They had foreseen some violence. Perhaps a slap or a shove, but they didn’t expect an unrestrained punch in the face causing Adelaide to fall backwards down the porch steps. She laid on the ground in shock with her limbs in the air, like a beetle that had been flicked over. As realisation began to hit her, tears leaked from the corner of her eyes whilst blood trickled from her now broken nose.
Cy dropped his paintbrush, causing a smudge on the floor, and tried to reason with Bessie about calling it a day and letting Adelaide go back to the village. It fell on deaf ears as Bessie continued to stare down at the squirming beetle below her.
Max didn’t say anything, he just watched calmly over her shoulder. It had been satisfying, but he was grimly aware there were going to be severe consequences for her actions. Usually, what happened on Bessie’s farm stayed on Bessie’s farm. That wasn’t the case this time. Max waited for prompts to ping up in his vision, but there was surprisingly nothing. With people he encountered, there would be a story prompt. With the majority of buildings he walked into, there would be a prompt. Even with a drunken night out or a conversation in the rain, it brought about a prompt for a story. So, where was it now? Did this scene with Adelaide needed to be completed before it showed? He had never paid much attention to the timing before this life since he would normally select a story within a day or two.
It was like being back on Shinu Road. Where were the prompts? Unless… Unless this was part of another person’s story. One that was already in progress. Max wouldn’t have the option to start something if another tale was in the process of being completed. As far as he was aware, none of the people around him were main characters, leaving a nagging feeling at the back of his mind.
“Cy, is there someone else here? Can you see an extra fate?”
Cy wasn’t listening, as he continued trying to reason with Bessie. Max wasn’t going to waste time. He had one carved, magic bone in the other room that was useless with a healing spell, but there was another one in Cy’s pocket. Without a word, Max pulled at Cy’s obnoxious cape that he always wore and stuck his hand down the seemingly infinite pocket. Cy didn’t notice at first since Adelaide was letting out a slew of curses and warnings about how, “Her mother was going to hear about this,” and “Bessie was going to regret this.” When he realised, he began to softly bat at Max’s head as he hissed, “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Just stay still, I need to get a magic-”
“That’s MY magic pocket! You can’t just help yourself-”
“Enough, shut up and look for another fate while I-”
“While you go through my private space!?”
“What are you two doing?” Adelaide shrieked as more tears poured out. Bessie’s cold stare kept her frozen in place. She probably had it in her mind that one of them, preferably Max but more realistically Cy, would come to her aid and help her up from the muddy floor. Instead, the two were squabbling.
There was too much crap in Cy’s pocket, so Max began pulling out handfuls while keeping a strong grip over the cape. Each handful was more puzzling than the last. It started with a mixture of loose playing and tarot cards, sweets, and coins, before it eventually devolved into pulling out a half-eaten sausage, pages that had been ripped from a book then doodled all over, and an absurd number of seashells that were too small to use for most runes. “How much crap do you have in your pocket!?”
“None of your business.” Cy kept trying to pull his cape away from him.
Adelaide was about to pick herself up, but Bessie came marching down the stairs. Before she could scramble away, a heavy foot on her chest pinned her to the ground. There was nothing a beetle could do to move a mountain. “BILL!” Bessie shouted while looking at the closest barn. “Get my musket!”
Max and Cy stopped for a second. Bessie had a gun? Why did Bessie have a gun?
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Bessie shouted Bill’s name a few more times before the farmer popped his head out of the barn. He looked at the situation before opening his mouth to yell a reply. A death glare from Bessie silenced him before making him run back inside. Farmer Gull emerged with a hunting musket. Max was a little surprised to see how relaxed he was about the situation as he leisurely took his time to deliver it to her.
Meanwhile, Max was pulling out handful after handful of pure crap. Now, he was taking out half-eaten, crumbly biscuits, a few sticks, and some unopened letters. “Why is there so much shit in your pocket?” He pulled out a few mouldy slices of apple. “Why is there so much food?”
“I’m saving it for later,” Cy cried, as he continued to try and yank his cloak back.
Bessie took the gun from Gull and began loading it while ignoring the crying girl’s face. “I’m- I’m sorry,” Adelaide sobbed.
“I’m not,” Bessie calmly replied.
Finally, Max felt a familiar, smooth bone in his palm. Letting go of the cloak caused Cy to tumble to the floor. “Got it,” Max muttered to himself as he began cleaning it with his shirt. There was something sticky on it causing a thin layer of biscuit crumbs to stay attached. Once it was clean enough to use, he began carving it with his pocketknife as he barked, “Check if there are other fates!”
“Who gives a fuck about that right now?” Cy took off towards the front door. “Wait Bessie!” He cried out just as she finished loading and pointed the barrel of the gun down at Adelaide. “Murder is wrong and evil! Think about when you die, you’ll be judged for your actions.”
Bessie heard him and considered it for a moment. “I’ll take that risk.”
Max held up the carved bone and watched it spin in the palm of his hand. There was someone like him and the mayor nearby. “Wait,” Max called out. “Think about how many customers and how much money you would lose if you murdered Liv’s daughter.”
Bang.
Bessie had pointed the musket slightly to the left of Adelaide before firing. He understood her priorities in life better than most, so naturally his words had a greater impact than Cy’s cry of morality. After all, this was the woman who would shed a tear or two for abducted cows before eagerly filling in paperwork to get a free replacement. Bessie leaned in, causing her foot to press even harder down on Adelaide’s chest. “Listen here. You’re going to go back to the village and tell your mother about how you trespassed on my property. Deliveries will stop until your mother comes and apologises… with a gift.” She tacked on the last comment at the end as an afterthought.
“I will,” Adelaide muttered as she began to scamper away. Covered in dirt, tears, and blood, she was an alarming sight compared to when she first arrived. Her loud sobs could be heard long after she had vanished from their view.
Max looked around disappointedly. If there was another one of them following a story, then wouldn’t they intervene? It was clear that Adelaide was here to cause trouble and that Bessie was on track to murder… Something was probably required as a sub-goal. Knowing the system, it would’ve been something grim. But the altercation ended rather calmly. Calmer than it could’ve been. He carved a little more into the bone while Bessie was ordering farmer Gull and Cy to get back to work. The newest notch was pointing towards the closest cluster of trees next to the farmhouse before the bone span again and landed upside down. Whoever they were, they were gone now.
He let out a sigh as he watched an exhausted Cy pick up the dropped paintbrush. “You should clean up that paint spot before it dries up.” Cy looked down dejectedly at the floor covered with the contents of his pocket. At the same time, Max slipped his newest, carved, magic bone into his own clothes.
“Why were you going through my pocket?”
“Doesn’t matter now.”
Cy raised an eyebrow before he started shoving handfuls of his things back into his magic pocket. “Earlier, you asked me if I could see another fate?”
Max had given up on him. “I just had a feeling. Did you see anything?”
“I did. I saw a vibrant navy-blue from the trees over there.” Cy pointed towards the cluster of trees where the bone was pointing to earlier.
“Really? Have you seen that fate before?”
“I’ve noticed it around a few times before, but I don’t know who it belongs to.”
Story Name:
Behind the Curtains
Genre:
Battle Royal
Description:
A person sent by the system has been interfering with the calm life of the MC. Can the MC confront them?
Goal:
Get them to stop.
Difficulty:
★★☆☆☆
How to Start:
Investigate the navy-blue soul!