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*SPLASH*

“STAY AWAY!!! STAY AWAY!!! STAY- Huh?”

*Step*Step*

“They’re… dead? But why…?”

“Wait… Those weird carvings on the dungeon’s wall… ‘Beware of the Nobodies’… Could it be…”

“… hahah”

“Hahahah… HAhHaHhahAHaHAhaHAHAH!!!”

“You invisible assholes… If our limbs come into contact with your body, ours would disintegrate… But if those missing parts touch yours, you would disintegrate…!!! Hahah… HAHAHAHAHHAH!!!!!!”

“HEARD THAT, YOU SORRY BUNCH OF FUCKERS!!? I’M COMING FOR YOU NOW!!! I’LL FUCKING LIVE, AND YOU’RE ALL GONNA FUCKING DIE!!!!!!”

* T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P * T H U M P *

“COME!!! COME AND GET SOME!!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAH!!!!!!”

*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*SPLASH*

.

.

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[ | | ]

“Hello, and welcome to- Oh…”

“Yeah yeah. It’s me, it’s me. No need to call Feddy~”

“Uhm… I’m sorry, who?”

“Phoney reference. Don’t worry ‘bout it, my good fellow!”

Leaving behind a very confused guild greeter, I proceeded to make my way towards the building’s main hall, where the hustle and bustle never seemed to stop.

It has been 3 years already, huh?

Somehow, despite everything, a sense of wistful nostalgia still managed to overwhelm me…

Even from far away, the hectic and vibrant lifestyle of an adventurer could already be felt. Fame, fortune, fun and friendship… It was hard not to think of such, given the abundance of glorious trophies, fanciful portraits and heroic sculptures on display across just one of the stronghold’s many corridors.

I slowed in my steps, before backtracking to the outer right portion of the keep.

A chuckle soon left my lips, seeing how the mess hall still looked as messy as always, with everyone being too occupied to notice an interloper peeking in.

This place, built in accordance with the priesthood’s wishes to catch the first ray of dawn – if there would ever be one again – could only be described as an amalgamation… no… a horrendous mix of mismatched ideas thrown onto a single serving: A kitchen here, the dining area there, several storages formed a serpentine maze while the out-of-place garden surrounded an equally curious, yet beyond bloody, altar…

With just a glance, anyone could tell that this house of glass was the most “unique” location within the keep.

Yep, you heard it right, such a monstrosity in engineering and aesthetic was surrounded by glass. Glass walls, glass floor, glass ceiling and not-so-glassy magical enchantments - which were maintained by the most capable of mystics the guild could deploy on a daily basis. Plus, given the number of barricades that turned each and every corner into a kill zone, it was easy to imagine how defenders could use such to their advantage, holding against superior forces in one glorious last stand.

Had you been able to tell that the mess hall’s main purpose was to survive sieges?

Because if you hadn’t…! Well, then you would be like me, since I actually thought adventurers just had a really bad sense of style the first time I saw this place.

“Heh…”

In my defense, half of what adventurers wore looked like a complete fashion disaster that no one would ever want to put on. It certainly didn’t help when my first employer confirmed that these swashbucklers would put a literal piece of trash on their body, especially if it was dungeon loot.

That said, such “treasures” must be working since veterans kept trying to offload their embarrassing old gears to newbies, right? That was definitely because the power boosts from “special equipment” were real and not a prank veterans loved to inflict upon naive rookies, not at all!

…

That table at the corner… My employer and his team were celebrating a raid well-done, back when I approached them.

It felt as if I could still see their haunting images, even though completely different folks now occupied the place.

Such a shame that I asked for a meal as an advance payment back then, instead of the usual loan of equipment.

After all, having bits and pieces from M’ouk A’ys would have at least brought his family some solace...

“Hey, look!”

“Is that…?”

“The otherworldly seer, no doubt. What’s he doing here-”

As the live entertainment on a magical screen came to an end, some adventurers finally decided to resume their regular schedule and made to exit the hall, spotting me in the process.

Sighing lightly, I turned back, leaving the mess that marked my beginning behind.

This was the place where I met my first adventuring party, whose dreams and desires for a better life spurred me onward.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

… It was also a reminder that my naive daydream had already died with them, never to return.

With any luck, this left stump of mine would be the last memento of why adventuring sucked, and how lucky I was to even survive to this day.

[ | ]

.

.

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“HALT! Who goes- By the Goddess… Everyone, there’s a survivor from the dungeon!!!”

“What? Seriously!?”

“Careful, I got you. Good job getting out of that cursed pit alive.”

“You, go and fetch a healer! The guy is at death’s door! HURRY!!!”

.

.

.

“-through the most critical stage. Though his arm-”

“-regular medicine since he is an unfavored. In fact, it’s a miracle that he even-”

“-slipping in and out of consciousness, best that you don’t-”

“-answers soon as he is lucid, or those monsters will break out and cause a bloodbath-”

.

.

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.

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“Mr. Joe, please wait a bit!”

“… What? What do you want? That uniform… Are you from the guild, kid? Haven’t I already told you lot about those monsters’ weakness? What the hell do you still want from me, huh!?”

“Mis… Mister Joe, I’m truly sorry that the priests couldn’t help you… I truly do! And, well… My papa… Um, I mean the guild master wants you to know that he’s sorry as well, and would like you to have this as compensation.”

*Crunch*

“Real gold… Kid… What’s your name?”

“D… D'heeche R'osnace, sir!”

“Right. Well, Rosnace, sorry that I can’t spell your name right, but I’m in a dark mood right now so I’ll just get to the point. What the hell is that guild master of yours plotting?”

“… Pardon?”

“Oh, don’t give me that look. I haven’t been in this damn world for over a week and even I knew that adventures aren’t the most kind-hearted of folks, let alone the paper pushers sending adventurers to their graves. Plus, given how scarce resources are right now and how much a single gold coin like this could get me, it’s hard not to be suspicious when such a thing would simply land onto my lap. Am I rambling? Well you can blame the drugs they used for my treatment, ‘cause once I get going I can’t no longer think- can no longer think straight? You get the point. Plus, I don’t see the family of my team getting any ‘compensation’, if that’s even a real thing since I actually read the guidelines and saw no mention of- BLERGHHH… Sorry, my stomach is still upset and talking too much tends to make it worse. Anyway, what were you saying?”

“… I… Ok, that’s a lot to take in but… Wait, so you are an outworlder? Like those invading the eastern kingdom?”

“Yeah, sure, blame it all on the new guy. BURPPP… Anyway, you can have this blood money of yours back. Not gonna believe in money falling from the sky again… People would most likely shank me before I could spend it anyway… Run back and tell that to your boss, kid! Now, if you’d excuse me, there’s a perfectly good alley that needs my attention before BLERGHHHHHHH.”

“… Alright. I understand. I’ll leave you to it then, Mr. Joe. Still, the guild master wants to deliver a message to you, and I hope that you’d at least hear it out.”

“Mhhh hum?”

“He said that he was impressed with your achievement at the church earlier – something even the top-notch adventurers would have difficulty pulling off.”

“My achieve- Oh, hardy har har. Very funny. Glad that someone found me tricking the archpriest and failing to get my arm back despite having the best healer’s help was of amusement. You know what? How about you go and tell that boss of yours to shove it up his ass? Would certainly make my day, that’s for sure! BLERGHHH.”

“Alright, I’ve said my piece. I wish you the best of luck, Mr. Joe. You know where to find us if you ever need help.”

“Later, kid. And as for that second part… hopefully never. I’m done with adventuring for the rest of my life…”

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[ | | ]

After one brief detour to the sick bay, I was able to check up on Bliby and confirmed quite a few suspicions.

While the healers on standby refused to answer anything regarding the boy’s state, the fact that he still looked as pale as a ghost practically spelled out dark art wasn’t involved, given how holy magic should have easily dispelled it.

That damn snake was more dangerous than I gave it credit for, it seemed…

How did it manage to summon an “artifact” out of thin air, let alone blatantly showing it in the middle of a crowd without anyone noticing? Shouldn’t the priesthood be able to detect aggression from it? Did no one try to interrogate a possible troublemaker with the miracle of honesty? Maybe that bastard was an unfavored like me, so said miracle wouldn’t work? But it was an adept in dark magic, so how could...

Curses… All these damn questions, and not even a plausible answer in sight.

Perhaps, me planning to have my second-in-command sniff the snake out, before siccing Mary and Gary - as well as powerful fighters and the entire priesthood at the town square – upon one common enemy was simply too naïve.

After all, if that fucking snake could defy the rules of this world so easily, who was to say that it hadn’t prepared for the possibility of death?

… Or, worse yet, who was to say it wouldn’t drag everything to hell, just to have one last laugh as the house of cards crumbled alongside it?

By the look of things, I might have to adjust my long-term plans in regard to this “starter villain”, unfortunately.

So much for cutting off the head of the thieves’ guild and just deal with the fallout afterward… Not to mention those cultivators from beyond the dungeons and even the horrors they were fleeing from as well…

Ugh… What a mess…

With a shake of the head, I decided to move on, making sure to avoid the main hall of the keep - where countless adventurers blissfully went on with their day in ignorance.

Soon enough, the guild master’s office was in sight, and behind it – the mastermind.

It was finally time to confront the puppeteer who had put Folen Frontier on its strings, and hopefully wrangle some revelation from that devious snake as well…

[ | | ]

*Knock*Knock*

“Come in.”

The gravelly voice sent a chill down my spine, and it took more than a few seconds before I could muster some much needed courage to open the door.

*Creakkk*

Funnily enough, the image of a scarred, bulky, scary bald man sitting in his chair – which was facing away from the office’s entrance no less – felt so cliché that it actually made me chuckle a bit.

Whoever was about to do a face reveal, however, might have found my action to be much less amusing. Thus, sounds of knife shaving away wood came to a halt as the guild master slowly turned around and gave me a death glare.

*Shinggg*

“You’ve certainly taken your time.”

“Um… It’s not Mr. Joe’s fault, papa! Bliby was sick… so we needed to get him help first! Really!”

“Hm…”

Debb Olde Mann appeared to muse about what his “daughter” just said, before simply waving a hand at the wolf girl in dismissal.

“Ah… I… I guess I’ll leave you two to it, then… If anyone needs me, I’ll be downstairs… ok?”

D'heeche R'osnace bit out the last part in hesitance, as if she could just smell the tension brewing between us.

*Creak*Creak*Creak*

I gave a glance at the young wolfkin as she sped past me and made for the exit…

… Only to find the door suddenly shutting tight, cutting off a possible escape.

*Bam*

“Eh… Eh…!?”

I turned my gaze back to the guild master, who remained nonchalance even as every window in his office started sealing themselves one by one, before ending it all with a loud BAM.

*Shhhhhh*

The familiar hum soon echoed across the chamber, blending together with a little girl’s increasingly hysterical rambling.

“Si… Silencing stones? Papa, why are we wasting such precious tools like that? Papa…? Why are you not answering me…?

Darkness and shadow began to leak out from every corner, darkening the room at a rapid pace.

“Pa… papa?”

Candles from far above burst into flames, making the chandelier our only source of light as it illuminated a scene most chilling beneath.

“Lis… listen to me, papa! Something’s not right!”

Soon enough, slicing sound of knife on wood began anew as the guild master returned to his former act.

I couldn’t help but gulp nervously, given how-

“PAPA! YOU NEED TO-”

Oh for fuck’s sake!

“Can we get to the point already? I still have work later, you know.”

“Uuuu… Even Mr. Joe is being weird now… Papa, you need to do something! Papa! Papa!!!”

*Creak*Creak*Creak*

The wolf girl rushed to her “father” for solace, only to find indifference.

She started shaking him back and forth to no avail.

Until finally…

*WHAM*

The guild master crashed onto the wooden floor with a loud THUD, as his “daughter” mercilessly unseated her dearest “father” without an ounce of remorse.

“Uuuu… I’m so scared… sooo scareddd… uuu~”

I could just feel my eyes twitch in annoyance, similar to how the guild master remained twitching on the ground.

Both of his hands were still carrying out the same motion on repeat, despite no longer holding a knife or a piece of wood in each.

After all...

The poor old man had long been turned into a meat puppet, with hidden strings now pulled by a puppeteer…

“Uuuu… uuuu…uhuhuhu... Well then...”

Despite knowing what would happen, my body still couldn’t help but shiver as darkness, shadow and pure malice began lifting a monster into the air, before leaking out of said snake’s eyes and mouth as well.

“I believe that we have a lot to discuss. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Joe~?”

D'heeche R'osnace - murderer of catkins, secret mastermind of this town’s adventurers’ guild, shadow ruler of Folen Frontier, as well as the thieves’ guild hidden boss – looked down at me with its serene, twisted smile, just like always...