In the Guild Master's room, three men sat facing each other. Maron with the golden gloves nobly took a sip before shifting his gaze to a certain individual, a veiled man holding a spear. And the third individual was the big and buff Guild Master. The trio sat in a triangle, able to easily see each other.
"How did you get this token?" The mysterious man asked before Maron put the cup down on the nearby table and smiled as he spoke. "I happened to stumble upon it somewhere."
The man with the spear scoffed. "Then your reaction should have been different when I mentioned Mheerio. Tell me while I'm nice, how did you get this token?"
A grave look appeared on Maron's face, he could sense that this man was powerful. Even the Guild Master was not someone to be ignored.
"My grandfather was a citizen of the Mheerio Empire, he told me tales of it and passed this token down to me as a keepsake." Maron replied.
The man nodded his head. "That's understandable, but do not show this token to anyone else. Apart from a scarce few, no one will actually recognize it. He's a good example." He lightly tilted his spear in the Guild Master's direction, who scratched his head in embarrassment.
Maron listened to everything before calmly inquiring. "What do you know about the Mheerio Empire?"
"There are two versions of its legend, one is the heroic one while the other is the opposite. Which one do you want to hear?"
"Haha, the villainous version, of course." Maron forcefully chuckled before the mysterious man started. "In the Lost Era, there existed a tyrannical nation named Mheerio Empire. That emp-"
"Apologies for cutting in, but... what do you mean by the Lost Era?" Asked Maron. The Guild Master looked at Maron with his eyes wide open. "Mister, do you live in a cave or something? Even a child knows about it, how come you n-"
"Shut up, he didn't ask you." The mysterious spearman rebuked, causing the guild master to lower his head. He then looked back at Maron. "You really don't know about the Lost Era?" Maron gently shook his head in no.
The man with the spear stared at him for some time before saying. "It is a period of time of which we have little to no record. Our history extends for only 300 years to the past, we have no records before it. Thus, everything before our recorded history is coined as the Lost Era. We don't know what happened before or even how long this before is."
Maron calmly nodded his head. "Sigh, to think it's all just… lost." The spear-wielder tried to read Maron's expression but couldn't discern anything. However, the truth was far too different. His mind was in chaos, numerous haunting thoughts and assumptions appeared before him as he pondered. The only thing that remained the same was his well-controlled expression.
"Why haven't I heard of this Lost Era in all these years? How come none of the adventurers discussed it in my bar? Were we being monitored for the past 300 years? Was this information purposefully being kept from us?" These countless questions disturbed him greatly. For the first time in 300 years, he felt like a complete fool, unaware of the world around him.
Before he believed, they had cut themselves off from the wider world, when in reality they've might been forced to do so. In such a way that they didn't even realize it.
Before long, Maron picked up his teacup and took another sip to calm himself. " Forgive me, I was a bit lost in thinking about all that lost history. Could you continue?" He urged the spearman to continue.
"Yes, Mheer-" But before he could, they all heard bells loudly chiming all around.
"What does that chime mean?" Asked the spearman while the Guild Master hurriedly stood up. "The capital is under attack!"
The spearman flinched. "The Fire Fate Pome!" He mumbled before he zipped out like a flash of lightning with the Guild Master following after, leaving Maron all alone in the room. He pressed his temples to halt the incoming headache, before looking at his own reflection in the tea and asking himself. "Who could have done this to us? Just who... had the damn guts?"
Tufail witnessed the Great General of the Moro Kingdom laid on the ground, bloodied and defeated. "Don't waste our time and just hand us the Fire Fate Pome, it'd be more useful in our empire's hands." Said the young foreigner.
The Great General Bulbo gritted his teeth and spat blood at the man before the young general signalled a subordinate with numerous fresh wounds on his bald head. Indicating that he was the one who had fought and defeated Bulbo. He raised his sword and was about to land the final blow before he suddenly changed his trajectory as the sound of gunfire echoed.
"Oopsie daisy, the baldy stopped my bullet. Hehe, how amusing!" A feminine voice resounded. The young man looked towards the source, seeing seven people standing on the roof of a nearby house.
"The captain of the Rose Pirates, Pretty Paris is here!"
"Oh no, not pirates! Run!"
The simple mention of pirates caused chaos in the crowd, their infamy exceeded even that of bandits. However, the young man was unperturbed as he quickly grabbed a spear from a nearby soldier and lunged it at Pretty Paris.
"So fast!" She gasped, but just as the spear was about to reach her, her body transformed into rose petals, allowing the spear to hit nothing but air.
"She has eaten the Rose Fate Pome, so she can create and control roses! She's a master of surprise attacks, general!" the bald man warned his superior as the scattered petals fell and formed a pile of roses. The captain of the Rose Pirates jumped out of it then as she uttered with a wide smile. "Ta-dah!"