they were the ones who’d be thrown in jail. But some fools would not back down.

“Shaddup!”

A man brandished a kitchen knife and hurtled forward.

“If you don’t shut up and hand over that brat…”

“Take one step closer to her and I will run my sword through your heart!”

It was like a clap of thunder that stopped the man in his tracks. He dropped the knife and fell to the ground on his bottom. Arwin’s intimidation spread fear through the greed-crazed crowd.

Now.

I turned my back and pinched my nose.

“All of you, disperse ad once! Or I’ll hab you all thrown indo jail!”

My accurate imitation of the tanned guard’s voice had the desired effect. They had just been given a reason to feel guilty about their actions, and once the fervor wore off, their will was brittle. Plus, there were more than a few idiots in the crowd. Some of them had been on the wrong side of the town guard before, I guessed.

While a rioting mob was unmanageable once they got going, they were also weak when they felt fear. One after another, they threw down their weapons and scattered to the wind. Even the man on the ground crawled toward a nearby alley.

“Cease this pointless resistance. You’re the only one left.”

His subordinates were either on the run or captured already. Harrison was the only one left.

“Give up. You don’t stand a chance.”

“Screw you!”

He thrust out the white scroll from earlier—he still had it on him. All he had to do was open it up and chant the spell, and it would create a blast of heat and wind.

“This scroll was specially made. You won’t make off with Heather’s hidden fortune. You’re the ones who will die now!”

He used his teeth to open the scroll, allowing him to keep brandishing the knife.

“Seize him!” Vincent commanded. The Paladins burst into motion. Arwin raced forward with her sword up. The Maretto sisters began chanting spells.

But none of them would be in time. A magic symbol appeared on the blank paper. That was bad—once that happened, there was no stopping it. The spell was going to execute.

Harrison crowed with a howl of madness and mirth, until a pale hand reached out from the side and snatched the scroll from him.

“This stupid thing!”

April threw the scroll as far as she could. It flapped in the breeze as it soared, still wrapped around the rod, and vanished into the hole in the midden pile.

“Run for it!” I shouted, ducking. A massive pillar of flame shot upward. The red flames roared into the sky, showering everything with sparks. When the skin-prickling wind died down, there was black smoke billowing from the hole. Occasionally there was the sound of something bursting down there, along with sounds of physical collapse.

“So much for that buried treasure.”

An enormous explosion had gone off in a cramped subterranean space. It would have blown up everything—coins, jewels, and criminal evidence.

“Ah…ah…”

Harrison fell to his knees in shock. He looked like he’d just aged an entire decade. Belatedly, the Paladins came over to take him into custody. He did not resist.

A cold wind blew through the area. Arwin sheathed her sword and walked over to me.

“We’re saved,” she said, smiling with relief.

“Thank the squirt for that one, not me. But first…”

April was sitting on the ground before the smoking black hole. She seemed to be too stunned to stand up. I clonked her on the skull with my fist.

“What was that for?!” she protested. Arwin looked panicked. But I wasn’t going to let this one slide.

“I told you not to be reckless. You could have easily died doing that.”

“But if I hadn’t—”

“You didn’t need to be the hero. The princess knight behind you would have solved that problem.”

It wasn’t my style to force kids to put their lives on the line.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Save your apologies for the old man—once you’ve had your spanking and written fifty apology essays.”

“You sound like a teacher, Matthew.”

“I teach by example,” I said. I was the adult they should make sure not to imitate.

“Well done there,” said Vincent as he approached. “It destroyed the fortune, but this whole affair has been far too public for the Devil’s Alliance. They’ll suffer greatly for it. You have my thanks for the help.”

“……”

“Gregory should be released soon. It’s not wise to keep him locked up past this, given the circumstances.”

“I see.”

I punched Vincent in the face.

It was cloudy out. The most it did was stagger him a bit, but it was enough to shock him. Mustache and Tan promptly grabbed me by the arms and threw me to the ground. They did the job well, but not fast enough. If it were the old me, Vincent would be dead. He wouldn’t be able to look down at me in confused consternation like that.

“What was that for…?”

“For using innocent people as bait on your lure,” I spat, with my face pressed to the dirt.

Arwin froze awkwardly in the act of rushing over. Wide-eyed, April held her breath.

The timing of Vincent’s arrival was too convenient. He must have been keeping tabs on Harrison and his men, and therefore, he could have saved us earlier. Instead, he used us as bait to recover the hidden treasure and arrest Harrison and his men. He’d put April in danger. Who wouldn’t want to slug him in the face?

He should have been grateful I hadn’t done worse. If the old man were there, he’d have beaten Vincent until his eyes flew out of their sockets.

“You’re free to pursue creative means, but if you don’t watch what you do, you’re just a villain. Always keep your goal and your means in mind, and don’t get them mixed, Commander.”

Vincent was free to be self-righteous, but if he was going to hurt the people I cared about, I wasn’t inclined to show him any mercy. Even a degenerate had his limits. I wasn’t so mature that I’d let myself be pushed around forever without a fight.

“Um, please, sir,” said April, clinging to Vincent’s sleeve. “Matthew is a fool and a lecher and an incorrigible man, but he’s also good…or at least, something similar to good, but definitely not bad, per se…”

“Sorry, Arwin, can you take over for her?” I asked. I couldn’t listen to this anymore.

“Hey, I’m trying to help you!”

“You’re not defending me; you’re delivering a critique.” If anything, it would have the opposite effect.

“…Let him go,” said Vincent, rubbing his cheek. Mustache and Tan unhanded me, so I got to my feet.

“Don’t push your luck,” Arwin said, punching me, too, while April kicked at my shins. It wasn’t fair, but it was all right. Being mocked as a fool was a normal daily ritual for me, and at that point, I should have welcomed a return to normalcy. Let some naive boy be the hero who saves innocent girls.

“I’m exhausted. I just want to go home. You go on and get your reward bone from His Majesty, doggie.”

“Wait,” said Vincent. I turned back and got a look at his usual cold, even-tempered countenance. “Take out what you’re hiding,” he demanded.

He confiscated a ruby ring from my pants pocket, a gold coin hidden under the sole of my shoe, and a small jewel I’d stuck into my ear.

“When did you…?” Arwin asked, aghast. What can I say? There was treasure all around me. Of course I took everything I could.

They ended up stripping me naked. Though it wasn’t for anyone else to know, all that touching around my naughty parts got me feeling a certain way. They even turned my clothes inside out to search them.

“Treat them carefully, now. You can’t replace those with your paychecks.”

I’d gotten the whole set at a used clothing store, so I’d never find the like again.

Dez also got searched. He looked grumpy from start to finish. The sense of danger that emanated from him at all moments intimidated the Paladins, but they even managed to search between his beard and hair.

“Just put up with it, I’m begging you,” I repeated over and over. If Dez snapped and lost his temper, someone was going to die.

By the time they released us, the sun was going down.

“They took everything,” I lamented, sighing.

“It was ill-gotten money. You thought you could just skim off the top of stolen coins?” Arwin pointed out quite correctly. I had no response. Even April was giving me nasty looks.

“Come, we’ve got a lot to talk about. Let’s go home.”

“Not so fast,” I said, clapping Dez on the shoulder. “Sorry, you’ll have to go ahead without me. Dez needs me for something. He wants me to return the money I borrowed most recently. Right?”

“……”

Dez nodded without a word.

“…Then I’ll see you there,” Arwin said, disappointed, and took April away.

“All right, let’s get going… Yes, yes, I know. Don’t give me that look,” I told Dez. We went to his private room at the Adventurers Guild building and sat facing each other in his little chairs. I made sure no one was listening in before I could finally relax.

“Okay, go ahead,” I signaled. Dez reached into his mouth and pulled out a soggy piece of paper. Drool dripped and splashed on the table.

“That’s nasty.”

“You stuck it in there!” he growled, smashing my head into the table.

“Don’t be angry. It was the only option.”

I had a feeling this would happen when Vincent showed up. I’d pulled the rod out of the scroll and folded up the paper, then shoved it into Dez’s mouth just before Vincent approached. I knew he was going to have me searched, and given my reputation as a wisecracker, it wasn’t an option for me to remain silent, because it would tip him off that something was wrong. But Dez was known for being reticent and ornery, so no one would suspect him of hiding a secret. At times like that, one needed to lean on their nature.

“…After all that ruckus about a hidden treasure, the only thing we ended up with is a single scroll,” he grumbled, wiping off the saliva so he could examine the scroll. “What’s locked in here…a gulon?”

That was a kind of badger with black-and-brown fur. It ate so much that, if left unchecked, it could clear an entire mountainside. The bigger ones could get to the size of houses, but that made them slow, too. They were also timid and tame, so they were easy to defeat. At most, they were two-star monsters.

The strength of a monster was directly reflected in the market value of a scroll. This might earn us twenty or thirty gold at best.

“We’re in the red.”

“Not quite,” I said, smirking. “Just follow my lead.”

That night, I slipped out of Arwin’s house and made my way to a subterranean tunnel beneath the town. Dez was already waiting for me with an annoyed look on his face. He had a short-handled ax for his weapon. That was Number 16. Dez used it like a short sword, but to the victims of his terror, it was no different from a battle-ax.

“You’re late,” he said.

“Sorry. Took me a little time to sneak out.”

Arwin just wouldn’t let me go, the selfish girl.

“Go on and get started,” I said.

Dez closed his eyes and unfurled the scroll. Anyone could summon a monster. The symbol on the scroll glowed faintly, and in moments a giant badger appeared. It was definitely a gulon. It began to lift itself up, breath stinking of metal, but stopped; its head had hit the ceiling of the tunnel.

“Do it.”

“Don’t order me around,” Dez grumbled, lumbering over on his short legs and hopping onto the gulon’s body. It didn’t even notice that Dez was climbing up and grabbing its fur. That was for the best. When he reached the gulon’s throat, he slashed it with Number 16, as though hammering in a nail. One blow was all it took to sever the vital point. The gulon toppled backward without a sound.

“All right, please take it away, beloved and eternal best friend, benevolent father, and faithful husband, Lord Dez,” I announced. My reward for singing his praises was Number 16’s pole to my gut.

“Creep,” he muttered.

Was it something I said?

He began to carve open the gulon’s stomach. Suddenly his eyes went wide. I could feel the laughter bubbling up from inside me.

“Jackpot.”

Riches spilled out of the creature’s belly.

The moment we found that hidden fortune underground, I knew something was wrong. They said it was a million gold pieces—and that was not a million. There had to be more hidden somewhere, but every other possible location had been picked over. So I thought back to what happened during the stampede. Living monsters appeared from inside the lindworm, and it had been summoned by a scroll. I realized someone could fit whatever they wanted inside a scroll.

There were other monsters sealed in scrolls, but the only one that seemed capable of fitting a ton into its stomach was this one. The best place to hide a tree is in the forest.

“They fed this thing fit to bursting,” Dez remarked, surprised by the amount of gold spilling from the gulon’s stomach. Even in our adventuring days, we’d never made a killing like this, and even if we had, it’d have been split seven ways.

“Yeah, all this money could’ve turned to shit, literally.”

I scooped up the gold coins and tossed them into the air. It was raining money. They hit me on the head, but I was so overjoyed, I didn’t feel any pain. It was worth all the trouble we’d endured.

“And we’re splitting all this between the two of us!”

They said Heather’s hidden fortune was worth a million gold coins, but there was only about half that much here. Still, that was five hundred thousand, and it was split between Dez and me, so we had two hundred and fifty thousand each. That was enough to have Arwin’s antidote made with change to spare. Dez wouldn’t need to be run ragged by the guild anymore. He could lead a better life with his wife and child.

“The three of us, you mean,” said a voice behind me. I spun around and made a horrendous face when I saw who it was.

Natalie. She was dressed in the traveling garb she’d worn when she first showed up here.

“I wondered where you and Dez were going in the middle of the night. Now I see what you’re up to,” she said, scooping up a jewel. “This is that buried fortune everyone’s been talking about. Of course, I’m no monster, so I’m willing to share it with you two evenly.”

“Fuck you!”

She didn’t do a single thing to earn it, and now she thought she was going to stroll right in and help herself?

“I saved you before, didn’t I?” she said proudly, the git. “And you know what’ll happen if I let this secret slip, of course.”

Obviously, the Devil’s Alliance wanted it. And given the amount, the other underworld groups would love to get their hands on it, too. Every last crook in town would be after us.

Dez just nodded in resignation. I wanted to shut her up forever, if possible, but we were underground, and given the inherent instability of the temporary sun, there was a good chance I would be the one silenced.

In the end, we agreed to split the fortune three ways. Natalie picked out just the easy-to-sell jewels, tossed them into her raggedy old satchel, then scampered off. We decided to hide the remaining coins in the back of the old underground tunnel.

“Damn that bitch. I swear I’m gonna choke the life out of her someday.”

“You two are always squabbling about something.”

“Only because she keeps picking fights with me.”

Nothing good had ever happened since she showed up. She always brought a damn tempest with her.

The next morning, I went to the Adventurers Guild to see Dez. I wanted to ask how to cash in that hidden treasure. The coins were one thing, but there was a lot of artwork and such that could easily be traced back to me if I wasn’t careful with how I sold it.

Before I even got into the building, the guild was in an uproar. There was a huge crowd around it—not just adventurers but also ordinary folks who were passing by. With my excellent height, I could see at once what the commotion was about.

The old man was back. April had her arms wrapped around him, weeping. Arwin’s negotiation must have borne fruit. And Vincent kept his word.

“Oh! Matthew,” April said when she saw me. She ran over and hugged me this time. “Grampa! Grampa’s back…”

“I’m happy for you,” I said, patting her head.

Then I turned to the old man. Ruefully, he admitted, “Sounds like you’ve done a lot for us.”

“In various ways.”

We’d taken care of his granddaughter and even helped get him out of captivity. We’d been busy little beavers.

“We need to talk,” he said, then took me to the roof of the guild building. He cleared everyone else out, so it was just me and him. Idly, it occurred to me that if he wanted to, this was an easy opportunity for him to kill me. It was the roof of a three-story building, after all. Though with my body, a fall like that wouldn’t do the job.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done. I’m grateful,” he said, bowing deeply. I could scarcely believe the arrogant old man could do such a thing. “It’s meant I can see my granddaughter’s face again.”

“You could back up your words with action. No more than a thousand gold coins would suffice,” I said. Then I’d forgive him for trying to screw me over and eliminate Donald.

“This will have to do,” he said, tossing me a stack of white cards.

“I’m not much for card games.”

“They’re magical; I picked them up on the black market. A little bit finicky, but I think you can master them. I’ve jotted down how to use them, so make sure you read it closely.”

I wondered how they were supposed to help me. Well, I was never one to turn down a gift, as long as it wasn’t the gift of venereal disease.

“By the way, just a random question: You ever heard of the Scissors of Lombardi?”

Randy had showed up at the old man’s special hiding spot in search of those scissors. It stood to reason the old man either had gotten his hands on those scissors or was connected to them in some way.

“Ah, April mentioned something about that, too. She said a preacher was looking for them,” he said, scowling. “Feel like I’ve heard the name before, but I don’t remember where. At the very least, I don’t remember ever having something called that.”

“I see.”

It didn’t seem that he was lying or pretending. He really didn’t know. I’d asked Nicholas about them, too, but they didn’t ring a bell for him, either. I was running out of leads to follow.

“So what happened on your end?”

“With the buried treasure gone, they didn’t have any reason to keep me locked up any longer. I managed to wrangle the ringleader’s head and some reparations out of the lord’s grubby hands, too.”

“And what about the guild? I heard they were sending a new guildmaster.”

“That’s canceled, of course,” he said, grinning. The old man’s reign of terror would continue. Donald had died for nothing. I felt sorry for him, but on the other hand, I needed the old man to survive until April was an adult who could fend for herself.

“That’s not the end of what you wanted to talk about, right? You want to talk about your own hidden fortune, don’t you?”

He wouldn’t bring me to this private spot if all he cared about was extending his gratitude and sending me on my way.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured him, “I didn’t take a single coin. All that belongs to April.”

A few of those coins had been melted down, but that was all Randy the preacher’s doing. And the amount was so paltry that it was well within the margin of error.

“…What did you see down there?” the old man asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Why, did you keep some naughty books there?”

“I’ve got the scoop on you. You balled up the letter and threw it away after you saw it, didn’t you?”

He must’ve heard it from Ralph. I knew I should have silenced that stupid kid.

“It was quite impressive,” I said. “April’s father wrote you a letter entrusting his young daughter to you, doing what he thought best for her. I thought I might drown in my tears after reading it.”

“Just be honest, damn you!” the old man snapped, smacking the railing of the rooftop. I’d been hoping to keep this quiet already. Did he really want to silence me so badly?

I shrugged. “What do you want me to say? ‘Wow, turns out Elton the safekeeper was April’s father all along’?”

He exhaled. “Did you tell her about it?”

“Not a word. I’d heard he was a great scholar whose ship sank while he was traveling…but that’s not true, is it?”

In this town full of morons, there was no economy to support a man of letters like that. If someone wanted to do research and had the mind for it, they’d go to the royal capital. Plus, the mobsters around here didn’t have the kind of ingenuity that hid gold inside a monster contained in a magic scroll—but maybe the guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild, who would know more about monsters and magic, did.

“That’s right,” he said, scowling bitterly. “His name was Morris. And Morris was a born gangster.”

April’s father, Morris, had originally been a hired servant of some merchant or another until he got involved in gambling, then stole money from the business and ran. He might have sunk as low as you could go, but he had a calculating mind and joined a criminal group within a larger syndicate called the Devil’s Alliance. They prized his ability with smuggling and accounting. But one day, he happened to meet April’s future mother, Flora, when she visited the town, and he fell in love. Morris swore to reform his ways and tried to go straight. He attempted to cut all ties with the criminal world.

The criminal world, however, did not take that kindly, and sent men after Morris. He couldn’t go on the run with his young daughter, so he left April with the old man, then fled with his wife.

“You couldn’t keep them safe?” I asked.

“I tried to negotiate for him, but he was involved in some pretty bad business. At best, they could spare his wife and daughter’s lives.”

In truth, Morris was hoping to set up a foundation for his new life in another town while things calmed down, then bring April over when the time was right.

“But a plague swept through and took Flora out, just like that. I assumed Morris was dead, too, but he was alive and well—and working as a safekeeper for a senior member of the Devil’s Alliance.”

Whether he was compelled to do it against his will or had grown despondent and desperate after his wife’s death, we’d never know, but Morris had changed his name to Elton and found a safe place as the secret keeper for this fortune.

“I’m surprised you let him do it.”

The man had indirectly caused the death of the guildmaster’s daughter and abandoned his granddaughter. Knowing the old man’s temperament, I’d have assumed he’d just kill him.

“Oh, trust me, I wanted to. But it would cost dearly to start trouble with the Devil’s Alliance. And even then, he was April’s father.”

So the old man got Morris to agree to never approach April and reveal he was her father. I understood his intent. In April’s mind, her father was a prestigious scholar, and he didn’t want that illusion to be shattered by the truth. So Morris kept to himself and managed a mobster’s secret haul.

“But then I heard from him just two months ago.”

Heather was deeply ill and had only a short time to live. It was a chance to make off with the secret fortune. He was going to take it and run. This time, he’d go clean and have a good life with his daughter. So he begged the old man to let him see April.

“But it didn’t work out.”

The plan got leaked, and Harrison, Heather’s subordinate, caught him. Instead of escaping with the treasure, they tortured him to get the location out of him.

“They even gave him drugs, trying to force it out of him, but he still didn’t tell them.”

It was during this time that the stampede happened and all hell broke loose. Morris slipped out of his cell. Naturally, the Devil’s Alliance went mad trying to get him back. The old man tried to look for Morris, too, but with all the responsibilities of dealing with the stampede and cleaning up afterward, he could only do so much. And part of it was that the Devil’s Alliance was keeping tabs on him, too.

“Somewhere, somehow, they found out I’d met with him. So that was why I came under suspicion,” he said.

That reminded me of when we were questioning that low-level thug named Rob. He’d said there was a rumor the safekeeper was a former adventurer and close to the old man. Someone must have been mistaken and assumed that because he was the guildmaster. It was ironic that this mistake was why April was targeted, just for being the old man’s granddaughter.

“The last I heard from him was just after the stampede. He’d blended in with the ‘Gentleman’s Alliance’ and was looking for a chance to make his move, but that was that. Haven’t heard a peep since.”

I’d assumed he had fled the town, but there was no sign he’d gotten out.

“You think he’s dead?”

“Probably,” the old man said with a shrug. “Despite everything that’s happened recently, he hasn’t come forth. And the Devil’s Alliance hasn’t caught him, of course. I’m guessing he found himself in the middle of some trouble.”

No one paid the gentlemen of the street any mind. When they turned up as corpses, they were quietly dumped in the dungeon, never to be heard from again.

“But you never know what might turn up. Let me know if you spot him. You seem to be good at finding hidden things,” he said.

So the trail was cold. The old man had probably given up on him already.

“Well, what’s this Morris guy like anyway?” I couldn’t search for him without knowing what he looked like.

“Like this,” he said, holding up what looked like an unfinished piece of artwork. It was an image of a young couple. The woman was holding a little girl. I recognized the girl, at least.

“I had a painter working on their portrait, but it fell to the wayside after all the unfortunate business. This is all I’ve got of the three of them.”

The family portrait was left incomplete, only a sketch. There was no finished painting.

“So this is April’s father, huh?” I stared at the drawing. I recognized the man’s face. “…You said they gave Morris drugs before he managed to escape?”

“It was Release,” the old man spat. “Based on the amount they were giving him, he had to be pretty far gone. You’d be able to tell, because he would’ve had spots on his wrists and the back of his neck.”

“……”

It couldn’t be.

To the very, very end…from the very, very beginning, I had committed a grievous mistake.

He was the gentleman of the street who died of complications after I’d used him as a test case for the decompositioner, the solution that would make Arwin’s black spots go away. That was Morris, April’s father. He had been trying to say something in his death throes. Perhaps it was his daughter’s name.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” I said, trying not to let on about my sudden realization. “Stick around and live long. And don’t mess around with young girls.”

He might be a degenerate old man, but he was all the family she had.

“Mind your own damn business,” he said.

I was on my way down the stairs when a wave of exhaustion came over me, and I had to sit down and throw my head back. A groan escaped my lips.

I hadn’t been trying to kill him, but the dose I gave him was as large as it was because I didn’t care if he died. Nothing I could say would excuse what I’d done.

When April talked about her father, I never felt any kind of negative emotion from her. Even if he was a shell of his former self and had sunk to doing mob work, he was still her father. I couldn’t say if their reunion would have been a happy one or a tragic one. But now neither possibility would ever happen. And it was all because of me.

I’d done a terrible thing to April. And yet I wasn’t racked by horrible pangs of guilt, either.

I had committed many sins in my life. I’d ended the lives of innocent people, those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, to protect Arwin. I had ended many lives before I met Arwin, as well. It was far too late. And this was a man I’d never really talked to. Yes, I was stunned when I realized he was April’s father, but that knowledge barely caused a ripple in my heart. I was completely calm. That side of me chuckled to himself, because other people’s lives meant nothing to him.

Karma might catch up to me in hell, but here on earth, no one was going to find out. Even the old man didn’t seem to notice my reaction. If I didn’t say a word about this to anyone, the secret would go to the grave with me. And from the moment I had tied my fate to Arwin’s, my life was heading straight to hell anyway.

I was on a one-way path to Tartarus, the deepest level of hell.

“Here you are,” Arwin said when I got back to the first floor. She’d left for the dungeon that morning, so I hadn’t expected to see her still around.

“…Is something wrong?” she asked. I thought I was hiding it, but she’d seen something in my expression.

“Just feeling annoyed. The old man stuck me with an obnoxious task to complete,” I said. I wasn’t lying—I just knew I would never be able to complete it.

“Do you want help?”

“No, it’s got nothing to do with fighting.”

“You think the only thing I’m good for is violence? Talk to me when you’ve got problems on your mind. As long as it doesn’t involve money.”

I couldn’t talk about my problems. Repentance just meant placing my burden on someone else’s shoulders. I didn’t have the right to escape my guilt.

Instead, I asked her if she’d forgotten something. By way of response, she pulled me to the corner of the room, checking to make sure no one else was within earshot.

“It’s about the ‘sufferer.’”

“You found him?” I asked, trying to brush aside the oppressive mood that had come over me.

“The name is different, but he seems to fit the description. He matches Donald’s records perfectly. I think he’s our guy.”

So he had hidden among the adventurers after all.

“Where is he?”

“Inside the dungeon. His body is, at least.”

That was when I realized why Arwin was finding it so uncomfortable to talk about openly.

“He was found dead in town the other day, bleeding from the head,” she explained. “According to the eyewitness, the attacker was a young woman. It sounds like they were breaking up and got into a fight.”

“Where was that?”

“Near the Golden Stagecoach, I believe.”

I thought of a young man’s face. A very stupid man who had tried to destroy me and paid the price for it very quickly.

“The body was dumped into the dungeon, and his friends recovered his items. But they, too, were found dead in there.”

“…I see.”

“It’s not clear whether he was really killed or just silenced by someone, but that’s the end of our leads. We don’t know if there are any other sufferers lurking around.”

I recalled a woman’s voice saying:

“I’ll handle the cleanup, then.”

“Excellent service, from start to finish.”

“Hmm?”

“Just talking to myself,” I said, putting on a fake smile. “Just be careful. You never know if he has more people lurking around.”

Arwin nodded gravely. “And one more thing—about the Scissors of Lombardi you mentioned.”

“You figured it out?”

Even the old man hadn’t known, so I figured we were lost on that one. But Arwin pulled out a dusty old tome.

“As you know, they worship a Holy Book. I found a mention in some pseudepigrapha.”

When compiling a holy text for any god—not just the con-man sun god—stories and writings that could not be verified were removed. These bits and pieces that were purportedly part of the religion but had been relegated to outsider status were known as apocrypha or pseudepigrapha.

“Basically, they’re heretical teachings. Many believers and priests don’t even know about them, so it was hard work to track this down,” she continued. That would explain why even Nicholas hadn’t been familiar.

Arwin looked around cautiously once more, then said in a quieter voice, “Simply put, the scissors are another relic with the sun god’s blood on it, like the Shroud of Bereni.”

After Bereni’s death, the shroud had been torn to pieces and scattered to the wind. A bit of it was contained within Arwin’s body.

“According to this pseudepigraph, the shroud was cut up by a very greedy man after Bereni’s death. That man was Lombardi.”

When cutting the cloth, some of the cat-shit sun god’s blood contaminated the scissors. But most people had never heard of this because it wasn’t in their Holy Book.

“Like the shroud, the scissors took on a mysterious power. But unlike with the shroud, this stain brought only disaster and misfortune.”

One man wished for a beautiful wife, but on the day of their wedding, his bride-to-be stabbed him to death. Another man used the scissors to become fabulously wealthy, but in an accident a year later, the scissors became lodged in his throat and killed him. Somebody wished for eternal youth, but in gaining it, all others around them aged. Another person wished to be made king, but his territory was then invaded by the neighboring country, and he was put to death.

The Scissors of Lombardi could make a person’s wish come true, but at a price that cost them everything.

“Sounds like a familiar story.”

“I’d thought it was just a kind of fairy tale, but I don’t think it can be written off as such.”

She put her hand to her chest. The Shroud of Bereni had just been a legend, a tall tale, until it came to us as a real object with real powers and saved Arwin’s life.

“Who knows what they’ll do with such a thing if they get their hands on it. Please be careful.”

“Will do.”

I saw Arwin off to the dungeon before returning home. The town was completely at peace. But simply scratch the surface, and you’d find a morass of evil and sin. Ordinary people would sell a purehearted, innocent girl to a pack of villains just for some coins. The people strolling the streets had wholesome looks on their faces, and there wouldn’t be any monsters bursting out of the Millennium of Midnight Sun anytime soon. But the banal evil of humanity remained. It didn’t take much to cause a stampede of its own. We had to be careful, or the next to be crushed would be me, Arwin, or one of those folks just going about their day on the street.

When I got home, the door was unlocked, although I’d set it before I left. I assumed it was a burglar, but it hadn’t been wrenched open. The only ones with keys were me, Arwin, and the landlord. I had my key. The landlord wouldn’t break in when I was out. So who was it? I squeezed the temporary sun and carefully opened the door.

There were no signs of damage. But I could sense a presence. They were in the kitchen. I crept forward, carefully approaching. I was getting a bad feeling that grew with each passing moment. I’d hidden the “ingredients” for the candy in the kitchen. That was Arwin’s great secret. If someone found out about that, Arwin was ruined. I’d killed several people who had learned that secret. It didn’t matter who they were.

Onward I snuck on silent feet. I heard rummaging. As I thought, the intruder was in the kitchen. They had opened the bottom cabinet and were crouched down, peering inside.

“April.”

The silver-haired girl jumped with fright. She turned back slowly, her face pale with guilt. She was holding a mixing bowl. Her fingers were dusty with flour, and the cloth I’d placed over the bowl was removed.

“Didn’t the old man teach you that breaking into other people’s homes is very poor etiquette?” I scolded her. April practically wilted under the pressure.

“Um, I forgot that Arwin had given me her key, so I came back to return it, but then I was curious about your sweets from before, so…”

She feverishly ran through her excuses, but none of them registered in my mind. They went in one ear and out the other.

“I didn’t mean to open it, but your sweets were so delicious that I couldn’t help myself, and…”

Her face was bright red, flushed with excitement, but my head was getting colder by the moment, numb and lifeless.

I should have been more careful about her. The little lady was too curious for her own good. Several possible answers passed through my mind, but I already knew what the correct option was.

“Um, the sweets…I…”

I didn’t say anything. I knew it would be more effective that way.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that—”

“Bad girl.”

A ray of bright sunlight landed on the back of the terrified April. It was the lone detail that isolated her from the darkened room. It looked like she was in a prison of light, or perhaps she was an angel traveling to the heavens.

I walked up to her in silence, feeling my regular strength flood into my arms as I took the bowl from April’s hands. When she squeaked, I felt my resolve slipping. But this was something that needed to be done sooner or later. I willed the strength into my gut.

With April sitting in my shadow, I said coldly, “Didn’t I warn you? You have to let this pound cake batter rest overnight for it to taste right. Checking in on it will only ruin the flavor.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, a shriveling, pitiable sight. I sighed.

“You’ve earned this one. I’m going to bake this cake now, and your punishment is to eat it. I won’t guarantee the flavor. Got that?”

“Yes.”

I put the pound cake batter to bake in our brand-new oven. April practically danced on her toes in anticipation of the sweet treat. While she was distracted, I allowed myself a moment of silent relief.

I was very glad I’d decided to move the candy and its ingredients to the hiding spot behind the ceiling panel. My general practice of being overly cautious had paid off in an unexpected way. I didn’t want to have to kill any more people I didn’t want to kill.

“What’s the matter, Matthew?” April asked, noticing my gaze. Her pure, straightforward, innocent eyes peered into mine. She had no idea of the sins I bore.

“Nothing,” I said, turning away. “Just thinking of how I can fatten up a certain greedy little girl.”

“Didn’t I apologize already?”

“I’ll be using plenty of sugar and butter. You won’t be hungry for dinner tonight. Then your old grandpa will yell at you.”

“Meanie!”

April kicked my shin. She was going to be just fine.

“By the way,” I said, trying to come up with a different topic for discussion, “what were you about to say back there? You know, in that empty house.”

“I was saying something?” she asked. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember. It’s fine now.”

“Okay.”

So she doesn’t remember what it was, but also, it’s fine now? If she didn’t want to talk about it, that was all right. I wasn’t going to pry the answer out of her.

“Yeah, it’s fine now. I don’t think…I can win,” she said sadly. I didn’t know what she meant by that, but I wasn’t going to demand more details. I wasn’t in the habit of prying into a fair maiden’s secrets.

From there, I fed her a whole bellyful of pound cake, but the sun was still high in the sky.

“So what’s next? You going home?”

“I was thinking of visiting the orphanage.”

“To make them bow and scrape to you, huh?”

They’d pulled some bullshit on her. Let them grovel until their faces were covered with mud. They owed April that much. Eddie had come to save her and put his safety on the line like a knight in shining armor, but he was also the first one to try to sell her out.

“Nooo, it’s not like that,” she protested in frustration. “I just want to talk to everyone again.”

She was so sweet and earnest, after everything she’d been through. Most people would lose all their faith in humanity. I certainly had.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you there.”

Who knew what those little idiots would do. The bounty had been taken off her head, but there were always exceptions. And April was already fourteen. There would be more and more people looking at her with inappropriate thoughts in the years ahead.

We went outside and walked side by side, drawing plenty of attention. A stall worker awkwardly looked away. I recognized him: one of the people who’d chased April around after Harrison offered them money. The next time I passed him on the street, I’d leave him a big fat fart cloud.

“How is Oliver doing, by the way?”

“Oh, he’s so happy.”

The fat cat was officially April’s pet. After everything he’d put her through, the old man couldn’t turn April down when she asked. The cat mostly just slept all day, but every now and then he caught a rat when he felt like it, then offered it to April. People said they heard her screaming late at night when she saw these presents.

“And how is it going finding a replacement for Nora?”

April’s maid had been extremely distressed over this incident, which had worsened her back pain. She had retired from her position and was being cared for by her family.

“Someone new is coming. She’s really strong, so she’ll also act as a bodyguard,” April revealed. Knowing the old man, I’d have figured he would hire a whole band of knights for her.

“Is she pretty?”

“It’s a secret,” April said mischievously. “I’ll introduce her to you sometime, Matthew.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

She nodded, then looked a bit downcast. “So…I’ll be going to the guild and the orphanage like usual.”

“…You’re not leaving town?”

After the incident, April must have realized the evil lurking in this town’s heart was hideous and merciless. One day, the old man wouldn’t be around anymore. And a pampered, rich young lady without protection was the perfect target for a pack of villains.

Harrison was in prison, but the bones of the Devil’s Alliance were still strong.

“…Grandfather told me to leave this city and go to school in the royal capital.”

“I think that would be good for you.”

She could study and learn and make normal friends. It would be a much better life than hanging around with adventurers, the dregs of society.

“But this is where I was born,” she said.

Her hometown. That was an emotion I wouldn’t understand. I’d never wanted to go back home.

Then April smiled to herself.

“And it’s where everyone is.”

[Final Chapter] Creating Shadow and Night

“So when can you make the next one?” I asked.

Nicholas was troubled. “You make it sound like such a simple question. Developing medicine is a process of trial and error, and it can’t be done in a day…”

“Enough equivocating.” I wasn’t there to listen to excuses. “I’ve given you the money. I did my part. Now it’s your turn.”

In addition to creating more doses of the antidote, I had him working on a new medicine. This would be more effective than the ones before it. On top of that, he was also working on a pill to curb the symptoms of withdrawal.

Once these were done, there would be no need for nonsense like giving her both poison and antidote at the same time. Arwin would be able to crawl out of the hell she inhabited.

“I’ll do my best,” Nicholas groaned, scratching his nose. “But where did you get so much money…?”

“I found a very lovely patron,” I said. If I told him I’d pilfered it from the mobster’s hidden fortune, it was only going to lead to more trouble. The fewer people who knew a secret, the better.

“…Just don’t do anything that would make her mourn.”

“You got it.”

Just because Nicholas had been a priest didn’t mean I was in the market to listen to his sermons.

“And you be careful out there, too,” I said. The minions of that roundworm sun god were still lurking around the town. “You’re living on the route between this house and the dungeon for the time being. As few trips out as possible.”

“It’s a boring life.”

“If you get horny, call for a girl. There’s a place called Migratory Fish of the Night that’ll send ’em to you. Send a kid to deliver the message, and they’ll show up at your door. But you can only ask for a replacement twice. If you ask for a better one three times, they’ll charge extra, so watch out you don’t—”

“There’ll be no need for that!” Nicholas snapped. His face was a shade of pink.

“Sorry.”

Whenever I saw people who acted like they were great and wise saints, it made me want to tweak their noses. A bad habit of mine.

“Well, I’ll be off now. Keep it up on that antidote.”

“Where are you going?”

“To enjoy myself.”

“Thank you very much. Do come again,” said a fawning voice. A door shut, and I heard water splashing. She was probably washing plates and cups.

I was in the basement of the Golden Stagecoach. It was the room the previous owner had created to listen in on his customers’ private affairs. He had told me about it as thanks for letting him in on my cockfight tips. I would never, ever forget the goonish look on his face when he showed me.

The way in was on the outside, to keep his employees from finding it. Samantha was an outsider; she’d bought the place as-is, so I suspected she hadn’t messed with this little room, and I was right. She probably didn’t even know it existed.

I snuck in hoping to uncover some dirt on Samantha, or anything else that might be disadvantageous to her, but nothing I’d heard so far was useful. My ears were dying with the sounds of wheedling attempts to woo Samantha and midmorning drunks unloading their breakfasts. Just when I was getting sick of it, something happened: Samantha started kicking her customers out. I heard doors and windows shutting. Someone important was coming, no doubt. I didn’t know who it was, but this was surely a chance to learn some secrets about Samantha and that filthy sicko of a sun god.

After a bit of a wait, I heard a door opening.

Here we go. I closed my eyes, focusing harder with my ears.

“Oh, welcome in.” The door closed, and a chair scraped on the floor. “That’s another funny outfit you’ve got on.”

There was no response. They had to be face-to-face across the counter. Had she served a drink? From the footsteps, it was just a single visitor.

“You’ve brought it, I presume?” I heard something heavy drop onto the counter.

“So…the Scissors of Lombardi,” Samantha said, her tone suggesting she was deeply moved.

I heard something sliding around, as though she was examining the item. Did she really get a hold of those legendary scissors? From where?

“I guessed that since they were last seen in this town, someone around here was in possession of them. It seems I was right, then. Well done.”

“……”

The visitor said something, but it was too quiet and muffled for me to make out.

“An ordinary, ignorant person would have no idea of their true value. They wouldn’t even recognize them as scissors.”

What does that mean? Are they disguised as something else? The conversation continued without shedding any light on my questions.

“…Yes, that was a mistake. I’m sorry. But in the end, it was right to keep him dangling like that. It helped us reach what we wanted.”

So they manipulated some idiot into guiding the guest right to the Scissors of Lombardi. Good job, moron. Who would be so dumb?

“But it’s a bit late in coming, isn’t it? You got this seven days ago, didn’t you?” Samantha said, her voice getting sharper. Seven days ago was when we fought Randy the preacher. Had the Scissors of Lombardi really been in that basement room? When did they nab them? I was suddenly rattled.

Meanwhile, Samantha grew even more accusatory. “You weren’t thinking of keeping this to yourself, were you? Or did you have some other goal in mind?”

She acted generous and calm, but deep down, she was the underling of a real piece of shit. Depending on the answer, she would happily cut her partner into pieces.

I waited, wondering how the guest would respond, but then I finally heard a second voice.

“I’m not interested in such a filthy blade. I like swords that look better and cut sharper.”

My mind went blank.

That voice sounded like… But it couldn’t be.

I was stunned. But the conversation went on.

“You mean like that relic?”

“I find a slightly shorter weapon to be easier to use.”

“Are you saying the Holy One’s creations are not to your liking?”

“It’s just a personal preference.”

Despite Samantha’s obvious rebuke, the guest did not seem fazed in the least by the interrogation.

“Plus, how can a god not even know how many floors there are in the Millennium of Midnight Sun?”

“It is another world, where the sun’s light cannot reach.”

“I guess gods have limits, then.”

I heard whistling, the slicing of air.

Silence followed. My guess was that Samantha had pulled a knife on her guest.

“Don’t be angry. It’s because of that great and mighty god that my arm doesn’t work anymore. My dominant arm, too. I should be allowed to gripe a little bit.”

“You’re the one who killed Randy, aren’t you?”

“He was a nobody. He was a scrub who couldn’t go into the dungeon and barely served any purpose,” said the guest, although not with any particular malice. “Honestly, our big galoot would be thousands of times better than him. He’s a degenerate, but at least it means he’s got some tricks up his sleeve.”

I sensed Samantha sighing. Something clunked; she’d probably put the blade on the counter.

“And how about the potential companions?”

“Nothing at all worth mentioning,” the guest said, snorting. “A little bit of discipline, and they all run off squealing and crying. And you want me to go into the dungeon with them? Are you trying to get me killed? Give me someone worth their salt. I need a talented party leader, or a freakishly powerful and honest dwarf, or a guy with a nasty personality, or a guy with a nasty personality…or a guy with a really nasty personality.”

The female guest went on and on, as though she were drunk. Were they putting together a group to go delving into the dungeon? Whatever the case, the guest wasn’t satisfied with them.

“…They cost a fair amount to hire. Four stars each.”

“Let’s try to tack three more stars onto that. We’re almost there. Just a bit more,” she said irresponsibly. If I were in Samantha’s place, I’d be strangling her.

“I’ll put together more candidates. I don’t care how many of them die. But there’s something I want you to do first. The heretics are on the move. I don’t need any interference.”

“Yes, yes, you want me to take care of them in the meantime,” said the guest. A chair scraped as she got to her feet. “So long, then. I’ll see you in about half a month.”

“Send me a message before you show up. And make it earlier in the day, too. I don’t want to have to close up shop after I’ve already opened.”

“Too bad. I’ll be too sleepy.”

“……”

“I’m kidding. That’s fine. Don’t go showing off that drug, please.” The guest chuckled before shuffling away. I didn’t need to see her running away as soon as the going got tough to envision a mental picture.

“Well, so long.”

“Until next time.”

After a brief silence, the two women spoke in unison.

““Sol nia spectus.”” (The sun god sees all.)

It felt like the world wobbled. I got dizzy and put a hand to the wall; it was followed by a loud clatter. I turned around to see that the stick I’d rested against the wall had fallen over.

Instantly, I could sense an icy silence from above.

“…It seems I have a bit of a rat problem.”

I’d given myself away. Immediately, I hurried outside and raced into the middle of the crowd. Again and again, I turned down different streets, and when I was sure I wasn’t being followed, I leaned against a wall and exhaled.

I hoped that what I’d heard was all just some kind of mistake.

But there was no way I’d mistake that voice.

No, we weren’t on good terms. But we’d put our lives on the line for each other and helped each other survive.

At the very least, I thought of her as a companion.

But this…

“Damn, this is pathetic.”

In the past, I would have burst right through that door and thrown fists until I got a confession. But right now, my chances of winning were slim. My strength was limited inside a building. I pulled the temporary sun from my pocket and clicked my tongue in frustration. The cracks were even deeper. It could crumble to pieces at any time.

If she was my enemy, too, then this was truly an emergency.

I should probably talk with Dez about it, but if she was really connected with Samantha, a preacher, then we had to be very careful. The damage could easily work its way back to Arwin as a result.

I had money. Arwin’s dungeon sickness had calmed down. It was only a matter of time before we had enough of the antidote to do the job. Everything was looking up, and now the trouble was starting to accumulate.

Trying to sort this all out while my mind was jumbled wasn’t going to get me anywhere. The best thing to do at a time like this was to empty one’s head. I hunched over and hurtled into the nearest pub.

For the first time in a while, I got completely trashed. Ordinarily, I had to save the allowance Arwin gave me, which limited my ability to drink, so it had been a long time since I’d gotten rip-roaring drunk. My legs went weak, and some passing fellows kicked me to the street, but that was no different than usual.

This whole string of events had been baffling, really. Finally, the stampede was over, but then a bunch of different people’s ambitions collided in tangled ways, leading to a new chaotic mess erupting through the town. While it had calmed down, the sparks still smoldered here and there. Underworld groups like the Devil’s Alliance, the Spotted Wolves, and the Birds of Prey; the gentlemen of the street; the Paladins and their commander; the guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild and his granddaughter; the children at the orphanage; the sun god’s preachers and sufferers; my past companions as one-time adventurers; and the Crimson Princess Knight who led the adventuring party known as Aegis, plus her kept man. How many more tortured, tangled parties could fit into this picture? The witch’s cauldron could bubble over into madness again, anywhere and anytime.

That’s what Gray Neighbor was like.

It was time to go home for the day. I could think about all my troubles the next day.

“Oh! Matthew!” said a voice, suddenly grabbing my attention.

I turned around to see April waving at me from a carriage window. The time had passed quicker than I realized; it was already evening.

“Yo, squirt. You look lively.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me ‘squirt’?!”

She swung her hand at me, but she was all the way up in the carriage, so it was easy to dodge.

“…Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, just for a moment,” April said into the carriage. She probably had her new bodyguard up there with her.

“Going to buy more clothes?”

“We stopped at the orphanage, too, and I’m just going home now.”

“You tell me if those filthy little brats mess with you again. I’ll kick ’em in the rear until their asses are red.”

Eddie was starting to give April a different kind of look. The horny little bastard.

“…What’s the matter, Matthew? You seem upset,” April said, her expression dour. Apparently, my mood had shown on my face. The problem with drinking to hide my problems was that I knew it wouldn’t work, but I did it anyway.

“I lost big at the cockfight. Now I’m broke, so I had to borrow money from Dez and was just drinking my frustration away.”

“Matthew”—she glared, disappointed—“why don’t you just get a job? Arwin’s in the dungeon again today, right? What about whipping up more baked goods to sell at the next farmers market…?”

“I was just taking a piss around the corner when I realized I’d forgotten the recipe.”

“Ugh! You’re disgusting!”

And that’s how I like it. I don’t want respect or concern. As long as you puff out your cheeks and tell off an incorrigible grown man from time to time, I couldn’t possibly complain.

“It’s about time, mistress,” said the dark-haired woman sitting next to April, leaning forward so I could see her.

I froze completely. It was like I was bound in place by invisible chains. The woman ignored my reaction, got out of the door on the other side of the carriage, then came around to stand before me.

“Please forgive the late introduction,” she said. She was wearing a sleeveless blue dress over a long-sleeve white one-piece. Bizarrely, she had a sword slung around her waist, too. She gave an unctuous bow. “I am the mistress’s new handmaid. Natalie, at your service.”

“…You?” I managed to say. So much was happening that my mind couldn’t keep up.

“It’s the perfect job for me, isn’t it?”

I turned toward April and she nodded, agreeing.

“Natalie’s super-duper strong. Can you believe she’s a master swordsman when she’s also so beautiful?!”

Yes, I knew. I had seen her cut through thousands of monsters in our time together—even split a massive rock golem in two.

“After everything that happened, Grampa said I needed a proper guard. And Natalie said she would be happy to do it if she could be my maid.”

Whether she would be a good bodyguard or not, she was certainly a powerful fighter. I could guarantee that.

“You realize she can’t tell the difference between weeds and tea leaves, right? I brewed her a pot of tea with weeds I picked from around the corner, and she said it was delicious and took two extra cups…”

“Have you considered holding your tongue?” Natalie said fancily and frostily. “The master has personally given me this assignment.”

Her knife was at my throat. What a violent handmaiden.

I dragged Natalie behind the carriage to interrogate her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed.

“The same thing you are,” Natalie said, shrugging. “I like the girl. Things at the mansion aren’t as fussy as at a nobleman’s, and I get money for helping watch over her. It’s a perfect job for me.”

“And you sold your services to them?”

“They hired me on the spot.”

A former seven-star adventurer for a bodyguard. Whether he accepted her “on the spot” or not, the old man had to feel like she was the perfect person to solve his problem.

“You just got all that money, remember?”

“I spent it all.” For a moment, I couldn’t tell what she was saying. “There was the perfect item at the weapons shop, you see.”

Not long ago, I would have scolded her for being an idiot and given her a lecture. But I wasn’t in the mood for that. You really spent that money on your weapons collection? It better not have gone toward raising another army of foot soldiers for the caterpillar sun god.

A few points seemed suspicious to me.

It went back to the first time I met her in town. Her left arm, supposedly under a curse, was moving just fine. If you could overcome that curse with willpower or sheer muscle strength, I would have recovered ages ago. But she was using her sword without even using Dawnblade’s capabilities.

When I was keeping an eye on Donald, she had emerged from the Golden Stagecoach.

Was it a coincidence that she happened to rush up on us in that basement treasure room? Was she just lurking around the town because she was searching for the Scissors of Lombardi?

Why had she clutched that empty satchel as if it was so important to her? Was it because she had hidden the Scissors of Lombardi inside after stealing them from the basement room?

Did she really come to this town to lie low and hide?

Was it even true that she had played dead because an old foe was trying to track her down?

There were so many questions to cover, but I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. She was a companion; I’d fought at her side to keep her alive and vice versa.

Like me, she had known hell, thanks to that damn curse.

How could she have sunk to being that piece of shit sun god’s sufferer?

“Natalie, are you—”

“Mardukas,” she said, using my old name to stop me short. She glanced sidelong at April. “I’m telling the truth when I say I like her. I swear by our memories, by the name of the Million Blades, that I guarantee her safety. Please believe that, if nothing else.”

What was I supposed to trust? It sounded like repentance to me.

Then she lifted a finger and placed it on my lips.

“I don’t think it’s right to listen in on a young maiden’s conversations.”

I felt like someone had dropped a ton of bricks on my head.

“…Who’s the young maiden?”

“That’s very rude,” she said, shaking with laughter. “Well, I should be going. I hope to see you again, Mardukas!”

“He’s dead.”

“Ah, of course,” Natalie replied.

Then she got back into the carriage and left with April.

My shoulders slumped as it trundled away. So many things had changed in a dizzying fashion over the last few days. I was exhausted. I didn’t even feel like blowing off steam with a pretty lady. The alcohol had worn off, too. I wanted to go home. I turned on my heel and made to leave.

“Did she say Mardukas?” demanded a voice.

My heart leaped into my throat.

He wasn’t wearing his uniform, so it was probably a private errand. I turned and saw the commander of the Paladins, approaching me with an unhinged look in his eyes.

“Mardukas the Giant-Eater, from the Million Blades?”

It was phrased as a question, but the force in Vincent’s voice was brimming with certainty. He had always suspected that I was more than just a lowly kept man.

“What does this mean? Are you really…?”

He grabbed my shoulders and shook me vigorously.

Calm down. How’s a man supposed to answer you when you’re shaking him like this? You just misheard her. She called me “Matthew.” Are youdealing with some earwax buildup? Maybe you should get that cleaned out. I’ll even do it for you, for a price. You can rest your head on my lap while I do it.

But I couldn’t be bothered to offer any of my usual wisecracks. It was completely beyond my capacity at that moment.

That idiot had left me one hell of a tempest before she left.

I stood there, stunned, while Vincent shook me once again, insistent and desperate.

“Answer me!”

To be continued

Afterword

Thank you very much for reading the fifth volume of The Kept Man of the Princess Knight. This book begins Part Two of the story. I think it’s got plenty of money, greed, and violence—all the features you’d want in fantasy noir.

April really goes through a lot in this book, but believe it or not, she didn’t even exist as a character when I submitted my initial draft of the first book to the writing contest. While revising and adding to the story, my editor, Tabata, suggested I have more than just one heroine. So I added the guildmaster’s granddaughter, intending her to be a superhumanly innocent being who doesn’t fit within the town at all, and thus April was born.

I wanted to make her a very sweet girl who was friendly toward Matthew despite his slovenly ways around women, but before I knew it, she had become more of a bothersome meddler who liked to kick his shins. You often hear writers of books and comics say, “The characters act on their own,” and I think that may have happened here, too. I suppose the act of writing her infused her with those April-like qualities. I’m hoping she’ll continue to surprise and delight in her own inimitable way throughout the series.

Things have changed around Matthew and Arwin since the first book. Some things have improved, while other things have only gotten worse. April’s troubles have been solved for now, but other problems continue to smolder away.

Matthew can’t simply be a kept man forever, and Arwin can’t remain a noble and righteous princess knight, either. What choices will they make when their backs are against the wall? I hope you stick around to find out.

Lastly, I want to give special thanks to Saki Mashima for the beautiful illustrations that grace this volume; to my editor, Tabata, for being April’s other father; and to everyone else who helped make this book a reality.

On a blazing summer day,

Toru Shirogane