I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

Hours. The interview took hours. The first round of questions with Cy from the thick stack of documents took over an hour. The second round took even more time as every question, aside from the ones on the accepted medical exam, were asked again. Then every answer was written in a neat and time-consuming penmanship by Elder Ji-min.

At one point, when Max was starting to feel a bit faint from lack of food and water, they temporarily paused the interview. Edric and Elder Ji-min managed to convince the others to unbind his hands and give him a small sandwich, some water, and five minutes to consume them before they resumed. Nearing the end of the process, even the other Elders appeared fed up with the proceedings. The only one elated by the detailed paperwork was Elder Ji-min.

“Okay, Richard- I mean Max, let’s go to the next page.” Fucking prick. Max hated his own name in that life. Just when he thought he had escaped it by switching worlds, it was back. Elder Ji-min kept making several ‘accidental slip ups’ in a row.

At least the questions were somewhat easy to answer. Max just had to assume his identity and memories of his previous life. Ellie did get quite ill a few months after their marriage, which was a good bet as to when Darius made the switch to this world in his report. Even picking a country to be from was an easy choice since there was a distant country with a similar sounding name. No one had questioned it, so there was no reason to believe his assumptions were wrong.

“The next page?” Max asked. How many pages were there?

“Well, now that we know you were married, you need to complete page 53. We have some additional questions about your spouse.” Life was brought back into the eyes of some of the Elders.

“I’m a widow.” The word was bitter and cold in his mouth. “What does it matter? She’s not going to try and enter on a spousal visa.”

“We need to be thorough.” Edric hadn’t said a word to make this whole process go any faster, and here he was trying to drag it out even longer. Whose side was he really on?

“Besides, we don’t really know if she’s ‘dead’ dead. You made that dragon come back to life,” Elder Aris added, with a strange amount of glee in his voice. Was he getting a kick from seeing Max squirm a little? Or perhaps it was the closest thing they had seen to a vulnerability since he stepped through the teleporter.

“Only temporarily.”

“Let’s start with the questions,” Elder Ji-min pushed the interview forward. “Question 783, what was your wife’s maiden name?”

For a moment, Max hesitated. Was it worth prying up her memory just to get into this stupid community? The anticipating eyes of Edric were trying to assure him it was. Alternative options to evade were bleak. Not answering the questions would lengthen the proceedings or reject his application. Trying to run won’t work with the room’s spells in place. He had no internal magic or things to create runes with. Edric would probably assist if he chose to get rid of them…

After much thought, Max decided to spill. They probably already knew the answer anyway. Darius had broken the ice a while ago.

“Elenor Gillery Pigott.”

“…Unfortunate name.”

“Eh, she liked it.”

“Title?”

“Before marriage, she was a baroness.”

“You? With a noble woman?” There was judgement in Edric’s voice.

“I was adopted by a family that was part of the royal court as well, remember? Question 12?”

“13,” Elder Ji-min corrected.

“Who ended up on a farm?” Elder Aris scoffed at the idea.

“Mindless work is good for healing.” There was truth to Max’s words. “I needed a break from it all.”

“Isn’t it convenient that you were adopted as a child?” Elder Charaka still had suspicion in his voice. “Your adopted family never told you about where you’re from?”

“All I knew was that I wasn’t in great shape when my father brought me to the family home, and then he raised me well. It feels disrespectful to go searching for my birth parents.” Slight leap with that lie. In the previous world, Max’s adoptive father and brother died before Ellie’s story began. It was easy to slip into the position of the tucked away, emergency heir. “Sorry for snapping at you in the medical exam. It’s a bit of a sore subject.” Max could tell it paid off when he saw the small huff emerge from him.

His lie caught two birds with one. It played at the Elders with a sensitive heart for the young children forcibly brought to Tsujuma. And it also served as an explanation as to why he got along so well with Cy. They were both ‘adopted.’

“And how did you two meet?” Elder Ji-min pushed on the interview before it turned into a gossip session.

“At a ball.” It was where Max woke up in that life. Dressed to impress and not an identity in sight, he had the freedom to pick any prompt provided during the event.

“How romantic,” Elder Nova said, while leaning in with interest. The atmosphere was killed when Elder Aris let out a disgusting snort. “Jealous?”

“As if.”

“Question 784, how was the first time you met? Was it an instant click?” Elder Ji-min brought the atmosphere back. Max started to doubt the questions were on the piece of paper he was reading from. The application was too long to really remember.

“Ah… Kinda?”

“What do you mean kinda?” Edric had been holding it in as best as he could manage. It was obvious to anyone who really knew him. Not knowing the latest chapters in Max’s life must be getting to him.

“Well, I had just inherited everything. My adoptive family died in an outbreak, so I received their land, fortune, people; everything… But I didn’t know what to do with it all. Originally, I was just planning to drink myself to an early grave,” and skip that world. “But Ellie found me on a binge.”

“That was your first meeting?”

“Yep.”

“And when did you become a couple?” Elder Nova seemed excited by the story playing out.

“Almost immediately… I guess?”

“You guess?”

“Well, she proposed to me during that ball.” Accepting was the method to start her story. Max could tell the Elders were getting carried away with all sorts of sugary sweet thoughts. It was funny. “Or more specifically, she asked me to pause the drinking and marry her. Once all the paperwork was completed, Ellie promised she would let me go back to the drink while she waited to inherit everything as my wife.”

It was a bold offer. If it hadn’t been, then Max wouldn’t have even entertained the idea.

“And then she helped you get on the right track?”

“Nah, she tried to hurry up the process before giving up.”

It was a mutually beneficial, silly one-star story.

And it was everything.

“Enough with this,” Elder Aris snarled. “His wife is dead. Sad story, blah blah. Who gives a fuck. Let’s keep going.” For once, Max appreciated his existence.

The questions continued with Max answering to the best of his abilities. Until, exhausted, the Elders called for a recess the moment they had finished their questions. This time Max only got a cup of water while he sat on the floor and waited for his session to resume. This break was a whole ten minutes. Lucky him.

When it was time to begin the next part, everyone was exhausted aside from Darius, who had a skip in his step when he took his place amongst the Elders. They all stood up and sat again as an announcement of the next part. Max remained seated on the floor. They got to sit for hours, now it was his turn to join them.

Elder Ji-min began the last part of his application process. “I appreciate how long the process is taking. If there are no further interview questions, let’s begin the voting process. We, the Elders, will determine our vote and offer an explanation for official records.

“I will remind you, Max, this vote will only determine whether you are admitted into Tsujuma. If successful, we will convene and decide later what restrictions and limitations will be placed on you while you’re here. This will include permission to work here. Do you understand?”

Tired, Max just held up his thumb. His throat was too parched from answering questions all day.

Elder Ji-min continued, “Alright. If any Elders have already reached a verdict-”

“I deny his application.” Elder Aris didn’t even hesitate with his words. “I swear this one is a Nnita. We can’t risk another one of those slippery bitches worm their way in here. I don’t need to remind everyone what happened last time one of them got in.”

… A little reminder would be nice. Max frowned as the only one not informed about ‘the last time.’ Another question for Edric later.

“I refute that statement,” Darius declared boldly. “His answers to your interrogation were almost identical to my written report. To judge his story is to judge my word. I accept his application.”

Max was too tired to feel annoyed that Darius read his soul again. Right. 1-1. So far so expected.

“Like your word is reliable,” Elder Aris countered. “Tell that to little Cyrus if-”

“Enough!” Elder Ji-min interrupted with a loud voice, making Max jump.

Elder Charaka spoke in a much calmer voice. “He lied in his original application. Max admitted to lying in front of us. He may have corrected the record for us, but it doesn’t change his attempt to manipulate us. I deny his application.”

… Fair. Max couldn’t be angry with the reasoning. He would’ve had an issue with it too. The more he thought about it, the more surprised he became about his application not being denied immediately after they found out he wasn’t being truthful.

“I’ve reached my decision as well,” Elder Ji-min declared. Max couldn’t help but feel nervous about his vote. So far, he had shown to be the most influential Elder. “I told little Cyrus-Cyrus,” he corrected himself while smiling down at Max, “to go and develop his magic further. Now, he’s back with someone who he thinks will help him. Can you help Cyrus with his magic?”

Max thought about it for a moment. “Probably. If we figure out why I have no fate. It might help him.” Wasn’t going to happen though. Some of the other Elders didn’t look convinced. “And I’m pretty good at rune magic, which Ed-Elder Edric explained as being based on words and categories. If Cyrus were to apply the same line of thinking to his fate magic, then I have no doubt his magic will develop further.” The colours of fates were on his mind. Orange for horror, pink for romance; what were the other colours?

“And will you teach him rune magic as well?”

“No.” The prompt didn’t even need to appear before Max answered. “Cyrus also has a theory about runes affecting fixed fates. If he is right, then it would be irresponsible to teach this kind of magic to others without him further testing it first.”

Elder Ji-min was intimidating as he stared down at Max before shrugging. “Then who am I to say no? I say we let Cyrus’s friend in.”

What? Up until now, everything from this man’s mouth had been so formal and wise. Suddenly, he was chill about everything. Max pushed the thought aside. Now, it was 2-2, and he had one more ally on his side.

“I accept his application as well.” Finally, Edric speaks with his words being as fast as ever. “Rune magic is a rare skill. If approved for work, I’m sure he would be willing to contribute to our research for a decent wage, right?” Max nodded from the floor. Look at him, letting him in and setting him up for a decent living. “This will also be beneficial for little Cyrus testing his theory and developing his own rare type of magic. With enough restrictions in place, I would argue the risks are worth the rewards.”

… Why was he using that nickname?... A large part of him was suddenly on edge. Darius had asked him to get the people like them in line. Max couldn’t agree more now.

It was down to the women with the final votes. 3-2 in Max’s favour.

“I strongly deny his application,” Elder Obi didn’t mince her words. Her sudden animosity surprised him. Up until now, she appeared to be patiently listening to the conversations and questions in front of her. “We must protect our own. I agree with Elder Aris. He’s far too suspicious, and most likely one of them. Any risk Elder Edric is suggesting is not worth it.”

Max couldn’t really argue with her decision either. Now that she spoke again, Max realised why he never suspected she would reject his application. She had a strong, maternal feel to her character and voice. It just didn’t occur to him that her children were only the members of their community.

3-3. All down to Elder Nova.

The other Elders realised as well as they squirmed to the edge of their seat in an attempt to make eye contact with her, but she kept her gaze focused down on the applicant. Earlier, he wasn’t sure if she was one of them who hadn’t been converted or just an oddly modern woman from this world. Max still wasn’t sure.

“You burned my office down.”

Max blinked a few times. Her office? What office? “Sorry? I don’t understand.”

“The parchments I gave you for your runes. They all linked up to a book in my office. When I tried to open the book after your match with Elder Edric, an enchanted fire broke out. We were unable to save anything within a 10-metre vicinity.”

The colour drained from Max’s face. He added protected elements to his runes, which would’ve combined into a bigger incantation in her book. But they shouldn’t have been activated unless there was significant risk of tampering. Before the match, he had just assumed they were only going to examine them or do minor spells for a few days. The reasonable, cautious approach to unknown magic. Elder Nova must’ve gone in guns blazing to cause the self-destruct feature to go off.

The game was up. They lost. Time to start planning an exit. “Good.”

“Good?”

“I already mentioned how I find it irresponsible to teach someone this kind of magic without proper testing with Cyrus. I’m glad they came into effect before you could learn anything.” And risk starting a story.

Elder Nova continued to glare before a grin cracked across her face. “I like your spunk.” She finally made eye contact with some of the other Elders. “Let him in. Hey Elder Edric, what say you we each give him and Cyrus 100 gaeles for their time with testing the runes? I’ll let them use one of my labs.” Her attention turned back towards Max. “Oh, and I want to hear more about that Ellie of yours. A small price for renting a lab, right?”

Max started to zone out as he realised what had just happened… He did it?