XXXI - Easy Money

With its green-tinged bronze dome and tall, ornate columns, Rubia’s Adventurers’ Guild looked almost like a temple.

Inside, sunlight streamed through high windows onto a bustling hall. 

Adventurers crowded the counters, while the enormous quest board along one wall was nearly buried beneath postings.

“This is quite a selection,” Haku remarked with satisfaction as they stopped in front of it.

Pan glanced at her, and her eyes settled on the dark-blue scarf tucked carefully between Haku’s pauldrons.

She’s even wearing it with her armor...

A smile spread across her face.

“We picked a good time to come,” Elda said, studying some of the postings. “Harvest’s just getting underway, and half this region lives off wine. They’ll want every monster dealt with before they start causing trouble.”

Pan clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Then let’s just pick the highest-paying quest we can find, mm!”

For the next few minutes, they compared quests and asked nearby adventurers about the region.

Just as Pan was weighing two missions, a guild clerk approached the board with a fresh notice.

He pinned it into place.

Hm? A new quest?

Curious, she stepped closer.

The Korvian Order calls upon adventurers of Platinum rank or higher to investigate the loss of contact with Dawnwatch Convent, determine the fate of its garrison and relief force, and eliminate any threat responsible.

“The Korvian Order?” Haku tilted her head slightly. “Wasn’t that the order Orlo and Dynn belonged to? The knights we met?”

Elda nodded, his expression darkening.

“Those fanatics have convents all over Vadonia.”

Pan continued reading.

“Upon successful completion of the quest, a reward of...”

Her eyes widened.

“ONE THOUSAND GUILDERS?!”

She immediately spun around to face the others.

“That wouldn’t just pay for the rest of the journey to Aenzia, it’d probably even cover our passage to the eastern continent, mm. And we’d never have to skimp on food again!”

Haku blinked at the reward, then smiled.

“That would certainly make the rest of our journey much easier.”

Only Elda seemed unimpressed.

“I hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but I’m quite certain the Order isn’t in the habit of giving money away...”

The guild clerk who had overheard them walked over.

“The reward is indeed higher than for any quest we’ve handled in the past. But there’s a good reason for that.”

Haku turned to him.

“What reason?”

Lines of concern creased the man’s brow.

“The Dawnwatch Convent guards the mountain passes, keeping undead from the old tombs out of the valleys.”

Pan’s ears lowered slightly.

“Undead...?”

The clerk nodded.

“But five nights ago, the convent’s distress beacon was lit. The Order sent out a relief force the following morning.”

He paused.

“No one returned.”

Pan swallowed.

No one?

“And you think the undead are responsible, mm?”

“Probably,” the clerk said. “Considering the strength of the knights stationed there, only something extremely powerful could be behind it. Perhaps a Wiedergänger. Possibly even a Lich.”

Elda let out a quiet sigh.

“That’s not exactly what I’d call easy money.”

The clerk’s gaze fell on the Triskelion pin at Haku’s collarbone.

“That is precisely why the Order is only accepting adventurers of the highest ranks.”

With that, he returned to his counter.

Haku looked at the quest note, then at Pan.

“What do you think? With my Diamond rank, I could accept it for us.”

Pan blinked.

So it’s on me again to decide?

“It certainly pays well, but...”

She glanced toward Elda, who merely folded his arms and shrugged.

“Alternatively, we could take on several lower-ranked quests around Rubia instead. It would take longer, but it’d also be safer.”

Safer...

Pan looked toward the other adventuring parties in the guild hall.

But if we don’t accept it, who else will?

A lot of Copper and Silver ranks.

A handful of Gold ranks.

But no sign of any Platinum ranks, let alone Diamond.

I don’t want people to die just because we chose the easy way...

And it isn’t as if we couldn’t handle it, right?

Even if it really is a Lich, Haku is the strongest person I’ve ever seen.

Pan looked down at her own hands.

And I’m not completely useless anymore, either. If things get ugly, at least she won’t have to spend the whole fight protecting me...

Pan clenched her fists.

She reached up and pulled the quest notice from the board.

“We’re doing this, mm.”

Elda studied her for a moment, then sighed.

“All right.”

Haku smiled warmly.

“It’s settled then.”

Pan looked down at the notice in her hands.

One thousand guilders.

That would solve a lot of our problems.

***

They left Rubia later that same morning.

At first, the road led them past small villages and vineyards where the harvest had begun in earnest.

A few hours later, the last vines were already behind them.

The road climbed steadily, winding toward the mountains in long switchbacks.

Forests of dark fir trees replaced the gentle hills, outcrops of gray rock appearing more and more frequently between the trees.

“There,” Elda said suddenly.

Pan looked up.

A watchtower rose above the slope between the trees.

Beyond it, more buildings gradually came into view, enclosed by a high wall and nestled against the cliffs.

A black banner fluttered in the wind above the gate, emblazoned with a white key.

Elda stopped and sighed.

“You know, I’m not exactly comfortable doing a quest for people who consider someone like me their sworn enemy...”

He glanced back, where small villages lay scattered among the fields, the people working in them looking no bigger than ants.

“But at least it’s for a good cause...”

They slowed as they approached the convent.

Yet when they finally reached the walls, they found them completely intact.

The banners fluttered peacefully in the wind, and there was no sign of a battle anywhere.

Even the heavy wooden gate was undamaged.

It simply stood open.

“That’s... strange, mm,” Pan murmured.

Haku placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.

“We’d better stay alert.”

They passed through the gate, but the courtyard beyond was just as still.

Elda pointed toward one of the surrounding buildings.

“Let’s take a look in there.”

The moment they pushed the door open, a dull, foul smell washed over them, accompanied by the buzzing of flies.

Pan wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh...”

It appeared to be some kind of mess hall, with a long table running the length of the room.

When they saw the knights sitting around it, they stopped dead.

One had laid his head on his folded arms.

Another hung limply over the back of his chair.

A third was still sitting upright, his back leaning against the wall as though he had fallen asleep in the middle of breakfast.

Plates still full of food sat before them.

“All dead,” Elda observed.

Haku frowned as she stepped closer.

“It looks as though they simply fell asleep.”

Pan’s gaze moved slowly across the bodies, and she swallowed.

Damn...

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder as Haku gave it a gentle squeeze without saying anything.

Pan slowly exhaled.

I decided to do this. I can't falter now.

She stepped forward and examined one of the corpses more closely.

“Didn’t they say the beacon was lit five nights ago, mm? These corpses look... too decomposed for that.”

Elda crouched beside her, his expression tightening.

“You’re right. Five days shouldn’t look like this.”

The three exchanged uneasy glances before he gestured toward the next room.

“Let’s keep looking.”

But everywhere they went, they found the same thing.

No signs of fighting. No wounds.

Only the dead.

Eventually, a narrow staircase led them up to the battlements, where they found an enormous stone brazier.

“This must have been the distress beacon,” Elda said.

Pan stared into the brazier where black ash still coated the bottom.

She slowly turned toward the courtyard below.

“But if they were already dead…”

Her ears lowered.

“…who lit it?”

No one answered as a gust swept across the battlements.

A few flakes of ash lifted from the brazier and vanished over the wall.

Suddenly, Pan noticed a change in Haku’s posture.

“What is it?”

The Sword Saint’s eyes were fixed on the temple carved into the cliff face at the far end of the courtyard.

“I sense something in there...”

Elda looked over as well.

“Something?”

Her voice dropped.

“Something unnatural.”

***

The temple doors were already open when they approached.

Inside, a narrow central aisle ran between two rows of stone benches. At the far end of the chamber stood a reliquary shrine.

Right behind the entrance, there were more bodies.

Unlike the corpses throughout the rest of the convent, these were in full armor and lay on the floor with swords drawn.

“This must have been the relief force,” Elda concluded.

He moved slowly between them and knelt beside one of the bodies.

“They’re not as badly decomposed as the others...”

Haku looked at him.

“Could a Lich have done this?”

Elda immediately shook his head.

“No.”

He stood again.

“If a Lich had done this, they’d have risen by now.”

Silence.

Pan looked toward the dead, and a cold shiver made her fur stand on end.

What the blazes happened here?

“Perhaps we should leave for now and consult the guild,” Elda said suddenly, his expression grave.

“Leave?” Pan asked, taken aback. “But we haven’t even…”

“It’s here,” Haku whispered.

Pan froze immediately, following the Sword Saint’s gaze to the shrine at the far end of the temple.

For several seconds, nothing moved.

Then a shadow detached itself from behind the shrine.

Something resembling a man stepped silently into view.

Its skin was pale, almost colorless, its outline wavering like smoke in a faint breeze.

What’s that…?

The figure raised its head and opened its eyes.

Void filled them from edge to edge.

Elda sucked in a sharp breath.

“DON’T LOOK INTO ITS EYES!”

Haku’s hand flew toward her visor.

Too late.

Her silver eyes had already met the creature’s gaze.

She staggered, the dark-blue scarf slipping loose across one shoulder as her sword fell from her fingers.

CLANG.

“Haku?!” Pan screamed.

But in her panic, Pan also looked straight at the creature.

Its black eyes met hers.

Something cold seemed to pass straight through her skull.

“Hnghn...” 

The strength vanished from her legs.

What… is… happening…?

She fell, her cheek striking the cold stone floor.

Through her rapidly blurring vision, she saw Elda standing over them, knives drawn.

Unlike them, he was still standing.

“E-Elda…”

The pale figure tilted its head, a flicker of surprise crossing its face, as its eyes settled on Elda.

Elda stared back.

But he didn’t fall.

Pan desperately tried to keep her eyes open.

I mustn’t... fall... asleep...

But darkness was already swallowing everything.

The last thing she saw was Elda moving between the creature and their helpless bodies.

“You can’t have them!” she heard him shout.

Then she was gone.