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Ike knocked on the door to Ket’s manor. “Ket?”

The door opened. No one stood in the hallway.

Ike blinked. He looked around, then peeked inside. I guess I’m being invited in? He stepped into the hall tentatively, ready to jump back out if something attacked.

Nothing attacked. Warm light and the scent of hot food swirled around him.

Loup lifted her nose. She grinned and trotted in, leaving Ike behind.

“Hey!” Ike chased after her at a jog.

Loup led him to the dining room. Ket stood in the door of the kitchen, lounging against the door frame. “Hey there. Enjoy your day?”

“Yeah. You and Tana, uh… do the thing?” Ike asked, a little lost. Oh, wait. They were going to tell the king that they failed to warn the city lord about the puppets. I don’t really understand why that’s important, but Tana seemed to think it was.

Ket snorted. “Indeed. It didn’t have the effect Tana desired. She’s sulking in her room right now, so I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me alone for dinner.”

“Ah…that’s fine. Actually, I wanted to ask you something. I killed a tree monster today. Would you like to come out tomorrow and help me break it down?”

Ket shrugged. “If I have time.”

Ike nodded. “Good, good.” He’s way higher rank than me, so that’s about all I can hope for.  

He reached into his bag and drew out the ring Wisp had found. “And this…do you know what it is? I found it in a spider monster today.”

“You were busy,” Ket commented. He took the ring and turned it over in his hands, peering closely at it. His brows furrowed.

“Recognize it?” Ike asked.

Ket shook his head. “It’s a control ring of some kind. I would need to analyze the crystals to determine exactly what it’s doing. It’s… well, it’s an advanced form of enchantment. A spell array. But more than that…”

Ike nodded. I’ll pretend I understand what that means.

“Where did you find it? In a spider monster?”

“Yeah, in a spider,” Ike said.

Ket looked it over one more time, then shrugged and put it over his shoulder. “I’ll take a look. It could be nothing, but there’s a lot you can do with spell arrays. A lot of damage. If someone’s setting up a spell array in secret…” He shook his head and sighed. “Or a monster could have just eaten a piece of someone’s defensive barrier. If you find another one, bring it to me.”

Ike nodded. “Will do.”

Loup reared up and put her paws on Ket’s shoulders. She tilted her head at him.

Ket laughed. “Alright, alright. Message received, girl. I’ll go fetch us dinner, hmm?” He patted her paws to get her to jump down, then retreated into the kitchen. “I still had some chicken left from yesterday, but you’ll have to bring more meat if you want to see my cooking skills tomorrow.”

“Understood. I’ll look for something.” Ike paused. “Er, are you just not going to cook, then?”

“No? If I don’t have magical ingredients, I’m wasting my time. We don’t have to eat,” Ket told him.

“W-what?” Ike said, startled.

Ket leaned out of the kitchen. “Yeah. We don’t have to eat. Mages don’t need to eat. As long as we have our energy, we can sustain ourselves indefinitely. It’s harder at the lower Ranks, but once you hit Rank 2, it’s pretty easy, and at Rank 3, eating is basically a luxury.”

“Oh,” Ike said.

“No one told you?” Ket asked, shocked.

“No. I’m self-taught,” Ike explained. And Silver, my only teacher, is a monster. He might not know either. Or things might work differently for him. Or maybe he thought I already knew about it. He, uh. Had opinions about certain things.

Ket shook his head. He laughed. “Alright. Well. Down here in the Abyss, where you don’t really have mana outside of monster meat, you probably want to eat, but outside of that, it’s optional.”

Ike shook his head. “I ate all that nasty wolf jerky for nothing.”

“I never know what to expect from you,” Ket said with a laugh. He vanished back into the kitchen, and pots and pans clattered.

Left alone, Ike glanced around, then took a seat at the table. Loup padded over to lie down beside him. She settled in with a huff.

“Food’s coming, girl. Don’t worry,” Ike said, patting her on the head.

Loup huffed again.

Ike sat back. He crossed his arms, thinking to himself. Tomorrow, we head back out. I should hunt for meat, and I can also share what I discovered with Wisp. It’s not much, but it might mean more to her than it does to me. As long as she’s satisfied enough with my answer to lead me to the whitefeather grass, I’m happy. I’ll close out the day with tapping a puppet again to refill my mana, though this time I’ll keep my eye on the time. I don’t want to have to count on having a nice guard let me through the gate if I can avoid it.

The floor creaked behind him. Ike looked over his shoulder to find Tana approaching the table. Her hair was down again, and she wore a day dress and a frown. She sat opposite Ike with a huff.

“Not you, too,” Ike muttered to himself.

“What?”

“The dog was… don’t worry about it. I hear today was rough?” Ike asked.

Tana sighed. She shook her head and pushed her hair back, sitting up just to slide back down in the chair. “No one seems to care. There’s an army just outside town, and no one minds. It’s insane. I don’t understand it.”

“The king didn’t listen?” Ike asked.

She waved her hand, frustrated. “He didn’t even see us! I waited for hours in that musty old hall for nothing. He saw other people. People behind me. Just left me there to stew. He’s the one who stole the throne from me, so why’s he the one who refuses to cooperate?”

Ike shook his head. “Sounds like a real douchebag.” Now this, I don’t understand. The puppet army is unlikely to be a threat to Abyssal, yes, but it is absolutely a threat. I’m surprised that the king is so relaxed about it.

Unless… the king knows…

But how would he benefit? He already controls Abyssal. What does he want? To escape…? If so, then why send Tana out with the one item that lets people leave the Abyss?

“Look who came down for dinner!” Ket walked out of the kitchen carrying a big piping-hot casserole dish. He thumped it down and headed back to the kitchen. “I’ll grab another plate.”

Ike took a big scoop. A hearty aroma filled the air, mixed with an herbal scent. Oh, that’s right! “Ket, you do herbs, right?”

“Sure,” Ket said.

“Have you heard of whitefeather grass?”

Ket nodded, slowly. “It’s very rare and valuable…at least, it is in the Abyss. Where did you hear that name?”

“I was talking to Wisp, and she—”

Ket’s eyes flew wide. Tana jumped in her seat.

Ike glanced from one to the other. “Uh…should I not have…?”