“So, you’ve never trained in any skill other than throwing a metal stick and general knowledge of reading, mathematics, and the history of your own world,” the Worker Representative, called Hank, summarized after Jin had painfully tried to explain what a public school, recreational sports, and having recurring bouts of cancer entailed.

  Petal was already scribbling something down on the parchment with a sigh, and Jin told Hank, “Well, we learned science too, but I’m not sure if that’s accurate any more in a world with magic.”

  Hank gave her a flat look, then glanced towards Petal, who preemptively answered, “Yeah, I’ll put her down as a decline for the Labor Sect, but let me know if you think of any crafting or gathering jobs that can utilize the throwing thing.”

  The Worker nodded but glanced back at her before saying, “You know… if she can’t grow hair, we might be able to craft a wig that could make her a better candidate for the Lovers.”

  Petal shook his head. “I think the hair will grow in after she explained about her past sickness.”

  Hank raised a brow at him and asked, “Then what’s stopping you from making her one of your night flowers?”

  The Lover Representative stopped writing as he glanced back towards her, and Jin noticed the flick of his eyes towards her practically non-existent chest before shaking his head. “While her face is pleasing enough and people’s tastes come in all different flavors, I’m not sure she has the proportions usually asked for.”

  Jin wasn’t sure if she should be insulted or relieved by that statement. She hadn’t thought much of her body in that kind of light before, but she never thought it was… undesirable. However, even she admitted that her own preferences lingered on larger chests than she had.

  “Aside from that, her tongue is too sharp. She’d most likely anger anyone I tried to put her with,” Petal added, and that was harder for her to argue with.

  Hank shrugged. “I hear some people like that kind of thing.”

  “There’s a fine line between degradation play or the reluctant brat persona and a hostile person hurling insults because they don’t want to partake.”

  The Worker shrugged again. “I hear some people like that, too.”

  Petal got a dark look that made even Jin hesitant to speak as he said coldly, “That’s what the Servants are called for. Not my flowers, and if I hear otherwise, I will personally ban whoever that is from ever calling upon the Pleasure Sect’s services again.”

  Hank raised a hand in surrender. “Fine, fine. But based on what you and this Wayfarer explained so far about her skills and talents, I don’t see many other options for her other than the Service Sect or becoming fuel for the Tower.”

  “Let us hope that last resort is not reached,” Petal replied sadly. “We still have Alaina and Salman to meet with.”

  “I doubt Alaina will take her with that kind of background. This one’s obviously not a scholar—”

  “I’m hoping she’ll see the promise in the Talents we’ve speculated so far and consider her for a slip.”

  Hank shook his head. “Well, good luck with that, but you know she hates taking risks, and that’s exactly what this Wayfarer is.”

  Petal gave a heavy sigh. “I know, but I can still hope for her sake.”

  Jin shook her own head at that as Hank turned to leave. She could already guess where she was heading, but she ended up asking Petal, “What about the Speakers? What Sect are they?”

  “The opposite of the Whispers’ Silence Sect. They are the Herald Sect and are composed of the nobility, with a few limited roles centered around administrating that others might get transferred into, but those are extremely rare cases.

  “They have never taken in an outsider before and don’t even participate in these general interviews for first-time transfers. If they want to bring in an outsider, they would already be a very well-known and heavily researched entity.”

  “So, I’m pretty much stuck with being a Servant, is what it sounds like,” she grumbled.

  Petal sighed again as he admitted, “Unless you can figure out how to turn off whatever is hiding your Talents, then probably. There’s no guarantee Salman will accept you, but he rarely declines any capable body or even less than capable ones. There’s usually some use to be made.”

  Jin grimaced at that phrasing and asked in disgust, “Like hostilely yelling insults because they don’t want to partake?”

  Petal shared her grimace. “Unfortunately. Mostly, Servants just handle cleaning, fetching things, and generally assisting others with their tasks. They serve the other Sects, usually with an assortment of odd jobs… but there have definitely been cases of people requesting other more distasteful services.”

  “It’s odd to hear someone like you call it distasteful. Isn’t that basically your entire job if you’re ‘entertaining’ someone like the prince?”

  He shook his head. “That’s the difference though. The Lovers live to bring pleasure. We can argue when someone goes against that ethos. The Servants live to serve. What argument can they give when they are the ones going against that purpose by wanting to refuse an order?”

  Jin frowned. “Don’t you have, like, laws against that kind of thing, though? Or can a Fighter just go around assaulting and murdering people ‘cause that’s part of their purpose or whatever?”

  “We have laws that help to keep order, but there’s really only three laws that matter to most. The one you’ll hear most often is ‘Sect before Self,’ which doesn’t help the Servant in the example I gave. The second is ‘By the will,’ which refers to the will of the gods. I’m sure even in your world, the words of your deities were followed with zealous fervor.”

  “Well, in some cases, sure, but not everyone believes in imaginary beings that nobody has ever seen dictating the law for the whole world.”

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Petal gave her an odd look before saying very slowly, “The gods are not imaginary. You will even get to see them in a week when the new Season begins and the Champions are selected. They are always there for the opening ceremonies.”

  Jin stared at Petal, hoping the man was joking, but when he was obviously serious, she gave a nervous chuckle and asked, “So what’s that last law everyone follows?”

  Petal shook his head at her, probably baffled by her world’s lack of gods as much as she was about their existence here, and finally said, “The Rule of Caste. Those with the more powerful Caste make the rules.”

  “Oh. Wonderful,” Jin replied with a sarcastic roll of her eyes. “Of course, it comes down to the timeless rule of might makes right.”

  “Good to see that at least that concept isn’t completely foreign to you,” he replied with a chuckle.

  “You mentioned earlier that the Caste system was levels of magic that could be gained,” she said. “Exactly how many levels are we talkin’ here?”

  “Technically six, but many don’t count Mundanes at the bottom tier,” Petal explained as he continued writing on the parchment scroll. “From Mundane, it goes Crystal, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, then Obsidian at the top, but this world hasn’t seen anything above Emerald since the Originals died.”

  “Originals?”

  “The first humans that came here to Erythrós from Makera. It was thousands of years ago since then, but it’s where most of our knowledge of magic and Wayfarers came from.”

  “Where’s Makera? Is that another reality?”

  “No, just another planet in our solar system. I believe the species there were all wiped out from the plague the Originals were trying to flee, though. As far as I’m aware, no others have come here from there since.”

  “How did they get here? Do you all have, like, magic spaceships?”

  Petal gave a small smile. “Well, I’m certain magic was involved, but the methods have been lost to time. I’ve never heard of a ship sailing through space, though. There are stories of airships flying through the skies of Makera, but most of the magic levels here aren’t strong enough to support them. That’s why the Ruby and Obsidian Casters all died eventually.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He sighed, setting the pen down as he tried to explain, “When a person becomes a Caster, starting at Crystal, their body changes. It becomes more magical. That magic still needs replenishment; in other words, they need Crystal Caste food. The highest area of ambient magic is here by the Tower, where it reaches Mid Emerald Caste. So it’s impossible to sustain a Ruby or Obsidian here.”

  “So, really, these Emerald Casters are the rulers here?”

  “Yes, Queen Theris is the strongest Emerald Caster in the city.”

  “So, I just have to climb three tiers up the Caste ladder to be at the top?” Jin clarified, then shrugged. “That doesn’t seem so bad… Are there like a thousand levels for each tier or something ridiculous like that?”

  “Only ten that we measure by,” Petal chuckled. “But most people won’t ever reach Emerald,” he added with a sigh.

  At his wistful tone, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”

  He gave a sad smile and shrugged. “They usually die first.”

  “Listen, Petal,” Jin said as they waited for the next rep to show up, “you seem like a nice enough guy. How about you just let me out of here and say I, like, used some hidden Talent to trick you or something?”

  Petal snorted a laugh. “Aside from the fact that I’m Sapphire Caste and any Mundane level Talent like that wouldn’t affect me, where do you plan to go?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug. “A different city that doesn’t know I’m a Wayfarer or ruined the prince’s birthday cake and doesn’t want to make me some kind of slave.”

  He shook his head. “Anyone with aura senses can feel that you’re not human, which means Wayfarer is the only other option. Also, you’d likely die before reaching the next city as a Mundane with no supplies or protection.”

  “I mean, I’m probably not great at camping, but I could probably scavenge or—”

  “Please listen carefully,” Petal interrupted as he fixed her with a serious gaze. “Trust me when I say you will not survive the hundreds of miles of desert dunes teeming with Corrupted undead monsters on your own. Even if you have some hidden Talent to not need food or water as a Mundane, those monsters will devour you as soon as the sun stops shining, and maybe even before then, depending on the type of monster.”

  Jin swallowed past the lump in her throat at that information as she muttered, “Good to know monsters are a thing here, too. I guess I should have just assumed that came with the magic. Apparently, getting sent to a magical world without even a set of starter clothes and with a terrible faction system wasn’t enough of a ‘fuck you’ from that crazy witch.”

  “It could be worse,” a new voice said, and Jin turned to look through the bars at the woman dressed in all black leather casually leaning in the dungeon doorway. “You could already be dead.”

  “Always with the dramatic entrance, Alaina?” Petal asked with an amused smile.

  “Always,” she replied with a grin then moved to squat in front of Jin’s cell. The beautiful woman stared at her with eyes that seemed to glow a bright blue and she felt that same weird pressure that the queen seemed to have caused earlier when ordering everyone to calm down.

  “Well, that’s fascinating,” Alaina said after a moment before looking back toward Petal. “I didn’t think it was possible for a Mundane to hide from my eyes, but I guess what they say about Wayfarers breaking the rules is proving true.”

  Petal sighed and handed over the scroll. “Unfortunately so.”

  Then, the strangest thing Jin had experienced so far was when she was able to understand the subtle hand movements Petal made toward the Whisper.

  “Can’t you take and protect her?”

  Alaina didn’t seem to look away from the paper as she gestured back in the odd sign language, “Not without good cover.”

  Then the Whisper said out loud, “There’s not much going for her. It looks like her otherworldly knowledge is limited as well. She didn’t specialize in anything that we could try to study and replicate based on this.”

  “No allies among higher ranked Servants. She won’t be safe,” Petal signed as he spoke aloud. “I thought her Talent to hide her information would show potential as a slip.”

  Alaina glanced back at Jin as she signed, “I’ll send a watcher.”

  Then she asked Jin, “Have you ever killed anyone before, girl?”

  She was surprised by the question, and distracted by the second conversation taking place, but shook her head. “No. I’ve never had a reason to.”

  Jin contemplated signing back to show she could understand them, but the next signs sent by the Whisper made her hesitate. “Can’t use her if she’s dead.”

  Out loud, Alaina asked her, “Does that mean if you had a reason to kill, you would do so?”

  Jin glared up at the assassin representative as she coldly stated, “I would if someone tried to force me to do something I didn’t want to do… or use me like some kind of tool.”

  Both reps looked at her in surprise before Alaina’s face split in a grin as she signed to her instead, “Speak of this to anyone and the Whispers in the dark will be the last thing you hear.”

  “I think some time with the Servants might do her some good,” Alaina said to Petal. “Teach her a bit about what life here is really like for the least fortunate among us.”

  Then she signed one last thing before departing. “Maybe that will motivate her to change it.”