Volya is sitting on the chair with a desk in front of him. The candle on the desk lights the room where he stays at Lerwick.

On the desk, paper scattered across it. Even some of them are falling to the floor.

He sighs and looks at the unfamiliar yet nostalgic scenery in front of him. The clear night sky full with stars and the city that is asleep. He only heard the footsteps of the guard that patrols the area.

He then backs reading the paper and looks at the mirror. He could see his tired face reflected. He then chuckled and says,

"If Helena or Gracia see this face, they will lecture me for a long time."

He looks at the paper once more and resolves,

"After I finish this one, I will take my sleep."

Right now, Volya, Romain, Gracia, and Helena are in the middle of a mission to protect one of the nobles of Ostonorid that live at Lerwick. His name is Reginald Lawrence, and from the mission description, he stated that a killer is targeting him.

Before he met him, Volya thought that he would act like the noble at Haegia. Kind and easy to approach if there is a problem.

After he met him, that impression vanished at their first meeting. Volya even hoped that his mission finished as soon as possible. He treats his subordinate poorly and looks down on him and his teams.

Not only that, but Reginald also didn't mention that he also hired another group of Adventurers to protect him. And when they ask whether he will pay full to both parties, he said that it will be split between both parties and he will not pay more than stated.

At that time, one person from the other team showed his disapproval to Reginald and that is enough to make Reginald furious. He immediately ordered his knight to take his head to him. Without any complaint, the knight drags the person and executes it in front of everyone. His friend tried to save him but Reginald's knight held them.

Volya also tried to help the person. But judging from Reginald's action until now, he knows that he needs to be careful or it will harm Romain, Gracia, and Helena.

After the commotion, Reginald immediately ordered the adventurers to do their job and dismiss them. Volya then gathered all of the adventurers and made a little plan with help from Helena.

After they separate their way to their inn, Volya gathers Gracia, Romain, and Helena to discuss what they need to do. From that discussion, Helena agreed to not reveal who she is and see Reginald's action from the eye of a commoner.

And they also discuss the difficulty to send the letter without anybody noticing them as Reginald ordered his knights to watch over the adventurers with a group of two until three knights.

Now, it's been a week since that incident. All of them work as stated on their contract, but Volya noticed something. The number of knights that follow him is increasing in the last few days. From there he knew that Reginald was suspicious of him.

He then sighs once more and mumbles,

"There is no document that mentions this serial killer. Why did they don't have such a document for a big crime like this?"

He then looks at the ceiling for a moment and hears someone knock on the door. From the number of knocks, he knows who comes to his room this late. He then says,

"Just open the door and come in. I didn't lock the door."

The door is opened and a man with greyish hair and wearing a beige shirt, leather armour, and dark chocolate pants stands at the door. On his face, Volya could see a scar across his nose and he lost sight on his left eye.

Volya immediately stands up and offers the seat to him. That man is Markos Luis, the leader of the adventurer team that protects Reginald. He is a well-known adventurer at Ostonorid and many adventurers admire him. There is a myth that if someone joins his team, their future as an adventurer is bright.

As Markos sits on the chair, Volya closes the door and asks him,

"It's really rare for you to come to my room this late, Markos. Is there something happening?"

"No... I just want to meet you and have a little chat," answer Markos

Volya nods at Markos, walks to his bed, sits on the bed, and snaps his finger. A white magic circle is created under them and vanishes into thin air. He then asks,

"Do the knights still follow you?"

"Yes, they are. What a drag" replied Markos

"Do they wait outside like the one that follows me or do they wait in front of my room?"

"They only wait outside. The innkeeper hate them and immediately kick them out," jokes Markos

"Hahahahaha... Nice one, innkeeper."

Both of them laugh a bit and then their faces start to become serious. Markos looks at the paper and asks Volya,

"Do you have any new clues?"

"Unfortunately, no. It's really strange for incomplete information from an official document. Even they didn't mention about a murder at all," replied Volya

"So, he hides any incident at Lerwick."

"It seems that's the case."

"What a bummer..."

"What about on your side? Do you get any information about him or the serial killer?"

"About that... We are in the middle of gathering information about Reginald Lawrence. I remember his foul rumour at Guild Hall at the Capital."

"That's good. If you find anything, please inform me."

"The same goes for you. Please inform me if you find something from the paper."

Both of them nod at each other and then silence falls on the room. But not for too long as Volya asks Markos,

"Markos, you are the well-known adventurer at Ostonorid, right?"

"If you put it that way, I could say... Yes, I am," reply Markos

"Then, do you have any information about any serial killer at Ostonorid? Especially at Lerwick."

"Unfortunately, because there is some serial killer at Ostonorid, I'm not sure whether they do their crime at Lerwick or not,"

"Maybe you could list some of them?"

"Sure... Like the Londinium Slasher, The Twin, Brunwick Stabber, and Smiling Angel of Death..."

Volya can't hide his surprise after hearing the last name. He can't believe that Gracia created terror at Ostonorid.

Markos looks at Volya and smiles. He then continues,

"At least one of them is here..."

"What do you mean?" asks Volya as his skin becomes a little bit pale.

"The Smiling Angel of Death..."

"Isn't she already..."

"The Guild already mentions that she is already dead. But, I see her with my eyes again..."

"..."

"And I see her here..."

"..."

"And it seems she got a new name. Gracia Ravelli."

"It's..."

"When I saw her again, I could see that a lot of things had changed about her. In the past when I fought her, she was like an undead. Doesn't have any will and moves around aimlessly."

"..."

"But now... She is different. Maybe I could say that, The Smiling Angel of Death is already dead. But she is reborn as a new girl. A cute and pure girl that I saw for the last one week."

"Eh?"

"So... What did you do to change her?"

"Well... I can't put it into words..."

Markos looks at Volya's embarrassed face and laughs at him. After he stops laughing, he then says,

"It seems you are the reason for her to change to become better."

"It's almost true..." replied Volya

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I think I am also responsible for her actions in the past as the murderer. She is just confused with everything..."

"Eh? What do you mean that you are also responsible?"

Volya could only shake his head as a sign that he also wants to know what happens to Gracia. Markos could see it from Volya's eye.

Markos smiles a bit at Volya, stands up, and strokes Volya's hair. He then says,

"I think it's better if we go back to our main concern now."

"You are right, Markos," said Volya as he smiles at Markos

"Then, what should we do now as the lack of information becomes the stumbling block for us?"

"Hmmm..."

Volya closes his eye for a while and then says,

"I think it would be better if we do our job as usual."

"Eh?"

"I will ask you and Valeria to patrol the east side of Reginald's palace," continues Volya

"Like usual..."

"And then I will ask Miklos, Dominik, Anna, and Frida to patrol the western and northern side of the palace with Gracia and Helena,"

"Oh... You switch Alfred and Dominik for tomorrow's shift, huh."

"Yes. Romain and Alfred will protect the main door and will follow Reginald everywhere."

"That seems like a good plan to me."

"Could you tell your team about this plan? I will ask the other three tomorrow morning."

"I will tell them about it."

"Thank you, Markos."

Volya then takes one of the papers from the floor and reads it again. Markos observes the young man in front of him and remembers what happened after the incident with his friend.

At first, his team worked at their own pace and disregarded help from Volya's group. Even they didn't care about Volya's suggestion.

But after Helena assured them about Volya's suggestion, their coordination with each team improved. Even they could know each team member better now.

Markos then takes a deep breath and asks Volya that is focused on reading the paper,

"Then, what will you do tomorrow?"

"I will guard the roof and inform you if something fishy happened near the palace. After all, I am the only mage that could use that type of magic in this group," answered Volya

"Ahahahahaha... Too bad Reginald executed my friend back then. If he was still alive, he could help you."

"Well... Because I am alone, it's easier for me to manoeuvre. And also that makes me the freest person out of all of us."

"I believe free is the wrong word to choose for this situation, Volya."

"Is that so?"

"It is"

Both of them then laughs together until Markos said,

"And you know, it's been a long time since I met Helena again. And I'm surprised that she became your team member."

"Huh? You know her?" asks Volya

"Yes, I know her. She is one prominent adventurer and I could say that she is indeed talented."

"Hmmm..."

"I don't know why she suddenly vanished from the world of an adventurer. At first, I thought she had already found her goal."

"Her goal?"

"Yes... To find her brother."

Volya looks at Markos for a moment and then he only smiles as he knows the reason why Helena's time is limited as an adventurer. But after hearing that goal, he suddenly thinks whether she already met her brother or not.

He then closes his eyes and hears Markos said,

"At least I know that she still hasn't found her brother yet. I think she is only taking some breather from the adventurer world."

"I think so..."

"And hopefully she finds her brother."

"I hope that could happen soon."

Both of them nods at each other and Markos notices that he takes a long time at Volya's room. Because he didn't want to cause any suspicion, he prepares to leave the room. Before he leaves the room, he looks at Volya and asks him,

"Before that, Volya... Are you sure you don't want to move to Ostonorid?"

"Yes, I told you back then that I will not move out from Haegia. I just become their citizen and I will never betray them," replied Volya

"If that's your answer, then I can't change it. See you tomorrow, Volya."

"See you, Markos."

After Markos leaves the room, Volya sighs a little as he looks at the ceiling. He then mumbles,

"Why is the information about the killer in the official document? Is that true that he is being targeted by the killer? And about the rumour about him that Markos mentioned, does it have a connection with the incident at Lerwick?"

He then looks at the paper once more and he remembers what his father taught him at Wildespring. He then mumbles,

"To know how someone will act, we should try to think and act like our target... If I am Reginald, what will I do and why must I clear that information from the official document..."

He then sighs once more and scratches his head a bit. After thinking a little bit more, he then chooses to sleep first before thinking about this problem further.