Dream On

——The capital of Euritheis.

Despite the late hour, the city gate was still flooded with public carriages and merchants arriving with their cargo. The capital truly was a sleepless city with its great influx of population. The area around the gate was illuminated with an array of Spell Stones of brilliant colors, lighting the grand entrance to the city as if it were midday.

The incoming merchants swiftly brought their cargo to be inspected by the guards. Said inspections, however, were performed by personnel with a vested interest in not being suspicious of just about anything, thanks to the Jack of All Trades.

“Are these drugs?”

“Very potent stuff.”

“It is medicinal... But it looks a bit dangerous to me.”

“No, sir. They’re as legit as they come.” The merchant deftly passed a leather bag to the guard, who seemed satisfied by the weight in his hand.

The guard gestured the merchant along without another word, and the carriage was granted passage into the city. All it took was a little monetary encouragement to import substances into the city. These, despite being labeled as medicinal painkillers, were bona fide narcotics, and a highly addictive and dangerous variety at that: Trance.

The next carriage was loaded with stolen goods, and the one behind it was stacked high with bootleg liquor. There were carriages now and again with legitimate merchandise aboard, but the illegal cargo became much more prevalent at night. One such arrival was a caravan of carriages full of slaves, all bound by collars and shackles.

The merchants’ carriages were followed by the public transport. By the time the adventurers arrived, the sun was rising, beginning to naturally illuminate the city.

“Damn, it’s hot...!”

“It stinks in here.”

“It itches...! Which one of you gave me lice?!”

They had just been transported like sardines for hours on end, leaving them disgruntled at their arrival.

“We finally made it past the Rookie rank...”

“You’d think they’d treat us like human beings now.”

Complain as they did, the cheapest selection of adventurers were treated worse than cattle. Horses or cows would have at least received water, feed, and a decent amount of space. The lack of care was made apparent at every step of the way.

Said adventurer pack was greeted by a beaming welcome party: a large group of glamorous ladies escorted by Steward, a high-ranking butler for the Jack of All Trades who wore a spectacular handlebar mustache.

As the adventurers disembarked, Steward went to theatrically scold the coachman. “You have been given very specific instructions to treat every adventurer brought to us with the care they deserve! What is the meaning of this?!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry, sir... There’s been some sort of mistake...”

“What’s the use of apologizing to me? These fine adventurers are the ones who deserve it!”

“I-I’m so sorry! Please, I grovel before you!”

The carriage driver did grovel on the ground, looking pale with guilt. The adventurers watched this with uncertainty for a moment before their faces began to contort in righteous vindication.

All of this was staged by the Jack of All Trades, of course. With the routine performance out of the way, the butler snapped his fingers. The stunning women in his entourage brought out cool, wet towels to each and every adventurer.

With a flourishing bow, the butler formally welcomed the newcomers. “Allow me to welcome the brand new talents to Euritheis!” With that booming call, the ladies brought over chilled ale and glasses of wine, stunning the adventurers with unexpected hospitality. They were merely E-rank, after all; most of them had never experienced such a warm welcome in their lives, let alone for their adventuring talents. “On behalf of the Jack of All Trades!” Steward continued, “We have taken the liberty of arranging accommodations, room and board, for the time being.”

Confused murmurs began to rise from the adventurers, who had been treated like they were subhuman up until this point, and now they were being propped up to be shining new talents of the adventuring world. The refreshing libations certainly helped in boosting their egos too.

“W-Well, I did have a bit of a reputation in Rookie...”

“Naturally! Adventurers with a star have an aura about them!”

Indeed, a single star that denoted their E-rank was pinned somewhere easily visible on their clothes. While these served as a means for them to show off their graduation from Rookie status, these were also the first trophy most of them had ever earned in their lives. Even a blatantly platitudinal compliment managed to boost their self-esteem.

“And surely, such esteemed gentlemen are quite...adventurous in bed. Accommodations have also been made in that regard.”

“For real...?!”

“Our business only stands on the loot adventurers bring back from the dungeons. It is in our interest to retain talented single stars such as yourselves, lest we suffer great financial loss...” The butler chuckled, in what came across as genuine concern.

With this, the adventurers guffawed, some of them uncharacteristically boasting and pounding their chests. After the Jack of All Trades propped them up so thoroughly, they were beginning to fool themselves into thinking they were renowned heroes.

“I must ask that everyone verifies their identity and undergoes tests upon entry into the capital. All formalities, of course. Once that is taken care of, please feel free to enjoy your new life in this grand city!”

All single stars arriving in the city were met with this same welcome. They were housed at an extravagant manor for a few days, where every meal was exquisitely prepared for them. The men spent their evenings in bars with stunning beauties and their nights in bed with ladies of another sort. They even received invites to a grand party, hosted by the Jack of All Trades, on the last day of the stay.

This was absolutely a dream come true for all of them; in three days’ time, all men were completely entranced by their experience.

“It can’t get any better, can it...?”

“We finally made it out of that dump.”

“No duh. We’re on another level from those losers in Rookie.”

All of them couldn’t help but feel the weight of their single stars; they were now in another world.

As jubilant as ever, the men walked through the gate, laughing all the way. There was a price for passage into the city, but that, too, had been taken care of by the Jack of the All Trades. Even the guards greeted the group in formation, cheering them on the way. The adventurers dreamed of their glorious futures.

Eyze watched the commotion with a cold, hardened look. “Nothing but a bunch of lambs to the slaughter...” He was tasked with scoping out any dangerous individuals among the newcomers with his talent.

The rookie guard beside him simply asked, “Are they not going to make it...?”

“They’re all drunk with power already. They’ll be sucked bone-dry.”

The Jack of All Trades didn’t go through all of this trouble out of the kindness of their hearts, of course. The elaborate welcome was intended to get the adventurers hooked on a lavish lifestyle, leading them down the road to a lifetime of debt.

“B-But they made it out of Rookie, didn’t they?”

“They won’t realize how little they’re worth until they get burned. Some of them won’t even know it then.”

“I-I see...”

Traffic through the gate showed no sign of stopping. As a group of female adventurers disembarked, they were approached by a group of stunning men and were met with the same welcome.

“Those ladies won’t make it either?” asked the guard.

“Nothing worth living for. They’ll end up in a brothel or fall for one of those prostitutes, maybe get addicted to Trance.” Eyze’s assessment was brutally honest.

The dreaming adventurers were destined to be ruined in this city. Those coming from the countryside seemed particularly vulnerable to the charm of the city. Even still, people flocked to Euritheis because of the public perception that there were chances for everyone here. There was a precedent for striking gold in the dungeon or building a successful business from the ground up. Those cases, however, were mostly successes manufactured by the Jack of All Trades.

“It’s kind of depressing all around, isn’t it?”

“You’ll get used to it, kid.”

As someone who struggled for years to keep up with the success of his teammates, Eyze knew when to give up and accept reality. Booted from the mercenary group at twenty... Eyze could feel the weight of his age on his shoulders: 36. He had spent over a decade believing that he, too, had what it took to become a hero like his former comrades. Life, of course, had another destiny for him. He spent those years barely scraping by, and before he knew it, he was at an age where he could hardly be considered young.

In fact, he was almost envious of the newcomers, if only for their ability to dream of a better tomorrow. Dreaming will only lead to pain. It eats at your heart like venom... Eyze relinquished himself to middle-aged resignation. These were the thoughts that had been running through his mind since his reunion with his former teammates. What’s so wrong with giving up, anyway...? As long as you don’t wish for more, you can have a decent life with what little you’ve got... Can’t you?

Eyze, who had been spending his days as an ordinary gatewatch, was revisited by a dream he had not seen in a long time. Out of the blue, this dream reappeared in the form of the highest-class carriage among the traffic. An incredibly graceful and beautiful girl emerged from it. One look told Eyze that everything about her was out of this world.

“Whoa... Is that a princess from somewhere?”

“She’s g-g-g-g-g-gorgeous...! And look at that black hair!”

“Maybe the daughter of some big-name noble? Really could be a princess of a far-off land beyond the City States...”

“I think I’m in love...” the newbie guard blurted out, prompting a laugh from Eyze.

Any young man would have fallen for her, he supposed. But Eyze had lived through enough to raise his guard. The girl seemed too perfect.

“Hm... So, this is Euritheis.”

As a man emerged from the same carriage, Eyze fell off the rock he had been sitting on.

The man was clad in black from head to toe, a stabbing glare in his eyes. His mere presence seemed to settle the dust around him. He took out a small, white cigar and the girl swiftly lit it for him. Watching him stand there and puff smoke, Eyze was convinced that he must have been some sort of ruler of the underground.

“Damn... That’s bad...!”

“Yeah, it’s bad...!” the guard chimed in. “I wonder what her name is?”

“You moron! Look at the guy next to her!”

“Why would I look away from such a beautif— Aghhh!” he screamed, flapping his mouth like a fish out of water. Even his newfound infatuation stood no chance against the shock of beholding this man who appeared to be the emperor of hell.

Unlike his rookie coworker, Eyze had a far more sobering vision: an endless field of the dead. Hundreds, thousands... It looked like the population of an entire nation was to be decimated.

“G-Go run a message, kid... A bad one just came in.”

“Wh-Who is he...?!”

“Judging by that getup, he’s from the Gorgon Company in the City States... Suneo might have sent him this way to get back at us. There’s going to be a huge clash...!”

“No...”

“Go! Now!”

The rookie guard went off sprinting and Eyze covered his face. He didn’t know what the man in black was after in the capital, just that unprecedented death surrounded him.

Eyze was reminded of a long-forgotten dream on this day: a terrible nightmare.