“I mean the processed applications,” she snapped, waving it at me like an offended accountant prepared to duel over fiscal integrity. She practically radiated indignation at my lack of faith. “More than that is still in the queue!”

  I raised my hands in surrender, taking a step back as if fending off an oncoming audit. “Okay, okay! I don’t doubt you!”

  Lola’s eyes narrowed further. But then she seemed to realize that she had just snapped at me. Her face instantly turned red, her rigid stance softening into something more flustered than furious. “Y-Yes, Lady, I know… Uhmm…” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Let’s go back to our office? I’ll get you the full list!”

  I grinned. “Sure, let’s go. I’ll help!”

  Without waiting, I grabbed half of the stack of papers from her overburdened table, ignoring the way she visibly hesitated. Clearly torn between allowing me to help and insisting I would mess her system, whatever it was. So I winked at her.

  We walked side by side, heading back toward the fortress offices, the sounds of the camp’s preparations buzzing around us. “So,” I asked, shifting the papers under my arm, “anyone interesting sign up?”

  Lola kept half a step behind me, as she always did, and for a brief second, I thought about commenting on it. But… she looked like she was enjoying it. There was a quiet sort of contentment in her posture, an ease in the way she naturally deferred to my pace.

  So I let it be.

  Instead, I glanced at her thoughtful expression as she ran through her mental notes. “From those you asked me to check on?” She paused, considering. “Luminaria agreed to come.”

  My brows lifted slightly. “That’s promising.”

  “And… I think I saw an application from NightSwallow.”

  That explorer! If she comes, I’ll tell her how wrong she was!

  “The others haven’t responded yet,” she added, her voice tinged with mild disappointment.

  “What about Neko Arci or Scamantha?” I pressed. “We could really use the help of their guilds.” She shook her head. “Fty? Techi Llama? Archangel Luci?

  Lola shook her head. “No response yet.” I clicked my tongue, shifting my weight slightly as we entered the quieter streets in the improvised town.

  That was… inconvenient. But we still had time. Not much, but enough to push for more reinforcements. The problem was that most of them didn’t know me. And maybe they weren’t famous or strong yet.

  But Luminaria’s guild? That one had always been a powerhouse. At least we had that. Before I could spiral deeper into battle strategies, a voice ripped me back to the present. “Charlie!” A bright, familiar male voice. I glanced up, blinking away my thoughts just in time to see… Ryan. He was tending to a stall in front of a fairly large tent, a broad, contagious grin stretching across his face.

  Lola said a quiet hello, while hiding behind me and before I could process anything further… He reached out, arms open for a hug. “So nice to see you, and thank you!” …I helped him? I blinked, momentarily lost. Had I done something? What had I done?

  No clue.

  But I played along. “Ryan!” I matched his enthusiasm, stepping forward and pulling him into a firm, friendly hug. And it was nice. There was warmth in the way our bodies pressed together, the unspoken camaraderie of shared experiences, even if I couldn’t remember what exactly those were. A week before, I didn’t like hugs. They had always felt awkward, suffocating—something I tolerated more than enjoyed.

  But now? There was something comforting in the closeness, in the ease of physical connection, like a silent acknowledgment that I existed, that I was here, in this moment, with people who mattered. It was… different.

  Good different.

  I pulled back, grinning up at him. “How’s business?” I asked, letting my hands settle on my hips, curiosity slipping into my tone.

  “Since you gave me that permit, it’s been smooth sailing,” Ryan said, his voice brimming with satisfaction.

  Behind me, I heard a yelped gasp—Lola. Oh. So she had been the one to handle that. I smirked, making a mental note to thank her properly later, but before I could, Ryan’s gaze sharpened—his eyes flicking over my clothes, keen, calculating.

  Then, with a merchant’s instinct honed to perfection, he pointed at my outfit. “Your clothes are amazing,” he said, intrigued. “Where did you get them? Marvel?”

  I blinked and then giggled. “You’re actually the first to ask,” I said, shaking my head. “Despite them being…” I let my words trail off, my lips curling into a mischievous grin, and with a flick of my fingers, I sent him the item description for [Glacial Tread Heels].

  His eyes flicked over the details, scanning and then they widened. “Legendary?!” His reaction was instant, intuitive—his whole body jerking like I had just slapped him with a sack of gold. His hands twitched on reflex, like he was physically restraining himself from reaching for my heels right there.

  And then, like a true merchant, he asked, “Do you want to auction your heels?”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I laughed. “It’s a legendary set, Ryan.”

  He didn’t miss a beat. “How much?”

  I giggled again, enjoying this way too much. “Ryan,” I said, mockingly sweet, drawing out his name with exaggerated sugar-coated amusement, “not for sale.”

  Ryan grinned, clearly unfazed, but before he could make another offer that I would definitely refuse, a player wandered past his stall. The guy was clearly just passing through, but then his eyes flicked downward, locking onto something on the table and strode straight toward Ryan’s wares with the undivided attention of a man who had just found the deal of the century.

  “You also have a paying customer, Ryan,” I noted, tilting my head toward the eager player.

  Ryan shot me a quick nod, still smiling easily. “Sure,” he said, then his grin twitched wider, something playful sparking in his expression. “And I’m glad you’re out of your shell, Charlie. A cute girl like you should be charming boys, not hiding.”

  “Huh?”

  Both me and Lola made the exact same noise, completely synchronized in surprised outrage. “I’m still the same—” I complained out loud, my hands flying up instinctively as if to emphasize how wrong he was.

  Ryan chuckled knowingly, like a man who had already won the argument. “Oho?” he mused, already stepping back behind his stall, smoothly motioning for the player to come closer. “These are cheap because I have a friend blacksmith—you want them?”

  And just like that, he moved on. The absolute audacity of this man. That was my cue to leave before he dropped another comment that made me rethink my entire existence. I gave him a quick wave and turned, making my way back toward the fortress gates, Lola falling into step beside me.

  But the words stuck.

  “Ryan said I was… out of my shell?” I muttered, still rolling it over in my head. “Did he mean I didn’t freeze talking to people?”

  Lola’s laugh was light, but definitely amused. “You don’t, Lady,” she said with absolute confidence. “That wouldn’t be you.”

  That made me stop mid-step. I turned, staring at her as if she had just casually declared me a god. Was she—was she serious? I struggled with a response, not because I was paralyzed by the conversation, but because…

  I wasn’t.

  And that was crazy. “I…” I hesitated, blinking as the realization settled in. Then, slowly, I started walking again, processing out loud. “I was socially awkward since I was a young boy,” I finally admitted, glancing at Lola, almost as if I needed to hear myself say it to believe it.

  And yet… Here I was. Not freezing; not panicking; not hiding. Just talking as if it was easy.

  “Truly? I can hardly believe that,” Lola said, her gaze sweeping over me like I was some rock star stepping offstage, like she had witnessed something legendary and couldn’t reconcile it with the person casually walking beside her. “Your fights—especially the final one…” Her voice softened, almost reverent. “The grace in how you held yourself… it was so—”

  She hesitated. Then, color bloomed across her cheeks like she had just realized how much she meant what she was saying. “…One day, I will join you there.”

  I giggled, the sound light, effortless, bubbling up from somewhere comfortable and warm. “Oh, Lola,” I said, my voice full of delight. “I had the same thoughts just a few days ago…” I trailed off, glancing down at my own hands as we stepped inside the fortress walls.

  The air shifted instantly.

  Outside, the camp had been alive—buzzing with voices, movement, the constant background hum of everyone preparing for war. But inside? Stillness and order.

  The stone corridors carried only the soft echo of our footsteps, and the few soldiers we passed stood disciplined and alert, saluting respectfully as we walked by. Their gazes held curiosity, maybe even awe, but none of them questioned me.

  They knew who I was. I felt it in the way they straightened. In the way, their eyes lingered just a second too long.

  That’s new.

  “Lady,” Lola said, snapping me out of my thoughts as we climbed the stairs. “We still have a few matters to sort through.” Her tone had shifted, slipping into serious efficiency, the kind of voice that meant she was already mentally sorting the problems before I could even respond. “First,” she continued, flipping through the stack of documents in her arms, “there is a man who you apparently owe…”

  She paused, her voice turning intense as she shot me a look. “…A thousand gold.”

  I blinked. “…What?”

  Lola’s eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion creeping into her normally composed expression. “He claims you gave him your word, or some kind of contract,” she said slowly, as if expecting me to deny it. “And,” her tone dipped even lower, disbelief leaking into it, “he said he gave you… his body?”

  I stared at her and said again, “…What?”

  Before I could even begin to process that insanity, we reached my office. “Lady!” Alma snapped to attention, standing impeccably straight beside the doorway, her crisp salute sharp as a blade. “No one has disrupted the fort while you were gone,” she declared, pride evident in her voice. I nodded, half present, half somewhere else entirely as my mind reeled over the claim Lola had just dropped on me.

  Someone thinks I owe them… a thousand gold?

  And, more importantly…

  What the hell did they mean by giving me their body?!

  “Thank you,” I said, nodding at Alma as I stepped inside. “Good work.”

  I moved on autopilot, barely noticing the familiar scent of parchment and ink in the office, the way the golden afternoon light from the window stretched across the room in long, angled beams.

  I strode toward Lola’s desk, barely aware of dumping the stack of papers onto her already overloaded workspace before leaning on the table with both hands, eyes narrowed in thought. “What’s his name?” I asked, my voice coming out flatter than intended.

  Lola blinked at me, caught off guard. “Sorry?”

  “The man who claims I owe him something?” I clarified, still trying to wrap my head around it.

  “Oh! Yes, wait—” Lola furiously nodded, then practically launched herself toward her desk. She rummaged through the mess of papers, her usual neatly organized stacks now completely disrupted, pages haphazardly spread across the table. “I… need to find it,” she muttered, frustration creeping into her voice.

  Something bitter edged into it, not at me, but at the disarray. I instinctively jerked back, realizing I had just added to the chaos. A lone parchment clung to my sweaty palm, stuck there from the sheer heat of my grip.

  I grimaced. “Oh, I’m sorry.” I carefully peeled the paper away, guilt creeping into my voice. “Here I am, barging in and disrupting your work…”

  I gently placed the document back on the desk, hesitated for half a second, then exhaled and strode over to my seat. Lola didn’t say anything at first. But the brief pause in her movements told me she noticed. “His name is Ch4rli33.”

  That redheaded menace forced me into buying my own damn name from that man. Because apparently, I somehow broke the game, and I had to negotiate for the privilege.

  But the payment wasn’t even due yet. And now this guy was already knocking on my door? Impatient. Lola was still frantically shuffling through papers, her brows furrowed in frustration, but I had already pieced it together.

  With a slow exhale, I leaned back in my chair, arms crossing over my chest as my lips curled into something between resignation and mild irritation. “Oh,” I muttered, tilting my head toward the ceiling as if questioning the gods themselves. “Yeah, he’s right.” Then, with absolutely zero enthusiasm, I added, “I owe him a thousand gold.”

  The room went dead silent. Lola froze mid-page flip, her hands hovering in the air as if I had just confessed to murder.

  I glanced up.

  Lola’s wide-eyed expression was a perfect mix of disbelief and dismay. “…Excuse me?!” she finally demanded.