[ME]

I was a young, fit stud. The only thing standing in the way between me and pummeling my two-faced roommate was a large body of water. Unfortunately for Allen, my dad threw me in the deep end of the pool when I was three. And I took swimming lessons from a retired Olympic athlete when I was six. My body was made for this.

Every thrust, every push, every drop of sweat on my face—would make the punch I was going to deliver more satisfying.

Huh.

I shook my head. Couldn’t get distracted now.

There it is again. What is this feeling?

I was getting tired. No. That wouldn’t happen after at least three laps around the pool.

Wait. Something’s not right.

I looked behind me and realized I’d barely moved from my original spot. In all my furious thrusting, I’d only made it about fifteen feet. Why was I so tired? True I’d took off running, but I knew I had more stamina than this. Had that bastard drugged me, too?

I still had almost ten times the distance to cover. There was no way I’d make it in my current state. Was going the long way around the lake the only way?

Suddenly, I spotted someone running from behind. It seemed they’d been trying to catch up to me for a while. It was that dude from before.

“Alster! You took off running! I’ve been looking everywhere.”

He bent over, panting, trying to catch his breath.

I stopped swimming and let go. My feet sunk to the bottom yet my head remained above water. That’s when I realized the lake wasn’t that deep. I turned my head to face the guy.

“Listen, man. I have no idea who this Alster is. Stop calling me that! Where’s Allen? His girlfriend’s family’s supposed to own this farm. You surely know her.”

“Allen? There’s no one here by that name. You know I’m the chief’s assistant, so I’d know. Alster, get out of the water. I need to check you for bruises. Your head’s not on correctly.”

So he doesn’t know Allen. But he knows the girlfriend’s dad, most likely. I decided to humor this guy.

I’ll follow him, and he’ll lead me straight to them. I’ll play along as this Alster guy for now.

I doggy-paddled my way to the edge and got out of the water. “Can you just take me to the chief, then? Please, it’s important.”

He scratched his head. “Alright…. If you want to be scolded that badly.”

* * *

It occurred to me following this guy like a lost puppy that he had no idea where the chief was. I could feel my blood starting to boil. Every second I spent in this ugly, weak body felt like ten.

Now that it was almost afternoon, I started seeing a lot more people in a hurry. They were moving crates stored inside a few empty houses and onto carts. I remembered seeing that in a movie once. Poor people have to toil in the fields and work until they drop just to fill up those crates that we rich people get to enjoy. Well, such is life. Not everyone can be born elite.

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Some people around my age started whispering as we came by. I could’ve sworn I heard one of them say, “How come Alster doesn’t have to work?”

“Morning, Mr. Trent.” Some people called out.

The guy next to me smiled and waved.

So his name’s Trent. Alright.

Everyone was screwing up my name and confusing me for Alster. I’d have to clear up the confusion quickly.

We spent around half an hour looking for the chief. Trent sighed in relief when he finally spotted the chief in a corner by himself near an abandoned, rotting farmhouse. He was holding something rectangular made out of glass and waving his hands like a maniac.

“Damn it! Why won’t this work?”

“Chief! What are you doing out here? I thought you had errands—”

Trent gasped. And not just any weak gasp, but one that made all the hairs on his arms and neck prick up.

The chief seemed to freeze up like a kid getting scolded. Kinda lame for someone who was supposedly the owner of the farm, but whatever.

Trent ran up to him. “Chief, please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

“This? Uhm, it looks like a piece of glass I found. I’m sure it’s nothing important. Anyway, did you need someth—?”

Trent slapped the chief hard across the face, leaving a large red mark.

“Don’t lie to me! That’s a spellcard!”

“You know what this is?”

“Have you forgotten the last time someone brought one into the village? You swore we’d never allow it to happen again! If I hadn’t known you all these years, you’d have a broken jaw right now, Callum!”

What’s a spellcard? Why are they freaking out over a piece of glass?

“B-but you said we used one for the sheet that changed words.”

“That one’s empty! And it was given to us by the margrave himself. You know, you’ve been acting strange all morning. Something’s different about you that I can’t put my finger on. And it’s more than just forgetting important things, it’s—”

The chief started speaking faster, spurred by nervousness. “D-don’t be ridiculous. I’m still me. Callum.”

Man, this guy talks just like my weirdo roommate. Even stutters like him, too. Creepy.

“Then I thought you of all people would know using a spellcard without authorization would spell doom for the entire village. Are you trying to get this place burned down?”

The chief looked at the card with horror, almost as if this was all news to him.

Trent snatched it from the chief’s hands. “I’m going to destroy this card before anyone finds out.”

The chief’s eyes went wide. “No! Give it back! I… I was just confiscating it from someone.”

Trent lowered his hands slowly. “What do you mean?”

“Sorry, Trent… it’s all coming back to me. Yeah, I hit my head really hard this morning when I was doing an inspection in one of the barns. I thought I might be getting amnesia. Anyway, thanks to your slap, I think my head’s clearing up. I took that card from, uh—Alster here. I found it lying next to him in the barn, lodged in the hay. I let my curiosity get me to try to use it. But I’ll be disposing of it now.”

I looked at the chief, flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe my ears. This dude had just pinned such an obvious lie on me when he barely knew me. Surely Trent wouldn’t be so stupid to believe—

I slowly rotated my neck to see Trent. The fury in his eyes told me all I needed to know. He bought it.

“That’s it, Alster. I don’t know where you found a spellcard, but your schemes have gone too far this time! You’re coming with me to work this instant!”

Trent gripped me hard by the arm and started dragging me. He was way stronger than me. I could maybe run away again if I caught him off guard, but then I’d miss my chance to get to Allen.

This felt like my last chance to speak up. I stood my ground and shouted, “Wait! I have no clue what you’re talking about! Hey, chief guy! Can you just take me to Allen, please? He’s your daughter’s boyfriend.”

For some reason that made Trent even angrier. “Are you talking about Sullie? His five-year-old?! I get it now. You’ve been taking me for a fool all along. You’re eating scraps tonight!”

“No, his other daughter! She must be around my age—”

He tightened his grip on my arm. “He only has one daughter. Chief, sorry about this. It seems I need to discipline my son. Get rid of the card for me.”

The chief waved. “Will do, Trent.”

His only daughter? Five-year-old?

What… the hell’s… going on?

Somehow the absurdity of the situation broke my will to fight.

I didn’t resist any further. I just started walking wherever Trent led me. I looked back one more time to see the chief. I could’ve sworn I saw him holding back laughter. But I just ignored it and looked forward again.

We passed by huts, thickets of trees and cobblestone paths until getting to a wagon.

“Arthur,” Trent said, looking at one of his subordinates in the eye.

A beefy man, with so much mass I didn’t know how much was muscle and how much was fat, set down a crate.

“Boss, what’d ya need?”

“Alster’s misbehaving again. Can you set him straight?”

The man’s face broke into a toothy grin as he cracked his knuckles. “Oh, boy. Lucky you, Alster! We were just getting ready for next season’s harvest. And you’re just in time.”