Elise, Matra, and I stood in front of the elder’s house.

  Elise knocked on the door.

  Matra?

  Yeah, she just walked right in.

  I blinked. “We’re just… doing that, huh?”

  Elise sighed. “She does what she wants.”

  I shrugged and followed Matra inside.

  The first thing I noticed?

  The elder still looked like he was getting high as hell.

  Thick smoke was rising from the pot in the ter of the room, curling around the ceiling like some a ritual was about to go down.

  The only weird thing?

  It didn’t smell like anything.

  The elder slowly opened his eyes, looking at us like we had just interrupted his nap.

  “What are you three doing back here?” he rasped.

  Matra poi me. “This little punk might have a way to save the vilge.”

  The elder’s eyebrows rose.

  “Oh?” He turned his gaze on me. “So he does, does he?”

  I smirked, strolling over to the chair and plopping down like I owhe pce.

  “Yeah, wild, right?” I said. “Thought my skill was useless, but turns out you be useful as long as you have money.”

  The elder stroked his beard. “So you came aore money?”

  I snorted. “Nah, but get this—some old guy set me up to live in a house with a spider without telling me. So naturally, being the ass-kig superhero I was meant to be, I hahat thing like a boss.”

  The elder turo Elise, frowning. “What is he talking about?”

  Elise shrugged.

  The elder turned bae. “Did an adult spider ihe vilge?”

  I hesitated. “…Well, no. But it was something.”

  The elder raised an eyebrow. “So that little baby spider is something you’re proud of killing?”

  I squinted. “Why does it sound so diminishing when you say it?”

  The elder sighed. “Because that’s not an achievement.”

  I stared. “It spit acid at me!”

  The elder nodded. “They tend to do that.”

  “That’s it?” I gawked. “That’s all you have to say?”

  The elder waved a hand. “You just stomp on it. Or, I don’t know, leave it alone.”

  I ughed in disbelief. “Yeah, no. There was no way I was leaving that thing alo itting acid across the room!”

  The elder gave me a bnk look. “Their venom is more of a stingiion than anything else. Si was so young, it wouldn’t do much.”

  I threw up my hands. “Dude, no way. That acid was melting the walls!”

  The elder nodded. “Woht?”

  I frowned. “Yeah?”

  The elder shrugged. “Then what’s the issue?”

  I turned sharply to Matra, gring. “You told me I had to burn the house down to get rid of it!”

  Matra raised an eyebrow. “When did I say that?”

  I gawked. “When we first met!”

  Matra pursed her lips. “Huh. I may have said that.”

  I poi her. “See? She admitted it!”

  Matra snorted. “But, like, no one is actually going to burn a whole house over a spider. That’s… idiotic.”

  I took a deep breath.

  Then I sighed.

  Then I sighed harder.

  “You know what?” I muttered. “You’re all crazy. I need a drink.”

  The elder chuckled. “I do too. I miss the bitter taste down my throat.”

  I stared at him. “That was not the response I expected.”

  The elder shrugged.

  I rubbed my temples. “Anyway. I risked my life. I killed that thing. I deserve some kind of reward.”

  The elder sighed. “You killed it, and there was no risk to your life.”

  I waved a hand. “Small details. I need pensation.”

  The elder g Elise.

  Elise shrugged. “I have nothing.”

  The elder grumbled, reag under his shirt, pulling out the small sack tied around his neck.

  He fished out a bronze —the same kind he gave me earlier—and flicked it my way.

  “There. A whole for doing nothing.”

  I caught it.

  Then grinned. “Thank you. Now, down to business.”

  The elder frowned. “What business?”

  Matra crossed her arms. “The boy has a book. Wants to sell it for one gold .”

  The elder raised an eyebrow. “A book?”

  Matra smirked. “I say we just kill him and take it, but I guess I’m not allowed to do that, so here we are.”

  I raised my hands. “Ah, no killing. That’s like… the whole point of why we’re here.”

  The elder sighed, rubbing his temples. “I am so fused. Start from the beginning.”

  I let out a deep breath. “I feel like I do this way too often.”

  Then, I unched into the short version of everything.

  How I made money by selling everything that wasn’t nailed down in Matthew’s pce.How I returned Matra’s e like a good, responsible citizen.How I somehow ended up in this mess with the book.And how Matra tested the book by force-feeding me disgusting potions that thankfully didn’t kill me.By the time I fihe elder nodded slowly. “Alright. So, I see this book?”

  I froze.

  …Oh.

  Yeah. About that.

  “I, uh… sold it.”

  The elder blinked. “You… what?”

  “Hold on.” I opened my Buy & Sell window, deg now was a good time to cheuch I actually sold it for.

  Bance: 33.50

  Wait.

  That wasn’t right.

  I bought the book for 25… which meant I should’ve had 53.50 after selling it, right?

  Instead?

  I only got 5.

  I gawked.

  “Are you kidding me?” I muttered.

  Then I checked the buyback price.

  25.

  I smmed my hands oable. “This is pure bullshit!”

  The elder frowned. “What is?”

  I exhaled sharply, trying to calm myself down. “Nothing. Everything. Just… capitalism.”

  I leaned back, shaking my head. “Sorry, I don’t have enough to buy it back right now.”

  The elder sighed, then turo Matra. “Do we really his book?”

  Matra shrugged. “Unless you all want to die? Yeah.”

  The elder rubbed his beard. “Alright. How much?”

  I grinned. “One gold.”

  The elder stared. “Are you crazy? That’s an insane price.”

  I shrugged. “Holy, I should charge more. This book doesn’t just have one cure—it has cures for multiple diseases. Now that I think about it… fifteen gold s sounds more like it.”

  Matra let out a harsh ugh. “Yeah, I thi his head as a baby.”

  I scoffed. “I did fall off my bike once, but that has nothing to do with this.”

  The elder pinched his nose. “We don’t have fifteen gold s.”

  I frowned. “How are you guys so poor? Aren’t adventurers supposed to be rich?”

  The elder looked at me like I was stupid. “Why would you think that?”

  I threw up my hands. “I don’t know! Don’t you guys get loot drops or something?”

  The elder sighed. “Do you have any idea how much living costs?”

  I hesitated. “…No.”

  Matra snorted. “If we were rich, do you think we’d be living all the way out here?”

  …Fair point.

  The elder sighed. “ay you one gold.”

  I nodded slowly. “Alright. That works.”

  The elder shook his head. “That’s not nothing. That was going to be used to buy tools and animals.”

  I smirked. “Well, now it’s being used to buy a lifesaving book. I’d say that’s a solid iment.”

  "Cure the vilge, the king lifts the order or whatever, and I get to leave. I say everyone wins."

  Elise chuckled.

  I turo her. “What?”

  She folded her arms. “How is the king going to lift the order when he doesn’t know we’ve been cured?”

  I froze.

  “…ht.”

  I slowly turned back to the elder. “Sooo… how’s he gonna find out?”

  Elise grinned. “Someone will che us eventually.”

  I squinted. “Eventually?”

  The elder nodded. “They send scouts to firm our deaths.”

  I stared. “And how long does that take?”

  Elise shrugged. “A few months.”

  I smmed my hands oable. “I’m not staying here for a few months!”

  Matra snorted. “I send you to the otherworld if you’re that desperate to leave.”

  I whipped around. “Why are you so bloodthirsty?!”

  Matra shrugged. “Keeps life iing.”

  The elder shook his head. “Enough. If the book cure this disease, then we’ll make the deal.”

  He turo Matra. “Get the money.”

  Matra muttered something under her breath, then shuffled to the back of the house.

  She raised her e, smacked the wooden floorboard, and with a loud pop, it lifted up.

  She bent over, reag down—

  CRACK.

  I winced. “Oh god, I think something snapped.”

  Matra grumbled as she dragged out a small woode.

  I grinned, rubbing my hands together.

  “Alright,” I said. “Show me the money.”

  Matra pulled out a gold , about the size of a quarter, and held it out to me.

  I grinned, reag for it.

  Except… when I tried to take it, I couldn’t.

  I tugged.

  It didn’t budge.

  I squi Matra. “Uh… you gon go?”

  Matra blinked. “ht.”

  She released the .

  I grinned, holding it up. “What a beauty.”

  Then, without hesitation, I pulled up my Buy & Sell interfad tried to sell it.

  A window popped up.

  Sell Imperial Gold x1 for 600?

  I froze.

  Wait.

  What?

  I stared.

  “…Oh, e on!”

  This was supposed to give me thousands!

  I celed the sell and turo look at them.

  The elder raised an eyebrow. “What’s the problem?”

  I sighed. “Uh… I get this in like… bronze s instead?”

  The elder gave me a bnk stare.

  Matra narrowed her eyes. “Why the fuck would you want a shitton of bronze s?”

  I cleared my throat. “Because… this gold doesn’t seem worth as muymore.”

  The elder frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  I crossed my arms. “Okay. 100 bronze s equals one silver, right?”

  Before I could finish, Matra let out an exasperated sigh.

  “This boy is just stupid.”

  I gasped. “I take offeo that!”

  Matra smirked. “Good.”

  The elder shook his head. “Twenty-five bronze s is worth one silver.”

  I blinked. “Oh.”

  Then I tried to do some math.

  I… struggled a bit.

  I rubbed my temples. “So wait… that means this gold is worth… uh… 625 bronze s?”

  Matra and the elder exged impressed looks.

  “That sounds abht,” the elder admitted.

  I grumbled. “Then why is my skill only telli’s worth 600? I feel like I’m getting scammed.”

  Matra shrugged. “Sounds like your problem.”

  I sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”

  I sold the and watched my bance jump to 633.50.

  Then, without missing a beat, I bought the book back for 25.

  The thick be smmed down onto the table, the glowing green skull as ominous as ever.

  The elder’s eyes twitched. “Why did you get a cursed book?”

  I spped my face. “It’s a healing book! Why does everyohink it’s a cursed book?!”

  Before anyone could answer—

  DING. DING. DING.

  A bell started ringing.

  I froze. “Uh… what was that?”

  Elise’s eyes widened. “That’s the arm!”

  Then, without another word, she bolted out the door.

  Matra grumbled, grabbed her e, and followed after her.

  I turned, staring at the book.

  Then at the door.

  Then back at the book.

  “…Yeah, I’m just gonna… go now.”

  I stood up.

  This sounded like a problem.

  A big problem.

  And I wasn’t about to stick around for it.

  I casually strolled toward the door, muttering to myself, “It’s been niowing you all.”

  I stepped outside…

  And froze.

  Giant spiders were crawling over the walls of the houses.

  Not small ones.

  Not baby-sized ones.

  Huge, monstrous, nightmare-indug spiders.

  Way bigger than the one I killed.

  I swallowed hard.

  “…Oh, fuck.”

  Elise, standing a few feet ahead, was already knog ba arrow.

  She g me, smirking. “See? Told you that was a baby.”

  I gestured wildly at the horde of massive spiders skittering across rooftops.

  “Why are there so many of them?!”

  Matra strolled out behiook one look at the se, then narrowed her eyes at me.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  I gawked. “How is this my fault?!”

  Matra poi the spiders. “We haven’t seen any of these in ages. You show up, and now this happens?”

  I opened my mouth—paused—then slowly nodded.

  “…Okay, I see your point. But I didn’t do anything!”

  Elise, still holding her bow steady, hummed. “Yeah, but… you killed that baby.”

  I threw up my hands. “What was I supposed to do? Let it kill me in my sleep?!”

  Elise snorted. “Oh, please. It was harmless.”

  Matra stroked her . “The mht have caught wind of its death.”

  I blinked. “Wait. Mother?”

  Matra nodded. “Mmm. She’s probably seeking revenge.”

  I took a step back. “Okay. So… what’s the pn?”

  Matra shrugged. “We could just give them you and hope everything turns out alright.”

  I stared. “No! That is not a good pn!”

  Before Matra could argue, Elise finally let her arrow fly.

  It whizzed through the air, pierg one of the spiders crawling across a roof.

  Except, instead of killing it—

  The arrow bounced off.

  Elise blinked.

  “Well,” she said. “We’re fucked.”

  Matra sighed and lifted a hand, pointing a fioward the same spider.

  A firebolt shot forward, pierg straight through it.

  The spider screeched before tumbling lifelessly from the roof.

  Matra cracked her knuckles. “Maybe not. But there’s more where that came from.”

  I took aep back. “Alright, I’m just gonna… make my escape.”

  Before I could move, Elise grabbed my shoulder.

  I froze.

  She leaned in. “You started this mess. You’re helping it up.”

  I gawked. “That’s not how this is supposed to work!”

  Elise raised an eyebrow. “My arrows might not work on an adult spider, but they sure as shit will work on you.”

  I swallowed hard. “Fair point.”

  Still… “How do you expect me to help? I barely killed a baby one!”

  Before she could answer, someone came rushing forward from around the er.

  A man, covered in green liquid, his swripped tightly in his hand.

  He was breathing hard—but when his eyes nded on Elise, relief flooded his expression.

  “Elise,” he gasped, his voice rough. “Thank the gods. You’re alright.”

  Elise’s brows furrowed. “Where are the others?”

  The man—who I realized had to be Garron, her father—was silent.

  He looked away.

  Then slowly shook his head.

  A sinking feeliled in my gut.

  Garron exhaled sharply. “The Queen is here.”

  Matra’s face paled.

  Elise’s shoulders stiffened.

  I looked between them.

  “…Okay,” I said. “What’s the big deal? Just… sy the thing.”

  Elise didn’t answer.

  Instead, she poi the dead spider Matra had just killed.

  “That,” she said, “is an adult.”

  Theurned, pointing at one of the rger houses in the vilge.

  “And the Empress… is about the size of that building.”

  I followed her gaze.

  Then I slowly turned back to them.

  “Oh,” I said.

  Then I nodded.

  “Yeah, we’re fucked.”

  I tried to slink away.

  “ you let me go now?”

  Garron, still breathing heavily, ran a hand down his face.

  “The disease may not kill us,” he muttered.

  He gritted his teeth and looked toward the vilge entrance, where the bell tinued ringing.

  “But that Empress sure as hell will.”

  His jaw tightened. “Why did this happen?”

  Slowly, Matra and Elise turo look at me.

  I froze.

  “…Why are you looking at me?”

  They said nothing.

  Just stared.

  I poi them. “If anything, this is your fault! You seo a house with a spider!”

  I threw up my hands. “I was just defending myself!”