“That’s much better.” Max took in the roast dinner in front of him with hunger in his eyes. Apart from Cy’s spa day, they had been so careful with their funds since leaving Tsujuma. Hunger was often a familiar friend throughout his lifetimes, but when he was able to take a break, it was truly a luxury. “This place is a lot nicer than you made it out to be.”

  “I don’t know… This place creeps me out.”

  “What do you mean?” Max looked up from the big plate of food to look around the uniquely decorated space. They had misheard about the inn; it was much closer to a modern hotel than a scrappy inn. Perhaps it was funded by the duke himself? Around the space, there was a unique décor with an intense theme: horses. They were goddamn everywhere. On all the walls, there were various paintings with horses. Horse shaped cutlery, horse painted plates, horse embroidered tablecloths, and even horse looking staff wearing a horse patterned uniform. There were several taxidermied horses in the corridors to reach the dining hall. A horse with stuck on wings was suspended above. Cy nodded at the Pegasus-horse above them as an example. Max took a bite as he looked up at it. His mouth felt a little funny, but the food was too good to think about it. “That? It’s not real, you know.”

  “I know it’s not real,” Cy snapped back before his plate was put before him.

  “Well, if ya’ll need anything else then just holler.” The waiter with a long ponytail smiled at them before attending to other customers.

  Max thought about it for a moment. “You know, you got a point. This place is a little odd… The service is pretty modern. Maybe the manager is one of us?”

  “I guess,” Cy frowned. “And the horses?”

  Max took another look around before shrugging. “I don’t know. There’s probably a deeper meaning or something.”

  “No shit.” Cy finally took a bite of his meal. The rich food almost moved him to tears. It had been a rough journey north. “It’s the emblem of the duke’s family.”

  “So, what’re you confused about?” Max frowned.

  “It’s a bit excessive, isn’t it?”

  “I’ve seen worse.” Max thought about the instances, as he swallowed a mouthful. The memories tainted his food.

  “You’ve seen worse?” Cy expressed his scepticism, but his mood appeared to have perked up a bit. Was it because of the food, or Max’s reassurances? Who could tell? “Could you give an example?”

  It was annoying. Just a few seconds ago, he was able to come up with several examples but now only one memory was polluting his brain. To be fair, it was the most extreme and closest example to him. “Wheat.”

  “Wheat?” Cy couldn’t quite believe his ears. “Like the plant? Or just the grain?”

  “Three stalks of wheat,” Max recalled with a slightly twisted expression, showing his displeasure in the symbol. On the other hand, Cy was starting to warm up to the horses around him, since they seemed more reasonable than some stalks of wheat. “It wasn’t my idea,” Max grumbled.

  “Then what kind of person came up with that as a symbol? Did you partner with a farmer?”

  “It was Edric’s idea.”

  The warm atmosphere in the welcoming room suddenly soured by mentioning their mutual acquaintance. Max tried to ignore the mood by powering on with his food. “I think I’ve seen it before.” Max began choking while Cy continued, completely ignoring him struggling for breath. “Three stalks of wheat with a piece of string tying them together?” Max nodded, as the struggle continued before he was finally able to dislodge the food. “I saw it on some of the stuff he made for his mentees. I guess they were before people.”

  “It’s so dumb. He was so insistent on ‘building a community’ with people like us, and ‘creating an identity’ through symbols.” Max’s tone was as unimpressed as the first time the idea was pitched to him many lifetimes ago. “All the ones who left with Edric were part of the organisation.”

  “It’s weird to hear you criticize it so much. You even described it as a cult to BB.” Max nodded along with the accurate word. “Is it different to how you imagined it to be when you founded it with Edric and June? Or did you become disillusioned when it was time to complete your five-stars story?”

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  In an instant, Max lost his appetite. This cutlery clinked as he laid them down on the plate.

  “Did Darius tell you that?”

  Max didn’t intend for his words to come across as cold or threatening, but Cy was showing difficulty with looking up from his plate of food. After taking a deep breath, Max decided to reframe his question. “Both. I don’t know what Darius told you, but it went too far and affected too many native people… Or at least, people that I thought only had one life.”

  The vulnerability in Max’s voice was enough to de-escalate the tension between them. “Dad told me a few things but insisted on not telling me everything.” In contrast to earlier that day, Max was so focused on Cy’s message that he overlooked him addressing Darius as his father again. “For what it’s worth, he mentioned you being better than the other two.”

  Max still couldn’t stomach the idea of picking up his fork and knife to continue his meal, making Cy eat alone. “Which of us is better all depends on the person’s opinion. I wasn’t a saint in that world.”

  “Then what did you do?”

  “Max?”

  Before he could reply, Max and Cy turned to see a lanky guy around their age wearing a horse themed armour and standing by the entrance to the dining hall. From his body’s positioning, it was clear he was talking to one of the horse looking servers before noticing them. “Do we know him?” Cy whispered, as they watched the friendly face approach.

  “You should do.” Max couldn’t tell if he felt disappointed that he couldn’t confess or relieved Cy’s image of him was intact for a little bit longer. “He’s the butcher’s boy.”

  Without receiving a formal invitation, Kurt grabbed a chair next to their table and sat himself right next to Max. The other customers began whispering and looking before their meals gradually began to entice them back. “What’re you doing here? You know people are looking for you, right? There’s a bounty and everything.”

  “Are you going to hand me in?”

  Without hesitation, Kurt snorted at the idea. “No way. Villagers stick together.” Max couldn’t help giving Cy an ‘I told you so’ smile. “Besides, you said it yourself: ‘Never forget who sent you down the right path.’” In an instant, Max began to sweat under Cy’s raised eyebrow.

  “And are you on the right path?” Cy prodded, as he took in the sight before him. There was something off about Cy’s facial expressions.

  “Well, I’m not on a bad path.” Kurt tossed out a money pouch, before he gestured to the waiting staff. “And I ain’t dead, yet.”

  “Yet?”

  “I heard there was some sort of assassin-thing people were planning.” Kurt began rubbing his nose making both his finger and nose tip turn bright red. Despite the severity of his words, he didn’t seem bothered.

  “You got a plan?” Max finally asked.

  “Nope.”

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  Kurt shrugged. “I tried to renounce my inheritance, but bio dad wasn’t having it.”

  “… That’s it? You’re just giving up after being told no?” Cy looked at him in disbelief. It seemed like the threat was credible.

  “But you shouldn’t have to renounce your claim,” Max quickly interjected before Kurt could have any ideas that would steer him away from the system’s goal.

  “What else can I do? Despite the title, I ain’t no Lord.” He turned to Max. “I already told you, but I’m really not interested in politics and all that.”

  “You might not be interested, but some people aren’t going to let it slide easily.” There was a dark tone to Cy’s words. Kurt didn’t seem to even notice.

  “It’s a good job we’re here.” Max tried to elevate the atmosphere. “Kurt, this is Cy. Cy, you already know the butcher’s boy.” Cy gave a nod.

  “I heard something about a vet coming to the village.” Kurt rubbed his pale chin, making it turn red too. “Heard you did a great job healing Bessie’s herd.” Well, Straw was healed. The others were contained until the end of their days, since the second healing, magic bone was nicked by Cy. Thinking about the familiar herd reminded Max of something.

  “It’s the least I could do for them. Bessie and Bill were too kind with letting me stay.”

  “I don’t know if kind is how I would describe either of them.” Kurt was looking off to the side where some of the waiting staff were faffing about in the corner. “Give me a sec,” he got up to go see what the fuss was about.

  Taking the opportunity both of them leaned in to whisper.

  “He’s not a before or a during person.” “Didn’t you say Straw has a fixed fate?”

  Max realised his question about the cow was less pressing, as he gestured for Cy to continue. “He’s got a flexible fate, meaning it’s going to be really difficult to steer his story in the right direction. It can change multiple times a day depending on the fixed fates around him. We need to come up with a term for people not like us.”

  Us. Them. We. The beginnings of classifications were leaving a bitter taste on Max’s tongue again. Depending on the term Cy suggests, he could be heading down a similar path to Edric. “We’ll pick one later. Let’s stick with Kurt for now.”

  Cy didn’t seem too pleased, but he quickly nodded. “You said Straw, like Bessie’s cow?”

  “Didn’t you say she had a fixed fate when you diagnosed her?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And that, according to your theory, before and during people are the ones with fixed fates?”

  “Yes… What’s the problem? Never woken up in a cow’s body before?”

  “Never.” The idea stumped Max. All the bodies until now had been human or humanoid. What the fuck was Straw then? “What about the other members of the herd?”

  “It was a mix,” Cy answered, confused.

  Before they could continue, a rich, meaty smell filled the room causing Max and Cy to turn to the kitchen entrance where the waiting staff had been. Several of the waiting staff were now carrying an impressive selection of meat. Looking chuffed, Kurt retook his place at their table as tray after tray of only meat was laid down before him. Without a word, he handed the pouch to the first waiting staff before grabbing a knife and fork from one of the trays. “What are you two waiting for? Let’s eat!”