The house had changed.

  Blorbo was sure of it.

  It wasn’t anything obvious. There were no walls knocked down, and no new furniture or decorations on the wall. But the subtle shift in the air was undeniable.

  The old man had been redecorating.

  The wooden shelves that once held Lena’s useless trinkets and random clutter had been neatly rearranged with military precision. The dusty, mostly-forgotten books on the shelves had been moved into strangely deliberate stacks. Even Tabby’s butthole looked like it’d slightly moved to the left.

  He didn’t know how the old man was able to achieve it, but a miracle happened even outside the house. It was actually raining now.

  But most importantly…

  The knives were gone.

  Blorbo knew exactly where they used to be—tucked neatly inside the cupboard, lined up like forgotten relics. Twelve knives. He had counted them many times, mostly out of boredom.

  And now?

  Not a single one in sight.

  That couldn’t be good.

  However, there were more pressing matters to attend to: Lena breaking the news to Rob. She’d been rehearsing her lines so many times that Blorbo had practically learned them by heart.

  Now, she stood before Rob, hands csped in front of her like she was about to deliver a verdict at a trial. “Robert, I—”

  “It’s fine, sweetheart.” He gently grabbed her by her shoulders and met her with a warm smile. “Whatever your decision is, I stand by it.”

  “But you don’t know what I’m about to say.”

  “You only call me by my full first name when you want to announce something you’ve thought through a lot. You make sound decisions, Lena. I trust you.”

  “I want to become a banker.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Lena sputtered. “You—you just said you’d support me no matter what!”

  “I said I trust your judgment,” Rob crified, his face twisted. “Not that I’d blindly accept your decision to commit financial treason against this household. Do you know how many years one need to study to become a banker?”

  Lena groaned. “You’re being dramatic. People switch careers all the time. I’m great at learning and adapting.”

  “You’re abandoning cabbage, Lena.”

  “I’m not abandoning cabbage!”

  “Oh, really?” Rob threw his hands in the air. “How are you going to juggle banking and cabbage?”

  Lena rubbed her face. “Look, I just want to understand how magic works so I don’t end up accidentally summoning another pi?ata dragon. I need to learn how to control it, and for some reason, the only person willing to teach me is—” she gestured vaguely, “—that ridiculous man with too many gloves.”

  “Ah. So you met him again. Have you learned that he’s trustworthy?”

  “He is! He read my palm lines and told me I’m destined for greatness! Then he pced a shiny pebble in my hand.”

  Rob paced. “Lena. Sweetheart. You forget things all the time. Do you remember what happened the st time you tried something new?”

  Lena frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “You lost a skillet, Lena.”

  “It’s just a one time thing…”

  “No! You know it’s not. You are chronically messy. You might lose a mortgage contract under a head of cabbage!”

  Lena gasped. “I would never lose something as important as a cabbage!”

  Now that she mentioned cabbage…

  Cabbage Points can easily be gained by just consuming cabbages, correct? Then why is kale the superior vegetable when cabbage is just so much more valuable?

  This must mean that the people in this world do not know how valuable cabbages are. They have no concept of a Cabbage Point.

  Then I’m likely the only one with a system.

  Wait! I need to focus. Can’t lose track of the conversation like st time.

  As he refocused, the conversation had moved on.

  Lena and Rob shared a mutual hug, and Rob whispered to her. “I fully support your decision to become an arcane banker.”

  Great. It happened again.

  How did they even resolve the problem that quickly? I drifted away for like five seconds!

  The door opened. The moment the old man entered the room, Lena and Rob snapped their mouths shut as if a guillotine had dropped on the conversation.

  Look how stiff and suspiciously synchronized they look! These two are SO done for.

  Anders narrowed his eyes at them. “What were you talking about?”

  Lena and Rob spoke at the exact same time.

  “Cabbages.”

  “The discovery of the continent of Majapahit.”

  Then they looked at each other in disbelief.

  No…

  Anders blinked. “Come again?”

  Lena cleared her throat. “Yes. Cabbages. And… Majapahit.”

  Rob nodded firmly. “The lost cabbage continent of Majapahit.”

  No, idiots! Don’t double down on the story! He didn’t hear you the first time!

  Lena cpped her hands together. “It was a major discovery. Truly groundbreaking.”

  Rob nodded aggressively. “Earth-shattering.”

  Lena pivoted instantly. “Which is why it’s so controversial.”

  “Right,” Rob jumped in. “The schors won’t even write about it! You can try to dig for answers in the Capitol Library! Not one will come up.”

  Anders rubbed his temples. “Alright. If this lost continent of Majapahit is so important, where is it?”

  Rob answered immediately. “Underwater.”

  Lena spoke at the same time. “In the sky.”

  They froze as Anders stared at them.

  Lena coughed. “It was—cough—in the sky.”

  Rob swallowed. “Then it fell into the ocean.”

  Lena snapped her fingers. “Yes! That’s why it’s lost. Then cabbages floated all over the oceans. That’s how we found it again.”

  Anders took one step closer, and both of them took one step back. The old man grunted, “Okay. What were you two actually talking about?”

  Yeah… They’re doomed.

  C’mon, system. Let me jump in and save them. Give me a quest. I don’t want to do it for free.

  A quest popped up.

  [NEW QUEST: The Art of Misdirection (1)]Objective: Distract Anders from interrogating Lena and Rob.Reward: +7 EXP, +2 PER, +5 CP, and a Beginner-level Deception Skill.

  Prerequisite: 10 AGI, 10 PER (You can accept this quest)Failure: Lena and Rob are forced to expin. (Badly.)

  Accept: Yes/No

  A Deception skill now? The System has been much too kind tely… Something’s up.

  Ayo why you checking? The stats are still the same.

  NameBlorboRaceAnimated Furniture (Table)CssNoneLevel2EXP37/50HP17/20MP2CP0STR11END16AGI19PER13SkillsAppraisal (Level 1)

  Adjustable Angle (2 Degrees)

  Opportunity Sense (Level 1)

  Surface Agitation (Level 1)

  Synchronized Sitting (Level 1)

  Massive Leap Under Duress (Conditional)

  Retribution Counter (Level 1)

  AuraUseless Gloved Fool (Permanent)

  InventoryA Pair of Wooden-Colored Socks