Maria woke up tired and exhausted the next morning.

She was lying flat against the neatly tucked-in covers of her guild bed. The sun was shining through the window, directing a narrow beam of light directly into her eyes. She shielded them, and rolled onto her side, groaning. She hadn’t even changed into her sleepwear before passing out. She remembered stumbling into the guild, renting her room for the night, and collapsing onto the bed when the door shut behind her. What did she even get back? She couldn’t remember.

Maria sighed as she slowly rose from her bed. Her thighs were still sore, and she still felt sweaty from last night. She smelled too. Maybe a quick bath before meeting with Irra and her party would be a good idea.

She sniffed herself again.

It was a good idea.

After a quick bath, Maria stepped out into the guild hall, her raven black hair still damp and clinging to the back of her neck. Thankfully, it wasn’t very lively this morning. Only a handful of guild members were scattered around the guild hall. A few parties sat quietly in their contemplations, eating, muttering amongst themselves. Others stood by the quest board, and one guild member was standing in the corner filling through the pages of a book while they sipped from a steaming mug. It reminded Maria of when she would wander into small coffee shops. Most mornings in the guild hall were a little rowdy, with people up and ready for the day, but on the few occasions when it was slow, she felt more relaxed.

Maria scanned for Irra. She spotted her sitting by the large fireplace with Torrin and Yarina. The fire had long gone out, and all that was left was the charcoal wood sprinkled with ash behind the large steel grate. “Good morning,” she said as she approached.

Irra glanced past her party members, and over to Maria. Her eyes went wide. “What are you wearing?”

Maria paused. “Oh? This?” She twirled in her new witches outfit, before tipping the brim of her hat. “Just some new gear I got.”

“I think it looks nice,” Yarina said, looking back.

“Aye. You look more like a witch now,” Torrin chuckled.

Maria smiled and took a seat beside Irra. The girl had been eating something akin to a scone, a buttery pastry mingled with fresh eggs and bacon. Yarina shared the same dish, while Torrin had a large plate of salted pork and goat milk. “God, that all smells good,” Maria sighed.

“Try some of the pork,” Torrin said.

“I just might. So, did you all sleep well?”

“I was sleeping well enough,” Irra said. “At least until I got a message in the middle of the night.”

“Sorry about that. Things got a bit carried hectic last night.”

“We heard,” Yarina said.

“About what?” Maria asked, blushing slightly.

“About the church. It went down in flames and you were spotted there.”

“Oh, right, yeah, that.”

“It doesn’t look like you got any sleep,” Irra said.

“Yeah well… I was busy last night after that. Anyways, my teammates should be here soon.”

“You got things sorted with them I take it?” Yarina asked with a mouthful of eggs.

“Yeah. Irra’s advice helped a lot. It took them a little while to forgive me, but we’re doing good now. So, thank you.”

“At least it worked out,” Irra said.

Many of the waitresses in this guild hall were dressed differently than the ones in Oxfell. They wore simpler dresses, with scarves wrapped around the tops of their heads. When one of them stopped by the table and asked Maria for her order, she asked for the same thing as Torrin.

Chariot and Tanalia both arrived as the waitress left.

Maria raised her hand and waved them over.

“Good morning,” Yarina said to them as they approached. “It’s a pleasure to see you two again.”

“Likewise,” Chariot smiled, sitting beside her. “It’s been some time.”

Torrin chuckled. “How are your asses feeling?”

Both Chariot and Tanalia raised an eyebrow at the dwarf, confused.

“You remember, after we kicked ‘em in the challenger's tomb.”

“Oh, right,” Chariot chuckled. “Long since healed.”

Maria glanced away awkwardly, leaning towards Tanalia, and whispering quiet enough for only her to hear. “I don’t know, my ass is still feeling a little sore.”

Tanalia gave Maria a sly grin.

“Did you spend your earnings well?” Chariot asked.

“That we did,” Torrin chuckled. “Plenty of equipment, but not new gear, unlike you three it seems.”

“We all got an upgrade,” Maria said. “We’re stronger than ever.”

Irra groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re here for a rematch.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“We’re not. We do need your help with something.”

“That being?”

Maria took a deep breath. “The special assignment. Things haven’t been going as we planned, but we’re finally ready to go after the man who nearly killed Master Eardwulf again.”

Irra turned more to face Maria, her interest piquing.

“When I was sent on the mission that promoted me to a Craftsman, Guildmaster Odalf had asked me and Master Eardwulf to find something. Well, we found it, but just as we were preparing to leave, we were ambushed by this man. He’s called the Ringleader, and he was an old subordinate of the demon king.”

Across the table, Torrin and Yarina tensed up.

“He admitted to us that he was the one behind the Shadow Jester attacks. We tried to fend him off, but he was powerful. Very, very powerful. He nearly killed Master Eardwulf, and he took off with what we were after. So that’s been the assignment. Avenge Master Eardwulf, and get back what the Ringleader stole.”

“And… what did he steal?” Irra asked.

Maria hesitated for a moment but leaned in, and spoke in a quieter tone. “They key to the demon king's treasure.”

“The what?” Irra, Torrin, and Yarina said in unison.

“Don’t speak so loud about it. He manipulated the guild into getting it for him, and once we had it, he stole it. If he finds the demon king's treasure, then he’ll rise as the new demon king. We can’t let that happen.”

“It’s been hard,” Chariot said. “We underestimated our abilities in catching him. We’ve improved as teammates, but we don’t think the three of us alone are enough.”

“Mhm,” Maria nodded. “The Ringleader is currently captured out at the ruins of Trumhere Fortress. From what we know, he has troops from the demon king's army stationed there.”

“He’s hiding out in Trumhere Fortress?” Irra said. “I thought it was destroyed?”

“It was,” Chariot said. “But he has set up a camp in its ruins. We know where he is, and we know the tricks up his sleeve. We just can’t handle fighting through an army on our own before getting to him.”

“Ah, I see,” Torrin said. “The demon king's army. Can’t say I ever thought the day would come when I had to face them again.”

“And what if he isn’t there?” Yarina asked. “This… what was his name? The Ringleader?”

“Yup,” Maria nodded.

“It’s a weird name. But… what makes you think he’ll be there when you assault it?”

“Hope? We’re a thorn in his side already, if he isn’t there and we attack, word will get to him quickly, and I’m sure he’ll show.”

“If he’s not, I’m blowing his camp up,” Tanalia said.

“For once, I won’t stop you,” Chariot added. “So long as I’m not anywhere near it when it happens.”

“You three are at higher levels than all of us, right?” Tanalia asked, then looked at Irra. “You were level thirty before the challenger's tomb, right?”

“I’ve gone up since then. I’m level forty-five now.”

Maria whistled.

“I’m catching up to you,” Tanalia said. “I just hit level thirty-eight.”

“Once you hit level four, the XP requirements for going up a level rise significantly,” Irra grumbled.

“She’s right,” Yarina said. “I’m level fifty-four, and Torrin is level forty-seven. Working here for low XP rewards isn’t as viable as it was.”

Irra nodded. “We‘re thinking of moving on soon, go adventuring in places where we can receive more XP from monsters and rewards.”

“Oh…” Maria said. “Where are you thinking about going?”

Irra shrugged. “We aren’t so sure yet. We were considering Al Lindal, but that’s a ways away.”

“Al Lindal?” Chariot raised her eyebrows. “The desert planes of Al Lindal?”

“Mhm. I’m not a fan of the heat, but higher-level monsters are out there. The Adventurers Guild recently set up a new guild hall there as well, so it’s a place we can stay. But, we have some time before we head out,” Irra said. “I think we might be able to help you.”

“You can?” Maria smiled. “Thank you.”

“If it’s a priority of the guild to capture this man and get back what he stole, then it’s a priority for us.”

“Aye,” Torrin nodded. “It’s been a while since I kicked someone's ass. If this man was behind those Shadow Jester attacks, it would be more than worth it.”

“Has anyone else been to Trumhere Fortress?” Irra asked. After a resounding No from across the table, she opened her map and scrolled through it before landing on the fort. From her perspective, the fort still looked intact. She likely hadn’t returned there since she was young. Regardless, it helped a little when she turned her window around for the others to see, and started pointing out locations. “Trumhere Fortress is surrounded by a moat,” Irra explained. There was indeed a large moat built around the fort, a man-made inland island, with the only way across seemingly being a single drawbridge guarded by a stone wall and additional watchtowers. “I’ll assume the bridge is gone. But if soldiers are there, then it might be repaired. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We’re not going in that way.” She scrolled her map a little to the side. The fort was positioned in the valley between two mountains, almost serving as a wall, with a road veering around the fort. “There’s a doorway in the mountains opposite the fort. Right here.” she pointed to a patch of land on the outer slope of the mountain. “It’ll lead to a very, very long escape tunnel, but that will take us directly to the throne room.”

“What if the throne room is gone?” Maria asked.

“Then it will lead us to where the throne room once was,” she glared at Maria. “I doubt that secret passage has been discovered.”

“Wait… wait it’s a secret passage? How do you know this?”

“Before my father was promoted to Royal Captain of the Kingsguard, he was assigned to the fort for a few months to help train the soldiers of Nemract. He brought me and my mother there for a time. I explored every inch of that castle, every room, every secret passageway, and I discovered them.”

“Secret passageways, hm?” Tanalia said. “I like the sound of that.”

“Even if the fort was destroyed, I don’t believe any of the secret passageways were. Many of them were discovered, but I doubt this is one of them.”

“So, that’s the plan then?” Maria asked.

“Why are you asking me? This is your quest.”

“Oh, right. You just—”

“I showed you a way to sneak in if the place is guarded.”

“Right. We’re going to do that then.”

“I take it you three want to leave as soon as possible?”

“I’m pretty eager to kill him,” Tanalia said.

“I don’t think we should kill him,” Chariot said. “He should answer for his crimes. Death is too swift a punishment.”

“Don’t bother,” Yarina said. “If he was a subordinate of the demon king's army, he needs to die. Every single one of his generals, his soldiers, his children, they all need to be eradicated.”

Maria gulped.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Torrin said. “After the shit they put us through, I wouldn’t mind cutting them down and watching the life drain from their eyes.”

“Right…” Maria said. “So… when we finish eating, should we get going?”

“It’s a day ride, so it’ll be best,” Irra said. “Yarina can rent us horses with her silver tier badge.”

“I can only rent one for each member of my party,” the woman said, finishing her breakfast.

“I’m fine with doubling up,” Maria said.

“It’s settled then. We’ll get a move on when we’re finished,” Torrin said.

Maria nodded. As the waitress returned with her food, she dug in. Chariot and Tanalia ordered as well.

It was finally time. She was sure of it. They were going to get back the map to the demon king's treasure. Her father's treasure. She only needed to kill her step-brother.