“It’s true Zuken,” Elena exclaimed animatedly. “I heard the maids talking about it. The new emissary from the Dominion of Kagenoor is going to live in Haviskali.”

They were sitting in the Half-Filled Goblet, one of the few inns that served good food at nominal prices. Naturally, those with tight pockets could be found floundering their way to the Goblet every evening, after a hard day’s work.

“It's an envoy, not emissary,” Zuken corrected. “The Dominion will send a representative, not an agent with a mission. And it’s Karnegrug, not Kagenoor.”

“Yes, yes, Kargenoog, whatever,” the brunette waved him off, twirling her curls around her pinky. “But you get the point. If the emi— envoy comes here, so will his staff. And servants. And workmen. You know what that means, right?”

Zuken almost wished he didn’t.

Elena leaned forward and whispered into his ear. “We can scam them.”

“You can try to scam them, you mean,” he corrected her again.

Elena huffed, her sudden frown accentuating the dimples on her face. She was a changeling— a common term referring to mixed children of bremetan and either fae or elven descent. A freelance housekeeper by profession, Elena possessed a preternatural charm about her, courtesy of her elven heritage— a trait that ensured a healthy amount of interest in her services, especially from the deepest pockets in Haviskali.

She was also a scamster, and a passionate one at that.

There was just one small hiccup.

She really sucked at it.

In fact, it was practically a miracle that she had managed to scam unsuspecting people off the street without losing her own money in the process. 

He’d know. She had once tried to do the same to him and failed miserably. It had been like watching a chariot wreck. No matter how much you wanted to look away, you simply couldn’t.

Instead of firing her like he should have, he had offered her a job as an informant. One where she would provide him with insider information about other influential people living in Haviskali. 

That was two years ago.

“Anything interesting I should know about?”

Elena grinned. Despite being an absolute klutz and a complete sucker for sob stories, she was a perfect receptacle for all the gossip amongst the maids working for the nobles and other bureaucrats. The evening supper was a perfect time for Zuken to listen to her, the perfect way to unwind after a productive day.

On occasion, Zuken treated her to restaurants— days the girl seemed to adore. 

Like today.

“—even listening?”

He broke out of his idle musings. Her face now a hair’s breadth away from his own, Zuken couldn’t help but notice the little tinge of pink on her cheeks, or the sparkle in her bright hazel eyes. It was in moments like this that he couldn’t help but smile at how pretty she was.

“I’m listening,” he lied smoothly. “Just... wondering how you plan to scam them.”

She scrunched up her face. It only accentuated her cuteness. “Umm, I can sell them... fake lottery tickets?”

He shook his head. “You’d need to file for permission from the Guild Hall first.”

“What about trinkets?”

“Nothing they can’t find for less at the Alonel Market.”

“Well… We can— we can—” Elena threw her hands up. “Come on, it can’t be that difficult to scam them, right? They don’t even know our language or customs.”

Zuken suppressed a chuckle.

Elena had the best expressions— she truly wore her heart on her sleeve. It was one of the main reasons why he’d grown so affectionate towards her. There were days he thought to give a label to what he felt, to reveal his true feelings to her. But there was always some scam or shenanigan or bit of gossip that got in the way of that particular conversation.

He wondered if today would finally be the day.

“Elena,” Zuken displayed his practiced smile, “why don’t you just do a full-time job? I know someone in the revenue wing. He can give you a post.”

“No, no, you know I can’t do that,” Elena shook her head vehemently.

“But why?”

“Cause that would be boring—” she spluttered. “I, uh, I mean, that could be really dangerous! You know how people are towards beautiful elf-borns like me, right?”

Zuken leaned his head on his hand. “Then just become my full-time secretary. You know I’d pay you generously.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to scam anyone,” Elena whimpered, like a newborn puppy.

It made him want to pat her on the head.

“Besides, I know how people would see me. They would say I’m like— you know— them.”

Zuken sighed. She was talking about sacred prostitutes.

In the Llaisy kingdom, elven women were highly sought out as sacred prostitutes— females that had intercourse with males as an offering of worship to the goddess Izanami. Such women were praised and paid their weight in gold, status and power, and were experts at casting compulsion magic because of their heritage. Because of this ability, some elven women even occupied reconnaissance positions in higher-tier adventurer groups.

Elena hated the profession with a passion. Zuken presumed it had something to do with the fact that her own mother was one, and had no time for her when she had been a mere babe.

Still, for someone with strong motivations, she was wasting her life away.

“—is this scheme I overheard the other—” Elena went on.

“Whoa whoa, wait a second,” Zuken interrupted, before he could hear any more. “Do you remember the last time we tried one of your overheard schemes? We ended up in a marshland full of alligators!”

Although Elena was rubbish at scamming, she was perfectly capable of manipulating others to do her bidding.

“Only because we missed our target!”

And she had no qualms over shamelessly defending her point. Silly things like logic never seemed to matter during their conversations.

“A target that you can’t see, hear, or touch?” he asked incredulously. “You’d have to be stupid not to realize that the man was just mocking you.”

“Now you’re just being mean,” Elena pouted. “I’m sure hublers exist somewhere, even if they can’t be seen. Or heard. Or—”

“Elena,” Zuken gently clasped the girl’s dainty palm. “Why not do something more substantial?”

“Like what?”

Zuken exhaled, meeting her gaze head-on.

“Like becoming an adventurer.”

And just like that, the happy-go-lucky Elena vanished, leaving nothing but an empty shell in her wake.

Zuken winced, despite having expected the reaction. Talking about being an adventurer was the biggest faux-pas one could commit in front of the changeling. He had known her for two years now, and if there was one thing she wanted to do more than anything, it was becoming an adventurer.

The problem was, nobody would sponsor her. Bremetan society was built on the foundation of soul capacity. The ones with the highest values were chosen to become spiritists, while the rest were limited to contracting lesser spirits. The bottom rung of the hierarchy were those with extremely low soul capacities, who took up weapon mastery or alternative occupations.

Like Elena.

“You could have just said no, you know,” Elena mumbled, her voice barely a whisper.

“Elena, I—”

“You know I can never become an adventurer. I— I’m pathetic.” She clenched her fists. “My soul cap is way too low to be any good. All I can really be is one of those prostitutes, like mother dearest,” she venomously spat. “Warming people’s beds in reverence to a goddess I don’t even believe in.”

“Elena—”

Elena stood up, pushing herself off the chair. “I need to go. Now.”

“Elena,” Zuken stressed, gripping her left wrist.

She stayed silent.

“You know I’d never hurt your feelings like that.”

“Oh really? Well, you could have fooled—”

“Let me finish,” Zuken pleaded, doing his best to mask the annoyance seeping into his tone. Really, what was about this girl that tore through his ironclad poker face like tissue paper?

 “I wasn’t joking, Elena. You know I’d never joke about that. Not with you.”

“Then?” The hazel-eyed brunette looked confused. 

“Listen,” Zuken gently guided her back into her seat, “and let me finish. I’ll soon be going on a Guild mission. It’s going to be dangerous, and I’m in need of team members.”

Elena frowned. “So?”

“So, I was wondering if you’d like to join me.”

Elena looked floored.

“But— but—” she tried helplessly. “Why would you even ask that? I have no skills, nothing I can help out with on an exploration mission.”

Zuken gave her a lopsided grin. One of his real ones. “You are a sensor. Our third member and I can do the fighting. You do the recon.”

Elena narrowed her eyes. “Who’s the third?”

“That was the other thing I wanted to speak to you about. Have you heard of an adventurer named Tanya? She’s a bronze-plate who lives near the dwarven settlements.”

Elena gave him an incredulous stare. It made him feel twice as small and thrice as thick.

“...What?” he asked.

“You’re talking about Tanya of the Meewich Gate?”

“People actually call her that?” Zuken chuckled. At her growl, he raised his palms in surrender. “Sorry, you were saying?”

“Have you seriously not heard about her?”

“Bits and pieces. I’m assuming you have a larger picture.”

“Larger?” Elena stood up from her chair, her bright eyes gazing at him in surprise. “Everyone’s talking about her.”

While Zuken did have substantial information about the blue-eyed blonde-haired girl in question, he was yet to meet her face-to-face. Apart from a single case file registered in her name, there was nothing else about her.

“Well,” Zuken said, “I haven’t talked to this everyone yet, so maybe you can tell me instead.”

Elena scowled.

“I’m still waiting, you know. I’m sure the gossip queen has something special on the menu.”

“Don’t call me that!”

He raised his palms. “Alright, alright. So... Tanya?”

The brunette nodded. “Tanya’s a bronze-plated adventurer. Wind-type. She’s been here for the last ten months. Beth told me she’s from Baramunz kingdom, but her accent says otherwise.”

“Who’s Beth?”

“The morning maid attending the Bergott family.”

Right.

Say what you would about gossip, but ever since he’d started making use of Elena’s talents, he had developed a healthy appreciation for the gossip-girl information tree. In fact, he really could do with a well-developed information network like hers.

Though preferably one that dealt in actual facts.

“What else did she say?”

“Well, Beth saw Wynna talking to Mabel who told her that Friga said that Tanya had been hired by the Blues for a mission.”

Zuken took a second to parse through that gibberish. “The Blues, huh?”

“Yeah, and get this. Everyone in the Blues vanished during their mission— except her! Friga was saying how Tanya was a spy from Baramunz, and I heard Lydia the other day talking about how Tanya had killed some noble in Kargenoog, and the emissaries are actually soldiers searching for her. Anyways,” she waved her hands animatedly, “last I heard, she’s on probation till the Blues investigation is over.”

Elena then beckoned him closer, as she nervously looked from side to side. Tamping down his urge to eye-roll at her shenanigans, Zuken edged towards her, until her lips were nearly touching his ear. She brought her voice down to a mysterious low, as if ready to whisper a deadly state secret. 

“Why bother asking me?” She leaned back, her lips twisted into a smirk. “You already know all that.”

Zuken stilled for a second, before letting out a sharp bark of laughter. “Do I?”

“Don’t act stupid,” Elena chided. “You probably already read her file. So why are you asking me?”

That brought a smile to his face. “Just… checking to see if you knew about her.”

“You knew that I knew that you knew.”

And there it was. The sharp mind hidden behind a harmless façade that he’d fallen for.

The Banksi snorted, “Okay, then tell me something about her that’s not in the file.”

Elena’s lips curled. She pushed back against the chair, her arms folded across her chest. ‘What do I get in return?”

“You mean besides becoming an adventurer?” Zuken relaxed into his chair. “What else do you want?”

“Peaches. An entire basket.”

“Deal.”

An infectious grin spread across the brunette’s lips. “She always wears a peach waistcoat, but her favorite color is blue. Blue curtains, blue colours— her cottage is filled with those. Always carries a whip but never uses it, decent at swordplay. She’s jobless unless the Guild offers her a mission. Fat chance of that happening though.”

She paused, biting her lip. “And that’s why you want to hire her, isn’t it? A strong, wind-type spiritist, crazy as fuck and out of a job?”

Zuken frowned. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you pick up strays. Like me.”

“Elena, I—”

But the brunette had already gotten up from her chair. “Whatever. I want my peaches first thing tomorrow morning.”

Zuken smirked. “How about I give them to you in the Guild Hall? To commemorate the event?”

Her features softened. “You’re serious about taking me in?”

“Of course.”

“But—”

He gently grasped her palm. It felt... right.

That seemed to do the trick, as all trepidation vanished from her face.

“So... what do you think about her?” Zuken queried.

“Wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.”

“Great. I’ll ask her then.”

“Don’t make me hit you.”

---

“This thing is cool!”

Ever since he had regained consciousness, Lukas felt... odd. Strange. Different.

It had taken him a while to realize that his body had changed.

It wasn’t anything particularly noticeable. As a regular to the evening gym, Lukas had an athlete’s body— muscular but slim. He didn’t have big, bulging muscles, but he did have a good height and stride. But now, his muscles had expanded a little— nothing like a boxer but nothing to scoff at either. His body movements were sharper, faster, more precise. But even with the newly gained muscles, his body felt lighter than ever. The effort he usually spent to jog now set him off into a sprint, and his sense of coordination was nothing like he had ever felt before.

And that wasn’t even considering the feeling of lifeforce rushing through him. 

Earlier, it had been like ripples in a lake. Now, it felt like the force of a river.

His perception was faster. His strength had doubled. His skin had thickened.

“Level four human from Earth, huh?” he muttered to himself, scrutinizing his own form. “I have to admit, this feels good.”

“It will feel better once you become acquainted with it.”

Lukas wholeheartedly agreed. It had only been a few hours since he had gotten up, and as awesome as he felt, moving around was still difficult. He had spent the first hour trying to walk without falling flat on his face.

It was like he’d been living in a child’s body, only to be transferred into something of his own size.

A fully cocked punch was now enough to crack a boulder.

A lifeforce-enabled punch now shattered it to pieces.

“...I blame myself for underestimating your ignorance,” his resident goddess sighed. Even though he was no longer trapped inside the illusion, he could still picture her face and expressions if he concentrated hard enough.

Not that he needed to. Inanna’s voice and tone carried her expressions just fine.

“What do you mean?”

“I refer to your schema, mortal. The soul reflects upon the mind and body. Your schema is but a manifestation of the same.”

My soul manifested… Lukas mused. In a table format, no less.

The thought made him chuckle.

“Show soulscape."

And Lukas stared at the result in surprise and apprehension.

“This is…”

“Lame? Miserable? Makes you wish to drown in a puddle of your own inferiority?”

He rolled his eyes at the overly dramatic response. “I was going to say comprehensive.”

It was like looking at a database. And according to Inanna, it was filled with information about his soul.

Seems legit.

Without delay, he began to peruse through the contents.