Lone had returned to the village without any suspicion on him, but he found that it was still hard to sneak out, with Ceilie still shadowing him everywhere. He almost attempted another trip a week later, when one of her admirers caught her walking behind him. That had an effect on his paranoia because before he was positive, the whole street was empty of anyone that early in the morning.

While Ceilie was caught and he asked what she was doing, she simply said, "Oh... you know ummm... well I just felt like getting some practice in. You still might drop some gem here or there." She referred to his booster skill like he was dropping skills right and left... which actually wasn't far off.

He had heard that the Smith, butcher, and the carpenter all got skills around the same time, which was why they were taking lunches together. This only exacerbates Ceilie's reasoning in following him since his attention to their work was obvious. The thing about that was the blacksmith. He had given Lone a gift out of the blue, which only meant it was him suspecting Lone of being the reason for the luck accruing around the three.

'So much for being a nice guy... well, it was kind of him to give it without proof, so maybe it's not so bad?' Lone thought at the time 'but are they talking about me? Ceilie did say it would be bad if guards or nobles found out, I might get taken.' He was worried, but it didn't mean he was found out. The only thing he could do was to distance himself from everyone.

Irony was that Ceilie doing the opposite of his plans was more helpful because he could just pretend that she was chasing him around and he had lost interest in his studies. He felt like that was done on purpose. Ceilie was a better distraction than anything he could come up with, and her timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence. He told himself that he would pay her back someday...

It's been two weeks since then and now he is tired of it. She had been pulling pranks on him every day. First, it had started with taps on the shoulder for him to turn around, and no one was there, then her popping in front of him when he wasn't paying attention. It escalated to his shoes being tied after resting and him finding a chair he was about to sit in moving to the side, falling to the floor. From there, the girls began watching and even participating. Even the goodie to two shoes, Claire was getting in on the action where they would start playing nearby and waiting for the jokes.

They would play in the empty field next to the storage church, making grass crowns, while waiting for the Ceilie to get one over on him. More than a few times acting as a distraction. That only worked once, but it put his guard up, waiting for the next trick.

'This is bullying hands down. If I were an actual child, this would have been bad, very bad.' Lone thought as he climbed out of a pit that was dug by the boys. 'This is going too far. Jeez, kids can be cruel. But what is Ceilie thinking? She should know better than going this far. Is there a reason? Is there a bigger problem?'

As clever as she was, tailing him and taking attention away from other happenings around him, this method was distasteful. The kids were innocent but they were learning a bad habit from her and she knew it. So what was her end game? 'Wait! Did she figure me out? Did she know I got out again? Was this a punishment? Damn it' Lone was getting frustrated thinking about the possibility on top of all the pranks but soon stopped and focus on when he would get out again with some extra steps just in case.

Claire's POV

She had been worried about how they were treating Lone but it was all apart of the plan. He was a good decoy. He would distract Maxine while everyone would get presents ready and prep for the party.

Maxine was turning ten soon and everything had to be right. She just didn't understand why they couldn't tell Lone about the plan. He was going through alot and even stopped watching the craftsman in town. It just seemed cruel but Ceilie was adamant that he was the one Maxine stay around and that he was the right person for the job.

She had to admit that watching him jump or react to everything was funny every time she saw it, she even burst out laughing when his shoes were tied and watching his face go from lazy half asleep to shock was too much for her to hold in.

When it was her turn to go fine a gift or make one, they didn't have many options. she asked if May could help her make a doll. While it would take time, she was pretty dexterous with a needle and found she had gained a skill for it a while back [Focus Hands]. It was a rare skill that translated to many hand related traits. Bumping dexterity by 10%.

While handling her end, she heard about the boys even helping keep Maxine occupied. Something about digging but it seemed Lone would get a break if that's all they were doing. He was taking it well considering it was going on for so long and it made things go smoothly with everyone participating.

Maxine was especially happy since she didn't hangout with Lone all that much. She and Claire had always wondered what was up with the smallest in their home. He was just strange with his running in the morning and watching the craftsman during his free time but somehow it was played off when he aged up because of it. At least that's what Priest Aaron said to him when she and Lone had laundry chores together. She was hanging the sheets when they talked about things like nobles and apprenticeship or something. She wasn't close enough to them to hear clearly.

'Can you apprentice to be a Noble? Does that happen?' She wasn't knowledgeable about these things which got on her nerves.

Why did Lone understand so much when she was older. Sure, he studied the craftsman and learned to read better than her, but he never asked her anything, just the adults got questions, even ones she could answer. It was kind of annoying how he never talk to her about anything. Elaine even got some back and forth when probing him for something.

The worst part was she didn't even care about boys that much. It was just how he didn't care about the things all the other children did. The way he cleaned was thorough and precise, he asked smart questions, he did weird exercises, all those things that seemed mature. 'Big dummy...' she had been thinking of those words as a description for a while now and they just felt right to her. She didn't know why, and she wasn't going to change them anytime soon.

Ceilie came in with a smile and looked at the progress Claire was making on her present. "Oh! That's looking good kid! One more day and you'll be set to give it to her. Just be ready to get Lone when Elaine starts on the sweet bread." She winked and sat next to Claire.

"Why haven't we told Lone about the party and why is he the decoy?" Claire asked, no longer able to accept that it was him just being a "decoy." as she was told before.

Ceilie ears twitched hearing questions. Her eyes narrowed looking at Claire. "Well, I know it's a bit mean, but he can take it. He needs to change his image a bit right now anyway. Why are you so worried? Is it you want to protect him from the bad nun and be his big sis?" Ceilie smiles deviously at her.

"Eww! No! I'm just not a bad person, that's all." She said without hesitation. "What do you mean he needs to change his image? What does that have to do with not telling him about the party?"

Ceilie leaned back and said "Oh, it's nothing. He just needs to get different attitude around some of the adults. And about the party, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten. He just doesn't know why he's being pranked on so much. Plus I think it's fun to knock him down a peg. He acts like he's the grownup all the time, I just can't take it all the time. He's... you know, just... just... well just a big dummy" She pouted as she looked down at her claws scratching the table.

"YES!!!" Claire exclaimed. "That's what I was thinking. He's a dummy but not in the sense that he's stupid but it feels right to say. Right!?"

Ceilie was surprised for a moment then her ears perked up. "Oh! You feel it too! I'm so happy that I'm not the only one! You see it too? Yes he's smart for his age, even clever, but his attitude just makes you want to call him a big dummy!" The girls bonded like never before today.

Lone's POV:

Lone was laying on the grass next to the storage church breathing heavily after getting away from Ceilie. Getting away wasn't really what he was thinking, because he couldn't. Getting away was impossible for a locked child. She just let him go after a bit to let him rest. Now he was trying catch his breath, while a red headed girl sitting next to him was ripping grass up just to drop it all over his body.

'Why do kids do this?' He remembered his child hood on the old world doing something similar with his friends.

He just stayed there, letting Maxine bury him in what she could. The sun blocked mostly by a tree nearby. It swayed letting beams of light hit his eyes every few seconds. It was a very nostalgic scene for him it reminded him of his... 'first youth?' playing in a park kids yelling in the background wind blowing through the leaves, the smell of freshly cut grass. What was he going to do next? This was his thought every day. Getting out was a no go, he had already move the books he got, into his bed for some bedtime reading but he couldn't disappear for any amount of time unless he wanted to get caught and possibly lose access to his own personal dungeon.

"Hey! Hey! Whatcha thinking about?" Maxine asked as she threw another hand full of grass on him.

"I was wondering how much grass it would take to cover me completely." He said just before some sprinkled on his face

"No really, what's going on here?" She put her small fingers on his forehead and began to walk two of them back and forth from one temple to the other.

It was an odd feeling coming from her. She was being serious for some reason and as far back as he could remember this was the first time. "Hmm. I've got alot on my mind. What do you want to know?" He asked trying to throw her off but she seemed to have been ready for that or aiming for it.

"Are you trying to get out of the walls again? Did you really not find anything interesting when you got out the first time? Why are you so grown up? Oh! And!... Do you have plans on becoming an adventurer?" She rapidly shot out big question after big question. Each a chunk of exactly what was avoiding a conversation about.

Stunned he just sat there thinking. 'Why is she asking this now? Am I this transparent? I've got to say something! Just go with the truth I'm too tired to think of anything good. When did I get so lazy?' He gave up.

After a second, "Hmmm. I found a dungeon the first time I went out, killed a monster, got a few rewards I couldn't use. Yes, I do want to get out again, I got out a few weeks back, met some adventurers helped them out with one of their skills and got some tools, books with a magic bag, all as thanks for the help. I've always had an old soul since i was born. Oh yeah, one of the adventurers was a beautiful elf... Adventurers seem to have more freedom so I'm definitely thinking about it. " he spat out like it was nothing unsure of the reaction, but he was too tired to care about it right now. It was then he had to spit out grass that got in his mouth.

Maxine just smiled and said, "See! Now that's how you answer! A dungeon, magic bag, and an elf! That makes the game fun! But the adventurers life thing sounded a little boring maybe add slaying a dragon to that part. Why don't the other girls get this kind of thing. It would be more fun if they just played along a little instead of my future husband will this and that blah blah. Elaine and Claire at least want to build their own company together and be rich merchants. That's just too slow for me though, that's all." The flood gates have opened. Maxine didn't believe him thinking that he was playing her game.

'Well, I should have known. But her questions were so... maybe she's smarter than even she knows.' Lone thought... Then beginning a hypothetical conversation of what kind of dragon he would slay and what kind of armor he would make from its scales.