Kaiz instantly knew where this was going and left it to Viz, “You take jobs from nobles too.”

“Only to kill other ones. But don’t dodge the question, this isn’t just a job for you two is it?”

“That is…”

Red caught up to the conversation, “Wait. You’re working for both of them?”

Well. There goes that secret. Though she is an accomplice…

Kaiz didn’t know how Viz would twist the truth here. Straight up dishonesty wasn’t an option. The betrayal of their relationship aside, Tanzer would hear the truth eventually. They were trying to get her to do them a huge favor. It would be idiotic in the extreme to lie.

Viz decided to just go with honesty, “We’re potential trade partners.”

“I knew it!” She ripped herself from his grasp, “Already. You’re working with enslavers already?”

“Everyone who runs a legitimate business does. Better sooner than later.” He reached out to her, but she stepped further away, “I won’t give up on my goals T, being the biggest thug in the slums is not a future.”

“Even if it wasn’t disgusting, it's a fool’s dream!” She snapped toward Kaiz, “You. You’re still on board with this? I thought you were the voice of reason?”

Kaiz nodded, “I am, to both.”

“He’s the one that inspired me to take my goals seriously in the first place. Without him, I’d still be focused on anger rather than action.”

She hissed.

“I’ll quietly note that I do often regret my influence.”

Viz scoffed, “Between the two of us, my goal is mundane. He’s the crazy one.”

“Crazier than you? Dumber than you?” She was really stewing under her illusion, “I don’t believe that’s possible.” Then she glared at him, “Weren’t you just trying to make runes that untitleds could use or something?”

“Well.”

He looked at Red. Though he didn’t exactly treat his goal as a top secret, there were a number of people who knew what he worked on, there were still ears he definitely didn’t want to hear of it. If he succeeded, things would change everywhere, but everything would change in Waldaun.

Tanzer still glared at him, but she got the message and cast a spell to block the sound of his voice from reaching anyone but her. He tested it of course, loudly insulting Red. And Viz. Just because.

“Hey!”

He didn’t know which of the two insults she reacted to, but he did know neither of the insultees reacted, “The runes aren’t for use. I’m making a rune that will cure being manaless.”

Her anger fled, “Cure being manaless?”

“Yes.”

Astonishment took over, “Make everyone titled?”

“That’s what that would mean, yes.”

“I—How did I never hear this? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

The answer to the first question was simply because Kaiz didn’t vocalize his research. He may talk to himself from time to time, but never about a serious topic.

The second question required some thought.

He would like to say he was wary of her. At their first introduction to one another, she called him ‘Kaizer Neufang’. He had his mask on at the time. Before he could accuse Viz of having loose lips, she went on to reveal secrets that only him and the walls of his home should have known. Nothing grave, but he had certainly complimented himself for acquiring better candles.

That wasn’t it though. At the time, he responded by revealing her womanhood and since those first impressions they’d traded various secrets back and forth. Trust was sort of thrown upon them, but the relationship they built afterward wasn’t bad. Even after her and Viz called it quits.

The more he thought about it, the less a real reason came to mind. He just didn’t tell people things they didn’t need to know and there was never a moment she needed to know.

“I just never thought to, I suppose.”

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“You should have! How close are you?”

Kaiz didn’t want to think about that too much, “Not close enough to get excited about it. I can take mana out of a battery and successfully transfer it into the chest’s mana engine, but it breaks down from there.”

“Breaks down, how?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, but it seems to be overloading the mana circuits.”

“Overload like… eating something too mana rich? Mana poisoning?”

“No. Mana poisoning isn’t caused by an ‘overload’ exactly. It’s more.. well. Poisoning.”

“Explain.”

Kaiz didn’t really feel like this was the time and place to discuss this, but she seemed to hinge on each word he spoke at the moment so he launched into a lecture anyway, “ When an untitled, or everyone actually, consumes foreign mana, it travels through the nervous system first before reaching the mana circuits. Mana poisoning is the result of the damage it does while crossing over. It's usually minor in titleds because they’ve had mana coursing through them for years. Their nervous system is not only adjusted and adapted to mana’s presence, it can also draw on what’s already present in the circuits to help smoothen the transfer. It’s deadly for untitleds because we have none of that. The foreign mana just destroys our nervous system and kills us. My rune taps directly into the mana engine without needing to pass through anything else first. It really shouldn’t be overloading the circuits, but I’m still in the process of working it out.”

“What comes next?”

“After fixing the overload problem? After that is deciphering how much mana it takes to engage the mana engine. Past that would be checking if the unused mana circuits in untitleds degrade and figuring out how to repair them if they do. Then finally, confirming the other two mana engines also engage safely, with extra attention on the brain. If I complete all of that, then.. no more tanlars.”

Her face turned pensive as she really digested his words. He took the chance to gauge the other two. Viz had clearly been attempting to read their lips and he seemed to be waiting for her response as well. Red was… reading a novel.

Oh? Is that what you’ve been doing with your time?

Before he could lean over to try and see the title, Tanzer spoke, “You really are a prodigy.”

“Uh. I’m not sure that is the metric to use, everything I said was in theory and could prove impossible in practice, but thank you.”

She lightly shook her head, “To even have the theory. What are you now, sixteen? My greatest skill was stabbing eyes at your age.”

While Kaiz had yet to meet someone as gifted as him, at such a young age, Tanzer reached level [30] in her thirties. That was Lyn level fast. She had been a prodigy herself.

“I would say that skill has worked out for you.”

“Has it? All I do is kill. All I know is kill. Sure, I’m skilled at it, but what’s the use…” There was a somber feel to her pensiveness, “I’ve killed five nobles since V left. I didn’t even care about the price, just the opportunity. You know what happened? Four more took their place. I’ve killed slave owners. I’ve killed traffickers. I know I’m making a difference. But… it never lasts. Nothing changes.”

“You’re just one person. Can’t change the world by yourself.”

She grew even more somber, “That’s exactly what you’re doing though.”

“Attempting.” He corrected.

“Whatever! If you succeed, you’ll make a real change. A lasting change. You could end up even starting a revolution! What have I been doing? You’re untitled and not even half my age, but everything I’ve done would look lik—would be nothing in comparison. All those years, for nothing.”

She recast the spell while Viz stepped forward and hugged her, “It’s not been for nothing.”

“... What’s been the point?”

Kaiz didn’t know how they got here. He was just trying to convince her that their hearts were in the right place and their goals were rightfully bigger than crime kingpins. He did not mean for her to start questioning her life.

Thankfully, Viz saved him, “We’re going to step outside, give us a moment.”

He happily did.

A ‘moment’ stretched into several. Then into half an hour. Then into a full hour. Kaiz occupied himself by collecting more details about the den hidden within a dune. While he was doing so and more than halfway into the second hour, a gust tickled his ear.

“Come to the second bedroom.”

He quickly shot Red their prearranged signal. Of course, she missed it. Her eyes were too busy devouring the dragon smut to see him, so he had to go verbal.

“The sun’s getting low.”

“Boy. It’s already dark.”

The code finally got her moving. She silently came over and cast her ‘knockout’ spell. It took a bit though, the cast time was far from instant, so he had to awkwardly come up with an excuse for why he said what he said.

“We’re getting closer to Low Sun, old boy.”

Geyser didn’t really seem to believe that's what he meant, but he went limp soon after anyway. Watching him do so was somewhat disconcerting. Kaiz needed to figure out what her spell did and how to protect against it. He also had to come up with a new code in case they had to do this again.

Those were problems for later, though.

He stepped out of the master bedroom and into the only other room in the house with a functioning door. Viz and Tanzer sat on the floor with each other. They both wore huge smiles.

Good news?

If they were back together then she definitely wouldn’t kill Heldermann. They had revealed their relationship to Red and that would certainly have consequences, but their immediate obstacle would be cleared.

As he walked up, he watched Tanzer include him in their sound bubble.

“That definitely counts as a bet.”

“In what world? All you did was make a prediction.”

Viz had his signature smugness on him, “And I was correct.”

“Congratulations. Have you considered a career in fortune telling?”

“I’m more partial to fortune making. Easy coin from easier bets from the easiest marks.”

She just rolled her eyes.

Kaiz took the brief quiet as his que to speak up, “So it looks like I’m going to have to deal with more of you two?”

“A lot more. She’s joining the crew!”