“The voice.. Who was that voice?”

The boy continuously pondered as the travel came to a close with him arriving at a settlement. A city surrounded by several meter-high walls; a mote surrounding said walls.

There were various people lined out front towards the gate, and the boy was found at the back of this line.

And, when he looked over the line, he could see that guardsmen were stopping everyone coming into the city; checking their wares.

“It looks like its a customs checkpoint..”

He looked over the cart and noticed that supplies he carried looked and smelt of the party (which the boy has a vivid flashback of). There was no mistaking the owners of the belongings.

That would also be compounded by the fact that he couldn’t speak a lick of Common. But, he somehow understood the language, which was an odd state of affairs all things considered.

Beside this, he needed to figure out how he was going to get past customs.

Nevertheless, as he was thinking of ways to slip by, he overheard a conversation between two people of this world.

From the conversation, he could understand, there was something about a country in a foreign land experiencing a sudden influx of undead abominations. These two people argued over whether or not this was to be the Lich Lords’ doing.

“Lich Lords’? Undead?” He thought about the prospect of their being undead creatures walking among them. “I must be in some kind of fantasy world… But what kind of world this is… I can only guess…”

As the line became shorter and shorter, and his time gradually came to an end, Filius’ only means was to face the customs official face-first.

Thus when his cart finally arrived at this portcullis-like construction of a gate, he could see that the official was taken aback by the appearance of both him and the cart.

“Excuse me boy,” the official started with a bit of a hoarse tone. “Do you happen to know the three-man party known as the ‘Tristle’s Rose?’”

The boy simply nodded.

“What happened to them? I see you brought their cart back, but I do not see them anywhere.”

“How do I explain this without being able to speak Common?”

The boy proceeded to play charades with the custom official, who seemed rather aggravated by this.

“I’m not going to be playing twenty syllables with you kid! Ey! You there!” He points out a guard who stiffens at the call. “Go and make sure this cart is returned to their homestead and have this kid file a report with the Adventurer’s Guild. They’ll take care of him.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” The guard patted the side of the cart and pointed inside the city-walls.

“That was easy.. Almost too easy…”

★ ★ ★

The guard, whose name was revealed to be Ealdwin of Newberry, brought the cart to a two-story brick home that was nestled among others of the same make.

Setting the cart out front, a father and daughter came stepping out in hopes of seeing their beloved mother and company.

However, those hopes were quickly shot down by arrows when they saw that it was just Filius and Ealdwin.

The father looked particularly disgruntled at this scene and immediately turn his attention to the guard who had a bit of fearful presence about him. To Fillius, this man never liked situations such as this.

“Where’s my wife?”

“We don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know??” The father raising his voice.

“Sir,” Ealdwin held up his hands in a calming gesture, “We’re trying to get to the bottom of this. Which is why,” he gestures to Filius, “We’re having this young lad make a report at the Adventurer’s Guild to give us a better picture as to why he was the only one to return with your wife’s cart.”

“There’s no need to make a report! It’s as clear as the skies above! She didn’t come back! She’s probably dead out there! Or worse yet, this little runt killed her!” He pointed at Filius who seemed increasingly uncomfortable at the escalation.

“Sir. We do not know all the details. When we know all the details we will contact you. In the meantime, he’s your cart.” Ealdwin gestured for Filius to disembark, in which he did reluctantly for fear of meeting this father’s wrath headon.

The daughter, during this, seemed oddly quiet. It looks as though she was stowing her hatred. But Filius could tell that she wanted to know where her mother was, and Filius could do nothing but watch.

★ ★ ★

After a few more minutes of staggered conversation that essentially devolved into shouting match between the two grown men, Filius was whisked away by Ealdwin.

The two of them eventually found themselves at the front doors of the Adventurer’s Guild. The building was built with the same materials as most of the other buildings in this city, but it was definitely made to house quite a few more people than what was originally intended. Several windows dot its front, with a thatched roof sloping over the edge by just a half-meter.

A single crest hangs just above the door to let passerbys know that this is, infact, the Adventurer’s Guild. The crest has a sword crossed over a shield bolded with an “AG” in the middle.

After examining the front-half of the building, both Ealdwin and Filius stepped inside to a world that was much different than outside.

He was greeted to people having a laugh at several tables, people cheering with drinks, and others strategizing their next quest; lots of merrymaking to go around.

“So there’s still light in a dull world.”

Filius was brought over to the front desk where a male desk clerk was awaiting them with a smile and a bow. “How may I help you today guardsman?”

“I’ve come bearing some bad news.”

“Like what sir?” The male clerk’s smile dampens slightly.

“This young lad,” he holds Filius’ spiky white hair, “Apparently arrived at our gates with a cart belonging to the Thistle’s Rose. We dropped off the cart at the owner’s residence, and now this boy here has come to file a report.”

The male clerk leans over the counter and down at the boy, giving a quick glance over before leaning back and sighing heavily. “I told those three to not head into the forest for that Rune Wolf quest without at least having three more people with them.”

Ealdwin raised a brow at this. “You mean to tell me that the Thistle’s Rose went on a suicide quest??”

The male clerk, reluctantly, nodded to the question.

Ealdwin gave an exasperated sigh before turning and walking out; not even saying his farewells.

“Well that is to be expected when dealing with guardsmen,” a voice from behind the male clerk emerges.

“Ah! Guildmaster. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. The guardsmen corps dropped this boy off who, apparently, has connections with the Thistle’s Rose who went on that suicide quest.”

“Hm,” the deep baritone voice leaned over the counter and eyed the boy, “Bring him to my office immediately. I want to have a chat with him.”

“Certainly sir!” The male clerk shot up from his seat and proceeded to guide Filius through the halls before arriving at another set of double doors that, when opened, revealed a beautifully put together office with a fireplace and the like.

The boy was placed in one of the cushioned seats that sat right in front of the desk.

The male clerk leaned down with a facade-like smile, “The Guildmaster will be right with you, so please make yourself comfortable.”

After that brief statement, the male clerk steps out with silence only filling the brightly lit room. Leaving Filius alone with his own thoughts.