A figure wearing an armoured dark grey coat and a furious mask walked down the streets of Langite. Behind it, a beautiful lady followed closely. Her hair swayed every so slightly as she walked.

It was Arke and Cyrille.

The sky was still bright, a few past midday. Around them, carriages carrying various wares and supplies constantly passed by. Workers and vendors all did their daily routines as well. The chatter-

“-Look at that beauty-”||”-discounts available while supplies last-”||”-Kazuma! Kazuma! Don’t leave me behind Kazuma-”||”-her arm is bleeding-”||”-shut up you worthless goddess, if you didn’t use that stupid spell-”||”-they’re adventurers, look at their clothes. Nothing to-”

-of course, was something that the two ignored along with the glances of the people around them. Perhaps it was Cyrille’s silky hair or her cool eyes- perhaps it was Arke’s unnerving appearance- or both.

Cyrille pointed towards a relatively tall building. Only when compared to the others at least. “That’s the guild hub right? Up ahead.”

Arke nodded.

The same exact guild hub. Though, unlike when the two first came, only a single guard stood in front of the main entrance. Light leather armour, a simple spear- even his posture and the way he carried himself didn’t give any impression that he was a guard.

Adventurers passed the guard without much incident. Though, a few new adventurers were stopped at the front and seemed to be talking to the guard who was explaining something about a fee.

Arke’s expression didn’t change. Though, his mask seemed to glare at the guard.

“...”

Cyrille glanced to her side. Her expression was neutral- or rather had a blank smile on her face. Her eyes didn’t share the same happiness as her smile though.

“You know-” Cyrille tilted her head. “Couldn’t we just let Eclair or her colleagues handle this? They have to finish up either way like always, so I don’t understand why you insist on always doing this.”

“Are you really willing to place your trust on people you barely know?”

“I was an adventurer before, you know. I’ve done so many times over without much of a problem.”

“Then I’m sure we both remember how that end-”

Before Arke could finish his words, he turned towards Cyrille. Her eyes narrowed and her gaze went to the ground. It seemed that Arke’s words held a lot of weight.

“I apologize. That was insensitive of me.”

At those words, Cyrille’s expression returned to her blank smile. “No- you’re right. Blind trust like that is a double edged sword” she chuckled. “There’s no need to apologize.”

A female adventurer walked passed the two from the direction of the guild hub. She looked like a newbie adventurer. Her armour was bare minimum leather on top of regular clothes. Her weapon was a simple short sword.

It seemed nothing was out of the ordinary- until closer look. Her cheek was red and slightly swollen, though she tried to hide it with her hand. Her hair was also in a bit of a mess. Perhaps there was a small fight in the hub.

“Still-”

“I’ve been with you for a while now, Arke. I’m kind of used to your blunt and honest way of talking. I don’t dislike it, to be honest. It’s refreshing.”

“Refreshing?”

“You constantly remind me that reality is different from what I imagine. You don’t hide bitter truths unlike most others- nor do you try to sweet talk just to get close to me-”

Arke hesitated to respond. “I see. Well, if it grounds you in reality, then it’s for the better.”

The two were almost at the entrance. The guard that stood on the side of it held his spear tighter, and closer to him. His knees trembled ever so slightly as he stared at the two walking towards him. It looked as if he’d seen the grim reaper himself.

Without a single word, Arke and Cyrille pass by. In fact, neither of them so much as glanced at the man as they passed.

Inside the hub, the atmosphere was still the same. Adventurers getting drunk and chatting. Some maintaining their equipment. Et cetera.

Though, it was much livelier than when the two first came. A lot of new faces, be it travelling adventurers or newbies, were among the crowd. Not that either of them payed attention or remembered each person’s face.

Aside from the glances at Cyrille, nobody actually paid much attention to the two as they walked through the hub- or it seemed like it. The receptionist that the two had talked to before had a cold sweat run down her face as she stared at the two. Surprisingly, she still had a calm and gentle smile on her.

Cyrille walked behind Arke.

“-first round’s on me boys-”||”-oi that lady’s back, wait her-”||”-oi, you spilled your food on me-”||”-you bloody walked into me you piece of-”||”-I’ll be back Aqua, just- stay here… Sneak-”||”-that lady’s finally gone-”

The two reach the receptionist. Arke leaned forwards. His mask’s furious glowing eyes seemed to glare straight at the receptionist.

“W- Welcome back Faulken and Shizu. I hope that the journey wasn’t too bad.” The receptionist gave her usual smile. “I was honestly getting slightly worried since you haven’t been back for a while.”

Indeed, Arke and Cyrille left early in the morning yesterday. As far as others were concerned, they’ve been out on their quest for well over an entire day now.

“The journey was no problem. It was easy” Arke replied.

Cyrille simply stood behind him. Rather odd considering that Arke let Cyrille do majority of the talking in most cases.

“I see”

“Well- it took a while, but we finished the quest. Here’s what we managed to retrieve.”

Arke pulled out a small glass container. Inside it, a single Moonlight Rose faintly glowed. As he placed it on the counter, the receptionist seemed to freeze. If only for a split second, her eyes widened.

“Ah, perfect. Then would you please hand over the quest card?”

Arke nodded as he slid the card, along with his adventurer I.D, forwards. The receptionist pulled out different books and parchments and began to jot down on them. She examined a dozen or so things.

“Where did you find these, if you don’t mind me asking-... in case there’s any need in the near future for more” she glanced at Arke. “Of course, we’d be willing to offer more coin for such information.”

Her words flowed smoothly- though an odd pause occurred at certain parts.

“We’d simply found them near the border. There’s a lot of them usually found there, as you may know.”

“The border-”

= = = = = = = = = = = =

The border. When one thinks of a country’s border, they probably imagine nonexistent lines. Looking at the maps, they would be marked by a line or something similar. In person, those borders don’t even seem to exist in most cases.

In most cases.

As with everything else in this world- nothing is ever simple. Nothing is ever flat. Black and White.

The border. Large towers stood tall in the flatlands. They reached as far as the eye could see, standing an almost perfectly equal distance from one another.

They were Ancient Constructs similar to the one in Langite. Though, these ones were smaller and, of course, much more numerous. Some had already crumbled to the ground. Some had parts that broke off. Some were barely held together with what looked like vines.

One thing that all of them had in common was that they all looked ancient. Unmaintained. They stood like guardian statues rising from the snow covered land.

One side mirrored the other- it seemed-. On one side, the land looked mostly the same. Mostly. Craters of various sizes were scattered on one side. Along with it, hundreds- perhaps thousands- of beast corpses littered the land. Of course, they were scattered fairly far apart from each other as opposed to being bunched up together.

On the other side, further back into the snow covered flatlands. Much further back. A wall that spanned almost as far as the Ancient Constructs reached-

= = = = = = = = = = = =

In front of the receptionist, two adventurers stood. Their names were Faulken and Shizu. A figure wearing an eerie mask and a beautiful lady.

Or, at least that’s what she knew. The truth was it was Arke and Cyrille.

“Yes, near the border. I assumed that information was already well known.”

The receptionist nodded.

Inside her head, things seemed to click. Langite was a merchant hub near the borders. If the two in front of her were to take horses, they’d be able to reach either border in less than half a day. The trip back and forth would’ve left plenty of time to spare to look for Moonlight Roses.

That explained why the two haven’t been back for an entire day. Not to mention that it was fairly well known that Moonlight Roses grew near the border.

“I see-”

Though, something still didn’t make sense in her head. Ragna was suspicious of the two and basically thought of them as enemies. Yet, it didn’t add up.

The trackers that they had placed on the two haven’t reported anything unusual. Ragna has yet to return from the ruins and hadn’t sent anyone back. Perhaps they were suspicious of the wrong people.

To add to it- in her hands was a container with a single Moonlight Rose. If the two in front of her were truly enemies, there was no reason to risk coming back. Let alone finishing the quest that they had taken.

She pondered.

These two can’t be responsible- was her judgement. The enemy was someone else.

“Is something wrong” Arke asked.

The receptionist shook her head and responded. “Ah, I apologize. It’s just been a fairly long day already.” She began to jot down on the books again.

A few moments pass.

“Also, is the quest you mentioned when we first came here still available? If it is, we’d be more than happy to assist with it now.”

A question that seemingly came out of nowhere.

“Ah, not quite. A few others have already shown interest in it and took the quest” she responded immediately.

It seemed that her suspiciousness of the two had subsided as she didn’t think too much of her words- or their’s.

“Oh?”

“Yes, newbie adventurer had requested it. Though I, and along with a few veteran adventurers, warned them about taking the quest. They still did though.”

A lie.

“Unfortunately, the adventurer’s lover wasn’t too happy that her beloved hasn’t come back yet- Unfortunate but as with adventuring, life is always at risk. It got to the point that Reonold had to kindly show her out.”

A discreet jab at the lady who was causing a commotion earlier.

“Reonold? Is he a regular here of some sort?”

The receptionist nodded. “He’s the younger brother of Ragna- the one you met last night.”

“I see.”

“Well- eitherway. Until at least two days pass, we can’t relinquish the quest’s rights” she sighed. “If only newbie adventurers would value their lives more and abandon the quest if they think they couldn’t finish it- I apologize, I’m simply ranting now.”

The receptionist pulled out a book with a lot of bookmarks and writing on it.

Arke tilted his head ever so slightly. “No- No. That much is true. One should always value their lives.”

“Yes, exactl-”

Before she could finish her words, Cyrille walked forwards. Her bloodied sleeve, which was hidden from the receptionist’s view, became visible. At the same time, Arke placed two adventurer I.D onto the table. He placed a single finger on top of his mask, in a gesture to keep quiet.

“Y- Ragn-” The receptionist stuttered.

She read the names on the bloodied adventurer I.Ds. They were from the two that accompanied Ragna.

“You also value your life, I assume. Though you may not be an adventurer, you know what it’s like to live knowing that tomorrow could be your last” Arke whispered.

“...”

“If you value your life, then let’s make a deal.”

“...”

“I’m not part of the Thieves Guild- that’s why I’m here right now. And because I’m not part of it, I can easily let you go and spare your life tonight.”

“...”

“If not, then you’ll die along with the rest… at best… At worst-.”

“You think… You think that you can get away with killing-”

“Me? Killing?”

“...”

“I’m not the one you should be worried about. The Thieves Guild’s men should be heading here as we speak. Once they get here, it won’t be much of a problem for them to connect you with Ragna.”

Arke stared at the book that the receptionist was writing on. True enough, it contained information of dozens upon dozens of adventurers along with the quest that they took. Among them, a few were crossed out, including the most recent one just before Faulken and Shizu. The adventurer that took the quest to investigate strange noises in the ruins. The adventurer who’s lover caused a commotion earlier. The adventurer who was among the corpses around the Drake, with it’s blood spilt on the ground to give life to the Moonlight Roses.

A few moments of silence pass by. Arke was about to move away-

“Fine… what do you want?”

“Simply tell me who else here knows about me and my companion. Whoever Ragna told to be suspicious of me.”

“That’s- That’s all?”

Arke nodded.

“If I do- you promise to let me go? You swear to let me escape this town safely?”

Again, he nodded.

She bit her lip as she stared at the bloodied adventurer I.Ds in front of her.

= = = = = = = = = = = =

A few hours had passed since Arke and Cyrille visited the guild hub. The sky was a beautiful blue outside of the hub. The sun’s light wasn’t as harsh.

Arke and Cyrille sat on a table near the corner of the place.

“-it’s been a while since those two sat down-”||”-another beer would ye lil-”||”-have you heard that another newbie got done in by that-”||”-don’t ye try yer hand at talking to that-”||”-they seem out of your league, and mine, and everyone-”||”-Kazuma, where are you kazuma-”

The chatter in the hub was as normal as one could get. Earlier, people glanced at Arke and Cyrille nonstop, but after a while it seems their attention went to other things.

“C’mon, you sure you don’t want to drink even just a little bit to pass the time by” Cyrille said.

In front of her, a glass half filled with wine from a intricately decorated bottle. It must’ve cost a fair amount. Looking around, the bottles that other adventurers drank seemed tame and cheap. Even the glasses that some held was of a cheaper design and feel than to the one Cyrille was drinking from.

“It’s not as strong as others, plus it’s actually delicious.”

Cyrille’s face was slightly red. The upper part of her coat was opened.

“I’ll pass.”

Opposite of her, Arke simply had a glass of water. Though, he still had his mask on. In fact, the water he had hasn’t even been touched since the two sat down.

“Why don’t you ever drink? Not fond of the taste of alcohol?”

“Yes. And it cloud’s a person’s judgement. That alone could be a fatal, or at least a regrettable, mistake.”

“... so you had a bad experience when you got a little too drunk?...”

Arke simply shrugged his shoulders.

Before Cyrille could speak any further, a few people began to make a commotion.

“-oi, those two are gonna go at it-”||”-bet’s on the guy on the left-”||”-i say that they’re both going to back out-”||”-Kazuma, oi Kazuma, a brawl, a brawl-”

Arke and Cyrille glance towards the side. Indeed, across the room, two adventurers were pushing each other.

A sly smile appeared on Cyrille’s face. “Want to bet Arke?”

“We already share our coin, what’s there to bet?”

Cyrille chuckled. “I say the guy on the left will win. If I’m right, you’re gonna drink a glass of this” she pushed the bottle beside her forwards.

Arke seemingly glared at the bottle for a moment before he responded.“They’ll both back down.”

Cyrille, surprised by Arke’s response, simply smiled.

The two drunk adventurers were now in the middle of a small clearing in the hub. While Cyrille and Arke looked away, a few other adventurers cleared the tables and chairs away.

Even though it was a brawl, not as many people paid attention. The receptionists ignored it, not even bothering to look. Most other adventurers also ignored it. The few who did look were the ones making bets as well as the ones who actually knew one of the two. Combined, it wasn’t even a quarter of the people currently in the hub.

The apathy and bystander syndrome that everyone else displayed was just disgusting.

“Oh, there they go.”

A single heavy punch straight into the stomach.

“-oi oi, the guy on the right already looks”-||”- nyahaha, I knew it, be prepared to pay up Kazuma-”||”-another beer will you miss-”||”-oi, break it up before-”

A retaliatory punch that was just as heavy. The two moved more tactically and patiently. Rather than a bar brawl, it looked more like a boxing match.

Another punch.

Then a few more.

Around the two, small areas in the air began to distort. In fact, it had been distorting ever since the first punch. The low pulsing sound of Catalyst activating could also be faintly heard.

Odd. The two didn’t seem to be magus and nobody among the crowd seemed to be a magus as well.

As the distortions slowly became more noticeable, the two backed off almost at the same time, lowering their hands as well-

“-see, they both backed off, I win-”||”-useless water goddess-”||”-an *hic* another one for me-”||”-why are you-”

Cyrille’s expression had a small tint of unamusement as she glanced at Arke, who was already staring at her with his glowing eyes- his mask’s of course.

“...”

“...”

“Well?”

“Hm?”

“You won the bet, what do you want-”

“I never said I agreed to the bet. I just said that they’d both back down.”

“Eh, that’s no fun” Cyrille said as she pouted, fiddling with her glass.

“At least I’m sticking with my honesty.”

At that moment, a handful of hooded adventurers entered the hub. They looked like a group or party that had just returned from a quest based on how rugged their clothes looked. Each wore simple leather armour underneath their cloaks. It seemed normal enough, until the last one walked in.

The man held what looked like a logbook firmly in his hands as he scoured the hub for something or someone. Once his eyes found Arke and Cyrille, he immediately turned his gaze away and walked towards the two using a fairly indirect route.

“Good to see the two of you are doing well. Relaxing a bit after your quest?”

Arke nodded as Cyrille smiled.

“Though- I wasn’t expecting the two of you to still be in town” the man added as he sat down. “If you’re worried about- that- then no need. We aren’t like that traitorous whore. We’ll do our job properly, as always.”

Traitorous whore- the man referred to Eclair. Behind Arke’s mask, his face showed a slight hint of displeasure.

“Oh, it’s not that. I do trust you to take care of it” Arke said a very convincing lie. “We’re simply taking a small break before heading out tonight.”

“I see” the man glanced at Cyrille’s bloodied arm which was slightly hidden below the table. “My apologies for assuming otherwise.” He bowed his head and was about to stand up until Arke spoke-

“Though, while we were here, I decided to do a bit of work.”

“Oh?

Arke slid a small piece of folded parchment towards the man. Inside, a dozen or so names were written along with other useful information about them.

Among the names were the guard outside the entrance, Ragna’s younger brother, a few other adventurers. Most were names of people that knew about Ragna leaving for the ruins and about Faulken and Shizu.

As the man read the contents, he glanced at Arke. “And you’re willing to give this for free? My, it seems that our work has already been cut by a large amount.”

“That’s all we could find out. There may be more of them that you need to greet. So don’t just rely on that.”

Oddly, among those names and descriptions, the receptionist that the two talked to wasn’t even mentioned.

At the area where the receptionists were, one was nowhere to be found. The one whose name wasn't on the parchment.

The man nodded. “Of course, we’ll still do our job properly as we can. Otherwise, we wouldn’t really be fit for this job.”

“That goes for all of us.”

The man chuckled under his breath. “Very much so.”

Arke nodded as the man left and joined his fellow adventurers. Beside Arke, Cyrille was patiently listening to the conversation while sipping her beverage.

Her face was becoming extremely red.

“You should really stop drinking now …”

“I’m still fine though.”

True, her speech and movement didn’t seem to be affected at all. She still seemed fine, other than her face.

“...”

“...”

= = = = = = = = = = = =

Outside the hub, a man walked down the street. He was accompanied by a fellow adventurer. His looks resembled Ragna. It was fairly obvious- it was Ragna’s younger brother.

His face twisted in a rather unusual way. An emotion that he couldn’t fathom. Perhaps it was anger, perhaps it was worry. Whatever that feeling was, it made him contort his face in disgust.

“Reonold, how much longer do you plan to walk around town like this.”

Ragna’s younger brother- Reonold- ignored the question.

“We’ve been walking around since noon.”

The man looked at the red tinted sky. Dusk was slowly approaching.

“...”

“...”

Reonold’s clothes were the exact same that he wore when the lady at the hub threw alcohol on him. The stench of it was still fairly strong. Though, it wasn’t exactly foul. Compared to what most adventurers go through, the stench of alcohol was much more welcome.

“...”

“...”

“Ragna should be coming back soon right?”

Reonold flinched as he heard it. Of course, his brother was a person he looked up to. He was the leader of his clan as well.

“I know- I know.”

As the two walked, a Catalyst on a necklace swung back on forth. Reonold was a magus. As one would expect from the younger brother of a clan’s leader.

“We should head back soon though.”

Reonold nodded as he bumped into the shoulder of a woman. He didn’t even apologize.

“-how rude of that little-”||”-quiet, that’s an adventurer-”||”-discounted prices for the remaining-”||”-Waga na wa Megumin-”||”-are you alright-”||”-move out of the way, heavy-”

As the two approached the guild hub, an uneasy feeling welled up inside Reonold. The guard that they had watching the entrance to collect fees from newbies was nowhere to be found.

“Oi, is that little piece of crud really slacking on us?”

“Maybe my brother’s back-”

Reonold began to increase his walking speed. Racing towards the guild hub’s entrance. Though, the closer he got, the more it felt that something was off.

It was then that a hooded man bumped into him.

“I beg ye pardon me good sir” the man bowed his head before turning around and racing off again.

Of course, Reonold ignored it and simply kept heading towards the hub. Who’s fault it was- he didn’t care for. Don’t get in my way- was probably what his philosophy was when it came to.. walking..

Inside the hub, he turned his head from side to side. Though- something felt even more off. The receptionist that he talked to wasn’t there. The guard from the front wasn’t there either. In fact, anywhere he looked, no familiar face was to be seen.

Perhaps they’re at the back room- he probably thought.

But before he could finish his thoughts, his eyes were met with a handful of hooded men scattered across the hub. All of them glanced at him.

A chill ran down his spine. Without making a commotion, he silently lowered his head. He turned around and went outside.

“Oi, Reonold, what’s wrong- looks like you’ve seen-”

Before the man could finish his words, Reonold walked past him with his head held down. The exact same that he was when Ragna hadn’t come back in the morning. The man probably thought that Reonold was simply having another fit. He simply ignored it and went inside the hub.

In the back of Reonold’s head- the words of his elder brother resounded.

-ever find a handful of hooded adventurers- the rats of the thieves guild- ever come through and I’m not here. Leave the town and go to the spot I told you about. I’ll meet you there. There’s no need to-

Those words. Reonold thought about it and something in his mind clicked. A simple logic to follow. His elder brother must be waiting for him at that place. That was why he hasn’t returned. Even if he did fail. Even if the Thieves Guild was really at their doorstep. It didn’t matter as long as the two of them survived.

Once he got far enough from the hub, his friend got out of the entrance. He looked as if he was panicking, turning from left to right as he looked for something- or rather someone. Behind him, a couple of the hooded men stepped out and followed him.

It was obvious. He wasn’t going to get away from the hooded men. Both of them knew that. Though, Reonold had planned that. A decoy. A bait. A sacrifice so that he could escape.