So, to sum up, Officer Lucinda wants me to go to an [Enchanter] in a few days, I need a job, and I also need to find a ring to put on her finger.

So many things to take care of...

"Yo, Lucillus, my man," I smile widely as I see my favorite [Guard] fill out some paper forms – gee, these people really have a lot of paper to waste. No environmental care at all for all that wasted paper, it seems. Anyway, Lucillus is filling out the forms – my forms, probably – while Antoninus lubes up his sword.

Well, I could have phrased it better, but yeah, that's what he's doing.

"Luciani," Lucillus sighs. "I am almost done with your papers. A passport will be issued to you in the following days if the interview went well. In the meanwhile, you cannot leave the town."

"Can I still work?"

"You can," Lucillus nods.

"GREAT! Let's go to your cousin’s, then. What was her name again? You'll have to excuse me, dude, but my memory is terrible," I say while putting my hand on his armored shoulder.

"Clodia," Lucillus says as he stares at my hand with murder in his eyes. "And I'm quite sure you don't want to work for her. You might try your luck at the Three Roses, but they only take experienced [Bakers] with at least ten levels in the class. Clodia takes in anyone because she mostly works with bulk orders and has the experienced people making cakes for events. The Three Roses have a diner beside their bakery where a lot of people stop to eat because they have quality food at cheap prices."

"Oh, can we stop at the Three Roses today?" Antoninus suddenly looked up from his sword.

"After our shift, perhaps," Lucillus says, still looking at me.

"I don't mind working for your cousin, really. I adapt fast."

My parents were straight-up Italians who moved to America all the way from the Old Continent. Their idea of education was child labour coupled with the occasional ass whooping, in case said child labour wasn't efficient.

"Doesn't Clodia only work with women?" Antoninus suddenly says with a snort. There's also a little smirk on his face as Lucillus stares daggers at him.

"She does because she tries helping women who have fallen on hard times, Antoninus – and you know that very well. Sometimes, she will take male employees... but that has always resulted in problems."

"What problems?"

"She's been arrested," Antoninus says. "Multiple times."

"Huh."

"Truth-stones always revealed that it was the men who worked for her that started the problems. She's always been released after paying a few fines."

"Wait. She beat them up?"

"Clodia's strong," Antoninus chimes in with a shiver.

Strong? Antoninus, you are a goddamn mountain. You are the white, Elven Shaquille O'Neil on steroids. What do you mean she's strong?

I don't voice my thoughts, but Lucillus is quick to provide an explanation.

"She somehow landed [Enhanced Strength] when she was a teenager. And she trained hand-to-hand combat with [Soldiers]. She can put to sleep most people without even trying."

"Are the women here as strong as the men?" I ask, curious.

"What?" Lucillus seems confused by the question. "Men are pretty much always stronger, even if they have the same skills and levels. Didn't they teach you about filling skills?"

"No?"

The two [Guards] look at each other and then back at me.

Yeah, once again, I'm that guy.

"Even when skills don't directly evolve, they do become stronger with practice and training. If Antoninus got [Enhanced Strength] and I did too, he would still be quite a bit stronger than me. He's already big and trained. Size matters."

"That's what she said."

"Who?" Antoninus looks confused.

"Nothing, just a little joke. Well, that's something. But don't worry; I promise I'll behave with your cousin. I don't want to brag but I'm quite a proficient baker. Really."

Lucillus sneaks a glance at the ring on his hand, the mobile truth-stone. I can't really see what it flashes because he's covering it with his other hand, but when he raises his glance to meet my eyes, he simply sighs and says, "Ok, I'll bring you to Clodia. Whatever happens after is on you."

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"Yee-haw," I smile. "No problem-o, friend."

...

I’m sitting on the bench on the other side of the table, waiting for the two to finish their tasks.

I'm taking a curious look around when someone suddenly shouts loudly.

"Is that a filthy Human?! What's he doing in our city?!"

I turn to see a man in chains and a few other less-than-reputable-looking fellows quite literally attached to his back – attached to him with other chains, I mean.

"Scum," Antoninus suddenly says.

"Are they bad criminals?" I ask, curious.

"All criminals are bad," Lucillus intercepts the question. "But those are some stupid [Soldiers] known for extorting [Merchants] in exchange for protection. Because of our laws, we can't detain them indefinitely, unless they hurt someone. So, they are pretty much in and out of jail every other month. We should throw out the stupid military from Amorium, already."

Wow, there’s quite a bit of resentment there. Does the Watch not like the military?

“How come they don’t get kicked out the military?” I ask.

Lucillus and Antoninus exchange a long glance before the latter starts explaining.

“They close an eye because in case of a Human attack, they are the first line of defense. That allows them to do almost whatever they want as long as the consequences are not too dire. That’s why we often jail them for a few weeks before being forced to release them. The military has the last say in what happens to their [Soldiers] and officials.”

Huh. Before I can formulate any other thought, one of the criminals shouts out loud.

"Human! Look at me, you disgusting worm!"

worm?

I see Antoninus and Lucillus staring at me, expecting a reaction of sorts.

Is this the Elven n-word? worm?

The w-word?

"Is that a speciesist slur?" I ask.

"You have never heard it?" Antoninus looks confused.

"Nope."

"That explains why you are so calm," Lucillus nods. "Some Humans call us Demons. Some Elves call them worms."

"Meh, no reason to get all angsty about it, really," I shrug. "De-escalation is always the best weapon against these kinds of people."

“Good,” Lucillus sighs. “That’s Appius. His squad is the most rotten piece of military corruption we have seen in a while. [Captain] Drusillus has gone multiple times to their [Sergeant] and told him there’d be consequences if they kept acting up.”

By the looks of it, that Appius and the others shouting behind him some more w-word at me don’t seem to care about the consequences, though.

The [Guards] escorting those people are now having trouble holding them down, while the guy who looks like the boss, Appius, keeps shouting at me. He's pretty much as tall as me, fat, and with red hair.

"worm! Stop ignoring me! I will come and take your wife, your sister, and that whorish mother of yours!"

"No trouble at least—" Antoninus suddenly looks down at his hands and realizes I have taken the sword he was oiling and am walking toward the guy.

"Come on, worm! Show me what you got! Come here! I'll eat the fucking eyes out of your head!"

"Joey! Rot it! [Restraining Touch]!" I feel my whole body getting paralyzed the same way it happened when Lucillus first used the 'skill' on me. This time, however, as my body spasms, I'm still seeing red. I slowly start moving under the widened eyes of the two [Guards], resisting the [Restraining Touch].

Antoninus has to tackle me to the ground while whispering some skill that apparently disarmed me in a way that no one would get hurt.

"Luciani," Lucillus is staring at me. "Do you really want to get tried for murder?"

I stretch my neck and see the sneering face of the redhead guy while he's being taken away to the cell.

...

"You better not try anything like that with Clodia," Lucillus admonishes me.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't like when someone tries to smear my mother as a casual insult. It kind of drives me crazy. Must be my heritage."

I can see that both are quite stern with their gazes so I try changing topic.

"Anyway, this forest by the side of the Watch looks pretty. How come there's an actual forest inside the city? Isn't that a waste of space?"

"It's a tradition," Lucillus sighs and drops the previous matter. "We honor our ancestors by keeping forests inside cities. The tradition is quite old, and it has to do with [Druids]. They were a big part of our civilization. But the famous [King] Tiberius was the most powerful and the last [Druid] in our known history... and he died around three hundred years ago or so."

"Oh," I nod, impressed by this piece of trivia. "Do [Druids] turn into animals and control plants and stuff like that? Sorry, still getting my head around the whole class and skill thing."

They take pity on me when I say that, and Lucillus starts explaining as we head back toward the Pratus.

"[Druids] suddenly disappeared without a warning. It's not clear why. Some say it’s because the huge forests we used to have got chopped down by [King] Tiberius when there was need to build a bunch of ships to assault Teiko—that's where our enemies are, if you don't already know."

"Oh, thanks. No, I didn't."

I can appreciate the fact that Lucillus doesn't take stuff for granted now. It's very thoughtful of him.

"And that's pretty much the story. Their powers are speculated to have a correlation with animals and plants, yes. But we don't know much more than that.

"Cool," I nod. "Thanks again for all the stuff you explain to me. I'll offer you lunch as soon as I get paid."

"You are assuming you will get hired, Luciani," Lucillus sighs, probably thinking that's never happening in a million years.

"My friend, I don't assume; trust me. I can't do many things—especially paperwork. But baking? I'll show you."

...

"...to work for you."

By the time Lucillus is done explaining, a woman Elf, taller than me and with bulging biceps, looks right into my eyes.

"Is this a joke?"

"Clodia, he says that—"

"Thanks, Lucillus, I'll take it from here," I say to the kind [Guard]. "Miss Clodia, it's a pleasure to meet you. I know Humans are not well-received around here, but I just want to make some cash—well, coin to get around. I can give you a demonstration. I think I might also be able to provide you with a few recipes and techniques you have never heard of."

Clodia has taken out a truth-stone mid-speech and she's staring at it. Lucillus looks at her reproachfully for it. If I had to guess, it must be something that is not very courteous to do among civilians.

Clodia flicks her long, brown hair behind her shoulders and ties it up into a ponytail with a little ribbon. "Ok, Human. Show me what you can do, then. If you cause any trouble, they will bring me back to the Watch again, I suppose. But I'll let my dear cousin pick up the fine this time."

"No problem," I give her my custom wink-with-tongue-click while she gives me a stare that could wither an entire field of roses.

"You claim to know techniques and recipes that we don't," Clodia looks back at me. Now, let me tell you that even though she's massive, she's super pretty. She might bat for the other team, if my spidey-senses are telling the right story, though. "So, what will it be?" She presses me for an answer.

"Do you know what Crème Brûlée is?"