Al was relieved to be done with the ride and returned to the academy. He and Esteban exchanged a quick greeting as they passed each other and the smaller dogboy joined me in the carriage.

“Brrr, it’s cold out there,” Esteban complained, rubbing his hands together, as he took a seat next to me. “How was your first day? Wasn’t Cooking amazing? Chef Wu is a real artist, don’t you think?”

“It was a lot,” I answered wearily.

As if he just noticed I was not in the best state, he gasped, “Ooh, you kind of look . . . horrible.”

I snorted and winced at the same time, “Yeah. I am looking forward to going home and sleeping it off.”

“Are you hungry? I can make you something. Oh, that reminds me, what did Chef Wu want with you after class?” Esteban asked in quick succession.

“I will make myself something, but thank you. I need all the practise I can get. And Chef Wu and the others wanted to know how I scented the magic. I told them I knew the Magical Cooking skill and now I’m getting tutoring from Chef Mustafa on one of our rest days,” I explained.

Esteban looked at me in wonder, “A Mancer and a Magical Chef? You’ve got to be like . . . wow! I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

I snorted and winced again. “Do not forget, Comrade Esteban, you are also learning to become a Mancer. That makes you just as amazing, no?”

Esteban blushed and mumbled an embarrassed, “Thanks.”

The dogboy looked away and stared out the window, our conversation over. I considered the brief exchange a positive experience with someone that I considered my first friend after leaving home. Still, the mission came first and I had a plan I needed to focus on. I wished I’d paid better attention to the time the trip took. If I remember correctly, it was around twenty minutes from the stone cut training field to the academy and maybe thirty minutes from the academy to my apartment. If the carriage turned around immediately to pick Al back up, that meant I had around one hour to put my skills to work.

I said a quick farewell to Esteban and hurried up the stairs as quickly as I could with my ankle hurting as it was. I really should have asked Lulu to give it a little healing, but she looked so utterly exhausted by the time Martial Training was done that I just didn’t have the heart to ask. If I hadn’t been so antagonistic to Al, I might have been able to beg for some healing from him.

Instead, I struggled up the stairs and into my apartment. I shucked my coat and hat and tossed them to the floor along with my satchel. I quickly put my ear to the floor. I wanted to be absolutely certain Esteban had gone home. The sound of rhythmic chopping from below suggested as much.

I scrambled to the edge of the door and pressed my ear against the cold surface, straining to listen for any signs of movement. My chest tightened as I silently counted out the seconds, until at last I was satisfied that no one was on the stairs. Taking a deep breath and activating Stealth, I tiptoed up the stairs one at a time, feeling like an intruder in someone else's home. Reaching the top landing, I tried the handle and was rewarded with an ominous rattle as it failed to move. A grin of triumph curled at my lips as I pulled out my lockpicks, and soon the tumblers clicked into place with ease. A disappointed sigh escaped my lips as I realised how easily I had been able to access what should have been a secure area.

I turned the handle slowly and pushed the door forward a few inches. Then I heard a quiet hissing sound and smelled the faint odour of oil. I activated my Synesthesia, and a hazy brown fog appeared in my vision, outlining a nearly invisible wire that stretched across the threshold. I had stumbled upon a tripwire—if I’d rushed into the room, I’d surely have triggered some kind of alarm. I was more impressed with the Hero’s security.

Taking a deep breath, I knelt down and carefully disengaged the wire, placed it back in its resting spot, and then cautiously pushed open the door, noticing a series of switches near the door frame that likely controlled the alarm for Alphonse. The room beyond was quiet, and I stepped in without incident.

Al’s apartment looked wildly different from mine. The layout was the same but the furnishings were of a completely different style. My furniture was harder, angular, and starkly beautiful with metal legs, hard leather seats, and straight lines. His furniture was softer, with linen cloth wrapped furniture with more artistic flairs. It was like stepping into another country, which might have made sense. I only briefly wondered if the furnishings were set to match our home nation. I made a mental note that I should do some research into the styles of our nations beyond what people wore and how they spoke.

I cautiously walked towards the large mahogany writing desk in the corner, its ornate carvings in the afternoon light streaming in through a window. Peering inside, I discovered a treasure trove of letters and small boxes, most unopened and hastily tossed into the large trash bin. Reaching in, I pulled out one of the letters that had been opened, the wax seal broken and its contents exposed. With relief I recognized it was written in Al’s native Abbaion, a language I had taken the time to learn over the past few months.

Mr. Alphonse Romano,

First, allow me to congratulate you on your Job acquisition on behalf of the kin of Rugir. It is not every day a hero is born into this world. Please accept this skill stone as a gift, my nation has held on to this for a long time in the hopes of finding someone able to use it. Though our nation is still struggling to end the most unjust war instigated by Aulido, we feel pride in being able to assist you on your journey to save us from calamity.

Please remember us as you journey, and if you ever find yourself in need of shelter, do not hesitate to ask. The kin of Rugir would be beyond honoured to host the hero of legend, even more should you decide to settle within our borders.

We will wish you well,

President Louis LeFluer

I almost dropped the letter when I read the signature line. It was signed by the president of Rugir. And they sent him a skill stone? I looked at the unopened box that was glued to the envelope and frowned. He threw away a perfectly good skill stone? Why? And something undoubtedly rare if the letter was to be believed.

I reached into the bin and pulled out three more such packages and envelopes, all of them unopened. Al was throwing them away without even seeing what he was missing out on. I just didn’t understand.

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Frowning, I put the letters and packages back in the bin, though I was very tempted to steal them for myself, if not to use them at least to sell. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave any sign I’d been there. That didn’t mean I couldn’t keep an eye out for the stones when the hero disposed of them.

I moved on from the trash to the desk where two short stacks of opened letters awaited. One stack appeared to be two carefully opened envelopes, the letters folded and put back inside. The second stack had the letters unfolded and the envelopes haphazardly stacked below it.

I picked up the first of these and read.

Death to Hero. Kill yourself and save us the trouble. The serpent beast god shall rise again!

I frowned and looked at the next one.

You won’t be able to stop us. The phoenix comes, and the world shall be reborn in fire and ash.

My frown deepened as I thumbed through the letter. They were death threats. All of them. Why had Al kept the death threats but thrown away the gifts?

I put the threats back as I found them and picked up the other stack. I carefully took the letter from the envelope and unfolded it.

My dearest little brother,

Alphonse, I do wish you’d write me back. Are you really still so angry with me? I am sorry I gave away your secret. I know it wasn’t for me to tell. You saved me and now you are so far away. I pray for you to the gods daily. Remember, you are the Hero. More importantly, you are my hero. You are hope and goodness. You may not want to hear that from me, but I will continue to remind you with every letter I send. Hopefully, someday soon, you’ll write me back.

Things are quiet in the convent. After what happened, I have found the solace a welcome change. The sisters join me in praying for you every day. I do wish you could visit us. Perhaps some day it will be possible. For now, I am safe and far from the families’ influence.

Keep safe and do what you must to keep all the kin safe.

Your loving sister,

Emma

P.S. Don’t get up to too much mischief.

P.P.S. Don’t let anyone or any nation buy your loyalty with gifts and trinkets. You belong to the world.

It was a nice letter. I didn’t know Al had an older sister. I wasn’t sure I could use it, but at least it explained why Al had thrown the letters and gifts away unopened. It might have proved to be too much of a temptation if he’d seen what they were actually offering him. I smiled a little as I read the post-scripts again, his sister seemed to be on the same mission.

“I’ll keep him on the right path,” I whispered to the letter before folding and putting it back the way I’d found it. I pulled out the second letter and read it.

My dearest little brother,

Alphonse, I hope this letter finds you well. I miss you. I miss your mischievous troublemaking at home. I also miss mother and father. I hope they are well. Have you heard from them? I know they had no choice but to side with the Scarluci Family because of their loyalty, but I hoped they would still reach out to you. I haven’t heard from them in case you were wondering.

Also in case you were wondering, I still think you did the right thing. I will never be able to thank you for saving me from them. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me someday for telling. I believed, and still believe, the kin of Abbaio needed to know you exist. The Families will never lose power unless they have something greater to fear. The Hero is that something. You are hope and goodness.

I have some news to share. I have decided to become a Priestess and the convent has agreed to train me. In about three years, I will take my holy vows and if the gods approve, I will officially be given the Job. Isn’t that wonderful? If I do really well, if the gods will it, I will be able to help you on your journey to save us all. If you’ll have me, that is.

I miss you, little brother. Please be safe and do the right thing.

Your loving sister,

Emma

P.S. Remember to change your socks every day and don’t eat too much pie or you’ll get fat.

P.P.S. I also hope you have made some reliable friends and companions. Saving the world sounds mighty lonely if you have to do it alone.

I smiled again after reading the letter a second time. I folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope then stacked it on top of the other letter. I hadn’t really felt jealous of Alphonse until that moment. He had a family that cared for him, or at least one family member that cared for him a great deal.

Unfortunately, there was nothing in those letters that I could use to inspire him without him knowing I’d read them. That said, I got a lot of good information on the young hero.

From the letters, I surmised that he’d saved his sister from one of the crime families that ruled his country. That was probably how he got his Hero Achievement. It also sounded like he wasn’t the one that announced it to the world, that was his sister’s doing. And now Al was forced from his home, far from his mother, father, and sister, surrounded by kin he didn’t know, threatened with death from several different groups, all while every nation in the world tried to sway him to their cause with lavish gifts of rare and expensive skills, all in an effort to buy his loyalty.

I made several mental notes and filed them away to report back to my Handler, assuming my Handler hadn’t already been through this apartment and uncovered all of this on his own. Still, it was good for me to know. I just had to figure out how to use it.

I checked through Al’s armoire, under his mattress, and in any other hiding place I could think of but failed to find anything useful. It was luck he left those letters behind and didn’t put them into his own magic bag for safe keeping. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave anything else behind that I could find. Exhausted, I moved to leave for my own apartment just as a door at the bottom of the stairs clicked open.

Alphonse was back.

My heart raced as I rapidly calculated the time it would take for him to reach my landing—I'd never make it back to my door in time. Even using Stealth, the stairs were too narrow for me to slip past him unnoticed. I grimaced as I raced to leave his apartment, locking the door behind me and making sure the alarm was reset. Hastily, I scurried to the edge of his landing, prepared to swallow my pride for what I was about to do.

Al's heavy boots thumped against the steps with each laboured stride. His face was drawn with exhaustion, and he barely noticed the edge of an uneven step as he nearly stumbled. That was when his gaze finally drifted upward and settled on me, perched on the third floor landing.

He sighed as he climbed the last flight of stairs to his apartment, “I’m too tired to fight with you. Can we just leave it until tomorrow?”

“Peace, Comrade Alphonse, I did not come to argue. I fear I hurt my ankle worse than I thought. I was hoping you would be willing to heal it,” I requested, trying to be as humble as I could as I lifted my right leg up slightly and waggled the foot side to side a couple times.

Alphonse pressed his lips together and was already shaking his head when I quietly added in a pained voice, “Please Al.”

Al climbed a few stairs closer and sighed, “Yeah, alright. Martial Training really did a number on a lot of us.”

It felt like he was baiting me with that comment after our earlier sniping session. I wanted to pounce on it and remind him of his uninjured state but held my tongue. “It did indeed.”

He was just close enough for me to see the corner of his mouth turn slightly upward for a moment. I wanted to cry out ‘I knew it!’ but that would have been counterproductive. I let it go . . . for now.

When Al was close enough he sat on the stairs just below where my feet rested and he leaned against the wall of the stairwell. “You owe me for this,” he said as his hands lit up with golden light and he rested them on my ankle, flooding it with healing energy.

“Thank you, Comrade Alphonse,” I said, genuinely appreciative of the relief as I felt the pain dwindle to nothing.

Al grunted as he pulled his hands away.

I stood and offered him a hand up, which he took. I helped him up and moved past him down the stairs.

I heard Al climb the last few steps to his door where he fumbled with his key and the lock for a moment before eventually sliding it in and opening the door. I heard it close and smiled. Snooping accomplished.