“Savage!” A guy called out to me from across the road, pumping his fist in the air.

Jerith whistled. “They really give you the royal treatment these days, huh?” he commented.

“Yep. Had to skip class for a while.”

“That bad?”

“Couldn’t go anywhere without being mobbed.”

I don’t know who came up with it, but ever since I’d revoked Burt’s man card in front of a live studio audience, people around town had taken to calling me “Savage” wherever I went.

Oh my god, it’s him! SAVAGE! I heard he killed a Duodon with his bare hands!

But, after a while of laying low, the furor had finally subsided, and I was all-clear to venture cross-town and work on the SUBAS once again.

I was looking forward to this - after repairing the minor damage from the last battle, we were finally ready to continue gathering more accuracy and range data.

AKA we were gonna fire that sumbitch. Repeatedly.

But as we passed through the west gate, something immediately seemed off.

There were too many people gathered around the SUBAS.

As we approached, I recognized some of our usual crew members, but they were mixed in with another, larger group of adults.

Official army engineers here to observe the testing? Or what?

Finally, we were close enough that I recognized one of them: Quincey, the son of the King.

I gulped.

He was conversing with some of the adults, turned away from us, but I recognized him anyway by his curly hair, blinged out robes, and slightly nasally voice.

“...long will it take to dismantle?” Quincey asked the group.

“Bout a week, once the storehouse is prepared.” one of the men answered.

“Dismantle what now?” Jerith asked, immediately asserting himself into the conversation.

“The…” he began, waving his hand at the SUBAS. “...slingshot. We’ve reviewed the costs your project has incurred thus far and found that it wouldn’t be prudent to sink additional funds into the project.”

“What?” Jerith asked sharply. “That’s ridiculous. Cost to design and Cost to produce are two completely different things! Building a second and third will take way less time and cost significantly less! Did you get an estimate from the blacksmith and carpenters’ guilds based on the drawings that I provided you?”

“Yes well, due to an unfortunate clerical error, your documents have been lost. It would take a significant effort to reproduce these drawings, where any error would produce additional delays, cost overruns… I’m sorry Jerith, but it’s just not in the cards.” Quincey said smoothly, placing a reassuring hand on Jerith’s shoulder.

“Oh, that’s all? Because I have backups of all the drawings that I submitted. I’d be happy to give them to you personally, and provide cost estimates from the guilds myself.” Jerith countered, appearing amicable, but with an unmistakable edge in his tone.

“I’ve already spoken with my friends at the guilds - and the numbers they came up with, albeit without the papers to look at, were not encouraging.” Quincey said, shaking his head.

“Then let’s speak to my friends at the guilds. These costs can really vary depending on who you talk to, and getting the best offer possible is just part of the construction process.” Jerith answered.

He was making a lot of sense to me. Problem was, he was speaking to somebody who wasn’t looking for sense.

“Jerith, that’s not the only problem.” Quincey responded, with the condescension of a teacher explaining a math problem to an obstinate 5th-grader. “There’s been quite a bit of discussion behind the scenes about the Duodon incident that you’re not privy to, and the prevailing opinion among the King’s advisors is that the monster got closer to the city than it ever should have in the first place. What we really want to do here is boost our visibility of the entire region, so that we know as early as possible when the next creature arrives.”

“So, how are you proposing to do that?”

“We’re planning to construct a watchtower at this exact spot, which I’m sure you chose with great discernment due to the quality of the foundation in this area.”

“Not really, there’s plenty of spots like this.” Jerith interjected, unbaited by the compliment, but Quincey continued without addressing him.

“The watchtower will rise higher than any of the city walls, and there’s a man on the far eastern seacoast who has been doing incredible things with crystals - he has some that can drastically improve how far a person can see when they look through them! So we’re going to acquire some of these crystals for ourselves and mount them on top of the tower. I’ve put in a good word for you with the project’s lead engineer, and he may be willing to give you a significant role in the project. Your slingshot was a great achievement - for a student, at least - we see great promise in you!”

Holy shit. Just when I thought I’d left manager-speak bazillions of miles behind.

“Thank you Quincey, I’m happy to hear it, but I’m confused - how is a watch tower going to stop a monster like the Duodon?” Jerith asked.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“It’ll allow us to give advanced warning to our military, who can then use appropriate measures to stop whatever threat appears well before it would be in range of your slingshot.”

“By sending Kallum out, right?”

“Most likely, yes.”

Jerith threw his hands up.

I decided to take a page from Jerith’s book and ask a stupid, necessary question.

“Have you guys tested out any of these crystals yet?” I asked.

“They’ll be arriving in Aetheria in short order, where they’ll be teleported directly here by the Staff of Castella.” Quincey waved dismissively.

Finally, Jerith seemed to get the message. This wasn’t an argument. The decision had already been made. They were taking down the SUBAS, and replacing it with some magical crystal bullshit.

“Thank you, Quincey.” Jerith said, after a moment to think. “I’ll speak to my father about this - to hear for myself what the advisors are saying about the project.”

With that, Jerith dismissed the crew, leaving the SUBAS to the committee of vultures.

We walked away together wordlessly. As we passed underneath the gate, Jerith pounded his fist against the wall, shouting in frustration, and putting a hand on his forehead.

I put a hand on his shoulder - the opposite one that Quincey had encroached upon.

“What’s the big idea? Why didn’t they go for it, Brad?” Jerith asked. “Do you know?”

“Probably.” I said. Arrogant? Sure, but I’d seen enough corporate shenanigans to know an ouster when I saw one.

“Really?” Jerith asked, surprised.

“It’d make you look too good.”

“So what?”

“Think about it, Jerith! You’re a young wunderkind hotshot who just saved the city from monsters with a device that you invented. Stick around long enough, and people are going to start wondering why you don’t just rule the kingdom yourself.”

“That’s insane! I just want to build stuff!”

“Sure, for now. But as you get older, and go higher up the hierarchy, you’ll get closer and closer to the people who make all the important decisions. And if you aren’t happy with them, what will you do? Will you go along with their dumb bullshit, or will you try to take control from them?”

“I wouldn’t do something crazy like that…”

“Doesn’t matter. Quincey sees you as competition.”

“Well, he’s wrong!”

“No he’s not!” I countered forcefully, staring him right in the eyes.

Jerith stared back, stunned. As smart as he was, I don’t think he’d ever considered what I just told him. That’s his whole thing - give him a problem, and he feasts on it. But if something’s in his blind spot, it feasts on him. On second thought, maybe that isn’t a Jerith thing. Maybe that’s a human thing.

Luckily, we’d reached the western market square, so my treasonous words diffused quickly into the background clamoring of business-as-usual.

“Well, In case I don’t see you again… for what it’s worth… it’s been great working with you, Bradley.” Jerith said, extending a hand.

I shook it half-heartedly.

In case I don’t see you again…

I have to tell him right now, don’t I…

“Jerith… wait.” I started.

“What?” he asked wearily.

“How are things going with Arrabella?”

“I did just what you said.” Jerith stated. “And you were right - there was a whole week where she pursued me relentlessly. I thought about giving in… but I guess I didn’t. And now she’s gone - she moved back into her parents’ house to recover from some kind of sickness… They say she’ll be back soon.”

“Ugh…” I winced involuntarily as my gut clenched in cold certainty. I hesitated once more, but there was no way I could keep it in now.

“I think I know what sickness she has.” I said finally.

“What?” Jerith asked, completely perplexed. I swear, I was blowing this kid’s socks off today.

“She’s pregnant.”

“No, I told you, we didn’t have sex!”

“That’s too bad, because your fiancee is pregnant.”

“How do you know that, exactly?” Jerith asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“It wasn’t me!” I said indignantly. “It was Burt! You know - that guy I beat up in the Coliseum.”

“You beat two guys up in the Coliseum.”

“The second one! The bigger one! He did it - or shit, maybe it was somebody else, but it wasn’t me.”

“You caught them in the act?”

“No, but I saw things. And maybe I’m wrong… but she was hanging out with Stella, and that girl is a whore.”

The frustration on Jerith’s face cracked and fell away, leaving alarm in its place. You couldn’t help but feel for the guy. In one day, this kid’s whole life had just crumbled around him.

“Maybe whore isn’t the right word…” I continued unhelpfully. “She doesn’t do it for money… and she isn’t a slut either, because she won’t do it with just anybody…”

I thought a bit harder.

We were crossing the bridge over the river, and as I looked down at the water flowing over the rocks, the correct word came to me. I snapped my fingers.

“She’s a woman!” I announced.

“Bradley, shut the fuck up.” Jerith snapped.

Fuck, I showed him my power level didn’t I?

“Don’t talk about my fiancee like that. I don’t know what’s going on with her, and it’ll be easy for me to find out. I’ll just go over to her place, confirm that she doesn’t have a baby in her, and forget all about it.”

“And don’t take no for an answer.” I warned him. “They’ll try to stop you at the door, tell you she’s extremely contagious, make up any excuse they can for you to not set eyes on her. But you can’t give up! Tell them that if you can’t see her, the marriage is off! Tell them that-”

“Bradley, STOP!” Jerith shouted. “The hell’s gotten into you? I’ll do what you say! But I trust Arrabella, and I’m not even going to worry about senseless gossip until it’s well merited!”

I couldn’t believe it.

The school year was gonna end pretty soon. This probably would be the last time Jerith and I would work together. And it was gonna end like this.

I’m surprised they even let me on this bridge - seems like every time I touch one they catch fire.

But before we bid each other adieu, there was one last thing I wanted to tell Jerith. My own little nugget of wisdom.

“I saw Arrabella waiting for Burt after a party one night. She said his dick was huge.” I said, turning away in shame.

Jerith blanched and hurried off.

I’m going to hell.