The snow extended as far as the eye could see, but after a point, she saw the ocean. As far as she knew from looking at maps and such, she always believed in a singular, nation-wide truth. The world was placed upon a single continent, one surrounded on all edges by a singular ocean that wrapped around the land — an ocean that would swallow you if you traveled too far. The continent was split into four realms based on the seasons. The Ardyne Empire sat in the north, in the realm of springtime.

Wrath had gone so far south that they reached the ocean. Aria and Sloth had silently followed him, trudging through the endless snow towards the sandy beaches that lined the world’s edge.

Resting on the beach was a little boat, one that made Aria shudder.

“Are we sailing?” she asked.

“We’re heading south,” he answered. “It’s the fastest route to the Imperial castle. The Emperor wants to meet you, sooner rather than later.”

The Emperor. The Ardyne Empire ruled over the world for over a millennia. Their Empire had multiple dynasties and wars fought over succession, but at the moment, things were peaceful.

The world was peaceful — relatively speaking. The Empire was the most powerful group in the world, followed by government leaders appointed by the Emperor and so on, so forth. At the very bottom were the average people.

The average person lived a very simple life. Be born, fight monsters, level up a few times and then hit the fork in the road. Either you become a normal person, living a normal life in the Empire or become an adventurer, level up fighting increasingly dangerous monsters and eventually be pulled into the Imperial army’s sphere of influence.

Wherever you went, the Empire was there to guide you down whatever path they saw fit. Only those who rose above gained the freedom they so desired.

Those people who rose above all sat in a little boat, and with a pair of oars, Wrath silently began to row away from the shores and towards the great unknown. Sloth took it upon herself to sit back and bask under the sunset, carrying her spear in her arms like a lazy harpooner on a whaling trip. She was so lazy that she went ahead and pulled out an accordion from God knows where, only for her to infuse it with mana, forcing it to play itself.

“Aria, dear,” Sloth asked. “What sort of music would you like? What kind of melody do you think would fit a trip across the ocean?”

“I don’t want the accordion to play itself.”

“Oh?”

“I want you to be the one playing it.”

Sloth smirked at her quippy answer, and after snatching the accordion out of the air, she absorbed the mana she gave it back into herself and put it towards a greater use — a slush fund of mana used to raise spirits and effort, effort put into music. To Aria’s surprise, Sloth was brilliant. If she wanted to, she could become a wandering bard, filling the world with the melodies of prophecy driven heroes. A gentle, fleeting tune filled the sea, a song that made sirens jealous.

Wrath noticed it and peeking up from his hat, he smiled.

“It’s not everyday that Sloth takes orders from people,” he said. “You ought to cherish the moments when Sloth puts in actual effort. She excels at everything with her incredible talent — talent enough to topple an empire.”

“I could topple the Empire and become a despotic dictator who rules the world, but I choose not to,” she answered, oh-so humbly.

“Is it really true that you could take over the Empire?” Aria asked, “because if you could, I’d like to take the throne myself.”

“Take the throne, eh? Why’s that?”

“It’s because I always wanted to rule the world like the villains in fairy tales. I think we all have more in common than we first imagined.”

“Is that so?”

Aria leaned back against the rim of the boat, recounting her days.

“I came to Gray because I was curious about him, but when I found that he had a dungeon of his own, I knew I had to get on his ship. When he made me his second in command, I knew I had my chance to become a villainess.”

“A villainess, eh? You ought to talk to our boss. He — I mean, she knows a lot about being a villainess,” Sloth said, and Wrath shook his head.

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“She ought to go to Lust or Pride for topics like these,” he answered. “They’re experts on ‘villainy’.”

“What about you, Wrath?” Sloth asked. “You’re pretty villainous yourself, you know, since you killed her slime friend.” and she turned to Aria. “Speaking of slimes — who is that slime? It’s not everyday you meet a talking slime, and even less a slime in armor.”

“Would you believe me if I said that he was a human cursed by a witch?”

Sloth snickered at the thought, then paused, touching her head for answers. Genuine pause and concern filled her usually expressionless face.

“Wait a minute — one of the other SDS was stationed around East Tide, weren’t they?” she asked Wrath who simply shrugged.

“Stationed or not — none of us could curse a human, turning them into a slime. I don’t think curses could even manage something like that. That would involve messing around with a person’s code.”

“Code?” Aria asked.

“Forget I said anything,” Wrath answered. “When we get to the Imperial palace, the boss will explain everything.”

Isabelle left East Tide and headed for the Imperial Palace, alone, leaving behind the crystal Aria left to her back in the dungeon. She was determined to find those ten people and prove to Gray that the Empire was worth keeping. Though — that involved a few questions she found difficult to answer.

Who was righteous? What determined it? Who was to judge righteousness? If she herself wasn’t righteous, then could she be a judge of it? A demoness like her, who toyed with peoples’ lives for fun and EXP had no ground to stand on in terms of righteousness.

When she arrived in the capital, she noticed something off. Vera City at least had a smidge of warmth among the crowd, but here, there was nothing. It was ice cold, despite being placed smack dab in the center of the springtime realm.

She asked around for aid — asking others for their help in rescuing a child, but she found that they all passed her by, either answering that they had business to attend to or by outright ignoring her. The world was tiny, split into four smaller realms, and had no room for another child.

The last place she looked in was the one place she wasn’t supposed to be. The adventurer’s guild. With a bag of gold, she approached the receptionist with one goal in mind.

“I’d like to file a quest.”

She was given a clipboard with a sheet and a pen that was chained to said clipboard. Being sent to one of the many tables, Isabelle silently filled out a form. There were an array of options — options she herself was familiar with, after having filled out a quest to lure adventurers into the manor, adventurers she wanted to use as both hostages and negotiation tools for her billion gold demand.

Now, she was on the other end, and quickly she filled out the form — adding ‘urgent notice’ to it, which meant paying an additional fee to the guild.

‘Urgent notice! Demons have kidnapped a child! Need help finding and rescuing her! Recommended level 35 +, recommended party size 10 + individuals. Warning! Foes possess instant kill abilities! Recommended anti martial art tactics and anti spearman tactics!’

She set the warnings as should be, and with that, fifteen copies of the quest were pinned to the great corkboard, with five extra in case they got lost or if the quest taker refused. Additionally, the guild contacted other branches who copied her quest and pinned it to their corkboards.

Isabelle watched from the sidelines as people walked up to her quest, gave it a glance, and walked away. It seemed like facing foes that were level 35 was just too much for many people.

That’s when she found herself being hit on. They were a younger man, and with a hefty sword rested on his shoulder, he showed off with a smile.

“Heya lady,” he said, “what brings a beauty like you here? You got a quest for us adventurers, don’t you?”

“Perhaps,” she answered, using her gentle smile to her advantage. He seemed to fall head over heels for it.

“Well, I’m Boris, I just so happen to be quite the tough guy — legendary hero material, I’d say,” he said, boastfully. “How about you show me what quest you put up? I’ll take care of it for you — long as I get to show off how strong my muscles are. Yeah — I’m pretty huge. I work out, too, if you were wondering. You were wondering, right?”

Isabelle simply smiled. She felt neutrally towards his clumsy attempts at flirting, and with a single finger, she pointed over to her specific quest.

Boris went over and with one glance, he froze like a bloodhound that found the source of a scent trail.

“Saving a little girl, eh? From a couple demons, huh? Wow, looks like she got herself into a real pickle,” Boris let out. “Man, sounds rough. Level 35 plus? Goddess — I’m not even level twenty.”

“Even if you’re underleveled, if you’re crafty and determined enough, even a little girl who’s only level six can defeat a powerful demoness,” Isabelle said, trying to get him to change his mind.

Boris, however, could do nothing but wave his hands all nervously.

“Hey hey! I’m just a sword swinger ‘ere. I’ve never fought a demon and I wouldn’t even dream of killing one. I’m sorry, lady, but I don’t think I got the chops for a quest like this. Goodness — no one here’s tough enough for something like this. You got yourself a dead end here.”

“Dead end?”

“Say goodbye to the kid. What is she, your sister? A cousin? Don’t tell me she’s your daughter now, is she? Well whoever she is, she’s done. There’s no saving her.”

“But Boris, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. You could become a legendary hero.”

Boris took a moment to think, but after gulping down his dry throat, he gave in.

“I’ll take it.” and he reached for the quest, only to be met by a wrinkled hand.

Next to him was an old fellow, gray hair, fancy clothes and quite the mustache.

“Allow me to help you,” Gray said.