Despite Randidly’s worries, it seemed that things had been relatively peaceful in the Soulskill. Under the Monster Prince’s guidance, it seemed that the denizens of Randidly’s old Soulskill were almost entirely integrated, at least theoretically, into their new home country of the Shelly Kingdom.

Of course, the looming threat of war with the neighboring Armgrast Empire was a danger, but it wasn’t an existential one that Randidly felt needed his involvement. He obviously couldn’t completely eradicate war in the Alpha Cosmos, nor did he want to spend the time to do it. His only job was to determine whether the undercurrents in his Soulskill were the result of someone else meddling or simply the inhabitant's ambition.

Yet, to Randidly’s great irritation, there was more than enough present in the report from Wendy to make Randidly suspicious that something unusual was happening. Mostly, his suspicions were based on the state of the lighthouses.

They had, at least historically, always existed in this world that was the Alpha Cosmos. But Wendy noted that ‘presence’ was largely theoretical and ritualistic in nature; they hadn’t provided the functioning Classes before Randidly became connected with the Soulskill, a little over a year ago.

Since then, nine had been discovered. And due to the Classes strategic worth to the countries, they were generally hotly contested. Three were present on the new continent that Randidly’s people arrived on, which now served as the land the Monster Prince ruled. In addition, there was one in the far South, high in a snowy mountain range that was largely considered too much trouble to try and monopolize by either of the two major powers of the Shelly Kingdom and Armgrast Empire.

Aside from those, three belonged to the Shelly Kingdom while only two belonged to the Armgrast Empire. And the reason that this fact caught Randidly’s attention was that less than a month ago, a Class Lighthouse was discovered with the rather vicious Class ‘Warrior with the Grim Smile’. It was even on the border between the two major powers.

Yet the Armgrast Empire had not dispatched more than a token force to contest it. Some political figures were saying it was a gesture of goodwill between the nations, to not constantly feud with the Shelly Kingdom over every little thing, but Randidly thought that smelled like bullshit. Even if the relationship between his Soulskill’s refugees and the people of Shelly Kingdom was less rosy than everyone said, there was no way that this Armgrast Empire would allow the Shelly Kingdom access to six of the total Class Lighthouses.

At the very least, the Armgrast Empire should have supported Halio, a minor city-state located between the two superpowers and right on top of the Class Lighthouse, in their bid to declare that the Class Lighthouse belonged to them. The fact that they didn’t meant that there was something very strange going on in the governing of the Armgrast Empire. And it wasn’t just the weird impression that Randidly had of Lazareth Armgrast, the lion-headed man that had tried to impersonate a diamond merchant to get close to Azriel.

Luckily enough, Randidly suspected that if anyone could give him the information he needed, it was Azriel. Which was why, for the second time, Randidly was sneaking into a courtyard in the capital city of Armgrast Empire as the last light of dusk faded.

There were a few reasons that this visit was different than his first, however. First and perhaps least importantly, the courtyard Randidly was infiltrating was much nicer, filled with vivid violet blues and warm oranges. Plus, the courtyard was part of the sprawling central palace at the center of the Armgrast Empire’s capital. It seemed Azriel was moving up in the world.

Second, and also relatively unimportant, was the fact that the guards were now Level 51 and 52 around the courtyard. And despite the only eleven or twelve Level difference, these individuals were much better at their jobs. It seemed that people were finally realizing the importance of Skill Levels.

But even if they had higher Skill Levels, they couldn’t compete with Randidly’s.

Third, and most amusingly, Randidly arrived to see that Azriel and strung together a rope by tying sheets together and was repelling down from a third-story balcony. Which was such a strange visual picture that he couldn’t control his laughter.

“What the hell are you doing,” Randidly chuckled and stepped out of a perfectly manicured treeline as Azriel alighted on the ground in front of him.

She glanced at him sideways with a familiar an amused smile on her face. Then she raised her hands above her hand and spun lightly, causing her floor-length black dress to spin playfully around her. “It’s about sending the right message. A disappeared lady without any signs of a struggle… their imaginations will run wild. But a rope of sheets hanging out from a balcony? I’ve obviously run away. And manipulating their perceptions is very important, so…”

For several seconds Randidly just blinked at this version of Azriel who stood in front of him, one who was just as frank and forward but much more feminine. Smirking at him, Azriel lowered her arms.

“Jeez, couldn’t you be at least a little surprised to see me?” Randidly said with a shake of his head. Chuckling, Azriel threw her bone-white hair over her shoulder and shrugged. They both came together on the manicured lawn and hugged each other, then took a step back. “But what I really meant… why did you actually climb down the sheet? For someone like you, a jump like that should be nothing.”

Azriel gave Randidly a frank stare like he was being an idiot. “Randidly, I have never had the opportunity to climb down a rope from a balcony before. Experiences are the building blocks toward the future. Besides, it turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable. The sheets were quite fine, and provided a more than adequate grip.”

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Randidly could only laugh at Azriel’s frank answer. “It’s… good to see you. To talk to someone who is so direct and honest. I’ve had… a tiring few months.”

“Who hasn’t?” Azriel said dismissively. With practiced delicacy, she reached down and pulled up the train of her gown so it no longer trailed on the grass. She leaned her head forward toward the wall. “Now, can we talk while I flee?”

“Azriel.” Randidly could only roll his eyes as he examined the black lace gown lined with pearls. Which, Randidly couldn’t help but notice, Azriel seemed completely at ease while wearing. “You cannot seriously expect me to believe you plan on fleeing while wearing that.”

“Randidly,” Azriel replied, mimicking his semi-disgusted tone with remarkable accuracy. “This is a disappointing mistake to make. As with the other novel action I took tonight, never have I had the chance to flee a city while wearing-”

“Okay, I get it,” Randidly said with a wave of his hand. He began to walk toward the far wall and Azriel followed with quick steps. Both barely had to exert themselves to leap over the rainbow-colored garden and reach the walls. “But I have to ask- does this have anything to do with the fact that the Armgrast Empire didn’t bother to fight for that last Class Lighthouse?”

As the landed on top of the courtyard wall, Azriel nodded. “Yes… it does. During the mobilization of the team to intervene in that conflict… it was discovered that there is a vast and… strange ruin underneath the border between the two larger countries. Based on what we discovered… no one else has found explored it, or even uncovered its existence. And initial scouting reports indicate there are treasures like we’ve never seen before inside of it.

“So instead of mobilizing for the Class Lighthouse, the Armgrast empire or more honestly Lazareth Armgrast, has been secretly preparing an expedition to explore that ruin. To which I have been invited as a member.”

That made Randidly’s eyebrows shoot upward as they lightly flitted across the rooftops of the city. “And you are running away from that? I know that you said you wanted to find another type of strength, but I never thought-”

“God, no. I don’t run away.” Azriel said dismissively. Her scarlet eyes flashed in the darkness as the passed over a street that was particularly well lit by lanterns when Randidly gave her frank look. “Hah. Well, I don’t run away without a reason. But me fleeing will be what they assume, at least at first, and I suspect they will spend some time searching for me and wondering why I fled so suddenly. Perhaps Lazareth will even suspect I defected to the Shelly Kingdom. Either way, it should delay the expedition.”

“...during which time,” Randidly said slowly as it dawned on him. “You are going to go into the ruins alone and explore.”

“Exactly. You’ve certainly gotten sharper since I’ve seen you last. Much more engaged as a listener. Did something traumatic happen?” Azriel said with a sidelong gaze.

“I’m somewhat disturbed that my listening made you assume something traumatic happened,” Randidly said rather sardonically.

Shrugging, Azriel said. “Well, you were quite oblivious in the past. Debilitatingly so. Too focused for your own good on your own problems. And now… well, it seems you’ve truly grown up. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

They both hopped down off the roofs after they vaulted over the walls and the buildings became more sparse along the road. With his bare feet on the dusty ground, Randidly turned and regarded the Azriel-turned-lady. As he looked at her face, half-hidden in the shadow of the night, he wondered how her pursuit of a non-martial strength was going. Seeing the confidence in her stance and the lift of her chin, he had to assume it was going well.

But how well must it be going that they are inviting her on this dangerous expedition? Randidly wondered. Maybe it’s because of her… relationship with Lazareth, but still… Yet I suppose the real question is what sort of ruin is it? If it’s just a cave with more than one Class Lighthouse, that’s one thing. But if it involves something deeper… a remnant of a past Soulskill, for example…

“Do you want company for your expedition?” Randidly asked quietly.

Azriel pursed her lips. “How much spare time do you have? Even traveling quickly, it might take us a day to reach the ruins from here. Once there, the exploration itself seemed like it would take at least a week. Can you be away for that long? I have seen your track record at enticing individuals to kill you. You are practically irresistible when you put your mind to it.”

To that, Randidly could only wince. “I wish you wouldn’t have put that so bluntly…”

“I wish so many people weren’t out there trying to kill my friend,” Azriel admitted frankly. “One of my… oldest friends now. Because-” Then she shook her head. “...well, before I met you, I didn’t give myself much time for friends. So look out for yourself.”

Friends… Randidly nodded slowly as he studied Azriel. She boldly met his gaze, not looking away. Due to the movements of her Master, they had been on opposite sides for Randidly’s second visit to Tellus, but that was only late in the game. Leading up to that point, Randidly never would have gotten as far as he had without Azriel’s extremely pointed guidance on how he should improve.

And to hear the word friends made some part of Randidly still and reflect on it. Because he couldn’t forget the vast gulf of awkward and unsaid things that existed now between him, Ace, and Sydney. Especially so after Randidly had watched Ace saying all those extremely… envious things as he confronted Straud.

Because Randidly also didn’t have many friends. Perhaps subordinates and those he trusted… but friends had somehow become a complicated word. As the most powerful Earthling… his supply of friends was dwindling. And despite the strange struggle of the feelings Randidly felt toward Vualla now, that was a completely separate relationship issue.

There were so few people that Randidly could meet truly as equals. They all seemed to slowly align themselves behind him or against him. He was a polarizing figure, and his sway meant that the intermediate tier of relationships was slowly pushed away.

“Fine then,” Randidly said lightly. He offered Azriel a hand. “But as friends… you be safe too, huh? I don’t think I need to tell you about having some extremely dangerous individuals influencing me in the past… so don’t take risks you don’t need to.”

“Obviously,” Azriel said dismissively. She took his hand and shook it. “I will weigh every choice and select the most optimal option. But due to that very danger you are referencing… there is no need to have a dozen of the locals die to your hidden demons, Randidly Ghosthound. It is safer for me to proceed alone.”

Randidly chuckled, but now it was a bitter laugh. “Heh. Let’s hope you aren’t being prescient about what is hiding within the depths of these ruins. Because if it really is my demons… then opening them up is extremely dangerous.”