"What's going on here?" Mordred asked, openly frowning at the sight of the crowd. "Are these people all mercenaries?"

  "Looks like. But why are they all here?" I wondered, observing them. They all seemed to be shouting out prices, like they were vendors attempting to hawk fruit. "Does this shrine have need for them?"

  "They do, because their centerpiece idol has been stolen." The two turned to see a familiar face walking up to greet them. It was Gunther, the mercenary leader of the Eber Mercenaries whom they had saved and worked with. "Hello again, Mordred and Kuch. I heard you two got into trouble with city guards already? That's impressive in its own regard, most wouldn't dare without backing of a noble!" He laughed and shook his head. "Sure you aren't one?"

  "Definitely not," the dragon flatly told before turning to look back at the clamoring sellswords. "So something's been stolen and the mercenaries are offering to fetch it back?"

  "Oh, you catch on quickly. It's quite a common contract even in the empire at least: somebody's stolen some valuable local artifact for whatever purpose, and the locals are willing to pay coin to bring it back," the man elaborated, rubbing his stubble. "Since there's so many mercenaries in the city, they do have their pick of the lot and everybody knows it. So the various bands are engaging in a bid war in how low they can offer their services before it becomes unprofitable."

  I frowned, paying attention to the prices being called out. They weren't cheap, judging from what I knew about the price of bread around here. Then I noticed at the steps of the shrine what could only be the head caretaker listening to them with a slumped posture. "It doesn't sound or look like this is anywhere affordable for the shrine."

  "No, it really isn't, but the mercenaries also know that they've got them bent over a barrel," Gunther remarked with a sigh. "It's the shrine's patron idol, their very center of worship. If nobody gets it back, then there's no way the shrine wouldn't be shamed."

  "Sounds like a headache," Mordred complained, probably thinking that this mental exercise was just so bothersome. "Why can't somebody just go and grab it back for them already?"

  "And work for possibly free? Remember what I told you?" the mercenary warned. "If you don't sign or agree to a contract, there's no guarantee you get paid as a mercenary. It's a harsh lesson that some have to learn when starting this career-"

  I'll admit, I tuned out somewhere around 'contracts.' I never liked them. "That's fine," I simply declared and turned to my companion. "You've the right of it. Let's go and see if we can't find the idol already."

  "Now you're speaking my language! What are we waiting for? We should start right away!"

  "Wha- wait on a second, you two. I'm telling you, stop, there's an entire reason why it's this way-!"

  Mordred and I ignored the protesting mercenary and immediate took to the streets. I could feel a slight thrill running through all my crystal cores now, remembering how often finding a missing item had been a little side quest in FLOW. Sometimes it'd even been part of a main quest. If this was still the world of Shin, then perhaps the logic used back then to chase down the robbery could still work. It's worth a shot.

  So I directed Mordred to join them in asking the various locals if they've seen anything. The commotion at the shrine had actually drawn out some curious residents from withdrawn abodes, so it was possible to finally talk with some of them. And more importantly, apparently word had already spread about the exploits of yesterday.

  "Oh, you're the people those thugs tried robbing yesterday. A robbery? Argh, I'm telling you, all these mercenaries aren't good for Gabion! Ah, um...present company excluded of course."

  "I did see somebody early this morning skulking about. They didn't look local and seemed to be staking out the shrine, so I was tempted to file a report with the guards. But I didn't want to go out."

  "The shrine was robbed?...We had a shrine?"

  "Wait, it's you two Hans told us about! Thank you for those health potions, my friend was so tired of being cooped up in bed. Now they're now dancing because of your help. A robbery! Ah, somebody did leave through the gate here in a rush...damn. If we'd known, we'd have stopped them."

  "It can't be helped," I told the city guard with a reassuring nod. "You can't abandon your post. But we're going after them."

  "Good luck then, they actually passed through quite recently. I think they were on the road to Viszal. You might be able to catch them if you hurry."

  "Huh, so asking around actually works?" Mordred asked, a little surprised. But true to her character, she didn't question it and just shrugged. "Nice. Let's go and beat them up now."

  "You've got the right idea-"

  "Hold up, both of you!" Oh, Gunther racing to reach us. He looked curiously distraught. "You two! What are you doing!"

  "What does it look like?" the dragon asked, a bit annoyed by the seeming obvious answer. "We're going to hunt down the thief."

  "Without a contract?!" He wrung his hands, like he wanted to yank them both back but knew better. "I've told you two, haven't I! If you don't have a contract, you don't get paid. It's a harsh lesson that many new mercenaries learn the hard way when their 'employers' refuse to pay out and there's no signature to prove it to others!"

  "So?" I pointedly said, already striding off in the pointed direction with an amused dragon following along. "We're not mercenaries anyway."

  "That's right we're adventurers!" Mordred glanced at the bewildered Gunther. "Why are you following along anyway? Shouldn't you be bidding your services like the rest?"

  "The Eber Marauders are right now taking a break to recover and recuperate from our last job. But even if we were capable, I'd be undercutting all the other competition. I know the shrine caretaker personally, I would've done the job close to at cost." He glared at the two while he followed along like a hanger-on. "The reputation from helping the community out would've been payment in itself."

  "Wouldn't that work then in our case if we just do it because we hate jerks?"

  "I said 'at cost,' because everybody still needs to be paid and fed," Gunther snapped. "It just might be you two, but even then, you need to value yourself better! Start asking coin for food and lodging anyway."

  "Adventurers act first, then takes whatever rewards are offered later," I said, a proud and unapologetic tone in my voice. Sure, Shin had changed, and mercenaries were a different breed to players- but I would be damned if I didn't act on those same principles that defined Lighthouse. There was also logic in my urge to act. "Haggling about payment is just going to let the thief get away further. Better we act before they manage to hide, or link up with a larger group.

  "...Can't argue with that, dammit. The number of times we ended up finding the culprit surrounded by their friends and it turns into a fight…" The experienced mercenary grumbled and glanced at the ground. "Bah, the trail is so fresh, I wouldn't need my skilled tracker even. Looks like once they got some distance away, they slowed down and thought themselves safe. Typical."

  Only a little bit later, that theory was proven right. "And there's them up there, I would guess." I studied the hooded figure who looked just a little too lackadaisical despite a bulging bag. I guess they were pretty confident that with mercenaries still arguing how much pay they could get, they had all the time in the world to get away after the initial burst. "I could be wrong, but Mordred, if you would?"

  "Got it. [Serpent Step]." The woman blurred as she went from a casual walk to a full sprint in a split second, something that did cause a bit of noise. Hearing it, the suspicious figure turned around, panicked at the dragon bearing down upon them, and turned to flee only to be cut off by Mordred leaping over their head to land directly in their way. "Hello! Mind if we check your bags, we're after a stolen idol you see-"

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "S-stay back!" they stuttered, drawing a knife. "My friends are nearby, they'll come to help me if I yell-!"

  "An unlikely story. You would have already been shouting to draw their attention if they were present." With [Walk in Darkness], I rose up right behind, boxing the shaking thief in. "Just hand over the idol and we'll let you go."

  "How much are you being paid? I-I could double it-!"

  "These idiots are being doing this for free, so no chance about that," Gunther told in an exasperated voice. "I know, it's stupid, but it's just the way it is. So accept you can't beat somebody who does it for the thrills, I suppose."

  If the thief had been fearful of the two adventurers, they were horrified at the sight of the mercenary. "Y-you're Gunther, of the Eber Marauders! Gods, I beg forgiveness, I don't want them to come hunting me-!" they shrieked and threw their bag down in haste. Huh, I guess the Eber Marauders were a pretty reputable mercenary band given the repeated mention. "Here, take it all! Just please, forget you ever saw me, let me live!"

  Mordred looked pointedly at my way and, after a moment of though, my doll inclined their head. With a huff, she stood aside and allowed the thief to start running. When they passed her, her leg shot up and delivered a powerful kick to their rear. They yelped like a pained dog and scrambled somehow even faster away. "You're getting off lightly! Next time, it might be a hand!" she called out to the fading figure.

  "Most mercenaries would have taken them into custody and handed them over to the guards for a bounty," Gunther remarked, taking the bag and feeling around. "That's definitely the idol in there. You recover it, and without a pitched fight that these things normally result in."

  That was actually a reasonable thing to do. I considered the argument before rolling my shoulder in a nonchalant manner. "There's always a chance that they could amend their ways for the better. And dragging them back to the city would delay the return, which is more important. You're free to chase them down though to bring back in chains."

  "They were your quarry, it doesn't feel right after you're the ones who acted first. Let's just head back, I guess."

  Returning back to the city, the guards were pleased to hear that that the adventurers (and one mercenary on his off-day) had caught the thief, and bought the lie that they had gotten away when we weren't looking. The fact the stolen goods had been recovered was prioritized being far more important and they promised they'll pass word to their captain of our deeds. In the meantime, we continued onto the shrine.

  It looked like the crowd had pretty much cleared out now, with only a few individual standing around with eager grins. I was going to guess they were the ones who 'won' the 'auction.' We entered the small building, to see what could only be their beaming leader handing over a leaflet of paper over to the tired-looking caretaker. "These are all our terms. It's the imperial standard contract, so don't fret about hidden fine text. I already filled out all the numbers and accounts where appropriate, so all you need to do is sign here."

  Just hearing that in what should be a game world made me want to hurl. As it was, I really wanted to walk up and impale that accursed agreement on my sword.

  Mordred thankfully spoke up before I could do anything rash. "That's not really going to be needed, cause have a look! We recover the stolen stuff already!" She declared, holding up the bag for emphasis.

  Heads turned and eyes widened at the unexpected development. The dragon coolly walked forward and handed the entire over to the shocked caretaker, who opened it and visibly jerked back at the contents. "Gods above, that's our idol!" She almost sounded on the verge of tears, relief and awe coursing through her voice. "Our goddess has been returned!"

  "What!" The mercenary leader exclaimed, head snapping between the caretaker and their apparent savior. "But...but we just settled the contract!"

  "You had. And now there is no longer any need for it." I derived no small amount of satisfaction from seeing the realization kick in. "While you were busy haggling over terms and conditions, we went out and found the thief. Simple as."

  Dismay grew into anger and the mercenary slapped their hand against the table. "How do we know you aren't the thief?!" they hotly accused. "It's a little convenient for you to already have caught them. Just the two of you as well! There's no way, the thief surely had friends-"

  "Stop embarrassing yourself," Gunther interjected with a hard tone that neither Mordred or I had ever heard from him before. "I was there, and they communicated with the city guards too if that wasn't enough. They did things as fair as they could, merely in an...unfamiliar manner."

  The two mercenaries glared at one another before, unable to withstand the older mercenary's fierce glare, the deal maker broke eye contact first. "So the Eber Marauders got involved? Should've known," they grumbled and finally got up. "Fine, gobble up all the good contracts there are like the pigs you are."

  "Can't be helped that we're better than most," the man called out to the departing mercenary. He shook his head and walked over to the abandoned contract, glancing through them. "Bah, just like I suspected. Good thing you stepped in, Mordred and Kuch; I think that fellow was in cahoots with the thief."

  "How do you know?" I asked curiously and he waved the parchment about.

  "The payout is slightly bit lower than normal, and seems to be a bit too confident in assuming there won't be any losses. See how they've even waived the death fees." Gunther handed it over for me to have a look at myself. "It's not always a sign, circumstantial evidence at best, but I've done a lot of contracts in my time. Usually when the terms look too good to be true, they often are."

  He paused, then sighed and amended the saying. "I think you two are the first real exceptions to that rule, because really, you just set off. Didn't haggle or set terms beforehand. Had you done so, I'd probably be way more suspicious. Now I'm just convinced that's how you two work."

  "How adventurers are supposed to be," I corrected and Gunther chuckled.

  "Suppose so. If only more mercenaries were like you, I guess." He turned to the caretaker and inclined his head slightly. "I suppose everything else in the bag could be stolen from around here, maybe taken in opportunity? Ordinarily they'd be up for grabs for whatever mercenaries found them, but I'm guessing your heroes would like to forgo that too."

  "Oh, in that case, I can hold them here and reach out to see if I can return them to their rightful owners." The caretaker looked at Mordred and I with an emotion Mikel would've been inordinately familiar with: gratefulness. "You two, it's almost like you were sent here by the goddess to save this shrine. Thank you."

  Mordred paused mid-scratch, then blushed. I suppose being her first quest of sorts, she might feel a little self-conscious about it. I myself simply nodded, and asked about what had spurred on this entire affair. "If you wouldn't mind, there is something you could help me with. I'd like to learn about the Ten Lights and Lighthouse."

  Gunther raised an eyebrow. "So instead of coin, you take stories as payment?" he joked while the caretaker gingerly reached into the bag to finally retrieve the idol.

  "Oh, dearies, I can tell you whatever I know about the faith, but I'm no scholar of the classics. Lighthouse is, I'm afraid, a tale beyond my abilities."

  What? The Ten Lights...weren't Lighthouse?

  I was so confused, and the feeling only deepened when I saw the dwarf caretaker pull out a small silver statue of my friend.

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