How much of their conversation did you get? Keynes asked Alice.

Until to the point when she warned Chief Bonolo that her parents may kill him.

Alright, keep an eye on them.

Which one? I cannot split myself.

Too bad. It’d be a useful ability.

For now, stay with the woman.

It sucked that with the distance, the strength of spiritual companions dramatically diminished. The chief’s wife had an item that created a privacy screen but it was only a Level 2 item and Alice hadn’t had issues passing through it. The problem started when Keynes and others were led away. Eventually, Alice wasn’t strong enough to eavesdrop.

Keynes wasn’t proud to invade the chief’s privacy but the moment Keynes had seen the city, his instincts went wild. The size and scope of the Capital were beyond anything Keynes had imagined. Even the corridors they were walking now had been built with an intent to impress, utterly.

Easily ten metres high and five metres wide corridors gave Keynes a feeling of ancient civilisations he’d read about extensively. Almost the entirety of the interior was made out of rough stone. They used torches as their source of light. It seems like this place hasn’t moved on since ancient times, he thought to himself. It didn’t make sense to Keynes. For the first time since he’d agreed to take part in the race, he didn’t like it. On top of that, the rulers of this place don’t sound like nice people. The chief might be a good man who wasn’t greedily trying to seize Keynes’s unique ability to open the hidden doors but the rulers of the Capital might have a different opinion on the matter.

In the end it didn’t matter. Keynes needed to be here.

“Don’t show me to my room,” Pandora said in the front of their procession. “I cannot waste time. I’m close to maxing out my final two attributes.”

The other woman murmured something too quietly for Keynes to pick up.

Despite the insane size, the corridors were mostly empty save for tall vases with some oriental plants and flowers. One thing that stood out, however, was intrusive vegetation inside the palace, mostly around the ceiling.

After half an hour, Keynes knew they were being led in circles. The corridors were empty for a reason. Their appearance looked nearly identical and if not his photographic memory, Keynes wouldn’t even notice it. He suspected some hidden signage system known only to the royal family and their guards and servants was used here.

“I don’t have the entire day, Aurora,” Pandora complained. She must have realised that something was off as well. “I will find my way. Bye.”

Aurora didn’t try to stop her but Pandora’s departure alerted Vivena who spoke up.

“This is ridiculous. We are walking in circles. If there aren’t rooms for us, don’t bother, we can sleep outside.”

Aurora moved over to stand before Vivena. Keynes had to admit that Aurora made a striking figure. She was taller than Vivena by half a head and walked as if she owned the damned place. There was also something mischievous in the way she stared at others. In this case at Vivena, almost as if she was teasing the blonde to say more which Vivena did.

“It is clear we are not wanted here—”

“Wait a minute,” Haruka interjected, seeing where it was heading. Neither Keynes nor Hawthrone said anything. They watched the spectacle. The people who had accompanied Aurora and the chief’s wife disappeared earlier, most likely reporting to the royal family. “Vivena and Keynes are my father’s guests and by extension my mother’s. They shall be treated with the utmost respect.”

Haruka clearly wasn’t aware of how perilous this situation was, even for his father. Or maybe he does? Keynes wondered if others had sent their spiritual companions to eavesdrop on that conversation. In fact, there might be hundreds of spiritual companions here in this corridor watching them. Alice was too weak to detect the presence of other spiritual companions, for now.

Aurora glanced at Haruka and unperturbed by his words, she smiled at him.

“Finally growing a backbone. Haw always complains that you’re soft.”

“Wha-what?” Hawthrone sputtered while Haruka blinked at Aurora. Keynes and Vivena were as shocked as him. What the hell was that? “That’s not true, Haruka,” Hawthorne explained immediately then came over and tried to grab Aurora’s arm but his hand passed through the air. Aurora was no longer there. She reappeared behind her husband and whispered in his ear.

“Do you wish to do this here where everyone will watch?”

Hawthorne’s face went red and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I will get in trouble because of you,” he hissed, annoyed. “This isn’t the place nor the time for games.”

“Boring.” Aurora waved at him and turned away from them. “Follow me, your rooms are ready.”

***

Keynes couldn’t decide what to call his ‘room’. It hardly looked like a room, rather like a tomb with a bed, metal bathtub and a desk. His chamber was even higher than the corridor, at least twelve metres to the ceiling from the floor and was too empty.

There was a single large glassless window that overlooked the southern part of the city. It had curtains but nothing to securely close it. With all the flying platforms being widespread in the Capital, it seemed uncharacteristic for a royal palace to leave an unsecured entrance into the building.

Unless they wish to project a false sense of security. Or the opposite, they expect someone to pay me a visit. That’d make Vivena right about this whole scheme and I don’t need her being right at the moment.

Keynes pulled the curtains and turned back to the chamber. At least the door was in place but what maniac built such a huge room? What for?

Alice, how’s the check going on?

Clear so far. No formations or runes.

Keynes was forced to call her back after he’d been shown to the room. While his aura control was sufficient to let Alice out of his core, it wasn’t good enough to be used to inspect the surroundings. For now, he had to rely on his spiritual companion.

The bed was comfortable, though Keynes's heightened physical attributes—especially, Vitality—made it easier to sleep on uncomfortable surfaces. His eyes travelled to the torches and smoke that fled through the slits in the ceiling.

It wasn’t a random design as Keynes barely smelled the smoke being a few metres from the torches. It still baffled him that such primitive things were used here. He considered messaging Haruka with a few questions but it wasn’t that important and Keynes knew that the other man was busy right now.

Before the knocking sounded, Alice warned Keynes that Vivena was coming. It was inevitable, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get her off his back. He sighed and then called her inside.

“We need to talk.”

Keynes looked around and shook his head. This wasn’t a place for a conversation. Too bad Vivena was still in the Medium stage and couldn’t communicate through her spiritual companion… or maybe it was better this way?

“This place shouldn’t exist,” she said, ignoring his gesture. “We are in the middle of a giant city made out of stone, in the middle of a jungle.”

“And?” he didn’t see where she was going with this.

“And? Keynes, they made the World Government hide this from the public. What kind of power do these people have to convince the World Government to do so? I can’t even fathom this.”

That was a good point. Not only was the size of the city unnatural but where did all this stone come from? And it wasn’t like the builders used small boulders. No, each block of stone was gigantic. The entire wall was built from a single piece of stone. He’d noticed the same in the corridor on their way here.

“Maybe they are the Old Blood family like yours?”

Keynes froze. He just made a mistake, didn’t he? Revealing their identities might be only a matter of time but confirming such important information was never smart.

She didn’t say anything as slumped on the bed, her face in her hands. They didn’t speak for a few minutes until Keynes murmured an apology.

“Since you have levelled up, you have grown reckless, Keynes.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. His Rapid Learning buff was improving his behaviour but he could learn only from what he knew and he knew painfully little about dealing with the other sex.

Hawthorne saved Keynes and Vivena from the ensuing awkwardness when he came to take them to dinner.

“No, we don’t eat with the royal family. We are servants.”

“I’m not a servant,” Vivena replied so quickly it had to be an instinctive response. She added a second later, trying to correct her error by appearing casual. “Anyway, I don’t care.”

Hawthorne didn’t comment on it. They were led by two guards to another ridiculously large room with a long wooden table and the open kitchen next to it. The guards pointed to three stools and told Keynes, Vivena and Hawthorne to take the seats.

“They really don’t like us here,” Vivena said.

“They don’t,” Hawthrone agreed, surprising Keynes and Vivena. It was rather a bold statement unless the cultural differences made it normal. “They hate outsiders, and this is the heart of their world. It’s only natural for them to show resentment.”

“No, it is not,” Vivena said, her voice hard. “If they don’t want us here. They should tell us to leave and save their faces.”

“I am afraid it isn’t that simple,” Hawthorne said.

Since gaining the Rapid Learning buff, Keynes started noticing minor things he hadn’t been aware of earlier. Chief Bonolo’s First Servant seemed always to look either in control or nonchalant. But every now and then, Keynes spotted minor cracks in the other man’s outward appearance. And they were accumulating at a rapid pace since arriving at the palace.

Keynes couldn’t tell this to Vivena as it’d only reinforce her conviction of being right about this whole race. He didn’t blame her. While the Capital intrigued him and he wished to uncover its secrets, he had a hard time finding enjoyment in the prospect.

“The tribal politics is convoluted; entangled in their traditions and customs. But you are looking at this from the wrong perspective, Vivena. Not everything is politics. Those are people with minds of their own. Has it crossed your mind that they simply don’t like you but they don’t have any say in you being here?”

The argument between Vivena and Hawthrone continued but Keynes lost interest in it. His attention was drawn by the smells coming from the open kitchen. Against his better judgement, he stood up and approached a large selection of pots seeded with herbs. He hadn’t absorbed [Inspect Plant] and neither of the herbs had a system window. He recognised only a few herbs.

“Who are you?” came a question from behind, a rough accent but without much hostility in the tone.

Keynes turned around and found a man with scissors.

“I came with the First Tribe.”

“Are you here to help in the kitchen?” The man eyed Keynes from boots to his head and then shook his head before Keynes could answer. “I don’t think so. You don’t have the look of a proper chief. Go back to your seat while we are preparing meals for servants.”

Keynes didn’t argue. There was nothing to see here, unfortunately. The food being prepared smelled nice but he knew already that neither ingredient came from the rifts. It was very odd. The First Tribe incorporated the rift ingredients aggressively into their diet and everyday life.

Actually, nothing around us is from the rifts. Isn’t that strange, Alice?

I do not know the answer to your question, master.

“Keynes,” Hawthrone called after him when he noticed Keynes walking back to his seat. “Don’t wander around.”

“Why not?” Keynes asked.

Hawthrone chewed on the answer for a while which spoke volumes. Eventually, he replied, telling something that sounded like a lie.

“They may take offence… what…”

Keynes got a warning from Alice and turned around to find a servant dressed in white and gold.

“The King and Queen request your presence at the royal feast.”