The forest beyond the capital of Taranach echoed with the rustling of leaves.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the towering trees.
Several deer bolted into the distance.
A rabbit leaped into the undergrowth.
Then—
TWANG!
An arrow shot through the air.
Shhk!
It pierced a deer's neck from dozens of meters away.
The animal managed only two staggering steps...
before collapsing to the ground.
Thud.
"Excellent!"
A blond young man lowered his bow.
His face lit up with a bright, carefree smile.
"Why's everyone so quiet?"
"No one's going to praise me?"
The soldiers exchanged glances.
Then one of them let out a small chuckle.
"Your Highness's aim has improved remarkably."
The young man grinned in satisfaction.
"Of course it has."
"I practice every week."
He was the second prince of the Taranach Empire—
Faolan Cian Taranach.
Only in his early twenties.
Golden-blond hair.
Bright crimson eyes.
And a smile that never seemed to leave his face.
It was hard to imagine someone like him being royalty.
He looked far more like an adventurer enjoying a journey through the wilderness.
Behind him stood over a dozen royal guards.
Some carried spears.
Others held bows.
But...
one figure stood out far more than the rest.
Silver hair.
A long dark-blue robe.
A black staff crowned with a sapphire-blue crystal.
His expression was calm.
Yet the mana radiating from him was so overwhelming that even the soldiers instinctively kept their distance.
He was the royal court mage.
One of the Heroes who protected Taranach.
Grail Silverhart.
Faolan glanced over.
"Grail."
The mage raised his head.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Do you think I've finally earned the right to call myself a hunter?"
Grail looked at the fallen deer.
"Not bad."
"'Not bad?'"
Faolan immediately frowned.
"That's all?"
"The arrow landed three centimeters away from the most lethal point."
Faolan let out a long sigh.
"Your standards are way too high."
"That's my job."
Faolan simply laughed.
"Fair enough."
He walked over to the dead deer.
Then crouched beside it.
Carefully examining the wound left by the arrow.
"...Hm."
From a distance, Grail watched him.
The mage's eyes shifted ever so slightly.
Only for an instant.
Just a fleeting moment.
But he caught it.
The gaze...
of a hunter.
Then...
Faolan rose to his feet once more.
His cheerful smile returned as though nothing had happened.
"Let's keep going!"
The soldiers immediately sprang into motion.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The group disappeared deeper into the forest.
Not a single person realized...
that only moments earlier...
the prince hadn't looked like a nobleman at all.
He had looked like someone...
who had spent his life hunting.
---
The forest fell silent once more.
A gentle breeze drifted through the trees.
A bird that had been singing only moments ago...
suddenly took flight.
Faolan came to a halt.
"...Hm?"
He raised a hand.
The entire party stopped at once.
Grail's gaze shifted in the same direction.
"...I smell blood."
Several soldiers immediately drew their swords.
They advanced cautiously through the undergrowth.
Then...
one of them froze.
"...By the gods."
Hearing those words, Faolan quickly stepped forward.
The moment the last bush was pushed aside...
a horrifying sight greeted them.
Four bodies.
Scattered across the forest floor.
One of them was barely recognizable as human.
An arm was missing.
Its chest had been torn wide open.
White ribs protruded from the mangled flesh, while its internal organs lay strewn across the ground, now soaked into a crimson mire.
Not far away...
a severed head rested on the earth.
Its eyes were still open.
Its vacant stare was fixed upon the sky.
The terror frozen on its face seemed to prove that, in the final moments before death claimed it, it had witnessed something even more horrifying than death itself.
The others were no less gruesome.
The flesh across one victim's face had been ripped away, exposing teeth and jawbone.
Its fingers were bent at impossible angles.
As if...
someone had broken them one by one.
The youngest soldier immediately turned away.
"Ugh..."
He covered his mouth.
Then vomited behind a nearby bush.
Several of the other soldiers stiffened as well.
They had seen countless corpses in their lives.
But...
nothing like this.
Faolan remained perfectly composed.
His expression barely changed.
He walked toward one of the bodies.
Then crouched beside it.
Without the slightest hint of disgust.
His eyes carefully examined the victim.
Then...
his fingers stopped on a item like card nearly concealed beneath the blood.
He picked it up slowly.
"...An adventurer."
Grail watched from behind.
Faolan then lifted one of the victim's arms.
Or rather...
what remained of it.
"The cut isn't clean."
He murmured quietly.
"Not a sword."
"Not an axe."
His gaze moved to the long wound carved across the victim's chest.
"...More like it was torn apart."
Grail stepped closer.
He studied the same wound.
There were no bite marks from a wild beast.
No ordinary claw marks.
The wounds...
were far too strange.
Faolan then examined the ground around the bodies.
Footprints.
Bloodstains.
Broken branches.
He even scooped up a handful of damp soil.
"...A short fight."
"No."
Grail corrected him.
"This wasn't a fight."
Faolan looked up.
Grail's eyes swept across the four corpses.
"It was a massacre."
Silence settled over the forest.
Faolan rose to his feet.
"Report this to the Adventurers' Guild."
Two soldiers immediately saluted.
"At once, Your Highness!"
"Tell them to identify the victims."
"And..."
Faolan looked back at the bodies.
"...don't touch anything until the investigators arrive."
"Understood!"
The two soldiers immediately sprinted toward the capital.
Faolan continued to survey the scene.
His expression remained calm.
Far too calm.
Grail watched him from the side.
"...Your Highness."
Faolan didn't look back.
"Yes?"
"You don't seem surprised."
A faint smile appeared on Faolan's lips.
"Should I be?"
"Corpses like these aren't something you see every day."
Faolan's eyes settled on the severed head.
"...True."
"But the dead are still the dead."
He wiped the blood from the tip of his finger with a handkerchief.
Then studied it.
"The blood hasn't fully dried yet."
"They died not long ago."
Grail fell silent.
That wasn't what troubled him.
It was...
the way Faolan moved.
The way he examined the wounds.
The way he read the traces left behind.
Everything about it was too practiced.
Not like a prince who occasionally joined hunting expeditions.
But rather...
someone who had stood at countless murder scenes before.
Faolan slowly rose to his feet.
"We'll wait for the Guild investigators."
Then...
he dusted off his gloves.
As though he had just finished inspecting a deer he'd hunted.
Grail stared at the prince's back.
"..."
For the first time...
a question surfaced in his mind.
Since when did a prince know how to investigate a murder scene so expertly?
The wind blew once more.
Carrying with it the scent of fresh blood.
And deep beyond the trees...
a black raven landed on a branch.
Watching over the four bodies that had long since lost their human shape.
Without making a single sound.
----
The Adventurers' Guild of the Taranach Capital.
The moment Hax stepped inside...
a wave of noise greeted him.
The clinking of glasses.
The laughter of adventurers.
Someone arguing over a quest reward.
And the familiar scent...
of aged wood, metal, alcohol, and freshly cooked food.
The guild hall was far larger than the Adventurers' Guild in Etravia.
Its ceiling soared overhead.
Dozens of tables filled the main hall.
To the left stood an enormous quest board, its surface almost completely covered with request scrolls.
Monster extermination.
Escort missions.
Medicinal herb gathering.
Even dungeon subjugation requests.
Adventurers came and went without pause.
Some had just returned from outside the capital.
Their armor was caked with mud.
Others were preparing to depart.
Several receptionists struggled to keep up with the endless line of customers.
Everyone was busy.
Yet...
that bustle gradually slowed.
Not throughout the entire guild.
Only...
among those who happened to notice the figure who had just entered.
A man clad in jet-black armor.
Nearly two meters tall.
Every step he took carried a heavy sound.
Tok.
Tok.
Tok.
Even though...
thanks to the Lightweight Skill, his footsteps were much quieter than they should have been.
Otherwise...
they would have echoed throughout the entire hall.
"...Who's that?"
"I've never seen him before."
"An adventurer?"
"A royal knight?"
"No way."
"That armor's far too strange."
Whispers began spreading through the hall.
Some adventurers merely glanced at him.
Others stared openly.
He simply walked past.
He had grown accustomed to those kinds of looks.
Ever since becoming a Living Armor...
it had become impossible for him to blend into a crowd.
He walked toward the reception counter.
A short line had already formed there.
Several adventurers were reporting completed quests.
Some handed over monster materials.
Others accepted new requests.
Hax quietly took his place at the very end of the line.
Standing over two meters tall, he was impossible to overlook.
Several adventurers in front of him glanced over their shoulders.
Then...
silently shifted aside, giving him a little more room.
A few minutes later...
it was his turn.
A young woman sat behind the reception desk.
Her brown hair was neatly tied back.
Her navy-blue Guild uniform still looked brand new.
She couldn't have been much older than twenty.
The moment she looked up...
her hands paused for an instant.
"..."
For a brief moment, she simply stared at the towering suit of black armor standing before her.
Tall.
Broad.
It nearly filled the entire front of the reception counter.
But her professionalism quickly took over.
She took a quiet breath.
Then offered him a warm smile.
"Welcome to the Taranach Adventurers' Guild."
"How may I help you today?"
"I'd like to sell some monster materials."
"Certainly."
She immediately opened a ledger.
"Please take them out."
Hax nodded.
He reached into the Magic Bag hanging from his waist.
Of course...
it was nothing more than a disguise.
The materials actually came from the System's Inventory.
But...
explaining an ability like that to other people would only create unnecessary trouble.
One by one...
he placed various monster materials onto the counter.
Goblin Fangs.
Dire Wolf Pelts.
Giant Lizard Claws.
Several small magic crystals.
Nothing extraordinary.
Just the sort of materials any adventurer could easily obtain.
The receptionist inspected them with practiced efficiency.
Occasionally she gave a small nod while recording their value.
"The total comes to..."
She paused to calculate.
"Fifty-three silver coins."
"Does that amount sound acceptable?"
Hax fell silent for a moment.
It was far less than he had expected.
He couldn't help comparing it to the last transaction he had made in the Kingdom of Etravia.
The corpse of a single dragon...
had earned him hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
And now...
an entire bag of monster materials was worth only a few dozen silver coins.
The difference was almost absurd.
Still...
this was exactly what he wanted.
As long as he had a way to earn money without attracting attention...
he would take it.
Selling ordinary monster materials was far better than bringing out another rare treasure that would only draw countless curious eyes.
"Yes."
"Very well."
The receptionist smiled.
"In that case, may I see your Adventurer Card?"
Hax took out his card.
The smooth black card was placed on the counter.
The receptionist accepted it with both hands.
Then she retrieved a crystal disc from beneath the desk.
It was a standard magical artifact used by the Guild.
Its purpose was to verify the authenticity of an Adventurer Card while reading the information stored within it.
She placed the card on the crystal's surface.
A moment later...
a bluish light filled the artifact.
Hummm...
Several lines of magical text appeared.
Name.
Registration number.
Home Guild.
Then...
the final line.
Rank: S
The receptionist froze.
"..."
She blinked several times.
She looked at the card.
Then at the artifact.
Then...
at Hax.
"...Huh?"
She hurriedly picked up the crystal device.
Examining it from every angle.
"Did it..."
"...malfunction?"
The words escaped her before she realized it.
A more senior receptionist immediately looked over.
"Chloe?"
She walked over.
"Is something wrong?"
The younger receptionist looked completely bewildered.
"Assistant Chief..."
"Do you think..."
She held up the artifact.
"...this device could be malfunctioning?"
The older woman frowned.
"Why?"
The younger receptionist swallowed.
"...S-Rank."
"..."
The senior receptionist immediately took the artifact.
"Impossible."
She placed Hax's card onto the crystal once again.
The magical light flared.
Hummm...
The same words appeared.
Rank: S
Silence settled over the reception counter.
The senior receptionist stared at the result for several long seconds.
Then...
she slowly raised her head.
Her gaze settled on the black-armored figure calmly standing before her.
"..."
She returned the card with both hands.
This time...
far more carefully.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Sir Hax."
Her tone had changed.
It was noticeably more respectful.
"The sale of your monster materials has been completed."
She promptly handed him a small pouch of coins.
Hax accepted it.
"Is there anything else the Guild can assist you with?"
The younger receptionist also lowered her head.
"Our apologies for the delay."
Hax took back his card.
"It's fine."
He slipped it back beneath his cloak.
"Thank you for using the Guild's services."
Without another word...
he turned and walked away from the reception desk.
Only after the black-armored figure had disappeared into the crowd...
did the younger receptionist whisper,
"...That really was an S-Rank."
The senior receptionist slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"But..."
She continued watching Hax's retreating back.
"...I've never heard of an adventurer by that name."
Several seconds passed.
Then she quietly said,
"Most likely..."
"...he's from outside the Taranach Empire."
---
Hax walked toward a quiet corner of the guild hall.
He chose the table farthest from the crowd.
The wooden chair creaked softly as he sat down.
Creak...
Fortunately...
the Lightweight Skill was still working perfectly.
Otherwise...
the chair would probably have splintered into pieces beneath his weight.
He leaned back.
His gaze swept across the hall.
This guild was different.
Very different.
There were nearly three times as many adventurers here as in the Etravia Guild.
Their equipment was also on an entirely different level.
Steel armor.
High-quality staves.
Bows engraved with magical runes.
Some even carried gear that was obviously worth a fortune.
"...Makes sense."
This was the capital.
The gathering place of the finest adventurers in the Taranach Empire.
Meanwhile...
the girl he had rescued was no longer in the city.
The moment his transformation had ended...
Hax had opened a Dimensional Warp.
A rift of absolute darkness had appeared in the middle of the alley.
Then...
it sent the girl to the Black Fortress.
A place far safer than leaving her here.
He wasn't particularly worried about her.
There...
Lyra & Nocelle would undoubtedly take good care of her.
Now...
all he had to do was wait.
Mimic was still carrying out his orders.
Hax had no intention of supervising the way his subordinate worked.
If a task had been entrusted to Mimic...
it would be completed.
Tok.
Tok.
Tok.
Footsteps approached.
Hax raised his head.
Four people stopped in front of his table.
They all looked to be in their early twenties.
Their equipment matched.
Clearly, they belonged to the same party.
A young woman in a white robe.
A prayer book hung at her waist.
Beside her stood a man wearing a dark-blue robe.
The staff in his hand was adorned with a green crystal.
The remaining two carried longbows.
Their quivers were neatly strapped to their backs.
Their movements were light.
Their footsteps were almost silent.
Both were clearly accustomed to fighting from a distance.
One of the two archers stepped forward.
A brown-haired man.
He had the largest build among the four.
He wore reinforced leather armor fitted with thin metal plates over the chest and shoulders.
A small dagger hung at his waist.
He smiled warmly.
"Mind if we sit here?"
Hax gave a brief nod.
"Go ahead."
They pulled out the chairs and sat down.
The party leader studied Hax for a few seconds.
Then chuckled.
"I've never seen armor like yours before."
"Not many people have."
"Fair enough."
He extended a hand.
"I'm Daren."
"Leader of the Crimson Hawk party."
Hax looked at the offered hand for a moment.
Then shook it.
"Hax."
"Nice to meet you."
Daren gestured toward his companions.
"Our priest, Elena."
The young woman inclined her head.
"A pleasure."
"Our mage, Oscar."
The robed man gave a small wave.
"Hello."
"And our other archer..."
"My younger brother."
"Luca."
Hax gave a single nod.
Nothing more.
Daren smiled awkwardly.
"...You're not much of a talker, are you?"
"It's more efficient."
The flat reply made both archers exchange glances.
Then they laughed.
"I like people like him."
"At least he's not a chatterbox."
The atmosphere relaxed a little.
Daren spoke again.
"So..."
"Is this your first time in Taranach?"
"Yes."
"I thought so."
"What makes you say that?"
"If you'd been here before..."
Daren pointed at Hax's armor.
"...this guild would've been talking about you already."
Several adventurers at nearby tables were still stealing glances in their direction.
Even...
one of the receptionists had looked over more than once.
None of it interested him.
Then Daren asked,
"So..."
"Looking for a party?"
"No."
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
"Oh..."
Daren let out a disappointed sigh.
"That's a shame."
"We've actually been looking for a frontliner."
The priest beside him nodded.
"Our tank was badly injured last week."
"The healer said he needs at least a month of rest."
Oscar added,
"And we just accepted a quest with a pretty generous reward."
"We were almost forced to turn it down."
Then Daren's younger brother, Luca, chimed in.
"We saw you earlier from across the hall. You look way sturdier than our tank, hehe."
Daren immediately elbowed his brother.
"Hey, don't say that."
"He's done a lot for our party."
The others burst into laughter.
Hax looked at the four of them one by one.
They didn't even know his name properly.
They knew nothing about the abilities he possessed.
Yet they were already willing to invite him into their party.
Careless.
If he had truly been a villain...
the four of them could have been dead before sunset.
If he were the kind of adventurer who preyed on others, they would've disappeared somewhere without a trace.
Behind the black helmet...
Hax began to think.
Actually...
joining them wasn't such a bad idea.
An adventuring party was an invaluable source of information.
People naturally talked during long journeys.
About monsters.
Nobles.
The Guild.
Trade routes.
Dungeons.
Even rumors that never found their way into official records.
All of that was far more valuable than questioning strangers one by one.
Much more efficient.
Hax lowered his head slightly.
Mind Link.
A mana connection formed instantly.
"Mimic."
Less than a second later...
a reply came.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Find us an inn."
"Somewhere quiet."
"Wait for me there."
"I still have business to take care of."
Mimic asked no questions.
"Understood."
"Then I'll finish my own task first."
"Do so."
The mana connection was cut.
Hax looked back at the adventurers before him.
Daren was still waiting for his answer.
Several seconds passed.
Then...
Hax finally spoke.
"...I'll join you."
The four party members looked genuinely surprised.
"Really?"
Hax nodded.
"I'll only come along for one quest."
Daren immediately broke into a broad grin.
"That's more than enough."
He stood up.
"In that case..."
"Let's head to the reception desk."
"We'll get the quest details."
Hax rose to his feet as well.
Around them...
the gazes of the surrounding adventurers once again followed the towering figure in black armor.
But this time...
it wasn't just because of his appearance.
Everyone in the guild knew one thing.
To them...
the Crimson Hawk party had just recruited a new frontliner.
Nothing more.
Not a single person in that guild knew...
that the black-armored man who had just joined their party...
was the monster who had once slaughtered hundreds of Heroes.