After his questions were answered, Shen turned to talk to Luthdel, but the female cultivator talked to Shen first.

"Nobody likes the teacher's pet," Erin lak'Safur said in perfect Stangue.

Erin had her arms crossed and was alone. Shen had expected the two males to support her because they had the same surname, lak'Safur, but it was the opposite. The thin guy who had gotten scared when he saw Shen's Idelized Path, Aqur, was discretely moving away, while the muscular dude, Kav, looked at Erin with pity. Kav didn't expect her to win this verbal fight, and while he wouldn't scorn her for picking the wrong opponent, he also didn't care enough to tell her to back down.

Shen looked at Erin in silence for a few seconds. She held her position but got visibly uncomfortable when he didn't immediately lash out. He was about to reply, but Luthdel beat him to it this time.

"How dare you speak to the Heart Sage like that?!" the high elf yelled furiously. He had taken a few moments to react because he had gotten shocked first. He couldn't understand why anyone would disrespect Shen like that.

Everyone looked at them, interested. The ones involved in the shout-out and incoming discussion were of the same rank and in a lax setting. The regulations were very loose regarding how far they could go to sort out their differences.

Erin looked surprised at Luthdel's outburst at first, then snickered. "Heart Sage?! What is that, some sort of fake Title? Are you that self-absorbed?"

Shen wasn't surprised to find the same petty verbal aggression—or, in Alicia's words, shit-talk—he expected before a cultivator in the Eternal Empire physically assaulted another. It was a warmup of sorts like he had with Yinhu Lanfen. It was also the essence of low-level politics, winning an argument by any means necessary, not by showing you were right or your opponent was wrong.

As Zyn said, everyone here had minds that worked similarly. That likely meant similar societies, too. Some would be unique enough but still with cultural overlaps, like the drow. Shen was sure Liya could lash out if needed.

Yet, Shen didn't feel like joining this verbal fight. Erin's words were too puerile. Instead of fueling his desire to beat her, they made him disinterested. He wasn't here to play like a child. She didn't even deserve an answer.

He turned his back to her, facing Luthdel. "Let's set some things straight. Stop calling me—"

"Are you really the Heart Sage?" a Guardian interrupted as he approached. He had a heavy accent as he spoke Stangue that reminded Shen of what he would expect of an English-speaking Russian.

Afork Staulk was clad in medieval-looking plate mail like Luthdel, except it was all black instead. There was a single katana-looking sword hanging from his waist. Shen's Law-vision couldn't see colors through armor, even biological features were hard, but the man looked human enough except for what Shen guessed to be reptile scales.

"The famed human-drow?" Afork continued.

Shen squinted his eyes. "Famed human-drow Heart Sage?" He looked at Luthdel.

Luthdel's eyes widened, and his face was filled with pleasure. "Master, I said I would spread your name far and wide! I did it!" He turned to Afork. "Yes, this is the one and only Heart Sage, the human-drow! There's nothing beyond the Heart Sage's wisdom when it comes to matters of the heart! Whatever ails you, ask, and he shall answer you!"

"Thank Ashakanvi!" Afork said while taking his helmet off. As Shen had seen, he had scales instead of skin, dark green ones, but looked human in every other way. He had no pointed teeth, a tail, reptile eyes, or anything. Humans could be bald like him, too. "Finding you here must be fate. How much for a consultation?"

"What's the meaning of this?!" Luthdel replied, offended. "I made sure to inform everyone that the Heart Sage charges nothing! He helps from the goodness of his heart! Who dared to cut my message short to try to profit from it?!"

Afork opened his mouth to speak again, but Shen raised his hand to stop the man. What was it with everyone interrupting him?

"First things first," Shen said. "Luthdel, how in the world did you manage to spread gossip during a demonstration?!"

That was the most astonishing part of the whole ordeal. Luthdel had said he would do it while they were already in the third demonstration. Where had the elf gotten the time for that? And how the hell had the gossip gotten all the way to wherever Afork lived?

"Master, I lucked out in the second demonstration. The abalu, annoying as he was, came to help me. I ranked fourth! I exchanged the B-tier token for a temporary Alliance-wide slot in the MBSS. I spread your word to everyone!"

The MBSS was the Alliance's Multiverse Broadcast Streaming Services. It was like a mixed radio and TV broadcast system. It had all sorts of content in different channels, from entertainment to news to propaganda.

According to Liya, it wasn't worth watching or listening to. Shen had never had the opportunity to check on it because he learned about it in the Heart Terrace before coming to the Summit. Also, the drow outlawed listening to it unless ordered for information-gathering purposes.

Shen felt he was getting used to ridiculous things because he wasn't shocked to hear that Luthdel had spent a valuable B-tier token, which could be exchanged for any B thing in the store, to spread gossip. It sounded just like another day for the strange high elf.

Shen would deal with that later. First, he turned to Afork. "I don't know what he said, but I had minimal interactions with Luthdel. I only shared common sense with him."

Despite Shen's words, Afork widens his eyes. "Humble to a fault!"

"I told you!" Luthdel added.

"No," Shen interjected before this could go any further. "No," he repeated firmly. "I will not stand for this absurd. Luthdel has reasons to be impressed by common sense, but I refuse to believe another C-rank can be so clueless. You're mocking us. I'll not entertain you anymore."

Nothing in the guy's posture, gestures, or voice suggested to Shen that he was mocking anyone, but the cultivator refused to believe people could be that easily impressionable. The Alliance would've been long gone if its Guardians were so gullible.

Afork wasn't easily denied, and at least that fit a C-rank who had won a system favor. Speaking of which, how had Luthdel gotten a favor? The lizardman said, "Heart Sage, I come from a tribal society. I was trained to war from an early age and haven't known anything ever since. I always ridiculed matters of the heart and took commoners to satisfy my cravings, as Guardians in my race are expected to do. But when I heard the broadcast... It expanded my horizons. Your servant's heart-pouring words described what I was feeling. We're similar, he and I. I wouldn't throw myself at the hands of someone I like as he said he does, but everything else... I, too, feel lonely. I, too, feel something is lacking. I, too, have closed my eyes to my surroundings—"

"Stop," Shen demanded. "Afork Staulk, I'm sure other channels talk about emotions. I refuse to believe you just happened to hear Luthdel at the right time or that his words were that unique. Also, even if someone got touched by Luthdel's words, it would be too much of a coincidence for them to be right here, right now. It's a statistical impossibility. No matter how believable your story might be, I'll never believe you. Ever. I admit your acting skills are top-notch because I can find no fault in your actions or detect your lies, but this has gone long enough. Maybe you just wanted to help me shut Erin lak'Safur up. Maybe you have nefarious intentions. I don't know, but I resent you trying to approach me with a lie."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Shen then turned to Luthdel. "We must discuss your service to me further, but before anything else, I'll refuse it if you call me Heart Sage one more time. I'll also expel you if I find out you're spreading that ridiculous name around or the tales that I'm some counselor of any sort. You call me master? Start by acting like you mean it. Start by obeying me."

Finally, he turned back to Afork, who had opened his mouth to say something. "I meant what I said. Maybe I'm missing getting acquainted with the most amazing being in the multiverse. Maybe not befriending you means I'll lose the only chance to become S-rank. I don't care. I actively distrust you. I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking to me."

Afork's expression was growing darker. "What do I have to gain by fooling you on this?!" he asked dangerously.

"I don't know, and I don't care," Shen replied without missing a beat. "I'll work with you if the military demands it, but that shall be the extent of our contact."

"Heart—" Luthdel started, then stopped and gulped. "Master... Isn't that a bit cruel? Shouldn't you at least confirm his intentions first?"

Shen was so done with this. "Luthdel, I'll ask you something fundamental that will determine the future of our association." He pointed at Afork. "Do you trust this guy?"

Shen was willing to overlook many things based on his assumptions about Luthdel's life and what he knew of the high elf's personality. However, sheer stupidity was not one of them. A C-rank that trusting would bring more trouble than it was worth it.

Luthdel was shocked at Shen's solemn words first, then turned to Afork. He looked at the reptile pensively for a while, and the more seconds passed, the more Luthdel's face paled in fear.

"Is..." Luthdel started, then whispered even though everyone there could hear him. "Master, I think he's a tale-harvester."

Shen turned to Afork with surprise. Liya had talked about that race to Shen because of its unique powers. Tale-harvesters could somehow grow stronger while they were inserted into a tale.

A tale was basically any story that people had heard about. It could be as simple as the tale of two lovers or as big as a Calamity. As long as it gained traction with a third party, it worked.

When tale-harvesters inserted themselves in a tale, they got stronger—but only while they remained in it. It was better for them the more widespread the tale was, the more powerful the people involved were, the closer they got to the key figures they got, and the more the tale involved them.

It didn't sound so bad, but the race ultimately did as its name implied and harvested the tale. They did it by killing the most important person in a tale and ensuring it couldn't continue. By doing that, their power growth became permanent. That's also how they reproduced. The more power they gained, the more of their race they bred when harvesting a tale. So, they did it out of necessity, not malice. Well, not only malice, at least.

Their race had no specific form. They took the main character's appearance in the tale that had bred them. Some poor lizardman out there had died so Afork could be born.

Tale-harvesters were tolerated in the Alliance for multiple reasons. They could be easily identified by B-ranks, never invaded any words, kept to international trading hubs, weren't a united force, couldn't grow past C-rank, grew strong fast, and procreated slow. Giving up on a single Guardian for a whole nest of tale-harvesters was a worthy trade. When found out, the progenitor was killed, but the children were allowed to live—despite the fact that they could only perpetuate the species by killing others.

Most races hated them and killed them on sight if they could get away with it. Their presence was illegal in many words. Many had attempted to outlaw tale-harvesters in the entire Alliance, but they still held somehow.

Liya believed that their C-rank limit was a lie and that very strong tale-harvesters knew how to navigate Alliance politics. At least one S-rank had to be in on it, too, whether by disinterest or because they were bribed. She was only sure there wasn't an S-rank tale-harvester because then there would be no need to hide.

Afork didn't try to pretend after that. He looked at Luthdel with evident surprise. "How could you tell—?"

That's as far as he went.

Zyn instantly became a blur, even to Shen. He left where he had been standing and got behind Afork in the blink of an eye. When he stopped, he had a bloodied saber in his hand, Afork's head was flying, and the lizardman's body and soul were dead and disintegrating.

"I witnessed a tale-harvester trying to insert himself in a fellow colleague's tale," Zyn said calmly. "I used Administrative 404, Training 55,233, and Behavior 921,332 to determine he committed treason. Traitors are to be killed on sight." He waved his hand, and Afork's equipment was pulled into his spatial ring.

Shen didn't try to hide his surprise from his face. Spirit of the law indeed! The three rules Zyn quoted spoke separately about people trying to exploit their peers. They only directly talked about some particular races, not tale-harvesters, likely because their political clout extended into the military. However, using all three rules made it evident that the spirit of the law was to avoid such situations as the one Shen had been almost subjected to.

Zen slowly walked back to his position, then stood there as if nothing had happened.

Shen turned to Luthdel and repeated Afork's last words, "How could you tell?" That hadn't been included in Liya's teachings.

The question made Luthdel unhappy. He didn't want to talk about it, but Shen's words about obeying his master were fresh in his mind, and he found it wiser not to hide it. "I heard something in passing once. The signs you pointed out all fit: flawless acting skills, immaculate cover story, just happening to hear about you at the right time, and becoming interested in you because of what they heard." He hesitated, then added, "Also, it's not very known, but the first thing a tale-harvester has to tell you is that they heard of you, or they can't insert into your tale."

Indeed, Liya hadn't told Shen anything about that. Being from an A-rank race gave Luthdel access to privileged information.

The high elf continued, "And I told you I have a good eye for people. I felt something was wrong with that guy, and the more I thought about it, the more everything fit perfectly. It was just a guess, though." He looked at First Lieutenant Zyn.

In the front lines, you could only see the races of those below you in your chain of command. While Shen and the others couldn't see Afork's race, First Lieutenant Zyn could. He had known from the start.

Yet, he had only attacked Afork after the truth was revealed. He hadn't cared about the capital offense before it came to light. It was very telling about the kind of person that Zyn was. He wouldn't let any illegal act go unanswered—as long as it was publicly known. Otherwise, he'd rather not deal with the hassle.

Or at least, that's what he wanted them to think. Shen heavily suspected that he was the kind of person to let people grow comfortable with making repeated mistakes that he could use against them at the most convenient time. The evidence was his relaxed behavior until now.

A few moments later, a female of Zyn's race, wearing similar clothing but carrying longswords instead of sabers, came from the big building behind him. She didn't have horns, and her bald had had fewer and shorter spikes. She also didn't wear any piercings. She was C-rank and a cultivator of a single probably mastered Law like Zyn. She moved quickly and soon stopped beside the First Lieutenant without a single word.

| Uya — Staff Lieutenant

"As per regulations," Zyn said, "I'll deliver the traitor's items to the Investigation Department. If I'm found innocent, and the items are clean, they will eventually be available at the La'sing Store. I will return shortly."

Then he turned and also moved fast—not running, but walking almost at the speed limit that Shen could comfortably detect—to the massive building.

"I'm Staff Lieutenant Uya," the newcomer said, putting her hands behind her back and looking excitedly at the six survivors. She sounded energetic and happy to be there. "I'll be replacing First Lieutenant Zyn temporarily."

Everything went nice and proper until then. However, Uya was not Zyn, and her following words made everyone conscious of it.

"Unless the First Lieutenant is found guilty, of course," she added. "I hope he is; then I'll probably be promoted to take his place, as is my right. I'm this close to B-rank, just like him! I only need some AP! What does it matter if I don't have enough merits to become First Lieutenant? We're short-staffed! Hasn't the Lieutenant heard of field promotion before?!" She shook her head in disappointment and sighed. "Know what's worse? Answering your questions is just boring. Well, keep asking, but I'll do something to pass the time in the meanwhile. I'll fight you one by one to kill my boredom." She pointed at the thin cultivator. "You first."

While she had said she was fighting them to kill her boredom, she had the right to start a combat-training session with her subordinates anytime. It was one of the legal ways to abuse one's subordinates, though only light injuries were allowed unless authorized by a First Lieutenant.

Shen didn't care. He was very interested in seeing how long he could last against her. According to her words, she and Zyn had mastered their Laws, as Shen expected from its depth, and Zyn had just shown how strong his mastered Law was. Shen also wanted to see how well his fellow Recruits could fight.

The combat session was probably the actual reason for Zyn's absence, too. Shen didn't know if Afork had been a plant, an illusion, or a happy coincidence, but it was obvious that First Lieutenant Zyn wanted the Recruits to get beaten by Staff Lieutenant Uya. Maybe a good cop, bad cop play?

Shen clenched his spear and looked interested at the trembling Aqur.