Chapter 161: Empathy

Why would anyone in their right mind think they could charge 21000g for a single bottle of water? Zach didn’t care if this was the middle of the desert. He’d rather lie right here on this rock and die than give 21k to a wandering merchant for just one bottle of water. And why was it so noisy out here? This was the noisiest desert ever. All around him, he heard the sounds of laughing and of mugs slapping down against tables. It also smelled exactly like Angelica’s, too.

Am I dreaming?

Zach groaned. He was so tired. He wasn’t sure what was going on or where he was. He could’ve sworn he’d been lost in the sands of a massive desert that spanned almost an entire planet except for the very center, where a high-tech, NPC-run city eight times larger than Whispery Woods awaited the first batch of adventurers to ever set foot on it. Yet he’d had no water, and he’d been dying of thirst. That was when the predatory, wandering NPC merchant had tried to swindle him. Even if Zach was the richest guy to ever exist, he still wouldn’t cough up that much for a Gods-be-damned bottle of water. Fuck that NPC! It was so outrageous that it was still unacceptable even if he was just a character in a dream…

I’m confused.

As lucidity began to return to him, Zach became aware that he was not, in fact, in a desert. He was lying on his back with his eyes closed on what felt like a table, and he was clearly in Angelica’s judging by the smell of the place. The question then became: why. Why was he here and not in bed with Kal on her island, Elendroth? Did something happen? His mind was still clouded, and he was so tired that he actually lost his train of thought and drifted in and out of a few more brief dreams before at last he truly awakened.

He opened his eyes, slightly, and then he spoke. “Hello?” he croaked. “Am I in Angelica’s?”

Immediately, all chatter fell off. The music in the background stopped playing. Arguments between various adventurers were put on hold. And now, the sound of bodies shifting or turning in chairs temporarily became the dominant sound. What felt like more than a hundred pairs of eyes settled over him. This only made him even more confused. He genuinely had no idea why he was here or how he’d arrived. He couldn’t even be sure this wasn’t yet another dream.

It’s not a dream, he thought. I’m actually here.

Rubbing his face, he slowly sat up so that he was now seated directly atop a table. Still groggy, his eyes were struggling to focus. Had he gotten into a fight and lost? Was that how he ended up here? What was the last thing he remembered? He tried to think. He’d…wait. Hadn’t he been in Shadowfall Coast? Yeah. He had. He remembered. He’d gone to rescue Vim. Did he succeed?

Maybe?

Shit, how had that turned out? He didn’t know. Really, he didn’t. He strained to recall every detail he could. He remembered fighting that big guy and then sparing him because of his daughter. He’d been hurt pretty badly, too. So he’d carried Vim up the stairs of a secret, hidden exit, after which he had summoned his mount…and then? Well, that was when everything really started to get fuzzy in his head. He had no memories other than little flashes of running through the streets with his Kralzek’s Beast.

“Here,” said a voice, one he recognized as belonging to Angelica. He turned his head her way, but he still couldn’t quite see her just yet. Somewhat dazed and out of it, Zach raised his hand and accepted whatever she had given him, which felt like a cold glass. He took a sip. It was her custom-made cherry cola. Overcome with thirst, he downed the entire glass in just a few seconds. “Are you okay?” she then asked him.

Incredibly confused, Zach nodded. “Yeah. Why…why am I here?”

Angelica said nothing and gave him a very strange look. Then her cat ears twitched, and she turned around and walked away without answering. Reni Sarwin, who stood off to his side, also seemed to back away. Zach glanced around, hoping to glean some kind of understanding from the eyes of the adventurers nearest him, yet all of them turned their heads awkwardly. All except one.

“Zach in big trouble,” Fluffles said with a meow. Only now did he realize the cat was standing on the floor in front of him. “Zach lie to Kalana.”

“I what?” he shouted, immediately shaking his head. “I did not.”

“Yes. Yes, Zach lie.”

The accusation roused him, chasing away whatever sleepiness remained. It also caused the rest of the fog to escape his head. Scooting forward, he hopped off the table and landed on both of his feet. Then he knelt down and pet his cat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes! Yes Zach know.”

“Nope.”

“Yes you do,” said a voice from behind him that sent shivers down his spine. Standing back up, Zach turned around, and there was Kalana. She was across from him, her hands on her hips, a sadness in her eyes. “You do know.”

Zach opened his mouth, but his words got caught in his throat. What did she know? Or better yet, how much did she know? And how had she found out? Was it because of his call to Fylwen? She’d promised not to say anything unless Zach died, which he clearly hadn’t. Come to think of it, why hadn’t he died? He was so confused. He still had no idea why he was here or how he’d arrived. Did Kalana have something to do with it?

“Kal,” he at last said, meeting her eyes. “It’s…it’s crazy meeting you here.”

“Stop,” she said angrily. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

She stepped forward so that she now stood just an inch before him. And there was so much sadness within her. “You lied to me. You almost died. If I didn’t get there when I did, then, umm, you wouldn’t be here anymore, and I’d be all alone. Why didn’t you trust me?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you trust her, asshole?” a random adventurer he didn’t know shouted, causing murmurs of agreement.

Why can’t we do this in private? he thought, groaning for the third time in as many minutes. Do these people always need to pry into everything?

Zach snapped his head around and glared at the adventurer who’d shouted at him. “Mind your own business or we’re fighting.”

He fully expected the adventurer to take the challenge and ask for the grapes. But to his surprise, the guy, who from the looks of things was fairly well experienced, instead averted his gaze, muttered something into his mug of ale, and piped down. This, Zach could hardly believe. Was he afraid? That was unusual.

Never thought one of these guys would back down like that.

Returning his attention to Kalana, he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to speak softly. “Look, I’m really confused right now. I don’t know why I’m here or how I got here. I…I don’t know what to say, but I’m sure I can—”

“I’ll tell you why you’re here,” she interrupted. “You’re here ‘cause you were bleeding out on a sidewalk in Shadowfall Coast. And…and you were gonna die.” Her eyes dampened. “And you went there without telling me even though I’d do anything in the world to help you. And you didn’t care. And you lied. You told me you were gonna rest, but you were really plotting with my mom to go and kill people. You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie to you,” Zach lied. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kal.”

She pushed his arms off her shoulders. “Oh really? Then why were you there? Why were you in Shadowfall Coast?”

Zach drew a breath, held it a moment, and then released it. “It was a pottery convention,” he said with a shrug. “It happens once a year downtown in the city. Rian told me about it. I was there to do pottery. And then the last thing I remember is that a, uh, uh…”

“A pottery terrorist attacked,” someone chimed in. Zach turned his head, and he sighed with relief. Rian actually happened to be here with them in the flesh. His buddy. He’d come to bail him out of this mess or at least give him some moral support. Zach watched as his wide-framed friend strode over and slapped his palm down on Zach’s shoulder. “It’s true. Zach was the victim of pottery terrorism.”

“Oh, shut it, Ri,” Lienne said, joining them. She stood side by side with Trelvor. “Both of you boys think it’s just so funny and such a joke, but you hurt Kalana’s feelings really bad.”

“Exactly,” Seiley added, and now Zach realized that she was present as well. “Me and Trelvor saw the state you were in. I don’t think you understand how close you were to dying. Or what you did to Her Highness. Do you know how much pain you caused her? So, both of you need to shut up and stop making jokes.”

Zach flicked his eyes over to Rian, who gave him a very short, but noticeable nod. They were both likely thinking up a plan of escape. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have right now. Because he really did lie to Kalana, but for important reasons—and he didn’t know how to explain that to her.

Honestly, before he said anything that could get him into trouble, he really needed to first consult with Jascaila, who was like a lawyer but for his mind. He didn’t want to have this conversation before speaking with her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t here in Angelica’s with them, which was disappointing. He even glanced around the tavern just to make sure. All around him, there were a whole lot of familiar faces, but hers was not among them. Her brother was certainly here, though, and he did not look pleased.

Together with Zephyr, Donovan began stomping his way over to Zach, and when he did, every adventurer nearby got out of the way to let him pass.

“There you are,” Donovan said to him. Zach turned to face the larger, plate-armor-wearing man.

“Donovan,” Zach said to him in greeting. “It’s good to—gahh!”

Donovan cracked him over the side of the face, hard. Hard enough that Zach tasted blood. Immediately afterwards, the GSG leader reached forward with both arms and grabbed Zach, pulling him into a hug. “Dumb kid, the fuck were you thinking? What kinda’ shit did Alex put in your mind that you’d go out and fuck around in a war zone?” He released Zach, and despite his incredible heavy-handedness, there was a startling amount of affection in the way he now spoke and acted.

“You know what kinda’ trouble this can bring on the adventuring community? And yourself? We don’t do this kinda’ shit, Zach. You’re smarter than this. You know better!” He grunted, loudly. “You gotta cut it out. No more.”

Zach rubbed his inflamed cheek. “That was the last time. I promise.”

“It better be. Or you’re exiled.”

“Exiled?” Zach asked, speaking the one-word question with an unusually high pitch. “What do you mean exiled?”

“I mean out. Out of the adventuring community.”

Zach threw up his arms in outrage. “The fuck? Why? For what?”

“For what, he says,” Donovan mocked scornfully. “For what. I’ll tell you for what.” He poked Zach in the midsection hard enough that Zach was surprised he didn’t crack a rib. “For fuckin’ around, that’s for what.”

Zach took note of his surroundings. This was really not a great spot to have this kind of conversation. But then again, one thing he’d noticed about the adventuring community was that it did sort of operate like one big extended family. Grievances were very often aired right out in the open and among fellow adventurers, and aside from “leaking” adventuring-related information to new or low-level adventurers, secrets rarely remained such for very long. Even still, a bit of privacy would’ve been nice.

With a sigh, Zach met Donovan’s eyes and said, “I didn’t have a choice. You don’t understand what’s happening in the world right now.”

“And you don’t understand that it ain’t none of your goddamn business. We. Don’t. Get. Involved!”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Zach said again, this time more forcefully. “They were going to execute Vim!”

Donovan leaned his entire body back and widened his eyes as though the words Zach had just spoken were so surprising they nearly blew him away. “So the hell what? Are you kidding me, kiddo? Why do you even care? Let the prick die. He’s political guild trash the same as any other. It’d be doing the world a favor.”

“Yeah, but…”

Zach didn’t finish his thought. Because he now realized there was no point in arguing this with Donovan. He just wouldn’t understand. He didn’t live in the same world that everybody else did. None of the adventurers did. It was what made them so amazing but also so detached from the truth. They just didn’t understand what Zach was slowly beginning to learn—from people like Jascaila, Mr. Oren, and even Vim.

Having lost his father to the whims of a member of the guild he’d just fought to save, there were few people who could understand hatred of the political guilds quite like Zach could. They were corrupt, hypocritical, and there certainly did exist members of these guilds who were pure evil and used their power to take advantage and harm others. But deep below the surface, if one were to cut through every layer, there was something not one-hundred-percent terrible there. Deep within most—but not all—political guild members there was, in fact, a genuine, true, and sincere desire to see the level-1 people they governed prosper. Yes, it could be lost sometimes amid their own greed and corruption. But that will did exist. Zach had seen it now too many times to deny it.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

They aren’t exclusively bad.

Donovan and the other adventurers…they just wouldn’t understand. Kalana would, though. Yet right now, he had the sense she was refusing to back him up out of anger and disappointment for being lied to. But he could tell from the subtle shifts in her facial expression that she too disagreed with Donovan’s assertion that what happened in Galterra was none of their concern. Rian and Lienne, on the other hand, sided with Donovan.

“I hate to go against you, but he does have a point,” Rian said. “I know you were only there because you got guilted into it by ‘Lord’ Oren—what an asshole to call himself that by the way—but I know this wasn’t your fault. You need to just block his number and stop listening to him.”

“Yeah,” Lienne agreed, nodding enthusiastically. “That guy is a huge dick. Don’t forget the way he abandoned you and didn’t even give you a proper orientation into the adventuring world. And remember how he made you feel like you were worthless?”

Lienne and Rian were the first friends that Zach had made in the world of adventuring besides Fluffles, and they were together with him for his first “true” adventure. Therefore, they knew better than anyone alive what his state of mind had been in the days after Kalana had left with Mr. Oren. He’d told them all about how he’d been given nothing more than a couple of gold and a few barely helpful tips before essentially being left to his fate. Due to this, they had never liked Mr. Oren.

“Don’t let him involve you in anything else,” Rian said. “Okay?”

Zach wasn’t sure how to respond. The situation was far more nuanced and complicated now than it’d been back then. Moistening his lips, he tried to think of some way to explain this. Yet, having said nothing in a while, it was Kalana who decided to speak next.

“Alex is a good man,” she said, a bit of the sadness leaving her voice. “I dunno why you guys hate him so much. You don’t understand him or what he’s trying to do.”

“That’s not it at all,” Lienne replied. “It’s more that we don’t care, and he keeps trying to involve us. It’s fine that he left the adventuring world, but he keeps trying to involve himself in it. If he’s gone, then he should be gone.”

Kalana’s facial features tightened. “So you’re saying somebody can’t, umm, be an adventurer and still care about the world? ‘Cause I do. Should I leave too?”

“N-no,” Lienne quickly replied, her face flushing with color. “That’s not what I meant, Kalana.”

“Well it sounds like you did, and it’s mean to say that about him. And don’t forget that I’m gonna be the governor of Whispery Woods very soon, and I’m still not gonna quit adventuring.”

Lienne held up her finger and stammered out a few nonsensical words before seemingly finding herself. “Ahh…well, okay, but…okay. Yeah. But don’t forget, you’re an Elf. So it’s different.”

Zach could see the transition in her face as she shifted gears as though surprised to stumble on an actually good argument. As she continued to speak, she spoke with even more confidence. “Elves don’t even need the buff to get here,” she said. “My boyfriend doesn’t have it, for example.” She patted Trelvor’s hip, and Zach had to suppress a chuckle.

As a loyal, dedicated, white-cloaked Elvish warrior, Trelvor was now caught watching an argument between his girlfriend and the princess. Zach doubted he would say a word from this point forward. His face had hardened like stone, and aside from a general look of discomfort, there was no indication he planned to chime in.

“All I’m saying,” Lienne continued, “is that humans have a different set of rules, and we don’t mix adventuring and politics. That’s all I meant by that. Of course it’s different for you.”

Kalana’s expression softened, though Zach wasn’t sure why. He knew she couldn’t have agreed whatsoever with what Lienne was saying. If anything, what Lienne had just said was more likely to increase the level of disagreement between the two. So maybe it wasn’t based on that at all. Knowing Kalana, she probably detected that Lienne was struggling for an offramp and was willing to give her one. It was the kind of thing she’d do.

“I understand,” Kalana said. She held out her hand and took Lienne’s. “We can be friends and disagree. Right?”

“O-of course!” Lienne replied. “Also, I never got around to telling you how beautiful your curtains are.”

“Really?” Kalana exclaimed. “Zach never even noticed them and he’s been there for weeks. Wow. You like the dark red?”

As the two suddenly blasted the conversation into orbit, Zach leaned in closer to Rian and whispered, “We should escape.”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“What do you say we take the cat and get out of here?”

Rian snickered, and then so too did Zach. And it was only in this moment that Zach became aware of how…how “okay” he was. And the fact that he was so okay actually disturbed him. Unlike the last time he’d had to bloody his hands, he’d begun very numb before the pain built up and had driven him crazy, both increasing his overall jitters and causing him to have several meltdowns. But right now? He wasn’t numb. Truly, he wasn’t. He just didn’t…care?

Why am I not more upset?

He’d killed so many people. Far more than the last time. Maybe even more than a hundred. So why wasn’t he thinking about it? He wasn’t avoiding it, either. He wanted to think about it. He wanted to feel something about it. But he just plain didn’t feel like any of it was his own fault—because it wasn’t. It just felt like a continuation of sorts: another example of him being forced to deal with the Guild of Gentlemen’s evil. They really were responsible for this. It wasn’t something Zach questioned anymore. He might have struck the blow, but the people he’d killed were murdered by their own guild, not him.

And yet, despite it all, it actually bothered Zach how not upset he was. He wanted to be upset. For the sake of his own humanity, he wanted to feel at least something. The fact he didn’t made him question if he was wrong and if he was, in fact, numb. But when he thought about Kalana’s island, his plans for the future, and what was very much a desire for him to continue adventuring and grow, he realized he reflected upon these things with hope and optimism. He also knew he had very important tasks to attend to, such as heading to Dragon’s Squire and beginning the next step of his journey. He wasn’t numb. He was just…over it.

But first I have to make things right with Kalana, he realized. That’s more important than anything else.

“Kal,” he said—and she turned her head towards him. She’d been animatedly discussing tapestry or some other boring topic with Lienne, but now she looked over to him instead.

“Mhm?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

He didn’t want to do this in front of everyone. He moved towards her and lowered his voice so that only she could hear him. “Do you still love me?”

She slapped him across the face, though not nearly as hard as Donovan had. It didn’t even seem intentional. “Of course, you dork! How could you even…how could you ask that?”

Zach rubbed his cheek. “I’m just worried that, you know, because of this…”

“That I’d leave you?”

“Yeah.”

His words caused an even greater pain to flare up in her, which was evident from the look of shock that became painted onto her expression. “That’s not how this works! Why are you so dumb all the time?”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m really sorry that I hurt you. I know I lied to you. I even knew it was wrong when I did it. It hurt me to do it.”

“So why did you?”

“Because I just didn’t agree with you.”

“You what?” she asked, appearing genuinely perplexed. “Agree with me about what?”

Zach, still keeping his voice low, tried his best to explain. “It’s an argument we didn’t have. But we would have had.”

“Nah-uh.”

“No, Kal, listen, we would have. If I had told you what I felt I had to do, you—”

“—would have supported you!” she insisted, cutting him off.

Zach grabbed her hips and leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers. “No, you wouldn’t,” he whispered. “You would have supported a different version. You would’ve tried to save Vim without killing anybody.”

“Yeah. And we could’ve.”

“And that, Kal. That’s why I lied to you. That’s the only reason. If you really want to know that badly why I lied, now you do. That’s literally the only reason why.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, pain in her voice.

Zach closed his eyes and continued to rest his forehead against hers. “I don’t care how much you think otherwise. Trying to do what I did while not killing anybody…that’s impossible. Even if you’re a hundred-percent sure we could’ve made it work, you’d still be wrong.”

She placed her hands on his cheeks. “Why didn’t you trust me enough to try, baby? I dunno why you couldn’t just give me a chance to prove it to you.”

“Because I knew how that would end.”

“How?”

“With you in a position where you either had to kill dozens of people or watch them kill me. That’s how that ends. With your beautiful face covered in blood. With your hands just…just drenched in it. I can’t live with seeing you that way. I lied to you because I love you. That’s the only reason. I’m telling you the truth.”

“I believe you,” she said, a slight whimper in her words. “But if you don’t at least try, you’ll never know that I was right.”

“You’re not right.”

“I am! We don’t gotta kill people.”

“We don’t. I do.”

“No!”

Zach pulled away from her. This would be a conversation they’d have to resume later. Too many people were trying to eavesdrop, and this was none of their business. Even still, he felt relieved to have been able to explain himself to her, and though her eyes were once again damp, he could tell that she was relieved to understand. Even if she disagreed with him, he could see that it mattered very much to her that, if nothing else, she understood why he’d done what he’d done, and his reasons for doing so.

Looking around, and eager to change the subject to something a bit brighter and more fun, Zach sighed and asked, “Hey, where’s Jimmy? I bet he kicked so much ass at your raid.” And it was upon this question that the expressions on those around him became soured and uneasy, which caused a sinking feeling to appear in Zach’s stomach. “Uh…guys?”

Donovan’s expression hardened, and Zephyr’s tightened as well. Kalana began chewing her bottom lip, and both Lienne and Rian exchanged uncertain glances. Trelvor and Seiley, on the other hand, looked just as confused as Zach did. The rest of the adventurers also had various traces of concern entering their eyes as they regarded Zach and one another.

“Where is Jimmy?” Zach repeated, now speaking more loudly and demandingly. “What happened?”

“He’s fine, physically,” Zephyr answered. “He’s definitely alive.”

Zach flinched. “What the hell kind of reply is that?”

“He just needs time.”

Time?

Something wasn’t right. These replies were so unusual and strange. The way Zephyr had answered his questions confirmed to him that something had clearly happened, and Zach needed to know what it was. “Guys, what happened? Seriously.”

Kalana placed two of her fingers on his arm, and she scrunched up her lips a moment as though trying to figure out how to word her reply. Eventually, she said, “Jimmy got hurt really badly, but he’s okay. Umm, but he says he quit.”

“Quit?” Zach exclaimed. “The fuck is that supposed to mean? Just tell me what happened. Stop being so weird and cryptic. Come on, guys. Out with it.”

And so, for the next ten minutes, Zach listened in as Donovan, Zephyr, Kalana, Rian, Lienne, and even Fluffles all recounted the boss raid that Jimmy had apparently led in Trials of Nolak. With each subsequent detail, Zach felt more and more physically disturbed as the story progressed. With an unusual degree of empathy, he could actually feel the embarrassment Jimmy must have suffered.

Angrily, he pointed a finger at Donovan. “Why did you do that to him? Fucking dick!”

“Watch it,” Donovan snapped back at him with a low grunt. “This was the best thing that could’a happened. He needed to understand that real life ain’t the same as some fuckin’ simulation. Now he knows.”

Zach slammed his fist on the table. “How is this good? He quit.”

“He’s not quitting shit. He’ll lick his wounds, and he’ll come back.”

“And you know this how?”

“I just do.”

Zach waved his hand at Donovan, not even willing to hear this bullshit. It also made him feel truly guilty for not being there. If Zach had been present, this never would’ve happened. He wouldn’t have let it. Perhaps more so than anyone else in Angelica’s, Zach knew what embarrassment felt like. He understood what being robbed of dignity felt like. Being humiliated or disgracing oneself in front of others…he’d been there too many times to count.

“Where is he now?”

“Nobody knows,” Kalana said. “Tena’s been looking for him everywhere, but we can’t find him.”

Donovan ordered another mug of ale and then glared at Zach. “Let him be. He needs to lick his wounds. He learned a hard lesson, and it’s gonna be for the best.”

“Yeah, I don’t agree, sorry.” Zach got up from the table and looked around. “One of you is going to tell me where he is or, or I’m going to start flipping tables.”

“Zach, nobody knows,” Zephyr insisted. “We’re not lying to you. He roped out of the dungeon and just…vanished. He could be anywhere on Galterra. Or not on Galterra at all. Either is possible.”

Zach reached into his pocket and removed his phone. He glanced down at it, then thumbed through his contacts. He found Jimmy’s new number and sent a message consisting of nothing more than a dot, then waited to see if one or two checkmarks appeared at the bottom right. “Okay. He’s definitely on Galterra.”

“Really? How do you know?” Zephyr asked.

Zach looked at the man. “Because I texted him and his phone received it.”

“Clever.”

Stretching his back a moment, he took another slow breath and then turned to Kalana, extending his hand to her. “Want to help me find him?”

Some of the sadness retreated from her eyes, and she nodded enthusiastically, taking his hand. “Mhm!”

Donovan protested, and so did many of the other adventurers, but Zach didn’t care. The last thing he wanted was to let Jimmy fester in his own misery. He’d been there. It sucked. Yet he didn’t want to overwhelm the guy, either, which was why he was taking Kalana and no one else. Well, maybe Fluffles. But that wasn’t really up to him. He couldn’t control where the cat went or what the cat did. No one could. It was impossible.

“We must accompany you,” Trelvor said, and so did Seiley as they made their way to the door. “Our orders were to keep an eye on you and the princess.”

“Well, if they’re going, so are we,” Rian and Lienne insisted. From the urgency in their step, it only first occurred now to Zach just how much fear and anxiety the siblings must’ve been suffering through in the past few hours. The Elves they had fallen for had been called into a war zone. They must have felt at least some of what Kalana had endured. Only, unlike Kalana, they were not at a level where they could rush in and defend the people they cared about.

Zach rubbed his eyes a moment to ward off the stress he felt rising within himself. “Fine,” he at last agreed. “But I have no idea where I’m even going. Or where to begin looking.”

“Fluffles know,” the cat said proudly.

“You do?” Zach asked, kneeling down next to him.

Fluffles meowed. “Jimmy Green on Faded Island.”

“Faded Island?” Zach repeated, the name surprising him. “The hell’s he doing all the way over there?”

Faded Island was an island region of North Bastia, though it was monumentally larger than Elendroth and was home to a great many people. It was the sole region controlled by the Children of Order, whose leader, Fiona Darkmae, was both the youngest guild leader in recorded history and likely the most beautiful, too. But why had Jimmy gone there? Sure, it was a decent enough place from what Zach had heard, but there wasn’t anything “special” there in particular.

Faded Island was known, among other things, as being the happiest region in all of humanity. Due to its isolation, the politics of the rest of the world had rarely affected it throughout history. Outside of the conquest of Peter I and the establishment of the monarchy, Zach recalled learning in history class that Faded Island had been under the stable rule of the Children of Order for a very, very, very long time. In fact, the Children of Order had been in charge of Faded Island so long that their continuous control over the region stretched for an even longer consecutive period than the Royal Roses’ rule of Giant’s Fall did.

Going off memory alone, Zach was fairly certain there were no large cities to be found on Faded Island, and there wasn’t a great deal of tourism. Yet the island was also virtually devoid of any rural areas or meaningfully large stretches of nature or wilderness. The entire island, from top to bottom, was essentially one gigantic suburbia. No matter where one happened to be on the island, they were never more than a mile away from a nearby supermarket or movie theater. Shopping lots were ubiquitous, and wherever a community of homes was to be found, one would never be far.

The people of Faded Island tended to live as though the rest of the world did not exist, and rarely were they troubled by global events. Zach wouldn’t be surprised if most of them even tuned out the dragon. They didn’t tend to take anything seriously unless it happened in their own region. So, in that light, perhaps it did explain why Jimmy had chosen to go there. A place like that could be a magnet to someone like him.

“Fluffles, help us find him, okay?”

“Okay. I help.”

*******

“I can’t believe I’m in New Jersey,” Jimmy cackled, laughing aloud as his new friends cheered him on. “This whole region is just like New Jersey. I swear. Yo, bartender. Hook me up with another.” He tapped his shot glass on the table. “Another round for everybody. On me.”

Unlike Angelica’s, they didn’t care that he was underage here. Like, they would have cared, but because he wasn’t level 1, the rules didn’t apply to him, apparently. Actually, people had been scared shitless of him at first, everybody calling his ass “sir” and shit like. But you know what? They were cool. Once they all started drinking together, they mellowed out. And now, with the sun having risen, the party was still going on. But first he had to vomit.

Hopping out of his stool, he rushed into the bathroom in the back, leaned over the sink, and then let it all purge out of him. In the background, he could hear the guys laughing. “Jimmy’s puking again!”

Whatever. At least he was having fun. He was done with the adventuring world. But he was still stuck here. So he might as well find a place that most reminded him of something from home, and he might as well get drunk in it. He had enough gold that he could outright buy a fully detached home with enough left over to live and get drunk for a few years on top of that.

He was trapped here. He was never going home.

Might as well get drunk.