Dusk.
The skies above the capital of Eldoria had turned a bruised orange, casting long, dramatic shadows through the iron spires of the city’s towering walls.
At the massive front gates, two guardsn leaned against their halberds, letting out a wide yawn. It had been a quiet shift; the kind of boring afternoon that made a man look forward to a warm tavern and a heavy pint of ale.
Then, breaking the silence was the steady clatter of hooves echoing down the cobblestone road. Squinting through the haze, one of the guardsn saw a red carriage, moving at an unhurried pace.
He recognized that carriage. It belonged to the F-rank adventurers he had given a warning to earlier that morning before they departed for the outskirts.
The carriage slowly pulled to a halt right at the threshold of the gate. Isabel leaned out from the driver’s box, her hands still steady on the reins, though her face carried the weight of a hundred lifetis.
"Good evening, sir," Isabel greeted him. "Please, we need you to call the prefect officers imdiately. We have captured a high-ranking zealot."
"A zealot? Little maid, if this is a prank–"
"It is most assuredly not a prank," a sharp, clear voice interrupted.
The carriage window slid open, and Ayako poked her head out into the twilight. "Kindly summon the authorities without further delay. Ti is of the essence."
The guardsman’s jaw dropped. The skepticism vanished from his face in a fraction of a second, replaced by absolute panic as he recognized the unmistakable, elegant features of Myria’s Izumi clan heiress.
His gaze instinctively darted to the back of the carriage, where a crude, wooden supply cart was hitched.
There, he saw two massive blocks of blue ice: one containing a man in black robes frozen in mid-scream, and another encasing a pristine, beautiful coffin of a woman.
"Goddess above! R-Right away, my lady!"
The guardsman spun on his heel and sprinted through the gate, his frantic shouts echoing down the inner corridor and to the city.
Within fifteen minutes, the thunderous galloping of horses signaled the arrival of the prefect officers. Leading the pack was none other than Dominik.
"Kurt?!" Dominik shouted, pulling his horse to a sharp halt beside the carriage. His face was currently a mix of bewildernt and amusent.
"What’s going on? A guardsman just ran into the city screaming like his pants were on fire, claiming a bunch of F-ranks brought in a frozen zealot!"
Kurt pushed himself away from leaning against the carriage door, stretching his aching back with a loud grunt. He popped his neck and threw a lazy thumb toward the wooden cart attached to the rear.
"Hey Dom. And yeah, it’s true. We caught a zealot. Although sadly, it wasn’t who did."
"Good evening, Officer," Ayako made her presence fully known by stepping out of the carriage to stand beside Kurt.
Dominik’s head snapped toward her, his eyes widening even further as he realised he was standing in the presence of Myria’s second highest nobility. He quickly straightened his posture, placing both hands to his side and bowing formally. "Lady Izumi! Good evening! I... I had no idea you were involved in this... uhm... this capture."
"Damn, look at you. All serious and shit. Haha."
"Shut up, Kurt..." Dominik grunted through his teeth.
"Hahaha. Anyway, like I was saying. She’s the real MVP here. Did ninety percent of the heavy lifting, including turning the giant monster in the middle of the village into a landscape decoration."
"Giant monster?"
"Hehehe~ You are entirely too kind, Rossana-sama. It was a group effort. We all contributed to the resolution of the crisis."
"Ohohoho~ Don’t be so modest, Izumi-san. I know a one-shot kill when I see one."
Dominik’s gaze bounced between Kurt and Ayako as his brain was near visibly short-circuiting at how casual they’re being with each other.
By now, a small crowd of civilians and rchants had begun to form around the gate. Their whispers rippled through the twilight as they pointed at Kurt’s bruised self, Ayako’s pristine robes, and the grotesque frozen statues in the cart.
"Ahem! We need to move, now," Dominik said, his professional instincts kicking back in as the crowd grew. "Please, follow to the station. We’ll take your formal reports there and secure the evidence before this turns into a public spectacle."
As they turned back toward the carriage, Austin nervously slinked forward, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he tried to look as small as possible.
"Uh... excuse , Lady Izumi? Cuck– I an–! Officer Dominik. Do I really have to co to the station? I an, I’m just an accidental bystander. I’d really rather just go ho. I don’t have anything important to report."
Ayako turned her cool gaze upon him, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Do not be absurd, Austin. Shouldn’t you be reporting to your academic superiors and the authorities regarding your highly successful mission of acting as an embedded spy within the enemy’s laboratory?"
Dominik stopped dead in his tracks and snapped his head toward Austin, looking confused.
"A spy? Within the zealots? In that case, young man, you are definitely coming with us. Please get back in the carriage."
Austin let out a miserably pathetic groan as he slumped his shoulders, dragging his boots toward the carriage door.
While the others were climbing inside, Gary’s voice resonated in his mind.
[Austin, you fucking dumbass! That was your chance to run away! Why did you walk up to that prefect!?]
Austin didn’t turn his head, but his lips moved in a tiny whisper as he reached for the handrail. "Shut up, Gary. You’re the fucking dumbass. If I ran away, I would’ve looked incredibly suspicious. Especially in front of Ayako-tan."
He shot a quick, admiring glance toward Ayako’s elegant silhouette as she settled into the cushions. "I need to look good in front of her. I need to establish a solid foundation of trust."
[Why? Why do you care about what she thinks of you? Wait, let guess... because you want to add her to your harem?]
"Duh."
[Now you’re just being delusional.]
"Listen to , Gary," Austin whispered slowly as he climbed onto the steps. "I know what I’m doing. Her specific character route doesn’t officially unlock until the release of the second ga, but if I don’t start sowing the seeds of romance and destiny right now, I’ll never clear her intimacy checks later. It’s all about the long ga."
[... You’re speaking nonsense again. Just don’t get us executed.]
The doors snapped shut and with a sharp whistle from Dom, half a dozen mounted officers surrounded the red carriage and escorted it along.
As the carriage moved through the cobblestone streets, the unusual sight of the escort drew the eyes of hundreds of citizens passing by, everyone wondering what kind of royalty was being brought to the central prefecture.
.....
The reporting process inside the station took about an hour. Statents were written, the journal Kurt found was logged into a secure vault, and the frozen bodies were wheeled down into the subterranean magic nullification cells.
Ayako and Austin had to stay behind to account for the events that happened on their side, so the trio said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Finally, the tempered glass doors of the station opened, and Dominik walked Kurt and Isabel out onto the front steps.
"A specialized team of prefects and high-tier inquisitors is already being assembled. They’re going to be dispatched to the swamp house by morning to thoroughly investigate the laboratory, the monster’s carcass, and that secret underground tunnel that led straight into Liam’s basent. Hopefully, we can find so of his own personal notes he left behind before the rot spreads."
Dominik looked at Kurt, his professional deanour turning friendly again. "You did good, man. Bringing in a cultist and stopping whatever plans they had. Not to ntion finding the body of the previous Saintess. I’d expect a lot of visits from important people if I were you."
Standing beside them, Isabel looked down at her boots, as a deep, lingering sadness clouded her face. "But so many people died, Officer Dominik. We were too late to save the innocent people."
"Listen to , Ms. Isabel. Do not be sad over the lives that were lost out there. It’s not your fault, and it’s not anyone’s fault. The cult had their claws deep into that settlent long before you two ever picked up that quest pamphlet. You brought the truth to light, and you stopped it from happening to the next town. Rember that."
Isabel looked up, her lower lip trembled slightly before she offered a reluctant, quiet nod. "Thank you, officer."
"Cool. Now, get so rest, you two. Because not gonna lie, you guys look like shit."
"Always a pleasure, Dom."
"Goodnight, officer."
With a final wave, Dominik turned back into the station.
Kurt stretched his arms over his head, looking down at Isabel as they began the walk down the stone steps toward the carriage.
The atmosphere between them was still tense, the shadow of Gracie’s departure and the tragedy of the village still weighed heavily on Isabel’s shoulders.
"... So, Isabel. What do you think we should do about these herbs for the F-rank quest? We’ve still got them."
"Ah! The request!" Isabel snapped out of her daze. "Master, we have to report it into the guild imdiately."
"Co on, can’t we just do it tomorrow? My boots are full of dirt, my face is covered in dried blood, and I’m pretty sure I sll like a dead centipede. Surely the guild isn’t going to care if we’re a day late."
"No no no. A true adventurer always finishes their paperwork as soon as possible. It’s best to do it right now so we can finally close the ledger on today. Mainly my ledger... for when I report the day to Head Maid Wendy."
Kurt let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Fine, fine. Lead the way."
.....
Isabel navigated the carriage through the lamp-lit streets until the familiar doors of the Adventurer’s Guild ca into view.
Even through the wood, the roaring laughter, clinking mugs, and boisterous shouts of the rcenaries were audible. Kurt pushed the doors open and stepped into the warm, smoky air of the main hall with Isabel following closely behind.
The mont his boots hit the floorboards, the bustling noise in the room began to die down. One by one, the tables went quiet. They all turned their heads, locking their eyes onto the single-blue-eyed man and his maid.
As they walked forward, the crowd parted for them slowly, and a low running current of whispers filled the sudden silence.
"... Is that him?"
"... Yeah, the one-eyed noble failure from this morning."
"... Did you hear the rumors from the gate? People are saying he brought a frozen cultist in a cart..."
"... Bullshit. An F-rank? He probably found a dead hobo in the woods and called it a conspiracy to get attention."
Kurt ignored them all, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead as he walked up to the main reception counter.
He took the basket of herbs from Isabel and the official quest pamphlet, placing them gently on the polished wood.
"Oh my! You’re that fellow from this morning. Welco back!"
"Haha. Thanks."
Sitting behind the counter was the exact sa female receptionist from that morning. Her friendly attitude hadn’t changed an inch.
She didn’t look at the blood on his face or the dirt on his clothes. She simply picked up the pamphlet, stamped it with a dull thud, and checked the freshness of the herbs.
"Yep. F-Rank Request: Herb Gathering. Condition: Approved. Thank you for your service to the guild!"
She reached beneath the counter and slid five copper coins across the wood. "Your reward, sir."
"Money’s money. Thanks. See you around."
He turned to leave, but before he could take two steps, a towering shadow fell over his path.
Standing in front of him was Bigi – the exact sa bald, heavily muscled adventurer who had mocked and threatened him that morning.
"Well, well, well," Bigi sneered, his booming voice carrying across the quiet hall. "Look what crawled back out of the ditch. Didn’t I give you a very specific warning this morning, noble boy? I told you to never show your pathetic face in this hall again."
"Ah shit. Here we go again."
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