While heading back to the inn, Drelt clung tightly to Victor with enough excitement that even his lack of words didn’t hinder the meaning behind his actions. The smile on his face and the closeness that he was forcing upon his owner was more than enough to make up for the lack of spoken words in the moment.

After a fair amount of time passed, Victor forced some space between the two of them so he could continue moving without being hindered.

“Don’t be too happy yet,” Victor warned, “I don’t know for sure this will work and if it doesn’t I doubt I can afford to help you. I’ll do my best but I can’t do anything if this isn’t enough…… I just can't afford it.”

Letting go of Victor, Drelt started to fumble into his pouch and pulled out all the coins he had on him, and tried to give them to Victor. His eyes were serious as he looked at the man who saved him from the mines and was working hard to save him from the poison.

It was true that Drelt had done a lot of the work in order to learn the knowledge that he was going to be given, but at the same time, he admitted he put a lot more effort into it than he might have because of the fact that it was in his best interest. Was it really something praiseworthy if you only worked extra hard when it was to help you alone or was it more greedy to take someone's effort just for your own good, even if it was offered instead of asked for?

Even though Drelt was a name that he had taken at the behest of Victor. It was nothing like his real name, but it was one that he was liking more with each passing day. If he heard it said or thought about it, it meant something to him.

Drelt represented possibilities.

It was life.

It was possible freedom.

It was serving someone who wouldn’t abuse him.

It was safety.

Most of all, it was belonging in a way he never felt as far back as he could remember.

As he tried to give the coins to his owner, Victor pushed his hand back and smirked.

“If this was all it took we would be fine. Keep that because if this works you’ll want it. Or get yourself something you want. Spoil yourself a little.”

Drelt put the money back into his pouch and looked over at Victor, listening to his words.

“We need to get some food in case the others haven’t gotten themselves dinner yet. Actually, let's check if they ate yet or not first. If you want to spend some of that, get yourself a treat or maybe something you want like some clothes or something.”

In Drelts’ eyes, his master had become a savior. He wasn’t all-powerful or all-knowing but he was a savior. Someone who actually cared for something like him.

Mentally, Drelt reprimanded himself for that thought.

His master had said on many occasions that he was someone and not something. It wasn’t what he had heard during his time as a slave, so he was still getting used to it. The same way he was being treated was already better than he had even dreamed of.

Enough food and even sweet food sometimes. A warm place to sleep, even if it wasn’t a bed like master had, that had both blankets and pillows. No beatings or insults.

In a life full of hardships where he had always remembered being a slave, Drelt told himself that he would do anything for this man.

He couldn’t imagine a life without his master anymore and didn’t want to, but he knew what his master ultimately wanted for him and it hurt in another way he couldn’t fully explain.

Dorun and Alena had both already eaten by the time Victor returned with Drelt. Deciding that he didn’t want to go out and buy the food himself, he gave the pair some money and told them to get some food and they could keep the change. This was mostly because he wanted to make up for them paying for their own meals when he considered it his job as their owner to pay for and provide it for them.

Once the pair were gone, Victor took out his books to see what he could offer. He thought that his computer programming book was not something he should give up for now, but that math or accounting might not be viable. His recreational books, however, were something he didn’t want to give up either and he cursed himself for not telling them to get some paper and the local writing tools.

He could use his own writing tools, but he didn’t want to risk Elioce asking where they came from.

“I’m going to go out for a bit. You can eat when they get back, I’ll get something while I’m out.”

Drelt looked at Victor and nodded his head once before sitting on the bed to wait.

While he had left most of his money in the inn, Victor had brought enough with him, he hoped, for the paper and writing supplies that he wanted. In truth, he had more than he thought he needed, but better to overestimate expenses was his mindset.

Wandering around a bit, Victor unsurprisingly found himself lost. He didn’t recognize the buildings and the setting sun was no help to him. He found some shops, but most of them were already starting to shut down for the day as the sun was beginning to set.

Victor recalled that a lot of the shops would start to close when the sun was setting, with the exception of the richer part of town. He believed that it was because in those areas people would activate the magical equivalent of lamp posts, either by enchantments or a magic user putting a light spell in them.

For some reason, he imagined the days where some people were paid to set up and light candles in the street lamps at night.

Making a mental note to ask how long spells like that could last he thought how people would marvel at his flashlight, but that’s one reason he didn’t want to bring it with him. The possibility of theft was too easy to imagine.

After a bit, Victor heard someone calling out. It was a general call that barely drew his attention.

Looking at the source of the sound he saw between two buildings, where trash seemed to accumulate, were two people trying to call him over.

Victor’s eyes went over both of the shadowed figures quickly. He noticed that they both looked a lot stronger than he was and he thought he saw one holding some sort of weapon behind his back.

Without taking a second to think or provide them with time to try anything, Victor ran as fast as he could. The roads and paths weren’t something he cared about as he heard someone yell to get him.

Since he didn’t recognize them, Victor assumed this was a mugging or a robbery that could be happening, possibly because he wandered into a dangerous area.

Victor didn’t think anyone in this capital had a reason to try to kill him. At least he hoped not. The only ones he could think of as, maybe, wanting to do so couldn’t find him, he told himself.

Not only had he come here mostly on another person's whim, the last two places he had been he went to because of other people's instructions, help, or force depending on how it was seen.

If he had no plans on where he was going to end up so far then he couldn’t imagine that anyone else would be able to find him that easily….. Unless it was magic. Some sort of discovery magic? If there was a magic that could bring him from earth to this world then surely there was some sort of geographic tracking magic that existed, he started to speculate.

Regardless of who the figures were, Victor wanted to get away fast.

Because of this, he did what he had planned for in case he ever got mugged, but never got to use until now. He used a decoy money pouch. Grabbing a pouch from his belt he chucked it into the first alleyway he ran past.

“You want my money go get it,” Victor said loudly as he ran past the alley his decoy money pouch now rested filled with stone and wood scraps that were leftover from crafting the games.

Luckily the distraction had gotten his pursuers to go into the alleyway, but unluckily he had gotten himself even more lost.

Despite this fact he kept going until he had made four turns, or maybe six, or maybe more. He had lost track as he kept taking turns randomly and going straight a few times he could have turned.

Eventually, he found himself between two large buildings, leaning against a wall that was behind one of them and let out a groan as he allowed himself to slide down into a sitting position. His adrenaline was still pumping, but he didn’t want to get lost any worse than he already was.

With his back to the wall behind the building, he looked up and stretched out his legs, the roads wide enough for carts to go through meant he had plenty of room.

While the stars weren’t as bright as he had seen on his travels to the capital, mostly because many houses had windows with lights of some sort, it was dramatically brighter than at home.

As Victor looked at the stars he started to create his own constellations with what he was able to see as he let his body and mind recover.

Slandon the scorpion slayer, the caged juggler, and Pyro the drinker of fire were all he was able to create when he heard another voice from across the roadway.

“This road is for deliveries not for sleeping. If you wish to sleep return home or find an inn, but you mustn’t sleep here unless you wish to risk a cart hitting you.”

Victor began to stand and laugh a bit as he looked at the figure standing in the doorway. He noticed the door seemed larger than one normally would be as he spoke.

“Sorry I was running and then I needed to catch my breath and I was looking at the stars and,” before he could finish his thought he realized where he knew this voice.

“Wait you’re the elf that works for that um… Xelebre lady right? Oh great, I know where I am.”

Victor was speaking with a lot more excitement than one who saw a landmark to direct them home normally would, or at least more than he normally would as he walked up to the door.

“What’s the fastest way to get to the front of the building? I think I can get home from there.”

The elf woman looked at Victor and told him, bluntly, to wait a moment and she would be right back.

She closed the door loudly and the light that was seen through the window faded away.

Unsure of why she had left but told him to stay, Victor patted his pouch for a moment out of concern that he might have accidentally thrown his real money pouch instead of the decoy, but it wasn’t long before he felt relief as he realized that wasn’t the case.

Considering ignoring the elf's request and going back towards the inn, Victor thought it would be rude to not at least see why he was asked to stay, but he couldn't help wish that he had something to do to pass the time. Perhaps one of those five-minute games that he had on his phone before it lost its charge or even one of his books. Instead, he just started to bring various things into his card and then into his hand before putting them back.

He thought of it as being on the same level as fidgeting with a pen or pencil, except with the added bonus of getting him more comfortable with his cards, although as he did so he started to think that something felt a little off. Taking both of the cards out he looked at them. Card number two had a rock in it that he had picked up. It was nothing special and was just labeled as ‘small rock’ on the card.

The first card which was the card that looked to have a bit more life to it and had lost the small bar on its right side that was visible, still completely empty, on the second one. There was nothing there, at least not as it was any other time he had looked at it.

Stiffening magic. Those were the words written on the label, but there was nothing pictured except some swirling effect that almost glowed in a way that didn’t disturb the darkness that filled the night.

Before Victor could reach out to touch the face of the card with his free hand or try to think about what this meant, the door opened and Xelebre stood in it.

On one side stood the elf who had apparently gone to get her and on the other side was a beastk…. Or wait was it a gnoll? Taking a moment to look he saw that the other figure had thinner hair than the gnoll and didn’t seem to have the frame like the gnoll he had seen earlier.

A beastkin of some sort at least, even if it was harder to tell in the darkness, especially with the paint stuck in his fur and what looked like dust clinging to his body.

“Victor…. I see you are without your slaves at the moment. What brings you to the rear entrance of our establishment at this time?”

Xelebre seemed to speak in a much more calm tone than she had previously, but Victor thought he noticed something. He couldn’t place what, but he thought her voice seemed to have a slight hesitation behind it. Or was it excitement? Maybe annoyance?

Regardless of which it was, Victor wasn’t able to pick it out from those two sentences.

“Well,” Victor said with a slow start, “I didn’t plan to come here. I was looking for some paper and something to write with for a… letter and since Dre... my slave hadn’t eaten yet I thought I’d let him take the rest of the day off and I’d get it myself.”

From there he started to explain how things went with the assumed mugging attempt, the fact he had gotten lost, and how he was just glad to know where he was so he could get back to the inn, albeit without the paper that he had wanted.

Victor, once again leaning back against the wall, watched as the three people in the oversized door spoke to each other. Only about a minute passed when the elf looked at him while the other two went inside.

“You will come inside. If you haven’t had your late-day meal I will have something provided to you and if you have, just a snack and drink will be provided.”

Unsure why things were going like this, Victor heard a bit of what was being said between the two others as they went on ahead while he followed the elf.

“get ___ some ________________”

“___ noble? _______ like ___”

“_____. ____________ a middle”

“does _______? ____ never _____ of”

“_____ exactly ____ I ______ stay ____”

Victor couldn’t understand what they were trying to say enough to make any assumptions.

As he walked his mind lingered to the stiffening magic and about how, if it did as he thought it would, it would likely help him escape if he needed to. While he hoped there would be no need the run here had him a bit more on edge.

His idea was to cast it on someone's clothing, but he had never used magic before and wasn’t sure if there was some aiming trick or if it worked differently within his cards. If it was ranged or touch based was another question that he had. There was even a great temptation that he felt to use the spell now, but he wasn’t sure how long it would last or if he could take it back in and use it once it was used like he could with items.

As he thought about how he had gotten the spell, he had found himself seated in what looked like some sort of mix of a sitting room and dining area that was located just at the top of the stairs he had been brought up.

“Do you wish for a meal or a snack?”

Victor looked at the elf woman. Wondering why she was still here so late his eyes quickly went towards the left ear and he found that there was no earring upon it. She wasn’t a slave, but perhaps she was some sort of paid housekeeper? This building was part workspace, part showroom or museum, and part home so it made sense that it might be the case.

“I haven’t really had much to eat, but I should go. I have food waiting for me at the inn with my sl…”

Victor found his latter words ignored as the elf left him alone while going into the kitchen area. He could only slightly hear what she was doing.

There was some cutting, but it was a variety of different speeds and different impacts were noticed. A slight sizzle was heard before a bit more cutting, and eventually what sounded like various pieces of wood hitting other wood was heard.

It hadn’t been long since the elf left Victor alone at the table he had found himself sitting at, but she was already returning with a meal.

The best way he could describe the meal was that it was a salad. Sure it didn’t look how he was used to but it was obvious what it was.

A vegetable that he had seen very similar to cabbage looked to be the bulk of it with the slight purpling around the edges where they had been cut. There were some fruit pieces and a mix of other vegetables as well and a light drizzle of something on top. In its center was some cooked meat, four strips placed overtop each other in the shape of an X and some cheese broken upon it.

To drink he had been brought a pitcher of something that, when poured, he saw was providing just the smallest amount of a mist that reminded him when he would open a fresh can of soda.

“You didn’t have to do this for me.”

Setting the wooden tray before him, the elf made sure the tableware and mug were ready for him, all wood except for the metal mug.

“I was asked to help you as a guest of the house. I expect you will eat unless you don’t think my efforts have any merit.”

With those words, more out of guilt than desire, Victor was about to eat the meal given to him. He only stopped when he thought about another time he was alone in a person’s home like this. A time where he soon found himself packed away in a box and under the eyes of a group of people who he still had concerns about.

Because of those thoughts, he stabbed the salad, doing his best to get some of everything onto the fork and held it out.

“I’ll gladly eat, but it would be rude for me to eat alone. I’ll have some after you take the first bite. A bit to drink too.”

With the fork held out in her direction the elf gave Victor a look that he thought was one step shy of an eye roll. Despite this, she took the fork that was extended and ate from it before pouring herself a bit of the juice and drinking it.

Once the cup and fork had been set down she left the room quietly and ignored the calls that he said after her as he tried to figure out the reaction he had gotten.

Once on the main floor, the elf turned a corner just as she reached the bottom of the stairs and met her employers.

“He had me taste the food and drink I provided to him.”

Xelebre hit Zaldujen upside the head.

“I fucking told you. Do you know anyone who isn’t a noble who will ask other people to eat the food provided to him before trying it? It’s probably why he has slaves despite whatever is going on in his life. It might even be why he keeps the one who is missing an eye and fingers around unless that’s the one he uses as comfort.”

Zaldujen looked at Xelebre and then towards the stairs as the elf walked away to go to her room for the night.

“Why would he come here? I’ve never even heard of this Atkins family name before. Besides if he was a noble why would he not have his slave out with him now? It isn’t unheard of for people to have a last name if they aren't noble.”

“Who knows,” Xelebre exclaimed as quietly as she could, “Nobles are an odd lot and people using last names are massively rich even if they aren’t noble on some level. Even then they usually use the name of how they got their money or gained fame like hydrabane or the flamefist clan.”

“Besides…”

Zaldujen looked at Xelebra a moment before speaking up, “Besides what Xel?”

“If Blaze is telling me the truth the paper I gave him was already dispelled of my magic when he got it.”

The beastkin's eyes grew large as he looked towards the stairs, “Did they take a long time to get to him? That could be it.”

“No,” Xelebre explained, “It seems they went right there and the stiffening magic was gone already. Even if they worked at it the whole time naturally it should have only been slightly loosened. That spell can last, even when I'm not feeling well, half the length between the mid morning and midday bell. It was gone.”

“He might have just not thought anything about it,” Zaldujen argued, “He wasn’t expecting you to have a delivery after all.”

Xelebre approached him and hit him with every few syllables she said.

“He said that it was dropped and he saw the slave fold it in half. Fold it. It had to have had the magic removed entirely. We want to get on his good side so we are going to have him enjoy his meal and offer to let him spend the night. Understood?”

Zaldujen was blocking the onslaught of light blows upon him as he admitted defeat and agreed to her plan.

“Fine, but we don’t even know anything about him. What if he doesn’t like beastkin's or other non human races.”

Taking the first steps up the stairs, Xelebre looked back, “Then we will show him why they should be liked. Or are you saying he’s right and you’re a beast like people claimed back when we were kids?”

The pair stared at each other in silence for a long moment before she turned again and walked up the stairs, forcing him to follow.

After finishing the salad, which was good despite being a bit bitter, Victor looked around the room wondering if he could just leave. He had heard a fair amount of talking down the stairs, but he was only about to make out the general tone of it and not any of the words.

It seemed to be a pretty casual conversation between two people. Although he did notice Xelebre at one point had a slightly raised voice.

Had the elf given him something in the meal that she wasn’t supposed to? Was there a complaint about the delivery he had done the day prior? Or maybe they had done something to him and he didn’t notice.

If the food had something wrong with it there were always ways to deal with it. A cure prior to or after ingesting it or possibly just purging. In this case, the last option sounded best.

He started to think about his body while trying to think if anything felt off, but before he could discover any oddities, he was no longer alone in the room. Xelebre had sat at the table with him, followed soon after by the beastkin he assumed to be Zaldujen.

“You finished it all. Esen’no is always good at making meals with whatever we have around. At least as long as she only needs to feed one person. A great talent to have in your staff when you’re too busy to deal with proper meals too often.”

The beastkin eventually sat down, after lingering for a while, next to Xelebre as he spoke, “If not for her we would probably just eat a chunk of bread and cheese every day for every meal.”

Scratching the back of his head a little, Victor looked at the pair wondering how he could politely excuse himself and go back to the inn.

“I can understand that. Until recently I’ve been too busy to even think about cooking a proper meal. I haven’t had anyone to cook for me though so I just sort of wasted money hitting quick food places that happen to be nearby.”

Xelebre smiled a bit and, Victor noticed, lightly hit the beastkin next to her.

While neither of them spoke for a moment, eventually Xelebre broke the silence.

“So how are you liking your time in the capital? I imagine you’re from quite far away with a last name like Atkins. Is there some meaning behind such a name?”

Looking slightly towards the stairway, Victor gave a half hearted shrug, “I’m sure there is, but it’s just been part of the family so long I honestly never really cared about it. Only my friend Adam really cared about his last name and that’s just because it was the same as his favorite actor.”

Zaldujin scratched at the back of his hand a bit as he looked at Victor.

“So you must enjoy going to plays if you are able to know those who act in them by name. Tell me what sort of stories draw your devotion the most?”

Victor found himself about to say fantasy stories but stopped himself. With the sort of world he was in he wasn’t sure what they might consider to be fantasy.

“Anything with interesting enough characters that aren’t too dry. I, for example, hate romantic comedy stories, but if the characters are compelling enough I can enjoy it despite the usual content not being something I would enjoy. I told an ex-girlfriend about how I can tell a story is good if I liked it despite hating the genre or topic.”

Victor paused for a moment, “Well maybe not good, but if someone hates something and still finds something enjoyable in it, doesn’t it mean something is good about it?”

“Yup," Zaldujen confirmed, "It means you liked it.”

Somehow that short phrase silenced the room as if the beastkin had cast some sort of spell upon it.

Before much time had passed Zaldujen decided to speak up again.

“There are going to be a lot of shows and more coming up before too long. The summer tournament is going to be starting. It’s a good place for the strong to prove themselves, the lucky to win bets in the brackets, and the foolish to realize how badly they overestimated themselves.”

“That’s nice,” Victor replied slowly as he edged to the side of his chair, “But I think I should head back to my inn. I’m sure the slaves will worry about me if I don’t return soon and I guess I’ll have to deal with the paper tomorrow.”

“What for?”

The beastkin didn’t seem to be as verbose as Xelebre had been with Victor. He was glad because while he didn’t mind when someone was overly talkative, he didn’t like when it was something that everyone around him had in common.

“Well, I wanted to do some quick writing before tomorrow. I have a meeting with someone who wants to check on something and I need to write it out since I am supposed to meet her with Drelt tomorrow.”

“She has plans later if I remember right, so I want to have it already written before I show up so I don’t have to write and talk at the same time.”

Once Victor had finished speaking, Xelebre stood up and went just out of sight as she said something about waiting while she checked on something.

While she was gone Victor tried to hold a conversation with Zaldujen, but it seemed harder than having one with Xelebre.

It felt like while she was someone who could talk at a nearly endless rate, he was someone who barely spoke at all in comparison. He imagined that was why the two of them worked and lived together so easily. That and possibly….

“So are you two just dating or are you married already?”

Zaldujen extended one claw from a finger and lightly traced along his cheek.

“Neither. This is a common question from those who don’t know us, but we’re nearly family.”

“I was taken in by her parents shortly after mine were killed while on the farm. I still don’t know who did it, but it was likely a group based on how much the farm was plundered.”

From there a small back and forth conversation was exchanged between the two young men. Victor told about how he had managed to save a farm woman from someone and how things went there.

Victor did exaggerate and lie a bit, mostly to hide his card's existence. He tried to stick to the truth of the events as much as he could and explained that a lot of his success was luck. Only while he was talking did he realize that he never got the chance to go back and see if there was any bounty or reward waiting for him tooreturn.

Before they could get off the topic, Xelebre returned with a small stack of colored papers that didn’t match each other and a quill with ink.

Victor wasn’t sure what to say, but that wasn’t a problem as Xelebre spoke before he could have the chance.

“We often get requests for doing different posters and such and end up with excess scraps of paper. I don’t have proper paper if you want that, but if you’re in that much of a rush I’m sure whoever you’re meeting with will accept it if you explain the situation you were in.”

Taking the stack of paper that he was offered, Victor flipped through them and noticed that many had small rips, creases, and the occasional bit of writing or a doodle already on them. He wasn’t about to complain at the help he was being offered so he simply smiled.

“Thanks, I can just go and write stuff back at the Inn so I think I’ll head back if you don’t mind. Can you point me to the front door?”

Zaldujen stood and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs, but Xelebre put a hand on Victor’s shoulder.

“Why not just stay here tonight? We got a guest room that’s better than a lot of inns you could stay in and then you can just write it all here and now. I’ll send Aiwen to tell your slaves what’s going on so they don’t worry.”

On one side of him, Victor saw the beastkin. To the best of his ability to read a less humanoid face filled with semi sharp teeth, he thought the man looked a bit perturbed.

Meanwhile, his other side had a woman who appeared to have many idiosyncrasies from her fashion alone. She appeared more like she was roseate even without comparing her to the beastkin.

“I would like to stay, but not tonight. I need to get to the meeting right away and I have to bring Drelt with me because it well…… it doesn’t matter. It’s just after what all he has gone through I don’t want to make him wait for me in the morning.”

As he took a few steps towards Zaldujen, Victor turned back towards Xelebre, “If you let me bring at least some of my slaves I might accept your offer if you still offer it later, but I don’t want to leave them all alone at night.”

“I guess you could say I’ve gotten accustomed to having someone else around me now.”

Xalabre watched Victor leave while her brother walked him out.

She couldn’t help but feel more confident that Victor was a noble of some sort as she observed him. The minor details in his words and actions made her more certain, but one big part made her feel more confident.

When her brother returned the pair sat back at the table and she couldn't help but smirk.

“That story he told you. Did you notice anything wrong with it?”

Zaldujen thought for a moment, “He said he used a spear, but it looked like he was carrying a sword with him.”

Xelebre smacked one of her hands against the other in his direction, “That’s what you get from it that’s odd? Where were his slaves in the story?”

She waited for him to think for a moment before continuing.

“With how fast he left and how he ran from a mugging does he seem the type to actually fight? No, he must be using his slaves to fight. He probably told you the story of what the slave of his did. Think, does he seem like someone who can use any weapon well enough to surprise someone unless they are the most simplistic novice?”

“He likely is used to taking credit for things. A slave can’t contradict the owner if there are orders. From a slave's point of view, it is expected that the owner is always in the right unless royals or nobility orders otherwise.”

“He was in a rush to get out of here to his slaves. Even rich merchants aren’t that attached to the slaves they have. He was likely raised without much of his parents' attention or too much of it. If he got none then the slaves he lived with became like his family. If he was used to family interactions non-stop he is using them to fill in the gap while he is forced away from them.”

“I still don’t see it,” Zaldujen countered, “He didn’t look at me like I’m beneath him. Even if they are polite, I don’t think I’ve seen any noble look at me and not get the feeling they thought they were my better.”

Xelebre hit him on the arm harder than before, “Well maybe you need to open your eyes. Only a fool wouldn’t see that he isn’t like us.”

A short moment lingered before she cried out, “Oh fuck, I wanted to ask him about that middle name!”