End the day.

Outside of the city walls, your group lights a fire and begins to cook the massive crab legs Niki hulled back all on her own. The guards in the distance look at you strangely, but you mean no harm. It's just an odd sight, especially given the size of the meat. You dig in, and it's delicious. You have no butter to add, or salt or anything else, but it's a a scrumptious hot meal nonetheless. You know of king crab, but this is a taste unique to itself. It's quite a lot, however. Eva and Niki might by gluttonous, but it's far too much to eat on your own, especially since Alice doesn't have the ability to eat at all.

A couple guards approach with torches lit as the sun starts to set. They're glad in chainmail, with shields and blades. The symbol of the empire, a ruby wolf's head, is present on their tabards.

"Are you all doing well over here?" one asks. "You can enter the city if you'd like."

"We're almost done," Niki says with a deep exhale. She leans back and pats her stomach.

"Would you like to join us?" Amara asks.

"Oh well, I didn't expect that," answers the guard. "I'm sure you adventurers have it rough enough on the road without a stranger eating some of your food."

"No, no. The food may go to waste if you do not help."

"There's more back that way if anyone wants to harvest the corpses," Niki says with a jerk of her thumb.

"What did you hunt?" another guard asks.

"The Crab King!" Eva says proudly.

After a moment of silence, the first guard speaks again. "I'd find it hard to believe you if it wasn't for all this seafood you have. Your party truly found and slew the legendary crab that was said to lurk in the sea near Tolis?"

"You may choose to believe it, or don't. But feel free to eat," Snow says.

The guards look among each other. They then sit around the fire, one by one, and sink their teeth into the crab's tender meat. Your group eats with them for awhile before it's all gone, and then it's finally time to reenter the city and get some sleep.

You and the others arrive at the Way Inn once again, and grab your rooms for the night. But you can't help but wonder what William is doing out there.

Is he like me, where he's been having his own adventures with his own party? I guess the two of us are just different, and he'd rather not take on the Demon King with me without knowing whether or not I'm ready for it. That's fair. Though, I'd rather him be more upfront about it. He acts so mysterious, and even though he's given us really valuable information, he just disappears again and again. I'm going to confront him the next time we meet, and try to get some real answers for once.

Eventually, you manage to drift off to sleep.