Hannah crossed her arms.

“Alright, what did you do this time?”

From her perspective, less than a moment had passed. In that single instant, however, successfully managed to brave another series of flaws, earning him a new level. Three more remained at the next gate. Regardless, Dallion didn’t feel he had the strength to keep pushing on just yet. A few days or rest sounded good right about now.

“Oh.” The innkeeper narrowed her eyes. “I see… Well, if you had to, you had to.” Hannah’s voice was calm, but Dallion’s music skills told him that she disapproved. Next time, he was going to take the ten extra minutes and improve in his room. “What did you pick?”

“Huh?” Dallion blinked.

“Your awakening focus,” the innkeeper said. “You have to pick one with each level.”

“Oh, right. Perception.”

At the moment, Dallion went back to his original plan of increasing his perception as high as possible. With him learning forging in the near future—probably months, considering how thorough Eury was with her training—he’d be relying on it quite a lot. Having a low reaction was starting to irk him, though. Sooner rather than later, Dallion would have to put a few points there as well. It was funny how originally he had started with a huge bonus in that area, allowing him to make fast decisions. Back when Dallion was level one, having six on a stat seemed unimaginably strong. Now, his reaction was at ten and it seemed pitiful.

“Aspan will be pleased for one.” Hannah glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen door. “He’s always complaining that we’re wasting his talents. At least with you there’s hope that your palette will be good enough at some point.”

“His food is always great, I’ll give him that.”

Dallion focused back on his meal. Hannah gave him a few pieces of advice, most of which he had already heard before, then, too, went elsewhere to deal with administrative things. That left Dallion completely alone in the empty room.

Come to think about it, that was somewhat unusual, since customers could enter at any time. Having a supernatural entity such as the overseer that monitored the entire city helped a lot to prevent potential crimes.

Finishing his meal, Dallion went to the kitchen. Nine times out of ten, Aspan would be either snoozing there, or shouting and cursing—usually when engaging in a conversation with Hannah. This time, when he saw Dallion, the man quickly reached behind a stack of fruit and took out a finely arranged bowl of fruit. At first glance, it seemed like a common fruit salad that a person could make in a few minutes. The aroma coming from it told an entirely different story. The fruit wasn’t just cut up and assembled, they had been boiled in a unique combination of spices.

Dallion felt his mouth water. Hunger tempted him to take the bowl instantly; instinct made him look over his shoulder just to make sure that Hannah hadn’t returned.

“You won’t get in trouble for this, right?” Dallion asked.

The cook crossed his arms, giving him the well-known “you gotta be kidding” glance. Deciding to risk it, Dallion went ahead and took a bite from the top piece. Normally, the fruit could be described in taste and texture as an apricot. There was no telling what Aspan had done to it, because what his taste buds felt was definitely something different. Sweet and sour mashed together with a touch of peppermint and the faint aftertaste of chocolate.

Ever since he’d come into this world, the lack of sugar products—chocolates in particular. And yet, Aspan had somehow managed to recreate that on his own. Now Dallion understood what Hannah meant when she said that Aspan’s skills were undervalued. Given his skills, he probably felt like a world-renowned chef having to work in a fast-food joint.

No sooner had Dallion started eating than the bowl was empty. He could have sworn that he’d only taken a few bites, and yet reality disagreed with him. Eager for a bit more, Dallion tried to music his way into a second serving, but the only thing he got was a hearty laugh and a pat on the back.

What can you do? Gen asked. Such is life. At least you got to taste the real thing.

Yeah… Dallion thought, then left the kitchen, pondering how come there were no awakened culinary skills. Could it be that was one of the remaining hidden skills? From a practical perspective, that would be quite a loss, but after tasting what he just had, Dallion would consider it worthwhile.

“I’ll be going to Performer’s Plaza,” Dallion said as he went into his room. “Will you be okay?”

A few notes from the harpsisword indicated that she would.

Be sure to have fun, the armadil shield said. And don’t do anything reckless.

“I know, I know.” Dallion smiled, as he went to get his ring chords. Bringing a mandolin to the place was the normal thing to do, but then no one would pay attention. His goal was to attract as many people as possible and get them to notice the strange instrument. The reason for this was that one weird thing could be used to hide another.

It’s no longer like before, the shield said. You’re hunting things that don’t like to be hunted. There’s nothing more terrifying than being imprisoned in an item once more after getting a whiff of freedom.

“That’s sort of what I’m counting on. If I can’t find the copyette, I’ll have it come to me.”

Dallion checked the state of the ring chord, then closed the box. That and the kaleidervisto were the only things he needed. Just in case, he also had his training stiletto a Nox dagger. Of course, the stiletto was in a state that it would receive more damage than it would inflict.

Not your greatest strategic masterpiece, the shield guardian sighed. Looking at you, I fear the day you become a noble. Good thing that nobles in today’s day and age don’t lead armies. You’d be completely wiped out if you did.

“Thanks for the encouragement.” Dallion put the blocking ring round the chain Eury had given him and hung it from his heck. Naturally, he made sure to hide it from view. There was no point in tempting fate in a crowded city square. “Any other advice?”

Take someone with you. Harp and I won’t be able to help you. Ask the gorgon to come along. She’ll do it for you.

“She might, that’s why I won’t tell her,” Dallion went to the door. “Have fun while I’m gone.”

As much as Dallion put up a brave front, he knew that the shield was right. Leaving himself open like that was an invitation for trouble. The copyette could easily walk to him and stab him in the heart, then disappear in the surrounding crowd under another face. That was the thing Dallion was most worried about—stabbings. With his current stats, projectiles were becoming less and less of an issue.

March was to see the guild master, Nil said all of a sudden. It seems that the world item exploration will be delayed for a while longer.

Any reason given?

None that I could share. I can only assure you that it’s not linked with any of your troubles.

Thanks, Nil. That was something, at least.

It was roughly half an hour to the Plaza. However, Dallion had to make a long detour before that. It had been over a day since he’d gone to see Eury. Given her connection to the city guard, it was almost certain that she had heard about his recent adventure. At this point, the best solution was to tell her what had happened before she could ask. Also, there was a favor he was going to ask her… several favors, in fact, some of which she wouldn’t appreciate.

The high-pitched sound of a home-made rocket filled the air, as a single firework shot up above Nerosal, exploding in a bouquet of multicolored lights. This was the first firework Dallion had seen in this world, and yet none of the people around seemed particularly impressed. According to Nil, this was a sign that the festival was nearing, as well as a reminder that there would be an imperial present.

Since only the imperial family was allowed to use rockets and fireworks, Countess Priscord had come up with a rather ingenious way to add some flare to her festival. Officially, the fireworks display was in honor of the imperial, who by “pure chance” accepted her invitation, dragging his ass all the way to a barely significant county. For that honor, the imperial—the least important of the entire household, would be treated as the emperor himself. After all, only the emperor and his immediate family could order a fireworks display in the empire.

The scheme was absolutely brilliant. The cynical way in which Nil explained it all made it all the better to listen to.

The fireworks briefly made Dallion think of Cleric and the dame that had taken him on the chainling hunt. Knowing what he knew now about how the world—or rather the Tamin Empire—worked, Dallion could see what a privilege he had been granted. A noble of her stature would never speak to a semi-awakened in normal circumstances. The fact that she had encouraged both him and Gloria was the equivalent of a business mogul joining a game server with random strangers, then offering to hire them as part of his business empire. Maybe Gloria and veil were at a slight advantage thanks to their hair, but Dallion wasn’t.

Eury’s workshop was surprisingly packed when Dallion got there. Thankfully, they weren’t guards this time, but rather, a group of various guild-members that had come to collect their blossoming armor. Dallion was able to spot at least three emblems. The only logical assumption he could make was that he’d probably fight some of those during his preliminary rounds—only people that would battle in an awakened realm would need blossoming armor and not the real thing.

After patiently waiting outside for three quarters of an hour, the last of Eury’s clients had gone, finally letting him go inside.

“Hi, Dal,” Euryale said the instant he walked in without even turning around. “You didn’t have to wait outside, you know.”

“I thought it would be better if I let you finish your work before I came in.” Dallion made a step forward.

Already he could feel she was more than a little upset at him. This wasn’t the greeting he’d normally get, even if Dallion couldn’t hear any emotions coming from her.

Before he could say another word, the gorgon briskly turned around. She had her blocker ring on.

“You’re lucky I’m not in the habit of slapping men,” she said, shames moving furiously about her head.

“What did I—”

“Didn’t I tell you not to get involved with the mirror pool?” she grabbed him by both arms just beneath the shoulders. “Do you think this is a joke? Those people are dangerous. Even the nobles are cautious when they deal with them. And you just walk in the dragon’s gen and start making demands?”

“I—”

“Playing the gauntlet? Messing with Belaal? People have disappeared for less. And worst of all, I had to learn that from the damned city guard!”

This was the first time Dallion had heard Eury come close to swearing. Normally she was calm and composed, and almost always flirty.

On the bright side, you have proof she cares about you a lot, Gen said.

“Just because you did them a small favor doesn’t mean they feel like they owe you something. The only reason Belaal met you was to satisfy his personal curiosity. Now, you’ve gone on his list. It’ll take a lot of work to get you off it.”

This time Dallion didn’t say a word. That proved to be the right choice.

“And all for what? To go hunting for a copyette—a member of the race that nearly conquered the entire world? Please, tell me, if you manage to find it, what exactly are you going to do?”

“Point at it so everyone else can see?” Dallion said, adding some humor to his words.

The joke wasn’t even funny—or a real joke—but thanks to his music skills, that didn’t matter. Eury’s frown softened a bit. In his mind, Dallion could see her trying to balance her anger and fear with the humor he had created. The long silence suggested a stalemate.

“Idiot.” Euryale let go of him and went back to her workbench. “If there’s a way to get in trouble, you’ll find it. I might as well be going out with a hurricane.”

Dallion had no idea whether that was a compliment or not, and he had no intention of asking.

“You heard about my meeting with the overseer?” Subtly, he changed the topic.

“Who do you think told me about the mess you got yourself into? The overseer knew that you wouldn’t let things stay. The witch counted on it. Otherwise she would have just taken your kaleidervisto.”

Sneaky, Dallion thought.

“Does that mean you’ll help me?” He took a step forward. “A bit at least?”

“You beautiful idiot…” she shook her head. “The overseer knew I would. Otherwise she wouldn’t have told me all this.”

“Wow.”

“However, I’m not sure, I’ll be enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“Two members of the mirror circle were killed recently. One was a low-level grunt. The other was the fury that mugged you.”