“So this was just meant as a warning,” Loewe concluded.

“A warning,” Lily echoed with a shudder.

Carmilla, floating in midair, spoke ominously. “Hee hee hee... I see. Sounds like our next opponent is the Black Guild.”

The demi-humans, still holding their glasses, gave small shrugs. “Who knows,” Zophia said. “They’re a shady bunch. Nothing like an ordinary guild.”

“Yep,” Lynga added. “They’re not exactly united. I think it was probably the doing of a small fraction of the whole guild.”

“So what you’re saying is that this attack wasn’t representative of the whole guild,” Zenos pondered.

Loewe nodded. “The Black Guild does officially have bosses and leaders and whatnot, but they rarely show their faces. Most members don’t even know who they are.”

“Huh...”

As the healer looked vacantly out the window, the demi-humans patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, doc. If our enemies are anything like that big green dimwit, they’re no big deal,” Zophia assured him.

“She’s right,” Lynga said. “He was kinda unhinged, but we’re used to dealing with his sort.”

“After all, Zophia and Lynga are experts on being unhinged,” Loewe quipped.

“You’re one to talk,” Zophia retorted.

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Loewe,” Lynga snapped.

Loewe laughed. “Right, right.”

“What are you so happy about?” Zenos asked. Was the orc leader that self-aware?

“But you know,” Zophia said solemnly, “in our world, messing with someone else’s turf is basically a declaration of war. The audacity of those people...”

“Yeah. I held back because we were holding a peaceful event,” Lynga added, just as solemnly. “Normally, though? I’d have been out for blood.”

“Same here,” Loewe agreed with a serious expression of her own. “We don’t mess with the Black Guild, and they don’t mess with us. That’s how things have stayed in balance until now.”

“Ah, I see,” Carmilla remarked. “So they have deliberately broken an unwritten rule of nonaggression.”

Zophia nodded slightly. “Maybe something’s going on in the Black Guild that we don’t know about.”

Chapter 2: The Woman from the Black Guild

The Kingdom of Herzeth, also known as the Kingdom of the Sun, was one of the greatest powers in the continent. At the center of its capital was the royal palace, surrounded by a special district where nobility resided, and further encircled by the town district where ordinary citizens lived peacefully.

The slums were even further out, particularly on the opposite side of the royal capital’s main gate—referred to as the “otherside.” Beyond there loomed eerie mountains, home to ferocious magical beasts that would occasionally wander down into the slums. Rumor had it that the kingdom deliberately neglected the slums, using the area as a defensive wall against such threats.

Naturally, this meant that the central government’s watchful eye didn’t reach that far, so the further away from the heart of the capital, the worse the security and the greater the danger in the slums.

In the sprawling, spiderweb-like old underground sewage system, in an area lined with shacks that rattled at the slightest breeze, groans echoed through the air.

“Stupid bastards,” barked a large man with greenish skin at the multiple others who lay collapsed and bruised, moaning in pain at his feet. “Getting your asses kicked by a bunch of domesticated demi-humans.”

“Oh, dear,” came a strangely syrupy woman’s voice from behind them. “What happened here?” The scent of aged honey wafted through the air as her voluptuous figure, oozing allure, emerged from the darkness.

The large man instinctively straightened his back. “Oh, nothing much. Just educating these worthless newbies.”

“So your attack on the festival was a failure, then? You do know it’s bad form to blame your subordinates for your failures, yes?”

“No, that’s not—”

“Oh? Did you just talk back to me?”

“N-No, ma’am!”

“On your knees.”

“Urk...” The man’s enormous frame crumpled, and he collapsed to his knees as if drained of strength.

“So, tell me,” she cooed. “Why did you fail?”

“W-Well, there was...some weird guy. He got in the way. I don’t know how he did it, but he somehow blocked our trump card, the Bomb Stone...”

“Oh? You’re telling me someone can actually do that?” The woman pressed a pale index finger to her red lips, then asked in a sultry tone, “So...was he handsome?”

“U-Uhh...” The large man struggled to find his words as he stared at the sweet-voiced woman standing before him in this corner of the damp underground sewers. “It was dark, so I couldn’t get a good look,” he managed, his tone respectful as he remained on one knee. “He was wearing a black cloak, I think...”

“That’s not what I asked. I want to know if he was handsome.”

“I-I’m not sure. I didn’t get a good look at his face. I think he was human.”

The woman let out a long sigh. “You’re no use at all.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

After a brief silence, the woman continued slowly, “But it is as I suspected. A new leader has emerged in the slums.” She chuckled. “How intriguing.”

“A leader?” the man echoed.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that the demi-humans would suddenly be friendly and organize a festival? They were at each other’s throats until very recently. I had wondered if a new player had entered the scene and brought them together, and this must be him. If he can make the demi-humans stop fighting each other, then he must be quite powerful indeed.”

“I-I see.”

“Have you forgotten the purpose of our attack was to stir up trouble and draw out their leadership?”

“R-Right, that was why... You’re so smart,” he praised her, lifting his head. “B-But what will you do after you’ve flushed out this new leader?”

“On your knees.”

“Gah! Urk...” The man’s knees suddenly bent, and he was forced into a prone position.