“I’m sorry, who are you?”

The man looks at me like I’m the greatest idiot on this planet.

“Are you serious? You can’t—whatever. They know me as Robin Good.”

I snort.

“Do you think it’s funny?”

“I’m sorry, it just reminds me of—never mind. Please, go ahead.”

The man has a rugged aspect. He’s clearly in his forties, or up there. He has the dangerous glint of a seasoned killer, but also the bored gaze of a public servant.

“I’ll make it easy, Joey Luciani. Or, if you prefer, Chandler,” the man rubs his forehead. “You do realize that the only reason you are alive is because of the Vanedeni [Princess], right?”

“Well, Robin,” I say, “you do realize that this house is well warded, right? You are what, a [Rogue] of some sorts?”

“Oh, I do,” he says, slightly leaning forward. And this time, his posture is not relaxed, it’s the one of a predator ready to pounce. But just for a second. Then, he reclines back on the couch, relaxed. “I’m a mage-killer. A specialist, if you would. And yes, this place smells of so much magic that it gives me the creep. I’ve seen towers less warded. Luciani, your infamous nature is well-known. But what I’m here for is to try and understand if you can do business with the Fellows on the right terms. Otherwise, I’m taking every single one of my man out of this deal.”

“You want in on the Vanedeni action,” I say, finally completely awake. Hell, I really needed that sleep. Now, my brain is back in good shape. “You are too careful of a man to want to get in business with an unknown and dangerous quantity such as myself. You want the [Princess] business. If the woman goes back and conquers Kome, whoever helps her do so will be tremendously rich. Beyond any imagination. And not just that, they will also be a friend of Vanedenis. And not just Vanedenis, very angry and vengeful Vanedenis.”

I crack my neck. Half for the badass effect, half because they didn’t place a proper pillow under it. I’m delicate, guys. You should have watched for it. While I try to massage away the tenderness, I wait for the man to say something.

Anything.

But it takes a while before he talks again.

“You are not stupid.”

“A [Mage] kills Adriana, a DRAGON, and Appius, a soon-to-be [Archmage]. And people believe I’m an idiot?”

“You put on a very convincing act. You forgot to create an alias for yourself. And you didn’t hide this face. You associated a student with the criminal underworld and insane amounts of money. I had to run around all day to keep your identity safe. You might be a very powerful [Mage], but you are as dull as they come as a criminal.”

“I have no idea what kind of net Valarith has around the world, Robin,” I tell the guy. “The woman is a bit cuckoo if you catch my drift. But I can try and set up a meeting. I must warn you, though. Her disciple, the guy that I almost wiped the ground with, is even crazier. If you try anything funny—you know, just don’t. I don’t want to get involved when they exterminate your entire organization. You don’t mess up with Vanedenis, Robin.”

The man nods, with a lost look in the distance.

“Grandpa used to say the same thing,” the man shook his head. “I am one quarter Vanedenis, Joey Luciani. My grandpa killed his way up to the top of the criminal world. He was one of the craziest assassins in the business. [Royal Guards] tried to hunt him as they sometimes do with some of the most dangerous criminals. Do you know what he did? He started hunting for them. He would go after them at night after they had looked for him during the day. Anyone connected to his investigation got killed. He was one of the nightmares on this continent. My old man used to say that he tried so hard to become a [Hero], or even just a warrior worthy enough to help win the war. But he needed targets that weren’t Ahali.”

“Are criminals supposed to share these stories? Aren’t you supposed to be all secretive and stuff?”

“If I’m in business with an idiot like you? Not really. I want [Princess] Valarith to know that we share some of the same blood.”

“Fair enough. So, your grandpa, did they get him?”

“Who? The royals? HA! My grandpa said that he only killed strong targets because it made him level. He was a madman. He was fifty years old, and probably above level 50. Hell, some say that he was above level 60. No, the man went back to Kome to fight the Ahali. Never heard from him since. I was ten when that happened. He had married a Human here on Epretos, taught me when I was a kid. To this day, I suffered the hardest training of my life when he was around. I think I have an idea of what I’m getting in bed with.”

“Do you?”

A voice resounds in my head and, presumably, in Robin’s head as well since he’s jumping out of the couch, already disappearing among shadows.

“Levener,” I yawn looking at the man with sewn lips.

“I was listening. I noticed someone with a fairly high level coming here and triggering one of my wards.”

“One of what?” I say, narrowing my eyes.

“You want an audience with the her highness??” Levener says without moving his lips.

Suddenly, Robin is yanked out of the darkness he had disappeared in and thrown on the couch.

I look at Levener and I swear I can feel my hands itch. I really want to beat the shit out of this guy. Few people get on my nerves like this douche.

“Levener, Robin is my guest,” I growl instinctively.

“So?” he looks at me with clear contempt.

I smack my lips and smile.

“So?” I ask. “So, I will fry you alive if you do that again, how about that? You Vanedenis always go on about not offending each other and that stuff. You want to behave like a little bully, like someone from Teiko? Do that somewhere else, not under my roof.”

I see the eyes of the Vanedeni go wide. Comparing one of them to someone from Teiko is a big damn insult in their culture.

“You are ready to make good on your threat?” this time, his voice comes almost under the guise of a mental attack.

“Try me, bitch.”

As expected, [Princess] Valarith materializes between us in a second. internally, I sigh. I wanted her here, not a bloodshed. This should help with my negotiation with the Robin fella. If Valarith wants his business, she will say so. If she doesn’t, this is a show of muscle big enough to make the Fellow think twice before trying to go after me.

Oh, right. I didn’t tell Levener and I have since learned how to defend myself from proper mind reading. I wanted to mess with the man a little. I do want to shove a cactus up his ass sideways—I wasn’t faking that. But I also know that he’s a maniac, and a very powerful one.

…

It took a while for Valarith to listen to the extent of Robin’s proposal. In the meanwhile, I took another nap on the couch. Apparently, they came to some kind of agreement. It’s cool, to be honest. But whatever they were up to, I’ve got better things to take care of at the moment. The main reason I’m here is because I wanted the ‘college’ experience that I never got. But also, I’m not going through it without cheating a little. And not on tests. I don’t need that kind of cheating. No, it’s more like I need to know more about the people here, about the clasess. I’m like one of those Gary Stu characters who have way too much knowledge to make a tale enjoyable, that are way overpowered; but at the same time, they are also interesting because people empathize with them.

Isn’t that something, huh?

“These are the reports on the specific names,” Robin says with a slightly pale face. Valarith and Levener left after having the man sign a magically binding contract with blood. Blood magic, nasty stuff.

I start going through all the names and the summarized descriptions make me raise my eyebrows more than a little.

“Are you sure about this?” I say while holding up one of the files.

“The Fellows—”

“Provide, yes. I know. But how—do you know what she—whatever.”

I put down the file I was reading and take up another.

“Yeah, I saw this coming. Christ.”

Then, a few more.

As expected, the most boring one was about Adrastus.

“From the royal court, no less.”

“Son of a [Courtier], no royal blood in him,” Robin clarified. “It was easy enough to gather informations on the others. I put some of my best men on the job, considering what you are paying. We are still putting together the general profiles of every other student. The [Dean] wants a copy of those, by the way. He said he’s going to pay quite a bit of money.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll talk to him,” I say while getting the previous files in front of my eyes once again.

“Jesus, this stuff is—wow.”

“Poor bastards,” Robin shrugged. “There are more people like that than you would imagine, Luciani.”

I look upstairs, where Marcellus has been hit with a [Sleep] spell from Levener when the whole thing started taking a little too long.

“Man.”

Robin stays silent and just observes me. He has done the deal of a lifetime with the [Princess]. Plus, it’s relatively risk free. More of a gathering thing, from what I gathered.

“No shame in changing crews when the individuals don’t fit your standards,” Robin says, probably compelled to give me a piece of his mind.

I bit my lower lip with a frown.

“This is… fuck,” I swear.

“Jumping crews?” I say, while my mind switches back to the person in front of me. “What? And leave these people to rot? Not my style. Plus, they are not bad people. Just losers. Unlucky losers, it seems.”

“You like a charity case?”

“Nah, I like people who struggle. If they managed to get into the academy, they must have balls as hard as steel. Especially Amelia, huh?”

“She seems one of the most peculiar cases among your study group.”

“Yeah, that’s putting it mildly,” I say while going through her file.

I’m about to enter a deep thinking session when Robin’s voice brings me back to the present.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Why are you doing this? Isn’t the [Princess] a better teacher for magic than anything you could find here?”

Not just her, but also Lord Juler, pal. And the Omnium Compendium, on top of those two. Hell, probably Levener alone could teach me more than this academy if I needed it that bad.

“For fun, I guess.”

“You are faking a dangerous disguise that could have you killed if found out by the [Royal Guards] for fun? Are you pulling my leg here? If you don’t want to tell me your real motive is fine, but don’t take me for a fool.”

“For fun, really.”

“Whatever. So, what are you going to do with those people?” Robin sighs while pointing at the files. “And do you need more stuff on them?”

“I need you to pull more detailed info on a couple of them, but otherwise it’s enough. As for what I’m going do to, it’s simple: I’m going to help them.”