Shortly before the emergency arm of a stampede echoed through the royal capital...

  Just before Libertà and the others passed through the city gates, a galloping horse arrived in the capital.

  It was one of the adventurers who had headed west.

  "Guildmaster!! Is the Guildmaster here?!"

  Without hesitation, the adventurer rushed toward the northern Adventurers' Guild. Passing through the western gate and charging down the main street, he abandoned his horse at the guild's entrance and burst inside as if breaking through the door.

  His sudden shout made the adventurers inside, who had been making noise, turn to look at him.

  "Hey, isn't that Lutz?""Wasn’t he supposed to be out west for some ‘lucrative deal’?"

  The fact that this man, who had barged in yelling, wasn’t treated as a suspicious figure meant he had acquaintances in the guild. Ignoring those familiar faces, the man called Lutz frantically clung to the reception desk.

  "Hey, listen to me!""It's an emergency!! A stampede has started!! Two vilges in the west have already fallen!!!! They're heading straight for the capital!!"

  Another adventurer, whose turn had been skipped, tried to compin, but Lutz shouted that this was no time for that.

  The moment the word "stampede" was heard, murmurs spread through the guild.

  And two vilges had fallen.

  That information was deeply unsettling.

  In the southern continent, vilges typically housed around 300 to 400 people—sometimes even 500.

  If two vilges had been destroyed, that meant at least 600 casualties.

  "Hey now, stop joking around.""I’m not joking!! I saw it with my own eyes!!"

  Naturally, those vilges would have had soldiers guarding them. If they were under attack, the report should have gone to the military, not the Adventurers' Guild. Yet no such information had reached them.

  That contradiction began to create an atmosphere of doubt, as if Lutz was just spinning tall tales.

  "Quite the ominous story we’ve got here, eh?"

  A powerful woman’s voice cut through the guild’s unrest like a bde.

  "Guildmaster!!"

  Lutz’s eyes lit up at the sound of her voice.

  "You called for me loud enough—did you really think I wouldn’t hear? I may be old, but I’m not senile yet."

  She was a woman well into her ter years, yet her posture was straight, her arms toned and muscur.

  But most striking were her eyes—piercing, like those of a hawk.

  They showed no sign of decline, filled with a confidence that decred she would never overlook a lie.

  Her gold-and-silver-streaked hair was tied up, and with a nimble movement, she vaulted over the second-floor railing without using the stairs, nding lightly. After a brief gnce at the receptionist, she faced Lutz.

  "So? Where did the stampede happen? Weren’t you supposed to be gathering herbs in the western mountains?""Yeah! About two days’ ride west! A vilge there was attacked by a horde of goblins!!"

  At first, the urgency in his voice made it seem like something serious, but when Lutz mentioned "goblins," exasperated sighs erupted from all around.

  Some ughed mockingly, as if to say, Just goblins? Others jeered, asking if he had really run away in fear of such weak creatures.

  "You abandoned a vilge because you were scared of goblins?!""Man, that’s just pathetic.""You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d seen them!! They—they were—!"

  Lutz’s eyes widened as he tried to argue back against the adventurers mocking him as a coward.

  "Quiet. I’m the one asking questions here."

  But the Guildmaster’s voice, firm and commanding, made him swallow his anger.

  "So? What makes you say they weren’t just ordinary goblins?""R-right. Normally, goblins have green skin, but these ones were grayish, with red eyes! That alone was weird, but they were eating people! And our attacks barely worked—it was like they didn’t feel pain! Some were still moving even with their arms nearly torn off, or swords stuck in their bodies!! That’s not normal!! Regur goblins would’ve just died and disappeared!!"

  Lutz had calmed down somewhat while speaking, but as he recalled the scene, his face paled again, his breathing grew ragged, and cold sweat dripped down his face.

  His condition was clearly not right.

  Now, the other adventurers began exchanging hushed whispers, realizing that Lutz’s state wasn’t just from panic.

  "Ever seen goblins like that?""Nope.""Me neither.""A new species?""Never heard of goblins eating people.""His archery’s lousy, but his eyesight’s sharp. No way he misjudged this."

  New species of goblins. Under the Guildmaster’s silent instruction, the receptionist began recording the report of the goblin attack.

  "Numbers?""T-too many. Definitely more than the vilgers. The whole vilge was swarming with them. I tried to ride ahead to warn the next vilge, but—""It was already under attack?""Yeah! The road was packed with those things!! The next vilge too! At this rate, they’ll head straight for the capital, so I took a detour to get here!!"

  An overwhelming number of monsters—undoubtedly a stampede.

  The evidence was all there.

  "Hey, you two drunks."

  Though it was just testimony, the Guildmaster couldn’t ignore such critical information. She pointed at two men drinking in the corner.

  "Emergency quest. Head west and scout the situation.""Yes, ma’am!!""Let’s move, now!!"

  Normally, rough beastman adventurers might grumble, but when the Guildmaster gave an order, they obeyed without question, abandoning their half-finished drinks and rushing out.

  "Alright, with their speed, we’ll have intel soon. You—go to the soldiers’ outpost. Use my name and tell them to keep an eye on the west.""Aye, ma’am!!"

  She then pointed at another adventurer, who saluted and immediately sprinted toward the military barracks.

  "Well, if Lutz’s story is true, we’re in serious trouble.""Serious trouble?"

  The receptionist’s hand paused as she wrote the report.

  "Yeah. What Lutz saw weren’t normal goblins. They were goblin zombies.""Goblin zombies?""Goblins turned undead. But they’re not supposed to exist naturally. Ordinary goblins don’t just mutate like that. There’s only one way they’re born—when a goblin dungeon is taken over by an undead monster. They become its vanguard."

  The Guildmaster hadn’t reached her position by luck or favor.

  The Adventurers' Guild was an organization operated by the state.

  In this world, adventurers were officially recognized as a profession, but only a select few with proven track records could freely travel between nations.

  Only those deemed trustworthy by the kingdom and capable of handling foreign missions were granted high-ranking adventurer status.

  Though there were disparities between nobles and commoners in rank, the Guildmaster of the royal capital’s Adventurers' Guild, Dolce, was undoubtedly among the strongest in the organization.

  "The real question is—what kind of monster took over that goblin dungeon?"

  Her experience and knowledge matched her appearance. Though she disliked desk work and often delegated tasks, her years on the front lines had honed her judgment.

  She recognized that Lutz’s goblins were abnormal—and knew the conditions for their creation.

  "There were reports of a wandering Dulhan in the west. Could it be...?""Did the extermination force screw up? Figures. Noble-born folks are useless. But still—what are the odds a goblin dungeon just happened to be in that Dulhan’s path?"

  An undead usurping a dungeon’s boss.

  Goblin zombies only appeared under these exact conditions, making them an extremely rare breed.

  They didn’t occur naturally—only through deliberate interference.

  "No, that’s...""Unlikely, right? I’ve lived a long time, but even I’ve never seen that happen. Usually, when stuff like this goes down, some idiot’s involved."

  Understanding this, Dolce sighed deeply, already suspecting the cause of this stampede.

  "Boss!!""Who’re you calling ‘boss’? Whatever—what’s the report?"

  While they had been talking, one of the beastmen scouts returned. He was a feline beastman—known for his speed.

  "Lutz was right! Weird goblins are heading this way!! Their numbers aren’t huge yet, but merchants are already fleeing into the capital—meaning there’s a lot more coming! My partner’s scouting further west to estimate the full force!!""Good work. At least we know Lutz isn’t a liar now. You—take that report to the royal castle. The rest of you—sound the arm!!"

  This was undeniably an emergency. There was no time to hesitate.

  Normally, Lutz should’ve reported directly to the knights or soldiers, but he had gone out of his way to return to the guild and speak to the Guildmaster first.

  The reason? The terrible retionship between the military and the Adventurers' Guild—or more accurately, between noble and commoner adventurers.

  Simply put, nobles looked down on commoners, and commoner adventurers resented them for it.

  Thus, the Guildmaster’s authority—something even nobles couldn’t ignore—was necessary.

  The adventurers mobilized.

  "Hold down the fort.""Where are you going?""Isn’t it obvious?"

  At the forefront was the leader of the Adventurers' Guild.

  She stroked a ring, and in a fsh of light, a massive, rugged yet functional iron club appeared in her grip.

  "I live for crushing monsters with this thing. Sitting back and giving orders just isn’t my style."

  With her trusted weapon slung over her shoulder, she grinned at the receptionist, who sighed in resignation.

  "Understood. I’ll inform the royal castle.""Yeah, no way they’ve heard yet. Make sure we get some credit for this."

  A field veteran through and through, she prioritized action over bureaucracy.

  The receptionist often bore the brunt of Dolce’s impulsive decisions, handling most of the administrative burdens.

  Yet even knowing this, the Guildmaster strode toward the exit, her heavy footsteps echoing.

  "Alright, boys!! Time to work!! Save the drinking for after we survive!! And don’t worry about pay—this is a national crisis! If we protect the capital, those fat-cat ministers will shower us in gold!!"""""OORAH!!""""

  A chaotic cmor followed her.

  Some adventurers already had weapons in hand, others scrambled to grab theirs—nothing like the orderly march of an army.

  This was the Adventurers' Guild—a gathering of roughnecks.

  But it wasn’t wless.

  "Damn right! Being an adventurer’s the best! We smash monsters, and money rains from the sky! It’s like free coin, ain’t it?!""Hell yeah!!""Absolutely!""Don’t even need to go to the forest—the money’s coming to us! Maybe my good deeds are finally paying off!""""As if!!""""The hell you say?!"

  As the guild emptied, citizens stared in confusion at the procession.

  Their destination: the western gate.

  Adventurers fanned out, gathering comrades along the way.

  Work to do. Time to work.

  Word spread—Boss Dolce’s on the move with her iron club!

  Sleeping, drinking, or indulging in fleeting pleasures—all answered the call.

  Adventurers were free spirits.

  Yet now, they tempered that freedom, rallying behind a single iron-cd leader.

  A raucous crowd passed by just as the emergency bells began to toll.

  Panicked citizens found reassurance in their boisterous ughter.

  Don’t worry. We’re here.

  As if to procim this, they marched onward.