Eternal Rest

Bones, detecting no other presence underground, resolved to dispatch the two guards swiftly and claim whatever treasures awaited him. He had overheard the departing operatives discussing the value of the underground cache, prompting him to act decisively.

Unfamiliar with the identity of the vice leader and having no desire to linger, Bones adopted a casual demeanor as he emerged into view, raising his hands in a seemingly harmless gesture. His relaxed posture initially puzzled the guild operatives, but their guard soon wavered.

"Easy lads, behind you!" Bones cried out, pointing emphatically behind them. Both men turned, falling for the ruse, and were swiftly dispatched.

With the guards disposed of, Bones hurried into the hangar, paying little heed to the fallen operatives strewn behind him. Descending the industrial metal stairs, he found himself surrounded by unfamiliar mechanical marvels. Though intrigued by the ingenuity of modern technology, he knew time was of the essence.

Surveying the hangar, his gaze fell upon a pair of boxes resting on transport trolleys nearby. Approaching cautiously, he peered inside to find them filled with oval-shaped stones of rough texture, their bluish hue unmistakable.Mana stones, raw and unrefined. “So, this was the object of Guntar's pursuit?”

Two boxes stood empty, while two were brimming with unprocessed stones, and one contained neatly oval-shaped mana stones. As Bones surveyed the wealth before him, his undead core quickened with anticipation. Carefully, he transferred the stones from each box into his inventory, feeling the strain of the task weigh upon him. Once the cleanup was complete, an unexpected wave of exhaustion washed over him, leaving him momentarily drained.

Casting a cautious glance around, Bones ascended the ladder and emerged through the hatch. To his mild surprise, the guard still stood sentry at the entrance. A fleeting impulse tempted him to leave the guard alive, relishing the thought of the confusion that would ensue, but experience dictated otherwise. With practiced stealth, Bones approached from behind and swiftly dispatched the guard with a thrust of his sword, ensuring a swift and silent demise.

Surveying the deserted surroundings one final time, Bones slipped away from the warehouse without a trace. Barely a minute later, Belle appeared, running alongside guild operatives who excitedly relayed their discoveries.

The events of that day unfolded within the span of just a few short hours. It began with the guild's infiltration of the warehouses, the ensuing chaos, and the subsequent aftermath. Despite Guild Leader Rayne's valiant efforts and the undead threat being largely quelled, the perpetrators remained elusive, their motives and methods still shrouded in mystery. Rayne was left grappling with a multitude of unanswered questions, firmly believing that Gunter and his cohorts held the key to unraveling the truth.

Belle came to a halt before the lifeless body of the guard stationed at the warehouse entrance. A fellow guild member approached and inspected the fallen sentinel for signs of injury.

"A stab wound through the ribs, straight to the heart. Instantaneous," he reported.

Belle nodded grimly. "What sort of villain could perpetrate such an act?"

"Gunter, or perhaps Trevak?" her companion speculated.

"Exactly that sort of filth," Belle seethed through clenched teeth, her anger palpable as she stormed into the warehouse. With a heavy heart, the guild member took charge, guiding her through the hatch and down the ladders into the depths below. As they reached the entrance to the underground hangar, Belle was met with the grim sight of two more lifeless bodies and emptied containers. Overcome with fury, she unleashed her rage upon the machinery used for stone processing, rending and destroying with unrestrained fury.

Outside the hangar, the guild member leaned against the wall, his eyes shut tight, offering no words of solace. There was nothing he could say to ease her pain, no comfort to be found in the aftermath of such a devastating loss. Today, they had been utterly defeated.

Back at the guild headquarters, Rayne assumed command of the guild's operations, swiftly taking charge of the situation. He efficiently organized the guild's response, issuing emergency orders for adventurers to assume patrol duties and eradicate any lingering remnants of the undead threat, with appropriate compensation, of course. Special units of fire mages were deployed to dispose of the corpses, while healers tended to the wounded to the best of their abilities. However, despite their efforts, there were no healers skilled enough to cleanse the infected survivors, who succumbed to their affliction and rose as zombies. They were swiftly dispatched and their remains disposed of outside the town's gates, where they were incinerated alongside the other fallen.

Meanwhile, water mages diligently worked to cleanse the streets of blood and gore, restoring a semblance of order to the city's thoroughfares. Earth mages, along with a contingent of skilled stone mages, focused on the task of reconstructing the damaged buildings, ensuring that the scars of the recent conflict would soon be erased.

In a covert missive, a select few trusted guild members received orders to clandestinely investigate the disappearance of Guntar and his nefarious accomplice, the assassin Trevak, as well as the manner in which the undead breached the town's defenses. Meanwhile, Belle stormed into the guild leader's office, visibly agitated and seething with frustration. With an exasperated sigh, she flung herself into the chair opposite Rayne, carelessly propping her feet up on his desk.

"Alright, I'll let it slide under the circumstances," Rayne remarked wearily.

"What?" Belle interjected sharply.

"My desk? It's made of Elvier wood, imported from the elv—"

"I know, I know!" Belle interrupted, her voice raised in annoyance. "Imported from the blasted elven kingdom!"

Rayne remained silent, his left eye twitching ever so slightly, as he patiently waited for his vice leader to regain her composure. After a minute had passed, Belle composed herself and proceeded to deliver her report. She detailed how the guild operatives had discovered the underground hangar utilized by Guntar for his illicit mana stone processing and smuggling operations. Belle explained how they had stationed operatives to guard the entrance to the warehouse, only for someone to bypass their defenses, kill the guards, and escape with all the valuable mana stones.

Rayne maintained a calm exterior as he listened to Belle's report, though inwardly he seethed with frustration. "No worries, Belle," he reassured her, his tone determined. "The large quantity of unprocessed raw mana stones can only be sold in the capital, making them relatively easy to trace. We will find whoever is responsible for this."

"And make them pay!" Belle interjected vehemently, her eyes blazing with anger. However, Rayne's response was unexpected.

"No, Belle. There is no amount of wealth in the world that can compensate for the events of today," Rayne stated regretfully, shaking his head solemnly. “We'll kill the ones responsible, I promise you that!"

[…]

"That's what 'make them pay' means, Rayne," she clarified, her tone tinged with exasperation.

"It does? Who knew..." Rayne murmured, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Everyone did," Belle retorted dryly.

Outside the Adventurer’s Guild, Bones perched atop a building overlooking the bustling main square, now littered with the lifeless forms of hundreds of civilians. Below, guild operatives worked diligently, loading some of the bodies onto carts to be taken outside the town for incineration, while others were consigned to the flames right there on the spot. In his hand, Bones clutched a half-empty bottle of mana potion, a reminder of the exertions of the day. Soon, he would need to replenish his supply.

"Here, mate," a voice broke through Bones' thoughts. He turned to see the scout approaching from behind, stopping beside him before extending a mana potion. Bones regarded the man with a contemplative gaze. The fact that he hadn't sensed the scout's approach spoke volumes about the man's skill as a scout. With a nod of thanks, Bones accepted the potion, silently acknowledging the gesture.

"You're not a guild member?" the man inquired, a hint of curiosity in his tone.

"No, I'm a contractor for the guild," Bones responded evenly. The scout remained impassive, simply nodding in understanding.

"We could use someone like you in the guild. You're a bronze ranker, aren't you?" the scout continued, his observation keen.

"What gave me away?" Bones queried, intrigued.

"I couldn't identify you. Not to boast, but my senses are sharp, and I can usually discern the rank of anyone below bronze level up to my own. So, either you're a bronze ranker, or there's more to you than meets the eye," the scout explained, his gaze assessing.

Bones chuckled softly, confirming his status as a bronze ranker and explaining that he had been on his way back to town after completing quests when the undead attacked. The scout, evidently a talkative sort, continued to share information while Bones listened intently. According to the scout, this wasn't the first time the undead had appeared in the last few decades, which surprised Bones, though never before at such a scale.

"Aren't you all taking this too lightly?" Bones interjected, his curiosity piqued. "I understand adventurers encounter many challenges, but..."

"I'm not an adventurer," the scout interjected apologetically, before elaborating, "I'm actually a guild operative in the scouting division. You could say I'm a former adventurer turned guild operative."

Bones chuckled in response. "Oh? I wasn't aware there was a difference," he admitted, realizing he hadn't considered the distinction before, but now found himself curious about it.

"Strange, but who am I to judge?" the scout mused aloud. "The guild, of course, has its own operatives. The adventurers are on the frontlines, risking their lives to protect the citizens and fulfill the guild's mission. Meanwhile, we operatives work behind the scenes, ensuring everything runs smoothly. Someone has to do the legwork, so to speak. Contracts don't just appear out of thin air!"

Bones listened closely to the scout's explanation, but as the man continued to speak, Bones drifted away, lost in his own thoughts. Suddenly, he interjected, "Must be hard, living that kind of life in the shadow of the adventurers." The scout fell silent, contemplating Bones' words. There was undeniable truth in them.

"Aye, it is a challenging life," the scout conceded, "but there is a sense of pride in our line of work." With that, the scout departed, leaving Bones to ponder the complexities of the guild's operations and the roles its members played.

"What an odd person," Bones thought to himself, observing the scout's actions from his vantage point. His attention was drawn back to the scene below as he spotted the same scout, Veeno, approaching another individual in need, offering them a mana potion.

"Oh, for the love of..." Bones muttered under his breath, shaking his head in mild exasperation.

Later on, Guild Leader Rayne approached Veeno, curious about his earlier interaction atop the building. "Veeno, who were you talking to at the top of the building earlier?" he inquired.

"Ah, Sir Rayne, just some contractor, sir," Veeno replied, trailing off as there wasn't much else to add.

"You didn't ask his name? Were you the one doing all the talking again?" Rayne questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, sir. Why do you ask about him?" Veeno inquired.

"There was something off about him," Rayne admitted cryptically.

"Was it the mask? It was a bit odd and in bad taste, I admit, given the situation, but having a skull-painted mask isn't anything out of the ordinary," Veeno attempted to reason.

"You think so? What if it was one of the undead underneath the mask?" Rayne posed the question seriously.

"Haha, you jest, sir! You jest!" Veeno laughed nervously, dismissing the notion as absurd.

Word had been sent to the guild's headquarters in the capital regarding the attack, and for now, everything seemed to be under control. It would take several days for the streets to be cleaned and even longer for the damages to be repaired, but the fear instilled in the people? That would linger for a long time, perhaps forever.

The casualties numbered close to a thousand, a relatively small figure considering the coordinated onslaught by the undead on multiple fronts and the town's overall population. Rayne sighed heavily, his exhaustion evident as he sifted through the reports. The shopping district had been hit the hardest, with the majority of casualties being civilians and low-level adventurers, many of whom were barely more than children. The guild had only lost a few bronze rankers, and those were primarily due to the intervention of the dark elf huntress.

The vice leader had engaged in combat and identified the two main culprits responsible for the attack. The dark elf was believed to be highly skilled in stealth tactics and proficient in ranged combat. Meanwhile, the necromancer specialized in summoning skeleton minions, creating zombies, and wielding necrotic magic.

Belle had sustained a grievous injury during the confrontation, and her hand had begun to rot. Fortunately, a timely application of a health potion provided by Rayne prevented the affliction from spreading. Given Belle's rank and strength, the potion proved sufficient to fully heal her hand and cleanse the rot.

By the day's end, Rayne discovered that several key individuals were missing from within the guild. Two were from the administrative office, one was a scout operative, and one was an elderly librarian. Rayne furrowed his brow in concern, particularly troubled by the absence of the old librarian, whom he remembered as a former gold ranker transferred from the capital just six months prior. The circumstances were too suspicious for his already wary nature, especially considering that he trusted the others implicitly; they had been loyal members of the guild for years.

Realization dawned on Rayne: this operation couldn't have been carried out on a whim. The plan must have been in the making for years. Determined to take action, he swiftly dispatched word to the reception desk, instructing them to relay the list of missing guild members and two suspected culprits to all guild branches throughout the kingdom, urging them to be vigilant.

Meanwhile, the branch office of the Adventurer's Guild in Westbrook would remain under a state of emergency until further notice from Rayne. This meant that the guild would not be operating or issuing quests for the foreseeable future, as Rayne sought to unravel the mystery and ensure the safety of the guild and its members.

Bones found himself in a difficult situation. Unable to complete his quests or take on new ones, the heightened security in town made it challenging to move around freely. Frequent patrols scrutinized every passerby, making it risky for Bones to navigate without being stopped, searched, or asked for identification. Compounding his frustrations, he remained clueless about the whereabouts of Trevak and Guntar. Moreover, his plans to confront Horus and Vol had been thwarted, leaving him feeling unfulfilled. To add insult to injury, the closure of the coffee shop, his sanctuary in times of distress, only served to sour his mood further.

"I guess I might as well head out to the next city," Bones mused, resigned to his fate. With a sense of determination, he slipped out of town under the cover of darkness, making his way toward the capital. Unlike his previous departure, he stuck to the main road this time, eschewing the forest's concealment in favor of blending in with the normal flow of travelers.

Though only a short time had passed, Bones felt as though he had lived more in the past few days than he had in the preceding decades. Having surpassed the monsters in the training grounds, he realized it would be futile to linger in town any longer.

The journey to the capital began with a stop at a small village known as Little Westfield, situated roughly six hours away from Westbrook. As Bones traversed the path, he couldn't help but marvel at the transformation of the landscape over time. While he occasionally spotted familiar landmarks, the overall scenery felt refreshingly novel to him. Although he still found walking on the cold, hard stone roads unfamiliar, he found solace in the absence of mud that plagued his travels in the past.

Reflecting on the road's construction, Bones pondered the source of the stones used to pave it. Were they quarried locally, or imported from afar? Lost in thought, Bones continued his journey down the road, his mind abuzz with countless questions for which he had no answers. Yet, as he traveled onward, he found solace in the rhythm of his footsteps.