"Hey, Free Chains. What kind of lawyer are you anyway? You helped my dad fight the banks, but that doesn't sound like a job for a criminal defense lawyer."

"Good thing I'm a [Lawspeaker] then. Humans need to complicate things in the name of 'efficiency.' Why can't you hire an immigration lawyer to do your taxes? Nothing stops any lawyer nor non-lawyers from becoming a [Lawspeaker]."

"What does your class even do?"

"Well, the combat capabilities are almost none." He leans in and whispers to me. "However, I do get access to all the laws enacted under the god of order."

"What does that mean?"

"Iberes, the god of laws and order, is a faceless god that presides over anything enacted as a rule, no matter how small or unimportant. He has dominion over what is considered law and what order is. Or so the mythos speaks. That means anything deemed a law or rule is open for me to look at."

He looks around before whispering to me.

"What I'm going to tell you is an open secret that most people on the judicial side of business know about. And I'm not talking just about human society. Elves with local courts or orcs with their 'combat trials' have also come across this information.

Iberes is dead."

"What?"

"Let me finish. Iberes is dead, but his 'presence' is still around. I don't know how he died or where the source of this information came from since knowing those facts may be heretical."

"Once again. What?"

"I'll need to give some context. It's common history that scribes following the god of order would substitute high-ranking spots for other churches while they needed time to find a suitable replacement. They were trusted because if they devoted themselves to a set of laws, the scribes would have to follow them or be condemned to hell.

Religion is just a set of rules and morals sent down by the immortals that are heralded by one or few mortals so their words can be cast down. It's like a fan club for a celebrity, and the admins are handpicked by said celebrity.

In turn, the church of order had amassed great power. The god Iberes was depicted as the interpreter of gods, making the gods go through him if they wanted their rules followed by the humans.

The 'Iberes is dead' comes from the fact that the god went radio silent and stopped communicating. I don't remember much about the ramifications this all had since this was ancient knowledge, only preserved by the elves and their freakishly long lifespans. But one thing became true. Order had gotten autonomy, and it came with a terrible price.

There is a reason enforcers follow the goddess of justice, not the faceless god of order. Although they're flawed, enforcers care about bringing justice to those who were wronged instead of following words on a piece of paper. Ironically, they are called enforcers and not justifiers or something similar.

Honestly, I like this arrangement. It makes my job 'easy,' and we don't have to live in a police state."

How does he know all of this? "Common history." "Open Secret." What the fuck is he talking about? I'm sure if any god were presumed dead, it would at least make the standard curriculum at schools. For fucks sake, it's not some politician or judge, but a fucking divine being!

I activate [Scientific Insight+].

[Free Chains lv???]

Ah, figures. For all I know, Chains can be level 101 or 1001 if mortals can even get that far.

"You said that your people live seven lives. What life are you on now?"

"Well, it's not an exact science. I'll say that I'm on my fifth one."

"Cool, I have three more questions before I have to leave."

"Damn, kid. You sure do love asking questions. I should have set up a charge."

"Speaking of, how much do I owe you?"

"Hmm. If we sue the Bluefield Enforcing Department, we can make some money... I'll write something up, and I won't scam you."

Sure you won't. I wonder how my foster father met this guy.

"This question isn't a part of the three I wanted to ask, but how did you meet my father?"

"My wife really likes the underwear he makes."

"..."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"..."

"Anyway... who told you about the capital trip? I thought that was supposed to be secretive?"

"Oh. I read it in the news while waiting in the lobby five minutes before I met you."

"..."

"The dean spoke highly of you."

Fuck, I had the wrong impression. Why didn't I expect someone like the dean to get as much publicity as possible with my name?

"Last question and very important. Do you have six to eight nipples like a regular cat or just two like the other races?"

~

Free Chains wouldn't answer my question and left me to my own devices. I updated my parents about the situation and told them about what happened, and they were surprisingly calm about it.

I'll check up on them later and see why they are so accepting of the bullshit that happened, but I'm okay with not having to go to my parents' house for emotional support that I don't need, only for it to turn into me consoling them instead.

I walk home before I realize that I'm technically homeless. Good thing I'm not mansionless. I go to my favorite spot in the city, the park, and find myself a bench to sit on.

The run-in with the enforcers killed my bloodlust. I can get it back by recalling the events that happened earlier, but the momentary peace is nice.

I didn't tell the enforcers that the perpetrator was a golemancer because I wanted to find him before they did. But how am I going to do that? I drew a picture of him because I thought that If I only gave descriptions, they would get a sketch artist to take up my time.

Even if I find him, then what? His base is probably loaded with golems, and the same problems will happen again. Two weeks isn't enough time to get strong enough for a frontal approach like I did last time.

Since I don't know the modus operandi of golemancers, I need to talk to someone smart but also familiar with production classes. The golemancer mentioned spectating my cage fight, so either the golemancer knows someone personally in Caliphaxe or is a part of the guild. One of the branch leader's goons did stop me on my way out and ask about my "tamed beasts."

Maybe I am being paranoid and making connections where there aren't any, but that was the last hostile encounter I had before disappearing for a week. It'll be suicide to charge into Caliphaxe and demand answers, even if it's only a branch office.

I need some sleep.

~

The first thing I did inside the mansion was force Duchess to pull all the shrapnel out of my body before going to bed.

It was calming. For the first time in a long time, I managed to rest without hearing the voices. Unless I absolutely need to, I don't feel comfortable sleeping anymore. But something about the mansion blocks out the voices. That's very concerning. I'm not blind to the implications that the whispers aren't only in my head.

I wake up early and start devising a way to trick a senior citizen into giving me what I want, but that's secondary to what I need to do today.

There's no food on the manor grounds, so I get waffles at a breakfast stand and make my way to Master Wang's abode.

I wipe my mouth on a napkin and toss it before buzzing in.

I [Bolster Resistance] and kneel on the hot coals outside the front door. An hour passed before Master Wang realized that his disciple had buzzed in at the main gate but did not come in. His face shows intrigue as he spots me in the coals.

This is a bit degrading, but if this will get this masochist to train me for real, I'll do it.

"Disciple."

"Master Wang. I have a grievance that only you can help me to solve."

I need to act like a disgruntled disciple to really sell this.

"Speak. Tell me your grievances. Is it about your hair? Who shaved you? Are you coming here to tell me you are running away from my teachings to become a monk?"

I purposely ignore his remarks since I'll get mad if I don't. I explained the events last night, but I embellished it a little. I credited the [Broken Body] martial arts for saving my life instead of being convenient to my fighting style.

"Are you asking me to get revenge for you?"

"No. I am on my own warpath. I only seek guidance and power."

"Good. Any hot-blooded youth should take matters into their own hands. Now get up. You are smashing my coals."

I dust myself off and follow Master Wang inside. Before he could speak, I interjected.

"Master Wang. I need to visit Rain about my prosthetic." I gesture to the half arm that is scrapped and stained with blood that isn't mine.

"Make haste."

I rush over to Rain's workshop on the property and text her that I'm outside and ready for my arm. Since I'm strapped for cash, getting this high-quality prosthetic almost for free is a godsend. I'm only worried that if it's too good of a quality, I'll have to pay it off with my body.

Rain has a penchant for testing poisons and weapons on me since I bounce back. I'd figure that my resistances would make it hard to do quality testing, but all it did was allow her to increase the ante.

The door suddenly opens, and I get pulled inside.

"Just in time, drink this."

A vial of something gets put into my mouth before I can agree. I swallow the contents anyway. I'd expected to be a test subject, but not this quickly.

It feels like razor blades are traveling down my esophagus and nesting into the deepest part of my stomach. I start sweating as I almost double over in pain.

The pain is momentarily relieved as my feet leave the ground.

"I'm floating?"

I dropped to the floor as soon as those words left my lips. Losing my momentary state of weightlessness left me feeling sluggish.

"What was that?"

"Don't worry about it."

???

"First, what the fuck happened to the model I gave you? It's completely decimated!"

"That is a part of a larger story."

"Then I don't care."

"Is my new prosthetic arm ready? I'll need it before I leave for the capital in two weeks."

"I'll need at least a week to do the final calibrations."