Tyranna-

Tyrabmona-

Tyrrfa-

Screw it. Lucas was going to call him Tyra. His full name was way too much for him to handle. He could barely even think it without mentally tripping over himself, so he knew he would never be able to actually speak it. Luckily, this guy was Xandrious’ grandpa, so he could just call him grandpa, too… eh, maybe not. This knight did not give off the aura of an old, nice granddad. You know, with his arms crossed across his chest, his legs spread out to take up as much space as possible, and his back leaned over as if he was trying to make a problematic deal like one of the bad guys in a B film.

Ah, but Lucas was involved with this particular transaction. Maybe he was the bad guy? No, no, he just got here, and it wasn’t like he was the one who wrote about how much he wanted to murder his family. That was Xandrious, not him.

Not him.

“What kind of deal?” Lucas asked, wary. Sure, he wasn’t the bad guy, he knew that, but he was possessed the body of a man who dreamed of homicide. And his grandpa knew that. Anyone relative who wanted to make a deal with a guy like that definitely had some strange, probably dangerous motivation.

“It’ll be good for you, don’t worry,” Tyra said with a smile. His teeth were all pearly white save for his two canines, which had been replaced. Those two shone with an unnatural silver sheen, unlike any fake teeth he had seen before. Lucas couldn’t quite tell what was off with them, either. At first they looked like they might have been a bluish-silver, but then on closer examination, they appeared more purple. But then they changed color again, into a goldish-gray. Their colors changed to all sorts as he stared at them, but his fangs never lost that silver luster. With a click of his tongue, he looked into Tyra’s eyes, which weren’t much better, as they appeared to be smiling too.

This man was trouble. He needed to know exactly what this guy was up to and fast. There was no way in hell he wanted to be involved in another life or death situation. Ah, you know, all those guys in those animes and mangas and light novels and everything else always seemed to sass their way through stuff like this. Somehow, being cheeky always worked out for them, and whoever they irritated would immediately spill all the beans. Maybe that would work here. He may as well at least try it, since it wasn’t like he had any better ideas.

“You say that, but that’s what everyone says when they’re about to cheat someone,” Lucas said, putting his plan into action.

Tyra guffawed at his cheeky response, which was not exactly what he expected him to do. In all honesty he gave him some lip hoping that the man would show a bit of his true nature or something, maybe get mad, maybe get annoyed, maybe persuade him that he wasn’t the bad guy, that sort of thing. Laughter though? How was he supposed to interpret that? Any emotion can be hidden with laughter. Sassing him was the only idea he’d had what this old man’s thoughts were, and it hadn’t worked. Why did sassing never work here? It hadn’t ever worked on Earth either, sure, but this was a new world that was extremely similar to those isekais on Earth, and sass always worked in them! But acting like a brat hadn’t worked with Frank, and it didn’t work with Tyra, either. Why did nothing ever go his way. Ugh.

Next plan, then. Maybe he could try and mix it up a little, roll the dice, and do what he called the NPC maneuver. He could just react in anger, sadness, happiness, despair, every emotion under the sun within two minutes. Hence the name, NPC maneuver. If he acted like a complete and utter idiot, perhaps the old man would underestimate him, and let something slip.

Or, maybe he could just wait and see what Tyra was going to say. Yeah, maybe just do that. Why didn’t he think of that earlier? Did he really need to try and guess what this guy was thinking right now? Not really. The old man himself said he came with a deal, so let him say the deal. Maybe it’d even be a good one. Yeah. Do that. Lucas smugly grinned as he mentally gave himself a pat on the back. Unlike his previous conversations, this one was completely under control.

“Oh, that was funny,” the old man said, interrupting Lucas’ thoughts. Tyra’s guffawing finally came to an end, and from the look on his face, he meant business now.

“I don’t think anyone’s spoken to me like that in decades,” Tyra said, his voice tinted with mirth. He wiped away a single tear that had begun to form in his eye, too. Dang, Lucas really, really didn’t think being sassy was funny, but apparently this guy thought it was the height of humor.

“Mmm. That was great. Thanks, Xandrious,” The old man said.

“You’re welcome?” He said as much as asked.

“Right. Let me tell you about the deal, then,” Tyra said with a straight face.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Before he could start spilling the beans on whatever his nasty little plot was, he heard heavy footsteps coming from the hallway. Tyra must’ve heard them too, as he silently watched the door, waiting to see if whoever was being loud out there would interrupt their meeting.

Which of course they did. The door to the parolor opened, and Seldra calmly walked in. At least, that’s how Lucas thought she wanted to appear. Her gait was slow, her hands were at her sides, but she wore on her face a particularly fake, plastic smile. The kind one wears when they have to meet with someone they really don’t want to. The kind one wears when they have to eat your least favorite food to be polite. The kind one wears when they have to stay sober so everyone else can drink.

“Why are you here, Tyrabomonous?” Seldra asked, clearly annoyed. Sure, her voice didn’t show it, but her eyebrows were twitching and one of her fists were clenched.

“Seldra, it’s been a while,” the old man said. Once again he wore that unnerving smile, like he was a snake eyeing up some prey. Yeaaaah, that definitely wasn’t the type of smile a guy should be showing off to his granddaughter.

“Don’t ignore my question.”

“You’re still as harsh as ever,” the old man said with a shrug.

“Answer me.”

“When I heard my precious grandson was locked up, I had no choice but to hurry and visit him,” Tyra said. Now, Lucas had never caught this man in a lie before so he had no idea what he looked or sounded like when he lied, but the words that Tyra just spewed from his mouth were 120% suspicious. Sure, he said them right, as the words weren’t too affectionate to be creepy or overbearing, and they weren’t dull enough to be considered a lie, but-

“Stop that. You didn’t even go to Fyra’s funeral,” Seldra’s calm demeanor was slipping. A hint of anger was in her voice.

“Yes. Her death was a tragedy,” The old man looked Lucas dead in the eye as he said that. Again, his acting was on point. Tyra’s purple eyes began to moisten, but they never got to the point of crying. “You know I’m sorry for your loss, Xandrious.”

“Uh, right,” he said. He had no idea how this Fyra person was related to him, but judging by how Tyra and Seldra were looking at him, she must be. Or rather, must’ve been, since Seldra mentioned a funeral.

“Also, who gave you permission to let my brother out of his cell?” Seldra asked.

“I gave myself permission. I’m a duke, Seldra,” Tyra said with a sigh. His eyes were no longer moist, and he raised his finger up and waved it back and forth, much like a cartoon character might. It was odd, Lucas had never actually seen someone seriously waggle their finger like that, since the hand gesture was both incredibly rude and insultingly stupid, but here this man was, doing just that.

Seldra looked like she was about to burst. The calm before the storm was an apt phrase to describe her conduct earlier, but the calm was gone now, leaving only the storm. But even when she looked like she was about to burst, she didn’t take it out on Tyra. Instead, she walked around the parlor, and once again stared at that stupid rug. Seriously, why did she like looking at that thing? It was just a rug. Lucas could’ve bought one of these things for like fifty cents at a thrift store, it was that cheap looking, but here she was appreciating it like it was high art.

The old man cleared his throat and awkwardly coughed several times, but Seldra just stood there, looking at the rug and pretending as if he wasn’t there.

“Are you going to leave? This is between myself and Xandrious,” he eventually said. She ignored him, of course. Whatever his deal was, it must not be a great one if Seldra overhearing it would ruin it. Also he had no idea why he didn’t just order her to leave, since he was a duke he should at least have that kind of power over her. Especially because just the other day she said she was a knight protecting house Barolt or whatever, so shouldn’t she listen to its duke? Perhaps things were a bit more complicated than that.

“Father has instructed me to watch over Xandrious until he arrives,” Seldra informed the old man without looking at him. In response, Tyra rolled his eyes, clicked his tongue, and slouched back in his chair. How had Lucas ever seen this guy as intimidating before? He acted like a petulant child.

While Tyra stared holes into Seldra’s back, more footsteps could be heard from the hall. They sounded rushed, and it wasn’t long before they made their way to the parlor door and loudly opened it. No, they didn’t slam it open, you don’t slam open a door, that doesn’t make any sense, they just opened it loudly. Now the guest parlor entertained two more people, Frank and Daria. Both of them looked heavily disturbed when they saw that Tyra was here, like they had just seen the world’s biggest rat, and that rat was currently sitting on their couch.

“Why are you here?” Frank asked.

“How many times are you people going to ask that?” Tyra wearily replied. “No, don’t answer,” he said before Frank could get a word in. Instead, he opted to stand up and walk next to Lucas.

“Let’s save this conversation for another time,” Tyra said with a smile before forcing his way out of the guest parlor. Frank and Daria looked like they wanted to stop him, but in the end they stepped out of his way, and he walked out of the parlor like he owned the place.

An awkward silence hung over the place again, like it was an old friend. It was like no one in this freaking manor actually knew how to hold a conversation, Frank just stood there, scratching the back of his head. Daria kept mumbling something to herself, which frankly made her sound insane because she kept changing the pitch and tone of her voice. Meanwhile Seldra just stood there with that lovey-dovey rug of hers, staring into its metaphorical eyes. Why was everyone in this place a freak. Why couldn’t anyone explain anything to him.

Why.