Before I departed from the Secret-Keeper’s temple, Isul explained that I could check which of my titles were achievement titles by speaking to a priest of the Scribe, such as him, or by praying at an altar of the Scribe. I could also pay a small fee to the Scribe’s temple to use one of their private ceremony rooms, where I could conduct the ritual to increase my rank.

I didn’t plan to show anyone my Record, and if something weird happened during the ritual I definitely didn’t want anyone to see it, so I’d have to visit the Scribe’s temple when I had time.

I left the Secret-Keeper’s temple with a dampened mood and a new talisman. This time, Isul had given me a blessing from the Secret-Keeper, not the Signifier, to help keep my secrets hidden. I hadn’t intended to get one, but he’d made it without asking me first. I figured as long as it wasn’t the Signifier’s talisman, it was fine. I really didn’t want a repeat of the curse I’d gotten in KP-04.

After taking a few minutes to get my emotions back in order, I headed downtown towards the Pearl Dive.

Even though it was the middle of the day and it was a bit before the bar’s normal operating hours, I was in luck. Etienne was there, mopping the floor while Thais checked the alcohol inventory behind the counter. He propped the mop up against the wall and wiped his forehead when he saw me come in.

“Hey, pal. These ain’t your usual hours. Ya sure you didn’t come at the wrong time?”

“As long as you’re here, the hour’s not wrong,” I said with a smile. “You got a moment to talk?”

Etienne quirked an eyebrow at Thais, who gave a short nod.

“Yeah, I got a moment,” he said. “Come on.”

He grabbed a bottle of cider from the counter without asking Thais and waved me into the back storeroom. Was it okay for him to do that?

Since Thais didn’t bat an eye at his actions, I followed Etienne in to sit on one of the unopened crates in the room. He cracked open the bottle, took a swig, and offered it to me.

“So what brings you here today?”

I accepted the proferred bottle and took a fizzy sip. “I was hoping you could help me look up some information on the Noble Families.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“How much information are we talking here?”

“Enough to educate someone new to aristocracy, like a surprise marriage partner or a bastard child. Whatever they’d need to get up to speed.”

“A surprise marriage partner or bastard child?” he repeated. “Who went and messed around with a commoner while I wasn’t looking?”

“Hey, you said it, not me.”

Etienne narrowed his eyes, but he let the topic go with a shrug. “This stuff ain’t exactly hidden, but it ain’t exactly open, either. Might cost you a pretty penny.”

Having budgeted my living expenses for the semester, I put my faith in my haggling skills and said bravely, “Name a price.”

Etienne gave me a considering look.

“You’re an Academy student, yeah? What year and track?”

It was the first time he’d outright asked anything about my identity. “Whadya need to know that for?”

“Ya hear about what happened to the Year 2 Governance track? Special assignment went completely pear-shaped. Everyone’s tryin’ to get info on what really happened. Lots of interests tied up in that incident, y’see.”

He leaned in a little closer.

“If ya know anything worthwhile… I’ll give you a discount. How’s that sound?”

“Feels like everyone already knows everything, except how the Fantasm World was solved,” I commented. “You’d be best off talking to the people involved. What could I know?”

“Forget about the solvers for a sec. What about the people who planned the attack? How’d they do it? What’s the secret story behind them? That’s the real question.”

Oh. I was more than fine with selling those guys out. “Aren’t you better off diggin’ into what the officers of the law have found?”

“So, you know somethin’?” Etienne grinned, exposing his blunt canines. “C’mon, cough it up. Where’s the trust between us?”

I furrowed my eyebrows and hesitated before saying slowly, “I won’t lie to you, but it’s up to you to double check that everything’s true.”

He smirked. “Sounds like you want me to pay for bad info.”

“If you don’t wanna hear it, I can take it somewhere else…” I pretended to get up, but Etienne grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Hey, hey, none of that. You gimme your rumors and hearsay, I pay you extra afterwards if it turns out any good. Whaddaya say?”

I spun around and sat back down with a winsome smile. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? Let’s talk numbers.”

I persuaded him to give me a flat rate on any new rumors I brought to him, as long as they had information he hadn’t heard before. Next time I came by, he’d give me a bonus for anything he confirmed or was able to sell. For today’s business, he’d subtract the value of my rumors from the price of the information I wanted to buy.

Having settled that, I told Etienne about the Order of the Black Sun and the sacrificial flow frame, Ozias Reuter’s status as a traitor within the Broken Kaleidoscope, and Hanan’s true identity as Tiziri. I was careful to keep my statements vague and uncertain, as if the news had been passed to me through hearsay, and I didn’t go into detail about everything I’d seen.

Even so, it was enough to leave Etienne deep in thought.

“A whole organization using a frame outlawed by the International Weather Treaty.” He shook his head. “No wonder the Atmospheric Chancery’s coming out full force. D’you know what happened to the artifacts the Order was using? Were they destroyed when KP-04 was solved?”

I honestly had no idea. The one I’d used had disappeared by the time I woke up in the healing ward, and I’d just assumed it had been lost or confiscated. It didn’t matter to me, because I could reproduce it at any time with [Honest Man’s Deception].

“When the Fantasm World was solved, wasn’t every survivor forced out?” I said in an uncertain tone. “Shouldn’t there have been Order members among them? As long as the people there weren’t incompetent, they should’ve been able to catch them and take any artifacts they had on them.”

“Yeah, I heard they caught a few, but some of ‘em escaped, too. Shame. The Chancery’s offering a huge bounty for any info on the fugitives or their contraband, y’know. Bet they’re tryin’ to find all the artifacts before they can do more damage.”

“How’d the Order get all those outlawed artifacts, anyways? Were they stolen from the Chancery, or did someone make ‘em?”

“Who can say? I hear the Chancery’s security is tight as hell, but people make mistakes anywhere, and somethin’ as big as the International Weather Association is bound to have all kinds of messy factions scheming about, too. Why else would the Chancery be havin’ such a hard time gettin’ answers from anyone?” Etienne grinned. “Bet Lady Xiomar’s having a hell of a time checkin’ for traitors right now. Between me ‘n you, no one can agree who gets the prisoners, either.”

“Really? Why not?”

“‘Cause they’re Lemirian or descended from Lemirian immigrants in Fulsgate, so the Lemirian Empire wants ‘em back. But they attacked on what’s technically Iyirian ground, so no way Iyiria’s gonna let go without benefits. But since those guys also broke the weather treaty, the Weather Association’s under obligation to have them tried before the International Court of Law. If that happens, no one else will get to dig up their secrets — least, not without paying a serious price to whichever country’s hostin’ the trial. And if our Chancery’s got anything to say about it, it’s gonna happen here.”

Etienne laughed.

“Shame I’m not stronger right now… Bet I could’ve made a pretty buck guarding those guys to make sure no one tries to shut their mouths.”

The waters of Iyiria ran deeper than I thought.

“You think they’ll manage to catch Tiziri?”

“Nah. No one’s been able to catch her since the destruction of Katsouli, and it ain’t for lack of trying.”

Damn, if only I’d managed to learn some of Tiziri’s methods before she escaped. They could’ve been useful for getting the hell out of here…

Even with the discount for sharing rumors, I still owed Etienne a bit, so I handed over some money before I left. He told me to come back in a few days to pick up the requested information and my informant’s bonus.

“And if you ever come across any more interesting news, pass it to me or Thais,” he said. “We’ll make it worth your while.”

He clapped me on the shoulder firmly and waved at me as I left.

Etienne would have fit right into the places I grew up. I just hoped life would be kinder to him than it had been to us.

I went on a walk next to the river, basking in the sensation of sun on my skin and breeze in my hair. Birdsong rose from the tall grass and the trees. I took a few deep breaths, consciously relaxing the tension in my neck and shoulders, and I hummed an old tune from the days when Teacher and Sister had both been alive.

Back in those days, even when Teacher wasn’t holding a class, everyone loved coming to her classroom. It wasn’t really a classroom, of course; it was just the living room of our two-room shack. The floors were packed dirt, the outer walls were cracked and spilling out old insulation where we couldn’t find anything to patch it, and the inner wall was falling apart so badly we’d taken to hanging up old bedsheets to cover the holes.

But Teacher had also gotten ahold of a decent climate control machine to keep the house cool, and she always welcomed anyone who wanted to ask questions and learn, so long as they respected the rules of the house. Not to mention all the stuff she helped coordinate in the community.

So Teacher always had visitors consulting for her opinion, and the neighborhood kids were always hanging around and scattering their belongings everywhere. Whenever I came back from scavenging, I’d hear our house long before it came into view.

It had been annoying. But it’d been fun, too. Even though I didn’t like sitting in for Teacher’s classes, I’d play with everyone afterwards. Wrestling, learning some self-defense with Sister, playing ball…

And, of course, my favorite activity: play-acting in the house when we were hiding from the bad weather, telling scary stories and singing songs.

The song they’d always said I performed best was a call-and-response, my favorite kind of song, because if I stirred up the crowd, I could have them screaming the replies back at me, like we were bound together in some kind of greater harmony. As if, for a moment, they could understand me.

Of course, they didn’t, or they wouldn’t have asked me to sing it so often. But I guess that song had sprung up for a reason.

Oh, the big boss down in Jeoksu-myeon
Raised a guard dog underneath his gun
It bit his throat just like he taught
Tell us, boss, where’d it all go wrong?

Don’t hit the dog! — Don’t hit the dog!
Don’t teach a thing — if you hit the dog!

But if I don’t hit? — You can’t teach!
If I don’t teach? — It can’t fight!
If it can’t fight? — You don’t eat!
Boss, you shouldn’t have hit that dog!

Once upon a time, this song only made me think of my brother’s dead body hung up for the crows, the look in Lim Cheolhun’s eyes when he realized who would kill him, how it had been unable to heal the chasm of grief torn into my heart.

Then, for a long time, I could only think of Teacher’s final smile, the last view I had of my sister’s back, and all the people who would never be able to sing with me again.

It’d been years since everyone died, but still, I might never stop missing them for a lifetime.

Enough. I shook myself out of my bad memories and counted the remaining money I’d allotted myself for today’s matters.

No more daydreaming.

Half a day left before school started again.

There was still one thing left to do.

I headed uphill, in the direction of both the Dragon Shrine and Veratrum Row. The buildings became cleaner, the streets wider and less cracked. The prices listed on restaurant menus went up, and then the menus disappeared from display entirely, to be seen only when one went inside to dine.

It was in this area that I’d once treated Etienne to a meal. Now, I picked another restaurant that seemed like it would meet my preferences.

Wearing Chen Xiarui’s scuffed clothes, I was once again questioned at the door, but once again, money granted me entry. At my request, they seated me upstairs in a private booth with a window view. A hanging curtain hid me from view of others in the restaurant, and thick soundproofing in the booth walls muffled the conversations around me.

I ordered some food that caught my interest: a roasted lamb stew, a chicken and lemon sauce soup, and souvlaki skewers served with a yogurt-like sauce called tzatziki.

When my dishes arrived, I sampled all three and concluded that they tasted good. I ate enough to fill my stomach, but not enough to satisfy my desires.

Then I summoned [Honest Man’s Deception] in the form of [Regretful Devourer of What He Loves].

The black mask formed over the lower half of my face, curving into a malicious smile. Now that I’d experienced so much more of this world, I could identify the spirit’s mental presence brushing against mine, touching lightly to share my senses.

“Hey,” I said. “You wanna eat?”

[Devourer] was silent.

“Sure, if you don’t come out, I might regret spending all this money… But you know, if you eat it, maybe I’ll regret sending all that food down your gullet instead of mine.”

I looked at the lamb stew and thought about how much I wanted to eat it right now.

“And it tastes good.”

[Devourer]’s attention moved with mine. It laughed.

[What. Do you. Want?]

“Come out and talk with me for a while.”

After a long moment, a black and phantom smoke pulled away from my body like a second shadow. It flowed into the seat across the booth from me and coalesced.

[Devourer] was large, four legged, and mammalian, something akin to a great cat or a wolf. Its silhouette rippled at the edges like black smoke, but it couldn’t obscure the spines that grew along its back all the way down to the tip of its long, prehensile tail.

Placing two massive clawed feet on the table, it leaned forward and opened its jaws. A long black tongue snaked out and pulled the entire bowl of lamb stew into its fanged maw. Its glowing white eyes narrowed in pleasure as it savored the taste, and then it spat out the porcelain bowl, completely clean.

As expected, I hadn’t tasted any of that stew, and I didn’t feel any fuller for what it ate. But I guess if it wanted to, it could make me regurgitate everything it had eaten.

[Devourer]’s tail swept back and forth lazily as it eyed the remaining dishes on the table.

[You. Want. To talk.]

I nodded.

“Because you’re my World Proof, or at least, one manifestation of it. So I thought I’d rather get along with you than not.”

[Devourer] laughed.

[I. Do not. “Get along.” With others.]

“So you are my World Proof?” I confirmed. “Not the spirit of Linden’s?”

[Devourer] tilted its head.

[Are you. Acacius Duval. Or. Jeong Eunseok?]

So it was like that.

“Where are you when I summon you as [Caller]? Are you still aware of everything, or are you just sleeping?”

[I watch. But. I do not. Speak.]

“Why is that?”

[Because. That form. Would not speak.]

“Then what about when I summon you as the mask?”

[Devourer] grinned at me.

[A mask. Only acts. According to. Its wearer. No form. Means no role. Why. Would I speak?]

So my World Proof had its own spirit, but it wouldn’t speak unless it was imitating another spirit… And the only spirit I could imitate right now was a spiteful and contrary beast that loved causing pain to its host.

Not ideal, but life rarely was.

“What do you want me to call you right now? [Devourer] or [Deception]?”

My World Proof stared at me with an unreadable expression. It flexed its claws, a razor hair away from scratching the thin veneer of the table.

But it didn’t.

[He. Who knows. Who I am. Should address me. As the Deceiver.]

A jolt went down my spine. “Like the Signifier…?”

It looked at me and smiled.

[Are. You. Scared?]

I kind of was.

But it wasn’t like people didn’t use other people’s names, right? I was living that life right now. If my World Proof was using someone else’s name, even if it was the Signifier’s, then… that was probably on me. I had to accept the consequences of the things I had done.

Working up my courage, I nodded firmly and said, “Okay. [Deceiver].”

When a few seconds passed without a god appearing to turn me into dust, I forged on with a little more confidence.

“Because of you, I’ve survived a lot of things that would have killed me.”

I placed my hands on my knees and bowed my head.

“Thank you for everything that you’ve done for me up until this day.”

[…]

“I’m sorry I didn’t always get along with you before. I didn’t really understand this world, and I still don’t. But since you’ve been taking care of me, it’s my responsibility to take care of you too. I’ll try to understand you better from now on.”

Now that I knew there was a spirit living alongside me, I couldn’t go on treating my World Proof as nothing more than a tool.

[Deceiver] made a low growling noise that vibrated through the table and floor. It might have been a laugh.

[You. Want to. Understand?]

It rose up, back legs on the seat, front legs placed on the table so it could loom over me and thrust its shadowy maw into my face. A cold breath seeped from its mouth, chilling my skin.

[I am. The devourer. Of what. You love. I will take. All that you cherish. And destroy it. With a laugh.]

It crept closer. One foot pressed down on my shoulder, claws pricking at my neck. I held my breath, out of the effort it took to keep from striking back.

[I am. Made from. Everything. You hate. About yourself.] Its tail lashed through the air like a whip. [I am. Your engine. Of self-punishment. All the malice. You deserve. For being. Unable. To change.]

It bared its teeth in an awful, awful smile.

[So how. Will you. Get along. With me?]

I forced myself not to flinch.

[Deceiver] was my World Proof, and it was speaking through the role of the [Devourer]. If I wanted to summon it in a different form, or to dismiss it entirely, I could.

But now was not the time.

“[Deceiver], you were born from my title, weren’t you? Then you should know that even the clearest roles can be changed, altered, and reinterpreted.”

I pushed its face away gently. It narrowed its eyes, but it followed my movement, listening.

“I know what it’s like to be limited by the role you play. But even then, you have some freedom. Why does a [Regretful Devourer] have to only eat what hurts to eat? Didn’t you like the meal just now? Can’t we try regretting something different?”

I felt around and grabbed one of the souvlaki skewers, holding it up for us both to see.

“Regret that I don’t have enough money to feed you better, or regret that you can’t eat more. Or take what you can, regret that you couldn’t take more, work harder to do better next time – isn’t that just another description for ambition?”

I held the skewer out as an offering.

“If you change the way you think a little, you’ll see that a [Regretful Devourer] doesn’t have to be an unquestionably reviled thing.”

[Deceiver] watched me closely. Slowly, it closed its jaws around the skewer and swallowed it all down, its obsidian teeth flashing under the light.

I let out a breath.

“I don’t want us to be like Linden and his [Devourer], using each other and hating each other, too. No matter what form you take, you’re my partner. So, even within the constraints of our roles… Let’s try to get along.”

[Deceiver]’s claws tightened around my shoulder. Was it really going to draw blood?

But in the end, it withdrew back to its seat across the booth from me.

[I want. The rest. Of the food. Without giving. Anything. In return,] it said.

“Take it.”

The expensive meal I’d budgeted for disappeared down its hungry maw in mere seconds. It licked its lips.

[And I want. To come out. More. To enjoy. More things.]

I wondered if that was [Deceiver] or [Devourer]’s role speaking. Maybe it didn’t matter. “I’ll try.”

[And you. Should know.]

Its tail swayed languidly, side to side.

[Title spirits. Don’t. Change easily. And I. Won’t. Either.]

“No one does,” I said. “But even so, I think we can learn.”

[Deceiver] watched me silently for a while before it spoke again.

[If. {Devourer}’s wielder. Had been. Like you.]

It drew its claws lightly across the table, not yet scratching it, before narrowing its eyes in a smile.

[But. He isn’t. And {Devourer}. Is like. Him.]

[Deceiver] parted its mouth in a mocking grin, vicious as a shark’s, as it met my eyes.

[So he must. Go on. Regretting.]

If Linden could stop regretting so easily, he wouldn’t have gotten [Devourer] for his World Proof.

[Jeong Eunseok,] my World Proof said, meeting my eyes. [I look forward. To seeing. If you will ever. Regret. This day.]

With a final eerie and cackling laugh, [Deceiver] dissipated into black smoke, sinking back into my body without leaving a single trace.

Chapter 43 Back to Index