“What you’re describing is called chowder, and yeah, we can stock some of it,” Henry said as they both floated hundreds of feet above the city. It was somewhat of a cold night, but that didn’t seem to deter the population of First Landing. Henry could pick up plenty of folks going in and out of the various taverns spread around the main thoroughfare, one of which was leaning against one of the many lanterns that lit up the streets with his hand on his stomach. “Plus now that we’re talking about it, I kinda want to get some myself,” he mused as he stretched his hands above his head.

  After coming back from the meeting with Attal, Henry had found that most of the crew had gone out to enjoy the city and its night life. Henry was tempted to join, but he was in no rush, especially considering how he had found Maurice. The crab—still in his teen-looking disguise—had been sitting on the edge of the tavern’s roof, camouflaged while he watched the people coming and going. While it was clear that the crab was enjoying his meditative people-watching, something was clearly bugging him and for that, what better was there than a quick stroll to get some fresh air? If they had been in the ocean still, a swim would have done wonders but Henry was pretty confident that flying was a close second.

  Floating above the city and watching the people go about their business was pretty relaxing, Henry had to admit. There was something special about hovering above it all. Not in a self-aggrandizing kind of way, but more of a ‘problems seem easier to deal with when looked at from this angle’ sort of way.

  “It was amazing,” Maurice said with a nod, and Henry smiled. In his old life, Henry had gone nearly 20 years without trying the dish so when he’d first experienced it, it had been a revelation. So he could definitely see where Maurice was coming from. “I went to get some more on the way back,” the crab went on, “but I got interrupted and then it was too late.”

  Henry looked up. “Interrupted?”

  Maurice waved a hand. “Some people thought I had a ring like Velistraine and Ash’s. The anti-Identify stuff. I tried to fake being afraid with them, but the leader saw through me. But I think I’m getting close. I fooled her lackeys.” He chuckled darkly, rubbing his hands together. “Anyway. She didn’t buy it, and when I told her I’m leaving, she stopped her weak followers from trying anything. It wouldn’t have even been worth the mana to fight them,” he said with a fake sigh and a shrug, a small sheepish smile.

  Henry gave Maurice a sidelong glance. The red-headed teen was sitting cross-legged in the air, content to let Henry carry them both with Telekinesis as he peered down at the crowd below. So he got mugged, today?

  “Is that what you were worried about?”

  Maurice’s smile slipped, and he shook his head. The crab was quiet for a few moment, and Henry was almost tempted to speak, but he stayed quiet and waited. He could definitely feel that something was off, but the best he could do was give Maurice the opportunity to speak up. In the meantime, Henry continued his training. Now that there was no ongoing crisis to monopolize his attention and that of his Octominds, he got them back on soul-reinforcing regimen. All throughout his body, multiple instances of Telekinesis were running, each one surrounding a patch of air and compressing it. It was straining enough as an exercises, but not too distracting, so when Maurice finally spoke up nearly a full minute later, Henry was fully present.

  And so Henry learned about what had happened since he’d gone with Attal. About his chat with Ash and Fabian and the uncertainties he’d been wrestling with about the whole situation and soon enough, the issue slowly grew clearer to Henry. Most conflicts Maurice had had to deal with had been possible to solve with raw strength. There had been that one thing with Tevarius and his son back in Thalis, but even that was somewhat a clear-cut case of noble douche-baggery that had been pretty easy to resolve. This thing with Ash though? It was a couple of levels above that. This was what the likes of Tevarius would have done if they had been given free reign.

  “Why… did something like that happen to Ash?” Maurice simply asked. “This place isn’t like the sea, right? There are rules and everything, just like you told me before. That part I understand. But if there are rules….”

  Maurice trailed off, and Henry nodded along as he considered the question and after a few more seconds, he finally answered. “I think you’re having a little of an issue because the first human city you’ve experienced was Thalis.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  That made Maurice frown thoughtfully as he looked up, but Henry wasn’t done. “What do you think would have happened if the hostile takeover that affected Ash had taken place in Thalis?”

  Maurice’s brows furrowed even more as the crab considered the question and after a moment, he glanced back down at the lantern-lit city. “I don’t think it would have happened,” the crab finally managed after a while. “First of all, if another family attacked hers, I think there would have been a lot of people who would have stopped it. People like Zamir and Arisia and Zerathstra. I don’t think they’d let anything like that happen. Secondly, everyone over there is B-rank or almost there. I don’t think it’d be that easy to just attack and take over someone else’s home and things. Third, there’s probably a rule that covers this situation. Like the duels. And if those rules make it possible to take someone else’s home, I bet it still wouldn’t be okay to kill after the fact. Plus, in duels, both fighters agree to the duel. This is more like…”

  “An ambush?” provided Henry, and Maurice nodded.

  “Yes. A surprise attack.””

  Henry nodded thoughtfully. “I’m afraid I’m not an expert on this sort of subject, and once things calm down, I’m sure we can find you a few books on the matter, but try to follow me. This is a big city. Bigger than Thalis. There are a lot more people here and so, to keep things somewhat in order, you need to have some rules in place. Rules that say you can’t just beat someone to death just because their house is better than yours. Laws. And often, these laws are established by those in power. Whether they got that power through votes, or because their faction is the most powerful, or they’re some sort of super powerful A-rank, it doesn’t make much of a difference. The point is, these laws are the guidelines of how things should be. But if there’s no one to enforce them, then they’re sort of useless.”

  Maurice was listening intently, and though Henry paused for a short second to get his thoughts in order, the crab didn’t interrupt. “Back in Thalis, there are people like Zamir to intervene and do what’s right. They have the council, they have elders like Arisia, and there’s Zerathstra watching above them all. Thalis has trustworthy people in power. Powerful people who care. And I think what allowed that tragedy to take place is that the same couldn’t be said about this island. At least, not when the takeover took place.”

  Maurice looked up at him for a second, head tilted, then slowly nodded. “So the rules aren’t always applied, and those that are supposed to apply the rules can ignore them whenever they feel like it? Like… the guards who showed up earlier today. Even though we did nothing wrong, they stood with the noble and acted as if we were bad people.”

  Just thinking about that situation made Henry press his lips together in annoyance. Still, he nodded. “Exactly. Those that enforce the rules can sometimes be… biased. And considering they’re all nobles, it’s possible that the Clydemar made sure they had the backing of other powerful families—or law enforcement—in their pocket before they moved. And once Ash’s family was chased away, there was no one to kick up much of a fuss. That was likely why they’d tried to catch her, and why her family smuggled her away in the night.”

  Maurice’s shoulders deflated, and Henry tapped him on the back as the crab grumbled. “Well that sucks. Does that mean they might do something crappy at tomorrow’s duel? Should we be ready for a fight?”

  Henry hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then he shrugged. “If they do, then we don’t have to take it. Even if things go bad, we’re leaving soon anyway. We’ll warn Attal, just in case. Though I don’t know what Ash is planning for the rest of the Clydemar. We’re gonna have to see about that. I guess it’s gonna be on Velistraine to look into that, but we’ll see.”

  Over the next few minutes, Henry recounted what he’d learned from Attal and of the creature he had seen. A quick illusion displayed it to the curious crab, but they were supposed to head back to Attal’s lab in the morning anyway, and Maurice could see it there.

  “So that’s what had been chasing after me in the vision. Looks scary. Did you get a bite from it?”

  Henry shuddered a little at the thought and shook his head. “No. Attal said he could get me some, but I’m not sure if I should try it right now. Considering this thing is not of this world and considering that just connecting to it telepathically had affected me, I worry that eating from it might do something weird. It feels like a dumb risk, and after what happened with the Stinglance, I’d rather not take any of those anytime soon. Maybe once I hit A-rank it’d be safer. I’ll store some of it anyway, and we’ll see.”

  Hovering above it all, Henry and Maurice continued chatting for a few more minutes and as they did, Henry lightened up his training and locating a specific skill-nexus he’d been preserving, he powered it up and watched the connecting thread to the Bahamut whales brighten up and extend toward the horizon. Eventually, he’d visit them but for now, Henry and Maurice opted to go down for a bite and to hang with the others. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.