Better on My Own

Huh? Wait a second. What does Alex mean by that exactly? Did he somehow set me up?

That is just not possible, considering the sequence of events leading to where I currently am seems to be entirely coincidental. But then again, there are no coincidence. There are only chances.

And if Alex knows the real chance of me running into Lucian while with Viola, he can definitely predict with reasonable accuracy the outcome of such encounter, leading to this. That also means Alex is more aware of the state of things than he appears to be.

Of course, he does. And I should stop thinking of him as a teenager.

Despite his appearance, Alex is not a teenager. And while he is not as old as I am, he is still an old man, and with age comes great wisdom. Or so they say. That does make things a lot easier for me, especially when it is logical enough to understanding.

"Alright, Alex. Do you want me to get rid of Lucian for you?" I question, and while I do know the actual answer, I like to hear it from him just for the confirmation.

"Of course not, Zan," Alex responses. "Asides from the obvious, I like being a trashy Third Master. No one really bothers me, and those that do, I can deal with them myself, one way or another now that I am fit enough to do so."

I chuckle. "I'd thought so, but I still suggest you obtain some strong standings, as it will make things a lot easier for us. At the very least, we can acquire what we need from this place."

And by that, I mean he should become one of the most powerful Sorcerers in the shortest amount of time possible. Sorcerers in Minasian society can basically do anything they pleased.

"I will, Zan," Alex assures. "Even though I like being a trashy Third Master, being called that by assholes just pisses me off, and honestly, I really want to strangle the fuck out of all of them. Anyway, once you are done fucking around, you should really get up to date with the current affairs. Where are you right now? In one of those Guest Chambers, I assume?"

I look around the room. "You assume correctly, but it is fine. I can see some bugs on the window."

"Oh. Okay. I will catch up with you later then," Alex tells me, and with that, he is gone, doing whatever he needs to do. There is no need for me to keep an eye on him. He also does not need to keep an eye on me either. It is better that way.

I cover Viola up with a blanket before approaching the window to have a look into the garden.

There are a handful of people down there, and from their rundown attires, they are not just servants of the household. They are slaves. Some of them are even wearing some kind of collars around either their neck or wrist.

After watching those slaves for a short while, I snatch a bug and possess it, basically switching avatar, and the instant that I do so, the previous avatar collapses onto the floor. I put it away into my Inventory just for safety. Safety for Viola, obviously. But having me disappear also causes a problem, at least not as much as having me dead.

I would have sold the corpse to the Shop System, but it is still usable. All I did with it so far was making someone a necrophiliac. That does sound about right, and it is not as bad as it sounds. Not really. And once I am done, I fly out of the window to go exploring.