The commotion caught Freddy’s attention, making him lift his eyes from the sweet pastry that he was preparing, to look at the cloaked figure walking toward him. The crowd parted in the man’s passing, everyone stepping away from him in fright.

  Members were supposed to wear the Guild’s robes, though it wasn’t impossible to find somebody dressed in other clothes every now and then, since merchants and visitors were allowed into the settlement for various purposes.

  Security had been strict in the months following Hermes’s announcement, though it had relaxed somewhat over the years. That said, outsiders were still rare near the entrance leading to the Fungal Spire, since they had no business in the hunting grounds.

  Everyone knew that the newcomer was technically a member of the Guild, of course, but nobody dared to complain about him not wearing the proper uniform. The man’s long hair fluttered erratically in the wind, his pupils sporting a dull, almost-metallic sheen. They ignored everyone else – Yellows, Greens, or even the occasional Blue – focused entirely on Freddy, who returned the gaze with a complicated one of his own.

  Stopping just a couple of metres away, the cloaked figure’s smile gradually shifted into a confused frown as Freddy remained silent.

  “Freddy? It’s me. Man… don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your number one customer after a few years?”

  Freddy sighed, before forcing a smile. “Hey… Percy. I know who you are. You’re… a hard person to forget – especially nowadays. If anything, I’m more surprised that you remember me. You’ve changed.”

  Percy hadn’t aged that much physically but, to Freddy, he looked like an entirely different person. The clueless teenager who used to bust his ass every day, leaving the settlement early in the morning only to return late at night covered in wasp blood, was long gone.

  The changes weren’t bad per se. Perhaps, Freddy should be happy about his friend. Percy looked more confident than ever, his fame having reached every corner of the planet years ago. The boy who used to chat with him while munching on Honey Rolls every night had turned into a figure capable of shaking the earth and splitting the sky. The Great Houses watched his every move with bated breath, hanging by his every action.

  In some ways, Freddy had experienced his monumental transition more starkly than anyone else on Remior. Looking back, he realized that he’d never truly known Percy. Up until the day that news about his involvement with the Aurora Dew had spread, Freddy had thought of Percy as another Red-born just like him, doing his best to get by.

  Granted, Percy had always been the most driven and hardworking person Freddy had ever met, but he could have never imagined him accomplishing even a fraction of the things he’d done in the past couple of years.

  “You just vanished one day, without even bothering to say goodbye,” he muttered, failing to hide the accusation in his voice.

  Percy’s frown deepened. “I’m sorry about that. I had to leave in a hurry, because the Divine Root was onto me. Besides, telling you anything would have only put you in danger. I’m sure you’ve heard what happened to my mentor and grandpa.”

  Freddy shook his head. “I get that, though I don’t think you understand what it was like for me. I’d no idea that you were involved in such a high-stakes political game. I thought you’d just gotten yourself killed while hunting the wasps one day.”

  “I di–”

  “I spent months looking for you!” Freddy yelled, not giving Percy a chance to utter a word, his outburst surprising even himself. All this time, he hadn’t realized how much he’d kept tucked in. “I searched every square centimetre of the first and second levels by myself! At some point, I even started begging your mentor to help me search the higher levels! He refused multiple times before giving in!”

  Percy’s expression darkened, some unmistakeable traces of guilt finding their way into his eyes. “Orin didn’t mention that earlier… I suppose we didn’t get to talk for too long. I’m sorry, Freddy. It was never my intention to do that to you. You deserved better.”

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  Freddy noticed that he had clenched both fists at some point, his hands drained of all colour. Listening to his friend’s apology, he couldn’t help but feel a little silly about lashing at somebody who had threatened five Violets into submission mere hours ago. Forcing himself to exhale, he relaxed as much as he could.

  “No… it’s fine,” he said. “It’s not fair to pin everything on you. I know that you had plenty on your mind. Besides, you never asked me to go looking for you – that was all me.”

  Reaching over the counter with his one good arm, Percy patted Freddy’s shoulder.

  “Why’d you do it? Don’t get me wrong – I’m flattered that you cared enough, but we were never that close. I just bought Honey Rolls from you for a couple of years. That meant a lot to me because I’d never socialized much with anyone else – and because your Honey Rolls are awesome – but I shouldn’t have been more than another customer to you.”

  “That’s exactly why I did it,” Freddy said with a shrug, causing Percy to raise an eyebrow. “Nobody cares if a Guild member goes missing. You didn’t have any other friends either. I thought that it would be too sad for you to disappear without anyone knowing or caring. I’d hoped to get some answers and maybe send a letter to your family or something. At least, that’s what I would have wanted someone to do for me if I’d been in your shoes – or, well… what I’d thought had been your shoes, at least.”

  They both fell silent for a few seconds, until Freddy asked something else.

  “How much of the things you used to tell me was true? I know you didn’t just go from killing a dozen Starry Workers a day to slaughtering entire groups of Blues overnight.”

  “Most of it was true,” Percy hurriedly said. “I just downplayed my fighting strength a little. I had to keep things like my second core or my familiar secret. I really wasn’t that much stronger than a regular Orange back then – only maybe twice or thrice as strong…”

  “Only twice or thrice, he says…” Freddy stared back at him in disbelief, before chuckling. “I suppose that’s really just a drop in the bucket, all things considered…”

  “If it’s any consolation, I’ll be a lot more honest with you from now on. I no longer have to worry that much about my secrets leaking. In fact, I’ve got some pretty crazy stories to share if you promise not to spit in my Honey Rolls.”

  “I make no such promises,” Freddy joked, only now remembering the pastry he still had on the stove.

  The thing had already turned into a piece of charcoal, a burnt smell now permeating the area. Scraping it off the pan, he was about to throw it away and start a new one, when Percy grabbed his wrist.

  “What kind of monster would throw away a Honey Roll?”

  “It’s ruined.”

  “Your number one customer will be the judge of that. As long as I’m in the Guild, no Honey Roll gets trashed. Besides, you’d be shocked by some of the things I’d eaten over the years…”

  Freddy shrugged. If Percy insisted on poisoning himself, who was he to stop him? He was about to pass him the burnt Honey Roll, when Percy summoned a gemstone vial seemingly out of thin air, placing it on the counter.

  “What’s this?” Freddy asked, picking the finger-sized container up.

  “An elixir,” Percy casually replied, taking the pastry from Freddy’s hand and biting off a chunk.

  “Are you crazy?” Freddy asked, clenching his teeth. “You know I only charge a brown chip for the Rolls – a dose of elixir is worth four thousand times as much! I can’t accept that.”

  He tried to give the vial back, but Percy wouldn’t take it. Only after swallowing did he speak again.

  “It’s not a big deal. I’ve honestly got more elixirs than change on me right now. Besides, your Honey Rolls are more than worth it. This is what I’ll be paying you from now on. In fact, I’d have given you Aurora Dew, but it’s probably dangerous for you to be carrying it around before it spreads.”

  Freddy’s features twisted into an expression that not even he could recognize. The reason he’d even entered this business was that he’d given up on trying to earn four hundred contribution points per day to buy his daily dose, resigning himself to drinking diluted elixirs. He’d still reach Yellow at some point, but it would take an additional fifty years, costing him a century off his lifespan. Getting such easy access to the elixirs would be a dream come true, solving the problem entirely.

  On the other hand, the idea of accepting a handout from Percy was borderline insulting. Was his fellow Red-born doing this out of guilt over the things that he’d said earlier? Freddy wasn’t going to accept someone’s pity.

  Seeing the sheer joy on Percy’s face as he dug into the burnt pastry, Freddy’s expression couldn’t help but ease, however. For the first time since the start of the conversation, he caught a glimpse of that teenager from all those years ago, making him realize that his fellow Red-born had spoken every word from the heart.

  Freddy sighed, deciding to accept his friend’s kindness. “I’ll hold you to your promise. Better start sharing those crazy stories now.”

  Percy grinned, some honey spilling into his beard. “I hope you don’t have anywhere to be tonight. Better start making more Honey Rolls too. We’ll need a lot of snacks tomorrow.”

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