Achilles jumped in shock, nearly falling down the last couple of stairs.

The butler, Lanter, stood at the bottom, looking very irritated, as he had before.

Achilles swore he hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“Yes, it was great. Thank you.” Achilles paused. “Did you sneak into the bathroom and put these new clothes there?”

The butler’s expression didn’t change. His voice remained perfectly level. “Young master, I do not sneak. But I provided the service for you, yes. I did my utmost not to disturb you. Do you have any needs or requests before dinner?”

Achilles shook his head.

So his suspicions were correct. The butler was using some kind of power against him. However, Achilles could not see any system elements on the butler. He appeared to be an ordinary human, and yet he could teleport or turn invisible or something similar.

It seemed there was far more about the world that Achilles still didn’t understand.

“I don’t need anything,” he said. “The clothes are great. Thank you. I had the weird impression you didn’t like me, so I’m happy to see I’m wrong.”

Lanter glowered at him down his pointy nose. “My feelings and perceptions are meaningless, young master. It is my duty to assist the master of the house and his guests in every way, and I would not be so petty as to let my feelings interfere with this duty.”

The butler pivoted on his heel and walked briskly away.

Achilles followed him into the dining room.

It was a vast chamber with a brilliant silver chandelier hanging from a vaulted ceiling. It appeared there were magical white lights in each place where there should have been a candle in the chandelier, and Achilles was in awe of them.

There was a long table of gleaming wood underneath this chandelier, and there were two chairs set up, one at each of the long ends.

A roaring fire crackled against the back wall, filling the room with a delightful scent, warmth, and red glow.

Sir Azarah already sat in one of the two chairs, his back to the fire. He had an empty silver goblet before him, but no food yet. “Please, sit!” he said.

Achilles walked to the other chair, which was of carved wood, then pulled it out and sat down.

The softest cushion he had ever felt lay upon it, and he worried that amid the warmth and comfort, he might fall asleep! There was a silver goblet in front of his seat, but was also empty.

Just as Achilles was wondering where the butler had gone, he saw a twitch of motion over Sir Azarah’s right shoulder, and then the knight picked up his glass and drank deeply from it!

Achilles was very surprised, and to his astonishment, he found that his own cup was full of rich, dark plum wine. With hesitation, he picked it up and took a sip.

It was the most delicious thing that had ever passed his lips.

But, as his stomach was very empty from days in a coma, just that one sip of wine made his head spin, and Achilles put the cup down so he would not get immediately drunk.

Moments after Achilles sat down, servants burst through the doors on both sides of the room, carrying platters and bowls of various delicacies.

There was roast piglet, baked fish, stuffed chicken, fluffy rice and steaming noodles, six different sauces, crackling pork dumplings and buns studded with sesame seeds.

Along with the wine, there was crisp, refreshing cider and sweet, creamy milk.

As soon as their plates were heaped full of food, Achilles picked up his fork and speared a bite of fish—

The butler coughed condescendingly in his ear, and Achilles jumped.

Achilles whirled around to confront the butler, who was glancing meaningfully at Sir Azarah.

Confused, Achilles realized the knight had clasped his hands together and bowed his head.

Oh, he was asking the gods to bless their meal!

Achilles had never cared much for praying or the other ways of the gods, but he knew that the Imperial Knights, since they got some of their power from the gods, were very pious in some ways.

To be polite, he imitated Sir Azarah’s pose until the knight raised his head and ate from his own plate.

By now, the butler had disappeared. Achilles felt increasingly frustrated that he could not identify whatever it was Virgil seemed to think he should recognize.

But his irritation quickly fell away as Achilles gorged himself on the food before him.

He only realized once he first began to eat that he was hungrier than he had ever been in his life.

Perhaps that had something to do with getting his class, besides starving for so many days!

Though Achilles worried he was being rude by eating so quickly, Sir Azarah did not seem to mind.

Eventually, they finished eating, and the butler served them each a cup of rich coffee.

However, this time, Achilles thought he saw something!

Lanter had given his master coffee first, and Achilles had seen the pattern by now. He knew the butler would appear only a moment later to give him his coffee, so he looked over his right shoulder to wait for the butler to appear.

To his astonishment, he saw Lanter walking at a normal pace from the wall toward him—

And he had a system element visible!

His class was Butler. No surprise there.

However, his level, and even his basic racial traits as human, were hidden. Very peculiar.

The butler seemed shocked that Achilles had stared at him, but he did not let this keep him from approaching and placing the coffee down.

“How dare you humiliate me like this!” Lanter muttered in an almost imperceptible voice. “It is impossible for me to believe you are her child…”

Then he backed away and stood against the wall again, and Achilles had to turn and listen to his host, for Sir Azarah was speaking to him from across the table.

“I’m very sorry for the hasty nature of all this. I’ve actually received some particular information this evening, information which means we can’t have the conversation I wanted to have. That is, I don’t think even this room is as private as I need it to be. We’ll need to talk further tomorrow morning… yes, tomorrow morning. I believe everything should be fine by then.”

Achilles had no idea what to make of this. Would it be rude for him to ask for clarification?

The knight continued. “However, there are a couple of matters we can discuss now. First, you called the sword Virgil. Why’s that?”

Achilles shrugged. “That’s what he said his name is.”

“Interesting,” the knight said. “The eldritch blade told none of us his name. At least, he never told me, and anyone except for me or your father would have certainly shared any information about it. I wonder if he told your father.”

Achilles remained silent. He had no idea.

“Well,” said the knight, “that isn’t very important. But it gives me an idea of some further research I must do. Achilles, what do you know of system elements?”

“Virgil shows them to me. It lets me see whether somebody has a class, and what level they are, as well as their racial traits.”

The knight nodded. “Everyone in this world is bound by the system. It’s a secret from most commoners that was only discovered back when wizards learned how to pull creatures from other worlds. Dwarves and elves in their own worlds are aware of their systems, but for some reason, humans aren’t aware of theirs. Not until they have awakened a class. Once they have, a human can see their own system elements, to a limited extent. Most humans can’t see other people’s. That’s a unique ability you have, Achilles. I find it very interesting.”

Then, suddenly, the knight stood from his seat. “Well, good night! Sleep well, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Achilles was astounded. “I know you said just now that we can’t have our private conversation, but that’s the only thing we have to talk about now?”

The knight adjusted his tunic. “Well, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

But Achilles was overwhelmed by the giant meal he’d just eaten. They’d talk tomorrow, anyway. “I suppose not,” he said. “Thank you very much for the meal. It was by far the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

Sir Azarah looked sad for a moment. “You once ate like this all the time. That was when you were very young, when you and your father and mother lived in the capital. That was also when I lived in the capital, come to think of it.”

He sighed. “Not anymore. But to then, imperial politics are a very boring subject, especially after dinner. Sleep well, my guest. I need to leave and do errands tonight, but Lanter will take care of anything you need.”

Achilles rose from his own chair and made his way upstairs, each footfall heavier than the last, as he was overcome with sleepiness.

He told Virgil about the conversation, and the sword seemed amused.

The bed was a million times softer and warmer than the one he’d had in the village. Achilles fell into a deep sleep.

Then, near midnight, he was awakened by an unmistakable crashing noise from downstairs.