“You have interesting taste in clothing,” Mira commented as we left Maicee’s. “I don’t think Doun will be happy with you helping with the pub.”

  Honeywell once again helped us out and I was walking out with my new purple duds, my pub uniform and I left my special order with Honeywell once more. I took us here a roundabout way to avoid the protest I recalled earlier on Jumpvine. I asked Mira to let me navigate for practice and took a circuitous route, which helped sell the lack of local familiarity I should have.

  “He won’t have a say after we’re done,” I replied. “I’m going to be the owner.”

  A sad looked crossed Mira’s face when I said that. “It’s hard to believe. After Doun had his accident, we ran a few more dungeons to save up to buy the place. To not be an owner anymore…”

  I placed a hand on her lower back. “This is just paper. You and Doun are the owners as far as I’m concerned.”

  “The Teeth is nothing without Chef Mira’s food,” Tizek added as walked down the sidewalk.

  “See?” I said, gesturing to Tizek. “Your biggest fan knows best.”

  Mira sighed and centered herself. “I’ll just think of it as an early wedding gift.”

  The three of us made light conversation on our way to the Property Registrar. I had my own mild disappointment when, once again, I had to give my clothing a mini-funeral before they were tossed into the incinerator. Now that my reset point shifted a second time, I would never have those clothes again. I left the rivets in there to get thrown out with the ashes. Even though they were permanent metal, they were so small no one would notice them failing to disintegrate in a couple of years.

  We passed down the section of the street where I saw that unusual girl from before and had the vision. It was the same time as before and I looked over at the bench. My brain buzzed with confusion when she wasn’t there.

  Was I imagining things? Had my mind broken so much I wasn’t just talking to you, my imaginary audience, and also starting to see things in reality? Causality is a thing, but I didn’t do anything major enough to alter something like that. I seriously doubted warning Kelly her butt was about to poke out of her pants changed when that girl would show up on a bench.

  “My Lord?” Tizek asked as he fluttered his head frills. “You walked past the Registrar. Are you well?”

  I looked at Tizek and Mira while I tried to find a story I could tell. On one hand, I couldn’t mention the girl I saw on the last loop with Mira here. On the other, I didn’t want to reveal Mira’s secret to Tizek and violate her trust.

  “Just a lot has been going on lately,” I finally replied. “It’s been hitting me hard.”

  Tizek and Mira both nodded knowingly.

  We entered the Registrar’s Office and Tizek took a few strides out ahead of me. “My Lord, Baron Stewart, is present. Send your head registrar,” he boomed to the room.

  There were four people in the room. Three were waiting in rows of wooden chairs staring at an overhead number screen like at the Exterminator’s Guild and one was a previously bored receptionist. All of them jolted at the sudden shout.

  “Shit sake, Tizek!” I exclaimed as I ran a hand on my face. “You don’t need to do that!”

  “My Lord,” Tizek stated with a surprising amount of conviction in his voice. “You are an important person. I must announce your presence.”

  “Tizek?” Mira jumped in before I could say anything. She rested a hand on his forearm and Tizek froze up. “You should be considerate of Oliver. He’s only been here a few months and has had a lot of changes.”

  Tizek’s head frills wiggled a few times. “Yes, Chef Mira.”

  “I also should be considerate,” I added. “I’m not the only new person in town. Tizek? Sorry I snapped, buddy.”

  “Lords don’t apologize,” Tizek mumbled as he stared at the floor. I could tell the poor guy was struggling as much as I was. I had only seen three other people from the Scalelands and both were from different tribes. Tizek was alone here and didn’t understand things.

  I had to give it to Tizek, though. His announcement got things moving. As much as I hate cutting lines, making an exception to skip waiting in a boring reception room worked for me. And getting Alvin’s chestnuts. And having a personal concierge while shopping.

  I frowned. I was already starting to leverage my new station and it’s barely been a couple of days, linear or otherwise. I’d really become manipulative in my old age.

  The change in ownership was surprisingly fast. We’d come prepared with the information Void gave us and I was now the owner of a Noble’s Business.

  “And that’s that,” the Registrar, a squirrel-clan man with white fur and subtle markings telling me he had a lynx-clan dad, said while stacking some papers. “All I need is your House Seal and we’ll get the registration finalized.”

  That was a downer. Dalvin did say the Teeth lacked the proper seal on the property to inform the Royal Guards of its protected status. I had a whole lot of nothing to give to the Registrar.

  “Can I come back later?” I asked. “I don’t have one.”

  The Registrar looked at the papers. “I apologize, Baron, but we’d have to start over. I can arrange—”

  “My Lord?” Tizek interrupted.

  “Yea, buddy?” I replied.

  He reached into his pouch and pulled out a folded parchment. Then he unfolded it and his crest fluttered with embarrassment.

  “What’s that paper?” I asked.

  He paused and began to fold it again. “It is not worthy of My Lord. Forgive my interruption.”

  “Buddy? I just spent the better part of the morning with my crack flapping in the wind. Anything you do for me is worth my time.” I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze.

  He looked down at his paper again before awkwardly thrusting it in my direction. I took it and opened it up.

  On the page was a sweet crest design. On it was a figure clearly meant to be me. I had a foot up on a rock in a heroic pose while I held a sheep monster I wrestled back at Gesper Village in a headlock with one arm. My other arm held a beer mug aloft to the sky.

  The image was drawn in a style similar to ancient Greek pottery. He made my body absolutely ripped. He even gave me massive apple calves and eight pack abs. I had my booty shorts on and my checkered shirt fluttered behind me majestically in the wind.

  Right, when I was still hearing that British guy narrating my day, Tizek asked if he could create my crest. I had absent-mindedly given him permission. I didn’t expect much at the time.

  And was I ever wrong. I stared at the glorious image and drank in its spectacle. Tizek really captured me in my utter perfection. The perfection hidden under a layer of fat and bad stamina.

  “That’s…” Mira trailed off. “Something.”

  “Baron?” The Registrar asked after staring at my sweet-ass crest. “Are you sure you want that? It’ll be bound to your blood. Whenever you, your future Baroninne or your heir wishes to sign documents on behalf of your House, that will be what appears for as long as your House persists.”

  “You’re saying in a thousand years, some distant descendent of mine will be using this crest?” I asked.

  “Yes,” the Registrar replied. “It may be wise to rethink your choice.”

  Tizek’s head dipped. “Please forgive me for my poor decisions, My Lord.”

  I looked over at Mira and even she had a look of disappointment on her face.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I slapped the crest on the Registrar’s desk. “Are ya’ll blind? This is the most badass thing I’ve ever seen! I’m even thinking of putting it on a flag and hiring an air attuned guy to stand there all day blowing it majestically out front of the pub. Make this the Stewart crest, pronto!”

  “Apologies, Baron, my name is Val, not Pronto,” Val replied.

  I sighed when I used another ancient euphemism my brain decided to remember. “This is the one I’m using.”

  “Follow me, Baron.” Val stood and valiantly tried to hide his latent disappointment in my decision. Me? I didn’t care. Tizek looked happy and he was far more important than the approval of some city bureaucrat with poor artistic sense.

  “My Lord honors me,” Tizek said. His head crest fluttered with joy and he had a growing grin on his scaly face.

  I followed Val as he led us through the halls to some other destination. During our trip through the winding bureaucratic office, Mira pulled against my side and hook a hand around my bicep. She leaned into me and whispered into my ear. “Are you sure Void will approve?”

  “More likely than her finding out her mother is trying to flirt with me,” I joked with Mira.

  “It’ll take more than that to get to me,” Mira smirked and gave my arm a squeeze. “You know my past.”

  I belted out a laugh. “I know there’s a reason I get along with you.”

  “Good reaction. I was just giving you a little test. I haven’t lost my old worries,” Mira said as she pulled away. “I have a feeling you’re not experienced in relationships. Bringing in your future wife on major decisions like this is important.”

  I felt a brief wave of grief pass through me when I recalled all the prior versions of Void. Mira’s words hit me because of how accurate they were. While I had, in a sense, been with Void for a total of 23ish years, they were always in the initial phases of a relationship. We never got anywhere because of the sky calamari.

  Now things were different. A pair of little ones were on the way, I had proposed and things were moving past the early phases. While relationships in this world move very quickly – Void is some eight years older than the typical marrying age and courtships usually last a week or two – for me, who had no experience prior to showing up here, this was a blazing pace.

  I had a lot to learn and needed to pay attention to the details. Being isolated for centuries had made me way too self-centered.

  Mira misunderstood my silence and whatever expression was on my face. She gave me comforting pat on my shoulder. “I know it’s been tough. I’m overjoyed you found my girl and made her happy. Still, things are changing fast and you can talk if you need it.”

  “Thanks, Mira,” I replied. If only you knew.

  I’d like to be able to tell Mira and Doun about the time loop, but when I did that last, Doun tossed me out of the Teeth after my free meal and didn’t want me hanging around the place. It was a fair reaction to a random stranger showing up and rattling off personal details. Doun and Mira weren’t as heavily invested in religion the way Void was.

  Val led us to a room where he insisted Mira and Tizek remain outside. He informed us it was a secret ritual which was necessary to bind the crest to me. It would allow me to switch between my personal crest, which is something people intrinsically form in their souls, and the House crest. I would also have to do this for Void.

  Interestingly, when it came to heirs, the crest had a rather complex series of magical safeguards. I had to arrange for the form of succession – patrilineal, matrilineal or most worthy – and the crest will automatically attach to the chosen heir.

  Another interesting safeguard is the system harshly punished regicide. If the heir decided to speed things up and knock-off the House head, the magic barred that heir from ever becoming the new House head along with all of his or her descendants. The ritual even knew if the death of the noble was put into motion – be it an “accident” or hired gun – and went into effect.

  The effect also extended to the heir. There was no disappearing the heir and expecting to become next in-line.

  Additional penalties were assessed if another House was responsible for the killing. Not only would that House find themselves with the least desirable heir – from both the perspective of the House head and the one responsible for the attack – it also altered their House crest with a Regicide mark for two generations.

  Given the harsh penalties, the Nobility of Vialina was extremely well-behaved. At least physically; the Vialinan Nobility liked to ruin rivals financially or reputationally. Those were two things I was immune to because I’m poor and I used to drive a truck with a rubber scrotum hanging off the trailer hitch.

  Val apologized to me and had me slip on a blindfold. He explained to me this hasn’t been done in a few centuries and they had to retrieve an old text from the archives. They knew where the text was since it also contained the instructions to extend the crest rights to a spouse, though that, too, was done only sporadically.

  The man did offer to massage me and provide refreshments while they fetched the mage tasks to perform the ritual. I almost considered asking him to rub my feet, but I pushed that thought aside because I was already falling badly into abusing my new rank. Cutting the line at Alvin’s was the biggest sin I’m willing to entertain – and believe me, that’s a huge sin.

  I accepted the drink and refused the massage. During the wait, I managed to convince Val to join me. They had a nice wine selection which I relished because I couldn’t drink around Tizek. Val took a little convincing to drink on the job, but relented when I said I’d like a nice conversation.

  Val then went on about his oldest daughter getting into the Leoren Royal University’s Magineering – a sort of engineering focused on utilizing magic cores – program. He also told me about his younger son asking to join Val’s father at a tailor’s shop in Imeldan, a city of around 120,000 which was a two week’s carriage ride to the north.

  It didn’t take long for the mage to show up. He began the ritual and, boy, was it an incredible sight. I stood in a technicolor fractal etched in the purest gold on the floor. It pulsed with every color imaginable and even a few I couldn’t comprehend could exist, which was impressive since I’m the professional optics guy.

  A cloud of gentle blue formed above me and lightning silently arced through the mists as the mage weaved his spell. A scantily-woman of each clan in Vialina emerged from a side door and danced around the ritual stone as they swirled see-through garments made of silk. Then…

  Alright, I admit, I’m just bullshitting you right now. I was blindfolded the entire time and I had to stand still for 30 minutes while the mage did something. Magic is silent in this world, so I had no idea what was going on and I got bored.

  I did end up feeling something deep within me change after the ritual ended. I knew it was over when I instinctually knew how to switch my signature between the House crest and my personal rip-off of the Florida State Seal.

  After that was done, I was led out of the room and my blindfold was removed before I was led back to where Mira and Tizek were waiting.

  Mira and Tizek looked bored sitting in a windowless room with a few leather padded chairs and a magazine rack. Mira was flipping through a cooking magazine with large pictures and furrowing her brow as she tried to leverage her poor literacy while Tizek was blankly staring at the ceiling.

  My final stop was to affix the House crest on the deed transfer from Mira along with her personal seal. I also received a wooden plaque with my crest to affix to the building to inform everyone it’s a protected building.

  Outside, Mira looked up at the sky. “We need to hurry, the Teeth will be opening for lunch in an hour.”

  Great, for the second time in the day I was jogging down the streets of Leoren. I had already built a little bit of grey in my stamina bar from earlier and now I was starting to sweat buckets and was developing leg cramps. I had to assure Mira I wasn’t coming down with some kind of magical sickness and explained how it’s normal for my species to leak water from our skin.

  Tizek ranged out a little ahead of us making sure no one got in our way while Mira politely kept pace with my lard-ass. It was hard running with my package containing my server uniform under an arm.

  “I suspect you have a few more questions for me,” Mira stated calmly. She was showing no trouble maintaining her pace. The woman was Advancement 3 and a whirlwind in the kitchen; the way she had to rush around during the evening meals made for good cardio.

  I glanced over at Tizek and remained quiet. Mira instantly recognized what I was thinking. “We’ll tell them eventually. You can talk.”

  “Why…did…you…keep…hid…den…from…Void?” I huffed as my feet thudded down the street.

  “Apart from admitting to falsifying our identity?” Mira said in a low volume. “We didn’t want Void burdened by our heritage.”

  “Em…barr…ass…ed…to…come…from…slums?” I puffed. No, a house didn’t go down because I huffed earlier. I’m not the wolf here.

  Mira went silent for a few minutes as we ran. I could tell I hit something with my question. Eventually, she responded. “We’re not ashamed of where we came from. What we didn’t want was people to think worse of the slums because of us.”

  “I…don’t…un…der…stand,” I wheezed.

  “The slums has a bad reputation. People there are thought of as lazy and stupid. Seeing Doun and I succeed would cause them problems. We worked our way out at only 14 years old. It would imply it’s easy,” Mira said. I was impressed at how she could talk normally while running.

  “We aren’t ashamed of our past,” Mira said. “It forged who we are. We just want to keep others from knowing.”

  “What…about…Guild? Had…to…test…” I gasped. I couldn’t get the rest of my question out about testing their attunement.

  “Everyone has a rating at birth. The crystals measure it adjusted to age until reaching adulthood at 16 where it remains constant,” Mira explained. “There’s a standing law forbidding testing children to avoid favoritism. We had a problem centuries ago where families would disown low rated children and it caused a spike in crime. There are still the occasional slips with pregnant mothers since the crystal will read the mother and the child.”

  That was something I didn’t know. I never ran across it because I was hyper-focused on stopping the apocalypse.

  “We measured correctly,” Mira continued. “The problem is, a child’s mana pool hasn’t fully matured and, should Advancement begin too soon, it locks the size in at the point of their first monster kill. I’m good at math for the business and calculated it once. Doun and I would be around 82% if we were tested today. We’d like to avoid revealing our past because our cards show our original ratings and it’ll be proof we lied about our age.”

  Wow, that was a surprise. I knew they were Advancement 3, but I had no idea they were that low. They sacrificed their Advancement potential to provide for Void as opposed to dumping her off at the orphanage. My respect for my future just in-laws rose up to the L2 Lagrange point from the stratosphere where it was before.

  “Sacrifice…worth…it,” I stated with my deteriorating breath.

  “It was,” Mira wistfully said. “We didn’t want Void to grow up like us.”

  “That…ex…plain…s…Doun’s…sack.” I barely got that one out. My stamina bar was nearly depleted and even more grey was building up. I would need to sit soon or I’d start building up black.

  “Void told you,” Mira stated. “Yes, that’s why. Void made us so happy so we wanted a lot more. We decided to hold off until we were older and more established. We were trying to buy the Teeth and were saving money. We ended up going into an Advancement 3 dungeon poorly equipped, which proved a mistake. Doun ended up getting attacked by a tunnel worm that ambushed him from below.”

  Mira sighed. “It was rough. There were times I wanted to leave Doun over it or ask to hire a Mask.”

  A Mask is a private, free citizen who engages in prostitution. They register with the city and wear elaborate masks to hide their identity since they’re usually higher class citizens trying to make a little extra money to cover an unexpected expense. Sometimes couples in Mira and Doun’s situation will hire them to conceive a child. The concealed identity is important since they frequently see unhappy married people and want to avoid reprisals.

  “Then I saw how Void adored Doun and I couldn’t ruin that,” Mira continued. “We made it work out in the end and if I had the opportunity to change the past, I’d never make a different decision.”

  I really wanted to ask a few more questions, but I just couldn’t. “Need…to…stop…” I managed to push out.

  I came to a halt, found the nearest bench and fell into it. My stamina bar was almost entirely depleted and I had a lot of grey forming in it. This was enough cardio for the day. Tizek and Mira also stopped.

  “You don’t need to wait,” I gasped at Mira.

  “Oh, thank you!” Mira exclaimed. “I didn’t want to leave you here like this, but I have to open for lunch.”

  Mira sped away far faster than before, leaving Tizek and me at the bench. Tizek also flopped down and hung his head. While he was in far better health than I was, he still neglected cardio over the last three months and was paying the price.

  While I sat there as a spectacle to the passing public wondering why a noble in a purple suit and feathered cap was gasping for air on a public bench, I thought over the story once more. It really solidified my decision to help with the Anti-Slavery League. The fact that Mira and Doun had Void so young was directly a result of the penal system here.

  Of course, I had no idea how I’d do that. While I was a noble, my entire power base consisted of Void and Tizek, maybe Lia if she agreed to it. I also had a pair of new employees running a business, but I couldn’t exactly ask Doun and Mira to put themselves at greater risk. I did all this running to shield them from that risk. I’d have to find a way to gain some kind of influence here, which would be a challenge given my new arrival status in the world.

  That and I’m me. A guy who got drunk, ate his bait worms and tried to catch fish with beer can pop tabs isn’t exactly the type to build up political coalitions.

  My mind wandered away to more pressing matters, like why I didn’t keep one of Void’s anti-nausea pills on me. While I focused on keeping my stomach acid inside, I looked around the street.

  That’s when my eyes passed over her again, the strange girl with the musket. She was staring directly at me from an alley across the street. She wasn’t there the prior loop and she was focused directly on me. This time, the vision didn’t trigger.

  A wave of nausea caused me to close my eyes and, when I opened them again, she had vanished.

  “Tizek, buddy? You see a real pretty jaguar-clan girl with rich orange fur anywhere?” I asked. “She’ll be holding a long tube.”

  Tizek’s eye scanned the street. The population out had dwindled since everyone was at their job this time of day. “I see no one, my Lord. Forgive me, but I also disapprove. You have Lady Void.”

  I chuckled at Tizek’s misunderstanding. “That’s not why, buddy. Void’s the only one for me and always will be. No, something is off about this girl.”

  “Is she a threat?” Tizek asked. I could see him fluttering his head crest and his hand crept toward his mace.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “Just assume she’s not for now. But I have a feeling she’s aware of the time loops. She wasn’t where she was the last time I saw her and she’s been watching me.”

  “Many watch you, my Lord,” Tizek retorted.

  That was a fair point. A lot of people did glance my way, but not the way that girl did. Most people averted their eyes the moment I glanced their direction. That girl kept her gaze locked onto me until I blinked and then she vanished.

  “Just tell me if you see an unusually attractive jaguar-clan girl with bright orange fur,” I said.

  Tizek nodded. “I will. When will you be ready to move? I wish to eat Chef Mira’s lunch.”

  I laughed. “Give me a few more minutes, buddy.”

  I loved Tizek’s one track mind. It did wonders bringing levity to the moment.