Then, once I made sure she was gone, I looked at Aartki.
His face was still twisted like he expected another punch, even though that wasn't what I had in mind.
He halffell onto the bed sofa, back stiff, and I waved at him to sit properly.
"I've got something to say," I muttered.
So we sat. Not five minutes, not ten, half an hour. Half an hour of me pouring out everything I hadn't bothered to share with Sera.
Stuff I probably should've, but didn't.
When I finally shut up, I rubbed my neck and said,
"Ah, and one more thing. Remember how I said we wouldn't do shady stuff to survive? Yeah, about that… how much are you making in that job of yours at night?"
The words came out rough.
Felt even rougher, since I'd just beaten him for it.
He shifted, scratching at his hand.
"…Well, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it. We're running dry on money. And with the academy entrance coming, I thought I'd stash a bit. I won't get the same scholarship as you."
"Worry not,"
I said, though my voice cracked like I didn't believe myself.
"I think… I might have to step into your line of work too."
His eyes snapped up. "W what? What do you mean by that?"
"Uh… the research papers. I Lost them. They were in my coat. The one I wore into that cultist region."
He froze. "…Wait. Don't tell me you're dropping the seryns path."
My silence said it all.
It was obvious I couldn't redo weeks of work in a week.
He sucked in air, jaw tightening.
"Then you've got two hells to burn through if you even want to qualify. One week. That's all remaining"
I sighed.
Part of me wanted to walk away, forget the exam, find some other way to live.
But the academy wasn't just about the exam.
It was about connections, status, chances I couldn't get anywhere else as a no one, and with my family being the way they were… I needed all of that.
"Anyway," I said, shaking it off, "did your father call again?"
He thought for a second.
"…Nope. Dead silence all week. Last time was when he sent guards to drag me home. Oh, right, my mother did call. Begged me not to fail the exam. Said if I did, they'd finally abandon me."
He gave a bitter laugh. "Like they haven't already."
"No," I shot back. "They haven't."
We both went quiet.
The kind of quiet where you hear your own breath and wish it'd stop.
Then we broke it with weak laughs, like idiots.
"Haha… forget it. Why'd you even bring that up?"
I exhaled. "Complicated. But… the head of the Security Bureau grilled me. And fined me."
His head tilted. "How much?"
I swallowed, lifted my hands, all ten fingers spread out.
He grinned. Too fast, and too wide. I knew what he thought, and my stomach knotted.
"Million," I said flatly.
His face froze. Smile cracked, eyes bugged.
Then he coughed, wheezed, and nearly toppled into the cushions.
"T ten million?! What the hell, did you sell your soul to a devil?!"
I scratched my cheek, embarrassed.
"No. But honestly… for that kind of money, the only thing I could sell is myself."
"Well, it's not like I have to pay the fine tomorrow. I've got plenty of time. Think about it, if we latch onto some rich fat kid who bought his way into the academy, then the fine's basically paid already."
My grin widened as I laid out the plan.
"You're still the same clever bastard,"
Aartki muttered, his lips curling too, like he could already see the stupidity working.
"That's assuming I pass the entrance exam, the one you've been grinding months for."
I leaned back, half smirking.
"If I don't, then it's on you to score favors from some rich boy. Or maybe charm a rich girlfriend."
The words hung between us, ridiculous and half serious, until Aartki suddenly stood up.
He walked over to the cabinet and came back with a glass bottle. The second I saw it, I knew.
Alcohol.
"It's a feast tonight. This beauty here cost me a thousand orz."
He set it down with a flourish, pouring amber liquid into two glasses.
"Wait. Hold up." I raised a hand, making him freeze mid pour.
He arched a brow. "What? Don't tell me you're about to waste a perfect drink. It's best fresh."
"Nope. That's not the problem." I leaned forward. "We've got to hit the graveyard tonight. With Finn."
Aartki blinked, then gave me the kind of look you save for lunatics.
"The graveyard? For what esteemed work, exactly? And don't even start with your righteous tone. For all we know, Finn will sell you off to whatever rotting spirit's squatting there in exchange for a handful of rusty scrap."
"He's not like that," I shot back, sharper than intended.
"Oh, hell no. Don't play dumb. People see him talking to himself near that graveyard every other week. What are the odds he isn't shaking hands with something crawling in the dark?"
I exhaled slowly, pressing my hand inside my coat.
"That's a problem for later. For now… I just want to get rid of this. Drop it straight into the pit and never see it again."
When I pulled my hand back out, the emblem gleamed faintly in my palm.
The same one I had told him about before, and peronally dealt with.
He flinched back at first, a bit intimidated, then stretched his hands out anyway, like he just had to feel it.
The emblem's surface twisted again, morphing into a half face, then snapping back like it hadn't happened.
Creepy.
I yanked it away before his fingers could graze it.
"Hey, let me see it," he grumbled.
"Nope. We don't know what it'll do if you touch it. As for me… I can say with confidence it won't dare mess with me."
He narrowed his eyes. "And how the hell are you so sure about that?"
I smirked. "Because I tested it. On purpose."
That shut him up.
He looked like he wanted to argue, but the weight of my tone kept him quiet.
Silence stretched thin between us.
Long enough that I almost heard the clock ticking in my head. Then he finally pushed himself up.
"Alright," he said, voice low but firm. "Where do we find this Finn guy?"
"Around the corner," I answered casually.
He stopped dead. "Wait… don't tell me you don't know where he is."
I let the pause hang, then cracked a grin. "Just kidding. Relax. We'll find him."
He glared. "You think this is funny?"
"Not really. But it helps."
I stood too, sliding the emblem back into my coat, fingers lingering on the inner pocket before I turned toward the window.
The glass was dark, reflecting more of me than the outside.
"Anyway. Let's get going."