“I don’t think we have been introduced. Hello, Brian Derral Anderson. My name is Johnathan Alexander. I have a job for you. Don’t worry, it is easy.” Stated the baron’s son.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person. My name is Micky.” Stated Micky.

“No, according to our census you name is Brian, I guess you go by Micky? A nickname then.” Stated Johnathan.

“Wait, so, my name is actually Brian?” Asked Micky.

“That’s what your parents put on the census.” Stated Johnathan.

Micky broke down in tears. “All these years… I didn’t think I would get my name back.” Micky said. His parents didn’t have records of his name. These were kept in census, but only the rich and powerful wasted paper on frivolous things like a family tree. These could obviously be kept in memory by word of mouth… Except when people forget them. It’s how Micky’s nickname, a name that had nothing to do with him, became his name.

“Thank you, thank you… I, I never knew...” Micky stated.

The baron’s son, Jonathan didn’t know what to say. He was slightly exasperated, and this was not how he expected this conversation to go. He didn’t know how to handle this. He had been trained in high pressure negotiations, torture tactics, being tortured, hostile sitiations of all kinds, assassination attempts, even how to handle a person that has gone insane, not to mention [Heroes]. A person shedding tears of joy in thanks… was not something he was ever trained for, especially not in a situation like this.

After Micky finished breaking down in tears, and Johnathan gave him some awkward pats on the shoulder Micky was able to gain control of himself again.

“Thank you, thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break down like that. It’s just that all this time, I didn’t know. All because of one charismatic jackass. And then things snowballed out of control and...” Micky said and then sighed. “I’m sorry and thank you.” Said Micky.

“It’s ok, and just call me John I guess.” Stated John.

“Haha, yeah, John. Ok, I can do that. You said you had a job?” Said Micky.

“Yes, I need you do deliver something. No, don’t look at me like that. No it is just some wine, regular wine. Or well, really expensive wine, but only above a certain standard. Then, just sell the wine. Here is a list of preferred places to take the wine for a price, or just take it to the first shop and be done. It doesn’t matter.” Said John.

Micky looked at him strangely. “How is this something you can’t do yourself?” He asked.

“While the origin isn’t strange, it isn’t stolen. I simply cannot be seen delivering it. That’s all there is to it. No, it is just ordinary, if expensive wine. It isn’t the origin or the wine that is the problem, it is me having a connection to it.” Stated John.

“Alright, I’ll do it. I do owe you a favor I guess.” Micky said.

“Alright then, we have a deal!” Said John. He reached out his hand and Micky shook it.

Micky was given the list and the cart. He was instructed to take it through the business low roads as there would be no one that would enforce the rules against such things on the business roads. While security was generally worse, or at least more mercenary, on the low roads, it was still at least reasonably secure. Just take some guards and he should be safe from the bandits, as it wasn’t really expensive enough to attract their attention. Just stay away from the caravans that they would be attractive and he should be fine.

Of course, if a group, even a caravan does venture too close he shouldn’t feel it is too aggressive to threaten or even attack them. It isn’t uncommon to be robbed, just unlikely as the business road is heavily patroled by mercs more than happy to bring home a few extra heads for pay. That being said, money attracts thieves, and they would be more than happy to lighten your load starting at your shoulders and working their way down.

After the meeting with the baron’s son the rest of the day was uneventful. And by that, Micky spent the rest of the day keeping his head down. It didn’t matter if he saw someone being bullied or beaten. There wasn’t much he could do. Though he did occasionally stealthily give buffs to the one that was being beaten, so long as he wasn’t noticed about it. Many of his buffs were noticeable, but a few had relatively minor effects. He wouldn’t buff heroes though, he didn’t want to mess with the hero or the villain of a [Tale]. That would simply make him fodder in the [Tale] to feed the strength of others. It was no wonder that [Hero]es always watched the watchers, since the watchers were kept away by the heroes themselves.

The other people he stayed away from were those that were clearly a part of an entourage. Technically he was loosely a part of Jimmy’s entourage. However, he was not a part of the ‘kid’s games’ yet. He was ‘hired’ by the counts, this meant he was playing at a higher level at the moment, and the kids didn’t have the clout to get involved. This meant he was safe, if a bit isolated from these games. However, if he did get involved, it wouldn’t take long. And they were each trying to build up gangs, even allowing yourself to be forced into a situation is enough. They were quickly being press ganged into becoming lackeys. Worse, there were no lines, count’s lackeys fought duke’s lackeys fought baron’s lackeys. The only things keeping him from these press gangs was his insoler situation. For how long this lasted, Micky couldn’t know.

Micky hoped that by the time he was involved, he would be able to meet up with Jimmy again. These gangs could be killer, especially for him in a literal sense. If he was press ganged into the wrong entourage he could be set ‘against’ Jimmy. If that happened, even if only in public opinion, and it wasn’t on Jimmy’s own orders, Micky would be [Dead] before his still warm body could hit the floor. He had no doubt the counts would make him [Dead] as [Dead] could be… Or maybe worse, the power at the fingertips of the true nobility could not be underestimated.

Micky finished school without incident though. He then decided to see what he could do about getting Mags her tags. With her Prin and Pepperoni he would have no problems guarding some barrels of wine. Or rather, it was about the right amount for such inventory. Aside from that, Micky needed to figure out how to navigate school society. Afterall, if he does this wrong, it ends in a beating, if he does it worse, it ends in death, and worse than that and well, there are worse things than [Dead]. It seemed pretty important to make sure that he does not mess up. Something that many of his fellow classmates have already fallen prey too.

Even Maymay may have already fallen victim. She has become friends with a group of girls that were very into agriculture and cultivation. A group of elves even! However, Micky had to warn her off, as their political views could literally get them all killed. For the other girls it just meant beatings and or social suicide, for them, they were involved in the bigger game. Micky had to make sure that he didn’t step onto their parents toes while they were still playing kids games.

Maymay had originally told Micky off. How could he think he could tell her what to do, to tell her who her friends could be!... It didn’t end so well for her almost instantly as she realized that they were already planning on using her to become a puppet to create spirit trees for longbow production. Worse, they did not even want a spirit forest as that would prevent the elves, almost half spirits themselves, from having free agency amongst the trees. Spirit queens are revered in elven society after all. No, she would simply become a spirit protector of an arboretum and tree farm for spirit trees. Not even a spirit woods. A glorified farmer.

But, Micky’s advice made her realize the poisoned monster blood in the sap. She was still ‘friends’ with the girls and the click, but she realized she would not like to follow their political views, as they already set out to enslave her… And to think, School has just started!