The Gracefall Adventurer’s Hall was awash with a buzzing murmur of excitement. Jared couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this many customers. His poor kitchen staff hadn’t been anywhere near prepared for this amount of attention.

Neither had he, for that matter. His hands ached something special from all the damned mug-polishing he’d been doing for the last few hours. At this point, the mugs didn’t even need to be polished. They were all sparkly clean. They’d been that way for the last ten times he’d gone through his stock.

But he couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t just because he was excited. He was a working man. And men like him didn’t have the liberty to give themselves entirely to their emotions. Jared, as Innkeeper of the one and only Gracefall Adventurer’s Hall, had a duty to his customers.

And that duty was to give them a damned good inn. These weary adventurers came here from all over Obsidia, traveling on their way to greater things. No more than one face in ten was one Jared recognized.

They would be gone by the morrow. But with them would go stories. Tales of their adventures and deeds. And he planned to make damned sure that every single one of those tales spoke of Gracefall — the town at the bottom of a gorge with the best damned inn any of them had ever been to.

And Gracefall’s inn was the best. There had been a great number of rather rotund adventurers who strongly resembled stacks of wagon wheels that had come through Gracefall, many in disguise but always in the same shape. They had argued over why his inn was so great.

If it were the food, drink, workers or even Jared himself. But all had agreed that it was the best.

They were all, unfortunately, fools.

There was no single thing that made an inn incredible.

An inn, as far as Jared was concerned, was like a great tale. It had to be complete. Full. No great meal could make up for a horrid song. No plump bed could fix poor service. And no drink could ever repair a horrible atmosphere.

That was why he stood and polished mugs. Not because the mugs needed to be polished, but because no inn was truly an inn without an innkeeper polishing mugs. Jared was not exempt from his own rule.

He was part of the atmosphere.

And today, the atmosphere was more electric than it had been in years.

“Can you believe it?” a bushy-bearded adventurer sitting at a table near the counter asked, looming over his mug as he sent excited glances through the milling crowd in the direction of the door. “After all these years. The Gem of Cassandra was actually found. I never thought that thing would see the light of day again.”

“I, for one, don’t buy it,” his female companion — who sported a beard somehow even more impressive than her compatriot — said. “I think it’s a load of horse shit. That gem has been lost for nearly three hundred years. Even if someone stumbled into some ancient dungeon and dug it up, they sure wouldn’t go and decide to turn it in at Gracefall of all places. This place is a pitstop. Coming here with something that valuable is just begging someone to liberate you of your goods and life.”

The bearded man let out a snort. “Right about the last part, you are. Half the reason I’m here is to watch someone split the poor bastards open and steal the gem for themselves the moment they turn it in. One way or another, it’ll be a good show.”

“If they even show up,” the woman muttered.

They weren’t the only ones having that conversation. Everywhere Jared looked, other groups of adventurers were having the same conversation. It was the very conversation that had brought his inn more patrons than it had gotten in years… and it was what had brought the black-cloaked man near the corner of the room here.

Jared had developed a keen eye after becoming an Innkeeper. Being able to spot troublemakers was an important skill for someone who wanted to keep his chairs from all getting smashed in a barfight.

And the man in black — he was trouble.

Not trouble in the way of a big lout or a bandit, but trouble in the way of a knife in the back. There was an aura of danger that wrapped the cloaked man like dripping venom. Jared hadn’t been able to sense any aspects of his Runes, but Jared was well aware his runes weren’t much to be impressed by.

He’d only barely managed to scrape his way by to Rank 4, and his combination would have given anyone from the Guild, much less any of the Factions, a conniption.

Jared was fine with that. One didn’t really need much magic to run a tavern. All he needed was enough sense to know that the man in black was one he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere near. That wasn’t the kind of person that you wanted to throw out.

It was the kind you ignored.

One thing kept Jared’s mind at peace. The man in black might have been powerful, but he wasn’t the only strong mage in the room. Near the back sat another man, this one from the Adventurer’s Guild.

Jared was certain of it. The man carried himself with a certain air of authority that no normal adventurer had. His back was iron-rod straight and his sharp features scanned the room in a constant search, cataloguing every single person around him. He even had a bulge just beneath his breast pocket in the exact shape of their badge.

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A smile crossed over Jared’s face. Today was going to be history. If the Gem of Cassandra had truly been discovered, then who knew how many treasure seekers would come to Gracefall. Business would boom like it had never before, and the stories he would get from this day would fuel him for fifty years to come.

And if it was all a hoax and the reports of a group locating the Gem were fake… well, Jared was still going to get a story out of it. It would probably be for the best if the gem hadn’t been discovered.

At least that way they would avoid a fight. But even if there was a fight, Jared was prepared. Today was going to make him so much profit that it didn’t matter if the whole tavern burned to the ground.

All he had to do was wait.

And wait they all did. The day was already edging into the night. His tavern was stuffed full. Everyone who could come had probably already arrived… and yet nobody had stepped forward with the gem yet.

Fortunately, nothing to do meant everyone was occupied buying drinks and food. Jared wouldn’t have particularly minded if the mysterious locators of the gem took their sweet time for at least a few more hours.

But a sudden burst of excited chatter broke through the crowd, coming from the direction of the door. Two cloaked figures strode into the room, one of them carrying a tightly wrapped parcel under one arm.

“Holy shit,” someone muttered. “They actually showed up?”

“Doubt it,” another adventurer said. “Probably just two more people coming to watch—”

“Where is the Guildsman?” the figure carrying the package called. His voice was sharp but surprisingly youthful. He was quite a few years younger than Jared had guessed it would be. The man raised his bundled package. “I bear the Gem of Cassandra, and I am here to turn it in just as I reported!”

The murmurs tearing through the room grew louder still. Excited yells broke out as everyone fought to try and get a look. The Guildsman rose and tried to call out orders, he himself clearly not having expected the Gem to make an appearance.

And, in the chaos, a man in black slipped away from his spot on the wall.

“Keep your distance!” the young adventurer yelled again, raising his free hand in a warding motion. “I wanted witnesses here to ensure the safety of the delivery, but if anyone gets too close, I’m going to assume you’re trying to steal the gem and defend it accordingly!”

I’m surprised nobody’s tried to take it already if I’m being honest. Gracefall is known for a lot of things.

Safety isn’t one of them.

The Guildsman started to push his way through the crowd, drawing the golden badge free from where it sat against his chest and raising it into the air to get everyone’s attention as he barked out orders to move.

Jared could see the worry in the man’s eyes. He knew what was going to happen.

Only a fool would have brought such a valuable item into a room full of unknown people. It was only a matter of time before—

The man in black blurred.

A blade flashed into his hand with a hiss of black smoke, materializing at the speed of a thought as he leapt for the pair of adventurers. He thrust the weapon for the young man’s neck with one hand, grabbing at the package with the other.

Jared’s mouth opened to call out a warning, but he knew he would be too late. This wasn’t the action of some mere street thief. The announcement of the Gem of Cassandra had drawn someone that knew what they were doing — and he was watching a killing blow.

His chest clenched.

A dozen wet thumps echoed through the room, cutting through the noise.

And then a chill rolled over Jared’s spine. He could have sworn the reaper itself let its boney fingers brush across his shoulder as it passed him by.

Lying on the ground was not the young adventurer.

It was the man in black. He laid in pieces, as if he’d flung himself through a dozen swords, at the adventurer duo’s feet. A pool of blood spread quickly around him. There hadn’t even been time for a scream.

The man had just instantly died.

What manner of magic…

Then Jared saw it. Hair-thin strands of shimmering blue frost hung in the air, only visible from the blood dripping off their lengths where the would-be bandit had just carved himself into pieces upon them.

The strands ran down to the hand of the young adventurer’s companion. Disbelief swirled in Jared’s thoughts. There had been no time for anyone to cast a spell. And that meant only one thing.

The magic had been prepared before they’d walked into the building.

A moment of stunned silence hung in the air.

“Disgusting,” the adventurer’s companion said, her voice marking her as a female around his age. She took a step to the side to keep her boots from getting soaked with blood.

The young adventurer crouched beside the pieces of what had once been a body and reached down, grabbing his head and lifting it from the ground. The dead man’s hood fell away, and Jared’s eyes widened in surprise.

Bootslice Brie. The Guild has a sizable bounty on his head. He was here? In Gracefall?

“Hold!” the Guildsman roared, finally bursting free from the crowd. “Nobody move! Stand still! I will have no more death today! The Gem of Cassandra—”

“I must apologize. I may have lied slightly,” the young adventurer called. He grabbed the bundled package under his arm. Then he tossed it to the ground unceremoniously. Despite everything that had just happened, several adventurers nearly lurched forward before they caught themselves.

The package landed with a thump. It rolled, bindings falling away, and came to a stop at the Guildsman’s feet.

Within the package was no Gem.

It was a lumpy wheel of cheese.

“There’s no Gem here,” the adventurer said. He cleared his throat. Then he raised Brie’s head into the air and turned to the Guildsman. “But I do believe there was a bounty on this man’s head. One that I very much plan to claim. And you, my good friend, have ample Crystal on you. I’ll take that payment now if you please. No need to waste time. I’d really like to get this all over with as soon as possible so I can get back to bed.”

Jared stared in disbelief. He wasn’t alone. Everyone in the room gawked at the wheel of cheese, looking from it to the pair of adventurers and the stunned Guildsman.

Then Jared started to laugh.

They adventurer duo planned this. They’d planned it from the start. There had never been a gem at all. Just a pair of bounty hunters and their prey delivering himself to them on a silver platter. They didn’t even have to go to a Guildhall to cash in on their prize.

Now that’s what I call peak laziness. They couldn’t even be bothered to hunt the guy down on their own. They just let him do it for them.

Even though the Gem hadn’t made an appearance, he wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

After all, an inn was just like a story…

And tonight was going to make one hell of a tale.