Gah! A Preliminary Exam Jumpscare!

A large, gray pigeon, perched on a public drop box, blinked at us and at the letter in its talons. It adjusted its tiny glasses, stunned. “I-I beg your pardon?” it stammered. “You want to send a letter to… Th-The Laughing P-P-Pestillence? N-n-no way! Are you insane?! He’s going to cook me into a pigeon pie! I don’t wanna be a pie!”

“We’ll pay double the amount,” I said, pulling out a few copper coins.

The bird fervently shook its head. “I refuse! No amount of money will convince me to get anywhere near that creepy demon…!”

I also pulled out a small bag. “We’ll also give you Honeyflower seeds.”

“Consider it done!” The pigeon tipped its glasses, snatched the coins and seed pouch from my hands, and promptly flew away, scattering its silver feathers into the wind.

“Wow, that was easy,” said Dahlian, whistling. “No wonder you bought those seeds.”

“Carrier pigeons love them as Grovendale folks love their breakfast meals,” I said. “They’ll never say no to them.”

“Ooh, you really do have what it takes to be an Erudite Examinee, haha.”

“I still don’t think I’m prepared for their tests. They’re also looking for strength, you know.”

“Your curses look pretty cool enough.”

“Not to me, but I guess everyone’s got their opinions.”

Lora hovered a hand over her eyes and watched the pigeon disappear over the spires. “I guess that means our errands are done?”

“Yep, we’re all done,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Nice! So, now what?” asked Dahlian.

We all looked at each other with the same lost expression.

I glanced down at my gloves. “You know, maybe I can test out these bad boys.”

“Ooh, should we find Wymond and have a rematch with your powerup?” asked Dahlian.

“Oh, hell no! He’s way too strong!” I scratched my head. “Maybe it’d be better to test it with Ashrenne. She’s pretty good at training people, so I guess I’ll wait until then.”

“Then should we go and check up on her meeting with the queen?” asked Lora.

“Uh, I don’t think it’s a good idea to intrude on them, though. I’m sure Ashrenne will be fine.”

“How can you be sure?”

“She’s an old friend of the queen.”

“Ooh, really?”

“Now that you mentioned it, I remember I heard the queen called her that,” said Dahlian.

“Yeah, if they were fine with us, then I’m sure the queen and her ambassadors will respect her visit,” I said. “So for now, I think we can either head back to the base or investigate what Florathea’s followers are up to.” I glanced down at my gloves.

“Like hell we’re going back to the base!” said Dahlian, pressing his fists together. “I’m always stuck indoors every night!”

“And I’ve been grounded for too long!” said Lora, pouting. “Well, it only lasted for a few hours, but I want to go out more!”

“What about the risks of bumping into Entrophys?”

“I’m not afraid of him! I’ll face him head-on if I have to!”

“Wow, I admire your courage.”

“Me too!” said a new voice.

“Whoa?!” We all jolted and spun toward a young man with brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a friendly smile, but something about his sharp, dark eyes gave me chills.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you three,” said the stranger, awkwardly bowing. “But, uh, I’m completely broke right now, and I’m getting desperate enough to approach strangers. Do any of you happen to have any health potions to spare?”

“Health potions? For what?” I asked.

“Uhm…” He reluctantly opened his coat and looked down at his linen shirt, where an ominous red stain slowly expanded at his stomach.

“What the?! What happened to you, man?!” asked Dahlian.

“Well, I was checking out this girl I saw while walking around, only to find out she’s a total psychopath.”

“S-seriously?!”

“Yeah, haha, to think… girls can be… pretty scary…” He collapsed on the spot, color drained from his face, and his eyes rolled behind his sockets.

“Woah, hey!” Dahlian kneeled beside him and raised him by his shoulders. “Get it together!”

“Lora!” I called out.

“I’m on it!” She hastily kneeled beside him, pulled up his shirt, and hovered her hands over the wound. A warm, green light emitted from her palms, gently scattering wisps into the wound and sealing it up.

A pained groan escaped the stranger before he slowly blinked a few times. He gawked at us and looked down at his stomach. “Ooh, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Phew, I’m glad the stab wound wasn’t so deep,” said Lora. “Are you okay now, sir?”

“Oof, yeah, I think so.” With a grunt, the stranger pushed himself back up. “Man, I thought I was done for. Thank you so much, ma’am.”

Lora smiled and nodded. “No problem! It’s always my pleasure to help people!”

The stranger twitched in his smile. “Is that so? You know, the girl I tried to talk to also happened to say something similar before she stabbed me in the gut.”

“Eh?! Who?!”

“No idea. What a shame that I didn’t get to learn her name yet.”

“What did she look like?” I asked.

“Sadly, I didn’t get a good look at her features, but she definitely wore light blue robes.”

“Light blue robes…” I furrowed my brows. “Only Florathea’s worshippers wear them.”

“Really?!” Dahlian and Lora gawked at me and the stranger. “You met one of them?! Where?!”

“Eh?! Wh-what’s going on? Why are you all panicking all of a sudden? Is she bad news?”

“Worse! She’s the bad news!” said Dahlian, shaking his shoulders. “Where did you last see her?!”

“Uh, over there…” He pointed at the alleyway with a tiny trail of blood. “You can just… well, follow the stains I left, I guess. Also, I almost forgot to mention, there’s another guy who got stabbed in the alleyway, so I hope you can treat him too.”

“Why the hell didn’t you say so sooner?!” Dahlian bolted away. “Let’s go, guys!”

“Wait for me!” said Lora, hurriedly following behind.

I barely took one step to catch up, but a hand grabbed my shoulder before I could sprint.

“One more thing,” said the stranger. “If I were you, I wouldn’t trust that girl, no matter how innocent she looks and how noble she acts. Take it from me, who's just been stabbed by one, haha.”

“Who? You mean my friend?”

“Yes, obviously.”

I scowled at him and slapped his hand away. “So what if you had one bad experience with one? Who are you to talk about my friend like that?”

The stranger blinked at me before he suddenly started snickering.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, sorry. I just couldn’t tell if you’re blindly smitten or just too innocently naive to notice the signs.”

“Huh? What signs? What are you even talking about?”

He pointed at the gloves. “Y’know, I was planning to tell you the truth by now, but owning those gloves means you’ve got some potential to become an Erudite Examinee, aren’t you?”

I looked down at my hands and gawked at him. “H-how do you know…?”

“Hehehe, I know a special accessory when I see one. In any case, allow me to give you a preliminary exam. Correctly answer all my questions, and maaaaybe you’ll earn yourself a real good private tutor.”

“Excuse me? Who even are you?”

“Let’s make my real identity also part of your pre-exam!” The stranger playfully beamed and raised three fingers. “My test will have only three questions: One: What is my true identity? Two: How did Florathea manage to spread her influence in this city? And three: Who is Florathea’s main host responsible for increasing their numbers?”

“Wh-what the hell are these questions? How much do you know about me?”

Instead of an answer or even offering a hint, he turned around, waved farewell, and walked into a different alleyway. “Oh, and don’t tell your friends about our private conversation and get their help. Do that, and our deal’s off. I’ll give you until tonight to submit your answers! Good luck, buddy!”

“Hey, hold on a sec!” I wanted to chase after him, but I couldn’t leave Dahlian and Lora behind either.

“Urgh…” I reluctantly stepped backward, still staring at the stranger’s back until he completely vanished into the shadows. I clicked my tongue, turned around, and sprinted away.