Chapter 143: ~Chapter 51~ Part 2

"Are you sure you won't be staying over for dinner?" my draconic girlfriend asked me with upturned eyes, which, while admittedly pretty cute, was still not enough to change my mind.

"I told you I can't. I still have to meet with Mountain Girl and explain the plan to her. Also, pay attention while walking."

"I don't have to, I'm already holding onto you," Elly declared while he simultaneously squeezed my upper arm even harder. "Not to mention, even if I stumbled, you would catch me anyway."

"True, but if you keep relying on me like that, then what happens if you stumble when I'm not around?"

"That's easy; it's not a problem if we are never separated," she replied with a bright smile and by cutting off the circulation in my arm even harder. "I just have to make sure you are always around."

That sounded just a wee bit impractical, not to mention stifling, but I chalked it up to her still being in the honeymoon period. Love made people say all sorts of silly things; it was almost as bad as politics in that regard.

Anyhow, we reached the Dracis mansion hand in hand like that and we made our way inside without the slightest reservation. It was a little funny, to be honest; I couldn't pinpoint exactly when it happened, and yet at some point the grand, opulent interiors became familiar and, dare I say, homey. Not only that, but at one point or another, the previously blank or guarded glances of the stereotypical placeholder maids running the place turned welcoming and even a little respectful at times.

As I mused about how far my integration into the Dracis family progressed without my notice, we reached the large living room slash reception hall of the mansion, and the moment we entered, I was greeted by a familiar belly laugh.

"Hi, son! I didn't expect you would be coming over so soon!" Abram welcomed me with his usual complete lack of an indoor voice.

"Hello dad-in-law," I greeted the Dracis patriarch in turn, which immediately elicited the reaction I was expecting, namely another bout of hearty chuckles. I ignored the laughing man and turned my attention to the other occupant of the room. "Hello, Emese."

"Why aren't you calling me mom-in-law?" the mother of the household leveled the question at me on the spot, her pout such a mirror image of her daughter's that they couldn't deny the family resemblance even if they tried.

"I'm starting to fear that by healing your injury I might have ruined your character," I muttered under my breath, but she could clearly hear it all the same.

"Don't you worry about my character, young mister!" Emese exclaimed as she somehow managed to pout even harder. "Stop being so formal, or I swear I'll go over there and give you a motherly ass-kicking."

"You see, that's exactly what I was talking about..." I grumbled and unsubtly rolled my eyes before I addressed the elephant in the room. "Fine. So, mom-in-law, why are you in your wheelchair again?"

"It is a pivotal detail in our plans," stated a brand new, if not exactly unexpected, voice entering the fray.

I glanced over my shoulder, just in time to see Sebastian elegantly close the door behind him. Now normally I would have asked why, or even how, someone would close a door elegantly, but I didn't want to hold things up, so I chalked it up to yet another weird thing Sebastian did and let it slide.

"Hello, old man," I greeted him with an only fifty percent fake smile. "I see you still have your penchant for dramatic entrances."

"At my age, I believe I can afford a predilection for the dramatic, my boy," he responded with a disturbingly grandfatherly smile. I knew it was to unnerve me, so I refused to give him the satisfaction and contorted my face into an impeccably amicable smile of my own. For some reason that made Elly giggle, so I hastily cleared my throat and moved the conversation along.

"So, why did your plan require Emese—?"

"Mom-in-law," she immediately corrected me, so a barely stifled groan later I started again.

"So, which part of your plan requires mom-in-law to stay in her wheelchair?" I asked, much to her (and for some odd reason, Elly's) apparent delight.

"I will explain in a moment," Abram stated in a somewhat uncertain voice as he patted down himself. I was tempted to ask what he was doing, but then his face lit up the moment he reached into his back-pocked and he exclaimed, "Ah, here it is!"

I peered over to see what he was so hyped about, but I didn't actually need to, as he quickly made his way over to our side and presented a large envelope to me. I gently peeled the princess off my arm before I accepted it, and a single touch told me that there was something small and rectangular in it. Abram didn't seem to want to tell me what I was holding, as he only kept looking at me with the expectant stare of a kid at a birthday party waiting for the host to finally cut the cake, so I decided to forego any formalities and just open the envelope and get it over with.

Once I peeked inside, I found a simple A4 page folded in half, as well as a shiny golden plastic card. I pretty much recognized it at first glance, but I took it out anyway.

"It's the new debit card you asked for!" Papa Dracis couldn't help himself and told me the obvious.

"That was quick," I muttered under my breath as I observed the piece of plastic in my hand.

After I discovered my connection to the knights, I immediately became suspicious about the source of the money on my account. I already looked into the account number where my monthly 'allowance' came from, but it quickly turned into a dead-end, and while I could have used the Hub to dig further, I kind of forgot about the whole thing because of bigger, more apparent issues I had to deal with.

Either way, in preparation for any future complications, I decided to move my savings over to another account… except I immediately ran into a minor complication in the form of the fact that I was, well, a minor, and thus I couldn't open one myself. Also, banks were apparently way less lenient about these things than phone carriers. Who would have thought?

After I told Abram about this, he graciously offered to make me a brand new account by pulling a few strings in the bank where the Dracis were keeping most of their record-company money. I had to admit, I was a little impressed by how fast he operated, and I was just about to thank him when I noticed that he was unsubtly glancing at the envelope in my hand with an expectant look on his face. I put the plastic card aside for a moment and reached inside to recover the piece of paper, the only thing that he could be interested in. Or rather, I figured he was interested in my reaction to it, so I steeled my nerves for a moment before I unfolded the page and read its contents.

"That's… a lot of money," I uttered as I reached the end of what appeared to be a pretty hefty account statement, with at least one more zero at the end than there was supposed to be.

"Congratulations on your first paycheck, son!" Abram exclaimed while patting me on the shoulder, though maybe because of my weakened condition, it felt like he was trying to break my collar-bone. Once I successfully squirmed my way out of his painful show of affection, I glanced at the page again and then faced him with what I felt must have been a somewhat troubled expression on my face.

"So you transferred back all the investment I made in the streaming business, plus 'consultation fees' and 'dividends'?"

"Yes!" he said with a gigantic grin on his face. "You are an investor in this project, and investors are supposed to get their investment back once everything's in the black!"

"Maybe, but I don't think it's supposed to be this direct," I muttered as I took a third look at the account statement.

"Don't look the gift horse in the mouth," my dear girlfriend told me with a genuinely happy smile, so I decided to follow her lead and let it go. The fact that somehow I now had more money than what I started out with, even after spending a small fortune on the refurbishing of the secret base, made me feel a little weird though. Was it really supposed to be this easy to earn money? And why was I secretly feeling a little giddy about it? Oh no! Was the draconic nature of my in-laws rubbing off on me?

Theoretical gold-fever aside, I decided to thank Abram once again and I pocketed the envelope and its contents, and I was just about to lead the conversation back to the topic of the counter-ambush on the knights when I recalled something else.

"Abram, can I ask for your help with one more issue?" I addressed my host, and he gave me a nod that more or less said 'Why are you even asking such a silly question?', so I threw away my remaining reservations. "I told you I lost my memory, right? Among my old belongings, I found a deposit box key without any notches and only a single number on it. Do you happen to have any associates in the banking sector who could tell me which bank it belongs to?"

"Sure, I can ask around!" he replied with a grin that made him look a little unreliable. "Can you show it to me?"

"Not right now, I don't have it on me. To be honest with you, I totally forgot about it until recently, but considering it's one of my few unidentified belongings, I figure it might have something to do with the Knights."

"Then I will make sure to put my top men on the case!" Papa Dracis declared, this time a little more reliably.

"Thanks, it would help me a lot," I thanked him, and I was entirely serious. I already attempted to find where the key belonged to, but internet searches didn't turn up anything useful, and I simply didn't have the time to visit every bank with a deposit service on the island, hoping I would sooner or later stumble upon the right one.

I made a mental note to pocket the key once I got home, and then I finally breached the topic that made me come here in the first place… for the third time.

"So again: wheelchair. Please explain"

The Dracis family shared an odd look at my expense, and at the end of the day it was Sebastian who stepped forth to explain things to me.

"We have decided on a strategy of drawing in the accursed Knights with a false show of weakness," he told me as he casually made his way around us and stood behind Emese in her wheelchair. "As our foes are unaware of the recovery of the matron of the family…"

"Don't call me matron," Emese cut in while sending a glare at the old man over her shoulder. "It makes it sound like I'm old."

"During the last family meeting," the old butler continued without ever sparing a glance at the fuming woman, "we agreed upon the following details: The lad and I will head to the port and leave the island on…" He paused while he raised his hands and then added, in the company of the ever-so-annoying air-quotes, "'urgent business'."

"… I figure you aren't actually going to leave," I ventured a guess, and Abram immediately confirmed it.

"No, of course we aren't! Well, not for long, anyway! After a day out on the sea, we'll fly back under the radar!" There was a beat of silence, with the man's expression telling me he was expecting me to do or say something, but since I had no idea what he wanted, he hastily clarified, "In other words, we are going to fly very close to the water! You see! Under the radar!"

"Oh, I got it!" Elly exclaimed, and the father-daughter duo let out a series of chuckles. I, on the other hand, finally understood why the princess required comedic coaching from Judy.

"The fact that the two of us left the estate alone will not only tell the accursed Knights that we are unaware of their plans," Sebastian continued with the expression of a long-suffering father embarrassed of the antics of his children… which I supposed wasn't too far from the truth. "By leaving our gates unguarded, we shall lull them in a false sense of security, so that when Lady Emese rises from her seat and we strike them from the back, we shall have the advantage of ultimate surprise."

"Isn't that a little risky?" I asked the obvious question, and the old butler promptly shook his head.

"Dealing with the accursed Knights is always a dangerous business, but this is the most effective way to destroy their forces."

"Oh, I get it now. Your goal isn't just to repel them, but to crush them."

"Precisely," Sebastian confirmed with the utmost conviction. "Destroying the enemies attacking us is the most effective way to reduce and ultimately eliminate the risk they would pose in the future."

"That's the family mantra!" Abram commented on the side. "It served us well to this day, so don't worry son!"

"It's also a good opportunity for me to stretch my legs a little," Mama Dracis added as she playfully swung her legs, only to let out a pained hiss. "Ouch… I keep forgetting that it still stings when I'm not transformed…"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how I discovered from whence Elly got her airhead side. … Seriously, the more I learned about this family, the more baffled I felt about how they survived for so long. Also, speaking of survival…

"Let's say I understand the gist of your plan. I have just one question: what happens if they bring along a dragon-slaying weapon. I just fixed mom-in-law's legs, so I would prefer if they stayed fixed."

"So do I," Emese remarked while she rubbed the right side of her hips with her hand.

"Don't worry, my boy. The number of weapons forged for the express purpose of ending my kin can be counted on one hand, and practically all of them were lost or destroyed over the centuries."

"Right, that also reminds me of something," I raised my voice and looked the old man in the eye. "I presume you are taking the spear with you, right?"

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"No. It would be too conspicuous."

"Wait, what? Now, hold on for a moment!" I raised my voice even higher. "Doesn't that strike you as extremely risky?"

"Not particularly," Sebastian replied flatly. "As far as the accursed Knights are concerned, their spear was destroyed right after the ambush that led to the Lady's injury."

I wanted to argue back, but my mouth froze half-way open as a sudden realization hit me, and I close it so hard it made my teeth hurt.

Okay, let's take a step back and look at the big picture here by asking a single question: how would the attack of the knights play out if I didn't come to these people right away and told them about it? The pieces on the chess-board are as follows: an ancient dragon, a dragon-slaying plot device, an injured draconian with a curse that made transforming debilitating painful, and a group of dastardly Knights. If I was a hack narrative or whatever, how would I play this out?

First off, the dragon-slaying spear was a Chekhov's Gun in its more elementary form. In short, Chekhov's Gun is a trope, or rather a writing technique, that is used a lot in various media, and it is a particular form of setup and payoff. The term comes from the writer Anton Chekhov, and his parable goes something like this: if there is a gun hanging on the wall in the first act of a play, that gun must play a role in the second or third act; otherwise there is no reason why it should be there on the first place. In other words, if a plot-relevant item is introduced and foreshadowed, said  item must be actually relevant and used later on.

Now, I know this is going to sound like a stretch, but hear me out: we have a DRAGON. SLAYING. SPEAR. I don't know about you, but that sounds like it was probably supposed to play a role in, oh, I don't know… maybe slaying a dragon? Oh, and look! We have a dragon in disguise right over there! What a coinkydink!

Keeping that in mind, I think it's pretty obvious that the spear chiefly exists to be used on Sebastian. Whether it is to just injure or to outright kill him to up the stakes is something I cannot say for sure, but I was pretty damn sure that the reason why I couldn't tweak the spear with my Phantom Limb was because doing so would have resulted in it no longer being able to fulfill its narrative purpose.

As for the other plot device I've discovered, namely Emese's curse, it would also fit into this situation. Let's say Sebastian is stabbed and Elly is threatened. Since the curse doesn't stop her from transforming, she would do so in order to chase off the knights, but it would come at a cost. Being bedridden, comatose, dead… take your pick, the end result is the same: the knights are established as a huge threat, the Dracis family is in shambles, making it ripe for a dashing hero to come in and save the day. This hero was, naturally, Josh, and then he could go ahead and fulfill the prophecy and what have you while he is at it. The End.

Granted, what I just outlined was a vague theory at best, and it had at least one giant, Abram-shaped hole in it, but I had a feeling I was more or less on the money in regards to the two plot-devices. Luckily I have already sabotaged Emese's curse, so that was a problem out of my hair, yet the spear still remained. There was only one question left: what should I do about it?

"Quick question: can we actually destroy the spear now?" I went with the direct option. "For example, there was that volcano idea I gave you the other day? Let's do it."

"No," Sebastian replied with unusual bluntness.

"Oh, come on, old man! It's a spear designed to kill you! Don't tell me you don't want to get rid of it!"

"No, I don't," he told me, and his words gave me pause for a moment. He quickly realized I was just a smidgen flabbergasted by his answer, so he slowly explained, "Listen, my boy. Do you recall where the spear currently resides?"

"In your study," I answered reflexively, but after I thought about it for a long moment, I could scarcely believe my own conclusion. "Please tell me you are not being obstinate just because it's technically part of your collection…"

"To be more precise, it is a prized trophy, and one I do not wish to part with."

"You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed with just a hint of genuine anger. "That's like keeping a loaded gun on your wall for sentimental reasons!"

"I do believe some people do that."

"Yes, and it's reckless, stupid, and weird," I countered, but the old man only scoffed at me, so I turned a hopeful eye to the Dracis patriarch instead. Regrettably, he only kept grinning like a well-fed lion.

"I would appreciate some support, dad-in-law! It's your family's lives at stake here!"

Abram let out a chuckle, meaning my words didn't faze him at all, and told me, "Don't worry too much, son! Grandpa knows what he is doing! If he says it's fine, then it's fine!"

I was straight up flabbergasted by the man's cavalier attitude, yet since it became obvious he wouldn't help to convince the old man, it meant I had to do it on my own.

"Fine, then we aren't going to throw it into a volcano. Can we at least take it somewhere else? For example, how about we dig a big hole in the backyard and bury it there until the Knights are chased off?"

"You truly worry too much," Sebastian responded, following a sigh. "By the date of the attack, the lad and I shall be back and awaiting their arrival. Even if the accursed Knights knew of the preservation of their weapon, whether it stays locked away in my study or hidden underground makes little difference to dead men."

I glanced around in the room, yet everyone, even my girlfriend, seemed to share this reckless sentiment. At the end of the day, it appeared I had no other choice but to let it go and allow Sebastian to keep the stupid spear. Or at the very least act like it…

"Whatever, suit yourself," I concluded with a suitably frustrated expression on my face and I moved the conversation forward by asking, "Putting the spear aside, I have another question. Where do you plan to stake out until the Knights come?"

"We were actually wondering if we could stay at your house, son," Abram answered in an unusually low voice.

"You want to stay over at my place?" I reiterated after him, resulting in a huge nod.

"It is reasonably close to our estate, and it is arguably the last place where they would be looking for us."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," I explained with frown that was as deep as it was involuntary. "Sure, they won't be looking for you, but they might be looking for me. Considering my connection with them, it's not far-fetched to think that the Knights might show up in front of my doorstep before the attack on the mansion. What exactly do you think would happen if they found you two there?"

"A battle of epic proportions!" Papa Dracis exclaimed with apparent delight, and I'm not ashamed to admit I was pretty startled for a moment.

"The lad is correct," Sebastian added on as he unsubtly cracked his knuckles. "If they were to appear to converse with you, it just means we could deal with them right then and there."

"And wreck my house in the process?"

"Don't be daft, my boy," the old butler rolled his eyes and told me, "It is quite obvious we shall erect a Restricted Space before we would commence with the hostilities."

"… Was that supposed to make me feel better about you fighting in my house?" Neither of the men answered my rhetorical question, so I let out a tired sigh and told them, "Fine, I'll think about it."

"Don't think too long. We only have a scant few days to prepare," Sebastian warned me, which sounded rich from the mouth of the dragon who refused to remove the thing designed to kill him from his own study, but I digress.

Anyhow, somewhere along the way Elly attached herself to me again, and seeing that, the old man let out one of his absolutely annoying grandfatherly chuckles. I naturally ignored him, especially since Emese also called out to me.

"Are you staying for dinner today?" she spoke in an expectant voice, and I had to let her down by shaking my head.

"No, I have other plans for the evening."

"Aw. A shame," she muttered under her breath, and before I could tell her a suitable excuse, my attention was grabbed by the old man once again.

"Does that mean you are not interested in the items of my Berlin collection either?"

"I… would be lying if I said I wasn't, but not at the moment. Studying and modifying enchantments take a lot out of me, and I have already done that today. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I need to recover my strength in case I'm needed, so I'm afraid I can't play around with your toys today."

"Are you still sick?" Emese inquired as she rolled up to me. "Now that you mention it, you do look a little pale."

"I'll just have to restrain myself from messing around with enchantments for a while and I should be back to normal soon… I think."

"The day of the attack is still almost a week away; you should rest a lot until then," the lady of the house offered her advice, but I could only shake my head at her kind words.

"I have other things to do in the meantime."

"Such as?" Sebastian inquired, but before I could give him one of my intentionally vague answers, Elly replied in my stead.

"We are going to deal with Robatto."

"Really? About time," Emese muttered under her breath before putting on a determined expression. "Do you need our help?"

"Honey, we already discussed this," Abram cut in, his voice sounding just a tad exhausted. "Until Amadeus gives us a response, we cannot fight on the island. It won't do us any good to ruin our relationship with him."

"We'll just have to make sure he won't find out," she told us with a wink. "Or do you want Leo to fight alone in that condition?"

"There are… multiple issues with what you just said, so let me come clean…" I interrupted her and quickly explained the current plan, including using Pascal, leaving things to Josh, and some other small details.

After hearing me out, Mama Dracis reluctantly dropped the topic, though she made sure to remind me that if we actually needed help, they would happily provide it. After we concluded that, we spent a couple of minutes discussing other, less crucial topics, and it was around the time when the Dracis parents began to argue whether they want a grandson or a granddaughter first that I figured I would take my leave. But first…

"How about we go to your room for a bit?" I addressed the question to the princess. "It's been a while since we spent some time alone."

"Are we going to cuddle?" my girlfriend asked back with sparkly eyes, and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"If you want to."

"Then we are going to cuddle!" she declared as she began to drag me out of the room.

I disregarded all the 'It's so nice to be young!'s and 'They look so cute, aren't they, honey?'s behind us and followed after her. Once we were getting close to her room, I reached into my trousers' pocket and put my finger on the small, metallic object it in. It was one of the artifacts I received from Mike this morning; a bracelet with a simple design holding a deceptively complex communication enchantment. I had it on me because I used it as a template when modifying the Magiformers of the group, but since it was the only thing on hand, I had to work with it.

As such, when we stopped in front of Elly's door, I gently poked her face to get her attention and told her, "You know, I'm still a little concerned about the spear."

"Don't worry, Sebastian always knows best," she responded with a line that felt so canned I was worried it was something they kept telling themselves over the generations. It would have certainly explained how the old man could end up so eccentric. However, that was beside the point.

"Maybe, but just for my peace of mind," I said as I pulled my hand out of my pocket and showed her the bracelet, "Can I ask a tiny little favor from you?"

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