Little Pink Starfish

Originally, Pei Sen had been in a great mood today—flattening Arzi went far more smoothly than expected, and with the influx of manpower, he was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, Arzi could start taking shape before winter.

Who could have predicted what just happened, leaving him thoroughly embarrassed?

This kind of “noble favorite” magic… it was hard not to overthink. But maybe he was overthinking it—Eagle didn’t seem to have any such intentions. He was seriously experimenting with magic.

“Hurry up and unlock it.” Pei Sen propped himself up, tempted to just rip the chain off. With his stats, it wouldn’t be hard—but he was worried the ornate bedpost might not survive it.
…If he pulled and the post broke, the bed collapsed, and someone walked in—he couldn’t even imagine that scene.

Eagle blinked innocently. “I only know how to cast this spell.”

Pei Sen: “……”

For a moment, Pei Sen suspected this was deliberate—but Eagle’s wide-eyed innocence didn’t really seem faked.

Just then, Pecks, who had been lying on a cushion, suddenly padded over. Tail held high, the overly fat cat strutted up to Eagle’s bed.

Neither Pei Sen nor Eagle noticed it at first—but Pecks soon made its presence felt.

With agility belying its size, the obese cat leapt up, claws flashing. The thin magical chain snapped instantly, like a soft noodle, and Pei Sen’s wrist was freed.
Pecks landed lightly without touching Eagle’s off-limits bed. It knew full well Eagle wouldn’t tolerate it on the bed.
Then it sat proudly on the floor, lifting its round head high.

Praise the cat! The cat did great! The cat is useful!

Pei Sen was pleasantly surprised. He got off the bed and patted Pecks’ head. “You get an extra small fish tonight.”

Pecks twitched its whiskers. Just one? And a small one? So stingy.

Thankfully, no one else had seen. Pei Sen glanced at the remaining piece of magical chain still hanging from the bedpost. “How long does this spell last?”

“It’s supposed to depend on the caster’s magical level,” Eagle said with a grin. “Don’t worry about it—it’ll disappear once the duration ends.”

The magical chain, while it looked like metal, was just a construct of magical elements. Unless alchemically fixed, it naturally had a time limit.

Pei Sen nodded and offered a word of advice: “Young master, maybe learn less of this stuff from Count Aiken.”

“Okay,” Eagle agreed cheerfully. “Then… do you still want to learn this spell?”

“Of course,” Pei Sen replied without hesitation. “Magic is great—it’s just that you really didn’t need me to lie on the bed to demonstrate it. That wasn’t a necessary part.”

Eagle smiled. “Okay.”

Pei Sen smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. “Young master, I need to go to the front hall and meet some returning players. If you plan to go to the garden, I’ll catch up as soon as I can.”

Though Eagle wasn’t happy about it, he agreed to let him go.

Pecks watched Pei Sen leave and suddenly felt a chill pass over its head.

“Pecks,” Eagle called gently.

The cat looked up, innocent as ever—only to meet its master’s cold, expressionless gaze, with none of the sweetness he showed Pei Sen.

“Do something that unnecessary again, and you can forget about ever eating fish again.”

Pecks: “Meow meow meow???”

The cat looked utterly bewildered. What did I do wrong?!

Eagle didn’t call in any maids. He changed his clothes himself.

For the old Eagle, this would’ve been a challenge. Noble clothing was complex—full of decorations and fastenings not easily managed alone.
But Eagle had started learning to dress himself, and some of the new clothes in his wardrobe were slightly plainer than before.

When he said he wanted to go outside, he wasn’t joking. He really wanted Pei Sen to take him out of the manor.

Dressed and at the window, he didn’t head to the garden right away. He actually had no interest in the garden anymore—he was bored of it. But it was a good excuse to wear comfortable, mobile clothing and get some fresh air.

Ever since realizing how weak his body was, Eagle had committed to walking in the garden for two hours daily as exercise.
Though it was nice being carried by Pei Sen, Eagle didn’t want to be a burden forever.

He had to make Pei Sen realize he was growing up.

He told Sadin that, since he couldn’t go outside, he’d at least walk in the garden more—Sadin didn’t suspect anything.
After all, everyone believed Eagle’s last escape attempt had taught him a hard lesson.
Most of the manor assumed he’d never run off again.

That one time had been painful enough.

“No one really believes it, do they? That I’m not afraid of suffering or running,” Eagle whispered with a faint smile.
His posture was elegant—an ideal nobleman.
He curved his lips. “To Pei Sen, I’m still a pure, innocent child. So even if I do certain things now, he won’t blame me. He’ll just think I don’t understand.”

As if he didn’t understand. Maybe there were truly naive nobles out there—but he wasn’t one of them.

Aiken’s letters were pretty explicit at times.
The capital was full of underage nobles indulging in all kinds of debauchery. Eagle hadn’t seen it firsthand—but he wasn’t ignorant.

He was fourteen now. Mary had even given him lessons on certain topics—to prevent him from being tricked out of naivety.
The knowledge among nobles ran deeper than Pei Sen could imagine.

Eagle also knew exactly why Kesso had tried to place Bersa by his side. That’s why he disliked her so much.
But with a personality like Bersa’s, even if you gave her centuries, she’d never meet Kesso’s expectations.

“A noble can be pure—but never naive.” Eagle’s mood improved again.

Yes, he had done it on purpose. Seeing Pei Sen awkwardly lying on his bed made him happy.
He just regretted that the moment was too short.

He turned to Pecks. “Come on, your exercise is doubled today.”

Pecks: “Meow?”

What did I do?! Why are humans so cruel?!

—

Pei Sen truly hadn’t overthought things. He’d already reached the front hall.
Only players who ranked in the top ten for contribution in the Arzi operation were eligible to come here and claim higher-tier rewards.

With the game system tracking contributions, cheating wasn’t an option.

“It’s not just about rewards this time,” Pei Sen muttered. “Since the young master wants to go out again, we’d better clear out the entire Lanno Territory. Running into an assassin would be ridiculous.”

He was already planning the next mission release.

Players aligned with Eagle’s faction were naturally opposed to the assassin faction. Even though players didn’t yet have detection skills or access to many NPC info panels, opposing factions were marked exceptions.

Hostile faction members appeared in red to players—unlike spies in the manor who could disguise themselves as neutral.

Bix Magic Cube had thoughtfully given Pei Sen mission-issuing privileges, but coming up with the actual descriptions was a headache.

As the top ten contributors received a 10-day +20% bonus to all faction quest rewards, Pei Sen released the new mission:

Faction Main Quest: Hunt the Assassins
Evil enemies still harbor ill intent toward Count Eagle Lanno. They have infiltrated the Lanno Territory, lying in wait to strike again.
Locate and eliminate hostile assassins to earn experience, gold, faction points, and treasure chests.
Note: This is a World Boss-level mission. Some assassins are extremely powerful. If players are unable to defeat them, they may request assistance from Ichabod, the head of Golden Rose Manor’s defenses.

Pei Sen carefully wrote Ichabod’s name instead of Sadin’s. Ichabod was more approachable, and most players knew Camis.
If players reached the front hall, they could speak with Camis or Neil. Even if they didn’t want to go to Sadin, asking for Ichabod would usually work.

And since the assassins were tied to the attack, Ichabod handling the matter made sense.

Players had just finished one big mission and were still buzzing when this new one dropped. Even the designers raised an eyebrow.
“Is this still just a beta? The mission frequency’s way higher than before.”

To be fair, Bix Magic Cube differed from other games. Aside from daily faction construction quests, main story quests were rare.
Major missions like today’s had been few and far between since launch.

Now, one followed right after the other—something was definitely shifting.

“A World Boss? That line means there’s more than one, and some are too strong to fight solo. Guess we’ll find out once the battle starts.”
“Whatever, let’s find them!”
“BOSS race—go go go! I barely got any contribution last time.”
“How do we find them…?”
“Duh, they’re hostile faction members!”

Veteran players immediately understood. They scattered, slipping into every corner they could, scanning all NPCs with eagle eyes.

Luckily, Arzi was now a ruin, and in Casey City—despite its rapid rebuilding—most civilians were adjusting to Bixkin and no longer resisted players entering their homes.

Otherwise, players might’ve started busting into every house to search for “enemy NPCs.”

“Someone found one!”
“Where?”
“Casey City!”

The unlucky one turned out to be one of Jack’s men—a former butler from Viscount Frey’s estate.
Though sent to serve Jack, he looked down on him for being a former slave and rarely followed orders.

Frey had meant well, but Jack—ever shrewd—just had him blend in with the civilians of Casey City and didn’t assign him anything.

Unfortunately, the inattentive butler was quickly spotted by players and, due to low stats, instantly slain.

He dropped a circular iron token bearing Viscount Frey’s family crest.
Players, following the quest prompt, excitedly delivered the token and the body to Golden Rose Manor.

Seeing a few Bixkin players bringing in a corpse startled Neil.
But when he saw the gold-embossed noble crest, his face turned serious.

Having served in the manor for years, Neil had enough experience to recognize it.
This kind of noble insignia wasn’t something just anyone could use.

“Well done. I’ll deliver this to Steward Ichabod,” he told them.

The players didn’t care about praise from NPCs—they just wanted rewards.
And sure enough, the ones who made the kill were immediately rewarded.

“Nice, the loot’s great. No wonder it’s a world mission.”
“But that guy was a weakling—how is he an assassin?”
“The quest did say some are strong. You guys just got a low-tier lackey.”
“Let’s go! Time to hunt more!”
“Anyone forming a team for Adrien City? I’ve never been there—there could be more bosses.”
“Adrien’s tough. No respawn point. If we find a boss and can’t kill it, that’s bad.”
“Who cares? Worst case, report it to the manor. That’s probably a quest too.”

Players excitedly discussed their theories on the forum.
Many first- and second-beta players began forming teams to explore Adrien, while most third-beta players searched Arzi and Casey City thoroughly.

Some first-beta players had now reached Level 20—roughly equivalent to a Level 2 Swordsman.
But compared to actual masters in this world, they were still lacking.
Their strength and constitution met the requirements—but their swordsmanship was abysmal.

Some lucky players found skill books in treasure chests, but many were still stuck using their one basic skill.

Until they could reliably clear the slave-trading dungeon, that wouldn’t change.

In Bix Magic Cube, skill scrolls and books were extremely rare. Aside from dungeon drops and chest rewards, learning skills from NPCs wasn’t easy.
Even pestering Camis wouldn’t help unless he acknowledged the player. Push too far, and he’d just get angry—not teach anything.

Pei Sen watched with satisfaction as the territory was being cleared of threats.
Now, even if he took Eagle outside, it’d be much safer.

“But where are the real experts hiding…”

On the day of the official open beta, Eagle’s assassination attempt had been carried out at high stakes—with a high-level ice mage, several elite swordsmen, and dagger-wielding assassins like Aken.

After that day, aside from those killed or captured, the rest had vanished.

“The Lanno Territory’s not that big. Starfall Plains are too wild, and the deeper parts have dangerous beasts—not a good place to hide.”

“Among the cities, Arzi had been the best hiding spot. It was full of unfamiliar mercs and adventurers, many wearing cloaks. Assassins could blend right in without suspicion.”

But now, Arzi had been leveled.

Pei Sen grinned. He could’ve released this quest earlier—but he’d waited until after Arzi fell, just to avoid any surprises.

Then he paused, catching something on the forum—and bolted straight to Sadin.

Even if Pei Sen wasn’t exactly welcome by the steward, his relationship with Eagle gave him a different status now.

Sadin’s expression was calm. “What is it?”

Pei Sen met his gaze. “My people found traces of the assassins from the attempt.”

“Assassins?” Sadin frowned.

Pei Sen looked him in the eye. “I’ve always wanted to know—since you arrived that day, why didn’t you kill or capture any of the fleeing assassins?”
He spoke slowly, deliberately. “Or is it that you knew who sent them—and didn’t want to offend their backer?”

On the day of the attack, Sadin had arrived last. Pei Sen hadn’t questioned it at the time.
By then, most assassins had fled. But with Sadin’s strength, taking a few down wouldn’t have been hard.

Pei Sen figured he’d already offended Sadin anyway. Might as well be direct.

Sadin didn’t get angry—he just looked at him calmly. “Is that what you think? Or is that what the young master thinks?”

“So is it true?”

“No,” Sadin admitted. “I wasn’t afraid of offending the assassin’s backer. In fact, I didn’t know who it was.”
He continued, voice meaningful. “But I recognized that ice mage. He used to be with the Royal Mage Corps.”

“You thought the attack was ordered by His Majesty Leiser, so you held back?”

Sadin nodded. “Yes. What you said is mostly correct. I held back because I feared the mastermind might be His Majesty.
But now I know it was just Viscount Frey who wanted the young master dead—I no longer have reason to be polite.”

Pei Sen smiled. “In that case, I ask Lord Sadin to act personally. My people found that high-level mage and several elite swordsmen. We can’t deal with them.”

Sadin stared at him for a while, then said, “Very well.”

Sure enough, the players had found a big one—the high-level mage and elite swordsmen.
Even Ichabod might not be able to handle it. Sadin would have to step in.

“Thank goodness I really came,” Pei Sen exhaled in relief.
Otherwise, the players would’ve been helpless—even if Eagle sent Aken, they probably couldn’t keep the targets from escaping.

Only a Swordmaster like Sadin could stop them.

“If those guys escape and come back again, and the young master insists on leaving the manor…”
Pei Sen didn’t want any accidents.
If safety couldn’t be ensured, he’d refuse to take Eagle out—no matter how upset he got.

“You and I are different…” Pei Sen thought grimly. “I’ve got the system to protect me. I won’t truly die.
But you… you only have one life.”

Eagle could be reckless—Pei Sen didn’t have that luxury.

—

Meanwhile, Jack’s face was deathly pale as he looked at the swarm of Bixkin surrounding them.
He wracked his brain, unable to figure out how they’d been exposed.

“How is this possible? Did we leave a trace?”
“No way.”
“Master Holm is reliable. We all changed our appearance. How could they have noticed?”
“We didn’t leave a single clue. Why are they so sure?”

Jack, normally brilliant, now felt like the universe was mocking him.
He couldn’t understand how the Bixkin had discovered them. Everything had been perfect.

“What does it matter now? We need to leave! If the Grand Steward arrives, we won’t even have the chance to run,” the ice mage snapped, clearly annoyed.

If it were just him, he’d have teleported out long ago.
But Frey valued Jack too much—he had to drag this baggage along. It was frustrating.

They all assumed Jack had screwed up.

“Don’t worry. They just found us. It’ll take time to alert Sadin,” one swordsman said optimistically.

What they didn’t know… was that players loved posting discoveries to the forums.
In an instant, Pei Sen had already informed Sadin.

And with the speed of a Level 8 Swordmaster, once he knew where to go…
The Lanno Territory was nothing to him. He’d be there in a blink.

They—

Weren’t going to escape.