“The three of us are going to be staying at the very back. We’ll be fiddling with tools and materials to make artefacts. Why on Orb would you even think joining us is necessary?” Gaius asked. “And besides, even if you don’t, being part of the group that stays behind isn’t particularly hard either.”

“I think you misunderstand me,” Countess Reinford replied. Running her fingers through her long blue hair, she looked at Gaius and said, “I’m absolutely certain that you’re going to be involved in something more fun than just making artefacts. If I’m in your group, you’ll have to bring me along.”

“‘More fun’?” Gaius repeated. “Are you trying to jinx me or something? No, stop it. It’s a normal field trip for us. It’s meant for us to have fun. I’m not going to start slaughtering my way through a few hundred snowpyres or something. Nothing’s going to happen there. It’ll be a peaceful conference, and we’ll all go back safe and sound.”

Silence fell when he was done.

“Now you’ve said it in such a manner,” Isabelle said, “I can’t help but feel very worried that something’s going to really happen. But you do have a point. Who’s going to show up during the Conference of the Four? Important people, right? And the great gods too…”

Her voice trailed off. A moment later, she glanced at Gaius and smiled helplessly. “Oh dear.”

Nakama chimed in. “Uh-oh.”

“It seems that your friends also feel the same way,” Reinford said, a smile on her face. “Evidently, there’s a precedent. Which means that things are going to turn out the way I expect it to, and therefore, tagging along must be fun.”

Gaius turned to the man a half-step behind her. He was the armoured youth Gaius had flattened into a pancake during the admission test, and after a few months, the boy had gotten used to his eternal presence.

“Barton, do something,” Gaius replied. “If something really happens, you’ll be up against Lords, minimum. Your lady will die a sad death, and you will follow her into the pits. Do you not value your life and that of your lady’s?”

He turned his gaze to the other members of the countess’ entourage. “You guys too. Letting her go ahead with this is suicidal, if something really does happen.”

“It’s okay,” said one of them. “If we die here, our family gets rich enough to not work for at least three generations. We’re that insured.”

“I’ve been looking for an opportunity to play the hero,” said another, “but the countess has too many bodyguards for me to do anything like that. And it’s not three generations, Lil, it’s five.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Lil disagreed with that statement, and before their very eyes, the two youths had started to argue about who was correct. Before long, the other members of Reinford’s entourage joined the debate, and Gaius smiled.

“You have a rather impressive compensation package, it seems.” The boy shook his head. “What does it consist of?”

“Lots of things I don’t really care to remember,” the countess replied casually. “Why? Are you interested?”

“Not in particular, no.” Gaius crossed his arms and turned to Barton. “Help me persuade the countess to not do this.”

“I’m just a higher-level employee,” he replied. “I can offer counsel, but right now, my lady’s already looking forward to seeing the events that occur next. My words are useless, so why not spend that time thinking about dinner instead?”

“Ugh.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Fine, but why should I take you along? Surely, I must look out for you if something really happens. And your employees too. It’s going to be a pain. What’s in it for me?”

“There are many things the Reinford family has. If you can name it, I’ll get it for you,” said the countess. “I’m only afraid that you don’t have anything you want.”

“Is that so?” Gaius smirked.

“Of course, some things are out of bounds. No production methods, production lines and anything deemed as family secrets,” the countess added on hastily. “Other than that, anything is fair game. I’ll let you ask for three items.”

“Three items?” Gaius licked his lips. He hadn’t yet claimed his reward from the Pinnacle yet; the poor guy was working himself to the bone setting up the conference venue at the Central Circle. The Oracle had apologised profusely to him when he asked about it, promising to bring him in at a later date, when the preparations were more or less done.

“Any three.”

“Hmm.” Gaius folded his arms. “I’ll have three Zeroth Armaments, then.”

The countess stared at him, and then said, “No production methods, production lines, family secrets and Zeroth Armaments.”

“Well, that was worth a try, at least.” The boy rubbed his chin, and his eyes fell onto a yawning Nakama. “Alright. Three Engines, then. Surely that won’t be a problem?”

“Three Engines?!” The countess glared at Gaius. “Why would you need so much anyway? You and Isabelle have one already. Only your sister needs one, so why would you need three?”

“Well,” Gaius replied, “you know what they say. One for use, one for a backup, and one as a backup for the backup.”

“Huh?”

“Fine. This joke doesn’t seem to work here.” Gaius cleared his throat. “My sister should get at least a semblance of choice, no? If there are three top-tier Engines, she could pick and choose which one she wants to use.”

He could feel Isabelle staring at him, but she already knew why he was doing this in the first place. Of course, he didn’t feel that good using Nakama as a cover, but one Engine was indeed going to her, no matter what.

“You sister-doting idiot. You could have exchanged for other items, but…” The countess held her head. “I have never seen a fool like you. Fine, whatever. You’ll let us follow you, and I’ll give you three of the best Engines I can get. Deal?”

“Now you’re talking.” Gaius nodded seriously. “But do not expect me to volunteer for stupid things. Let me say this loud and clear — we’re probably going to spend our time studying artefacts. Unless something funny happens, I’m not going to move an inch.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take it as suffering a small loss in that case.”

“Do we have a deal then?”

“Deal, then.” Reinford smiled. “I can’t wait.”

Gaius looked at her. Wait?