ã€ŠThe Unclaimed Ambassadorã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Ambassador, Risen Amongst the Dead

    I woke with a jolt, leg jerking forward. From the noise and the sharp pain in my toes, I hit something. I sat myself up and started massaging them as I gazed upon my victim. Now very much awake, I became aware of several distressing facts. First among them, I was outside, in a severe state of undress. A close second being that the piece of metal I struck belonged to a corpse. Far from the only one around.

    The shock must have been playing tricks on me, because no matter how hard I tried, I could not recall how I came to be here. In fact, I also failed to remember what had happened and who these people were.

    My eyes darted from one cadaver to the next, causing my heart to race and my breathing to become much more pronounced.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I asked aloud, voice trembling.

    My distress made me repeated myself quite a few times in the following minutes, not always at the same volume, nor with the same words being stressed. I did not expect an answer, and received none. Once I stopped for long enough, I realized other, more discreet sounds abounded. These, at least, proved no source of concern. I listened to the birds singing for a few moments, waiting for my panic to pass.

    After a while, only echoes of it remained. I experienced headaches, feeling like something applied a bit of pressure at every heartbeat.

    My mind persisted in not focusing on the surrounding horror, choosing instead to point out my inability to recognize any of the avian calls. This struck me as wrong, even considering how unimportant such a detail may be to my current situation. Indeed, while I held no expectation of being able to identify which species of bird sang, a complete lack of familiarity with any of the melodies gave that fauna an eerie atmosphere.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said to myself, and forced my mind to acknowledge my immediate surroundings. The spectacle proved ghastly. Over thirty bodies lay in the dirt. It suggested the aftermath of a battle, though there did not appear to be any standard uniform on display. In fact, the only shared color came from a revolting amount of blood. I still judged some of them to be soldiers, however, as a handful wore unadorned breastplates. Yet, most had no metal to protect them at all. Not blind to the irony, it seemed to me like they were woefully under-equipped for people on a battlefield. The headache increased as I became frustrated with my inability to figure out anything else I should have expected them to be wearing.

    I was just fixating on the armor so that I would not look at their faces. So far, I had managed to avoid seeing any gory part. The nauseous feeling I got from the few glimpses I already took proved enough to dissuade me.

    Being defenseless in the midst of so many dead bodies filled me with dread, and I resolved to get myself a weapon, just in case. Not looking for them before, I had failed to notice their conspicuous absence. As I got up to search for one, I saw an unfortunate victim carrying a dagger sheathed on their belt. Crossing the distance by walking barefoot and feeling the wind reminded me of another pressing issue: clothes. And armor, too, if possible.

    Now holding the dagger, I realized clothing would prove more of a challenge. Indeed, touching the corpses felt repulsing, and most of the attires themselves were soiled. Not always just by blood, either. My choices thus so severely limited, I resigned myself to dressing up with the cleanest pair of pants I could find. The leggings proved too short for me and still bore an uncomfortable amount of blood, though not enough to make me gag. Shoes turned out to be a much simpler affair, provided I accepted the need to forgo any socks. Despite spending far too long, I found nothing I could bear to wear on my chest. Giving up on my search, I counted on being a man to afford me some leeway in this matter, at least as long as the weather stayed this mild.

    All hopes of recovering one of the armors died in their confrontation with my disgust at having to extensively manipulate dead bodies to undo the straps. An aborted attempt informed me that it could not have been too long since the battle took place, because blood had not been given sufficient time to dry.

    Unable to bear the sight and smell of the bodies¡¯ exposed gore any longer, I decided to head for the nearest town and seek help. I glanced up at the sky, but could not see either of the suns. I found no real hint of a direction in which they might be, only some uniform blue, with no clouds. To be fair, trees limited my view on all sides. I appeared to be in a broad, sinuous corridor cutting through a forest. It was maybe fifty meters (around 160 feet) wide, although I knew I was not good at estimating distances. Dirt formed a path trailing in the middle of it, but I saw no sign of where either end would lead.

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    Lacking anything to decide on which direction to follow, I just chose at random and started walking along the path. This proved a rather unpleasant experience as, while my shoes offered a notable improvement over going barefoot, they made it clear they would exact their price in blisters before long. It did not matter. I had plenty to distract my mind with. What had this battle been about? How did I end up there? Thinking about it, these were far from the only things I should know, yet did not.

    My heartbeat surged again as I realized I could not summon any specific memory from before waking up. Anticipating the upcoming panic attack, I stop for a few minutes. Something was deeply wrong with me. This amnesia seemed much too precise to result from a physical injury. Besides, as far as I could tell, I was completely uninjured. I concluded it had to have been some kind of mind magic, then.

    However, mind magic did not explain how I ended up naked. Well, not in this situation, anyway. And none of the other people I had seen were missing their garbs. How could my state result from a battle? I found two plausible reasons for the lack of both clothes and physical injuries. Both involved magical abilities: an invulnerability not extending to whatever I was wearing, or some kind of transformation power.

    To my knowledge, I possessed no such magic. However, this would only be one more missing information on an already long list of them. It made sense, though. If they had failed managed to inflict any physical damage to me, going for a mental assault was the next logical step.

    Another rush of dread, another pause in my walk. I just thought of myself as their enemy, did I not? That meant I somehow believed I murdered all these people. Why would I ever do this? I had no answer: the amnesia made it impossible for me to figure that out by myself.

    My feet forged on, and so did my mind. If they had succeeded in using mental attacks to stop me, then how did I survive? Could they not have finished me off once my protection fell? Maybe I had not become vulnerable fast enough, and they had to flee. But then, why did they take the time to retrieve almost all of their weapons? Had I perhaps still been invincible, yet immobilized? That was a possibility. As far as I knew, which kept proving to be frustratingly little, there was no reason mind manipulation could not make it happen.

    I walked for what felt like hours, though the landscape did not appear to change in any significant way. I still knew a considerable amount of time had passed, because one of the suns became visible through the trees.

    In fact, I could now hear chaotic sounds filling the pauses in the wildlife¡¯s songs. I was about to reach civilization, though I found myself unsure how to feel about it. When I left the bodies behind, my aim had been to find people that would help, but now that I had taken the time to think about my situation, I felt far from convinced help was what I would receive.

    Indeed, if my assumption that I was the remnants of a rampaging monster proved correct, I might very well meet my end upon encountering whatever peace keeping force guarded these lands. On the other hand, if I was truly so dangerous, then maybe surrendering myself would be the better option. Of course, this would be an irrevocable decision, so I needed to make sure my actions had not been justified. The idea of murdering anyone filled me with disgust, but I presented obvious symptoms of having been subjected to some form of mind magic. As a result, whatever values I held now might not be the ones I had before. I shivered at the thought. Was whoever I used to be now gone, dead in all senses but the physical? Did I still bear the guilt of that person? It seemed my own phrasing told enough of my opinion on the matter: I was now someone else, someone new. Provided I could make sure I posed no danger anymore, there was no real reason for me to suffer from this body¡¯s previous occupant.

    I was, of course, not the most partial of judges.

    Lost in my thoughts, I almost failed to notice the change of landscape. The forest ended abruptly, giving place to fields. Lacking trees to hide behind, both suns revealed themselves, crowning a vast city little more than an hour away. A few sporadic buildings stood in the way, but these would be of little interest. No doubt dwellings and storage for whoever worked the agriculture. There did not seem to be anyone out on the fields right now, though. No matter. I could see the far silhouettes of people moving about in the city, so I was not too worried.

    I soon arrived at my destination. By that point, the city¡¯s background noise, which I had heard all the way from the forest, grew too loud for comfort. Given time, I might get used to it, but this did not make for the best of first impressions. As expected of a city¡¯s outskirts, the architecture here was rather sparse, but its density and height surged as I got deeper in. I noted that gray and brown stone bricks seemed to be the primary construction materials used around here, despite the forest''s proximity.

    Not even a minute after entering the town, I met my first living local: an old man sitting on a wooden chair, smoking from a pipe in front of what was likely to be his home. It would not surprise me to learn that this was how he spent most of his days. Indeed, he looked disheveled, wore patched clothes, and held a posture that spoke of back pains.

    Perhaps whatever he was smoking had put him in a daze, for he did not seem to notice me approach at all, keeping his pensive as he stared at the pavement. Only when I reached the spot he was pondering on did he react. His eyes widened in surprise, and he jumped out of his seat, staring at me like I was some sort of ghost.

    ¡°W-What?!¡± he cried out, the fear in his voice obvious. ¡°Stop! What the hell are you doing?!¡±

    I flinched at the unexpected outburst. The man¡¯s expression now displayed deep anger. Before I had time to speak, he let his pipe drop to the floor and reached for something at his belt.

    A sword. Shit.

    I ran.

 Chapter 2 - Ambassador, Unwelcomed by the City

    ¡°Guards! Guards!¡± the man bellowed behind me, pointing, as I rushed deeper into the city. I escaped, shifting direction at every junction, but while the maze-like nature of the stone buildings made it trivial, it also got me lost.

    I ran out of breath, switching to pure adrenaline for a moment. Going past my limits proved foolish, as my foot caught on an uneven piece of pavement and I tripped. I put my arms forward, causing them to bear the brunt of the fall and saving me from a broken nose. Too winded to do anything more, I stayed down, only forcing myself to flip on my back, so that my breathing came more freely.

    As I started recovering from the exhaustion, I glanced at my surroundings. I lay in a tiny but empty passageway between two buildings. Their rooftops neighbored close enough together that the cover of obscurity would remain all thorough the day. This made it an ideal place to hide. However, from the acrid odor, I had the displeasure of learning I had not been the only one to think so. Fearing this promised any injury would develop into an infection, I scrutinized my arms to check for broken skin, then sighed in relief as I saw they did not appear to be bleeding, despite still aching from the impact.

    A few minutes later, I sat back up. I was in no hurry. If the guards caught up and found me here, I would be in no state to flee, anyway.

    My physical trauma now addressed, my thoughts went back to the encounter. What had happened? Why would the old man attack me? Did he somehow know that I was a monster? How?

    I looked myself over and had to admit that I presented quite a lot of things to worry about. I judged the most egregious example to be the blood stained pants, and regretted not having thought of using some of the dirt from earlier to make them look less incriminating. Oh, well¡­ It was too late now.

    I resolved myself and faced the truth: it remained a considerable risk, but I had to try asking someone for help. Now that I was in the city, there would be no way to entirely avoid contact with its inhabitants. Seeing me had been enough to upset that man. Getting out of here without this happening again sounded implausible. And where would I go, anyway? Off to live in the woods? Not a chance. No, I needed to try again. I just had to rest a bit before my next attempt, in case it proved as disastrous as the last.

    Hidden by shadows in the alleyway, I pressed myself against a wall and spied on the people going through the main street. The narrowness of my refuge severely limited my field of view, making it difficult to distinguish the features of fast moving pedestrians. The few glimpses I caught showed me they shared little commonality between them. Within a few minutes, I had seen everything from beggars with ragged clothes to ludicrously dressed bourgeois. Likewise, my pale skin and dark hair would not make me seem out of place, for I could not identify any prominent complexions. I did note, however, a significant absence of bare chests. Not to mention, I presented a daringly innovating fashion choice by having blood on the outside. My dagger, which I would have expected to be seen as aggressive, turned out to help me fit in. Indeed, with rare exceptions, everyone carried weapons. Passersby had their weapons sheathed, however, and I had failed to procure anything to that effect, electing instead to keep the dagger tugged in my belt. I hoped that would prove to be no issue, considering the small size of the blade.

    This omnipresence of weapons still perplexed me. Indeed, why would someone that looked like they were struggling for food carry around a rapier? In fact, the handful of people not displaying any sort of blade had been among the most well-dressed. Seeing the entire population display arms at all times gave it a rather aggressive and unwelcoming appearance. Since the city had guards to handle disputes anyway, I could not fathom their reasoning. Well. I assumed there were some, considering the old man had called for them. I had yet to recognize any myself. This democratization of weapons made asking anyone for help dangerous. Any mishap could lead to an armed mob, and I did not fancy my chances of surviving that.

    Perhaps waiting for nightfall would offer better options? It was still morning. I faced a dilemma, having to gamble on the situation out there improving while risking for my lack of food to become an issue. Indeed, I did not feel hungry right now, but knew it was only a matter of time. It would make both thinking and running away from the consequences of poor decisions much harder. Indecision gripped me, and I stood there for maybe half an hour.

    Luck, it turned out, was not on my side. Traffic kept increasing, and the more I waited, the more I risked having the choice taken from me.

    Then, the inevitable happened: someone took my alleyway as a shortcut. It was so sudden that I did not even react before the hooded figure disappeared into the flow of people walking the main street. Either they had somehow missed me, or they did not find my appearance so alarming.

    Huh. That might be a solution. Inspired, I prepared to accost whoever went through next, reasoning that I would not attract a crowd if I just talked to someone right here.

    I had my chance nearly an hour later, when a woman ambled into the corridor. She held a page as she walked, somehow reading from it instead of paying attention to where she went. This prevented her from noticing me. I, however, had moved further back to avoid a repeat of the last passerby. This time, I made sure not to be ignored.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I called out to her, placing myself in her path. ¡°I could use some help.¡±

    That startled the woman, and she dropped her page. Realizing I stood in her way, she stared at me with a shocked expression, which quickly devolved into fiery anger.

    Not good.

    ¡°Y-You freak!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re doing this, but it won¡¯t work!¡±

    Taken aback by the abrupt aggressiveness, I almost failed to grasp that maybe surprising someone as they crossed a dark alley had never been likely to yield a friendly result. I blamed having simply too many things on my mind today. It was a paltry excuse, since I had also complained multiple times about how little it contained.

    Wait. Had she just called me a freak? That did not fit the reaction I would have expected, even considering the unfortunate circumstances. Did I somehow look like a monster to her right now, or did she judge my appearance truly so uncouth?

    Oh. The bloodied pants, maybe? That would explain it. Though, in that case, why would my actions confuse her?

    Still in the middle of choosing which words would best tell the woman it had all just been a misunderstanding, I felt a chill as I saw she had already drawn her rapier. Not only that, but a few other people in the street behind her also started reaching for their weapon, and they were looking in our direction.

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    With too little time to think, I decided on running as the best course of action. As I turned around to do just that, I glimpsed enough of the woman to know she intended to skewer me on the spot. Her attempting a lunge instead of pursuit proved to be my salvation, because no one caught me as I fled.

    Running for as long as I could, I ended up in yet another dark place. Some abandoned cul-de-sac between two shops.

    ¡°What... What the fuck is wrong with these people?!¡± I exclaimed, once again out of breath.

    I was, admittedly, getting a little upset myself. This had not at all been what I expected to find here. Sure, I might have overreacted when the old man had reached for his sword, but that last encounter left me with no doubts: those people wanted me dead, and they seemed unwilling to talk about it.

    Could this be what precipitated the battle? Had I come across a group of murderous travelers and been defending myself? For all I knew, I might have originally been trying to escape this very city. That would be just my luck.

    I did not know how to proceed. I had to figure out what caused people to become so violent. It was clear just asking would not work, so how could I make sure they were in no state to harm me? I could try capturing someone and force them to talk. Well, I could try, but there seemed very little chance I would succeed: I had no rope, no knowledge of any way to make a trap, and since everybody carried weapons, my dagger failed to be the intimidation tool I might have needed.

    I was pretty decent at running away, though. More so than I would have expected. Twice now had I escaped using crowds of people, and both times went without a hitch. Why had the passersby not joined in a frenzied hunt upon seeing me? Could they somehow not sense whatever had upset my aggressors?

    I could check that theory by trying to get somewhere else without running and seeing if I attracted any attention. However, my current hideout felt safe, making me loath to risk unnecessary danger. Here, there would be no chances of anyone passing through. I could stay as long as I wanted.

    Only then did the implications of that hit me. Indeed, no one was likely to have any reason to enter this dead end, but it also meant I would end up cornered if anyone ever did. Suddenly, this place no longer felt so safe. Not safe at all. I needed to leave. Right now.

    There were quite many people commuting in the main street at that point. Movements stifled by fear, I awkwardly merged into the flow of bored looking citizens. Listening for their reaction, I readied myself to sprint at the first angry outburst.

    None came.

    Quick glances revealed no one paid me any mind. I did not know where the crowd¡¯s motion was directing me, but at least I was no longer stuck. Traffic had sharply increased not long before I dared step out. According to my stomach, the reason for it should have been obvious: it was time for lunch.

    In my previous flights, I had passed by many shops offering food. Well, they were offering to sell food. An important distinction, given my complete lack of funds. Although, thinking about it, that was not the primary issue I faced. Would having money even prove sufficient to purchase a meal? Indeed, everything suggested that leaving this crowd would strip me of my temporary protection.

    The ever-changing group of people I walked among with reached a plaza defined around a statue. I had to keep pace not to be noticed, but it proved hard not to gawk at the sculpture. Towering over everyone, a stone woman of at least five meters (16 feet) presented a decapitated head with her left hand, as if showing it for all the passersby to see. Smiling, she held a sword aloft with her other hand. This would not have been so shocking, if not for the colors. Strange patterns were plastered all over her in sharp, contrasting hues. The mad artist¡¯s desecration had only spared her sword and the morbid trophy.

    I kept on peeking at the odd statue, until doing so made walking difficult. This could not be the work of a vandal. I observed a lot of subtleties in the pigmented shapes. A few complex gradients, too. I noticed a few patterns repeated with different hues. Oh, it definitely looked ugly, but I could still admire the craftsmanship. I felt as if I gazed upon the result of a collaboration between prominent artists whose styles proved utterly incompatible. Could they not have spread those colors and patterns over the floor instead?

    As if to complement the confusing flurry of colored designs I just saw, a torrent of foreign smells assaulted my nose. Looking around, I realized my group had entered an even busier street, which featured a food market. The chaos surrounding us made me dizzy. A cacophony of merchants competed with one another in their attempts at attracting customers through the sheer volume of their voice.

    Vindicated by the sight and smell of food, my stomach reminded me that eating should never be deemed optional. My hunger, hitherto a feeble sensation, surged without warning. This presented me with a conundrum, because I knew of no legal way to get anything to eat, and I had just managed to convince myself to be innocent of the crimes committed by whoever I had been before my mind got wiped. Here, however, there would be no ambiguity on where to lay the blame.

    Oh, I did hesitate for at least a couple more minutes. The fight proved unwinnable, though. I ended up reasoning that I would need to eat at some point today anyway, and that I judged unlikely the occurrence of any other similarly convenient ways for me to grab a meal. Ashamed, I fell under no illusions about how easily I had caved on that point. This was at least as much of a literal gut decision as it was a cerebral one.

    Just as the flow of people was about to push me past a stall selling breads and pastries, I randomly grabbed one. I had nowhere to hide the loot, so I just started munching on it.

    I tensed up, waiting for judgment to fall upon me, but heard no shouting.

    My first larceny proved a complete success. The stolen bread tasted unduly sweet, and I did not believe that caused by its illegal acquisition.

    Now that I had debased myself, there remained no more moral barriers to stop me from taking my fill. I could not be picky with what I grabbed, but food was food. It only took me a handful, no pun tended, of misappropriations for my belly to promise it would not emit any more complaints before at least nightfall.

    Emboldened, I maneuvered through the crowd to pass by cloth articles. I was going to get some decent attire at last.

    Grabbing a shirt that laid folded on the corner of a stall, I let the movement of my walk do the pulling. I was getting a knack for this.

    Maybe I had somewhat overestimated my new skill. The shirt dragged along a bunch of its siblings, making them fall to the ground. I froze. Big mistake.

    ¡°Hey! You!¡± the stall merchant shouted, before pointing in my general direction. ¡°Thief!¡±

    The reaction was close to instantaneous. I saw some people draw their weapons even as I started going as fast as I could through the masses. At least they would not dare to swing at me here. Too many people in the way.

    My ability to safely get into those trusty dark alleys proved itself reliable once more. I made sure to pick a place with an escape route, this time. To mitigate the risk of being discovered, I chose one with remains of crates lying around, allowing me a more effective hiding place, if the need arose.

    While my escapade had resolved the most urgent issue, it had done very little to improve my overall situation. I remained both unable to interact with any of the denizens, and clueless about why.

    With some effort, I rotated one of the large empty wooden boxes so that its opening would face a wall and holed up inside. As I should have expected, my newly acquired shirt did not fit me. It seemed I had picked an article many sizes too small and could not even wear it. Damn!

    I decided to wait for the day to end, hoping that the cover of darkness would prevent anyone from seeing whatever kept upsetting them. After all, if a crowd took no issue with my appearance, the problem could not be so easily discerned.

    If asked, I would have preferred being able to claim that I made the rational choice of taking a nap so that I would not end up tired during my nightly explorations. The truth was, boredom got the best of me. I dozed off.

    <hr>

    Thunk.

    I woke with a jolt.

    Thunk, thunk.

    ¡°You¡¯ll come out now...¡± a bored male voice intoned.

    Shit.

    I thought of running, but it turned out that having concealed myself in a box with the only opening facing a wall might have been a mistake. There was no way I could extricate myself out from there fast enough to escape.

    I was trapped.

 Chapter 3 - Ambassador, Stolen Away

    Mid-way to obeying the order, I froze.

    Someone had started a conversation despite being unable to see me. Sure, it remained a precarious position, but the situation still offered what I had wanted to achieve. I just had to convince them to keep it going.

    ¡°A-Any chance we can talk while I stay in the crate?¡± I pleaded, failing to prevent my voice from trembling.

    A chuckle resonated from a different direction. It seemed the man had not come alone. Damn. That significantly lowered my chances of escape.

    ¡°Well, people often tell me I talk too much, but¡­ no, I¡¯m not so starving for conversation that I¡¯m willing to talk to a box.¡± the previous voice replied. ¡°At least, not without a good bottle to justify the awkwardness, and I don¡¯t see any around.¡±

    Thunk.

    ¡°So get out, before we decide to break the box.¡± the man said.

    Damn. Damn!

    Well, I could guess what would happen once they saw me, so I felt no real rush to comply. The threat of potential violence paled against its certainty.

    ¡°I-I would honestly rather not,¡± I said. ¡°You people have a history of exceedingly poor reactions to my appearance.¡±

    Instead of an answer, I heard a loud sigh.

    ¡°Fine, fine¡­ This kind of night, is it?¡± my mysterious interlocutor said. ¡°Loann, you¡¯d best not let him escape.¡±

    As far as I knew, which, admittedly, kept proving to be frustratingly little, my name was not Loann. Regardless, had the man actually accepted my terms?

    Large fingers appeared on the side of my box, disproving my assumption.

    ¡°Harrumph!¡± my tormentor groaned as he exerted himself.

    Crrrrrr.

    The crate shifted under me, causing me to fall back on my ass. That, more than anything, is what woke me up to the danger I faced. I even hoped I had guessed right, and that I would soon either turn into some huge invincible monster, or reveal myself to have some overwhelming magical power.

    Crrrrrr.

    No such luck.

    I could already see a glimpse of the street ahead. Dared I make a run for it, despite the odds?

    ¡°Need a hand, Aostin?¡± a mocking female voice goaded. Presumably whoever had laughed before.

    ¡°Well, no, I¡¯m¡ª¡± Aostin¡¯s breath run out as he kept pushing, and he had to pause ¡°¡ªpretty much already done by now. I could¡¯ve used the help earlier, though.¡±

    ¡°Thought you could use the exercise. ¡± the woman shot back. ¡°Something other than sitting in bars, for once. Just to keep you in shape.¡±

    Crrrrrr.

    Now that my view had been forcefully extended, I saw a pale, blonde man with a thin beard blocking my escape route to the main street. Loann, I assumed. As I stared at the readied crossbow he aimed at me, I made my decision: no running.

    ¡°Alright. That should do it.¡± Aostin said.

    The fingers disappeared.

    Loann had come prepared for a fight. His gear reminded me of the one worn by some of the dead bodies from this morning. Indeed, he even sported a breastplate similar to the ones I had failed to procure for myself. He also carried a sword at his belt, but I found myself not too concerned by that particular weapon.

    Following my previous experiences meeting face to face with the locals, I expected to be shot on the spot, but while Loann¡¯s face showed some intense concentration, I saw no traces of rage.

    ¡°Damn,¡± he said, still focused on me. ¡°There really isn¡¯t a thing...¡±

    What? Did... Did he not see me, for whatever reason? Well! I was going to waste this chance, then! I started getting back up, reconsidering the likeliness of a successful escape.

    ¡°Woah, there! No sudden moves.¡± Loann warned me, giving his crossbow a slight shake.

    I paused, surprised, then winced. Oh. He must have been talking about valuables. Yes, that made more sense.

    Now conscious of every movement, I slowly extricated myself from my hiding place. I dared not take my gaze off the crossbow.

    Once I stood free of the box, I began to raise my hands in surrender, only to feel a swift tug on the side of my belt. Before I could think better of it, I jerked my head to see what had caused it.

    My dagger had disappeared.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have here¡­¡± Aostin said, standing behind me.

    I turned to look around, more carefully this time, to get a better understanding of the situation.

    To my left stood the brick wall that had failed to provide me with adequate protection. I gave it no more thought.

    In front of me, Loann still held his crossbow at the ready, patiently deciding on whether or not to shoot me. Having seen it again, it took a conscious effort for me to take my eyes off the deadly instrument.

    Turning my head further to the right revealed what first appeared to me as some sort of monk. That impression came from the man¡¯s bald and scrawny scalp, and was reinforced by his eccentric attire, which featured an excessive amount of pockets. Each one had a symbol sewed on it, but I recognized none of them. I assumed these went beyond simple decoration. Uncomfortable looking straps were attached to the shoulders, which allowed a wooden square to be held horizontally in front of the man¡¯s belt. The portable surface was slightly wider than his girth, and around five centimeters (2 inches) thick. His black skin shone with sweat, a manifestation of his intense concentration. Indeed, he was working a strange ritual, placing stones from his pockets onto the board, using a logic which escaped me. Despite his evidently specialized role, the man still carried a rapier at his belt, the weapon pushed to an odd angle as it collided with the wooden platform. Since he seemed too lost in his efforts to pay me any mind, I judged him harmless and continued to inspect my surroundings.

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    Close to the stone peddler stood a woman with her spear at the ready. Her leather armor was unusually thick around her arms, though I could not figure out why. She had one of the rarer complexions, a pale gray skin with dark green hair. Perhaps it stemmed from further away? I had not seen the likes among the passersby today.

    Next to her sat a massive creature that might have been either a dog or an enormous fox. Its fur was a contrast of ginger with a black cape. The darkness extended all the way to, and covered, its fluffy tail. Fortunately, while its master was staring at me with a nervous grin, the animal appeared more interested by the wall behind me.

    I finally caught sight of the man who had woken me up. Aostin. Not at all looking like I would have expected. He turned out to be a somewhat overweight man wearing fancy white and gold clothes. It did complement his bronze skin and black hair, but made him look particularly out of place in this group. Even his sword¡¯s scabbard was golden. He held a familiar dagger by the blade, frowning as he rotated it to examine the handle.

    ¡°The dagger is one of Vallo¡¯s,¡± he announced to his companions. He sounded disappointed. ¡°No Binding, obviously.¡±

    After giving the weapon a few tries by attacking the empty air, Aostin turned to the man with too many stones. ¡°Well? Nouel? What¡¯s the holdup?¡± he asked.

    Nouel did not even slow down his strange ritual. ¡°As I am sure everyone here is well aware by now,¡± he explained, ¡°there is simply nothing to latch onto.¡± He sighed. ¡°I am currently trying to-¡°

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Aostin interrupted him, raising a hand to emphasize. ¡°This is not the place for another of your lessons. We¡¯ve been here long enough. He looks pretty harmless to me, anyway.¡± Aostin turned to the spear wielding woman. ¡°Yaelle, you¡¯re up.¡±

    Oh. So Nouel was some kind of mage. That explained the strange behavior. Somewhat. Spells cast from stones on a glorified checkerboard? That did not sound right to me, but I could not claim to be an expert. Why was he unable to cast anything on me, exactly?

    Yaelle¡¯s smiling face became serious, and she approached me, her spear still ready to skewer me. The beast followed her. Once reassured I would not fight back, she used the strap attached to her spear to sling it on her shoulder, then retrieved what appeared to be a leash from a pocket at her side. Still not seeing any advantage to be gained by resisting, I let her use the improvised rope to tie my arms behind my back.

    ¡°I-Is that really necessary?¡± I asked, once she was done. ¡°I haven¡ª¡°

    ¡°Yes. It is.¡± Aostin cut through. ¡°You might look harmless, but we¡¯re not taking any chances.¡± He turned back to Nouel. ¡°Any way to make him less conspicuous? He¡¯s sure to get noticed on the way back.¡±

    Nouel shrugged, which had the effect of shifting all the stones on his slate. ¡°Provided no one tries to interact with him, the best solution would be some kind of enchanted cloak,¡± he commented. ¡°Any enchantment would do, really.¡± He raised a hand to forestall Aostin, who had been about to interrupt. The mage kept thinking for a few seconds more. ¡°Spraying enchanted dust all over him would serve just as well, unless the weather decides to interfere.¡±

    The mage dumped back all his stones into a pocket, then pulled out a small pouch, which he handed to Aostin. ¡°Here¡¯s an odor neutralizing enchantment,¡± he explained. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything I made myself in powder form, unfortunately, but that should do the trick.¡± He smiled wickedly. ¡°There¡¯s plenty for two people, I might add.¡±

    Yaelle chuckled at that, and Aostin opted to pour the whole thing all over me.

    I had the good sense to close my eyes, knowing I would not be able to rub them with my hands tied. The dust took too long to settle regardless, so I ended up sneezing despite my attempt to not breathe the stuff.

    The reaction was immediate. Yaelle unslung her spear, and Aostin put a hand on his sword. Thankfully, it seemed Loann did not have his finger on the trigger.

    Seeing I had done nothing untoward, they swiftly returned to their previous posture.

    ¡°I think it will work, if we stay near him.¡± Loann remarked.

    Aostin nodded. ¡°Time to move.¡± he announced, before looking at me straight in the eyes. ¡°You¡¯re a smart guy, right? You won¡¯t try to run.¡± he said.

    ¡°Well, he ain¡¯t undead.¡± Yaelle cheerfully declared. ¡°You owe me five, Loann.¡±

    ¡°Fine¡­¡± Loann grumbled, before tilting his crossbow forward to signal I should start walking.

    The group escorted me through the city, as uncaring of witnesses as passersby were of us. I knew better than to try a desperate call for help, so I stayed silent while they led me to their lair.

    <hr>

    Aostin¡¯s group left me in some cell. I tried to stay positive and see it as a noticeable upgrade over my wooden crate. Indeed, stone bricks offered much better heat retention. It even had an actual bed! Very minimalist in design, which I could appreciate. They let me have a three-legged stool, similarly devoid of any frivolities. And a bucket. Ugh. Fine. It was a terrible situation.

    As far as I could tell, this cell was built by simply splitting a regular room with a wall of iron bars. No windows, unfortunately. On the side I could not access were a couple of chairs, a table, and the door to freedom. Nobody had shown up since they dropped me off, either.

    I found myself with more time to think, though I would have preferred having a watcher to get some answers from. I understood why they did not bother, for I had no way of breaking out.

    So, from what I had overheard, I could deduce that I indeed possessed some kind of immunity to spells. Nouel had advised they could not latch onto me. That all but confirmed one of my earlier theories: if my clothes did not share this protection, a destructive spell could have disintegrated them while leaving me unscathed. However, I realized the flaw in my logic. Invulnerability to magic would have made it impossible for my mind to be tinkered with.

    Also, why had they needed to cover me with enchantments? I would have understood the need for illusions to be cast, but the mage had specifically said any sort of enchantment would work. This implied the aim had not been to change my appearance, but only to bury me in magic.

    What about the dagger? Aostin had said it presented no binding. That sounded like an odd remark. Was the expected binding something magical? It could explain Aostin¡¯s disappointment, as it meant the only thing of value they had relieved me of proved mundane.

    And why had they gone after me in the first place? I did not believe this to be a random act of robbery. The animal hinted at a deliberate effort to find me, specifically. Why put me in a cell? That did not match the modus operandi of bandits, or, at least, not those targeting destitute vagabonds.

    As if to prove me wrong, the door opened, letting in a rough-looking man I could totally see play the role of a mugger. His short black hair showed a line of white to the side, which I attributed to a scar. An easy conclusion, considering his light brown face displayed an impressive number of healed cuts. That man was evidently no stranger to violence. He even had the musculature to match. His plain clothes were nothing special, though. Perhaps a futile attempt at not being so discernible in a crowd.

    If their intention was to intimidate me, well, they were succeeding.

    The brute had left the door open. He took a chair and brought it closer to my cell before sitting there, staring at me with a frown.

    I chose to ignore the stool chair and sat on the bed instead. Yes, it would have let me sit nearer to my guest, and yes, I made my decision on that very factor. I stayed quiet, not daring to risk upsetting the man.

    Before the silence grew too awkward, Nouel went through the door, closing it behind him. He still wore the strange attire with too many pockets, but there no longer were any straps or board attached to it. The reason for that became clear once the pebble mage took a chair and sat behind the table. No need for the portable version here, I surmised. Once again, Noel ignored me, focusing instead on the only real threat in the room. I did not blame him.

    ¡°So,¡± my interrogator began, ¡°you have a name?¡±

 Chapter 4 - Ambassador, Questioned and Answered

    As unlikely as it may be, no, I did not have a name to give. I considered picking one on the spot, so I would not fail to answer such a trivial question, but that proved quite a challenge, since the only names I knew were those of his colleagues.

    ¡°Well?¡± the scarred man pressed, unsatisfied with how long I was taking to reply.

    Lacking time to decide, I elected to just go with the truth. ¡°I do not know.¡± I knew it was a terrible start to this interrogation, making it look like I refused to cooperate.

    ¡°Fine. No name,¡± my interlocutor acknowledged. ¡°Fitting, I suppose.¡ªhe sighed¡ªIt doesn¡¯t matter. Who¡¯s your lord? I¡¯m not buying the Vallo crap. He¡¯s not that stupid. Not cunning enough to be planting evidence against himself, either.¡±

    I saw no way to escape telling the whole truth to this man. If I kept answering in a deflective manner over and over, his patience would soon run out. While I had been looking for someone to help me, this was not the person I would have picked, given a choice. It seemed I did not have one. At least things were not going as poorly as I would have expected. Indeed, there were no torture devices in sight.

    ¡°I honestly do not know. My earliest memory is of waking up this morning in the woods outside the city. I believe I have been the victim of a particularly vicious, mind-altering spell,¡± I explained.

    Silence fell as my captor took a moment to think.

    ¡°This...¡± he began, ¡°this is what you¡¯re going with?¡± He sighed again, then stood up. ¡°Look. You¡¯re stuck in here until I decide otherwise. If you don¡¯t have any better explanation to give me, I see no reason to let you out.¡± He turned to leave. ¡°He¡¯s all yours, Nouel, just keep me updated,¡± the man said before closing the door behind him, not waiting for a reply.

    Ah.

    It dawned on me that I might have sightly misjudged the situation earlier. There were, in fact, plenty of ways to inflict severe pain in this room. A mage required no specialized tools to achieve that. I gulped in fear, then tried to assuage my potential torturer.

    ¡°I-I¡¯m the telling the truth!¡± My voice was shacky. ¡°There is absolutely no need to resort to violence!¡±

    Nouel was not even looking at me. He started placing stones on the table. What kind of spell was he shaping?

    ¡°I simply can¡¯t tell you what I don¡¯t know! Believe me, no one wants to know what is happening more than I!¡±

    I was panicking. The mage still gave me no reaction.

    ¡°The dagger isn¡¯t mine, alright? I don¡¯t know who Vallo is. Just found it shortly after waking up. Took it to defend myself.¡±

    More pebbles were being set on the desk.

    ¡°Listen,¡± I pleaded. ¡°There were a bunch of bodies. I don¡¯t know what happened. It¡¯s possible that I killed them all, but I¡¯m a different man now.¡±

    My rambling was making considerably less sense as emotions disrupted it, but that got a reaction. Nouel frowned. He was listening, then. The information must not have been to his satisfaction, though, for he stayed quiet.

    ¡°I mean, I did steal some food, but people seem to want me dead, and I don¡¯t know why,¡± I continued. ¡°Oh. I also stole a shirt, I guess.¡±

    Not having anything else to admit to, I fell silent and tried to discern how the mage was taking my confessions.

    After it became clear I would not speak further, Nouel opened his mouth. ¡°You seem to misunderstand my purpose for being here,¡± he commented. ¡°Yes, Lord Derrien is interested in the political aspects of your situation. I, on the other hand, am not. Oh, I will communicate anything relevant to him, of course, but what I am truly curious about is what happened to your soul.¡±

    I started calming down as the mage kept on speaking. It seemed like pain would not be involved in whatever Nouel planed. I reasoned no torturer would ever be this talkative.

    ¡°A-are proposing to help me, then?¡± I asked, hope growing.

    ¡°No,¡± He replied. ¡°This is not by choice, mind you. I don¡¯t believe it to be within my abilities. Understanding is the best we can hope for, I¡¯m afraid, and I would rather have your cooperation in this venture. After all, did you not ask such a thing earlier?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes, understanding would be plenty. My memories are not so important,¡± I confirmed. I would not refuse information so freely given.

    Nouel stopped manipulating his rocks and looked straight at me. He held my gaze, trying to discern something.

    ¡°Are your memories really the only thing missing?¡± He asked, still staring.

    I paused, thinking. The question made no sense. I frowned. All I had seen of Nouel pointed to someone who would see the glaring problem with that query. How could I possibly know what else I was missing, without memories to tell me what I used to have?

    ¡°There is no way for me to know,¡± I replied. Maybe this was some sort of test?

    The mage did not acknowledge my answer. He seemed lost deep in thought.

    ¡°You do not have the slightest idea of what I am feeling right now, do you?¡± he asked.

    I was now utterly confused. This question made even less sense than the one before. What was Nouel going on about? What did this have to do with anything?

    He did not expect an answer it seemed, for he continued without leaving me enough time to provide one.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°No, I suspect not. Well, I believe this confirms it. When I first heard of your case, I expected some rogue with a masterful disguise. Of course, if it were so, you would not have been detected a second time. By then, we were suspecting some sort of strange undead remnant. That would have been quite the novelty.¡± He chuckled. "We decided to find out ourselves. I expect to hear about a bounty for your capture fairly soon. We just acted preemptively to avoid the competition. Honestly, seeing you were a living being was quite a shock."

    He paused, taking a breath.

    ¡°The subtlety of it is unfortunately lost on you, but there is a long-standing debate on whether mind and soul are one and the same. Indeed, we can all see the soul of any living being capable of thought. And a soul has pretty much always implied a mind, no matter how dull. That is traditionally the core of this debate, the question being whether mushrooms and plants have minds. It¡¯s hard to judge, but the general consensus is that yes, they do.¡±

    Had Nouel been using these magic stones to look at my soul all this time? What did that even look like?

    ¡°Is... Is there something wrong with my soul, then?¡± I asked, trying to figure out where the mage was going with this.

    Nouel smiled. ¡°Well, to put it bluntly, you are a living answer to this debate. A mind, but no soul.¡±

    No soul? What did he mean? I understood souls to be an unfathomable concept tied to religion. It filled me with frustration to realize that while I knew this, I could not recall even a single religion. Yet another hole in my memory.

    The notion of soul was too abstract for me to feel anguish at its loss, however. I had not thought of my soul before, so I did not feel like I was less for not having one.

    The mage must have been expecting me to need some time to recover from that revelation, because he stayed silent, awaiting my denial.

    I had the nagging feeling that I was missing something. What had he said prior to talking about souls?

    It took me a few seconds, but then it clicked.

    ¡°You believe I have no empathy,¡± I said, perplexed by the conclusion. This had been the reason for his question about being able to tell how he felt, had it not?

    ¡°How could you?¡± Nouel asked. ¡°Empathy requires a connection between souls.¡±

    A strange notion, and easily debunked.

    ¡°I can feel your excitement at this discovery. This would not be possible if you were right, would it?¡± I challenged.

    Nouel¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Indeed. How are you able to, without a soul to interact with mine?¡±

    I tried to figure out how the obvious answer might hide secret depths, but could not find any. ¡°The expression on your visage, the intonation of your voice, and its increased speed, I suppose.¡±

    Nouel spent a few seconds thinking about my reply, which felt ridiculous, until I heard his conclusion.

    ¡°This is not empathy,¡± he proclaimed. ¡°You do not feel my emotions. You are using reasoning to identify what I must be feeling.¡±

    It seemed we were debating semantics, but I was no fool: I had seen enough to know I was missing something. Deciphering a difference in meaning here could prove key to understanding exactly what. And if we disagreed on that word, I would have to be careful about the potential for other misconstrued words. Nouel referred to souls as something much less abstract than I would have expected. ¡°Nouel, what is a soul, according to you?¡± I asked.

    He smiled.

    ¡°Ah. Quite the philosophical question,¡± the mage remarked. ¡°Unfortunately, while this would indeed be an enlightening discussion, I lack the time for such debates. I suspect I will stay busy for the foreseeable future, thanks to you.¡±

    Some bell chime resonated in the background. Soft, but hard to miss.

    Nouel reacted to it, starting to retrieve the many stones he had spread over the table. ¡°Yes, it is getting late, is it not?¡± he said. ¡°I have two more questions for you, though.¡±

    Without warning, he tossed one of his pebbles at me. I fumbled, and it fell on the bed. Once I grabbed it, Nouel asked his first question. ¡°Are you at all familiar with this sort of magic?¡±

    I shook my head, looking at the stone. It had a symbol etched on it, but I could see nothing else marking it as magical.

    ¡°What about Concept manipulation?¡±

    ¡°I do not know what that is,¡± I answered honestly.

    ¡°Yes, I assumed as much,¡± Noel mused. ¡°Possibly the intent behind your missing memories.¡±

    Nouel had finished collecting his stones, and got up to leave. That was too soon! I still had a lot of questions!

    ¡°Wait! What do you mean? Did you figure out what happened to me?¡± I desperately asked Nouel¡¯s back.

    ¡°Only a strong suspicion. See you some other time, o unnamed one,¡± he answered, amused, before closing the door.

    I found myself alone once again. While I had gotten valuable information, it was clear Nouel shared but a fragment of his findings.

    Our disagreement on the definition of empathy was puzzling. Considering that all signs pointed to the mage being nothing more than a slightly eccentric scholar and that I was the one not fitting in, I felt no confidence in my beliefs. I therefore accepted Nouel¡¯s notions over my own, admitting the existence of perceivable souls that enabled true empathy, with the feelings of others being shared in a very literal sense. That could explain people in the streets unsheathing weapons nigh instantaneously whenever someone became angry. Emotions were contagious and fast spreading. Not everyone had reacted, though, so there was more to it than that.

    If indeed I lacked a soul to form these connections, that explained the confusion I kept being met with. I did not understand why violence stemmed from that, but at least I knew the root of the issue. Nouel had suggested covering me with an enchantment to mitigate it. This implied a relation between that form of magic and the soul connections, and confirmed that souls were more than emotion conduits.

    Thinking about the meaning of souls again brought up a troubling realization. I could not blame this divergence of semantics on my amnesia. This was not ignorance, for I already knew what empathy was. Not as well as a psychology expert would, perhaps, but enough to be sure this was more than a difference of opinion.

    I spent some more time thinking about this, but did not find any satisfying explanation.

    At some point, the room¡¯s door opened, and Loann entered. He had lost his focused expression and now adorned one more fitting to the late hour. My captor was carrying a plate with some bread and a wooden jar, making the reason for his visit obvious. Having already eaten my fill today, I was more interested in the set of clothes tucked under his arm.

    Loann¡¯s tiredness did not invite deep conversation, but I was desperate for information. ¡°Loann, would you mind answering a few of my questions?¡±

    He did not answer, carefully setting the plate down in front of the bars so that I could reach for its content.

    Feeling bold, I noted he had not forbidden me from asking. ¡°Why did you need to put an enchantment on me earlier?¡±

    He turned and started leaving.

    ¡°Nouel¡¯s the one you want for that kind of stuff, man¡­¡± he grumbled, sounding half asleep, before exiting the room.

    No one else came to visit and, lacking for anything better to do once my stress died down, I went to sleep.

    <hr>

    I jolted up, having felt something fall on me. Not yet fully awake, I had a passing thought that these rude awakenings needed to stop before they caused me to develop further mental issues.

    The room was pitch black. Only now did I realize I had seen no sources of light in it before. I guessed it must have been some enchanted stones, but I did not know how to turn them back on.

    Grumbling, I tried to grope for whatever had dropped on me. It did not take me long. A palm sized ball with a glassy texture was resting on my bed. I was fortunate it had not rolled away and gone out of reach.

    When I held it, I felt it warm up a bit, and saw a very faint white glow emanate from it.

    ¡®SCANNING IN PROGRESS. PLEASE HOLD.¡¯

    The foreign thought invaded my mind, and I almost dropped the item. My muddled brain wanted to point out that I was already holding the sphere. Though, maybe I should not have. Did I want to let it scan me?

 Chapter 5 - Ambassador, Probed for Recruitment

    I diligently kept holding the magical sphere, rationalizing that anyone wanting to hurt me would have had ample opportunities to do so while I slept. I could be from Nouel. It seemed to be a rock of some sort, and I knew the mage favored these. It would make sense. I had not provided them with answers, so perhaps they were now resorting to more advanced probing techniques.

    I recalled the bloodied bodies of last morning. Not a pleasant memory, and its unprompted nature confused me. The confusion grew when I realized I could not stop thinking about that scene. It was disrupting my ability to focus. I could still think, but the mental picture stayed at the forefront of my mind no matter what I tried. Could this be some sort of trauma? An alarming prospect.

    A rising panic fought with nausea at the gory details forced upon me. Before either could lead to action, the picture disappeared and, not a breath later, an impression of Nouel replaced it. The mage was as I had first seen him in that alley, frozen mid-motion as he held one of his magical stones while trying to decide where on his board to place it.

    As that memory was as undeniable as the previous one, this had to be an effect of the enchanted sphere¡¯s scanning process. Unlikely to cause me harm, I reassured myself.

    In fact, if the artifact dug up memories, could it perhaps help me recover from amnesia?

    The anticipation made waiting for the current image to disappear even more tedious.

    Finally, it did, and I was disappointed to recall my first view of the city and its fields.

    Were the memories being pulled at random? The events had not occurred in this order, and I could not figure out any thematic link between them. There was no way to sleep during this process, so I just kept waiting in the silent and dark room.

    Next came a memory of Lord Derrien. The scarred man still felt menacing, even eerily static as he was. I had to admit it was unlikely this tool would provide me with any help. All the recollections so far had been from I had experienced just yesterday. If it could indeed reach beyond that, getting four memories from yesterday in a row was extremely unlikely.

    As Lord Derrien left my mind, nothing came to replace him, confirming my suspicion.

    ¡®SCAN COMPLETED. PERFORMING SANITY CHECKS.¡¯

    I was feeling disheartened, but kept on holding the ball out of curiosity. Was it about to about to deem me insane?

    This time, however, nothing seemed to happen. No images popping up to judge my reactions, as one would expect. My thoughts remained untouched.

    ¡®CHECKS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY,¡¯  the artifact blurted out, following that moment of awkward stagnation. ¡®PREPARE TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS.¡¯

    Did that mean I was sound of mind? Or was it only saying that it had properly performed all checks, without informing me of the results? Annoying, but the equal lack of feedback during the memory scan suggested the latter.

    This time, the thoughts sent by the glowing object took the form of a calm and neutral feminine voice.

    ¡®Eriol Corneau, Central has been notified of your failure to report upon arrival. This is your first and final warning. Avoidance of future probes will lead to severe consequences.¡¯

    Before I could react, what little light the so-called probe had been emitting ceased, and my sight was engulfed in darkness. I felt its warmth and weight disappear from my hand. It was gone.

    ¡°What the fuck?¡± I complained out loud. ¡°Really?!¡±

    I had initially thought the object sent by Nouel, but no longer. The message had referred to me by name, and that seemed to be the only good thing to come out of this: I finally knew my own name. The rest was certainly ominous. My forgotten past catching up to me, but unaware of my situation, and they did not sound like a pleasant bunch.

    It seemed I had displeased them by failing to report. Report what? And how?

    The probe must have been how I was supposed to send them information. Had I missed a similar sphere when I woke up? That sounded entirely plausible. Depending on its color, it might not even have looked out of place among the grass and dirt. Not that I had been attentively looking for any oddly shaped rocks.

    My amnesia was too precise in its effects to be anything but the result of a calculated mind magic operation, not the result of an accident in whatever method of travel I had used. If whoever sent this device remained unaware of my issue, then perhaps yet another party had sabotaged the mission I was here to achieve.

    I had still no idea what the battle had been about or how I came out of it unscathed. Somehow, someone sent me here with a purpose and, lacking guidance, I was unlikely to be fulfilling it. Sure, I could just keep on accepting these probes, but their sender would soon notice my erratic actions. Given that their abilities included materializing objects near wherever I was, upsetting them would be foolish. Yet I had already done so and had not been given any opportunity to explain myself.

    My mood turned sour at the unfairness of it all. I was not asking for much. Answers would be nice, sure, but a stable and uneventful life looked mighty appealing right about now.

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    I got up and blindly edged toward the bars of my cell.

    I was poised to severely displease a powerful group that cared not for my excuses. What I needed now were allies, either to escape or to withstand whatever consequences came in retaliation. Being imprisoned limited my options. Did I cast my lot with my jailors by sharing everything I learned, or did I keep mum and face my previous employer unprepared?

    Bad choices, both of them. Damn it all. Full of uncertainty and danger.

    I banged my arm on the bars. I decided that this was not a tantrum, but simply the best way to get my jailers¡¯ attention.

    ¡°Hey! Can anyone hear me? I have information to share!¡±

    There was no reply.

    I went back to lie on the bed.

    <hr>

    I failed to find rest, being kept awake by worry. Frustration took a long time to dissipate.

    After what seemed like forever, I heard the door open, and light from outside inundated the room. There was a figure standing in front of the entrance.

    ¡°Why¡¯s it so dark in here?¡± Loann¡¯s voice asked. ¡°You tryna escape?¡± He did not have the most welcoming appearance, so ready to unsheathe his sword. From his words, I gathered he expected some sort of ambush.

    Loann no longer wore his armor, having traded it for more casual clothes. I noticed he had a small leather satchel at his side.

    ¡°Good morning, Loann,¡± I welcomed him. ¡°The room was dark when I woke up this morning. I can assure you I have not spent an hour in complete darkness by choice.¡±

    Maybe some irritation remained, after all.

    ¡°¡®morning,¡± Loann acknowledged, still wary.

    After a few seconds, he entered and placed his hand next to the door.

    No longer so upset, I reconsidered my decision to tell these people everything. I needed to know more about them to avoid making my situation even worse.

    As I pondered on this, my visitor has his back to me and continuously placed then removed his hand from a spot on the wall.

    ¡°Darn thing¡¯s busted,¡± Loann complained, before turning back to look at me.

    As if hearing his words, the room became ever so slightly less shadowy. I could even see the corners. I would have chalked it up to my vision acclimating, but the bed and the bars displayed no such phosphorescent aura. The light came straight from the stone walls, then.

    ¡°So, well, it turns out we messed up,¡± the man told me, seeming not to notice the change. ¡°Thought there¡¯d be a bounty on your head soon, but nothing came.¡± He paused. ¡°So¡­ You¡¯re free to go, I guess, but Lord Derrien said he¡¯d like to take you in. I mean, you¡¯d be real good at what we do, and you clearly ain¡¯t doing so well out there.¡±

    Were they honestly trying to get me to join them? Had they not effectively kidnapped me from the streets just yesterday? I was still in a cage! Quite an odd way to approach a potential recruit.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a bit weird, what¡¯s with the no soul thing and all, but Nouel said you¡¯re still a reasonable kinda guy. So¡­ You interested?¡± Loann asked.

    It was not like his arguments were flawed. There was indeed nothing good waiting for me outside this cell. Considering I needed to wear some enchantment not to get attacked on sight, something I currently did not possess, options seemed limited.

    ¡°Before making my decision, I need to know more about what kind of work this arrangement would entail. Despite what people seem to believe, I am not fond of violence.¡± I told him.

    Given their actions so far, I disinclined to think this group was too worried about staying on the right side of the law. While this was not so much of an issue for me as I wished it to be, there were still hard lines I was not willing to cross.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Well, we don¡¯t go around murdering people, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡± Loann reassured me. ¡°We¡¯re more about¡­ uh¡­ retrieval? Investigation work, too, I guess.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by retrieval work?¡± I inquired, sensing his reluctance.

    ¡°Well, you know... We get paid to find something¡­ or someone¡­ then we go retrieve it.¡± he shrugged.

    Thieves. These people were burglars. And abductors, but I had already been strongly clued in on that one.

    Loann frowned, looking at me. By now, the light levels had risen enough that he should be able to see my expression, yet he still seemed perplexed. Oh. Right. He could not feel my emotions. That had to be very disconcerting for him.

    ¡°I am not in any position to judge anyone on the issue of thievery,¡± I assuaged him. ¡°I will admit that I would prefer a more honest field of work, if possible, but you are right: this is the best option I seem to have.¡±

    There was one key concern worrying me.

    ¡°Would accepting this offer tie me to Lord Derrien under threat, or would I be able to leave freely should a better opportunity arise?¡± I asked him.

    Loann fixed me in silence, confusing obvious on his face.

    ¡°Nouel said you can¡¯t form Ties.¡± Loann accused.

    What? Oh. No emotional ties through the soul, I guessed.

    ¡°Would I be able to leave without fear of reprisals?¡± I rephrased.

    ¡°Oh¡­ Well¡­ Same rules as everywhere else, I guess.¡± Loann shrugged. ¡°If you Shift or Split, just finish the job and give everything back before leaving. ¡®Guess in your case, it would count as a singular Split, huh?¡±

    He smirked.

    More concepts unknown to me, but it sounded like this offer would not shackle me down. It seemed more than fair.

    ¡°Leaving in a middle of a job¡¯s a bad move.¡± Loann warned, serious again. ¡°Same as taking our stuff with you. We¡¯d hunt you down and make you pay. -he shrugged- We¡¯re good at that.¡±

    I could use this as a stepping stone. It might make me new enemies and close the door on some opportunities in the future. On the other hand, all the other doors I currently knew of were already shut.

    ¡°Tell Lord Derrien I am willing to work for him under these conditions.¡± I said.

    ¡°Good.¡± Loann paused, frowned a bit, then continued. ¡°Definitely no Ties. Makes it awkward talking to you.¡±

    He got closer to the cell¡¯s bars, took something out of his satchel, made his arm pass through, and presented a weird contraption to me.

    ¡°You¡¯re smart, right?¡± Loann asked. ¡°We¡¯ll need you to know how to work these.¡±

    I grabbed the strange cylinder of glass and metal he was handing me. As the room¡¯s luminosity had now reached reasonable levels, I could recognize the object as some sort of transparent lock. Metallic parts of the structure inside were opaque, but enough of it was glass to ensure nothing stayed mysterious. This was a fascinating piece to look at. Given a key, I would undoubtedly see the whole thing unlock and understand all details of the mechanism.

    Loann had already removed his satchel by the time I stopped focusing on the glass puzzle. I easily guessed its purpose. After all, I had just accepted to join a group of thieves, had I not? The satchel he handed me contained the tools needed for me to me unlock the learning apparatus.

    A smile appeared on my face as I realized they were giving lock picking tools to someone in a cell.

    It was not as thoughtless, though: Loann pointed at the cell¡¯s door. ¡°This one¡¯s test number one. An easy one.¡± he explained, before indicating the room¡¯s exit door. ¡°That one¡¯s number two. A little bit harder.¡±

    He made to leave, paused, then threw some last-minute advice. ¡°If anyone you don¡¯t know enters, I¡¯d advise backing away with your hands raised.¡±

    Well¡­ I was not exactly part of the group just yet, then.

    I started experimenting with the learning tool as Loann left. This was actually a really enjoyable puzzle. I knew I was going to be spending hours trying to figure it out.

 Chapter 6 - Ambassador, Honored Lock Picker

    As expected, learning to unlock this device proved terribly time-consuming. Hours went by with little progress, punctuated by the sound of chimes in the background, much like the one I had heard during my conversation with Nouel. At some point, Loann came back to bring me food. By then, I understood the general principle of the thing: apply a light torque where the key should be, then push each pin in the correct order, locking them into place. Simple. Getting everything to stay in place turned out to be where all the difficulty laid. It did not help that the learning device appeared to be using a different type of spring for each pin. Some were easy to get a feel for, while others gave virtually no feedback.

    ¡°Still in the cell?¡± Loann remarked, sounding surprised. ¡°Should I put the food on the table to motivate you?¡±

    All too focused on what I was doing, I had paid his arrival no mind. Looking up to see what food he was bringing made me ease on the torque, freeing all the pins and ruining my efforts.

    ¡°It is getting somewhat frustrating.¡± I grumbled. ¡°I still cannot get even half of the pins properly locked in place.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Half of ¡®em, eh? Haven¡¯t given the cell door a try, have you?¡± Loann said, a smile on his face.

    The meal he brought today was nothing like yesterday¡¯s bread and water. This time, I was being offered cooked meat and some strange-looking cereal. The smell, only now reaching me, would be hard to ignore.

    ¡°The thing¡¯s here to teach you,¡± the man remarked. ¡°It ain¡¯t meant to be easy.¡±

    Damn it.

    It made sense now that he said it. Perhaps being too focused on solving this puzzle had prevented me from realizing the obvious: the pins were sorted by order of difficulty. It seemed they had never expected me to complete the whole thing to begin with.

    Sighing, I disengaged the glass lock, letting it fall on my bed, and put the picks back in the satchel.

    ¡°I believe being hungry will make it much less likely that I succeed,¡± I argued, hoping Loann would abandon his idea.

    ¡°Yeah? Might prepare you for more stressful jobs, though,¡± he countered.

    I had to admit; he had a point.

    Instead of debating him further, I went ahead and tried to unlock the cell door. Not having the ability to see the pins was disconcerting, but I understood why Loann judged it to be easy. Telling when I properly set a pin proved to be no challenge. The lock¡¯s size and its rigid metal frame transmitted all vibrations and even gave audible cues.

    It still took me a while, though how long proved hard to gauge while concentrating. It felt very satisfying to manage the feat, despite how simple Loann had judged the lock to be. He was long gone by now, but the food did not have time to grow cold. It came with a wooden spoon, its meat cut preemptively, an obvious reminder that I was not yet trusted.

    Once sated, I found myself with nothing to do other than practicing further. The thought occurred to me that all my successes so far involved being a thief. Not a pleasant realization, but I rationalized it was a matter of opportunities: I had yet to be given the chance to attempt anything else. Perhaps Nouel would be amenable to teaching me his pebble magic. His specialty might similarly lie in the retrieval part of that field, but it had to be a transferable skill. That, and he seemed to be a fountain of knowledge and quite willing to talk.

    Motivated by my plans for the future, I placed myself in front of the exit door and tried picking the lock.

    <hr>

    I carefully angled the pick and felt... nothing. Damn it! I was not even sure I had not just unset some of the pins I believed to be locked in. I sighed in frustration and removed the tools to reset everything. Loann had implied this was the next step after the cell door, but I was growing doubtful.

    Time for a break.

    A knock at the door startled me. That was confusing, because as far as I knew, people always entered this room unprompted.

    I took a couple of seconds to recover.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± I asked, unsure of protocol in this situation.

    ¡°I have been told to make my presence known before entering,¡± an amused feminine voice said. ¡°It seems they expected you to be in the door''s way, for some reason.¡±

    I failed to recognize who was speaking. Not Yaelle, I was sure of it.

    ¡°Oh. Right. Well, thank you for the warning. I am quite clear of the door,¡± I informed her. ¡°It is locked, however, and I cannot open it.¡±

    I did not hear any key being inserted, but the door opened nonetheless. To my surprise, it revealed a man. A guard! Well, maybe not a city guard, but some kind of armed official, given the uniform. It evoked the skin of a snake, its scales a metallic dark green. Even to my neophyte eyes, it looked too ostentatious to not be ceremonious. A black and gold baldric with a strange repeating pattern confirmed that impression. In fact, I remembered having seen that pattern on that strange statue yesterday. Its meaning still escaped me. A large sword hanged at the man¡¯s side, which I understood to be expected regardless of his functions. He looked young, perhaps not even adult. Red marks on his pale ivory skin showed he was not yet accustomed to standing guard under the suns for too long.

    It surprised me to notice that while his face made no effort at hiding his displeasure; there were no signs of uncontrolled aggressiveness. Perhaps he had been forewarned of my situation.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    As the intruder warily advanced toward me, I recalled Loann¡¯s instructions and tossed my satchel out of the way before raising my hands and backing away. It was the most sensible thing to do, after all.

    An old woman entered next. She wore a similar armor to her bodyguard, although hers included a long black cape held by a fancy golden pauldron. The mysterious pattern, but more stylized, as if formed by the roots of a tree. Could it simply be the sigil of a family?

    The most puzzling element turned out to be her lack of weapon. Everyone had a weapon. Except me. Well, I did have a dagger before, yes, but that was different. Or was it not?

    I stopped my wandering train of thoughts to focus on her. The lady was scrutinizing me while rubbing her chin, clearly intrigued.

    The attire left no doubt that she held a high station, and since the correct form of address was unknown to me, I chose a safe one, lowering my hands and bowing respectfully.

    They were both still staring at me, but the guard had not drawn, only crossed his arms. No way to tell if what I did was a faux-pas.

    ¡°I have been told of your situation,¡± the old lady remarked, ¡°but it is something else to see it in person.¡± She sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, I am already late in my duties and cannot stay, but this needs to be done.¡±

    A look of realization dawned on her face.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I forgot. I rarely get to meet people still unaware of my role,¡± she explained with a smile. ¡°I am Lady Azeline, official representative for the Lord of Honor.¡±

    There was silence for a few seconds, then she frowned.

    ¡°This is not enough for you to understand, is it?¡± she asked rhetorically. ¡°But I truly have too little time to expand on the implications. Simply put, consider that silence will not be held against you, but that no one can lie to me.¡±

    I found myself utterly confused by her attempt at an explanation. Was she telling me I would suffer consequences for trying to lie, or was she being literal about it being impossible?

    ¡°Truth be told, you might very well be exempted from this rule,¡± she unhelpfully added. ¡°It is, after all, what I am here to find out.¡± Lady Azeline explained. ¡°If would you be so kind as to utter an obvious lie for me?¡±

    Still perplexed by what she said, I tried to oblige. An obvious lie. It was simple, yet indecision gripped me as I hesitated about what lie to give. It had to be unimportant and innocent enough not to offend anyone. She had said multiple times that she was in a hurry, so I stopped thinking and went for the obvious.

    ¡°You appear not to be carrying any weapon.¡± I declared, changing my mind about what to say at the very last moment. This had not been a reasonable request. Lying would have been a mistake, I was now sure of it.

    ¡°Ah.¡± Lady Azeline sounded disappointed. ¡°Not as interesting as I hoped. No matter, I have confirmed all I needed to. Thank you for your time.¡± And indeed, she was already departing.

    Once she was outside the room, her guard nodded at me, then left as well. He closed the door and, as a quick tug confirmed, locked me in.

    I did not care. My mind was still trying to untangle the implications of Lady Azeline¡¯s test. I saw the whole exercise as flawed. I could have lied. It just made no sense to do so. Furthermore, how was Lady Azeline to know whether I had tried to lie and failed or purposefully misled her by telling the truth? In fact, was this not what I had done? Simply stating the truth was enough to break the test. Nothing had disproved my ability to lie to her.

    I went for a chair, thinking all the while.

    This meeting had not confirmed anything at all! We needed to check again. How could she consider the matter closed?

    I was still pondering whether the lying test made any sense when the door opened again, revealing a smiling Loann with a cloak in his hands.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re still here! Guess you¡¯re not immune to Concept manipulation, after all! Good. That would have meant trouble,¡± he said.

    ¡°I will admit: I am not convinced either way,¡± I told him, still baffled.

    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about it. Concept manipulation is just too confusing,¡± he agreed. ¡°Anyway, I know you aren¡¯t done with your training, but we¡¯ve got a job for you. Interested?¡±

    He presented the cloak to me and I took it while nodding. This had to be the enchanted coverall solution Nouel had first proposed to make me less conspicuous. How that helped with a lack of soul, I had no idea, but I trusted the expert¡¯s judgment.

    I put on the cloak, retrieved the lock pick satchel, and followed Loann out.

    <hr>

    The night sky was perfectly dark, showing no stars despite the scarce ambient light. I stopped looking up as this view of a giant void provoked unease, and focused instead on the old house we were standing in front of. It looked no different from the others I had seen. A chaos of differently sized stone bricks, the colors of which had faded long ago. A few pieces of wood extruding from the walls. Black shutters covering the windows. I would not have been able to give anyone a description that did not also match most of the neighborhood. There was not even a store in sight to refer to.

    I had expected to see all of my new companions, but only Yaelle and her creature ended up joining us. Nouel¡¯s absence was disappointing. I would have loved to discuss with him the conclusions of Lady Azeline¡¯s strange test. I was sure he could shed some light on the matter, since he had also mentioned Concept manipulation.

    Except for us, the streets were empty. People had to be sleeping at this hour. That, or the closed shutters marked this area as deserted. Not even a light peering out of them, either, and a silence that made the tiniest sound resonate. We were ready to begin.

    Only¡­ I knew nothing of the plan. Possibly because I was still not trusted. In fact, they had not given me my dagger back, making me the only one without a weapon. Well, one could argue that the beast was similarly unarmed, but I took no solace in that.

    Yaelle made a sign. Time for us to pay attention, which I took to mean she was in charge. She had a serious expression, showing none of the flippancy from yesterday. Perhaps a consequence of the increased pressure on her shoulders.

    ¡°Loann and I will stay outside and make sure no one bothers you.¡± She explained to me. ¡°Your job is to find a letter meant for Lord Neventer. We know it hasn¡¯t been sent yet, so it should still be in the study room, somewhere.¡±

    I expected further instructions, and indeed, after a pause, she continued.

    ¡°Oh, and the cloak stays with me.¡±

    Loann nodded and walked away in silence.

    I removed and presented the enchanted cloth to Yaelle. She took it, but kept looking at me, as if expecting something. That was fine, because I did have questions.

    ¡°What does the letter look like?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± she answered.

    That meant I might have to go through stacks of the stuff. Not good.

    ¡°How much time do I have?¡±

    ¡°All night, probably.¡±

    At least they were not being unreasonable on that point.

    ¡°What should I do if someone sees me? Or if I can¡¯t find the letter?¡± I could not help but feel anxious.

    ¡°There¡¯s no one inside,¡± she assured me, but started frowning. Maybe she was not so sure. ¡°Whatever. If you see someone, just run. Now stop asking stupid questions and go.¡±

    Still feeling woefully unprepared, I went to the door and pulled on the knob.

    It did not budge.

    Locked, obviously. I heard Yaelle chuckle as I got my tools out.

    It was a sign of the door¡¯s bad craftsmanship that, despite my nervousness making it much harder, it took me no more than ten minutes to get it to open. Hoping nothing inside would prove more challenging, I added illegal entry to the growing list of my misdeeds.

 Chapter 7 - Ambassador, Illuminated in Blue

    For some reason, I had expected to enter a corridor where I would go through rooms one by one until I found the study. What welcomed me instead was a large open space, encompassing two-thirds of the first floor.

    Trying to discern what it contained forced me to face an issue I should have planned for: the absence of light. The limited ambient luminosity, allowed in through the open door, still lit up enough of the room for me to see that the back wall featured three doors, confirming that the floor extended beyond this one room.

    It was not obvious in such obscurity, but the wooden planks forming the ceiling seemed rather loosely packed. Barring any additional flooring on the second floor, the darkness confirmed that no lights illuminated any of the rooms above. A good indicator that, as Yaelle had said, no one was home. Or, as my anxiety informed me, at least no one awake. Stairs hugged the left wall, providing access to that second floor. However, going further without some torch or other light source would not be wise.

    What little the main room contained was tidy and clean. Not an abandoned house, then. It hosted a large table with enough chairs for eight people. There was nothing on it, unfortunately. No candelabra. No candlestick. Did these people use enchanted stones as well? Maybe they did not consider open flames a reasonable hazard when magic could provide alternatives, despite the costs such a replacement would no doubt involve. Then again, the paintings present on most of the walls showed the owner may not regard money as an issue. More relevant to my search, I noted that there were also some cupboards, including a chest of drawers to my left.

    I was reluctant to ask for help so soon after starting, but there was no way for me to proceed. It would be very easy for me to miss the letter in this obscurity. Turning back, I was happy to see that Yaelle had not yet gone anywhere. In fact, she seemed to have simply been watching me, instead of making sure no one came to investigate. Maybe her animal would warn her of any incoming threat?

    Still looking at me, she waited for until I moved closer before addressing me. A sensible decision. We did not want the neighborhood aware of our nocturnal activities.

    ¡°Well? Why aren¡¯t you going in?¡±

    Anxiety had given me this unreasonable fear she would just lash out, but she only seemed confused.

    ¡°I cannot find anything that would make any light,¡± I admitted. ¡°Do you have something that could help?¡±

    Yaelle¡¯s expression changed to genuine surprise.

    ¡°Are you...¡± she started. ¡°Are you joking?¡± After a slight pause, she sighed, and her voice grew exasperated. ¡°I can¡¯t even tell. It¡¯s infuriating! Just touch the switch, same as you did in your cell.¡±

    The switch? There was no switch in that room, as far as I could see. Which admittedly was not much. But then, there was no switch in my cell either, was there?

    Thinking back, I recalled Loann had tried to fix the lighting by putting in hand on the wall multiple times. Oh. That explained things. He had probably been trying to turn on the light. This must have been where the switch was. But there was nothing special about this part of the wall, to my eyes.

    ¡°I do not believe I can see switches.¡± I told Yaelle.

    She seemed about to ask me if I was mocking her, but then frowned and thought for a bit.

    ¡°Yeah... Actually, that makes sense. Probably can¡¯t even use them, anyway,¡± she shrugged. ¡°We were hoping you¡¯d be invisible to alarms. Guess there are downsides, too.¡±

    This was news to me. I assumed this was also the reason for the job offer in the first place. No sense in sending a novice alone on a mission otherwise. I had not thought about it from their point of view before, but I felt disappointed at the strictly utilitarian nature of their choice. It should not have surprised me, as it was not like I had become a friend to any of them before the offer came, but it still hurt a bit.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what we can find,¡± Yaelle said, seemingly unconcerned by my introspection. ¡°I can¡¯t get in. Should be something close to the door we can use. That¡¯s where the lights are, usually.¡±

    I went back inside, but before I could take more than a few steps in, she pointed to the chest of drawers standing right next to the entrance.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s it,¡± she declared. ¡±Take an enchanted stone from there.¡±

    I complied, opening drawers one by one. As my search went on, I found gloves, scarfs, keys, coins, and, to my surprise, even shoes in the larger bottom drawers. There were indeed stones in a couple of places. I started showing them individually to Yaelle, who shook her head every time to indicate this was not the right type of enchantment.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    After about ten tries, I had enough. I took the drawers out and carefully brought them down into the street.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯ll go faster,¡± she approved.

    It only took a couple of seconds before she chose what pebble to pick up. It lit up immediately. She tossed it to me, but by the time It had reached me, the rock was already dim. I looked at her questioningly.

    Yaelle sighed.

    ¡°Fine, ¡° she said. ¡°No easy solution. We¡¯ll get you a brightstone next time.¡±

    She looked at the available rocks, thinking for a few minutes. She finally made her choice and picked up a considerably heavier stone.

    The mineral barely changed in luminosity when she held it. This would not be enough for me to use. I was also surprised to see it was glowing blue, unlike all the other enchantments I had seen before.

    ¡°This one¡¯s a waymarker,¡± she explained. ¡°Takes a bit, but once it¡¯s on, it¡¯ll be good for the night.¡±

    Nodding, I put back the drawers while she charged the enchantment. Unfortunately, this did not take enough time for the rock to be ready.

    Yaelle was staying quiet as I stood outside with her in the street. After around a minute, I tried starting a conversation, if only to interrupt the awkward silence.

    ¡°So, how did you end up deciding to become a thief?¡± I asked her.

    The angry look she gave me made it clear that I had just ensured the unpleasant silence was going to remain.

    As time went on, I became lost in thoughts. It occurred to me I could easily disprove my supposed inability to activate enchantments: I had, in fact, activated a certain mind communication sphere back in my cell. However, Yaelle¡¯s furious expression dissuaded me from trying to argue the point. And it was not like it changed the issue at hand, for she was right about these particular pebbles failing to interact with me. I was now a lot less sure that alarms would not detect me, though.

    ¡°There. It¡¯s done,¡± she said, some time after, still sounding angry. ¡°Don¡¯t lose it. Could be traced back to us.¡±

    I thanked her and took the enchanted light source. It was slightly larger than my palm, making it uncomfortable to carry in a single hand. Its glow was enough to see properly, although the blue light corrupted colors. There were no changes in luminosity when it left Yaelle¡¯s hands, confirming that I could indeed use it.

    Going back into the house, I closed the main door and took a glance at the paintings. They were portraits of people, with two exceptions showing bare landscapes. Nothing that triggered any memory, to my disappointment. Unlike the statue I had seen before, the people had their skin untouched by the flurry of symbols and colors. Instead, those were drawn in a large circular aura around the head. It hid part of the background, but I still felt this was a more reasonable way of representing what I was increasingly suspecting to be souls. Indeed, I would not be able to recognize the lady of the sculpture even if she was represented here, for the sheer noise of the patterns had ensured her face remained unknown to me.

    Deciding to stop wasting time looking at paintings, I opened one of the back doors. It revealed a room containing toilets and a sink. The second one was a closet. In it, I found old coats, brooms, and various other cleaning utensils, but no letters. Finally, the last door opened to a kitchen. I closed it without further exploration. I did not expect to find any letters in that kind of room.

    It seemed I would have to venture to the second floor to find my quarry. I felt uneasy about that prospect, as it considerably lowered my chances of escaping, should anyone enter.

    The creaking stairs led me to a corridor with three rooms on each side. The path ended with a window that would offer a pleasant view of the street, were it not for the closed blinds. I could not tell what the rooms¡¯ walls were made of, but it was not stone bricks. Too late now, anyway. If anyone was sleeping here, they had surely just heard the noise.

    Walking toward the first door to my right, I mused that the usefulness of my supposed invisibility from magical alarms was lessened by the creaking of these wood planks. Even when trying to be careful, it seemed impossible to predict which ones would provide silent passage.

    The door opened to reveal I had finally found the room I was looking for. Two long bookshelves occupied its side walls. They were well furnished, which stroke me as somewhat foolhardy, considering the dubious flooring. I faced a large desk, on which laid many pages, books, pens, inkpots, and three organizers. What caught my attention were the valuables. Not only some obvious coin purses, but also about a dozen ingots of gold.

    I went in and closed the door behind me. Being on the second floor, hiding became my best option if anyone entered the house. That, and the sight of this not so small fortune made my anxiety scream that I was absolutely about to get caught.

    Reaching the desk, I perused the writings. I found notes and financial records, but no letters. Damn. Were they being kept somewhere else?

    I smiled as I finally found letters. They were in the organizers, and one of them was addressed to Lord Neventer. I took it, then paused. What was I supposed to do about the gold? Did I just leave it here? We were thieves, were we not? What would the others say if I reported having left such a prize unclaimed? What about the coins? At least these would not be difficult to move.

    In fact, was this not an opportunity for me? I could just take it all for myself, cut all ties, and run. Loann had warned me they would track me down, but with that much gold, I could surely hide far away from them.

    ¡°Too risky,¡± I told myself.

    And, really, this would mean no longer be able to convince myself I was performing disreputable deeds out of necessity. Stealing this was no petty larceny. I was sure this kind of robbery would see retribution in lives taken. Even if I myself was not caught, that payment in blood might very well befall their current possessor, or whatever guard was supposed to be there, or someone else. No, I was not touching these.

    I chose not to take the coins, either. It was perhaps foolish of me, but it helped assuage my conscience.

    Leaving the room, letter in hand, I closed the door behind me. Halfway down the stairs, I heard the loud noise of the main door being slammed open.

 Chapter 8 - Ambassador, Unfortunately Interrupted

    To my surprise, the threatening figure at the door, was none other than Yaelle, spear in hand. She clearly was very upset, and headed straight toward me. I was not exactly camouflaged, holding a literal light emitting marker.

    What was she doing? Did someone dangerous come? The guards?

    Upon seeing me, instead of stopping and explaining as I expected her to, Yaelle actually started moving faster.

    ¡°Where is he?!¡± she yelled, enraged.

    I had no idea who she was talking about, but considering she was about to skewer me, I carefully walked backwards up the stairs.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?¡± I asked her, panic shaking my voice. I hesitated on whether to take my chances hiding upstairs or attempting to pass by her somehow and escape into the streets.

    I put the glowing stone down on one of the steps as I kept backing away. Not a useful item in either case.

    ¡°Loann¡¯s gone!¡± she accused, still approaching. ¡°Your buddies took him somewhere!¡±

    My buddies? What? Why did she think I had friends out there?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you think I have done,¡± I pleased, ¡°but I swear I am not responsible for Loann¡¯s disappearance.¡±

    I was almost at the at top of the stairs. Just a couple more steps¡­

    ¡°Oh yeah? Let¡¯s see what you took, then!¡± she said, dashing forward.

    I failed to follow her reasoning, but admittedly, I had other worries at the moment. Yaelle¡¯s unexpected lunge had brought her to the bottom of the stairs. As I could not match her speed, we found ourselves face to face, only separated by easily climbed steps and one shiny blue waymarker.

    Yaelle paused her motion and frowned, staring at the only thing I still held in my hand.

    ¡°Just the letter?¡± she asked, looking me over.

    ¡°That is what you asked for, is it not?¡± I replied hurriedly, utterly confused, but glad she might no longer be so inclined to kill me. ¡°The letter for Lord Neventer,¡± I added, though I doubted she needed the clarification.

    ¡°And nothing else?¡± she insisted, still inspecting me.

    ¡°No!¡± I denied vehemently. I did not think it a wise moment to point out that I had indeed considered taking something much, much more valuable.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± she swore, but stopped pointing her spear at me.

    She took some time to think, reassuring me about my chances of making it out of here alive.

    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re coming with me,¡± she finally announced. ¡°We¡¯re going to report this to Lord Derrien.¡±

    Now that the immediate danger was past, I started wondering about the consequences of Yaelle barging in.

    ¡°What about the alarm?¡± I asked her, still shaking with emotion. ¡°Have you not triggered it? Should we not run before the guards come?¡±

    If we got caught here, Yaelle might have the right connections to avoid a harsh punishment, but I doubted Lord Derrien would sacrifice much to spare me. Hopefully, she would not try to fight the guards. Although¡­ maybe that would prove enough of a distraction for me to escape.

    ¡°Oh, that? No, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± she answered, to my surprise. ¡°But yes, we have to hurry.¡±

    Yaelle dashed to the door, and I started following her. When I halted to retrieve the light emitting stone, she glanced back and stopped me.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, ¡° she ordered. ¡°Just leave it.¡±

    That would indeed make running easier, but it was confusing, since she had specifically given me the opposite order before.

    ¡°I thought you said this left a trail that could be traced back to you,¡± I said, half-asking a question.

    Not wanting to make it an actual issue, I left the rock on the stairs and follower her out, closing the door behind me.

    Her creature had stayed outside. So had the enchanted cloak, laying unceremoniously in the dirty. I grabbed the garment and quickly put it on as Yaelle kept on walking hurriedly. We were going back to the place they had initially brought me to.

    <hr>

    There was nothing to distinguish the thieves¡¯ hideout from all the other buildings in the street. At least, nothing that I could perceive. The notion that perhaps some other form of marking may exist, yet be as invisible to me as the switches were, could not be discarded. To my eyes, it looked like a single story construction made of the same stone bricks that proved ubiquitous in this city. A few windows here and there, but their shutters were currently closed. I knew it had at least one other floor, underground.

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    As we entered, I stopped and, exhausted by our hurried walk, worked on getting my breathing under control. Yaelle was far from sharing my physical condition, appearing mostly unaffected by the effort. This lack of endurance could prove problematic in the future, and I resolved to improve on that point.

    Perhaps misinterpreting the reason for my pause, Yaelle spoke.

    ¡°Go back to your room for now. We¡¯ll take care of it,¡± she instructed me, going through a door I knew nothing about.

    For once, Yaelle¡¯s furry companion did not follow her, but stayed with me instead. Looking at the animal, I had no doubt of its intelligence, seeing through the animal¡¯s attempt at fooling me by having its tongue hang loosely to the side. It did not appear aggressive, however, so I was not too worried.

    This was the first time I was on my own in this building, prison cell excepted. Enjoying the absence of a forceful escort, I observed my surroundings.

    The entrance led to a very large corridor, with five doors on each side. Lighting was assured by magical stones, unsurprisingly. It was fairly barren, with only a few sideboards, upon which sat nothing, a couple of chairs, and a bowl of water next to an empty one. The latter was likely meant for Yaelle¡¯s beast. My cell was in a room underground, a place accessed through stairs hidden behind the last door on the right.

    While I recalled the way to my cell, and was about to go, a sudden realization stopped me: there was something wrong with how Yaelle had behaved. Under immediate danger, I had not really been paying attention to the implications of her statements. Now, though, I understood she had expected me to have taken more than just the letter. How did she know that there was more to be taken? Not only that, but while the emergency could explain a disregard for the risk of magical alarms, it did not excuse leaving evidence she had clearly stated could incriminate her. This robbery must have been a test of some kind. Yaelle knew the owner would not exact retribution for it. And, somehow, taking more than what the mission specified would have meant failing. Furthermore, she also seemed convinced to do so would have revealed me as belonging to an unknown attacker.

    My musing was interrupted by the door Yaelle had entered opening again, this time letting Lord Derrien out, followed by Yaelle and a man I had not seen before.

    The stranger had long black hair tied in a knot. His dark skin matched the color of the leather he wore, a combination highlighting his metallic breastplate. I could distinguish the corners of a shield on his back, something seemingly rare in these parts. Much more common was the fact that he was armed, some kind of thin sword being attached to his side.

    ¡°You?¡± Lord Derrien remarked upon seeing me.

    Any notion of confrontation over this subterfuge of a mission disappeared instantly as I laid eyes on him. As one would expect of any criminal gang leader, the man exuded threat through appearance alone. I had not taken notice of it before, but Lord Derrien did not appear to even bother carrying a weapon. Perhaps his fists were dangerous enough.

    ¡°I am sorry. I was about to go back to my room, but got caught up in my thoughts,¡± I mumbled. ¡°I will be going now.¡±

    I started leaving for the stairs, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

    ¡°Wait! It¡¯s fine,¡± Lord Derrien assured me. ¡°I was going to fetch you, anyway. I need you to find Aostin and tell him about the situation. The kidnappers will try to catch the Locomotive.¡±

    He handed me a small torn page on which was drawn a line with many angles.

    ¡°Aostin is at The Proud Rats. Just follow the directions on this paper. You do know who Aostin is, right?¡± the man I currently worked for asked, frowning.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I assured him. I reached for the paper, but then stopped, as I realized my hand was already holding something. ¡°What should I do about the letter?¡±

    ¡°The letter? For my brother? Just leave it on a table there. It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he replied. ¡°Now, go. We wasted too much time already.¡±

    I put the letter I had taken from what I now believed to be Lord Derrien¡¯s own house on a sideboard before leaving the building. The group followed me out and locked the door.

    As I started struggling to understand the directions sketched on the paper, Derrien pointed to a street, providing me with the clue I needed to read the overly simplistic map he had given me.

    Unfortunately, he and his company walked toward the other way, so I found myself alone in the streets of this city I did not even know the name of. Again.

    <hr>

    The late hour ensured I encountered very few people. None of those I did cross paths with appeared to be sober.

    As I faced it from the shadows, I could not decide whether the establishment supposedly hosting Aostin was intended for rich people or not. The facade of this bar was a work of art, but the theme might not please the most wealthy of patrons: painted on luminescent materials were humanoid rats dressed in ridiculously complex costumes. A clear mockery of their pettiness. Emotional auras encircled the head of each animal, but this time the symbols and colors did not seem that out of place. Indeed, their chaos paled compared to that of the depicted attires.

    A man stood at the entrance, guarding it. Clearly an employee of the bar, for he wore a fitting set of clothes. It was as if someone had turned a gaudy carpet into a tunic, then a colony of multicolored ribbons had sprouted on one side. Still, his rapier was visible, making it evident the man could in fact repeal undesirables.

    ¡°That is going to make things difficult,¡± I muttered to myself.

    I recalled Nouel saying an enchanted cloak would not provide camouflage for someone interacting with me. Thinking about this, I also realized the oddity of the cloak providing any cover at all. Should the enchantment not have stopped, since I probably could not recharge it? And what were its effects, exactly?

    Now was not the time to question it. Loann¡¯s situation was urgent.

    Perhaps the fact that I no longer wore any weapon would help prevent a conflict when I talked to the man. If I just chose my words carefully when starting the conversation, surely he would see reason and not attack.

    Becoming more easily noticeable as I walked into the light emitted by the painted walls, I addressed the bouncer.

    ¡°Lord Derrien sent me,¡± I said as calmly as I could. I had kept the message short and to the point so that there could be no misunderstanding.

    I must still have failed, because the man reached for his weapon, regardless. However, instead of rage distorting his face, I could see fear. Indeed, he was rapidly losing color, contrasting more and more with his gaudy tunic. Fortunately, it seemed this reaction had also forestalled his drawing of the rapier.

    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°He¡¯s real!¡±

    I was already stepping backward, raising my hands to motion him to stop any incoming attack, but to my astonishment, he bolted. Too stunned to react, only my eyes moved, following him as he turned a corner and disappeared.

    ¡°What? But...¡± I asked the night. ¡°What happened?¡±

    I reasoned it was best not to stay here wondering for too long. Indeed, even if not for Loann¡¯s situation, waiting for the man¡¯s potential return was foolish.

    Instead, I opened the door he had been guarding and entered the bar.

 Chapter 9 - Ambassador, Accompanied for a Walk

    Not having heard any sounds from outside, it was with surprise that I found myself entering a very crowded bar. A spacious room hosted many tables, some round, some rectangular, at which were seated various people. It was a wonder anyone could hear themselves talk in this hubbub, yet discussions were somehow still happening. That, and card games.

    The bar proper was also filled, its tender too busy serving drinks to notice a new arrival. In fact, nobody seemed to be paying me any mind, which fit my purposes just fine, as a confrontation here would have had disastrous results.

    I stayed close to the wall, not moving as tried to find Aostin. It took me a few minutes, but fortunately, he had not sat with his back turned from the entrance, so I chanced to see his face. Much like the other patrons, he was not looking at me. It appeared I was going to have to get closer, for Aostin was seated all the way to the back of the room. Worse, he was engaged in deep conversation with the people at his table.

    Not seeing any better strategy, I started walking toward him. I was careful not to attract attention by keeping a measured pace. Being conscious of every step made for an awkward gait, but given the absence of any exclamation, I deemed my approach a success.

    ¡°They sent me to fetch you, Aostin,¡± I told the man, ¡°and I do not believe it can wait.¡±

    There was no way to avoid the attention of the people at his table, but I trusted Aostin would handle the situation. The four people he had been talking to did a double take, then fixed their gazes upon me, fear in their eyes. They stayed silent, though, so I chose to ignore them and watched Aostin instead. He was now displaying the same look of shock as his companions, but I noticed he had reacted much slower than the others. I suspected he might only be pretending. Why? And what was this sudden change in everyone¡¯s reaction to seeing me about?

    ¡°Gentlemen, it seems my past may have finally caught up to me,¡± Aostin solemnly said to his table, before standing up.

    This pretty much confirmed that my colleague was purposefully misleading these people. This manipulation seemed to serve my purposes, so I took little issue in it.

    ¡°Shall we discuss it here?¡± I asked him, keeping things vague enough that he could stay in control of whatever narrative he was building here.

    ¡°No. I shall accompany you outside.¡± Aostin answered, already heading for the bar¡¯s exit.

    As we both left the establishment, I was glad to see the bouncer had yet to return. It would have been a shame to find myself taken by the guard or whatever reinforcement the man had no doubt left in search of.

    ¡°I sensed Lord Derrien¡¯s distress,¡± Aostin said. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    I had not understood souls to be capable of transmitting emotions from so far, but I still knew too little about the matter. I was going to ask for clarifications once the situation became more appropriate.

    ¡°Loann was captured during my mission in...¡± I paused for half a second, ¡°Lord Derrien¡¯s house, who believes the captors to be headed to a Locomotive and sent me to inform you of the fact.¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± Aostin said, gravely. ¡°Well, at least the Locomotive will not be departing soon. Part of the shipment was delayed, though I haven¡¯t yet found out why. It doesn¡¯t mean Loann is out of danger, but that improves his chances significantly.¡±

    He sighed.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± he instructed, and started walking.

    The leisurely pace he kept surprised me, but I complied.

    ¡°There¡¯s very little I have been able to find about you. In fact, I mostly just found out that something wasn¡¯t related to you,¡± Aostin announced, still making slow progress. ¡°You¡¯ll be glad, I hope, to know that you didn¡¯t kill those people you mentioned.¡±

    I frowned. It was reassuring, in a way, but also left more questions. I hoped Aostin would continue to prove so freely giving with his answers. Still, I had to ask. ¡°Thank you for trying to help, but should we not hurry?¡±

    ¡°Running isn¡¯t my strong suit,¡± he admitted. ¡°And as I¡¯ve said, the Locomotive is stuck, so we probably won¡¯t even be needed.¡±

    That was fair. He might be armed, but neither of us looked like we would be of much use in a fight. I realized I was actually worried about Loann. Though not a friend, he had treated me fairly. Outside my kidnappers, I knew no one.Little surprise, then, that I started growing attached to the few people that would accept to interact with me, no matter how adversarial our first encounter might have been.

    I recognized this was a rare opportunity to ask questions, so I took my chance.

    ¡°Aostin, what happened to these people, then? Do you know?¡±

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    ¡°A very dangerous conflict escalation between at least one of the Lords and Netacari,¡± he informed me. ¡°From the dagger you had, we suspect Lord Vallo is involved, but Lord Derrien has no stake in this and will not make the accusation. Bad timing for whoever took action, though, given Lady Azeline¡¯s presence in the city.¡±

    Aostin evidently liked to talk, though he would need to go into more details for me to understand exactly what was going on. Asking for clarifications might prove to be an error, however. I believed the man to be an information dealer, but I had very little to offer. There was the magical probe situation, which I did not think anyone aware of. A dangerous proposition, given that I knew nothing of its implications. For now, I decided on trying for more questions. Challenged, he might answer. Bored, he would stay quiet, and getting anything else out of him would become much more difficult.

    What kind of question would keep the conversation going, then? Nothing so trivial as basic information about where we were. Lord Derrien and Lord Neventer were equally stall subjects. What about the Locomotive? No, people seemed to know plenty about it, and I was going to see it at the end of our walk, was I not? I assumed the gold ingots were never to be mentioned, so I could not ask about these, either. I was mildly curious about the use of enchanted stones for lighting everywhere. Indeed, I had yet to see any fires since my arrival. This would not prove interesting for Aostin, though.

    Oh. Could I ask about Yaelle¡¯s past? She had been unwilling to share, so it showed the question was not trivially answered. Was Aostin a gossip?

    Before I opened my mouth, I reconsidered. Yes, it might be challenging enough for Aostin to answer, but it might also be an awful choice of topic. Given that knowing would not actually be of any use to me, I chose another question.

    ¡°Do you know what I shall be sent to retrieve next?¡± I asked him. ¡°I assume no more tests are necessary.¡±

    I was betting on the information not being intended to be known yet.

    ¡°Yes. If everything went right on your visit to Lord Derrien¡¯s house, I know exactly where you¡¯re going next,¡± he said. ¡°You, the Ghost of Auersten, are going to be... delivering mail!¡±

    Aostin burst out laughing.

    While it still left me in the dark about my next assignment, his answer had pointed out something I should have realized to be the best question to ask. Indeed, it might even stroke his ego.

    ¡°I noticed people seemed scared of me at the bar,¡± I remarked. ¡°I take it this is your doing. The Ghost of Auersten?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how I dug information on you. You¡¯re pretty unique, so it wasn¡¯t hard to fish out what people knew. I went with a rumor about a man blank as a ghost offering the darkest of services,¡± he explained. ¡°If you had done work before, someone would have told me. Also, it will make people less likely to want to pick a fight. It¡¯ll help you do your job, too. We might even get some particularly interesting requests out of it.¡±

    The man was obviously proud of his work.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, not entirely sure that was something I should be thankful for.

    Silence fell. Damn it. I needed to find something else to ask, or Aostin would stop sharing.

    I decided to take a risk.

    ¡°Ever heard of Central?¡± I ventured, referring to the message the magical probe had delivered.

    My companion stayed quiet for a moment as we walked through yet another dark and empty street.

    ¡°You are hiding something,¡± he accused, frowning.

    Shit. Well, that was the result of trying to deceive someone specializing in information retrieval. Not my brightest idea, all things considered.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know of anything called Central. Not just Central, anyway,¡± Aostin replied, despite the conversation having turned slightly sour. ¡°Where did you hear that name?¡±

    I hesitated on whether to answer for a few moments, which I was sure he took notice of. I finally reasoned that this was actually just about the best moment for me to come forward about it, for I was alone with Aostin. If he became hostile, I could surely outrun him.

    ¡°Last night, or maybe very early this morning, I was sent some kind of probe,¡± I told him. ¡°I woke up because it fell on me. Grabbing it activated an enchantment, which seemed to scan my mind, getting some random pictures of what I had seen on the day before. Once this was done, the artifact told me my name, that Central had been informed of my failure to report, and that I could expect severe consequences if I did so again.¡±

    ¡°I swear I have no idea what Central is,¡± I quickly added. ¡°I might have told Nouel, given the magical nature of the probe, but it has been a while since I last saw him.¡±

    Aostin was silent, which was not reassuring.

    ¡°It might even have just been a dream,¡± I desperately continued. ¡°That thing was an enchantment, right? Yet, it activated when I held it. I can¡¯t activate enchantments without a soul, right? It makes no sense!¡±

    Still no answer. I felt panic rising.

    Finally, Aostin spoke.

    ¡°What name did it call you?¡± he asked, voice cold.

    Not really the question I had been expecting.

    ¡°Eriol Corneau,¡± I obligingly answered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know of any Lord Corneau,¡± Aostin accused. ¡°Are you absolutely sure?¡±

    Why was this the part he focused on?

    ¡°That is what the message called me, yes,¡± I confirmed. ¡°How much of a problem is this?¡±

    ¡°Eriol,¡± Aostin slowly explained, ¡°you are currently working for Lord Derrien, are you not? Being addressed as anything but Eriol Derrien shouldn¡¯t be lightly. You might hav-¡°

    ¡°What? We take the family name of the Lord we serve?¡± I interrupted him, too surprised to let him finish.

    ¡°The family name?¡± he asked, visibly confused.

    Oh, I knew where this was going. I hit my forehead with my palm. More divergences in semantics. Not the best of times to find out about a new one, but that was just my luck.

    ¡°Family names are not indicative of loyalties,¡± I explained. ¡°Just consider it a way to specify parentage.¡±

    ¡°No name to indicate a Binding, then? That must be confusing,¡± he remarked. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with any region using this convention.¡±

    Unfortunate. This misunderstanding would have been very useful otherwise.

    Aostin said nothing for a moment.

    ¡°Fine,¡± he finally declared. ¡°I guess that makes you Eriol Corneau Derrien, then.¡±

    I understood the implication here: the Derrien last name made it clear I was still part of the group.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, this time meaning it.

    ¡°As for the magical impossibility, yes, Nouel¡¯s your best bet,¡± the information dealer advised me. ¡°Don¡¯t count on getting your answer just yet, though. He¡¯s gone for at least a month.¡±

    Well, that could wait. I was glad that Aostin had taken the revelation about this morning¡¯s experience in stride.

    We walked in silence for a while longer. I now understood why he had not tried to run the distance. Indeed, I was surprised the sunrise did not arrive before us, given how long it took.

 Chapter 10 - Ambassador, Impressed by Locomotives and Pauses

    The view in front of me left no doubt: we had indeed arrived. We stood on a street at the limits of the city. The floor was simple dirt instead of cobblestone pavement. I had no eyes for such trivialities, though, as my sight was captured by the Locomotive.

    Were locomotives not usually made of metal? This one was not. It used wood. Magically glowing wood.

    This might have been the hull of a galleon, once. Someone had stripped it of every porthole, every decoration, and every sail holding feature. Just a smooth surface remained. Replacing a traditional upper deck was another hull, this time of a very shallow ship, had been glued upside-down. No one was meant to walk upon it, clearly.

    To my surprise, the Locomotive simply rested on the ground. Instead of two rails, a single stony one went through the front of the vehicle, where a notch allowed it to go through the middle.

    I could see no wagons, but the size of the Locomotive implied it needed none. Indeed, it was around one hundred meters (330 feet) long, thirty meters (100 feet) wide, and ten meters (33 feet) high.

    I realized this was not the first time I had seen wood holding enchantments. The facade of The Proud Rats displayed similar light emitting magic. Why did anyone ever bother with rocks if wood was a viable option? Surely it would be easier for mages to carry chips of wood instead of pebbles.

    I was feeling exhausted, making me even more prone to distracting thoughts. I needed to focus on the present. Aostin also took a moment to admire the vehicle, though, evidence that even seen multiple times, the view remained breathtaking.

    ¡°It seems they have resolved the shipment issue,¡± he told me, pointing at a group of people loading crates through the back of the Locomotive.

    I could not see the opening from this angle, but Aostin started walking toward it, so it was only a matter of time.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s already charged up, so we don¡¯t have much time. We¡¯ll need to make some noise once we¡¯re inside. I¡¯d rather not waste a day getting back,¡± he commented, before making a sudden stop.

    Aostin looked straight at me, like he had been hit by a realization.

    ¡°Shit,¡± he swore. ¡±You won¡¯t be able to get in. Passage¡¯s free for any Eucleron, but they do check for Bindings.¡±

    Without warning, he drew his sword. With its point toward the ground, he handed me the weapon and I took it.

    Once I held it, Aostin inspected me for a few seconds before holding his hand. ¡°No, it won¡¯t do,¡± he judged. ¡°It¡¯s easy to tell the Binding¡¯s not yours.¡±

    I gave him the sword back.

    ¡°A favor it is, then,¡± he sighed. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for anything clever.¡±

    We reached the back of the Locomotive.

    Here also, streamlining imposed its harsh rule. The only concessions were doors and a set of stairs. The latter sunk into the Locomotive, starting from the ground and going up to a door at around a third of the vehicle¡¯s height. Next to the stairs were two enormous doors, currently opened to let in the cargo. In the middle of their opening, an encasing covered the rail. It looked awkward, like a design element the architects had failed to consider until the very last minute.

    Aostin was closing in on the stairs, but stopped once again.

    I watched him questioningly as he stayed frozen in place.

    ¡°Do not draw. Do not move,¡± a feminine voice intoned. ¡°You are under arrest.¡±

    Admiring the Locomotive, I had somehow missed the two people approaching us. Aostin¡¯s behavior showed that he, on the other hand, had not been taken by surprise.

    Disobeying the order, I slowly turned to see the newcomers.

    The woman arresting us had a rapier in hand, already raised and ready to strike. She, and the other woman accompanying her, wore dark green uniforms featuring some gold embroidery. I recalled Lady Azeline and her retinue sporting similar colors. A suspicion confirmed by the recognizable symbol placed over their heart, which I now assumed to symbolize either honor as a concept or the Lord of Honor as an individual.

    The other woman had a wound-up crossbow, but thankfully no bolt was loaded.

    This had to be the city guards. They were wearing cloth, not armor. Strength in number, then, or perhaps through affiliation. It felt wrong for the peacekeeping force to have such openly displayed partiality, but if they all shared Lady Azeline¡¯s supposed imperviousness to lies, I could see why the blatant issue might be disregarded.

    ¡°We were on our way to rescue one of our own,¡± Aostin explained. ¡°We have done nothing illegal.¡±

    ¡°Nothing yet, you mean,¡± the guard said, wryly, before adopting a more serious tone. ¡°I know about your quarrel. Your lord acted rashly within the Locomotive, so you¡¯ll have to come with us.¡±

    Aostin turned and nodded.

    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with him?¡± the other guard asked, using her crossbow to point at me.

    Sure, she was not being polite, but this still numbered among the best reactions I had received seen so far. I was actually glad to see they were behaving so rationally. But then it dawned on me that I carried a collection of lock picks in my satchel, and I became much less pleased by the guards¡¯ attention.

    ¡°Honestly? We¡¯re still trying to figure that out,¡± Aostin shrugged. ¡°Lady Azeline is aware of his situation, though.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± the rapier-wielding guard declared.

    From that remark, I deduced Lady Azeline¡¯s truth compelling powers did not extend to her guards. No reason for them to have doubted Aostin¡¯s words had they such an ability. As part of a group specializing in extra-legal activities, this realization should have come as a relief. However, as someone whose foreignness drew suspicion, this deprived me of my best defense: honesty. Indeed, the only crimes I had committed so far were petty larcenies. My awkward visit to Lord Derrien¡¯s house surely did not count.

    But while I did not foresee any grave consequences for this arrest to either Aostin or myself, our initial mission remained.

    ¡°Is Loann alright?¡± I asked the two guards.

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    They looked at each other.

    ¡°Blonde, with a thin beard?¡± I specified, making an assumption on the reason they were hesitating to answer.

    ¡°There are three wounded, but only one of them is...¡± the one with a crossbow started answering. ¡°Uh...¡± she hesitated, then stopped looking at me and addressed Aostin instead. ¡°...yours. You¡¯ll see soon enough, anyway. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Aostin looked at me with curiosity as we followed the guards to a nearby building.

    What had I done to attract his attention? Was it me asking the guards a question? He had not. Maybe that was simply not done. It had worked, though. Sort of.

    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t supposed to care about people,¡± Aostin told me.

    ¡°What?! That¡¯s just rude!¡± I exclaimed, too surprised and tired to quiet my reaction.

    Why would he even say that?

    Oh.

    ¡°Nouel is wrong, you know? I do have feelings. I do care,¡± I shot back, somewhat irritated.

    ¡°If you say so,¡± Aostin shrugged, making it clear he was not at all convinced.

    My companion and I were ushered into an old-looking building. The watch¡¯s station, most likely, given that their symbol was on a hanging wooden sign. Inside, we went through a room with four desks, only one of which being occupied. The man there also wore the dark green uniform, but a little square patch of shining gold marked him as having a different rank. The desks were parallel to the side walls, leaving plenty of space for a passage to the next room.

    The busy guard did not even look up as we passed by him and entered the jail proper. This new room hosted five large cells, separated from each other by stone bricks, but their front wall still used regular metal bars. Making their content visible. Only two had occupants.

    Lord Derrien, Loann, Yaelle, and the shield bearer were in a cell together, sitting on benches. Loann had a cut on his jaw, his shirt had been torn, and his right arm was wrapped in thick bandages, but he looked fine otherwise. I also noticed Yaelle¡¯s creature was with them, asleep. That got a yawn out of me. Now that I knew everyone was mostly out of danger, the hitherto unnoticed stress keeping me awake vacated.

    I was getting dangerously drowsy.

    In the cell next to that of Lord Derrien, Two people I knew nothing about were conferring together, having dismissed us within seconds of our arrival. They looked to have been involved in a brawl, given their broken noses and bruised faces.

    Before leaving, the guards silently locked us up. For some reason, while they made Aostin join Lord Derrien, I ended up in another cell. Thankfully, it was the one facing theirs, so discussion would not be severely hampered.

    It also meant I had a bench for myself. That was thoughtful of them. Now I was going to be able to take a nap. All things considered, this was not even so different from my cell back at the thieves¡¯ hideout. Benches instead of a proper bed did significantly lower the comfort levels, though. I noticed there was water available in a jug and drank some.

    Nobody was talking.

    It was only then that my addled mind caught up with the fact that not only had we not been searched, but everyone here had been allowed to keep their weapons. That was strange.

    Not having any real understanding of the gravity of our situation, I decided to inquire.

    ¡°Aostin, just how much trouble are we in?¡± I asked him, not addressing Lord Derrien directly, for I did not believe it proper.

    Aostin, having seated himself among the group, turned his head to look at me and replied.

    ¡°We had cause to act. No one died, and there was no grave injury. We should be fine,¡± he declared, also showing some fatigue. ¡°I don¡¯t think Lord Konogan will take personal offense.¡±

    That last remark was confusing. Or maybe I was too tired to connect the dots. Were we not ultimately the plaintiff here?

    ¡°Is Lord Konogan the one responsible for Loann¡¯s disappearance?¡± I wondered aloud, too fatigued to realize it. ¡°Loann was abducted, was he not? Why would anyone be offended by our rescue?¡±

    This was dangerously close to complaining. I needed to quiet down and sleep before poorly chosen words got me in trouble.

    That was too late, it seemed, for Lord Derrien got up and faced me.

    ¡°Lord Konogan owns the Locomotive,¡± he explained. ¡±Brior is the one who took action against me. Lord Konogan is owed reparation for my disruption of his affairs, and I will accept whatever decision he makes in that regard.¡± I nodded, and he continued. ¡°A judge should arrive within a few hours. Brior will probably accompany them. We wait until then.¡±

    I nodded again.

    Not having anything better to do, I took off my satchel and my cloak and, using them as a pillow and a blanket, I let myself fall asleep on the bench.

    <hr>

    ¡°-shall be in charge of passing judgment today.¡±

    I woke up to the sound of a woman speaking in a very official tone. I was still tired, but since something was going on, I decided to get up.

    Two new people had arrived.

    There was an additional guard. She had a short golden cape at the back of her uniform. This was the person who had just made some kind of announcement. I assumed the flashy addition to her attire meant she ranked significantly higher than the others.

    A well-dressed man now shared the cell with the two beat up kidnappers. He wore a black costume, nice enough that I would not be shocked to see it at a formal party. His eyes were focused on the high-ranking guard.

    ¡°Very well,¡± the woman said, then paused. ¡°Let us begin with the case of Earl Konogan against Baron Derrien.¡±

    Earl Konogan? Baron Derrien? Were their titles not lord? Could anything ever be simple with these people?

    I mentally sighed.

    The cape wearing guard made another pause.

    ¡°Baron Derrien, having taken direct hand, you may not avert the accusation,¡± she said.

    Yet another pause. I felt like she was going through a procedure. These pauses were obviously practiced. It gave the pronouncement more of a formal tone, and, I had to admit, it demanded attention.

    ¡°Earl Konogan declined to use his right of request,¡± she continued.

    What was a right of request? She was not going to explain any of this, was she?

    ¡°Baron Derrien, acting as judge in accordance with the treaties between Eucleron and the Lord of Honor, I pronounce your sanction to be the following¡­¡± she intoned.

    This pause felt particularly heavy, somehow.

    ¡°One of your votes shall be transferred to Earl Konogan for five referendums of his choosing, provided they take place within one month,¡± she finally declared.

    Not understanding the severity of the punishment, I looked at Lord Derrien, who did not appear displeased by this sentencing at all.

    A guard, whom I recognized from the crossbow, unlocked and opened the door to his cell, but no one made a move to leave.

    Seemingly unconcerned by this inaction, the judge looked at the man who most likely was Lord Brior.

    ¡°Now, we shall proceed with the case of Baron Derrien against Baron Brior,¡± the official recited. ¡°Baron Brior, will you renege the accused?¡±

    Well, from the fact that she had to be following the exact same procedure, I could infer that this was the way for Lord Brior to deflect the charges.

    ¡°No. I will not,¡± the man declared.

    ¡°Very well,¡± she said, then paused, as expected. ¡°Baron Derrien, will you use your right of request?¡±

    Lord Derrien looked questioningly at Aostin, who immediately shook his head.

    ¡°No. I will not,¡± he announced, using the same phrasing and intonation Lord Brior had. This was probably also dictated by the protocol.

    ¡°Very well,¡± The ever-pausing woman said. ¡°Baron Brior, acting as judge in accordance with the treaties between Eucleron and the Lord of Honor, I pronounce your sanction to be the following¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell how, but she did manage to give certain pauses significantly more weight. This was a neat trick.

    ¡°Five of your votes shall be transferred to Baron Derrien for twenty referendums of his choosing, provided they take place within three months.¡±

    What? Was that all?

    Lord Brior seemed to find the verdict punishing. I failed to understand why. No executions. No lashings. No long-term detainment. Not even a monetary compensation! A slap on the wrist, really. Yet, somehow, Lord Brior took it hard.

    As with Lord Derrien, the guard unlocked his cell once judgment was passed. Lord Brior, however, immediately left with his two retainers, without even sparing us a look.

    For some reason, the official then turned to me. That was worrisome, because I could not guess what accusations I might have to stand against.

    ¡°Lastly, Lady Azeline confirmed having met you. Your arrest and subsequent captivity were thus unwarranted,¡± she said, this time without any pauses. ¡°As compensation, we offer ten Enori. Do you accept, or would you rather lodge a complaint?¡±

    I could guess Enori was a form of currency, but I did not know what the amount represented. Taking a glance at Lord Derrien and his group gave me no clue, as they were just looking at me, waiting for my decision. I had no desire to complicate my situation further by protesting, so I went with the easiest answer.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. ¡°I shall accept the compensation.¡±

    The guard opened my door and handed me a small purse. I took it and just dropped it in my satchel as I put it back on.

    Lord Derrien left his cell and, after grabbing my cloak, I joined with the group as we followed him out of the building and back to our hideout.

 Chapter 11 - Ambassador, Welcomed Aboard

    The morning suns rose over the city, unfairly illuminating the side of some buildings with radiating heat, while the streets we walked on remained shadowy and cold.

    Wrinkled and rough cloth scrapped at me with every movement. The headache I felt reminded me that no, the couple of sleeping hours I had just enjoyed would not suffice. As if that was not enough, even my nose complained about the situation. I needed a bath. My mood fell as I recalled how long it had taken to get here in the first place, and what this meant for my hopes of comfort and rest in the near future.

    To my surprise, Lord Derrien guided us through a different path.

    After a handful of minutes, I saw where we were going. My path had never crossed it so far, but the city appeared to be split by a thirty meters (100 foot) wide canal. If not for its size, the sharp cut it drew on the stone pavement would have made it look artificial. To my tired mind, the red light of dawn partially reflected by the dark water turned this view into that of a poorly knitted wound, complete with sutures formed of a myriad of small elevated bridges. The gnarly comparison warned me that I might actually have been more traumatized by the corpses I had seen than I hitherto thought.

    Instead of heading for one of the many bridges, Lord Derrien walked toward a wooden signpost I had dismissed as being addressed to boatmen. Over the edge, a muscular man was idly smoking a pipe on an elongated rowboat. The bright blue color of his attire, which even featured a cap on which the same symbol as the signpost had been sewn, made it obvious this was an official of some kind.

    Upon seeing our arrival, the man quickly tossed the content of his pipe overboard, put the instrument in a little coffer, and went to sit at the back of his boat.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± he called to Lord Derrien, bowing slightly.

    Without hesitation, Lord Derrien hopped aboard. The shield bearer, whom I still did not know the name of, followed promptly. The rest of us each waited in turn for the boat to stabilize every time someone jumped in. I sat at the back, next to the rower.

    I noticed my companions all smiled. However, I could not understand the source of their cheerfulness. We had successfully rescued Loann, yes, but Lord Brior had escaped with little punishment.

    ¡°Down to west market street, if you please,¡± Lord Derrien requested. His jovial tone and expression made him appreciatively less frightening.

    In an impressive display of practiced movement, the boatman used a single rope pull to free us from the land. He then unceremoniously tossed the cable under his seat before starting to row.

    We were advancing fast, passing under bridges vacant due to the early hours.

    I let myself be lulled by the rhythmic rocking and sound caused by the oars, but my reveries were quickly interrupted by the start of a conversation.

    ¡°If Brior is resorting to kidnappings, they¡¯re truly getting desperate,¡± Lord Derrien remarked. ¡°He should¡¯ve known I wasn¡¯t going to bend the knee. That was stupid.¡±

    I told myself I should be paying attention. This might answer some of my questions. I shook my head, trying to chase away the lethargy I had let myself fall into.

    ¡°It¡¯s not even the worst of it,¡± Aostin commented, sounding resigned.

    He sighed, but didn¡¯t elaborate.

    Only once all heads had turned to look at him expectantly did he finally continue.

    ¡°The Netacari delegation was killed,¡± he said, the dramatic statement amplified by the silence that had preceded it.

    His face flushed with anger. He was not the only one. I heard Yaelle and the shield bearer swear loudly.

    ¡°They¡¯re crazy!¡± the waterman exclaimed, seeming not at all ashamed to be so obviously listening in on our conversation.

    My own reaction was not as pronounced, but the announcement did jerk me awake, for this was something I knew about. Aostin had already mentioned the Netacari to me. These were the bodies outside the city. He was now clearly implying the massacre and Loann¡¯s abduction were tied somehow. Had both been performed by the same party?

    If Lord Brior was known to be associated with murderers, or if he was one himself, getting Loann back alive had not been so much of a certainty. Yes, that could explain why my companions were so satisfied with the outcome. They probably never expected Lord Brior to be punished to begin with.

    I was mostly numb to the news. To me, Netacari was just the name of the group the bodies had belonged to. Nothing more. Though, to be honest, my earlier vision warned me that this apathy might only be some defense mechanism. It was not clear to me how common murders were. They could not be so rare if I chanced to already have seen the result of one. Nobody I told had appeared that shocked, either.

    ¡°Things are about to escalate. Fast,¡± Aostin continued, still slightly red. ¡°Of course, Sherpen denies any involvement.¡±

    Focused on my own the announcement itself, I had not reflected on it, but I had to admit surprise at Aostin¡¯s anger. After all, this was not the first time he shared the news, and he had stayed calm before.

    ¡°Well, duh...¡± Yaelle sighed, but Aostin held out a hand to stop further accusations.

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure they ordered it,¡± he admitted. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really help the Levannians, though, so it¡¯s probably not them.¡±

    He was not sharing everything he knew, I realized. Yesterday, Aostin had specifically named Lord Vallo as a prime suspect. Also, Lord Derrien¡¯s visible outrage was in stark contradiction with Aostin¡¯s reasoning that he would be reluctant to make the accusation, given a chance.

    ¡°Playing with fire...¡± Loann grumbled.

    That got a few nods.

    A moment passed before anyone else spoke. By the time Lord Derrien addressed Aostin, tempers had calmed down, but the cold in his voice made it clear the anger remained.

    ¡°How did you find out?¡± Lord Derrien asked. ¡°I thought the delegation only delayed.¡±

    This pretty much confirmed my suspicions about Aostin serving as Lord Derrien¡¯s spy.

    ¡°It¡¯s staying under wraps until they get more information,¡± Aostin explained.

    Was he sharing secret knowledge out here in the open? We were not even by ourselves on this boat!

    ¡°Don¡¯t want people to act on unfounded accusations, I guess,¡± Aostin said, before turning to look at our ferryman. ¡°And yes, Lord Konogan is already aware of the situation.¡±

    The man nodded his understanding and kept on rowing.

    What?! Were we actually using Lord Konogan¡¯s services? Right after getting out of jail for making a mess in another transport of his? Why did they even let us?!

    I recalled Lord Derrien had not exactly asked permission before boarding, but surely the guards would intercede if Lord Konogan¡¯s man called for help.

    Maybe he was not aware of Lord Derrien¡¯s previous actions. Still, that seemed foolish.

    ¡°I only learned of this because of our new recruit,¡± Aostin continued. ¡°Turns out, that¡¯s who the bodies he mentioned belonged to. Landed me straight in front of Lady Azeline,¡± he held his hand to forestall any panic, ¡°but we¡¯re not in trouble. That¡¯s why she visited us, by the way.¡±

    Lord Derrien nodded understanding. ¡°Let¡¯s not discuss that here.¡±

    What did Lord Derrien want to hide about me from Lord Konogan?

    That reminded me I had yet to be sent a new probe. It was good none had appeared this morning while I was in jail, but that also had me worried I might simply have missed it. Again.

    ¡°What about the letter delivery?¡± the lord asked his spy. ¡°Any reason to cancel it?¡±

    Considering Aostin¡¯s joke about my next mission, this was most likely what the question was about. Unfortunately, the illegal nature of our group¡¯s activities all but guaranteed no details would be shared where an outsider could learn of them.

    ¡°We¡¯d better hurry it up,¡± Aostin commented. ¡°Everybody is going to be on edge once the Netacari news spread.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate, but we¡¯ll make it work,¡± Lord Derrien assured. ¡°Yaelle, any issues to report?¡±

    ¡°Slow as a lezireg,¡± Yaelle sighed. ¡°And we¡¯ll need some brightstone.¡± She paused. ¡°Didn¡¯t get to check everything, but nothing obvious comes to mind.¡±

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re short on time, so it will have to do,¡± Lord Derrien said. ¡°Aostin, can you get us the brightstone today?¡±

    Aostin nodded, and Lord Derrien turned to look at Loann.

    ¡°Loann, tell me truly, how severe are your wounds?¡± Lord Derrien asked him. ¡°Will you be needing supplies?¡±

    ¡°Cuts are superficial. You rushing got ¡®em by surprise,¡± Loann said. ¡°Arm¡¯s fractured, that¡¯s the real issue. Won¡¯t be able to work for a bit.¡± He thought for a bit. ¡°Maybe two months. There¡¯s enough reserve. It¡¯s nothing urgent.¡±

    I appreciated that, despite looking like a violent criminal boss, Lord Derrien appeared ready to take care of his own, even when they were in no state to serve him.

    Oh. Wait. He was not just looking like one. He was definitely a violent criminal boss, just not a cruel one.

    ¡°Understood. We have plenty of funds right now, so don¡¯t hesitate if you need anything,¡± Lord Derrien told him, as if to confirm my thoughts.

    The conversation then moved on to less interesting subjects, such as Lord Derrien attending a certain Lord Gothian¡¯s party in the evening. I was not blind to the fact many of these discussions were calculated. Indeed, he discussed mostly with Aostin, no doubt as a way to feed Lord Konogan¡¯s agent information. Both parties were probably aware of the fact, but this did not render it meaningless.

    I, on the other hand, could hardly follow all the implications. New names kept being mentioned, but my focus was dimming, and without context, I failed to take note of them.

    <hr>

    Knowing we had arrived by the toss of a rope the ferryman made to anchor us to the bank, I paid attention to the fare Lord Derrien was paying. I hoped to get a better understanding of the value held by the coins I currently owned.

    Two Enori for about an hour of transport by boat.

    I judged this made the ten I had received a fair compensation for half a morning spent stuck in jail.

    However, if the cost was so cheap and the transport so fast, I had to ask. ¡°Aostin,¡± I called out to him. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why did we not use a boat to get to the Locomotive?¡±

    ¡°No ferrymen at night, dummy,¡± Yaelle interjected.

    Aostin nodded, before adding, ¡°Also, this was us going downriver.¡±

    Oh.

    We disembarked at the opening of a small street, where a handful of merchants were setting up their stalls. My first impression of the area was that it did not deserve to be called a market. Closer inspection explained the discrepancy. This was not the trunk of market street, but only one of many small branches at its side.

    Reaching the main alley filled me with a feeling of familiarity. Indeed, there stood the victims of my food and cloth pilfering.

    I was sure none of them could ever hope to recognize when I wore my cloak. In fact, I doubted even the cloth merchant had managed to catch more than a glimpse of me, so it was unlikely they would accuse me, regardless.

    ¡°We can talk more freely now,¡± Lord Derrien declared, not needing to raise his voice, for we were all fairly close to him. ¡°Aostin, what else did you find out?¡±

    There were a few people about, but this also meant that other conversations blanketed our own. I assumed that unless they were moving with us, discerning the meaning of our talk would be difficult.

    Aostin put a hand on my shoulder and stopped. I halted in turn, more because of the brusqueness of the act than anything else.

    Everyone else in our group looked at us in confusion.

    ¡°Let me present to you Eriol Corneau Derrien,¡± Aostin announced, smiling. ¡°Never mind the Corneau part, it¡¯s just some weird lineage thing,¡± he added, as his audience started frowning.

    I was not sure how I had expected Aostin to inform Lord Derrien of what I had admitted to him. However, spouting it out to everybody in the middle of a very public street had definitely not been it, that was for certain.

    Aostin released me, and our group began walking forward again.

    ¡°So, is our Eriol not some dark mysterious stranger after all?¡± Yaelle asked.

    Well, they seemed to take the unusual naming convention in stride, but that had been the very least problematic thing I had told him. Maybe he would just pretend to have gotten all this information from his own inquiries. While dishonest, it would make him shine, and spies were not particularly known for their sense of honor.

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°On the contrary!¡± Aostin said, sounding happy at the confusion he was fostering. ¡°I found... nothing. Which is telling, really.¡±

    So much for my hopes of miscredit.

    ¡°So where¡¯d the name come from, if you got nothing?¡± Loann asked.

    They caught on fast. Dammit.

    I looked at Aostin, trying to catch his gaze so he would notice my plea not to blurt out everything right there.

    I failed. Or maybe he willfully ignored me.

    ¡°From the man itself, of course!¡± Aostin said, confirming my fears. ¡°Turns out, someone contacted him. And that¡¯s where things get a bit more complicated.¡±

    He paused, no doubt waiting for one of us to bite on his bait and request more information. No one did. Perhaps they were too used to his shenanigans. I, however, was dreading the reaction my companions would have after learning of my ties to Central.

    ¡°From what I can tell, Eriol¡¯s previous lord is not fully aware of his current situation,¡± Aostin revealed. ¡°They¡¯re resorting to threats for compliance, so the Binding was nearing a rupture point already.¡±

    I was fairly certain Bindings were not applicable to me, but I felt no urge to point it out. The stress I felt as I awaited judgment made it hard to think.

    ¡°He was meant to be a spy or scout of some sort, but I think it¡¯s still safe for us to try taking him in,¡± he continued. ¡°The memory loss is genuine, in any case. There are two issues here, though.¡±

    He stopped talking, no doubt making another attempt at his previous trick. I was in no state to care. Me, a spy? What kind of spy was I supposed to be? Nonsense! How would I ever infiltrate anything? I lacked even seemingly basic knowledge. People had to explain everything to me. Who would be dumb enough to expect me to get secret information?

    I knew I was panicking, but could not do anything to stop it.

    ¡°How are they contacting him?¡± the shield bearing man asked. It was the first time I ever heard him talk. ¡°The only one to visit him was Lady Azeline.¡±

    ¡°Nothing you could¡¯ve done, Elouen,¡± Aostin reassured him. ¡°That¡¯s indeed one of the issues. Somehow, they¡¯re tracking him. They teleported some kind of enchantment to him.¡±

    I looked at him in surprise, not having realized the implication. Yes, I knew the probes could be sent directly to me wherever I was, but Aostin was right: this meant they knew where I was. That, by itself, was be enough to use me as a source of information.

    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Yaelle exclaimed. ¡°He doesn¡¯t trigger enchantments, that¡¯s the whole point.¡±

    Oh, I definitely had activated that one.

    Even through my panic, I was still interested to see how Aostin was going to explain that one, for I sure could not.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he has to, if the enchantment¡¯s already charged,¡± Aostin remarked. ¡°Must be a pain to make, though. It also means they¡¯re aware of his lack of soul, if not of his amnesia. The enchantment probably just reacts to touch.¡± he looked at each of us in turn, then smiled. ¡°Anyone¡¯s touch.¡±

    ¡°You want us to intercept the next one,¡± Yaelle guessed.

    That sounded like a terrible idea.

    ¡°Yes. Though we¡¯d best be careful about it,¡± Aostin confirmed. ¡°A shame Nouel¡¯s not here. He might be able to get more out of it.¡±

    Indeed. Where was Nouel exactly? He has hinted his disappearance was linked to the discovery of a distinction between mind and soul, but how did that translate to someone leaving?

    ¡°Teleportation is no small feat,¡± Lord Derrien commented. ¡°Are you sure we aren¡¯t about to annoy someone dangerous?¡±

    Oh, no! Was Lord Derrien having doubts about keeping me?

    ¡°They¡¯re already about to cut ties,¡± Aostin remarked. ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll care much.¡±

    Thank you, Aostin.

    ¡°True. And it¡¯s too good an opportunity to pass on,¡± Lord Derrien agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll take the risk.¡±

    Yes!

    A few streets later, we reached the hideout.

    Once inside, Aostin, Yaelle, and Loann left for different rooms. The beast that followed Yaelle around went to drink at a bowl a bit further away in the corridor. It was so silent when it moved that I usually forgot it was even here.

    I was strongly tempted to just go lay in bed, but noticed that Lord Derrien and Elouen had not yet gone anywhere.

    As my gaze crossed his, Lord Derrien addressed me.

    ¡°Eriol, consider this your temporary home,¡± he said. ¡°I believe we all need to rest, but tomorrow, feel free to explore around.¡±

    He pointed toward the end of the corridor. ¡°Your bedroom is the last door on the left.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, meaning it with all my heart. ¡°For this, and for accepting me.¡±

    He nodded and went back to the room Yaelle had fetched him from yesterday.

    I knew his decision had not been born of pure kindness. He had said so himself, had he not? This was him taking a chance, hoping to gain a way to bypass magical alarms. Still, I was very grateful to be adopted by these people. It was comfortable living, and they were rather amicable, despite the utilitarian motivation. With time, we might even grow to become actual friends.

    Entering my new bedroom encouraged this feeling. Indeed, it proved to be much more furnished than my cell had been. For starters, there was a wardrobe with some garments made of softer materials than those of my current attire. New shoes were tucked under it, too.

    There was a mirror, letting me see that I currently looked like some suspicious vagabond, something I was no longer. Yes, with the cloak on, I could even look menacing. The new clothes would at least give me a more civilized appearance. Well, since the cloak was to remain in use, I supposed I was still going to resemble some anonymous traveler, though a more wealthy one.

    To my surprise, I found pajamas had been put on the bed. This promised a greatly improved sleep comfort, and I wasted no moment before putting it to the test.

    Well, I still could not turn the room¡¯s lights off. It didn¡¯t matter. I was feeling happy for the first time in forever, or at least as I far as I could recall.

    <hr>

    I was woken up by the sound of Yaelle opening the door to my room. This had not been an abrupt awakening, and I felt well rested. She was no longer wearing the same clothes as she had been at dawn, which reminded me I needed to ask where I could wash myself.

    I expected her to be bringing me food, given Loann¡¯s injuries, but she had yet to enter the room, and while one of her hands was on the door¡¯s handle, the other laid empty. She appeared to be in a good mood, though, so I did not assume myself to be in trouble.

    No doubt having noticed my opened eyes, Yaelle spoke.

    ¡°Wakey-wakey! We¡¯re having a meal in the main room,¡± she announced. ¡°Come join us!¡±

    Yaelle then closed the door, giving me privacy as I rose out of bed.

    This was definitely a considerable improvement over my previous morning awakenings. No emergencies, no immediate danger, and no flood of confusion.

    Not wanting to risk the mood going down, I took the cloak and wore it above my pajamas before joining Yaelle outside.

    ¡°Good morning, Yaelle,¡± I said jovially. ¡°Thank you for waking me up.¡±

    She nodded in acknowledgment, but her smile had faded slightly.

    ¡°It¡¯s uh... out of charge, you know?¡± she said. ¡°Your disguise.¡±

    Ah.

    Well, this wasn¡¯t too surprising, I supposed. I had it on for quite a while.

    ¡°Just give it to me after we eat,¡± she instructed me. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±

    Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to ask, I went ahead. ¡°What does the enchantment do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± she replied, to my surprise. ¡°There¡¯s something holding a charge in the threads, but it doesn¡¯t do a single thing. That helps it last longer.¡±

    It made sense, I supposed. Disappointing, though. Sure, I had not been expecting some sort of invisibility cape or invulnerable material, but that enchantment being basically the minimum it needed to be in order to be called magic did not ingratiate it to my eyes.

    We entered the main room, which I knew to be so because of its size. A large carpet endured the weight of a long carved table and of ten swirly chairs. Upon one sat a happy-looking Loann. I was surprised by the absence of any fireplace in the room, as it would have improved its coziness. Some paintings adorned the walls, but my eyes were too busy looking at what the table offered. A wonderfully tall pastry accompanied plates of meat and vegetables.

    ¡°Good morning, Eriol!¡± Loann greeted me. ¡°Slept well?¡±

    His arm was still being held in some sort of cast, but his mood appeared unaffected.

    ¡°Hello, Loann,¡± I replied, glad for the warm welcome I was receiving. ¡°Yes. I really needed that, I think.¡±

    I sat in front of Loann and Yaelle went next to him. Before sitting, she spoke.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t get a chance to celebrate your Shift yesterday, with the slightly unplanned city trip,¡± she started, ¡°so... Welcome to Lord Derrien¡¯s service!¡±

    I could tell Yaelle was trying to sound happy, but unlike when she had woken me up earlier, this time didn¡¯t really work.

    She grimaced slightly, no doubt realizing the issue.

    ¡°It¡¯s not really working, is it?¡± she asked Loann.

    ¡°We¡¯ll get used to it,¡± he replied, trying to reassure her, before admitting at a much lower volume, ¡°...Probably.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked them, though I had an inkling.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to say it politely,¡± Yaelle apologized.

    She sighed.

    ¡°You not having a soul is making me feel I¡¯m not talking to a person,¡± she explained, though I had guessed that already. ¡°It¡¯s like talking to a mirror. Guess that¡¯s why Aostin might not mind so much. The enchanted cloak usually helps, but it¡¯s still more like talking to some complex and intelligent magical construct.¡±

    Her gaze wandered to the side for a moment, before suddenly fixing itself straight on me.

    ¡°And I guess that reflected on how I¡¯ve treated you so far,¡± she remarked, looking pained at the admission. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±

    Loann nodded.

    ¡°We know you deserve better. We¡¯re trying to adapt,¡± he said. ¡°Aostin makes it look easy, but it¡¯s basically his specialty.¡±

    ¡°Is it really so bad?¡± I asked them. ¡°I don¡¯t understand...¡±

    ¡°Yes! It is!¡± Yaelle exclaimed, her frustration apparent.

    ¡°Take right now, for example,¡± Loann began. ¡°A Shift¡¯s almost always a joyous moment. Getting a new member in our house. A loyalty shared. Plus, emotions are stronger with those serving the same lord.¡±

    Ah. Was I breaking some sort of ceremony?

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t help that we¡¯re not even sure this counts as a Shift. We¡¯re going blind here,¡± Yaelle explained. ¡°Yes, a Shift should have happened here, but we can¡¯t sense it. That¡¯s disturbing.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re stoic as a rock,¡± Loann added. ¡°All the time.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! We should all be sharing a feeling of happiness, rejoicing, or whatever,¡± Yaelle continued. ¡°But with you, it doesn¡¯t take.¡±

    Despite not having a soul, I still could tell their emotions through other factors, so why would they not be able to?

    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell I¡¯m happy from the expression on my face or the sound of my voice?¡± I asked them, trying not to display the growing frustration we were, ironically, sharing. ¡°I understand it will not generate the sensation you are expecting, but it should still make it possible for you to empathize, right?¡±

    Yaelle¡¯s eyes widened, and I feared having offended her, but then it became clear she only reacted to a sudden recollection.

    ¡°Wait! We had a talk about how to explain the situation,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe this will help...¡±

    She frowned deeply, and made an obviously fake smile, all while keeping the grave-looking expression.

    ¡°How would you take it,¡± she asked, ¡°if I made this face after you told me your best joke? Assuming it was good, of course.¡±

    Like she was mocking me. Looking at her grimace was already becoming awkward, and she was not stopping.

    Damn.

    ¡°I see your point,¡± I told her. ¡°Does it really feel like I¡¯m mocking you all the time, then?¡±

    Her face returned to a more neutral expression instantly.

    ¡°No...¡± Yaelle admitted, slightly deflating. ¡°That would be worse, I guess. It¡¯s just extremely disconcerting.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re working on it,¡± Loann reassured me. ¡°Let¡¯s move on. There¡¯s a feast to be had!¡±

    We ate in silence, and I had no doubts we were each contemplating the failure of this attempted celebration.

    As we partook in the delicious cake, the conversation began again.

    ¡°Oh, guess it¡¯s time to tell you,¡± Yaelle started. ¡°You¡¯ll be going on your first mission tonight.¡± She hesitated for a second, then amended her statement. ¡°Your first real mission, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Delivering a letter?¡± I asked. ¡°That cannot possibly just be it, surely.¡±

    This had only been some sort of euphemism to avoid mentioning anything illegal, as far as I understood it.

    ¡°Too good to be a postman, are you?¡± Yaelle teased, getting a chuckle out of Loann.

    He grimaced instantly, no doubt feeling the pain his arm had caused at the reaction, and Yaelle looked at him guiltily.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he told her, before addressing me. ¡°You¡¯ll be simply putting it on a desk.¡± He paused for effect. ¡°In Lord Konogan¡¯s mansion.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± I exclaimed.

    These people were insane. I was now sure of it. Or maybe they were trying to push Lord Konogan as far as he would go. Damn it.

    ¡°Yes, I know it sounds mad,¡± he admitted.

    Then why were they asking it of me?

    ¡°Going to be fun pulling off the impossible, though,¡± Yaelle remarked, attempting to lighten up the mood.

    Though, from what I understood, Loann could not sense my distress, he probably guessed I had to be feeling some of it.

    ¡°There¡¯s a plan, don¡¯t worry,¡± he said, in a vain attempt at reassuring me.

    ¡°Is that not ridiculously risky?¡± I asked him. ¡°What would happen if they caught me?¡±

    ¡°Well, the plan is for you not to get caught, duh¡­¡± Yaelle said.

    ¡°Lord Konogan¡¯s not known for cruelty or brash actions,¡± Loann answered, more seriously. ¡°You¡¯d be traded back for favors.¡±

    Not likely.

    ¡°Could Lord Derrien really be persuaded to do anything in exchange for my safe return?¡± I inquired. ¡°I have only joined your group this morning. It would not be a great loss for him to discard me instead, would it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it works,¡± Loann assured me.

    ¡°No. And do not go about saying that about Lord Derrien,¡± Yaelle warned me. ¡°You might not have an actual Binding, but I think such reckless disregard by a lord would still put all their remaining Bindings at risk.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got something like a Binding. I¡¯m sure of it,¡± Loann told me. ¡°Without that, you¡¯d have left by now.¡±

    Yes. Yes, I did. Some feeling of belonging with these people. Not the same as their Binding, I was sure, because it did not tie me to Lord Derrien so much as it bound me to the group as a whole, but it was still enough.

    I nodded confirmation to Loann, and he smiled.

    ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll be going with you to Lord Derrien¡¯s manor. We¡¯ll figure out how to get you in. But first, let¡¯s have you change into something more comfortable. There¡¯s a hot bath ready. It¡¯s in the first room down the stairs. We are in no hurry, so stay in there as long as you need. Once you¡¯re done, come find me on this floor. It¡¯ll be the third door to your right.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I acknowledged, before getting up. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Give me the cloak,¡± Yaelle reminded me. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it with Loann, once it¡¯s fully charged.¡±

    I did so and headed to my room to fetch new clothes before the promised bath.

    <hr>

    I had expected the room Loann had indicated to be his bedroom. What I found instead was an office full of racks holding labeled vials. My nose was immediately assaulted by a mixture of foreign smells. It did not stink, but there was simply too much of it for comfort.

    This was an apothecary shop. Yes, I could even see the telltale signs. Glass utensils to mix, distill, and otherwise brew complex concoctions.

    My admittedly limited interactions with Loann had given me the impression the man was a jack-of-all trades. From what I knew of my employer, I now had to assume the worst. Loann was an assassin, with a clear specialization in poisons.

    ¡°Ah,¡± Loann said upon noticing my arrival, though not my apprehension. ¡°Could you help me with those?¡± he asked, pointing with his left hand at some dubious containers.

    I was reluctant to touch anything here, but there was no choice to be had.

    Very careful not to drop any ingredient, I spent the next twenty minutes in a stressful hunt, collecting the content of whatever vial he requested, and following his instructions on how what to do with them.

    Were the fumes dangerous? He wouldn¡¯t let me manipulate anything too lethal with so little experience, would he?

    Why were we even preparing poison right now?

    Oh, no! The letter for Lord Konogan!

    This was the plan, was it not? The letter did not matter. The reason they could not just send it normally made sense now. It was going to be covered in poison. Was I about to take part in a murder? Was this also why Lord Derrien did not care about his punishment? He likely had no issues having to cede votes to a dead man. This explained the brazenness with which we used Lord Konogan¡¯s transports. It had been a statement. I do not fear you, it said.

    ¡°Are... these poisons?¡± I finally dared to ask, pointing at the racks.

    ¡°What?¡± Loann scoffed.

    He chuckled. ¡°Oh, well... Yes, I suppose, but not the kind you¡¯re thinking of.¡±

    I had not been thinking of the particular deaths these poisons could lead to, if that was what he meant. My mind already had its fill of gory images. I had no desire to use my imagination to add to these.

    ¡°Most of ¡®em neutralize without killing,¡± he explained. ¡°Of course, it would be easy to make ¡®em lethal, but that¡¯s not my job.¡±

    Oh.

    Maybe I had been too quick to judge. Yes, it made more sense, I supposed. It fitted better with the retrieval theme they all seemed so fond of.

    What had poisons to do with my mission, then? Were we to capture Lord Konogan? I was not exactly sure I had the physical capacity to carry around an adult¡¯s paralyzed body.

    ¡°I¡¯m also the one to see if you¡¯re injured. Though¡­ I can¡¯t do much right now,¡± he added. ¡°What you¡¯re making today are tonics. Don¡¯t wanna be drowsy during the mission.¡±

    I had to admit, the thought of these products having beneficial effects had not crossed my mind. Maybe what I had seen of the world tainted my intuitions a little too much. This way laid depression. I was going to need to address the psychological issues I kept stumbling unto at some point. Now was not the time, however.

    The concoction took some time to make, and we were interrupted by Yaelle visiting to drop the letter and a small opaque corked tube.

    I looked at the letter with trepidation. Lord Konogan was indeed the recipient indicated on its cover.

    ¡°Perfect,¡± Loann said. ¡°This is the letter you¡¯ll deliver.¡±

    Nodding, I put it in my satchel, hoping that keeping it out of sight would help ease my anxiety.

    ¡°And this,¡± he added, holding the tube to me, ¡°is a custom-made brightstone light.¡±

    That did not look like anything I would expect to emit light. Was the stone inside? Why use a tube then? Was it not safe to hold?

    Loann popped the cork with his single able hand, making it fall to the ground.

    The end of the tube was indeed emitting a glow, confirming that the brightstone was stored inside, its color a mix of pale yellow and green. It was not very luminescent, but would no doubt suffice when I found myself in darkness.

    I fetched the fallen cork, and he gave me the strange light emitting device.

    Curious, I glanced at the inside. Halfway to the light emitting mass was some glass barrier, constellated with tiny holes. That was odd.

    Not knowing what to do with it, I simply put it in the satchel as well.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let the name fool you. This thing¡¯s alive,¡± Loann warned me. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how to take care of it later. Now it¡¯s time to go. Take the vials.¡±

    With the addition of these three little glass bottles, the small satchel looked ready to burst.

    I noted we had not bothered cleaning up the place before heading out.

 Chapter 12 - Ambassador, Bloodied by the Woods

    As yet another cut appeared on my sleeves, I once again deeply regretted my decision to dress myself with the finest garment my newly acquired wardrobe contained. At least, my trusty thick cloak offered me some protection against the thorny branches hampering our progress.

    Loann had said we were going to reconnoiter Lord Konogan¡¯s mansion. Believing this to mean a stakeout from a nearby busy street, I had not at all worried about being attacked by the environment on my way there. However, the dense forest we were traversing seemed determined to make me pay for my naivety.

    Thinking back on it, Loann¡¯s boots had provided a clue that something was amiss. I forgave myself for the lack of observation, though, because the rest of his attire did not speak of a walk in the wilderness. No. It turned out that experience was Loann¡¯s sole shield against the prickly bushes¡¯ skirmishes. Having seen his office, I inferred the man regularly ventured to such places in search of ingredients. A warning would have been nice, but perhaps he had not thought it necessary. Indeed, the location of Lord Konogan¡¯s home had to be common knowledge.

    Try as I may, I could not replicate the agility Loann displayed. Considering my guide was denied the use of one of his arms, this made me feel a mix of admiration and irritation.

    My surroundings did their best to belie the flora¡¯s aggressive nature. The fresh and slightly sweet smell filling the air was more than a little welcoming. My rampage through the vegetation had put a hold to the otherwise lovely bird songs. I had a thought that this might very well give us away, but I trusted Loann to know what he was doing.

    The ground was treacherous. Long but thin leaves hid not only the numerous spikes on branches, but also uneven and sometimes slippery rocks, no doubt here to ensure the plant took its tax in blood every time I made a desperate attempt to grasp it and prevent my fall.

    I was not in a good mood.

    The arduous path did have one benefit, however. It left me with no time to contemplate the folly of the mission I was about to undertake.

    Between my inability to spare the required concentration and our desire to remain as stealthy as my clumsy progress allowed, there was no place for any conversation to happen.

    I barely noticed Loann stopping, and almost walked into a particularly tall wall of leaves. That would have been a painful mistake, if the foliage I had encountered so far was any indication.

    Small dots of sunlight were visible through what was no doubt the frontier to Lord Konogan¡¯s garden.

    Loann confirmed this through a whispered ¡°we¡¯re here¡±, as I stopped next to him.

    I nodded and waited for him to give me more instructions. Surely, he did not expect me to survey the garden by myself. Despite Aostin¡¯s assumptions, I was no scout, and this was definitely not a mission where we could afford mistakes born of inexperience.

    ¡°You¡¯ve made quite a mess, back there,¡± Loann commented, his voice kept low. ¡°You¡¯ll be seen on the other side if you try to get inside like that.¡± He titled his head toward the massive obstacle in front of us. ¡°I¡¯ll go first. Don¡¯t come in until I tell you to.¡±

    Not waiting for me to confirm I had heard him, Loann disappeared into the green facade.

    About thirty seconds later, he called me in. Wrapping my cloak around me as much as I could, I reluctantly stepped into the spike-filled hiding spot.

    It still hurt a bit.

    On the other hand, I finally had my first view of Lord Konogan¡¯s mansion.

    It looked like multiple buildings had been joined together, not all of them of the same style. In the middle stood what I assumed to be the manor proper. On it, about twenty windows were visible on each of the two first floors. What I first assumed to be a very tall roof was actually hiding additional rooms, the existence of which was betrayed by the sporadic presence of their windows among the tiles. A round tower cemented the connection between each building. Given the evident marks of stairs, this might have been designed to allow moving from one floor to another without sacrificing space within the buildings themselves.

    This place could easily host a small village. It was a shame I would not be able to disguise myself as a servant, for they surely could not all know each other. But I knew the lack of soul would be a dead giveaway.

    At least reaching the buildings should prove easy enough. Indeed, between us and them was an extravagant garden, offering plenty of hiding places.

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for Lord Konogan¡¯s departure,¡± Loann explained. ¡°He¡¯s expected at Lord Gothian¡¯s party. Should be leaving any moment, now.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± I acknowledged. ¡°Can we talk in the meantime?¡±

    As usual, I had many questions.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Loann indicated. ¡°But not too loud.¡±

    He had said he was making efforts to bridge the gap between us, so I went with a topic that directly related to this issue.

    ¡°How does sensing the emotions of someone else work? Would this let them detect you, for example?¡±

    ¡°They could. Would need to focus on where I am, though. These plants act like your cloak,¡± Loann explained. ¡°Hides me pretty well. As for how souls feel...¡±

    He thought for a long moment, and a gust of wind made the leaves tremble.

    ¡°... I don¡¯t know how to describe it,¡± he finally admitted. ¡°Ever tried describing a sense to someone who didn¡¯t have it?¡±

    Not that I could recall, no.

    He coughed. ¡°Sorry. Poor choice of words,¡± he amended. ¡°Alright. Then a new color you haven¡¯t seen?¡±

    I tried really hard to do so for a moment, but no matter what I came up with, it was never truly a new color. The best I could do was to add new properties to the appearance, such as transparency, brightness, or strange reflections. None of these really defined a new color, though.

    I stopped as I heard Loann chuckle.

    ¡°No managing it, are you?¡± He guessed. ¡°I¡¯ll give it my best shot. A soul connects you with people around you. You feel their emotions. You still know it¡¯s theirs, though. Also¡­ distance matters, but obstacles do not. Well, except other souls, I guess. Too many people means dimmer emotions. They blur together.¡±

    ¡°What about Bindin-¡°

    Bang!

    Startled by the unexpected noise, which seemed to be coming from the manor¡¯s direction, I tried to discern any indication that this was related to Lord Konogan¡¯s departure. It had not been the kind of sound I would have associated with that, but I was getting used to my intuitions being proved wrong again and again.

    ¡°Is that the-¡° I started asking, but was interrupted once more, this time by blaring wails of an alarm.

    Did we get spotted? What had the first noise been, then?

    ¡°Damn!¡± Loann cursed. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The only reason I did not start running was that Loann had yet to make a move. For him to admit being as confused as me about the situation was worrisome indeed.

    ¡°Should we run?¡± I suggested.

    ¡°No. The alarm¡¯s not for us,¡± Loann said, having to speak up. ¡°It¡¯s the city¡¯s fire alarm. Wait a bit longer.¡±

    After a few minutes, the wailing stopped.

    ¡°Alright. Almost time for you to go,¡± Loann declared. ¡°They¡¯ll have left by now. Plenty of distraction for you to get inside.¡±

    ¡°Do I leave the letter just anywhere?¡± I asked, confused. Not such a tough mission, after all. Surely, with all the commotion, finding a table on which to prominently display the letter would be trivial. This might fulfill the entire purpose of the mission. In fact, it made sense. Lord Derrien was likely advertising my ability to bypass magical alarms to people who could be interested in borrowing the retrieval capabilities it allowed. The letter probably contained the offer itself.

    ¡°Oh. Right. Almost forgot the details,¡± Loann said. ¡°I¡¯ll wait here until tomorrow afternoon. You¡¯d best wait for nightfall before exploring inside.¡±

    That was a generous amount of time. It meant that if I found myself cornered in some hiding spot, waiting it out would be a viable option.

    ¡°Don¡¯t steal or break anything,¡± Loann continued. ¡°And of course, don¡¯t hurt anyone.¡±

    Yes, I had understood that to be the modus operandi of my group. This was most likely what Yaelle checked for at Lord Derrien¡¯s house. It made sense to me. The punishment for being caught was thus predictable, and they might be able to mitigate it accordingly. Or perhaps just set the price of the services to match. In fact, it could be that Lord Derrien¡¯s activities were actually well known, and these rules simply limited the retribution he might face otherwise.

    I fancied the banner of integrity this let us claim. It also explained the others¡¯ insistence on not considering themselves to be thieves, but rather as people offering retrieval services. My situation had forced me into illegal activities, but I found comfort knowing that the ethos of my companions agreed with my own sensitivities.

    Loann stayed quiet for a few seconds, and I realized he was waiting for me to acknowledge his instructions.

    ¡°Understood,¡± I said. ¡°But where do I leave the letter?¡±

    ¡°Sure, the location,¡± Loann said, perhaps having forgotten the initial question because of the unexpected urgency. ¡°Put it on a desk, in the study on the second floor. There¡¯s a painting of Aenor right next to the door where she¡¯s presiding over the first council. Can¡¯t miss it. It¡¯s in the west wing. The one to your left. Corridor has a bunch of papers on display. You see weapons, you¡¯re on the right wing. The wrong one.¡±

    I now suspected the reason they gave me so much time to complete the mission might actually be to account for the fact I would most certainly get lost on the way.

    ¡°Uh... right. How will I recognize Aenor?¡± I asked him, hesitantly.

    Clearly an important political figure, yet without a title? That was odd, but this was not the right time to inquire about it.

    ¡°Oh, boy...¡± Loann mumbled. ¡°Don¡¯t even know Aenor? Makes sense, I guess. Well, don¡¯t worry, just look at some paintings on the way.¡± He chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll recognize her soon enough.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I guess I will be going, then.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°Leave the cloak here. It¡¯ll give you away.¡±

    Right. Yaelle had made the same request before, when I intruded into Lord Derrien¡¯s house.

    I knew my shirt to be beyond repairs, but I had no desire to experience further cuts. The branches had already set their teeth into the cloak, so I simply let them claim it as I moved forward and stepped into the garden. I trusted Loann could retrieve it.

    As I made my careful approach toward the closest building, I hid behind statues, crouched along shrubs, and spied through flower walls. No one was in sight, but there would be no second try should any resident chance to get a glance at me. It was unfair how the vegetation had conspired to so strongly leave its mark upon me, yet when I could have used its green color to camouflage myself, the only hues it had granted me were dark red through breaches of my skin.

    I took no time to appreciate the arrangements, sometimes even crossing through flowerbeds when the alternative would have elongated the trip.

    Did that count as a violation of Lord Derrien¡¯s rules? I certainly hoped not.

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    There was a path of pebbles going around the building. Not only did walking on these make noise, but it also meant I was completely visible as I attempted to open the first door I found.

    It did not budge, unsurprisingly.

    Panicked at being so exposed, I fumbled through my satchel and cursed at how difficult reaching the lock picks turned out to be. This bag had not been designed to carry so much.

    I was trembling with stress. Not good. I tried lifting the pins, but the shaking made it impossible to feel if they caught or not.

    A curse escaped me, despite this being no place to be speaking aloud.

    I disengaged the picks and attempted to calm myself down.

    This was not such a dangerous situation. Yes, failing here would have negative consequences, but not disastrous ones. Lord Derrien would surely understand that he sent me on a mission too soon. That I needed more training. He would not discard me so easily. The others had promised as much.

    I was simply being tested. This was the same as the previous mission. In fact, there was no denying the similarity between this mission and the last. I had succeeded before, and surely would do so again.

    It was not enough to stop my anxiety, but the trembling became more manageable.

    Now that I had taken the time to breathe more slowly, the lock proved trivial.

    Unfortunately, its simplicity was not without reason. Opening the door revealed a small space full of gardening tools, pots, and various bags. It did not even offer a good hiding spot: there was nothing to put myself behind of, unless I moved a large amount of the storage room¡¯s content.

    Another door was visible a dozen meters (40 feet) away. I went to it, avoiding the gravel path as much as possible.

    This time, I started by putting my ear to the door. Indeed, there were people on the property. I would be a shame to unlock a door, only to open it in front of security personnel.

    Nothing.

    I began picking the lock. It was definitely not a trivial one.

    My current location did not lend itself to long attempts. After my first one failed, I retreated to hide and make sure no one was around, although I was not fully convinced this served any purpose. Surely, if anyone was wandering near this side of the garden, they would have already seen me. It did, however, let me collect myself.

    Returning to the door, I turned the knob.

    It opened.

    Damn it!

    I entered and closed the way behind me.

    I had hoped to find some easy hiding spots to wait for nightfall. No such luck. This was no room, but only a small passage. Access to the garden from what had to be the main corridor, apparently

    I started walking toward the end of the passageway, but stopped after a few steps. Just like I would be able to hear people approaching from the noise they made, my shoes alerted anyone around to my presence. I decided to take the risk and removed them. I needed to find some place to hide those, and I would also have to come back to get them, because there was no way I would ever dare to enter the forest without anything to protect my soles.

    Not seeing any obvious solution, just carried them for now.

    Discretely glancing around the corners, I saw that the only occupants in the main corridor were decorations. A display of wealth, clearly. Golden armors and shields, with ornate motifs. Paintings, where the artist had been given reign to represent people at their full size. Most of them featured various individuals, but it took me very little time to figure out the one recurring person in all of them. Aenor.

    It was obvious Lord Konogan revered the woman. In the paintings I could see, she was depicted as performing acts of kindness. Feeding beggars, playing with poorly dressed children, or even protecting someone from dangerous looking fellows.

    Having not heard or seen anyone go through the corridor for a few minutes, I took my chances and sought a hiding spot.

    There was an open door to my left. I prudently walked toward it. The room was lit. I knew this implied someone had been using it not too long ago, but were they still inside?

    I picked up a noise behind me and caution got thrown to the wind. I entered the room as footsteps resonated in the corridor.

    It was lavishly furnished, providing ample ways for me to disappear. Rushed for time, I hid behind a sofa that bordered one of the room¡¯s windows and lay in wait.

    Unfortunately, the footsteps followed me into the room. I could not see much from my position. Just the curtains, the back of the sofa, the window, and a decorated ceiling.

    ¡°Lady Alienor!¡± a woman¡¯s voice called out, startling me. ¡°We are resuming our lesson!¡±

    Well, at least, it seemed she had not seen me. But now I was stuck.

    Silence filled the room for about twenty seconds before the woman lost patience and repeated her call. ¡°Lady Alienor! Do come at once!¡±

    ¡°Where is she?¡± the woman I assumed to be a teacher grumbled. Her footsteps told me she was leaving the room.

    I could escape. I should escape. This was not a safe room to be in. But there was also no way to be sure I would not find myself facing either the teacher or Lady Alienor on my way out.

    There was very little chance they would ever look behind the sofa, was there? If I did not make any noise, that could still be an acceptable place to wait for nightfall.

    I hid my shoes beneath the sofa, got the vials from my satchel and placed them on the ground. Not sure of their exact effect, I drank one of them.

    Dirt flavored.

    Oh. Well, there was no risk I would ever take one of these for my own enjoyment. That was awful. No beneficial effects either, as far as I could tell, only trembling at the lingering aftertaste.

    The sound of footsteps resumed, but denser. I assumed it to mean the teacher had found her charge.

    ¡°It¡¯s unfair! If uncle can go investigate, surely I should be allowed to accompany him!¡± an unfamiliar voice complained, no doubt belonging to Lady Alienor.

    Was Lady Alienor some petulant teenager? She was attending a class, and speaking like one, but did not sound of an age to be lamenting in such a manner.

    ¡°It is not safe. And we were in the middle of a lesson,¡± the teacher retorted.

    That explained the open door and the lighting. Lucky for me, but it had been a close call.

    ¡°I can take care of myself!¡± Lady Alienor rebutted, but from the accompanying noise, I knew she had just let herself fall onto the sofa.

    Since she was so close, I was really worried about being heard. My heart beat with such force, I was sure they would notice it if they stayed quiet long enough. And could they not pick up the sound of my breathing?

    I tried to slow my respiration, just in case.

    ¡°Not against explosions, surely,¡± her interlocutor pointed out. ¡°All this wasted time practicing dueling does not protect you from these, now does it?¡±

    ¡°No... It does not,¡± the student admitted reluctantly.

    ¡°So, let us see how good your memory is. Would you be so kind as to tell me the name of the main Plailles tribe?¡±

    What followed was such a boring lesson, the fact that I managed to stay awake assured me that the disgusting drink did indeed have an effect. Having to wait motionless still made time feel excruciatingly slow, though.

    It seemed Eucleron, the country I was currently in, was an island, and that certain trees in the forest I had visited earlier today were its principal export. Oh, I gleaned quite a few tidbits, but I was absolutely not convinced of their usefulness. Maybe Lady Alienor was learning about mercantilism.

    At some point, a bell resonated. Night had already fallen by then, and I was very much annoyed at having to hear about the specifics of commerce at the oh-so-originally named Port of Plailles. Though maybe the fact that it was the only permanent city in Plailles excused the name.

    ¡°Very well, this shall be the end of today¡¯s lesson,¡± the teacher finally announced. ¡°Dinner is waiting in the crystal room.¡±

    I did not know whether this placed them far from my target or not. Loann had told me to wait for nightfall, so now was an acceptable time to wander around, but if people were still moving about, surely waiting for them to go to sleep was preferable.

    ¡°Will uncle have returned with news before bedtime, do you think?¡± Lady Alienor asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Lord Konogan has indicated that he will eat at Lord Gothian¡¯s party, but the incident may have changed his plans.¡± the teacher replied. ¡°In any case, you are not to be waiting for him past the sleeping bell. Answers can wait until tomorrow.¡±

    A sleeping bell? That was convenient. I recalled hearing chimes at the hideout, so these had to be commonplace. On the other hand, it seemed Lord Konogan could come back at pretty much any moment. Maybe it would be preferable to wait for that to happen an avoid unpleasant surprises. Especially considering Lord Konogan might make use of his study room tonight.

    ¡°What?!¡± Lady Alienor exclaimed, rising from the sofa. ¡°B-but how can you expect me to sleep now?¡±

    They were leaving the room.

    ¡°I expect you to act as a proper lady,¡± I heard her teacher reprimand, as their voices grew distant.

    My vision went dark as the light was turned off and my ears informed me they had closed the door, leaving me free to move again.

    It took me a few moments to adjust to the lessened luminosity, but the moonlight still shone enough that I could distinguish some shapes.

    Not wanting to risk them coming back because of a forgotten item, I drew my light source and left my hiding place.

    The brightstone tube seemed very much meant for this kind of discreet work. It provided enough light to see clearly in a specific circle, but not too much so that it would not reflect everywhere, and there was no bleeding. Impressive. This had to be some engineering involving the piece of glass inside and considerable absorption by whatever material the tube was made of. It did not, unfortunately, have any sort of control over the diameter of the beam. From across the room, it resulted in an illuminated spot a bit over two meters (7 feet) wide. Plenty to see paintings, although the colors were off because of the yellowish green hue of the light.

    Looking around the room, I saw nothing that would indicate the two residents had left anything they might come back for.

    Not knowing what else to do, I decided that this was a good place to wait for the sleeping bell to ring.

    I did find a book to read in the meantime, though, so I just went back to behind the sofa with it. Surely this did not count as stealing. I was only borrowing the item and would put it back before leaving the room.

    <hr>

    A chime interrupted my reading of the adventures of Artis, an old enchanter finding himself forced to work for people of poor repute as his career fell apart. This was something I could definitely relate to. The mage had been discarded because of his insistence on exploring an alternative to traditional enchanting methods, focusing on a solution that proved extremely inefficient but assured the enchantment was nigh indestructible. Before reality had come calling, I was reading about the man being sent to a place called Valediction to pay for his crimes after he had been caught in a failed robbery. The similarities with my own situation were undeniable. An ill omen. It was also very unclear to me just how much of the story was fictional.

    Lost in the tale, I had completely failed to listen for any noise that might indicate Lord Konogan¡¯s return.

    Damn it. Now I wanted to know the rest of the story. But no. This was just me trying to find excuses to delay. I bargained with myself, compromising with a vow to inquire about getting my own copy later.

    About to resume my journey through Lord Konogan¡¯s manor, I noticed the main corridor had to be without light, because nothing was visible from around the room¡¯s door. A good time to leave, then. I retrieved my remaining vials and put back the lid over the brightstone before exiting the room.

    I barely saw enough to move around, but the path was clear and straight, presenting no particular challenge. I knew the stairs to be in the towers between the buildings, so that is where I headed to.

    As I was nearing my destination, I heard a door opening far behind me. Not thinking too long about this, I rushed to lean against the wall on my right. Fortunately, no painting or other decoration stood in my way. That would have otherwise meant failing the mission in more than one way.

    The hallway¡¯s light turned on, and I stood still as a statue, though my heart did not seem to get the message, for it beat as never before.

    The sound of footsteps echoed at my back, but thankfully, they were going in the other direction.

    I waited for darkness to return. To no avail. Indeed, I remained fully illuminated for minutes after all noises had ceased.

    I slowly turned my head, to confirm no one else occupied the corridor, then waited a few more minutes for the adrenaline to pass.

    The way to the tower¡¯s door was clear and only a few steps away. So close, but I could afford no mistakes.

    I reached it, and opening revealed stairs climbing to complete obscurity. Closing the entry behind me, I unplugged the brightstone and carefully progressed through each step. The lack of other lights indicated no one was there, but I would have no place to hide should anyone else fancy a change of floor.

    I opened a door leading to the second floor. Its hallway was not lit, but I could see some rooms were. Fortunately, all doors were closed at the moment, though this could change in an instant

    In the darkness, the walls seemed only covered with paintings, but my brightstone revealed that most frames were, in fact, actually holding memoranda. This matched what Loann had indicated, so I had to be in the right place. That was reassuring.

    A glance at the writings showed them to be treaties of some sort. They listed agreements, the nature of which escaped my understanding, and were signed by multiple people. The paintings interspersed among them depicted Aenor, usually standing next to other important looking characters, and always near what was clearly the very charter they accompanied.

    Slowly progressing through the corridor, I finally chanced upon a representation of Aenor brandishing a paper in front of a large audience in a semicircle. The first council, no doubt, although it was unclear to me whether this assembly was called the First Council, or whether this was simply their first session.

    The document next to it answered my question. A proposal for the founding of the Eucleron Timocracy. What a strange concept. It suggested basing power upon merit, through allocation of votes to be dispensed during sessions of the council. No clear definition of what constituted merit was provided, the council being in charge of deciding who to reward or punish. It looked awfully exploitable and prone to corruption to my eyes, but perhaps no lord ever succeeded in accruing enough votes to take over the council.

    I saw a few clauses mentioning a secondary accord with the Lord of Honor for the use of their disciples as guards, and their ability to pass judgment, something I had already witnessed myself. It seemed to effectively separate those who made the law from those who enforced it, but I could detect nothing that would prevent the Lord of Honor from abusing their power. Indeed, there was no mention of any entity the Lord of Honor had to answer to. Nor did it explain how the Lord of Honor title was attributed. Perhaps the answer laid in the aforementioned accord.

    I realized I was spending an unreasonable amount of time on this, despite my extremely precarious situation, and went for the door next to the painting. Since no light came out of it, I assumed the room to be devoid of any people.

    Quickly closing the door behind me, I looked around the study using my brightstone.

    The floor had a very nice carpet, with esoteric motifs. It provided some very welcome comfort to my feet, after the hard stones that had paved my way up to this room.

    The walls were all hidden behind ornate bookshelves. The quantity of books on display was definitely impressive. This was no collection of decorative volumes either, the arrangement showing little consistency in appearance between each entry and its neighbors. This was an actual library, with information about the topic of each row engraved adequately. I saw mentions of physics, mathematics, politics, biology, and even cooking.

    Deciding not to risk losing myself once again, I focused on the desk that stood near the end of the room.

    It had two garnished armchairs on this side, and a more imposing seat on the other. It was clear where Lord Konogan belonged.

    I saw a pile of sealed letters left in a bowl, and, after carefully removing the vials from my satchel, I took my missive and added it to the lot. The envelope had not suffered from the trip, fortunately. It looked just like the others, and after a bit of consideration, I decided to shuffle it further down, so as to not make it obvious which was the most recent addition.

    I started drinking sips of one of the two remaining potions, looking at the books and considering whether it would be reasonable for me to spend more time learning here instead of risking going back to the previous room. As far as I understood it, I was not supposed to cross back into the forest during the night. Perhaps sentinels watched over the garden when the resident slept. It would make sense for someone to be on the lookout.

    Clang!

    I choked as the night¡¯s silence was abruptly interrupted by the harsh noise of something heavy colliding with the floor.

    What my brightstone revealed was that the carpet had not proved sufficiently thick to absorb the fall of a very familiar looking black sphere.

    I paled, mouth agape, as I realized the noise had surely been heard from many rooms away.

 Chapter 13 - Ambassador, Offered Tea in the Study

    I needed to hide.

    In full panic, I dashed toward the most obvious option: behind the desk. I barely had time to crouch before I heard the door open. Not wanting it to give me away, I put my hand in front of the brimstone tube.

    The lights were turned on, and I barely heard someone walking in over the sound of my heart beating at full speed.

    They stopped a few steps in, no doubt having reached the probe.

    It seemed they had not seen me.

    Would they be able to activate it? What was going to happen then? Just a scan of their recent memories, some message meant for me, then the probe would be gone. Whoever was sending these would know for sure I had not been the one to receive it. They had not sounded very understanding, so the fault would likely end up falling on me, regardless of the fact the untimely arrival was actually purely on them.

    I needed to escape. But how?

    I could not count on the scanning process to provide enough of a distraction. Indeed, it would at best slow down their thoughts, but not prevent them from seeing me.

    I heard a few more steps as they moved closer.

    Looking around swiftly revealed no solution. I was trapped.

    Thud

    It took me a few seconds to realize the resonating sound I had just heard was simply the sphere having been placed on the desk.

    Even with my mind in complete panic, I found that odd. The probe should have taken longer before delivering its message, and it should have disappeared after doing so. Unless... Unless there was a different reaction when someone else picked it up? A fail-safe of some sort? Could that help me in any way? Maybe incapacitate the unauthorized user?

    I did not dare take a look.

    There was silence for a handful of seconds, then a male voice boomed. "Hey!"

    I jolted in surprise. Had he seen me, somehow?

    "Hey, you!" the man called out. "Behind the desk!"

    Definitely seen, then. Fuck! But how?

    I looked around, and found my answer. With its curtains drawn, the window acted much like a mirror. It had not been the case while the room was dark, and even when I was looking for an escape, I had not caught on the implications.

    I paled as, through the reflection, I gazed back at an angry old man wearing a formal costume of black and white. Likely a servant, possibly even a steward, considering the quality of his clothes. He was armed, as I knew he would be.

    His rapier was already drawn.

    "Get up!" the man instructed. "Slowly."

    The moment of truth. Possibly my last chance to try to run past him.

    I complied for now, raising my hands. I was familiar with the procedure. As I looked to the door to plan my run, I saw the choice had been made for me. There was no way I could escape, for past the door stood two other servants waiting to skewer me if I tried.

    I went back to looking at the angry steward.

    "Now that''s something you don''t see every day." he remarked. "Who are you? What were you doing back there?"

    My mind was racing, yet found no better alternative than telling the truth. Indeed, though he was threatening, the man appeared willing to talk. Possibly because I had no chance of escape, and presented no danger to him, but talking meant there was a possibility for things to stay cordial.

    I went back to my reasoning concerning the rules imposed by Lord Derrien and their implication that being caught was not as dire as it might first seem.

    I tried to calm down, taking slower breaths.

    This was only a conversation, I told myself. Nothing disastrous was going to happen.

    "My name is Eriol." I replied, once I felt confident enough to speak. "I am not here to steal anything."

    It was technically true, and might help assuage his intentions for me. Not that I was going to give him any incriminating information if I could help it.

    I saw his expression lessen in intensity, and thought my answer might indeed have helped.

    "Oh, so you''re Eriol Corneau." he remarked, giving me a different reason for his change of expression. He nodded his head toward the dark sphere. "What''s this, then?"

    The probe had told him my family name. Why? Why would whoever sent those do that? And what else had the artifact told him?

    I did not mind continuing on this topic. It seemed a safe one.

    "As far as I know, this is a probe." I told him honestly. I paused as I realized my answer might sound worse than it was. "Not for spying on Lord Konogan, mind you." It struck me that I could not be sure of this, and for all I knew, the man might have just been told otherwise, "Or at least, I don''t think so."

    The servant nodded, then continued his questioning. "What''s Central?"

    Just how much did the probe tell him? Did it tell him things I did not know about?

    I noticed that the longer the conversation went, the calmer the steward''s expression became. In this case, however, I saw no way to turn this question to my advantage.

    "I truly have no idea." I admitted.

    He slowly raised his left eyebrow.

    As I kept scrutinizing his face to judge how the conversation went, I knew that this was definitely a practiced move. Something bothered me about this, but I could not figure out what.

    A few seconds later, it hit me. The incoherence. Why did people have facial expressions if everyone was able to read emotions through soul auras? Not the self-taught ones, but the natural ones. If even the vegetation had souls, there was no reason for such a thing to have developed, was there?

    This was no time to reflect on that.

    As the silence grew, the man must have realized I was not going to elaborate, because he spoke again. "Fine. We''ll see about that." He nodded at the probe again. "Were you here to retrieve this thing?"

    While I could lie and take advantage of this easy excuse, I was sure they would be able to refute it fairly quickly if anyone knew the probe had not been present before I arrived. Being seen as a liar meant they would no longer believe what I told them, and this interrogation might get much nastier as a result.

    "No, the two are unrela-" I started saying, but stopped as the servants outside the room parted to let someone new enter.

    I had thought the steward old-looking. The man that entered made this a matter of perspective, yet somehow, both of their appearances transformed their age into a statement of pride instead of a potential weakness. Even the wooden cane this one used to move around was held with poise. He had long, elegant white hair. The most obvious signs of his advanced age were the grayness of his skin, and the telltale wrinkles on his hands and face. He must have been interrupted in his sleep, for he wore some thick blue bathrobe over black pajamas. Still, the man''s presence nullified any need for formal attire, and I could easily guess his identity.

    Lord Konogan was studying me, seemingly amused at the situation.

    "Yan?" Lord Konogan asked, still looking at me. "What happened here?"

    "My lord." the man that caught me saluted. "I heard a commotion and went to investigate. I found this object lying on the ground. Touching it triggered an enchantment, and it spoke to me. Then I found this intruder hiding behind your desk."

    Lord Konogan took a quick glance at the sphere before looking back at me. He seemed surprisingly disinterested by the artifact.

    "What did it say?" he asked.

    His continuous scrutiny made it somewhat unclear to me which one of us he was addressing.

    "It sent me some sort of mental message, meant for this man, Eriol Corneau." Yan explained. "It said that following the previous report, Central judged this venture too dangerous, and has decided to cease all transfers. It explained that it was sparing me... or rather him, I guess... due to some procedure he agreed to undergo."

    It seemed I had come close to being killed without any warning. This was not doing anything to improve how panicked I already felt.

    On the other hand, at least I now knew the contents of that message. I assumed the severing of transfers was the reason the probe stayed this time. I still had no idea what Central was. While the procedure could be many things, I suspected it was the amnesia. It fit. There was no need to get rid of me if I did not know anything that could harm Central, was there? Some kind of safety measure, and one I could easily imagine most of their agents agreed to, given the lethal alternative.

    "Central? I''ve heard that name before." the lord commented. He paused for a few seconds. "Hmm... I can''t place it right now."

    While this hinted at the possibility of looking into Central''s identity, I was reluctant to risk it. If they somehow learned I was searching for information about them, then they might consider I had violated the clause that kept me alive.

    "Anything else?" Lord Konogan asked.

    "No, my lord." Yan indicated. "I started questioning him, then you arrived. He told me his name, and that he wasn''t here to steal anything."

    Lord Konogan nodded, then his expression turned cold, and all traces of the curiosity I had noticed were suddenly gone. Glancing at Yan, I saw he had undergone the exact same swift change.

    Was this more practiced facial expressions? This synchronicity was off-putting.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "I am going to give you exactly one chance to tell me what you were sent here to do," he warned, "and I better like the answer."

    I believed telling the truth was still the best option. It was much better than being considered as an actual thief, some sort of spy, or even a failed assassin.

    "I was sent here to secretly deliver a letter." I said.

    "Hah!" Lord Konogan chuckled, and both men lost their serious expressions.

    Now smiling, Lord Konogan went to his desk, sat on his chair, then picked the letter on top of the pile.

    After inspecting the front of the envelope, he flipped it to read something on the back.

    He frowned.

    "Not this letter, is it?" the lord commented, looking at me accusingly. "You shuffled them."

    He sighed.

    "Well... I recognize Aubin''s move." he commented. "Alright, let''s wait for Briaca, then."

    He extended a hand to point at a chair. "Sit."

    I maladroitly complied, and Lord Konogan finally stopped looking at me.

    "In the meantime, would you bring us some tea, Yan? I suspect the evening is about to continue for quite a while longer." After a moment''s hesitation, he continued. "A security sweep would also be warranted, considering our visitor''s unexpected abilities. Perhaps a few additions to our alarm systems as well."

    My usefulness to Lord Derrien was likely going to drop significantly, if people started upgrading their protections to take me into account. Still, I clang to the hope my companions had been right, and that Lord Derrien would not abandon me regardless.

    "Yes, my lord." Yan acknowledged before leaving.

    I sat in silence, looking at the sphere, and not daring to speak as I suffered the return of Lord Konogan''s intense scrutiny.

    Time seemed to dilate as nothing happened, until a woman entered the room. Briaca, I assumed.

    She was very noticeable, wearing a flurry of intense bright colors that contrasted quite nicely with her black skin. That made her look out of place, next to the muted hues of the servants'' uniforms, like a painting where the artist had just started working on the foreground.

    Not waiting for any invitation, Briaca sat on the other chair. She stayed silent, though, and followed Lord Konogan''s example by looking at me in curiosity.

    "He messed with my letter bowl." Lord Konogan said, half complaining, in guise of an explanation.

    Briaca smiled.

    "Here to deliver a letter, are you?" she asked me, as her gaze focused on my pouch.

    Had they been expecting it? Was this something that was just commonly done? The steward''s reaction seemed to indicate that it was not.

    "Y-yes." I confirmed, a bit shaky from staying overly stressed for so long.

    "From Lord Aubin?" Briaca queried.

    This name again. Was this someone I was supposed to know? Should I tell them I did not know who that was? It seemed Lord Konogan had relaxed after assuming that Lord Aubin sent me. I was disinclined to correct that notion. I was not about to lie, however.

    "I don''t know who the letter is from.", I admitted.

    "His name is Eriol Corneau." Lord Konogan introduced me. "Seems to have belonged to a group called Central"

    "Haven''t heard of either." Briaca declared. "Whoever Corneau is, they''re not from Eucleron."

    I decided right there I was never going to use my family name to introduce myself ever again. It had not been up to me this time, but the confusion it engendered on top of all my already perplexing situation was not welcomed.

    "J-just ignore the last name," I said, "it''s meaningless."

    "A fake lord name? That''s bold!" Briaca chuckled.

    Dammit. Now they might be considering me a liar.

    "I''ve heard the name Central before, but I don''t recall where. It was likely a long time ago." Lord Konogan commented. "Considering the situation, any chance this is someone sent by Levanne or Sherpen?"

    This was the second time I heard the name Sherpen, but I still had no idea who or what it was. Aostin had linked Sherpen to the Netacari delegation''s murder. Levanne was a new name, though.

    "No, I have a fairly good idea of what''s going on now. This is an Eucleron matter." Briaca declared. "I am curious about a few things, though. You are the so-called Ghost of Auersten, right? How are you doing this?"

    It seemed Briaca had heard some of the rumors Aostin planted.

    Before I even had a chance to answer, someone else entered the room.

    "Uncle?" Lady Alienor asked, letting me recognizing her by the sound of her voice. "What''s going on?"

    For some reason, she was wearing armor. While it had clearly been tailored to fit her, it looked almost as out of place as Briaca''s outfit, though the two women were nothing alike. Where Briaca shone a multitude of colors, Lady Alienor was mostly shades of brown, her pale skin being the only exception. Even her haircut seemed meant to avoid distraction in battle. Most of her red hair was tied at the back of her head, but the rest was allowed to flow freely on the base of her neck. For some unknowable reason, her weapon was a wooden sword. It may have the advantage of not deviating from her color scheme, but why would she not have a real one, when weapons were so commonplace?

    Also, did she wear that armor all the time? Was she not supposed to have gone to bed? Surely, she did not wear it then, did she?

    "There was an intrusion." Lord Konogan explained. "Nothing you need to worry about."

    I had to admit my own presence did somewhat give credence to anyone deciding to sleep while wearing armor, but still...

    She frowned at that, then looked at me before pointing in my direction.

    "Is that the intruder, then?" She asked. "If you''re just talking with him, I take it you orchestrated the whole thing. Could you not have warned me?"

    She sighed, apparently not expecting a reply.

    Could Lord Konogan truly have planned all of this? I doubted it. He had definitely not been expecting to see me, earlier.

    "How is he hiding his soul, anyway?" Lady Alienor asked, seemingly just as impudent with Lord Konogan as she had been with her teacher.

    "We were getting to that." the lord remarked, before sighing. "Go get a chair, we''ll wait for you before continuing."

    I saw a quick glimpse of surprise on her face, and assumed she had not expected to be allowed to take part in the conversation.

    She hastily left the room to fetch the chair.

    Before she came back, Yan returned with a tray. He put four cups on the table, and served tea in each.

    Lord Konogan eyed the extra cup, possibly equating it to the cause of Lady Alienor''s arrival.

    The lady herself reappeared, having brought a stool.

    She used it to sit in front of her teacup, then reiterated her question, undeterred. "So? How did you manage that one, uncle?"

    "I didn''t, actually." Lord Konogan replied. "Eriol, if you''d care to explain?"

    For all her lack of manners, Lady Alienor''s arrival had killed any tension in the room. And for that, I was very grateful.

    "All I know is that I woke up three days ago, not knowing where I was or even who I was. I already lacked a soul at that point." I told them. "I have been encountering a lot of issues as a result."

    "Not hidden, then?!" Briaca exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Oh, Lady Azeline needs to see this!"

    Why is everyone so insistent on Lady Azeline being aware of me?

    "I have already met her." I assured Briaca. "She has been informed multiple times about my situation, and did not appear too worried about it."

    In fact, I think I could use some kind of proof that she has already seen me. Something to look into later. I had a lot more urgent problems at the moment.

    "Aha!" Briaca said, her face now showing a large smile. "You were sent by Lord Derrien, then!"

    How had she figured that out? I made sure not to reveal anything that involved him!

    "Are you sure?" Lord Konogan asked her.

    "Oh, yes!" she declared, clearly very happy about her deduction. "It fits. I got a report about Lady Azeline paying a visit to Lord Derrien''s hideout, and I know his mage left in a hurry."

    "Nouel?" I asked, though there was little doubt.

    "Ah, yes, that''s the mage''s name." Briaca confirmed. "He went to the Netacari university, I believe. That fits your story." She paused. "Oh, I can totally see how valuable you could be to Lord Derrien. He probably wants to make sure there''s no danger in having you work for him."

    What kind of dangers could there be, that it required going to a university to consult?

    "Hmm... Does the procedure mentioned by that sphere refer to the induced amnesia, the lack of soul, or both?" Lord Konogan pondered. "I wonder if the memories got stripped as the soul was removed."

    That seemed unlikely to me. There was definitely a missing piece, here. While I could not easily judge the effects of an amnesia I was myself suffering from, the fact that not only had I no prior knowledge of any possibility for a soul to manifest, but also had a different meaning for the word pointed to something more than just erased memories.

    "You know a lot more about this than I." Briaca remarked. "It''s the first time I hear of anyone without a soul."

    "A first for me too, unfortunately." Lord Konogan lamented. "Lady Azeline will have sent word to the Concepts, but that takes time to arrive, so we won''t know if they care for a few more weeks."

    The Concepts? Lady Azeline''s original visit had been about Concept manipulation, which I assumed to be some form of magic. She had indicated representing the Lord of Honor, so it may be that the Concepts were highly ranked lords. The name "Concept manipulation" might then refer to the ability those lords had. On the other hand, Loann''s remarks had implied Lady Azeline had tested me using that kind of magic, so either the Concepts were not the only ones able to practice it, or they had operated through her. Maybe that was the role of a representative?

    Briaca sipped her tea, and Lady Alienor took the opportunity to speak up.

    "How can he be working for Derrien, if there is no soul to bind?" she asked. "He doesn''t even have a weapon!"

    I was not about to remark out loud on her own lack in that department, but the hypocrisy was glaring. I had to admit that, yes, most people had weapons, so much so that I had started not to notice them. Even Briaca''s dagger was in plain sight, however. The only ones not armed at all in this room were Lord Konogan and I. Though I could accept an argument saying that his cane might serve as an improvised weapon, should he need one.

    "The same way you follow my orders." Lord Konogan said wryly. "Very loosely."

    He then turned to address Briaca. "Since he already has someone in Netacari, and we have one of his men right here, could Derrien offer a good solution to our problem?"

    "Well, Lord Derrien himself wouldn''t be allowed to be part of the escort, so that could be an issue." Briaca replied. "Otherwise, yes, we can trust him. He stole a few votes for us recently, and his position on the water line project is pretty clear. Not someone who will openly take part in any armed conflict, so it''s not like weakening him right now costs us much support. He will probably ask for some monetary compensation however, and, if he''s smart enough, protection for what''s to come."

    It seemed the conversation was moving away from the topic of my intrusion, and they were actually not considering any punishment. Well, none for myself, anyway, and pressuring Lord Derrien into accepting a contract might not be so bad. In fact, having Lord Konogan employ his services could be a boost to his reputation. However, they were expecting some sort of battle to take place over that water line issue, whatever that was. I could piece enough together to guess this was related to the explosion of earlier and the murder of the Netacari delegation. The stealing of votes was likely what I had witnessed, the punishment of Lord Brior.

    "What can he offer, exactly?" Lord Konogan asked.

    "He specializes in finding things and people. Obviously, he sometimes plants items as well. Escort work isn''t what he usually goes for, though." Briaca explained. "He''s got a tracker, a field medic, a socialite, a bodyguard, a mage, and... well... a stealth specialist now, I guess."

    I drank some of my tea, not meeting her gaze has she called me a specialist despite my failure.

    "In other words, not at all what we need." Lord Konogan commented. "Except maybe the bodyguard and the field medic."

    Should I inform them of Loann''s injury? Probably not, it might make them reconsider, and I was inclined to let that decision fall on Lord Derrien. Maybe he had some solution I was not aware of.

    "I doubt he will send his bodyguard anywhere." Briaca remarked. "It doesn''t matter. I think we should go for it anyway. We don''t want to send away people that can fight, and that particular group would not raise suspicions."

    I had to agree about Elouen not leaving Lord Derrien''s side. I had rarely seen them apart, and I suspected Elouen was never far, even in these cases.

    Lady Alienor seemed more upset by the conversation than I thought she should be, and indeed, she did not stay silent much longer.

    "You''re not thinking of sending me away, are you?" she exclaimed.

    Briaca sipped her tea, letting Lord Konogan reply.

    "After the events of today, we''re on the brink of war." he explained. "You are not staying here."

    That was much more dire than the conflict I had understood this to be. Just what was going on?

    "Briaca just said you don''t want to send away people that can fight." Lady Alienor reminded him. "I can fight."

    With a wooden sword?

    "Yes, we''re well aware of your martial abilities." Lord Konogan told her, and I was surprised to hear he was not mocking her. "You''re just too tempting a target to stay here. A lady without retinue."

    Was she not part of Lord Konogan''s family? Would that not mean she oversaw part of the manor''s staff?

    "And whose fault is that?" Lady Alienor accused, clearly angry. "You won''t let me have one, and you won''t let me be part of yours!"

    "You''re smart enough to know why." Lord Konogan rebuked. "You need to stop acting like a child."

    "And you need to stop treating me like one!" she countered. "You''re making plans to send me away, and I don''t get a say?"

    I was definitely not going to intervene in that particular conflict.

    "What happens if they decide to bomb this house next?" Lord Konogan challenged. "In case you failed to realize, our guest here proved someone can get all the way here without being seen. Do you understand how easily he could have poisoned one of us?"

    Lady Alienor stayed quiet, but was still visibly upset. I decided not to mention my hours spent hidden behind the couch, just behind her.

    "We should contact Lord Derrien right now." Briaca remarked, no doubt considering the dispute already over. "Time is short. Security will have been increased following the incident in town. The more we wait, the harder it will be for your departure to be discreet."

    "Fine." Lord Konogan agreed. "It''s settled. You''re bound to Sarveil, Alienor. I know Thurien has something for you to do there, anyway, so you won''t be bored."

    "Fine!" she exclaimed, rising up. "I''ve only been here for two months, anyway, it''s not like I''ve got much to pack!"

    As if to disprove her own words, she left the room.

    Lord Konogan seemed unperturbed by her departure as he addressed the steward. "Yan, could you get Lord Derrien to come here?"

    After a pause, he added, "And a stronger tea, I think."

 Chapter 14 - Heiress, Kicked Out

    Uncle was sending me away! I stayed for barely two months, and he was already getting rid of me. Was it something I had done? Did I fail his expectations, somehow? He said it was unsafe here. Hah! As if I was naive enough to believe anyone short of a Concept would ever dare go against him. This manor was the safest place I could be. No one would risk attacking me here!

    Except someone did manage to get in.

    Still, that could have happened anywhere, and the intruder was caught.

    As for a war, yes, an explosive conflict between Netacari and Sherpen seemed likely now, but how did that put the manor of the most important man on Eucleron in danger? If anything, this made it one of the safest places to be. They both wanted the water line project, right? Neither would want to upset uncle. Levanne was the one to be worried about, since they opposed the project, and getting on the ocean was offering them an easy target.

    I did not need more people trying to kill me. We still had no idea about the identity of whoever was responsible for the incident two months ago.

    Oh, no... This was just another one of his ridiculously obtuse schemes, wasn''t it? Getting me in danger to bait them out.

    I had known his reputation for cloak and dagger maneuvers, but sharing a home with him was enough to make anyone paranoid. Like that intruder, for example. What the fuck was that about? Did uncle really deal with soul desecrators? There was no way he would, yet clearly, this had been one of his plans at work.

    I was in my room, letting off steam by throwing my clothes on... well, maybe just at my bed.

    "Get it together..." I told myself, before picking up the projectiles that had missed their target.

    I became aware of two new visitors at the edge of the manor. In the middle of the night, no less. The staff was getting ready to welcome them, so they were expected. Focusing on them, I could tell they were both men, one of them a lord and the other bound to him. They felt most strongly of anxiety, but that was not uncommon when visiting uncle. Briaca and him were still in the study. The intruder might be there, too. I couldn''t tell, and that was scary. He could be anywhere, even have hostile intentions, and I wouldn''t know until he struck. Even his weapon had been hidden. How had they managed to catch him?

    It seemed uncle had not arranged for anyone to bring me my suitcases, so now I was going to have to do it myself. His punishment for acting out, possibly.

    After letting an annoyed sigh escape me, I went to the cellar to fetch them.

    On the way, I couldn''t help but feel a surge of panic at every vaguely humanoid shape I came across, ready to draw my sword each time.

    "Fuck!" I exclaimed, startled by an ancient set of armor that had been hidden by a cabinet.

    I had drawn, this time. Thankfully, I stopped before striking anything. It was late, and tiredness might be a factor, but I had to resign myself to face the truth. This was psychological scarring from the incident, and it seemed not to show any of the improvements I had come to expect since those last few weeks.

    It was unfair. I even went to those exasperating therapy sessions, yet progress had been excruciatingly slow, and now it even reverted? Was I going to start lashing out at every surprise again?

    I was shaking now, feeling a mix of fear, annoyance, and anger at myself for being like this. It was weakness, and I could not afford it.

    Finally, my anger found a different target. I had, after all, made some progress since arriving here. Witnessing that aberration, able to trivially nullify all reassurance of safety I had built up, had surely vindicated my phobia enough to entrench it for years to come. It was his fault if all my work had come undone.

    Once I reached the proper room, it did not take me long to find the bags that had accompanied me to the manor. I brought all four of them back to my bed, and started packing, leaving me again alone with my thoughts.

    I was not in a good state, mentally. Too unstable to risk binding a retinue, uncle had judged, when he had offered me refuge. It pained me to do so, but I agreed with him, despite how horrible remaining alone made me feel. He refused to let me join his service, too. That, I was not so forgiving of. I knew it was solely for political reasons. Indeed, the root of the issue even hanged on a wall not so far from my room. A damn edict Aenor had made to ensure she would not spawn a dynasty, going so far as to forbid two generations of her own family from being allowed to hold any governmental power in Eucleron.

    Uncle played some dangerous games with that one. As far as I knew, he did follow the rules as they were written, never participating directly in the Council, and never using any of his votes. But I suspected he simply didn''t need to. His transport businesses gave him enough influence to unofficially control other lords, so his grip on Eucleron politics was still rather firm.

    It annoyed me, but I had to admit Aenor had been right. And so was uncle, in the end. Binding the only remaining descendant of Aenor young enough not to be restricted by the edict would correctly be seen as him taking complete control of the country.

    Even as I carefully folded my clothes for transport, I could not escape the reminder of what I had been raised for all my life. Some of these were painted in the corridor just outside, worn by the acclaimed hero my parents had done their best to make me remind everyone of, right down to the name they gave me.

    Trying to change my train of thoughts, I let myself feel the people around. It seemed the visitors, Briaca, and uncle were all still in the study. Unsurprisingly, uncle beamed of satisfaction, getting whatever he wanted. I also noticed one of the staff was leaving the manor, most likely to fetch my new guardians.

    <hr>

    Yan knocked at my door, radiating apprehension.

    "What is it, Yan?" I asked him.

    "The negotiations have completed," he said, after opening the door, "and our guests stand ready to depart. Have you finished packing your belongings?"

    I gestured at the filled up baggage. "Yes. You can take these and bring them... wherever."

    It seemed I had not addressed him correctly, because he felt like chastising me for a few seconds, then pity, followed by resignation. That was pretty much how most of my exchanges with uncle''s staff went. In fact, even that was an improvement over how things were when I first arrived. This constant disappointment was not something I was going to miss. It did not help that my own annoyance made them all reluctant to address me in the first place, leading me to feel, in turn, even more isolated and irritable.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    In that regard, perhaps there were good aspects to taking a trip away from it all.

    No. That was false relief, brought by escapism. I would not fall in that trap.

    "Lord Konogan requested you depart along with Lord Derrien''s clan." Yan told me. "They are waiting for you at the main gate."

    Yes, as expected, uncle was going to have things go as fast as possible. I supposed it was fitting, considering most of his businesses focused on transport.

    Preparing to say goodbye to what had been my refuge for so many nights, I recalled with horror there was one other thing I would have to leave behind.

    No, I decided. I wouldn''t. Not given the opportunity to negotiate it directly with uncle, I chose to confront Yan about it instead.

    "I am keeping the sword!" I blurted out, putting a hand on it. That was not a good way to start this conversation, but my nerves were frayed, and at least it made my demands clear.

    As expected, Yan did not react well. He stayed silent, though, going through emotions in a rapid succession. The outburst, and potentially ludicrous demand, had upset him, but he was too professional to let it affect his decision, and so I had to wait until he calmed down to hear it.

    "While I would advise not to advertise such a precious item as much, Lord Konogan has indeed not specified that it had to be returned." Yan finally said. "Considering his desire to keep you safe, I believe the artifact is meant to be lent to you for the duration."

    "Really?!" I exclaimed, surprised to have gotten my wish so easily.

    Yan nodded.

    I had thought it would not to be allowed to leave the manor. Even the intruder had clearly taken notice of it.

    "Great!" I told Yan. "Let''s go, then!"

    He followed me as I went all the way to the main gate. I felt some of the staff going to my room, and assumed they were taking care of transporting my bags.

    When I reached the lukewarm air outside, I had my first real view of my future minders. They... did not look like much. In fact, one of them had even managed to already have a broken arm.

    It was obvious they felt about as happy about our situation as I did, exuding worry and irritation. The only one not so easily read was the intruder, since he still had no soul. Seeing him still creeped me out. It was like meeting the monster of a fairy tale, or maybe just some sort of dead person continuing to live as if nothing was wrong.

    Uncle was there and, as I was about to greet the group, he spoke first.

    "Let me present Lady Alienor, whom you are to protect. With your life, if need be." he intoned. "You will accompany her for an extended stay at Sarveil."

    It was only then that I realized he was not going to let me have any power over them.

    I had to pay more attention to what was going on here. This was the perfect setup for a Shift, but nobody wanted one to occur, so they had to be really careful about the power dynamics. Lord Derrien would not be accompanying us, since I might have otherwise ended up binding with him. Likewise, I could not lead the group myself, as they might Shift to me instead. This was quite the awkward arrangement. Even uncle''s solution still risked a Shift, but of course it was only one that benefited him. He was, in effect, lending some of his authority to part of Lord Derrien''s retinue, without conferring it to the lord himself. If they ever came to rely on it, a Shift might occur. Since those people were here despite that, uncle''s payment for this contract must have been considerable indeed.

    "Derrien, if you would?" uncle signaled him.

    As expected, the lord did not introduce the one man that looked like a capable fighter, moving instead straight to the injured one. In fact, I noticed that the lord himself appeared more of a combatant than the rest of his retinue, with all those muscles and scars. That was quite a breach of tradition.

    "This is Loann, our alchemist, herbalist, and emergency medic." Lord Derrien said.

    Too bad he was injured. Given he had a sword, and not the rapier most people chose out of obligation, he might have otherwise been able to be of some help in a fight. Not sure how good he was going to be, because as far as I could tell, everything Lord Derrien indicated would be severely hampered by his broken arm.

    "This is Yaelle, our tracker. The aourgi''s called Ashnu." Lord Derrien continued, now introducing a woman armed with a spear and her beast. That one, I could see stand her own in a fight, though I doubted she had much experience doing so. Aourgis would always help, and I liked the creature. Maybe I should have asked uncle for a pet. It was much less dangerous to bind one, even in my mental state.

    "Aostin, our information gatherer." Lord Derrien went on, now next to a rather plump but well-dressed man. Surprisingly, he did have a sword, belying my previous assessment of what kind of people would use one. However, I strongly suspected that, given his role, he was perfectly aware of what having a sword implied, and simply attempted to fool people into thinking he might be able to defend himself.

    "Eriol, our newest member." Lord Derrien said, having reached his last and more perplexing associate. I judged him to be the most dangerous one. Perhaps not in an open fight, but he could trivially land a fatal blow on any unsuspecting target.

    "Good. Now that the presentations are done, let us not tarry." Lord Konogan said. "Your ship is waiting at Dornow, so we''re going to need the Locomotive."

    Oh, no... I hated that thing.

    <hr>

    Even as I gripped the handrail to climb the stairs of the Locomotive, I felt the contraption start pulling my energy. Not being part of any binding, I could ill afford to lose what little I had, but the Locomotive took without asking.

    In fact, I could tell nearly all of my new minders were feeling the same depletion, the difference being that they had so much more to spare. The only exception being Eriol, that did not register at all, as usual.

    I reached the door, entered the corridor, and proceeded to ignore the man holding the counter on my right. I was not going to pay for transport imposed on me. Instead, I went on until I found the first room capable of holding all of us, then sat.

    My escort had apparently taken my behavior as example, and they all settled themselves close to me.

    I focused enough to find that uncle was addressing the clerk we had passed. The employee seemed both excited and anxious, which was understandable considering who he was talking to.

    "Could they please hurry it up?" I asked nobody in particular. "It''s really tiresome!"

    I doubted uncle heard me, but regardless, after a few seconds, the wood around us started to feel more alive. It always kept enough energy to appear at least as living as something like grass, but now the sensation was rapidly becoming more imposing. It was almost fully permeated with uncle''s signature, unlike the other times I had used the Locomotive. That was slightly more pleasant than the strange mix I usually felt in there. It took uncle only a few minutes to fully charge the enchantment. That was ridiculous. I knew of nobody else who could accomplish that feat.

    Now that it was sated, we were no longer feeling the constant drain the Locomotive had imposed on us. I still found it uncomfortable, though, because now it was if we were in the belly of a giant beast. It was suffocating. I knew it inspired awe to some, but to me, the exuding soul pressure was terrifying.

    Uncle joined us shortly after that, but stayed standing up at the door, using his cane to hold his weight.

    I felt the whole room shudder, then a sudden vertigo followed by a slight nausea. We were moving, then.

    People using the Locomotive are often confused by the extensive amenities. Truth is, there''s no time to enjoy them while the vehicle is moving. The point is that it can take hours to charge up, and it needs people inside to do so. The furniture is not for the three minutes of actual travel.

    We waited in silence, uncle not starting any conversation, my minders being too intimidated by him, and myself not wanting any.

    The disorientation came back, indicating we had arrived at our destination. The sensation was just one more unpleasantness inflicted upon all passengers aboard. It was unavoidable, being part of the enchantment that ensured we felt nothing of the quite ridiculous acceleration and deceleration we had endured.

    As much as I hated using it, I could not deny how impressive the Locomotive was. One of the world''s most powerful and complex enchantment, I had been told. And now, it seemed, development of its water analogue was about to trigger a war.