Chapter 501: Murky Waters (1/2)

Jason felt the emotions play out in the auras around him. At the centre was the man on the other side of the tailor shop’s glass, Kasper Irios. A peak-level bronze-ranker, he was standing frozen, gripping the handle of the almost-closed door. His shock was as plainly written on his face as his aura after hearing Jason's name.

The man who had spoken his name, Alejandro Albericci, was also a silver-ranker. The moment he sensed the reaction of Kasper, his welcoming aura filled with surprise and then suspicion with an underlying strain of anger. Jason realised that he wasn’t party to the play being acted out, with whoever wrote the script remaining hidden in the wings.

Rufus was confused, having picked up on the tension in Jason’s body language and the obvious link to the man on the other side of the glass. He was smart enough to know that if he didn’t have the information to act, he should keep his mouth shut and listen, looking to Jason for direction.

Jason’s aura was unreadable to the other silver-rankers, but the anger over being played yet again flashed on his face before he schooled his expression.

”Mr Albericci,” Jason said. ”This is Rufus Remore, out of Vitesse. I would appreciate you seeing to his needs while I take Mr Irios for a little walk. Let's not make a scene in your place of business.”

Alejandro looked Jason in the eyes. Jason’s aura revealed only its normal, polite façade, leaving him to assess Jason by what he could see. Jason was wearing his usual tourist-in-the-tropics outfit but the tailor knew better than most that it was not clothes that made the man.

“Thank you, Mr Asano. I appreciate the courtesy.”

Kasper Irios was still gripping the handle of the almost-closed door, letting go and stepping back as Jason pulled it open. The bronze-ranker’s movements were oddly stumbling for an adventurer, his physical unbalance revealing the depth of his mental equivalent.

“Kasper Irios, I take it?” Jason asked. “I’m Jason Asano. Just to get it out of the way: yes, the dead one. You and I are going to take a little walk.”

Kasper’s initial shock was giving way to wariness.

”How am I meant to know you are who you say?”

”It's a fair question,” Jason said. “It's not every day your former fiancé's dead fake lover comes back to life. Not sure what to tell you, though. I don't think they make a greeting card for 'sorry I used your death to avoid a political marriage and got you caught up in a huge mess although in fairness you were dead and that's not something I had a reasonable expectation of you coming back from.' It'd be hard to fit on the cover, if nothing else.”

“What are you talking about? What’s a greeting card?”

“Right, other world. Do you have gift baskets here?”

”Uh, yes. I'm not sure what-”

“A greeting card is like that, except instead of being full of nice things it’s a piece of card stock. It’s like a social puzzle where you have to figure out how long you need to leave it sitting around before you can throw it away without being rude.”

Jason tapped the pin on his chest and an invisible privacy screen shielded them from eavesdropping. It wasn't impenetrable, but anyone who could do so without Jason noticing was out of his league anyway. It would be enough the stop the hidden observers Jason could sense already paying them attention.

“Let’s walk, Mr Irios.”

Jason felt fear from the bronze-ranker.

“I’m not sure I should be going places with you.”

”We're not going anywhere,” Jason said. ”We're just going to wander around on the street a little, in front of plenty of people and have a nice chat. Well, a chat, anyway.”

They started walking along the street, side by side. The streets were wide shopping boulevards with plenty of other traffic, both on foot and using various means of transport. They were far from the only people using privacy screens, unseen to the eye but visible to magical senses.

Alejandro’s shopfront was part of a shopping district located between the more open market district and the more industrious craftsman’s quarter. It was comprised of boutique stores catering to adventurers, nobility and the wealthy. Many of the people walking the street were all three, making anyone that caused trouble very stupid indeed.

Jason and Kasper wandered along the street, in awkward silence, at first. Jason noted that many glances were cast at Kasper; he guessed as locals recognised either the house Irios crest on the arm of his clothes or Kasper himself, although no one greeted him as they passed.

“Mr Irios, someone told you to come here, and they didn’t tell you the real reason why. We’re both dancing on someone’s palm and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like that. That being said, we need to step carefully. I’ve had my share of lessons in getting out of one mess by making a bigger one, and we both know that you have as well.”

“I’m still not taking your word for who you claim to be.”

“Nor should you,” Jason agreed. “The whole point of having us meet like this is so that you will go out and investigate. Or, more precisely, so your family will. That’s one of several reasons someone arranged for us to meet like this. Someone wants to stir up murky waters.”

“Who?”

“House Irios and the royal family are both looking to settle things down after the mess that you and Zara made. The exact who doesn’t matter right now. First, you need to make sure that I am who I say I am. My return brings certain things to a head, which your family will need to handle carefully. You, yourself, will need some time to process. I certainly did. I came back from the dead and find that instead of the nice quiet stay in the tropics, I’m suddenly the dead paramour of some princess I met a couple of times three years ago. Plus the Builder’s trying to assassinate me again, but that bit’s not on you.”

“What?”

“Look, mate. You just found out that, one: I'm alive, and two: I'm here. There are ramifications that need to be thought through. Someone – who is going to get a good talking to – decided that having you and I bump into one another oh-so coincidentally would be a good way to do that murky water stirring.”

“Why?”

“Probably to see if we make a scene. They’re still trying to figure out how I handle myself and need to know if I’m reliable when put on the spot. I need to be a little bit of a controversial figure for what comes next, so a public confrontation between you and I wouldn’t hurt that goal. As for you, you’ve made trouble before. They want to know if you’ll do something stupid like run off to Zara and cook up another terrible plan.”

“I don’t think I should be talking to you.”

“Correct,” Jason said. “I’m going to tell you what you should be doing. You need to go home. You need to tell your family that you met me. Then you need to have a nice long think and a nice long talk with them. After that, you do what they tell you.”

Kasper went to respond but Jason silenced him with a gesture.

“Now, I’m going to tell you what you shouldn’t do. You should not go find your friend Zara and have her devise some plan to get some control over the situation that sets in motion a cascade of events that ruins everything for you, me, her, your family, the royal family and thousands of people who are relying on all of the above to keep them safe.”

“Oh, hey Kasper!”

A trio of young men in fine clothes was approaching them with waved greetings. They were all bronze-rank but close to silver, like Kasper himself. One was wearing a loose robe of light, breathable fabric, with the colours and emblem of the Magic Society. Not all Magic Society members were also adventurers, and the monster cores in the young man's aura suggested he was not. His aura control was solid, though, so he was not untrained.