“I think it’s a bad idea,” Gen said. “I know you don’t really believe it.”

“That’s why I’m doing this”. Dallion took a deep breath. He didn’t like what he was doing one bit, but it had to be done.

It had taken him most of the evening to come up with the device—a means to see whether someone was a copyette or not without arousing suspicion. It had also taken him twice as long to construct it, which is why he had done so in his awakened realm. Now, once he was pleased with the result, Dallion had only to build it. The catch was he had to do so without anyone knowing, and that included Euryale.

Technically, the chances of her being the copyette were close to none. He had used the kaleidervisto on her back in her workshop. However, back then, he was focusing on searching for echoes rather than paying attention to the color of her silhouette. The same could be said for Hannah. This time he had to be sure, and that meant checking everyone from another world, as well as everyone at the Gremlin’s Timepiece, and this time he was going to be careful.

“Nil, how does it look?” Dallion turned to the old echo.

“Crude and shoddy.” Nill approached and bent down to take a better look at the device. It was slightly larger than the box Eury had constructed, shaped like something between a vase and a bowl. “It’s bound to work. Are you sure about this, dear boy? There are risks involved, and I’m not only talking about what might happen during the breakfast party you’re organizing.”

“I know.” Dallion paused for a few moments, then linked his realm to the kaleidervisto.

Considering the artefact was pretty much a dungeon world, Dallion expected it to take the form of a trapdoor, or a celler or some kind. Instead, the complete opposite happened. In one of the empty rooms, a winding stairway emerged, going up through the ceiling. The steps led to an observatory, allowing Dallion to look at the rest of his realm. At present, there was nothing but a lot of mountains and a bit of sea, visible around where the harpsisword’s tower had formed. That pretty much confirmed that all linked items were present in the realm in some weird way. Size was the only thing that remained elusive—the library, the arena, as well as the forge were nowhere to be seen, hidden somewhere within the mountains.

“Lux,” Dallion said. “Welcome to your new home. You’ll be the light in the lighthouse.”

The firebird popped into the air next to him with a happy chirp, then started flying all over the inside of the observatory, getting familiar with its new domain. Now, everything was set for the event. The only thing that remained was to invite the participants… as well as buy a lot of mirrors.

Preparations finalized, Dallion went to sleep. The first thing he did next morning—after letting Veil and Gloria know about the event—was to go to the guild and start inviting people.

Estezol was more than happy to go, especially when he had heard who’d be cooking at the event. Even more, he had used his tricks to find and invite quite a lot of people on Dallion’s list—not only Janna and Kallan, but also their parents, all of the elites that had been on Dallion’s sanitation job… with the exception of Spike, as well as Adzorg. The only people who weren’t invited were Grunt, who had politely refused, as well March and Falkner, who couldn’t be reached.

March, Dallion expected, but he was somewhat surprised about Falkner. Apparently, the boy had been scarce at the guild ever since he had passed his gate trial. More than likely his father had insisted on training with the echoes inside Falkner’s realm, instead of him wasting time “being in a guild.” With nobles one never knew.

“You can try to ask him in person,” Estezol said. “You’ll have to go to the noble’s quarter, but given the importance of the event, I don’t expect there’d be any issues.”

“They’ll let me go there just like that?” Dallion asked, surprised.

“But of course.” The short man smiled. “As long as it’s an awakened matter, nobles like to keep in the loop. There’s always the chance that in ten years you join their ranks. The nobility is very keen on getting acquainted with new players, and passing the third gate is something that definitely gets noticed.”

That’s part of life, dear boy, Nil said. Now that you’re able to see, you can also be seen and believe me, the nobility is always looking, even in a backwater town such as this.

There was something to look forward to… Once Dallion dealt with his copyette problem, he’d have to take a crash course on history and politics. If everyone was keeping an eye on him, as Nil suggested, it would be good to know who “everyone” was.

“I’ll do that. Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Estezol smiled. “So, tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk with Hannah to have everything ready at about nine.”

“Great!” Dallion waved, then rushed out of the building.

At least he’s full of enthusiasm.

That’s because he always likes to find an excuse to eat Aspan’s food. You see, Estezol is the guild’s little glutton. It’s not that he eats a lot, but he has a weakness for fine cuisine, as he would put it. That’s one of the reasons he’s stuck with administrative duties.

You mean he can do anything besides that? Dallion couldn’t help himself.

Possibly. At this point, we’ll never find out. One day he stopped improving or going on jobs. That was way before he came to the guild, mind you. And before you ask, that happened quite a while ago, much longer than the supposed date that the copyette escaped.

Although Dallion wanted to believe it, a sneaking suspicion remained. Maybe it was a good thing that he was going to be checked, after all.

Going to the noble’s sector turned out to be far easier than Dallion imagined. Not a single guard made an effort to stop him as he went into the neighborhood. In fact, Dallion approached one of the city guards, asking for directions where to find Falkner’s house. One mention of the noble’s name—and that it concerned an awakened matter—and he was quickly pointed in the direction. If anything, it was the butler at the house that seemed far more suspicious of him, asking questions, checking answers, though even he didn’t look down on Dallion. For the first time since he was here, Dallion started seeing the significance of a person’s level. Back when he was recruited for the chainling hunt, the Dame couldn’t even speak with him directly, having the soldiers convey any compliments. Now, three gates later, Dallion was almost viewed as a potential noble. People remained reserved, but the disdain of before was gone.

It took minutes for Falkner to appear at the door. One look and Dallion could already tell that the boy had gone though a significant amount of training, potentially more than he himself had gone though.

“Hey,” Falkner said, slightly short on breath.

“Hey, yourself.” Dallion smiled. “Working hard, I see?”

“Huh? Oh, just the daily routine. I’m combining real and realm training for better effect.”

Apparently, Vend hadn’t come up with the method himself. If nobles were using it, that had a lot to say regarding its efficiency.

“Cool. Which level are you at?”

“Twelve,” Falkner replied. “I need to go steady. No help until I get to the next gate.”

“Oh?”

“I know.” Falkner looked to the side. “It’s a family thing. I must only rely on my own strength to deal with my flaws. I can get advice and training, but the trials must be passed by me alone.”

Dallion could see that Falkner disapproved. Having entered double digit territory apparently had made him slightly rebellious, though with an echo of his father in his realm, that was difficult to achieve.

You can learn a thing or two from him, dear boy, Nil didn’t miss the opportunity to remind Dallion. He hasn’t taken any short cuts.

“I heard you passed your third gate,” Falkner continued. “Congrats.”

Suddenly Dallion caught a glimpse of an emotion he hadn’t seen before. There was the standard grain of admiration, but there was also speck of jealousy. That was slightly alarming, especially since Dallion didn’t have the skill to discern what sort of jealousy it was. If the boy was envious of Dallion passing the third gate so soon after he had passed the second, that was somewhat concerning. If, however, it was related to Gloria, then Dallion was in serious trouble. He knew from experience denying any romantic connection would only make things worse, confirming it in Falkner’s mind.

“News sure travels fast,” Dallion laughed. “Actually, that’s why I’m here. I’m having a small celebration. Mostly people from the guild and a few others. I’d like you to come as well.”

There was a long moment of silence. Falkner looked Dallion in the eyes, then away again.

Don’t worry, he’s just having a conversation with his father, Nil said. I’ve seen this many times.

Is that a good thing?

That, dear boy, is something that you’ll eventually find out.

“It’s just a breakfast thing,” Dallion added. “The Luors will be there, of course. When we’re done, we’ll go directly to the guild to check on available jobs.”

“I won’t be doing jobs until after the festival.” Falkner’s voice was sharper than Dallion had hoped.

“Sure. I’d still like you to come. You’re probably the first person from the guild I met.”

The last sentence melted the jealousy and reluctance in Falkner away.

“Okay,” the boy said quietly. “What time?”

“Tomorrow morning around nine. That okay for you?”

“Sure.”

“It’ll just be a small thing. No need to come all dressed or such… I really don’t know what the proper etiquette is, so there will be none. We’ll just be there to have some food, some drink, and a lot of laughs. Just like a party.”

A smile appeared on Falkner’s face.

“I’ll be there. Sorry, but I must get back to training.”

“I know, I know. The echoes in our realms never sleep. Thanks, Falkner. See you tomorrow.”

With a nod, Falkner closed the door. Dallion stood there for a few seconds longer. The conversation had gone better than he had expected, although it had brought a new problem to light. What if the copyette had already replaced a noble? Supposedly, the Overseer was making sure that didn’t happen, but how much could she be trusted? She was a chainling—or something similar—after all. Even tamed, there was always doubt that she would close her eyes when someone of a similar nature was concerned. Or maybe she had some link with the Star? The relations between deities were starting to get quite complicated, especially when they involved mortals.

Nil, how close will the nobles be from the arena during the festival? Dallion asked.

Close enough to get a good view. Why? What do you have in mind?

If we don’t find the copyette at the breakfast party—

Which is pretty much a given… the echo mumbled while Dallion was talking.

—I’ll do the same thing at the arena. What part of the crowd will that let me see?

A few dozen rows. The nobles certainly, but as for most people behind, I’d say not. However, in order to do that, you’ll have to win your way to the actual round, and that means defeating some of the actually good contestants. Given that there’s still time, I say you have a fifty-fifty chance at best.

Fifty… Dallion repeated. Considering what was on stake, he didn’t like those odds one bit. After the breakfast was over, he was going to have a chat with Falkner… the one in Dallion’s awakening realm.