Hideki couldn't help but grin in excitement as he left The Golden Neko and headed out into the world on his own for the first time in what felt like forever. It was still a pretty cool day, and he supposed that the weather way up here in the mountains was just a lot different than what he was accustomed to. Maybe I should get a jacket? Although... the evil bitch will probably make me parade around in a cute pink one with some cute animal stitched into it just to torture me. The cold isn't so bad anyway, I'll just have to bear with it. Now to find out where the local guild is.

He continued along the main street until he ran into a group of guards out on patrol. "Hey. Could you guys tell me where I can find the local Adventurers Guild?"

The lead guard with a green plume sticking out of his helm fixed him with an irritated expression. "What do we look like, kid? Tour guides? We're busy. We drew the short straw and have to go investigate that dungeon that popped up recently in the outskirts of town."

The troupe of five men didn't say anything else and simply left him standing in the street like an idiot. Tch! What a bunch of assholes! Hideki shrugged and continued on his way. People had always kind of treated him like garbage, it was one of the reasons he had joined the guild in the first place. He had thought that if he became a hero, then things would come easier for him.

So much for that though. It's not like she is going to stop doing evil shit. The guild will be after us again sooner or later.

Crowds of people bustled around the city, before long he was able to track down someone nice enough to give him directions to the guild. It turned out that the guild hall was located near the noble district, which was back in the opposite direction he had been walking. He turned around and made his way back in the correct direction and continued to consider his situation in his head.

Maybe being with Megumi isn't so bad after all. She's finally letting me off that tight leash that she's kept me on all this time and I've leveled up faster with her than I have in my entire time as an adventurer. The right thing to do would be to turn her in, consequences be damned, but call me selfish, I don't exactly want to have my immortal soul burnt out of existence. Could it be that her immoral qualities are starting to rub off on me as well? Either way, I have to give her credit for ridding the world of those bandits. She isn't completely evil. Maybe with time I can bring her around? I still have no idea what happened to her that made her the way she is. It must've been something seriously messed up.

The foot traffic on the streets became much less bad once he got out of the market district and into the noble section of the city. There were people being carted around in palanquins and he couldn't help but marvel at the utter laziness of nobles. Good for nothing rich snobs can't even be bothered to walk around on their own two feet.

A few more minutes and he found his way to the guild hall. The building was gigantic compared to the dinky little one that was in Bridgeport. This place truly lived up to the name and reputation of the guild. He stood out front for a few long moments, just staring like a country bumpkin, before going inside the large structure. I wonder what they wanted to see me about anyway?

Upon entering the guild hall he found a small reception room with a desk and a muscular bald man sitting behind it throwing darts across the room into a board. From the looks of things, he was a really good shot with those things. "What can I do for ya?" he said as he tossed another dart.

"I'm Hideki, a Class C adventurer from Northpost. I was aske—"

"Ah. You're that one, eh? Go on back. Taris, wants to have a few words with ya."

Hideki nodded and then headed towards the back room. Just as he passed by the target another dart impacted with a loud thud right behind his head. What the heck is up with this guy? As far as anyone knows, I'm a freakin' hero around here for slaying all those bandits. This is how they welcome me to the guild hall? Some gratitude!

The following room was big enough to fit two of the Northpost guild halls in it with a little room to spare. Rows and rows of tables lined the large room. There was a bar on one side of the building and the room seemed to serve as a sort of cafeteria. There was an undeniably good odor coming from the direction of the bar, and it was clear that this place must have its own personal cook.

There were three levels to this room and the upper floors had balconies looking down on the expansive room. On one wall there was a humongous request board that was covered with quests. This guild hall sure has a lot more perks than the one back home. With resources like these, why the hell didn't they handle the bandit problem themselves? Tivor was formidable, but surely there are strong enough people here to take care of such a problem. What gives? Oh... that's right. Those villagers probably didn't have enough money to put up a decent reward. It's not like the Adventurers Guild works for free, despite their outward appearance of being a force of righteousness, most of us were in it for the money and fame I think. Everything in this world really just comes down to money and titles.

People were staring at him and a tall slender woman with long raven hair dressed up in expensive looking armor with a sword at her waist approached him. "You must be Hideki. I'm Taris. Have a seat. I just want to ask you a few things."

I thought that they really wanted to congratulate me on a job well done, why does it feel like I'm about to get lectured or worse? He complied with her request, however, and took a seat at the nearest table. She sat down across from him and fixed him with her piercing amber colored eyes. "So, it seems that you're quite the hero to those villages down the mountain. So much so, that they sent a sizable chunk of money that they were supposed to be giving the bandits back with Kieren. The guild took 30% of course, as you're a member of our organization, it's only right that we were compensated as well."

What the fuck? They were apparently hunting us down at the time that we did this according to what Megumi told me. And now they've basically stolen a THIRD of the money that those people offered up to us as thanks? It wasn't like they had expected to be rewarded for what they did. Megumi had just done all that on a whim, but still, this was infuriating. He couldn't keep a look of irritation off his face for a brief second before he composed himself again. "It was the right thing to do, so we did it. We weren't really looking for a reward. Not that I mind getting paid though."

She just continued to stare into his soul for another moment before replying. "So how'd you two do it? Did you have more companions that fell during the fight? I just confirmed that you're only level 21. Also, according to one of Kieren's party members, your... friend, is only level 23. Even considering the type of magician she is, I don't see how you two could've overcome those kinds of odds. There weren't any reports of an army of skeletons marching up the mountains, so how exactly did two weaklings accomplish such a monumental task?"

Okay. This bitch is seriously condescending. Her attitude is even worse than Megumi's. This is how they treat one of the people who helped save those villagers? I don't want to give this bitch any information, but do I have a choice? I have to say something at least. "It was just the two of us. We caught them by surprise."

"That's it? You caught them by surprise? Generally speaking, not much is known about necromancers. In fact, I believe the last time the guild had to deal with one was well over 100 years ago. People don't generally have a thing for playing with the dead. Even so, I don't believe your story. It doesn't add up. No matter though. I just wanted to see you for myself. We'll be keeping an eye on you. Don't do anything to disgrace the guild again, or you won't be forgiven so easily. If that girl wants to join us, I've been given permissions from the top to allow it despite what she is." Her face twisted in disgust. It was clear that she had no love for necromancy and definitely didn't want one in the guild.

The beautiful woman slapped her hands on the table and stood up at that and turned to leave. What a load of crap. The guild just wanted to be able to take credit for we did. I wonder why they didn't, anyway. It's not like we went back to the village and announced that we accomplished what we did. I guess one of the villagers must've found out when no bandits came to collect the money or something.

Hideki stood and left the large guild hall. This place wasn't for him, now, nor ever again if he was truthful to himself. These people were no longer his allies. If they found out he was undead and that he had done several unspeakable things, they would undoubtably cut him down where he stood for the blemish he was to the guild's good name. The man at the front desk didn't say anything to him as he walked out the door and onto the street.

This place had seriously put a damper on his mood. Why had he let himself get excited to come here? There would be no lady guildies throwing themselves at him for a job well done. Time to get back to the cafe. He sighed and then started walking. After he took a few steps a voice called to him from behind.

"Hold on for a second."

Hideki turned around and saw that it was Kieren who had called for him. He was leaning lazily against the wall of the building near the doorway. His halberd rested against the wall next to him. "What do you want?" he asked sullenly.

"My team found the remains of the battle you had with those bandits. You two did that without any thought for reward, just because it was the right thing to do. I can respect a person for doing things that way. I've never agreed with how the guild operates. We were going to go help those people, despite knowing that we wouldn't get paid. The Oleander guild master didn't agree, but they couldn't stop us from going."

Hideki was dumbfounded that someone actually appreciated something he was involved in. It honestly felt... good. "Thanks. It means a lot to hear that. It almost felt like Taris was pissed at me for being involved in this."

"She didn't want to give you credit, but we insisted. They were going to continue to hunt you down, and let us take credit for what you did, but we had already told the villagers about everything before we came here. She was pretty pissed at me for that. The guild had no choice but to absolve you and drop the bounty on your head. Honestly... for all I know, those noble bastards were probably going to slaughter innocents and you two stopped them. Money is all that really matters to the guild," he spat to the side in disgust.

This guy really is as selfless as the rumors said. He really does only do good for the sake of doing what's right. All I ever did when I was alive was do the right thing for selfish reasons. Ironic that the first truly good thing I've done was after I was killed and bonded to that evil bitch. "Thanks for that. I'd better get back to the cafe. Megumi's probably waiting for me."

"Do you guys want to join up with me? I've decided to take on another request that's been languishing on the board here for a few months now. The others of my group headed back to Oleander already, they don't completely share my principals in the way that you apparently do."

Hideki had to stifle a laugh at that last comment. There's no way that Megumi is going to want to continue doing good things, and even less of a chance she'd want to join up with this do-gooder here. I'll hear him out though. It's not like this is my decision anyway, I'm just a puppet on strings when it comes down to it. "What's the request?"

"A few days up the mountains from here is a small, secluded village called Feng, there is a large orphanage there and apparently they are using the orphaned children's souls as fodder to create chimeras. We only heard about this because one of the children escaped and before she died, she asked someone for help. The reward is minuscule, and the only adventurers who have bothered to take up the request have never made it back. What do you say? Want to help me do the right thing?"

Honestly... experimenting on kids is seriously fucked up. I would join him if it were up to me, but it's not. Using human souls to create chimeras has been outlawed by every country in the world. Why aren't the soldiers stepping up and taking care of this? "I'll have to check with my partner before I can say yes or no."

That was when he saw the small silver haired figure of Megumi step in front of him. "We'll go with you. Megu will help you destroy those people and save the orphans."

Seriously?! Where the fuck did she come from? She must really have a soft spot for orphans or something. I guess that makes sense, she's clearly an orphan herself. I wonder if she ever spent time in an orphanage. Seems like those places are rarely kind to the children housed within. Usually kids are subjected to labor, but nothing as sick as what's happening in Feng.

"Great. We'll be heading out in the morning. The guild here has a large dormitory that's half empty right now. If you don't have rooms in the city, I'm sure you could stay here even though she isn't a member of the guild. I've got some things to tend to in town. See you later." He stopped leaning against the wall of the guild building and strode off down the street. Hideki just stared in surprise at Megumi for a long moment and once Kieren was gone, he asked, "Are we really going to go help those kids? Are you turning over a new leaf or something? Not that I'm complaining."

"Megu just doesn't like orphanages, okay? Megu is going to join this guild for a time. It's a means to an end. We'll need to get stronger and earn some money if we are to accomplish my true goals. We'll follow orders and do some good in the world, starting with saving those orphans. However, Megu's going to continue to do things her own way. We will leave no survivors at the orphanage. Scum like those don't deserve the right to rot behind bars in a prison," she replied. Megumi headed for the building and opened the door. "Come on."

On that note the villainous necromancer stepped into the huge building for the sake of joining the Adventurer's Guild. This is not going to end well, I'm sure of it. Hideki groaned internally as he followed her into the main hall where he had met with Taris.

Spoiler: Poro Name Hideki (Poro-kun) Level 021 (25,999/27,801 EXP to next Level) Class Warrior HP 1000/1000 MP 50/50 TP 0 Adventurer Rank C Attributes Vitality 40 Magic 3 Endurance 28 Magic Resistance 8 Strength 25 Luck 7 Agility 18 Dexterity 17 Passive Skills • Warrior's Essence - Level 4 (+40 HP regeneration/min)

• Sword Mastery - Level 7 (+70% proficiency with swords)

• Tiger Style - Level 2

• Turtle Style - Level 2

• Stalwart - Level 1 (+5% natural defense)

• Fortify Health - Level 2 (+100 HP) Active Skills • Holy Blade - Level 1 (Envelope blade in holy aura for 15 seconds)

• Shockwave - Level 2 (Release shockwave from blade) Spoiler: Megumi Name Megumi Level 023 (33,105/34,419 EXP to next Level) Class Necromancer HP 450/450 MP 1000/1000 TP 0 Villain Rank C Attributes Vitality 18 Magic 68 Endurance 10 Magic Resistance 47 Strength 6 Luck 16 Agility 9 Dexterity 10 Passive Skills • Mage's Essence - Level 5 (+150 MP regeneration/min) Active Skills • None Necromancer Magic

• Sanguine Infusion (50 MP) - Level 15 (Absorb life essence of recently deceased, 15% chance to gain +1 TP from human victims [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 16, (50)])

• Corpse Explosion (30 MP) - Level 7 - (+70% damage from explosion)

• Corpse Absorbtion (10 MP) - Level 1 (Absorb a corpse's essence. Recover 80 MP)

• Raise Undead (20 MP) - Level 10 (Raise weak undead to fight for you. Max: 50)

• Soul Trap (350 MP) - Level 1 (Trap soul of a recently defeated foe. Max: 1 [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 2: (30)] )

• Soul Trap Mastery - Level 1 (+1 to all stats of Summoned Soul)

• Spirit Barrier (100 MP) - Level 1 (Erect a barrier using souls of the dead for fuel. Blocks spells and projectiles)

• Magic Skin - Level 2 (Actively consumes MP to negate physical and magical damage. Higher levels lower the MP cost)

• Decay (120 MP) - Level 5 - (25% chance of success. Causes body to rot from the inside out causing extreme pain and slowing movement at joints)

• Eldritch Blast (75 MP) - Level 11 (Unleashes a roiling ball of Eldritch energy that burns its subject on contact for 5 seconds)