By sunrise, the guild was already buzzing.
Inspectors in gray cloaks roamed the hall, holding clipboards and enchanted abacuses that clicked faster than Kai's heart rate. The banner over the front desk read:
"HERO TAX AUTHORITY: RANDOM AUDIT — COOPERATION MANDATORY."
Kai rubbed his temples. "Random my debt-stained butt. They show up every time I have less than five coins in savings."
Lira snorted. "You call that savings?"
"Hey," Kai muttered, "it's technically positive."
Yumi poked his side, levitating her notebook beside her. "Technically. But they don't like 'technical' heroes, Kai. Remember last time?"
He sighed, remembering the humiliation of trying to justify "dungeon ramen expenses" as business deductions. "Don't remind me."
At the reception, an inspector with sharp glasses and sharper tone looked up from his ledger. "Guild Everain?"
Kai flinched. "Present. Kind of."
The inspector's quill scribbled on its own. "We'll see. You're three months overdue on your guild report, and your mission expense log contains several entries that, frankly, read like jokes."
Kai blinked. "Which ones?"
"'Emergency anti-slime socks,' 'spiritual overdraft fee,' and—" the inspector squinted— "'five gold to cat who said he was my lawyer.'"
The entire hall froze.
Kai coughed. "He was very persuasive."
The inspector just stared at him for several seconds, then sighed deeply. "Proceed to the audit chamber."
Lira whispered as they followed, "How do you even survive this long?"
"Debt-based immortality," Kai muttered.
The chamber door creaked open, revealing a circular room lined with glowing tax runes. Three examiners sat behind a crystalline table, each holding a magical ledger linked to Kai's account. The air smelled faintly of ink and fear.
The central examiner, an older woman with eyes like cold glass, gestured for him to sit. "Kai Everain, leader of Guild Everain. You are hereby subject to financial and magical evaluation under the Debt Regulation Act, subsection twelve. Do you understand the terms?"
Kai shrugged. "No, but that's never stopped me before."
Her lips tightened. "Charming."
Lira and Yumi stood behind him, trying to look professional. The cat, Nox, snoozed on the table, pretending to be a decorative familiar.
The woman placed a crystal on the table. It pulsed once—then numbers filled the air like a hologram:
Total Debt: 2,438,000 gold.
Estimated Income: 38 gold (pending).
Risk Category: "Terminally Insolvent."
Kai laughed weakly. "Okay, but—hear me out—that sounds worse than it is."
"Is it?" she asked coldly.
He hesitated. "…No."
The crystal flared again, showing a faint golden aura around him. The woman frowned. "And your power source—Limit Breaker—still operates through debt accumulation?"
"Technically, yes. Spiritually, regrettably, also yes."
"Then you understand the danger. Excess debt could draw higher entities toward you. Entities we've seen ruin entire guilds."
Lira stepped forward. "We're handling it. He's—"
Kai interrupted. "I'm fine."
The examiner's gaze lingered. "You don't look fine."
He tried to smile. "I've had worse overdrafts."
For a moment, silence filled the room. Then, one of the other examiners spoke. "You're being offered a temporary reprieve through a government contract. Complete three official missions under Hero Tax Authority supervision, and your debt will be… marginally forgiven."
Kai blinked. "Define 'marginally.'"
"One percent."
His eye twitched. "Wow. Don't spend it all in one place, huh?"
The examiner ignored him. "Failure to comply, however, will result in total repossession—of assets, guild license, and soul-bound collateral."
Yumi's face drained of color. "His soul is collateral?"
Kai muttered, "Apparently, yes. I may have… signed something."
"When?"
"…Might've been during a dungeon loan. Or a dream. Or Tuesday."
Lira facepalmed. "We're doomed."
The head examiner stood. "Your first mission briefing will be sent at dusk. Do not leave the capital until then."
Kai stood, bowed awkwardly, and turned to go. As they exited, Yumi whispered, "Kai, you realize if we mess this up—"
"I know," he said softly.
But as they left the chamber, something strange happened. The crystal table flickered. For just a second, an image appeared within the glowing numbers—a golden crown surrounded by shadowy hands, each one etched with debt marks.
And a voice, faint but cold, whispered through the room:
"Keep running, debtor. You can't audit the dead."
The light went out.
The sun hung low when they stepped out of the guild. The air had that strange stillness before a storm—like the world itself was holding its breath.
Kai leaned against the nearest wall, eyes on the cobblestone street. "So, one percent debt forgiveness," he muttered. "That's what—two hundred gold off?"
"Try twenty-four thousand," Lira corrected.
"Out of two million," Yumi said. "It's a bandage on a missing limb."
"Hey, that's still progress," Kai said defensively. "Every long journey starts with crippling debt and poor decisions."
Lira crossed her arms. "And how's that working out for you so far?"
Kai looked down. "Still broke. But now I'm officially supervised in my poverty."
Before anyone could reply, a faint chime echoed through the air. A glowing parchment materialized in front of him, the Hero Tax Authority's seal blazing gold.
[Official Government Mission Issued]
Category: Financial Enforcement
Objective: Investigate the Missing Funds of the Royal Debt Reserve
Location: Obsidian Vault District
Reward: 1% Debt Reduction (upon verified success)
Penalty: Total asset liquidation.
Kai whistled. "Obsidian Vault, huh? That's the place they say even dragons can't afford to rob."
Lira frowned. "Then why send us?"
"Maybe they ran out of heroes dumb enough to say yes," Nox mumbled, still half-asleep in her arms.
Yumi floated the parchment closer with psychic energy. "It says financial enforcement. So… we're doing paperwork with combat?"
Kai shrugged. "Could be worse. We could be doing combat without paperwork."
Lira groaned. "You're hopeless."
Kai's grin faded as he reread the mission title. Missing Funds of the Royal Debt Reserve.
That wasn't a minor case. The Debt Reserve was the core of the entire kingdom's economy—a vault storing gold, contracts, and enchanted promissory notes that kept magic itself flowing smoothly through society. If something had gone wrong there… it meant the kingdom's balance—literal and metaphysical—was cracking.
"Alright," he said quietly. "We're going."
Yumi blinked. "Already? No strategy? No plan?"
Kai straightened his tattered jacket. "Plans are just pre-written regrets. Let's improvise."
Lira exhaled slowly. "You know, one day that philosophy's going to kill us."
He gave a tired smile. "Probably. But not today."
The Obsidian Vault District was unlike anywhere else in the capital.
Blackstone towers stretched into the clouds, lined with glowing sigils and golden trim that reflected moonlight like shards of currency. Guards in enchanted armor patrolled every corner, their spears humming faintly with stored mana.
At the heart stood the Royal Debt Reserve, a fortress more than a vault — guarded not just by steel, but by contracts.
Each pillar bore ancient scripts binding trespassers to eternal repayment. Kai could practically feel the weight of the signatures burned into the walls.
"This place smells like taxes," Nox grumbled.
"Technically it is taxes," Kai whispered. "Just… very fancy taxes."
They approached the gate. A pair of armored clerks eyed them warily. "Authorized auditors only," one said flatly.
Kai presented the parchment. "Government contract. Category… Financial Enforcement."
The clerk scanned the glowing seal, then nodded slowly. "Proceed. But be warned—whatever's been happening down there isn't just theft."
"What do you mean?" Lira asked.
The clerk's eyes darted toward the darkened vault entrance. "We sent six agents this morning. Only one came back. And she hasn't stopped screaming numbers since."
The sound of faint echoes reached them—muffled voices counting, whispering sums and debts like a broken abacus.
Kai swallowed. "Alright. Business as usual."
As they stepped inside, the temperature dropped. The walls pulsed faintly with light, runes flickering like heartbeat rhythms.
"Feels like the dungeon of Ious all over again," Yumi whispered.
Kai nodded, memories flashing—the shadowed tunnels, the feeling of unseen eyes watching, the weight of promises owed. "Yeah. But this time, the debt's national."
They descended through corridors carved into obsidian, each lined with floating tablets inscribed with the names of debtors—thousands upon thousands of them. The deeper they went, the older the writing became.
Eventually, they reached the central chamber.
A vault door, towering and circular, loomed before them—its surface carved with golden contracts. Each line pulsed faintly, as though breathing.
And on the door's surface, written in unfamiliar script, were words Kai somehow understood instinctively:
"The Crowned Debtor awaits."
Lira tightened her grip on her staff. "Kai… please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means."
Kai's voice was barely a whisper. "I think we just found the Debt King's account."
Before anyone could speak, the vault door moved.
A low rumble filled the chamber. The sigils along the walls began to flicker out, one by one, as though the magic that held them was being withdrawn.
Yumi clutched Kai's arm. "It's waking up."
The air grew heavy, suffocating. And through the faint glow of the runes, a golden crown shimmered into view, floating just beyond the vault door.
Then came the whisper:
"Kai Everain. Account overdue."
The voice wasn't human—it was every debt collector, every creditor, every god of balance rolled into one.
Kai froze, heart pounding. His Limit Breaker mark flared bright red across his arm.
He smiled weakly. "Guess the audit's mutual now."
The chamber darkened as the vault door split open down the middle, releasing a gust of air thick with gold dust and the faint smell of burning parchment.
Runes peeled from the walls like shredded contracts, floating into the air before dissolving into ash.
From within the glowing darkness, a figure emerged—neither ghost nor god, but something made of numbers.
Its body was woven from luminous script: lines of debt tallies, signatures, unpaid interest swirling across its surface like living ink. A golden crown hovered above where its head should've been, spinning slowly.
Kai could feel the weight of its gaze, even though it had no eyes.
"Debtor Kai Everain," it intoned. "Outstanding balance: two million, three hundred forty-seven thousand, five hundred and twelve gold. Status: escalating."
"Escalating?" Kai said weakly. "That's… one way to say I'm broke."
Lira drew her staff. "You think this is a manifestation of the missing funds?"
Yumi shook her head. "No. It is the missing funds." Her eyes gleamed faintly blue as she focused her psychic sight. "It's absorbed all the unpaid balances, the corrupted contracts—it's become a debt elemental."
Nox cracked one eye open. "So… the kingdom's financial anxiety grew legs?"
"Pretty much," Yumi replied.
Kai sighed. "Great. Even money has a grudge now."
The Crowned Debtor extended a hand made of floating sigils, and suddenly glowing red chains erupted from the floor. They shot toward Kai, wrapping around his wrists and chest before he could react.
His Limit Breaker flared, countering the pull, but the tension between the two forces made the air hum like a live wire.
"You are an anomaly," the Debt King's voice echoed. "A debtor whose power grows through deficit. You distort the balance of all trade. You are—"
Kai gritted his teeth, his aura sparking. "—broke. Yeah, yeah, we've established that."
He yanked his arms apart. The chains cracked. His Limit Breaker glow pulsed crimson, shattering the bindings with a sound like coins breaking glass.
Lira took the opening. "Sanction Bolt!"
A beam of blue magic shot from her staff, striking the Debt King in the chest. The impact tore a hole through its glowing script—but the numbers simply rearranged themselves, filling the gap.
"Restructured damage!" Yumi cried. "It's rebalancing its losses!"
Kai's brow furrowed. "So it… calculates attacks?"
"Exactly! It's converting the cost of our damage into more debt energy!"
"That's so unfair," Nox grumbled. "Even monsters have accountants now."
The creature raised a hand. A vortex of paper and gold light spun outward, forming a sigil beneath Kai's feet.
[Audit Field Deployed]
The space warped. The air turned heavy, time sluggish. Every motion Kai made felt taxed—literally.
Yumi gasped. "It's charging mana interest!"
Kai forced a grin despite the strain. "Well then… time to pay late fees."
He slammed his hands together, summoning a burst of Limit Breaker energy that shattered the slowing field. His aura flared bright crimson as sparks scattered across the chamber floor.
Lira shielded her eyes. "He's overclocking it again—Kai, your debt'll skyrocket!"
"Worth it!" he shouted, charging forward. "Sometimes you've gotta spend big to hit hard!"
He launched a punch straight into the Crowned Debtor's chest. The impact rippled like thunder—runic chains fracturing outward as glowing numbers scattered into the air like sparks.
For a moment, the creature faltered. Its crown tilted, flickering.
Then it whispered:
"Rebalance."
All the scattered numbers flew back into its form—and suddenly Kai was the one sent flying, slamming into a marble column.
Yumi cried out, "It's redistributing losses to you!"
"Yeah," Kai groaned, sliding down the wall. "I noticed."
The Crowned Debtor stepped forward, each footstep ringing like a hammer against a cash register. Its form towered higher now, almost touching the vaulted ceiling.
"You cannot destroy debt, Everain. You can only transfer it."
Kai spat out a bit of dust, chuckling. "Yeah, well… I specialize in bad transfers."
He stood up slowly, brushing off his coat. His eyes burned red as his Limit Breaker mark expanded across his neck.
Yumi looked at him in alarm. "Kai—your balance—it's dropping!"
He smiled. "Exactly. I'm borrowing from my future self."
Lira's jaw dropped. "That's insane! You're taking debt from a timeline that hasn't even happened yet!"
"Then I'll just owe me later," Kai said, stepping forward, crimson aura surging. "Let's break even."
The ground cracked beneath him as he moved—Limit Breaker roaring to life like a storm engine. He vanished from sight, reappearing behind the Debt King in an instant.
"Limit Breaker: Overdraft Impact!"
His fist connected with the creature's core. The resulting shockwave turned the entire chamber white.
For several seconds, no one moved. The air vibrated, dust swirling around like smoke.
When it cleared, the Crowned Debtor was on one knee, crown shattered, its glowing body flickering like dying candlelight.
"Balance… incomplete…" it rasped.
Kai stood in the middle of the ruin, panting hard. His aura flickered out, and his debt-tracking mark dimmed.
Then came the faint ding of a notification.
[Mission Complete: 1% Debt Reduction Awarded]
[New Record Added: "Overdraft Impact – Forbidden Skill"]
Kai fell backward, flat on his back, staring at the obsidian ceiling. "One percent… I almost died for one percent."
Lira knelt beside him, shaking her head. "That's… twenty-three thousand gold erased."
Kai smiled weakly. "Feels more like a paper cut on a mountain of bills."
Yumi sighed in relief. "Still… we're alive."
"Barely," Nox muttered. "And now you owe your future self. How does that even work?"
Kai looked up at the cracked vault door, still glowing faintly. "Guess I'll find out later."
He didn't see it, but deep inside the vault, a faint ember of light remained—a single floating crown fragment, whispering softly:
"Interest accrues, Everain."