Chapter 1: Quest to Warning

Chapter 1:
Quest to Warning

 

“BY THE WAY, Mr. Loren, I just remembered something important.” Lapis suddenly leaned in—she didn’t think the conversation was over yet. Her sudden movement caused Loren to lurch back a bit, and he used the opportunity to order another drink from the nearby waitress.

The waitress seemed a touch taken aback when he placed exact change in copper coins in her hand, but she soon recovered her business smile and disappeared behind the counter to prepare his order.

Loren was astonished. Even the waitress finds it weird that I’m paying.

But there was no time to ruminate on the subject as Lapis reached out, grabbed Loren by the shoulder, and forcefully pulled him back into the conversation. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, yeah. You forgot something?”

“As you may recall, Mr. Loren, I have a sworn duty,” she said as she settled back in her seat, clearly satisfied that she had his attention.

Loren, meanwhile, hadn’t the slightest idea what she was talking about. He tilted his head, eyes filled with doubt. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about my arms, legs, and eyes.”

Right. Loren recalled that, despite all appearances to the contrary, Lapis’s limbs and eyes were imitations. Her real ones were somewhere out in the world, and she was supposed to retrieve them. Did that really warrant being called something as overblown as “sworn duty”? Loren tilted his head even further.

“On top of my sworn duty to gather worldly experience in order to mature into an unimpeachably splendid individual, I have a duty to search out the stolen pieces of my body.”

“You’re still looking for ’em?”

“For what it’s worth. Though I must admit, there are times I find myself wondering if it might not matter.”

This brazen statement made Scena do a faceplant.

If that’s all it takes to make her keel over, she’s going to have back problems one of these days—to say nothing of her knees. Although it occurred to Loren that this was unlikely to ever be a real problem for a girl who was little more than a soul.

“In any case, I’m searching for a part of myself.” Lapis clenched her fist to tie it all together.

<Err, who exactly is Lapis?> Scena asked.

For a moment, Loren considered how to explain it. While Scena was far more powerful than she appeared, in her current predicament, it was hard to imagine her somehow managing to tattle on Lapis, even if she did learn Lapis’s true nature. He decided to lay it out honestly—and this time, he spoke to Scena without uttering a sound in the physical world.

<A demon? That explains it. The instant I got like this, I could tell she wasn’t human. Not that I could tell what she really was—I’d never seen anyone like her before. A demon, then…>

Loren was rather impressed that Scena had sensed that much in the first place.

Looking rather proud of herself, Scena next pointed at the sword propped up beside him. <And that’s not a normal sword either. I’ll need to study it more to sort it out, but it broke through a Lifeless King’s defensive magic, and it seems to restore your stamina a bit, though rather gradually.>

If that’s true… Loren glanced at the sword. Sure enough, when he’d fought Scena, his sword had managed to strike her body without issue, and sure enough, Lifeless Kings were generally protected by strong barriers both physical and magical.

Loren already had a vague idea of where the sword had come from—the curious and emphatic demon across the table. If she had been the one who procured it, there was no telling what other abilities it might possess.

His thoughts were interrupted as his cheeks were sandwiched between soft palms and his gaze was forcefully turned back toward Lapis.

“Mr. Loren? Are you listening?”

“Sorry, my mind wandered along the way.” Loren didn’t want to risk stirring up trouble with a lie and so opted for honesty; that was usually his best bet.

While Lapis seemed awfully displeased, she released him, pressed her hands against the table, and strengthened her tone as she brought herself closer to his face. “Okay, are you listening now? I’ve finally pinned down the location of one of my parts!”

“And that’s got something to do with our next job?”

“Precisely!” Lapis’s face lit up as she spread out a sheet of paper that she had presumably torn off the guild’s bulletin board.

Adjusting his posture, Loren scanned through the quest posting that had been slapped down before him. Once he finished, he stared long and hard at Lapis’s face.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. You’ll make me blush.”

“Not my problem. Is this seriously an adventurer-worthy quest?”

The doubt in Loren’s eyes was entirely justified. Nevertheless, Lapis nodded with a smile, as if to say this was completely normal. As such, Loren looked at the details of the quest again.

It read:

From: Wolfe Adventurer Training Academy

This year’s graduate training will be held in our school’s underground labyrinth. We will pay thirty silver per head. The quest entails proctoring our graduates on their journey through the dungeon as well as guarding them in case of emergency.

“Since when did adventurers get an education?”

At a glance around the bar, not a single adventurer in sight seemed particularly educated. They were the sorts who drank while the sun was up and spent their days grumbling about that and everything else—not that Loren was any better, in that regard. For that matter, Loren had been able to call himself an adventurer without having received a single day’s worth of training.

Lapis answered slowly, choosing her words carefully. “It’s an adventurers’ school in name only. As I recall, its true purpose is to gather individuals of talent—nobles and commoners alike—in order to mold them into champions and leaders of men.”

“Like Claes?” Loren asked as he recalled the face of the red-haired young man who’d fought alongside them in the city-state of Hansa.

Claes had a gift, a certain grace only present in those with innate talent. While this was still largely only rumored, it was said that adventurers like him often had the backing of some nation or another. Claes did fit the image of someone who had trained in an establishment like the one Lapis described.

“Right, I do think Mr. Claes came from a similar institution.”

“In that case, I’m not feeling up to it.”

In short, if it was a facility that nurtured talents like Claes, it would be chock full of people like Claes. Loren didn’t really mind being condescended to—to a point. That didn’t mean he would willingly skip into a place where hordes of the sort of person who naturally looked down on others would flock.

“And anyway, what’s a graduation exam got to do with what you’re looking for?” he asked.

“The thing with Wolfe Academy is that a vast labyrinth stretches beneath its campus.”

According to Lapis, underground labyrinths were actually surprisingly common all around the world. It wasn’t particularly rare for a city, and consequently an adventurers’ academy, to be built on top of one. People were often drawn to exploring labyrinths for the artifacts and resources hidden within them. People who managed to claim such prizes would prosper, and their good fortune would entice even more people to the area, leading to the gradual establishment of a permanent settlement.

Meanwhile, adventurer-training academies within cities were often built directly on top of these labyrinths. The instructors, all of whom possessed a certain level of ability, were the first line of defense against the dangers within the labyrinth—as were the talented youths they had gathered to receive their teachings. In that sense, the school as a whole was expected to serve as a sort of lid to seal the dangers away from the general populace.

On the school’s side of things, fulfilling this role meant receiving tax-funded support. Not to mention that the shallower, less dangerous parts of the labyrinth could be used as an excellent training ground for the students.

“Usually, only the shallowest levels are open to students, but all restrictions will be lifted for the practical examination.”

“By the sound of it, it’s not like the labyrinth belongs to the academy. You can’t just go in as an adventurer?”

“That might have worked with any other labyrinth,” Lapis replied with a somber face. “The one beneath Wolfe is something of an exception. Wolfe Academy holds complete ownership over it, and it forbids entry to all outsiders.”

“Well, why’s that?”

Loren did not in the least understand the merits of owning a labyrinth. Sure, the items excavated from within it could no doubt turn a pretty profit, but barring all outside entry would inevitably inspire antipathy in the rest of the adventuring community. It was also hard to believe that the students and teachers conducted any particularly profitable expeditions.

“There’s a bit of speculation, but nothing definite. Perhaps the Wolfe labyrinth is far less dangerous than its size would suggest, or perhaps it has certain resources they would stop at nothing to monopolize. Or maybe there’s something terribly dangerous sealed within it, something they want to keep concealed from anyone who might not already know of it.”

These were all questionable rumors at best—at least, that was how Lapis saw them. All she knew for certain was that Wolfe Academy had somehow locked down exclusive ownership of the labyrinth under its campus.

“Can’t say I’m interested, but you’re saying you’ll find what you’re looking for there?” Loren asked.

“I’m saying there is a high possibility.” With those words and none further, Lapis nodded in earnest.

Loren exhaled a long, shallow sigh. “Well, fine. Not like we got any other leads. Let’s take the job.”

“I knew I could count on you, Mr. Loren. Let’s apply as a party of two. I’ll handle the transportation and preparation.”

The moment Loren gave his consent, Lapis swiftly swept up the quest posting and rushed from the bar to the reception desk with a skip in her step. As Loren watched her go, his second order of cheap swill finally arrived. He filled his mouth with that foul-tasting drink, whose only saving grace was high alcohol content.

<Hey, Mister—isn’t your weapon a bit big to swing around in a labyrinth?>

The sword Loren had used as a mercenary had already been considerably large. His new black blade was even longer. It wasn’t made for fighting in tight spaces. What’s more, he’d only just started using it, and he had quite a ways to go before it would feel like a true extension of his limbs. It was entirely possible that he wouldn’t be able to wield it properly in the narrow confines of a labyrinth.

“Well, I can use it well enough, as long as there’s a bit of space.”

If the quest posting was to be trusted, Loren’s main job would be to accompany the students, not to fight. In an emergency, he would need to keep the students alive, but as long as nothing too dicey happened, he was given to think that this might well work out. The labyrinth was, after all, the sort of place that an institution would send its own students into. The way Loren saw it, the instructors wouldn’t send their kids into even the shallower stretches if the labyrinth contained anything they couldn’t handle.

<I highly recommend preparing a side weapon.>

“I’d agree with you there, but I’d have to dig myself even deeper into debt for that.”

Although he knew Lapis wouldn’t collect, it was a sub-optimal feeling to see the sum of his debt increase. Even a completely ordinary weapon would require a good bit of silver.

“And there’s no telling what strange thing she’ll have me buy next. Though I guess I should get myself a dagger.”

Loren’s remaining hazard pay would likely cover that much, and if it didn’t, he could scrounge up some scrap metal and hammer out a dagger with the blacksmithing contraption from Hansa. Though if he did, he would have to do it in secret. Lapis would kick up a fuss if she ever found out he had avoided relying on her. Loren sighed as he gazed at the waves in his mug of cheap ale.

 

“So why are you here?” Loren asked in a less-than-friendly tone.

The red-haired individual faltered a bit, but he answered. “What’s wrong with me taking a request from my own alma mater?”

“So this is your school we’re headed to?”

The world, which seemed so vast at first glance, really was so small. Loren’s tired eyes had fallen on Claes, who was shrinking a bit where he sat on the other side of the carriage. Loren was still a copper-rank adventurer. The fact that an iron rank like Claes had taken the same job meant that the quest had no rank restrictions.

Next to Claes sat his party members: Ange the magician, Leila the knight-ish woman, and Laure the priest, in that order. The day after Lapis had submitted the paperwork and declared she would handle all their transportation, Loren had found himself boarding a guild carriage and sharing the ride with some familiar faces.

“Weren’t you hospitalized or something?” Loren asked.

“Sure was. Your priest did a number on me.” Claes said this with the tone of a man who nursed a grudge.

However, the ponytailed culprit beside Loren smiled beatifically, not offering any particular reaction.

Claes went on. “Thing is, it was just some mental fatigue and a bit of whipping. They said I could be released so long as the wounds closed up. I decided I shouldn’t take any quests that’d get in the way of my recovery, so here I am.”

“Meaning this job’s gonna be smooth sailing?” Loren asked.

“As long as nothing happens. We just need to walk with the students. Pretty straightforward, right?”

Those words did make Loren feel a little uneasy, but the job sounded simple enough. Of course, his goal wasn’t to make easy money off some kids. His true aim was to find the piece of Lapis’s body supposedly tucked away in this underground labyrinth. He would either have to sneak off when the students weren’t looking or guide the students in that direction. It was entirely likely that this whole thing wouldn’t be so simple after all, at least not for him.

“Not to mention, the students taking the practical are generally pretty skilled. You’ll only find goblins and kobolds in the shallower parts of that labyrinth. Honestly, it would be harder for something to go wrong.”

“You shouldn’t dismiss goblins out of hand. They’re tricky bastards,” Loren absentmindedly muttered.

Claes seemed a little startled by this. Goblins were the sort of pests that any competent villager could deal with. Claes clearly didn’t know what he was supposed to do with this admonishment. However, he also plainly felt a certain weight in Loren’s words and could tell he shouldn’t dismiss them either.

“It’s just an honest warning,” said Loren. “Up to you whether you take it.”

“R-really? Got it… I’ll take it to heart.” For a moment, Claes seemed to worry that he was being mocked, but Loren’s face and tone were the epitome of seriousness. It really was a heartfelt piece of advice.

“That aside, your buddy there keeps giving me a look.” Loren had realized mid-conversation that Ange the magician’s attention kept shifting between the window and himself. “You need something?”

It seemed Ange hadn’t noticed she’d been found out, though in Loren’s point of view, her glancing was so blatantly obvious that he couldn’t comprehend how anyone could have failed to pick up on it. It was starting to get on his nerves, which was the only reason he brought it up.

“Oh, yeah, Ange’s…” Claes trailed off. “C’mon, Ange, you can say it.”

“Umm… During our last quest, I heard it was you who saved me,” Ange mumbled.

During their previous run-in with Claes, Ange had been attacked by a bone dragon near Hansa, suffering near-fatal injuries in the process. Loren had been the one to save her from the undead beast’s massive jaws. Ange had apparently heard about it from one of her comrades, once she’d recovered.

“Guess so, in a way.”

“I want to offer my thanks, Mr. Loren. I would have surely died had you not come to my aid.”

“Sorry for stealing the limelight from your boyfriend. I’m sure he’ll manage some dashing rescue next time.”

Loren had by now managed to grasp that Claes had a thing for Ange. He certainly didn’t have any intentions of putting Ange in his debt; he hadn’t expected any gratitude to begin with. He honestly, un-cynically hoped Claes would be the one to have her back if some similar peril befell her again.

“Yes, I’ll be counting on him.”

“Though here’s hoping he’s got nothing to worry about.”

A hero who saved the damsel in her time of crisis—that certainly had a nice ring to it. However, if Loren had his druthers, he would have all those in his care avoid crises altogether.

“I’ll do my best to meet your expectations, Ange.”

“Claes…”

The two stared into each other’s eyes, taking each other by the hand—and Loren quietly looked away.

The guild’s carriage wasn’t particularly spacious, and it seemed only these two parties were participating in the quest, meaning they were the only ones around. Despite the close quarters, a young man and woman were whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears. Loren felt he should have been somewhere else entirely—so much so that he was inclined to throw himself out of the carriage.

Laure and Leila wore fantastically unpleasant expressions, glaring at the couple, who remained in their own little world. Meanwhile, to Loren’s side, Lapis looked like she had received some great epiphany; her faraway gaze wandered with no goal in sight.

Loren wished for nothing more than to arrive at their destination, and fast, but physical distance wasn’t something that could be shortened with a wish and a prayer. According to the briefing he had received in Kaffa, even if they’d left town at the break of dawn, they wouldn’t arrive at Wolfe Academy until nightfall.

Then I might as well sleep, he concluded.

Most things in life worked themselves out in the space of a good nap. Someone in his old company had told him as much, once before. When Loren had first heard those words, he’d thought, What’s this slacker going off about? In his current predicament, they struck him as the profound wisdom of a great sage.

“I’m going to sleep, Lapis. Wake me up whenever.”

“Of course. Sweet dreams, Mr. Loren.” Lapis sounded as if she were desperately stifling some emotion to maintain her calm.

Loren let his gaze trail out the window before shutting his eyes. He waited patiently and intently for sleep to take his mind away.

 

Loren didn’t know how much time had passed since then. He opened his eyes to a gentle rocking of his shoulder. He shook his hazy head to drive off drowsiness and lifted his body from where it had slumped against the side of the carriage. Lapis was holding him by the shoulder, softly rousing him.

“The driver said we’ll arrive soon.”

“I see. Thanks for waking me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.”

He took his eyes off Lapis, turning them back to the rest of the carriage, only to find himself astounded by what he saw. Claes’s party, sitting across from them, were to a one soundly asleep, loudly snoring with their mouths open wide. If it had been just one or two of them who dozed off, he would have understood. Things happened. But all four was a bit much. He couldn’t help but feel something artificial at work, and he glanced doubtfully at Lapis.

“What did you do?”

“That mood was getting rather unbearable, so I may have surreptitiously cast Sleep.”

Loren cursed to himself. He had fled to dreamland before Lapis did, meaning there had been no one left to rein in her ruthless impulses. Without someone to keep her in check, she was the sort who bottled up all her stress until it spiked—at which point she abruptly resorted to drastic measures.

“Ain’t that a bit reckless?”

“It’s all right. I did it secretly. No one’s going to remember,” she replied, sounding ever so confident.

Loren wasn’t the least bit convinced. Not only was Lapis a priest using magic—incredible in and of itself—in this instance, she hadn’t even loosed it upon her enemies. How could that possibly be all right? On the off chance that someone did notice her doing this sort of thing, it might prove to be a fatal error with terrible consequences.

Then Scena, lurking as ever in the corner of his vision, reassured him. <It’s all right, Mister. The redhead and his friends fell asleep without noticing a thing.>

How d’you know that? he asked.

As it turned out, Scena had let her astral body peek very slightly out of Loren while he slept, and that had been right about the time when Lapis cast her magic.

<I just peeked a little, I promise. Lapis didn’t see me.>

They didn’t actually know whether Lapis could see Scena’s astral projection, but it would be far better to work under the assumption that she could.

Negligence will be our undoing, Loren thought, and Scena meekly nodded to this.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Loren?”

“It’s nothing. Just coming down with a headache, thanks to a certain someone.”

“Is that so? You really ought to take better care of yourself. More importantly, that’s our destination over there.” Lapis pointed out the carriage window.

A considerable amount of time had passed since Loren fell asleep. The sun had begun to redden, and it illuminated an impressively large town as well as its surrounding landscape.

Kaffa was decently sized, all things considered, but compared to Kaffa, this was a massive metropolis. According to Lapis, it was a trade city called Monte Lugar. It didn’t have any particular specialty products, but the resources regularly excavated or otherwise supplied by the adventurers’ academy kept its industries hopping across the board.

“On top of that, the town is frequented by the noble scions who attend the academy, as well as by their relatives. The merchants gather to cater to them, and business is consequently booming, or so I’ve heard.”

“Not the sort of place I’d visit, then.”

Civilians tended to keep their distance from those in the mercenary line of work. There was little to be done about this, as those in the trade earned their bread with the detestable work of war. The company Loren belonged to had been relatively well regulated, as far as mercenaries went. Nevertheless, it took all sorts, and some mercenaries could hardly be distinguished from brigands and thieves. For that reason, they were largely shunned in places where normal people flourished. A mercenary’s private life was largely relegated to associations with their close friends and coworkers.

It seemed Lapis had managed to surmise this much from Loren’s brief statement. For a moment, she seemed unsure. Then she replied, “If you’re an adventurer now, it’s exactly the sort of place where you belong.”

“Maybe.”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. We’ll head to the guild as soon as we arrive. I know you’re tired, but the inn and so forth will have to wait.”

“We can’t book an inn first?”

“At this hour, the guild desk will have closed by the time we finish settling in. We need to report our arrival and inform them that we’ve taken the quest.”

“You sure the inn won’t close on us by then?”

If Monte Lugar was a prosperous town, Loren expected there’d be fierce competition for rooms. In his experience of stopping by towns between wars, it had always been a scramble to find rooms for even a handful of men. It wasn’t rare for mercenaries who lost in this scramble to end up camping on the outskirts of town.

“I think we’ll be just fine. Worst-case scenario, we can have the guild introduce us to someone. A guild in a town this big must have a few good recommendations for adventurers in our situation.”

“What about waking up Claes?”

They had come on the same quest. Loren had found the boy and his party more or less contemptible when they first met, but at present, he didn’t think they were bad people. The thought of abandoning them left him feeling fairly awful, in fact.

“Let’s wait until we’re a little closer to town. Any more of that sweet-talking, and I am afraid I will turn murderous.”

“You have a point.”

Claes and Ange clearly didn’t mean any harm, but that didn’t make them any more fun to watch. Loren accepted Lapis’s decision without any objections.

 

While the carriage was stopped at the entrance to the city, they were let in rather easily and not subjected to any particularly intense inspections. Other travelers received more exacting once-overs, and as a former mercenary, Loren had expected to receive the same harsh treatment. It always wasted a good deal of time. Strangely, the simplicity of this entrance was a bit of a letdown.

Lapis explained that it was on account of their carriage having been prepared by the adventurers’ guild, including the driver. The guild guaranteed the authenticity of the adventurers it associated with, which meant that so long as they traveled by guild-regulated vehicles, they could enter towns with hardly any inspection.

In that case, Loren wondered if he could just go wherever he wanted if he stole a guild carriage—but it seemed the drivers were paired with their carriages, and there were ciphers and keys involved with the work.

“If either the carriage or the driver is missing, the guild’s guarantee is void,” Lapis went on.

If that weren’t enough, any attempts to falsify or illegally use a guild carriage, once discovered, were immediately met with the death penalty, no exceptions.

In any case, it took just a bit more jostling in the carriage before they arrived at the Monte Lugar adventurers’ guild. The pair said their thanks to the driver as they hopped out, only to realize they had completely forgotten to wake up Claes’s party. They convinced themselves that Claes would wake up eventually, or that the driver would lose patience and wake them in due time. They had to see to their own responsibilities first.

As their job would take place at the academy, all they had to do at the guild was hand over the certificate of quest acceptance they had received before leaving Kaffa. It was over in no time at all.

“Let’s ask where we can find an inn and call it a day,” said Lapis.

It was already beginning to grow dark outside. The school had shut its gates, so visiting it would have to wait until the next morning.

“Tomorrow, we’ll head to the academy after breakfast and ask our client—the Headmaster—for further instructions. Does that sound all right?”

“No complaints. Is this quest really supposed to be this laid-back?”

“It seems that once a proctor arrives, they select a team to go with them. It’s an involved process. Their examinees don’t necessarily enter the labyrinth all at once.”

“Makes sense. Might be a pain, though,” Loren murmured after he’d thought about it for a bit.

Lapis looked a bit perplexed. “What will be a pain, exactly?”

“There are gonna be multiple teams, right? I don’t know how big the place is, but if they all go in at once, you’ve got more guarantee that you’ve got an ally if things get rough.”

“Oh, yes, if only one team is allowed at a given time, they will be essentially isolated in the labyrinth. The difficulty of the exam would likely increase.”

“Exactly my point. Though I guess in your case, it’ll be more convenient if there are fewer people nosing around.”

Once they leveraged their position as exam proctors to enter the labyrinth, Lapis would need to conduct her own search, and she would need to operate subtly so as not to be found out. The more teams that were running around, the higher the chance that she would be spotted. An unfavorable situation, certainly.

“Well, I do have a way of getting around that, if it comes to it.”

“Let’s hear it,” said Loren, even as he thought, It’s definitely not gonna be anything good.

Lapis peered at him as if it were blatantly obvious. “If we just incapacitate everyone—”

“All right, I got it. Having fewer teams is better for me too.”

Even as a hardened mercenary, Loren felt a pang in his heart at the thought of putting students out of commission merely for Lapis’s convenience. He was willing to work to keep her search away from prying eyes.

But taking out students… The second he thought those words, Loren realized that he had, for some reason, known he would be the one doing the dirty work. He shook the thought from his head.

“Oh, it’s all right,” Lapis insisted. “I’ll do it quietly, before they realize what’s going on.”

“Give it a rest. They’re students, right? This is their exam. How are you going to take responsibility if they fail?”

“There’s always next year.”

“I’m not helping you.”

“I thought not,” Lapis declared, and she even managed not to sound particularly disappointed.

As Loren began to wonder if he would be able to stop her if she actually attempted anything, Lapis gave him a sunny smile and waved her hands before her chest. “I’m only joking, of course. I’ll think of something better if it comes down to it.”

“Your jokes make my blood run cold.”

“Then how about we warm it back up? Some food and ale should do the trick.”

It was right around time for dinner. Lapis didn’t enjoy rowdy establishments, and while in the past, Loren had often been dragged to town entertainment districts by his fellow mercenaries, there was no longer anyone to invite him. He was completely unfamiliar with Monte Lugar, though if he wanted to drink, he believed he would be perfectly satisfied with the guild’s bar. This was all to say that he didn’t feel inclined to wander.

Fortunately, Lapis ushered Loren toward the guild bar. Unlike in Kaffa, the staff of this guild had no knowledge of Loren’s circumstances. In Kaffa, even when he placed an order without paying up, the staff knew that Lapis would come around to pay later, so he was still served. In other places, Loren had to eat out of his measly pocket change or share a meal with Lapis.

“You’re not going to say you want to eat all by your lonesome, are you?”

“Not exactly.” Loren was still sentimental enough to feel that food just didn’t taste right when he ate alone.

“Then let’s eat together. We’re already set for the inn, after all.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Apparently, this guild runs an inn on its upper floors. I managed to book a room for two, so we’re not going to be sleeping on the streets.”

Loren knew of several bars that put up guests on their second floor, but he had already considered the guild’s bar to be their side venture; he hadn’t thought they would go as far as to manage an inn as well—a side venture of a side venture. He wondered just how far they intended to cast their financial net, but to be fair, inns and bars were both indispensable to adventurers. Some guild outposts probably traded in weapons and armor as well.

“We won’t know how long we’ll be in the labyrinth until tomorrow’s briefing. We might have to manage on preserved foods for a while, so let’s splurge a bit today.”

Lapis hadn’t managed to obtain any details on the exam in advance, but she explained that an expedition into a labyrinth could take days or even weeks. As they would be accompanying students, Lapis found it hard to assume that it would be such a long haul, but she could easily see the academy mandating preserved food only, just to ensure their charges were used to it.

“There’s no need for us to follow the same restrictions, but it would be dreadfully awkward to have a sumptuous feast right next to the students being forced to gnaw on dried meat.”

“Can’t say I disagree,” Loren said, taking a seat at the bar. He handed the menu to Lapis without even looking at it.

Lapis looked it over and decided on her own order before sending a quizzical look at Loren.

“Order whatever for me,” he said. “You’re the one paying, after all.”

“You can order whatever you want,” Lapis said, not denying that she would be the one footing the bill.

Loren, however, shrugged. “I’ve been to my fair share of pubs, but at most of them, you can just say, ‘Get me some meat,’ and that’ll be the end of it. I’ve got no idea what to order.”

“That’s…interesting to say the least. What did you do in Kaffa?”

“I trusted the waitress’s recommendations.”

Loren had become a regular customer at the guild bar in Kaffa, and the waitresses all knew his face. At first, he really had only asked for meat, but once they’d broken the ice a bit, the girls had begun telling him the daily special or whatever they enjoyed most on the menu.

This was an exceedingly valuable source of information to Loren, who hardly concerned himself with food. However, this was obviously the first time he had visited the Monte Lugar establishment. It wasn’t as if the waitresses here wanted anything to do with him.

Loren had assumed he would have no choice but to place a generic order again, but if Lapis was eating with him, perhaps he could foist the responsibility off on her.

“I think it’s in your best interest to develop at least a little interest in these things,” she said.

“On the battlefield, you’re grateful when you get to eat at all. Sure, good taste is a plus, but food serves its purpose as long as it fills you up.”

It wasn’t rare for Loren to have nothing on his plate. He prioritized quantity over quality. Most times, his meals weren’t a source of enjoyment and were rather a necessary activity to prevent himself from dying of starvation. This had been the case so often that he had begun to think that the nature of food didn’t matter as long as it fit in his mouth.

“How uninspired—but there’s no sense complaining about it now. What’s done is done.” Lapis went on muttering something quite foreboding about having to rehabilitate him, then began to consider his meal alongside her own.

Confident that Lapis could handle it, Loren took the opportunity to look around the bar. The atmosphere wasn’t so different from the establishment in Kaffa. Moderately boisterous, moderately run-down, moderately grimy, and moderately jolly. As long as a bar served the same function, perhaps it inevitably shared a similar vibe. At least, that was what Loren thought until his eyes locked on a group that stood out from the rest.

A party of awfully young kids. With three boys and one girl, they were somewhat unbalanced, but they seemed to get along well enough. They were speaking in low voices and were deeply immersed in their conversation as they curiously glanced around. Their table was lined with humble food and a few cups, but they hadn’t ordered any form of alcohol.

How often did adventurers come to a bar to do anything but drink? Loren couldn’t help but study them. At least, he did until his observations were cut short by a group of mean-spirited adventurers.

As they passed this out-of-place group, one of those adventurers zeroed in on the lone girl—a sprightly kid with short black hair. The girl’s comrades stood, trying to put a stop to this, but the adventurer’s buddies got in their way, preventing them from coming to her aid.

Seeing the kids in distress—the girl obviously upset and her comrades blocked—Loren stood without prompting from Lapis. Plenty of mercenaries got it in their heads to argue with staff of all varieties, and even if they went too far, this was often played off with a laugh. However, if they belonged to a decent company, any mercenary who got rough with a fellow customer would be rightfully dogpiled by his own comrades.

Loren had been raised with these expectations and norms, and he therefore could not ignore the scene unfolding before his eyes.

As Loren made his way toward the quarrel, Lapis called out, “Mr. Loren?” But her eyes never left the menu. Loren turned, wondering if she was going to tell him to keep his head out of trouble. But all she said was: “Get involved if you want, but no killing, okay? I don’t want to end up in jail before the job’s even begun.”

“Of course, I know. I’ll hold back.”

“I agree that they’re an absolute bother, but make it quick. I’ll have ordered by the time you’re back,” she said, showing no real concern for the matter.

“I’m counting on you,” he said, and he proceeded on his way.

 

With Lapis idly seeing him off, Loren went on toward the quarrel only to find himself startled by the supposed victims. He had realized they were young from afar, but up close, they seemed like little more than children. They couldn’t have been older than fourteen or fifteen—the world at large classified all such folks as firmly in the age of minority. The age of adulthood varied by region but was generally somewhere around sixteen.

The adventurers messing with them had considerably more years under their belt. One of them, who looked a bit older than Loren, had grabbed the girl by the arm and was trying to drag her somewhere.

As she was pulled away, the girl’s face was stricken with shock. Her comrades consisted of a well-built boy with short blond hair, a somewhat flighty-looking boy with longish brown hair, and another boy with the same brown hair in a bowl cut. The last one wore the clothes of a priest; he was a little shorter and seemed especially timid.

In the time it took Loren to survey the group, both the adventurers and the kids had noticed him and seemed somewhat taken aback. Everyone stopped moving.

“Wh-who the hell are you?” the adventurer who was grabbing the girl’s arm snapped in a threatening voice.

Loren offered no immediate response. Instead, he spent a moment closely inspecting the girl’s face. She stared back at him, wide-eyed and confused. After a moment, he asked her, “You’re not messing around, are you?”

“N-not at all! These guys suddenly demanded I have a drink with them…”

“Hah!” The adventurer holding her leered. “I see a brat loitering around a bar at this hour, of course I’m gonna show her how to properly enjoy the place!”

The girl tried to shake her arm free, but she couldn’t wrest herself from the adventurer’s grip. She remained in his grasp no matter how much she struggled.

Having confirmed her distress, Loren called out to the three boys who had been intercepted by the other adventurers. “Want help?”

“Yes, please! Help us!” said the blond boy.

“Shut it! We don’t need none of it!” the flippant one snapped.

“Hey, c’mon, Cloud!” protested the bowl-cut kid, trying to mediate.

The blond boy looked like the bulkiest and best physically trained, so the fact that he’d been first to request help meant he was either weak-willed or definitely cornered. Neither option was good, so far as Loren was concerned.

Either way, for now, he had come intending to help, and the specific opinions of each boy didn’t actually matter all that much.

“What’s your deal?” The adventurer holding the girl sneered. “Sticking your nose where it don’t belong? No one asked for you. Get lost!”

Loren paid his bravado no mind and wrapped his hand around the man’s wrist. “I don’t think good brats should be loitering around a bar.”

An ominous grating sound came from the wrist in his grasp. Before the adventurer’s ears could register what was causing it, the pain filled him in. These were the shrieks of flesh and bone. His bones ground into each other, his flesh compressed and squelched. Blood could no longer reach beyond the point where his wrist was enclosed in this vice-like grip, and as his fingers began to numb, Loren looked him in the eye, expression flat and unchanging.

“But no good adults start business with brats.”

“G-gah! Y-you bastard! Let go of me! Who do you think you are?!”

The adventurer had released the girl without thinking, but the force crushing his wrist continued regardless. He flailed to free his arm, but it was as if his wrist had been fixed in space, and he could only watch, unmoving, as his hand was pulverized by this unbelievable grip. Unable to bear it any longer, he begged for help from his comrades who were still blocking the boys.

“Oi! Forget them! Do something about this! My hand’s gonna come off!”

This wail finally tipped them off—something wasn’t right. The adventurers surrounded Loren, though he paid them no mind and continued to slowly increase the pressure.

“Stop it! Let him go!” one of the other adventurers screamed. Blood had begun to drip from between two of Loren’s fingers. This didn’t just mean he’d broken the bones in the man’s hand—it meant that the fragments of his pulverized bones had pierced his skin. The adventurer could tell that at this rate, he would never be able to use it again.

“Leave off already!” One of the adventurers reflexively pulled a dagger.

They were in a bar run by the adventurers’ guild, which did not tolerate drawn weapons on the premises—and meted out strict punishment to anyone who violated the rule. The man knew that, but he was blinded by a pressing need to put a stop to this and couldn’t presently make rational decisions.

“If you guys stand down, I’ll let him go,” said Loren. “How does that sound?”

Even faced with the glimmer of a blade drawn in the dim bar light, Loren showed no sign of releasing his victim. However, the look in his eyes had changed. Up to that point, Loren had seen the adventurers as human beings, if wretched ones. Now he was looking at them as if they were mere objects.

The adventurers saw this whether they wanted to or not. Precisely because they understood his look, they realized they had done what could never be undone. If they listened to Loren and withdrew, they would be seen as cowards who drew their weapons on an unarmed man and still fled in the end. But if they stood their ground, one crushed wrist would doubtless be the least of their worries.

“His arm’s almost beyond repair,” said Loren.

As they dawdled, Loren’s fingers dug and dug. The bones had already been crushed, and the amount of blood flowing from between his fingers had become unnerving. It was nevertheless still a problem that could be resolved with a hefty donation to a high-ranking priest.

These delinquent adventurers were all experienced enough to see as much, so Loren pressed them to decide. Either continue past the point of no return or retreat at the risk of ruining their reputation. They would suffer either way, but Loren was letting them pick their poison.

The one who’d drawn his dagger sheathed it and presented his opposite hand. “Fine. We’re done here. Let him go, would you?”

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“I know what’ll happen if I go back on my word. We’ll retreat, I swear, so let go of him already! He’s frothing at the mouth, for god’s sake!”

Loren glanced at the man’s face. He was out cold, a white foam spurting from between his lips. He had apparently been unable to endure the pain, to say nothing of the sight of his bones piercing through his flesh and skin.

After Loren released the unconscious adventurer, he slumped limply to the floor, and his comrades rushed to scoop him back up.

“You gonna say something like ‘I’ll remember this’?” Loren asked the adventurers as they made their way out.

To his mild surprise, the one who had drawn his dagger frantically shook his head. “I’d prefer if we both forgot this ever happened. If a guy like you remembered us, we’d never be able to risk picking up chicks again.”

No lingering grudges after the matter was resolved, huh? Loren was once again impressed with adventurers as a breed. Had those fellows been ill-mannered mercenaries or some other variety of thug, they would have snarled out some parting words about paying him back in kind. He thought it rather earnest of them to cut any potential trouble off at the pass whenever possible.

“Next time, you should pick better fights,” he called after the man.

“I’ll take that to heart.”

As they left, Loren at last noticed the copper tags around their necks. Not even iron? Loren worried that he might have gone too far. Most adventurers ranked either iron or copper, and they were awfully numerous. Of course, there were all sorts in every rank. Loren found himself wondering what variety those fellows had been, but they were already long gone.

Looks like there won’t be any retribution this time, he thought as the girl they’d targeted timidly reached out to him.

“Umm… Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just in the right mood to do something.” Loren had been moved to help her by nothing more than his personal beliefs. As such, he hadn’t done it for gratitude. He waved his goodbyes.

“But you still saved me, nonetheless!” she said.

“Glad to hear it—is what I’d like to say, but you’re still minors, right? Stick around here, and there’ll be more trouble.”

They looked entirely defenseless, or perhaps just easy to pick on. In any case, this had partly happened because their collective aura practically screamed “easy mark.” They were well within the age range of what Loren considered children, so while he knew it was none of his business, he couldn’t help but offer some words of warning.

She bowed her head. “I’m sorry…”

With no adventurers left to get in their way, the three boys had gathered the courage to come closer—but the flighty one lashed out at Loren.

“Hey, Pops! What makes you think you can lecture us like you—”

“Quit it, Cloud,” whispered the bowl-cut kid, desperately trying to calm his friend. “He saved us.”

“Come on, Al! That’s no reason for him to—”

“Just give it a rest.”

Had they been just a little older—around Claes’s age, perhaps—Loren might have felt like knocking them into shape, just a bit. However, at their age, he felt it wasn’t his job to discipline them. Their personality problems weren’t his issue. He ignored the lot and turned his back to leave, only for the blond boy to step in front of him.

“I’m the leader of this party. My name is Ein. Please, let me express my gratitude.”

“Don’t need it. I got involved because I wanted to. You need to pick a better place to chat next time. Especially when you’re not strong enough to handle trouble.”

“I-I’m really sorry. I just thought we needed to experience a bit of the bar atmosphere to pep us up.”

It seemed they had their own circumstances, but that was none of Loren’s concern. Pushing past Ein before he could say any more, Loren headed back to Lapis without turning back again.

“Welcome back, Mr. Loren. You didn’t destroy any furniture this time,” she said the moment he was within earshot.

He took these words with a wry smile. He understood that had it come to blows, he likely would have exceeded her expectations with more than a touch of property damage.

“If I had to pay the fines, I’d be left penniless all over again,” he said.

“I don’t doubt that.”

“But I’m surprised that those kids were actually a party of sorts.”

“They were?” Lapis mused. “In that case… It depends, really, but we might be seeing them again soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who knows? I can’t say I’m certain, and it would be more fun to just wait and see.”

Loren didn’t see what was fun about that, but he sighed and resigned himself to watching Lapis flip through the menu—she had yet to decide on an order.