Morse waited for hours, but the three of them didn't come back for him. He thought that they might have forgotten him and just headed straight back to the village.

He walks out of hiding and heads in the direction the three chase the man in black. As he walks unguarded, a beast like a bear gazes at him from the bushes, hiding its presence.

Suddenly, someone pulled him over to the tree, covering his eyes. The mysterious man said, "Don't make any sounds or movement."

"Who?" Morse inquired, but the man was deafeningly quiet and shucked him.

The beast-like bear glared at them, finding faults in their movements. The mysterious man didn't take his eyes off the beast-like bear.

The two stared for a long time, intimidating each other. The one who backs down will be devoured, and if the two end in a tie, one shall retire.

The beast-like bear retreated and the mysterious man disappeared at the same time, leaving Morse stunned.

"What the hell just happened?" He murmured and hurriedly walked, hoping that he wouldn't encounter more shocking events.

Roswald and the other two, at that time, after they capture the man in black, think of heading back right away to the village and forget all about Morse, who is left back in the forest.

After they arrive at the village gate, that's when they realize that Morse was not with them and start questioning each other.

They didn't know when Morse was missing. They were so focused on chasing the man that they didn't have time to think of other things.

When they realize, Geld returns to the forest, where he finds Morse halfway in a miserable state and collapses.

He laughed in relief that his friend was out without a scratch. He came near him and carried him on his shoulder, heading out of the forest.

"Guild master, you're back. What happened to Mister Morse?" the receptionist asks.

"He just collapsed. Where are the others?"

"Sir Mario, the village chief, said to head to his mansion right away."

"Alright, take care of him for me." Geld said, after putting Morse's unconscious body on the floor and heading out.

The receptionist was troubled by the situation and hastily called two of the male staff and moved Morse's body to the guild office.

*Village Chief Mansion*

"Sir Geld, please head this way." The mansion butler said, guiding Geld down to the basement cell.

"It's really creepy walking down this path."

"Yes?"

"Nothing,"

"We are here, sir Geld, please proceed on your own, it's just ahead, you will see them along the way. I shall head back now."

"Alright, thank you." Geld said, and walked ahead along the dark path.

He saw lit torches ahead of him, and as he came near, he heard the noises of three people chattering. He felt a chill in the air as he came near. When he arrived and saw the three of them, he almost jumped at the sight of torture.

"What are the three of you doing?"

"The man here wouldn't say anything, so we thought of this method." Amelia responds while smiling happily.

"Took you long enough to arrive?" Roswald asks.

"Well, Morse collapsed when I found him, and I thought the three of you were in the guild, so I headed there."

"Now that you're here, let's discuss something upstairs. This is not the appropriate place to talk." Mario said.

Mario looked at the man in black intimidatingly and said, "If you're not going to say anything when we come back here and ask, you're dead. Think hard while we are still giving you time."

"Can I stay here and guard him? I also have things to ask him." Amelia asked and smiled unpredictably.

"Don't kill him." Roswald replied.

"Alright,"

"Let's go." Mario said, and the three of them headed out of the basement to the office to have a discussion.

*Mario's Office*

"So, what is the issue?" Geld asked, sitting on the couch.

"What did you find in the forest?" Mario responded with a question.

"We found nothing except for that man." Geld replies.

"The forest is dangerous. The air is filled with a black aura. It's ominous. I think something is coming that will cause a fall in this village. We should prepare for the worst. The man that we brought back with us, we found him and his companion coming out of the lake. We should send some people to monitor them, and I forgot to tell you that when I found the child deep in the forest, I sensed something big and ominous. It's like it's looking at me, monitoring all of my movements. All the things that have happened so far are....." Roswald explained in vigilance.

"You're right, we should take measures for the things to come. Geld, can you send some of your people?"

"My people can't do it. We should put out a quest, or I could talk to some hunters to take up this issue."

"Alright, I'll leave that to you then."

Mario sighed with all his problems and tried to stay calm at all times. Suddenly, they heard a loud sound in the basement and hurriedly headed down, where they saw the servants in panic.

Mario calmed his people, and the three of them headed down into the basement to see that the man in black was at the feet of Amelia Bath in red.

"Amelia, what happened here? Didn't we tell you not to kill him?" Geld shouted, but was stopped by the other two.

"Wait, look there." Mario said, pointing at the ceiling above Amelia. What they saw was a monster that was contaminated by a black mist.

"What the hell is that?!" Geld exclaimed, stunned.

The monster moved its claws and struck at Amelia, throwing her from the side. "Amelia!" Mario shouted in worry.

"Stay right there. Don't get in my way." Amelia said, getting up from the ground buried in pebbles from the broken wall.

Amelia threw a vial of potion in the air, hitting the monster above and screaming horribly. She threw another vial of potion into the air, once again hitting the monster and screamed angrily charging at her, but before she could do that, the monster's skin decayed and fell down on the ground. When they went near to taking a final blow, it was already dead.

Mario sent his butler out to see if the people were panicking, but as if nothing had happened, the village was silent and the guards and people were not alerted. Roswald found it strange and spread his aura through the air to find that someone had cast a spell to make all the people fall asleep.

He sends intimidation into the air, warning the one who cast the spell. The people felt his intimidation and woke up in a fright, and the soldiers and other hunters were alerted. Roswald retreats his aura to not cause commotion in the village, and the four of them keep the issue at hand.

"Are you alright?" Mario asks.

"Yeah I am," Amelia replied.

"What was the thing you threw at the monster?" Geld asked.

"It's alchemy's secret. Just kidding, it's a new poison I created." Amelia responded.

"We should hurry and clean this up before morning comes. People will panic if they see this situation." Roswald stated.

"You're right, we should stop talking and take care of everything." Mario responds while helping Amelia up.

"What about that thing?" Geld asks.

"Thing? Ah, that man will be transferred to the other basement." Mario stated

"You have another basement? How big is this mansion anyway?"

"That's a secret….. anyway let's head up to my office, we have more to discuss."

"How about we continue tomorrow?" Geld asked without noticing that Mario was annoyed and angry.

"I have some matters tomorrow, so it has to be now." Mario stated this matter-of-factly.

"It's midnight, almost morning, and we are tired." Geld insisted.

"Well, how about you go home yourself?" Mario said, containing himself.

"Let's discuss the issue. No, tomorrow we rest." Roswald said, stopping the two from fighting and wasting time.

"That's right. I want to sit on a chair to rest my body. You see, I'm injured. Amelia stated

Geld sighs and responds, "Alright."

The four of them headed to Mario's office and called a female physician to treat Amelia's injury in the other room.

The three men stayed quiet as they waited for the treatment to finish. Mario kept sighing as he thought of a bigger problem to come. Geld was annoyed by his sigh but contained himself, and Roswald quietly drank tea and patiently waited.

The female physician and Amelia come out of the other room and see the heavy air surrounding the three men.

Amelia grabbed her shoulder, led her out, and scolded them.

"Anyway, what happened to you three, I mean two?" Amelia asked.

"Nothing, just thinking of the bigger problem." Mario stated.

"You?"

"Me? Nothing is just sitting here, as you can see. Let's quickly discuss this. I want to rest early." Geld said.

The four of them converse for a long time, discussing the problems that may or may not come and how Mario will encounter the situation where he needs to decide to abandon the village he rules someday. Following that, they take a break and allow Mario to think for a while, giving him time to himself.

*Mansion's Hallway*

"Where are you headed? Mario said that he prepared the guest room for our stay." Amelia said.

"I'm going back to my guild. I have things to take care of. Tell him that." Geld stated as he walked out of the mansion.

Roswald entered his room and laid down on the bed, closing his eyes. A sense of nothingness in the air, the calm and quiet atmosphere made him dream of the past. The rusty and moldy smell in the room, eyes full of hate and disgust, the voice of a woman calling him, and red paint across the room, the smell of death as ashes fly through the air.

The knocking sound of the door woke him up. "Sir Roswald, I'm here to bring the tea you requested." Maid A said.

"Come in...."

Maid A comes in and puts the tea on the table and heads out as she asks him if he needs anything, and he says, "Nothing." Maid A then headed out.

At two o'clock in the morning, the four people stay wide awake as they think deeply about the problem they may face, except for one person. Roswald is dazed in the air, unable to sleep because nightmares follow him.

Amelia honed her alchemy as she thinks deeply and Mario, who's stuck in his office with a remorseful face as if he'd lost something he held precious, sits still with his hand covering his face.

In the morning, the sun once again shines in the village as the people welcome the rising sun.

The problem will be discussed in the village soon, and in the meantime, a festival will be held in the village, but the problem will remain unsolved.

They are kept safe and ignorant of danger as they live their everyday lives peacefully. As for the four of them, they didn't notice the morning had risen as they considered the day to be just like any other day than yesterday.

To be continued.