Sage Yeltz and her face twisted and contorted in increasingly bizarre ways as she read the contents of the contract.

  “...Secrecy clause on… the Lost God?” She muttered under her breath, rubbing her nose bridge absent-mindedly, her reading accompanied by a slew of cursing under her breath.

  Aurelius could actually make out the way that Sage Yeltz’s eyes moved, as she re-read the document multiple times in disbelief.

  “Do you know who the witnesses were to this contract?” Sage Yeltz finally asked on the third reading, her face scrunched up and her hands rubbing her temples in confusion.

  “Summoner, I do not recall the signing of this contract. It would be impossible for me to have a record of witnesses.” The djinn answered matter-of-factly.

  Aurelius had by this point, shifted up onto an upright seating position, observing the confusion that was engulfing the eyes of his mentor.

  After deliberating for a few more moments, the sage finally made her move.

  “Pultris. You’re dismissed.” The Sage commanded the djinn, sending another horrifying gale of wind rushing through the corridor.

  With a sound reminiscent of a thousand screaming men, the resistant figure was pulled together onto itself stuffed back into its seal.

  The sage then glared at Aurelius, sending chills down his poor spine with her next very threatening sentence.

  “We’re going to have a nice, long talk, Mr. Dog.”

  ???

  Aurelius sat nervously, hands folded neatly and cautiously observing Sage Yeltz.

  They were in Sage Yeltz’s office, the same one that Mr. Tona had kidnapped him from in the last loop, and Aurelius had been sitting in awkward silence for a few minutes now.

  The trip back from the vault was rather short, and it seemed that Sage Yeltz, seated at her desk, was preoccupied with some urgent paperwork for the time being.

  The sun was actually starting to set now, and Aurelius was completely famished by now…

  “Ok. I’m done with work.” Sage Yeltz declared, standing up from her desk authoritatively and snapping a wooden stick in her hands.

  With a snap of her fingers, Tiberius stepped out of a line of geometric shapes, looking very much bewildered.

  “W-What’s going on? I swear that I w-won’t fool around with magical objects again! Don’t send me off to prison! Pleaseeeeeeee-” He started, collapsing onto his knees in despair like a thespian.

  Sage Yeltz looked at the display humourlessly, crossing her arms in annoyance instead.

  “This is the company that you keep?” She asked Aurelius, as she gestured at Tiberius to get back up on his feet.

  “W-What’s happening? I-Is that Sage Yeltz?” Tiberius asked again, this time, sinking further into the pit of confusion.

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  “Your mandatory safety training is over. Remember to pay your fine when you get back to your dorm.” Sage Yeltz said dismissively to the retreating Tiberius.

  “Does he have anything to do with your… situation?” Sage Yeltz asked Aurelius, pointing her finger disdainfully at his friend.

  Aurelius stood up reflexively at the comment, and stared daggers at his overly dramatic friend, thinking up of the best course of action to take.

  “Err… No, ma’am. He just almost killed me is all.” Aurelius replied curtly, glaring at a paling Tiberius.

  “Alright.” Sage Yeltz declared, snapping her fingers and teleporting all three of them out of her office with a sharp crack.

  “W-What?” Aurelius asked in horror, stepping out of the teleportation and looking around his surroundings in confusion.

  “We’re going to have dinner first.” Sage Yeltz declared nonchalantly, walking straight into the doors of a nondescript restaurant without hesitation.

  As Aurelius looked around, he found himself in the middle of a sleepy strip of road likely in the outskirts of the city, which a sign kindly declared to be Kang Street.

  They were in more of a residential area, from what Aurelius could make out, with housing flats lining the streets. However, among the residential units were a few shops and restaurants from which muffled noises could be heard from, one of which was the restaurant that Sage Yeltz had stepped into.

  “The Floating Yeti?” Tiberius asked in confusion, stepping towards Aurelius fearfully.

  “...You’re still going to pay for dinner some other time.” Aurelius declared, glaring at Tiberius venomously.

  As much as his face had uplifted him after dying at the hands of that mysterious, mouthless entity, Aurelius was certainly not happy with Tiberius this loop.

  His friend’s theater routine was getting on his nerves!

  “Are you coming?” A voice called out, along with the scowling face of Sage Yeltz peeking from the doorways of the Floating Yeti.

  “Yes ma’am.” Aurelius and Tiberius replied simultaneously.

  ???

  The Floating Yeti was an interesting restaurant.

  It was well lit with warm lights, with a surprisingly high ceiling from where floating plants hung from quite charmingly.

  It did raise the question how they watered the plants, or for that matter, how much they spent on insect repellant charms, but Aurelius didn’t quite have the time to ponder on such questions. He had a very skeptical sage staring daggers at him at the moment after all.

  “Will you be paying for us ma’am?” Tiberius asked, shifting through the menu with interest.

  “...Yes.” Sage Yeltz replied, not taking her eyes off of Aurelius for a single second.

  Aurelius coughed into his fist nervously and pulled the menu up further to hide his face from the terrifying stares of the Commission sage.

  Aurelius could swear that he smelt smoke from the sheer intensity in which Sage Yeltz likely was staring into the back of the menu…

  “I’ll be taking your orders now~” The waitress said cheerfully, hopping over and ignoring the pressure that Sage Yeltz was giving off in her suspicious mood.

  “Koff… I’ll… Err… I’ll take the stir fried pork with a side of rice.” Aurelius said meekly, placing the menu away very reluctantly.

  Sage Yeltz and Tiberius ordered their food respectively after that as Aurelius stared at the plants in the ceiling, praying for Sage Yeltz to stop staring so intently at him.

  Tiberius also sat in the awkward silence, occasionally opening his mouth like a guppy to start a conversation, and deciding immediately otherwise.

  “Explain yourself.” Sage Yeltz commanded, taking a sip from the glass of soda that she just ordered.

  “Ah…” Aurelius said, feeling his throat immediately drying up.

  He was of course, quite happy to see that he had come so far without dying to the damn contract, as well as informing Sage Yeltz of the contents of the contract.

  However, he was still a little bit lost as to how to proceed…

  If he were to tell her the truth that he was stuck in a timeloop, Aurelius could certainly not guarantee his safety.

  He could be investigated in depth by the Commission… unpleasantly.

  At the same time, he did recall from the last loop that the Commission was rather careful in their actions when Quetzalcoatl was mentioned.

  He had to leverage His name and balance his safety and freedom for his loops to continue without incident.

  As much as Aurelius would have liked to get rid of the Commission contract, an angel notary was not something that he would find a way to escape the clutches of anytime soon…

  After much deliberation, Aurelius finally decided to take a shot in the dark.

  “I’m stuck in a timeloop.”