"Alright, alright-you win," Boros groaned, rolling his eyes. "We'll join a guild."
"Yay!" Akeno cheered, throwing her arms around him.
"Okay, okay-off," Boros muttered, peeling her away. "But if we're doing this, which guild are we even joining? Aren't there like... a hundred of them?"
"Hmm." Akeno tapped her chin. "Good question."
"Let's leave it to fate," Kinuko said with a small, knowing smile. "We'll join the closest one."
"Fate, huh..." Boros scratched the back of his neck. "Sounds lazy. I like it."
"But before that," Kinuko added, "we'll need gear."
"Gear?" Boros raised a brow. "Don't guilds give adventurers equipment?"
"They do," Kinuko nodded. "But you don't want to rely on handouts. Trust me."
"Exactly!" Akeno grinned. "Who needs gear when I've got my trusty-!"
She whipped out a kunai with flair.
Snap.
It broke cleanly in half.
"...Yeah," she finished, laughing awkwardly. "We need gear."
Boros crossed his arms. "Alright, where are we gonna get some?"
"I saw blacksmiths and merchants around the market last night," Akeno said.
"Tch... the market," Boros muttered clenching his fists, expression darkening.
Akeno's smile faded. She hugged her arms, gaze dropping.
"After what happened... I'm not exactly excited to go back either."
Boros turned to her, voice low and steady.
"It's fine. I handled it. And I'm with you this time. Nothing like that's happening again. Not on my watch."
Akeno looked up at him, catching the storm behind his eyes. She reached out and lightly touched his arm.
"Shiro... it's okay. I'll listen next time, alright? So please-stop making that face."
He exhaled sharply and stood, cracking his neck like he was trying to shake off weight. "Alright, let's move."
"To... the market?" Kinuko asked carefully.
"Where else?" Boros said, already walking.
...
As they moved through the streets, the emptiness became impossible to ignore.
"Is it just me," Akeno muttered, glancing around, "or is this place way too quiet?"
"No idea," Kinuko replied, scanning the abandoned stalls. "But it feels wrong."
A few steps later, the silence fractured-distant voices, low murmurs, a crowd.
They rounded a corner and found the market square packed, people standing shoulder to shoulder in tense stillness.
"Guess we found where everyone went," Kinuko said.
"Yeah," Akeno nodded. "Let's see what's-Shiro?"
Boros had stopped.
He stood rigid, chin tilted slightly upward, eyes locked ahead-cold, distant, utterly remorseless.
"Come on," Kinuko whispered, tugging Akeno along. She stopped near a bystander at the edge of the crowd.
"Excuse me, sir. What's going on?"
The man exhaled heavily, his face grim.
"...See for yourselves."
They pushed through the crowd.
The noise died away as they reached the center.
Jagged pillars of ice erupted from the ground-massive, glistening, razor-sharp.
Impaled at their peaks were Davis and his men, skewered clean through their torsos like grotesque trophies.
Kinuko gasped, stumbling back, a hand flying to her mouth.
"Wait..." Akeno whispered, eyes wide. "Those are-are those ice?"
Kinuko didn't answer. Her gaze drifted past the pillars... to Boros, standing apart from the crowd, his expression unreadable.
'Ice...
Shiro is the Ice Longinus user...
No way. Don't tell me he-'
Her thoughts shattered as Akeno gagged.
The ground was littered with bodies - Davis's party.....or what was left of them. Torn apart like paper dolls.
He hadn't just killed them.
He'd made a statement.
"We... we need to go," Akeno choked, turning away.
They approached Boros slowly, the silence between them heavy.
He turned as they reached him, eyes cold, voice flat.
"Shiro... was this-?"
"Yeah," he cut in, glancing over his shoulder.
"It was me."
Kinuko swallowed hard.
"That bastard deserved worse," Boros said calmly. "But then I remembered you two were waiting for me back at the inn... so I settled for this."
Without another glance back at the square, he turned and started walking.
"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "We came to buy gear, didn't we?"
"Y-yeah..." Kinuko muttered.
"Right..." Akeno added, hurrying after them.
They stopped in front of a blacksmith's shop, the air thick with the smell of smoke and hot steel. The rhythmic clang of hammer against metal rang out as sparks flew.
"Yo," Boros said, nodding toward the man working the forge. "We're looking to gear up."
The blacksmith glanced up, wiping sweat from his brow. "Ah, gotcha - but there's a bit of a mix-up. I forge the blades, yeah, but I don't do the selling. You'll need a merchant for that."
Boros raised a brow. "Where is he?"
"Down at the market square," the smith replied. "But last I checked, they were caught up in something. Might be a while."
Akeno sighed. "Well, that's a bummer."
The blacksmith jerked his chin toward a wooden bench outside.
"You can wait there till things settle."
"Fine," Boros said, already heading over.
"We'll wait."
They sat outside the shop.
Akeno swung her legs lazily, humming under her breath as she watched the quiet streets. Kinuko stayed close, her arm looped through Boros's, eyes constantly scanning the market.
Time dragged on.
Then footsteps-fast, uneven.
A group of men jogged toward them, armor clanking, sweat-soaked and panting. One of them stopped short.
"Hey-sorry," he said between breaths. "Which way's the town square?"
Kinuko pointed immediately.
"Straight down. Past the fountain."
As the group turned to leave, Boros leaned forward slightly, fingers clasped, eyes sharp.
"Hold up," he said. "Who are you, and why are you heading to the square?"
The man hesitated, then straightened his posture.
"We are with the Stellaluna Circle Guild," he replied. "We got word some of our people were killed here."
His jaw tightened.
"We're collecting the bodies... and finding whoever did it."
Boros tilted his head, a slow grin creeping onto his face.
"And when you find them?"
The man didn't blink.
"We kill them."
"Oh?" Boros murmured, grin widening just a fraction.
"I'll be waiting."
The guild members exchanged uneasy glances, then turned and jogged off toward the square. The air they left behind felt heavy-charged.
...
"Captain!" one of the men called as they entered the square.
The captain slowed. "What is it, Seth?"
"You think that guy back there had anything to do with this?"
Seth asked, brow furrowed.
"Yeah," another chimed in. "Something about him felt... wrong. His energy was weird."
The captain shook his head.
"Drop it. Davis led an A-rank party. Some random isn't wiping them out."
He continued walking.
"It's probably those so-called 'S-rank Killers' mentioned in the briefing."
Seth frowned. "You really think it's them?"
The captain's expression darkened as his gaze shifted toward the ice-ridden square.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Feels like their work."
He picked up the pace.
"Move it. We're burning daylight."
"Yes, Captain!" they echoed, breaking into a run.