--- title: "Chapter III – Fake Harry · Vol 2 - Lab Soreno" url: https://deovandski.github.io/HusbandOutWorld/novel/vol-2/chapter-3/ section: Light Novel spoilers: public layer first, Behind The Scenes after sources: [Legacy/Behind The Scenes/Light Novel/Arc #1 - Dubious Contract/Vol 2 - Lab Soreno.md] --- # Chapter III – Fake Harry *Vol 2 - Lab Soreno* ## 1 ![Subchapter illustration](Vol2/3_1.png) 1039 A.G. Paulin 18th, Sannday at about Sunnilow, close to brunch time. The city had mostly woken up to what could be described as a slow Thursday. People were moving about on a lazier spectrum, taverns and restaurants were getting ready for lunch without any rush, and Sanbi guards were strolling around without a worry in mind. This otherwise beautiful average summer morning was completely overcast, requiring the fost lamps littered in the middle of the streets to be brought to life. The same humid wind carrying hints of salty, fishy air now gave you goosebumps if you didn’t have a jacket. It seemed like it could start pouring at any moment, but not even a single drop had yet fallen on the streets. Within the warm office of Sanbi Monarchy, Neferteri stood silently on the east-facing window, watching over the kingdom she managed. Neferteri minced over her memories, remembering when Eori was about Nina’s height. Her purple hair was still just as long, but her energy was not even close to Nina’s—at least in terms of how a usual kid is physically energetic. Eori instead had all her energy invested in her mind, at least in the way she sat quietly, viciously staring at everyone and everything with a cold, dead stare—like a cursed doll in a horror movie. Neferteri glanced over to the royal desk, coffee table, and couch behind her, where private monarchy meetings were often held. She could see a specific meeting playing out in her mind. It was her, Itagiba, and a younger Eori seated in a kiddie chair between them. Sitting on the couch across from them were two representatives of Forway, both dressed in black leather, with perceptible sapphire nose and ear piercings, plus black with sparkling grounded nari eye and lipstick makeup. The only thing they were missing was a *The Drab Four* shirt. Coema, the previous king-maid, sat by herself on the sidelines, writing things down with her signature adulterous smirk. Eori kept quietly sitting, looking coldly at these Forway guests like she were trying to hypnotize them. Halfway through discussing one of the comparative advantages grants, one of the representatives broke from the in-depth subject with a stentorian tone, “WHY SHE WON’T STOP STARING AT ME? Does she have a problem with the 1029 Moacir fashion trend? My style was the cover page of *Forway and You*\!” The representative stood up, spinning around for everyone to be amazed by his eye-catching style. Eori’s eyes remained with the same cold, dead stare while a vicious smirk arose as she bluntly replied, “Because you look like a fag.” She filled the room with fiendish, manic-like laughter, even taking away attention from Itagiba, who was trying to hold back a laughter and failing at it as he broke into laughing under his breath. A visible frown appeared on Neferteri’s face as the vivid emotions of that memory were still boiling inside her to this day. She held her hands tightly, constraining the wave of anger from within, remembering the damage control she had to endure. *I am glad that facet of her is no longer as blunt.* Neferteri then remembered that once she clamped down hard on that snapping behavior, Eori grew even more cold, distant from everyone, and everything, even towards herself at times. *Even though it was at the cost of her growing colder than expected, it was the right decision to maintain her on the right track to be an even greater queen.* Neferteri visibly recalled that suddenly Eori began to change once she hit her pubescent years. She was still just as cold but now would actively flee her assignments, if not curse her assigned mentors until they caved in and resigned. *Puberty must have been a component of this swift change, but it cannot solely explain what transpired.* *No\! Mom\! Fuck off\!* Eori’s girly pubescent teen voice echoed in Neferteri’s mind. She was now barely fourteen, and Neferteri caught her in her room reading journals stolen from Gabiro instead of being with her mentor. Eori blew up at Neferteri when she demanded that the journals be returned and that she walk back to her tutor swiftly. Her explosive reaction extended to such heights that she screamed obscenities at her, slapped her across the face, and literally kicked her out of the room and shut the door in her face*. My expectations did not account for her suddenly developing such a relentless passion.* She remembered how her cracking down hard on Eori resulted in her refusing to leave her room, which got worse by her throwing a food strike unless she could participate in research. Neferteri took a deep breath to let all of those memories wash away. *I still need to find a satisfactory answer concerning how Gabiro imprinted his personality on her.* Remembering talking with Itagiba and him replying, *You only live once\! Eori should do what she wants\!* made something inside her boil again. She had to suppress it with another squishing of her hand as she kept looking outside, seeing a carpet of clouds hiding away the sun as far as the eye could see. *After all, she is one of his daughters, but how can that spike in personality be solely attributed to pure spite and a sense of anarchy? Perhaps it was the due course she would take an interest in something else—just like Yacamim and Maiara.* Nina’s happy smile and candid loud voice passed through Neferteri’s mind. *I technically still have her—*a vivid, pretty recent image of Nina throwing a rakuja squarely on the Sanbi-eye’s face and then shoving a picker in Maiara’s hand came to mind in the middle of dinner. *Curbing these behaviors will be far more challenging.* While she put her hand on her chin as she saw a group of adventurers walk amongst the Sanbi citizens, Neferteri’s mind flooded with more memories of Eori when she was in her fifteens and sixteens, complaining about her limited ability to research. Neferteri did not give much to the complaints, which was fine initially. Suddenly, Eori tried to sneak into one of Gabiro’s expeditions two years ago by changing her body to a sayna, a foxy-like mammal with big black ears, and burrowing herself into the luggage compartment. *Her unprecedented audacity nearly broke through my protocols and revealed my network of agents. I’m glad Morika was present to cross-check, and determine a disturbance in the schedule.* *The continued laxation of her foray into scientific research in exchange for keeping up with her queen mentorship has been playing out within the boundaries of my expectations.* Remembering how these outrageous spikes died down since she formally granted Eori research time, a picture of the failed experiment, Harry Sanbi, came to mind*. Now that I presented her the opportunity to experiment on a human without it tainting her public image, this is the most genuine moment for her to quelch this unnecessary desire and move on to become a worthy queen.* With a long, soft blink and a slow breath out of her nose, Neferteri’s shoulders relaxed. *One day she will realize that she was born for bigger things—for that moment, I have to ensure any of the agents can burn down the hideout and evidence at—* The office’s door opened wide, and Itagiba, the king of Sanbi, came in walking with a puffed-out chest like a wrestling fighter entering the ring. “Who just got us a new kingdom-funded stop point for shared carriages? And without paying a single ball?” Itagiba pointed at himself. “This fucking guy\!” *Yes—you, but then I have to deal with the aftermath.* Neferteri ignored her husband and kept looking outside as she tried to purge the curse words she had just heard from corrupting her higher-intellect mind. “Did you notify the king-maid?” “Already talked to Eiri\!” With a toothy proud smile, Itagiba talked over Neferteri as he approached her. “Are there any handover agreements or expirations I need to be aware of?” With a constrained smile and closed eyes, she could still feel him growing closer. *Again he forgets to mention this to me prior to executing it.* “Five years\! I can persuade them with another deal before it expires, so this won’t be an issue\!” He invited himself to a warm tight hug, hugging Neferteri from behind, imprinting his privates on her buttocks. Possibly trying to provoke subconscious thoughts within her, he then whispered in her ear, “I got this, Nefi\!” “I know you do, dear—” Neferteri felt a tight hug from Itagiba she could not escape from. His slightly cold clothing and skin seemed to suck away her natural warmth. She touched his cold hands to pull them away from her shoulders, but they were not going anywhere. “—but I insist you warm yourself by the fireplace first.” “You’re my fireplace\!” Itagiba whispered in her ear, rubbing himself further on her, smelling her neck and hair before smooching her cheek. Letting out a small sigh through her nose, she looked outside at the lazy morning of her kingdom, still going about its day. *Nothing comes for free, and I will protect this peace from being tampered with by the other kingdoms and aristocrats to my soul death—Eori must realize that as everyone else, including Itagiba, doesn’t fully comprehend those threats.* A small but visible smile appeared on her. ## 2 ![Subchapter illustration](Vol2/3_2.png) Itagiba’s body seemed to grow into its own fireplace, paying back for some of the stolen warmth—perhaps Neferteri stoked the fire inside him. “How are you, though? I know it must have been hard letting Eori on her first scientific expedition, but I know deep down that’s what she always wanted to do\! I know you’re sick of hearing it from me, but don’t worry so much about who’s the next queen. Everything will work itself out\!” Neferteri felt a bubbling wave of hundreds of argumentative memories about this subject come to mind, but she kept it mostly bottled with a long, deep breath. “She will surely enjoy this extended break from her mentors at first, but as time passes, she will grow unfulfilled with being a scientist when contrasted with the opportunity of becoming the next queen of Sanbi.” Itagiba’s mouth held back much to say with its clenched muscles. “Yeaaahhhh—” He let out a long-winded dissonant hum, while his skeptical eyebrows probably told some truths about how he felt. With a shift of his tone back to the usually confident, upbeat self, he kept going as if nothing had happened, “Nefi, I gotta say\! People are loving that we’re opening an official listening channel with the Sanbi-eye thing\! People love the idea of one of them being the listener and just getting it\! Even city folk seemed pleased that villagers would get more attention from us too. I knew we could benefit greatly from this project, but Sanbi shit\! It’s the talk of the town\!” Itagiba’s red iris was observing the same lazy kingdom Neferteri was seeing. “Although—we kinda screwed up in not putting up street posts of Harry, so people are confused as Sanbi shit on that\!” He let out a constrained groan. “—someone even told me that someone called Kunya dressed up as a guard, telling people that they were a Sanbi-eye temporary replacement, and for a pearl a piece he would write down their request.” Meanwhile, Neferteri felt this wave of being under control flowing through her, like she had several invisible hands coming out of her and everything was under her control. A wide grin escaped through her teeth before she flexed her mouth muscles to tame it back down to something more neutral and elegant. *Exactly as expected\! This confusion will allow enough time for Sinoi to finish setting himself up as fake Harry, then work with Morika to cover up any evidence of the body switch.* “Didn’t think of that possibility? That’s rare\!” Itagiba probed a silent Neferteri, giving her a few squishes with his strong arms. “Apologies, my dear, but I will admit fault of assuming that the duel event Maiara wished to happen would be enough to establish the Sanbi-eye identity.” Neferteri tapped her husband’s strong hands, perhaps telling him to ease the pressure. “Assuming Kibe failed to handle it, can you resolve it instead?” “Sure thing.” Itagiba let go of Neferteri and walked over to sit on his chair. “By the way, Eiri told me you forced Harry to lose weight on his recovery. Is that to make him look better at representing the kingdom? But wouldn’t that make him harder to recognize, right?” Sitting on a red comfy chair, Itagiba scratched his hair. “We really dropped the ball on that one. We need to put up more details of what the Sanbi-eye job does on the street posts as well.” “Also in an attempt to increase his mobility.” Neferteri turned to her husband, slouching on his chair, opening a couple of winga and Sanbi mail on his desk. The winga mails seemed all standardized in size, about the size of a postcard, with the envelope being in different colors—black, blue, red, yellow, or green. A Forway standardized black seal ensured the contents were kept secret. Contrasting it were white envelopes that looked simpler and contained blue seals instead. “And you’re correct that I overestimated the duel’s capability in establishing Harry as the one and only Sanbi-eye.” “Well, it probably sucked for him, but chicks around here like thin guys a—” Suddenly clearing his throat, Itagiba’s red pupils widened. With a deeper voice, he quickly continued, “I mean, Harry will be more approachable if he looks closer to the usual Sanbi citizen.” He continued looking busy with the winga mails. “So when are we getting more?” *That is indeed the real Itagiba.* Neferteri continued looking at the man she loved, and controlled. “Are you implying in contracting more Sanbi-eyes?” Itagiba picked up a blue winga mail envelope and tore the seal. “On my way back from the meeting, at least four people asked about the Sanbi-eye schedule\! It’s gonna look bad if we say next month, or worse, next year.” Itagiba narrowed his eyes, looking towards Neferteri. “Huh—did we even talk about his schedule?” “Sinoi dropped him off at The Dead Wozen stop and instructed him to head towards Fishing Tree. From there, he is supposed to head south.” Neferteri approached her husband and sat by his side, grabbing a winga mail from a black envelope he had just opened. Skimming through the beautifully crafted handwriting, Neferteri quickly realized it was just another needless summoning request for wasting their valuable time. “I spared you from arranging his schedule since you were occupied with other matters.” “Thanks, Nefi. So when?” Itagiba slid a few more opened winga and Sanbi mails towards Neferteri. Neferteri didn’t immediately reply. Her eyes were drawn to a white envelope from *Funima Sanbi*. She picked that up promptly. *Dear Queen of Sanbi, the speculations regarding production quota changes to fish oil rules are growing by the day. We can no longer hold them at bay and keep prices from rising at this rate. Please give us your wisdom. Regards, Funima.* Neferteri felt the anger festering inside her start to bubble to the surface again. Her eyes stared like daggers at the sloppily handwritten letter. *The other kingdoms are interfering at a rate far more than I presumed. I must manage my agents closely to ensure things remain within expectations.* “I think I talked with Atiena last week, and she complained that sea storms are worse than last year. She didn’t say anything about that, though\!” Itagiba pointed to the mail in Neferteri’s hand. “Actually, she did mention something about someone forging letters and making people believe her factories had to stop for a few weeks because of broken machinery.” “I do not yet know, dear. I will further research into who is involved in planning a pump-and-dump scheme with the prices.” Neferteri continued reading the other letters while her mind still focused on the previous letter. *The explosion on Paulin 14th must be at the epicenter of this increased spying and tampering actively around Sanbi. It is feasible that another spy is hunting down Sinoi right now to question him. If they discover he is wearing a Fake Body of the Sanbi-eye, things will escalate quickly above my expectations.* Neferteri set aside a letter from Nooru, king of Gandew, requesting a stay at Sanbi Castle for Coema’s birthday on Paulin 29th. “I will handle this matter. He must not have heard that Coema left for Newland.” Suddenly lighting up like a Christmas tree, Itagiba jumped out of his seat. “YEAH\! I fucking got it\! Let’s create an annual competition for people in the slum to fight, and whoever wins will get the next Sanbi-eye\! We can have a big-ass event at the homeegg stadium\!” Neferteri looked daggers towards her husband; her fixated violet pupils would make many people fold instantly. “Dear, we cannot fool people into thinking we are solving all their problems by just increasing the frequency of hearing their pleas.” “But there are so many villages around\! Aren’t we being too conservative?” Itagiba sat down; the enthusiasm in his voice grew weaker, but his pushy tone looked like he hadn’t completely folded. Neferteri grew silent, placing her hand on her chin. *Outright refusal will eventually raise suspicion. Rather, this could be advantageous in setting up the normalcy of the role, specifically having the Soul Energy department be in charge of aiding all the slum participants. That would create a precedent and further obscure the facts surrounding the explosion a day before the duel and Gabiro turning into a Fanchaki. This will be my insurance to isolate blame towards Gabiro and himself only if someone raises a dangerous or fringe research allegation.* Neferteri touched her husband’s bulky arm. “As you wish, dear. However, only one Sanbi-eye may be contracted from the annual event, and their contract will last until the next event.” “YES\!” Itagiba pulled out a drawer on his side and took out what appeared to be an emergency ratio of celebration liquor. He popped the cork and chugged a healthy dose of the unlabelled deep blue liquid. “Woooo\!” He shouted amidst clearing his throat, almost losing a grip on his manliness. “Fuck\! That’s stronger than before\!” His blue-tinted lips and teeth grew an amorous smile as he offered the glass to Neferteri. Shaking her head, Neferteri followed up, “Given Harry will be the only one on a long-term contract, he will be assigned as a trainer and supervisor.” “That’s fair\!” Itagiba took another celebration chug of the deep blue spirit, then hid it back in the drawer. “Eiri seems to have liked Harry too, so she’s going to enjoy hearing that\!” *Precisely as I presumed\!* *This will be the gateway to bringing the new king-maid fully under my control, preventing another Coema.* Neferteri, unbeknownst, let out a vicious smirk on the corner of her mouth, grabbing another letter to read. “I ask you not to speak on this matter to her yet. I need time to consider the potential ramifications of this project.” A blue-tinted toothy smile appeared on Itagiba, and a wrinkle around his shining eyes. “Cool with me\!” He raised a thumbs-up. ## 3 ![Subchapter illustration](Vol2/3_3.png) 1039 A.G. Paulin 21st, Freeday at about Sunnuhigh—about when people would go for a siesta. Neferteri watched Eiri babbling about the failed experiment once again, carefully analyzing her tense posture as she kept flapping her jaw. *Her protesting has grown over the previous meeting. At this rate, her Coema facet will awaken if I do not curtail that behavior. Albeit, bringing up Harry’s potential promotion now might be considered too convenient and give the false impression of being far too willing to negotiate.* Waiting for her to pause her babbling, she curtly replied, “I see no benefit for our kingdom to establish an internal ruling where a revival must bring the body back to pre-death weight. This is not Tolerideme. This is Sanbi\!” “But—but—this is not about the kingdom\! It’s about personal choice\! Personal freedom\!” Eiri exclaimed, gripping a paper with the meeting minutes. “Nobody gave Harry a choice about having his weight forcibly removed from him\!” Itagiba let out what appeared to be a loud thought, “Or they could just eat themselves fat again—honestly, I don’t see what’s the big deal here.” Itagiba held up a winga mail towards Eiri. “Can we put up a vote and move on? I need to get ready to leave for Forway\! Not like I want to, but they are cranky after discovering I did some direct business dealing with Jimmie—those Forway guards sure are thorough in their cargo check.” Meanwhile Neferteri pulled on a specific small drawer of the cabinet by her, pulling out a scroll made from a fancy glossy paper, with a highly detailed blue border and blood stains everywhere. “Personal freedom is irrelevant when he willingly signed a contract with the Sanbi monarchy.” Eiri chewed her lips as Neferteri’s words must have jabbed deep in her conscience, “FINE\! One last thing\! Nobody recognized him as the Sanbi-eye when I walked him to Sinoi\! That hurt your guys’ marketing campaign too\!” Eiri held her badge up, putting her thumb over the thermometer apparatus’s base, making it glimmer. “That’s why I propose a ban on revivals not restoring the body to its previous weight.” The room grew silent. Nobody else lifted their badge. “Even you, Kibe? Don’t you understand my point?” Eiri looked towards Kibe, but he was motionless—as if someone had paused him. “Not my problem.” Kibe shrugged, then returned to being motionless. “Next topic.” Neferteri sat back, her face holding back a slight smile as she rested her hands on her lap. *I’m truly thankful that Gabiro’s and Coema’s erratic decisions no longer harm my expectations of this meeting’s outcomes.* Looking like she swallowed her tongue, a regretful tone slipped out of Eiri’s mouth. “Yes.” With a feather, she quickly jotted something in the meeting minutes, then read aloud. “One yes. Three no. Next topic—Kunya.” Eiri gave the floor to Kibe with a hand motion. Kibe, who had an otherwise neutral expression, looked back at everyone with fast blinking. “What?” Nothing else came out of his mouth. Itagiba let out a groan, “Fuck me. Really? You’re the courtroom scientist\!” “Like I wanted it\! I’m busy trying to bring Gabiro back.” Kibe waved towards a jar on the coffee table before them. It was packed to the brim with a weird mixture ranging from purple to red and white flesh, each with its own textures that somehow connected into a unique blob—at least it looked dead. Itagiba raised his badge. “I will deal with it. Next one.” Eiri seemed to be itching to ask questions, at least based on her pursed lips and interest aura towards the blob on the table, but somehow she didn’t. She raised her badge instead as her eyes kept taking potshots at it. *As I suspected—Itagiba taking over aspects of the courtroom scientist job at this late stage will not allow him to coordinate the guards properly.* Neferteri raised her badge. Jotting down notes quickly on the same paper as before, Eiri continued, “Four Yes. Next topic is Gabiro’s—soul—” Eiri glanced at Neferteri, firmly enunciating the word *soul,* then continued, “—experiment.” The room turned over to Kibe again. “Noth—” Kibe started to speak but stopped mid-sentence, looking back at Neferteri. “Before I concede the floor to Kibe, let me preface with a question. Do we have the word soul written on any public records?” Neferteri’s eyes turned into daggers, ready to kill Eiri on the spot with just her threatening aura oozing into the room. “No? I’m—just adding some additional insights to—*hmmm—*clarify\!” Eiri looked back at Neferteri; her narrowing eyes seemed ready to go off on a classic Western standoff, but she didn’t seem to have the same mojo as Neferteri after being on a losing streak on her verbal combat—if only she could roll a twenty. “This insight must not be disclosed outside of this meeting, for you are not the owner of the Soul Energy Department. Furthermore, you do not have the expertise to confirm that was the case.” Neferteri gave the nod towards Kibe to start speaking. *I must research if the failed experiment has triggered her uptick in Coema-like behavior or if another source is at play. Coema is still at Newland, and I firmly believe she wouldn’t come here on a Fake Body, for she’s the conspicuous type. Perhaps she sent a letter through the latest ship, which fueled Eiri’s behavior, with him being the first symptom of it.* Meanwhile, Kibe waved his hand at the jar with mutated-looking flesh, appearing to be emptying his chest. “Blame Gabiro for not writing down what he was doing. I browsed through the books we had here, and I can’t figure it out, even after Neferteri told me he was using the Buhraies interface—I don’t know what you all expect me to do at this point\! I’m even going out of my way to try to counteract it, but nothing works\!” Kibe’s slumped shoulders and face looked back at Neferteri, awaiting a response. “Buhraies interface? Is that what that thing is?” Eiri’s tone grew probing, reaching out to grab whatever that monstrosity of flesh was with her yellow-gloved hands. Neferteri silently stared daggers at Kibe, holding her hands tightly under the table to keep the emotions from bubbling up to her face. *Gabiro was right in his assessment that Kibe is unfit to become the next courtroom scientist. To lack the intuition to realize he just revealed private information is grave. Malleable as he is, the lack of secrecy and intelligence compared to Gabiro will ultimately harm our kingdom.* Closing her eyes tightly momentarily, Neferteri opened them back towards Eiri with a direct response, “Yes, Gabiro did mention off-handedly to me hours before the explosion he was experimenting with using the Buhraies interface. However, that is the extent of what I know. Kibe, summarize what that ancient interface entails.” “Ehhh—” Kibe took a steeling breath, leaning forward in his chair as he stalled for a bit. “Buhraies is old school, and they used blood and mindfulness rather than sigil rings—*ahhhhh*. Actually, I didn’t even know that some of them could use telepathy or reconnect their soul with new flesh until Neferteri told me to read those old fringe researches.” Kibe extended his hand towards the jar, getting it back from Eiri. “Gabiro wasn’t the only one wasting his time on that. I tried all I could, but all I got was either nothing, soul flame, or whatever this is.” “That doesn’t look appetizing at all, but I guess I’d try it if Eiri cooks it\!” Itagiba laughed with a playful tone. “What do you think? Serve it with a spicy sauce to make it go down easier? Oh, I know\! Let’s wait for when Nooru is here\! He would totally scarf it down\!” “Eww—don’t you dare bring that near my kitchen\!” Eiri sounded revolted at the idea, nearly making gagging sounds. “I’m just pulling your leg—Kibe, did you get in touch with—what’s her name again?” Itagiba snapped his fingers, his tongue looking ready to say a name that wasn’t coming out. “She was the one begging Eori to come over to Forway and enroll at the nari school—” “Ceralin—she is a peculiar woman, and I would like to avoid making unnecessary negotiations with external parties unless necessary.” Neferteri slowly shook her head, then placed her hand on Itagiba’s shoulder. “Instead, I shall reach out to Luny, given Gabiro was close acquaintances with her. Contacting Cerelin will place us at the peril of further gossip and misinformation. I, therefore, raise the vote that no other person outside this room, other than Luny, may receive any information on this matter unless I authorize the release.” Neferteri raised her badge, making it glimmer. Everyone else followed suit except Eiri. “As long as we stop experimenting with the soul.” Everyone now rescinded their badge being up. Kibe had it up for a bit, then took it down after Neferteri brought down hers. With a loud grumpy exhale, Eiri jotted down quickly on the same paper. “Three Yes. One no. Next is Fanchaki.” “Eiri, continuing the previous topic, I would like to make a proposal.” Neferteri interrupted the flow, raising her badge. “I would like to formally announce to the public that an agreement was reached by Sanbi Royals to retire Gabiro due to his age and for recklessness, given he did not disclose any of the potential dangers of his presumed fringe experiments.” Eiri gasped. “But—but—Kibe doesn’t know anything\! And there’s not even an apprentice\!” “Oh\! we know\!” Itagiba raised his badge. “But we gotta do something, as some people are still pissed at the explosion on the fourteenth. I mean—I didn’t think it was that bad, but I underestimated it, I suppose.” Kibe fondled the badge in his hand, but upon looking at Neferteri, he raised it above his head, letting it glimmer. Eiri crossed her arms. She bit her lips as she frowned. *Not that I require her vote, but having her approval in this matter will certainly make dealing with Gabiro smoother.* Neferteri spoke to Eiri, “Gabiro also placed your maids in unnecessary danger. So far, the official message has been that the monarchy department put a hold on Gabiro’s research while we all investigated his actions. However, people’s desire for action comes from developing rumors that this explosion could have been far bigger and soul-killed anyone close to the castle.” Eiri, scribbling along quickly, bobbed her head. “*Hmmmm*—yea. I heard it from Aurora too\! Are they true?” “I cannot directly ascertain that. Kibe?” Neferteri curtly replied. Kibe shrugged. “I’m not Gabiro.” “I also thought, what if the explosion blew us away into nothing and made revival impossible?” Eiri then raised her badge as well. “Yeah—agreed. All voted in favor; next is fanchaki.” She updated the meeting minutes again without appearing to show any resistance—either she rolled a one on her verbal combat, or she had given up. “I got this one\! I passed by the experimental farm, and they’re—” With a sudden laughter, Itagiba’s upbeat energy contrasted the severe mood of the room. “Fanbiro was having a lot of fun breeding an entire flock of fanchakis. The eggs looked healthy, according to Gony—I even had some fertilized eggs with toast.” Itagiba furrowed his brow, appearing to still taste its peculiar flavor. “It tasted pretty different—the yolk was blood red and had this lean-cut meat taste added to it like it was fried in lard—but it wasn’t\! Gony swore on his soul\! It wasn’t too strong, either—it felt like eating veal steak and eggs, but the steak was baked into the eggs. I’m sure it will go crazy big in Forway\!” Eiri narrowed her eyes. “Wait—so you’re saying you tasted Gabiro?” “Ya know—I thought that too—but it wasn’t old and rubbery\!” Itagiba smirked, lifting his badge. “I’d say let’s ship some of the eggs to Forway at a high markup\!” Everyone seemed hesitant as the room grew quiet, except for Kibe, who looked like he took what Itagiba said as just another fact of life. He sloppily raised his badge at first, looked towards Neferteri, then swiftly lowered it back. Neferteri made a slow nod. “Amendment. That special fanchaki must no longer be named Fanbiro to prevent bad publicity and connection to Gabiro’s accident. Once we eliminate all traces of Gabiro possibly becoming a Fanchaki, we shall sell the eggs and meat under the pretext this is an interspecies breeding experiment between fanchaki and some other species such as Bagarisas.” Neferteri raised her badge. Itagiba held his hand up, keeping his badge glimmering. “Fine by me. It would definitely go down easier on the population than saying it’s a soul experiment or whatever it was Gabiro conjured up. Yes\! I got this\! We can also say we didn’t reveal more info on the day of the duel because we just didn’t know he withheld telling us about that experiment\!” Neferteri nodded with a gracious smile. *Exactly what I had planned for you given your charisma.* Kibe kept his badge up as well. “So are we gonna skip the fact that Gabiro is being exploited? Isn’t the focus on just bringing him back?” Eiri’s disbelief tone broke through the silence, her eyes staring right at Nefeteri as she crossed her arms. “So what? He was the one doing dangerous shit\! We need to cover the costs\!” Itagiba, with his free hand, pointed up and made circles in the air with his finger, telling something to Eiri—likely to wrap it up. “I know\! Fine\! Three Yes. One No.” Eiri took a long breath through her nose, jotting down more notes. “Next, Princess Eori—is the cost allocated for her mentors being reallocated or freed up?” “Reallocate it for travel and negotiation costs for the monarchy department.” Neferteri raised her badge. *Princess Eori, you better produce satisfactory results with these expensive BOM requests.*