“Dad!” Lena yelled. “It’s my wish. Mine! You can’t do that!” Her nostrils flared. I never saw her that mad in front of Anders.

  Anders scoffed. “What? Were you going to ask for something more important than finding my knives?”

  Lena’s face turned impossibly red. She looked like she was going to combust. “YES, ACTUALLY! How about gold? Or jewels? Or a plot of fertile land so Rob doesn’t have to work so hard anymore?”

  Well, to be fair, none of them are Legendary Enchanted knives. But still ridiculous for Anders to jump in and does that to his daughter, who WORKED FOR THIS.

  Anders eyed around. “And yet none of those things are my knives.” He was careful not to say the words ‘Legendary’ or ‘Enchanted’ out loud.

  “Your—your knives?!” Lena threw her hands up. “You could buy a hundred knives with the gold we could have gotten!”

  Anders scoffed. “Oh, yes, because mass-produced blades will replace my personally crafted, perfectly balanced, battle-hardened masterpieces that I lost thanks to a certain someone.” He gave her a pointed look.

  Lena made a strangled noise. “Are you seriously blaming me for this right now?!”

  “I’m not blaming you,” Anders said in a tone that was perfect for blaming her. “I’m simply stating that in a world where I still had my knives, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “Actually,” Rob came to the Baron, who was looking dangerously close to calling the deal off. “Can we ask for a gold coin? Then we’ll be on our way.”

  “As you wish.”

  “What?” Both Lena and Anders turned to Rob in disbelief.

  Rob caught their looks and shrugged. “Stop being children about this or you’re going to piss off the nobles. A gold coin is better than nothing.”

  Lena opened her mouth to protest, but Rob gave her a resigned look as he said, “Lena. I know you’re angry, but stop for now. Let’s talk later.”

  “Yes, dear.” She sighed as her shoulder dropped.

  At least some of us still have common sense.

  A servant stepped forward and pressed a single gold coin into Rob's palm. He nodded in thanks, lugged Blorbo on his shoulder and turned to leave, with the others trailing behind, Anders still seething beside him.

  “I got next to nothing from this,” Anders spat.

  You got a golden coin, old man. I got two quests nullified, and I’ve so far gotten zero chance to appraise anyone and take advantage of my 300% EXP buff.

  As they reached the entrance, the Baron suddenly appeared behind them. The urgency in his footsteps made Rob and Lena turned, but Anders just kept walking for few seconds until both Rob and Lena motioned for him to stop.

  “Rest for a second,” he called out. “I did grant your wish, but there is more I should tell you.”

  The group turned to face him, curiosity and mild suspicion in their eyes.

  “Adrien Silverleaf did not attend tonight’s ball,” the Baron explained. “But he was at the last one, three days ago. I surmise he is very likely still in town. If he is, he will be staying at his summer house. Go to the outskirts of the Woody Woods and ask for Silverleaf, you will find the house.” He pulled out a small, embossed card and handed it to Rob. “Tell him the Baron of Luxeny sends you over, and you won’t have any problems.”

  Lena frowned, hesitating. “But… we already received our reward.”

  The Baron waved off her concern. “You deserve more than that for saving my wife’s life.”

  That was surprisingly generous.

  Rob had just finished saying thanks when another lightning-less lightning sound erupted from deeper inside the manor. The Baron turned back quickly, his expression shifting from composed to furious in an instant. “WHO TOUCHED MY JAR OF LIGHTNING?! It is reserved for Esteemed Vocalyst Training only!”

  Anders suddenly motioned for them to leave very quickly before the Baron had a chance to turn back. “My knives were not in that jar!” He mouthed silently.

  Okay, but then why did you have to check it three times? I heard two thunders before this.

  All of a sudden, a wave of azure light spread through the air. It went through everyone’s bodies and broke apart into nothingness as it reached the entrance. Then, Investigator Klemens jumped out from the private quarter. Her body illuminated with the same ethereal azure light as the wave that’d just passed the party, the wand in her hand crackling with the same energy. “There's a magic user in the garden!” she yelled.

  The Baron’s shout overtook her yell immediately. “More of this nonsense? I hired you to prevent this from happening!”

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  Anders grabbed Lena’s arm and pulled her along. “Yeah. That woman’s from the Watchers’ Watch. Let's get out of here.”

  “Wait.” She wrenched her arm free, her eyes fixed on Anders. "Have you known the whole time?"

  “Yeah.”

  Lena’s breath hitched. “And you didn't bother telling me about it?”

  Anders gave her an answer in a cold voice. “You did a good job distracting her with the poisoning case, Lena. You were good bait. Also, she’s just an apprentice.”

  A quest showed up.

  [New Mandatory Quest: ESCAPE ARTISTRY]

  Objective: Provide enough distraction for the party to leave without being stopped.

  Reward: + 10% EXP progress for every Level 1 Skill used during the quest.

  Prerequisite: Being under scrutiny from the Watchers’ Watch.

  Failure: Being detained by the Watchers’ Watch.

  Blorbo saw the notification, accepted the quest, and instantly started spamming his dumbest skills.

  SURFACE AGITATION. SURFACE WOBBLE. SURFACE AGITATION. SURFACE WOBBLE.

  More skills I use, more EXP I gain.

  The nearby table trembled, and the air above him rippled in motion.

  [Forked Tongue activated.]

  Huh?

  Oh. Somebody had noticed him, so Forked Tongue was trying to mask his movements.

  [Forked Tongue activation failed.]

  Blorbo was the most subtle yet somehow most noticeable thing in the entire garden. Heads turned. Fingers pointed. Klemens squinted at the disturbance.

  Blorbo realized, to his horror, that this was BACKFIRING.

  “Madeline, wait up!” Klemens picked up her pace as she called out to ‘Madeline’ (Lena).

  His panic skyrocketed. He had to switch tactics. FAST.

  He willed a random skill.

  [SYNCHRONIZED SITTING Activated.]

  Wait. I can use this skill actively?! Is that what the asterisk in the description is for?!

  Klemens had been hurrying toward Rob, fully intent on interrogating him. But as she passed by a weary servant who had just finished pushing chairs and chasing after Garvais, that servant dropped to the ground, sitting with a heavy sigh.

  For no reason at all, Klemens sat down too.

  She blinked, confused, then turned to the servant beside her. “Did you see that? Seems like we sat down at the exact same time!”

  The servant, equally bewildered, nodded. “Huh. That was weird.”

  But the end was yet to come. The Knights were all gathered around the poisoned lady earlier, but the two guards remained at the entrance.

  Act still. Completely animated. Don’t do anything foolish.

  [Flow Step Activated]

  They rushed toward the entrance, only to be stopped by two guards. One of them lifted a hand. “Didn't you hear the investigator? There's a magic user in the estate. You stay inside until screening is completed.”

  Lena flashed the embossed card the Baron had given them. “I told you before, I bring the best of gifts to the Baron. And now I'm leaving with his greatest endorsement. We cannot possibly be magic users.”

  The guard squinted at her, then at the table Rob was currently hauling. “Aren’t you supposed to bring the table to the Baron, then? Why are you bringing it back out?”

  “Well, uh, you see…” Lena stumbled upon her words. When even Lena was stumbling, things could not be good.

  Anders surged forward and kicked the guard in the groin. The guard’s eyes went wide, and he collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.

  The second guard, still in confusion, stammered, “Wait, why are you—”

  Before he could finish, Anders slapped him across the face with a swift motion, a perfect use of [Wind Slap—Level MAX]. The guard’s head jerked to the side with a smoothness so subtle that even Blorbo blinked, as if the man’s neck had simply turned on its own accord.

  The second guard slumped, unconscious, without a sound. He then slapped the first guard who was still groaning, and the man promptly stopped groaning.

  “Why talk?” Anders turned back to the party and looked at them like they were aliens. “If things are going to the gutters, punch them in the groin.”

  “Well, now if we don’t scram, we’re definitely prime suspects.” Rob sighed. Even the useless Knights had shown their faces from inside the private quarter, blades drawn.

  When the party walked out of the estate in one piece, Ducaz had already been waiting out the gate. “Hop on.” He waved. Rob hauled Blorbo onto the wagon, but since he was in such a hurry, one-third of Blorbo stuck outside, giving him the chaotic view of the nobles inside arguing against each other, and of Klemens slowly standing up. Everybody hurriedly jumped on and Ducaz pulled the rein. He pulled it with the incredible finesse of someone who had never ridden a horse wagon before, and the horse moved backward.

  “Go!” Ducaz ordered and pulled the rein again. The horse, well-trained, responded instantly, bowing down and beginning to munch on a nearby haystack.

  “Get out the way,” Rob pushed him back inside and pulled the rein, but the horse was busy eating. Right on cue, Klemens rushed out the gate and shouted, “Stop right there!”

  Lena popped her head out the side of the wagon and pointed her tiny wand at Klemens.

  Klemens stretched her wand toward Lena. “Don’t let me fire at you!” she shouted, leaping forward in one fluid motion, determined to get within range.

  Lena quickly chanted, “Saqu Gadoga!”

  A tiny puff of air shot toward Klemens’ nostrils just as she was mid-flight. Klemens’ eyes went blank, her body jerking slightly before going completely limp. She crashed face-first into the side of the wagon then started snoring as her face slid down the wagon.

  Lena blinked, her mouth forming an “O” of surprise. “Huh,” she mouthed.

  Turned out, Klemens was an extremely light sleeper.

  Rob pulled the rein again. Finally, the horse dashed forward, and the wagon started running along. Klemens regained her consciousness and sluggishly crawled up. She met the horse’s hind leg and it instinctively kicked her in the face. She was quickly asleep again.

  [Quest Completed—ESCAPE ARTISTRY]

  Congratulations! Synchronized Sitting has reached Level 2.

  Of all the skills… this is the one that’s accumulated enough EXP for a level up?!