Chapter I - To Kibe

The long-dreaded morning of Paulin 50th had arrived. Why do they keep doing this kind of shit on Forrdays? That’s just wasting everyone’s free day! A single thought passed on Kibe’s mind as his eyes avoided the murmuring crowd and craved the serenity of his office solitude, where he was least alone. A continuous clench in Kibe’s chest must be because he was in a large crowd! A pit in his stomach must have been because of his meh tasting food that Arukia brought him for breakfast, and her diabetic-inducing perfume lingered in the room when she took her sweet time to leave him alone. At least she wasn’t bitching this time. Kibe thought painedly as the sickly-sweet smell returned to his mind, making the pit in his stomach grow. His swollen voicebox was getting itchy, and the back of his throat was getting drowned in spit, but he avoided clearing his throat as there was no escape from that feeling while under the Darfaries interface effects to raise his voice. Amidst these random thoughts, explaining away this shitty situation he was in, one thing appeared to be in common that wasn’t being addressed—likely on purpose.

The crowd was still gathering people, with most people walking towards the congregation without a single worry in their step. Amidst the beached boat showing a portrait of Gabiro, a deep-sea-looking amulet, and his paraphernalia, stood a jar containing some weird fleshy thing that gave the crowd an icky feeling—whatever that was, it did not seem human. But that wasn’t the only thing competing for people’s curiosity! Some people in front were fixated on the two mysterious-looking boxes, which emitted a faint white light from their joint gaps. They were perfectly hot-branded with the Sanbi logo and PROPERTY OF SANBI KINGDOM text on it.

Kibe’s ears kept avoiding hearing the unnaturally clamorous near shoutings of a friendly with a hint of authoritative speech from the one and only King of Sanbi. However, to no avail, a trigger word forced his speech way into his mind.

“—about Kibe? Yeah. We will talk about it shortly, but first, we gotta do the soul sendaway!” Itagiba’s voice did not sound strained despite echoing outwardly like it was spoken in a megaphone. His hand holding his blacker badge high up in the air showed a faint red glow from the thermometer-like apparatus. Shuffling his hand up in the air to further call attention to himself, he looked away from the front row and focused into the sea of eyes aimed towards him, “Okay—look! We know quite a few of you were not Gabiro fans, but he was the courtroom scientist of Sanbi! We gotta pay our respects! We also have some serious stuff to talk about, so don’t crack the booze yet!” With a quick look up and a silent nod towards the lone man in a boat connected to the beached boat, Itagiba spoke even louder, “Let’s officially start Gabiro’s soul sendaway!”

Applauses came lethargically from the crowd. Although, some did not applaud how one would imagine. Instead, with their hands extended outwardly pointed at the old man portrait, they clapped their hand upwardly, like an eating motion—which meant one, and only one thing in Sanbi culture: get fucked! Meanwhile, the lone guy in the boat chucked one deep blue colored ball after the other into the sea, then dusted his hands off.

Those balls made a nice-sounding plunk in the water, and soon after, a colorful, deep blue smoke began to bubble.

“A chunk of you were born and grew up knowing Gabiro as the courtroom scientist, so this one is tailor-made for you!” Itagiba chortled loudly as the wrinkles on his face showed he had much to tell. “I’m going to date myself here by saying this happened twenty-four years ago, but here we go! I still remember one of my first weeks as King, and I requested Nuru to replace his apprentice with Gabiro.” with a heavy nod and a wrinkled face, Itagiba continued, “They were definitely not into him when I mentioned he was eight-something—how old was he again?” He tilted towards his wife, the Queen of Sanbi.

“Seventy-eight,” with a precise answer, Neferteri responded with a curt smile, presumptively hiding away her sadness. Her voice had the same loudness as her husband, yet sounded far more silvery than impactful.

“Right! Pretty damm old, but there’s a reason for it! Y’all remember Gydy beer?”

The crowd barely reacted, with some sparse hands raised in the air. An interesting correlation is that the more rugged and older a person's skin was, the more likely they were to raise their hand.

“EXACTLY! It was famous, and pretty damm tasty too! But somehow went to shit! Guess who worked there? This fucking guy!” Itagiba pointed at the painted picture of Gabiro, perfectly capturing his exuding boisterous mixed with assholish vibes. “And no! It wasn’t his fault that the place turned to shit! He was the researcher, and that beer came out perfect from every keg I drank!” With his free hand, Itagiba pounded his chest, “And I made sure to test out a bunch of them! Hehe—it was so damm good I just wanted to grab a drink with whoever created my favorite beer—” With a loud smirky tone, Itagiba tried to contain his mischievous laughter as he kept on, “—just maybe get in their good graces to get a factory here!”

“Is that why you built the Sanbi Beer?” A random person in the crowd shouted.

Other people in the crowd seemed to agree, with an older person exclaiming loudly, “I knew it! I knew it! I knew I had that before!”

Itagiba continued his smile, “Wow. Y’all don’t really remember that anymore? But yeah! Pretty good, right? Made by him even though he hated alcohol!”

A silent shock rocked the crowd. Now closer to two hundred people and still gathering, passers-by were coming together to see the soul sendaway, leaving the old wharf packed with enough people that the ones all the way back were shit out of luck of seeing anything interesting—other than hearing echoes from Itagiba and seeing blue smoke.

Letting the silence fester in the crowd for a second, Itagiba filled the airspace once again with his regal tone, “We checked out the brewery, and the owners were complete morons because they were sitting in a pile of balls and didn’t even know it! You could say he was crazy! Well—he was until his last breath, but the difference between cutting-edge and fringe sometimes comes down to perspective! One that I’m truly thankful to Nefi!” Itagiba hugged his wife from the side, lowering his badge.

Keeping some sort of smile in the corner of her mouth, it was still tough to notice what was happening in her mind as she raised her green-looking badge in the air, making the same thermometer-like apparatus glow in red light. With the same loudness, Neferteri now filled the air with her silvery speech, “Indeed, my dearest citizens. This was back in my younger days, and the thought of visiting a brewery wasn’t appealing. Nevertheless, that opportunity was a turning point for yours truly! It allowed me to expand my horizons of opportunities and dangers as the soon-to-be Queen of Sanbi. Seeing how much of a pillar Gabiro was to that failing brewery gave us crucial insights. We needed to diversify the Sanbi Kingdom economy with the expertise from the pinnacle of talent that the Forway realm can provide. And to that matter, Gabiro was and still is a pinnacle of talent in scientific research!” Glancing over to Eiri, she lowered her badge.

Slowly raising her badge high up in the air, Eiri’s empty gazing eyes looked over the crowd. Her voice wanted to be brittle, but she seemed to hold it back with an unusually loud sniff—because she had the same bulging throat as the others speaking loudly as well. “It was great to work with Gabiro despite his flaws. I’m a recent King-maid, but even so, I saw his impact on us all, and I mean every single one of you!” She patted Sora on the back.

Sora, still teary-eyed, unraveled the parchment she was holding and put it in front of Eiri for her to read from.

“From our calculations, the soul energy department during Gabiro’s management saved us more than a hundred sapphire balls!” Eiri paced herself to give time for the crowd to react; her anguished-looking eyes and tensed-up posture surveyed the relatively silent crowd before focusing back on the parchment as a loud hmmm slipped through her mouth. Her tensed shoulder held the badge up in the arm tightly. “I knew you wouldn’t believe this number, so here’s some proof! Despite Tolerideme holding the authority on comparative advantage on beer, Gabiro persuaded Forway to give us an exemption on producing our own Sanbi Beer for its uniqueness!” Eiri pointed at the rich, cloudy blue smoke from the water. “The reason this Nari bomb looks this deep blue and didn’t explode was because of Gabiro! He invented it and then got Forway to give the comparative advantage to our kingdom! If you see that same smoke somewhere else, it came from Sanbi! It came from Ungady’s factory!” She pointed to a street going to her right away from the Old Wharf.

That’s because he had to do it! He hated it! Kibe felt a sliver of wanting to say something, but it soon died thinking of how much of a hassle this whole thing already was. His eyes kept on avoiding the crowd as another thought passed through his bored mind. Can we just get to the accusation part already?

Meanwhile, the crowd energy began deflating. Maybe it was the introspective nature of seeing Gabiro’s achievements impacting people’s daily lives, Eiri’s subdued speech or people were craving to know what the gossip around town was about the fanchaki incident rather than the goodbye party of an old, unlikable smarty-pants. Or could it even be the expectation of Kibe becoming the new courtroom scientist starting to sap away people’s excitement of Sanbi developing anything new—probably a mix of that and much more? Either way, the Queen nudged a girl in a flashy pink dress accented in blue tones towards Itagiba with a soft pat on the back.

Eiri continued hogging the airspace; she continued to hold the badge up so firmly that it turned her knuckles white, “—Wozen smell nari gel that targets Bagarisas exclusively. Making Sleep Inducer nari gel quicker to take hold of delinquents!" Taking a more profound, forced breath, her voice went higher, “Brought back Entangle verb on the Darfaries interface from the history books! Gabiro was the centerpiece of the new sigil standard which improved the fail rate of casts, specially Water gravity! Making Fanchakis mature nearly twice as fast!” She glanced at the audience before her, then towards her left, exchanging a quick glare with Neferteri.

Meanwhile, the audience was quiet, maybe too quiet.

A loud clear of throat came out of Itagiba, raising his badge. “See folks! That’s why I believed in him!—”

Meanwhile, With a soft tug on Itagiba’s white cape, the girl in pink, known as none other than Nina Sanbi Royal Fourth-Princess, silently called out to her father with tears slowly pouring down her cheeks.

Itagiba lowered his badge and picked Nina up with a fell swoop, putting her on a single shoulder. “Looks like we have an extra testimony! Take it away!”

“Gabiro was meany, but he gave many gifts!” Nina’s quavering, sweet voice wasn’t nearly as loud as the others with their bulging throats. “I will take care of Fanbi-fanchaki you gave! Will make many babies!” She wiped her tears away in her long pinky robe.

“For y’all that didn’t hear out back, Nina said she will take care of the fanchaki Gabiro gave her, so if it poops in the street, you know who will clean it up!” Itagiba squeezed Nina as his teeth shone brightly in his smirk. “You gotta put up your badge!” he said under his breath, but due to his bulged throat, it sounded as loud as regular talk.

“I—I WILL! IT’S MINE!” Nina yelled out from the top of her lunch, throwing her hands and badge both up in the air.

Laughter erupted in the crowd as they watched the badge being catapulted from her hand high up in the air, then straight into the water, bringing a glimmer of joy against the gloomy mood permeating the entire Old Wharf. Two guards nearby took action and made their way to it.

With a laugh, seeing the badge disappear into the water, Itagiba faced the crowd again. “If these two can’t find it, I will buy dinner for whoever does!”

Hiding her face away on her long pink sleeve, nobody could see what emotion was coursing through Nina’s face.

“For real though! This old guy had a dream and sacrificed his own life to reach it!” Itagiba’s cheerfulness in his smile and tone began to wane away as he placed Nina down and then his black badge up in the air. “He was a narcissistic asshole, yes, but I hoped I could help him achieve his dream in exchange for making our Kingdom a better place. And to that, I say it was a fair deal for all of us! Our kingdom saw many improvements, but it’s a pity we could not help him reach his.”

A random person shouted in the background, trampling over the king’s monologue, straining his voice to get his eager question within earshot, “WHAT WAS THE DREAM?”

The crowd’s energy began to rise, even more so when Itagiba kept silent and took a big breath.

What? Kibe snapped his neck towards Itagiba with an impatient furrow in his brow. He never knew what he wanted! He was always so damm vague!

With a serious glance toward his wife and a simultaneous nod, Itagiba continued, still with his badge up in the air. “He never said this in public, but that crummy old guy did love someone other than himself! He loved someone who couldn’t be healed!”

A mixed reaction came from the populace attending the event, murmurs arising, and a particular antagonist tone quickly arising.

Itagiba raised his voice above the murmur, “CUT THE BAGARISA! Y’all would be trying everything and anything as well if you were that smart!” placing his free hand on Neferteri’s shoulder, he shouted as spit flew off his mouth “I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME TOO! WITHOUT MY NEFI, I AM NOTHING!”

The echo alone of his statement served as some magical chant to shut up the crowd.

That’s not the truth! Kibe looked towards Neferteri, seeing a small smile at the corner of her mouth. Do I really have to put up with this kinda shit every day? Seeing the corner of her eye felt like it was staring back at him; he felt like it was a frigid, penetrating entity invading his soul. Part of him wanted just to book it at full speed and never stare back, but he knew there was nowhere he could run it. Looking down, a single thought came to his mind: Where else can I do this little and have this much balls to spend?

Itagiba took a step forward, and lightly kicked one of the wooden boxes near his feet, making audible claks of glass stir inside. With flaring nostrils and a high chin, he yelled out even louder, echoing into the nearby streets, “HE TOLD ME HE WANTED TO COME UP WITH A NEW WAY TO HEAL PEOPLE! AND I AGREED ON THE CONDITION HE WOULDN’T PUT ANY OF US IN DANGER! INCLUDING MESSING WITH OUR SOULS!” With a clear of the throat, Itagiba’s voice returned to the usual loud, but his face was still semi-flushed. “This is where the soul sendaway ends, and the trial begins!” He lowered his badge, and with a forced breath, cracked his neck.

The emotions stirring inside Kibe quickly grew, making his planted feet feel like a literal ton to move, but he had no choice but to play along. With the grumble of an older person, he bent over and picked one of the boxes near him—and not by the hande either. Then, turning that grumble to a full grunt; he felt like he was about to shit himself trying to lift that box above his knees. The strain on his arching lower back was so great it felt like it would pop at any second. His body wobbled as the box neared his waist, and with a forced flick of his arms, he tipped the box forward, letting the top flap open and spilling its contents on the ground for all to see.

A ghastly white fire broke out from the tens of small bottles as they crashed into the floor, merging with one another. The roaring flame was dead quiet but with such an intense brightness that it felt like it was burning the cornea—like looking at flare! But just like a flare, if you turned your eyes from it, the intensity would die down quickly. The crowd, Nina, and the maids all jumped back, seeming to expect the worst, at least based on how bright it was—yet no warmth came out of it. On its own, the raging fire began to dissipate into nothingness.

“The rumors are true! Gabiro was messing with soul research on a scale we did not know! It’s one thing to put yourself at risk, but it’s another level to put the Sanbi Royal Guild at risk! But that’s not even the worst part yet!” Itagiba, with a pointed finger, scanned the enthralled-looking audience, then pulled up his badge high in the air once again, “He put our citizens at risk by performing soul experiments on dead people, and he misappropriated from the kingdom coffers! right, Eiri?”

With a weak nod, Eiri confirmed the deed as she gripped her hands tightly.

The crowd, quiet at first, began to murmur again. Without warning, someone shouted back, “Y’ALL WERE PART OF IT! Y’ALL KNOW YA CAN’T MESS WITH THE SOUL!”. The crowd's murmurs began to boil over, turning what seemed like a calm spectacle on the verge of social unrest.

“WE KNOW! THAT’S WHY WE GOT THE BOTTOM OF IT!” Itagiba kept on shouting back, cutting through the crowd. “GABIRO WASN’T ACTING ALONE! KIBE! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” Itagiba lowered his badge and cold stared at Kibe with thin lips.

Here we go— With a forced breath through a soured face, Kibe chucked the empty box nearby and raised his green-looking badge, making the same thermometer-like apparatus shine in bright red. His voice sounded far duller than Itagiba’s but just as loud, “Gabiro gave me a lot of aquamarines to keep my mouth shut,” The words coming out of his mouth almost seemed like it wasn’t his own—because they weren’t. His mind tried to regurgitate what Neferteri told him as best as he could, or else he would have to suck dick at the street corner for a trencher as he knew he sucked at everything else. He kept mumbling loudly, letting the monotone words fall out of his mouth, “On most deals over the past decade, we asked ten to thirty percent more than needed on project funding to use that to experiment on the soul because we knew how much we were helping the kingdom and nobody would say no to us when they saw the results. I was buying dead people for Gabiro to experiment on—” Kibe’s voice sucked the energy out of the room, or rather, the entire Old Wharf.

Scratching his head, Itagiba returned to his regal tone, “I truly wanted to help Gabiro find a better way to heal people!” Itagiba’s regal voice echoed through the crowd again, starting to tame it down, “No one from Sanbi Guild authorized Gabiro to mess with any human soul! Everyone here is equally important in making our kingdom great!”

Neferteri started clapping rhythmically, glancing at Eiri and Kibe. Without missing a beat, they started clapping as well, and then more people from the crowd followed suit until there was a shower of applause. Another voice shouted from the crowd, “SO IT’S FINE TO MESS WITH ANIMAL SOUL?”

The applauses went off rhythm. The crowd's murmurs began rising once again, but this time, there didn’t appear to be any kind of unison forming.

Bitting his cheeks, Itagiba rolled his eyes towards Neferteri, appearing to seek help.

With a slow blink of her eyes, Neferteri tailored a response on the fly, her voice echoing just as loud while remaining softer in people’s ears. “Indeed. Food stability is crucial as we grow our kingdom! Further, we cannot fall behind other kingdoms' research or Hifuna’s danger. It was due to this very fact that none of us caught on with the Soul Energy department, bringing humanoids rather than fauna or beast corpses and defiling them in our very own castle!”

“What Nefi said! We gotta research animals and beasts to protect our kingdom from Hifuna! What if Forway falls apart? Who will keep it in check? And we’re growing too! we need lots of food!” Itagiba, still with his hand raised in the air, looked at the person in charge of paddling the boat out of the wharf, nodding at each other before he yelled out loud, “WHATEVER WE DO, WE NEVER ALLOW ANY SCIENTIST TO MESS WITH PEOPLE’S SOUL IN OUR KINGDOM!” With a fluster in his red cheeks, Itagiba continued as he pointed towards the glum-looking Kibe, “I’M STILL PISSED AT YOU BOTH FOR FUCKING DOING THIS RIGHT AT THE CASTLE! WHAT IF THAT EXPLOSION KILLED US ALL?”

The crowd clamored back in near unison, now with a good chunk of people making the same hands in front clapping towards Gabiro’s portrait, and Kibe alike.

“THAT’S FUCKING RIGHT! GABIRO, AS THE KING OF SANBI, AND WITH THE BACKING FROM THE MONARCHY AND ECONOMICAL DEPARTMENT, WE HEREBY STRIP YOU OF THE COURTROOM SCIENTIST POWERS!” clearing his throat, appearing to swallow a bunch of spit from probably overusing the magical interface to increase his voice volume, he continued, “A PERSON LIVES FROM THE SEA, AND SO SHALL THE SEA LIVE FROM THE BODY.”

Without missing a beat, the person carrying Gabiro’s boat out from the wharf paddled with all his strength, with arms jacked by the darfaries interface after the applied it while the whole yapping was happening. Meanwhile, chants from the crowd reverberated in near unison the same chant back, “A PERSON LIVES FROM THE SEA, AND SO SHALL THE SEA LIVE FROM THE BODY.”

Feeling a heavy tap on the shoulder, Kibe could feel it was now his time to get fucked for the greater good of the kingdom. He raised his badge above his head, waiting for whatever needed to happen—happen! All he could hear was the splashing of the paddles in the brackish water and the sounds of Gabiro’s boat scrapping the sand as it left the Old Wharf for the last time. The seconds of silence from the crowd and Sanbi Royals felt like an eternity of torture. He was so tense it felt like his lungs couldn’t even fill with air. I just want the paycheck! How hard does this have to be?

The second princess, Maiara, who had stood there so far in silence and crossed arms, suddenly let out a loud, sudden sniff. She stomped away from the scene, nearly trampling Nina in the process. Nina, meanwhile, ran into Neferteri with a wet, sobbing face, tainting her dress with tears and snot.

The King of Sanbi continued his declaration echoing out loud, “WITH THE SAME BACKING, I HEREBY ACCUSE KIBE OF BEING AN ACCOMPLICE! YOUR PUNISHMENT IS TO SUFFER ISOLATION AT FASTWATER LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS!”

The tight clench in Kibe’s chest released some as a single thought passed his mind. Doing nothing other than day drinking at the lighthouse? He looked back at Neferteri for the first time in a long while. She still stared at him from the corner of her eyes, but something about her no longer felt so overcumbering. A smile didn’t appear on his face, but his eyes were livelier than ever. Not bad!

A familiar-sounding voice in the crowd seemed to have another bone to pick with, attempting to throw enough water in the pot full of hot oil and watch it all burn down. “THAT’S NO GOOD! HE FUCKED US! HE NEEDS TO WORK UNTIL HE PAYS IT BACK!”

“YEAH!” The crowd began to rally up as people started to do the hand-forward clapping motion towards Kibe. “FUCK KIBE!” a single shout quickly grew in unison alongside the clapping. “FUCK KIBE! FUCK KIBE!”

NOT EVEN A SINGLE PEARL? A feeling within Kibe rose for the first time in a long time. A flame that itched his fingers and then his hand. Part of him wanted to lunge at the stupid motherfucker that proposed this rotten idea, but his body didn’t react an inch. He stood there, motionless, as the worst imaginable outcome seemed to be becoming a reality. The clapping motion people were making reflected in his eyes, each clapping motion lasting longer than before, growing louder and louder in his ears—or it was all in his mind, still trying to process the meaning of it all, or instead, delaying as much as possible the inevitable.

Itagiba reset his regal turn back to the normal loud caused by his bulged throat, “Well, that’s unexpected—” With a soft pat on Kibe’s shoulder, he continued as his hand was still high up in the air holding his glimmering blackish badge. “—but it seems fair. Nefi?”

A single, closed-eye, slow nod came from the Queen of Sanbi as she patted the pink princess, still dirtying up her royal clothing.

Feeling his jaw hitting the floor, Kibe let go of his badge, letting it splat on the sand below. Itagiba’s heavy hand patting his shoulder felt like a repeated stabbing wound, with each hit taking away the newborn memories of a getaway vacation from his mind, replacing them with even more toiling away than what he did in the past weeks as he tried everything from bringing back Gabiro to now accusing the same guy who taught him everything. A single memory rushed back to Kibe’s mind: the day he accepted Gabiro’s leathery old hand when he was in the orphanage. I should have worked in a brothel instead. At least I wouldn’t be this fucked. His head fell forward, facing his only ally—the sandy beach.

“Welp! Anymore dirty laundry?” Itagiba waved towards the two boats, making their way to the horizon. “Can’t do anything else to that guy!”

“TAKE ALL HIS BALLS AWAY!” another voice in the crowd chanted. The crowd’s pitchfork-y vibe was gaining momentum again. “MAKE HIM PAY WITH BLOOD FOR THE DEAD BODIES!” and “SEND HIS SOUL AWAY!” and even “HIFUNA!” were still cursed by some in the crowd.

With a hard shake of the head, Itagiba broke through the chants, “C’MON FOLKS! Eiri needs to do the accounting stuff, but I’m pretty sure he will be working to pay off the debt for decades! Y’all going too far now! Nefi?”

With a slow and steady rise, Neferteri placed her green badge up in the air for all to see, making the rings in her arms frolic with one another and making metallic rings that sounded like wind chimes in an old person’s backyard. “I agreed to the new proposed punishment for being the fairest to our kingdom’s needs in the long term. The desire for an immediate punishment also coursed through our minds, for we are all naked bruntos. However, that won’t bring back the dead bodies used in the experiments or whatever damage it has done to their souls—even post soul death. To reach a fair judgment, I propose the following. First, Kibe will always be accompanied by a guard so that we ensure of his labor towards the kingdom. If we receive notice of anyone else passing judgment on this case, you will be prosecuted as well—”

The crowd was growing milder, and the Queen’s silvery tone might have contributed to this. Some still chanted cursings, but speaking over the King and Queen would only draw the ire of the others for being disrespectful, leading them to tone down quickly. Be it because of social pressure, or the guards posted around readying themselves to intervene.

“—Second. For each guild or direct family proved to be affected by these egregious acts of soul manipulation, the Soul Energy department will be responsible for paying one aquamarine in reparations. Third and final. Once King-maid tabulates the final misappropriated amount, we will prorate it to ninety percent of his salary. This my verdict on the situation.”

Itagiba raised his badge high. “WHAT SHE SAID! NOW LET’S GET GOING! THE NEW COURTROOM SCIENTISTS HAVE A WHOLE KINGDOM TO SERVE!” Clapping his hand hard, he continued, “LET’S GO!”

A clapping crowd swallowed over any remaining cursing chants. People started to disperse slowly.

Turning his back to the crowd, Itagiba cleared his throat and spit blood with thick saliva on the shore, “I’m done now. Kibe, do it!”

A silence remained in Kibe’s mind. His hand, purely on autopilot, went into one of the large pockets in his robe to grab a sigil ring, then started the darfaries interface spell ritual to reset his bulging throat.

His face remained staring at the ground, refusing to see the faces of the chattering crowd as it dispersed away, or even the two guards still searching for Nina’s badge. Some remained cursing him to worse fates, but what could be worse than not getting paid? Now receiving only 10% of his salary is still something when you get free lodging, food, and clothes, but how will Kibe enjoy his vacations to Gandew with so few balls to spare? Maybe afford a trip to Gandew if he doesn’t travel anywhere else for an entire year—that’s absurd!

The dead quiet of the Monnohigh had finally arrived. The streets were empty, the random bar called DRINK and GO! Kibe stumbled into was empty, and even inside, he felt pretty empty, too. It felt like time had frozen, but it was serene this time. The feeling of all that had happened earlier today felt like a long, distant, fake dream. His mind told him it actually was his day off, so he woke up around Sunnolow right when the maids called for lunch, and then he just lay down on his bed the rest of the day, ignoring the rustles of the commonfolk on the other side of the Sanbi Castle walls.

Taking a small sip of his warming beer, Kibe continued letting that fickle reality inside him live on, but the pressure of the actual reality kept pushing in. His eyes gazed forward to the empty street illuminated sparsely by stone pillars. On top of each pillar, a glass case filled with water shone a white light from a stone within, causing steam to come out of the top. His ears could nearly hear the faint noise of the steam bubbling from the fost stone inside it. Or the hiss was coming from a similar thing lighting the inside of the bar. Either way, that sound was overtaken by the waterfall-like noises from whatever was happening behind him.

Meanwhile, a tall, lean, but strong man broke the silence in the bar. He picked up the bucket with freshly created water and whipped it at the ground, making water splash towards the road.

A splash of reality further pushed into Kibe, feeling something wet invade his shoes. His body refused, or rather, ignored it. He took another sip of the warm beer, making loud mouth noises, furrowing his brow tightly. His tongue didn't even feel the fizzling anymore—not like there was much there to begin with. Either it was growing numb or sick from the taste. He took another sip, letting one of the soggy old bread get into his mouth. He softly bit into it, letting the sponge-like texture ooze out more of the same taste in his mouth. It tasted strongly of old bread, with notes akin to a red ale mixed with ancient sourdough. The sour, hoppy flavors of the bread brought a feeling of home to him. A memory of him drinking this soggy slop for the first time came back to mind; he could no longer remember where it was, but it was likely a bar just as rundown as this one. He took another sip, letting the stale liquid bread fill the only thing he could fill at this point—his stomach.

Kibe took a larger sip; his teeth were becoming sensitive from how sour this liquid stale bread was. His other hand gripped the white envelope harder, and with a jerky motion, he ripped the wax stamp and the top off, revealing a plain-looking letter inside. His tired eyes zoomed into the neatly written lines that zig-zagged around to form Vraki words, of which the style was recognizable as belonging to Gabiro.

Not going to bother encrypting since you would toss it away like everything else. I'm dead, and that's the end of it. DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE PUT YOUR FILTHY NAME ON ANY OF MY RESEARCH, OR I SWEAR I FIND A WAY TO RE-BIND MY SOUL TO A HIFUNA BEAST AND TEAR YOU FROM LIMB TO LIMB!

Talk to Neferteri since, unfortunately, you're the new courtroom scientist. You know why! Don't fuck this up!

And find a better apprentice!

Gabiro Sanbi Royal

Sanbi Kingdom Courtroom Scientist

Award-winning scientist revolutionizing soul research!

Without blinking, Kibe chugged down more of the sour beer, letting his stomach grumble at how sour things were becoming. Beer flowed on the sides of his mouth and into his robe. With a loud clink, he struck the glass back on the table, now one-fourth full. He crumbled the letter and envelope into a ball and tossed it into the glass, letting the brown stain take over as it did with his soured stomach. With another jerky motion, he stood up quickly, but the room started to spin a bit. Pushing both hands on the table, it felt like the table was pushing back against him. That sudden wavy motion tickled his stomach, but definitely not in a good way.

Like a fire hydrant exploding a burst of water, all the beer he had drunk forced its way out of him like it was another entity being exorcised. It was a feat as it mostly made out over the table and into the dark void of the street.

Just as quickly as it happened, it had ended. He felt his lungs calling for air, but his throat could not comply as another sudden burst of brown vomit came out of him, and this time, it bathed the table in front of him in soggy bread chunks and brown water. His throat burned, and all he could taste was the slop he was drinking, somehow even more sour than before. The wavy motion was still there, but with nothing else in the stomach, at least he could take a breath. He remained arched forward, pushing the table with both hands as the table kept pushing back at him. The table was winning!

SPLASH! A cold, wet sensation took over his upper body. A shock of reality rocked him to the core. He felt alive! Unfortunately, he felt alive. His eyes, now even more tired than before as the table dented into his palm, glanced back at at handsome, not as tall as he wanted, but fine for the circumstances man dropping the bucket on the floor and starting another Darfaries interface ritual to fill the bucket with water.

"Six pearls. Pay and get the fuck out!" The guy curtly responded as he continued the ritual, feeding his own soul energy into the spell.

Dripping wet while still bracing against the table, Kibe rustled his pockets and took out four pearls from their depths, showing them with an open hand to the guy to come and get.

"You can't even do math? Tsk." The guy released the spell, letting the soul rings clash forward into his hand, and from his palm, water surged out into the empty bucket. "You gonna pay for him or what?" He asked towards the guard sitting on the creaky balcony, polishing his bow with such methodical finesse it had to be a ritual of its own.

The guard shook his head, "That ain't my problem—it will be if you touch him."

Something inside of Kibe just bubbled up on its own, and this time, it wasn't related to his stomach. With the same hand he was offering the four peals, he made a first and gesticulated it near his cheek, putting his tongue on it as well to sell it—except he had puke mixed with beer still going down the sides of his mouth, down his chin.

Without missing, the guy grabbed the bucket full of water like it was nothing and splurged toward Kibe.

A cold splash hit his face full blast, not the type of blast he enjoyed.

"Fuck off with that gay shit! Get the fuck out!" The guy began to do the ritual again to create more water. "And you too!" he looked towards the guard.

"Fine. Fine. Sheesh!" The guard began to put away his polishing gear. "Go home, Kibe. I will follow you to the castle gates just in case."

With still water dripping from everywhere, and now the winds from the street making him feel cold, he threw the four pearls on his hand on the ground towards the not-so-handsome-anymore guy and walked off into the dark street. The wind blowing through the street wasn't bitterly cold to numb his fingers, but it was cold enough to make him shiver. He put one foot forward at a time as he tried to keep his balance, but the wavy motion wasn't helping at all. Six. Seven. Eight steps in, his feet fumbled, and he crashed forward to the ground. He could smell and taste the dirt on the stone road, even able to identify the smell of Egua hoofs. He felt someone press on him from one side, and with a sudden motion, he found himself belly up, staring at the stars shining through the moon's greenish hue against the night's blackness. He felt a pull on his feet and the ground dragging against him, but his mind kept staring at the stars.

The guard pulling Kibe uttered under his breath, “These Sanbi Royals—Argh!”

Lost in his own mind, Kibe could nearly see Gabiro amongst the stars. You really screwed up on this one. But you know what? Kibe's limp body continued to be dragged by an external force, one that was doing all the work. That feeling turned into a single thought. I will just lay flat—I got free food and housing anyway. And if I want to travel, I will come up with a research excuse—wait a hunk! Is that what Gabiro was doing for me all along?

The stars forming Gabiro's image winked at him—or it was a bad batch of soggy bread beer Kibe drank.

Fuck. I should have traveled to Gandew more then! A slightly smirky smile appeared on Kibe's dirtied lips. I guess I will!