"I didn't sign up for this!" Ficky roared, slamming his fist onto the bar counter. He glared at the bartender, who was calmly preparing drinks.
"I had no idea it would turn out this way, sir," the bartender replied smoothly.
The night had been a chaotic blur. Their encounter with TAINROS hadn't been a total loss; the adventurers had helped dispatch the "Murderers" who were terrorizing the masquerade. Then there was Yuda—trapped behind a mask that seemed to devour his very soul. Aya had stepped in, her hidden power erupting to save him by forcibly removing the cursed mask.
By finally acknowledging her nature as a fox, Aya had transformed completely. Now, she was a small, four-tailed fox, forced to hide within the folds of Ficky's oversized coat to stay out of sight.
"And look at these coins! What the hell is this?" Ficky gestured angrily at the eight "Hope Coins" that had been warped and mangled. They were useless now.
"I'm sorry!" a voice called out from the doorway.
Ficky turned as a group of adventurers—Teo and his squad—entered the bar. "Ah, we meet again," Teo said with an awkward smile. "You're the one in the dog mask, right?"
"Who are you?" Ficky snapped.
"Ouch, forgotten already? Well, this bar is our temporary base in the City of Light and Dark."
The bartender intervened, "Mr. Slacard, these are the TAINROS adventurers. They were also hunting the Murderers. What brings you all here?"
Teo stepped forward, looking sheepish. "It seems my team made a mistake during the chaos in the palace. The coins..." he pointed to the ruined gold. "We thought they were explosives or magical traps, so we... neutralized them."
"YOU neutralized them?!" Ficky's rage boiled over. He slammed the table again, this time cracking the wood right down the middle.
So temperamental, Aya thought from her hiding spot. She was used to Ficky's outbursts by now, but his ferocity still made her fur stand on end.
"Please, forgive us," Teo pleaded. "We had no idea they were Hope Coins. We're just travelers trying to survive this world."
Ficky let out a long, jagged sigh, slumping into his chair. The loss of the coins—the literal manifestation of their progress—stung more than any physical wound.
Seeing Ficky's despair, Teo whispered to his teammates. They were pure humans, untainted by monster blood, and they felt a heavy debt of guilt. After a brief discussion with the bartender, a compromise was reached.
"Sir, take this as an apology," the bartender said, sliding a heavy bundle of cloth toward Ficky. It wasn't Hope Coins, but it was a massive pile of local currency—bills and gold coins heaped together.
"It may not replace the Hope Coins, but please accept it as a gesture of gratitude from TAINROS."
Ficky's anger slowly cooled. He accepted the money, though his disappointment lingered. Aya, seeing him calm down, felt a wave of relief.
"Where is the Fox Lady?" Teo asked, looking around.
"And the man who was with you?" the bartender added, referring to Yuda.
"The man is outside. And I need a room and a medical kit," Ficky grunted.
The bartender led them to a private room in the back. Ficky gently placed Aya on a small stool and began tending to her wounds.
"Sorry," he muttered. "I forgot about you in all that mess. Sorry for making today so uncomfortable."
"It's okay," Aya whispered, her voice soft in her fox form. "Honestly, I probably would have been just as mad. I'm just glad you stopped shouting at them."
"You're a strange woman," Ficky said. He began bandaging one of her tails, which had been accidentally nicked by his own claws during the fray. He used a touch of magic to stop the bleeding instantly.
"Ficky... what kind of magic was that?" Aya asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Nothing special." To demonstrate, Ficky touched the wooden arm of the chair. Under his fingertips, the wood rippled and hardened into solid, cold iron.
"Whoa... that's beautiful! How do you do it?"
"Don't get too curious about magic. Besides, yours is much more beautiful," he said.
Aya looked down. "I still can't believe I saved Yuda with my own power. It felt... instinctive."
"My magic comes from being part of the Bodyguard Family," Ficky explained, his voice turning somber. "I'm the only one left. No one can copy this style, even with the right books. My family died when they crossed over into another world—though not this one."
Aya went silent, her heart aching for him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you talk about something so painful."
"It's fine. I've already seen too much of your life... and I've had to do things to you that were... ungentlemanly."
Ficky turned his head away, a faint flush creeping onto his cheeks. Aya realized he was talking about the moment he had to physically "extract" Yuda's spell from her body.
"Please don't remind me," Aya said, hiding her face. "I feel like such a burden."
"Why? If you're a burden, you're a burden. Don't worry about it—I'm strong enough to carry it. If anyone should be cursed at, it's me for doing what I did."