*YOU CAN TOTALLY SKIP THIS CHAPTER*

"Do you know about the story of the Headless Bearded Man?"

"Eeh… how would you know if he has a beard if he's headless?"

"S-shut up, Viel! The story has not even started yet!"

Emi and the others were currently inside the Adventurer's guild. It was dark, and the candle that Emi was holding was their only source of light.

Numerous adventurers were there, listening to Emi's story. Some of the muscular ones were even holding each other's hand as they listened to one of Emi's scary stories.

"It all started when Burgerstatter was still being built. During the days of our ancestors, they worked day and night just to build walls.

But did you know that at this very building that we are standing in,… a worker died?"

Loud gasps could be heard from the adventurers as they felt something crawling down their spine.

"Some of you may be curious and ask… How did the worker die? Well…", Emi started to climb down the table, being assisted by Viel as she was currently pregnant.

She then walked around, with the adventurers making way. After a few seconds, she then stopped in a very particular spot, right in the middle of the adventurer's guild.

"One night, the worker was drunk. But he remembered that he left something here while he was working during the day. And so he went back.

And it was dark, even darker than how it is now. And so, without even realizing it, he slipped. And before he can recover himself and stand up… BANG!"

"Eeek!", the adventurers all shouted in shock as Emi suddenly stomped her foot on the floor.

"An axe fell on his neck! At this very spot I am standing right now, cleanly slicing his head off.

Plop… plop… plop…", Emi started to walk again, only to stop in front of a random adventurer, "His head then rolled, not stopping until it reached this spot, where you are sitting on right now"

The adventurer could not help but tremble as he slowly looked down on his feet, he then slowly lifted up his legs, awkwardly hugging it so that it wasn't planted on the floor.

"And the next day, all the other workers continued to work, only to find the head of their friend on the ground… but the body… the body was nowhere to be found"

Another round of gasps could be heard from the adventurers as they awkwardly tapped their necks.

"And so, they buried the head, alone… without its body. But every night after that, the workers could hear someone walking. Tap, tap, tap. Someone walking aimlessly inside the building. They could even hear it hitting the walls, as if it did not know where it was going.

And so one night, they all decided to stay and sleep inside the building. Maybe it was just a thief, they thought. But how wrong they were. That night, what they saw wasn't a thief…

...It was a headless body, aimlessly walking inside this very building we are in right now. And as if the body could see them… it suddenly faced towards them...

...and ran!", Emi suddenly put out the fire from the candle she was holding.

"Eeek!"

"E-emi!? Where are you?"

The adventurers were starting to panic as they could not see anything.

"Where is my head!?", Emi then suddenly lit the candle as she ran towards the group of adventurers, her head hidden inside a robe.

"Kyaaa!"

Almost all of the adventurers ran to the side of the hall as Emi rushed towards them.

"Emi! You shouldn't be running around with a baby inside of you!"

The lights inside the adventurer's guild soon lit up one by one as Antoinette could be seen climbing down the stairs.

"Boo, we're just having fun here", Emi revealed her head from the robes as she looked disappointingly at Antoinette.

"Telling stories?", Antoinette then walked near a window and opened it, revealing the dark and cold breeze of the night, "Do you know what time it is!? The Adventurer's guild is close now!"

Antoinette then looked at the trembling adventurers that were either under the table, or shivering away on the side, "Shouldn't you people be home right now or doing quests!? Go!"

The adventurers quickly dispersed as soon as they heard Antoinette's annoyed voice.

"I swear, Emi. Shouldn't you be resting?", Antoinette sighed as she continued to open up the other windows.

"You know how boring it is to stay inside the manor all day", Emi groaned, "All I do is eat, sleep, then eat again, one would say it's even unheal- Viel?"

Emi stopped talking as soon as she saw Viel with a serious expression on his face, his hand covering his mouth.

"Oho", Emi revealed an arrogant chuckle as she approached Viel, "Could our soon to be Gold Rank adventurer actually be scared just by a short scary story?"

"Hhmm…"

But Viel did not answer her as Viel just continued to squint his eyes.

"V-viel?", Emi placed her hand on Viel's shoulder, "Don't tell me you're really scared?"

Feeling Emi's hand on his shoulders, Viel finally snapped out of his stupor, "Ah no, the man in your story, I think I saw him once"

"..."

"W-what?", Emi could not help but stutter as she slowly backed away, even Antoinette, who was busy fixing the mess the adventurer's left, could not help but twitch.

"B-but the story… isn't real, Viel", Emi chuckled awkwardly.

"No, I swear I saw him once walking around here during the night", Viel said with a serious expression, "I tried calling for him, but he just continued to walk like he couldn't hear me"

"Aha..haha", Antoinette nervously laughed as she approached Viel, "I am sure you were just seeing things. Emi! Look at what you've done!"

"No...No", Viel shook his head, "I definitely saw him once"

"I am going home", Emi said in a monotonous tone as she quickly walked out of the adventurer's guild.

"Ah! That's right, I still have a quest to do", Viel also followed her out, "I won't be back until tomorrow!", he said as he casually left the adventurer's guild.

"..."

Did they just seriously leave her alone after saying something like that? Antoinette could not gulp as she looked around the empty adventurer's guild.

Maybe she should leave the lamps on for now, they have the excess budget afterall.

And so with that thought, she went back to her office.

***

The night continued on quietly, Antoinette was about to finish up filing her paperworks as she stretched her arms.

She yawned, but then her eyes wandered off towards the door, which was slightly open.

Weird, she remembered clearly that she locked the door.

And so, with a groan, she stood up and slowly walked towards the door in order to close it. But as she was halfway there.

The door started to creak as it slowly opened fully, causing Antoinette to freeze on her tracks. There wasn't even a slight breeze of wind, she thought. How could the door even swing open?

And then, she noticed something. The hallway, it was eerily dark. Which should be impossible, as she made sure to leave all of the lamps lit up before she went up to her office.

*pat pat pat*

She then slightly trembled as she heard footsteps, crittering footsteps coming from the darkness that surrounded the hallway.

She kept staring at the opened doorway, her breath stuttered as she did not find the courage to approach the door.

And then, the footsteps became louder, it was hurried, as if it was more than one person that was walking around.

Realizing this, Antoinette let out a relieved sigh. It might just be some of the adventurers that lived in their lodgings.

And so with that thought, she once again approached the door to close it.

But it was then that she suddenly saw someone crawling outside her door, passing by her office swiftly.

It was brief, but Antoinette was sure… that the man that was crawling did not have a head.

Antoinette's eyes widened as she quickly ran towards the door and slammed it close.

From then on, the new and improved adventurer's guild became the first adventurer's guild in the country that was open for 24 hours.