“Wha- what the- who are you?!”

“I am Kit Ninetails, mortal. Of the- no, that doesn’t matter.”

“You- what- are you a Mystic?!”

The woman sighed, her imposing nature immediately dropping as her head drooped. “...yes, I’m a Mystic, but that’s not important. That girl. You want to save her, don’t you?”

“...what’s the point? Even if I catch up, what can I do?”

Kit grinned, revealing a row of sharp teeth. “You’ll see. Are you going to follow me, or not?”

“Why are you doing this?” I said cautiously. “I didn’t know Mystics were so… open. I thought you were gods. Isn’t this… against the rules or something?”

“God, schmod, whatever. You look like a fun boy.” She stepped forward, tracing her finger across my cheek. “And I repay my debts. You saved me, so in return, I’ll help you. Well, if you think about it, I’ve already saved you once. We’ll consider this a bonus, just because I’ve taken a liking to you. So, how about it?”

I didn’t like it. She felt as sly as, well, as a fox. But what other option did I have? And besides, a Mystic. If I said no, would she smite me on the spot? It was very possible. I knew of Mystics, but there were few recorded interactions with them that I knew of. How would she react? What would she do?

“...please, help me.”

“Good. Follow me.”

She transformed back into a fox and leapt away. I followed, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness that enveloped me. I’d been living with a Mystic for this long? And how had she ended up in such a state in the first place?

I shook my head. That wasn’t important. I had to get Celeste back. Other problems could wait. I followed Kit as best I could, and soon enough, we reached a small cliff overlooking a clearing. There sat a hastily put-together camp, complete with tents and a cage with the princess inside, tied and gagged. I felt my anger flare up, but I was well trained enough not to make a move. Rash decisions would only put the both of us in danger.

“We’ll be getting a hefty bonus for this one.”

“It was easy. A child? Come on, this was never going to be hard.”

“When are we leaving?”

“It’ll take a day for the message to get there, and then another day for their response. So we just stay here, I guess.”

Two days. I had two days to rescue her. That was great. I could go back, report this, and-

“Shh.”

I almost yelled, but Kit covered my mouth, wrapping her arms around me.

“You were going to go back, weren’t you? To the castle. To get the adults to deal with this. Since they know better and all that.”

I nodded furiously.

“Mm… but wouldn’t you rather take them on by yourself?”

I frowned. Hadn’t she seen me get completely obliterated?

“I can train you. How about it? Become my disciple for a few days.”

I shuddered as a shiver ran down my spine, but it wasn’t out of fear. The disciple of a Mystic? When would I ever get such a chance?

Hold on. Something like this would definitely come at a cost. But then again, wouldn’t the cost be worth it? The training of a Mythic. Surely that was worth anything I had to offer. And besides, she was right. I did want to solve things with my own hands. I didn’t want to leave it to someone else to fix my mistake.

I turned to the fox, nodding with determination.

“Very good. Then follow me.”

~~~

“The rest is… well, it’s a little sensitive,” Destiny said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We got her back, and the royal family investigated the matter. A year later, the royal family’s spies got wind of Doctor’s organization. They wanted to send someone capable, but I volunteered.”

“...they sent a child? What, is a child less suspicious or something?” John scoffed.

“Yeah. You got it.”

Destiny crossed his arms and leaned back. “I trained a lot with Kit after that. You already know this, but she’s the one who taught me most of what I know about casting. There were some martial arts she taught me as well, but they’re just not her specialty. But a lot of what happened during the fight and that year were… well, personal. It’s not my place to tell Kit’s story. Unless…”

The fox shook her head.

“What?” John frowned. “How did you two get so close? How did she learn that you’re a reincarnator?”

“That’s part of it,” Destiny said. “Do you really need to know?”

John frowned. “What? I mean, your story just… cuts off. What happened to the princess? How did you rescue her? What happened next?”

“It’s awkward. Well, I can give you the short version. Kit trained me for two days. I tried to rescue the princess, but failed. Kit stepped in and did it for me anyway. We got back, and, well… yeah.”

“...that’s it? Really? What about why Kit, a Mystic, is just… with you? Why was she running in the first place? What was your training like? Hello?”

“I mean, there’s not much to say,” Destiny shrugged. “Just like how you have your secrets, isn’t it fair that I have mine?”

John shook his head. “Yeah, my bad. I… I guess I overstepped it a little.”

Destiny smiled. “No problem. It’s actually quite interesting as I look back on it. Even my time with you… well, they say each life is a story for a reason.

“Literally,” John muttered.

He was a bit more disappointed than he’d initially let on. As a [Reader], information was vital to his survival. The more he knew, the better he could predict how a [Story] would go. The bits of information about Kit seemed like something important, especially considering how Destiny was the [Protagonist] and everything, but he very well couldn’t say “oh, I need to know because it’s a vital part of a story.”

“Damn, what a let down. I don’t even get to finish listening to Destiny’s story.” A frown developed on his face. “Wait, is this just because the [Author] didn’t want to-”

His mouth shut itself closed. He struggled to finish his sentence, but found that he couldn’t even think of it. The idea was there, but it wasn’t possible to form it into some kind of coherent though. Curses filled his mind, but he couldn’t utter a single one. Defeated, he slumped in his seat and pouted.

“...wait a minute,” John frowned. “There’s something we never covered.”

“Hm?”

“That girl in the forest. The one you had history with. The one hunting you down. Who exactly was she?”

Destiny frowned. “Oh, her? There’s another family, the royal family’s spies. They’re an elite group of female elves who operate in the shadows. There isn’t much to them. They just don’t like the Windwalkers.”

“...what? Why?”

“Well, from what I’ve been told, bad blood and political rivalry. The royal family can only fund them so much, and so there’s always talk of whether to support espionage or protection. It’s messy,” Destiny sighed. “But what can I do about it? I’m just one person.”

“Politics,” John said with a disgusted look.

“You don’t like politics? You strike me as the kind of guy who’d love that kind of stuff.”

“Eh. It’s fun once in a while, but you’ve got all this backward bullshit you spew. I mean, politicians just love jerking each other off, right? And then they have some kind of weapon in the back, just in case,” John grumbled. “Sure, there’s some skill to it. But if you can just kill your enemy, why not just do that?”

Destiny paused, momentarily stunned. He quickly recovered, nodding. “I- I see. Yeah, you’re- it makes sense. I can see why you wouldn’t like politics.”

John yawned, nodding. “Yeah. The last time I ran into royalty, I kinda… started a huge war and stuff.”

“What the- how did you manage that?!”.

“I, um… well, someone was getting on my nerves, and then he tried to do something about it? So I, ah… I killed him. And then people weren’t very happy about it.”

“What the- what the hell?”

“He was mildly inconveniencing me!” John protested. “What was I supposed to do, take it like a bitch?”

“What- yes!”

“...I see we don’t think alike.”

“Just- this royal family won’t try to kill you, so can you at least try to behave?”

“...I’ll try.”

Destiny suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Perhaps inviting John to his home was a larger mess than he’d initially imagined. He could only hope his companion would restrain himself.

~~~

“We are here, young master.”

The coachman opened the door and bowed, indicating for Destiny to leave.

“Thank you.” Destiny stepped down, waving for John to come. “Come on, I already told my family about you!”

“You did what?!” John yelled, but Destiny was already sprinting toward a rather large home.

“Oh, my god… the one percent,” John muttered as he stared at the mansion before him. This wasn’t even the castle.

Prota stirred and stretched, her eyes slowly opening. “Mm… here?”

“Yeah, we’re here. Come on,” John said, lifting her like a sack of potatoes.

Prota’s jaw dropped as she saw the home in front of her. She’d never seen a single residence so large.

“Big…” she exhaled, staring up with shining eyes.

“Yeah, we’ll be living in this or something,” John said, putting her on his shoulders. He’d tried to put her down, but she’d slumped over, so it seemed he’d need to carry her for now. “Come on, let’s go.”

John slung his bag over his back, stepping down the stairs onto the fresh growing grass. The early April air had a chill to it, but the bright sun was more than enough to keep them warm. He knew that more challenges and trials would await, but for now, it was nice to have somewhere to rest.

“Peace at last,” he sighed, a gentle breeze passing over his body as he walked toward the mansion. Prota’s hair fluttered in the wind, getting in his face, but he just brushed it out of the way. What a nice day.

John’s peace was shortlived. A giant cloud of dust rose from the residence, Destiny’s figure barely visible as he sprinted back toward the carriage.

“Hey! Hey! Mercy! Cut it out!”

“Come back here, little brother. I told you not to do anything stupid, didn’t I?”

John frowned and squinted his eyes. Who was that behind Destiny?

“John,” Prota gasped. “Bad guy. Big hammer. Strong.”

“Big- oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“John!” Destiny yelled. “Save me!”

“What the hell do you want me to do?” John yelled back. “Die? I don’t think I’d survive a single hit from that!”

“Protect me!” Destiny yelled, throwing himself to the ground behind John.

Not far away was a girl wielding a giant black hammer. She had silver hair like Destiny, but lacked his golden eyes. They were instead a brilliant deep red, sparkling with energy. Despite the giant weapon she was wielding, her build was slim. Combined with the dress she was wearing, it would’ve been easy to mistake her as a proper young lady, someone who poured tea and reacted to terrible news with nothing more than a simple “oh my.”

“Oh my,” the girl sighed, coming to a stop. In a single fluid motion, her hammer folded itself into a case, which she picked up and held in her hand, as if she were going on a trip. Turning to John, she bowed.

“Hello. I am Hart Windwalker.”

“Um… ah. Yes. Hello. I’m John,” John nodded. “This is my sister, Prota.”

“Ah, I’ve heard a lot about you two. Des spoke very highly of you in his letter. It’s very nice to meet both of you in person. Now, would you mind stepping aside? I’d like to have a few words with my reckless brother.”

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John looked back at Destiny, who was desperately shaking his head. He then looked back at Hart, who was looking at him with a polite smile, but John could tell. She was dangerous. Given the [Character] he was dealing with, he’d probably get moved whether he wanted to or not.

“Sorry, Destiny. I can’t take this one for you,” John said, stepping to the side. He felt a little guilty, but in reality, there was simply nothing he could do.

“John-!”

John didn’t look back as he walked away. He couldn’t. He’d feel too guilty.

“She is strong?” Prota said, surprised. “Who is she?”

“Destiny’s sister,” John said simply. “He told us about her, right?”

“Then… why is Destiny crying? Destiny is strong.”

“Well, nothing in the world could stop her right now. The world could implode, and she’d still be dealing with him.”

“...?”

“Um… law of comedy, probably. Regardless of how strong he is, he’ll always end up losing,” John shrugged. “Eh. It’s not too bad, I guess.”

“But Destiny is… [Protagonist], right?”

“Well… it’s a little more complicated than that. I’ll teach you when you get the hang of simpler things.”

Just a month ago, they’d been in a situation going beyond the rules of this world, cycling through death, fighting for their lives, dealing with beings wielding power beyond logic and comprehension, and now here they were, walking away from a sibling fight.

How peculiar.

~~~

“...and here is your room.”

The maid bowed as she opened the door. Inside were two large beds with fluffy frilled pillows and heavy covers. Fancy furniture scattered the room in a well thought out manner, and a giant window provided large amounts of natural sunlight. A fuzzy carpet covered the entire floor, stretching from wall to wall. Prota fell down and buried her face in the soft fabric, rubbing her arms and legs back and forth as if making a snow angel.

“I will be serving you during your duration here. If you should have anything you need, please just ring this bell, and someone will come to assist you.”

“Uh… yeah, thanks,” John nodded. He appreciated the gesture of being given a maid, but he was also a lot more comfortable just doing things for himself.

“The king and queen have requested your presence in an hour. Please prepare accordingly.”

The maid bowed again and closed the door behind her, leaving John and Prota alone in the large room.

“Quite the upgrade, huh?” John muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He collapsed onto a sofa, sinking into the cushions as he opened up his pocket dimension. A bunch of clothes fell out, mainly outfits for Prota.

“We have to see the king and queen… what a pain in the ass,” he sighed as he began sorting through the clothes. A suit for Prota? No, a dress would probably be better. But what kind of dress?

He frowned. Was simple better? Or was a more intricate dress more suitable? Something colourful? Or plain and white? He shook his head. His idea of fashion was the same outfit every day. The most he did for his appearance was adjust his scarf and occasionally comb his hair.

“What do you want to wear, Prota?”

Prota stopped enjoying the comfort of the carpet and looked up.

“Wear?”

“We have to see the king and queen. Do you really just want to wear that?”

Prota froze. “See… king and queen?”

“I don’t wanna do it either, but we kinda have to. The alternative is probably being put in jail or something. I’d rather put up with some royal hearing than stay in jail.”

Prota eyed John suspiciously, trying to see if he was pulling some kind of prank, but he was dead serious. She closed her eyes.

“Don’t wanna go.”

“You don’t even have to do anything! Just wear something and look cute. I’ll do the talking.”

“Mm…”

Prota still didn’t see why she had to go, but given how John was, it was probably more dangerous to let him go alone. At the very least, she could stop him from doing something stupid. She got up and walked over to her array of clothes, looking through them carefully. John watched lazily, leaning back. How had he even gotten here? Everything had just gone by in a flash.

He looked back on his life. He’d been thrown into this world with only one goal: regain his memories. He’d gotten no leads for so many years, living a dull and boring life, tending his little bar. No matter how many people passed by, he’d received nothing. There’d been that stint with subjugating the cultists, but that was basically nothing.

So much had happened, though. As much as the story was generic, he had to admit, it wasn’t awful. This kind of adventure wasn’t the worst. At the very least, it’d been a lot more entertaining than what he’d been doing before. The people he’d met weren’t the worst either. Albert, Bren, Danjo, Olivia, Destiny, Kit…

“You’re attached to them, aren’t you?”

John almost fell over as Zero popped out. “What are you doing?”

“It’s safe,” Zero shrugged, floating down beside John. “But still, answer the question.”

“...yeah, I guess they’re fun. Just a little.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Sure? It was better than living in a bar all day long.”

“Then wasn’t it a good [Story]?”

“No.”

Zero stared at John. “Really? Then tell me what went wrong.”

“Mm… well, for starters, I’m sure the quality of writing itself is terrible.”

“You don’t know that.”

John shrugged. “Bad pacing.”

“How do you know that?! There could’ve been entire time skips, and you wouldn’t know because you would’ve lived through them! What if every single dungeon dive was skipped?”

“I have a feeling.”

“Can you say something you can actually justify?”

“What do you want me to say, Zero?” John sighed. “There’s just a whole lotta nothing going on. Inconsistent characteristics, lack of proper development, information is all over the place, and there’s tons of cliches and the [Power of Friendship] rather than genuine solutions to problems. It’s really not that hard to find issues with it. Well, that’s just how it goes, right?”

“Have you considered that that’s just how you see it?”

“...what?”

Zero sighed. “John. It might be a little hard to understand, but you’re still a [Reader] in this world. Everyone, in a sense, is a reader. If a life is a [Story], then that [Story] is just being told and read by the person living that life. And for every reader, there’s a narrator, right? Third person, first person, whatever, but the point is, there’s a perspective. This [Story]? It’s only as good as you perceive it to be.”

He got up and stretched. “And besides, you haven’t really answered the question.”

“Huh?”

“Are you having fun?”

“I already told you the answer.”

“Then why complain? Consider… maybe the [Author] isn’t interested in making a work of art. Maybe they just want to tell a story for fun. For their own enjoyment.”

“Have they considered my feelings?”

“More than you might think,” Zero grinned. “I’ll see you later.”

With that, he vanished.

“John,” Prota said, untroubled by Zero’s appearance. She’d long since gotten used to it by now. “This one.”

She held up a blue dress, the first one she’d gotten with John from that store back in the town with John’s bar.

“Um… good choice,” John nodded. He really had no idea whether it was proper or not, but given that Prota’s sense of fashion was probably better than his, it was better than nothing.

“Nn,” Prota nodded. She seemed reluctant to put it on since she knew what would follow, but she did it anyway.

“Well, come on. Let’s go meet the king and queen.”

~~~

“John Quarta and Prota Char. Welcome.”

A thin man sat on a throne at the end of a long hall, pillars lining the sides, a long red and gold carpet leading the way to the thrones. Beside him sat an elegant woman. The king and queen of the Elves, rulers of the country of Lunaris.

Prota bowed down instinctively, shaking a little. She was still rather uncomfortable around people, but for her to be meeting the king and queen of a country… she had no idea what to do with herself.

John, on the other hand, just nodded his head. Thankfully, his normally bored posture was gone. He stood up straight, hands by his side rather than in his pockets, and the normally bored look on his face was gone. That little smile of his remained, but hints of disrespect were nowhere to be found.

“Hey, you stand in front of the royal king and queen of Lunaris! Show a little-” a guard started, but the king put his hand up.

“You don’t respect authority very much, do you?” he said calmly.

“No. Not really,” John shrugged.

“And why not?”

“Well… have you done anything to earn my respect? What makes you king? A monarchy? A duel for power? An election? And even if you won the position properly, what says that I should be the one bowing?”

In an instant, spears were at his neck. “You dare-!”

The king once again raised his hand, a laugh escaping his lips. “How interesting! I’ve never met someone as bold as you. There is a fine line between stupidity and bravery. I wonder which side you stand on.”

John shrugged again. “Both, probably.”

“Hm… and while knowing this, you still refuse to pay respects?”

“Well, yeah.”

“A matter of pride?”

“A matter of inconvenience,” John said, shaking his head. “Why pretend to play nice when I don’t actually care? Besides, you don’t seem surprised.”

“Destiny told me of your behaviour toward the young Wynton noble. I half expected you to be dressed like a bum,” the king said with a small smile. “You’re halfway there.”

“I have nothing else to wear. Sorry about that.”

The queen smiled, then covered her mouth. Prota let out a small sigh of relief. They seemed like decent people. This would’ve gone much worse had they not been. Still, she jumped up and smacked the back of John’s head, causing him to nearly crash into the ground. He rubbed the wound sheepishly, but he got the message. No more fooling around.

“Then, let us get to business. Destiny informed me about the events that occurred, but I’d like to hear some things from you personally.”

“What’s there to hear?” John said. “It’s not like I did anything without him. And I assume you know of my lack of abilities.”

“Manaless, yes. You are an interesting case indeed. He also informed me of your strange intuition, a sense that practically borders the ability to tell the future, but that is impossible. No magic can accomplish that.”

The king got up and slowly walked down the stairs, each step ringing throughout the hall.

“Come. Follow me.”

The large doors to the throne room opened at a wave of the king’s hand, and he stepped out, leading John and Prota to another room. The queen stayed behind, and waved as Prota snuck a glance backwards. Guards and maids escorted them along their way, but the king paid them no attention.

Soon, they were in a much more comfortable room, round walls surrounding a table lit by natural light. The roof was nothing more than a semi-dome made of glass, allowing for a rather cozy atmosphere.

“Tea?”

“I’m good.”

Prota looked up at John.

“...one cup.”

The king let out a hearty laugh and beckoned a maid over. There was a bit of whispering, followed by a nod.

“Your sister, at the very least, is well dressed.”

“She had clothes to wear.”

“And if you bought such clothes for her, I’m sure you could’ve bought some for yourself.”

“...damn,” John muttered. “Defeated by facts and logic.”

“Yes, indeed,” the king chuckled. “To be completely honest, I’d rather have met you here in the first place, but tradition insists that such matters be started in the throne room, where the guest should pay their respects. No matter. Please. Enlighten me.”

John brought his hands together and rested them on the table, leaning forward ever so slightly.

“How much do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“And how much is everything?”

The king raised an eyebrow. “Is there something you need to hide?”

John put his hand on Prota’s head, quietly sending a message.

[Time to go.]

“...?” Prota looked up at him.

[This is for me to do. You go out and explore.]

Prota nodded silently as John looked the Elvish king straight in the eyes.

“Well, yeah. I can’t really say everything. Do you think I’m stupid?”