The big oak doors of the Bureau of Town Allure creaked as they swung open. That meant we were back from the dark and scary lower levels. It was really weird to go from the spooky tomb with all the goblins to the marble halls of the Bureau. My senses were still on alert from the fight and I could smell the metallic smell of my own blood that was drying.
We left the log cabin at dawn, my bloody dress still remained and my arm was full of bandages. We came to the Adventurers Bureau to address that the mission was complete.
I didn't have time to take a bath, my rotting odor reeked from the central plaza. Several swarms of flies came through me, but Calix shooed them away like shit.
Calix was walking next to me, his hand on my back. He was like my rock. Under the black robe he made me wear, which was way too nice for someone like me who kills monsters I could feel the weird pulse of my arm that was cut off. The bandages that Calix put on me were already stiff with blood. I was holding my arm tight against my body. Trying not to let anyone see it.
"You are shaking, Roxy," Calix said quietly.
"It is cold here."
I said, but that was not true. We both knew I was shaking because I was scared and my body still thought my arm was there.
We went into Lord Philips office, which had a high ceiling. The room smelled like paper and wax which was really different from the rot and dirty water we had been walking through. Lord Philip looked up from his desk and his glasses caught the light from the candles. When he saw us, my messy hair and dirty face and how I was holding myself like I was hurt, he looked surprised.
"Tell me what happened," he said. His voice was not as strong as usual.
Calix stepped forward standing up straight.
"We fixed the problem, my Lord. The goblin king is dead. The water in Town Allure is safe now. We cleaned up the bad stuff from the lower levels. We did what you paid us to do."
Lord Philip stood up. For a second he looked really relieved. Then he looked worried.
"You both look like you have been through a lot. Where is the proof that you killed the goblin king?"
I did not let Calix answer. I was really tired, like fucking tired. I felt like I had to tell the truth.
"Here's the proof Lord Phillip" I said tiredly
I started my voice scratching from the smoke and from not talking for a while.
"This is not something you can hang on a wall."
I undid the clasp of the robe and Calix tried to stop me.. I shook my head. I let the robe fall to the floor. It showed the mess that my arm was.
It was really quiet after that. My arm was cut off below the elbow. It was a mess of flesh and bone and dark blood stains under the bandages. It was not what the Bureau wanted people to see.
"R-Roxy!?"
Lord Philips' face turned white. He took a breath and his hands gripped the desk really hard. I saw that he was disgusted. That made me feel a little bitter.
"This is what you paid for with your money" I thought. "This is the price of your water."
Then he did not look disgusted anymore. He looked serious. Lord Philip walked around his desk. He stopped a few feet away, from me. He would not look else but at my hurt arm. He did not see me as a girl or a tool he saw what I had to go
"I have sent knights to die before."
Philip said quietly, his voice shaking. Seeing my arm ripped through my body made Phillip's face turn red. Then he continued.
"I have read the reports. I have written letters to their families.. I have never seen someone pay the price like this... So quietly."
He bowed, deeply and slowly and that was not something you would see in the Bureau.
"You did not just save the town, Roxy. You saved the Bureau from being too comfortable. Tomorrow people will celebrate that their water is clean.. I will make sure they know that the water they drink was paid for with the blood of a woman who stood in the dark so they wouldn't have to."
I felt my missing hand twitch. It still hurt a lot.. For the first time since I got hurt I felt a little better. I was not a soldier anymore. I was a reminder of what it cost to have peace.
The weight of the silence in the office was heavier than any blade I had ever carried. Lord Philip's bow was the final seal on a chapter of my life I no longer had the strength to read.
"I'm done, Lord Phillip, I'm tired of being an adventurer. I want to quit, I want to retire."
I said, the words falling from my lips with a strange, hollow finality.
Philip straightened, his brow furrowing as he processed the implications.
"Roxy, you're a gold-rank. The Bureau... we can provide the best healers, the most advanced prosthetics. You have a future here."
I looked at my empty sleeve, then at Calix. He didn't protest; he simply stood there, his eyes reflecting the same exhaustion that had hollowed out my soul. He knew. He knew that the girl who walked into those tunnels was not the one who walked out. The gold, the prestige, the title of hero...they were brittle things, easily shattered by the reality of what I had left behind in the dark.
"I've given enough," I replied softly.
I turned and walked out of the Bureau for the last time. The heavy doors clicked shut, muffling the sounds of the bustling city beyond. The transition from the artificial, pressurized world of the Bureau back into the open air felt like waking from a long, feverish nightmare.
Calix walked with me until we reached the edge of the district, where the grey cobblestones gave way to the soft, overgrown paths that led toward the outskirts.
"You're really going, then," he said. It wasn't a question.
"The Flower Manor, my home" I whispered,
Pointed and looking toward the horizon where the sun was beginning to rise, casting long, bruised shadows over the fields.
"It's quiet there. No goblins, no kings, no water supplies to purge. Just... flowers."
He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder, hesitant as if he were afraid to break me.
"I'll miss you, Roxy." Calix replied
"Don't, Be better than this place, Calix. Don't let them turn you into a monument." I replied
I said, a small, sad smile touching my lips.
I walked away, leaving the Bureau, the busy streets of Central Plaza, and the blood-stained robe behind. As I neared the Flower Manor, the air changed. The metallic tang of my own injury was slowly replaced by the scent of lavender and damp earth.
I reached the manor's gate, my fingers trembling as I pushed it open. The garden was a chaotic, beautiful tangle of color, untamed and thriving in the fading light. It was a place where things were allowed to grow, to wither, and to return to the earth without fanfare or judgment.
I walked to the center of the garden and collapsed onto the grass, the exhaustion finally pulling me down. I lay there, staring up at the vast, uncaring sky, my breath hitching in my chest. My arm throbbed, a dull, rhythmic ache that reminded me of what I had lost, but as the wind whispered through the petals surrounding me, the phantom pain began to quiet.
I wasn't a hero anymore. I wasn't a legend.
I was just a girl, home at last, sitting among the flowers, watching the world turn in the twilight. For the first time in my life, that was enough.
The big wooden doors of the Flower Manor were really heavy. I remembered them being heavy. Not this heavy. As they opened I smelled something it was the smell of lavender and warm beeswax. This smell used to make me feel safe. Now it just made me feel sad. It reminded me of the girl I used to be. The girl I am now.
Kiera and Miera the sisters who took care of the manor were waiting for me in the foyer. They were smiling,. When they saw me their smiles disappeared.
"Lady Roxy?"
Kiera said, her voice shaking. She dropped the tray she was holding. It made a loud noise.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
I did not say anything. I could not talk. My throat hurt, like it was scratched and sore. I just stood there feeling dizzy. I was wearing a robe that Calix gave me and it felt heavy and uncomfortable.
Miera was the first to move. She came close to me. She was scared to touch me. She looked at my face. Then she looked at my robe. She saw that one of my sleeves was empty. It was like that because I did not have an arm.
"Your arm…" Miera said, her voice breaking. She fell to her knees. Holding my robe.
"Oh Goddess, Roxy... Where is it? Where is your arm?"
Kiera came close to me too. She saw the bandages under my robe. She started crying.
"Who did this to you? Why did you not ask for help? Why are you alone?"
They were asking me many questions. It was like they were poking me with needles. I looked at Kiera and Miera. I felt sad. They were like my family. I did not want to hurt them.
I felt a roll down my cheek.
"I am done Kiera" I said, my voice shaking.
"I am done being a hero. I am done working for the Bureau. I am just fucking tired."
I felt weak. I leaned on them. They held me. I felt their warm hands on my back. I realized that I lost more, than my arm. I lost the girl I used to be. I lost the girl who went to school with Marcel, who liked Pokémon cards and sunshine. That girl. Now I am just a broken person.
"Do not call for a doctor or any healer."
I said, my voice barely audible.
"Just take me to my room. Just let me be alone."
Kiera and Miera helped me to the stairs. They were being very gentle. It still hurt. I looked back at the door and I saw the world outside. It felt like it was a time ago.
I am home. The girl I used to be is not here. There is silence, flowers and a long night ahead.