Chapter 98

Tibaut ran into someone in the mansion's corridor as he left Tina's room.

They were about 5'6" to 5'8" ish, and had brown hair. They looked Tibaut in the face for a while before walking over.

"Are you Tibaut?"

"Uh, yeah. Why are you in my house?"

He scratched his head and awkwardly laughed.

"Elizabeth invited me. But you should probably know who I am even if you haven't been in this parish for long, right?"

Tibaut put his hand towards his chin and thought for a moment. He started thoroughly analyzing his face.

"C-come on, me and Furor had a spar before yours with Ezekiel. Surely you were in the crowd for that, right?" His face was starting to get more desperate.

"Oh yeah, you're that guy haha." Tibaut said as if he knew who the person in front of him was. 

The man held his head down and the area was now encased in a drab atmosphere. "You don't know me, do you?" He asked in a voice devoid of all life.

Tibaut started panting him on the shoulder.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course, I know who you are." Said Tibaut, deciding to double down.

"It's fine, you can say you don't know me." The shorter man said sulking with tears forming in his eyes.

"Listen, little buddy, I didn't mean t-"

"You think I'm a kid don't you!?" He snapped back at him. The hallway was filled with silence for a few moments.

"Uh, what? No way you're totally, um, sorry Sir it seems I addressed you improperly." Tibaut said awkwardly.

But no one could blame Tibaut. Although he looked generic and pretty forgettable, most people would tell you he looked no more than 15.

"Stop it already. I'm Jake, a pleasure to work with you." He said in a very defeated tone.

"So how old are you?" 

"Stop with that already."

They stood there for a few more moments in silence before Tibaut opened his mouth again.

"Work you say?"

"You don't know?" He asked in a soft tone.

Tibaut looked at him puzzled.

"I mean I came here since we're leaving tomorrow to go see that noble."

"Huh?"

Tibaut was now more confused by this. Leaving tomorrow? A noble?

"Did Elizabeth not inform you? She used to do that to me too, when she first came here."

"I was on my way to tell him, thank you very much, Jake."

The short man with a generic face slunk back.

"You scared me Elizabeth, do you always keep your footsteps quiet?" The man asked.

"For the time being get your stuff packed for the carriage tomorrow."

"Oh, okay."

He excused himself and left the two by themselves.

With the free time to think, Tibaut had an idea of what this was about.

"So we're gonna go meet that noble guy. It seems like you found a new plus one so I guess I won't be needed." Tibaut stated before trying to walk away.

"Think again. All four of us will be going."

"Eh? Didn't you say this guy wasn't likely?" 

"I did but Mr. Bentley thinks it's good to be thorough. Also, he said the only way he was able to convince him to allow us to go to his property was to work for him on some commission."

"And how long will that take?"

She sighed and held down her head.

"Over a week in the best-case scenario. I don't know what that old man sees, but apparently, he already bought some carriage reservations in advance. They come tomorrow so pack enough stuff for when we leave."

"If you say so. Is there at least anything to do while we're out there other than work?"

"Nope, it's pretty similar to here, honestly."

She soon walked away and Tibaut stood not sure what to think of this.

"Well, I better get packing I suppose. Wait, she said four, right? Then who's the last one going with us?" He wondered as he began walking down the hallway.

And on his way to the stairs, he ran into Vanessa. She saw him and grabbed his hand without a word. 

"Um, I'm kinda busy right now Vanessa, can this wait?"

She continued dragging him until they reached the basement. There she pointed to something on a work bench nearby.

"I'm finished with this one so far. What do you think?"

Tibaut walked up and grabbed it. He looked at it for a while and smiled.

"This looks amazing, can I use it now?"

"Just one? Stick to what you're doing right now and wait until I'm finished."

He put his hands and her shoulders and looked her in the face.

"Please?"

She moved her face closer to Tibaut's with her lips puckered and he instinctively backed away.

"Heh, it's fun to do that every now and again." She said observing his reaction. "Anyway, my answer is no. Wait until I've finished them."

"Then why bother showing me it? This is some next-level cock-teasing."

"Would you prefer the other kind then?" She responded while walking towards him.

Tibaut blushed slightly after realizing the trap he had walked into and slowly walked away.

"Whatever." He said while hiding his expression from her.

She giggled and waved at him as he left.

"Tch, she's getting better at that." He commented as he left the basement.

Tibaut soon made his way to his room.

He quickly searched around the room looking for stuff he obviously needed with him before realizing something.

"No phones in this world, no tickets for your flight and no pc. The only thing I need to carry are some clothes."

This packing felt oddly anticlimactic so he began searching his room for anything he could take with him.

There on a drawer, he saw it. The book he had not touched in God knows how long. The defensive magic book.

"I guess if we're not gonna be doing anything for over a week I might as well bring it." He said as he dusted off the cover.