Rows of candles shine on the inside of the adventurers' guild, making the building glow faintly in the dark of the night.

At the polished counter set into a hole in the wall on the end of a long room, haggard Patrak is shaking while trying to support himself with a cane. He slouches, with a crude cast around his arm and a bandage around the other upper arm. His forehead is wrapped with a tattered dirty red cloth. Bruises are visible across his face, streaks of freshly dried blood which sept down the side from under the bandage.

「Aie... c'mon, don't ya remember all those times I've acted as a guard for this stinkin' place? Just give me a lil' service won't ya?」 his voice is nasal.

「No can do, Mr. Patrak. You've been a great service to us in times of need, and for that, we sincerely thank you. However, we cannot offer you our high quality potions unless you give us sufficient funds. If you want, we have a great selection of lower quality potions priced very competitively,」 a short lanky man replies with a monotone voice, standing across the counter.

His deadpan expression is complemented by ears resembling that of a goat. Two small horns protrude from the top of his head and curve to either side.

He gives Patrak a blank smile when their eyes meet.

「I already told ya, these shit potions are too freakin' expensive. I just need nuff' to be able ta walk properly dammit! Help a brotha' out, won't ya?」 Patrak asks with desperation.

「We cannot offer you a discount, our selection of potions of lower quality are priced very competitively. Would you like to buy one?」 the lanky beast-man replies, his expression unchanging.

Patrak grinds his teeth, releases his cane, and slams the counter with his hand.

「You cheap fucker! How many times do I need to tell ya!? Why do ya keep repeating the same thing! Just give me that potion already!」 he shouts while the cane hits the wooden floor with a dull thud.

「We apologize but we cannot offer you any potions unless you can supply sufficient funds,」 the beast-man replies, unflinching.

Patrak lunges with his arm stretched out, but it's stopped midair by a large green hand grabbing it around the wrist.

「Oww!! Wait! Fuck! Ow!! I get it, I get it already, that fucking hurts!」 Patrak groans.

Over him looms a big, armored orc with a scar across his entire left cheek and big yellow tusks poking out of his mouth.

「Patrak, The Dual Wielder. Fallen on tough times, eh? Looks like you finally got what your pea-sized brain had coming. How 'bout you scram before I make both arms equally broken?」

A sinister smirk paints across the orc's green face.

Patrak responds with a painful grin before backing off, picking up his cane and trying his best to walk towards the exit in a hurry, stumbling a few times along the way.

「We thank you for having used our services,」 he hears the same monotone voice on his way out.

§

「Fuck that Graka, didn't we use to go out hunting together?」 Patrak is grumbling to himself while examining his wrist and limping along. He smiles briefly as he spots the tavern in the distance.

Trying to pick up his speed, he passes by a tall hooded and cloaked figure leaning up against an adjoint building. Suddenly losing the support of his cane, he lurches to the ground and swears again.

Groaning in pain he looks around in search for his cane.

「Yo, Patrak,」 a pleasantly hoarse and smoky feminine voice resounds from above and the hooded figure starts approaching him.

Patrak watches as she removes her hood, revealing her well-proportioned face, brown skin, shiny grey pupils, and light grey long hair, braided in two pigtails reaching down to her bosom.

She has pointy, medium-length ears, their ends charred in a gradient going all the way to black.

「Who? An elf? Whaddya want?」 Patrak asks the stranger with a confused face.

「Half... A half-elf... I thought you of all people would've been able to tell?」 the half-elf peers at Patrak with disapproving eyes. 「What a sad state you're in, but I'll cut to the chase - it looks like your time is up, Patrak. Someone wants you dead」

Patrak's pupils contract. 「Huh? W-w-what? Who does? Is it that Melan wench?」 he asks with a wobbling voice.

A few people walk along an arc around the two and avert their eyes as they pass by.

The half-elf pulls out a long and thin black sword with a curved end and intricate decorations on the black hilt from underneath her long black cloak.

Patrak's face turns pale as he tries getting back up. Slipping and falling, he proceeds to crawl backward, away from her as she walks along with him nonchalantly.

He groans with pain and starts trying to move faster.

「Hiiiii~ I'm sorry. Tell her I didn't mean to hurt her! Please spare my life! I beg you! I'm sorry!」 but the half-elf blocks his path by striking down her sword into the ground close to his head.

She locks eyes with him and crouches down to face him while moving a loose tuft of hair behind her ear.

「Melan? Who is Melan? Is that the one who did this to you? Tell me everything,」 she commands with a raspy tinge in her voice but otherwise an uncaring expression on her face.

「H-huh? It's not Melan? Then who?」 he asks, but with a nudge from her sword, he tells her everything about the stunning woman he'd never seen before coming to the tavern he frequents, his attempt to drug her drink, and then how easily she protected herself and beat them up with mysterious powerful magic.

「That... is a weird spell indeed. Almost like... no, first time I've heard of it,」 the half-elf says with intrigue after hearing the entire story.

「Are you sure she cast magic without any incantation?」 she asks him, toying with the hilt of the sword, her eyes showing a slight change of color to dark grey.

「Y-yes! I swear! I saw it with my own eyes! That woman was nuts!」 Patrak says with clear desperation in his voice.

The half-elf's eyes change back to their original color and she stands up, using her sword as support.

Standing tall on her long legs, she towers menacingly over him.

「Hmmm... That's pretty interesting. Thank you,」 she says before pulling out her sword from the ground and raising it above her head. 「We're done here.」

「Hey! Wa—」 Patrak only manages to exclaim.

A severed head rolls across the ground, its eyes losing glimmer.

§§§

「Is it done?」 a rough deep voice echoes in a dark room absent of any kind of light.

「Yes, master,」 a half-elf with charred ears and braided pigtails is kneeling on one leg.

「Dar-an. Anything else?」 the deep voice asks in a curt manner.

「Yes, master. He was already weak and injured when I found him. I got from him that a powerful mage named Melan was responsible. Someone who is able to use advanced magic in Wilderness,」 the half-elf replied, her voice calm.

A few moments of silence pass before the deep voice resounds, 「Investigate. Dispose of her if she'll be a problem.」

「Yes, master.」

「Someone else has been snooping around trying to find out about the Regis of Wilderness. Investigate. Start with the watchers down south.」

「Yes, master.」

Silence looms in the dark room again.

「Uhm.. master?」 the half-elf asks with a tense voice, but she hears no response as moments of silence pass again.

「R-reward...」 she finally says quietly with a tinge of disappointment.

「Come here,」 the deep voice commands with an authoritative tone.

「... yes ❤ master...」 her voice flutters, suddenly lively and excited.