Thais was smoking outside the Pearl Dive when I arrived. I politely declined her offer of a cigarette and loitered by the bar counter while she went upstairs and called for Etienne. A minute later, Etienne showed up yawning, carelessly brushing his bed-tousled hair back into place. He was holding a folder of paper under one arm, and he beckoned for me to follow him into the back room.

“Got all your stuff for ya,” he said once the door had been locked behind us. I sat down next to him on the ratty sofa and peered at the folder he was showing me. “Here’s the basic rundown ‘bout the aristocratic world. You wanna read it on your own, or d’you want me to talk ya through it?”

I eyed the thick sheaf of papers. “Let’s hear the summary.”

Etienne gave me a two fingered salute. “You got it, boss. Let’s start with the Noble Families.”

If I had to summarize the five families that weren’t directly connected to me, it would be like this.

The Baschets were merchants who ruled the area known as the breadbasket of Iyiria, where the country’s most fertile land produced food. Because of this, they were practically untouchable.

The Kamaras were generals with a lineage of inherited titles. Individually, they were powerful combatants, but their real strength came from their legacy of strategy and command.

The Sattaris were political schemers who had a strong grip on Iyiria’s politics, but their internal struggles had caused them many troubles in the past. Recently, their branch families had almost entirely died off for mysterious reasons.

The Farzans were a merchant house specializing in maritime trade. They’d been appointed to the Six Noble Families to balance out the Baschets.

The Morgans, who opposed the Kamaras’ power, were a military family stationed on the northern island chains of Iyiria. They didn’t participate as actively in Iyiria’s political affairs, but because their strength was needed to contain the “northern disasters,” the other families didn’t dare trouble them too much.

And finally, the family I wanted to know most about: the Duvals, who had been chosen to balance out the Sattaris.

Officially, they were another merchant family, but unofficially, they ruled over the dark underworld of the country. Maybe I’d actually dodged a bullet when Cyprian Duval demoted me from being involved in family affairs.

The Duvals had a bloody history, coming into conflict with the other families as often as they turned on each other. However, the country’s powers tolerated them for a few reasons.

First, the founding Noble Families had historical significance in Iyiria.

Second, it was convenient to have an agent and scapegoat for doing what couldn’t be openly done.

Third, and most importantly…

The Duval family had a history of prophets.

Every two or three generations, a Duval would rise up like a shooting star, overturning the current era and saving Iyiria from some great catastrophe.

And if having control over Iyiria’s underworld helped those Duvals to achieve their goals, then why not allow them to keep it, even after those shooting stars had passed? After all, one never knew when another prophet from the Duvals would appear.

My mouth felt dry.

The reason people kept accusing me of being a prophet wasn’t because their culture was more superstitious. It was because I was using the identity of a Duval.

Prophets appeared when a disaster was forthcoming, and I’d already killed Acacius. Didn’t that mean I’d already screwed Iyiria over?

If they knew that I’d inherited Acacius’ prophetic title, they’d never let me go.

Maybe, from the moment I was summoned to Kosmonymia, it was too late for me.

“Are there any known prophets in the Duval family right now?” I probed.

He shrugged. “There’s rumors, but there’s always rumors about them. Even if they’re not prophets, it makes things convenient for them if people read too much into their intentions.”

“Wouldn’t the other families make them prove their abilities, then?”

Etienne raised an eyebrow.

“Not really. Don’t ya know about al-Sahira’s curse?”

Veric and Luka had mentioned it in KP-04, once. “Sounds familiar.”

“Al-Sahira’s the Tizemitian queen who was killed by an alliance of empires when they found out she was a true prophet. But she was Myth level when she died, yanno. ‘Course she wouldn’t die quietly. When she kicked it, she used her death as fuel for her title. [Blood Omen that Connects the End to the Beginning]. Then she gave her last prophecy. Anyone who exposes a prophet to the world shall die.”

Etienne grinned.

“Pretty badass, huh? That’s the way it’s been since then. A prophet can reveal themselves, or you can stumble upon their secret, or you can believe whatever you want, but if you publicly expose ‘em or force ‘em to confess directly…”

He drew a his thumb across his throat in a slitting gesture.

“Out of curiosity,” I said. “Those known prophets from the Duval family… how long did they live? On average.”

Etienne laughed.

“Once they were found out? Not long at all. Everyone wants to have a prophet, but no one wants a prophet workin’ with their enemies. So once the crisis is over, the prophet has to die. Funny, ain’t it? They showed themselves to save Iyiria, but they couldn’t save themselves.”

I forced myself to smile.

“So it’s suicide for a prophet to reveal themselves, or for someone else to reveal a prophet? I guess as long as there’s no catastrophe, a prophet who can keep a secret can live in peace.”

“Sure,” said Etienne. “But when has there ever been a prophet in peaceful times?”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“They’d need two more curses. One for anyone who kills a prophet, one for anyone who takes away their freedom. Otherwise, there’s no way for them to live on at all.”

Before I left the Pearl Dive, Etienne tried to give me some money for the information I shared last time.

I pushed the money back to Etienne and said, “Keep it. Instead, can you look into something else for me?”

“What is it?”

“The security measures on Veratrum Row.”

Etienne’s eyebrows went up.

“You sure you know what you’re getting into, pal?”

Okay, so it wasn’t a good look for me to be asking about this right after inquiring into all the noble families. I raised my hands innocently. “Hey, I’m just one guy. What could I possibly do? Just indulge my curiosity a little and help me find out more about how they live… like how many bodyguards they have, how strong they are, little stuff like that.”

The neighborhood seemed uppity enough to have its own security, but no one had stopped me from getting into the Duval place. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d picked a good spot to get in, because the neighbors recognized Acacius, or because they didn’t care.

Etienne gave me a long look, but he eventually took back the money with a smile.

“Whatever you say, pal. Lemme know if ya need someone to arrange a grave for you too.”

I grinned. “Don’t worry, Etienne. I’ve already prepared my last will.”

Etienne’s expression shifted. I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see me at least one more time. I need your info, after all. You think you’d have something by the weekend? I could wait ‘til next week too, but I’d rather not wait too long.”

Etienne gave me an inscrutable look before sighing and shaking his head.

“I can get somethin’ for ya in two days, but in return, you’ll owe me a favor. How’s it sound?”

“Long as I can do it and it doesn’t cross any of my bottom lines.”

“Sure. We got a deal. Don’t kick it before I squeeze my money’s worth out of ya.”

We chatted for a while longer before I had to go back. Etienne waved me goodbye at the door with a complicated look, which I pretended not to see. I liked him well enough, but in the end, our relationship was based on interests; I didn’t ask how he got his information, and he didn’t ask what I intended to do with it. If that line was never broken, then we would never truly become close.

It was probably better that way. I didn’t need to leave another Chen Xiarui in the world.

I grabbed something to eat before meeting up with Rhoswen at the school’s training grounds, where I’d reserved one of the indoor archery ranges for private use in advance. Rhoswen was already waiting there. She was wearing a long, dark coat with deep pockets and faint stains at its ragged edges over a pale button-up shirt. Her crimson leather gloves and arm guards matched the color of her boots. A bow of bone-white wood was slung on her back, and she smelled faintly of blood.

When she saw me, she smiled.

“Acacius. You made it. What is your plan?”

I nodded in greeting. “I wanted to lay out my strategy and practice coordinating with you before tomorrow’s fight.” I paused and corrected myself, “Make-up exam.”

Rhoswen shook her head. “Since you sought me out, then tomorrow is a hunt.”

I was thinking more like straight up banditry…

“Let’s go inside first,” I said, gesturing for her to follow me into the archery room. There, I firmly closed the door and shut all the blinds before sitting down at the edge of the stone-tiled training area and laying down my copy of the exam’s territory map.

According to the teachers, before the exam started, the students could exchange for the starting territory, resources, and perks that they wanted — first in order of number of tokens shared between team members, and second by drawing lots. By that merit, probably only Luka’s team could go before me.

So if I wanted, I could go for one of the expensive central areas with plenty of features and resources.

I pointed instead to one of the topmost territories. Its analogue in Iyiria’s true geography was the northern islands, detached from the mainland and perpetually plagued by winter. According to the map, it specialized in producing monster byproducts and powerful fighters; its disadvantages were its remote location and heavy dependance on trade for essential supplies.

For these reasons, it could be claimed for the cheap price of one token.

“Like I said yesterday, I want to use hit-and-run tactics. So I want to start at this territory. And then, I want to take these perks.”

I unrolled the list provided to us from the teachers.

First, “Aerial Force,” which reduced the cost of border traversals to one token when done by air. Second, “Aerial Espionage,” which concealed a team’s aerial border traversals, so that the opponents’ territory hubs wouldn’t alert them when we crossed. Third, “Virtual Banking,” which would allow us to instantly transfer tokens between the hubs of the territories we owned. Fourth, “Intelligence Network,” which cost a certain number of tokens every ten minutes, but would tell us each territory’s owners, token count, and top three strategic resources.

“My primary aim is to let others develop their territories and periodically ‘harvest’ them. As long as you don’t mind me carrying you, I can fly us where we need to go.”

As for actually fighting, the teachers had said we’d all get some kind of protective barrier when we entered the Illusion Stage. If the barrier was triggered or broken, we’d instantly be transported back out of the stage for our safety.

So basically, it meant that we didn’t have to worry too much about pulling our punches.

“We can snipe anyone we find and claim their territory hubs while they’re ejected from the Stage. There’s a penalty period of ten minutes if you get eliminated, so we should leave enough time for territory owners to return and make progress on their territories before we hit them again. That also means that when we take over someone else’s territory, we can take the tokens, but we should leave the resources. That way, they can come back and generate money for us again.”

“If you plan to let others retake their territories, and we will be moving all over the map, then how will we keep our tokens and resources safe?” Rhoswen asked.

“I don’t have anything foolproof. One option is to always transfer our tokens to the most recently conquered territory, and make sure to claim another territory hub within ten minutes, or else snipe the original owners as soon as their suspension ends. Second, we can ‘lend out’ tokens to other teams under the premise that they pay us back with interest; this would really be a smokescreen for spreading our tokens out and letting others protect them, but it’s risky if the other party has poor management skills or goes back on their word. The third option… we form an alliance with another team to help guard our base.”

“There’s no need for alliances.”

“Then we’re on the same page. I don’t want to split the final prize. Speaking of which… If we take first place, I want the first pick of the prizes. That, or you compensate me with something of equivalent function to what I want.”

“That is acceptable,” said Rhoswen. “I am also amenable to the ‘investment’ strategy for safeguarding our tokens. However, what is your plan if other teams form alliances to deal with us?”

“Strike unpredictably. Make it unprofitable to fight against us on someone else’s territory,” I suggested. “But more importantly, if they form alliances, or someone gets ahead of us, that’s when we can start destroying the resources on their territories, too.”

“A scorched earth policy. Such a thing would inevitably drive them into conflict with their neighbors, as they would need to obtain new territory or resources.”

“Exactly. Then when will they have the energy to deal with us?”

Rhoswen nodded and stifled a yawn. “It is a good strategy. Still, we should be careful in picking our opponents.”

“Such as?”

“Dagian Naveen.”

That was one of my classmates in Practical Combat. She was the one with long, deep purple hair and dark skin; I’d mostly seen her fighting with a golden greatsword. In the first class, when Master Dalileh had launched her sneak attack, she’d told Dagian not to be so worried about accidentally hurting her classmates. She’d also received an academy award, along with Mehran, for her part in protecting people during the incident in KP-04.

“You don’t think you could snipe her from out of range?”

“She is fast and has a number of long-range techniques. It is just that she prefers close combat. We should also be careful of Luka and Xander; they both have remarkable mastery in the aura force frame. Not to mention their… other peculiarities.”

That suddenly had me curious what else Xander could possibly have going for him. If he was so capable, shouldn’t he have stopped me and Linden from going at each other?

“As for good targets to harvest, I believe Mehran, Nastaran, and Roxana are rather suitable. They are talented at the skills being tested, but their fighting ability is weak. However, Mehran’s voice transmission skill may cause us some trouble, as it is capable of disseminating information or coordinating groups at a distance.”

“What about Jules?” I asked. “If she sets up a safe zone…”

Rhoswen’s eyes flashed coldly. “Jules’ zones are not unassailable, nor is the human heart. Those who are ambitious will never be content to wait safely in her zone; those who seek shelter can be targeted as they approach or leave. Even if she makes a move, it won’t be a problem.”

Was it just me, or did that sound a little bit personal? Oh well. None of my business.

We spent some time discussing our tactics before moving on to practicing our skills together. If we couldn’t synergize, no matter how good the plan was, there was no way to pull it off.

I took off Acacius’ dress shirt and put it on backwards before activating [Incarnation]. Then I buttoned the bottom of the shirt together under my wings so that it wouldn’t slip while I moved.

Rhoswen looked at my wings until the patterns made her vision distort.

“Your affinity for spirits has increased,” she said. “Perhaps the opportunity you gave me before would now be suitable for you, too.”

Acacius had what now? They had a history? Crap.

Unsure of how to respond, I said, “Let’s practice flying together.”

Rhoswen was a bit taller than I was. It didn’t prevent me from flying with her like I had with Luka, by holding her around the waist, but it made it a bit difficult for her to shoot mid-air. Although I could probably just fly her to suitable sniping points, I wanted the option to shoot while flying, too.

To that end, Rhoswen buckled on a leather harness that looked like the stuff people would use for traversing mountain cliffs or mining shafts. She attached two straps to the shoulders and one to the buckle at the small of her back. She directed me to lift her with this harness in different positions while she practiced shooting targets at the other end of the practice field, then again while I flew back and forth.

Rhoswen didn’t use a quiver or physical arrows. Instead, she materialized arrows out of red light as she drew back her bowstring. At first her aim was a bit off, but soon she was hitting dead center with every shot, even if she was swinging upside down or I was in the middle of turning us mid-air .

As I lowered Rhoswen back to the ground, she said, “If we always scout from above, people are bound to develop defenses eventually. You have another way to sense targets, don’t you? Shall we practice our coordination with a linkage between us now?”

I nodded. “How does it work?”

Rhoswen reached into her coat and took out a leather collar. It had a small metal tag that had been painted crimson, some of which had been etched away to reveal a thorny silver rose. On the other side was a buckle and ring for a leash.

“You would need to wear this.”

…Excuse me?

I made a disbelieving expression, moved my eyes to meet her gaze, and cursed the fact that my transformation-induced blindness meant I couldn’t see her face. “What am I, a dog?”

“A hunting dog,” she corrected seriously. “Who guides and leads the hunter to their prey.”

Every expletive I wanted to spit out was not suitable for Acacius, so I crossed my arms silently.

“This is the least invasive method to link us,” Rhoswen said, softening her tone. “It is non-permanent, can be terminated by you at will, and furthermore, can be concealed from others’ eyes. I truly do not mean to demean you, Acacius, but this is as safe as I can make it for you to work with the Hunt.”

I let out a silent sigh and reminded myself that there were more important things than my dignity at stake here.

Like my safety, for example. “Can we go over the side effects of this ‘linkage’ one more time?”

Rhoswen nodded. “It will loosen your inhibitions and empower your id. For people who live true to themselves and their desires, it will cause little change, but for others, the changes will be more noticeable.”

“So… I’d lose control of myself?”

“Are you someone who can maintain a bottom line while under the influence? Then no. Not completely.”

Well. If there was anything I’d practiced doing, it was maintaining my bottom line.

“However, this is a symbol of the Hunt that engenders more changes the longer you wear it,” Rhoswen continued. “It will gradually induce a greater sense of affinity, loyalty, and trust in the individual whose sign is on the collar. In this case, that individual is me. I believe the influence will be minimal for the duration of the exam, but be aware that the collar may influence your favorability towards me.”

“Does that mean I would listen to you like a dog and its owner?”

“It won’t be to that extent. You might simply like me better than you ordinarily would. Some people are easily swayed by their likes and dislikes, but others are not. The impact on you depends once more on your character.”

That effect…seemed like it might be acceptable for the duration of the exam. It was just three hours. And besides, Rhoswen would be my partner, so even if I was more protective of and cooperative with her than usual, it was something I should do anyways.

“Last, if the collar is donned for more than seven days, you risk being subsumed by the nature of one of the Hunt’s hounds,” Rhoswen finished. “To keep its impact to a minimum, you should remove the collar after the exam ends and avoid further contact for at least a week.”

Okay, so maybe the risks were not worth it just to have one more card up my sleeve.

But considering that I was trying to win against the entire Year 2 Governance track with just a couple months’ experience of the world, could I really afford to give up that one card?

Honestly, if I wanted to blow of Veratrum Row, it would be a good idea to have more exposure to this world’s powers, anyways. Given how many mind-warping powers I’d encountered so far, I couldn’t always hope for the luxury of fighting my battles with a clear mind.

I took the collar from Rhoswen’s hand and said, “I want to put down some ground rules before I try this on.”

“Yes.”

“When I wear it, don’t ask me about the past. Let’s not ask each other about our secrets, either. And don’t pry about anything that seems like something we’d ordinarily keep to ourselves. If we can’t adhere to these baselines, then don’t think about cooperating again.”

Rhoswen smiled. “Clear demands and clear consequences. These terms are perfectly acceptable.”

“Good. Then I’ll… put it on now.”

I turned my back to her because I didn’t actually want her to see me do it. Then, fumbling around by touch, I buckled the collar on and adjusted it so it was hidden under the fringes of my hair and the collar of my shirt.

A cold jolt went through my head, and with a tingle, I felt a strange mental connection spring to life.

“Focus on what information you want to share with me,” said Rhoswen, closing her eyes. “Pick a target. I will shoot.”

Feeling doubtful, I focused on the non-human perspectives within the shooting range. There was some kind of insect on the far side of the room, judging by its blurry and segmented vision. I concentrated on the location of its perspective relative to me. The connection with Rhoswen hummed in my mind.

A snap rang out as Rhoswen released her bowstring, and the bug’s perspective winked out.

Rhoswen opened her eyes and went over to her arrow, inspecting the results of her shot. Pinned beneath the arrowhead were the remains of a small moth.

“What an exceedingly accurate sense,” she murmured. “Are there limitations I should be aware of?”

“I can only locate living things in a certain range, but it won’t necessarily be all of them.” Like if they closed their eyes or were completely blind.

I also decided not to tell her about my transformation-induced blindness unless it was really necessary. Some things were more private than others.

“That seems more than sufficient for our needs,” Rhoswen said. “Shall we practice some more?”

The results of our tests were very good. As long as I had a sense of where something was, Rhoswen could hit it. She could also find me with her eyes closed if I wanted her to know where I was.

That meant that Rhoswen and I didn’t have to be in the same location for her to know where to shoot. I could fly ahead or above, transmit locations to her, and let her freely move to take the shot.

I really liked the options that it opened up for us, so I made up my mind to use the “linkage” for the exam tomorrow, no matter how undignified it felt.

As our practice session came to a close, I said to her, “I’m not feeling any adverse effects from the linkage yet.”

“It hasn’t been too long. In addition, it is possible you haven’t met any triggers yet.”

“Triggers?”

“Typically something you feel strongly about.” After a moment, she added, “Does that mean you don’t feel strongly about me, Acacius? You’ll make me sad.”

“Maybe I just have good self-control,” I suggested uncertainly.

“How is your family doing?” Rhoswen asked.

I snarled. “Don’t talk to me about them!”

A moment later, I came to a stop.

Rhoswen’s gaze rested on my right hand, where [Caller] had unconsciously materialized in my grip.

“I apologize for the provocation. I mean no disrespect,” she said softly. “But you must be careful about the things that set you off. It will be difficult to control your immediate responses with the collar on.”

Even now, I was still struggling with the raw impulse to attack her. I scrubbed my face, forced myself to dismiss [Caller], and undid the collar. The intensity of my anger ebbed away slowly, and with that, I felt more clear-headed.

Fuck my life. Wasn’t this collar just the perfect way to tell everyone what my sore spots were?

“Isn’t there any way to control the impulses?” I said, rather hopelessly.

“You could let me put a leash on the collar as well.”

Yeah, no.

“Let’s try not to talk to others during the exam,” I muttered darkly. “And… don’t bring up anything personal with me while I’m wearing this thing. Please.”

“Of course.” I guess I looked really sullen or unconvinced, because Rhoswen glanced at my face and added softly, “I promise, Acacius, I will always respect your boundaries.”

“…Thanks,” I said, and pretended for a moment that I was the type to believe in other’s words.

After discussing a few more final details, we ended our practice session and parted ways for the night. I returned to my dorm, but I didn’t plan to sleep just yet.

It was time to hang out with [Deceiver].

Chapter 48 Back to Index