The morning light was still soft and grey when I woke, but the Builder's headquarters was already humming with a quiet, purposeful energy. My muscles, which had screamed in protest for the first few days, were now accustomed to the rhythm of the work—lift, carry, place, repeat. I was actually looking forward to another day on the walls with Fen. There was a simple satisfaction in seeing a structure become whole again under your hands.
After the shared meal, something had shifted. The other summons no longer looked at me like a curious anomaly. I was still the new guy, the glitched player with the dangerous orb, but I was also just… Kael. The guy who helped Fen with the wall.
I was just pulling on my boots when Lyra appeared in my doorway, her presence as subtle and expected as the rising sun. "Good morning, Kael-sama. Please forgive the intrusion."
"Morning, Lyra. No intrusion at all," I said, expecting her to give me my daily assignment. "Which section of the wall are we patching today?"
"Your duties will be different this morning," she replied, her expression as placid as ever. In her hands, she held a flat, rectangular case made of dark, polished wood and sealed with a glowing blue rune. "The Master has an errand for you."
I froze, my half-tied boot forgotten. "For me? Directly from the Builder?"
"Indeed," she said, extending the case to me. It felt heavy, not in weight, but in importance. The rune on the seal pulsed with a steady, calm light. "This is an official communique for the leadership of the Administrator Faction. You are to deliver it to their faction hall. Directly into the hands of a senior official."
My throat went dry. The Administrators. The faction Erina had described as stuffy rule-followers. This wasn't a simple delivery quest. This was a political errand. A mission into the heart of another faction's territory.
"Why me?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "Wouldn't Elara or Silas be better for this? Someone who actually understands… protocol and stuff?"
"The Master chose you," Lyra said, and her tone made it clear that the Master's choices were not to be questioned. "This is a task that requires a neutral party. Your status as a newcomer makes you uniquely suited for this role."
"Uniquely suited to get lost or say the wrong thing and start an inter-factional incident, you mean," I muttered. I could already picture the scowling faces and the endless rulebooks Erina had joked about. There was no way I could refuse, but there was also no way I was going this alone.
"Alright," I said, taking the case. "I'll do it. But I'll need some backup."
My first stop was the training yard. Valerius was already there, a blur of motion as he practiced deflecting energy bolts fired from a series of crystalline turrets. "Hey, Valerius! Got a minute?"
CLANG! He deflected a shot without looking at me. "My reaction time to a randomized, multi-vector energy assault is currently 0.3 seconds suboptimal," he stated, his voice tight with concentration. "I must recalibrate. I am occupied."
Okay. Strike one. I found Fen in the central workshop, hunched over a massive blueprint of what looked like the city's entire aqueduct system. "Fen, the Builder needs me to—"
He didn't even look up, just tapped a section of the blueprint with a thick finger. "Water pressure in Sector Gamma is unstable. Catastrophic pipe failure is a 74% probability within the next cycle. The work cannot wait."
Strike two. I didn't even bother trying to talk to Elara, who was sitting cross-legged in a quiet corner, surrounded by a complex array of floating, shifting runes that made the air around her hum. The look of intense concentration on her face told me she was wrestling with something far more important than my delivery quest. As for Silas, I'd caught a glimpse of him scaling the outer wall like a spider, a dark shape against the morning sky. No chance.
I walked back to the main hall, feeling thoroughly dejected. All five of the Builder's companions were working on tasks critical to the city's survival. My job? Playing messenger boy.
I slumped down at the long wooden table where we'd eaten dinner. "Wow," I said to the empty room. "You guys sure know how to treat the new team member. Just toss him to the paper-pushing wolves all by himself."
"It is a sign of the Master's trust," Lyra's voice commented from behind me. She placed a small, wrapped parcel on the table. "A waterskin and a ration bar for your journey."
I sighed, picking up the parcel and the wooden case. "Thanks, Lyra. I appreciate it." I guess this was it. Time to face the bureaucrats.
I walked to the massive front doors, the weight of the case in my hands feeling heavier with every step. Lyra followed, ready to see me off.
"The Administrator Faction Hall is located in the central plaza. It is the tallest spire," she instructed. "Do not deviate from the path, and do not surrender the case to anyone but a confirmed official. The Master is counting on you, Kael-sama."
"Right. No pressure," I muttered, and pulled open the heavy door.
Standing on the other side, hand raised mid-knock, was Erina. Her orange hair was bright in the morning sun, and she held up a small paper bag with a triumphant grin.
"Morning!" she chirped. "Ready for another exciting day of hard labor? I brought honey-cakes!"
A wave of immense relief washed over me. An ally. A guide. Someone who actually knew how this city worked. "Erina! You have no idea how glad I am to see you."
Before I could explain, Lyra stepped forward, her movements fluid and deliberate. Her polite, placid expression was firmly in place, but her amber eyes held a new, unyielding authority.
"Erina of the Adventurer Faction," Lyra said, her voice formal and carrying an odd resonance that made the air still. "Your arrival is most fortunate."
Erina's cheerful demeanor faltered. She lowered the bag of honey-cakes, her eyes darting between me and the unnervingly formal attendant. "Uh, yeah, sure is. I was just stopping by to see how Kael was doing."
"The Master has assigned Kael-sama a task of critical importance," Lyra continued, ignoring Erina's explanation. "He is to deliver official correspondence to the Administrative Faction Hall. Given the sensitive nature of this task and Kael-sama's relative inexperience with inter-factional protocol, a knowledgeable escort is prudent."
The penny dropped. I saw the trap closing just as Erina did. Her smile vanished completely, replaced by a look of dawning horror.
"Wait, hold on," she stammered, taking a step back. "I can't. I have a patrol scheduled. We're clearing out a nest of Razor-bugs near the west gate."
Lyra's gaze did not waver. "The Builder Faction formally requests your assistance in this matter. Your cooperation will be noted as a positive contribution to the continued stability and diplomatic harmony of Out of Boundary City."
It was a masterclass in coercion. The words were a polite request, but the meaning was an iron-clad command. Refusing a direct, formal request from the faction that literally built and maintained the city was a political move no one in their right mind would make.
Erina was completely and utterly trapped.
She let out a long, theatrical groan, her shoulders slumping in defeat. She shot me a withering glare, one that promised retribution later. "You planned this, didn't you?"
I could only offer a helpless, apologetic shrug and a weak grin. "Welcome to the errand, partner."
Lyra gave a single, perfect bow, the matter settled. "We are grateful for your assistance, Erina-san. Please ensure Kael-sama completes his task safely."
And with that, she turned and glided back into the shadowed halls of the headquarters, the great door closing behind her with a final, definitive boom.
Erina and I were left standing on the street, the morning sun warming our faces. She shoved the bag of honey-cakes into my hands.
"Fine," she sighed, cracking her neck. "Let's go visit the soulless bureaucrats. But you owe me. Big time."