“Ha—ah~ Hmm? What’s going on?”
Lant, who had just lazily woken up from the restroom, had barely yawned when he heard what sounded like an explosion in the distance.
Startled completely awake by the sound, Lant realized he had somehow fallen asleep while squatting in the toilet.
Seeing this, he hurriedly finished up, pulled up his pants, and headed outside.
“Damn it, how did I fall asleep? What time is it now? I hope I haven’t been off duty for too long. If that guy finds out, I probably won’t even keep my position as patrol squad leader!”
Grumbling to himself, Lant left the restroom and made his way toward the mansion’s courtyard, hoping the captain of the guard hadn’t noticed his negligence yet.
As for why he had fallen asleep in the restroom, Lant had no idea. All he remembered was that as soon as he squatted down, a wave of drowsiness hit him, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up now.
Hmm? Drowsiness? Lant slowed his running, sensing something was off. Why would he suddenly feel sleepy at that moment?
He thought back carefully and realized that before this, he had intended to take his squad to find some beautiful flowers to give to Lilith—maybe to win her favor.
And before that, he had sneaked a bite of dinner because he was too hungry.
Dinner! Suddenly, Lant’s eyes widened as he grasped the root of the problem—someone had drugged the dinner!
Realizing this, Lant’s legs that had stopped immediately started running again. He had to tell the captain of the guards as soon as possible. Maybe this would even earn him a promotion!
But when Lant reached the mansion’s courtyard, he realized things had taken a turn for the worse.
“What the hell is going on?! Has someone attacked the mansion? Where are the captain and the boss? Are they okay? I hope I’m not out of a job again!”
Staring at the chaotic scene in the courtyard and the few familiar corpses, Lant felt completely at a loss.
He recognized those bodies—they were the people who had cooked dinner tonight. It looked like they had been torn apart without any resistance.
Besides them, there were also several orc slave corpses, but these seemed to have resisted.
Lant looked at the scene before him, unsure what to do.
He glanced toward the mansion and noticed there was no sound coming from inside. It seemed there was no one left alive.
“Wh-what exactly happened??? What should I do? Oh, right! Where’s the boss? Where did he go? He can’t be hurt! I haven’t even gotten this month’s salary yet!”
With that, Lant was about to head into the mansion to look for the boss, but then he noticed a large trail of footprints on the ground leading toward the grass near the mansion.
Seeing this, Lant hesitated. Judging from the footprints, a large group of “people” had gone into the grass, and they didn’t look like the mansion’s guards—most likely the attackers.
He didn’t know if he should follow them. What if it was dangerous?
After pondering for a moment, Lant decided to follow the footprints anyway. The mansion was far too quiet now, and he was afraid something bad might be lurking inside. Compared to the mansion, following the footprints might lead him to someone.
Following the tracks, Lant arrived at a clearing in the grass where it seemed someone had cut down all the grass—signs of a fierce battle were everywhere.
Just as Lant entered, he was startled by a dismembered orc slave corpse lying nearby.
Looking around, he saw many such bodies scattered about.
Not only that, but there were also corpses of some ugly, pitch-black, rather short creatures. This place had clearly witnessed a brutal massacre.
Suppressing his fear, Lant examined the bodies carefully.
He noticed that most of the orc slaves had been torn apart viciously, while the creatures had mostly been killed by a single lethal blow.
It looked like the creatures had attacked the orc slaves, but were then all wiped out by some unknown force.
Swallowing nervously, Lant prepared to leave the place as if he had seen nothing.
Just then, at the edge of the clearing, he spotted a familiar figure.
He hurried over, and upon getting closer, Lant confirmed his suspicion.
Lying on the ground was his boss, “Furnace Hook.”
Seeing Lant approach, Furnace Hook’s eyes lit up with renewed hope.
His mouth opened and closed, and with all his remaining strength, he managed to utter a broken phrase:
“Help… me…”
Hearing this, Lant panicked and quickly dragged Furnace Hook into a patch of grass.
He wanted to move him further out, but noticed his breathing was growing weaker.
Seeing this, Lant was at a complete loss.
Furnace Hook, however, seemed not to have given up.
His lips barely moving, he whispered again: “…eye… patch…”
Eye patch? What about the eye patch?
Lant was confused, thinking his boss might be delirious from nearing death, spouting strange nonsense.
But then he recalled something Lilith had once asked him—what was hidden beneath Furnace Hook’s eye patch?
Thinking of that, curiosity surged within Lant.
He looked at Furnace Hook and noticed his gaze was starting to grow dim.
So, Lant reluctantly removed the eye patch.
Inside the eye socket, he found a round stone bead adorned with a flower pattern.
Lant picked up the bead and carefully put the eye patch back on Furnace Hook.
He examined the bead in his hand, sensing a faint magical aura—it was clearly a magic artifact.
As Lant took the bead, Furnace Hook grew excited.
His mouth opened and closed, as if wanting to say something, but Lant was focused on figuring out how to use the bead.
If the boss cared so much about this magic artifact, it had to hold a way to change their dire situation!
Lant thought so, but he had no idea how to use it.
Knowing time was running out, and if he delayed any longer, his boss would probably die on the street, Lant decided to try.
He poured his magic power into the bead.
Almost immediately, a strange sensation washed over him.
Within a second, his figure vanished.
Seeing this, Furnace Hook’s mouth dropped open, seemingly surprised by Lant’s reckless move.
Finally, with a look of unwillingness, he swallowed his last breath.
Meanwhile, Lant reappeared at the mansion’s front gate, looking around in confusion.
After a moment, he realized what had happened.
Looking toward the distant grass, Lant knew his boss probably couldn’t be saved.
The bead’s teleportation magic had just been used; it needed one or two hours to recharge.
And before that, his boss wouldn’t hold on.
So, Lant clasped his hands together and silently prayed in the direction of his boss.
Then, he pocketed the bead and left.
He planned to find Ryan and discuss rehiring him as a guard.
He was short on money now because he hadn’t saved much before, and his savings were almost gone.
At this rate, he might starve to death!