A small room in the back of the guild branch. The wood grain of the ceiling filled Valentia Lucas's entire field of vision. He only remembered that night in fragments. The sound of Varrox's claws cutting through the wind. The impact of being blown back and slammed against the stone wall. Fern Aria's scream. The cold of the ground. And then—when he came to, he was here. When he tried to take a deep breath, a sharp pain shot through his left ribs. Cracked ribs. His life essence was nearly zero. He tried to lift his arm, but no strength would come. (…No way.) He didn't even have it in him to mock himself. He simply confirmed the fact that his body wouldn't move. The simple bed Moreno Kalts had arranged was softer than he'd expected. That, at least, was a small mercy. —— The door burst open around the time morning light began streaming through the window. Fern Aria's face was pale. Her usual water-blue hair was disheveled, and her silver eyes trembled strangely. The report paper she held in her hand shook slightly. "[sad]Valentia… are you awake?" "[serious]I'm awake." "[sad]There's… a report that came in." Aria began reading from the report. The continuation of Varrox's movements from last night. Before dawn, in a farming village near Bernd—a settlement about three kilometers northeast of the city—Varrox had appeared. Four houses were crushed flat. Every head of livestock was killed. The wheat fields were torn to shreds by its footprints. An elderly farmer named Rottel, who hadn't managed to escape, was trapped under the beam of a collapsed house. Nearby residents dug him out through the night, and he wasn't in critical condition, but— Aria's voice began to shake midway through. It stopped at the final line. "[whispers]…If I'd been stronger…" As soon as he said it, he realized how hollow the words were. "If I'd been stronger"—what did that even mean? What exactly could he have done differently to stop that Varrox? He didn't know. But he couldn't organize his thoughts without saying it. Aria said nothing. From outside the window came the sounds of the city. The voices of the early morning market. But something felt off. There was a strange tension, different from a normal morning. —— Rumors spread at incredible speed, regardless of evidence. "The Dismantler messed with the poison swamp, so Varrox got angry and came out." That story spread from the tavern "Red Horn" through the market, down the alleys, and out to the street in front of the guild by mid-morning. What Valentia had actually done in the poison swamp was neutralize the toxins to save the farmland. But frightened people didn't care about such details. They just needed something to blame. "They need a scapegoat," Moreno Kalts would say later, but that came a bit after. At that moment, Valentia felt his life essence return just slightly—barely—and made his way to the reception desk, supporting himself against the wall. He just wanted some fresh air. That was truly all. Patti, the baker lady, happened to pass by the guild's entrance. Their eyes met. Patti froze for a moment—then slowly looked away and hurried past. …That was all. Just that. But it was more than enough. From behind the counter, Tao had seen the whole thing. Tao, an E-rank boy. One of the few adventurers who had stayed and not fled from the battle the night before. The moment their eyes met, Tao raised both hands. "[scared]Uh, this has nothing to do with me, okay? I'm not thinking anything at all!" "…" "[scared]Seriously, nothing!" But he didn't run away. Even as he said it had nothing to do with him, he didn't leave the spot. Valentia noticed, but said nothing. Then a middle-aged staff member came in—Lynx, the administrative worker at the Bernd branch, someone who didn't do combat—and approached Aria. "Aria. This is from higher up, but… you shouldn't get too close to that adventurer. It's giving the residents a bad impression." Aria's response was quick. "[serious]That's irrelevant." "I'm talking about regulations." "[serious]Which section of the regulations?" The man opened his mouth slightly and said nothing. Then he said "…think about it" and left. Aria's hand slowly clenched on the counter. Her fist turned white. Valentia saw it. But he couldn't say anything. —— In the afternoon, Moreno Kalts visited Valentia's room. A middle-aged man with white hair streaked with gray, tied back neatly. He walked with a slight drag in his left leg. Even sitting in a chair, his posture remained straight. He opened the door before Valentia could say "please come in," and somehow that didn't bother him. There was a long silence. Kalts sat in the chair across from him, folded his hands, and said nothing. Afternoon light came through the window. Then, slowly, he opened his mouth. "[serious]Multiple formal complaints have been filed by residents." Valentia said nothing. "[serious]Under guild regulations… the activities of an adventurer under suspicion must be considered for temporary suspension. In my position, I don't have the authority to completely ignore the residents' voices." License suspension. Those two words fell silently in Valentia's mind. "[serious]Personally… I believe in your strength." Kalts looked down deeply. His calm brown eyes were fixed on the floor. "[serious]But as a guild staff member. That's the limit of what I can do. I'm sorry." "It's fine." He didn't have the energy to blame him. Before that, he had no reason to. Kalts was doing the right thing. Valentia understood that Kalts himself was suffering the most. After Kalts left the room, Valentia lay down on the bed. He looked at the ceiling. The wood grain looked slightly different depending on the angle of the light. ——He remembered that night in the royal capital when he was exiled. The night Souma from Crimson Edge told him "you're not needed." The ceiling of the abandoned hut where he'd taken shelter from the rain had wood grain like this too. He thought he'd cried then. But he couldn't cry now. He couldn't tell if it was because his body had reached its limit or if his emotions had simply run out first. It's the same everywhere— He tried to say it out loud, but the words wouldn't come. They didn't even become sound. The sunset outside the window was red. It looked a little like Varrox's eyes. Then he heard the careful sound of the door opening from the hallway. It was Tao. "[scared]Um… dinner is wild boar stew from the Red Horn, and… would you like to eat together, kind of thing?" Valentia said nothing. He kept looking at the ceiling. "[scared]…I'll bring it." The door closed. Ten minutes later, he really did bring it. He silently placed a plate with boar stew on the bedside table. That was all, and then he left again. Valentia knew he couldn't eat it. He had no appetite. But the steam rising gently entered his field of vision, and for some reason, only that made his eyes sting. —— The city fell silent. A small knock came from the hallway. "[gentle]…Were you awake?" It was Aria. She held a single candle. In her other hand, she gripped a black stone fragment. The stone fragment from the bottom of the poison swamp. The one with the seal carved into it, the one Valentia had brought back. "I'm awake." "[gentle]You're not sleeping." She'd figured it out on her own. Aria simply sat in the chair beside Valentia's bed. The candlelight flickered. "[serious]I spent all day… rummaging through Kalts's bookshelf. Without permission. I'll apologize later." Valentia narrowed his eyes slightly. Apparently, Kalts's private room contained years' worth of old records from his time as a former B-rank adventurer conducting ruin surveys across various locations. Aria had found a single record among them. ——A ruin survey record from two hundred years ago. "[serious]There was a description of something called a 'Sealing Stone.'" Aria held the stone fragment up to the candle. The seal carved into its black surface floated up in the orange light. "[serious]An Engraved Stone—an artifact made from the same material as the engraved stones used in divine ordination ceremonies. It has the property of attracting beings imbued with specific magical essence. I think Varrox was drawn to this stone fragment. Because you dug out something that had been sunk to the bottom of the poison swamp… the reaction started." Valentia slowly looked at the stone fragment. "…It's true that I dug it out." "[serious]You did that to neutralize the toxins, didn't you?" Her voice rose slightly. "[serious]Besides, if you'd left the poison swamp alone, the farmland would have been completely destroyed. If you hadn't acted, the damage would have been worse and come sooner. You know that too." It was logical. But— "…If someone dies because of it, it's the same thing." "[serious]Rottel is alive. His house is destroyed, but he's alive. What you did wasn't wrong." Valentia fell silent. Aria continued. According to the record—the Sealing Stone could potentially have its internal magical essence analyzed and reconstructed through Dismantler-type skills, converting it into sealing power. In other words, if this stone fragment could be properly handled with decomposition skills, it might be possible to create energy that could neutralize Varrox's outer shell. "[gentle]It's all 'maybe,' though." Aria gave a wry smile. In the candlelight, her expression softened just a little. "[gentle]But I… believe in your skills. I've always thought they weren't garbage. So…" Her voice cracked. "[crying]Please. Just one more time, stand up." A single tear ran down Aria's cheek from her eye. She didn't seem to notice, and didn't wipe it away. The candlelight illuminated that single tear and made it flicker. Valentia took the stone fragment. Quietly, from Aria's hand. It was cold. It was heavy. But at his fingertips—it transmitted something similar to the sensation he'd felt when he applied his decomposition skill to the collapsed stone wall on the way back in the second episode. That time, a skill meant only to destroy had reconstructed something. "[serious]…I'll try." That was all he said. Aria exhaled deeply. The tension drained from her shoulders visibly. "[gentle]Thank goodness." Neither of them said anything for a while. There was only the time of the candle flame flickering. When Aria started to stand up— "Hey, earlier… you were crying, weren't you?" "[serious]I wasn't crying." An immediate response. "Your eyes are red though." "[serious]It's dark, so you're seeing things." "Your eyes are pretty clear in the candlelight though—" "[serious]Good night." The door closed quietly. Valentia held the stone fragment and looked up at the ceiling. The wood grain—looked like a different shape than before. (Maybe, huh…) He didn't say it out loud. But that "maybe" wasn't zero anymore. Valentia picked up the spoon beside the now-cold boar stew on the bedside table. The stone fragment was still in his right hand. Cold. With a certain, undeniable weight. His body still wouldn't move. He didn't know if his skill would actually work. And somewhere in the darkness of the night, Varrox was surely moving quietly on.