“Well, there shouldn’t be any unexpected developments from here on,” said Nexus, “so you should return back to the Intersection.”

The little wooden figure hopped onto his right shoulder and looked around. 

“Any chance you could bring another one of you along?” asked Gaius. “It’ll be nice if you could also help accompany my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah. Ever since I became a Harvester, she’s been lonely for many days on end. It’ll be nice if she had someone as interesting and as intelligent as you to talk to,” said Gaius. “She might even help you get a makeover.”

“What a glib tongue…and I suppose I wouldn’t mind,” replied Nexus. “What did you mean by ‘makeover’, though?”

“You’ll find out.” Gaius brushed the little figurine’s question aside, as another wooden figurine hopped onto his shoulder and slipped into one of the many pockets in his lecturer’s cloak. “And besides, I’ll be able to respond immediately if something happens to Nakama.”

The little figurine made a cute noise. “Now that I think about it, I do recall your lodgings in the Intersection being surrounded by snow sculptures. Let me check it again…aaand colour me surprised.”

“Why?”

“There’s a battalion of snow soldiers guarding the sculptures now.” The little figurine sat down. “I see a whole bunch of soldiers building more sculptures too. Is it that relaxed over at Heritage Basestation?”

“Well…” Gaius thought back to the disturbance that he caused a few days ago, and the auction that he’d suggested to Nalus. “It is rather relaxed there, if you don’t count me in.”

The artificial intelligence fell silent at those words. “I seem to have gotten a rather troublesome master, eh?”

“The troublesome ones are usually the ones who go down in history,” replied Gaius. “My predecessor was one of them, right? Destroyed the Divine Ladder, killed a god who descended…”

“That was all you,” said Nexus.

“A knife can’t claim responsibility for murder, can it?”

“Master Gaius, are you sure about that? Are you really sure about that?”

The little boy pushed a door open. “Unless you’re telling me that there are actually sentient knives who are able to claim responsibility for their murders?”

“You’re speaking to a fricking wooden doll, and you don’t think sentient knives exist?”

Gaius paused on the spot, his hands on the metal doorknob. “That’s a rather scary thought.”

“It is, isn’t it?” The little figurine harrumphed. “Now you’ll never be able to sleep soundly anymore. Suffer.”

“Curses.” Gaius shook his fist in mock anger, and left the Library of Ancients proper. It was fortunate that the Stellar Core, despite having undergone mutations, was still very much functional, with its abilities intact. His camouflage ability was very much active, and felt somewhat stronger than before, for some reason. 

Which was great, since there were eight people dressed in the light blue attire, the same attire as the ones that he’d ambushed half a day ago. All of them were staring at the Library for some reason.

Intrigued, Gaius snuck over to their side for a second round of eavesdropping. As he drew close, a sudden wave of headaches struck him, forcing him to close his eyes.

When he next opened them, the surroundings had changed. Gaius was apparently upside down, his hands clutching onto a hemp rope as his body slid downwards, towards an assembly of teenagers. As his viewpoint shifted and twisted, Gaius could roughly make an educated guess at how old the him in his memory was — from sixteen to twenty years old. The him then was listening intently to the assembly as a speaker took the podium.

He could hear the words, but the Gaius in his memory could, for some odd reason. His body tensed up, his right fist turning into a ball for a few seconds, before the him in his memories snuck up the rope again, vanishing into the starless night sky.

What an odd memory. Gaius shook his head slightly as the memory shattered. At any rate, the little boy was suddenly reminded that he could eavesdrop from above, since he could fly. Snowflakes danced as he took to the skies and hovered half a metre above the huddled group.

“…feels like a lie to me.” One of them was saying. The light blue cloak on his black was streaked with white lines, which made him stand out at a glance. Gaius could feel the eyes of the others glancing to him the most, as though as he was a leader of sorts.

“But all three of them? No one’s dumb enough to injure themselves in Heritage, after all.”

“Which is why we’re still here to investigate. Sure, it’s probably not a little child as she claims, but it’s probably someone who’s going to hinder our plans in the near-future.” The leader drew a finger across his throats. “The enemy might have gotten something from this Library too, if he’s as well-informed as Michelle claimed.”

Gaius rubbed his eye. Well-informed? Where did that come from? Putting that aside, it seems that they are looking for me, eh? Is that Moonshot really that important?

“But sir, he has the Moonshot with him.”

“So long as he doesn’t know how to use it, it’s just a Straight Shot that’s easier to hold and carry around,” replied their leader.

Above them, Gaius nodded happily, hoping that the teenager would reveal the secrets behind the Moonshot. Sure, it felt like a slightly stronger artefact, but if there was a secret to it, Gaius was willing to stalk the teenage boy in front of him until he finally revealed it. It would be a good lesson for this person too.

“She’s a duplicitous one. I bet she lost it in the snow and just wanted us to get it back for here,” muttered another flunky. “She’s going to tell the instructor that we made her lose it, I’m telling you.”

“Now, now,” said the leader. “It’s good that we all are ready and prepared, but those words shouldn’t leave our mouths once in public. The Code Duello covers insults like this too, and I’d hate to lose someone as diligent as you.”

“My apologies, sir.” 

“Just worried about you.”

Gaius continued to prick his ears up, but the group had fallen silent, annoyingly enough. He glanced at the figurine that was hanging off his right shoulder and asked in a whisper, “What’s the Code Duello?”

“A set of rules for duelling, popular in the Western Holdings. I don’t think you need me to draw the lines for you, right?” Nexus whispered back. “Looks like they’re nobles or something along these lines though. Commoners can be executed if so desired.”

The sounds of fighting entered everyone’s ears before Gaius could retort.