“Tana!” Ike rapped on her door with his knuckles.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Stew’s ready!”

“Oh! I’ll be right down.”

Ike retreated down the stairs with Loup, his mind still caught in his thoughts. He glanced over his shoulder at Tana’s door. Tana wasn’t just some noble lady, but a princess. A princess with no real claim to the throne, true, but a princess nonetheless. For a slum kid like him, she was already someone he should have never met in his life.

And here I am, living in her house, about to share a meal with her.

He snorted under his breath and patted Loup. He’d feared the Abyss, but so far, it had been nothing but a bounty for him. He’d gained Loup, and met Tana and Ket. Obtained the chickens’ skill and the rooster’s orb. And now, he’d get to eat some delicious chicken stew, the meat flavored with Ket’s spiritual herbs, whatever they were.

He sighed out. “You know, I don’t mind this way of living, girl. I think I might never leave.”

“Never leave the Abyss?” Tana asked.

Ike turned back.

She stood at the top of the stairs, her inverse eyes gazing down at him. Under her breath, she chuckled. “You still think you have the option to leave?”

“Hope springs eternal,” Ike said, shrugging. Unlike everyone else, I can still use mana because of Rosamund’s head. I don’t have to start again on my path to magedom from zero. There’s plenty of powerful monsters I can use to rank up, and I can also eat monster meat and absorb monster cores to recharge my mana. If anything, falling into the Abyss basically guaranteed that I Rank up to Rank 2, if not 3 or 4.

Based on Ket, he suspected he needed to hit Rank 4 to escape the Abyss effortlessly, the way Rosamund’s father had, but then, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was the only way out. Abyssal was relatively shallow in the Abyss, barely a few day’s walk from the edge facing the city. Waiting for Tana to join him at the bottom of the stairs, Ike pointed.

“How far does the Abyss go?”

Tana turned in the direction of his finger. “Away from the city? No one’s sure. The beasts grow stronger and stronger in that direction. No one’s ever gone that direction and returned.”

“No one’s ever returned? Then it’s possible there’s an exit in that direction,” Ike mused.

Tana rolled her eyes. “Not that kind of ‘no return.’ The dead kind.”

“Did you find the bodies, or did they not return, and everyone assumed they were dead?” Ike asked.

Tana hesitated. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

Ike raised his brows. Interesting.

“In any case! The exit of the Abyss, if there is one, is so far away that not even Roquefort or any other local cities know where it ends. You’d come out so far from Brightbriar City that you might as well be dead.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Oh, really? That sounds good to me,” Ike said with a grin.

Tana sighed. “Ike, people die when they head into the deep Abyss. Expecting anything else is madness.”

Ike nodded, lowering his head, but he didn’t stifle his grin. An exit so far away from the cities and all my troubles that I might as well be dead? I don’t mind that. Especially with the city lord brewing war here, in my old hometown.

Just running away from his troubles didn’t quite sit right with him. He would rather resolve a problem than run from it. Whether it was his uncle’s debt or Rosamund’s bullying, he’d rather act once and decisively sever their karma, not drag it out forever. But when it came to something as immense and complex as war between cities…

Ike sighed aloud. Then again, I’m stuck in the Abyss. It’s not like I can warn either side, whether it’s naïvely assuming this army truly is a surprise to my home city, or the city of Roquefort…or whatever other city they’re attacking. I can’t get out of here, so even if I uncover the truth, it’s useless.

“What’s that big sigh for?” Tana asked, coming up alongside Ike.

“Nothing,” Ike said. He crossed his arms, still thinking deeply. Stuck in the Abyss… hmm. I need to Rank up more than anything. I can feel that I’m close to Rank 2, but the number one thing I need is more mana. I could go hunt more monsters… No, almost certainly, I’ll have to hunt more monsters, one way or another. But there’s a limit to eating monster meat for mana. I need pure mana. Mana… like the mana from Rosamund’s head.

And there’s an entire army of motionless puppets full of black gunk that converts lunam to mana right over there.

Ike’s eyes lit up. He chuckled under his breath.

Tana pointed at him. “You can’t say that’s for nothing.”

“I just thought of something terrible,” Ike said, still grinning.

“It doesn’t look like you thought of something terrible,” Tana said, crossing her arms.

He snorted. “Well, it’s not terrible for me.”

Ket leaned out from the kitchen. “I’ve set the dining room, so let’s have a nice meal for once, what do you say?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Tana agreed.

Ike blinked. He looked down at himself, suddenly aware of how out-of-place his ragged clothes were in the midst of such finery. Tana and Ket weren’t dressed in their best, but there was a world of difference between him and Tana. She’d changed into a dark blue day dress that fell to the mid-calf. Though it was simple, the cloth was clearly high-class. It shone faintly, imbued with some sort of spell. All the hems stretched perfectly straight, the buttons lined up, a fine line of embroidery along the edge. Ket wore the same midriff-bearing leather as ever, but it was still nicer than Ike’s mass-produced shirt and trousers.

“Am I…okay? Er, dressed fine?” Ike stammered.

Ket looked him over, then laughed. “Yeah, you’re fine. Who are you trying to impress? It’s just me and …” He gasped dramatically, his eyes wide. “Tana…”

Tana smacked him on the shoulder. “Ket!”

“No, I mean…” Ike shook his head. “Sorry. Never mind.”

Ket met his eyes and nodded. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I’ll get you fixed up by tomorrow. I’ve got plenty of extra clothes lying around the place.”

“Oh…thank you,” Ike said, startled. I didn’t mean to provoke him into offering me clothes, but then, I’m not going to say no to free stuff. Especially as quickly as I ruin clothes. If mages have magic-imbued clothes that resist damage, I could definitely benefit.

“Come on, then. Before the food gets cold!” Ket gestured them on. He winked at Ike. “I tossed in enough herbs that you should definitely benefit. Especially if you’ve never had spiritual herbs before.”

“Never,” Ike confirmed.

“Never?” Tana asked, startled.

Ket snorted. He patted Tana’s head. “He’s a slum kid, remember? If you don’t come from a mage family, you grow up like a mortal. You’re the rare one, growing up on spiritual grains and spirit herbs.”

“He’s already at the verge of Rank 2, without ever having taken spirit herbs?” Tana murmured, half to herself. She looked at Ike with a new light in her eyes.

“Er, yes, he is…?” Ike said, a little lost. He scratched the back of his head. Is it that strange?

Tana shook her head. “Let’s—go eat dinner!” She rushed off into the dining room.

Ket watched her go, then nodded at Ike. “Let’s not keep the lady waiting.”

“No, absolutely not!” Ike agreed. I’m hungry, too. I want to try that chicken stew!