Agonizing Cries

“Y-you’ve really saved us. Thank you. Truly.”

The Guild Master offered his thanks with a strained, twitching smile.

“It really has become beautiful. Thank you so much,” the receptionist, Elie, added, her gratitude much more sincere.

“Ah, come to think of it, I haven’t finished that storage area yet—”

“No! This is quite enough! You’ve done more than enough, really, we can handle the rest ourselves!”

Elie shook her head with desperate intensity. I figured she probably had something hidden in there that she’d die before letting me see. It’s probably best not to push the issue, I thought, deciding to leave it at that.

“H-hey! This door back here... it leads to a basement! And you won't believe what's down there!”

One of the Mercenaries stumbled out from the lower level, looking visibly shaken.

“An expansion? I don’t recall a basement. Did you build a new pub down there?” the Guild Master asked, looking perplexed.

“It’ll be faster if you just see for yourself,” the Mercenary replied before disappearing back down the stairs.

Curiosity got the better of them, and the Guild Master and his staff followed close behind.

“W-what in the world is this?!” the Guild Master cried out in shock.

“It’s... a Bath,” Elie muttered, her mouth hanging open in a daze.

“I figured this was a necessity if you wanted to maintain proper hygiene, right?” I asked pragmatically.

“Master, it’s a bath! A real bath! Let’s get in right now!”

“Wait just a minute! This is a guild! Bathtubs are the kind of thing you only see in a noble’s manor!”

“Well, it’s already built, so you might as well use it,” I said.

“Yes, sir! ♪” Elie chirped happily.

Watching her, the Guild Master let out a heavy, weary sigh.

“I can’t exactly leave this here and ignore it. I’ll have to assign staff to manage it, and perhaps charge a small fee to help the guild’s coffers... My workload... it just keeps growing...”

“Ah, I also made a Staff Toilet and a smaller bath for the employees. I made sure they’re only accessible through the back hallway.”

“That... is actually a relief...”

The Guild Master looked like he had aged a decade in a single afternoon. The shock was clearly taking its toll.

“I also completely overhauled the Staff Toilet,” I mentioned.

The moment the words left my mouth, the Guild Master bolted. He ran straight for the facilities.

When he threw the door open, he wasn't greeted by the standard '3K' experience—dark, stinky, and filthy. Instead, he found a pristine, sterile space filled with the sweet, floral scent of fragrant olives. The old pit latrine had been replaced by a modern, flushable unit. To any observer, it was a ridiculous, almost offensive waste of top-tier Magic Tool technology.

“I’m actually quite proud of this toilet. It’s a masterpiece,” I said, beaming at him to see his reaction.

The Guild Master could only manage a hollow, dry laugh.

“After everything you’ve done... just how much is this going to cost us?”

He looked like he was desperately trying to calculate the bill for my services in his head.

“This was mostly a hobby, so don’t worry about the cost for the renovations. The request was just to clean the Mercenary Guild, right?”

“Absolutely not. If we accepted all this work without paying, the name of the Mercenary Guild would be dragged through the mud.”

“I see your point... Well, I did burn through quite a few Magic Stones for this. Do you think the guild could compensate me for those?”

“That’s all you want? I mean—that would certainly be easier for me to manage, but are you sure?”

Our interests aligned perfectly. After sharing a brief look, we exchanged a firm, manly handshake.

Elie watched us, a look of pure ecstasy on her face.

“My fantasies... they’re blooming...”

I decided to ignore her and proceeded to explain how to operate the Magic Tools for the toilet and the Bath.

I was feeling quite satisfied with myself, my pockets full of both the commission fee and the replacement Magic Stones. I’d completely forgotten that this was supposed to be my day off, but it had been a productive day nonetheless.

With a sense of accomplishment, we made our way back to the inn.

The moment I pushed the door open, a primal sense of danger spiked in my gut. I slammed the door shut instantly.

“W-what was that?!”

The stench at the Mercenary Guild had been foul, but it was still at a Level where a human could reasonably enter. This inn, however...

I didn't even want to step foot inside. But Fee and the others had headed back earlier; if they were trapped in there, I had to rescue them.

I conjured a Defensive Wind around myself to filter the air and gingerly opened the door again.

“Ugh...”

A thick, Purple Smoke saturated the air inside the inn. It was a stroke of luck that we were the only guests staying here.

I spotted Luna collapsed on the floor near the entrance.

“Are you okay?!”

“...Horrifying,” she wheezed.

I extended the Wind to surround her as well. She managed to sit up, her face a sickly shade of pale.

“What happened here?”

“I... I don’t really know. We were Cooking, and then suddenly...”

A sudden thought occurred to me—perhaps someone had attacked them? If that was the case, I couldn't risk letting the culprit escape.

“I’m sorry to ask this while you’re clearly suffering, but can you come with me?”

“...I will follow you to the ends of the earth.”

Steeling myself, I moved deeper into the building to uncover the source of this calamity.