“Walk with me, Grey,” Imperial Agent Sah spoke to me the moment I stepped out of the training room where I’d spent time with Aspen, trying to get my mana under control.

Honestly, I’ve learned so much about magic that it will take me a while to wrap my head around it. In contrast to what I came to know about magic, my progress with mana control has been far less impressive. My work with this magical substance dwelling in my body and coursing through my veins has improved. Even Aspen acknowledged that. Only, the improvement wasn’t as striking as I thought it would be when I had [Mantle of Magic] among my skills.

I guess I asked for too much, too fast.

At least the way I worked with the skill brought me another level up in it, a small solace.

“S-sure, Agent Sah,” I said to the man, whose expression was hard to read and who didn’t wait for my answer. Before I knew it, Sah was already several steps ahead in the hallway. One didn’t have to be a genius to understand that he wanted me to follow him.

Actually, having him waiting for me in the hallway made my life a bit easier. Sah told me himself that we needed to talk, then the guards at the gate informed me to seek him out after my lesson with Aspen, and so I racked my brains on how to find him. My teacher of magic suggested I find Rayden, or Travis, her assistant, first. According to her, they should know about Sah’s whereabouts.

No need for that now.

“So what happened to the trickster woman?” I asked as we walked in silence for what seemed like forever, or at best, long awkward minutes.

“Questioned, filed, processed, will serve three days in jail and go on her way.”

What I heard nearly made me stop in the middle of my stride. “Sorry, what?! You’re just going to let her go?”

“After she’s done her three-day time in jail,” the Imperial Agent said, reminding me of this small detail as if it made a difference.

“For the fuck’s sake. She stabbed me,” I argued, pointing to my stomach, where I had a bleeding stab wound less than two hours ago.

“What are you getting at, Grey? You don’t have any permanent damage. In fact, as far as I can tell, you’re perfectly fine now. She didn’t steal or destroy anything. Three days is a standard sentence if that is her first offense of this nature. Which, in her case, it is.”

“She ruined my bath,” I muttered, knowing I sounded like a petulant little child.

“I wouldn’t mention it if I were you. The place is horrid, Grey,” Agent Sah said and paused. “Why didn’t Deckard arrange something better for you?”

“He probably would have if I’d asked for it.”

“You’re really determined to earn everything yourself, aren’t you?”

“Is it a bad thing?”

“No! Respectable, if anything. I myself have worked my way up to where I am through my own hard work. No shortcuts.”

“Oh, I see?” I uttered, hesitating to say more. “About that….sorry you ended up babysitting me. And thanks for not leaving me in the lurch out there.”

“Just doing my job, Grey. I’m not gonna fuck up twice in a row.”

That was something I was glad to hear. Despite the fact that I found his constant presence out there in the shadows annoying, I was really relieved that he took his assignment seriously. In a small corner of my mind, I had to admit that it was reassuring, to a degree, given my situation.

“So...you’re not pissed?”

“At you, Grey? I’ve never been.”

“Seriously? I would have thought that because of your transfer here and...the babysitting thing, you would, Agent Sah.”

“Did I make a wrong call because of you? Was it you who gave me orders to watch over your ass? No. Are there people in Castiana that I have a beef with? Yes. But I’ll take my anger to them, not to you like that Fletcher guy.”

“T-thanks,” I stammered, a little surprised at his sincerity. Sah merely nodded as we strolled from the hallway into the barracks’ inner courtyard and training grounds. The silence in which we continued to walk for a while around the courtyard’s perimeter was nerve-wracking, giving me goosebumps.

“I thought you were gonna take me to an interrogation room or something.”

“Would you prefer that?”

“Shit, no! I like the walk far more than that damn room. The way it played with my mind and made me tell the truth was...wrong. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting this kind of talk.”

“I see. That bad, huh?”

“What do you mean, Agent Sah?”

“The impression you have of us, the Imperial Agents.”

How could I not? I haven’t had a good experience with them yet. Plus, I’ve seen too many movies where intelligence agencies of the various states, villains, and the like have interrogated suspects and, in some cases, tortured them. At this point, my mind was too corrupt, and I couldn’t shake the fear that I would end up like the movie actors who have found themselves in the clutches of these organizations. Been there, and I didn’t want to end up as a test subject again.

“What did you want from me, anyway?” Asking that, I tried to divert the topic elsewhere.

“Get to know you better, Grey.”

“Sorry, what?!”

“Now that I’m supposed to keep an eye on you, I want to know who you are.”

Oh, I was afraid I’d caught his eye for a moment there. What a terrifying thought. “Didn’t you read the file?”

He smirked, the first proper reaction I got out of him. “Of course, I did. In depth, and several times. But it didn’t tell me much about you as a person.”

Get to know me as a person? That raised a concern in my heart about the direction this conversation was going.

“Shouldn’t you keep your distance, you know...be professional and stuff?”

“It’s really not just your appearance that’s unusual, Grey,” Agent Sah remarked, amused by my question.

That’s what Aspen said, and it gave me pause even now. Of course, I did my best not to give away a hint of my annoyance with that. Yet it seeped into my voice. “You’re not the first to tell me.”

“And I bet I won’t be the last. That quirk of yours makes it clear you’re not from around here.”

“Just like the other terrans,” I added. It was the truth. Although not one of them, I was basically the same refugee as any of them.

“Sure, but they know their stuff. You? Sometimes I wonder if you’ve been living under a rock somewhere.”

This time I really had trouble keeping still.

“On the other hand, your open body language is incredibly refreshing, like now. I know there’s more to your origin, even without using any skills or tools. Don’t worry. I won’t dig deeper into your past unless you give me a reason, Grey.”

A silent nod was all I gave him. That gesture confirmed to Agent Sah that there was more to my origins. But in truth, whatever I would have done or said would have proved his assumption, anyway. What was strange was his lack of concern with my origins seemed genuine. Or he was that good at hiding his true agenda. Whatever it was, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“Many people with a more dubious past than yours have come to Sahal with the terrans. Frankly, their migration was and is a disaster for the Empire’s security. It taught us one thing, though. Intentions are important, and yours seem pure and quite straightforward.”

“I’m trying to survive.” And find a way home.

“Aren’t we all?”

“You too, Agent?” That was not like my idea of him.

Sah shook his head. “Sahal, I was talking about the Empire I have dedicated my life to. Do you think it’s easy to keep an empire thriving for hundreds of years like this one? As its wealth increases, so does the determination of our enemies.”

“And more allies are willing to stab you in the back, right?”

“You can be surprisingly insightful at times. Yes, their concerns are growing too. Or brand new threats will emerge, some that no one anticipated.”

“North? Beasts at the walls? Mind mages?”

He raised an eyebrow, amused, and smirked. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were gathering intelligence on our weaknesses.”

Shit! Me and my big mouth. That was dumb, Korra.

“You can include yourself in that list. Or your kind, if the experiments in Arda succeed. Well, even if they only succeed in creating the likes of you, it could be dangerous. You’ve proven more than enough that you have great potential.”

Okay, I had the urge to refute him that I wasn’t just some botched experiment, but I’d be lying to myself. That was essentially what I was. Or at least what Dungreen thought of me when he was getting rid of me. Just another failed experiment.

“So, why are you trying to get to know me better, Agent Sah?”

“Because I take my job seriously. And if I’m supposed to do it well, I need to anticipate your reactions. If someone follows you, will you try to escape? Will you scream? Freeze? Or will you try to confront them? What about the attack? Actually, I found you hard to read today and thus this talk.”

“I’m a bit lost. What have I done wrong?”

“Not necessarily wrong. Your behavior was hard for me to foresee. When you realized you were being followed, and I am constantly surprised by this intuition of yours, your reaction was to run away. Yet you stubbornly refused help from the city guards, and when it came to confrontation, even at a clear disadvantage, you were determined to face a much stronger and more experienced opponent instead of looking for a way to escape.”

Yeah, when he put it like that, it sounded irrational. That didn’t mean I didn’t know the reason, though. My odd behavior was on my mind, too. “What can I say? I’m a hybrid: human and beast. I’m constantly struggling with my instincts. Sometimes they are simply stronger, and I react based on them.”

“That’s what I thought. You don’t seem stupid, but sometimes your decisions don’t make sense.”

Was it an insult or a praise? I really couldn’t make up my mind how to feel about his words.

“Perhaps I should say that they make sense from the perspective of a beast. Let me ask you a question, Grey. Do you truly feel my presence all the time?”

The actual concern in his voice caught me off guard, and kind of mumblingly, I described to him how I perceived his gaze on me.

“Interesting, very interesting. Impressive actually, considering that people at my level would have a remarkably hard time detecting my presence. Even if you can’t pinpoint my location, knowing someone is on your tail can be extremely helpful. My advice, you should hone this ability.”

That made me smirk. “Sorry, just. There’s so much I’d like to learn, or hone, that I’m starting to get lost in it. There’s just so little time. Like now, I should be with one little kitsune and learning Standard. Instead, I’m here with you, Agent.”

“I know what you mean, Grey. That brings me to the moment I was accepted into the Sahal Imperial Intelligence Service. So many possibilities opened up before me that I had no idea what step to take. If it just gets too much for you, you have to learn to just let something go. Or put off practicing it until later. The worst thing you can do is spread your attention over so many things that you start to stagnate in any progress.”

“O-okay.” I was honestly quite taken aback by this whole conversation and was constantly on my toes waiting for some question that would put me on the lab table. And I think Sah was aware.

“By the way, don’t worry about the little lass. I let them know at City Hall that you won’t be in today.”

The fuck! On the one hand, I was glad that Ria wouldn’t wait for me unnecessarily. Still, it pissed me off that someone was constantly meddling with my schedule and taking the liberty of changing it at their discretion. It was so not cool.

I showed my displeasure by keeping my mouth shut, and so we walked around the courtyard in silence for a few minutes. Bloody weird.

“Good reaction back there. Next time, I suggest you try to deflect the attack rather than stand up to it directly,” Sah spoke after we walked halfway around the courtyard without saying a word. “The blade could have been poisoned, cursed, clad with vermin that would eat through your insides.”

“Are you serious? That’s a thing, the vermin?” What a terrifying thought.

“Much less common than curses and poisons. It’s difficult to manage these kinds of magots, but yes, I’m dead serious. I know you have excellent regeneration, but it’s not good to rely on it too much. There are ways to stop it. Tools, potions, curses, and more. So next time, try to avoid getting stabbed.”

“Maybe if you’d been a tad faster, I wouldn’t have had to defend myself at all.”

He laughed, sincerely laughed. “You know, when I fucked up my job, I expected punishment. Some shitty job in some shithole. Then, at Lord Wigram’s suggestion, my superiors assigned me to oversee you in Castiana. A shitty job in the shithole, but I could have ended up much worse. That’s what I thought at first. It turned out to be quite an interesting assignment. In fact, my hands are quite full most of the time.”

My blank look made him smirk. “It’s true.”

“Are there that many people after me? I didn’t notice anyone else.”

“It just means I’m doing my job well. But I think you have the wrong idea. I don’t catch crooks trying to get you left and right all day. Even for the state Castiana is in, the city’s underworld isn’t as vast as it could be. I tip my hat to Captain Rayden in that regard. If her efforts to cooperate with me hold up, we can reduce it a bit further.”

“You’re trying to smoke out those who might want to try something before they do so?”

“Something along those lines.” His tone of voice made it clear that he wasn’t going to go into the details and jeopardize his job.

“When do you have time for that shit? Do you even sleep?” No, I wasn’t concerned about his health. It just bothered me. If he kept watch over me at night, when did he sleep?

Agent Sah chuckled. “I don’t need that many hours of sleep, just a few. Then you spend most of your day in the Labyrinth. I’m not sitting on my ass, twirling my thumbs while waiting for you to come back.”

“Is that why you were late when the trickster showed up?”

“That again,” he said with a sigh. “Look, do you think that woman was the only one? Before you got into that horrid bathhouse, I pacified two others.”

I had a nagging feeling that would be the case. “All sent by that Fletcher guy?”

“Indeed.”

“Who is it anyway?”

“Seeker, leader of the company, Bringers of Light. One of the more decent ones in the city, actually.”

“So, why attack me,” I said, quickly adding, “I know because Deckard pissed him off, but...”

“There is a rivalry between them, and just because I said they are more decent than others doesn’t mean they don’t indulge in underhanded ways. Either way, it’s your mentor’s problem, his mess to resolve, and strangely enough, we found common ground in that. For all I know, he should already be working on getting this issue taken care of.”

“Oh...” I hope he doesn’t kill anyone because of me. There was already blood on my hands, and I simply wasn’t sure if I could bear more. Trying not to think about it too much, I decided to ask Sah about what he had mentioned several times already. “Is that bathhouse that bad? No mold, it was clean.”

“If that’s what is enough for you, then no. But in my books, it’s no different from the stables.”

“T-that’s a pretty harsh assessment.”

“Is it? The mostly wooden building, relatively clean tubs of water. True, it isn’t the same. In stables, they take better care of the safety of their animals. Surprisingly, even the run-down inn you’re staying in has decent security: basic stuff but more than one would expect from such an establishment.”

My guess was that he was talking about enchantments and runes, things I hadn’t been able to sense yet. If I didn’t see them carved on the wall, it was as if they didn’t exist for me. Then an intriguing thought crossed my mind. What would the innkeeper Byron say to such an assessment from an Imperial Agent?

Should I mention it to him? Hmm...

“So, from your perspective, it’s more about safety than the state of the bathhouse?”

“Oh, come on. Sure, it only cost you 30 coppers, but have you seen other public baths? For one silver you get a bathtub where you can regulate the water temperature as you like, plus soap, a clean towel, and above all, your own private room. Not to mention the place itself. In my books, that should be the basis. That is unless you want to be treated like an animal. Look, Grey. That bathhouse doesn’t even offer something like that for two silvers. That says a lot.”

“You checked?”

He shrugged as if that was a given. “I need to know and see what places you visit.”

When he said ‘see’, something clicked in my brain, and I turned red. He saw me completely naked, didn’t he?

“Are you okay, Grey?”

Damn him for his keen perception. However, as embarrassing as it was, I knew it would eat at me until I asked. “You’ve seen it all, haven’t you? All of me?”

He looked at me blankly for a moment before the realization hit him. Sah’s eyes widened, he looked me over, and then he met my gaze with an amused smile plastered on his face. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen worse.”

The fuck?! Unable to keep from looking down at my body, wondering what was so wrong with me, I showed my displeasure by growling. “Is it the mutations?”

He chuckled. “Do you really want to know?”

That gave me pause. Did I? “Yeah, I do.”

“Fine, have it your way. It’s not your hairy ass, tail, or wings. I have nothing against fluffy terran ladies. But I’m a simple guy who fancies women with a proper rack,” Sah said, eyeing my humble bosom. “Is that enough of an answer?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied, not knowing how to feel about it. Or what to think of it, for that matter. Was he telling the truth? Did he, an Imperial Agent, reveal stuff about himself so easily? Well, it wouldn’t be weird if he was lying. Or telling the truth and hoping I’d think he was lying.

True or not, it didn’t matter in the end. I knew where I stood with regard to my bosom. While it would be a lie to say that the size of my boobs didn’t bother me at all, the fact that he didn’t find my mutations disgusting was surprisingly quite gratifying.

My chest was also the last topic of our conversation, aside from reminding me to consider staying in a better inn and frequenting more refined bathhouses. That last one was a given, in light of what he told me and the rather bloody and painful experience I had in the last one. The accommodation? Not so much.

It wasn’t without a good deal of thought, but I came to the decision that staying in the barracks wasn’t in my interest. Sure, it would be safe, or at least safer. No doubt the Imperial Chief Healer would approve, and it would save a lot of people from stressing about my safety. At the very least, it would save me a few worries and add to a more restful sleep.

But there was a rub. It would get me closer to the City Guards, right under their watch. While having nothing against them themselves, it was only one step away from becoming a full-fledged guardswoman. Something I wanted to avoid in the first place and one of the reasons I became Deckard’s apprentice.

Lord Wigram greatly improved my opinion of the Sahal Empire. That was the truth. Yet my distrust went deeper than I thought. There was still this fear in me that I was going to end up back in a lab somewhere, never to be heard again. Simply, this concern did not allow me to get too close to the Empire, even if it was unfair to both the City Guards and Lord Wigram.

And so, determined to keep relying on myself, I spent the night again at the Broken Mug inn.