The Crimson Crow Party

“We need to check here in Tristan, in the Black Spine Mountain range, and the Capital of the Empire again.” Reiji points to all three locations on the map.

“Hmm. Why?”

Looking at Elnyra, Reiji finally decides to be honest.

“Don’t Reiji.” She warns.

“Elnyra told me. Ever since I got here. I’ve had a fragment of Elnyra’s consciousness with me. She told me that these three locations are the most suspicious.”

The room falls silent as the grave, each person in the living room looking at Reiji with a confused expression. 

“Uh… who’s Elnyra?” Nraltia asks confused.

“Elnyra is the goddess who looks after our world. She was the one that brought over Alicia over 500 years ago, and Reiji as well.” Xenon answers, staring into Reiji’s eyes, trying to read him. “Alicia never mentioned Elnyra fragment to me before though.”

“Yeah? Well she told me not to mention it. But i didn’t see how I could convince you otherwise.”

 “… Fine. I’ll send some parties to these locations.”

“Good.”

“Now are there any other secrets you’d like to share with us?”

“No. That’s it.”

“Good. Reiji, Nraltia, since you have fulfilled my conditions, the both of you are now officially Gold Rank Adventurers. Congratulations. Once you leave, you can change your plates with Serena. I also suggest coming up with a name for your official Adventuring Party, as you’ll need to have a recognizable name for others to know about your achievements.” 

“Oh a name? Hmm, do you have any ideas Reiji?” Nraltia ask, her ears tilting gently.

“If it’s a name. I already have one.” He smiles confidently.

“What name did you have in mind?”

“We’ll be the Crimson Crow party!” He says, bumping his chest.

“Is there a meaning behind it?”

“It’s the name of my friends and I used back home. It represents our spirit of freedom as crows, a type of bird that might be ugly but they live by their own rules, refusing to be caged, and that we won’t back down even if we become covered in blood.” 

“I like it.” Nraltia beams excitedly.

“Pick whatever, it’s got nothing to do with me.” Souma flatly refuses. “I won’t be joining your party.” 

Xenon however nods “I thought as much. It’s fine even with just the two of you, you already rival other Gold Rank parties.”

Looking at Souma seriously, Reiji’s eyes burned with a firey passion.

“I know you’ve chosen to stay for your orphanage, but you’re welcome to join us anytime Souma.”

“You three should rest for the night. Tomorrow you can join the search of Tristan.” Xenon waves them out of his room. “I’ll organize a few groups to search discreetly. Report to me in the morning.”

Stepping out of the room, the trio head back down to Serena to finish the paperwork, officially establishing the Crimson Crow party, their guild plates were also changed from silver to gold, to reflect their new rank, the back of the plate revealing the party symbol of a black crow with red feathers flying freely.

Their new stats and level was also shown on the status plates.

Souma
Class: Assassin(40), Swordsman(40)
Stats
HP: 630     MP: 375
STR: 290    INT: 190
DEX: 270    WIS: 120
VIT: 240     SPD: 280

Reiji Hattori
Class: Monk(40) Barbarian (30)
StatsHP: 810 KI: 550
STR: 350  INT: 50
DEX: 240  WIS: 260
VIT: 360   SPD: 240

Nraltia Vukova
Class: Sage(40), Lancer (35)
Stats
HP: 550 MP: 600
STR: 240 INT: 290
DEX: 250 WIS: 240
VIT: 220 SPD: 210

Dragging their tired bodies and spirit, they return to outer districts, to the orphanage where they could rest. The same path that they had taken before multiple times, the same route, the same stores ran by the same people, but the atmosphere was completely different. 

Not just the outskirts of Tristan, but the middle layer too, felt the oppressive weight of impending catastrophe. 

The bustling streets, that didn’t care about night or day, the people that flooded the streets and stalls with life and vitality, seemed all but drained, as if the  city’s soul had been sucked out of Tristan completely. Even the lamps lighting the city seemed to have lost it's once radiant shine.

“Damn it’s depressing.” The man in his characteristic red jacket grumbled, as he walked. “It’s like the dying gasp of markets back home, when a new mall is opening up next to it.”

“It can’t be helped Reiji. Everyone is just worried about their immediate future.” 

"Oh, I thought you'd ignore me for longer after I told the others about you."

"Hmph. We're not all as petty as you."

"It worked out didn't it? Just admit that you were wrong."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"..."

“At least the knights from the three kingdoms are gone.” The local Oni speaks up, breaking their conversation. “This way, there will be less scuffles and fights.”

“That’s probably the only positive thing about this.” Reiji grins, as he walks through the silent goddess, ignoring her.

“But that also means a big decrease in the livelihood of the locals.” Nraltia shakes her head sadly. “The bustling Tristan full of clashing cultures was beginning to grow on me.”

Leaving the inner district, they turned heading towards the orphanage. Walking pass dark alleys and dimly lit corners spending the time in silence, finally the orphanage appeared in view.

"Have you noticed Reiji?"  The goddess voice echoes in his head.

"Yeah. We're being followed. Tia and Souma already noticed too." He replies telepathically, sneaking glances at the others besides him, each answering his gaze with their own.

Stopping a few buildings away from the orphanage the trio turned around to look down the now empty street.

"Come out rats!" Reiji barks. 

"We know you've been following us since we left the guild. So it's pointless to hide." Nraltia chimes in.

"Hmph." A loud grunt echoes out, as five silhouette steps out from behind a building, five different people of multiple races, each dress according to their adventurer profession, but only one of them was recognizable to Reiji.