Grandov used to have a saying he'd mutter whenever he encountered unexpected trouble.

"When life gives you lemons…."

And then he'd find a way to turn the situation around.

"Oi, boy, are you deaf or what??"

"Just take his shit, and let's go, boss."

I was staring at a pack of lemons right this moment who had correctly assumed, based on my attire, that I had money. I had just stepped out of Lisa's Tea and Book Shop and gazed up at the sky to determine which way to go when this pack of goons appeared.

The first lemon, and leader of the pack, was a short woman that looked bulked up enough to toss a horse over a fence. Her thick arms were crossed, and she was maneuvering a toothpick with her teeth.

"Boy, I won't repeat myself," she said through her clenched teeth. "Toss your silver and gold this way, and we'll take it as payment for letting you tour East Genise."

Four other lemons around her moved quickly to encircle me.

"Yeah, you heard her!" the thin man with a twitchy right eye closest to her called out. He pulled out a long jagged blade to make his point. Based on the dried blood on its edge, he certainly had utilized it.

The other three lemons pulled out weapons of their own, which to my disgust, had also not been adequately cleaned of whomever they had gutted last.

Yup. That's sweet old East Genise for you.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked earnestly.

While I lacked the reputation I had garnered from my original life, any goon worth their salt should have been able to identify the second son of the Frey family. And it worked in two ways, those that knew and didn't want extra trouble would avoid quarreling with me. And even those that wished to harm my family would have been smart enough to recognize more nuanced ways to deal a blow to the Freys.

"Hah! You must think you're some hot shit, eh?" another of the goons called out. "Well, you wandered into the wrong place. If you hoped to avoid trouble, you ought to have had your guards with you."

I gazed about myself. The buildings here were a mismatched quilt of the newly built and ancient. The part of East Genise I was in appeared far from the city's center. I could even make out the stone of the enormous wall I had died upon against the Kobar Empire in my original life.

"Don't bother asking for help. No one is going to help you 'round here, boy," the leader laughed.

She was right. No one was going to come to my rescue. The few nearby people ignored the conflict and continued their day as usual. Even young children passed on by us with little regard, clearly accustomed to seeing much worse scenery. But I wasn't expecting to get any help.

"Hardly; I was hoping for a chance to make lemonade." I smiled.

My fingers were tucked into my sleeves, pulling out the hidden poisoned needles that Kathy had provided me with.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Woosh.

I flung four needles out at the four goons.

I practiced daily at improving by tossing them in the training grounds. Still, real-life target practice was undoubtedly more helpful because my targets moved and had limited areas where the needles could hit.

"What the–"

"Arggg!"

"I can't see!"

The goons exhibited different reactions.

To my delight, I managed to land each needle perfectly on each of their faces. However, to be fair, they were simply standing there and not expecting me to fight back, so it was easy to take them by surprise.

Two goons had been hit with Blinding Ink, the black needle. Their faces had a dark mark that extended into their eyes. One had fallen to the ground while holding his eyes, and the other dashed blindly at me.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

I threw two blue needles at the legs of the man running at me. One or both managed to penetrate through his pants, and he stumbled over his legs that had given out.

As for the other two men, I gave them something more interesting. One was provided with a red needle, which caused a massive rash to spread across his face. Much like the other goon, whom I blinded with a black needle, this man had fallen to his knees and appeared overwhelmed by the unpleasant feeling of the poison. His hands scratched at his face.

"Boss, do something! My face feels like it's on fire! Like a hundred ants are crawling and biting it!" he cried out.

Funnily, the needle he was hit with was called Fire Ant. It caused whatever area of the body that was struck to experience intense itching.

As for the fourth goon, he had long taken off. I hit him with probably the most unpleasant and embarrassment-inducing needle, the Yellow Volcano. He was undoubtedly blowing his bowels out in some nearby alley, while pissing and vomiting all at once. I didn't really care for that needle, as it was extremely messy. But it was effective in a way that put the other needles to shame. Its victim usually did what the man did; run off to some remote corner before they could defecate all over themselves in front of others.

"What did you do to my men?" the leader roared. She uncrossed her arms and moved towards me. Her right hand pulled out a thick blade.

However, I was quick to toss a blue needle at her right arm and leg, causing her to drop the weapon and stumble to the ground. Her thick blade clattered against the broken cobble street floor.

As before, none of those passing by so much as glanced at the scene.

I crouched down in front of the leader.

"Say, would you be kind enough to tell me where we are exactly? I'm a bit lost."

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

Click.

Micah opened the looking glass.

"Master, we've located your brother," the voice on the other end sounded.

"Good. Where is he?" Micah asked. He had ordered all his people to find Luca and bring him to safety some time ago. However, it had taken longer than he expected.

"He's in East Genise at coordinates K-14."

Micah blinked.

That was far into East Genise territory, smack down in the center. It wasn't the most dangerous area and wasn't under any faction's jurisdiction. Still, it was hardly a safe place to wander about.

How did he get all the way there?

"Was he taken by someone? Is he hurt?" Micah asked.

A chuckle sounded from the other end.

"Hardly. I think it's the local residents that decided to start a fight with him that you ought to be more concerned about."

Micah frowned.

"What happened exactly?" He asked. "And can someone escort him back home so he avoids any additional trouble?"

"A local mobster and her people tried to pickpocket your brother. But he took care of all of them using some sort of needles; looks to be the works of Kathy, the Poison Maker. I've seen her boyfriend use them before." The voice on the other end replied. "And not to worry. Selena had gone down to resolve the conflict and escort your brother back to your home."

"Thank you," Micah replied. "And please take care of the trash that dared attempt to touch my brother while they're at it."

"Will do," the voice responded.

Micah clicked the looking glass shut.

He sighed and leaned against the armchair of his office.

What have you been up to, Luca?

The younger brother he knew didn't understand any other language apart from the most commonly spoken one, unlike Jarvis' letter described. Nor was he one to go off into East Genise, take on a group of criminals on his own, and succeed.

Knock. Knock.

"Yes?" Micah called out.

Louis, his primary day-time servant with Kaiden's passing, entered.

"The funeral preparations have been made. Would you like to review before your parents arrive tomorrow?" Louis placed a set of documents on the table before Micah.

Micah picked up one of the parchments and reviewed the setup for Jarvis's funeral.

"Another funeral…" Micah had grown accustomed to his people dying over the years. Often the bodies of his people could not be recovered, given the nature of their work, and thus most didn't even have traditional funerals done. But family dying had a lasting bitter taste to it. Attending his grandmother's funeral and the subsequent duties were tiring enough as is, but it wasn't unexpected. Burying his youngest brother was not something he hoped ever to do.

The other two papers covered the burials of Jasper and Denise, which were far less elaborate. Denise's, in particular, would have typically resulted in her body being tossed off somewhere, given her betrayal. Still, he suspected Luca would have none of it.

"The preparations look good. Please proceed." Micah handed back the documents to Louis.

"Very well, young master Micah." Louis bowed and left the room.

Micah gazed out at the ever-growing cloudy sky from his large window.

It'll probably rain tomorrow when we have Jarvis's funeral.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

"Luca Frey?" a woman's voice sounded behind me. I didn't even notice her presence. "Your brother Micah had requested that I escort you back to the Frey Manor."

I turned and looked up at a slender woman in all black, with even her mouth covered in a black mask. Her brown hair was braided and coiled up atop her head. I didn't know her, but I recognized her as one of Micah's people. I had seen her around the Frey Manor, albeit usually, it was when it was shrouded in darkness. She had a pair of hazel eyes that were hard to forget.

"Fr-Frey? You're Micah Frey's brother??" the leader of the goons stuttered.

"Ah, so you are familiar with my family." I turned and looked at the stammering woman. Apart from the man hit with the Fire Ant needle, the other two goons near her looked equally horrified.

"I apologize for my rudeness! I didn't realize!" She bowed toward me and my new companion.

"Well, better learning now rather than later." I stood up and brushed my clothes off.

Personally, I didn't care either way. I finally tested out Kathy's needles on live people, and it worked better on my conscience that a group of criminals attacked me rather than me picking someone out myself.

"Glad to have your help. Please lead the way," I turned and told the young woman Micah had sent. "And what's your name? I've seen you around before."

"Selena," the young woman replied. "A carriage is awaiting you a block north. I'll escort you to it."

I smiled. East Genise was at a lower elevation than West Genise, and I had little interest in struggling my way uphill on foot to get back home.

"Given that Micah sent you, I assume my brother is back home already?" I asked and followed her.

"Yes," she replied. "He arrived an hour or so back."

"Well, I'm glad he wrapped up his business in the Town of Ascot so soon," I said. I recalled that it took Mother quite a bit longer to wrap up her business after my grandmother's funeral. "The twins will be glad to see him too."

We arrived at the carriage, but Selena paused to open the door for me.

"Have you not heard about your younger brother, Jarvis?" She turned and looked at me with wide eyes.

I felt my stomach drop. Something was clearly wrong.

"No," I replied. "What happened to Jarvis?"

I had just left the Frey Manor not all that long ago. What in the world could have occurred in that time?

"He died. It was meant to look like an accident, but it was foul play," she replied.

I leaned against the carriage door.

I felt dizzy. It was bad enough that I had helped expedite so many people's deaths, but I didn't even conceive that my actions would somehow impact Jarvis. He was the last of my family members to die in my original life, yet somehow I changed his fate so that he was the first after my grandmother to pass away.

"Who did it? Who was responsible?" I inquired of Selena.

"It hasn't been confirmed, but it looks to be the doing of the Spiders."

I clenched my fists.

Damn it. Now I have even more reason to stomp them out.