As the train picked up speed, the three of them turned to the long window that ran the length of the lounge wall.
There was no way they were going to miss this view. Not for anything.
The train station disappeared quickly, the platforms and high ceilings giving way to open sky.
They moved through what looked like the edge of the city walls, then Havenhart itself fell back in the distance.
Then the city walls appeared, large in their vision at first, then shrinking steadily until what they could see out the window was wide, flat grassland stretching towards a tree line at the horizon.
Lukas watched it go, a feeling of farewell in his heart.
He’d arrived in this world with nothing but a dead boy’s body, a house that was falling apart, and a [Thief] class that nobody wanted in their party.
But he’d faced it all with determination that ca with knowing he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
And that attitude had been rewarded with his system. And now, he was leaving Havenhart as the winner of the Prodigy Tournant, with two wives, three classes, an Adept-ranked [Item], a contract with the ruling family of Salaria, and enough stats to make most Adepts reconsider their life choices.
He took a sip of his drink.
Not bad for less than two months of work.
He was absorbed in the mont until the sound of a low growl filled the air around them.
He blinked, looking down at his side and his eyes landed on the culprit.
Akira’s stomach.
lody turned to look at her with an expression of profound amusent.
"Again," she said.
"Like I said, I have a fast tabolism," Akira said, tilting her nose up in dignity.
"I think what you ant is that you have a bottomless pit where your stomach should be," lody replied.
"Sa thing."
Lukas finished his drink and set the cup down. "Lunch?"
"Lunch," they agreed simultaneously.
They slid off their stools and left the lounge.
After a few minutes of moving through the passageways, they arrived at the cafeteria.
As they’d expected, the room was made up of a full carriage, which was wide enough for the tables to be spaced generously apart.
Lukas was amazed at the fact that the room didn’t even look a bit cramped. At least here, they had the illusion of privacy.
The windows ran the length of both walls, giving the passengers an unobstructed view of the grasslands outside. It also made the room bright as light from the sun filtered through.
They found a table near one of the windows and took their seats. Before a minute had elapsed, a waiter appeared in front of them with a nu.
After choosing what they wanted and paying for the al, the waiter left with their order.
So as they waited, conversation naturally filled the silence.
"So what are we thinking of doing the mont we arrive at Salaria?" lody asked. "Find lodgings?"
"Why should we do that when we already have free lodgings for us in the contract we signed with the Le Fays?" Akira asked.
"You know the lodgings would most likely be monitored, right?"
"Of course." Akira nodded. "Which is why they’ll serve as temporary lodgings for us. Instead of that, I think we should imdiately head to a Second Floor spatial gate and advance to Adept the mont we arrive."
lody frowned at that. "That might not be the wisest approach. We don’t know Salaria, nor what the inside of the Second Floor even looks like."
"We don’t know the layout nor the dangers waiting for us inside." She looked between them. "eting Morgana first makes more sense. She knows the city and the Second Floor, which is information we need."
"We have a contract with the Le Fays," Akira said, "not a dependency. There’s a difference."
She leaned forward slightly. "Salaria is a Tier 4 city. They manage their own spatial gates, which ans they’ll probably have a controlled area outside each spatial gate in the Second Floor."
"So all we need to do is rely step through the gate, which should trigger our advancent, and when that’s done, we’ll step back out. We don’t need assistance for that, do we?"
"This way, we’ll et Morgana for the first ti in Salaria as Adepts," she continued, "rather than as Awakeners who needed help crossing the threshold. We’ll et as equals and walk in with our own footing already established."
lody considered it.
Lukas was already considering it too.
The Le Fay contract was a good arrangent, he had no doubt about that, but he shouldn’t view it as much more than a good arrangent between partners.
If he keeps receiving favors from them, it unconsciously shifts the balance between them until the Le Fays hold most of the power in their partnership.
eting Morgana as Adepts, having crossed the threshold under their own power, established sothing that a careful first eting should establish.
That they were partners in an arrangent, not beneficiaries of the Le Fays’ grace.
"She’s right," he said.
lody looked at him, then at Akira, then back at him.
"I don’t have a counter to that," she admitted. "It’s the better approach."
"Then we agree," Lukas said. "When we get to Salaria, we’ll advance first, then we’ll et the Le Fays after."
He turned to look at Akira and lody, holding their gaze. "And going forward, we’re going to be careful about accepting favors from the Le Fays or anyone else. We’ll accept what the contract specifies, which is our right, and nothing beyond it unless the situation genuinely requires it."
"Receiving no favor is better than receiving even one," Akira said. "The mont you start accepting things outside the agreent, the agreent changes. Not on paper, but in practice."
lody nodded. "Agreed."
"Agreed," Lukas confird.
The one thing Lukas valued above all else was his freedom. And he knew favors were like invisible chains. And one day, the creditor might want the debt repaid.
But would it even be a price he could afford to pay?
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