"Nightbringer..."
"To think that bastard would get an Epithet, and from Kaiser no less..."
"We have to kill him this time. Definitely."
The voices of the unsatisfied adventurers echoed in the guild house out in the Deep Down Town. All of them still had a few bruises from a month back. They were stronger now, and that bastard was weaker now.
His crimes were unending, from insulting them to not taking them along to fight with some demons. And worst of all.
"How did that crazy fucker bag a noble? That too with such a tale."
"The story sure is touching. I'll let that one slide."
"You're just too soft on him, Iffy."
"Wait, does that mean he's not single anymore?"
"Fuck, you again!?"
As the adventurers crumpled up the newspapers and expressed their dissatisfaction, the doors suddenly swung open.
The silhouette of a few people filled their sights.
A fire burned in the hearts of all the adventurers, while the receptionists could only shake their heads.
The adventurers stood up—
"Ayy! We're back!"
"Zzzz..."
At the door were Sharky and Zachariah. The adventurers threw mugs of beer at the two and forced them away. They then picked up their weapons and charged to the doors.
"DUSK!" They screamed. Just as the ones in the front jumped near the gates of the guild house, all of them immediately dropped to their knees and performed a sliding grovel.
"What are you bastards doing?"
Instead of Dusk, the one they found was the head receptionist. All the adventurers bowed, giving her more respect in their fear than the nobles did to the Emperor back in Atreus. Right behind the receptionist was an old face they all remembered, the other adventurer that made history, Dawn.
The adventurers were all deeply pissed as the receptionist left them groveling and turned away. Their eyes all went to the outside of the guild house, only to see their branch manager dodging the swipes of a wild white-haired adventurer.
"Let me open your head!" he screamed as he attacked the branch manager, and the hefty manager had no choice but avoid it all.
The adventurer's glares deepened as the manager ran inside the guild house and the attacker, Dusk, followed. He noticed all of them and stopped.
"What? Why are you all bowing to me?"
They had forgotten to stand up after the receptionist left.
"Do you want one last beating before I leave or something?"
And then, their glares disappeared.
"Leave...?" one of them said.
"Yeah," Dusk took a step inside the guild house. All eyes turned to him as he took in a deep breath and flashed them a wry smile. "Adventurer Dusk... is going on a break."
All the adventurers watched watch widened eyes and slacked jaws.
Even the receptionist, Sharky, and Zachariah were stunned.
"B-break? What do you mean?" Iffy posed. "Are you going to quit being an adventurer? Why!?"
"I am not quitting. I am just going back home."
"I didn't hear about this?" the receptionist turned back to Dusk and spoke. Before she could continue, the branch manager placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, well... I guess I've become a bit soft in my injury, I couldn't bring myself to say it..."
"Will you not be coming back?"
It wasn't uncommon for adventurers to be gone for too long. But the moment one heard that they had left without taking a quest, the separation of a small duration became something that worried the others. Such was the nature of an adventurer's life.
"I will. Of course, I will." Dusk spoke with great resolve.
This life of an adventurer.
He had liked it more than he could express. Strength, power, opportunity, love... it had brought him more things he could express. It was a life he wished for.
Just, his path to growing stronger came before it all. And now, he was simply going to take a detour to go and become stronger.
He had a direction. The usage of his World's End.
And he had a landmark as well. His mother, Charlotte Fonias.
"So, it's just a break right?" the receptionist said.
"It is. Nothing big."
The other adventurers didn't seem convinced yet. The receptionist sighed and waved her hands.
"Meet me before leaving. Everyone else, this guy is coming back. Just think of it as a long quest and get back to your things."
In the end, the last beating of the adventurers in Deep Down Town never came around.
Eugene had to spend the next few hours drinking along with the adventurers in broad daylight. It turned into a complete goodbye party as even the guild employees joined in.
Sharky and Zachariah were a sobbing mess, complaining about their friend. They all also conversed about Roth, the old man adventurer that was about to come back in a few months. Iffy, Phillip, and other veteran adventurers too poured Eugene a mug each, before taking a bottle for themselves.
Bards were kidnapped from the streets and the guild house was filled with music, food, and drinks.
The guild master joined in too, leading a drinking competition between everyone.
The adventurers eventually got too drunk to care about Eugene, leaving him and Dawn to be the only people not out of their minds yet.
"Hey, hey dusk... you bastard..." the receptionist called out to him. Her face was flushed as she swayed in the air with each step. "How can you just leave without telling me... don't you think I'd be lonely?"
"Hey, I'd be lonely too, alright?"
"Shush... shut up!" the receptionist then reached into her desk and pulled out a small orb. "This is a magic commucashon device..."
"Communication."
"Ah, whatever..." her eyes were rapidly opening and closing as she spoke. "It's rather new, so it's not easy to get your hands on. The vice-guild master wanted to personally give it to you, but you're leaving so take it."
The receptionist shoved the device in Eugene's hands. The small orb of glass was frosted from the inside with a rich scent of mana coursing through it. It was quite good.
The receptionist downed another shot after handing it to him and strutted around.
The day went by and night came around. In the end, Eugene decided to take the receptionist to her home before going back on his own.
"Wait..." Dawn called out. "I didn't book a place here."
"Ah, right..." Eugene nodded. Only the two of them were left in the adventurers guild, everyone else had been knocked out. Even their steps were now uneven.
Wrapping his hand around her waist, Eugene supported Dawn and took him with her to his inn.
"Where we going...?" she asked.
"My place. Just stay there before we leave."
Before they realized it, they had already reached the inn. The front desk waved at Eugene and handed him his keys as Eugene went up to the room he had left behind. Dawn's head lolled as she struggled to keep herself straight.
Eugene barely managed to open the door and walked in. He closed the doors with his feet and pulled Dawn along to the bed. Before he could toss her over, she tightened her grip around his shoulders and pulled him down with her.
Dawn was trapped between his arms, pinned against the bed by his body.
She looked straight into his eyes. With the alcohol getting to her head, the sight of eye candy like Eugene was more than appetizing. Her cheeks flushed red as she slowly turned her eyes away, her purple hair splayed over the bed.
"Sorry about that—" Eugene muttered. He moved to the side and fell on the bed beside Dawn.
A sigh left his lips.
"How strange, it feels like I am leaving my home to go to my home."
Dawn let out a languid laugh.
"Home is not a place, huh?"
"I guess so..."
But he didn't feel that way about his home from his previous life. It wasn't like he didn't care about his family from when he was Yujin, he still wished for their well-being. But he never worried. He knew they'll be fine whether he was around or not.
Now, it was slightly different. Not just his home from his previous life, Apollon, the adventurer's guild, Lethe... he was slowly learning to worry about them all. Ok, maybe not about the last one, but the emotion remained.
It was a strange feeling. Something that would have been normal for other people was very new to him. He wondered what spurred it on.
"You've learned to look at things other than just strength, huh?"
Eugene frowned.
"Is that so? I guess I've picked up something annoying."
In front of strength, nothing else was important. It seemed he was being impeded.
"I would say that could be strength too, but I guess you won't understand."
"I don't."
Dawn suddenly propped herself up with her elbows and stared at Eugene, a bright smile on her face.
"Do you know the best way to get rid of worries?"
"What is it?"
"You drown in pleasure."
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