“I told you your disguise sucks,” Kendra whispered to me when Particia left.

“What nonsense. She didn’t recognize me,” I replied.

“But she was staring at you!”

“That is because I am handsome. Who wouldn’t stare at me?”

“If not for the fact that your disguise failed, then it’s because your entire get-up is just ridiculous!” Kendra pointed out.

“What’s wrong?” Asha interjected. She tilted her head slightly towards the side, and the flaming crown atop her head swayed, causing her death commissioner escorts to dodge by reflex. Luckily, the flames were as harmless as ghosts trying to punch anyone or else the entire museum would’ve been part of another museum’s ‘great places which was burnt down by accident’ collection.

“Nothing. We were just talking about how spiffy I look. Let’s get back to the tour,” I replied.

Asha turned to our spectral tour guide and nodded her head. The near-invisible ghost continued the tour, describing the museum pieces with a cheerful voice as we followed. The museum was a historical one, housing many artifacts from a bygone era.

My era, that is.

“And here is a type of old Western Continent doll uncovered close to Gravia. Archeologists suspected that the doll was sold all over the Continent almost a thousand years ago. The body that was found with the doll was resurrected, and she seemed to support this theory,” a voice boomed from behind us when we stopped in front of a half-torn doll on a pedestal.

“That’s an ugly doll. Why would anyone want to buy it?” Kendra commented.

“They say that the doll was popular precisely because it was ugly,” the tour guide replied.

“I can’t believe that,” Kendra said.

“Sounds about right,” I agreed.

“What? It’s true?”

I shrugged and the group continued. The tour guide brought us to a slab of rock with a line of inscription engraved onto it. “This was found in a cave almost a thousand and five hundred years ago. Archeologists found this inscription high up on the cave walls and couldn’t decipher its meaning, so it was brought back to Gravia. Up to this day, nobody knows what it means.”

I leaned forward and realized that it was an older regional dialect of Commons-... Ancient Commons.

“How high was it when it was found?” Asha asked.

“Your Highness, it was about 12 skels high,” the spectre replied.

“Oh, I’ll need to convert it from skels to hectate to republican to Western and finally to Angolian,” Asha sighed.

While the group talked, I quietly deciphered the inscription. It had been a long time since I had seen the language, and this particular dialect wasn’t that widespread by the time I was born. With that said, I needed to scramble across the endless library of languages that is my brain to find the answers I needed.

Now, let’s see here…

If I take that root word here, translate it to that…

Finally, I would get the word’s radical and remove it...

And the end result would be…

...

‘This is quite high.’

Indeed.

“And that’s the end of the tour! From here, you’re free to roam. Be sure to check the souvenir shop for the limited edition High Commissioner action figure!” the spectre said then disappeared.

“High Commissioner action figures? I should get one,” I muttered then noticed Asha was approaching me.

“Uncle, next week, I’m going to check out the undying flame in Gravia. It’s apparently atop a statue called the Liberty Statue. Want to join me? It’ll be on the fifth day of the week.”

“Let me check my schedule. What’s on next week, secretary?” I asked Kendra.

“I’m not your- Ugh.” Kendra took out a scroll and unfolded it. “Next week, you have a speech rally and a debate with one of the candidates.”

“Which one is held on the fifth day of the week?”

“Let’s see… the debate one.”

Asha sighed and gave me a sad smile. “Looks like you’re busy on that day, Uncle. You-”

“Cancel that one.” I waved my hand.

“Wait, wait, wait. You can’t just cancel the debate. It’ll be like calling it quits against that candidate!” Kendra pointed out loudly as she raised her schedule scroll for me to see. “Look! It’s against Terebnis, and he's the stronger opponent of the two!”

“Bah. You complain too much. I’m already missing that priestess girl Whats-Her-Name. She would quietly agree with whatever I say most of the time.”

“Inez,” Kendra corrected me. “Oh yeah, why couldn’t we bring her with us?”

“Gravia and Aon refuse to open diplomatic relations. Inez is one of the most important people to the Path of Light, so…”

“She was?”

“Yes.”

“Either way, I don’t want to be anywhere near her anyway…” Kendra scratched her head and shook her head. “Back on the topic, what about the debate?”

I snapped my finger and said, “I’ll just get Daggerless to disguise as me. It’s perfect!”

“It’s not-...Whatever. I give up. I’d like to see that undying flame or whatever they claim it to be,” Kendra sighed.

*

*

*

I felt someone shaking me up. I opened my eyes slowly, only to find total darkness. It took some time to adjust, but I managed to see the silhouette of the person who woke me up. It was round. Very round, in fact. With a lot of spiky edges on the top. Could this even be a person?

“Zore? Zor? What’s your name again? I forgot,” a familiar voice spoke to me.

“Zoweer,” I replied, half-asleep.

“Hmpf. 'Tis hard to remember that name, unlike my beautiful and handsome name.”

“Mister Vakasa?” I asked.

“Indeed. ‘Tis I, the one and only Vakasa of the Darkness. Judging from our situation, we’re in a bit of trouble here.”

Mister Vakasa’s outline pointed towards something and my hand followed. Judging from what I could feel, there was a cold mirror-like wall surrounding us from every direction. With despair, I retracted my hand and sensed a creeping chill crawling up my spine.

“We’re… trapped?” I gulped.

“Hmpf. Trapped? Nay. I, Vakasa of the Darkness, believe that we’ve been kidnapped and put into this magical box.”

“Kidnapped?!” I exclaimed. The last thing I remembered was that Mister Vakasa and I went to the Education Bureau to get them to support Mister Boss for the elections. After greeting a few spectres, we were led into a room and my vision faded. “They must’ve used magic on us to put us to sleep.”

“No, they thwacked me on the head with a club.”

“W-Why?!”

“I, Vakasa of the Darkness, blessed by the divine bloodline of the Magical God Effther and the Chaos God Arcosiu, am blessed with an immunity to the corruption aether known as magic!”

“T-Those gods sound dangerous!”

“Wait, are those gods real here?”

“I’ve never heard of them before…” I muttered.

“Good. Anyway, we’ve been kidnapped, so let’s-”

Mister Vakasa was interrupted when a door slammed open. Light flooded into the room from the doorway, outlining a tall and thin person. The person’s features were hard to see as if he had no face, but the aura he was exuding just screamed confidence and flair. “You’ve indeed been kidnapped! Unfortunately for me, I was hoping that I would be sitting in the chair when you woke up. Alas, my calculations were off.”

The person floated towards the center of the room and sat down on a rotating chair. He slowly turned his chair towards us and leaned forward. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, but do you know who I am?!” Vakasa exclaimed with confidence. He tried to stand up, but ended up banging his head against the top of the magical cage.

The mysterious stranger went silent and folded his hands together. “S-Should I know who you are?”

Mister Vakasa quickly recovered and proclaimed, “I am Vakasa of the Darkness, Dark Prince of the High Space Empire! Son of-”

“Ah, so no one important. Goooooood. But there is someone else important here,” the stranger interrupted and faced me. “You must be Boss’ right-hand. I’ve attended your speeches, you know? Your way with words is simply masterful, elegant, and brilliant. Like drinking tea that was brewed to perfection.”

“R-Really?”

The person nodded slowly and rested his back against his chair. “I was almost convinced to vote for Boss. What a terrifying power. But I can see that Boss is careless, like a sheep among a group of treacherous lycans. Woe fall upon those who seek not the dangers, but the treasures at the end of the path.”

“What a truly profound phrase,” Mister Vakasa nodded sagely. “Like a flower blooming on a ground of dirty mud.”

“Yes. I am glad you can see wisdom in my words, similar to how a student would listen to their master, not letting the words to pass through their ears carelessly.”

“Ho, fu fu. Your limitless-”

I coughed loudly and interjected, “U-Um, excuse me. Can we move on? Who are you?”

“Oh.” The stranger sat upright and introduced himself, “My name is Terebnis Gloomus Darkius. Senator Terebnis Gloomus Darkius.”

“Y-You’re one of Boss’ opponents?!” I exclaimed.

Terebnis placed a hand on his forehead and slowly pushed it upwards as he said, “The one and only.”

“There’s another opponent other than you,” I pointed out.

“We don’t care about the little puppy known as Particia. She’s misguided, but soon, she will know the errors of her ways.”

Mister Vakasa chuckled and said, “But whose ways are wrong, Senator? Perhaps the ways presented to us are all wrong.”

“Ah, but who said that the paths are all set in stone? I only need to carve a new way, and others... to follow.”

Mister Vakasa clicked his tongue and told me, “This guy’s good.”

“I-I don’t know what you mean…” I whimpered.

“Senator Terebnis Gloomus Darkius!” Mister Vakasa moved close to the edge, almost touching the glass-like wall. “Might I, Vakasa of the Darkness, get a glimpse into the reason why you kidnapped us?!”

“Very well, Vakasa of the Darkness. I, Terebnis Gloomus Darkius, perpetuated a plan which involves a plan which could perhaps shudder the very foundations of the annals of history and-”

I coughed and interrupted. “S-Sorry, sir. But is it possible to get a shorthand?”

Mister Vakasa and Terebnis glared at me. Even in the dark, I could feel a sense of doom coming from the both of them. However, the senator relented and said, “I want to use you against Boss. Defeat him even before the election starts. In the upcoming debate, I want him to forfeit.”

I gulped and groaned as I clutched my stomach.

I am so sorry Mister Boss! I’ve caused trouble for you!

“Peh. Knowing that ancient fossil, he wouldn’t have wanted to debate with you anyway. His plans are beyond our understanding,” Mister Vakasa snarked with a shrug.

“What?! No! It should be my plans which are beyond anyone’s understanding!” Terebnis got up from his chair and stood up angrily. “Tell me, Vakasa of the Darkness, why wouldn’t Boss get a chance to debate with me?!”

“Hmf. You shan’t get any answers for free. My, Vakasa of the Darkness’, wisdom is worth its weight in divine gold.”

Terebnis sat down and slapped his knees… or I think he did. I could see his movements but I didn’t hear any sound. “Very well, Vakasa of the Darkness! I shall employ the darkest and most insidious of methods to extract information from you!”

“Torturing me, Vakasa of the Darkness, will yield nothing for I have been trained by Special Forces to resist interrogation!”

“Then we shall see whose skills and arts are superior!” Terebnis declared and left the room, leaving us in darkness once more.

“I hope he doesn’t torture me…” Mister Vakasa whimpered.

“It-It’ll be fine, Mister Vakasa! I’ll try to get us out!” I said. I tried to feel the mana in the air and failed. It seemed that the box prevented the use of magic.

Does that mean I have no choice but to use my true powers?

“Foolish!” Just as I was about to tap into my powers, Mister Vakasa laughed. “You help me, Vakasa of the Darkness?! Unlikely! Behold!”

Mister Vakasa held his flabby arms out and tapped into the glassy wall. With only a poke, he effortly broke the magical barrier. “Senator Terebnis Gloomus Darkius thought that barrier was enough to stop me, Vakasa of the Darkness, but none can contain the unstoppable force known as me, Vakasa of the Darkness! They shall pay for underestimating me, Vakasa of the Darkness, Holder of the Chaos Wrath, Eater of-”

“M-Mister Vakasa, instead of shouting, mayhaps we can start escaping now?”

“Ah, good idea.”