Inside the Guild hall, Eina listened to the torrential rain pouring down, her hands moving sluggishly over her work.
"Are you sure Bell didn't go to the Dungeon just now?"
She finally couldn't suppress the worry in her chest and turned to question the friend beside her.
"Nope," Misha replied after thinking back. "I'd bet tonight's dinner on it—the direction that boy ran off to was the complete opposite of the Dungeon."
Eina set her pen down, brows knitting tightly.
No matter how many times she tried to stop him, that boy would always head for the Dungeon without hesitation.
Bell had already completed his registration for exploration while speaking with her.
Unless something unexpected had happened, there was no reason for him to suddenly rush somewhere else.
Her thoughts began to focus.
If there had been anything strange about their earlier conversation, it must have been the topic of healing potions.
Could something have happened to Naaza Erisuis?
Uneasy, Eina stood up. Her green eyes shimmered behind her glasses, clouded with worry.
"What's with you all of a sudden?" Misha nudged her arm. "You worry when he goes to the Dungeon, and now you worry when he doesn't. Didn't know you were that into the kid."
Unusually, Eina showed no trace of embarrassment at the tease.
Normally, she would've flushed red and fired back a retort.
Sensing something was off, Misha's smile faded. "If you're that worried, why not tell the Guildmaster—or just go find him yourself?"
The first option wasn't realistic.
The Guild was short on hands, and reporting something based purely on a hunch wouldn't get her anywhere.
"I've decided. I'm going to find Bell and get some answers." Eina adjusted her glasses and bundled the documents together.
"And the work?"
"Leaving it to you." Eina glanced at the rain beating against the window, placing the thick stack of papers onto her colleague's desk.
"Eh~ No way! If you pile any more work on me, I'll actually start crying."
Misha eyed the mountain of paperwork blocking her view. Despite the complaints, there was no hint of real irritation on her face.
"Please handle it," Eina said.
She knew her friend well enough that she didn't wait for an answer before heading straight for the door.
"Fine! But I want fried potato balls and a big strawberry dessert when you get back—you're buying!"
"Thanks. I'll remember that, my dear friend." Eina stepped into the rain.
Misha sighed quietly to herself. Dear friend… please, you turn red every time someone mentions that boy. Don't say embarrassing things like that in public.
As Eina's figure disappeared into the storm, Misha turned back to her mountain of work.
Both of them, in their hearts, offered a silent prayer to the gods.
May he—and she—return safely.
...
Thunder rumbled across the sky.
Inside the Blue Pharmacy, blood mixed with spilled Potion, spreading greedily across the floor.
Eina stared at the shattered glass beneath her feet, a wave of dread tightening in her chest.
Something had definitely happened here.
Mustering her courage, she glanced around cautiously, trembling as she stepped inside.
The floor and shelves were in total disarray—yet not a single person was in sight.
A fight had broken out here.
Not a scuffle, but a brutal, bloody battle for survival.
The sticky, sickening feeling underfoot made the half-elf girl's heart sink.
If Bell had run out to deal with this situation, then he was likely in grave danger himself.
After all, the calm and responsible boy would have reported to the Guild immediately if he had won the fight and sought help.
Naaza and Bell… they must have been taken.
Eina reached that conclusion just as a wave of dizziness washed over her.
She had to report to the Guild and call for reinforcements right away.
The rain was washing away every trace—she had no time to waste.
But just as Eina lifted the curtain and stepped out from the back room, a scarred man appeared in the doorway.
…
In Orario, information was everything.
The scarred man had always believed that.
He couldn't forgive it—the fact that a rookie, a kid who'd once been chased around the first floor by Goblins and screamed in panic, had actually defeated him.
After completing the kidnapping mission, he slipped away unnoticed.
That earlier defeat had only happened because he'd been fooled by the boy's act and lost his composure for a moment.
This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake.
He would crush that white-haired brat beneath his boot and erase the shame burning in his chest.
But instead of the boy, he found a Half-elf girl standing inside Blue Pharmacy.
He recognized her immediately—a Guild employee.
He'd done his research. Adventurers usually restocked their potions after an expedition, not before setting out.
Because of that, the pharmacy had the fewest customers in the morning.
Combined with the need to avoid gods and goddesses who wielded divine power, that was exactly why they'd chosen this time to act.
There was no way the Guild clerk's appearance here was a coincidence.
He had to leave before she became suspicious.
"What... what happened here?!" He feigned shock as he looked around the ruined shop.
Eina glanced at him carefully.
No matter how well he tried to hide it, the long, twisted scar across his face couldn't conceal the vicious aura underneath.
"Are you a customer here?" Eina asked cautiously.
"Yes, I'm a regular of Naaza-san's. Don't tell me... something happened to her?"
He'd learned something from that boy—show weakness first, then bare your fangs when the time is right.
But this time, he had no intention of attacking.
He was already wanted for kidnapping. If he laid a hand on a Guild employee too, not even ten lives would save him.
If she believed him and let him go, all the better.
But if she didn't...
A flicker of malice crossed his face.
Eina frowned slightly. "There are clear signs of a struggle here. It looks like Naaza-san was attacked... and taken away."
"Then we'd better contact the Guild right away! I'll check with the neighbors, see if anyone saw anything!"
His tone was hurried, and he turned to leave.
That's when Eina noticed it—something wasn't right.
Words and actions can be faked, but the eyes and expression never lie.
That man wasn't worried about Naaza at all.
Why was he even here?
If he were just a passerby, there'd be no reason to lie about being a regular customer.
The most likely possibility was that this man was one of the culprits.
He had come back to destroy evidence—or retrieve something he'd left behind.
Eina trembled unconsciously.
The whereabouts of Bell and Naaza... this man knew them.
But even knowing that, what could she do, unarmed as she was?
On her way here, she had met a young girl and entrusted her with a small insurance plan.
But the chance of it working was almost nonexistent.
Was she really going to gamble her life on this?
Her thoughts raced.
The boy's face flashed through her mind—alongside countless other Adventurers she had once guided.
From the first who had fallen to the newest, Bell Cranel, she remembered them all.
Their weapons, their bad habits, the tone of their voices—every single one of them was engraved in her memory.
Adventurers were fragile. The rookies who laughed with her one day could easily become corpses in the Dungeon the next.
The Dungeon wouldn't remember them. Nor would Orario, the city that glorified heroes.
And so, Eina began keeping a diary.
Every encounter. Every farewell. She recorded every fragment she could.
What to be careful of in the Dungeon, each floor's monsters, how to respond to emergencies—she wrote it all down.
Before long, the notes and journals piled up so high they nearly crushed her.
"Adventurers can't afford to take risks."
That phrase became her mantra.
But then that boy appeared—and reminded her of who she used to be.
The self who once swore to support the dreams of others... before being buried under the weight of her own ink-stained notes.
"I want to become a hero."
"I'll make a name for myself in Orario."
"I'll prove myself to everyone who ever looked down on me."
"I'll become a man who stands tall and proud—and confess to the girl I love."
"I'll repay my parents' kindness with my own hands."
...
Every new adventurer had once smiled as they opened their hearts to her.
But through losing them, one after another, Eina had closed off her own.
Those distant yet burning dreams that once shone with such passion now looked to her like iron chains—binding their limbs, tearing their bodies apart.
Crack.
Crack.
Those chains dragged their lives—and her diary entries—down into the lightless abyss.
"I want to become a hero."
The white-haired boy's voice echoed in her ears.
Even after Eina had denied his path as an adventurer, the boy had spoken of his dream without the slightest resentment.
It was impossible.
It could only lead to pain.
She had wanted to stop him—to grab his arm and beg him to give it up.
But Bell had fallen again and again.
And even as others laughed at him, he kept taking steps forward.
Tiny steps—barely noticeable to anyone else.
Yet to Eina, each one embodied the spirit of every adventurer she had ever known.
They fell, rose again, and bet everything on the fire burning in their hearts.
That was what it meant to be an adventurer.
And among them, the boy was the most honest, the most resolute of all.
In his unyielding figure, the shadows of those lost adventurers seemed to live on.
Eina wanted to support that dream—
For the boy.
For herself.
And for every adventurer who had been swallowed by the Dungeon without a trace.
Now, Bell and Naaza were missing.
She couldn't afford to let this single, fleeting clue slip away.
"Wait."
Eina let the chill and fear seep into her body as she called out, her voice steady but cold.
The air between them froze beneath the pounding rain.
And thus, the half-elf girl began her first [Adventure].