Monsier Maron heaved heavily, before walking up to Glenn. The young man looked at him confusedly.

"...life...gold..." The merchant mumbled, his eyes bloodshot and his fists clenched so hard they trembled. Glenn leaned forward to try and catch whatever nonsense the man was spitting. Maron suddenly threw a punch at Glenn, who received it in the chin without moving. A loud thump echoed in the tent, Monsieur Maron's face scowling in pain as he clenched his hand.

"Huh, what was that for?" The young man asked while rubbing his chin. It didn't hurt him, not physically at least.

'The pain of being hit by my employer is ripping my heart apart,' He thought sarcastically, confused at the merchant's burst of illogical anger.

'I mean, I would be quite mad too if I was in his shoes,' Diamanes commented. Glenn frowned as he retightened his tie, looking at the fuming man in front of him. Monsieur Maron drew a deep breath, seemingly gathering his emotions back.

"...You...Do you know how much I invested in this place?" Maron slowly began, his brows wiggling in anger. Glenn suddenly paled, a light of understanding washing over him.

"I spent so much money on this hellhole, investing practically the equivalent of half my cursed soul," The merchant spat, his face turning a violent shade of purple and his breathing accelerating as the anger came back at full force.

"...Then I hired you and these other...idiots! You..." The merchant pulled at the few hairs he had left, the balding of his head worse than when Glenn first met him.

"You were supposed to protect the damn place, not destroy it!" He cried in despair, tears of anger and sadness flowing down his face. He grabbed Glenn's tie and aimed a wrathful finger at him.

"You...And all the rest...I'll make you all pay—!" The color suddenly drew away from Monsieur Maron's face. He grabbed at his chest and suddenly fell backward, caught at the last second by Glenn, who gently laid him on the ground.

"...Did he just...die?" Glenn muttered, checking for the merchant's pulse. Thankfully, it seemed like the shock wasn't enough to stop his heart, only to shut his consciousness. Glenn chewed on his lips before smacking his lips.

"Well, it's not like I don't understand where he's coming from, but what were we supposed to do?" He sneered, his hands on his waist. A chuckle startled him, and he turned around to see Josh, Javier, and Sahro setting themselves up. Glenn breathed a sigh of relief and approached his friends.

"I thought you guys would be out for much longer," Glenn said as he picked a chair and sat in front of them. Javier didn't answer, staring at the merchant lying on the ground with a blank face. Josh sighed while Sahro stretched his limbs.

"How could we continue resting when this guy is yelling right next to us? The Paladins could almost be designated as stealthy compared to Maron," Josh answered with a sarcastic tone, wincing as he felt his body.

"...?" Sahro gasped, making them turn toward him. Glenn's expression darkened, and he crossed his hands together.

"...Where...Where the hell is my left arm?" The Black Heir asked, his face draining out of blood. Glenn didn't answer, hiding his face in both his hands. Sahro jumped over his feet, stumbling around as he felt the stump on his left shoulder. Josh's jaw hung down with shock, and he hurriedly verified if each of his limbs were safe. He drew a sigh of relief, before covering his mouth with a guilty look.

Sahro couldn't believe his eyes, and he moved his shoulder around.

"I...I don't get it. I can...I can feel it moving!" He cried out, unable to let go of his stump. Glenn shook his head, finding it impossible to gather his energy and look up.

"I'm sorry, Sahro. Your left arm is gone," Glenn blurted out through his teeth, anger building inside his chest. If only he had been a little stronger, he could have stomped both the Dark Knight and the Fallen Mother's Son... The Black Heir shook his head with a mocking smile.

"Don't... Please don't joke with me, you bastard. It's there, I'm just dreaming..., or there's something wrong with my eyes. Haha, yeah, that must be it. A hallucination or something, after all, I've been hit over the head more than once by that damned bastard!" Sahro exclaimed, holding his stump toward a chair nearby. Glenn watched with a sad gaze, and Josh turned away while clenching his teeth.

The chair suddenly rapped over the floor as it pulled itself toward Sahro. Glenn tilted his head in confusion, frowning. Sahro put a single hand on his waist, staring at the chair proudly.

"See? It didn't bring itself over, did it?"

Glenn rubbed his eyes, and checked Sahro's left shoulder again, half-expecting to see the arm being regrown, but sadly, there was nothing there, only a cauterized stump.

In Sahro's eyes, his left arm was still there, enveloped in a blue energy that seemed highly unstable. But it was there, that was for sure. Sahro scratched his chin with his right hand, before holding the one that was supposed not to exist. Glenn and Josh looked curiously, trying to understand how this was happening.

"Did you master some kind of magic, Sahro?" Glenn asked, figuring logical explanations the best he could. Sahro frowned, and he shrugged confusedly.

"I mean, if you think pulling a chair to myself is "magic", yeah, I guess? I knew you weren't the brightest of all of us, but still, I expect a little more from you, Glenn," The Black Heir mocked, swiping his hair back. They suddenly all stood on top of his head. Glenn watched with his mouth and eyes wide open, before blinking and hitting the center of his palm in enlightenment.

"...Electricity?" He hesitantly asked, squinting as he tried to see any signs of a current passing through the air, as impossible as it sounded. He held out his right hand at Sahro for a handshake, curious. The Black Heir confusedly grabbed it, and felt a pulse of energy leave his body and enter Glenn's. The young man shook violently, unable to let go of Sahro's invisible hand. The Black Heir, startled, pulled his hand back, letting Glenn fall on the floor.

"...What are you playing at, you imbecile? And what the hell is electricity?" He asked, sitting back on his bed while studying his left arm. Now that he looked at it more, it's true that he never had these blue lines enveloping it before. Did it "awaken" during the fight with the Dark Knight? Hesitantly, he tried to clasp his fingers together, but his right hand passed right through his left as if nothing was there. An energy entered it and circulated back to his left arm.

Sahro paled and repeated the experience, and again, before finally understanding that his left arm was indeed far and gone, replaced by an invisible one made of this volatile energy. It wasn't Aura, no, it was more like...was that Mana?

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Mixed emotions passed on his face, as the Black Heir struggled to apprehend this new situation.

Glenn pushed himself off the ground, his muscles still trembling under the effect of what could be probably compared to a damned Taser. He wiped the foam off his mouth, and breathed in and out, attempting to get rid of the feeling of being electrocuted.

'Hmm, I'm pretty sure I watched a documentary talking about those...' Diamanes mused, chuckling at Glenn's dismay.

'That probably was on cops' violence, but that's not the damned subject, Diamanes,' The young man forcefully answered, shaking the pain off his hand.

"Sahro, I think you awakened your Mana, and quite the specific one at that. Thunder-affinity is pretty rare from what I read," Glenn stated, sitting back on his chair with his arms crossed. His hair was all messed up now, but he couldn't care less. Sahro looked at his left invisible arm with lackluster eyes.

The Black Heir shook his head.

"I'll...I'm sure there is some way to heal my arm back," He muttered, feeling his left hand opening and closing, but knowing that it was just the effect of a phantom limb, a symptom present in a lot of handicapped soldiers. Still being able to feel a limb even though it was gone is probably the weirdest thing he ever experienced. Well, could he consider it to be completely gone since there was a new, energy-based one replacing it?

Sahro remained silent, lost in thoughts. Josh coughed lightly, trying to get Glenn's attention.

"Do you mind filling us in with whatever happened?"

Glenn nodded and installed himself comfortably in the chair to explain everything. Josh's expression twisted quite a bit when he realized that all of his teammates were dead, but he didn't interrupt Glenn, letting him finish his explanations.

"...and that's how it ended up. The guys from Onnea's Church are still taking care of the drawbacks of this whole thing," He looked at the exit of the tent, "...but to resume it, it could have gone worse. Way, way worse..."

Glenn lowered his head, sighing. He didn't feel much guilt over the corrupted villagers dying, but it didn't mean it didn't touch him. Even if he knew that he did his best, seeing a parentless child or a grieving widow was disheartening, to say the least. He couldn't even imagine how Josh was feeling, now that his entire team had been wiped...

'Wait, it's true that I initially came here to interrogate Gentle Knight and his team on Prince,' He suddenly thought, jerking his head back up. Sahro was leaning against the head of his bead, lost in thoughts, while Javier was doing some stretching exercises, unperturbed. Josh was hiding his face in his hands, breathing in and out slowly, probably to try and not lose control.

'Oh yeah, just ask him about another of his dead comrades, that's the best way to make him think about something else,' Diamanes intervened mockingly, encouraging Glenn's creeping thoughts. The young man bit on his lower lips, hesitating.

"...Just ask away. I'd rather not suffer in silence, so just say what you want," Josh snapped. Glenn smiled awkwardly, before sighing heavily.

"...Firstly, I'm sorry for your losses," Glenn apologized. He had never felt comfortable giving his condolences away, but who would? The Pale Son sneered, shrugging it off.

"Sorry for yours too. I'm not the only one who lost something for this cursed request, so stop walking around eggshells and get to it," Josh bluntly said, his voice dry and resentful. Glenn winced.

"Sahro and I were initially looking into a man who named himself Prince. I take it you know who I'm talking about?"

Josh's eyes widened slightly, and he bit down on his thumb.

"Yeah, I know who he is, and even know where he is. Dead and buried. Why?"

Glenn chewed his inside cheeks, before continuing.

"The Cleaner's Workshop charged us with identifying his identity. We're thinking he is a noble, and one pretty high placed. Do you happen to have any information on that?"

Josh drew a deep breath, before chuckling darkly.

"Yes, it doesn't matter anymore. This guy was indeed called Prince, but his family name was Rosenborn—Prince Rosenborn, of the Rosenborn family, one that is very high up in the Court. I'm just repeating his words. I've never set foot in the Bourgeoisie, so I can't assure you it's true."

Glenn restrained a gasp and clenched his fist with exaltation. At least one good news! He finally had found out who the fuck Prince was! That's a recommendation from the Plutus Church and a pass to the Bourgeoisie. Hell yeah!

The young man did his best to try and slow his racing mind, clasping his hands together to stop them from shaking in excitement.

"What can you tell me about him?" He tried and asked while keeping up a calm facade. Josh pondered the question, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Well, proud would be probably the best term to describe him. At first, he joined us only thanks to Gentle Knight, and looked at us with contempt, as if he was way above us, but that feeling faded away quite quickly. He was a nice fellow, with a big heart, even if sometimes, he seemed bothered by the smallest things," Josh smiled slightly, reminiscing.

"We'd found him scared to death by rodents when he didn't even blink in front of horrible, tentacular creatures. He would often change clothes as he hated being dirty and would wash himself at least twice a day, if not more. Heh, it was probably the only guy I know that smelled good if that makes sense," The Pale Son rubbed his chin, looking behind Glenn with his gaze lost in the horizon, well, the wall of the tent in that case.

"And as if he wasn't good enough, he was probably the most capable man I knew, stronger even than Gentle Knight, at first," Josh frowned and his nose creased, "...The team almost shattered because of that, until Gentle Knight obtained his sudden power boost somehow. Sigh, I should have known it wasn't normal, seeing how he degenerated back when we fought him..."

Sahro sneered, leaning in the best while listening to the story.

"You don't say. No way that Mother or whatever was the only thing that influenced him. There were two phases to him, one where he first controlled shadows and used them as actual matter, and the other that was a bit more...fleshy and evil, which was probably provoked by the Mother."

Josh nodded slowly.

"We all knew there was something wrong with him, but still acted as if everything was fine. We were making a name for ourselves, and Gentle Knight had become a Gold Rank while Prince wasn't too far off from it."

He rubbed his forehead while Glenn winced, hesitating to push on. The young man steeled himself and clenched his teeth.

"...Do you know how he died?"

The Pale Son bit his lower lip, acknowledging it with a nod of the head.

"...Yeah, the Thorn's Church did something to him and he transformed into a monster composed of vines and roses. The vines were probably the influence of the Thorn's Church, but I can affirm without hesitation that the roses were due to his power," said Josh, clenching his fists angrily.

"The only reason he died to these Thorn's bastard was due to this special thing about him, that special bit he couldn't help but brag about everywhere. If only we had shut him up properly..." Josh sniffled, clasping his hands together.

Glenn rubbed his chin, lost in thoughts. That pretty much confirmed his theory, he only had to bring all of this to Reginald and he would get that sweet recommendation. Still, it left quite the aftertaste to just...leave like that. To him, there were still many things to do, like growing his strength back up, since...yeah, his Third Circle dissipated into nothingness, he'll have to find a way to get it back.

'Your fault using such a spell, but maybe it's better this way,' Diamanes suddenly interjected into his thoughts. Glenn raised an eyebrow.

'What do you mean? I...Do you think I lost my Circle because of that spell?'

Diamanes chuckled.

'Huh, duh! Of course, you did! And from what I saw, you didn't earn that Circle by yourself, so it was bound to disappear one day. At least, you used it to fuel an attack that should have been impossible for someone of your level,' explained the entity mockingly. Glenn tilted his head to the side.

'Wait, above my level by how much?'

Diamanes pondered while humming, before smacking his lips.

'I'd say that was probably around the Fifth Circle, but that's still pretty weak, considering you sacrificed a Circle to power that spell. By the way, you should come up with a name for it. What about "Longinus Spear of the Last Second"? I think that's the best way to define this thing, isn't it?'

Glenn grumbled mentally. It's not like he ever planned to use such an attack again. But it still reassured him to know that it was an inevitable thing to lose the Circle. At least he wasn't feeling as terrible as he did before. He just had to find a way to obtain it normally, not just receive it from a hot Goddess, as pleasing as it was.

Lost in thoughts, Glenn was unable to see Monsieur Maron pushing himself up, greed and revenge shining in his eyes. He stood silently, an ominous smile drawing on his lips.

He had just figured out a way to earn all of his money back.

Slavery.