The first thing I saw when I walked into the guild that morning was a grown man losing a fight.
Not to a monster.
To Polla.
"This form is incorrect," she said.
"It's filled," the man said.
"It is filled incorrectly."
"It's the same form."
"It is the wrong form."
"It says completion report—"
"It says revised completion report."
The man stared at the paper.
Then at her.
Then back at the paper.
"…that's the same thing."
"It is not."
Silence.
Defeat.
"…I'll redo it."
"Correctly," Polla said.
He nodded like a man who had just been humbled by reality itself and walked away.
I watched him go.
"…terrifying," I muttered.
The second thing I saw was Rai knocking over a display of guild badges.
Clatter.
Rai looked at the ceiling.
Then at me.
Krrt.
"I saw it."
Krrt.
"That doesn't fix it."
I picked up the display.
The third thing I saw was the notice board.
Most of it was normal. Quests. Bounties. Warnings. The same notice about unregistered creature damage in the market district that I definitely had nothing to do with.
Then—
center.
Red border.
New.
I stepped closer.
Read it.
Paused.
Read it again.
Then again.
Because that number needed to be confirmed multiple times before I made a life-altering mistake.
THE GRAND REGIONAL ADVENTURERS TOURNAMENT. Valdren's Gate. Open to Rank F and above. Two months. Six days by carriage.
Prize: one thousand gold coins.
I blinked.
Looked again.
Still one thousand.
"…that's not normal," I said.
Krrt.
"That's not prize money. That's a trap."
Krrt.
"That's 'come ruin your life' money."
I did the math anyway.
Fast.
Too fast.
Because I already knew the other number.
Debt.
Bridge.
Fees.
Everything.
One thousand gold…
We clear it.
All of it.
Everything.
And we stop thinking about money every time we breathe.
I stared at the board.
"…no," I said.
Krrt.
"No, this is a bad idea."
Krrt.
"This is a terrible idea."
I stared at the number again.
"…we're doing this."
Krrt.
"I hate that you support this."
I didn't tell the others.
Because if I explained it properly, someone responsible would stop me.
That night I didn't sleep.
Not anxiety.
Math.
Numbers looping.
Over and over.
One thousand gold.
Debt.
Difference.
Repeat.
Rai was on my chest, breathing like something that had never once worried about money in its life.
I stared at the ceiling.
"If I win, we're done."
Krrt.
"That's not helpful."
Krrt.
"I know it's not helpful."
I turned my head slightly.
"Two months."
Silence.
"We save enough to get there."
Still silence.
"Big city. Strong fighters."
A pause.
"Senna gets a library."
Another pause.
"Rael gets real opponents."
…
"Mira…"
I stopped.
Thought about the alley.
"…more people to watch."
I looked back at the ceiling.
"I'm not winning that."
Rai looked at me.
"…I already decided, didn't I."
Krrt.
"Yeah. That's what I thought."
The next morning I went to the guild early.
Before I could talk myself out of it.
Polla was there.
Of course she was there.
"Tournament registration," I said.
She looked at me.
At the time.
Back at me.
"The Grand Regional."
She pulled out a form.
"Party or individual."
"Party."
"All members."
"Yes."
She started writing.
Fast.
Clean.
Efficient.
"Registration fee—"
"How much."
She said the number.
I stared at the wall.
"…okay."
It was not okay.
It was survivable.
If nothing went wrong.
Which meant—
it was not okay.
"Deadline one month."
"We'll have it."
Stamp.
Done.
She looked at me again.
"The registration is public."
I paused.
"The newspaper article," she added.
Right.
That.
"The Immortal Blade."
I kept my face neutral.
Barely.
"Your name will be visible."
"To who."
"Everyone."
Silence.
"…great," I said.
It was not great.
Outside.
Morning light.
Normal city.
Normal life.
I looked up.
Veyra.
No answer.
I just signed us up for something stupid.
Nothing.
We don't have the money.
Nothing.
I have to fight people who actually know what they're doing.
Still nothing.
I exhaled slowly.
"…this is going to go badly."
A faint warmth in the air.
Or just sunlight.
Hard to tell.
At breakfast, I didn't sit.
I dropped the paper on the table.
"Okay—before anyone reacts, I need you to look at one thing and one thing only."
Senna picked it up.
Her eyes moved.
Stopped.
"…Valdren's Gate."
"Yes."
"The Grand Regional—"
"Yes."
Her eyes dropped lower.
"…one thousand gold."
"Good. Now we're all on the same page."
Rael took the paper.
"You signed us up."
"Yes."
"Without asking."
"Yes."
"While we were asleep."
"Yes."
"…why."
"Because we are broke."
"That is not new information."
"This fixes it."
She looked at the number again.
"…that is a stupid amount of money."
"Exactly."
"You think you can win."
"No."
Silence.
Senna blinked.
Rael blinked.
Mira looked up slightly.
I pointed at the paper.
"But we have to try."
I leaned forward.
"This is the only situation where stupidity is financially correct."
"That is not how strategy works," Senna said.
"It is when you're poor."
She paused.
"…continue."
"We train. We save. We go."
"And lose," Rael said.
"And lose," I agreed. "But we lose trying to win one thousand gold, which is still better than slowly dying doing sewer jobs."
"That is still losing."
"It is efficient losing."
"That is not a thing."
"It is now."
Senna was still staring at the paper.
"Valdren's Gate has a central archive," she said.
"I know."
"Combat records—"
"I know."
"I'm in."
Of course she was.
Rael exhaled slowly.
"…how are we getting there."
"We save."
"That is not a plan."
"It is the beginning of one."
"Kael."
"It is a strong beginning."
She stared at me.
Long.
"…don't die before we get there."
"I make no promises."
"Make one."
"I will attempt not to die."
"…good enough."
Mira hadn't said anything.
I looked at her.
She was looking out the window.
Not at us.
Not at the paper.
Something else.
She felt me looking.
"I'm fine," she said.
Flat.
Immediate.
Didn't turn.
I didn't push.
Rai stole food off my plate.
Krrt.
"Hey—!"
Gone.
"…traitor."
Krrt.
I finally sat down.
Looked at the paper.
At the number.
At the decision I had already committed to.
Then at them.
"Two months," I said.
"We train."
"We save."
"We go."
No one argued.
That was the worst part.
Outside, Breth moved like nothing had changed.
Inside—
we had just agreed to something incredibly stupid.
Krrt.