Chapter 1: That Which He’s Lost

Chapter 1:
That Which He’s Lost

 

THREE DAYS HAD PASSED since the whole incident surrounding Ink came to a close.

The West District was surprisingly calm, and the church still hadn’t come looking for Flum or any of the others involved. It was possible they simply didn’t know Ink was still alive or that they’d decided to give Flum some breathing room.

In any case, Flum tried to ease her heart as she and Gadhio made their way through the eerily quiet town. The wind blew through the narrow alley and kicked up the familiar, musty stench of the West District. Flum scowled and ran a hand through her golden-brown hair.

Gadhio adjusted his coat. “Sure is quiet.” Earlier that morning, he’d shown up at Flum’s house and asked if she wanted to accompany him to the guild.

Flum looked up at Gadhio. “It seems like the church hasn’t come after us yet, either.”

Over the past two nights, Gadhio had managed to discover where Mother and her cronies were hiding out. By combining the information he already gathered with the additional facts Ink was able to provide, he was able to track them back down to the church. The facilities were already abandoned when he got there, but it was still a victory, considering they deprived the opposition of a research lab. Mother and the Spiral Children were probably on the hunt for a new hideout elsewhere in the capital.

“Things may have calmed down quite a bit now that Dein’s gone, but I doubt this peace will last very long.” Gadhio closed his eyes and shook his head in annoyance. “I can feel a headache coming on just trying to imagine what those thugs will try without a leader to keep them in line.”

Dein had ruled over every scapegrace and outlaw in the West District once. Without him around to exercise some control, they were running rampant.

“Someone’s gotta step up to try and usurp Dein’s place,” Gadhio said.

“I can’t imagine that’ll be easy,” Flum said. For all his shortcomings, Dein had had charisma. Your average street punk couldn’t easily fill his shoes.

“I figure they’ll break up into different factions and vie for power. That’s why we need to get to the guild and start putting our own plans into motion.”

“At the guild?”

Flum hadn’t bothered to ask Gadhio why he was taking her to the guild, assuming it would become clear when they got there. A few moments later, she led the way through the doors of the West District guild. Y’lla, the receptionist, was resting her cheek in her hand when she caught sight of the newcomers. A scowl instantly took over her bored expression.

“Heyaa! Shop’s cloooooosed for the day!”

“For a receptionist, you sure hate to work.”

“Ever since Dein disappeared, things have been nice and calm. I’d really appreciate it if you don’t ruin this for me.”

“Isn’t there such a thing as being a little too independent?”

“Hardly. I’d love to take this as far as I can. So why don’t you go on and scram, dirty little slave girl. Shoo, shoo!”

“You’re just as petty and annoying as ever.”

Y’lla turned her head to the side at Flum’s comeback, as if she had nothing more to say.

“C’mon, you sent a brand-new adventurer who didn’t even have her license yet to go take down a pack of werewolves. I bet if the Central District guild caught wind of this, you’d be out of a job for sure.”

“Heh, you best take off your rose-colored glasses, kiddo. You think they’d take some D-Ranked slave at her word? Move along and go play with your little bandaged-up doll to your heart’s content.”

“You’d really be in for it if the guild master were ever around!”

Y’lla laughed. “Just let it go and stop holding onto dreams, kiddo. Our guild master is a super important S-Ranked adventurer. He’s got better things to do than deal with the West District guild!”

Before the argument between the two women could heat up any further, Gadhio finally stepped in and made his presence known. He looked Y’lla dead in the eye.

“You called?”

She froze instantly in place, as if she’d found herself face to face with a dragon. The color drained from her cheeks instantly, and she started sweating.

“G-G-Gadhio Lathcutt? But aren’t you out on the great journey??”

“Some things came up, and I had to step down. Anyway, it sounds like you called me. So what exactly is going on here, Ms. Y’lla Jerishin?”

“Ah, uh, right. Hey, Slowe? Could you come out here for a moment and help me with something?”

No answer. Slowe usually leapt to her beck and call, but apparently, even he was smart enough to know better than to stand up against Gadhio.

Y’lla scowled, her shoulders slumping forward. “Well, looks like you’re no help.”

She turned toward Flum in a bizarre, last-ditch grab at salvation. Obviously, Flum had no interest in coming to Y’lla’s aid. She just stuck her tongue out at her, instead.

“You brat!!” Y’lla shot an angry glare back at Flum, once again letting her anger get the better of her.

“Hey, so you’re the guild master of this place, Gadhio?” Flum asked.

“You could say that. They pushed the role on me years ago. I never really did much about it.”

“Aah! So that’s what you meant about needing to put together a plan of action at the guild! Since you’re the guild master, you can crack down on all the shady business here in the West District.”

“Speaking of which…it sounds like this woman here almost got you killed, Flum.”

“That’s right. They had me hunt D-Rank monsters for my trial assignment.”

“You’re supposed to be given an F-Ranked task in order to get your license. Going two whole ranks higher could easily get a novice adventurer killed. We can’t be having that.”

“N-no, it was all Dein’s doing, you see! I tried to stop him, y’know! Really! And, besides, just look! She managed to complete the task anyway. No harm, no foul. Flum agrees, don’t you?”

Flum brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. The look on Y’lla’s face was just too comical for her to resist. Y’lla squeezed her hand into a tight fist underneath the counter. The gall of a slave to make fun of her…

“I have no qualms against firing you right here on the spot. What do you think, Flum?”

“Hmm…”

“W-wait a second! You’re not really thinking it over, are you??”

“I mean, would it really be so bad if you got fired?” Sure, Flum had managed to survive her encounter, but that was only after having all her limbs severed. Anyone else would never have made it out alive. “It’s not like we’re friends.”

“W-well, how about we start getting to know each other? Whaddya think? Besides, how am I supposed to survive if I get fired?”

“You could always sell your body.”

“You cold, cruel-hearted…!”

Flum fought the urge to throw the same accusation back at her. Though she was a rather disagreeable woman, unlike Dein and his crew, Y’lla could still change. Ever since Dein and the rest of his clique moved on to the church, she’d had less and less to do with them. Flum didn’t see much reason to keep pushing the matter.

“I think a pay cut is good enough,” she told Gadhio.

“Heh, you’re too kind, Flum.”

“Oh, thank goodness. Th… Hey! Did you say reduction in pay? Now hold up a second! Why should my pay get cut?!”

“You should be thankful you weren’t fired.”

“Hmph.” Y’lla decided to stop while she was ahead.

“Now that I’m here, I’m not going to tolerate the way you’ve been slacking off,” Gadhio said. “You’d best be ready to actually do your job from now on.”

She hung her head at this. “Yes, sir.”

Flum restrained herself to just smirking as she watched this play out.

Gadhio mentioned that he had some work to take care of before heading off into the back room. Y’lla glared daggers at Flum the moment he was gone.

“This is all your fault. I’m gonna have to cut back my food budget now because of you!”

“Hey, you reap what you sow.”

“Where do you get off with such a high and mighty attitude? While we’re at it, if you know Gadhio Lathcutt, does that mean you really are the Flum Apricot?”

“Oh, so you finally noticed?”

“I mean, who would figure a legendary hero would be a slave slumming it up in the West District now?”

“Eterna’s here too, you know.”

“Eterna? Eterna Rinebow? How is the quest to defeat the Demon Lord even gonna succeed without the three of you? I mean, what is the church even thinking?!”

To a normal commoner, the very idea that three members had left the great journey to stay in the capital was cause for great concern. There had been rumors about Eterna being in the capital, of course, but they hadn’t gained much traction. She rarely left the house, anyway. Gadhio, however, was a completely different story. It was hard to miss such a massive figure moving about town, and that would only get worse as he took a more active role in running the guild.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of strange stories lately,” Y’lla said, “and I can’t help but wonder if the church is somehow involved with those disgusting dead bodies we ran across the other day…”

Apparently, rumors of the church’s involvement with the swarm of eyes had spread rapidly through the capital. A major figure like Gadhio abandoning the great journey—tantamount to disregarding the church’s orders—only added fuel to the fire.

“Also…can he really just stroll back into the guild like this?”

“What, do you have a problem with Gadhio?”

“I can’t really say. I just know that there are some out there who call him ‘Gadhio the Coward.’”

Flum snorted at this. “Gadhio? The very embodiment of bravery?”

“I mean, he is now, sure. But according to the stories, he left his friends behind and came back alone once.”

“So now you’re just making up stories ’cause you’re bitter about your pay getting docked, huh?”

“No, of course not! Listen, try asking some other adventurer if you don’t believe me. Or just ask Gadhio himself.”

Flum couldn’t imagine even forming the words to ask Gadhio if he really was a coward. All she could do was offer up a noncommittal nod.

 

***

 

A short time later, Gadhio finally returned.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be here to perform my job as the guild master.”

Having thus notified Y’lla of his intentions, Gadhio and Flum left the guild together before turning toward the East District, where Gadhio’s home was located. Flum followed in silence, her face screwed up in a look of concern. Y’lla’s story was still fresh on her mind.

“Did something she say get to you?”

“Not something she said exactly, more…a story I heard.”

The street grew much wider, cleaner, and busier as they crossed into the Central District.

Eyes quickly fell on Gadhio’s imposing figure as they traversed the bustling crowd. Every once in a while, someone would glance at Flum, but only to gawk at the symbol burnt into her cheek.

Finally, Gadhio broke the silence. “Gadhio the coward…yeah?”

“So you know about it?”

“I mean, it’s true.”

“No it’s not! Why, you’re the…”

“No, I am a coward. And I must bear the weight of that label.”

His tone made it clear that this was the final word on the matter. There had to be more to the story, but Flum dared not push any further. The two walked along in near silence. An uncomfortable tension hung between them as they passed into the East District and wound their way to the gates of a grand manor.

As soon as Gadhio came into view, a soldier standing guard at the entrance bowed his head. “Welcome back, sir.”

“Whoa, you live here??”

Beyond the steel-barred entrance lay a sprawling yard—practically a park. Farther on, Flum could make out the shape of a large building.

“Well, it’s not all mine exactly.”

The two stepped through the gate and onto a stone-paved path. Trees bearing red blossoms twisted overhead, creating a sort of natural archway directing them toward the manor proper up ahead.

Off in one corner of the yard stood a massive tree that lorded over all the greenery around it. In another corner, there was a space set up for children, filled with swings, play equipment, and a sandbox.

Flum heard that S-Rank adventurers could make quite a living for themselves, though she had always imagined this in more mundane terms, like being able to afford to eat steak every day or order whole cakes just for yourself. This was something else entirely. Flum, the little girl from the country, stared around her with great interest as they walked through the lavish yard. The look of excitement and wonder on her face seemed to affect Gadhio, too, as he slowly relaxed his tense expression.

Once they made it to the front of the house, Flum could hear someone running full tilt inside. The door flung open, and a beaming little girl bounded into Gadhio’s arms.

“You’re back, Daddy!!”

This hit Flum like a thunderclap.

Thinking it over, it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. Gadhio was thirty-two, after all. But she’d never once heard him mention a family before, so all she could do was stare at him wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Gadhio put his hand to his head and let out a heavy sigh.