Inside a room filled with knights, there were large stacks of papers, each one containing information about a member of the Alis guild. Some of them wore fancy silver armor, while others wore noble clothes, but they were all knights from the holy capital, Ethelas. It seemed they were in the midst of an investigation into the identity of the Dark Eye.
"We've already read all the adventurers' records, and there is no evidence so far," one of them, wearing a fancy outfit and with a twisted mustache, said.
"Well, the information is even too superficial. How can a guild of this size not gather significant information from its adventurers?" another knight said.
"It's a guild that receives a large number of adventurers from all over the kingdom, and it has few branches, so they can't interrogate all the adventurers for long... Well, all we have to do now is move on to the next step."
"We must wait for Vinnel's command."
"What is he doing now?"
"He's interrogating that demi-human."
Away from the knights' investigation, inside one of the rooms of the guild master Avilat's palace, he sat next to a large knight. Directly in front of them was a girl with black wolf ears and two different-colored eyes—one yellow and the other blue. As the two stared into her cold eyes, Vinnel spoke: "Well, as you've heard, you will be confined until the investigation is over."
"In your dreams," Etomi whispered.
"No, no, please be polite, Lady Etomi. He is one of the knights of the capital," Avilat mumbled nervously.
"So what?"
"After that chain that bound my neck for years was shattered, I swear no one will order me around from now on," the girl with the wolf ears added.
"Please, just cooperate a little..." muttered the guild master.
"Do you know who I am, girl?" the knight said in a haughty tone.
"I don't care who you are as much as I care about my freedom, but do you hear what you're asking of me? Really? You want to imprison me? Don't you see my animal ears? Isn't the torture I've endured in the past enough for you?" Etomi replied, her cold demeanor slowly slipping.
"Well, I'm not ordering you anything. We just ask that you cooperate. We want to guard you. If The Dark Eye kills another victim, you won't be a suspect," Vinnel repeated.
"Please, Lady Etomi, I'll pay you for this!" Avilat added.
"And what if the Dark Eye doesn't move?" asked the girl with the wolf ears coldly.
"Then we'll guard you obsessively, and you won't be able to hide from our eyes, unless you're going to the bathroom," Vinnel said fiercely.
"But of course, the killer will stop moving once he knows I'm imprisoned," Etomi said.
"And who said he will know you're imprisoned... Oh, it seems you don't understand what I mean by imprisonment. What I mean is that you won't leave the town," Vinnel responded.
"Understand?" Avilat asked.
"Fine... I'll cooperate this time, but don't take more than a week," Etomi replied.
"Then let's move to the second phase!" Vinnel said as he stood up.
◆ ◆ ◆
Inside the ruins of the moon, explosions and sounds of stabbing filled the air as blood splattered. In the depths of the ruins, specifically in one of the rooms on the second floor, Laos and Ponier were still in the midst of battling the gatas. But amidst their fight, a large number of wings were falling to the ground.
"This is the last one, come on!" Ponier shouted, holding his two short swords, bleeding from a wound on his face.
"I can't hold on much longer," Laos muttered, drinking a health potion as he watched Ponier with his face covered in wounds.
"You weakling!" Ponier yelled as he dodged a fireball from the gata.
"Weak? I've held out for a long time! You're the dumbass who took this party quest while we're just two!" Laos shouted.
At this moment, the last gata realized that Ponier wouldn't be able to reach it while it was flying, so it quickly spread its wings and flew toward Ponier with its claws. As the gata approached, Ponier turned and looked at Laos, who had fallen to the ground. Laos then opened his mouth and screamed: "Behind you!!"
But it was too late, and blood was scattered on the rubble. However, it seemed the blood wasn't from the foxen who appeared unaware of the monster's attack. Instead, it was the blood of the savage gata, whose head was severed from its body after Ponier quickly cut it while staring at Laos coldly. Ponier then said: "I thought this would be an easy quest for two people, but it was only easy for me."
After a while, the sun set, and the ruins darkened slightly. At that moment, Laos knelt, clasped his hands together, and recited: "Oh, great Moon Goddess, Lunariss, grant us your blessings, bestow upon us your wisdom, and protect us with your power."
"I think praying after a battle is better than praying after waking up," Laos said after finishing his prayer.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you'll get healing spells that will help us," Ponier said as he put the empty potion bottles back into his backpack.
"That was a tough quest, I'm not gonna lie," Laos muttered, panting.
"We've been here since morning; it seems like we've been through a lot. Well, at least we'll get eight nova," Ponier replied.
"Listen, since you killed more than twenty, you can take five, and I'll settle for three," Laos said. He seemed to feel like he was weighing down Ponier.
"Impossible, that was the deal from our first quest together. We split the money. Also, don't forget that you still have your own personal quest to complete," Ponier replied.
"Damn it, I need to hurry. I'll just take a mushroom monsters quest," Laos said, lying on the ground.
"Then let's head back," Ponier murmured as he backed away.
The two of them continued out of the ruins and then proceeded on their way in the warm breeze of the evening. And so, another quest ended for Laos in his adventure life, or rather, his career as an adventurer—another difficult and tiring quest was over.
"By the way, Laos, is that an enchanted sword? How was it vaporizing fireballs?" Ponier asked.
"Oh no, it's just magic. I coat it with condensed water, and you could say it's an enchanted sword because it weakens my water magic," Laos answered.
"But man, even with that, we almost died," the young man with white hair added, as if trying to change the subject.
"And if we had died, what's the problem?" the Foxen replied coldly.
"Of course, there's a problem. Or at least, for me."
"But death is inevitable. If you die in battle, you've just crossed off all the things you would have done and ended up dead. Isn't that normal? What I'm trying to say, or what I'm trying to get at, is that you are the one waiting for death, not the other way around. I understand your fear of losing your life, but it's a false fear. Instead of fearing that... no, you don't have to fear at all."
"Alright, alright, stop talking like that. But you know, if I die, it'll sadden or destroy someone else's feelings," Laos replied.
"Do you know how much damage a person's death causes?" Ponier asked.
"I've lost several people in my life, and every time it happens, I go through a big shock. So yes, maybe the damage to people could be more devastating than your death. In the end, you're dead, and everything's over, but for others, it's just beginning, especially if you were someone loved."
"The suffering on the dead person's end... I've felt that feeling too. But that doesn't change the fact that death is inevitable," Ponier muttered.
After that, their conversation ended. It seemed that Laos didn't want to talk anymore, so they both returned to the guild silently and collected their money. After Ponier insisted that Laos take four nova, he withdrew to go sleep, as it had been a tiring quest for him as well. The guild was a little empty, not completely, but less crowded than it was in the morning. At least you could see the quests board.
Fuck! I need to finish another quest... God, this is going to be hard. I look like a knight who's just come out of a bloody war. Well, I don't want to tire myself, I'll take an easy quest in the meadows. I went to the quest board and took a simple quest to kill three snakes. Well, there's plenty of time before the guild closes; I can do this.
Damn, what's with all the knights here? Why are there so many of them? Oh... they're the Ethelas knights who came to investigate the identity of the Dark Eye. I hid the Astral sword so I wouldn't attract their attention and tried to play the role of a regular adventurer, walking among them while trembling with fear. Come on, what's wrong with you, you're just a failed adventurer in leather armor and black hair.
After a long walk, I finally left the town. Fuck, this road is so long. I then reached the green meadows where the hills and tall grasses were, and also where the snakes and mushroom monsters were. I should've told Ponier to take an easy quest last time... but I'm not in a position to give orders.
I mean... he shared the money with me, and also let me drink his potions. He's such a nice guy... so where are these fucking snakes? Damn it, there are only mushroom monsters. After a while, I finally spotted a snake slithering quietly, and right next to it, there was a lone mushroom monster standing. Ah, it wants to prey on it.
"Oh no, he doesn't!" I shouted after summoning the Astral sword and quickly unleashing a water slash.
I managed to cut the snake, but it kept moving. And what's up with that? Also, why didn't the mushroom run away? Damn it, it's trying to eat it even after I cut it in half! What... what the fuck is going on here?! After that, the snake bit into the mushroom and killed it. This wilderness is really strange, it didn't even try to survive.
"Here you go, Laos," Thalesa's voice echoed suddenly.
"What?" I replied.
Suddenly, a blue aura spread from the Astral sword. It was so large that I could no longer see the sword. Then a coldness spread throughout my body, as if it had been sprayed with cold water. What a wonderful feeling! After that, the blue aura gradually faded, and I was able to see it...
The third form of the Astral sword, it was so slender, almost like a spear, and long, with a sharp end. Its handle was golden, and there was a blue crystal on it, along with blue engravings on the blade. But... isn't it too thin?
"The Cold Needle... this is the third form of the Astral sword," Thalesa said.
"Why did you take so long?" I asked.
"I swear, you're stupid to the point of madness!" Thalesa shouted so loudly that I thought someone would hear it, so I turned to see if anyone was around.
"Why?!"
"Do you want me to reveal the new form in front of that Foxen?!"
"Ah... I forgot, I forgot... So what about the abilities?"
"Well, hold on... First, as you know, the first form is a regular form with no properties, while the second one, the Sea Blade, has the property of water condensation, making water slashes stronger. As for this third form, its property is to cool the water," Thalesa explained.
"Alright, now, I got two abilities. The first one is Blue Spikes, and the second is Cold Spiral. No long explanation, just try them out."
Well, let's see. After a while, I completed my search until I saw a cluster of snakes. Great, what perfect prey. Let's try these new abilities. I stood right in front of them, pointed the sword at them like a wand, and then said: "Cold Spikes!"
I then launched a huge number of frozen spikes. They were like crystals and managed to pierce all the snakes here. Damn! Plus, their speed was incredibly high. This is really great!
"How many do you shoot per shot?" I asked.
"Four," Thalesa answered.
"Amazing, let's try the second one."
After that, I couldn't find any more snakes. Fuck, it's like they knew I was testing my sword. Fuck them. Well, at least I finished the quest, so I'll just try it out on empty space. So, what was it called?... "Cold Spiral!"
Suddenly, a large amount of water swirled around the sword and started spinning rapidly. It was really a spiral! It kept twisting and twisting, growing bigger with every turn. After a while, I released it, and then I saw a beautiful sight—cut grass flying high with water droplets from my attack...
"Thalesa, thank you!"
"Now that's better, you servant! You should learn to thank your queen!"
"Huh? Fuck you!"
After that, Thalesa started laughing, and I laughed too. Then I withdrew and started heading back home. What a great end to a truly tiring day. It seems like I'll keep getting stronger little by little until I surpass Linda and the others. Just wait for me in your battlefield, I'll leave your mouths wide open, one by one. Just wait!
◆ ◆ ◆
"I'm back," Laos said, standing behind the door.
After that, Maris ran and opened the door. Inside the room, Laos didn't just see a dinner plate this time; he spotted a large wooden tub filled with water, a tub that made him feel a rush of happiness the moment he laid eyes on it. Maris then grabbed his hand firmly and started pulling him toward the massive tub, then said: "I was worried! Why did you take so long??"
"That dumbass, Ponier took a difficult quest."
"Well, look, I bought a tub for us to bathe in," Maris said, staring into her husband's eyes, waiting for his reaction.
All Laos did after that was stare at the wooden tub. Then, he suddenly hugged Maris, and a wide smile spread across her face as she returned the hug. It seemed she was overjoyed because Laos liked her surprise—no, not just happy, she was incredibly happy.
"Thank you... thank you, Maris. Finally, I'll get to bathe," Laos murmured as he hugged her tightly.
"Of course, let's do it together. Hurry up, take off your clothes!" Maris said excitedly.
After that, they both stripped off their clothes and got into the tub, splashing water at each other. Sometimes they laughed, other times they had conversations between splashes, all with broad smiles on their faces... And so, another day in Iveleth came to an end.