Ash kept us on the main roads. Not because it was faster, but because it was safer.
He talked while we walked, like he was making sure my brain didn't drift into dark places.
"Gathering quests stack," he said. "That's why they're good. You can pick up three, four at once and fill them on the same trip if you know the plants."
Milo bounced beside Todd. "So we can become rich!"
Todd scoffed. "Rich is for nobles."
Ash looked ahead. "Rich is for people who don't waste their coins."
Milo blinked. "That was mean."
Ash shrugged. "It was true."
I stayed quiet, holding Myrina's paper tucked safely inside my shirt like a secret heartbeat.
The guild came into view soon—big, familiar, noisy.
And the moment we stepped inside, the smell of wood, metal, sweat, and food wrapped around me like home.
We headed straight for the counter Ash pointed to—one I hadn't used before.
The line there was long.
Behind the counter stood a woman I recognize but haven't talked to her yet.
She was tall—around the same height as Nerissa, maybe a little taller. Her long golden hair was tied into a high ponytail that looked like it had been yanked up out of necessity more than style. Even her eyes were gold—sharp and striking, but dulled by exhaustion.
The dark circles under her eyes looked like they cast their own shadows.
Eyebags on eyebags.
She had the expression of someone who'd been awake for three days straight and was now surviving on spite.
Milo whispered, "She looks scary."
Todd whispered back, "She looks sleepy."
Ash whispered, "She looks like she'll kill you if you talk too loud."
Milo immediately clamped his mouth shut.
When we finally reached the counter, the exhausted receptionist didn't brighten. Didn't fake cheer.
She just looked at Ash with a slow blink and spoke in a lazy, drained voice.
"…Welcome to the guild. What do you need."
It sounded less like greeting and more like surrender.
Ash pulled out a small pouch and a folded cloth sack from his pack, set them on the counter with the quest paper, and slid everything forward.
The receptionist read the quest paper, opened the pouch and began inspecting the herbs like her hands were on autopilot. She counted with her fingers, eyes half-lidded.
"Sunleaf… twenty-four," she muttered. "Ironstem… eighteen."
She flipped the quest paper, checked something, then reached under the counter with the slow confidence of someone who'd done this a thousand times.
"Five copper," she said.
Then she opened the cloth sack.
Her eyes narrowed slightly—not surprise, more like concentration.
"Moonleaf… ten."
She paused a beat longer, then said, "Three copper."
She slid eight copper coins onto the counter with a soft clink.
"…Eight. Thanks. Next."
Ash scooped the coins quickly before Milo could reach for them like a starving raccoon.
He stepped aside and nodded at us. "Food."
Milo perked up immediately. "Food!"
Todd tried to pretend he wasn't hungry and failed.
They started toward the tavern area beside the counter, and Ash followed, but I hesitated.
Something about the receptionist's tiredness made me curious.
Not because I wanted to bother her.
Because… she looked like she'd been through something too, and she was still here doing her job.
I stepped closer to the counter again and cleared my throat softly.
"Um… excuse me."
The exhausted receptionist turned her head toward me like it physically hurt.
"…Yeah."
"What's your name?" I asked carefully.
She stared at me for a second too long, like my question had to travel through three layers of fatigue before it reached her brain.
Then she sighed.
"…Leona."
Only then did I finally have a name to pin to her face.
I nodded quickly. "Thank you."
I was about to leave when her eyes narrowed slightly again.
"…You're Trey, right?"
My stomach jumped. "Huh?"
She tapped her finger once on the counter, still looking tired, still sounding lazy. "You."
I blinked, then nodded. "Yeah."
She stared at me like she was weighing something. Then she said, still in that exhausted voice:
"…Must be hard to be you."
My throat tightened.
Before I could respond, she added, "If you need something, ask the guild. Don't hesitate."
Her voice stayed lazy, but her expression shifted—just a little.
A small, warm smile, like she was too tired to perform kindness but still had it anyway.
She rested her chin on her hand like the counter was the only thing holding her up.
I stared for a moment, surprised.
Then I bowed clumsily—just a tiny dip. "Thank you."
Leona waved her fingers like she was dismissing me, already turning her eyes toward the next person in line.
"…Go. Before I start caring."
I didn't know what that meant, but it sounded like a joke. Kind of.
I turned away, half-smiling despite myself.
Ash was already at a round table with Milo and Todd. Four chairs. One empty.
Like they'd actually saved it for me.
Milo waved both hands. "Trey! Hurry! I'm starving!"
Todd added, "He's starving every five minutes."
Milo snapped, "That's because my hero metabolism is powerful!"
Ash just glanced at me. "Sit."
I slid into the empty chair and set the eight copper coins on the table.
They looked… heavy.
Not physically.
Mentally.
Ash split them quickly—two copper each—pushing my share toward me.
I stared at the two coins.
Two copper.
If one copper was a hundred iron, that meant…
My head did the math before my mouth could.
Two copper was two hundred iron.
Four times my errand quest.
For one day of walking and picking things.
My hands curled around the coins like they might disappear.
Milo gasped dramatically. "We are rich."
Todd scoffed. "We are not rich."
Milo grinned. "We are richer than yesterday!"
That part was true.
Ash watched me for a second, then said casually, "See?"
I looked up at him.
Ash tapped the table lightly with one finger. "Money is time, not pride. You can work hard all day and still earn nothing if you're doing the wrong jobs."
Todd nodded like he understood even if he didn't like it.
Milo pouted. "But pride is important."
Ash replied, "Pride doesn't buy dinner."
Milo's face fell. "That's… evil logic."
Ash shrugged. "That's life."
I glanced down at my coins again. Food. Shelter. Maybe better bandages. Maybe—
My chest tightened.
Myrina.
The paper inside my shirt.
I swallowed and tried to keep my face calm.
Ash leaned back in his chair and stretched slightly, then said, like it was a normal thing:
"I'm heading to Seagate Academy next week."
The words hit harder than I expected.
My fingers clenched around the coins.
"Next week?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Ash nodded, eyes on the table. "Yeah. Stuff I need to learn."
Todd perked up immediately, interest sharpening. "Seagate? Like, the actual academy?"
Ash nodded again. "The one and only."
Milo's eyes widened. "That's where smart heroes are born."
Todd frowned. "Heroes aren't born. They're trained."
Milo pointed. "That's literally what I said."
Todd started to argue—
Then blurted, louder than he meant to, "Seagate professors were the ones who investigated the Altes record, you know! And then the Altes record vanished in the Great Abyss—"
I blinked.
Milo froze mid-reach for a snack. His eyes lit up like someone had just said the name of a legendary treasure.
"What's Altes record?" he asked, voice rising. "Is it like a hero relic? Is it in the dungeon? Is it—"
Ash let out a long, tired sigh and rubbed his forehead with two fingers, like the sound alone was giving him a headache.
"Milo," he said, calm but flat, "eat your food. Ask later."
Milo puffed his cheeks, still staring at Todd like the answer might leak out of him anyway.
Before Todd could continue, a loud laugh burst from behind us—too loud, too rough, the kind of laugh that didn't care who it disturbed.
"Hah! Hahaha—!"
I turned my head.
A group of adventurers sat at a nearby table, cups scattered, cheeks flushed from drink. One of them—a broad-shouldered man with a voice that filled the room like he owned it—leaned back in his chair, wiping tears from the corner of his eye like the joke had hurt him.
"Altes record," he repeated, still chuckling. "A myth. A fairytale for kids."
His friends snickered along with him.
He pointed vaguely at our table with his cup, sloshing a little as he spoke, the words loose and mocking.
"Supposedly," he went on, dragging the word out, "there's this book—yeah? A book that holds all of Altes's knowledge. Every rune, every device, every trick he ever made. Power and secrets and genius all packed into one neat little record."
Milo's eyes were huge now, like he was already seeing the book in his hands.
The adventurer's grin widened when he noticed.
"It's interesting," he said, voice dripping with amusement, "until you grow up and realize it doesn't exist."
He threw his head back again and laughed even harder, like the world had handed him the funniest thing imaginable.
"Hahaha—!"
His laughter rolled over us, bold and careless, and for a moment it felt like the whole guild was listening.
Ash didn't react much—just a small tightening around his eyes, like he'd heard the same joke too many times.
He kept his voice level, low enough that it stayed inside our table.
"Ignore them," he said.
But my stomach had already turned a little.
Because Todd had said vanished in the Great Abyss.
And even if everyone called it a myth…
It still sounded like the kind of myth people died chasing.