Daisuke hung his head low as he approached. The door to the Merts’ Guild had never appeared se and imposing. Its surface seemed to twist and shift before his eyes, exuding an ominous aura, as though it had been plucked straight from a se in a horror film.

  But it wasn’t drugs that had Daisuke halluating such madness—it was shame. Yes, the shame of failing to pay off the measly one silver he owed the guild for his registration, a debt that had been hanging over him for well over two months now.

  Gathering what little fidence he could muster, Daisuke swallowed hard and cautiously stepped inside. Just like before, the momeered, the merts in the lobby turheir heads in unison to size him up. Their gazes were filled with a mixture of disdain and curiosity.

  Ign their scrutiny, Daisuke sed several of the service ters manned mostly by female employees and made his to the main er where a familiar individual stood.

  Instead of a scowl and a fiery of dark accusations, Jean shook in surprise, her eyes wide with relief. “H-Haxks!” She excimed. “I’m so happy you’re alright! We’ve been worried sick!”

  Daisuke, of course, shrank ba arm. This wasn’t quite the wele he was expeg. While Jea like a baby, he attempted to fort her, only to have the hysterical clerk lunged forward across the ter and hugged him tightly.

  “Wahhh! Haxks~!”

  Daisuke ged when he spied a length of snot bungee jump from her nose. Before he could pry her off him, she aggressively rubbed her fa his chest, smearing the nose juice all over his attire.

  Both Daisuke and Zephyr paled together at the unsavory sight.

  “I’m relieved to see that you’re in good health,” came a warm and raspy voice from behind.

  “G-Guildmaster,” Jean remarked, finally relinquishing her hulk-like grip and began wiping away her persistent tears.

  Daisuke turned around to face the old dy, his disposition remorseful, his eyes repentant. Before he could weave words of apology, the Guildmaster spoke.

  “One of our merts saw when you were approached by a shady group,” she informed him calmly. “He wasn’t there for the oute, but we had a pretty good idea of what happened. We’re just relieved it didn’t turn into the worst-case sario and that you’re safe.”

  “…And what exactly would’ve been the worse-case sario?”

  The woman’s gaze darkened ominously, and Daisuke raised his hands dismissively. “Okay, fet I asked.” Something tells me I’m better off not knowing. “More importantly, isn’t there a penalty for missing two monthly payments on my loan? What’s the damage?”

  “About that,” the woman begauring to Jean who gave a y-degree bow simir to what Daisuke had done when the loan was initially approved.

  The girl peeked up from beh her eyeshes, her skirt barely casg over the creamy curves of her bottom. When she spied Daisuke’s expet gaze, she cpped her hands together and tightly closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry!” She blurted out ungracefully. “I kinda… may have fotten to check the rarity of the mana crystal you turned in for sale.”

  Jean bowed lower, the posture revealing striped panties. “Acc to Mr. Devereux, the rarity of the crystal you had suggested it may have inated from within a Hidden Dungeon. In other words…,” her voice became small. “I may have… sorta short-ged you during that transa. I’m so very sorry!”

  “Mr. Devereux?” Daisuke muttered, one eyebrow arched iion. But as he ected the dots, he remembered the fmboyant oisseur with the magiocle who wao purchase the mana crystal for one hundred gold. Of course, the transa fell through when he was attacked by the four stooges.

  “As pensation for this blunder,” the Guildmaster began, “we’re willing to entirely dismiss the loan and pay reparations.”

  “Reparations?”

  “The guild will pay seventy pert of the difference you were short-ged. This seventy pert, of course, will be based on the market price for Hidden Dungeon mana crystals.”

  “No, that’s okay,” Daisuke said, raising his hands dismissively. “If you’re willing to drop the loan payment, the’s just call the whole thing water uhe bridge. There’s really o pay me back.”

  The Guildmaster smiled fondly, then she opened a single eye to peek at the e who was surprisingly still within the boy’s pany.

  Young people these days were very impressionable, often quick to adopt the ive beliefs of their friends and family. It was very refreshing to see a youngster getting along with a domesticated monster or demihuman.

  Zephyr y sprawled atop his throne, returning the sneering looks of the onlookers with a defiant gre of his own. Daisuke noticed the Guildmaster’s gaze lingering on them but felt no reason to be armed.

  Now that he was officially a Pyer, people would likely assume Zephyr was a panion, not some untamed beast ready to cause havoc. He no longer saw the o keep cealing him—at least, not here.

  “H-Haxks,” Jean muttered sheepishly, nervously fidgeting with her fingers, her entire behavior today very uncharacteristic. “Thank you for being okay,” she added in a small, hesitant voice. “I know things were tough for you before you joihe guild… and the thought of never having the ce to apologize to you was really weighing on me.”

  Daisuke returned a ile. “Don’t feel bad,” he reassured. “Even if you had paid me the right amount, it would’ve all goo the thugs anyway; they took everything but the shirt on my back.”

  “That’s terrible!” Jean excimed, evidently devastated.

  The Guildmaster shook her head in pity.

  “Are you sure there’s nothing we do as pensation for this whole mess?” Jean asked again, almost pleadingly.

  Daisuke’s eyebrows desded like dark clouds eclipsing the sun. “…Information,” he said in a hushed tone, illustrating the importand fidentiality of the following words. “I was retly made aware that several children from my hometown were carried off by sve traders. Is there anything you tell me so that I might possibly find a lead? Anything at all?”

  The Guildmaster and Jean exged curious gnces, but before either one of them could speak, they felt a force that almost rivaled a sp in the face. Jean was mostly oblivious, but Daisuke, Zephyr, and the Guildmaster’s head snapped around suddenly, their eyes narrowed cautiously.

  The unpleasant energy was emanating from a single individual outside the guild. By the way he was exerting his spiritual pressure, it was obvious he was basically asking for, or demanding an audience.

  “Something tells me he’ll provide far more reliable information than we possibly could,” muttered the Guildmaster, a single eye open.

  Daisuke turned on his heels, the gesture an abrupt farewell. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  “I appreciate you taking care of those thugs,” the Guildmaster began, evidently well in the loop about what happeo Casimir and his ies. “It really helped out a lot with business. But be careful… some of these delis are ected with very powerful and dangerous people.”

  Daisuke cast both women an appreciative sidelong gnce before making his way to the door. Feigning ignorance, he stepped outside, kept his head straight, and began making his way north.

  “At st we meet… Julian Nathaniel Langley.”

  Daisuke felt a spell of Déjà vu—the st stranger who had brazenly called out to him in a very simir situation had pletely turned his life into a living hell. This time, of course, things would be entirely different.

  With eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, Daisuke turned around to face the source of the distasteful aura—a tall, slender, and handsome man garbed in a fanavy-blue suit.

  The man smiled warmly, his ly braided ponytail draping over his right shoulder as he gave the small kitten he was caressing a ge, sending it on its way.

  Then he rose to his feet and carefully began removing his white gloves—one and theher. The task was so methodologically dohat it was obvious he had some kind of obsessive-pulsive disorder.

  With a magic-trick like performance, he used a perfectly trolled fire-based spell to ie the pair of gloves. Then he reached into his jacket to retrieve a fresh pair.

  “You’re a difficult man to track down,” said the stranger who was yet to lift his gaze, meticulously ping the glove to ensure each finger was resting snug in pce.

  Daisuke observed the se with little i; he was more curious about the appeltion the bastard—well, he wasn’t proven to be scum quite yet—had used tard him.

  He had hoped the false alias and all the nightmares associated with it would have gone up into fmes along with Reginald’s manor that night, but life wasn’t always that aodating.

  “I’m sorry, but I think you may have me fused for someone else,” Daisuke responded, failing miserably at cealing his s.

  “Iing,” the man replied calmly, finally holding Daisuke’s uhusiastic gaze. “I think the sve traders’ description of you is pretty accurate though.”

  Daisuke’s eyes narrowed in enlighte.

  “From what I’ve heard, you left quite the impression inald. A matter-of-fact, he was so fasated by your performahat he offered to aodate you within his home and… teach you the secrets of alchemy.”

  The pune.

  Daisuke frow the man’s emphasis o word. It was being quite clear what this bastard—yes, it’s beeablished now that he’s scum—is solely after.

  The sacred art of alchemy was ceptualized in the Percival’s household, and Reginald was desperately trying to rediscover and piohe applications of this a craft. It was only natural that a lot of people would be greedily watg and lying in wait for an opportunity to capitalize on such a moal resource.

  Now that everything had quite literally gone up into fmes, simir to when Cedric Osercival died and took the secrets of alchemy with him to the grave, people were now ing forward and g at straws, desperate to find another promising lead.

  “I’m sorry,” Daisuke said dismissively while turning his back. “But I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m just a humble Adventurer.”

  Without a word, the man began reag into his jacket again. Daisuke looked to the side cautiously, his sixth seirring. Before he could summon the Lipanthyer’s Fang, the man harmlessly pulled out a small book and began flipping through the pages.

  “Did you know… it’s pretty much the norm in the stifiunity for schors and researchers to prepare magic circles that protects their records in the event of natural disasters,” he informed casually. “Reginald, of course, was no exception:

  Sep. 21st xxx,

  I’m stumped.

  Weeks have passed without any progress. There is something amiss with the alchemical formu and I fear I may never find a solutioe how miniscule I think it may be.

  Sep. 22nd xxx,

  Despite being absent faith, I think the gods may have just sent me a muse. It was in the form of a thieving child from the slums who goes by the name of Haxks.

  His silver hair and bright brown eyes were bizarre—ae the lies spilling from his lips, he exuded a mysterious aura that I somehow knew would be the solution to all my problems.

  Fearing that any obstruay stifle the natural flow of the elements, I gave the child and his supposed sibling free roam of my estate. And while I awaited the universe to weave its mysterious power, I implored him to learn about the fuals of alchemy in the hopes that it will supplement the process.

  That was the st recinald mao transcribe before we found his burned out remains in what was left of the manor.”

  While the mahe journal, Daisuke had schooled his fato a perfect mask, yet his fingers were balled into tight fists. Twi his lifetime, he didn’t think he would be fronted with the fact that Reginald khe whole truth from the very beginning. It was embarrassing.

  “There aren’t many people in this small town with silver hair who fits your description,” the man asserted. “So I’m already pretty vihat you’re the one I’m looking for.”

  Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed, his patience wearing thin. “Say, hypothetically, I am the one you’re looking for, what makes you think I would’ve learnt anything signifit about this alchemy in such a short period of time?

  Today’s December 9th, and the st mentioned date in the journal is September 22nd. Isn’t alchemy supposed to be some kind of plicated sce?”

  The man heaved an amused smile, not at all deterred. He could clearly remember the hidden chamber and the burnt grimoire he had uncovered in the manor, both of which he had no recolle. And, like Reginald, he knew every single square inch of the property.

  “Who are you anyway?” Daisuke asked.

  “My name is Adrian Lysander Percival—the illegitimate son.”

  “Well, Adrian, I’m sorry for your loss,” Daisuke said while strolling away. “And for the time you wasted trag me down. But I’m not the one you’re looking for.”

  Adrian turo leave as well, his sidelong gnce dark and malicious. “That’s such a shame,” he uttered tauntingly. “Then I guess Brek, Ribbit, and the rest of the notorious Slum Sprites will have to atiently until I find the real Haxks Starfrost—”

  Before the bastard could punctuate his senteh an excmation sign or a period, Daisuke turned on his heels like a feral beast and lu the mehe Lipanthyer’s Fang gleaming in the sunlight.

  STAB!

  He drove the hungry bde into the man’s leg, ensuring to avoid a fatal injury so that he could thhly interrogate the criminal afterward. But instead of blood spilling out from the wound, there was an obnoxious squeal like air esg from a defting balloon—then an explosion.

  BOOM!

  The bastard’s body was entirely reo smoke, and from the billowing veil, a loud, provocative cackle erupted.

  Ign the annoying distra, Zephyr cocked his nose while Daisuke activated the Eye of Verity. Amidst the reg cloud, they noted a figure cealed by mana who was making a hasty escape and immediately gave chase.

  “Arf-Arf!” Zephyr heaved a cautious bark.

  “I know it’s likely a trap, but what other choice do we have?” Daisuke responded urgently. “If he’s really taken the kids hostage, then they’re in trouble!”