"That's insane," Boros said, folding his arms.
Then a grin appeared on his face.
"But honestly? Not surprising."
"Exactly," Griffin replied.
"The last thing we need right now is ta piss off one o' those damn Talons."
He clicked his tongue.
"That's a problem I'd rather leave fer somebody else."
"Well," Adams said with a pleasant smile, "I'm glad everything has been cleared up."
He turned toward Kinuko.
"Did we answer all of your questions?"
"Yes," Kinuko replied with a nod.
"Thank you."
"Good."
Griffin stretched his arms.
"At the end o' the day, what matters is that those damn Drakens are dead."
He laughed.
"If nobody had dealt with 'em sooner or later, I would've gone an' killed 'em myself."
Then he pointed at the black card in Boros' hand.
"As fer that bounty..."
"Ya earned it."
He grinned.
"Spend it wisely."
A brief pause followed.
"Is what I would've said if I was responsible."
His grin widened.
"If ya ever need gamblin' advice, I'm yer man."
He jabbed Boros in the side with his elbow.
"I'll pass," Boros replied immediately.
"The first time we met, you lost a bet to me."
Griffin froze.
Then he scoffed.
"Yer loss."
Shaking his head, he turned and began walking away.
"Before I forget," Adams suddenly said.
Everyone looked toward him.
He had already started following after Griffin.
"Tomorrow is the official Guild induction ceremony."
His smile remained unchanged.
"Try not to be late."
"Once that's completed, you'll be assigned your first official mission."
With that, Adams turned and left alongside Griffin.
The three of them watched the pair disappear down the hallway.
Quite a bit of time had passed since arriving at the Guild earlier that day.
Their meeting with Griffin and Adams.
Boros' examination with Veronica.
And Kinuko's seemingly endless list of questions.
By the time everything was finished, evening had already arrived.
Naturally, the group decided to return to the inn.
After a short walk through the city, Boros stopped in front of a familiar building.
"We're here, right?" he asked.
"Yes," Kinuko replied.
Akeno, meanwhile, skipped ahead toward the entrance.
"We're home!"
As they stepped into the inn's reception area, Akeno suddenly skipped ahead toward the counter, leaving Boros and Kinuko behind.
Kinuko watched her go before glancing sideways at Boros.
"You were awfully quiet on the way back," she said with a small chuckle.
"You didn't argue with Akeno even once."
"Was I?" Boros scratched the back of his head.
"I didn't really notice."
Kinuko smiled.
"Well, you definitely were."
Boros walked over and dropped onto one of the benches.
"Guess I was thinking about something."
Kinuko sat beside him.
"What were you thinking about?"
Boros leaned forward slightly.
"After the lead we got at the tournament turned out to be a dead end..."
His expression darkened.
"We don't have any other clues about the Fire Longinus user."
Kinuko remained silent and let him continue.
"And it made me realize something."
He looked down at the floor.
"Finding him might take a lot longer than I thought."
"Eventually we're probably going to have to start asking other people about him."
"I see," Kinuko said.
"And you're worried because we don't actually know enough about him."
Boros nodded.
"Exactly."
"What if he's some kind of cursed bastard nobody's supposed to talk about?"
"What if bringing him up causes problems?"
He let out a frustrated breath.
"There's too much we don't know."
He looked toward her.
"You and Akeno spent your entire lives hidden away in a village."
Then he pointed at himself.
"And me?"
His voice lowered slightly.
"I don't remember anything before waking up in the village I froze."
Kinuko froze.
"What do you mean... you don't remember?"
Boros was quiet for a moment.
"Exactly what I said."
He clenched his fists.
"The first thing I remember is waking up with a splitting headache."
His jaw tightened.
"And then slaughtering everyone in that village."
A painful silence followed.
"It was all a blur."
He stared at his hands.
"Like something had taken control of me."
"After that, I met Akeno."
"We eventually returned to the village."
"Then we met you."
He shook his head.
"But before I woke up there..."
"Nothing."
"Not my childhood."
"Not where I came from."
"Not my family."
"Nothing."
Kinuko's eyes softened.
"Sometimes I get these migraines."
"They usually happen when I try too hard to remember."
His gaze became distant.
"And every now and then... I see fragments."
"Pieces of memories."
A chill ran down his spine as he recalled one of them.
"There was fire everywhere."
His voice grew quieter.
"A sea of flames."
"And standing in the middle of it... completely unharmed..."
His fists slowly tightened.
"Was a man."
"He was covered in blood."
"His enemies' skulls were in his hands."
"And the flames pouring from his body were turning everything around him to ash."
Boros lowered his head.
"The Fire Longinus user."
Kinuko sat silently for several seconds.
Then she finally nodded.
"I understand."
Boros looked toward her.
"That's why you're looking for him."
"You think he's connected to your past."
"Yeah," Boros replied.
For the first time since he started speaking, a faint smile appeared on Kinuko's face.
"Then we'll figure it out."
Boros blinked.
"Your memories."
"The Fire Longinus user."
"All of it."
She gently grabbed his hand.
"We'll figure it out together."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then suddenly-
Akeno appeared between them.
"HA!"
Both of them jumped.
Akeno threw an arm around each of their shoulders.
"I've made arrangements for a few months!"
She held out her hand dramatically.
"Now give me your card, Shiro!"
"A few months..." Kinuko repeated.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I have a feeling we're going to be staying here a lot longer than we expected."
"Yeah," Boros agreed.
He stood up from the bench.
"Wait." Akeno blinked.
"Where are you going?"
Boros started walking toward the front desk.
"To reception."
"Huh?"
"I want to talk to the owner."
"About what?" Akeno shouted after him.
Boros didn't even look back.
"I just got a million Nex."
"Griffin said to spend wisely right?"
Akeno and Kinuko exchanged confused looks before immediately running after him.
They caught up to Boros at the reception desk and stopped beside him.
"Did you hear what I said?" Boros asked flatly.
He looked directly at the receptionist.
"Where's the owner of this place? I want to talk to him."
The young woman stiffened slightly.
"I-I heard you, sir."
She forced a professional smile.
"But if you have any complaints regarding your stay, you're more than welcome to discuss them with us here at reception. We'll do our best to assist you."
"I don't have a complaint."
Boros folded his arms.
"I just want to see him."
The receptionist hesitated.
For a moment, it looked like she wanted to refuse.
Then she sighed.
"Very well, sir. Please follow me."
She stepped out from behind the counter and led them through a hallway.
The deeper they went, the quieter the inn became.
Eventually, they arrived before a large golden door at the very end of the corridor.
The receptionist raised her hand toward the door but paused.
Boros leaned forward slightly.
"Well?"
The woman flinched.
"What are we waiting for?"
"R-Right."
She quickly knocked.
A few seconds passed.
Then she slowly opened the door.
Inside sat a large, obese man dressed in an expensive suit.
A lit cigarette hung from his fingers while paperwork covered the desk before him.
The moment he saw the receptionist, his expression soured.
"What is this?" he snapped.
"Didn't I tell you never to disturb me in the evenings, Susan?"
"Y-Yes, sir," Susan said nervously.
"But these customers insisted on seeing-"
"Then that's your job, isn't it?!"
He slammed his hand onto the desk.
"Isn't that why I pay you?! You damn slut!"
Susan immediately lowered her head.
"S-Sorry, sir."
Before she could say another word-
Boros stepped past her.
The room suddenly fell silent.
The inn owner blinked. "Hm?"
Boros walked directly to the desk.
The man instinctively leaned back in his chair.
Something about the silver-haired giant standing over him made every survival instinct in his body start screaming.
"You seem to enjoy yelling at people."
Boros' voice was calm.
Far too calm.
The inn owner swallowed.
Then Boros reached into his pocket and casually placed the black card Griffin had given him onto the desk.
The man's eyes immediately widened.
He recognized the card. The card that only high ranked adventurers had access to.
The kind of customer you never wanted to offend.
Boros tapped the card with a finger.
"How much?"
The owner blinked.
"...What?"
"How much for the inn?"
Silence.
Akeno froze. Kinuko froze. Susan froze.
Even the owner looked like his brain had stopped working.
"Y-You're joking, right?"
Boros stared at him.
The man quickly realized he wasn't.
A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"You want to... buy the entire inn?"
"That's usually how buying things work."
"So?"
The owner nervously adjusted his collar.
"I-I mean... it's not exactly for sale-"
Boros leaned forward slightly.
The man immediately shut up.
"What was that? I should kill you and take the inn instead?"
The sweat on the owner's forehead doubled.