A Ticket.
"A total of 116 Silver pieces…" Taro sighed as he finished counting the money while up a tree. He had climbed up the tree to avoid any monsters or wild animals attacking him in his sleep.
"The sun is almost down…I guess I'll just sleep for tonight." Taro closed his eyes. He wasn't too far away from the main road. If push came to shove, he could just run along the main road until he found a patrolling guard or a carriage that he could ask for a ride.
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"Ugh…Gah…Kikk…" Taro made a bunch of weird noises as he tossed and turned in his sleep. Flashes of the werewolf king appeared in his mind.
"Gasp!" Taro awoke with a deep gasp. He was covered in sweat as he breathed deeply. He quickly untied himself from the tree and started making his way down. Although the sun wasn't up yet, it would rise soon.
"I better move quickly." Taro sighed. He was currently holding a bag of over 100 Silver pieces. The small bag was already heavy and full to the brim. He actually put a few Silver pieces inside his shoes and sword sheath to avoid spillovers.
Taro was already walking for almost half a day, yet he didn't feel tired at all. He decided not to take a break and continue towards Kiddi Town.
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"The sun will set soon…" Taro looked at the sunset and grit his teeth. "I'm already close to town…"
Kiddi Town was almost in sight. It was around three more hours before he could be there.
"I'll just walk in the night." Taro decided. Although it was hard to walk in the night, the moon was bright tonight, lighting the way for him.
Thankfully, he didn't encounter much. He found a single wolf that he managed to quickly kill before it could call for help. Wolves were generally around F-rank. Considering that he killed a bunch of E-rankers back then, a single wolf was an easy target.
After carrying the wolf's body on his back, Taro slowly walked towards the town.
By midnight, Taro was already in front of the town's gate.
"Hey! Can you open the gate?!" Taro roared. Although the town's walls were nowhere close to a city's walls, they were still being guarded by the garrison. He could just climb them, but the consequences would be dire.
"Who are you?" a guard asked from the top of the wall.
"I'm an adventurer. Taro! Son of Albert and Elena!" Taro introduced himself.
"Open the gate!" the guard gestured to someone behind the walls.
The gate slowly opened as Taro barely kept himself together.
He slowly made his way to the Adventurer's Guild.
"Hello." Taro walked in with the wolf on his back. "I want to hand this i-"
"Taro!" Ron, the old receptionist, stood up in shock. "You're alive!"
"Huh?" Taro tilted his head.
"You've been gone so long!" Ron walked up to him in a hurry. "Let me take this off you. You look horrible."
"What?" Taro was confused as Ron took the wolf off his back. "How long have I been away?"
"Close to a month! We sent another party to the dungeon you went to and they haven't returned either! We thought you were all died." Ron explained quickly as some of the adventurer's sitting at the bar sneakily eavesdropped on the two's conversation. "Where is everyone else?!"
"All…" Taro breathed deeply as he remembered the massacre he had witnessed. "All dead."
"How did you…?" Ron was confused slightly. How did the F-rank survive while everyone else died? The party they sent into the dungeon even had a C-rank and four D-ranks!
"Look, I get that you're confused, but so am I. I need to go rest an-!!" Taro said lazily until realization hit him. "I need to go back home!! You keep the wolf for now, I'll come back and get its reward at noon!!"
Taro hurriedly ran to his home. He breathed heavily as he ran.
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Smack!
"Yen!! Tom! Clare!!" Taro smacked open the door to his own house.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" a man without a shirt ran out of the bedroom with a sword and roared.
"Reggie, wait!" a woman's voice called after him.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?!" the man named Reggie roared at Taro.
"What are you doing in MY house?!" Taro grit his teeth as he unsheathed his sword too.
"Y-You're…!!!" the woman was shocked when she saw Taro. "You're Tom and Clare's brother!!"
"…" Taro thinned his eyes in the night to see. He then unsurely asked. "…Mrs. Heath?"
It was a teacher in his siblings' school!
"What are you doing in our house?" Taro asked as he sheathed his sword.
"Your house…?" Reggie seemed even more confused when he realized that his wife knew this man.
"You're alive?" Mrs. Heath asked. "Why are you not going to your siblings?!"
"What are you talking about?! Where are they?! Why are you here?!" Taro rapid fired a bunch of questions.
"They moved in with your friend from the Adventurers' Guild. Clare said they needed money because you had died, so my husband and I bought this house off them." Mrs. Heath explained quickly.
"My friend…?" Taro felt his heart drop. He didn't have any friends with enough wealth to just take in three people.
"I believe her name was…" Mrs. Heath tried to rack her brain which was hard considering that she had just woken up.
"Eclipse?" Taro asked. Mrs. Heath immediately nodded her head in recognition.
"I see…sorry for the disturbance." Taro quickly bowed and left.
"What the hell is going on?" Reggie felt confused as his wife sat him down to explain the situation.
______________________________________________________________________________
Smack!
"Ron!" Taro entered the Adventurer's Guild while breathing heavily. "Where does Eclipse live?!"
"Calm down first." Ron sighed.
Taro quickly grabbed Ron by the collar. "Where the fuck are my siblings?!"
Seven of the nine adventurers in the guild stood up and unsheathed their weapons.
"C-Calm down!" Ron gestured for everyone to settle down. "Taro, calm down! Your family is safe! Eclipse has been taking care of them for the last two weeks!"
"Where is she?" Taro tried to calm himself as he let go of Ron.
"She should be here in the morning. I don't know where her house is." Ron explained. "You should rest here until she arrives…you look awful."
"I don't care how I look…" Taro said through his blurry vision. He was actually exhausted. Now that he was in the town, his fatigue hit him like a truck.
"Just calm down, grab a chair and sleep until she comes here. What else are you going to do? Run in the streets shouting for your brother and sisters?" Ron asked.
"…" Taro slowly pulled up a chair as everyone sheathed their weapons and sat back down.
Thud.
His head hit the table as he immediately fell asleep.
______________________________________________________________________________
"Eclipse…" Ron looked up as Eclipse entered the guild with a tired expression. "What's wrong?"
"Taro's sister Clare wouldn't go to school and Yen was lashing out at her. I had to calm her down last night." Eclipse sighed heavily.
"Speaking of Taro…" Ron gestured with his head at the sleeping Taro.
"…" Eclipse's eyes widened in shock. She quickly brushed her white hair back and sat next to him. She simply stared at his chest go up and down as he breathed.
"He's alive…" Eclipse said in a whisper. Tears filled her eyes. "He's alive…"
"He came back last night carrying a wolf." Ron sighed.
"Thank god…thank god…" Eclipse cried as she bit her lower lip. "I thought I got him killed…"
"…" Taro's eyes fluttered open. He slowly looked up at the crying Eclipse. He immediately stood up and approached Eclipse, grabbing her by the shoulders. "!!! Eclipse! Where is my family?!"
"…" Eclipse grit her teeth and slowly hugged him. "I'm so sorry…I almost got you killed…"
"…?" Taro felt confused. He was probably the closest with Eclipse from anyone in town, but even then, they weren't that close. They were more acquaintances than friends.
"If I had told you to not go to the dungeon, you wouldn't have suffered! If I didn't tease you with a hunting quest, your family would still have its house!! If I had just told you to take a fetching quest like usual, your sisters wouldn't be crying every night!" Eclipse sobbed in his arms.
"…" Taro didn't know what to do. He felt awkward. He wanted to shout at her and scream. However, her heartfelt and earnest tears made it quite difficult for him.
"Waaaahaaa!!!" Eclipse kept sobbing like a child.
"I-It's…" Taro slowly put his hand on her back. "It's okay. Just…take me to your house for now."
"Hey, Taro." Ron called out.
Thud.
Taro opened the small bag that Ron had thrown on the table. It was around 40 Copper pieces.
"For the wolf." Ron nodded.
"T-Thanks." Taro quickly nodded in thanks and gestured to Eclipse to lead the way.
______________________________________________________________________________
"I'm so sorry…" Eclipse could barely hold back her tears.
"It's okay. I'll deal with it now…like I always have." Taro sighed.
"I'm sorry…" Eclipse felt even worse when she realized once more that she didn't stop Taro from going into such a dangerous quest when his family was so dependent on him.
"…" Taro let her be as they approached a small inn.
"Welcome." the innkeeper greeted brightly. He quickly frowned after seeing Eclipse.
She quickly led Taro upstairs where she took out her key and opened the door.
"Clar-!"
Eclipse was quickly interrupted by Taro quickly running to his little sister who was blankly staring at the fireplace in front of her.
"!!!" Clare was shocked out of her trance by Taro hugging her tight. "T-Taro…?"
"I'm so sorry…" Taro felt his lip quiver as he saw the state of his sister. A few tears welled up in his eyes. "I swear, I will never leave you like this again!"
"T-TARO!!!!" Clare quickly began wailing as she felt her brother's strong arms embrace her. He was even hugging her a little too tight. It hurt. However, she loved this pain. It was the only thing proving to her that this was not a dream.
"WAAAAAH!!!!" Clare sobbed as she held onto her brother's bloodstained clothes. The bandits' blood had dried up already, yet the smell remained from the wolf's blood.
"…" Taro bit his lower lip to stop himself from crying as he simply hugged his little sister. For once since this whole ordeal started, he felt warm inside, almost like he was finally human again.
After almost half an hour of crying, Clare's tears had finally dried up. She gasped for air between her silent sobs as she rested her head on her brother's chest.
"I-I need to get back to work…" Eclipse sniffled slightly as she awkwardly smiled at Taro and turned to leave.
"Hey, Eclipse." Taro called out to her, causing her to pause and turn her head around.
"Thank you for helping my family." Taro said with a guilty expression.
"…" Eclipse turned around and faced the door. "It was my fault they suffered to begin with."
"No." Taro said with a soft tone filled with conviction. "I wasn't mature enough. You didn't have to help us out…if you ever need any help, just ask, okay?"
"…" Eclipse's shoulders seemed to tremble slightly. The guilt had been eating her up for the last month. She finally felt a moment of peace. As if the world decided to have mercy on her. "Will do."
______________________________________________________________________________
"Let's go see Yen." Taro smiled at Clare and patted her head.
"O-Okay." Clare nodded with a smile as she sniffled slightly.
Yen was usually studying under Mrs. Birnes around this time of day.
Taro held Clare in his arms and walked slightly faster than usual towards Mrs. Birnes's sewing shop.
Ding!
The bell sounded out as the door opened.
"Welco-…" Yen's depressed voice suddenly cut off as she raised her head to look at her next customer.
"He-!!"
SMACK!!
Yen punched Taro with as much strength as she could muster.
Of course, to an adventurer like Taro, her punch didn't amount to much. However, the mental damage hurt far more than the physical damage.
"You left us, you bastard! You coward!!" Yen spat out hatefully with tears in her eyes.
"Yen! No! Stop!!" Clare wanted to cry, yet her tears had already dried up.
"…" Taro put down Clare.
SMACK!
Yen punched again.
SMACK!
SMACK!!
SMACK!!
SMACK!!
SMACK!
Smack!
Smack!
Smack.
Smack.
Yen kept punching until she tired out. It didn't take long since she was already exhausted. She weakly fell into her brother's arms.
"…" Taro couldn't say a thing in response.
"I…" Yen's hands gripped his back as hard as she could, almost as if letting go would be her death. Tears fell down her face. "I was so scared, you asshole!!"
"What going on here?!" Mrs. Birnes came out from the back after hearing the commotion. "You!! You're still alive!!!"
"S-Sorry for the disturbance." Taro bowed his head slightly. "I need to borrow Yen for today."
"A-Alright. Take your time…" Mrs. Birnes gulped slightly as she saw Yen crying into her brother's arms.
"Come on." Taro lightly nudged Yen. She tightened her grip on his clothes with a sob.
"…" Taro sighed as he lifted his sister princess-style. "Let's go, Clare."
Clare nodded lightly as she saw her elder sister cry her eyes out. She hadn't cried a single tear since Taro "died".
Yen was so exhausted that she fell asleep in his arms.
Taro took them back to Eclipse's home and put Yen down to sleep.
"Clare, I need you to take care of Yen. Can you do that for me?" Taro asked with a smile.
"W-Where are you going?!" Clare immediately panicked.
"I'm going to get Tommy." Taro smiled as he pat her head. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
"O-Okay…" Clare looked at her brother with worry.
______________________________________________________________________________
Taro headed for the local school in the area. He quickly walked in with excitement. There were only four classes. Two for the kids and two for adults. Each of the age groups were split into either commoners or nobles.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Excuse me." Taro's voice sounded out as he opened the door and entered Tom's classroom.
"???" the teacher was confused to see this bloodstained man walk into his classroom. "The adults' class is two doors to the right."
"I'm…here for Thomas…" Taro felt a pit in his stomach as he looked around the classroom…Tom wasn't there.
"Tom is at the principal's office upstairs. Excuse me, but how do you know Tom?" the teacher asked.
"I'm a family member. Now, if you'll excuse me." Taro bowed his head quickly and headed upstairs.
THUD!!
CRASH!!!
Taro immediately ran up the stairs and looked at the room the noise was coming from. He heard the sound of things being broken and shouting inside.
"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!!" Tom's voice was filled with anguish and fury.
"You can go to hell with your dumbass brother!" a nasal voice replied in almost equal fury.
BAM!!
"What the hell is going on here?!" Taro smacked the door open.
"…" Tom, who was being restrained by a teacher, fell silent as he heard Taro's voice. His eyes widened when he turned around. "B-Brother…?"
"What the hell is going on here?!" Taro's eye twitched when he saw Tom's lip busted and his nose bleeding. He then turned to see a fat boy with a bleeding nose as well.
"I…" Tom didn't know how to defend himself. Taro had sent him to school to stop him from verbally fighting with Clare. Now, he had just broken a rich snob's nose!
Taro quickly grabbed the kid by the collar as his eyes went bloodshot. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY LITTLE BROTHER?!"
"Let go of him, fiend!" a fancy looking man drew his rapier. He looked like your typical nobleman. Additionally, he was also an F-rank adventurer.
Naturally, almost every adventurer in Kiddi Town knew of the F-rank Taro. However, the nobleman wasn't the kind to frequent the Adventurer's Guild.
"Huh?" Taro turned his gaze at the guy pointing a rapier at him. "You drew your weapon. You face the consequences."
"What are you talking abo-!!!"
SMACK!!!
A punch landed square in his face, breaking his nose.
"T-Taro!" Tom smiled brightly.
"An E-ranker?!" the nobleman trembled as he held his nose. Not necessarily because he was facing a supposed E-ranker, but because he was facing an E-ranker that didn't care about the consequences of offending him.
"Listen here, you bastard!" Taro raised the relatively short nobleman by his collar. "If your dumbass son touches my brother again, your noses won't be the only thing broken. Do I make myself clear?"
"!!!" the nobleman's teeth clattered as he trembled in terror.
"Good." Taro threw him to the side. "Tommy, let's go."
"M-M-M-Mister Taro…" the principle popped his head out from behind the desk. "I'm afraid Thomas cannot attend this school anymore…"
"…" Taro grit his teeth. "Let's go, Tommy!"
"Y-Yes!" Tom slowly followed his brother. He had never seen his brother act this domineering in his life. His brother was a timid man that always tried to resolve conflicts, so where did this ferocious man come from?
"T-Taro?" Tom called out as the two were walking back to Eclipse's home.
"Not a word of this to the girls." Taro ordered.
"O-Okay…" Tom slowly nodded his head.
Taro's mind was moving at a million miles an hour.
'I need to move. Offending that noble was a damn mistake…DAMN IT!!' Taro grit his teeth.
Nobles were the leading class of Kiddi Town. They commanded the garrison. A mere commoner like himself was doomed unless someone like the Town Mayor himself decided to intervene. However, Taro didn't have that kind of connection.
Taro sighed. 'I didn't want to use the money yet, but it looks like I'll have to buy a house somewhere. Jump Town, Lily Town, or Ciri City?'
'A house in a City is probably going to cost more than a Gold piece…' Taro was starting to agonize about his decision to punch that noble.
After arriving at the inn, Taro headed up immediately.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Who is it?" Taro heard Eclipse's voice on the other side.
"Hm?" Taro felt confused. "It's me, Taro."
"A-A moment please." Taro could hear shuffling inside before Eclipse opened the door with a weak smile.
"Didn't you have work?" Taro asked.
"I don't know why, but I was excused for today." Eclipse smiled with a slight sigh of relaxation.
"Anyway…" Taro turned to look at his sisters. Yen was looking at the ground while seated on the bed. Clare was sitting in the corner looking at the fireplace. Tom was still looking at his elder brother with awe. "Everyone…come here."
Clare seemed jolted out of her train of thought as she stood up and came closer.
Tom sat next to Yen on the bed.
Yen also slowly looked up.
"I owe all of you an explanation." Taro sighed.
Eclipse slowly sat next to the fireplace with her back to the group.
"I…went on a dungeon with a bunch of D-rankers and E-rankers." Taro was going to be concise. "I was supposed to be a porter for this D-rank dungeon. Everything was going smoothly until the boss room. It wasn't a kobold king or a werewolf. It was two werewolves and a werewolf king."
"…" Eclipse frowned. 'That doesn't make sense. Why would a werewolf king keep other werewolves in his boss room?'
"Everyone except for me is dead." Taro sighed. "After a while, I found myself near Ingrid Village. I had lost everything on me. I lost my sword, my clothes, my money…"
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
All three of his siblings felt a chill. They had no money!
"An old lady I had helped before gave me some food and a dagger." Taro continued. "On my way here, I was attacked by bandits. Thankfully, I survived and managed to get a huge sum of money."
Eclipse flinched. Only she understood what managing to get money from bandits meant…an absolute massacre.
"We're going to move to Jump Town." Taro said. "We'll start over from there."
"W-Wait!" Eclipse finally spoke up. "You're going to move? Is it because your house was sold? You can just stay with me!"
"It's not about that." Taro sighed. "Speaking of the house, how much did sell for?"
"55 Silver pieces." Yen sighed weakly.
"Good. Give it to me." Taro nodded.
"…" Yen didn't say anything as she avoided his gaze.
"…" Taro sighed. "Ye-!"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Who is it?" Eclipse asked.
Click.
The door opened without a reply.
"Are you insa-!!!" Eclipse was about to freak out until she saw the face of the person who had just entered her home without permission.
"Good afternoon, Miss Eclipse." the man nodded in greeting.
"!!!" Taro would never forget this man's face either. This man with messy black hair that covered his forehead and a scarred cheek was a man of great renown. It was the Guild Leader of the Kiddi Town Adventurer's Guild! The B-ranker, [Flowing Sword], Bradley Elanson!
"You're Taro, correct?" Bradley asked lazily. His figure seemed like that of an overworked old man, yet he emanated an aura that Taro found comparable to the werewolf king!
"Y-Yes, sir…" Taro tried to stand confidently, yet his shaking legs had betrayed him.
"I have some questions I need to ask you." Bradley said in a weak tone. "Please, follow me."
"A moment, if you will allow me." Taro didn't even wait for permission before he went to Yen and put all the money he had in her hands.
"W-Wh-?"
Taro quickly interrupted her with a whisper. "If I don't come back, I need you to take this money and make do in Jump Town."
"You just came back!! Where are you going now?!" Yen roared back at him.
"Sorry." Taro sighed as he walked up to Bradley. "Let's go, sir."
"…" Bradley simply nodded as Yen jumped out to grab Taro. She was quickly restrained by Eclipse.
The two quietly walked out of the inn. As they walked the streets, Taro felt a feeling of hopelessness in his chest. How was he going to explain this whole mess to him?
After the two arrived at the Adventurer's Guild, Ron looked at him with worry and mouthed to him two words. "I'm sorry."
"…" Taro sighed as he followed Bradley into his office.
"Now…would you please explain to me how you're alive?" Bradley asked as he sat behind his desk.
"I…" Taro gulped. "I don't know…"
"Hm…" Bradley thinned his eyes. "Explain to me what happened from the beginning."
"…" Taro took a deep breath. "I was asked to hit the D-rank kobold dungeon with the Third Stone party. It was pretty easy at first with only kobolds. Since I was a porter, I didn't fight any of them."
"…" Bradley simply kept nodding.
"The problems started at the boss room. After we went in, we found that the boss room was an abandoned castle." Taro sighed. "We first encountered two werewolves. When we managed to kill them, a werewolf king appeared and slaughtered all of us."
"That makes sense…" Bradley sighed. "Now the question arises, how did you survive?"
"I don't know." Taro sighed.
"Huh…" Bradley seemed slightly intrigued. "Explain to me what happened after the werewolf king appeared."
"It killed everyone. Next thing I know, I'm near Ingrid Village. After I got there, I found an old lady there called Katrina. She gave me food and a dagger to protect myself on the road to Kiddi Town." Taro continued. He didn't understand why the Guild Leader wanted to know. The thing he should have wanted to know the most was already known to him. "I lost all my money by then, so I looked for Blue Rilios to earn some more money while on the road. Sadly, I was caught up in a bandit tra-!"
DING!!!!
A sharp bell sound caused Taro to flinch.
"…" Bradley simply glared at him. "You're lying."
"…" Taro's mind went into overdrive. The bell on the Guild Leader's desk was obviously a lie detector! "I saw that bandits had a trap set up. I went in regardless because I wanted the ten stalks of Blue Rilios."
"And then?" Bradley leaned back on his chair.
"I killed them." Taro said coldly. "They tried to kill me, so I killed them. I also took all their money. After that, I met a wolf and killed it. Then it was straight to Kiddi Town."
"…" Bradley smiled. "Good."
"Huh?" Taro tilted his head in confusion.
"Do you want to come with us?" Bradley offered.
"With you? Where?" Taro asked in a worried tone.
"To kill the werewolf king." Bradley smiled.
"…" Taro gulped in shock. "I'll just die."
"You'll just be a porter." Bradley smiled slyly. "If you do, I'll pay you two Gold pieces and pay for your E-rank promotion."
"!!!" Taro's eyes shot open. 'If I get two Gold pieces, I'll have enough to buy a house in Ciri City! No…if I can become E-rank, I'll have the chance to be a part of the Red Dragons! I can stay here in Kiddi Town!!'
Taro started to see a way out. The Red Dragons were the guards that kept the nobles in check. They were usually C-ranks with their newbies being D-rankers. If he could make it into the Red Dragons, all his problems would go away.
'Using the Twelve Shadows of the Moon Technique that she taught me, I might able to make it! No! I'm sure that I will make it!!!' Taro gulped.
"So?" Bradley asked.
"I'll do it." Taro said with conviction. It was ticket out! Time to gamble!
"Good." Bradley smirked as he stood up. "Come here tomorrow morning. We'll discuss the plans then."
"Yes, sir!" Taro stood up. "If you'll excuse me…"
"You may leave." Bradley gestured to him as he turned his attention to some paperwork.