"Another sunny day," I sighed.

I had awoken each morning the last couple of days, hoping that the sky would cloud over and rain would pour. But, just my luck, today, like all previous days, there were just a handful of scattered white clouds across an otherwise perfectly blue sky.

Leona flew into my bedroom through the propped open window.

"Peep!"

You say it like it's a bad thing.

"It is," I replied. "It means my favorite information broker isn't working today either. She only works on cloudy or rainy days. And with Natalia Ashford's death, she's the only one I know of that can provide the information I need."

And regardless of whether Natalia was alive or not, I still needed a proper information broker. For all the use that Natalia provided, she was, at her core, a collector of gossip rather than facts.

"Hey, System," I called out. "Can you tell me when it'll be cloudy or rain?"

[ Good morning Luca. Unfortunately, as there weren't any Players playing the current Game that have gone through the days before the official Game's start, nor have they looked into historical records to learn what the weather was like during this period, I do not have that information. ]

Tsk.

I figured as much.

"Where did you go this time?" I asked Leona.

The last couple of nights, she spent outside, exploring the city, then slept in one of the manor's trees before flying back into my room in time for breakfast. She preferred being free to do as she liked over being stuck in my bedroom, waiting for me to awaken each morning.

She fluffed out her yellow feathers.

"Peep!"

I explored the wall in the east of the capital. It's enormous. I can't imagine how any army could penetrate through it.

I frowned.

"Well, unfortunately, it didn't stand a chance against the Kobar Empire's army," I said.

I glanced at the bright red liquid inside this morning's tea cup. It smelled of raspberries, but the color reminded me of the bloodshed I witnessed during my battle on the wall, tainting my perception of it.

I picked up this morning's unfortunate tea and poured it into my potted plant. It was an automatic ritual by now. I started the day by washing my face, letting Leona in, and watering the plant with my morning tea.

Leona shook her little head.

I can't imagine how powerful they must have been to get through that defense. Are you going to spend another afternoon tossing those needles?

"I am," I replied.

"Peep!"

Why? Didn't you already get a new skill? Isn't it good enough as is? Why can't we travel someplace? Weren't you planning on visiting Duncan sometime in the Genuiver Duchy?

I laughed at Leona.

She had the freedom to go and fly wherever she pleased, yet she kept bugging me to go with her.

"I will go see him. But I need to see my information broker to gather some intel into what is occurring in the Genuiver Duchy first," I said.

"Peep!"

Why can't you get another information broker instead?

"Easier said than done. Finding someone who is both capable and has enough sense to maintain a certain level of privacy is difficult to find."

But it would be wise to ask Micah for his network's help if the days would continue to be sunny. He must have his own means of obtaining information accurately as well. And he did say that I should reach out to him if I needed any help.

I tossed on a pair of dark pants and a red silk shirt.

My only reluctance to involve Micah's people was that there was a high likelihood they'd report back to him. The type of questions I needed answers for were not the sort that the naive nineteen-year-old Luca would even think of needing answers for.

I gazed at my reflection's golden eyes in the mirror while brushing out my dark black hair.

Then again, that ship may have already sailed. I had already done enough to raise eyebrows, yet there had been zero repercussions. In fact, some progress was made in how everyone treated me. There was a distinct shift in the look the staff and my siblings gave me as I went about each day. It wasn't the same one I was given my first couple of days into this new life.

I pulled up my stats screen.

[ Player: Luca Frey

Age: 19

Title: Observant Ex-NPC

Round: 7

Level: 9 ]

[ Strength : 6

Dexterity : 41

Perception : 47

Intelligence : 52

Charisma : 15

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Mana : 2 ]

I was ten days into Round 7, and the hours of practice I put in each afternoon improved my Dexterity up to 41. And it wasn't the only stat to have increased. My self-training also increased Strength, albeit less than I'd hoped. Intelligence and Charisma went up these past few days, but I didn't do anything too extraordinary to improve those. They simply improved through my regular interactions with those around me.

The most interesting of changes was the new Skill from having passed the threshold for Dexterity.

[ Hindsight Reflex : Level 1 ]

[ Your body will automatically move as you would in hindsight to an attack or a dangerous situation. At Level 1, this Skill will only activate at most once per day. ]

I found this Skill quite useful the past two days, albeit a bit overprotective.

The Skill was activated on one occasion when I went into town with Jarvis to buy some herbs to make the cure he needed for Jasper. We had stepped out of a shop when my hand reflexively pulled Jarvis back from the curb, just in time to avoid some madman galloping on a horse through the streets.

And then, the other day, it activated when I went to check on Elda and Leonard. I had opened the door into their workshop at a most unlucky moment when a ball of molten glass fired right at my head from an experiment that had gone awry. However, the Hindsight Reflex Skill activated, and I closed the door in time for the explosion to occur on the other side of the door instead of on my face.

How in the world did I ever survive to live till age twenty-six in my original life?

"I want to get my Dexterity up high enough to get to the next level," I told Leona. "I don't want to be taken by surprise."

My assumption was that at higher levels it would activate more frequently, and given how it had activated two days in a row, it felt prudent for my safety to improve its activation rate.

"Peep!"

Fine. I'll go off and explore the city on my own. Alone. Without anyone to guide me. All by myself.

Leona whined into my mind in one final attempt to sway me, but I didn't bother responding.

She fluttered atop my head and nestled into my hair.

But first, food! Onward, human!

***

"You look pleased," I commented.

Jarvis's face regained some of its liveliness. Not that he ever swayed from the overly serious expression he wore each day, but he didn't look as down this morning as the last couple of days. His green eyes had a twinkle in them.

"I've finished it," he replied. "The cure for Copper Euphoria."

"You have?" I smiled broadly across the breakfast table.

Even Leona perked up at the news from devouring an egg puff pastry.

"So Jasper will get better?" Elda piped in, breaking away from her conversation with Leonard.

To my relief, she and Leonard had been discussing how they could implement additional safety precautions in case their next experiment unexpectedly exploded. I hoped to avoid molten glass shards flying at my, or anyone else's, heads, for that matter.

"He should." Jarvis nodded.

"Can you give it to him after breakfast?" I asked.

"Yes," Jarvis said.

"Wonderful!" I dug into my plate with a renewed appetite.

Although there were multiple unexpected developments, at the very least, I'd be able to prevent Jasper from dying in this round.

I rubbed my temples, feeling a slight headache coming on. I had learned the pattern by now. It typically came on whenever there was something I was reliving but had forgotten some key factor of. Micah's assassination over breakfast was like that; I had forgotten the day entirely until I was forced to relive it.

But just what was it that I was forgetting? What was traumatic enough that my mind wiped itself clean of the memory?

***

"Ahhhhh, do I really have to?" Jasper pushed himself to the far corner of his bed. "I feel better. I do! I'm sure I can get better without needing the medicine."

However, despite his claims, his freckled face was ghastly pale. It was a stark contrast to his bright ginger hair.

Jarvis gazed towards me for directions.

"Jasper, you can't even get out of bed and stand for more than a few minutes. You need to take the medicine and get better." I crossed my arms and leaned against one of the walls.

"Peep!"

It's that same sickly sweet smell in here as before.

Leona commented into my mind from atop my head. As eager as she was to go out and explore, she stayed behind to observe my younger brother administer the cure to Jarvis.

"But I do feel better! At least I was feeling better a few days ago," Jasper retorted.

I sighed.

I didn't want to resort to this, but there was only one way to convince Jasper to do something he didn't want to.

"I'll give you ten golden Duex coins," I offered.

Jasper's eyes sparkled in delight.

"You heard your brother." Jasper pulled himself to the edge of the bed and motioned with one hand for Jarvis to come over. "Give it here."

Jarvis sat beside Jasper on a chair and set the cure on the counter. It was in a tiny glass jar. The liquid inside was the color of something having decomposed and molded over.

"Peep!"

I can see why Jasper wouldn't have wanted to drink that. It looks ghastly!

"It's not going to be pleasant," Jarvis warned and motioned to the glass jar. "But you must finish drinking the potion in full for it to take effect. You've eaten breakfast, right?"

"Yup." Jasper pointed towards the empty bowl and cup. "Denise brought it over earlier today."

"Good." Jarvis nodded his head in approval. "You can't take it on an empty stomach."

He pulled off the cork at the top of the jar, and the smell of something vile filled the room.

I pulled out a handkerchief and covered my nose.

Leona pulled at my hair strands to cover her own beak.

"Ugh!" Jasper gagged and took the jar. "I should have asked for twenty golden Duex coins…."

"Remember, you have to drink the whole thing," Jarvis reminded him. He was the only one who didn't appear unnerved by the smell of the potion. But then again, he had been working on making it this whole time, so he probably had gotten accustomed to it.

"Yes, yes…" Jasper scrunched up his nose and tilted the contents of the jar into his mouth. By his expression, the taste was about the same as the look and smell of it.

But to his credit, Jasper even shook and tapped on the jar to get every little drop out and into his mouth.

"Pah!" He put the jar back on the table. "Ten golden Duex coins. Remember, you promised."

He gazed at me with a grimace. His facial expression grew worse, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He wiped them away with his sleeves and took in deep breaths.

"Damn it. I know you said it wouldn't be pleasant, but I feel like my insides are churning and burning up." Jasper wiped more sweat that formed on his head.

"Churning and burning up?" Jarvis asked. "You should feel a slight heat, but your stomach shouldn't feel anything."

"Ugh." Jasper clenched his abdomen. "Damn it. It's getting worse…. It feels like my insides are on fire."

"Jarvis, what's happening?" I uncrossed my arms and walked over to the bedside.

Something was wrong.

"I'm… not sure…" Jarvis gazed up at me with wide eyes. "The cure isn't a walk in the park, but there shouldn't be such a severe adverse reaction."

"UGHHHH!!" Jasper dropped to one side and continued to clutch his stomach. He was in too much pain to even talk anymore.

"PEEP!"

Luca! What is happening to him??

Leona cried out into my mind.

Damn it. I rubbed my temples. My headache grew stronger.

Didn't Jarvis also administer a cure for Jasper in my original life? I thought he had given it too late, and that's why Jasper passed away. But what if that's not quite what happened?

Jasper gasped and leaned over the bed's side. Jarvis jumped up and moved away just in time.

"BLEHHHHH!" Jasper let out all his insides onto the chamber's floor. And by his insides, it wasn't just his food. It was red and thick. He was vomiting out everything inside his body.

I was reliving this nightmare all over again.

"Damn it," I swore.

Just like I had remembered too late with Micah's assassination, I had remembered too late how Jasper had passed away too.

In my original life, Jasper had also died vomiting out his insides. It was an unsettling image that I had blocked away to the depths of my mind, and now the memory had come back up with a vengeance.

Yes, the illness had kept him bedridden for two whole months. But it was the cure, not the sickness, that ultimately took his life.

"What the—" Denise ran into the chamber. She gasped and fell back against the door. Her thin hands fluttered up to her face, shaking. "Wh–what happened to him?"

She stared wide-eyed at Jarvis and me for answers.

There was no point in asking Jasper. He lay silently on his bed, his head and right arm hanging off the side. A pool of thick red and brown liquid slowly spread out from underneath him, looking to cover the room. The stench was overwhelming.

Just like in my original life, Jasper died yet again. And I had sped up his demise by a whole two months.