In that lobby, Madison and Risitro waited for hours, and by the time anything happened, the situation had somehow lost its novelty. Painfully bored, Enzi broke the silence, “So, don’t you guys have like… I don’t know, things to do?”

Madison didn’t look up from her book, “I’m treating this as a vacation.”

“What about you, Prince Risitro? Why are you still in Barnock to begin with?”

Risitro had been meditating when Enzi asked the question, and responded without opening his eyes, “I’ve chosen to stay in this country for a while. Until the coming events are dealt with.”

“The ones you need Alice for?”

Risitro’s lips curled upwards, but he answered the inquiry with silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Silence returned and remained for a few minutes.

He leaned over to Alice, who was oddly indifferent to his casual tone, “Umm, what are you reading?”

“Can’t you just read the cover?”

“I didn’t have the fortune of being taught when I was younger.

“If you intend to amount to anything in this world, you should try to learn. How old are you?” Her expression remained impartial.

“Eighteen, why do you ask?”

“Is that so? I’d thought older, given your size. You still have a lot of potential then.”

“Your point?”

“You could train to become a Knight. We have an ‘academy’ of sorts in Barnock that I’d be willing to let you attend.” Risitro raised an eyebrow at that.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m no good as a soldier. Though even if I was, I don’t think I’d want to join the military. I want to work for myself, not a government.”

Madison chuckled, “You’re awfully loose-mouthed, aren’t you? Saying that directly to the monarch’s face takes a special kind of idiot. Especially in front of one who has a reputation for cruelty… that being said, you’re free to do what you want.”

“Right, and I intend to do that. By the way, you never answered the question: What book is that?”

“You’re an interesting fellow, Enzi. I’ll remember your name.” She continued, “It’s a biography of a particularly famous duo of adventurers. Nvili and Saul are the names, though I doubt that you’re familiar.”

“Why does someone like the Queen of Barnock care about some adventurers?” Enzi didn’t know much about The Guild, but it didn’t seem like that was something she’d need to worry about.

“I can’t tell if that’s an innocent question or a targeted probe, but either way, you pose a good question. I could claim to simply enjoy reading about them, but I try not to tell lies. I’ll just say that I’m expecting a visit from them soon at leave it there.”

“Are they bigshots then?”

“I suppose. They’re just regular Mythrills, but both are ability users. Their abilities synergize quite well, and they’ve dealt with Adamantite-level threats before, despite being weak as individuals. More noteworthy though, it how active they are. They deal with more threats than any other team in The Guild.”

“Ability users are a big deal, aren’t they?” Enzi had heard about abilities before, and though he had yet to see one in action himself, he knew that it was lucky that he’d never come across one.

“They are. There’s a reason that 80% of Mythrill-ranked adventurers have them, despite how rare it is to be born with one.”

Speaking of which, someone with an ability more powerful than anyone else in that world was awake now, and though he was far away, Ronny heard the faint sound of talking coming from the lobby. It was past midnight by that point, and he had no idea who was down there. After grabbing a knife from his bag, started down the stairs, walking as quietly as he could.

With the recent additions to System fresh in his mind, Ronny decided to try using his Detect Life ability before reaching the foyer. He could tell that there were three people down there, and not much more than that.

Knife in hand, he came down to the foyer and first saw Enzi’s back, “Good evening, Ronny! Sorry if our noise woke you, but we have some guests.

He put the knife down, “Guests? Who could be here at this…” Ronny froze as his eyes meant Risitro’s.