Never-ending golden fields of wheat filled the horizon resembling a desert, only broken by a single dusty road with small patches of dried-out grass on its sides. A pungent smell of either boiled or rotting vegetation filled the nostrils of tired travelers.

  Vex was debating whether to throw a tantrum or just fall down and refuse to get up. He decided on the latter. He didn't have enough energy for the former.

  "Lord Vex get up. The spirits warned me of disasters. C'mon."

  She groaned while trying to lift him. Vex got a little excited. He lifted his head only to get a direct view of Amelie's chest, her dress tightly hugging...

  "NOTHING. NOTHING AT ALL!"

  Vex dropped his head again. Every time he got excited it was followed by disappointment. He never learned. Hal ten steps ahead stopped. Hal liked mischief but this situation was difficult for him too. In times like these he became a problem solver. He walked to Vex took a pinch out of a small pouch hidden under his cloak and dropped it into a canteen. The liquid inside bubbled.

  "Drink this you puny emperor. It's a special formula I made myself."

  "What is it four-eyes?"

  "I call it 'Energizing drink.' It contains minerals you quickly lose in intense heat."

  "Electrolytes?"

  "Electrolytes? That's an awesome name. I'll make sure to patent it!"

  "Hey that's my ide-"

  Hal quickly stuffed the neck of the flask into the emperor's mouth. He pulled out two small plate-shaped artifacts.

  "Put these on your neck but make sure not to touch the wires. It'll short."

  Vex wasn't familiar with artifacts. They were still a mystery to him. He lifted his torso chugged the electrolyte drink and reluctantly slapped the plates on. They felt cold. It cooled him down fast and he was ready to continue.

  Amelie looked amazed. Hal saw her expression and gave her one too.

  "The spiritssss ohhh they're dragging me down to the underworld I feel their chill..."

  "Amelie it's just Vex grabbing your thigh."

  ?????

  From afar a trio blended in with the wheat spied on them.

  "Miss they're taking advantage of that girl. Such evil acts."

  A man asked.

  "Are they our target?"

  The duo looked at their commander. She was pissed. Rage and disgust were plastered across her noble face. They were terrified of her and stopped asking deciding not to poke the sleeping bear.

  "From royalty to playing in the mud... That freak will pay."

  She regained her composure and answered her servants.

  "No. The target is only the black-haired one."

  The king had shown no mercy. Advised by his assistant he kept her in a cell before releasing her. The day Alixa was banished she wandered the market of the capital with only the clothes on her back. Unlike the hero she didn't receive any gold. By evening she was contacted by AFO — Alrich Forced Opposition. A group made up of Aldrich citizens either disappointed or hurt by its government. Blacklisted from most opportunities in Aldrich they dealt in illegal substances counterfeiting and forgery. Alixa had previously contacted them. They supplied the substance to poison the king. Other than that she was unaware of AFO's practices and goals and most of what she knew was that it was a shady organization. With no other shortcuts to gain back power she swore loyalty to AFO justifying her decision by thinking of it as a stepping stool to political power. In her mind she was going to purify the group before using them to reclaim her title as royalty. She idolized herself poetically.

  "Their resources will be my price of silence."

  A week after being recruited she joined a stage on a dark evening her silhouette traced by a bonfire's light. With a regal step she walked to the center of the stage her manners practiced to look as authoritative as possible. As she walked the crowd chanted "ONE FOR ALL!" repeatedly. Alixa understood what kind of situation she was in. With a stern face her mind wandered her heart wavering on her decision.

  "Well things can only go up from here..."

  Alixa set herself two main goals. The first was to get back her political power rile up citizens and start a coup becoming the new leader of Aldrich. She dreamed big. Transforming a shady organization into a legit political party was no small task but she was prepared to endure it. It was for the good of the kingdom after all. Her father's attempt to claim neighboring territories by starting "evil purging" missions disgusted her and for that reason the hero had to come down too. Her second goal was to kill the hero. It was mainly driven by hate toward him. She only justified her objective by saying she needed to remove a puppet used to aid in the king's missions. It was purely performative. The king had no hold over Vex and ironically never wanted to see him again. Every day she imagined herself strangling Vex seeing the life leave his eyes.

  "What kind of name even is Vex? But I guess Patrich doesn't sound any better. And that buffoon calls himself an emperor now. I can't let him taint the name of royalty!"

  "What was that princess?"

  Alixa blushed out of embarrassment. She couldn't keep her mouth shut.

  "Hey they're gone you idiots! Why didn't you tell me?"

  "We tried..."

  When Alixa got lost in her mind the world around her disappeared. The heat deluding her mind further didn't help. She didn't hear her assistants' repeated warnings.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  "Oh whatever. It's not like that idiot went anywhere far. He's just further up the road."

  Alixa's group sneaked toward Curla carefully keeping up their camouflage. By evening, sweaty, smelly and tired they arrived at Curla without finding Vex's group.

  ?????

  Back in the afternoon on the road, Amelie noticed a hatch in the soil.

  "What's that my lord?"

  Vex scratched his stale hair. He had never seen random hatches on wheat fields. He wasn't even one to go near wheat fields in his world. Hal interjected.

  "It comes from an old workers' approach. On a hot day when a field had too many workers to efficiently approach it, half of them would hide in the cellar cooling themselves down while the other half worked. They changed shifts regularly and got the job done without much discomfort."

  Vex remembered his NEET life waking up at night sleeping through the day.

  "Are we stupid? We'll just sleep in the cellar while the sun is scorching and we'll travel at night. The road is straight and goes for hours. We can easily navigate it the dark."

  While Alixa's group crawled through the dirt in intense heat and itchy dust Vex's group rested in the cool cellar waiting for the sun to stop its mad heat before continuing their travels.

  As the sun started to set Vex, Amelie and Hal fully replenished and energized continued their trip. It took only 3 hours to reach Curla compared to Alixa's 8 hours.

  Alixa and her goons were staked out near the entrance of the city. They were barely awake since it was near midnight. Once Alixa saw Vex coming through the arch decorating the city's entrance she instantly became sharp again.

  "How? Just how did he outplay us? Their group is relaxed and full of energy while we're tired and have lost all motivation. Is he actually smart or is it just his luck?"

  Hal and Vex chatted about artifacts. Magic intrigued Vex although he was really disappointed he'd never achieve true magic.

  "It's weird it took me a month to figure out this world has magic... Damn it! I wanted to be a magician making blades dance or at least divine some treasure from a map like a magic trick."

  Hal was shocked.

  "This world? What do you mean?"

  Amelie explained in her own delusional way.

  "Lord Vex is not of this world! He was sent by the stars here!"

  "Is this true Vex?"

  "Yeah I'm not originally from this world. Anyway the tavern is here. Let's gather some info on the noble who might have Amelie's clothes. We'll chat about it later."

  Hal disregarded the "later" part. For the whole evening he pestered Vex with technical questions, Vex wasn't qualified to answer, only to gain basic replies and poor explanations. Hal would've gone for it the whole evening but, Vex, tired from his barrage of questions childishly decided to completely ignore him as if he didn't exist.

  "Can't that nerd shut up for a day jeez."

  Vex began chatting with Amelie to spite Hal and his annoying inquisitive nature. They weren't social people so they talked about small things. What kind of flowers they liked. Their favorite desserts. Their perfect afternoon on a sunny day. Right as they arrived at the inn Vex realized he actually liked Amelie. It was a first for him. Instead of lust he felt a pure enjoyment of his female friend's company. At that moment he had no lustful thoughts about her. Those thoughts quickly faded away when she started screaming.

  "Lord look!"

  She pointed to a freshly pinned note on the bulletin board outside the inn. She may have been unable to read but the main piece of the auction was advertised by half the paper. A sketch of her beloved robes right in the middle surrounded by other art pieces and artifacts. It was an ad for an auction happening tomorrow. It was already dark. Vex squinted.

  "Auction? Tomorrow at 9. Lord Gils' manor."

  "WE FOUND THEM!"

  Vex and Amelie turned to each other their smiles reaching their ears. They held each other's hands and started jumping out of joy singing.

  "Weee found the Ro-obes."

  Hal looked at Vex.

  "So this is the guy calling himself the Gale sent from the shadows?"

  Alixa, hiding in the bushes, had a similar reaction.

  "Just how childish is he!"

  Her goon commented.

  "I don't know, he seems fun."

  Vex's group booked a single 3-bed room. Somehow Vex had yet to waste all their money in his usual ways. Amelie enjoyed their "luxurious" room while she had the chance to. For the first time in a long time she went to a real shower. She was used to washing herself in springs and rivers so even the inn's public shower room felt luxurious for her. Hal was organizing his notes writing down intel he got about Vex's original world. Meanwhile Vex ordered ale to reward himself after a "long day". Hal finally managed to make Vex talk by attacking his ego.

  "A long day "emperor"? Should I remind you we slept for half of the day?"

  Vex's cheeks were already slightly blushed from the ale. He didn't feel hurt. He just felt a need to defend himself. And for him the best defense was always an attack.

  "What do you know about hard work noble nerd? I bet you never worked a day in your life."

  "Look who's talking."

  "Show some respect. I paid for your room four-eyes."

  "Oh how hospitable "emperor". You didn't even treat me to some ale!"

  "Oh you want some? Here take it."

  Vex threw his half-full glass at Hal.

  Crack.

  It shattered all over Hal's cape and drenched it. Hal quickly took out all of his gadgets he kept under there. Vex smiled seeing Hal's concerned look. His most expensive artifact was soaked in ale. It had a sensitive mechanism that was expensive due to its fragility.

  "You ruined my stasis gun!"

  "You ruined my ale!"

  Amelie relaxed and ready to meet her pals entered the room. Hal was on top of Vex trying to choke him out. Vex used his knee to kick Hal in the balls. Hal let out a wheezing high-pitched scream. They grabbed each other's hands defending themselves. It was a typical battle between two weaklings who had never been in a real fight. Amelie turned red looking at the sight through the gaps of her fingers. After deciding it was enough she grabbed a glass ball she carried around thinking it was a crystal ball used for divinations and threw it at them screaming.

  "INDECENT!"

  It was way off but the sound it made alerted the whole inn. The owner forced herself into their room. She had a stern motherly look that boys like Vex and Hal were scared of. After a good scolding on "social etiquette" she left knowing no more incidents would happen today. After forcefully being calmed down the pair were on their best behavior.

  It was the middle of the night. Vex and Amelie were sleeping. Hal still tinkered with his gadget hoping to save it. The night got to him. He laid his head on the table and joined his companions.

  As it dropped from his hand, the artifact activated. Chaos sizzled leftover liquid around it and a small blueish blast hit Hal's lips.

  The morning came. Light rays blissfully filled their room hitting Hal's Chaos minerals and refracting the light around them. Amelie awake and ready decided to wake up Vex in a fun way. She had heard multiple times Vex's drunk confessions of how he would love if a girl sat on him. So she sat on his stomach and started hitting his chest.

  "Wakey wakey! The stars are smiling and a girl is sitting on you to start the day the right way!"

  Vex still half asleep thought he was dreaming. The situation sounded too good. A girl was willingly sitting on him and asking him to "start the day the right way." His mind went to places it usually did. Eyelids closed, he slightly lifted his head and reached for the girl's chest.

  "Mmmm yeah... gimme those melons."

  As he reached further and further he finally realized the lack of it. His eyes got wide open instantly. His pervy smile twisted to a frown of annoyance. He looked at Amelie's confused eyes before dropping his head to the side and exhaling.

  "How do I keep falling for it? Sometimes reality is the real nightmare."

  Hal woke up.

  "Ouch my neck."

  But no understandable sound came from his mouth. When he tried to open his lips he failed. They were sealed. He looked at the degraded artifact and instantly understood what happened to him.

  Vex saw Hal looking at them not saying a word. He thought to himself:

  "Well look who learned his lesson."

  On their way to the manor Vex couldn't stop laughing at Hal's situation. Hal's notes explaining the situation only made Vex burst louder.

  "Oh come on four-eyes! Finally some peace and quiet - it's like the gods heard my prayers and zipped your yapper shut. Bet you wish you could patent a "shut-up serum" now huh?"

  Hal scribbled furiously: "This is temporary - laugh while you can."

  Vex grinned wider.

  "Temporary? Nah this is a gift. Imagine all the lectures I won't have to hear! No more 'Vex explain quantum physics from your world' crap. Bliss!"

  By the time they reached the manor Vex was wheezing tears in his eyes.

  As they arrived they saw it. They were too late. The auction had already ended. Sleeping during the day yesterday had ruined their sleeping schedule.

  Alixa and her goons still watched from afar.