Inside a cave, the two of simply stood there with bewilderment written all over their faces.

In front of them is a headless, half-eaten corpse of a boy, lying besides a sleeping lion cub that's the size of a large dog.

Suddenly, the interface popped up in front of them.

Ding!

[Quest Updated: Bring Ran back to his grandfather.]

"This is fucked up." Alchimie said with repulsion as he walked away, muttering with a soft voice. "This is fucked up…"

"Told ya, don't get your hopes up." Yuuki chuckled uncomfortably. This game series is known for its realism, and gore is just a part of it, which he already is used to. But the situation right now really is fucked up for both of them.

He started talking to himself as Alchimie already left the cave. "Sigh… how can the devs make such a messed up quest... Also, do I need to carry this? For fuck's sake, can't I just put it in my Inventory?"

Yuuki have no problem with this kind of thing and he is not disgusted in the slightest, so he picked up the corpse slowly as to not wake up the lion cub and began bringing it outside.

"God, it's quite smelly…" He grumbled as the stench of blood soaked onto his equipment. He arrived outside the cave and looked at Alchimie who was leaning beside the entrance wall. "Hey, what do we do with the cub in there?" He asked as he casually placed the corpse aside.

Alchimie was visibly frustrated, he replied to his companion but his sight was fixated on the corpse. "I don't know… Kill it?"

"Meh… Killing it's just a waste. How about you tame it? You know? You're pretty good at it, right?"

"What? I don't want to, how about you do it?"

"You know I don't like having pets, right? Besides, it's not my style to fight with a pet, that's a you thing in the past alongside your golems... Just give it a try, you know how strong the lion we fought earlier, right? Try nurturing that thing, maybe it could grow to that level, maybe stronger even. We're still only in floor 2, after all."

"I don't think I would want that thing."

"Come on, you're a cat lover! Just take care of it, it's not like it's the one that killed this kid. Besides, it's just a game…"

"Sigh… Fine… I'll take it, I'll go in and capture it first."

"Yeah, sure, I'll wait here."

Alchimie headed back in and moments later, Yuuki could hear loud bangs and the growl of the lion cub from inside the cave.

Yuuki looked at the corpse that he set aside and began mumbling. "You're such an unfortunate NPC, gosh… I can't comprehend dying by being eaten alive by a wild animal. I really hope you were killed swiftly, for fuck's sake… Sigh, am I being sentimental right now…? Guess I am…"

Suddenly, Alchimie's angered voice rang out "All right, let's go." He walked out of the cave followed by two other strength-based golems, holding the incapacitated lion cub.

"Yeah, let us..." Yuuki picked up the corpse and the two began traversing the path back to the city.

The travel back was pretty easy and there's no monsters on the way just as they came.

"Samurai…" Alchimie called out and they stopped their strides.

"I'll stay here, I'm pretty sure I can't bring this thing inside anyways."

"You sure? Well, I think I can finish the quest myself anyway, I'll just have to give him there."

"Yeah… thanks..."

With that, Yuuki continued until he arrived by the gate of the city.

"What is that?!" One of the guards shouted and raised his spear.

"Hey…! I'm sorry, but this is a casualty. I need to bring him to his grandfather and give him a proper burial."

One of the guards rushed out due to that previous shout and dropped his weapon from shock.

"Ran…?" He walked forward to Yuuki slowly.

"You recognize this corpse?"

"Of course… I see this kid everyday… W-what happened…?" The man spoke with melancholy.

"A lion killed him…"

"Hey, brother," He called to the other guard. "Please tell to the captain that I've got something urgent."

The guard lowered his spear and answered. "Uh… All right, understood."

"Let's cover Ran first." The man took a large cloth from inside their guard house and they wrapped the child's body with it, concealing his horrible fate.

The two went inside with a heavy atmosphere around them, a lot of the residents gasp and were taken aback as the sight of them walking, because despite Ran was covered, it was already drenched in blood, and so does Yuuki but they continued their stride.

They soon reached the old man's house. The man took a deep breath before he knocked heavily three times on the door.

"Mister Ramus! Please open the door!"

Moments later, the old man opened the door with a depressed look on his face as soon as he saw the bloodied cloth.

"Mister Ramus… Ran is…"

However, unlike before, Ramus wasn't crying but his despair is evident on his face. He spoke, "This is all I have, thank you for bringing my grandson. I am grateful." The old man tried to smile, but it was as if his lips do not want to turn upside down.

Yuuki now feels somewhat guilty for all of his boasting and giving the old man hope but in the end, all he can do is deliver a corpse.

"I… I'm sorry, for bragging, mister… We killed the Lion, but we were too late, I'm really sorry…"

"Please… I am happy that you brought him back… I will take it from here…"

Yuuki handed the kid over to his grandfather hesitantly.

"We'll give him a proper burial." The guard said.

Ramus and the guard both went inside the house and slowly closed the door.

[Quest Complete!]

[Rewards: 70% EXP Bar (For each member of the party), 500 Salapi.]

[You leveled up!]

Yuuki stood there briefly in a daze and then spoke. "This leaves a bad taste on my mouth…"