In the spacious castle hall, a victory banquet was in full swing. After the triumphant campaign to surround and wipe out the gnoll tribe, Lord Martin Smith had thrown the feast in his own keep. He had extended a heartfelt invitation to EeDechi and Barrett.
A parchment offering ten thousand gold coins for EeDechi's whereabouts was slapped right on the outer wall, but after nearly two months of slogging through forests and wasteland—without a single decent hot meal or a night's sleep in a dry, warm room—neither of them gave a damn. They strolled into the castle as bold as brass. Both were the reckless, devil-may-care type; after all, if you didn't take risks, what kind of adventurers were you?
A dozen long tables had been pushed together into two rows, every seat packed with people.
Lord Martin, whose title was modest enough to keep him humble, declared that anyone who had helped with the campaign was welcome—stable hands who shoveled buckwheat for the horses included. The hall rang with laughter and easy cheer.
The banquet crackled with joy, the warm, rowdy atmosphere chasing off the winter chill. Pine logs roared in the arched stone fireplace, filling the air with the sweet, resinous scent of burning sap.
Between the two long rows of tables, revelers clasped hands and stomped through a lively jig. A handful of grizzled old veterans gripped tankards of ale in their right hands, planted their left boots on the tabletops, and roared out folk songs in praise of spring with voices like gravel.
Lord Martin rose to give a toast, clearly hoping to put EeDechi and Barrett at the center of attention. The two adventurers wanted none of it. They tucked themselves into a corner table and attacked the feast like starving wolves.
EeDechi lined up several opaque wine bottles in front of her to block the curious stares aimed at the "hero who had slain the stone giant," then set to work clearing every plate within reach.
Although Lord Martin Smith was only a viscount—just one rung above the lowest baron—and his holdings were modest, the spread he laid out did not disappoint the two adventurers one bit.
Whole roasted chickens stuffed with tender mushrooms and sweet peppers, mutton braised until soft and chewy with plenty of tendon, honey-glazed suckling pig, grilled oysters drizzled in lemon juice, pork pan-fried in cream… every autumn and winter delicacy was there in abundance.
Then there was the local specialty, cured ham, sliced paper-thin. Chewed slowly, it was rich and savory, sweet without being greasy. Washed down with refreshing mouthfuls of malt ale, the whole feast tasted like victory.
EeDechi picked up a few bright red-gold oranges, popped them into her mouth, and sank her pearly teeth through the peel. Tangy-sweet juice burst across her tongue. Barrett raised a cup of red wine and drained it in one go, savoring the way the aged vintage rolled over his lips and teeth.
Both of them stretched luxuriously at the same moment. A young man and woman, each cradling a wine cup, sat down cautiously beside them.
"You two are adventurers too, right?" the silver-haired girl asked. Delicate strands of silver hair framed a pair of pointed ears, marking her as at least half-elf by blood.
The young man in the red robe leaned intimately against her and scooted closer. His pupils burned fiery red, and hot breath puffed from his mouth with every exhale. Barrett shot him a glance and couldn't help wondering if the man carried draconic blood in his veins.
This young couple were the adventurers Lord Martin had hired. How much they had actually achieved while sneaking into the gnoll lair was anyone's guess, but they had definitely caused a massive mess by waking the stone golem.
It was no surprise they recognized EeDechi and Barrett as fellow adventurers—the "travelers." Like called to like, and that went double for adventurers.
EeDechi suddenly remembered that her wanted poster was still fluttering on the castle wall outside, so she turned her face away with icy indifference, ignoring them completely. The only problem was the smear of white cream still clinging to the corner of her mouth, which completely ruined any chance of looking cool and aloof.
Barrett, however, jumped straight into a lively conversation with the two fellow adventurers. After a few exchanges, they learned that the young man was Dravenir Drakos, an orichalcum-level adventurer nicknamed the Blazing Ranger. He specialized in fire magic and brutal close-quarters fighting—a full-blown melee mage.
Just as Barrett had guessed, Dravenir carried a quarter-dragon bloodline. His father had been a dragonborn bandit, and his mother was the nun the bandit had kidnapped. Families like that were usually nothing but tragedy, so Barrett didn't ask any further questions.
The silver-haired girl was a half-elf, though she went by a perfectly ordinary human name—Emily Darcy. She kept her own origins locked away tight, far more guarded than her laid-back companion.
The girl was also an orichalcum-level adventurer, a wizard and priestess who worshipped the elven goddess Elariontha.
"Did you pick up any treasure after you beat the stone golem?" the silver-haired girl asked, her bright green eyes fixed on EeDechi.
EeDechi snatched up a wide-brimmed leather hat and tugged it down over her golden hair, then slumped back in her chair pretending to nap, ignoring her entirely.
Barrett cut in quickly. "Sorry, he doesn't like talking to strangers. That stone golem was just a pile of worthless rocks anyway. Its magic core blew up, so we didn't get a thing."
The silver-haired girl and the young man nodded in understanding. Powerful folk usually had their own quirks, after all. In the course of the conversation, the pair naturally took EeDechi for a man, which spared Barrett a whole lot of trouble.
"We heard the rumors that a sleeping stone statue guarded the secret treasure of some legendary wizard, so we got curious and went poking around," the girl said. "We never dreamed it would actually wake the stone golem."
She stuck out her tongue, looking a little rattled. "Good thing you two smashed it to pieces. Otherwise Dravenir and I would've been the most hated pair in every town around here. We don't have the experience or the firepower to take down giant Constructs."
"I keep thinking your companion's face looks a bit like EeDechi's," Dravenir, the one with red dragon blood, remarked. "You know the one, right? The girl the Sorcerer Kingdom put a ten-thousand-gold bounty on—the one adventurer circles have been buzzing about lately."
"Ahaha, yeah, I've always thought he looked a little like her," Barrett replied, keeping a stiff smile fixed on his face. "If we ever run out of coin, I'll dye his hair black, tie him up, and drag him straight to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Might just walk away with ten thousand gold."
"Hmph." EeDechi let out a low, grumpy snort from under her hat.
"I'd strongly advise against that," the silver-haired girl told Barrett earnestly. "You haven't heard? More than a dozen people who tried faking tips to scam the bounty got caught by the Sorcerer Kingdom. Their whole families were slaughtered—friends and neighbors too, every last one of them wiped out."
"Yeah," Dravenir chimed in, "Everyone hates the Sorcerer Kingdom, sure, but a bounty that big is damn tempting. Forget ten thousand gold—even the lowest payout of three thousand would mean you'd never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of your life.
"A lot of adventurers used to go days and nights without sleep, scouring the wilds for any trace of EeDechi. But after the Sorcerer Kingdom slaughtered hundreds of people over half-baked tips, hardly anyone dares hunt her down anymore.
"After all, who can prove whether a lead is real or fake? Unless you drag EeDechi right to the Sorcerer Kingdom's doorstep, those undead bastards will just find an excuse to kill you and all your friends. What the hell are you gonna do about it?"
"There's an old proverb that fits perfectly: a deal with death always ends in death," the half-elf girl sighed. "I wonder what kind of person EeDechi really is, to make the Sorcerer Kingdom go to such insane lengths to hunt her down."
A voice roughened by years of hardship cut into the conversation: "I heard there's a three-thousand-meter(9842.52 feet)-wide crater near the capital. They say it was caused by EeDechi fighting the Sorcerer Kingdom's demon god."
Everyone turned to look. The host of the banquet, Lord Martin Smith, stood beside them holding a silver goblet. He took a sip of red wine and continued in a measured tone:
"I'd bet it's the demon gods of the Sorcerer Kingdom fighting among themselves, and EeDechi probably betrayed them. In this world, who else besides those terrifying big shots from the Sorcerer Kingdom could walk away unscathed from a siege by demon lords?"
"Heh… heh…" EeDechi, slumped in her chair with narrowed eyes, curled up a little tighter and let out a string of meaningless grunts.
"What's wrong with your companion?" the half-elf girl asked, concerned. "Is he falling asleep? Sleeping in a chair like that will make him catch a cold."
"It's nothing, just ignore him," Barrett said with a laugh. "He gets sleepy after a few drinks, and once he's out, he starts grunting like a pig."
Under her cotton robe, EeDechi stuck out her leg and gave Barrett a light kick. Barrett winced, baring his teeth in pain, then quickly lifted a cup of wine to his mouth to cover up the slip.
Martin smiled kindly. "You two brave adventurers, where do you plan to head next? You must be tired of this wandering life by now. Come spring, I'll be leading the militia to clear out the manticore pack that's been raiding nearby villages. We're short on hands—would you two be interested in sticking around to lend a hand?"
Manticores weren't pack animals, and Barrett knew it full well. The lord was just using it as an excuse to keep them here. He turned the offer down flat:
"My lord, I'm sorry, but we can't linger in one place for too long. My companion and I have sworn to travel the entire world. Whether it's the freezing deep seas of the far north, the Eight Greed Kings Desert in the south, or the three great nations far to the west, we intend to see every corner of it—to experience the wonders this world has that no book ever recorded."
"Well… all right then," Martin said, his voice heavy with regret.
A girl in a cashmere dress ran up to Martin, her face twisted in annoyance. "Daddy, Cheeko's back again! We have to chase it away!"
"That damn stupid cat!" Martin's gentle expression vanished in an instant. "We didn't drown it last time, but this time I'm going to catch it and toss it straight into the fireplace! Come on, round up every knight who isn't drunk yet!"
The lord and the girl moved off. Beneath the wide brim of her hat, EeDechi's eyelids twitched. She caught a faint glimpse of a blue ball leaping across the arched support beams of the ceiling.