"You're early," Naoren noted without even bothering to look up from the table in the side room attached to his makeshift hotel-suite-office.

"We both have things to do, so I figured we should get this over with as soon as possible," I answered nonchalantly and walked closer to him. As I did, I couldn't help but notice a sweet floral fragrance in the air.

The young clan head let out a relaxed hum and finally turned to me, with two traditional-style Chinese teacups, their white porcelain covered in intricate, intertwined eastern dragon motifs. Stereotypical, but it was more or less expected.

"Jasmine pearls?" I asked, and he gave me an approving nod.

"I gave you a promise last time, didn't I?"

"You did. Thank you for the hospitality."

"I just finished brewing it, so it's hot. Be careful." Saying so, he handed one of the cups over, then gestured towards the sitting area of the office. Soon we were both seated face-to-face, with a crowded coffee table between us. It only took a single long sip for me to realize he wasn't kidding about it being piping hot, so for the time being I set my cup down, making sure not to disturb the pile of various items already on the table.

They were Naoren's spoils from the auction, and while most of them were just mundane, if rare, memorabilia, with some allegedly valuable herbs and animal parts mixed in, there was one item conspicuously set aside from the rest; a smooth azure stone the size of my fist.

"So, are you going to tell me how you got into my temporary office this time?" my host opened with a bit of small talk, and a smirk naturally came to my lips.

"It's my super-special-awesome secret skill than lets me sneak into anywhere."

"Still sounds like unnecessary hassle. You could have used the front door," he pointed out between two sips, and this time I shook my head.

"No, I couldn't. We're going to have a big, earth-shattering, legendary duel of epic proportions tomorrow. An ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny, if you will."

"Are we?"

"Well, no, but that's how everyone else should see it, and if I showed up on your doorstep the night before for a friendly chat, it would send mixed messages." After a shrug, I added, "Not to mention, it's like a beehive down there, with everyone running around the place like headless chickens, and I didn't want to interrupt them."

"And you have no idea why that is the case," Naoren remarked a tad snidely, but I took it in stride.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"So you say you had nothing to do with article number sixteen disappearing from the vault between the time it went up for auction and the time the lucky bidder attempted to receive it?"

"I'm as innocent as a newborn lamb. Just ask my lawyer," I lied through my teeth, and my host graciously pretended he believed me. Though not without an annoyed roll of his eyes.

"Fine then, let's discuss this topic later. For now, should we go over tomorrow's plan again? Just to make sure it would go smoother than today's."

"Hey, it was plenty smooth," I objected, mostly just on principle. "The only hitch we had was because someone was slow to improvise, and it wasn't me."

"I don't remember improvisation ever being part of the plan," he shot back with a completely unruffled look on his face.

"That's kind of an unspoken rule. Since they never survive contact with the enemy, every good plan should have lots of wiggle-room for on-the-fly modifications."

"So what you're saying is that you make your plans with them failing in mind. Careful, Leonard. Your pessimism is showing."

"I prefer to call it realism, thank you very much," I responded as I reached for my cup again. By this time it was at a more drinkable temperature, so I could take a bigger gulp.

"If you insist," Naoren said with an amused bend in his lips. "As for me, I prefer my plans to proceed like clockwork. There is a simple satisfaction found in watching every element and every line of the script falling in place perfectly." He paused here, then exhaled a shallow sigh. "It's a shame today's performance followed your principles. I was looking forward to getting to the part where I would be calling you a beetroot in front of everyone."

"... Wait, that was in the script?"

"Yes. It was line twenty-seven." I must have looked lost, as my host's lips curled further upwards and he explained, "It was in response to you declaring that I was unfit to unite all Draconian clans because I lack vision."

"Oh, right. We did discuss something like that, didn't we?"

"We certainly did. I have to say, I was a little disappointed I couldn't say that line. Or didn't hear you call me an 'abominable trouser wasp'. It had quite an amusing ring to it."

One flat look later, I told him, "That was just a generic insult I used as an example. You see, those are the exact kind of things you're supposed to improvise in the heat of the moment."

"Is that so? Does that also apply to calling someone a decrepit sea sponge?"

"It especially applies to that."

Naoren let out an amused little hum that pretty much said 'I learned something new today' before he cleared his throat.

"Staying on the topic of plans, are you going to play the role of the aggressor tomorrow as well?"

"Nah, there's no need," I responded offhandedly before gulping down the last of my tea. "I was only on the offensive because we needed you to have a legit reason to challenge me to a duel. Since it was already accomplished, with the contribution of your cute little cousin, we don't need to put up a show anymore. There's no reason to overdo it."

"I don't know how I feel about you calling Xiao Xiao cute..."

One very slow roll of an eye followed, then I told him, "Please cut the protective older brother routine, we'd already done it once."

Naoren conceded with a shallow nod, and since the conversation came to a lull, I decided to get on with the business I came over for and pointed at the item already set aside for me.

"So, how much do I owe you again?"

"One hundred thousand and one Jens," he answered a touch dryly.

"Wow... Dad-in-law ramped it up to the limit, didn't he?" I muttered and reached over to the enchanted bag on my belt. Normally it needed a full armor set to work, but I had already jury-rigged it so that I could operate the enchantment with my phantom limb. According to its previous owner, he could just intuitively store and retrieve items with a thought. For me, the process was a little more involved, but I soon had a wad of hundred Jen bills in my hand anyway. Then another.

In no time at all, I piled up ten of them onto the table, much to my host's surprise.

"That seems to be a really useful artifact."

"It is," I replied with undisguised delight. "The storage space is fairly small, and it's a little finicky to operate, but it's definitely handy. Once I figure out how to reproduce the enchantment, you are free to buy one. I'll even give you a discount."

"Thank you, I'll think about it," he responded in a deadpan voice before he pointedly looked over the money on the table. "So, that's one hundred thousand. You are still short of one Jen."

"Erm, right... Give me a moment." I looked into the inventory bag, then turned my pockets inside out, earning me a skeptically raised brow. "Sooo, this is kind of embarrassing, but apparently I don't have any spare change on me."

"That's funny."

"More annoying, really," I grumbled, only to stop when I noticed the pensive look on Naoren's face. "Are you worried I won't pay up?"

"Not really. Trying to swindle me out of a single Jen would cause more harm to your reputation than mine, so I'm not worried the slightest."

"… Then why do you look worried? Are you having second thoughts about tomorrow's plan?"

"I would be lying if I said I don't have my reservations, but no, it's not about that," he said with a cloudy expression. "To be frank, I still don't know how to feel about the infamous dragon-killing spear disappearing into thin air under our watch."

"I already told you it's not the original, just a prop," I pointed out, but it only deepened his frown.

"You claim that, and I want to believe you, but as far as the other clans know, we just lost one of the most dangerous weapons in existence."

"Don't oversell it. Anti-dragon enchantment or not, if I ever planned to hunt a big scaly magical lizard, I would pick an anti-materiel rifle over a spear any day of the week."

"Please don't refer to our honored ancestor so crassly. It's disrespectful," Naoren warned me out of the blue.

"I'm not wrong though. Trust me; dragons are much less impressive in person than you would think."

"... You almost sound like you're talking from experience."

"That's because I am," I answered, but then immediately followed it up with, "Don't ask. It's a bit of a secret, and also a long story we don't have the time for right now. In conclusion, you absolutely shouldn't worry about the fake spear, and it's going to surface soon enough anyway, so let's cut that whole line of thought right here."

"Are you leaving?" my host asked, and while I didn't mean my words to be interpreted that way, I figured I might as well do so.

"While I enjoyed both the tea and the company, the night is short, and I still need to get a few things prepared for tomorrow's performance."

As I said that, I carefully picked up the blue stone. Naoren looked at me expectantly, but when I didn't do anything with it, he asked, "Aren't you going to store it in your artifact?"

"Nah. It can't hold living things," I answered off-handedly, and while he seemed intrigued by my comment, he didn't press the issue, and instead he stood up as well.

"Very well then. I would see you off, but I have a feeling you don't need me to. Let's meet again tomorrow."

"Nine in the morning, sharp," I responded, and he nodded along.

The preliminaries of the tournament would only start in the afternoon, but I figured it was best to give myself some leeway. Or, in this case, a lot.

"Do you plan to confront grand elder Xinji?" came an unexpected question, and after some consideration, I shook my head.

"Not directly. If he makes a move and reveals his hand, then it's another matter entirely, but accomplishing our main goal is more important. If you want to, you can deal with him internally."

"It all depends on how he acts and his motivations," Naoren responded a touch sourly. "I've known the grand elder for decades, and while we sometimes didn't see eye to eye, I wish to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"I think I've told you that I've already caught him red-handed."

"And you have also told me you lack the evidence to justify pinning him down, and that you could not discern his motivations for scheming behind our backs. As far as we know, he might have had legitimate reasons for everything he did."

"Careful, Naoren. Your optimism is showing."

The bespectacled clan-head blinked in surprise, then shook his head with a smile.

"What is the word…? Touché, I believe?"

"Yep, that's the one," I responded with a toothy grin of my own and offered him a hand. "See you—"

"Big brother Naoren? Are you in there?"

We both froze for a moment and then simultaneously turned towards the muffled voice of a certain young girl coming from the other side of the main entrance of the office.

"Off I go!" I declared, and my host let out an affirmative grunt before heading towards the door. As for me, I moved over to the side-room where I first arrived before Phasing away, just barely catching odango-girl inquiring about whether or not Naoren had any guests over.