The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the guard station, the day after the massacre. The two guards, the ones who had been posted at the gates of Veridia, now knelt before their captain. They were broken. The evidence of their punishment was visible. One, the shorter of the two, had a split lip and a face bruised from a recent beating. The other, taller, bore a black eye, already bruised and darkening, and a broken nose that dripped a slow trail of blood. The wounds were fresh.

The captain of the guards, a tall man with a long brown moustache and brown hair, clad in silver armor that emphasized his slender build, stood before them. A thick wooden stick, the likely instrument of their suffering, was held loosely in his hand. His voice, surprisingly soft for a man, nonetheless crackled with controlled fury. He slammed the stick against the shorter guard's head. "Do you have any comprehension of the consequences of your actions?"

The only response was a groan, a choked sound. Other guards filled the cramped room, their faces a mixture of pity and anger. Some met the kneeling guards' gaze with sympathy, their expressions reflecting pity. Others glared, their eyes filled with blame, their faces tight with anger. The air was thick with unspoken judgment, with the stench of blood and the metallic tang of fear.

The taller guard, his voice barely a whisper, pleaded, "I'm sorry... please... it was all my fault..."

The captain cut him off, his voice laced with scorn. "All your fault? You think you can shoulder that burden, you arrogant fool? I positioned two guards! Two! And what did you do? Nothing! You let him in." The captain spat the word out. "Do you even begin to understand what would have happened if that fight had escalated straight in to the town?"

He turned to the other guards, his gaze sweeping across their faces. "And some of you... where were you? The entire Black Cloud Guild was killed, slaughtered, while you were at the bar, celebrating after your allowance. I told more of you to scout the area, but you didn't. Most of you were at the bar."

A voice, low and muffled, came from the back of the room. "You were at the bar too, Captain."

The captain turned, his face hardening. "What?"

The guard remained silent. The captain continued, his voice tight with suppressed rage. "You could have been helping the citizens, getting them away from the chaos, but you didn't. If that... battle had spiraled into the town, it would have been over." His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath. He turned back to the two kneeling guards.

"And you two... you can't even remember his face. All because you were so drunk yesterday. Do you have any idea what's going to happen if a Pale Reaper comes here? Do you have any idea what they'll do to you?" He chuckled, a humorless sound. "Me hitting you with a stick seems so much better. If you think I'm cruel, you might consider me a saint after what they'll do to you."

He let the stick fall to the ground with a thud. "Damn it! I might actually lose my job because of you." He stomped between them. "You're fired!"

As he walked out the door, sunlight spilled into the room, momentarily blinding. The shorter, fatter guard groaned as he struggled to his feet. He looked at the slimmer, taller guard, his expression a mix of pity and regret. A low murmur of voices erupted from the other guards as they began to talk amongst themselves.

Two other guards helped the slimmer guard to his feet. Meanwhile, two others grabbed the shorter, fatter guard, wrestling his hands behind his back. A deep voice, belonging to one of the guards, spoke, "Come on, you know what to do. We have to take you to the dungeon now. We have to wait until either the Vanguard or the Royal Knights get here."

The shorter, fatter guard clenched his teeth, tears streaming down his face. "It was all my fault," he choked out. "I was the one who came up with the idea of buying the booze... and I just had to put some sun leafs in the bottles."

The guard, standing beside him, said, "It's okay, man. I'm sorry this happened to you, but we can't really help you."

The other guard, on the other side of the shorter guard, offered, "Yeah, don't worry, we'll make sure you get as much food and water in the dungeon as possible."

The slimmer guard turned to him, shaking his head. "No, don't blame yourself. It was all on me, for letting you go buy those drinks. I didn't know you were gonna put sun leafs in them, but I shouldn't have let you go buy them anyway."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

One of the guards supporting the slimmer guard scoffed, "What are you guys on about? You let a criminal into Veridia. You don't really know what happened, did you?"

Another guard from the crowd stepped forward. "Yeah, we went there. We saw what happened. The thing... it was a monster. He looked human, but after... after that shadow, he just... became something different."

Another, shook his head, speaking with grim finality. "Yeah. The entire town was covered in shadow."

"You're going to get tortured. They're going to think you were allied with him or something."

The slimmer guard protested, "What? But we're not! We don't even know the guy! We told you what we already know! I'm the one who hardly remembered him, but the images, the memories... they're blurry. We just know he wore black and he had red eyes..."

The fatter guard finished his sentence for him, "And he didn't have a shadow."

A muscular guard within the crowd responded to him, saying, "You're wrong. He *did* have a shadow. When we went there, everybody saw it."

Another guard interrupted the muscular one, saying, "Yeah, but he lost it as soon as that shadow surrounded him. So, these guys are right. He has that kind of ability."

Another guard then added, "Yeah. He's right."

The muscular guard sighed. "Well, either way, you're gonna have to explain more to the Vanguard when they get here. After that... I guess you'll have to look for new jobs." He paused, then added, "That is, if you're still alive when they're done with you..."

The fat, short guard then spoke, his voice trembling, "What... what do you mean by that?"

The two fired guards were then taken by the other guards out of the room, towards the dungeon. They were taken to wait until the Vanguard or the Pale Reapers arrived.

The muscular guard watched them as they exited the room. Another guard said, "We already gave a description to the artist we hired to draw a sketch of him. The Captain said he already filed the report. And we're gonna have to post some wanted posters."

The muscular guard said, "Right." He paused. "Those guys said he was a C-Rank Hunter. Right?"

The other guard replied, "Yes."

Some of the guards were already leaving the room, returning to their duties.

The muscular guard nodded. "Yes. But he's obviously a false ranker. A C-Rank can't even touch an A-Rank." He paused again. "Well, did that member wake up yet?"

The guard replied, "Unfortunately, she's still unconscious. She hasn't woken up yet."

The muscular guard's gaze dropped to the floor, his expression tightening. "At least we got more information from that kid."

His companion let out a harsh laugh. "Yeah. That little bastard nearly got himself killed."

The muscular guard shook his head slowly. "I'm still new here. Thought maybe he was working with the criminal, but turns out... he's just unstable?"

The other guard crossed his arms. "Everyone in town knows something's broken in that kid's head. One moment, he seems okay. The next, he's lost to whatever's tearing him apart inside. His emotions flip unpredictably."

Memories flickered through the muscular guard's mind Kai shifting with every word. Calm and collected at first, explaining how he followed the guards after hearing noises. Then despairing, speaking of a desire to die. Suddenly, radiant with strange joy, praising the shadow that blanketed the whole town as if it were an angel. And then spiraling back into his dark monologue during questioning.

The other guard sighed, the weight of it evident. "They told us interrogating Kai is useless. Everyone knows what he really is. On the surface, maybe normal, acting normal sometimes, but his mind... it shifts in the rarest moments, especially around others. That's why most people avoid him. They don't want the chaos he carries."

The muscular guard stepped closer to the door, glancing at his companion with a furrowed brow. "The kid couldn't even give us a clear description," he said. "Kept exaggerating. Said the guy looked handsome, like an angel red, uncanny eyes. Said his voice was unique, like he actually helped him somehow. It was... strange."

The other guard cut him off with a tired shake of his head. "Don't waste your mind on it. Let's just get to the captain. You're not going to get anything useful out of that kid."

"But isn't that the point?" the muscular guard insisted. "I'm actually trying to think this through. That kid is probably the only one who's seen him without the mask. Unstable or not, he even said he's waiting for that guy to come back."

The other guard exhaled and nodded slowly. "Yeah, we told him to let us know if he ever shows up again, but frankly, that's not likely. The guy wiped out an entire guild overnight. Still... I guess it's not impossible."

The muscular guard was silent for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

The other guard placed a reassuring hand on the muscular guard's shoulder. "Come on," he said.

They left the guard station, heading toward the Hunter Assessment Center. They all knew the captain had already gone there, he'd told them earlier he'd be heading that way. They were going to investigate and search there. The center was the hub where every active hunter's documents were copied and distributed across bases and assessment centers. Since they believed the stranger to be a hunter, this was the only place to search.

They needed to comb through the records: hunter missions, levels, any suspicious activity in the region. It was a daunting task, especially with so many hunters active now. The only relief was that not many of them were strong enough to be a real threat. Still, the workload waiting for them was heavy, and they braced themselves for the long hours ahead.

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