Cy glanced around the dining hall of the inn. He had already reassured Max it was safe for him, but he needed to check Kurt was far away enough to not overhear. “Here’s a list of during people I saw while waiting by the entrance of the estate.” Cy showed Max a piece of paper, but didn’t show him the other side with the three names. He was kind enough to be mindful of his requirement.

  “You didn’t go in? I thought Kurt invited you.”

  “I tried, but there was something… there.”

  “Something there?” Max frowned from the vague words.

  “I don’t know what exactly it was, but it was similar to the feeling I got at Noah’s workshop and the mayor’s house.”

  “Similar to a neutralising rune?” Cy nodded in confirmation. “So, why didn’t you go in?”

  “… I’ve got a heart problem, remember?”

  “You’ve got runes in place to protect you.”

  “A neutralising rune won’t counteract them?”

  “If it is that rune, then it should be fine,” Max confirmed. If it was a piss poor copy like at the mayor’s house, then maybe Cy’s right to be worried about it. “I guess you wouldn’t be able to see much anyway if it affects your readings.”

  Cy relaxed now that Max understood his stance. “What now?”

  “I don’t know,” Max admitted, as he watched Kurt come back from chatting up the waitstaff of his sponsored inn. “Hey, Kurt.”

  “Yeah?” The scruffy head lord sat down.

  “Thanks for showing Cy the entrance to the estate.” Kurt gave a nod while generally smiling in Cy’s direction but keeping more of his attention towards Max. “We need these people far away.” Max’s blunt words caused Cy to tense up. If they could reduce the number of during people, it’ll be less risky for Max to slip in and take a look for the source of the magic neutraliser. “Got any ideas?”

  Kurt took the list before Cy could hide it from him and began reading the names. “Hmm… You don’t like Randy? Why? He’s one of the few good guys here.”

  “Cy says they will want me dead.”

  “Max!” Cy snapped. “Don’t listen to him. He just means-”

  “You’ve got bad blood?”

  “Never met them,” Max admitted. “But the psychic vet told me we wouldn’t mesh well.”

  Kurt nodded, as if he could possibly understand the situation between them. “The easiest solution would be to kill them-”

  “We can’t!” Cy refuted, while Max just nodded. Whether he was nodding in agreement to Kurt or Cy was a mystery.

  “You’re right.” The butcher’s boy didn’t hesitate to support Cy’s opposition. “It would be too weird if they all dropped down dead, and then two new strangers started walking about. Not to mention, how one of them is wanted by the king.” Kurt shook his head at the idea. “That won’t work.”

  Max’s mind was racing while watching the piles of meat heading in their direction. Kurt promised there would be enough for all of them this time, but he was doubtful of this claim. “How close are you to your bio dad?”

  “It’s very much one sided. I don’t want to become the duke.” Kurt pulled a face to show his distaste. “I’m the butcher’s boy. I was raised to be a butcher, not some pompous lord. Too bad bio dad doesn’t understand this. I’m the apple of his eye.”

  Cy’s eyes squinted a little bit before relaxing. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. It’s going to be hard to run from him.” Kurt nodded to confirm, but the message was meant for Max. “Good thing he’s set to be a loyal ally to you. At the moment, he’s a real believer in your fate.”

  The dishes were set before them, and Max took a bite without saying anything.

  Something was wrong.

  “Do you remember that plot against me? What if we framed your list of people as being part of it?” Kurt suggested while tucking into a rack of ribs. “If bio dad really is my ally, then he can’t stand idly by as they attempt to take out his only heir. At worst, he’ll send them away, and at best, he’ll kill them.”

  “… We don’t need them to die,” Cy felt the need to clarify. “Just get them temporarily out of the way.”

  Max didn’t say anything as he tried to chew.

  It hurt.

  “Banishment is fairly out of the way,” Kurt argued back. “I have a question, Mr. Psychic Vet. This list of yours, can you make another list of names?”

  “Depends on what names you’re looking for.” Cy began to notice the strange expressions Max was making but quickly ignored his own concerns for the glistening meat. “If you’re wondering if I can make a list of people working together to assassinate you then I probably could.” Kurt’s face lit up. “But I would need to see them to check. It’s how fates are read,” he lazily explained. “I can’t read fates within the estate for some reason.”

  “Ah, the crystal affects you.”

  “Crystal?” Max asked before wincing.

  “It’s just one of the defensive measures in place. When overseeing certain communities, you need something in place in case they try to rise up over taxes.” Kurt turned his focus back to Cy. “Listen, if you can get me a list, then I’ve got a few blokes willing to do me a favour.” He nodded over to the waiting staff, watching them from afar. “The locals here aren’t too keen on the duke’s lot. They’ll be willing to help plant some evidence and become false witnesses.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Cy seemed to approve of this plan. “Let me meet the people you want to use. We need to reduce the chances that they’ll betray you.”

  Max couldn’t take the pain anymore and spat out the chunk of meat into the palm of his hand. The other two at his table and the waiting staff stared wide-eyed, as they watched him conceal the evidence. “Sorry,” he murmured. His weak efforts to downplay the situation weren’t working.

  “You wasted meat?” There was an accusation in the butcher’s boy’s voice. His tone made it clear he was switching from ally to enemy.

  “What’s wrong?” Cy’s tone immediately deescalated the situation. “You’ve been making weird faces all day.”

  “My tooth hurts.” Max complained while staring down in frustration at the pile of food in front of him. It hadn’t been Nik’s snores or irritation driving his head in, but the festering tooth in his gob. Maybe it was the same reason for all the weird smells in this life.

  “The cavities?” Cy asked, reminding Max of his health report done by Elder Charaka. The healing rune Cy used on him at the inn hadn’t been strong enough to cure his whole body of all its problems. It was a good example for Cy to keep his runes focused. The cavities had been a growing problem for a while and was at its limit.

  “Toothache, eh?” Kurt looked semi-sympathetic before picking up Max’s plate and adding the contents to his own. “You want help yanking it out?”

  Max scrunched up his nose at the thought. “Nah, I’ll have a go at trying to treat it first.” Luckily, Cy could probably fix it up for him when they had a moment. As if he were reading his thoughts, Cy gave him a slight nod to confirm he could help him.

  “Maybe you should secretly visit the estate?” Kurt wondered aloud. “We have a wise man up in the tower. People know him for having lost his rocker a while ago and being in total bedrest for years now.”

  “I don’t see how he’ll help with my tooth.”

  Kurt leaned in to whisper. “Well, your friend may be a bit psychic, but this guy is a proper magic man.” He faced Cy. “I don’t want to alarm you. Magic is real. Magicians are real. They have this little town they all live in.”

  “I know, I was raised there.” Cy answered bluntly causing Kurt to pause with his mouth agape.

  “He’s Darius’s son,” Max filled him in.

  “You’re…” Kurt scrunched up his face before letting go of whatever emotion caused such a strong reaction. “I guess that’s why you knew Nik. Then you’ll know Pompey.”

  “No, I don’t.” Cy glanced at Max with a confused expression. Neither of them had heard of Pompey.

  “Really? I could’ve sworn he was one of you lot. Anyway, he usually spouts a whole lot of nonsense, but if you get him on a good day, he’ll be able to cure your toothache for you. You don’t need to worry about him handing you in. He’s got no idea what’s going on most of the time.” Kurt tried to show the list as evidence without realising how weightless it was.

  “What kind of nonsense does he say?” Max asked, semi-curious.

  “System, this, and five-star story, that; it’s a good way to pass the afternoon. Sometimes we play a game as to who can hold the longest conversation with him before he goes off on a nonsensical tangent.”

  Cy dropped his cutlery, but Max was completely focused on the conversation. “‘System’? What kind of system?”

  “Beats me. At any rate, Pompey doesn’t seem to like it. Maybe you should go ask him?”

  “He also mentioned five stars?”

  “Said he completed something with a five-star story. It doesn’t make a lick of sense to me though.” Kurt passed on the valuable information, as if it were nothing. He drummed his fingers on the table, as he decided which meat to dive into next. “I mentioned a crystal earlier, right? The one that blocks magic users in case we get a rebellion from Tsujuma? Well, Pompey isn’t affected by the crystal. Maybe, while fixing your tooth, we can ask how to get it to stop interfering with Cy’s readings? Then it’ll be easy to make a list of conspirators.”

  It was curious. The system wasn’t reacting to anything Kurt said. None of the sub-goals were becoming clear and no timers had started. Either Pompey was unconnected to his goal, or he was already involved with an active sub-goal. It would be risky to investigate, but the system had asked him to find all the people who’ve completed five-star, and it’ll be one step closer to clearing out their enemies. And once the estate was clear, it’ll be a much safer place to lay low than sweaty Nik’s workshop because of the magic blocking crystal.

  “You’re right. I should ask him about my tooth.”

  “How’s that?” Cy asked.

  “A lot better but still not normal.” Max moved his jaw around, as he tried to assess how well Cy healed him. “Maybe you should have another crack at it?”

  “A healing rune would be faster.” Cy tried again before receiving a thumbs up from Max. “But I can’t get it to focus on your mouth without the right runes.”

  Max shrugged, “Well, I can’t teach you anymore.” The two of them paused the conversation when the familiar shaking and humming began. Last night, it occurred several times before Cy teleported out of Nik’s house to take a look. “What’s with these aliens?” Max felt impatient. “They’re way more active compared to the ones back in the village.” The humming abruptly stopped.

  “They’re not taking cattle this time,” Cy passed on the town gossip.

  “Then what are they taking?”

  “Nothing apparently.” Max frowned, causing Cy to shrug. “They abduct a random assortment of things before tossing it back down. Bales of hay, horses, flowers, people… Maybe we should ask Kurt about it. We might get some knights heading this way if this keeps up.”

  “Maybe we’ll see Reymond again.”

  “I guess,” Cy didn’t share his enthusiasm. “It would also mean more people to avoid.” Cy began pulling out some of the practice runes he had been doing in his spare time, mostly while Max was sleeping. “I need to get better since you can’t do this anymore,” he mumbled.

  Max let out a whistle at the quality of his work. “You’ve been busy.” It was always the same runes repeated, but there were small sections incomplete making the runes powerless. The lifetimes of mentoring made Max want to praise his determination, but the system’s requirements held him back. “In another life, maybe you could learn more.”

  “There’s got to be a way around the system.”

  “Plenty of them,” Max admitted. “But the ambiguity makes it a bit risky… I have an idea.”

  Max began pulling off his shirt, while Cy frowned. “I don’t think I want to know your idea.”

  He gave him a puzzled look before pointing out one of the many tattoo runes on his skin. “I don’t know what any of them mean,” Max lied through gritted teeth. “You can try copying them. We should be careful though.” Fortunately, he didn’t have to continue the thought. While they worked together in Elder Nova’s labs, Max gave him several lectures on the risks and dangers of practicing runes.

  “And I can check my fate through the mirror.” Cy began looking for something he could use.

  “We don’t have anything with good enough magical properties, so you might as well practice the shapes for now.” Max gestured to all the incomplete runes on scraps of paper.

  “I won’t know what any of them means.”

  Max shrugged. “This shape is simpler,” he pointed out to one on his bicep. “Maybe you should start with this one.” He couldn’t communicate with Cy, but hopefully he would remember seeing it.

  “That one means un or not, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Max’s tone was flat to show his irritation. Cy wasn’t making it easier to pretend to be illiterate.

  “This one’s a wild one,” Cy pointed at the most complex string of runes grouped together. “One day, you’ve got to tell me what it means.” Max struggled to keep his neutral face. In all honesty, he didn’t even know if it would work. Last time he tried this experiment, it failed. “You can check my attempt, right? You don’t know what it means, but surely you could recognise the difference between two shapes.”

  “Probably,” Max admitted before they were moved into irritated silence again. The hum and shaking returned for another minute. “We should find whoever is causing them to keep showing up and take them out. We’d be doing everyone a favour at this rate.”