The road back was fairly quiet. In fact, it was almost too quiet, to the point where I was absolutely certain that DreAn and some of his buddies were going to waylay us. It would make sense, since we’d publicly humiliated him. Moreover, we’d had the gall to be Summoned while doing it. I was sure that DreAn would be seething, and the information Maximoff gave me didn’t put me at ease: He was a man known to keep grudges. One thing I’d learned in my years was that either I could tie up loose ends myself, or I could find them becoming a noose around my neck. A blacksmith known to keep grudges who despised Summoned? He may as well have worn a sign that proclaimed he was going to turn me into the Queen’s Guard based on some fabricated reason or create trouble for me in some other way.

Even so, nothing interrupted us on the way back from the Market. A part of me wondered why that was: It wasn’t a particularly well guarded road and even though there was plenty of traffic, surely an enterprising bandit could have found a dark nook or cranny to practice from? Perhaps the Market road was one of the universally agreed upon “Safe” locations: Not quite a Safe House, but certainly the kind of place where practicing banditry or thievery would have outsize consequences. After all, the Merchants wouldn’t want their customers to be stopped midway through or arrive at the market with their pockets pre-emptied. Well, it was just a theory; Maybe we’d gotten extraordinarily lucky.

My primary concern wasn’t bandits. Now that I knew that Kel could, somewhat, influence people’s decisions, I was far less worried about things like banditry. Even if we were outnumbered, we’d have at least one extra person our side. Moreover, the confusion caused by one of their comrades switching sides would surely be to our benefit. The only downside was that I still didn’t have any of my skills back. It would be nice to get at least the basics, like Unarmed Combat, back. I’d really need to explore the newly updated System properly and see if there was something I could do to get some of my enhanced skills back. Maybe they were hidden quest rewards? Maybe something else?

Aside from worrying about my much reduced skillset, my other concern was Ellem. She was carrying a fairly large bag filled with our Dinner, but hadn’t really been talkative since the confrontation with DreAn. It was possible that she was just hungry, but I suspected that being spat on had something to do with it too.

“Will you kill him?” Ellem broke my reverie. She really, really knew how to get to the point, and was staring at me intensely. “Is that what you asked the barkeep?”

“Why would you think that?”

I mean, there were many, many reasons to do it. He was dangerous, he hated us both, he knew what we looked like, he had a lot of decent armor and weaponry that would be useful for Baldric, Chanak and Ellem…and he’d insulted both Ellem and me. It would be easier to list the reasons not to kill him, which really just boiled down to “Killing is bad.” I’d gotten over that little hiccup a long, long time ago. I didn’t kill indiscriminately or anything, but I also didn’t want to take silly chances when someone clearly had it in for me.

“Because he insulted me, and you seem to think I need protecting.”

Her tone was caustic. I didn’t really think of Ellem as someone who needed protecting per se, but also not as someone who could be left to her own devices. She was clearly talented, and had a natural affinity for smithing and crafting. But she also had no memory, which meant that she needed someone around to help her navigate the world.

“I do not!” I protested hotly. “I simply think he’s dangerous, and getting rid of him sooner rather than later will save us trouble down the road.”

“Do you not think that we could persuade him of the error of his ways?”

“Maybe. We could maybe do that. Do you know what I can definitely do?”

“Kill him?”

“Yes.”

It always came down to the same question: What was the easiest path to my goal? For the moment, my goal was finding the creator of Isekai Hero and figuring out how to get myself out of this System. The easiest way to do that was to help Aastor and work within Isekai Hero, learning more and more about the System and coming up with a more concrete plan. Aastor’s plan was to topple the Queen and somehow break Summoning Magic on Excelsia, which sounded fine and dandy, because honestly, this entire world needed to burn. I’d seen systematized slavery before, but never on this scale, and Excelsia should have to pay for it. In order to accomplish that goal, I needed to keep a low profile and not have random angry citizens reporting me to the authorities or trying to assassinate me in the middle of the night. DreAn had made himself into a problem, and I would have to eliminate the problem. Ellem’s personality was pragmatic, but there was a lot about this situation she simply didn’t have the context for, and it wasn’t my place to tell her. If she was going to be disgruntled about it, well, so be it.

“Okay then.” Ellem nodded, and continued walking.

Surprising. Always surprising, how quickly Ellem took things in stride.

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Wait, you aren’t going to try to convince me of the error of my ways?”

At this, she did snort.

“Would that work, Mr. Blanc? I do not have my memories, and therefore I have little experience to draw from.” She looked a little pensive. “I can analyze metalwork and craftwork with ease. But I do not have the know-how to dictate strategy or make decisions of life and death. I shall simply have to believe you.”

“Doesn’t this conflict with your morals in any way?”

“Does it conflict with yours?”

“Not for a long time.”

“Well then, I shall not stop you. I cannot, and given the kindness you and Lady Fay have shown me, I would not.” Another nod, and she continued walking, picking up the pace. “Let us hurry back, however. I do not know when Lady Fay and the Archmagus dine, but I suspect we do not have the time to dally.”

***

In actuality, we made it back with a fair amount of time to spare. As we hurried through the Manor doors, I was greeted by Chanak and Baldric, both of whom looked confused, and a tiny bit petulant.

“Fay says you mind controlled us.” Chanak greeted me with an accusation, which I thought was rather unfair. What happened to a good old-fashioned “Hello”?

“I must say, most distressing! Baldric chimed in behind him. “A man’s mind is his fortress, Mr. Blanc! I thought you would know that!”

Dammit Fay! I know we’re not on the best terms, but maybe ratting me out to my understaff isn’t a good idea. How would you like it if one of your Drakul friends told me the secret to your immortality?

“Chanak. Baldric. Listen to me.” I had to come up with something, anything, as quick as I could. “If I truly intended to mind control you, why would I let you make these accusations right now? In fact, why would I ever stop mind controlling you?”

“Because Kel likely isn’t powerful enough for that.” Chanak countered, seemingly unfazed by the question. Baldric just nodded. More and more, he was losing his assertiveness and becoming somewhat of a lackey. Well, whatever it took to stop him from talking.

“Okay, yes. But if it’s any consolation, I didn’t intend to take over your minds.” Kel had woken up, and peered out of my pocket. Good timing, girl! Show them how adorable you are! “It was completely by accident, and I did promise Fay I wouldn’t do it again.”

To be specific, I’d promised Fay I wouldn’t target her again, but thinking it through, I’d decided to extend that promise to everyone else for the foreseeable future. Fay had been able to block Kel’s mind magic somehow, and I didn’t know how to make the magic work well enough to actually ensure that she was successful. Maybe Chanak and Baldric were just extraordinarily weak. Or maybe they weren’t weak, but Kel’s success had been entirely by fluke. One way or the other, I needed to experiment a bit more, and likely start with something much smaller. Animals, perhaps, or bugs. Not people, and certainly not ancient Drakul.

I could only thank my stars that I hadn’t tried anything on Aastor. I’d probably be a pile of dung or something similar by now.

Chanak and Baldric looked suspicious of my promise, however. There wasn’t much I could say to get them on side, so perhaps this was a lost cause for the moment.

“If it helps at all, Mr. Blanc did show great restraint at the Market.” Ellem, with the save! She stepped in upon noticing just how little faith Chanak and Baldric had in me. “A rather rude Blacksmith decided to torment us, and Mr. Blanc did not use his Spark….or kill the man.”

“Oh, he didn’t kill a man? Wow!” The sarcasm was evident in Chanak’s tone. “Incredible! The very thought of not killing someone and not invading their mind is unheard of!”

“Yes, well, you do not need to be quite so…asinine about it.” Ellem’s face was still neutral, but her tone was one of amusement. “Not all of us have the same restraint as Mr. Blanc. Me, for example.”

“Hah! Please, my dear. You, of all people, would not-“ Baldric was about to laugh at the mere thought that Ellem would hurt someone, before stopping. Ellem was glaring at him, steel in her eyes.

“Perhaps you have forgotten, but I no longer have any experiential memory. Which means that you do not know what I will, or will not, do.”

“R-Right. Yes, of course! Feminism, and equal opportunity to be a serial killer, of course! Splendid!”

As Baldric stumbled over his words, the slow realization that his bandit troupe had fallen apart entirely was dawning upon him. Chanak, meanwhile, just looked sad. From what little I’d seen of Ellem, she hadn’t been particularly violent. Maybe she was simply teasing Baldric, or maybe not. Or maybe I was a bad influence. Before things could escalate, however, I decided to use Business at Hand to redirect the conversation to something a lot more important.

“Now, I do have a small request. A trifling chore, if you will.” I paused for impact. “Does anyone know how to set the table for Dinner? Because I most certainly do not.”

Baldric, Chanak and Ellem all looked a little confused, just for a split second, as though a haze was passing over them. Once their confusion cleared, Chanak and Ellem continued to look bewildered.

“Why would we not simply eat with our hands?” Ellem asked, genuinely curious. “I admit, an eating surface would be nice, but Miss Maximoff has packed everything in large tureens and bowls for us. We could simply eat with 0ur hands.”

“I mean, just put everything on the table, and hand out forks. How hard could it be?” Chanak was equally confused. “I’m sure there’s utensils somewhere in this giant house.”

Kel?

Chirrup?

We’re doomed.

CHIRRUP!

Yes, of course I’m kidding. Not really doomed. But slightly.

“Ahem.”

“Yes, Baldric?”

“We shall need a Charger, Dinner Plates, Soup bowls, bread plates, napkins, a dinner fork and knife, a soup spoon, a butter knife, a dessert spoon, a water glass and three wine glasses. Now, do we have all of those?” Baldric looked immensely proud of himself for rattling everything off.

I think I might have preferred being doomed. Glumly, I shrugged at Baldric.

“Probably. But I’m not completely sure. We’ll need to take a look at the kitchen.”

“None of that will be in the kitchen, Sir!” Baldric looked aghast. “We must hurry, towards the supply cabinets! Quickly, comrades, for we have no time lose.”

God, I hate when Baldric is in charge of stuff.