Zenos, I'm looking forward to buying some new tea!
Yeah? Well, I'm looking forward to you making it.
Hey. What are you doing?
Nothing.
Well, if you're not doing anything, how about adventuring with us?
It's not like you've got anywhere else to be, right?
I heard people from the slums couldn't become adventurers.
Normally, yeah.
But I think that if you're motivated and have the skills,
then your status doesn't matter.
Is there anything you can do?
I know a bit of healing magic.
Healing magic?
Poor folks can't afford that kind of education.
There's no way.
Well, you can join our party.
I don't expect you to contribute much.
I just really want a slave.
These kinds of creatures are nothing to me.
But, man...
He really is useless. Like lugging a bunch of baggage around.
It's about time...
We don't need you anymore.
Why's this damn place so far out of the way?
I know this is our chance to earn points with one of
the seven great nobles, but it feels like a waste of energy.
I'm still feeling the wine from last night...
The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can get back to drinking.
Sounds good.
Did you see the way the bar maid's eyes lit up when we said we were the Golden Phoenix?
Looks like slaying multiple magic beasts without taking so much as a scratch
has made us big news, even all the way out in the sticks.
There they are.
Let's kill these things and get their hides to Lord Fennel!
Guile, just to be safe, whip up some defensive magic!
You got it!
Come forth, force!
Become an unyielding shield to repel all that would do harm, as the spirit of lofty aspiration!
Encase!
Your pitiful attacks aren't gonna...
It burns!
What the hell?!
Andres, hurry up with the attack magic!
I-I am! I hereby defy the laws of creation and shake the foundation of—
Useless fool! Maybe I oughta fire him, too!
Guile! Where's the damn defense magic?!
I-I'm casting it! But it doesn't seem to be working well...
Because you're hungover?! Are you kidding me?!
Damn it, they're all worthless!
No other choice. We're pulling out for now!
How the hell were you struggling against magic beasts rated only B+?!
You weren't doing much, either!
Look, I'm just throwing it out there,
but Zenos couldn't have actually been using healing magic on us, right?
There's no way in hell.
Still, maybe we should hire a healer...
The real deal, and not some worthless peasant like Zenos.
It took us ten days to get here.
You said your name was Umin, right? You'd better make yourself useful.
I wouldn't expect too much.
I normally heal in the capital.
I just happen to have an adventuring license.
I'm curious as to why the Golden Phoenix, who are famous for coming out of battle unscathed,
would need the support of a mid-ranked healer like myself.
A lot's happened, all right?
Hey, is Yuma gonna be okay?
Your archer friend?
He should survive, but I don't think he'll be adventuring ever again.
That just proves he wasn't Golden Phoenix material.
The loss of an archer won't make a difference.
Guile defends, I attack,
and Andres uses attack magic for the kill.
Lord Fennel wants a scarf made of firefox fur for his daughter's birthday present.
And I am not missing my chance to get in good with the upper crust!
I'll cut 'em in two with my treasured sword, Hunber!
What?!
An ambush?
Guile! Defenses!
Mr. Andres!
Defensive magic is no reason to get careless, damn it!
Why can't I hit them?! Why?!
My body feels sluggish. But why—
Hey!
Mr. Andres is going to be in real trouble without proper healing!
Why? Why?!
What's the call, Aston?!
You can't be serious about continuing this!
Why?! Why isn't it working?!
Are you even trying?!
The defensive magic was in effect!
If it wasn't, he would've died on impact.
Well, a fat lot of good it does if he still gets hurt so bad!
You're a healer, so heal him already!
I have to cast and enchant the spell based on the condition of injury!
I've done what I can for now,
but he needs to be taken to a hospital with specially prepared magic circles, and soon!
We don't have time for that. Fix him right now.
Do you even realize what you're asking?
Even the upper echelon of healers couldn't restore him in this environment.
The only ones capable of that are a select few elite healers, or maybe a Saint.
We've been taking damage ever since I kicked him out.
But it can't be that...
Hey, could there be someone capable of this elite healing magic,
but without a healing license?
It's hard to imagine, but... do you have reason to believe there is?
What am I even saying?
There's no way that peasant could've done all that.
I'm overthinking it.
He was just the party's slave.
It seems I was a fool for placing my hopes in your group.
Begone, and don't darken my doorstep ever again.
P-Please, just hang on!
Let me speak to Lord Fennel directly!
I'm afraid milady's birthday has already passed.
What could you possibly say at this point?
But—
Sir Aston.
Lord Fennel's disappointment is not rooted entirely in your failed hunting attempts.
If you had judged the task impossible and reported it as such,
he could've avoided the embarrassment of having nothing
prepared for his daughter's birthday.
How am I supposed to say "no" when it's a chance to get in with a big-shot aristocrat?!
I-It's not like that! We had a traitor!
That bastard Zenos got in our way!
Zenos?
That's right. I never gave Zenos's name to make sure no one found out
that someone from the slums was in the party!
I-It's nothing, sir.
Please, just give us another chance!
I can't believe I'm having to bow my head to a damned servant!
And what, pray tell, can a party with only half its members intact do to make amends?
You don't have to worry about that!
We'll be recruiting members to make up for the losses soon.
Next time, we'll be sure to get the job done!
Hey, are you sure you should've said all that?
We don't have any leads yet.
Don't worry about it.
There was one other member of the party, remember?
Our slave.
You mean Zenos?
He'll be desperate to get back with us.
He'll be weeping with gratitude the moment I offer.
That's a great idea, Aston!
I don't believe Zenos was keeping this party going.
I refuse to believe it.
But the fact is, everything was going smoothly with him around.
I'll use him like I did when we started out and regain all the fame that we've lost.
The phoenix will rise again!
I'm coming to get you personally.
Be grateful, Zenos.
You doing anything?
Not a thing.
Come on, I'm not asking that much.
Hey, I'm starting to think Zenos might've already died in a ditch somewhere.
Nah, he might still be alive.
I did give him that gold coin as severance pay.
I could almost cry at the thought of how generous I was.
The slums aren't exactly small, though.
How do we find him?
I've got the perfect idea for that.
We hire the three demihuman bosses to help find him.
Crooks like that are always
on top of everything that goes on in the slums.
That makes sense! Good idea, Aston.
Boss, this human wants to hire us.
A job?
I'm kinda busy, y'know. I was about to go see the doc.
Damn, she's fine.
Wouldn't mind having her in my harem once I become an aristocrat.
I'm Aston, the leader of the Golden Phoenix, a gold-class adventuring party.
That's an awful lot of qualifications.
Sun's gonna set before you're done introducing yourself.
Let's get down to business already.
I want you to find someone for me.
A man named Zenos.
He would've made his way into the slums about two months ago.
Oh, I see what this is!
You're the idiots who kicked the doc out of your party!
You certainly look dumb enough.
Say what?!
Run on home.
The person you're looking for has better things to do than put up with your nonsense.
And frankly, so do I.
Who do you think you're talking to?!
And do you realize who you're talking to?
This is a waste of time!
What was that, Aston?!
How should I know?!
Oh, so you're the party that was stupid enough to kick Sir Zenos out!
Lynga thinks you'd be better off dying and reincarnating as toilet roaches.
You know Zenos, too?
Sir Zenos has no business with toilet roaches.
If you know what's good for you, you'll run on home.
Say what?!
You wanna go?
Lynga has no time for toilet roaches, either.
Damn it!
What is going on?!
Oh? So you're the trash that kicked Zenos out?
What business do you have with him after all this time?
Wh-Who do you think—
Stop talking, Guile.
Hey. If I find out you've been harassing Zenos...
We orcs won't take too kindly to that sort of thing.
Aston...
Not a word!
The three leaders of the demihuman gangs all love Zenos?
That can't be right! It must be someone else!
Some other guy named Zenos!
There's no way that peasant has this kind of sway!
H-Hey, Aston...
Zenos!
This way, Lily.
Wait up, Zenos! I'm still having trouble learning the streets.
The slums can be kind of complicated in terms of layout.
I'm surprised you know them so well.
Is it because you used to live here?
Hey! Zenos!
Is that you, Aston? And Guile?
You're damn right it is.
Looks like you managed to survive somehow, Zenos.
What brings you to the slums?
Good question. Care to guess?
Not really, no.
Well, I'm kind of busy, so...
G-Get back here!
I came for you, damn it!
What?
I was looking for you!
Why?
Congratulations! I'm going to let you rejoin the Golden Phoenix!
No, thanks.
Don't go bawling in gratitude—
Wait, what?!
Did I hear that right?! Did you turn me down?!
Yeah, I did.
Why?!
You even have to ask?
Unreasonable treatment and next to no pay. There's basically nothing in it for me.
Wouldn't most people say "no"?
That's not what I mean! I'm offering you a chance to come back! Me!
Look, if you're that desperate,
I don't mind accompanying you on a quest when I have some free time.
But you'll actually pay me this time, right?
Huh? What are you even—
50,000 wen for every healing.
A million for critical injuries.
Triple that cost if you need defensive and buff magic.
Don't expect a discount.
Who do you think you are?!
It's not like you have a place around here, either!
Dr. Zenos! How ya doing?
Hey. How's your leg feeling?
Pretty great, thanks to you!
Glad to hear it.
Zenos, come play with us!
Who are those strangers?
Hey, Doc!
Appreciate you always patching me up.
Hey!
Zenos, these old guys are pretty noisy, huh?
I am not old!
Well, let's head on back.
Are you serious about not coming back?!
When it's me making the offer?!
I was the one who took you in! Gave you a place to belong!
It was all me!
Sorry, Aston,
but it's too late.
Don't you ignore me.
Get back here, Zeno—
Bold of you to attack someone right in front of me.
The royal knights can't overlook that.
Huh? What brings you around, Krishna?
I came to see you.
But... I don't live around here.
I got lost.
That said, I managed to run into you, so my lack of direction has paid off this time.
That's one way of looking at it.
She's supposed to be the youngest vice commander in the history of the royal knights...
So why is she so friendly with Zenos?
Just what are you?!
Now, I'm taking you to the nearest station for attempted assault.
It's not like that! I didn't want to, but he forced me!
Don't you... Don't you ignore me,
Zenos!
Come to think of it, the crew that kicked Doc out came calling on me the other day.
They came to see Lynga, too.
And they really did look stupid.
I had an encounter with this trash party, as well.
You three don't hold back, huh?
I had a bad feeling, so I asked some of my boys to watch them,
but they lost the trail.
Same for Lynga. Even werewolves' noses have lost their scent.
They've managed to stay out of the net cast by my orcs, as well.
Maybe they just went home?
That'd be great, but if they went digging even deeper, we might be in for trouble.
Deeper?
She means the underground guild.
The underground guild?
It's a guild that handles illegal tasks.
The true bottom of the depths, which even our demihuman gangs don't trifle with.
They'll do anything for the right price,
which is why Lynga hates them.
Drug deals, assassination, revenge by proxy...
Then if those loud old men go to the underground guild and ask for something bad...
You need a lot of money to hire people through the underground guild.
Indeed. And if he bothered to seek you out, Zenos,
I'd wager this fellow's finances are rather depleted.
Which would mean he can't afford that kind of trouble.
Th-That's a relief.
Then we don't have to worry...
Zophia?
Well, I was remembering how I've been hearing about someone
who will take jobs under certain conditions, even without pay.
I think they called themselves... the Guide.
Can't sleep?
Lily? You're still awake?
I was asleep. But when I woke up, I saw the lights were on...
Want some tea? Or would that make it even harder to sleep?
Actually, I would like some.
How is it?
As good as always. I appreciate it.
What?
When I can't sleep, you stroke my head. I'm returning the favor.
Then I think I'll get a good night's sleep after all.
Unable to sleep, Zenos?
You're up, too?
Well, there were three cups of tea prepared.
How could I refuse?
Has this run-in with your old party kept you from sleeping?
What, you're worried about me?
At the end of the day, you're actually pretty nice, Carmilla.
Enough mockery!
That's not the case, anyway!
There's little to do at night, so I figured I could go for a bit of conversation, that's all!
Okay, sorry.
This is too much tea for just me, so I'd appreciate you joining in.
In that case, I see no reason to turn you down.
I'd honestly forgotten about Aston and the others.
But after being reminded like that, I kind of regret not slugging them.
That said, I was actually thinking a bit further back.
Zenos, you've said you learned healing magic while living in the slums.
How is that possible?
I was trying to revive a corpse, and it came with the territory.
That's forbidden sorcery.
Yeah. But when I was a kid, I didn't know anything about resurrection or the like.
My teacher popped me on the head for it.
You know, it's not exactly the same thing,
but when I was among the living, there was such a thing as artificial life...
The sorcery to create golems.
Three hundred years ago, huh?
That would've been during the Man-Fiend War, back when the Demon Lord was still around.
It's a form of lost demon sorcery.
They use a special kind of magic stone as a core,
then add carbon and sulfur, among other ingredients, to create the golem.
Huh.
The way they felt no pain or fear
and worked tirelessly on their tasks made them quite dreadful.
What were you up to three hundred years ago, anyway?
It was so long ago, I've forgotten.
You really don't like to talk about yourself, huh?
Well, I guess we should clean up...
What was that?
It came from the slums.
Wait just a moment.
Unbelievable...
We were just talking about it,
and now a golem is rampaging in the slums?
The End of Adventure
"The End of Adventure."