Let This Grieving Soul Retire

It’s the golden age for treasure hunters—adventurers hungry for wealth, fame, power, and glory, who risk their lives in treasure vaults throughout the world. “Let’s become treasure hunters.” Krai and his childhood friends swore to become the greatest of them all, but that dream should have died the day Krai realized he wasn’t cut out for the job! Yet expectations continue to mount, right along with Krai’s fear for his life. While his childhood friends climb closer toward their dream, this grieving soul has one simple wish: to pack it all in and retire!

Krai has been on edge ever since realizing he accidentally released the Sitri Slime—a deadly creation that could bring the entire capital to ruin—and now the Explorers’ Association is asking for his help investigating strange occurrences in and around the city. To make matters worse, Krai’s thoughtless response escalates the situation into a national disaster. And to top it off, Sitri Smart, Alchemist of the Grieving Souls, returns amid the chaos. With a devastating slime on the loose and an evil magic syndicate lurking in the shadows, can the Grievers save the capital from the unseen perils they’ve unleashed upon it?

A Relic that Krai desperately wants comes up for auction, but he finds himself in massive debt—over ten billion gilds! Realizing his sticky situation, he has declared an end to his unending Relic shopping spree until he clears his debt. Krai desperately scrambles to raise money, but no one, not even Ark, will land a hand. Meanwhile, the situation takes an unexpected turn as rumors circulate that the Relic is highly sought after by the Thousand Tricks. Soon, the situation unfolds in unforeseen ways.

The Zebrudia Auction has come and gone, meaning Krai can now return to his peaceful life—but only briefly. His respite is interrupted all too soon by an invitation to the Gathering of White Blades, an exclusive annual party for the most elite hunters. Wanting to avoid such an affair at all costs, Krai decides that now would be an excellent time for a vacation. He makes plans to visit a hot spring, meet up with the other members of Grieving Souls, and—most importantly—not come back until after the Gathering of White Blades is over. Unfortunately for him, a request from Earl Gladis, pursuit from Falling Fog, and a mysterious monster lurking in the mountains will all ensure that Krai’s vacation is anything but relaxing.

Krai’s vacation continues! He may have initially failed to meet up with the rest of his childhood friends, but that doesn’t mean he can go home quite yet. He still has to avoid a certain conference in the imperial capital, which means at least two more weeks on the run (that is to say, vacationing). By avoiding Earl Gladis and his named quest, shaking off Arnold and his companions, and finding lodgings in the idyllic mountain town of Suls, Krai just might be home free. But what starts off as a nice stay at a high-end hot spring (with Sitri footing most of the bill) is soon interrupted by the appearance of a dragon. The chaos is amplified by vicious bandits and the revelation that more than just hot water is circulating beneath Suls. With the fate of an entire town at risk, it’s up to the Thousand Tricks to save it by means only he and the rest of Grieving Souls could possibly pull off.

All in all, Krai had a pretty good vacation. But with the Gathering of the White Blade over, it’s time for him to return home. Passing through its gates for the first time in a month, he finds the imperial capital looking like it had been carpet-bombed. Apparently, a battle had broken out between Hidden Curse and the remnants of Akashic Tower while he was away. Krai learns the wanton destruction has caused the Gathering of the White Blade to be put on hold for the first time in its long history and he’s arrived just in time to attend. Unable to run away a second time, he has no choice but to face that hellish party of pompous nobles and freakish hunters. But that turns out to be the least of his concerns and the Thousand Tricks finds himself with a quest issued by the emperor himself. Normally, he’d want nothing to do with this, but he’s unable to say no when he sees the payment being offered—a rare Relic from the imperial family’s collection.