The man stood, still stunned by her words. Looking at maddy with a soft teary eyes, as if he were seeing someone else through her. He clasped his hands together, the gold ring finally secure on his finger. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Doing what’s natural...you’re... you’re just like her. Y-you remind me of our Guild Master. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever seen, could probably level a dragonborn if she wanted but she has that same heart. She never thought herself too high or too powerful to help a regular citizen with a ’small’ problem. To her, there was no such thing as a peasant’s drama. Just people in need."

He sighed, looking toward the large spire of the Guild Hall.

"The Guild isn’t the same without her. She’s away on a diplomatic mission across the nations right now, and with her gone, the place has become cold. It’s all about ranks, egos, and gold now. But you... you have that same spirit. Don’t let this city take it from you."

Maddy adjusted her cloak, the dampness from the fountain water soaking into her sleeve.

"A leader who remembers the ground while standing on the summit is rare. But I am not a hero or a master. I am just someone who knows what it feels like to lose something important. I hope your wife is happy to have her ring back."

As she walked away from the fountain, Maddy’s mind shifted. She let out a soft, internal breath.

"A woman Guild Master who does F rank chores? If she is truly that strong and still cares for the mundane, she is a dangerous anomaly. Most Prometheans lose their empathy the moment they taste true power. If she returns while I am here, she might be the only one with eyes sharp enough to see through my mask. Kindness often comes with a very keen intuition."

Maddy took her small payment and walked away. The sun was beginning to dip, casting long, orange shadows across the square. Five quests were done, and with each one, the picture of this city became clearer.

She made her way back to the Adventurer’s Guild to finalize her reports. The hall was rowdy, filled with the scent of ale and the boastful roars of men returning from hunts.

At the front desk, the receptionist was leaning forward, her chin resting on her palm as she batted her eyelashes at a high-ranking adventurer. She was giggling, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, and giving him a lingering, flirty wink as he pocketed a large bag of gold.

"Take care out there, handsome..."

But as the man walked away and Maddy stepped into his place, the transformation was instant. The receptionist’s face fell, her features curdling into a look of pure annoyance. She didn’t even look Maddy in the eye as she snatched the completed quest forms.

"Oh. It’s you. The F rank. I see you actually managed to pick up some trash and find a trinket. Hard work for someone like you, I’m sure."

Maddy didn’t respond. She didn’t need to. She simply watched as the woman stamped the papers with aggressive thuds, her mood ruined by the presence of someone she deemed beneath her notice. Once the paperwork was filed, Maddy turned and vanished into the crowd without a word.

The night air turned cold, and the Eternal Ember lamps flickered to life, bathing the streets in an eerie, natural glow. Maddy didn’t go back to an inn. Instead, she found a high vantage point near the merchant’s district, blending into the darkness of a stone rooftop.

She waited. Lucy signaled,

[Subject ’Merchant’ has exited the trade stall. Heart rate elevated. He appears to be in a hurry.]

Maddy peered down. Below, the man who had lied to her face, Hoppy’s "father", was locking up his shop. He looked over his shoulder nervously, his eyes darting through the shadows before he tucked a heavy ledger under his arm and began to walk.

He didn’t look like a grieving father. He looked like a man with a secret he was desperate to keep.

Maddy dropped from the roof with the silent grace of a ghost, landing in the mouth of an alleyway just as he passed. She kept her distance, her Thermal Awareness locked onto his heat signature like a homing beacon. Through the winding, cobblestone streets and away from the bright lights of the main square, she followed him.

"He thinks he’s going home to a peaceful night."

Maddy watched from the gloom as the merchant finally reached his doorstep. To any passerby, he looked like a weary worker returning to his sanctuary. He stood for a moment at the exact spot where Hoppy had been mistreated, where she had been cast out like refuse, yet he stood there as if nothing had ever happened.

But Maddy saw through the facade. Her senses picked up the slight tremor in his hands and the way his shoulders hunched, as if bracing for a blow. He took a long, shaky breath, smoothing his tunic before reaching for the handle.

"He’s terrified," Maddy thought. "Guilt is a heavy coat to wear in the summer, sc*mbag."

Before he could close the door behind him, Maddy focused her internal energy. She felt the density of her molecules shift, her form blurring at the edges until she was nothing more than a silver white shimmer against the night.

[Trait Activated: White Spirit’s Trait — Incorporeal Body]

Her physical form became partially intangible, a ghost-like state that allowed her to slip through the heavy oak of the door just as it latched shut. She drifted into the entryway, her feet making no sound on the polished wood.

"I never expected to use a divine trait for spying on a domestic dinner," she thought, a flash of annoyance crossing her mind. She quickly shook it off, her gaze hardening. "No. I’m doing this because I have to. Because the truth is buried in this house."