Alaric stared at the silver-haired man with a complicated expression. His emotions were a storm waiting to be unleashed, and his aether was boiling. He could barely contain himself. What right did this man have to demand this of him?

The only thing that kept him from lashing out was the man’s own indifferent expression. Even as he said all these outrageous things, he kept a calm expression. It was like this was all a game to him… or perhaps he wasn’t good at expressing himself. Whichever reason he had for that inexpressive face, Alaric didn’t care.

‘He reminds me of Darla,’ Alaric thought to himself.

“Yusa, was it?” Alaric asked, and the man nodded. With a small smile, he picked up the book on the table and started skimming its contents. “What would you like to eat?”

Scarlett turned to the boy with wide eyes that screamed, ‘What are you thinking?’ Even Leon looked mildly surprised by what the boy had just said.

“How kind of you!” the man tilted his face.

“I wouldn’t go that far. You remind me of someone. That’s all,” Alaric responded nonchalantly.

The man stared at him for a bit before leaning back in his seat, “Something with meat in it. I’m not a fan of vegetables.”

Alaric nodded with his mind swirling. ‘What was that phrase Sister Marla like to use when none of us wanted to eat our vegetables?’

“Vegetables are good for you. Eat enough of them and you might just grow another inch taller.”

The soldier remained frozen for a moment before he glanced at Alaric with a chill and asked, “Was that supposed to be a joke?”

Alaric’s mood instantly dropped, “Never mind.”

[ Tough crowd! ] Alia commented.

[ It’s like he’s sitting on eggshells. ] Alaric added. Part of him wanted to take back his offer to pay for his lunch. His boring face might have reminded him of Darla but his personality was terrible.

“So, what brings you here? Surely you don’t go around mooching off unsuspecting people going about their day,” Alaric started.

“I’m a soldier of the empire. You should be delighted to serve me. Anything your peasant self has to offer me is a direct help to the Empire itself,” the man blabbered.

“Delighted?” Alaric was appalled.

“Yes, delighted,” the man responded.

“Tell me you haven’t been forcing people to accommodate you just because you wear those flashy cloaks?” Alaric tried.

“I don’t like your tone,” the man furrowed his brows.

The boy sighed and leaned back in his seat. A bowl of food was placed in front of him. Filled with some grain-like food he’d never seen before. The food was decorated with an orange paste, topped off with a few leafy greens and meat. Altogether, it gave off a rich stomach-twisting scent that made his mouth water.

As he took the first bite, the waitress poured him a cup of water and turned to leave.

“Waitress! Aren’t you going to pour me a drink as well?” Yusa spoke out. Alaric wasn’t sure whether he would place his tone in the category of ‘agitated’ or ‘throwing a tantrum’.

“Complimentary drinks only go to prospective customers. You’ve skipped on your bill twice, sir, so…”

“So what? I’m a soldier of the Emperor’s Army. A run-down establishment like this ought to be honoured to serve a man of my calibre,” Yusa replied. Now Alaric was certain he detected some hint of venom in his voice.

Alaric chuckled, “Is the Emperor anything like you guys?”

There was a short silence as the man turned to Alaric with an angry piercing gaze, “What did you say?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The boy sighed, “You’re ruining my appetite. Is there a reason you came and joined me and my friends on this particular table or were you just hungry? And before you say anything, I’m not interested in joining the Emperor’s Soldiers.”

The man was about to answer Alaric when he noticed the waitress had left. Had this annoying boy stalled for time or was he just as self-centred as he appeared?

“The Emperor’s Army doesn’t let in just anyone. So, don’t count on being asked to join,” the soldier growled.

Alaric remained silent, taking more bites of his food. Aside from the fact that he was being watched carefully by the soldier seated opposite him, the food was amazing.

He was almost tempted to gobble it all up and order another serving of the same stuff—whatever it was. He took a sip of water, then broke their silence, “That’s good to hear. I’m more suited for adventuring anyways.”

“Adventuring? You? What are you, fifteen?”

“You have something against young people becoming adventurers?” Alaric responded with a raised eyebrow. Every fibre of his being struggled against his nerves. He struggled to maintain a cool facade.

He didn’t look fifteen… so how had this man guessed so accurately? No, perhaps the man was baiting him into revealing his real age. Since he couldn’t risk lying if Yusa was using Truth spells, he had to keep a tight facade without impulsively lying.

The Soldier leaned back in his seat, “No… I have nothing against young brats who think they’re powerful even though they are weak. The world has a way of teaching them that. I just like watching.”

“Dark!” Alaric mumbled.

“That’s the world for you. Alright, enough chit-chat, boy. Tell me where you’ve been since the last time we met,” the man asked.

“If you’re asking where I live, I’m afraid I can’t disclose that without the permission of the person who owns the place. As for the rest of my whereabouts, I was out hunting just yesterday. I’m yet to go out today… Depends on how I feel after this meal. The guild issues hunting quests that, in turn help in cleansing the Purified Zone of rogue Aether Beasts.”

“What about when you’re not hunting?” the man asked.

Alaric narrowed his eyes at the man suspiciously. Was he supposed to account for every possible action he’d taken? What was this man playing at?

“I’m either at home or running errands,” he replied.

“What kind of errands?” Yusa asked.

“The kind that gets me through the day. Is there a point to these questions? Should I tell you when I bathe and nap, too?” Alaric responded with a hint of irritation, “I don’t see you writing this down so how am I to assume you’ve got it all right.”

“Let me see your Adventurer’s license,” Yusa held out his hand.

With a sigh, Alaric pulled the item out of his bracelet from under the table and presented it to him. As the man went over the bronze card, he nodded with a surprised expression on his face, “Bronze! Quite the rank for someone of your age. About the boy who our captain told you about. Have you seen him?”

Alaric knew this was the real question the soldier had come to ask… but wondered why he would beat through the bush so much. If he was to think of all his questions as something that had some kind of angle… then…

[ They will be making their move sooner than we thought. ] Alia’s voice rumbled.

Alaric had already caught wind of the dirty tactic these men were planning to use to arrest the ‘boy’ they were searching for. Now that they were investigating his whereabouts, anything suspicious that came out of his mouth was bound to be used against him.

[ We still have a little bit of time. ] Alaric replied to his guardian.

Alaric’s mind was working faster now and the more he thought about this, the more his mood plummeted, “I take it the search for this boy is not yielding results.”

“Oh… some might say we already found him,” the man responded with a smirk.

“Oh! That’s great then. I was wondering how you had so much time to talk to someone like me. You’re finally getting some free time,” Alaric chuckled.

The man’s face went dark once again, “What’s your name?”

“Alistair,” Alaric said. He didn’t waste a second after feeling tingle all over his body. ‘By the power of the Delphi, the Constellation of Revelations, I cast—‘

[ Invert ] his guardian interrupted.

‘Invert.’ Changing his intentions while using the Old Tongue was difficult… but doing it in the middle of a mental incantation was even harder.

Invert was different from Obscure… for it turned truth to lies and lies to truth. This time, Alaric wasn’t obscuring the truth but simply inverting a lie to appear as the truth.

The pair stared at each other for a few long seconds before the soldier groaned and looked away, “The search is not going well. We haven’t found him yet.” Standing up, he waved, “Take care, Alistair. May we meet again on better terms.”

LionHeart stood to let him pass, held his gaze while towering over him for just a short moment before the man went on his way. As the man left his food on the table, Alaric stared at his retreating back in thought, [ Why did we use Invert? ]

[ Yesterday, he asked his boss what he saw when he tried to use his power on us. The man saw nothing… Today, he’s tried a similar ability, so we can’t offer him the same result. If we had used Obscure, they would have known something was off… but now, they will be racking their brains for much longer trying to figure out a way to incriminate us. ]

[ For criminals, they are quite careful ] Alaric sighed.

The waitress came back to the table with a regretful sigh, “Not again. That man never touches his food. Doesn’t he know how insulting that is to the restaurant?”

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows at the food, “What happens to leftover food?”

“Well, food that’s still good to be eaten will be sent over to the orphanage while food that can’t be eaten will be thrown away or given to traders looking for Compost ingredients,” the woman explained.

[ Hmm… What a bizarre man! ] Alia sighed, unable to understand the reasoning behind Yusa’s actions. Perhaps not all the Emperor’s Men were the same. Then again, when were humans ever the same? There were always chances he was a special kind of sociopath.