Jake returned to the village in the middle of the night, much to the wariness of the Guards. Though tasked with staying up all night regardless, having to deal with a passerby so late was always a concerning task. Nefarious individuals tended to travel at night for obvious reasons. They prodded him a little over why he was returning so late but Jake withheld a clear answer. He refrained from sharing anything unnecessary that might potentially spook them and because there wasn’t a need to.

As an Adventurer, he was under no obligation to share anything beyond what they should expect from him; he went out on a request, fought monsters, and was returning a bit later than expected. Unlike others who camped out, Jake elected to make the walk. Beyond that, the Guards weren’t in any position to press. Even if they wanted to, there was no reason to bar him from entry. Finally, though they were a bit annoyed to do so, the Guards allowed passage. Jake thanked them and carried on.

It was far too late for a visit to the Guild to deliver his report and it was also too late to inform the widow of her fallen husband. The moon was already falling from the sky. Night would become dawn shortly. Thus, after passing through the gate, Jake pointed himself immediately to the inn. After dealing with the Maedra and becoming aware of the dangerous entities lurking around, Jake wasn’t keen on putting himself at a disadvantage. Getting a few hours of sleep was his current priority. His body ached from the fight with the Knight and his mana flow needed time to replenish. While he wanted to visit the Library and cultivate, he would need to start tomorrow when he was healthy and fresh.

Plus, there was too much work to do. He would need to file his report in the morning and decide how he would handle the Maedra. Now that he’d found them nearby, this region might need cleansing. He would need to scour the forest, check for oddities around the area, and investigate disappearances of local wildlife. Hunters would be good sources of information in that regard but even more, Jake would need to look into requests that were deemed dangerous because of unexpectedly high losses of Adventurers. While they wouldn’t all lead to Maedra, the chance couldn’t be ignored.

Time was of the essence, but with the Guild closed for the evening he had no choice but to wait. He gave the Guild building a passing glance as he strode by, sighed, and then strode up to the inn. Not to his surprise, Jake found that there wasn’t anyone waiting for him inside. A meal still sat at the table, though, and a small note was set beside it.

“Sorry, I couldn’t stay up. Blame my age. Enjoy. - Ralph”

Jake’s fingertips brushed the note from Ralph, his eyes tracing over the simple words. He clenched his teeth, swallowing the emotion he felt bubble behind his lips, and looked at the plate of food. Lackluster in terms of beauty but with enough substance to fill a hungry adventurer’s belly. A thick bowl of potato and meat soup, bread, slices of meat and cheese with a tasty glaze over them. Some vegetables and basic garnishing for flavor with a pile of rice on the side. Nothing exceptional, reflecting the nature of this village. Just what one should expect from a place so far separated from the rest of the world. In a few ways, it reminded him of home. A home that felt oh so far away tonight.

Quietly, the meal was eaten. Jake used magic to warm his food as he indulged in the selfless offering and he made sure to clean every plate. When he was finished, he brought the plates outside and used water magic to clean them off. The stack was placed on the counter, along with a comfortable stack of copper coins as payment. Gratitude for the needed meal. Jake bowed his head to the empty counter, then headed to bed.

In the morning, there was a familiar courtesy knock on the door that roused him from a heavy slumber. Groggy, still exhausted, and feeling the weight of the day, Jake forced himself out of bed and doused his face in ice cold water to wake himself up. The crust around his eyes, the burning in them, washed away and Jake felt a bit better. However, the sleep deprivation was setting in. Even with his Light magic, his body felt sluggish and his muscles ached. It wasn’t as bad as some of his extended days in the Ravine but here, where there wasn’t anything to distract him every waking moment, Jake felt the full force of his lack of rest.

“No way I’m old enough for this,” Jake muttered daringly to himself as he stripped. He doused himself in water to rinse off the filth of the prior day, scrubbed his teeth, then dried off with wind magic. After he’d dressed and put on his gear, he went down for breakfast.

The haughty noblewoman and the two other regular faces greeted him, their eyes lifting briefly to acknowledge the late arrival. Ralph, his wife, and the young girl were missing. Food had already been served so Jake took his seat to eat before his food became too cold. Still shaking the morning rust, Jake sat down heavier than usual and his hands lacked their typical finesse. The morning was still weighing on him and the noblewoman picked up on it. Her razor-sharp gaze drifted towards him as his knife and fork clattered against his plate.

“You look rough,” she pointed out, popping a piece of melon between her glossy lips. As she chewed, she added another quip. “Late night?”

Jake grunted and poked at the cut slice of meat. He added some cheese to the fork then brought it towards his face. “Something like that,” he rumbled before stuffing his mouth.

The woman eyed him, watching quietly as she herself continued to eat. Her staring was getting to him but she didn’t jab at him, so he let her be. Though, she seemed more talkative.

“What happened?” She asked, tilting her head curiously. She seemed much like a cat pawing at a toy.

Jake sighed and sat up a bit straighter in his chair. His hands idled. His eyes stared at the food. “Something I was hoping wouldn’t be a problem this soon.” Indeed, he expected to come across the Maedra eventually. He knew they existed outside of the Ravine. Here, though? On the first leg of his journey?

Their role as Crux’s foot soldiers, and their natural birthing in places where there was an overabundance of rana, meant that they would show up at some point. Jake had been hoping that their appearance would occur further north, and further away from civilization. To find them so soon, and so close to both a village and a main route of travel, was the last thing Jake wanted. It made him wonder about how common the Maedra threat really was and if this was just a prelude to how painful of a journey this trek was going to become.

If he had to spend time subjugating Maedra during his entire trip north, his travel time was going to be significantly increased. Unlike Goblins and other monsters, the Maedra were a threat he could absolutely not afford to ignore. Any sighting would require an extermination of the local nest, or nests if there were multiple. In a frontier like this, Jake was expecting more than one.

“Oh?” The noblewoman’s voice chirped softly as she pointed her fork towards him. “It sounds like you’re in a bind. Would you be angry if I said that I found it funny?”

“No,” Jake answered flatly, cutting into his eggs and potatoes. “Why would it?” His retort made the woman pause, her eyes opening slightly as she watched him tear into the rest of his meal.

“You have got to be either the bravest or the dumbest man I’ve ever seen.” She scoffed, her large, soft blue eyes rolling around in her head. “Is there not a single compassionate bone in your body?” She grumbled, poking at her own plates.

Jake set down his utensils, having eaten enough. His evening meal was only a few hours ago so he didn’t need much to feel full. Jake stood up and cleaned up after himself. “I show compassion with my work.” After pushing in his chair and collecting his dishes into a single, compact pile, Jake glared down at the woman. “I let my results speak for me. You should try it some time.”

Two silver pieces were set down on the counter and Jake excused himself from the room. He shut the door behind him and headed first for the home of the widow.

Much like how he felt the unsettling chill down his neck the prior evening, Jake once more felt that same sensation. Eyes. Something, or someone, watching him. While he was used to being stared at by the curious, he was careful to know the difference between a casual eye and a pressuring stare. Observing was much different than appraising.

Jake paused in the road and straightened up, not afraid to confront whatever it was that had its eyes on him. He scanned the area, turning slowly as his eyes traced over the village. Roofs. Alleys. Gaps in the buildings. Windows. Doors. The road in both directions and even the distant trees peeking over the short buildings. He activated his Sensory magic, pushing it outward in an attempt to detect any out of the ordinary mana signatures. Then, with his eyes focusing on nothing in particular, he opened his ears. He listened to the whisper of the wind and sniffed faintly to taste the air.

The chill receded and the sensation faded as a breeze tickled his neck. An odd feeling fell upon him as for once, he felt paranoid. His gut instinct had called out to him in warning and his muscles had tensed. His body reacted to an unnatural feeling in the air. However, the ghosts of the Maedra hordes haunting his dreams seemed to have been playing a trick on him. There was nothing here in this village. Nothing scary. Nothing that could harm him or its people. A false alarm.

“Or was it…?” If it was one thing Jake learned, gut instinct wasn’t anything to disregard so easily. He had certainly done it before, brushed off that tingling feeling, and he would not say it was always evidence of ill intent. It was the strangeness behind it. Broad daylight. In a village far removed from anywhere else. No enemies here to speak of aside from monsters, monsters that crawled beneath the surface. Why would his mind trick him here?

Jake narrowed his eyes briefly on the distant treeline, then he huffed and turned away. He opened his stride and gnawed on his cheek, irritated with himself. He forced himself to brush it off and carried on. If there was a real problem, it would reveal itself eventually. Otherwise, he couldn’t run around chasing ghosts all day.

Returning to the house, Jake rapped his knuckles against the wooden door. From within, he could already hear the lively morning of the family within. A mother laughing. A young child’s pattering. The sound of cooking and a fire crackling. There was the smell too. The scent of fresh breakfast. Jake listened to that noise, that life, and thought of his own for a moment. The face of Elana flowed into his mind--her smiling face and the sight of her first meal after their night of passion. The soft liquor of her voice as she prattled on about the other girls in the village and the drama. The seriousness of her face as she tried to cultivate her mana…

The other side of the door clicked as a latch was released and Jake straightened his back. When the wood pulled away, his eyes met with the woman’s. A soft, pale green. With contours already in her face. Age was coming for her and he could tell it would not be kind to her beauty. Her hair was already losing its color as well. Was she truly old? Or maybe tired and stressed? The home was not well furnished nor was this a very financially well off place, so Jake presumed she must work her own share alongside the husband. Thinking that only made his next step that much harder.

“Oh.” She blinked, recognizing the man before her as she clutched the door. “You’re back. So soon? Did you find him? Is he-”

Jake’s lips pressed together and he pulled his bag slowly around to his front. As he began to relieve the buckle, she stuck out a hand.

“Wait.” She spoke, hurried and with a slight tremble in her voice. “Would you…” Taking a breath, she looked inside to her daughter. Then, her eyes focused on the bag. “Would you come in, please?”

Jake glanced over at the young girl and clenched his teeth. He felt the strain in his own throat as moisture left his mouth. All of a sudden, a very simple task seemed to carry far more weight than he felt he could carry. This man was no one special to him. He wasn’t a friend, a compatriot, or brethren. He was neither blood nor ally. This man was simply another adventurer who’d lost his sight and got himself in far too deep. A mistake which had cost him his life. He didn’t know the man’s face and hardly even remembered his name. So why did this feel so difficult to do?

“Yes ma’am.” Jake dipped his head in a shallow bow before stepping inside, following her guiding hand into the home.

She smiled and closed the door behind him, leaving the latch released. The daughter shimmied behind the table, peeking out from a chair on the far side. The mother guided Jake into the living room and offered a seat, along with some fresh tea. Jake accepted the tea and the seat. He placed the bag in front of him on the small table, the leather buckle half released.

As he waited to be served, his eyes scanned the room. The walls were mostly barren, empty aside from a few coats hanging by the doors and an empty ceremonial plate on the wall. The plate had two hooks, likely to hold the sword that was missing. The fireplace was alive with several chopped pieces of wood crackling within it. In the kitchen, a pot burbled over a stove and a mess of chopped vegetables occupied the counter beside it. Breakfast looked to be a medley of ingredients. The table in the space between where Jake was and the kitchen was already set, with three sets of cutlery placed out in front of the three chairs.

Jake’s eyes then met the daughter’s. Eyes full of life, curiosity. Youth and innocence. Eyes perceiving the world fresh without a stain within their beautiful blue color. Golden blonde hair, neatly tied into locks behind her ears. Cheeks smooth and puffy, evidence of plenty of food. She was healthy, well taken care of, supported by two parents who gave her all she needed. Jake looked away from that face and his hands came together in front of him. Fingers interlaced. Palms squeezed together. His jaw locked as his eyes stared through the wood floor in front of him.

“Here.” The mother returned a short time later, setting the full cup on the table in front of Jake. She set a second in front of her own seat and then called for her daughter. The young girl obeyed and walked around, the long way, to her mother’s hip.

“Thanks.” Jake plucked the cup from the table and blew on the top layer, cooling the hot liquid enough to sip on. Mint hit his tongue. The heat washed through his nose, over his tongue and opened his throat. The lethargy of morning faded with the taste of the leaves and Jake indulged in a few more drinks before returning the cup to the table.

The mother sat down on the couch across from him and held her daughter against her. She didn’t drink from her cup, nor did she look away from the bag. “What did you find?”

As she gave him permission to continue, Jake reached forward and pulled the leather from the buckle. The flap came free and Jake began to pull the items out, one by one, from within. First, the letter. Then, the pendant and the tag. A lock of hair. A tarnished ring. A small purple handkerchief that was stained and frayed. He then pulled the ax from his hip, drawing it from his belt loop where it dangled. Everything he had recovered from the man she was waiting for, he placed in front of the widow.

Sitting down again, Jake placed his hands on his knees and sat up. Signaling that this was everything. There was nothing else. Her husband would not be coming home and these meager items were all that was left of the man she held dear. Her lips pressed together, fighting to contain the emotions she felt. Her hand squeezed the shoulder of her daughter. Her eyes searched the items for something, anything, that might give her the answers to whatever questions she had. All so she wouldn’t have to open her trembling lips.

“This is all I found of him,” Jake finally spoke up. Though he knew this must be tough for her, he could not sit forever in the silence. “He was in a place he should not have been.” Jake glanced down at the rusted ax, noting the chipped and dulled edge. A well used weapon. “But, he was further than most would have made it. And he’d gone alone. If it gives you any solace, he may have been foolish but it tells me enough of the man he was.”

“Giving up wasn’t something he did very often…” she muttered, her free hand reaching for the letter. Though, her fingers stopped when she touched the paper. A name was written on it.

“I did not find the sword he was looking for, but I will keep my eye out for a weapon lost in the caves. I will also notify the guil-”

“There’s no need.” She interjected, instead grabbing the pendant and the tag. “This is enough.”

Jake nodded, accepting her wish. “Do you wish to know of anything else?”

She looked up at him. Her eyes searched his face. Then, she looked down at the items. Taking in a long breath, she shook her head. “No. You’ve done enough. It must not have been easy and I am thankful to at least know. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You already have.” Jake rose from his seat. “Tea is plenty.”

The woman smiled and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

“Momma?” The daughter finally spoke up as she stared at the items on the table. “What is all this?”

Jake felt his mouth run dry again as he saw the woman squeeze the pendant. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No. Thank you again, Adventurer.” She slowly detached from her daughter and stood up. “Would you like to finish your tea?”

Jake glanced down at the cup and then at the daughter. There was still confusion in the girl’s face and Jake knew there was much to discuss at this fire. Words he was not meant to hear. “No. Thank you for it, but there are other requests I must fulfill.”

The woman’s lips curled as she stared at him. “Your kind never change.”

A little chuckle fell from his throat as he nodded. “No, we don’t.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“You as well.”

Jake stepped away and walked to the door. His boots were loud and firm against the sturdy wood. Just as he grabbed the handle, he heard the unfurling of paper. Daring a peek, he looked over his shoulder to see the woman looking at the letter. Her fingers gripped the edges and he could see her shoulders begin to tremble. Before she collapsed, Jake left the home and pulled the door closed softly behind him. It was not his task to console her. There was nothing more he could do here.

The final message had been delivered. That was enough.

---

Jake passed a large party of cheery individuals as he stepped into the Guild. Their eyes and mouths glistening. Armor and gear free of grime and dirt. Smells fresh and clean wafting from their bodies as they began their day. Except for one who trailed behind. Jake could see the stark difference between him and his party. His gear was dirty. His clothes tattered. The very look in his eyes was sharp, dulled and tempered. Even his gait was refined. While the others were joyous and excited, he was mentally preparing himself for the tribulations to come. The backbone of their survival.

“Stay safe,” Jake muttered to the man as they passed.

“You too.” The man returned, grunting the words along with a brief chuckle.

Inside, the Guild hall was in the midst of its routine. New requests were being posted, filling the holes in the board, and Adventurers were bickering over who had rights to what. Some muscled through the crowd, snatching their desired task right from the board. Even as complaints were thrown their way, the jubilant thieves danced off with their keep. Others waited patiently at the back, not daring to get involved in the melee. Some were already leaving, like the party Jake had passed. However most were still in discussion, planning and preparing for the day.

Few eyes were on Jake this time. The focus of the herd was elsewhere. Of course, the redirected attention meant that Jake didn’t have to wait very long to step up to the desk. The attendant, a red headed girl who had styled her hair into a pair of cute tails today, met his eyes with a glossy smile. The same, trained smile he had seen each time before. Her greeting was just as lovely and full of life as she welcomed him back.

“Any news?” She asked, awaiting to receive whatever he had for her.

“Two requests completed.” Jake reached into his bag and retrieved his stack of eight papers. From it, he plucked the two he had placed on top. The one from the Dwarf, the second from the late Adventurer. “I have six to go but I wanted to report my findings on both before going forward.”

The attendant took the papers from Jake and looked over them. “One moment.” She paused their conversation and set the papers down. She stepped away to retrieve a binding of papers that looked like they could be easily torn from the loops. A feather pen and ink was prepared, then she motioned for him to begin.

“First, the Dwarf’s request. The Dwarf requested an escort to the nearby mausoleum to see his son. He lied.” Jake didn’t conceal any details but kept things brief, knowing both that she had to write the details and also explain them. Going too in depth would be worthless. On top of that, Jake didn’t want to bore her or spend more time than necessary at the desk.

However, saying ‘he lied’ flat out, caused her to pause and look up at him.

“He didn’t have a son in the mausoleum. It was full of Draugr,” Jake explained.

The moment he mentioned Draugr, her back stiffened and several people looked over at him. A feeling of deja vu struck him as a familiar scene played out in front of his eyes.

“Draugr? Like… the undead?” She asked. Whether it was for clarification or because she wanted him to repeat it for her own personal mental need, Jake wasn’t sure.

“Correct. The individuals who were buried in the crypt woke up. He called for an escort mission but actually wanted someone to kill them. I did that. The mausoleum is safe again.” Though she remained frozen in front of him, her ruby eyes unblinking as she stared at him, Jake explained his ordeal anyway.

It took a second, but she finally snapped out of her daze. “O-Oh. Um. Well. How many?”

“At least thirty.” In the first room, Jake had fought sixteen. In the second there were around eight to ten. In the third, a similar number. While the number itself didn’t need to be exact he at least had to give the guild an idea of the numbers defeated. That way, if there was an evaluation or additional reward to be provided, they could perform their review more thoroughly. However, the Guild typically required some form of Proof of Kill to be provided. In this case, Jake could not provide anything. Defiling a dead corpse wasn’t exactly seen in good light.

“That’s quite a lot. Do you have a witness to corroborate your number?” Having shaken off her paralysis, the girl returned to her duty. The pen scratched along the paper, the report coming to life with the dispensing of black ink.

“The Dwarf was with me. He oversaw the conduction of the request and also paid after we returned yesterday.”

The woman continued to write until she had annotated everything stated, then peered up at him from beneath her bangs. “He paid you directly?”

“He did.” Jake affirmed. “Is that an issue?”

She sighed and set the pen in the inkwell before standing upright. She seemed annoyed. “No, but the rewards for requests are typically issued by the Guild. So he must have paid you extra for your efforts.” While explaining, her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose. “We will have to verify that he is aware of it before paying you the reward. Though the Guild has been established here for some time, a few of the older members of the village often forget.”

In essence, the Guild didn’t want to double pay the adventurer. The village had long been established before the Guild settled in and the older residents still followed the custom of paying for deeds directly, completing transactions on their own accord. With the village being poor in the first place, most residents typically only made enough money out here to survive and little extra. The Guild operated by taking the reward and issuance fee up front so, usually, there was no need for there to be direct contact between issuer and Adventurer. That way there wouldn’t be any opportunity for two payment transactions to occur.

“No problem.” While a headache, it wasn’t Jake’s issue. It would be on the Guild to do their own check and he would hear back eventually. “Anything else?”

“Do you have any information on the Draugr you faced? Equipment? Tactics? Use of magic?” As she asked, she tapped the feather pen against the lip of the inkwell, preparing it for use.

Jake nodded. “They used Adventurer equipment. Swords and shields. Heavy axes. Some had armor and chainmail. Whatever they were buried with, they carried. As for tactics, standard shield wall formations. They fought like regular people. No magic.”

The woman made her notes and then leaned back, her eyes gliding over the words. “Okay. Anything else? Any traps or odd details about the mausoleum?”

“In one of the chambers, there were sealed coffins. Make sure anyone who goes in there leaves them alone.”

The attendant stopped writing and glanced up at him. “Any reason?”

“You’ll have a serious problem on your hands if they’re messed with.” Jake didn’t want to go into detail, as it found it a self explanatory problem. There was also the concern of nosy Adventurers within earshot. “Consider this village dead if they’re opened.” So, to hopefully dissuade the curious, he added some additional warnings that weren’t exactly necessary. The occupants of those coffins were certainly powerful but nothing a strong party couldn’t handle. Aside from maybe the Elven mage, the others could be dispatched without losses if handled properly.

The feather pen continued as the girl made her notes. Finalizing them, she signed the bottom and then asked Jake to do the same. After his scribble, she placed the paper aside and stacked it with the request paper. She then marked something on an entirely separate piece of paper, then prepared for the next report. After being prompted, Jake took a deep breath.

“After not finding him at the described meeting point, I tracked down his home and found his wife. She informed me of the underlying details to the report and how others here refused to help him, so he went out on his own to find the weapon.”

The woman blinked. “So, that’s what he was doing…” She mumbled, tapping the pen against the paper. “We were told by a few Adventurers who tried to speak with him that his terms were a bit strange. The monsters he described as known threats matched a black listed monster and the Guild tried to investigate. He refused to comply so we left it alone.”

“What did the Guild do?” Jake raised an eyebrow and glanced around behind her, checking over the other individuals who ran the Guild. The word ‘investigate’ made him uneasy.

“Not much. After some Adventurers had come crying about the monsters being more than the request stated, we sent someone to ask, but he refused to speak to a Guild attendant. Only Adventurers. Something about the Guild trying to wring more money out of him that he couldn’t afford.” She sighed and shook her head. She then glanced over at the board.

“Ah…” Jake muttered. An understandable decision, Jake thought, but he could also see why Adventurers would be upset.

The existence of Maedra wasn’t some trade secret and Jake figured they must be known to the Guild in some capacity. From the number of bodies Jake came across at the nest, Adventurers could stumble into their nests at any point in their travels. Expecting Goblins but getting death incarnate instead. Survivors would of course come back with stories of the beasts and after losing enough bodies and resources hunting them, the Guild had blacklisted the creature. Certainly not surprising.

Hearing that the requester had come across Maedra, the monster they specifically stated for Adventurers to avoid and report the presence of, had raised alarm bells. But, since he wouldn’t speak to them directly, then they couldn’t side with the Adventurers and either request additional funding for the request or outright take it down. If they listened to the Adventurers without proof and removed the request, then that might have opened up angles for Adventurers to use the same tactic for other requests too. Thus, the Guild elected to sit on their hands and do nothing. It would be on the Adventurers themselves to figure it out and decide.

However, what if the requester wasn’t there to give the warning? What if the Adventurer took the request by choice and the requester was already gone, hunting for that sword? A lazy Adventurer with actual work to do might just drop the request and go about their business, switching to something that would assure some sort of pay like hunting Goblins. But, an Adventurer with time on their hands…

“Well, I guess I can tell you that he wasn’t lying,” Jake sighed, realizing the ditch he’d fallen into. The attendant’s mouth clamped shut and the pen stabbed into the paper, piercing a hole through it. “I hunted him down, following the last known information his wife had. Tracked him to a cave half a day’s walk north. It was infested with Mae-”

“Stop.” The girl spoke up abruptly and firmly smacked the paper down on the counter. “Do not say anything else.” The attendant turned away and hurried to the back, rushing through the mess of desks and paper towers towards the row of desks along the wall.

This time, it was Jake’s turn to be surprised. Yet, he held the expression for only a second before he realized where he was standing and also the implication of the words he was saying. He had drawn the conclusion himself the prior night; if there was one Maedra nest, then there might be more. Revealing that here, during the prime activity hour of the Guild where dozens of Adventurers were standing well within earshot, would cause everything to grind to a halt.

Every cave within the vicinity of the Guild, the Village, and the forest, would be considered dangerous and Adventurers might be too scared to execute tasks. Until those tunnels were scouted and either cleared or evaluated to not contain Maedra, no one would dare enter them. Some might even flee, run north and find work elsewhere, leaving the village to its fate. That is the level of fear the word “Maedra” had, and the Guild knew it well.

Jake pressed his lips together and looked over to his left. His eyes met with another man. An older man by the beard on his face and gear that looked worn and stained. He was staring at Jake with a harsh expression on his face, his eyes unblinking, still waiting for Jake to finish his sentence.

The attendant returned after a few moments and collected all of the papers on her desk. “Come with me.” She looked up at Jake briefly, then hurried off to her right, Jake’s left. Her little feet clicked on the tiled floor as her quick steps revealed her anxiety.

Beneath the gaze of several other individuals, Jake stepped away from the counter and followed the bouncing red tails to a staircase that led to a separate, cordoned off area of the Guild building. Two Guards stood at their base, but neither moved as Jake passed them. On the second floor that Jake stepped out onto, a long hallway stretched along the edge of the building and then wrapped around to the right. Several doors lined the right wall with windows mirroring them on the left. Two hallways split the second floor and seemed to also have several rooms slotted down them.

Jake was led down to the far corner of the floor and the attendant opened the last door on the right for him. The inside was ornate and comfortable, with a single small table in the center of the room and two chairs set to each side of it. A mana crystal light dangled from the ceiling to illuminate the space. Beneath the furniture, a soft brown rug with an odd flower design kept the wooden legs from scraping the similarly wooden floor.

“Have a seat, please.” After Jake entered, the attendant followed him inside and set the papers down on the table. She then sat down in one of the chairs on the right side.

Jake, knowing that sitting beside her was likely the incorrect choice, sat in the chair across from her. The door remained open and the two sat in an eerie silence. The attendant sighed a few times in the silence and pressed her hands together, her ruby eyes flicking from the table to the door several times until the sound of footsteps finally echoed into the room. They were hurried as well, but the stride was steady. The owner was in a rush but was wisely in control of their emotions.

The owner appeared as the sound of the steps reached its peak. The Elf Jake had met a few nights prior appeared in the doorway. Behind him was both a guard and another woman. The guard remained outside, while the Elf and the woman entered the room. The woman shut the door and then stepped off to the side next to it. The attendant rose to her feet out of respect and Jake followed suit.

“Apologies for my delay,” the Elf smiled and crossed the room. With a motion of his hand, he ushered the two to sit. He did the same, seating himself beside the attendant. “My desk clerk here has alerted me to something rather disturbing. The implication of the appearance of Maedra in the vicinity of the village. I would like to hear your report directly, if you would be so kind as to repeat the details of it.”

Jake glanced at the attendant but she remained silent. Her eyes were fixed on the papers. He didn’t blame her. It seemed that, as the one who had taken his report, she was to sit and be the witness. Jake glanced at the report paperwork, at the half-written account of his ordeal, and then sighed.

“The request was to escort an individual to a prescouted cave in order to assist with the retrieval of a family heirloom. A sword, to be specific.” Jake started with the base information, giving the Elf the needed context for the situation. “The request is, or was, two months old. I attempted to find the individual who put out the request to gather information but could not find him.”

Jake explained the start to his quest and provided the background information. From the moment he started his search for the man until the moment he reached the cave. Then, the Elf held up a hand.

“First, have you had experience with the alleged Maedra?” The Elf asked.

In these circumstances, it wasn’t a strange question. Unlike other creatures, Maedra had several very specific characteristics to them. If the Elf was asking then that told Jake he might be similarly experienced with the beasts. Whether through books or physical contact. As a manager in a Guild, he was likely well informed of all the potential threats in this region. Maedra was one of them.

“I have. I exterminated them from the Ravine.” Jake exclaimed.

The Elf smirked and narrowed his eyes. “Quite the thing to say in these circumstances. While hard to believe, as the Ravine is well known to be infested with the creatures, let’s at least say you do have experience then.” The Elf chuckled, as if brushing off Jake’s statement. “Continue, please.”

Jake didn’t say anything in retort. There was no need to and even if he did, Jake didn’t have proof of his actions. Thus, refuting the Elf would lead to an unnecessary argument. “After entering the forest, I noticed several cues leading me to believe of a Maedra presence. Lack of natural noise in the area, lack of signs of life aside from vegetation. I noted it and continued until I found the cave. Upon finding it, I smelled them.”

“And the scent?” The Elf asked.

“Pungent. Rot. Like decaying meat of a well-aged corpse,” Jake described.

After a few moments, the Elf glanced at the attendant. He waved for the woman by the door to approach. As if knowing what he wanted, she pulled a quill and inkwell out of the bag she carried and passed it to him. He placed both of them down on the table. “Miss. Rey, please continue the recording of his report.”

The attendant flinched when her name was called. “Yes, Sir.” With shaky hands, she uncorked the inkwell and dipped the pen into it. Then, she began to scribble down the details already stated. At her prompts, Jake repeated some information until she was caught up.

“Continue, please.” The Elf prompted after the attendant showed she was with them.

Jake nodded and did so. He described the cave, the bodies of both the adventurers and the monsters, the animals that had been caught, and also the size of the area. He then described the atmosphere, the lack of natural mana, and the excessive smell that permeated from the tunnel. Continuing, he described his descent. The long, winding tunnel. The extreme depth of that tunnel and also its smooth nature. How it seemed to be unnaturally bored out of the rock.

When he described his first encounter with the Maedra horde, the Elf had several questions. The way the Maedra fought. Descriptions of their bodies. How Jake killed them. His techniques, his tactics, his magic. Down to the very way the Maedra died and the technique Jake used to kill them--the shattering of their mana crystals. Jake created small versions of the spells he utilized to show his capabilities and prove his magic skill as well, all to support his tale.

After the first encounter, the Elf listened almost passively as Jake explained the rest of the ordeal. From the descent to the finding of the Adventurer’s effects, to the extermination of the nest itself. Even when Jake described his cleansing of the nest and the destruction of the tunnel, the Elf sat quietly and listened. As if everything he had been shown was enough evidence to prove Jake’s expertise in the matter.

Jake finished his report by stating his decision to return to the village immediately, rather than spend the night. He left out the fight with the Knight on the road back, careful not to overshare. The attendant then reviewed the report, asked a few questions for clarity and to ensure she had heard him correctly, then signed the bottom. Jake once more signed the report but rather than give it to the attendant, the Elf was the one to be given the paper.

“Mr. Furrow, do you know why we are here in this room discussing your report and not out on the floor?” The Elf’s eyes traced the report as he asked his question.

Jake glanced at the clerk for a moment, taking notice of her fidgeting again. “I do. I feel it is safe to assume that the appearance of the Maedra could cause problems for the Guild and the village.”

“Correct, mostly.” The Elf nodded and rolled the report up. He held out the rolled paper for the woman beside him to take and seal with a red stripe. “The appearance of Maedra is an alarming event which calls for the mobilization of all local military forces, all of them, in order to investigate the region for activity. Maedra, as you know should your report and experience be true, are an extremely dangerous threat to all living things. And they don’t just pop up randomly.”

“No, they do not.” Jake huffed and planted his hands firmly on his knees. “If there’s one cave here, then there must be more.”

“But the question is where and also how many have already spawned.” The Elf pulled his glasses off his face and retrieved a cloth from his pocket. Using the cloth, he cleaned the lenses of his spectacles. “While I typically would report this matter to higher authorities, as it is my duty and obligation to do so for all Maedra related events, I cannot afford to do so at this time.”

Jake glanced at the attendant for a moment, then met the Elf’s eyes. “And that reason is?”

“The Guild is in a precarious position. This building alone has reported Maedra before, three times actually, and all three times have turned out to be false allegations by Adventurers who have used the monster as an excuse to increase both their rank and over inflate their skills.” The Elf sighed and returned his glasses to his face. “We followed protocol and sent the message to the main branch, requesting an investigation be conducted to affirm the words of the Adventurers. The Lord of the region, at the same time, began his task of recruiting Knights and setting the military up for the campaign that would ensue. But, after investigation…”

“...You discovered that the Adventurers were lying.” Jake muttered, finishing the sentence.

The Elf nodded. “Correct. The Guild performed its duty and did its due diligence. Along with investigators assigned by the Lord, we checked the suspected areas and found no signs of Maedra in all three cases. Two of the Adventurers were collected and are now rotting away in a prison near the coast. The third slipped away, wisely, and ran off. We sent word to the other branches of his misdeeds, though, so he likely has been caught by this point.”

Jake sighed and his shoulders eased, the tension in his body slipping away. “And if you push for an investigation now…”

The Elf let out a brief hum as he nodded again. “Because of your eradication of the nest, destruction of the tunnel, and cleaning of the very entrance of the tunnel itself, the investigators sent to the area would find nothing but grass and flowers.”

Jake grimaced. “Fuck.”

The Elf chuckled and smirked. “It seems, Mr. Furrow, your skill and care in this matter has instead come to bite you.”

“Yea, you could say that.” Jake grumbled, slouching in the chair. His eyes lifted to the ceiling and he stared at the pulsating blue crystal light. “So? Should I find another cave and report on that one instead?”

“No. I would actually prefer it if you didn’t.” The Elf chuckled and folded his hands neatly in his lap. “Though you came across the nest, the fact that you cleared it and destroyed the tunnel is far more than we can ask for. It’s quite a feat actually. Since no one else will say it to you, as everything said in this room is to never be spoken again, I wish to thank you for your efforts. Your actions saved a lot of lives.”

“Rather than ask for an investigation, I will instead send a report to the Guild requesting an evaluation of the area’s threat level.” The Elf looked over at the attendant and smiled.

“Oh… That could work,” she mumbled.

“And? What will that do?” Jake’s head lifted so he could stare at them again.

Rather than the Elf, it was the attendant who explained what would happen. “An evaluation of an area’s threat level is sort of like an unofficial Maedra check. We’ll notify the Guild of an uptick in monster sightings in the region, lower game activity reported by hunters, and strange sightings of beasts near key travel routes. The Guild will then send out teams of high level Adventurers rather than investigators and soldiers to scout the area. If they find Maedra, the Guild reports it. If not, then nothing else happens and the Lord is never notified.”

“Interesting,” Jake mumbled, rubbing his face as he thought over what to do.

If the Guild was going to conduct their own check of the forest, then there would be no need for him to get involved any further. They would send out whatever teams they had and would cover plenty more ground than he could on his own. On top of that, if they did find Maedra, then actual soldiers would be sent in to deal with the problem. Jake wouldn’t have to get involved at all. Though he doubted the soldiers would kill the Maedra without casualties, so long as the nests were neutralized then it didn’t matter who did it. Work done by the local forces meant less effort on Jake’s part.

They had handled Maedra before. This would be no different.

“Alright, then. If that’s the case then do you need anything else from me?” Jake sat up, electing to let the Guild do its thing. If they were going to handle the Maedra, then there was no reason to go above and beyond and get overly entrenched unnecessarily. He would keep his eye out during his own travels but unless called upon, he would let the locals handle their issues.

“No. You have already done enough, Mr. Furrow. For the time being continue as you were.” The Elf smiled and rose from his seat, prompting Jake and the attendant to do the same. “If there is anything else we need from you, we will be sure to contact you directly.”

“Understood.” Jake nodded.

“A proper reward will be put together for you and arranged for a later time. Do be sure to accept it.” The Elf extended a hand. He had a firm grip. “Once more, thank you for your hard work, Adventurer. Stay safe on your travels.”

“Thanks.” Jake shook the Elf’s hand and then watched as the man left. The woman bowed briefly behind him, then stepped out as well. Leaving Jake behind with the attendant. They exchanged a look before the woman sighed. “Something wrong?”

“No.” The woman collected the papers that were still left on the table and held them against her chest. “You’ve just been here for two days and you’ve caused a larger ruckus than some of my regulars who have been here for months. Do you do this everywhere you go?” She looked up at him with a pair of slightly tired eyes. The way they glistened was quite adorable.

Jake chuckled to himself and walked away.

“Hey, that wasn’t rhetorical!” She snipped at him, her heels clicking as she followed him.

Jake stopped chuckling but kept a smile on his face as he pulled the door open. She followed him out, yipping at him from behind as she tried to get an answer out of him. An answer she was never given, because she wasn’t wrong and Jake wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of admittance. Ever since he climbed down into the Ravine, trouble awaited him everywhere he went. He was used to it by now but to have someone say it out loud was comical.

At least he wasn’t the only one who took notice of his misfortune.