The carriage rattled through the cobblestone streets of the central plaza, the daylight casting long, shifting shadows against the stone buildings. Our destination was the very inn Lord Phillip had recommended… the sanctuary where White, Maine, and the survivors of the manor were currently recovering.
Inside the cramped space of the carriage, the air was thick with the scent of old leather and Mochi's faint, floral scent. Mochi sat across from me, his feline ears twitching rhythmically as he studied my face with an intensity that made my one good eye wander.
"Roxy. Are you, by any chance, related to a man named Elias?" Mochi said suddenly, his voice soft but curious.
I stiffened. The whirring of my prosthetic arm seemed to grow louder in the silence. I looked at him sharply.
"Why do you ask?"
"You have a striking resemblance to him, The same shade of brown hair, those deep jade eyes... even the way you set your jaw. It's uncanny." Mochi explained, his tail flicking behind him.
I let out a long, weary breath, leaning my head against the velvet padding.
"He is my brother, Mochi. How do you know him?"
Mochi's expression softened into one of deep nostalgia.
"He was my partner years ago. We were classmates back at the academy. He was... brilliant. But ever since he was branded as a heretic and vanished, I haven't heard a word. He remained incognito, a ghost in the wind. I never thought I'd stumble across his sister in a place like this."
A sudden, wheezing laugh erupted from the corner of the carriage. Harold Ford was clutching his stomach, his eyes bright with a mix of memory and lingering pain.
"Elias? That same man? Oh, I know him. He's the person who once beat me into a literal pulp for trying to overtax her sister's meat shop he frequented! I didn't know whether to scream or pray when I saw his face in yours, Roxy." Harold wheezed, shaking his head.
The mental image of my brother… stoic, protective, and clearly terrifying to a man like Harold, caused a rare, genuine spark of amusement to flare up in my chest. For a moment, the weight of the Bronze Coin and the trauma of the basement faded.
"That sounds like Elias," I said, a small smirk playing on my lips.
We both laughed, a strange, discordant sound in the quiet night, as even Mochi joined in with a light, melodic purr. It was a fleeting moment of humanity before the storm.
After that, we left the carriage and arrive at the inn, this is, without a doubt, the same inn we stayed after we saved Cassius from the Rebelbub Mountain. I remembered that I pushed Alta over a building.
The bell above the door chimed softly as we stepped onto the polished wood floors of the lobby. The air here was thick with the scent of fresh pine and the hearty aroma of breakfast being served in the adjacent hall. It felt like a different world, clean, safe, and untouched by the blood that still seemed to stain my memories.
The receptionist, a middle-aged woman with spectacles perched on her nose, looked up from her ledger. She started to offer a professional greeting, but her voice caught as her eyes swept over our group. She saw Mochi's gleaming armor and beastkin features, Harold's nervous sweating, and finally, my leather eyepatch and the heavy, mechanical shape beneath my cloak.
"Good morning! How... how could I help you three?" she stammered, recovering her poise.
"Our rooms, please," I said. My voice was a low, tired rasp that seemed to vibrate in the quiet lobby.
The woman's eyes widened as she checked a parchment pinned to her desk.
"Ah, yes. You must be the three Lord Phillip mentioned. He was very specific about your arrival. There is a suite of rooms waiting for you on the top floor, the most private ones we have."
She reached into a wooden cabinet and pulled out three heavy brass keys, laying them on the counter with a respectful click.
"Lord Phillip has already seen to the expenses. Everything is free of charge for you. Please, go up and rest. You look like you've walked through a storm."
The receptionist added softly, her gaze lingering on my eyepatch with a flicker of genuine sympathy. "
"Thank you," I murmured, taking my key. The cold metal felt grounding against my palm.
We climbed the stairs in a weary, rhythmic silence. Each floor we passed was a reminder of the life I had almost lost… the sound of laughter from a family's room, the clinking of glasses, the mundane peace of a town at rest. By the time we reached the top floor, my prosthetic arm felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, and my one good eye was stinging with exhaustion.
At the end of the hallway, we reached our separate doors. I paused, looking back at Mochi and Harold.
"Get some sleep. We leave when the stars are still out. Make sure your gear is ready." I told them, my hand on the doorknob.
Mochi nodded, his feline ears twitching as he offered a silent, respectful bow. Harold just wiped his brow and slipped into his room, looking relieved to be behind a locked door.
I entered my room and shut the door, leaning my back against the wood. The room was beautiful, filled with soft sunlight and a bed that looked like a cloud, but all I could think about was the road to the East. The "hero" of Town Allure was finally alone, and as I unclasped the heavy leather of my eyepatch, I stared into the darkness of the corner, waiting for a morning that would bring the beginning of the end.
I closed the door and let out a long, shuddering breath. The silence of the room was heavy, but there was no time for self-pity. I stripped away the civilian linen and pulled my old gear from my pack. The all-black outfit felt like a second skin, a uniform for the shadow I had become. I buckled the straps of my boots and adjusted the harness of my dark steel arm, the gears purring as I flexed my new fingers.
"Ready in action, Roxy." Plasma said
"You bet I am."
I was reaching for my cloak when a sharp, familiar rhythm of knocking echoed through the wood. I stiffened, thinking it was the staff with tea or perhaps Mochi checking in.
I pulled the door open, and my breath hitched.
Standing in the hallway were the faces of my past life. It was no other than my fellow silver-ranked adventurers. Natalie, Ned, Barry, and Carin. For a second, the hallway felt like the old guild hall before the world turned to ash.
"Roxy!" Natalie cried out.
She lunged forward, throwing her arms around me in a crushing hug. When she pulled back, her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears as she took in the sight of the black leather patch.
"Roxy... what happened to you at that manor? Why is your eye... and this? Where did you even get this?"
Natalie reached out, her fingers trembling as they brushed the cold, matte-black steel of my prosthetic arm.
"Miraculously, we're neighbors! Our room is right here, next door. We heard the commotion when you arrived."
Carin chimed in, though her voice lacked its usual cheer, her eyes fixed on my scars.
Ned stepped forward, his face pale as he looked at my prepared gear.
"Oh, Roxy... is it true? We heard whispers in the lobby. You're leaving for Tata? That's a half-day trip through some of the worst territory in the east."
Barry, usually the loudest of the bunch, stood unusually still. He looked at the way I stood… balanced, lethal, and draped in black.
"Roxy, you came prepared. You're not going there to explore, are you?"
I looked at them… my friends, my rivals, people who knew me when I still had two eyes and a heart that didn't feel like lead. I leaned against the doorframe, the artifact arm gleaming under the hallway lanterns.
"The manor took everything from the people I cared about, it took my eye, it took my friends, and it took the girl you used to know. I'm going to Tata to make sure the Bronze Coin pays the interest on that debt."
I looked at Natalie, giving her a small, sad nod.
"Lord Phillip gave me the arm. It's an artifact. It works well enough to hold a blade."
The hallway grew quiet. They saw the transformation… the hero wasn't just a nickname anymore; it was the woman standing in front of them.
"Half a day's trip, I'll be gone before the sun hits the plaza. Don't try to follow me. This isn't an adventurer's quest. It's a funeral for a guild."
I looked over the faces of my friends, counting them one by one. Natalie, Ned, Barry, Carin... but the circle felt incomplete. The silence between us stretched thin as the realization settled in my chest.
"Where's Maine?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Natalie's expression crumbled, her gaze dropping to the floorboards. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear, her voice thick with sorrow.
"He's at the cemetery, Roxy. He hasn't left since we arrived at the inn. He's... he's mourning."
A cold spike of grief pierced through my resolve. I remembered Maine's desperate face in the manor, and then I remembered Miera. She had been more than just a maid or a friend; she was the light in Maine's world. To know that White had saved him, only for him to wake up in a world where his lover was gone... the guilt I carried felt twice as heavy. I had been their protector, and I had failed to keep them together.
I looked down at my steel hand, the fingers twitching with a life of their own. I understood that hollow ache in his soul. I understood the need to stand over a patch of cold earth and wish for a different ending.
"He shouldn't be alone, none of us should be."
Natalie looked up, surprised by the intensity in my one good eye. Ned and Barry exchanged a somber nod, while Carin reached out to steady herself against the doorframe. We were a broken team, but we were still a team.
I pulled my black cloak tight around my shoulders, concealing the glint of the prosthetic arm. Before I could face the vipers in Tata, I had to face the ghosts we left behind in Town Allure. I had to stand with my brother-in-arms one last time before the road claimed me.
I stepped out into the hallway, the all-black fabric of my gear rustling like a bad omen. I looked back at the silver-ranked adventurers, the survivors of a nightmare we were all still trying to outrun.
"Leave the gear for a moment, there's something we need to do before the sun sets."
I turned toward the stairs, my boots thudding heavily on the wood.
"Lets go to the cemetery."