Emperor's Reckoning

"So," Cecile snorted before she put her hands on her waist. "Where is our dear captain then?"

The group choked on their thoughts as they all had their heads faced down, right at the outside of the tavern. The passing adventurers were looking at them like a sore thumb, sticking out with their mysteriousness clad in an oversized cloak.

"How can he move so fast," Luna sighed. "One moment of leeway and he was gone."

"It seems like master is slowly reverting back to his old self," Graham grunted. "Not like it's not a bad thing either."

"Hahaha!" Kesya had unrestrained laughed as she heard what Graham had to say. "But this is a lot more fun right?"

"It's not like he could go outside of the city," said Lumina before she heard Cecile sighing. "Huh?"

"He could, he very well could," said Cecile. "You think someone that could flip a city can't go outside these thick walls if he wanted to."

"Don't worry about it," said Kesya as she spared a chuckle. "I believe that the emperor won't do a thing."

"I don't believe your words at all," said Assid as he fixed his glasses before he turned and caught one passing adventurer. "You!"

"Eek!" his shoulder was pulled before he saw the dark glint of Assid's gaze. "W-What?"

"Is there any brothel here in the area?"

"Eh? Assid? Wow, thing's have changed a lot even for you, huh?" Kesya shook her head and made a slow clap.

"Shut up, you know I'm not the type!" said Assid.

"Hahaha!" Kesya burst a laugh after she successfully caught Assid in her jest.

( W-What's wrong with these bunch!? ) thought the random adventurer before he gulped and answered, "N-No sir!"

"Are you sure?!"

"N-NO, sir!"

"Not even an underground society where they sell sex slaves?" asked Assid further.

"I... I don't know about that sir."

"Hmph! Fine, thank you for your time," said Assid before he pushed him away.

The adventurer had trepidation from start to finish. He fixed his clothes as he walked away and refuse to give a snorty glance over his shoulder. Words had spread that the party had already made the jaw of the Frost Party's leader dangling with one hit. He won't stand a chance with his cocky behavior.

"Now then, even I doubt that he would figure out something like that in a spare moment outside," said Cecile as she shook her head. "However, I can't rule out that either."

"I must say, for a very languorus guy, he is actually hard to grasp and find," Luna sighed. "Do you have to deal with this too when you were adventuring?"

"A lot," said Cecile and the three generals at the same time.

"Heh, hehe," Luna made a weak smile.

...

Meanwhile, the man of the hour was not leaving the city yet. He had his hood pulled up and revealed his face. Though any passing adventurers were looking at him with curiosity and fear, none of them managed to recognize who he was.

( Wow, my reputation on the other side is nothing in this place huh? SWEET! ) thought Lyon as he smiled. He had his arms up before supporting his head and gave out the lazy look he had always given to the public.

Lyon was not keen on garnering unnecessary attention unless they meant something. Nobody wanted fake smiles to begin with. He was aloof, yet he had the strength to back up his unwinding personality. He was unrestrained, even if they tried to shackle him with their rules or oppressed him with their features and power.

Then, after walking freely like a true vagrant adventurer, his eyes caught a glimpse of a lone notice board at the side of the street. It was not as fancy as the others. It was made out of plain wood that was in dire need of replacement. There was a fancy title on the top that said 'Notice Board' at the top, even the writing was unreadable at first glance anymore.

"That must be the notice board Nafail was talking about," said Lyon before he smiled. He saw no other adventurers even spare a glance at this old board. It was unkempt, but there were still old and weary papers of varying colors pinned onto it.

"Well that's just begging me to look into it even more, hehehe," Lyon chuckled as he approached the old board with great interest and a smile that could conquer the world. He stood there right in the middle, arms crossed, and browse raised as he read the quest available.

"Hmm, 'Deep Cleaning Toilet', well that's just an advertisement," Lyon twitched his eyes.

"Psst, hey look over there," said one passing adventurer.

"That's the guy that took down Arf!" replied his friend.

"SHH! Keep it low stupid."

"Why do you think that he is standing there?"

"The deal must have fallen out too."

"What deal?"

"You know, the other three guilds were aiming at his party, wanting them to join. However, it seems like the guilds can't meet his demands, I mean, even the Harp Guild couldn't keep him, and they are the biggest in town."

"Is he really that aloof, or is he just stupid? Damn! I would take the Harp Guild or the Flame Guild without batting a thought!"

"Maybe that's what makes him different."

"Bah! Stop idolizing him, he is no different than a vagrant adventurer, he has no backing now."

"You think he needs one?"

"That's...."

Lyon raised his brows before he darted his glance at the two whispering adventurers. "What?"

"N-Nothing Sein sir! We, we are just leaving!" said one adventurer before they rushed out and escape as fast as they could.

"Heh," Lyon smirked as he found them running between their tails. "What the hell are they doing?"

He shook his head before returning his focus back to the old public notice board. He looked from the top left to the bottom right with a careful and selective mind. He wanted to find something interesting, it was bound to be, it was fated to be. "There must be something here that I miss, there is no way that all of this paper is just a goddamn advertisement board— and lo and behold, what do we have here."

He caught a sharp corner of a note right behind one of the flyers pinned on the wooden board. He shredded the advert on top of it before throwing it in the air and letting it fly at the mercy of the wind.

What was revealed to him was an old paper. Wrinkled randomly and the sides were not properly aligned. The base had a light hue of brown and the ink had long lost its former glossy glory. What was written was hardly discernable from the language that Lyon knew, however, it only more intrigued his interest.

"Alright, let's see here," said Lyon as he pluck it off from the board.

' I lay wait, on top of the peak that is favored by the moon.

' Every spark of the sky nor the shower of lights couldn't warm the loss that I had at the time.

' These quick feet are still not fast enough when it matters, I wonder if it ever will.

' If you found this paper to be eternally etched, I lay wait, at the peak of this land.

Lyon raised his brows. "Well, now that's something I would not expect."

"That's interesting," said Sun as he sat legs crossed on top of Lyon's head.

"Interesting? Grandpa Sun, I never knew you're a poet connoisseur," said Lyon.

"That's because he is not," Shen immediately followed up by revealing himself perching on top of his right shoulder.

"I may not be, but my taste is still better than yours."

"Speak for yourself monkey,"

"Stop it you two," said Bapho as he defuse the crackling frags that were about to explode uncontrollably.

Sun and Shen could only glare at each other after Bapho's warning.

"That's really an interesting piece of art," said Bapho.

"It's not even a quest though," said Lyon as he shrugged his shoulder.

"You think it's someone's diary?" asked Bapho.

"That could very well be it," Lyon sighed. "I thought it was something unique and important, but perhaps, it's just not my serendipity."

However, Lyon put it inside his pocket, instead of just throwing it away.

"Why are you keeping it?" asked Bapho.

"I mean, it's not li—"

"There you are!"

"Huh?" Lyon turned over to see the group at the other end of the street.

"We were looking for you," said Luna before she sighed.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Lumina.

"Oh, I was looking at this public notice board," said Lyon. "I thought that there would be something interesting for vagrant adventurers like us, but it turns out to be just a place for advertising."

"Well, it's not easy for a vagrant adventurer to find a public quest in the first city," said Kesya. "We might want to try our luck in the next."

"Didn't you say that you have a guild?" asked Lyon.

"... heh."