Hal and Amelie stood near the main market entrance. They stuck out like sore thumbs. Hal hadn’t expected Wavel fashion to be this different. Inside the castle walls everything was clean and pristine, but the people already looked exhausted even though it was barely morning. Hal glanced at Amelie’s patched-up robes.

  “We should start with disguises. Our clothes will scream ‘outsiders’ instantly.”

  “I know! I’ve got an idea!”

  Amelie started undressing right there in the middle of the street. Hal’s cheeks went red, whether from embarrassment or the visuals was unclear. He covered his eyes with his palm.

  “What are you doing?!”

  Amelie finished pulling off her robes, flipped them inside-out, folded them inward, and tied the sleeves into a handle, turning the whole thing into a surprisingly fashionable oversized bag.

  “Brrr, chilly! But now I won’t stand out, and my precious robes stay right next to me.”

  Hal peeked through his fingers. Amelie was happily admiring her simple dress and the massive bag hanging off her hip.

  “Wait… you had that dress under there the whole time?”

  “Yes! The stars told me to prepare.”

  She pouted a little.

  “Maybe if you listened to the stars sometimes they’d help you too.”

  “Maybe. Those stars of yours are pretty smart. Guess I approached this too mechanically. Anyway, let’s go to the market, we’ll get you a jacket.”

  “But we don’t have any money!”

  “We’ll think of something. I may not have that idiot’s luck, but I can make up for it with my brain.”

  “‘Lord’! Not ‘idiot’!”

  ?????

  The market was unexpectedly bustling. Merchants’ tables overflowed with colorful fabrics and Wavel’s latest fashion. But the closer you looked, the more cracks appeared in the perfect image—bags under every seller’s eyes, prices crossed out and slashed multiple times, constant nervous twitching and paranoid glances.

  “Hal, I sense really dark energy here…”

  “I see it. Don’t need a sixth sense for this one.”

  Amelie pouted. She looked at the merchants and her face suddenly washed over with sadness.

  “Poor people… already set up at the crack of dawn. I feel bad for them.”

  “We can use this to our advantage.”

  “But what about them?”

  “Remember the mission. We’re here to fix Wavel. We’re working on it. I’ve got an idea, can you make me a cap?”

  “If it’s for them, easy!”

  They snuck back into an alley. Hal rummaged in his bag and pulled out a tiny book titled "1000 Things You Didn’t Know About Wavel". He flipped to a page called “Internal Affairs Officers: Scary or Handsome?” and pointed at a picture of a very specific hat. Amelie nodded confidently.

  She pulled a sewing kit from her new bag. Hal suddenly felt like she might actually be better prepared than him.

  “You’re not as dumb as you look, Amelie.”

  “Of course I’m not, you meanie!”

  “What else do you keep in those robes… bag?”

  “Just the essentials. Sewing kit, variety of herbs, simple soap, coins when I have them, and a few crystals for luck. I wanted a crystal ball too, but it didn’t really fit.”

  Hal pictured Amelie trying to hide a crystal ball under her robes, belly bulging out like she was pregnant. He squeezed his eyes shut as hard as possible, trying not to laugh.

  Ten minutes later Hal was attaching his freshly forged badge to a folding passport, mimicking the appearance from the book.

  “Haaal~, it’s done.”

  “Whoa. That was fast.”

  He looked at the cap, it was almost identical. Amelie explained.

  “I didn’t have the exact same color sadly.”

  “Have no worries, it’ll suffice.”

  “I used a patch from my robes to make it, so the spirits will protect you!”

  Hal smiled awkwardly, hoping it wasn’t from the crotch area.

  “Uh… that’s nice…”

  He stashed all his artifacts and tools in an empty barrel they found nearby and stepped back into the market wearing the new cap and a suddenly non-lumpy cloak. He looked like a proper internal affairs officer.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Hal scanned stalls, calculating probabilities in his head. He stopped at one selling apparel and small household artifacts.

  “Are these people really that desperate? Selling their home appliances…”

  He approached the merchant, who looked like he hadn’t slept in three days. The man was staring into nothing. Most people were just passing by anyway.

  Hal stayed silent at first, pretending to browse while scheming. His hand drifted toward a burner plate. Then he heard a sudden dramatic scream.

  “That’s the sign.”

  He snapped a second activator onto the burner artifact while the merchant was distracted. It instantly glowed red-hot.

  “Hey! Old man, look! Your faulty burner just singed my premium beetlesilk sleeve!”

  The merchant turned to him, panicked.

  “That can’t be! I was using it yesterday, it worked just fine!”

  “Well look what it did now. Do you know who I am?”

  Hal flashed the forged badge. The merchant started shaking.

  “Internal Affairs? But… what are you doing at the market? And besides, I thought all of you became guards…”

  “I’m from a new branch. We investigate sales and I’m suspecting you of selling unfunctional artifacts.”

  “Please, take anything, just don’t take me to that tower.”

  “State demands restitution. Your cheap cloth isn’t enough.”

  “Fine! Take it!!”

  The merchant threw his coin pouch at Hal’s feet.

  ?????

  “Anto, did you find the intruders?”

  Anto sat in his dark bunker, eyes faintly glowing, illuminating the room. His hands jerked frantically in the air like he was typing on two invisible keyboards at once. His voice came out slow and raspy, like he’d smoked two packs a day since he was twenty.

  “Found some more rats, king.”

  In the market a woman staring at Hal suddenly blinked. Her eyes flickered from glowing red back to normal blue. Anto spun in his chair to face him. Adam turned on the light crystals.

  “How did they infiltrate?! You said our defenses are impenetrable!”

  “They appeared in the north. I’m sending drones to investigate.”

  King Adam yanked on what was left of his balding hair, then collapsed into a chair and covered his face.

  “I just don’t know what to do. What if…”

  “Relax, king. You have a wise wizard on your side. It’s just a question of time before we get them. I already sent drones to the market. All that’s left are the two who escaped.”

  Adam wiped away the hair he’d just pulled out. His voice cracked between scream and sob.

  “Look at me, Anto. I need this.”

  “Then shoo. Let me do my work.”

  ?????

  With the merchant’s coin in his pocket, Hal was already picking out an outfit for himself and a warm jacket for Amelie when he caught a white and gold flash in the corner of his eye. Three guards were sprinting toward him in perfect mechanical step.

  “Shit. Sorry Amelie… but you said it was for protection.”

  Hal flung the new cap onto the still-hot burner artifact and grabbed the clothes. The cap ignited instantly. The merchant tried to smother the flames, he threw a pile of cloth on top, not realizing burner artifacts don’t need oxygen. The fire only grew and the whole stall went up. Flames leapt to the tightly-packed neighboring stalls.

  The market exploded into impenetrable chaos- screaming, running bodies, spreading fire, buckets and liquids hurled in every direction.

  Hal met Amelie at the far exit.

  “Guards! They're onto us, I’ve only slowed them, we need to run.”

  “The spirits are sending me there.”

  Amelie pointed at a narrow alley. Hal had no better idea. Arguing with her would just waste time.

  “Fine. As long as we’re running.”

  They sprinted maybe two hundred meters. Hal was already gasping. He summoned every scrap of strength he had left, when someone snatched his cloak and yanked him sideways into a doorway. Amelie heard his yelp and darted in after him.

  It was a narrow stone-brick house with a steep roof, squeezed between identical buildings. A sign hung on chains out front "Dragon’s Denn".

  Hal flailed on the wooden floor even though no one was holding him anymore.

  “Who are you?! What do you want from me?!”

  A short man spoke up.

  “Relax ya brat. Don’t remember ya uncle?”

  Hal froze. Looked up. Bold face, unchanged in years. Ginger braid and beard.

  “Reagen?”

  Amelie exhaled in relief, still clutching a bar of soap she prepared to use as a weapon.

  “So boy, what are ya doin in Wavel?”

  “I could ask you the same. Me and this girl are in a party called Fortune’s Favored. Our leader is an anomaly- an idiot with improbable luck. I was following him to study it… then one day he decided to conquer a kingdom.”

  “Sounds like yer kinda fun. Haha.”

  “I see years took no toll on you, you old fool, but how did you recognize me? ”

  “Well… it wasn’t yer looks, boy. Last time I seen ya, you were a whippersnapper. I was in the market buyin electrical parts when I noticed your good old badge scam. Knew ya were gonna flip the market upside down, so I left quick. Got to the exit gate, saw this girl lookin out of place, told her to head my way if ya got in trouble.”

  “Sharp as ever.”

  “Listen Hal, you probably already know the situation in Wavel. A buddy of mine smuggled in some insanely rare chaos. I was lookin to buy electrical components for it before you uh…”

  “I know, I know.”

  “If the seller wasn’t lyin, this chaos can neutralize chaos-derived effects. Not the magic itself, but the leftovers it leaves behind.”

  “So basically it can’t stop a burner from heating, but it can undo a stasis field an artifact put on a door.”

  “Look at you. Glad to know ya didn’t waste the years. Yes, but it works on all magic, not just artifacts.”

  Hal connected the dots.

  “The wizard!”

  “So Hal, help me build this artifact, and I’ll help you take down that wizard.”

  “I’ve got just what you need.”

  Hal patted his cloak. Then an image of the barrel full of his tech flashed in his mind.

  “Fuck.”

  ?????

  Vex and Alixa bickered through the dimly lit dungeon corridors. The Shadow Library was heavier than it looked.

  “You’re always boasting how you’re stronger than me. You should carry it, princess ‘muscles’.”

  “And you’re so pathetic you want a girl to carry it for you.”

  The real reason Alixa refused was the message still burning in her memory.

  “Pure Maiden Required. Activation Denied.”

  “You stole the book, so you carry it.”

  “I liberated it. And you did half the job so…”

  After half an hour of arguing they settled on taking shifts.

  They traced their steps back toward the entrance, trying to avoid any traps they might have missed earlier.

  Alixa peeked through a gap in the massive bookshelf door. An elderly man in ink and glue stained robes was arranging books with exaggerated care. Wild white hair. Thick glasses.

  “Damn it. The librarian’s already here.”

  “What unprincess-like language. Is your fiancee rubbing off on you?”

  Alixa ignored the bait. Vex had zero patience, he pulled her aside and looked for himself.

  “Pfft. It’s just an old man. Worst case we knock him out.”

  “How am I not surprised?”

  “Wait. He’s walking away.”

  The librarian exited. Vex and Alixa slipped through the bookshelf gap. The side room connected directly to the main hall where the exit was.

  Vex decided instantly.

  “I say we just bolt.”

  “Ugh. Fine by me.”

  They sprinted into the main hall and yanked on the doors. Nothing moved.

  A calm, wise voice spoke from behind them.

  “What are you young rascals doing here so early? The library isn’t even open today.”

  They spun around. Vex’s jaw dropped. The Shadow Library slipped from Alixa’s hands and hit the floor with a heavy

  THUD

  Books flew through the air in perfect, bowing arcs, never colliding, gently settling into place on shelves. Seven open volumes floated in front of the old man while he casually inspected them.

  “A wizard?!”

  They screamed in unison.

  The wizard’s face twisted into fury.

  “Damaging my precious treasures? Every book is sacred!”