“-And then we had to hand them and the postmen to the city guards, help get the carriage out of the cave and drop off the mail they had been holding before finally getting back here…” Clarisse finished recalling how they spent their day. “It feels like I’ve been awake for days…”

  “That’s fantastic, though!” Rika exclaimed, overjoyed by their report. She slammed her palms on her desk, grinning from ear to ear. “If this is happening on the other postal routes as well, then I’ll send out adventurers to check on them!” She stacked a sheaf of papers on her desk to write up new quests on. “Just stick tight until I get these up, and I’ll get you your treat!”

  “Take your time, Rika,” Nikolas commented, walking out from one of the back rooms, now dressed in a fresh set of clothes with a blood-caked version of the same tucked under his arm. “We don’t have much to do for now, right?”

  Some of the adventurers who had up until now been sitting around Clarisse as she narrated her perspective of the morning began getting up and swarming the quest board as Rika pinned up their new quests, while others, primarily the younger ones, now directed their attention towards Nikolas.

  “I heard what you did- that was so cool!”

  “Can I hold your weapon for a moment- I wanna see how it changes shapes!”

  “Are you taking any more party members? I’d like to join!”

  “Do you think you could teach me to fight like that?”

  Nikolas’s ears fell flat on his hood as he took a step back, shooting an accusatory glance at Clarisse, “Uhh- maybe later… I just remembered something I need to do,” he began hastily stuffing the bloodied attire into his backpack as he dismissed their questions. “I’ll be off then- ” he said, picking up his bag and making a beeline for the exit.

  “Not so fast!” A slim yet tall figure with brown hair and pointed ears blocked his path, balancing two trays of drink glasses in his hands. “I just got done mixing these, so I can't have you leave without finishing them…” the guild’s bartender spoke with a smirk.

  Clarisse felt a pang of guilt watching the events unfold in front of her, making a note that her mentor didn’t like the crowd’s attention. She walked up to Nikolas, tugging on his sleeve. “Let’s go sit over there?” she asked, tilting her head towards the row of seats next to the bar-table. Her hope was that the younger adventurers wouldn’t bother them there, and if they did, the bartender could be of help.

  Nikolas let out a sigh, recognizing that he had been surrounded from all sides. He nodded in response, reluctantly agreeing to move towards the bar.

  The bartender was quick to follow, cutting off the crowd of amateurs behind them. “Best to leave them alone for now- you’ll get your turn eventually. Now off you go, Rika has quests for you.”

  “Thank you, Felis!” Rika’s voice called out from the other side of the room as she watched the gathering collapse and slowly make their way towards her while she put up more quests.

  “Sorry about that…” Clarisse said once they were both seated at a secluded end of the bar, glancing back to make sure no one else was intending to disturb them.

  “Usually, people exaggerate themselves when they narrate, not others,” Nikolas sighed, his ears finally propping up as the bartender walked up to them from the other side, sliding a pair of tall glasses with shining liquids in them towards the pair.

  “I didn’t know they’d react like that…” Clarisse replied, surprised by his displeasure at being depicted as he had been. “Besides, I didn’t exaggerate your part at all. That was just what happened,” she picked up one of the glasses with both her hands, taking a long whiff of its fruity flavor.

  “Mhm…” Nikolas nodded sarcastically, pushing his glass away. “I don’t drink wine, or mostly anything you’ve got back there,” he said to the bartender, who gave him a puzzled expression.

  “Alright then, what do you drink? I can whip up a mocktail with just about anything,” Felis replied confidently, shifting the glass to a tray kept below the counter.

  “Water, no ice,” Nikolas replied blankly, glancing at Clarisse who had already begun drinking from her glass, slowly sipping it with short pauses in between to savor its bitter, tangy taste.

  “Really? Not even fruit juice?” Felis asked, putting up a hurt expression as he shook his head and slid a glass of water to him with as much praise as he could muster for it. “One glass of the most spirited water South of Ombraevus coming right up, blessed by the Radiance of Thened himself!”

  “Sorry to disappoint.” Nikolas replied nonchalantly, taking off the bottom section of his mask and picking up the glass, but not taking a sip from it. “I’ve tried drinking before… My body doesn’t agree with it.”

  “The hell it doesn’t!” A voice in Nik's subconscious mind protested.

  “Just… shut up. I am not humoring you today.” He suppressed the voice as soon as it began speaking.

  “Squandering father’s designs yet again… you are pathetic.”

  “Whatever keeps you at bay, buddy.”

  “Always a strange one… Anyhow, enjoy yourselves.” Felis remarked as he picked up a glass from beneath the counter to clean it with a cloth, walking off to attend to the few other adventurers at the other end of the bar-table.

  Clarisse’s eyes widened as she saw a part of the mask detach, lowering her head to try and see more of Nikolas’s face. “I didn’t know you could do that,” she said with a smile, before a question appeared in her mind. “Do you ever take off your mask at all?”

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  Nikolas placed his glass down once Felis walked away, letting out a sigh. “Hmm?” he thought about his answer for a moment, before deciding to keep it vague. “As far as you need to know, no.”

  “Not even when you’re asleep?” She countered, prodding him further.

  Nikolas let out a chuckle, deciding to not answer that one.

  Clarisse shook her head, somewhat used to his non-answers by now. She leaned forward to wave to Felis. “Can I get some bread and curry please?”

  Felis nodded, walking past them. “On the house~ And what will the sober fox be having?” he asked sarcastically as he went by into the back of the guild building.

  “Just toss in another loaf of bread, I’ll share with her.” Nikolas replied, much to the bartender’s surprise. “I’m not feeling that hungry today… you don’t mind, do you?” he asked Clarisse.

  Clarisse seemed happy at the turn of events. “Nope, that sounds good! You’ll have to finish your part, though.”

  After a hearty meal and bidding goodbye to the guild staff, both adventurers set out again, back to where their morning had begun.

  “Why do you eat so lit-hic!- little?” Clarisse asked with a hiccup in between, feeling content and drowsy after filling her stomach as they walked along the streets illuminated by the deep red light of the setting sun. “Don’t you like the food at the guild?” she asked unabashedly.

  Nikolas glanced at her through the corner of his eyes. “There are two snakes for every mongoose in this world… and a full mongoose is a slow mongoose.”

  “Whoa, I never took you for being the deep type…” Clarisse replied with a smile. She thought about it for a minute, accidentally bumping into him as she lost track of her balance while lost in thought.

  “Feeling okay?” Nikolas asked, supporting her balance by placing a hand on her shoulder.

  “Y-yeah, just thinking, sorry.” the redhead replied meekly, now feeling conscious of her habits. The more she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about what he had just said.

  “Sleep off the meal, you’ll be fine,” Nikola glanced around the corner of the street to confirm that they were close to her apartment. “We’re here, it’s just down the road now.”

  “I’ll do that,” She replied, taking a moment to regain her balance before walking again. “Do you want to meet at the guild again tomorrow?”

  “That’s the plan,” Nikolas replied, making sure she got into the building before stopping outside. “See you there in the morning.”

  “See you, Nik!” Clarisse replied, clumsily making it up the stairs to her room after waving goodbye to him.

  Lying on another rooftop among the many empty roofs of Junnhaven, Nikolas was resting with his palms behind his head and his knees bent when the top of his backpack began shaking. He glanced over at it, waiting a few seconds before opening it.

  Seraphim launched out of the bag, quickly making herself aware of her surroundings before floating close to him. She sat on top of his knee, contemplating what to begin with.

  “I’ll take the bad news first,” Nikolas said blankly. “There’s a lot?”

  “There is a lot,” Sera confirmed, nodding. “Derek was killed yesterday… I had to help his entire force retreat.”

  “That is bad news.” Nikolas replied, maintaining his blank stare. “Did they make it back with their supplies at least?”

  Sera shook her head. “Barely half of them. We would have lost many more of our own trying to get all the supplies back. We also lost a lot of land… all the way back to the great lake.”

  “That was a good vantage point. Who’s taking over after Derek?”

  “Mizar is his first lieutenant, but I doubt any of the soldiers are confident under his leadership. They lust for revenge, but we’re at a significant disadvantage.”

  “And who killed Derek?”

  “An up and coming party… a hero from another world. The rumors you heard – they were right. They’re a group of four now, and managed to push Derek’s soldiers all the way back to their base before I bailed them out.”

  “Sounds dangerous. Do you want me to take care of them?”

  “No. I need time to find out more about them first. Focus on earning more from your quests… every source of income is important right now.”

  “What other sources do you have? The earnings of one adventurer can’t possibly feed an army.”

  “No, but it certainly helps that parties are paid well and you don’t need the money to survive. Derek wasn’t the only one with a base set up in the overworld either. There are still three others left.”

  Nikolas let out a sigh. “No promises on the income. I’ve got an apprentice to teach now, if you didn’t notice.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to teach a rookie?” Sera raised an eyebrow in response.

  “There’s something I want you to check out about her tomorrow. Both yesterday and today, I’ve felt my mana pool being drained around her.” he explained, sitting upright using his elbows. “No clue what to make of it, but maybe you do?”

  “Mana drain? I thought she was a pyromancer.” Sera asked in a confused tone.

  “Exactly. She’s been using fire just fine, but I felt the drain even when it wasn’t used on me. It’s not directly related to her magic.” Nikolas emphasized. “It could also be something wrong with me.”

  “Side effects of your… condition?” Sera hypothesized with a head tilt. “I don’t know enough about what’s happened to you to say.”

  “What happened, happened,” Nikolas grumbled, unwilling to elaborate. “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

  “If you ever find a way to recruit more people to our cause, that would be nice. I can only do so much in the overworld, given my limited form.” The doll spoke, floating down from his knee to sit on his bag.

  “Anyone willing to work under you would be crazy.” Nikolas chuckled despite nodding as an affirmative.

  “You… work under me.” Sera replied, raising an eyebrow.

  “I said anyone willing to work under you,” Nikolas pointed out, lying back down on the roof and gazing up into the starry night sky. “And I work with you. I’m probably the only one too.”

  “Fair enough…” Sera replied, slipping into the backpack and closing it over herself, “I’m not that bad to work with, am I?” she asked, peeking through the small hole left in the corner of the bag.

  Nikolas glanced at her with a confused look under the mask, staring for a couple of seconds before deciding to answer. “I’m used to worse… but I know you’re harsher on the others. You’re still better than Shakuni in any case.”

  “Thanks. I’ll take a look at whatever is going on with the girl tomorrow,” Sera said, before the doll’s eyes dimmed and Nikolas was once again left in the ambience of his own thoughts for the rest of the night, only occasionally interrupted by activity in the city.

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