After a leisurely stroll through the streets of Oden, I find myself standing in front of the doors to my workplace. Entering the office, I immediately notice three things – a mountain of letters, each signifying a commission I need to get done, a stack of empty energy drink cans, and an anxious young man buzzing around the room like a beheaded fly.

“Good morning, Apollo.” I decided to greet him as I crushed all the cans and tossed them into the trash bin, “I take it you’re being diligent with today’s batch of commissions?”

“Oh, thank the Gods, Meil! Took you long enough! I’m at my wits end here as for what to do with all these damned commissions! Miss Ghanda wants someone to buy her the specified groceries, Mister Lufter wants another person to help build his shed… Gah, incompetent bastards, can’t they do it themselves?!”

Looks to me like you’re the only incompetent bastard here, I wanted to retort, but I refrained after deeming it too harsh of an insult, “Well, that’s what we’re here for, is it not? Come on, I’ll help you sift through these, so cheer up.”

“Geez, uppie,” Apollo scratched the back of his head as he noted, “You’re a real godsend, y’know that? You come out of nowhere, a foreigner in the most literal sense, and suddenly become one of the biggest cogs in this little quik of ours! Being this selfless without ever expecting anything in return feels way too incredible to believe, so I wonder how you do it?”

How I do it? That much should be obvious, no? I need people to know who I am if I am to become an attendee at the Mobius Awards. Put simply, it’s a win-win situation for both parties. You guys get someone to do all your tedious chores, and I get one step closer to finding out the mystery behind my heritage. Well, I can’t really say that, so I’ll just stick with…

“Isn’t it the obvious thing to do, though? Helping others, I mean. I’m just acting based on my common sense.”

Apollo really got inspired by my words, which is good, because it led to him being a lot more motivated to do his job. After this, we started doing all the commissions that were handed out to us, and managed to get through them all in record time.

“Phew! Now THAT was fun!” Apollo said as he took another can of energy out of the fridge, “I don’t know how I would’ve done it without you and these drinks helping me, though. Sol really did make some amazing things before his disappearance, didn’t he?”

“Apollo, how many times do I have to tell you? Those mysterious drinks are dangerous for your heart! I appreciate Sol as an inventor, but ethically I don’t feel right allowing my workers to exchange their health for momentary boosts of energy. It’s not the proper way to build a strong and durable stamina.”

At my reprimands, Apollo simply rolled his eyes at me and scoffed, “Aww, come on, Meil! It’s not as bad as you make it out to be, honest! This miracle drink allows even someone like me to be as strong and capable as you, plus it allows me to work overnight, no need for sleep! Not to mention it’s refreshing as heck!”

Ugh, damn you, Sol…! You may be a world class inventor and tinkerer, but you’ve made the world that much more spoiled with your crazy inventions! Who even is that guy, anyway? From the stories I’ve heard of him, he was apparently a close friend of the King of Cardina, but so little is known about him as a person? Baloney!

“I don’t care. Stop drinking it, at least in front of me.” I gave him a stern talking to, “Sol is just a fictive character invented by those damned Cardinian politicians as a way to fan the flames between us. At least that’s what I think.”

“You think so?” Apollo continued sipping his can, “I heard there still remain legal documents of him marrying one of the maids of the Grys household. I don’t see why anyone would fake a story to such an extent. I think Sol’s a real person.”

I know, I know, but…! Eh, I don’t care anymore. Sol disappeared months ago, without so much as even leaving a trace. Whether he was ever real to begin with or not doesn’t matter, since it’s been such a long time since then. I already have enough problems of my own, so adding him onto the list would just be counterproductive.

“In any case,” Apollo continued, “I never took you as someone who was interested in politics, Meil. Who knows, with your genius, you might just be able to join the ranks of the Mobius Award attendees one day.”

“But of course!” I suddenly announced, “That is my entire purpose!”

I never told anyone about my plans for the future, but seeing as Apollo had already basically hit the nail on the head with his educated guess, I figured I should probably confide in someone at least. If I thought about it another way, Apollo could also be considered a test run for telling Joseph this. He's the only person who chose to believe me when I said I'm a Raaman from the very start, too, so if anything I'm sure he's the only person I could've told this to.

And so, I proceeded to spill the beans on everything. The fact that I wanted to rise above my peers and attend the Mobius Awards, the fact that I would try my best to win and gain a fully-paid scholarship to Dimitri Uni, and of course the fact that I wanted to do all this for the sole purpose of entering the Library of a Thousand Passages and finally validating my claims about my Raamic heritage.

Apollo earnestly listened to my words until the very end, and made sure not to interrupt me even once. Even at times when he wanted to interject, he would instead back out of it and continue listening as if he’s waiting for his turn. When I told him about all this, I was basically showing him my weakest side, so I was all but ready for him to start laughing at me and mock me, but Apollo never did any of that. Instead, after I finished my rundown of the plan, he calmly told me that he’ll support me and that he thinks what I’m doing is admirable.

“You certainly are weird.” He said.

Eh?

“Ah, that didn’t sound right. I meant weird as in unusual.” He corrected himself, “I mean, your origins are unknown, so I too kinda wanna find out more about them. The most mysterious thing about you has definitely got to be your Dual Iros though. One eye is Grey, while the other is Blue. Certainly an extremely rare case.”

“Apollo…!” I went in for a hug, “I knew you’d be on my side! I’m so glad I employed you!”

“Heheh, don’t worry about it, uppie. I know it’s hard to tell others about your dreams. That being the case, want me to look into finding a way to get you an attendee pass? As thanks for being the best boss I could’ve asked for.”

“What?! O-Oh, come on, you don’t have to do that much!”

“No no, I insist. But there’s just one condition – if you want my help, you’re gonna need to let me drink as many energy drinks as I want!”

…Heh, damn this smooth-talker! I don’t remember ever having taught him about these types of negotiations, but I’ll let it slide for now. Hey, anything to fulfill my dreams, right?

***

A couple days later, it’s morning. The Sun’s rays woke me up yet again while I was sleeping on my worktable, only this time I remembered to put the book I was reading away from my face thankfully. Waking up all groggy, I noticed that it was still pretty early. Well, early for me anyways, since I usually wake up sometime around noon due to my skewed sleep schedule.

That being the case, I decided I’d take a page out of Joseph’s book and take things slow while I have some free time. I scrambled some eggs and had myself a feast, got dressed into my casual clothes for the first time in a while, and promptly left the house to go for a leisurely stroll. Just then, Joseph (who was busy painting another one of his passerby models) called out to me from the yard.

“Oi, Meil! What’s the occasion for waking up this early? Haha!”

“I’m going out for a stroll.”

“A stroll? Who are you and what have you done to my Meil?” He jeered, “Nah, I’m just kidding. But if you have the time, why not sit down with your old man for a bit and enjoy the scenery?”

“No thanks, I don’t fancy being on the local authorities’ watchlist.”

“Wait, am I really!?” He jumped from his seat.

Sigh, to think this guy took care of me since I was a child... How the heck did I avoid inheriting any of his erm… passion for women? Then again, we’re not related, so it makes sense that I didn’t.

“Sit down, Joseph, you’re fine.” I spoke with a monotone voice, “I was just making a joke.”

“Okay, now I’m really starting to worry if you’re the same Meil I took in.” He gave me a serious look.

Oh God of Sun, why did you have to give me to this guy of all people! He’s kind and welcoming, yes, but he’s a real creep when women are around! Couldn’t you have guided me to a professor or something instead? Well, whatever, I’ll take what I can get. Right now I need to go on that walk, I can’t waste this precious free time I was gifted!

“Hey, where are you going?” Joseph stopped me once again.

“Like I said, a stroll. Don’t bother me.”

He seemed peeved at my phrasing, so he decided to make a snarky remark about my lifestyle.

“A walk through the desert? You, someone who barely has time to go home, never eats properly, and doesn’t have any semblance of a proper sleep schedule? You want to brave the harsh terrain ‘for a leisurely stroll’?”

These words hurt me a lot. I’ll have you know I’m a hero to this little quik of ours! If I could walk the entire span of the desert as a 3 year old to get to this damned place, then this much is a cinch!

“Oh please! I’m a proud Raaman, born and bred! I come from a people who built the Tria Prisma! Our blood is used to boiling out under the Sun!”

“This again? Geez, Meil, you’re already nineteen, isn’t it about time to stop it with that Raaman crap? Besides, the Raamans went extinct hundreds of years ago due to the genocide of the horrid Carmenians of that time.”

“That’s exactly why I must find out more about my heritage! Surely some Raamans survived through that horrible time and managed to continue their bloodline! Otherwise, how would you explain these Dual Iros of mine? From the history books, even you should know that this is a trait only indigenous to those of Raamic descent!”

“Certainly, that condition of yours is odd,” Joseph refuted, “But it’s not like they own the rights to Beholding two Iros at the same time, right? Who’s to say you’re not just an Abyssal with a birth defect?”

“Oh? So I have a birth defect now?!" I lashed out, “I’m not like you guys, born and raised in Abyssus Solis! I’m a Raaman, get it through your thick skull already, dammit!”

At these words, Joseph finally realized what I thought of him. He’s not my dad, I don’t know who my parents are. He’s just my caretaker, nothing more. The only reason I’m staying with him is because I still need to find a way to get into the Mobius Awards. I have no intentions of playing this little ‘Family’ game with him any more than I already have to.

“Meil…” He said as a single tear rolled down his cheek, “What’s gotten into you? Ever since you founded that company of yours, you’ve… you’ve changed.”

“I’ve always been like this,” I said as I closed the gates to the yard, “You just never noticed.”

Haah, that damned old man! He wasted so much of my precious free time! Wait, according to the sundial over there, it’s… already 2 o’ clock?! What the heck, my shift is starting in just half an hour! Ugh, so much for my leisurely stroll…

And to top it off, I can’t even go back home to change out of my casual wear because I just stormed off from there. If Joseph saw me defeatedly walking back to his place, it’d be as if he won. I don’t want that! Ah, to hell with it! I’ll just work in my casual clothes today!

Entering the office, all the employees’ eyes were on me. Figures, I never left the house unless I was wearing a suit and tie, so seeing me in the traditional leisurely rags and robes of the Abyssals is certainly a sight to behold. The first person to greet me though, didn’t even notice my clothes, and instead went straight to business.

“Good day, uppie!” Apollo said, “Regarding that thing you were telling me about a couple days ago…”

Hmm? Could it be? Is he talking about the Mobius Awards?! In that case, we need to go somewhere private to talk about it!

I quickly guided him outside, right behind the building, where an always empty alleyway lies. This is kind of like a confessional, in a way, due to the fact that no one can hear you when you speak here. The bustling voices from the surrounding streets mask your whispers, so I'm glad I bought this piece of land for the company as well!

“I asked around a bit and I think I might’ve found a way for you to get in.” He said with a cheery smile.

“Apollo…!” I gave him a bear hug, “I can’t thank you enough!”

“H-Hey hey! Let go, I can’t breathe!” He struggled to catch his breath, “I-In any case, phew, there are some caveats to it.”

Caveats?

“Namely, as you are now, you have absolutely no chance of making it as an attendee.” He spoke in a matter of fact way, “That being said, are you open to being some other attendee’s assistant?”

“Dammit, Apollo!”

“Wait wait wait! Hear me out first!” He raised his voice to grab my attention, “I’m just saying it how it is. An attendee is first suggested by his people. After that, all their accomplishments are brought forth, and the world votes the top couple of winners to be that year’s attendees, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well,” he noted, “The only way you’ll be suggested by your people is if you agree to call yourself an Abyssal, like us. Because you claim to be a Raaman, and there are no other Raamans around, you can’t even be suggested to be a part of the Awards.”

“I see…”

That is a difficult decision. On one hand, I’ll be denying my heritage in order to get in, but the only reason I want to attend is to find out more about my heritage! That’s a paradox! It makes no sense, denied! Oh, but then I won’t be able to attend the Awards any other way…

“Hey, no need to give me an answer immediately.” Apollo said apologetically, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. Feel free to mull it over for a couple days. You’re Oden’s genius, right? Who knows, you may just find another way to attend that’s not this. And if you don’t, just tell me and I’ll find an attendee to take you up as his assistant.”

“Right…”