It took me a moment to process what Katherine had just said. “That means…”

  “Yup, she ded! No need rescue!” Katherine fshed me one of her dazzling smiles, then gnced around as if searg for something else thten her mood.

  I nodded slowly, stepping closer to her and pulling her into a hug. “Poor Lisa… That ges everything. We ’t go to the ruins without her. And I let our enemy go.”

  Katherine accepted the hug but immediately threw her hands up, shaking her head in disbelief. “She gone?”

  We locked eyes, and I felt the o defend myself. “Hey… She was my prisoner!”

  “She lied. Story isn’t possible,” Katherine shot back, crossing her arms and fixih an unimpressed gre. “Better sy her.”

  “Really now?” I sighed, disappoi radiating from her, even though she turned away.

  Not so fast, Kat. “I know!” I excimed, waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. Wheurned bae, I poioward the dark woodnd. “She ran there. What’s better—chasing down one lone bandit, or hitting their ir in the middle of the night when their defenses are weakest?”

  Her eyes widened as she followed my gesture toward the shadows. “We follow?”

  I started walking toward where our enemy had disappeared. “It won’t be easy, but this isn’t my first drinkin’.” The moment we reached the tree li became clear she’d left an obvious trail. Broken twigs and deep mud tracks cut a path even a novice couldn’t miss.

  Katherirailed after me, her steps heavy, but wheopped at the start of the trail, she frowned and asked, “Why here?”

  I gnced back at her, grateful I hadn’t voiced my earlier fideoo loudly. Alright, slight corre—it’s possible to miss a trail, eve’s staring you in the face.

  Her trail led us deeper into the woods until the faint g of something echoed in the distahe bright moonlight couldn’t pierce the dense opy, leaving our vision limited to just a few hundred feet. Still, the vague outline of an enormous structure loomed ahead.

  That’s nonsense. As far as I khere wasn’t anything like that in this area. Who had ever heard of bandits building massive structures?

  The trail led us directly toward it, leaving us no choice but to follow. With every step, the moonlight danced across the surface of a crumbling wall, its immense size being clearer. Rugged stones jutted out, giving it an imposing, almost a feel. I gestured toward it, gng at Katherihis might be their base. I don’t like it. Wanna fight, or should we report it? The guild would pay for info like this.”

  Katheriopped, leaning against a young tree that bent precariously under her weight. Her presence felt surreal, a remihat I ying alongside her—my dream, right? I watched her carefully, noting the furrow in her brow as she sidered.

  “How many we kill?” she asked, her voice low.

  A good question. Charging in blindly could get us both killed. But we weren’t amateurs. “Between my dand your pulling? Three level ten, maybe four at most.” I tried to sound fident, but my estimate was generous. That assumed I wouldn’t botch a spell even once. Yeah, right! Right? Easy.

  She stared into my eyes, biting her lip. Oh god, save my soul. After what felt like ay of uional sedu, she asked, “You sure? One roblem.”

  “Katherihat was a bandit leader. Of course she was tough!” I shot back, but she didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on the crumbling wall. Now that we focused on it, we could make out flickering fmes beyond the wall, their glow faint but undeniable. If we strained hard enough, muffled voices joihe rhythmic g.

  “Let’s go back,” she finally said, pushing off the tree and turning to leave. It was the smart decision—fighting humanoids was always messy. I do it? Still, the thought of leaving stung. There could be stolen treasure inside, hoarded riches waiting to be… recimed.

  “Wait,” I called, raising a hand. “I want to try something. If it works, we’ll o run like drunk Italians.”

  Rep an outpost to the vilge was ohing. Returning with proof? That was worth much more. And I wao make it happen. Sure, clerks were annoying, but even without a quest, they’d have to accept tangible evidence, right?

  Normally, I’d need a focus crystal for what I nning. But Duke had given me a ring—a symbol of nobility. Not just a fancy tri, but a magical tool. It might work.

  Pointing the ring toward the wall, I closed my eyes and focused. As a warrior, I’d used surveying teiques a thousand times. But this was a first without proper tools. Shutting out the world, I trated on my inner senses.

  It was hard to describe the feeling. Even if Katheriried her best pleading puppy eyes, I wouldn’t be able to expin it to her. In a book I’d skimmed about the future, the guild taught surveying through a prehehousand-page “light” version.

  Step one: shut down all your senses.

  Vision? Easy—I closed my eyes. Taste? Not a problem, unless I decided now was the time for a snack. Hearing? The night was mostly quiet, except for that annoying g sound. Smell?

  Oh no.

  Normally, I ignored what my nose picked up, but now it screamed pine needles. And the touch? The cold seeped into my skin, sending shivers ay not-so-covered body. I frowned.

  e on, John. Focus!

  The spell should’ve been simple.

  I spent the mana, and, as if ohat suffog sensation washed over me. Familiar, but no less uling. Let’s go with red this time, like fire. Maybe they won’t know what it is.

  “Scout!” I shouted, probably giving away our position, but at this point, it didn’t matter. The moment I spoke, a red light burst from my ring and shot out in a wide e, peing everything in its path. I hoped it captured the structure and position of their base. Maybe.

  Angry shouting echoed off the walls almost immediately. My stomach dropped as Katherine sprinted ahead, her face paling when she gnced back at me. “Six archers,” she said, leaping over a protruding root.

  The sed, arrows whizzed past us.

  John, you’re an idiot. An utter, stupid idiot. Did you fet strategy because you’re trying to impress a pretty streamer? Pathetic.

  A long, bone-chilling howl cut through the now chaotiight, spurrio push harder despite my burning lungs and dwindling stamina. How could I fet about the Bandit Leader’s wulves?

  We ran in silence, weaving through the forest, dread ging to every step. I didn’t dare look back. What would happen if the wulves caught up?

  Thankfully, they didn’t. After a few terrifying minutes, we burst out of the forest with no sign of bandits behind us. My lungs burned like I’d downed absinthe instead of whiskey, and I anting like a mud wolf. Katherine, meanwhile, was grinning at my miserable stamina, prang around me like she hadn’t just run for her life.

  “What was ‘tat?” she teased, her tone light, but her eyes still gng toward the forest.

  “That,” I managed between gasps for air, “was a handy t. Doesn’t… take much mana. You could… do it too.”

  I refrained from ung into a full expnation; I could barely string two words together as it was. No wonder people always took their time walking in dungeons—they were waiting for their squishies to catch up.

  “Let’s head back to the guild,” I said once I caught my breath. “We o report this before the bandits move somewhere else.”

  Katherine frowned, clearly not thrilled about walking back without a fight. But after a moment, she nodded. “Fine,” she muttered, though her gaze lingered on the dark forest behind us.

  The journey back to the vilge took twice as long as getting there. Without a carriage on the road, we had to walk the whole way. A few groups of pyers rushed past us, heading off to who-knows-where, but nothing iing happened. Holy, it reminded me of my usual solo runs—except this time, Katherine was beside me.

  I g her and couldn’t help grinning like an idiot. Starstruck. pletely hopeless.

  The momeepped into the guild building, the overwhelming aroma hit me—a bitter mix of sweat and cheap perfume that g to the air. Why does my nose have to be so sharp? The noise was just as bad: rows upon rows of pyers shouting, chatting, and even scuffling. A sensory overload.

  Katheriopped abruptly, her eyes narrowing at the crowded room. “Too long! I a stream,” she said, throwing her hands up dramatically. “Ya wait, I’ll stream an’ level, ‘k?”

  As she spun around to leave, my eyes waoward the side door. The same guard who’d shooed me away st time was statiohere, arms crossed, her pierg gaze log onto me. Damn. No shortcuts.

  “Okay,” I muttered, waving her off. “Let’s py ter.”

  [Katherine wants to add you as a friend.]“See ya!” Katherine fshed me another one of her stunning smiles before disappearing into the crowd behind me. Naturally, she left the waiting to me. Figures.

  With a sigh, I shuffled to the end of the queue, already brainst ways to skip ahead. While standing there, I passed the time by casually the other pyers.

  Katherine had been right—this was taking far too long. Part of the problem was my doing; I’d picked the wrong lihe one moving at a snail’s pace. Case in point: a girl in a green robe, likely a novice mage, arrived after me and got called up before I’d even inched forward. I still had three people ahead of me.

  The clerk at my ter ainfully slow. Every pyer took at least ten mio finish their request, and judging by the raised voices and frequent outbursts, it didn’t seem to go well for most of them.

  “Maybe another queue?” I muttered under my breath, gng at the neighb lines. No luck—those were even lohan mine.

  “Damn,” I sighed, resigning myself to the wait.

  When my turn finally came, I stepped up to the ter and sized up the dy behind it, dressed sharply in a gray suit. “Hello,” I said, leaning slightly forward. “Took you long enough. I’d like to report bandit outpost.”

  At my remark about her slowness, she gred at me, her pierg yellow eyes narrowing. Why had I run my mouth?! Wrong person to vent at!

  [Guild clerk Lv.5]Type: 1-on | HP: 99/99A rookie, I thought, watg her prepare to take my report with a long, unnecessarily fancy pen. But before she began, she asked curtly, “Quest number?”

  “No, you don’t uand. I don’t have—”

  “No number, no quest. !” she barked, her st word practically a shout. I froze, feeling like I’d just discovered the bar was out of alcohol.

  The hunter behiried to shove me aside and nearly succeeded, despite hunters being notoriously low on strength.

  No way. I waited over two hours for this?

  Smming my fist on the ter, I leaned forward. “I want to report a bandit outpost, and I have scout—”

  “No number, no quest,” she repeated, eyes closed and lips curling into a smug smile. “Now go away, or I’ll call the guards.” She gestured to the wall, where a group of armed warriors stood, casually watg the chaos.

  Her satisfied expression, like she’d just handed me a perfectly crafted cocktail, made my blood boil. Is she pretending she doesn’t know what’s going on?

  “Please, dy, I’m trying to report—”

  She rubbed her hands together, almost unsciously, her grin widening. “Denied!”

  Oh, you wanna fight? You think you win this? My boss made me test guild regutions for over a week after he found out our coffee breaks with Lucy. She had no idea who she was dealing with.

  “Filing pint under se seventy-three.”

  “Denied.”

  “Filing pint under se sixty-three. You’re being rude.”

  “Denied. I’m not.”

  “You o firm your st ao my pint. Requesting manager approval.”

  “Denied,” she said smugly. “I’m a manager assistant with suffit rights.”

  Is she enjoying this? The way she buried me in bureaucracy made it clear she was having the time of her life. I didn’t want to escate, but she left me no choice.

  “Requesting assistan an emergender se two hundred-one.”

  “Dehere is no emergency.”

  I took a deep breath, gring at her triumphant expression. Fine. If she wanted a game, I’d py.

  “Requesting firmation of a discovered threat—bandits. Severity: tier one.” I pulled off my ring and pressed it against the crystal embedded in the ter’s er. The device glowed faintly in response.

  [Emergency firmed]“See? Now process my request.”

  The stupid clerk didn’t even g the results of my s. Instead, she yelled, “Denied. Guards!” She waved at one of the nearby warriors—a brute with two long swords strapped to his back. His amused smile grew as he sauoward us, clearly eager to deal with... me.

  The hunter behind me, who’d been so eager to shove me aside earlier, suddenly backed off a few steps. Huh. Look at you.

  “You left me no choice. Acc to guild tradition, I hold a novice title,” I announced, pnting my feet firmly. “And you just insulted my honor. I’m requesting an honor duel.”

  “Den—” she started, but her words were cut off as a golden light, at least ten inches in diameter, fred between us. It wound around her like a glowing . Her eyes went wide, panic repg smugness as the system firmed what I’d hoped.

  [Duel approved.]“Never mess with The Exploiter, bitch.”