"Mary, don't you think this is a bit much?" I asked, shifting in the seat of an armored flying XUV.
A squad of eight superior grimlocks, led by a heroic grimlock, had shown up at my dorm while I was waiting for Mary so we could head to my reserve garrison registration together. With little to no explanation, they quickly escorted me straight into the vehicle.
I only relaxed after spotting Mary inside, calmly sipping her usual 100 G-coin coffee. That was when it clicked. This wasn't a daylight abduction on institute grounds. This was Mary… making a point about what I said yesterday.
"Well, you said I couldn't protect you," Mary replied, not even looking up from her cup. "So I hired people who can."
She wasn't hiding her irritation, and honestly, this felt like an overreaction. I let out a quiet sigh and explained again, for what had to be the fourth time, "That's not what I meant. I said if anything were to happen, you should save yourself and call for help instead of risking your life trying to save mine."
I paused, then asked more firmly, "What good would it do us if we both got hurt or kidnapped?"
"Stop it. You might not value your life, but I do. As your friend, I'll make sure you learn to take care of yourself. Not now though. I'm still too mad at you," Mary said, cutting me off before I could say another word.
Hearing her words I frowned, confused at first, until it clicked. She wasn't talking about me. She meant Crayon. That meant she knew the truth, not the twisted version the Zenith Guild had fed to the media.
After that, she didn't speak to me for the rest of the ride. Neither did my security detail. I felt like the kid who was asked to face the wall.
The XUV soon carried us to the Reserve Garrison, not far from Grimgate Station. The place looked like a military base at first glance, but the difference was hard to miss. A greater formation array covered the entire compound. Whenever the light hit it at the right angle, a thin veil shimmered into view, revealing intricate gion circuits etched across its surface like a living barrier.
My security detail wasn't allowed inside. So, they dropped me and Mary at the entrance and left. Only then did I know that they were the institute's grimlocks who guard the researchers during the expedition. Mary knew their captain, and used this trip as a mock drill.
I glanced at Mary, who was avoiding my eyes just as I was about to call her out, a voice called out to me, "Crayon, Crayon Wyatt!"
I turned, and of all the people I could have run into outside the institute, it had to be him.
The man who had thrown Crayon and his brother out onto the streets without a coin to their name. The one who twisted the story until the world saw Crayon as a greedy, useless brother. The one who sent the goons that ended his life. The only person even someone like Crayon, kind to a fault, had ever truly hated.
Zenith Guild's Maul Fisher.
My expression hardened before I could stop it. Mary caught it immediately and asked with a frown, "What's wrong? Who's that?"
"Nobody. Let's go," I said, shaking my head as I stepped into the line to enter the base. But he didn't let it go. He closed the distance in a few strides, stopping just beside me.
"Crayon," he said and shamelessly greeted, "long time no see."
I stared him down, before warning him with a low but sharp voice, "Leave. Now. Or I'll write a book about what you bastards from the Zenith Guild did to my family."
The words made Maul's reply stall in his throat, and my outburst pulled a few eyes our way. Shameless as he was, even he knew better than to push it here. If he kept pressing, the attention alone could start cracking the Guild's polished image. So he backed off, for now.
"Wyatt, are you okay?" Mary asked, noticing me staring at his back, my fist clenched.
"I'm fine," I said, still watching him. As he walked away, he made a strange gesture in the air. I scanned the area, trying to see who he was signaling. The Zenith Guild wasn't arrogant or reckless enough to attack me outside the City's Garrison Reserves… but they were definitely planning something. They wouldn't be where they are today if they gave up easily.
Soon, I spotted a familiar gray hover-van in the parking area. Its doors slid open, and the very first people I had seen upon arriving in this world stepped out. As the goons approached me, I wondered how the Zenith Guild was connected to the Zhang Loan Agency. A shadow backer, most likely. If I hadn't noticed that subtle exchange, I might have taken running into both groups as a coincidence. After all, I had half expected to cross paths with them.
Unlike other banks and loan agencies that lowered their interest rates and expanded credit lines after I updated my citizen status from mortal to Grimlock, the Zhang Loan Agency had raised its interest rates tenfold, basically turning the interest payment for a single month more than triple the entire principal amount. When I first saw it, I wondered if that was even legal.
According to documents Crayon's brother had signed in Crayon's name, it was due to something called a dynamic interest rate. If you opted for it, your loan limit could jump to nearly double or even triple the original amount. Still, the tenfold interest rate didn't make any sense to me until now.
It seems, when I was planning to let the bygones be bygones and start afresh, the Zenith guild was preparing patiently to finish the nuisances named Crayon off.
Mary followed my gaze and noticed the goons as well. But since they were all mortals, she relaxed and was far less alarmed. But, I wasn't because this was the worst possible scenario.