Adventurer of Many Professions

"Ugh… ahh!" Seth groaned as he stirred awake, feeling the cold, hard surface of a cot beneath him. A sharp pain stabbed at his stomach, and he quickly clutched his midsection, wincing.

"What… what happened?" he muttered, his mind foggy and his body aching. The last thing he remembered was charging at Raymond, fully intent on teaching him a painful lesson. And then; an image flashed in his mind, Raymond's foot connecting with his stomach, sending him flying. He'd blacked out right after that.

"No way," he whispered, his brows knitting in disbelief. "Raymond? 'Kicked me away'?"

It didn't add up. Raymond was the one they'd always pushed around, the scrawny, quiet kid who'd never once fought back. How could he have suddenly developed the strength to knock Seth down?

But before he could make sense of it, an icy realization crept over him. His head felt different; strange, bare. Reaching up in a panic, he ran his fingers over his scalp, only to find uneven, prickly tufts where his once-flowing hair had been.

"AHH! My hair! My 'beautiful' golden hair!" he shrieked, his voice echoing in the cold, unfamiliar room.

That hair had been his pride and joy, his ticket to a life outside of the dreary Becker Hotel. It had drawn the attention of a few wealthy, widowed ladies in the North District, who'd enjoyed keeping "pets" like him around. Sure, they were well into their fifties, and their bodies left much to be desired, but their money more than made up for it. Those ladies paid well, enough for him to indulge in fun on Willow Street in the South District afterward.

Even though he longed to visit Fengqing Street in the East District, where the exotic girls entertained the wealthiest men and the awakened ones, he was stuck. They only catered to professionals, not ordinary people like him.

But now… his prized hair was gone. And his patrons hadn't called him in nearly two months. They were probably about to remember him and invite him back. 'If they saw him like this…' His stomach twisted with dread. He was certain they'd cast him aside for good. He'd lose his status, his money, everything.

Grinding his teeth, he screamed, "Who did this to me?!" Rage pulsed through his veins as he stumbled to his feet, finally taking in his surroundings. The room was unfamiliar, and worse, his two friends, Andre and Mike, were lying unconscious nearby.

Without hesitation, he rushed over and shook Andre. "Wake up, Andre! Get up!"

Andre jolted awake, blinking blearily before his gaze landed on Seth's mangled hair. His eyes went wide with shock. He knew well about Seth's little side hustle, and he wasn't one to judge; after all, he'd dabbled in the same circles, despite his less-than-attractive looks. The older ladies liked variety, he supposed.

Mike stirred as well, his gaze moving to Seth's butchered hair. "Seth… what happened to you?" he stammered, unable to hide his surprise.

"What happened?" Seth nearly shouted, his voice rising with frustration and humiliation. "That's what I want to know! I blacked out last night, and when I wake up, 'this' is what I find!" He pointed furiously at his uneven scalp. "Who did this? And why?"

He rounded on Andre, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Andre, you were still there. Tell me everything. Now."

Andre, his face pale, nodded hastily. "O-Okay, okay," he stammered, clearly unnerved. "After you blacked out, it turns out… Raymond; he's awakened, Seth. He's a professional now."

Seth's jaw dropped. "Raymond? Awakened?" His face twisted with disbelief, the word itself sounding foreign. "There's no way. Raymond? A professional?"

"Yeah, that's right," Andre replied, his voice trembling. "And that's why he was able to fight back. He took you down in one kick… and then…" He paused, wincing.

"And then what?" Seth demanded, his face growing darker with every word.

"Well," Andre continued, swallowing hard, "it seems he decided to, um… give you a little 'makeover' to remember him by."

Seth's face went from shock to rage in an instant. "How dare he!" he spat, his fists clenching. "Raymond, of all people! And why didn't he tell us he'd awakened? Why didn't he show us respect after becoming a professional?"

Andre and Mike exchanged wary glances, not daring to answer. For the first time, Seth's position as their "leader" felt fragile, overshadowed by the growing realization that the kid they'd always bullied was no longer a powerless target.

Seth clutched his uneven hair in both hands, his face contorting with rage. "My hair… Raymond, that little—!" He paced frantically, muttering to himself, "What am I supposed to do now? Louise and the others will be looking for me soon. How am I supposed to face them like this?"

Mike, watching Seth's near-manic state, rolled his eyes. "Forget about those old crones, Seth. You should be more worried about how we're going to avoid prison!"

Seth's pacing stopped abruptly. He looked at Mike, confused, until Mike pointed to the wall, where an emblem of the Knights Templar gleamed in the dim light. "Have you noticed where we are?" he said sharply. "We're in a Knight's holding cell."

A chill ran down Seth's spine as he stared at the insignia. "How did we even get here?" he whispered, fear creeping into his voice.

Andre, pale as a ghost, could barely hold himself together. His mind raced back to their plans for Arya the previous night. Even though they'd failed to carry them out, the fact that they had the intent was damning enough.

Mike sank down on the bed, his voice barely above a whisper. "If the Knights find out we planted drugs in Raymond's room to frame him…" He swallowed hard, looking at the others. "You know what happens to commoners who try to frame awakened ones."

The color drained from Seth's face as the memory of that law hit him. Framing an awakened person was a serious crime. Punishment for such an offense wasn't just prison; it was a life sentence in the kingdom's most treacherous mines. Every year, prisoners were sent to extract resources under brutal conditions, where at least half didn't survive, whether from mining accidents, monstrous creatures, or worse. And a sentence there lasted a minimum of ten years.

Seth's anger turned to terror, his voice a horrified whisper. "No… they'd send us to the mines?"

Mike nodded grimly, his entire body trembling. "Yes. And once they know what we did, there's no way out of it."

A soft, mocking voice suddenly broke through their dread. "Ohhh, so you're admitting you drugged Raymond's room to frame him?"

The three froze, whipped around to look at the door. Peering through the small window was a young, mischievous face they recognized instantly; Freya. She grinned, her eyes twinkling with a cruel amusement as she watched their horrified expressions.

In that instant, all three of them shared the same sinking realization: it was over.