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Chapter 48: Safety Nudge

Maybe even worse than that. Like freshly born kittens. The girls’ lack in levels was messing with Zarian’s perception of them.

Everyone in his party had seamlessly changed their movements just like him while around the weaker humans. He doubted they noticed unless it was Naomi.

Anything physical was the type of thing she would look out for.

He figured he might as well ask as they left behind the spa. The men were dressed in casual beige shirts and brown trousers with loafers. The women were dressed in billowy and loose beige dresses with sandals.

Loner stayed behind. He seemed to enjoy being in the cold bath.

“So you noticed it, too,” Naomi said, responding to his inquiry. “Yeah, I felt it right away when we got into the mansion. It felt like a nudge to slow down and play soft.”

“A nudge from where?” Bianca asked.

“I don’t like this place anymore,” Gilbert muttered, despondent.

“I think that’s the System guiding us to be careful around people who are much lower level than us,” Zarian explained, skipping past Gilbert’s moodiness. “It’s like a subtle safety check. We’re not restricted or nerfed, I think, but we’re dialed down for the setting.”

Naomi punched through the stone wall, surprising Bianca and Gilbert. She caved in a section that was as large as a man’s torso. Then she examined the knuckles of her hand and saw there was no damage to herself.

“Yeah, it’s easy to wreck stuff here,” Naomi confirmed.

A young acolyte ran over after overhearing the commotion. She looked startled at Naomi, took a second to recompose herself, then asked, “Milady, is there any terrible trouble with the wall? Has it offended you so?”

“Uh, no, I was just hitting first, thinking last,” Naomi said.

“Jarhead.” Gilbert coughed into his fist.

Naomi shot him a quick glare, shook her head, and looked a little apologetic toward the flustered servant. “It won’t happen again.”

“Well, if there’s ever a portion of the wall that offends you, we shall fix it for you!” The acolyte lingered, making things awkward, before she hiked up the lower end of her robe and fled away, probably to tell someone about the wall.

“Note to self: I shouldn’t punch walls or these girls will work themselves to death,” Naomi muttered.

“I don’t think you need a note for that. It should be obvious,” Gilbert drawled.

“What if Lovewar gets mad?” Bianca asked.

“I doubt she’ll mind. Maybe. I don’t know. Just leave me alone. I had a dumb Marine moment, okay? It happens.” Naomi shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t mind the System’s influence. Makes it easier than trying to control myself all the time.”

“Are you sure this influence isn’t a problem?” Gilbert asked.

“Nah, it isn’t.” Zarian shook his head. “As long as we can use our full power when we need it, I don’t see why we don’t let the System help. How annoying would it be if we’re in the Level 100s and we have to control all our actions very, very carefully around people who are below Level 10? Without the System’s assistance?”

Bianca and Gilbert seemed to struggle to imagine that.

Naomi frowned. “Yeah, no, give me that assistance. I’ll be so annoyed I might flick the first person to get smart with me into oblivion.”

“Or the next wall.” Zarian shook his head at his fellow Marine. “I know I can be a lot to handle, but sometimes it’s a miracle you can be handled.”

Naomi glowered at him, dialing up her High Intimidation trait. A different acolyte was dusting some vases down the hall when she squeaked in alarm and fell to the floor, her body shivering in great fear.

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Naomi eased up on her trait before it could do much to Zarian. She sighed before walking over to help the fallen girl back to her feet and apologize.

Yeah … they needed to be extra careful here.

They reached the dining area as servants carried large platters and trolleys of food back and forth through the doors leading to the kitchen area. The place was less magical than Foodie’s kitchen and dining set up under Castle Grimrock, but it was bigger, more spacious.

The room had a long dining table with fancy high-back chairs. There were servants standing at attention around the room, and they all looked happy to greet them.

“Good morning, Princess Bianca, Lord Zarian, Lady Naomi, and Lord Gilbert!”

Zarian wanted to smile and greet them back. Unfortunately, the dining area’s brightness was a hindrance to his mood.

The windows were open with no stained glass to block out the air flow and views of the surrounding gardens and neatly cut lawns. The natural autumn light of the Corma Star and Star Core beamed through without obstruction.

Zarian covered himself under his parasitic hood and cloak. He thickened the darkness under his layers, making it impenetrable to light.

The servant girls stumbled back in shock, showing some concern, before glancing about in question. They were a different group compared to the workers from last night. They probably missed the detail about his sensitivities to light.

“He doesn’t like the brightness of a sunny day.” Hannah was already at the dining table.

She had one hand holding up a half-eaten muffin. The other hand was holding up some documents. There was a mountain trove of files, journals, books, and more stacked next to her on the table.

“We can cover them for you, Lord Zarian!” a servant shouted frantically, slightly afraid.

“No, don’t. It’s a pleasant view, isn’t it? Autumn days always did look nice.” His voice came out a little darker and more sinister while he was cloaked up. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s just have breakfast. Thank you for your concern.”

The girls were still a little worried or frightened. But they did as they were instructed by Head Alcolyte Lora and got to work.

Zarian watched as one pulled a chair out for him and he thanked her as she seated him. The only one who didn’t accept their help was Gilbert, who wasn’t adjusting very well now that he knew they were very well-fed teenagers.

“I know which three skills you should go for,” Hannah said. “And I know how you can get them while clearing out one of our objectives.”

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about work until later,” Bianca complained.

“Work is fun,” Zarian said in return. “I see you’ve already combed through some of their books.”

“Lovewar Acolytes keep impressive records. I’m astonished by the quality and penmanship. I can’t imagine teenage girls from our old world ever committing to this much work.”

“They aren’t so distracted here,” Naomi said gruffly.

“Any records on the dungeon we’re after,” Zarian said.

“No, not here. I’ll need access to their Bramblevale Library. It’s right under the control of Lord Cassian and a noble family called the Hemlocks. So, it’s too hostile for me to conduct research on that right now.” Hannah tipped her mug to her lips and took her time to enjoy the flavor of her drink. “Other than that, they have records of all the dungeons east of here and of major activities of note. They have records of people of interest, monsters, beasts, logistical supplies being carted back and forth, and more.”

“They sound like detectives,” Gilbert said.

“They’re good at gathering information, that’s for sure,” Hannah said. “I was talking to Head Acolyte Lora about how much just a few pieces of information costs. And they say the costs can be high, which keeps their coffers filled. But now that we’re in a particular situation under Lovewar’s protection, all information housed under Lovewar has been cut off.”

Zarian and Naomi shared a look. They both knew how bad that could be for anyone who was reliant on Lovewar’s stellar info gathering.

Even Gilbert had a clue. “Oh, yeah, we’re stirring up trouble, alright.”

“I don’t care! Breakfast and luxury first. Work later!” Bianca’s eyes flashed demandingly.

Zarian grabbed a muffin off a platter and threw it at Bianca’s head. She took a knife and, with a simple wave of her hand, sliced the muffin in two pieces that flew past her face.

“You could’ve at least caught it with your mouth,” Zarian said.

“I wanted to be cool.”

Zarian thought about taking the muffin pieces off the floor. The floor was clean enough to eat off.

It was sad to let that food go to waste. Thankfully, Para felt his mood and reached out with her tendrils.

“No,” Naomi barked.

Para froze.

“It’s a waste,” Zarian said.

“I said ‘no,’ sir.” She waved her hand at the platters and abundance of food in front of them. “Eat the fresh stuff.”

One girl cleaned up the dropped muffin pieces.

He wanted to frown. But his stomach grumbled loudly and triggered his beast-like urges.

Zarian feasted on the scrumptious breakfast.

There were trolleys of fresh meat placed behind him that were left uncooked. Para reached out with tentacles covered in lamprey mouths and feasted on the uncooked meat, crunching up the bones with more manners than usual. She was trying to be conscious of the young girls.

The Lovewar Acolytes watched in horror.

“Yeah, I know. That’s the leader of our party,” Gilbert said.

“Perhaps that’s why adventuring is illegal,” one girl said. “How … extremely unique and unsuited for us.”

“That’s why we must stay inside the walls and grow into proper flowers,” another girl said.

“The best flowers will be picked,” said a third girl.

Zarian was too busy eating to pay those words much mind.

Once he finished up, he talked business with Hannah while skipping over the more sensitive information while in a public place. By the time he left the dining area to study his grimoire, he had a better idea of what he was doing tonight and who was coming with him.