Commissioner Elmer Arrieti’s eyebrows knitted together as he examined the report that Heiffal so casually handed to him. With the birthday of Randidly Ghosthound tomorrow, Arietti’s job had recently gotten a lot more stressful. He was only responsible for the peacekeeping in the city itself, not any of the defenses of the actual event, but just this amount of work was disastrous to his typical schedule.

Elmer wished that he had asked more incisive questions about the retirement plan before he had agreed to be the Commissioner of Kharon’s police force.

He was overworked both because of the huge number of people flooding to Kharon for the birthday and also due to the fact that Kharon had been stationary for the first time since its inception. Just tourists alone would give Arrieti a headache, let alone foreign diplomats and their grouchy security teams. The combination of the two stretched the rather modest number of employees beneath Arrietti to their limits.

Still, Arrietti tried to keep a level head about this; Tatiana was giving him a sizable bonus for his assistance with handling the situation in the city during the party. In addition, she had secretly hinted that the Ghosthound was going to once again try to get his floating real estate idea ‘off the ground’. This time, they planned on making private offers to some of the higher placed individuals in the Kharon government, so wealthy investors would be able to see what they were buying rather than just imagining it.

Tatiana hinted rather heavily that Commissioner Elmer Arrietti, a sterling example of a civil servant of Kharon, would be on that list of individuals.

With a home, Arrietti finally would have some confidence in ridding himself of the bachelor status that had plagued him since his early twenties. All he had to do was make sure no mistakes happened under his watch. So despite his growing headache, he didn’t allow his focus to waver.

But this report…

Commissioner Arrietti glanced upward at Heiffal, the oppressively powerful leader of a group of oppressively powerful individuals who addressed the Ghosthound as ‘Commander’. Even after spending more time with them, Arrietti still felt slightly uncomfortable around the group. “Ah, Heiffal, it appears there is a tiny mistake in your report. If you check this line… perhaps there is an extra zero here…”

“No, Commissioner Arrietti, that is correct; over the past several days we have killed almost five hundred thousand monsters over Level 50 in the greater area around Kharon. We thought it best to expand our perimeter when we finished early. Per your requests, we allowed anything under Level 30 to live and let anything between Level 30 and Level 49 flee freely. The bodies of the killed monsters were transported to the Butchery, but it seems that the volume was such that it will take them several weeks to catch back up. Still, all the guests should be very safe in the area around Kharon.”

Commissioner Arrietti’s eyelid twitched as he pictured Heiffal and his men committing genocide against the monster populations in the surrounding area. Despite the fact that monsters would generally kill you as soon as look at you, Elmer couldn’t help but pity them.

Just like he felt a chasm of regret having ever introduced the group to bowling…

“...oh I see, excuse me,” Arrietti said officiously. Then he straightened the papers on his desk. “If there is nothing else-”

“Of course, I understand how busy you are… but I just wanted to ask if you had the chance to see Myomb’s perfect game on the newly constructed Premier Lane at the last bowling night.” Heiffal’s eyes were already sparkling with barely concealed excitement. “I cannot believe, even after we strengthened the pins and lined everything with darksteel to weaken the influence of images, he managed to so cleanly-”

“Unfortunately, work kept me away last week. But I’ve heard the story. Very impressive,” Arrietti lied blandly. Work hadn’t kept him away, but the literal sea of hyper-powerful, ultra-passionate soldiers at the bowling alley had. They had even funneled their money back into the bowling lanes, quickly expanding the quaint, private lane with its three-stool bar into three-story super-center that was somehow both an image training center and a bowling alley. “And hard to say about next week. I might need a break after this birthday…”

“Understood, we will postpone the bowling league a week so you can attend.” Then, with a bow, Heiffal left Arrietti’s office. Immediately after the door closed, Arrietti allowed himself to slump forward and press his head against the desk.

My peaceful days… my sanctuary… gone… Ah... I just want one quiet moment to drink the shitty light beer they used to have...

“Oh, actually-” The door abruptly opened again as Heiffal stepped back into the room. But he immediately paused when he saw Arrietti’s slumped form. Arrietti, for his part, froze with his forehead pressed against wood; he was unsure of how to deal with the surprise.

Obviously he couldn’t just pretend nothing happened…. Perhaps it looked a little like he was bending over to pick up a pen that rolled off his desk…?

Then Arrietti heard Heiffal speaking softly to himself. “He was so exhausted during the whole meeting that he collapsed immediately after I left…? Truly, despite his meager strength, Commissioner Arrietti is an admirable man…”

Perhaps out of a show of respect, Heiffal left without saying anything further, closing the door quietly after him. Arrietti’s face twisted into a grimace, still against his desk. But before he could complain more, his terminal began to beep. Grateful for the distraction and praying that he wasn’t about to receive more work, Arrietti straightened and accept the phone call.

Tatiana didn’t waste any time with small talk. “Luckily the… disturbance to the South yesterday appears to have been a blip rather than a pattern. That issue can be set aside. But we need to switch the street along which you will be setting up the police barricade. The street we originally picked is too small to fit some of the guests.”

“This isn’t a parade,” Commissioner Arrietti complained, but Tatiana just smiled slyly at him.

“Nor is this a suggestion. The street will be switched to the main drag.” The terminal flicked off as Tatiana cut the line. And although she was curt with him, Arrietti didn’t mind. After all, he could only imagine the volume of work that she had to deal with in preparation for this event.

Bah, switching to the main street… the shopowners along there will go ballistic... I’m going to need a stiff drink before I can work myself up to making those rounds again… Arrietti hummed to himself as he went to his cabinet a removed a bottle of Donnyton barrel-aged whiskey. But as he was removing a crystal glass to drink it in, the door opened again.

I need to get a lock, Arrietti grumbled as he looked to see who walked through this time. To his surprise, he didn’t recognize the grizzled man standing in the doorway. From the way he stood, the man obviously had some military training. His eyes swept the room, seeming to take in every detail before they settled on Arrietti. Then the man’s eyebrows rose.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“No, I…” Elmer shook his head and laughed at himself. Then he shrugged. Why even bother to hide it at this point? It seemed like his office wasn’t nearly as private as he had thought. And his slightly exhausted state, it amused him more than anything else. “It’s been a long few days. So I was thinking about having a drink to wind down.”

The man closed the door behind him. “...can I join you?”

Perhaps Arrietti would normally say no to a stranger that walked into his office, especially considering the price of the alcohol bottle, but for whatever reason, he nodded. Perhaps it was how drained he was, perhaps it was the similarities in age and temperament between the two men, but almost immediately he felt a kinship.

Besides, if someone walked in now, it would be much easier to explain away the drinking if he wasn’t alone.

So he retrieved a second glass and poured two finger’s worth of liquor into each. As he handed the glass to the man, Arrietti asked, “So, who are you? I’m surprised you got through the precinct without me hearing about what your business is. Some of the officers can be… protective.”

“I’m Derek Moss,” The two men shook hands and then sat down. After tasting the whiskey and sighing in pleasure, Derek Moss continued to speak. “I have been… ah… selected as the Official Liaison between the Order Ducis and Affiliated Defense Forces for the Birthday of Randidly Ghosthound. So I’m here to… introduce myself. If there is a minor issue on your end, I’m who you can contact to coordinate with the defense forces at the actual event.”

“Ah.” Commissioner Arrietti felt an even stronger empathy to the man as he heard the weariness in his voice. “Certainly a… prestigious role.”

Derek grimaced. “I received it a single day after I arrived in Kharon.”

“Tatiana is very good at picking dupes out of a crowd,” Arrietti said with a smirk. Then he gestured to the sparse office around them. “How do you think I landed this job? I was trying to keep a moss spirit from landing on a slice of pizza and she tapped me on the shoulder.”

Chuckling, both men turned to their drinks for a minute. They were content to simply enjoy the well-made alcohol and sit in silence with a companionship that took only a short time to develop. It was positively divine. It was what Arrietti missed from the days before Heiffal and his men took over the bowling alley.

And of course, a notification that flashed across Arrietti’s vision interrupted it.

Congratulations! The fifth Danger Zone was cleared and the worldwide reward was selected! Due to finishing the assigned task before the deadline, the whole of Earth shall receive a bonus!

In addition to other bonuses, all people from Earth shall earn experience 50% more quickly while on Earth! All individuals shall receive an additional +5 Health, Mana, and Stamina per Level!

The quality of life energy on Earth has vastly increased! As a result, Skill Level growth will be slightly easier! All individuals on Earth gain access to the High Potential 0/200 Path! It is highly recommended that you complete the Path as soon as possible!

In addition, due to your exemplary performance, the Earth has gained access to the special event “Corrupted Invaders”! Three of the non-cleared Danger Zones have been secretly taken over by invaders to Earth. Find and destroy these three hidden bases before the First Calamity arrives to reveal an Epic Danger Zone! Failure to accomplish the task within the time limit will result in the inability to receive further awards, but the invaders on Earth will remain a threat until they are dealt with!

Both men studied the notification for several seconds. Then they both sighed.

“This world-” Derek Moss began, but he was interrupted by Arrietti’s terminal beginning to read.

“Don’t I know it,” Elmer Arrietti finished the rest of his glass and walked over to accept the incoming call.