Okay, before I have to sell my soul to the sassy voice in my head in order to receive some help, let us not panic and think straight here for a bit. I am an intellectual for a reason, after all.

  I think it is safe to assume that the Guild wants to talk to me about the issue of the Great Velvet Forests. Nothing else.

  As for the High Temples, it is more than likely they would try to pry open my past and find out the same thing that Enna tried to. Find out if I’m some evil that must be extinguished or not. So as long as I handle that part with diplomacy and openness, I should be alright.

  Now, for the pixie situation… can’t I just put her in one of my inside pockets and be done with it? I think so.

  What remains is handling the beastfolk's situation, seeing if Stevin can handle himself in the future, and be on my way, either back to my Castle, or looking for the remaining Fractures.

  Easy.

  …Right?

  “Sorry,” I raised my hand, drawing the attention of the fox lady and the pixie standing near her.

  “What would it be?” the fox woman asked.

  “A pouch full of tobacco, this pipe, something that I can light it with, and water,” I ordered, not wanting to mention my newfound pleasure and the possible nicotine addiction that would find me if I continue this. But hey, at least it calms down my mind.

  The moment the fox nodded and turned around, I leaned forward and snatched the flying pixie in my hand.

  “Hello, you sexual harasser,” I whispered, “Tell me how do you want me to rescue you, and from what?”

  “S-Sexual harasser?” the pixie stuttered, taken aback, “I’m no sexual-”

  “Get to the important stuff,” I interrupted.

  The pixie was left dumbfounded for a few moments, but after a quiet sigh, she replied, “Just take me away. I’ve been held like decoration in this place for a decade, taken from my forest after I got wounded by a bird who tried to eat me, only for a human to find me.”

  I smirked at the unfortunate story, finding it somewhat amusing to hear that the natural enemies of pixies are birds.

  “But why didn’t you leave until now? I know damn well that door opened countless times for you to have opportunities to leave this place.” I pointed out the obvious.

  “You see me flying?” she asked casually.

  “Obviously,” I nodded with a frown.

  Was the pixie yanking my pizzle?

  She shook her head as if she disapproved of me, “Well, I am not here. This is an illusion. I am actually held in a cage on the floor above-”

  “Here it is…” said the fox lady as she brought what I ordered, only for her to fall silent, the moment she saw me holding the pixie in my hand, “Sir?”

  “Forgive me,” I uttered, releasing the pixie, showing she was standing comfortably in my hand, and that I had no intention of actually squeezing her to death. If you could squeeze an illusion to death, that is.

  It was good to know I wasn’t actually assaulted earlier, but the situation became more annoying to deal with. If it were not a directive, I would’ve abandoned the pixie in an instant.

  “What were you doing to her?” the fox lady asked.

  “Ah, well… she was telling me about all the ladies that you had available to rent,” I intended a lie on the spot, “She makes it sound more tempting than the old man that was here with me earlier.”

  “That’s good,” the woman nodded, taking the pixie from my hand, “Let me know if you want one.”

  “Yes, I do actually,” I nodded, taking my opportunity.

  “Y-Your Grace?” Airina stuttered, baffled by my sudden request.

  “Which one?” the fox lady asked curiously.

  “Uh.. the one that… how was it?” I muttered, not actually knowing one of the damn ladies above.

  For a second, I turned my eyes to the staring pixie, who caught on to what I was doing.

  “Ah, yes,” she yelled, back to her earlier antics, “He has a thing for dwarves! He was all ears when I told him about Angraboda.”

  No, I fucking didn’t. Stop lying.

  “I see,” the fox lady nodded, “Angraboda it is, then. It was high time she got her first client.”

  So, you see, Julia, that is the only reason I am now standing in the same bed with a woman half my size. It was without question that not only was I feeling bile gathering in my mouth, but the second issue was that there was no pixie locked in a cage in eyesight of me.

  I had to find a way to leave this scared woman to herself, convince her to lie, look for the pixie, grab the real version of her, and sprint out of this establishment… after I paid, of course. I was no thief.

  “Uh… sir,” said the small woman, “Sho-sho-should we begin?”

  No, we shall not.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “How much do I have to pay you to lie and say that we did it?” I asked, worried.

  “S-Sir?” she stuttered, turning and looking at me, only to grimace at the sight of me.

  Believe me, it was just as uncanny for me to look at you, m’lady.

  So I repeated, “How much do I have to pay you to lie?”

  “Is it me, sir?” she asked, for some reason offended, “I am clean, no man has touched me before-”

  “Not what I meant,” I interrupted, realizing I might have sounded rude, so I let my voice turn warm, “I will be honest. I have something of mine that was stolen from me. And I heard it is kept here. If I pay you to lie to say that we did it, while I go and grab it, how much would that cost me?”

  “S-Sir, if I… If I get caught, I would be hanged.” She shook her head, “Please, don’t.”

  It was frustrating to even imagine how grim her future looked in this place, but I couldn’t relent.

  “If I promise you that they won’t even notice? Swear on whatever God you need me to, how much would it take?” I asked again, pulling out a few silver coins from my pocket. “Twenty crowns.”

  Her eyes went wide at the sight of them, her hand almost trembling to reach for them. Then a thought hit me without even having Ephe tell me about it.

  “Say,” I continued, closing my hand around the coins, “How much do they pay you?”

  “Huh?” she frowned.

  So I repeated again, “How much do they pay you?”

  “N-Nothing, sir, I am here to pay off the debt my father collected,” she shook her head.

  “And how much is that?” I questioned.

  “One hundred and forty crowns,” she said quietly.

  So that would be one thousand four hundred dollars back on Earth. Not much considering our economy, but a heartbreaking sum in this world. I can’t even imagine a fucker drinking himself into such a debt… or his daughter having to pay for it.

  “Your name was Angraboda, right?”

  “Y-Yes, sir,” she nodded sheepishly.

  So I sighed, making my voice even kinder than before, “Tell me, if I pay off your debt, would you be so kind as to lie to me? No strings attached, I just want to take what is mine and be on my way. And if I can also help you, why not aid each other? I promise they will not notice.”

  She stood there for a good minute, trying to balance having to live years in such an… establishment, or trust me on this, accept the money, pay off her debt, and be free.

  We can all imagine what choice she made for herself.

  After I paid her off and lied some more, she told me about the location of the pixie.

  Seems that “I heard that my object is near a pixie in a cage. Do you know where that is?” was a brilliant lie. Which was why I managed to head into the room next to where we stood and find what I was looking for.

  “Well, well,” I muttered, “The sexual harasser herself.”

  “I told you, I am not no…” she sighed, “Just get me out of here.”

  “You were expensive to get to,” I pointed out, “I expect a fair bit of respect.”

  “Your Grace,” she bowed sarcastically as she floated in the middle of the cage, “Would His Majesty be so kind as to remove me from this cage?”

  Fair request, poor planning. How do I open this shit?

  “Uh…” I muttered, looking at the makings of the cage.

  ‘Ephe?‘

  [Yes?]

  ‘How am I to open this?’

  [Recommendation: Pry it open.]

  [Recommendation: Steal the Key.]

  [Recommendation: Law of Separation.]

  ‘Oh? Law of Separation? Can it work?’

  [If the words are correct, yes.]

  [If not…]

  ‘What?’

  [You will be separating the Pixie.]

  [And Fail the Directive.]

  [Warning: Elio will be Penalized upon the Directive’s Failure.]

  [The Future will be Affected.]

  [The Fractions will widen.]

  ‘From such a small thing? God…’

  “Hello? Pixie needs rescuing!” the talking bug reminded me, pulling me back to reality.

  “Fuck it…” I sighed, putting my hand forward.

  “Uh, what are you doing?’ the pixie asked.

  But I stood silent, trying to concentrate.

  “Hello?” she said, annoyingly.

  “Listen,” I said through clenched teeth, losing the focus I was trying to build, “Let me focus and free you as you wish, otherwise I might kill you by mistake.”

  “Huh?” Her eyes widened, striking the back of the cage with her back, “You know what, I like this cage of mine. Forget it, I’m fine here.”

  “No, no,” I shook my head, “I paid a lot to be here. Now shut the fuck up.”

  With a deep inhale, I turned my focus back on the wording of the spell, ignoring the growing panic of the pixie inside.

  I reminded myself of the night I saw the Iele, and managed to push them back after I changed the wording slightly. From what Ephe told me then, I had free rein over the spell, Law, and meaning. So with a tweak here and there, that ought to work… I hope.

  “I, Elio Welchia,Reject the form of this cage. Law of Separation.”

  I felt an invisible ball leave my hand, making the palm of my hand itch for the second it took to leave my body. It was invisible, and yet… I somehow knew its spot in space as it floated across the air and touched the cage.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Even the Pixie seemed to be unaffected and more confused than ever before, but then, out of nowhere, the iron bars of the cage started creaking before bending violently, making the Pixie yelp in a panic. At this speed, the cage would crush her in a second or two. But there was a spot, and my mouth was moving already.

  “I, Elio Welchia, Ruler of Calcan Castle, Seed of the Reigncraft, Deny the order of time. Veilstep.”

  Color vanished from the world, and I didn’t even have to spend a second putting my hand in the imploding cage, grabbing the panicking Pixie, and pulling her out.

  It was stupid to use Veilstep for just this, but it had to be done. I would not have risked a hand trying it without Veilstep, so having made a promise to the dwarf lady, I awaited the seconds of Veilstep to pass.

  [Expired.]

  [Returning.]

  At Ephe’s words, the world returned to normal, prompting me to cover the Pixie’s mouth and silence her yell before someone noticed.

  When the cage stopped collapsing onto itself, when the Pixie stopped yelling, I took my finger from her mouth, speaking before she could complain.

  “I need your Illusion Magic. Make both you and the cage appear as if you are still there.”

  “It won’t hold once we leave far away,” she shook her head, “At most a week.”

  Angraboda had enough time to pay her debt and leave this place. In a week’s time, when the Pixie would vanish, nobody could blame the dwarven girl for her disappearance.

  “That’s plenty,” I nodded. “Do it.”

  “Your Grace,” said Airina with a smirk, when I returned to the table, “Quite fast.”

  “Shut up,” I clicked my tongue, “I paid for everything. Let’s go.”

  “Huh? But where?” Enna asked casually.

  I don’t want to hear a Judas out, but because of wanting to get out as soon as possible, I replied, “The Adventurer’s Guild, then… back at the mansion.”

  They all nodded.

  [Directive ‘Rescue the Pixie’ Followed - Registered.]

  [Reign Index Increased: 0.39% → 0.41%]

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