He inspected the village. The place seemed to be filled with opportunities. He just hoped that they wouldn't kill him if the alcoholic he was portraying were to die. It was better not to try.
Footsteps sounded behind him. The alcoholic turned to see Louis, and his eyes widened.
"No!" he thought. "But it's the noble! What is he doing here?"
"So?" Louis asked. "How did it go? It's been a while since I've seen you so lucid."
A feeling of well-being emanated from inside the alcoholic. They knew each other; he trusted Louis.
"Hmm, it's alright," replied the alcoholic - he didn't know what to say.
"How many did you get out of the six?"
"What do you think?"
Louis scrutinized him. "Oh, I see, I would say... hmm, one, am I right?"
He nodded.
"Good." Louis stepped closer, placing a hand on his back. "You know, I have well-placed contacts in the village. I've heard you've been curious about the king and the prime minister? You know you can ask me anything."
"Oh, it wasn't that important..."
"But it is, but it is. I don't want you to become like Alain. Don't worry about what others say."
As they talked, villagers murmured while looking at them. The alcoholic seemed to hear words about his size.
"Why did I grow up?" he asked. "Do they not like me because I'm evolving?" As he spoke, he scanned the village for clues but found none. Should he leave the village? No. This was the noble's village, and the noble was right beside him; surely, he must know something.
Louis signaled him to come with him, and he complied. They walked along a stream, skirting the forest.
"I told you last time that you have a mission. It is normal to grow on a journey. Sometimes our paths are not what we desire, but they lead us where we need to go."
[Nirl must not evolve] The system indicated.
The alcoholic pondered his next words. How could he extract as much information as possible without being burned? He let himself be guided by Louis, who led him, walking around the village where he had the opportunity to inspect every place.
In his third life, Sengrar had spent a long time in this trial, he had talked about... illusions?
Stress builds up in the alcoholic. The system seemed to be speaking a little too much for it to be true. The bonus seemed too good to be anything other than a product of his imagination.
But if it wasn't the case, he couldn't spoil this moment. He just had to find the scepter. And who could have entrusted it but someone who had once fought and no longer needed it?
The noble greeted him without revealing any information. The alcoholic then knocked on Alain's door.
"What?"
"I need to talk to you."
He heard a sigh, then the heavy bolts being undone with a metallic sound. It lasted particularly long - Alain only had one arm. The door opened, revealing a poorly-looking Alain.
"What? You want to mock me too? Congratulations, we can't do anything; you were fucking right wasting your life."
The alcoholic felt anger rising within him. His work was being devalued!
"The noble," he said quickly, causing Alain to become suspicious. The alcoholic never called Louis by his title. "Does he disappear at certain times?"
"Huh? Well, he goes to Cleppé."
"Where and what is Cleppé?"
Alain scrutinized him.
"Have you been corrupted by the red star or something? You don't even know what Cleppé is? Listen, tell the prime minister that I don't want to hear his crap anymore, understand? We can't do anything! The apocalypse is coming again, and we're all going to die! Let's just... accept it."
He gave a chilling look. "Which means I don't care anymore. I can kill you whenever I want."
"I want to stop the apocalypse."
"Yeah, right! Your drinks support the villagers' inaction!"
The alcoholic felt a surge of hatred. "I give them hope! This is all just a strategy! Listen! I need to know the noble's weakness; that's all I'm asking."
"You asked me for much more," replied Alain. "and I won't fall into your little trap. Now get out."
He slammed the door, but the alcoholic had placed his foot in between. Alain raged and tried to push him away, but the alcoholic's body was too massive for him to move, especially with one hand.
Alain sent a spike of energy that pierced the alcoholic's clothing but bounced off his skin, smashing crockery in Alain's house.
"What?" Alain exclaimed as if he had seen the impossible.
'So, we can't die, there are different forms of magic?' The alcoholic tried to focus mana within him but found no source. Instead, he saw something different. Two sources, one pure, almost empty, and the other impure. When he pressed on the impure one, a beam of energy pierced through Alain's table.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk," said Alain. "Stop breaking everything."
"So about the noble?"
"Louis has no weakness, at least none that I know of. Don't look at me like that! I do raids! Against demonic creatures! What did you expect? I'm not the best person to talk about Louis' ways. What do you want specifically?"
"I told you, I want to end this apocalypse."
"It's impossible," Alain shook his head.
"Haven't you tried yourself?"
"That's why I'm telling you it's impossible. When all the demonic creatures come to live, the era is bound to change. I've seen them! They aren't just mere hundreds. They are millions! Millions! They exist only to kill us, all excited about the Red Star. It's been years upon years that we've been trying—not just me, but all of Cleppe's—and we still have not found where they reproduce or eat!"