"I'm afraid that the details are still under wraps, but what you all really want to know is how this affects you, personally," stated the guild master. "Obviously, we've asked you to wait here for a reason, so if you know of anyone who isn't here, please pass on the message. The army will be moving to retake Harvent Canton. Given what the enemy has already done, losses are expected. Losses sufficient that, in combination with the loss of so many high-ranked adventurers, the next dungeon break will become... a problem. Therefore, we need to take steps to prepare ourselves."

  Being a very recent newcomer to the capital, and only having heard of dungeon breaks for the first time a week ago, I wasn't sure what the correct reaction to this speech should be. Just how big a problem was a 'problem'? Thankfully, the adventurer opposite me had a very expressive face, and from it I gathered that this was very much a we're-all-gonna-die situation.

  Perhaps I'd have been better off if the guards were here for me.

  "From today, until further notice, free movement of adventurers is rescinded," declared the guild master. "No adventurer may leave the royal canton, although we hope that more volunteers will join it when the time comes. Furthermore, there will be mandatory levels of activity for the next three years. You all need to gain as many levels as possible, so slacking will no longer be tolerated. But don't worry; there's carrot to go with the stick. During this period of emergency, there will be monetary rewards for gaining ranks, as well as incentives for newcomers joining the guild. There will be stipends available for anyone who dungeon delves, paid out based on experience gained. The king has also decreed that peerages will be granted to those who contribute most significantly to the defence."

  That... wasn't too bad, actually. It was a pity I'd arrived a week too soon to earn those 'incentives', but I'd be ranking up shortly, and I wouldn't say no to a reward. It wasn't as if I intended to leave the royal canton imminently, although having the possibility denied was a pain. What if I needed to run again? A ban on slacking didn't impact me at all, nor did I imagine it would impact most of the other young adventurers. A stipend for dungeon delving, though? Based on experience, even? That had my name written all over it, aside from the obvious issue of just how much experience I'd be getting...

  "Robin?" called the guild master, causing me a moment of confusion. I'd just been thinking about my name, and then someone went and shouted it. "Robin, are you here?"

  "Y... Yes!" I exclaimed, standing up. Hiding wasn't an option, not least because at least one receptionist knew full well I was here.

  Were the guards here for me as well as Harvent?

  "Would you please accompany us? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

  My first thought was that on a scale of one to I-just-set-a-temple-on-fire-and-called-the-gods-whores-while-waving-a-metal-spear-in-the-air, I'd just gone sailing clean off the end, but a couple of breaths was enough to remind myself that I'd been through Harvent Canton. The Order of the Thorned Rose were dead. So was, presumably, Viscount Jones of the Society of Exploration and History. I was probably viewed as a useful source of intelligence right now. It was only natural they'd have questions.

  That pulled me back down on the scale to a mere eight or nine.

  I followed the pair up the stairs of the guild hall, to the third floor, where the guild master had an office. The other member of the royal guard followed us, too, no longer preventing people from leaving. That was nice, but it meant I was in a small room with two people at levels in the triple digits.

  Probably three, given the guild master. He did not exude the aura of someone who'd obtained his position by slacking. I may not have had any appraisal Skills, but I didn't need them to appraise our relative combat strength as a simple 'I will die'.

  The room itself was office-like, a large desk facing the door, smothered in paperwork. A tall-backed chair behind it. Glass-fronted bookcases, filled with books and also, I noted, locked. Locks which, when I focused on them, gave a small reaction to [Mana Sensitivity]. He probably dealt with sensitive documents.

  The bit that made it 'office-like' rather than 'an office' was the dragon head mounted on the wall above the window. I wouldn't have called myself an office connoisseur, but I was pretty darn sure offices weren't supposed to have heads mounted on the walls. The effect was that anyone visiting the guild master would see it, right above his head. The guild master, facing away from the window, would be cast in shadow. I'd imagine the overall effect would be rather intimidating.

  My imagination was confirmed when he took his seat. The pair of guards remained standing.

  "We won't keep you long," said the guild master. "We just have a few questions that, right now, you're best placed to answer. I'm Duke Isunbloot, and these gentlemen are Sir Leroy and Sir Quix."

  Oh joy. A duke. One step below royalty. Why did I keep getting stuck in rooms with more and more important people?

  "So, your name is Robin, huh?" asked Sir Leroy without waiting for me to introduce myself.

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  "Yes?"

  "What a coincidence," he continued without elaborating on why. "We hear you arrived from Harvent Canton, and were the one to pass on messages to certain individuals, including Earl Alexander and Viscount Jones."

  "Yes," I confirmed.

  "Are you surprised to know they're both dead?"

  "Yes," I answered, then, feeling I should say something more than 'yes' at some point, added, "Count Harvent's forces were deserting him en masse. His towns and villages were rebelling. No way should he have had the manpower left to deal with a knight order."

  "So you have no idea how he managed it?"

  "None, short of finding some sort of weapon in the dwarven ruins," I answered, before stopping to think. What had Old Three-eye said? My Memory wasn't quite as good back then, but it was still enough to bring the exact words to mind with a second of thought, not least because they'd been so esoteric. "Flesh and bone. Bubbling meat and gnawing teeth, rising from the deep, fuelled by greed and hunger. Some things are not for human hands, and so the hands that hold them are not human."

  "Pardon?"

  "An old alchemist gave me that warning. Old Three-eye, she called herself. She was with Sir Galahad."

  "Old Three-eye?" said the guild master. "I know her. If she said something like that, treat it seriously."

  "Shit," said Sir Leroy, which was not a word I wanted to hear in a room with the three most powerful people I'd ever met. "An Unbound. How in the world did he...?"

  "An Unbound?" echoed Duke Isunbloot. "Yes, that would fit the description and the circumstances..."

  "What's an Unbound?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me before I remembered where I was. I hurriedly slapped a hand over my mouth, trying to pretend I hadn't spoken.

  "Not something a new E-rank adventurer needs to worry about," sighed the guild master.

  "On the contrary. An Unbound, here in our kingdom? I'd say everyone needs to worry about it," grinned Sir Quix, which made me feel a little better. If he could grin, things couldn't be hopeless. "But really? Stats like that, and you haven't promoted him beyond E-rank yet?"

  I flinched slightly.

  "He's declared his intent to get promoted by the end of the week," shrugged the duke, which was concerning. How did he know that? I'd never met the man before. I'd only just learnt his name.

  Sir Quix grinned again, before looking at me with rather more seriousness. "Please tell us everything that happened from the moment you crossed out of Cargellen Canton to the day you entered the royal canton. Don't leave anything out. There may be little details that mean nothing to you, but that could offer big clues to us, and save many lives on the battlefield."

  That was equally concerning. How did he know I'd come from Cargellen Canton?

  They'd heard the name 'Robin' recently. I was hardly the only one with the name, but what if...?

  I stamped down on the thought, hard. It wouldn't help right now. Instead, I recounted my adventure with as much detail as I could manage, hiding only the details of myself, my Skills, Stats and levels.

  The incident at the Greyforge temple caused some amount of consternation.

  "Despite what they said about cleaning up our own mess, it's not true that the gods won't step in to eradicate an Unbound," said the guild master.

  "Really? Then if we bring priests..."

  "No," said Duke Isunbloot, interrupting Sir Leroy. "We must not. The gods have stepped in, yes, but on every occasion in which they have, the country responsible was destroyed in the process. We must take care of it ourselves. If we cannot, the gods will destroy us along with it. But, at the least, you can rest assured that it's not a world-wide threat."

  "... That's not much of a comfort."

  "What are the chances of this being deliberate?" asked Sir Quix. "Could one of our kingdom's enemies have caused this?"

  "It's certainly possible that someone could have... encouraged... Count Harvent. Caused it directly, though? No, not without Count Harvent's cooperation, so we won't escape the gods' wrath that way. Share it, perhaps, but not escape it. But I don't think that Robin needs to be here for this discussion."

  "Indeed not," replied Sir Quix, once again grinning in that knowing way.

  I took that as my signal to leave and fled the room. Sir Leroy closed the door behind me, and I heard a lock click before all sounds from inside cut out completely. [Mana Sensitivity] briefly implied there was magic at play, but then it cut off, too. Some sort of privacy magic that even hid the fact that magic was involved. They really didn't want eavesdroppers.

  Those guards had given an impression of knowing who I was, yet they'd let me leave. They hadn't seemed bothered at all. Yes, it would be stupid to read anything into them when they so vastly out-levelled me; I should assume anything I picked up was what they wanted me to pick up, and no more. Taken that way, they wanted me to know that they knew.

  And yet they'd just let me leave.

  As far as I could guess, the message was that I was welcome to stay in the royal canton, playing adventurer, but that they expected me to pull my weight both now and in three years' time. That was fine for now; I fully intended to.

  Three years' time, though? I had no intention of staying for the dungeon break if doing so was suicide. Thankfully, with my growth rate and doubled gains per level, three years would be enough to overtake pretty much everyone: only those with very high Constitution would reach the age of seventy-six without feeling the effects of old age. If I decided I wanted to leave, it was unlikely anyone could stop me.

  But would I leave the royal canton to be overrun by monsters? Probably not... If the royal canton fell, then it was likely my home would follow soon after.

  Regardless, nothing about what I planned to do next had changed. Tomorrow I'd take some D-rank missions, get myself promoted, and then I'd work my way through every E and D-rank dungeon in the canton, earning experience and Marks. By the time winter ended, I intended to reach the second growth marker and get myself another promotion.

  With such plans in my mind, I returned downstairs, intending to return to my inn for the night.

  As I passed the reception desks, I caught a snippet of conversation. "Hey, I haven't seen Charles's group get back yet. Did I miss them?"

  "Miss the Golden Avengers? I think that would require being blind, deaf, and quite possibly dead. No, you're right, they're not back yet."

  "Given Charles's dad, they probably took off after seeing that royal guard in the doorway."

  "Yeah, probably. I'm sure they'll show up tomorrow, unfortunately."

  Ah, right. There were those kids I'd killed. All the excitement had pushed them out of my mind.

  Alas, when I got back to my inn room, the piece of paper on my pillow made very sure that I'd never forget them again.

  His name was Charles Klendy. Look him up. And then, if you hope to survive, jump into the nearest dungeon and stay there until you've earned yourself a stipend big enough to bankrupt the kingdom.

  - A concerned friend.