There was a long queue in front of the town's gate. It was because a town pass was needed to enter the town. And it was one of the town guard's duty to check them one by one.

For newcomers, we had to pay ten silver for each person. So it was twenty silver for me and Mirage.

After paying the fee, the guards would be checking your status. It was necessary to prevent someone doing illegal things.

We were told to put our hand on a fist-sized crystal. And the crystal would be scanning our criminal records, or you could say our fame/infamy point.

In my case, my fame/infamy was zero so I could enter the town easily. And Mirage also passed without a doubt. She had zero fame/infamy when I checked her status.

Orbania

A town with a population around five hundred NPCs. Their house was mostly made from woods, but stone buildings were seen more often at the inner part of town. And it seemed it was a marketplace area.

Also, there was a town square with a big statue of a woman. She was wearing fur cloak, and a spear was on her right hand.

They believed it was a representation of Goddess of Hunt who saved their village a thousand years ago.

In southern part of the town, there was a two-story wooden house with a tree beside it.

A woman in her mid-thirties opened a door after I knocked three times. She had deep blue eyes, blond wavy hair, and wearing brown medieval-like dress.

"Excuse me... I-is this Carol's residence?" I asked her awkwardly, I was really nervous.

"Yes, you are talking to her... Do you need something?"

"Oh... ok, yeah I...I have something for you."

I took out the pendant and letter from my bag and gave it to her. Her eyes widened as she took them gently from my hand. Then she immediately read the letter.

"This is..." Her eyes were teary.

The moment she finished reading the letter, she fell on her knees and began to cry. I could understand that it was a shock for her. Mirage knelt down and tried to calm her. From inside the house, two teenagers were coming out.

"Mom, what happened?" Asked the girl while kneeling down.

"You! Who are you!?" The boy looked at me in anger and readied his fists. "You hurt my mother, huh!?"

"No... Balar. Stop..." Carol wiped her tears and tried to get up with Mirage and the girl's help. She then faced me and bowed. "I'm sorry..."

"I-it's okay..." I said.

She looked up at me again.

"Please get inside and have a seat. I'll make some tea for you two." She faintly smiled and then turned around. "Lena, sweetie. Come and help me, please."

"Yes, mom..." The girl looked at us for a moment and then followed her mother afterward.

I stepped inside the house nervously. I saw the boy, Balar, was sitting down in the living room.

I sat down on a wooden chair in front of him and put my hands on my knees. Mirage followed and sitting beside me.

Balar looked at me with narrow eyes while pouched his lips. It seemed he wanted to keep a watch on me.

It was an awkward silence, until a moment later the two came back with a kettle and two cups. The girl named Lena was pouring the tea.

"Thank you..." I said.

Lena just smiled and fixed her hat. She was sitting beside her mom afterward. Once more, a really awkward silence occurred. So I just grabbed the cup of tea and sipped it. And then Carol opened her mouth.

"I'm Carol Grizlan. This boy is Balar, and this girl is Lena. They're my kids."

"Oh... I'm Zeroth and this is Mirage." Mirage smiled and bowed.

"Once again, I'm wholeheartedly thank you for finding my husband."

"Thank you very much..." Lena also thanked us in a sad tone.

On the other hand, Balar just looked at me suspiciously.

"Y-you don't need to..."

Once again, the silence ruled the atmosphere.

I didn't know what to say. Telling my condolences wouldn't just change their feelings or showed how I cared about them.

We were strangers, and we just met. Lecturing them about life and death was also not good enough since it wouldn't change the situation.

As if they would accept it and then suddenly live a happy life. I knew their feeling very well, so I just kept my mouth shut.

However, my thought couldn't handle the uncomfortable feelings. And it made me remember something I wanted to forget.

'Can I go now? It's fine if I don't get any reward. System message, please just tell me that the quest is over.'

Then Carol opened her mouth.

"Where are you from, young Aphi?"

Aphi was the plural form of Aphu. It seemed she mistook Mirage as Aphu too.

"We're from Eldan."

"Ah, I see. That is a long way walk. You know... My husband, Reabas, also coming from a faraway place... He was coming from beast kingdom. He came here to be a mercenary."

She smiled for a moment and continued.

"I was only a shop clerk when I met him. He was kind and sweet. We fell in love despite our differences. We built a family after five years of relationship... I'm really happy. I'm really glad I met him."

'He was a beast-kin...'

I didn't really observe him but, because of her story, I could recall that he did have unique skull.

I looked at Balar. He was a normal brat, a human.

Then I looked at Lena. Our eyes met, then her gaze turned somewhere else. If it was me in real life, I would've taken my gaze away from her too. But it seemed my curiosity beat my shyness.

As if Carol knew what I was thinking, she opened her mouth.

"Lena is special. She inherits her father's appearance. Even if it's just her ears. Hehehe..."

"I see..."

Lena's face reddened, and she held her hat with two hands as if it could drop at any moment. It was cute. And she fitted pretty well about a saying 'Girl's innocent shyness'.

My gaze strangely turned toward Mirage. She was watching me. I didn't know why but I froze. I slowly turned my gaze elsewhere. I kept my poker face and sipped my tea.

"If I may ask, where did you find my husband exactly?" Carol asked in serious manner.

"In Mining Canyon. It seemed he was hiding from monsters. Maybe he was injured and couldn't walk anymore. So knowing he would probably die there, he wrote the letter. That's...what I think."

A simple answer would do, but I needed to explain it somehow. Perhaps, I wanted her to know the story from my perspective.

"How did you two get there? Do you know that place is forbidden, right?" She asked with a surprised face.

Halton didn't tell me that the place was forbidden. He probably didn't know that as well. So I asked her curiously.

"Really? We didn't know that. Why is it forbidden?"

"So you didn't know? Alrighty then..."

She exhaled and inhaled deeply. Then she began the story.

"The mine was once a dwarven mine. Some people still believe there are treasures hidden there inside the mine. However, those who went there never come back. No one knows what's happening there. People speculate that there is a bandit's hideout, dangerous monster, or even vengeful spirit. Yeah, some people said that they were seeing a ghost near the canyon. Because of those kind of rumors, the previous King of Juvaldo made a new rule to prohibit people to go there. And so the place is forbidden to step on. If what you said is true, then what kind of dangerous monsters live there?"

"I don't know what lurks inside the mine but, there are countless spiders in the canyon. The Mining Canyon is basically their nest. We encountered the big one too, and it's likely to be the boss. So we had no choice but ran away."

"Oh my God... It's a miracle that you two got out from there."

I let out a wry laugh after hearing her said that.

"Haha not really a miracle... We're just lucky."

She faintly smiled and then back to her sad expression. She sighed and hid her lips, and then she opened her mouth again.

"Reabas, was someone who loved to go to new places but never to dangerous ones like that. I still remember when he brought me to beautiful places."

Her eyes were teary again.

"He gave me a beautiful gem. I thought it was a safe job. Now I realized that he definitely went there. If only I knew... If only I knew he was about to go there..." Her tears began to flow, but she then wiped her cheeks and continued.

"You're a hero, right? Can I asked you a favor?"

"Y-yes?"

"I want you to bury my husband properly. If possible, I want you to take his remains here so he can be buried in this town."

'What?'

Before I could response, she continued her words.

"We don't have anything. But... I have this gem from Reabas." She said as she stretched her hand forward and put a white beautiful gem on the table.

I unconsciously used Astral Eyes to identify the gem.

Mithril Gem Quality: A A gem which is made from a very rare mineral called Mithril. It is possibly made by dwarfs since they are the only crafters who can process Mithril.

 Then the system message showed up.

Soldier's Last Wish has been updated.

Soldier's Last Wish

Carol's Favor

Quest: Carol wants you to bury her husband's remains properly. If possible, you can also bring his remains back to Orbania.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Reward: Mithril Gem

Accept?

 "I'll do my best."

・・・

She told me that Reabas got the gem from a subjugation job. However, she was sure it was a lie. She knew his behavior very well so she could tell that something or someone wanted him to go there.

I could guess he probably got the gem from the mine. Then, because of one's greediness, he tried to get into the mine again. Alas, he couldn't make it the second time.

'That means, there's more Mithril in there!'

A mining site full of precious minerals!

It was a joy for the moment, and then my smile was washed away, turning into a sigh.

'I need to kill those spiders first before I get in. And the boss too. And cleaning the blocked webs.'

I shook my head and moved the thought aside, then I was thinking about the quest that Carol gave me again.

To be honest, I actually didn't expect becoming an undertaker for Reabas' remains.

'How? Can I put someone's remains inside inventory? But that is disrespectful!'

It was also a long walk from Mining Canyon to Orbania. It would be really strange for me to carry someone's skeleton openly. I couldn't imagine how people in Orbania would react.

Then a sudden idea coming through my mind and I moved my feet to the marketplace area.

I bought wood planks and nails. Then I went to a remote area so none could see me doing something strange. Yeah, I wanted to make a coffin.

I didn't know Reabas' size, so I built the coffin normally with the size of 2 meter long, around a half meter shoulders wide and tall. It wasn't perfect but it was good enough for a temporary coffin.

I tried to put it inside my bag.

'It can actually get in...'

I spared some planks and nails if I got the size wrong and made another coffin there. I looked at Mirage and sighed.

"Is it disrespectful if we do this?"

"Eh... Umm it's okay I guess. As long as it's safe. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"You're right... Well then, let's find a place to rest and we'll go tomorrow."

"Okay."

Most inn cost seven silver a night in Orbania. It was a bit expensive than Eldan which was only five silver. I had around 4 gold left so I didn't worry much about money.

The next day, we departed back to the mining canyon. This time, we carefully watched our steps. I didn't want to be chased again.

Somehow, we successfully arrived inside the hidden crack unnoticed. Though we actually saw a lot of them on the cliffs outside the crack.

Perhaps, it was because they were alarmed before, so they were sending code red to their friends.

I took out the coffin and we began to put Reabas inside carefully. Thankfully, his remains fitted perfectly inside.

'He's indeed a beast kin, huh.'

His skull was different. He had fangs. Even the tip of his finger bones were sharp. I closed the coffin after I finished observing him.

We took a rest before we went back to Orbania. Though we could use teleport scroll to get back instantly, I wanted to hone my combat and skills. So it was necessary to recover my fatigue.

Within the quiet place, Mirage opened her mouth. Her soft voice was faintly echoed inside the crack.

"Umm... Zeroth... Can I ask you something?"

"Sure... What is it?"

"Do you have some bad memories?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw your expression when we were in Carol's home." She sighed and turned her gaze somewhere. "You looked... sad. I think you actually look sad all the time, but... As if, it's different that time."

So that was why she was watching me that time. Because of that, something went through my thought.

'Why is she so attentive all of sudden?' I looked at her curiously.

"I can understand, it's because whenever I remember bad things, I will be sad too. It's unpleasant to remember that kind of memories."

"So my face is always sad, huh?" I smiled faintly.

Actually, I didn't really care what kind of expression my face had. And a lot of people I knew said that they found my expression to be scary, or I had a poker face.

It was surprising for an NPC like her to be able to see through me. However, it didn't mean I was sad.

Of course, there was a lot of things passing through my mind. Past, present, and future. My brain was always thinking.

Especially when we were in Carol's house. For a certain circumstance, it was probably pretty obvious that I looked sad.

"Eh no! I mean... you smile sometimes. And that's good. Ehehe..." She giggled wryly and then continued. "I'm just worried."

"I see... It's okay. It's just my face. I was born with this kind of face." I pointed my face and smiled. "Actually, some people find my face really scary, you know?"

"Is that true?" She disbelieved what I said.

"Yes, they said it in front of me."

"People are rude!" She frowned and leaned her face closer toward me while inspecting my face intently.

And then she raised her eyebrows while smiling.

"Yup, your face is fine! Not scary at all!"

"B-but you just said my face is sad all the time. That's rude."

"Eh!? Saying someone is sad isn't rude though? I'm just curious!"

"Hahaha I know, I know. You're worried about me, right?" I smiled at her and continued. "Thank you. But, you don't have to worry. I already got used to it."

"Teehee... Alright. But if you're sad. Just tell me okay." She smiled back at me.

"Okay."

This side of Mirage was new to me it felt strange. And somehow, I got a feeling that we were actually getting closer.

My heart suddenly felt hurt, I didn't know why. I just brushed off the feeling and stood.

'Time to go...'

I lift the coffin and tried to put it inside my bag. But then, a system message popped out.

Reabas' Coffin cannot be put inside inventory.

'Eh?'

I didn't expect that there would be a day where I carried a coffin while hunting monsters.

・・・

Midnight in Orbania.

"Shit! Where the heck did he come from!?"

A man was panicked while running at an empty alley. Behind him, a man in black was chasing after him.

"Jordan, why are you running? I just want to talk." Said the man in black while smiling creepily.

"Fuck off! You're just gonna kill me, ain'tcha?" Jordan said as he turned his head to see the man behind him.

He saw the man in black leaped forward. Surprised, Jordan swung his left hand as if he tried to slap the air behind him.

Then suddenly, the man in black immediately fell on the paved ground as if something pulled him down.

Thud!

Jordan kept running without looking back. He extended the gap between them. He turned left and right, trying to get rid of him.

After he thought it was far enough, he looked behind. The man in black was right behind him.

"How the f-"

The man in black rammed him and they fell rolling on the ground.

BUMP! THUD! Bratatata...

Jordan looked at the man in black. He saw him looked back at him smiling. He ground his teeth. Then he stretched his hand as if he was pushing the air toward the man in black.

Once again, the man in black was strangely thrown flying backward. Then he threw a dagger toward Jordan before he fell.

Fwoosh!

Jordan's eyes widened. He stretched his other hand forward. The dagger was stopped mid-air right in front of his hand.

His sweat was dripping down on his face. Then he saw the man in black getting up and began to run toward him.

He pulled his hand and then pushed it forward. The dagger instantly shot straight toward the man in black.

However, he knew that would happen. He evaded the dagger easily, and then he threw another two daggers at Jordan in an instant.

Fwoosh Fwoosh

Jordan couldn't see it, or more likely he didn't see them coming. The next thing he knew was he felt an excruciating pain.

Stab! Stab!

The daggers pierced both of his feet. Red puddle was created on the paved ground.

"Aaaaaaaarghhh!!!!"

The man in black then pulled another dagger. This time, it went through Jordan's hand.

"EAAAARGHH!!! GODAMMIT! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

The man in black was smiling. And he stabbed another dagger to his other hand.

"AAAAAARRGGHHHHH FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"

Jordan couldn't do anything so he kept screaming and cursed the man in black. However, his reaction amused him.

"Arrrhh... Fuck..." Jordan was breathing heavily. "Ugh... You wanna skin me alive now? Go ahead... Just kill me already."

"Hahahaha..." The man in black just laughing.

"Hah... Something's funny? Eughh... Please just kill me already, you psychopath." He said as he was moaning, holding the pain he bear.

"Ah Jordan. Your ability isn't coming from your body. So I won't skin you."

Jordan eyes were shaking. He realized what the man in black would say next.

"What I need to cut is your head...slowly."

The man in black was smiling creepily.

"I want to see your beautiful brain, Jordan..."

"You monster..."

Jordan's scream filled the night of Orbania.

・・・

It had been three days. We finally got back to Orbania, and something about what I had expected came true.

I could see people were looking strange at me, a few even laughing and talk shit on me.

"Look at that Aphu... Is that his own coffin? Hahaha..."

'Well, someone is already inside, so it's not mine...' I replied them inside my thought.

"Man, this makes me remember about Aphu who was followed by a beggar in Eldan. Hahahaha..."

'Hey, you are watching the same Aphu right now.'

However, there were also some players who were curious about what I was doing. They asked me while following me.

"Hey bro, is it a quest? What's the reward?"

"Is it a job quest?"

Typical most players, they wanted to know the reward the most. I answered them with lies, of course.

Though there were still many players talking on my back, I just ignored them. Until I finally arrived at Carol's house.

Carol opened the coffin with shaking hands. Her emotions becoming more unstable when she saw the skeleton inside the coffin.

She immediately knew it was her Reabas, her loving husband. She cried while hugging him. Lena and Balar also did the same.

It was understandable. The feeling of seeing their loved one's gone far away. Remembering the memories when they had been together. Of course, they wouldn't be able to handle their emotions.

We saw Reabas' burial ceremony from afar. A lot of people were coming. I could see the priest was giving a speech before they put the coffin down inside the grave. Seeing the scene, I tried to brush off everything in my mind.

Carol met us in front of the cemetery when the ceremony had ended.

"Don't worry. I lied to them about where you found him."

"Thank you."

"I should be the one who is thanking you. You ended my long waiting for his arrival." She stretched her hand toward me. "As promised. Here is the gem."

I took the gem and then she continued.

"Please come by if you have time. I'll gladly welcome you two." She said as she smiled sweetly. "Once again. Thank you very much for fulfilling my favor." She bowed and then walked away.

Soldier's Last Wish Quest completed!

The quest chain ended there.

Orbania Town Square

I was sitting on a bench while gazing at the blue sky. I needed a time to sort my thoughts.

Since I didn't have quest anymore. I had to plan something ahead, or perhaps I could take a quest from Adventure's Guild.

In Adventure's Guild, there was a board where people posted a request. But to be able to take a quest there, you had to be a member first.

Being one would give you some kind of special privileges and benefits. One of them was you didn't have to pay when you enter a new town.

However, I also heard there was a quota of request you had to do in every rank.

'It's tempting. But I don't want to be bound with that kind of system.'

I looked at Mirage. She was sitting beside me while eating something that looked like an apple candy. I believed it was called Red Sweet. She looked really carefree.

'Yeah, right. You can do whatever you want in this world.'

I smiled as my worried was being washed away.

'Fuck it. I'll just murder every spiders in Mining Canyon.'

I needed to prepare. And the first thing I had to do was repairing the ring and see if I could unlock another effect.

I took out the Mithril Gem and my artisan hammer. Then I used Repair Skill to see if I could repair the ring.

Repair success rate is 5%

It was just five percent. If I failed then the Mithril Gem would be gone, of course.

Also, there was a chance that fail decreased the item's durability. It was the worst possible result. Nonetheless, the fact that I could repair with Mithril was amazing.

'I can repair it!'

Astral Artisan was actually an incredible job. It was probably on par with dwarven smith.

I read it on forum that for dwarf artisan players who wanted to process rare materials like Mithril, they needed to change into higher job first.

They had to meet a native dwarf smith which was very rare. One was known to be in Alkronia. And the other way was to learn dwarven's scriptures or artifacts which were abandoned.

It was truly a hardwork compared to Astral Artisan which was a basic job, yet it was even with the third one or above.

'I still want to befriend a dwarf though. I have to learn a lot. And maybe there's a unique skill I can get.'

Indeed. I noticed it was becoming hard for me to learn a new skill. Perhaps there was a limit of what my race –Aphu– could do, or maybe it was just all on me.

Combat wise and experience in crafting, I was still lacking. Of course, trying wasn't going to hurt you. I would learn or level up a skill or two in return if I were lucky.

'Well, for now... Let's just level up my Repair and Crafting skill.'

The plan was already set in my mind.

'It's time for me to make a new self-made armor.'

・・・

Northeast part of Orbania.

Two people were standing in front of a small house. One was a blond human with black martial artist clothes. The other one was a brown-scaled Sleethar with tattered leather clothes.

The human was about to knock the door, but then a voice was heard from inside.

"Who is that Sleethar, Vallas?"

Vallas sighed.

"Is that how you greet your brother?"

"Oh! You disappeared for years! For years! And during those years, I've been working alone without you! And now you suddenly showed up with a stranger in front of the door."

"Well, if you let us in then I can tell you the story and how I ended up with this half-lizard."

Ylvaark frowned at Vallas, but he just shrugged.

"Fine! You better have a logical reason for this one."

Creak...

The door opened by itself. A dark brown-robed man was inside, sitting on a wooden chair with his arms crossed. As the two entered the house, the door, once again, closed by itself.

Bang!

The robed man lift his right hand and opened the palm upward. Seeing that, Vallas shook his head. Then he folded his fingers and put his arm back on his chest. Ylvaark looked at them confused.

"El-" Vallas cut his word when he noticed the robed man looked at him sharply. "Uhm I mean... We just did prison break."

"YOU WHAT!?" The robed man immediately stood. And then he sighed. "Hah... I should've expected that." He sat down while put his hand on his face.

"I'm not lying..."

"It's not that you're lying or not. It's your action that matters!"

"..."

"Remember that time when you barged through someone's house?"

"Ah yes... I remember that. Yeah, I thought they needed help. I heard a scream obviously!"

"Yes, but you misunderstood! You're too rash to execute your sense of justice!"

"Okay okay I was wrong! I didn't know it was a scream of pleasure!"

Ylvaark eyes widened as he raised his eyebrows. His mouth also shaping an O.

"Of course. Maybe it's better that you are being arrested and rethink about what you've done."

"I'm absolutely aware about what I'm doing. But I didn't know why I was cap-"

"Whatever. I don't care anymore. Now that you're here, there's something more important to discuss." The man cut Vallas and looked at him seriously. "Is he really a trusted fella?"

Vallas just sighed. And then he nodded at his question.

"Yeah... He's helping a lot during our escape."

"Alright... I'll just make it to the point." The man inhaled and exhaled deeply. Then he giggled and continued. "Haha... I tell you that he is indeed a devious one. But I finally found his trace."

"You mean Bel-"

"DON'T!" The man raised his volume and pointed a finger at Vallas. "Don't say his name you pathetic slime-brain." He sighed to calm himself down. Then he continued. "But yes, it's him."

Vallas eyes widened and he also smiled widely.

"We can finally get our revenge."