That’s unexpected.

Chase gazed down from his third-floor balcony, his eyes covered in reflective circular shades. He watched intently a trio of men walking down the street below.

Tambourine and banjo music while the people of Dredgor carried on through the sun-scorched streets of Alliyah, their capital city.

Chase lifted his mug and sipped the cool, blue drink inside, savoring the light, crisp taste. Kvatcha was a popular refreshment in Dredgor and much of this continent. It was made from the innards of a desert cactus, the blue flowers that bloomed from it, and a small dosage of desert honey for sweetness.

Dredgor was located in the southern portion of the continent, between Sorvagur and Rostovia. Its land was practically all sand, but it had two geographic advantages that made it one of the wealthiest countries on this continent. First, it had the largest river flowing through it, utilizing its fertile banks for farming and generating a considerable profit on the tolls it imposed on merchants using the river. Then, its coast was protected by a myriad of islands south of it, making it an ideal sailing stopping point and merchant hub.

Of course, the most significant benefit of Dredgor in Chase's instance, aside from being a splendid vacation spot, was that it was across the ocean from Claude Noire. Knowing what Chase knew about the Spider Syndicate's leader, there was no chance in a thousand Rounds that Claude would muster the courage needed to make it across the turbulent ocean.

Chase tilted his shades down to get a better look at a trio of suspicious men walking down the street below.

"Or so I thought. What in the world are they doing here?" he muttered to himself.

He'd seen enough of the classic Spider tattoos that he could immediately tell that each of the three men had a spider tattoo plastered across their backs through their sweat-drenched shirts.

Either Claude managed to overcome his fear, or he's dead.

"I'd put my bets on dead," he spoke toward his reflection in a small mirror lying on a nearby table.

Chase's eyes followed the men until they reached a woman he had previously seen as a supporting pillar to Cluade Noire.

"But I ought to have a light chat with her to confirm, I suppose."

A conspiring grin spread across his face as he spotted another unlikely person walking through the streets of Alliyah.

Luca Frey… Just what have you done this time?

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

I licked my chapped lips, taking in the grand City of Alliyah. Vibrant chatter of the city folk filled the air, intermingling with outsiders much like myself.

Jasper and I arrived through a portal only two days back, appearing in a seemingly vacant luxurious apartment in the middle of the city. Based on the opened drawers in the bedrooms and the rot level of the fruit in the kitchen, it appeared that the original owner had fled town in a rush about a month back. Luckily, none of the neighbors seemed to pay any mind to the horde of Frey merchants that began streaming out of the home as Father started to conduct his business. Even if they did mind, we weren't planning to stay for long anyhow.

I squinted up at the brilliantly blue sky. The sun beat down relentlessly, reminding me of my trip into the Desolated Expanse Desert, and I told Jasper as much.

"Ah, you must be dehydrated; let's get something to drink." Jasper motioned me toward a vendor selling Kvatcha, the cool, blue drink glistening invitingly in the heat.

With a nod, I exchanged a few Duex coins for three mugs.

"Here." I handed the third one to Henry, who was dutifully following along.

[ Level 2 Random Character Check in progress for Henry Warren ]

The familiar blue box appeared and began rolling through like a casino slot machine, deciding what piece of information to divulge this time.

[ Henry can forge anyone's signature to perfection, which even evades magic detection. ]

"Oho." My eyes widened.

That might come in handy at some point.

The Random Character Checker had been going off twice daily for the last couple of months. Truthfully, much of what it provided was useless information that I didn't see any need to know about the people around me. That said, I had amassed an unusual amount of knowledge about the staff of the Frey household.

"That good?" Jasper misinterpreted my reaction while he smiled and drank his Kvatcha.

"Yes, it is good," I replied and took my first sip. "It's cooling," I added with some surprise.

"Dredgor's cactus is different from any other you'll find," the vendor chimed in. "That's the cooling effect you're feeling. It lowers your body's temperature at your core, almost like magic."

I smiled at the rugged man and tipped the mug to my mouth again.

"It is magic," I said in complete seriousness as I felt the cooling effect wash over my body again.

The man laughed joyously, agreeing.

I looked down into the cup and swooshed the blue liquid in a circle.

Or rather, it was a specific subset of magic, as the drink certainly did have an effect beyond mere refreshment for hydration. I'd learned from reading Magic Studies 101, A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide, that what fell under the umbrella of magic was much further spread than most knew. The mages used to revitalize farming fields and the Spider Syndicate's mana core expansion experiments were brushing just the tip of what was possible with magic.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

However, too much knowledge has been lost over the centuries. Or perhaps altogether undiscovered.

I had a strange suspicion that Lisa's books weren't all necessarily from our realm, as some of the texts I had to translate for Fin were in languages that were not recognizable from our world and were ones only Players knew.

"Would you like another cup, young man?" the man asked, tapping the barrel beside him.

I licked my lips.

Could I sell this in the merchant shop? It's not alcohol, but perhaps there'd be demand among Players.

I had already made quite a profit with the Luminous Vault cavern's discovery, utilizing the earnings from selling shovels and tools to funnel more investment into selling commodities in the Game Store. However, I still had a long way to go if I was ever going to be able to afford a Chaos artifact, even at one of the lowest grades.

<< System, would it sell well in other Games? >>

[ Luca, are you asking for my opinion? ]

[ I am but a System that can provide you with factual information based on insights I have from the Players that have played this Game before yourself. Opinions are not part of my service package. ]

I smirked.

Bullshit. But fine, I'll play along.

<< Are there Games stationed in desert terrain? And are refreshments either hard to come by or low quality there? >>

[ Indeed, there are several Games that Players have previously played and complained about the lack of quality refreshments in their chats with other Players. ]

"Can I buy these in bulk from you?" I turned to the vendor again.

Based on the man's setup, it didn't strike me that selling drinks to passersby was his bread and butter. Within the short time we had stood there, I had seen two crates of half a dozen barrels being carted out from the large building behind him.

He blinked. "You can. How many barrels were you thinking?"

"How many have you got?" I asked. "Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? I'll buy them all."

The vendor cracked a smile. "I don't mind selling to you my inventory, but just to warn you in case anyone tells you differently, Kvatcha is only good for up to a week. And honestly, it's best when completely fresh. We can whip up a new batch of barrels if you wish."

"That shouldn't be a problem," I said. "I'll buy fresh. As many barrels as you can prepare per day."

Anything placed in the Game Store remained stuck in time. It was the ultimate refrigerator. And both fortuntaely and unfortunately, I couldn't actually utilize it for storage of food and refreshments because they always sold far too well.

Are other Players starving? Just how bad are the food and drinks in other realms?

"Do you have enough Duex coins to buy it all?" The man crossed his arms, accepting that I was at least serious about the proposal.

"Father, he's part of the Frey Merchant Guild—I recognize him," a young lad leaned in and whispered to the man. "Their merchants came and bought out half of Hathor's rugs yesterday."

The man raised a brow, and a broad smile appeared on his face.

"Well, shall I take you to the outback where the drink is made?" He rubbed his hands together. "You said you wanted fresh—I'll get you as many barrels as you like."

***

"Hah." I sighed as I made it back to my temporary residence in Alliyah.

A set of oversized blue lacquered doors greeted me at the top of the uphill road, which, fortunately, was situated in the shade. Despite being in the bustling capital, this part of the city had few people roaming around the large private residences. And the infrequent people I had seen were mainly of the Frey Merchant Guild.

"Young master?" Henry asked with a concern on his face. "Do you need to rest again?"

"No," I replied, pushing my body forward, forcing one leg to step before the other. I was still weak, but my condition had improved significantly from earlier in the Round.

Besides, the doors are only a few dozen steps away.

Rather than my muscles aching, I was simply drained and exhausted. Transporting all the barrels from the storage area into the Game Store took a lot of time and consumed all of my energy. The most difficult part was doing so discreetly. Ultimately, I got caught making a barrel vanish into thin air, but I was able to explain it away due to a phenomenon attributed to a Pandora's Box type of artifact.

"But tomorrow, let's take a carriage or at least one of those local carts," I added. Walking about the city on foot was, nonetheless, not something I wished to do daily.

Only Henry had accompanied me back, as Jasper had gone off somewhere.

"Don't expect me until the next morning," Jasper had told me with a wink.

Probably another party. How does he have the endurance for so many?

"Young master Luca, welcome back." Remlend appeared and opened one of the blue doors.

"Is there a bath ready?" I asked, hopefully. Knowing Remlend's sixth sense of my needs, I had a feeling that would likely be the case.

"Yes, but… you have a guest," Remlend stated.

I blinked.

A guest? Here? In Dredgor? Not just another country I'd never been to and knew no one in, but a whole new continent?

"Just who is—" I began to ask, but then let out a long sigh and rubbed my hands through my sweat-drenched hair.

Damn it.

There was only one person that came to mind.

"It's Prince Chase Daylan," Remlend confirmed my suspicions. "He's currently sitting inside the residence's study."

Bloody damn it. Is he here for the golden lucky coin?

Since acquiring it, I have used it liberally to visit a number of countries. Has my luck finally come to an end?

"Would you prefer to bathe first or meet with him?" Remlend asked, following me inside the cool building, which was significantly cooler due to the power of chilling mana stones embedded throughout the building walls, all painted a brilliant azure blue.

"I'll meet with him," I replied and turned to walk toward where the study was.

It's better to get it over with. Nothing good can come from stalling now.

"Very well, I had already placed refreshments there for you both," Remlend said and bowed.

I smiled.

The perfect attendant, as always.

"Ah! Luca! Fancy seeing you here." Chase smiled broadly at me. He sat sprawled out in one of the armchairs with a porcelain cup in hand as if this was actually his residence.

I did not know whose residence I was staying in, but I was quite certain it was not Chase Daylan's.

"You as well," I replied, closing the door behind me.

Luckily, it didn't appear that Chase was in poor spirits. Then again, he was a madman. What crazy person isn't constantly in an unfathomably great mood?

Chase was sitting on one of the two white armchairs facing a small circular window, which provided little in terms of view and lighting. However, white light stones embedded in the walls filled the room with sufficient light to compensate.

The study of this residence was quite a cozy place, with an enormous desk on one side that reminded me of Father's office. The white shelves, however, held no books, only scrolls. When I had previously unrolled a few out of curiosity, I was disappointed to find them filled with nothing more than boring accounting notes.

"What brought about your visit today?" I asked, taking a seat across from Chase on the other armchair.

"It appears that Claude Noire is dead?" Chase asked with a concerningly large smile. His shades appeared a shade of blue, reflecting the walls behind me.

"He is." I nodded and picked up the chamomile tea that Remlend had set out.

"Did you have any part of his… disappearance?" Chase asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I suppose so," I replied, sipping my tea.

Chase's face brightened at this. "I knew it."

I inspected his expression.

Did he come by about that favor that he offered? I didn't kill myself and reset the Round, but did Claude's death fulfill this madman's condition? Or perhaps he just wanted the lucky coin back?

However, just then, Chase leaned forward and posed another question with a more solemn expression.

"And what of Grandov?" he asked. "I've heard two different rumors about him."

I frowned and took a longer sip of the tea before replying.

Why did he care about Grandov?

"He also unfortunately died," I replied.

Chase nodded his head while looking down.

"That is quite unfortunate," he said. "Well, you didn't quite do me a favor as I asked, but as we're friends, I'll consider it done and return a favor as well."

Chase smiled brightly at me, but instead of experiencing any shade of happiness, I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched him raise his hands in front of him as if he were about to clap them together.

"Ah, and while you might have had a plan in mind, my personal advice is that you make sure you don't outlive Grandov next time," he added.

"What do you mean next time?" I sputtered out.

But it was too late.

There was a flash of light and then darkness. I didn't even feel a thing. It was all too fast. Or perhaps my memory was wiped clean to save my Sanity from dropping.

[ You have died. ]

[ Reset in progress. ]

[ Beginning Round 9. ]