For the past few days, Aiden had been acting weird, to say the least.
Thalia was aware that she did not do emotions well.
She could not read them as easily as the others.
But even she agreed that Aiden had been strange ever since he left for his trip that one day.
The bags under his eyes showed he was having trouble sleeping.
Then there was the most recent event, where he suddenly collapsed covered in wounds.
The others had been ahead of Thalia at the time, and everyone had been looking at the princess when it happened.
But the way Aiden fell was wrong.
There was no time for him to fall.
One moment, he was standing.
The next, he was on the ground, and the sound followed after.
His entire body had been covered in dozens of bleeding wounds, and he had nearly bled out.
Not to mention Victor had shown up at the same time.
To make matters worse, Victor seemed to be just like Ymer.
They had all received the notifications.
And worse than that, Aiden's expression when he heard that someone had saved them and was still there had been panicked.
Worried.
"Hey, Thalia," Liora said, turning around and beginning to walk backward so she could look at her. "You seem spaced out. Coin for your thoughts?"
Selene also looked down at Thalia with curiosity.
Thalia took a moment to center her thoughts before turning to the others.
"I think Aiden saw something," she said. "Something that caused him to start acting so strangely, and something that caused his injuries."
The others looked between each other.
Thalia noticed a flash of recognition on Selene's face and turned toward her.
Selene seemed conflicted, like she was unsure whether she should say anything.
Then she stopped walking and turned to them.
"I-I think the place Aiden went to was a bookstore."
Liora and Thalia exchanged a glance.
Then Liora put her hands on her hips.
"A bookstore?" she asked. "Like a skill book store, or a regular entertainment-for-a-long-ride bookstore?"
Selene shook her head and gave them a serious look.
"I don't know. But Aiden had this letter on his bed that said it was from someone named Purple. It said this Mr. Lee needed to give people power because a war would be starting in fifty years or something."
Thalia and Liora both stared at her.
Thalia's thoughts began to race.
Or at least, what counted as racing for her.
Who was Purple?
Were they related to Red?
Who was Mr. Lee?
Why was he both able to hand out power and willing to do so?
And what was this about a war?
"Where the hell did he even get a letter like that?" Liora asked, walking over and leaning her back against the wall.
Selene shrugged.
After a moment of silence, they continued toward the lunch hall.
As they walked, they did not slow down at the lunch hall.
Instead, they passed through it and started toward the entrance.
"So we are definitely going to see where this bookstore is, right?" Thalia asked, just to confirm.
She was not sure if the others had reached the same conclusion.
They both nodded.
The three made their way out onto the street.
As they walked, they drew a few glances, mainly because they were not in their adventuring gear. Instead, they wore clothes provided by the duke.
Liora and Thalia were wearing simple dresses.
Thalia's was silver with blue accents, while Liora's was a nice light blue with bits of emerald here and there.
If anything, Selene was the one who stood out.
She wore clothes that made her look like she was about to ride a horse across the countryside.
If not for her figure, she could have been mistaken for a man.
They made their way past several stores until they ended up before an ordinary-looking bookstore.
They double-checked the address, worried they had found the wrong place.
But this was the store in question.
It did not feel like long, but they must have stood there for several minutes, just staring.
Then the door to the bookstore opened.
A polite-looking human man stepped out.
He wore a simple suit and black tie, with well-kept black hair and a polite smile.
"Good ladies," he said. "I noticed you looking and came to see if you were here to ask for directions."
Liora and Selene looked between each other as if trying to figure out what to say.
From Thalia's experience, that usually just wasted time.
So she stepped forward.
"Our friend Aiden came to your store and returned with something weighing him down," Thalia said. "We are trying to see what that is."
Selene and Liora seemed a bit horrified that she had just come out and said it.
The man, however, gave a pleasant smile and nodded.
"Of course. Please come in and make yourselves at home. I am more than happy to explain what happened when your friend last visited."
Part of Thalia had expected some kind of resistance.
Instead, the man stepped back and held the door open as they all made their way inside.
The room itself was rather ordinary.
The walls were lined with books of all kinds.
A small stairwell led up to another area in the back right of the room, and a doorway beneath it seemed to lead to the store's storage area.
A simple wooden desk sat in the room.
The man gestured for them to take the set of three chairs placed in front of it.
The room itself did not unnerve Thalia.
Not even the lack of defense against them coming in did.
But in most stores, one chair was normal.
Maybe two.
Three chairs, already set up as if he had been waiting for them, was sketchy as hell.
Liora and Selene did not seem to notice.
They were too busy looking around the room with curiosity.
Thalia, however, remained on edge.
"I noticed that the protection I gave your friend came under quite a bit of strain and broke," the man said. "So I was a bit worried about how he was doing."
He smiled slightly.
"And yet, he seems to be alive. So I can be at ease."
The man walked toward the stairs.
After a moment, he returned with a steaming teapot and a small tray of butter cookies.
Selene grabbed a cookie and began to nibble on it.
Liora grabbed a cup of tea and gingerly sipped.
Thalia sat tense.
She tried to subtly let her strings out to sense the room, but the strands felt disjointed and distorted.
Like the skill was not activating correctly.
"To start," the man said, "it seems you are all worried about what happened to Aiden inside my store, as he returned seeming burdened or worried. Correct?"
Selene nodded.
The man let out a sigh, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.
"Personally, I do not blame his reaction. He did request some rather taxing information."
"Wait," Liora said, setting down her cup. "Taxing information? What do you mean?"
She looked him over as if trying to find a clue.
"Well, to start, it seems your friend has come into the good graces of Indigo," the man said. "As such, I was asked to grant him a bit more than I normally would for a standard request."
He folded his hands.
"I offered him either knowledge, power, or potential. He selected knowledge, so I granted him three questions. One for himself. One for his sentient skill, which also participated in the conversation. And one because of Indigo's request."
"Indigo," Thalia said, tensing. "By chance, are they related to you-know-who?"
She remembered the strange panic that had occurred in town on the day Aiden went out, when people said several families suddenly passed out.
"Yes," the man said. "But that is not important to your query."
He took another sip of tea.
"Aiden requested answers to three questions. What are the fateless? Information about the gods. And lastly, the cure to Aetheric Expulsion Syndrome."
The man turned to Selene as if he was fully aware of her condition.
Liora raised a hand like she was back in school.
The man turned and pointed a finger at her.
"Okay," Liora said. "So he learned a lot of stuff that would cause him great distress or whatever. What's this about a contract?"
The man chuckled.
He finished his cup of tea, poured himself a new one, and gave them a polite smile.
"It was less of a contract to force an agreement and more of a way to transfer the knowledge without any baggage reaching Aiden."
He lightly tapped the cup.
"Some of the information I shared has some pesky beasts who would rather that information not be transferred to those who are not allowed to know. So the contract ensured they knew the information was not stolen or in the wrong hands."
He paused.
"Though I did add some aspects to reinforce his soul due to the type of knowledge he learned. Certain knowledge can place pressure on the soul until it is fully digested."
All three of them stared at him in bewilderment.
The man stood and began walking along the shelf.
He started to grab a book, then put it back and moved on to another.
"Okay," Selene said, turning to look over her shoulder and follow him as he moved. "So why did he suddenly burst into a bunch of wounds?"
"I cannot say, as I was not there," the man replied. "But from what I can guess, your friend Aiden has caught the attention of some figures in very big places."
As he said this, he slid three books across the table.
Each one was bound in deep blue leather, with silver corners.
In front of Selene sat a book called Chimeric Cowl.
In front of Liora sat one called Tempest Soul.
And in front of Thalia sat a book with a single word on the cover.
Arachnae.
They all looked up at the man in confusion.
Thalia asked, "What are these for?"
The man smiled as he gathered the cups and the small plate of half-finished cookies, beginning to clean the table.
"Aiden has taken the first step in allowing all of you to be recognized as pieces in the grand scheme of things," Mr. Lee said. "However, with that recognition comes higher stakes and danger."
He looked between the three of them.
"I am simply placing my bet and my faith that you will all succeed."
His smile remained polite.
"Nothing more."