Once outside, Sigurd felt the door slam behind him. He stood there–partially shocked by how poor the exchange went–trying to process the guard's visceral reaction.

‘The Guildmaster wasn't kidding when he said adventurers are treated as a joke. I was hoping to convince him otherwise, but he didn't let me bring up my past as a soldier,' Sigurd ruminated before shrugging his shoulders. ‘Ah well, it was worth a shot. Now then...’

He took a few steps out and towards the gate, gazing at the intersecting roads. The one path to his left led out of town and it's how he and Cuntz had arrived. The opposite direction led out of town as well, but the inner roads led to paths he'd not yet seen.

‘On the way back, let's confirm the squalor to drive the point home. If the guards are useless, I'll need to force my way to the bottom of the underworld!’

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Taking the inner roads, Sigurd set out on a scenic route to return to the inn. The sun was ever-setting, and he didn't want to get caught out in perilous areas for too long, so he walked at a brisk pace.

The comparison was clear from the get-go, from the moment Sigurd stepped foot in Grimroost's back roads and alleys. Unlike the liveliness of the main road, the area he traversed the return to the inn was completely desolate.

For how quiet the outer edges were where just was, the dilapidated burrows were dead silent. The occasional dog barking or baby crying in the distance—alongside the breaking of glass or violent yells– reminded him of the shantytown he saved Mia and Nia from in Miltonshire.

If anything, walking through it further instilled in Sigurd the confirmation that such things were commonplace everywhere he went; whether on Earth or his new dwelling, misery, and opulence held hands, each opposite sides of the same coin.

Sigurd felt murderous stares pierce daggers into his back at every corner and thus hurried his pace until he was back on the main road. One sweep and glance of the area was sufficient to gather what he needed.

His mission was clear—there had never been any doubts. It was just a matter of implementation, and of blowing the lid off it all. Both things required an in of sorts, and, more than anything, perseverance.