Hornet woke up to the sound of commotion from outside her window.
She didn't know how long she had slept. It must have been a long time, though. Her limbs felt heavy, and her breathing was shallow yet slow. The light from the windows bathed her face with a strange yet familiar warmth. After struggling to open her eyes, the sight of a wood ceiling was what first greeted her.
"Shit," Hornet thought to herself. "My body hurts."
Light filtered from the blue curtain covering the window, illuminating the room with a gentle glow.
Parched, she tried to call somebody to fetch her some water or, better yet, a cup of ale. But even after several attempts, nobody came to her aid.
That was weird. Was the commotion loud enough to completely drown Hornet's voice? But the room was outfitted with pipes that ran across the clinic toward the lobby so that the nurse's station could always hear their calls.
Hornet sighed. After a few more tries, she eventually became restless enough to do it herself. So, after much difficulty with maneuvering her stiff body, she stood up with the help of her drip stand, went out of her room, and went down the stairs.
In case it wasn't obvious, going down a flight of stairs was difficult for somebody in her state. Due to how Hornet's body worked, healing magic was useless to her. And while her body healed quickly, it couldn't do so instantly, so she still suffered from the severe weakness and fatigue that came after. Even so, she still forced herself to stand upright. The last thing she wanted people to see was her, conscious, in such a miserable state.
Once was enough.
"A'least they're pumpin' me with th'good stuff."
One of the two bags on the drip stand contained pure drinking alcohol pumped directly into her stomach through a large needle. It was slightly painful but vital. At the very least, it allowed her to function. Her being sober wouldn't do anybody good.
Hornet crept along the wall, slowly inching herself forward. Only empty rooms and hallways greeted her. If not for the noise from outside, Hornet might have thought it was an abandoned building. And as she arrived at the lobby, the shock she had been holding back overtook her. There wasn't a single soul to be found inside the clinic, not even at the front desk.
"Where–"
Then, the commotion outside peaked. Excitement electrified the air, palpable even within the serene halls where Hornet stood. Figuring that everybody must be where the noise came from, Hornet swallowed her complaints and pushed herself toward the door.
The clinic was just a short distance from her destination. After following the source of the ruckus, Hornet eventually found herself near the mansion. Even from a distance, she could see that practically everybody had gathered there. Humans, elves of both kinds, dwarves, beastkin, demons, and monsters; together, they congested into a mob with no form or pattern. They seethed with excitement as Coin stood on the veranda of the second floor, waving at the crowd. Seeing her form, Hornet's heart quickened. She pushed down the urge to kneel and kept limping on instead.
"Hornet?!" somebody exclaimed. It was Rex, who was standing right outside the crowd's perimeter with Stain. Hornet greeted them both and turned in their direction.
"Are you okay? Shouldn't you still be in bed?"
Though Stain kept silent, his face was almost as awash with concern as Rex's. That warmed her heart.
"S'okay. I'm feelin' jus' fine."
Hornet lied as naturally as she drank booze.
Rex and Stain looked at her in disbelief. But they only bothered asking once.
"Anyway, 'sup with this crowd?"
"Oh, uhh… We don't know… Master just told us to gather here for an announcement."
"... How long wus I 'sleep 'nyway?"
"Four… five days?"
Did she get beaten up that badly? Well, that was shocking. That must have been the case since all Hornet could remember was a desperate sprint through an underground cave while getting hurt from things she couldn't recall. The subsequent dash back toward the cave must have taxed her to the point where her body even burned through brain matter.
Or maybe she just forgot.
"Good afternoon, everyone!"
Hornet wanted to ask more questions, such as what happened with their clients after she had delivered the goods. Obviously, they were beside themselves with joy. There was no need to wonder. But first, she turned her attention to Coin's voice through the crystal amplifier.
"I've gathered everybody here today, even those working far away, for a very special announcement!"
Coin's voice quieted the crowd. Nobody wanted to miss a single word she would say. It was their way of showing their loyalty to her. Perhaps, just like Hornet, they even suppressed their urge to kneel, as it was disrespectful when Coin only needed their attention.
"As you know, we finished our first commission a few days ago since releasing rumors about our location and work. The task was to retrieve the Purging Stone, an artifact from the era of the Behemoths."
The crowd started making sounds of approval. Hearing those words from Coin, Hornet couldn't help but push her chest out in pride. She did do her best that time, at least within the limits of what she could do.
"Not only that, but they also saved a village from packs of corroded! Though… they did burn the entire place down. But perhaps it was the best decision they could make at the time… maybe."
But just like that, Coin poured cold water all over them.
Among the people gathered was a group of a few dozen situated at the front. Unlike the others who wore uniforms and everyday work clothes, they had specialized equipment and style. They were the heroes underneath Coin's employ, a veritable legion of individuals whose abilities and skills were the stuff of legends. And they were the ones who had the most displeased reactions to it.
Stain and Rex clearly felt their chagrin. Without meaning to, their heads lowered slightly in shame, especially Stain, who had been the one to suggest their course of action in the first place. And Hornet didn't like it.
After all, he did what he thought was the most prudent course of action. And though Hornet was against even entertaining the idea of failure, she recognized the importance of cautiousness… though she mostly ignored it.
"Anyway, that said, it was still a success. So congratulations to Hornet, Stain, and Rex! Our clients are happy, especially since the task was completed within a mere three days."
As if Coin sensed the mood becoming sour, she quickly tried alleviating the situation by turning to the bright side. And it worked. Because if there was one thing that bound everybody there, it was their obedience to the lord of heroes. Thus, a period of cheers overcame the massive chamber. Bellows and roars of celebration echoed and shook their souls into a state of frenzy.
Everybody was genuinely happy for their group's success… because, despite their differences, all their work was done for one goal.
"Now," Coin's magically-enhanced voice cut their excitement down. "Because it was our first commission and we operate with a certain mindset, we were bound to make mistakes. Aside from ruining an entire landscape, there are much smaller matters that we need to address. Our dear clients have kindly offered their criticism of my policy."
Her last line was… not taken lightly.
Coin was, in a way, the benefactor to every hero there. She was such an important figure to them that, even though they were all unique characters with different ideals and preferences, they still reacted negatively to her being "criticized," especially by an outsider. Hornet was about to shout her disgruntlement when a shooting pain in her ribs stopped her.
But nobody else had that kind of problem.
"Huh?! What the hell did they say?"
"It's almost like they're asking to be killed."
"I would very much like to talk to them. Maybe we could solve this without them losing their tongue."
"What did they say, anyway?"
A particular question became the focal point of everybody's concern. Depending on what it was, some big trouble may be heading the clients' way. An insult to Coin was an insult to all of them. And going by common sense, earning the ire of someone who could single-handedly raze cities was a bad idea.
"Good question," Coin said with indignation, dropping her relaxed and formal facade when she felt validated by her subordinates' outrage. "Get this. They told me that I don't pay you guys enough!"
"...."
Everybody sunk into an uncomfortable silence. Those words floated above a sea of unmoving heads. There was a weird sensation running about. While Hornet couldn't see her peers' expressions, she was able to watch Rex and Stain's faces contort from shock, confusion, understanding, and, finally… acceptance.
"Well, yeah. They're not wrong."
The first person to snap out of their trance was a hero who wore a witch's hat. Because of the tranquility their collective surprise afforded them, the witch's unamplified voice could clearly carry itself into everybody's ears.
"To be fair, that's a perfectly valid point."
"I don't mind the pay, but aren't we selling ourselves too cheap here?"
"True. Judging by the humans' standards, we should charge at least ten times more."
"I hear we earn the same as a farmer outside."
Voices of agreement quickly spread throughout the crowd. Surprisingly, the primary advocates were the heroes themselves, who had been the ones angry at the thought of Coin being criticized in the first place.
Rex's interest waned. Money was an incredibly dull topic for people like her, who had obscene amounts of money from her outside identity. Stain looked completely unconcerned, too. After all, he was, according to Coin, the "we have food at home" kind of guy.
But Hornet was definitely interested. More money meant that she could purchase better equipment for herself. And by "better," she meant "cooler" stuff. Though her armor was made by a blacksmith there for free, it was common for her to encounter accessories that struck her fancy, but she could only purchase them with Rex's help due to not earning enough.
Over at the veranda, Coin's expression turned from resentment into distress. She probably didn't think her loyal subordinates would turn against her instantly. But money was money. It was always good to have more of it.
"... Anyway!" she half-shouted to attract everybody's attention. "Since everybody agrees for some reason, we'll have no issues. But I'll have the guy who suggested it explain."
Coin moved to the side to allow a male and a female to stand at the center of everybody's view. Hornet immediately recognized them. It was the couple who had bought their services a week ago.
Their names were Rain and Snow. And they looked just as lost as when they first met.
"Ah… Uhh… Hello," the former greeted. Rain's voice was stiff with anxiety and confusion. "My alias–I mean, my name is Rain. And the girl beside me is Snow."
Snow shakily raised her hand to wave it, but the tension locked her joints in place.
"First, I want to thank Rex, Stain, and especially Hornet for their work in our commission. Not only were we able to have the curse lifted off of us, but we also got a lot of money. So, thank you."
Both of them bowed low.
Bunny must have taught them that. As far as Hornet knew, bowing while standing up wasn't a gesture that could be found anywhere in the world. But Coin had propagated the practice at one point, and eventually, everybody there knew what it meant.
As a result, the crowd acknowledged them and paid attention.
"... So, like… A few days ago, I approached Miss Coin with a suggestion. That was to hire all the heroes here to work on our commissions. However, I was unaware of how much everybody was… restricted by the Binding Tokens. We thought it was just a matter of needing it to use your abilities, but it seemed to be for more than just that.."
A grim mood quickly swept the crowd. It was a feeling of frustration but also acceptance of their dependency.
"We eventually learned why our own commission turned out how it did, why my idea wouldn't work… as well as why this place is built underground. We didn't know nor consider Miss Coin's efforts. But we're determined to make it work.
Twilight Dusk was founded to allow the world access to heroes. However, besides the difficulty of producing the tokens, you heroes have no other way to help others. So here is our plan."
Rain turned to Snow, who nodded at him with a stiff smile.
"We're going to create a new mercenary company… with you people as its core."