The guild hall remained silent.

A rare phenomenon.

Normally adventurers talked constantly.

Argued constantly.

Complained constantly.

Silence meant something was wrong.

Very wrong.

The injured adventurer stood in the center of the room.

Sweat covered his face.

His hands still shook.

"There was a crow."

The words lingered.

Most people looked confused.

A few looked skeptical.

One old adventurer quietly swore.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Seraphina noticed immediately.

Fear.

Not confusion.

Fear.

The old man wasn’t reacting to the wolves.

He was reacting to the crow.

---

The guild master folded his arms.

"Explain."

The injured adventurer swallowed.

"There were supposed to be twenty wolves."

A pause.

"Maybe thirty."

The room remained calm.

Large packs happened.

Dangerous.

But manageable.

Then he continued.

"There were over a hundred."

The calm disappeared.

Several adventurers immediately stood.

Others exchanged looks.

Even Kael’s expression changed slightly.

One hundred.

That wasn’t normal.

Not even close.

---

The guild master frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"I counted until sixty."

"..."

"Then I started running."

A reasonable decision.

Perhaps the smartest decision made all day.

---

The old adventurer who had cursed earlier finally spoke.

Gray beard.

Missing eye.

Several scars.

The sort of man who looked like he had survived things that should have killed him.

"I’ve heard stories."

Everyone looked toward him.

The old man stared at the table.

Not at anyone.

Just remembering.

"Years ago."

His voice lowered.

"Monster outbreaks."

The room became quieter.

"If a crow appeared..."

He hesitated.

"...something always followed."

Interesting.

The guild master didn’t look convinced.

Neither did most adventurers.

Stories were stories.

Rumors were rumors.

Fear spread faster than facts.

Still—

Seraphina noticed something.

The old man genuinely believed it.

---

"Aina."

Kael’s voice was quiet.

A warning.

She recognized it immediately.

Which was unfortunate.

Because she intended to ignore it.

"What?"

"We are not taking this request."

Silence.

The guild hall waited.

Seraphina stared at him.

Kael stared back.

The outcome was obvious.

Unfortunately for Kael.

---

"Counterargument."

"No."

"You haven’t heard it."

"I don’t need to."

"You do."

"I don’t."

"The reward doubled."

Kael closed his eyes.

Of course that was the argument.

---

The guild master suddenly interrupted.

"The western hill contract is suspended."

The room stirred.

Several adventurers sighed with relief.

Others looked disappointed.

Seraphina looked offended.

"Suspended?"

The guild master ignored her.

"We investigate first."

A wise decision.

A boring decision.

A decision Seraphina disliked.

---

Then something unexpected happened.

A young guild worker rushed down the stairs.

Panicked.

Carrying papers.

Lots of papers.

The worker almost tripped.

Recovered.

Then continued running.

An impressive display.

The guild master caught him before gravity won.

"What happened?"

The worker handed over a report.

The guild master’s expression slowly changed.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Concern.

Real concern.

---

"Another attack."

The room froze.

"When?"

"This morning."

"Where?"

The worker pointed to a location on the map.

The eastern road.

Several adventurers cursed.

Merchants used that route constantly.

---

The guild master looked up.

"How many casualties?"

The worker hesitated.

Never a good sign.

Then:

"None."

Everyone relaxed.

Briefly.

Until—

"But the caravan disappeared."

The room froze again.

Because that was somehow worse.

---

A merchant caravan didn’t simply vanish.

Not on a major road.

Not without evidence.

Not without witnesses.

Not without survivors.

Something strange was happening.

And strange things attracted attention.

Specifically—

Seraphina’s attention.

The worst kind.

---

Kael noticed immediately.

The look in her eyes.

The curiosity.

The excitement.

The inevitable disaster approaching.

"Aina."

"No."

"I haven’t asked anything."

"You were about to."

Fair.

Very fair.

---

The guild master pinned the new report onto the board.

A fresh request appeared.

Not a hunt.

Not an extermination.

An investigation.

Find the missing caravan.

Determine what happened.

Reward: 25 gold.

The entire room stared.

Twenty-five gold.

That wasn’t a reward.

That was temptation.

Dangerously effective temptation.

---

Seraphina stared at the number.

Then stared harder.

Then stared even harder.

Kael watched.

Horrified.

Because he knew exactly what was happening.

The same thing that had happened with the ceramic frog.

The same thing that happened with every terrible decision.

Interest.

---

Slowly.

Very slowly.

Seraphina raised one finger.

"Aina."

"Yes?"

"We are absolutely not investigating a mysterious disappearing caravan connected to a monster outbreak."

A pause.

Then:

"What if we investigated responsibly?"

Kael nearly walked into a table.

Across the room, several adventurers laughed.

The guild master rubbed his forehead.

The old one-eyed adventurer muttered a prayer.

And somewhere beyond the town—

Far beyond the roads—

A black crow landed on a dead tree.

Watching.

Waiting.

As if it already knew who would accept the request.

And who was already walking toward it.

The request remained pinned to the board.

Twenty-five gold.

Enough money to solve several problems.

Not all of them.

Seraphina was creative enough to generate new ones.

But still.

Twenty-five gold.

The number continued shining in her mind.

Beautiful.

Tempting.

Life-changing.

---

Kael noticed.

Naturally.

Because surviving alongside Seraphina required learning disaster detection.

And right now—

The disaster meter was screaming.

"Aina."

"No."

"You are literally staring at the reward."

"It is staring back."

"Numbers cannot stare."

"This one can."

---

The guild master finally pointed at the board.

"This request is restricted."

The room immediately relaxed.

Several adventurers sat back down.

The one-eyed veteran nodded approvingly.

Good.

Smart.

Reasonable.

Exactly the kind of thing that prevented unnecessary funerals.

Then the guild master continued.

"Only experienced teams may accept it."

The room nodded.

Even better.

Even smarter.

Then—

A guild worker raised his hand.

"Sir?"

"What?"

"The qualification requirement says five completed guild quests."

The guild master frowned.

"Yes."

The worker hesitated.

Then looked at Seraphina.

Then at Kael.

Then back at the guild master.

A terrible sign.

The kind of sign that usually preceded paperwork-related suffering.

---

"What?"

The worker swallowed.

"The wolf extermination request counts as one."

Silence.

The guild master blinked.

The worker continued.

"The gathering request nearby counts as one."

"..."

"The escort request leaving tomorrow counts as one."

The guild master’s expression slowly darkened.

Because he could already see the problem.

---

Seraphina could too.

Unfortunately.

A smile appeared.

Slowly.

Dangerously.

Like a villain discovering a loophole.

"Oh."

Kael immediately pointed.

"No."

"Oh."

"No."

"Oh."

"Stop saying oh."

"This is low-key kind of genius."

"It isn’t."

"It absolutely is."

---

The guild master rubbed his forehead.

"You’re not speed-running guild progression."

Seraphina looked offended.

"I wasn’t."

The entire room stared.

She pointed at the board.

"I am now."

---

Several adventurers laughed.

One nearly choked on his drink.

Another quietly moved tables.

Experience told him distance improved survival rates.

---

The one-eyed veteran watched her carefully.

Not laughing.

Not mocking.

Studying.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Then he stood.

Slowly.

The room became quieter.

People listened when veterans spoke.

Mostly because veterans had usually survived enough mistakes to recognize new ones.

---

"You remind me of someone."

Seraphina pointed at herself.

"Me?"

The old man ignored the interruption.

"There was a woman years ago."

His gaze drifted toward the window.

Remembering.

"Strong."

"Stubborn."

"Impossible."

Kael immediately looked worried.

Those descriptions sounded familiar.

Too familiar.

---

"What happened to her?"

Seraphina asked.

The old man smiled faintly.

"A dragon happened."

The room exploded into laughter.

Even Kael laughed.

A little.

Seraphina crossed her arms.

"I don’t like the moral of this story."

"There wasn’t one."

"Then why tell it?"

"Because it was funny."

That was admittedly a strong argument.

---

The guild doors suddenly opened.

A merchant rushed inside.

Sweating.

Panicked.

Terrified.

Not injured.

Which somehow made it worse.

People could heal injuries.

Fear was harder.

---

"The eastern road!"

The room froze again.

Second time today.

Not ideal.

The merchant grabbed the nearest table.

Breathing hard.

"I saw it."

The guild master stepped forward instantly.

"Saw what?"

The merchant pointed toward the forest beyond town.

His hand trembled.

---

"The wolves."

Silence.

Then—

"There were hundreds."

The room went dead quiet.

No laughter.

No conversations.

Nothing.

Hundreds.

Not dozens.

Hundreds.

---

The merchant continued.

"And they weren’t hunting."

A chill spread through the guild.

Because predators hunted.

Predators fed.

Predators behaved predictably.

Predictable monsters could be managed.

Unpredictable monsters became disasters.

---

"What were they doing?"

The merchant swallowed.

Then answered.

"They were moving."

"Moving where?"

The merchant looked toward the north.

Toward the distant mountains.

Toward somewhere unseen.

Unknown.

Waiting.

---

And for the first time all day—

Even Seraphina stopped joking.

Because something about that answer felt wrong.

Not dangerous.

Wrong.

Like a puzzle piece forced into the wrong place.

---

Kael noticed her expression.

"You feel it too."

She nodded.

A rare moment of seriousness.

"They’re going somewhere."

The one-eyed veteran slowly looked up.

His remaining eye narrowed.

And for the first time—

He looked genuinely afraid.

---

Outside the guild—

Far beyond the town.

Far beyond the roads.

And somewhere deeper in the mountains—

Something opened its eyes.

The guild slowly returned to life.

Slowly.

Reluctantly.

Conversations resumed.

Chairs scraped.

Drinks were refilled.

But something had changed.

The atmosphere felt heavier.

The merchant’s report lingered in everyone’s mind.

Hundreds of wolves.

Moving somewhere.

Not hunting.

Not feeding.

Traveling.

That wasn’t normal.

And nobody liked things that weren’t normal.

Except Seraphina.

Unfortunately.

---

Outside the guild—

The afternoon sun hung low above the town.

Merchants called out from stalls.

Children ran through the streets.

A baker yelled at a thief.

The thief yelled back.

A healthy local tradition.

Seraphina walked beside Kael.

Suspiciously quiet.

Very suspiciously quiet.

---

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing."

A lie.

An obvious one.

The kind that arrived wearing a fake mustache.

---

"Aina."

"What?"

"You’ve been quiet for ten minutes."

"I am thinking."

"That is exactly what worries me."

Fair.

Very fair.

---

They stopped near a small bridge crossing the town river.

The water flowed gently beneath them.

For a moment—

Neither spoke.

A rare occurrence.

Then Seraphina suddenly rested her arms on the railing.

"You know."

Kael immediately became cautious.

Those words rarely led anywhere safe.

---

"What?"

"I miss her."

The answer surprised him.

Because it wasn’t what he expected.

Not at all.

---

"Who?"

Seraphina stared at the water.

Then dramatically placed a hand over her chest.

"Evelyne."

Kael closed his eyes.

Of course.

The real villainess.

Her idol.

Her impossible standard.

Her greatest inspiration.

And possibly the only person who had ever criticized Seraphina’s villainess skills successfully.

---

"You’re thinking about her again?"

"She understood me."

"No."

"She did."

"No."

"She called me soft."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

"It was mentorship."

---

Kael gave up.

Arguing with Seraphina’s interpretation of reality was like arguing with weather.

Possible.

Technically.

Pointless.

---

Seraphina sighed dramatically.

"I wonder what she’s doing right now."

Far away—

In another kingdom.

A black-haired young woman sneezed.

Then immediately blamed politics.

---

"I should send her a letter."

"No."

"A threatening letter."

"No."

"With illustrations."

"No."

"Of me and you."

"Absolutely not."

---

Seraphina looked offended.

"Why are you always suppressing art?"

"I am protecting society."

---

A passing merchant laughed.

Another person nearly walked into a post listening to them.

Normal day.

---

Then Seraphina became thoughtful again.

A different kind of thoughtful.

Quieter.

More genuine.

"I hope she’s doing well."

Kael glanced at her.

That part—

That part was real.

Not a joke.

Not a performance.

Not villainess nonsense.

Just honesty.

---

For all her dramatic speeches—

Seraphina genuinely admired Evelyne.

And somewhere deep down—

Missed her.

The moment passed quickly.

Because Seraphina was Seraphina.

A tragedy could only survive around her for so long before comedy attacked it.

She suddenly straightened.

Eyes sparkling again.

"Oh."

Kael immediately regretted existing.

"What now?"

"I have another idea."

The universe groaned.

"We need money."

"Yes."

"We need quest completions."

"Yes."

"We need information."

"Unfortunately yes."

Seraphina pointed dramatically toward the horizon.

Then declared:

"We are hunting wolves tomorrow."

Kael looked at the sky.

As if asking some higher power for patience.

The sky refused.

Above them—

A lone black crow crossed the evening sky.

Watching.

Circling.

Following.

And neither of them noticed.

Not yet.