Location: Magicon Empire; Song Duchy; Song System; BCS (VS) Stargazer

When the discussion gets wilder and I don't understand a single word anymore, I raise my hands and shout. "Guys, stop! Calm down, I can't understand you!"

"Who cares? The flippin' Duchess of the Song Duchy just invited us for dinner! How the hell are we supposed to react? I don't even know why she would invite us." Nick immediately starts talking again after the others quieted down.

I look at him. "You know that I'm close to Lisa Song… It has to be about that, I don't have any other explanation."

Tim nods along. "That would make sense. Maybe the Duchess needs you to do something… That should be one of your responsibilities as a retainer after all. What I don't understand is why she would invite all of us. We're just random students from FBC after all."

I laugh inwardly when he manages to say that with a straight face. Of course, we're just random students… Especially with the greatest magical talent of the Silvani family right next to me.

"I don't know, but I guess we'll find out. Perhaps she wants to meet the people who convinced me to decline to join Lisa's Earth team?"

Alina snorts. "Because we're the best of course!"

That gets a laugh out of everyone and even Nick looks more accepting. I wonder if he can keep his composure once we meet with Lisa's mom. Hell, I wonder if I can keep my composure. It's not that I interacted much with her. We basically only exchanged a few words when I first met her and when Lisa and I finalized the retainership.

Anyway, at least the tension is broken, and we're mostly back to normal. Everyone is still a bit shocked, but I'd say that's completely normal. Now we just have to wait until we arrive at our parking slot and take the yacht to fly down to the planet. Sure, we could teleport, but Lisa told me to enjoy the view if I would ever be here.

It takes a little more than an hour which we use to get something to eat and to put on some nicer clothes, then Clara announces that we've arrived and can now enter the yacht for our trip down to the planet. We quickly walk to the hangar and enter my yacht, then Clara flies outside and heads for the planet below.

Location: Magicon Empire; Song Duchy; Song System; Jiā; Valenia

Well, Lisa didn't exaggerate a bit. The view during the descent to Jiā truly is breathtaking. The city of Valenia also is so much more than Lisa was able to describe in words. With all the organic growth and whatever, the whole city truly looks as if it's part of the surrounding nature.

Clara flies our shuttle to a landing platform at the edge of the city. Once we exited the ship and walked away a bit, the platform descends and stores the yacht in an underground hangar. After that, a new empty platform arises to take care of the next arriving shuttle. It's convenient, I'd say as all the shuttles are out of sight but still easily accessible. Additionally, the shuttle port doesn't look like a giant eyesore in the surroundings.

Right next to the port is a grav train station. While it's called the same as back on Acordus 3, the trains here are very different. For once, the cars are much shorter, they only fit about 20 people each. However, I see graphics where many cars are coupled together. I guess that depends on how many people want to take the train at a given time. The second difference is that even the train stations blend in with the surrounding nature. The roofs are covered with greenery, and the colors are brown and green.

Once we're inside, they are silent, clean, comfortable, and pretty much everything those on Acordus 3 weren't. We sit down and continue to enjoy the view. Clara only notifies us once when we have to change trains. It takes about 30 minutes until we arrive close to the hotel that Duchess Song's assistant booked us in. We decide to walk the final stretch.

And what a final stretch it is! The buildings look even cooler up close and I can very much see how much love to detail went into them when they were built. Our short trip finishes with a walk over a small suspension bridge that leads us across one of the three rivers flowing through the city. After that, we check into our hotel and go to our respective rooms to freshen up. According to the receptionist, a shuttle will collect us in one and a half hours.

The shuttle arrives as promised and the six of us enter it. It slowly lifts and flies us across the city. It is even more spectacular now with the final stands of sunlight illuminating the city in a red-golden hue. We land on a small platform and a middle-aged man in a black suit welcomes us outside. He leads us through a doorway, and we enter the building.

While our hotel went with the exterior vibe of the city, this restaurant obviously goes a different way. It reminds me of the top-floor restaurants in Imperia with the elegant and modern design scheme. This restaurant, which is called the Golden Star according to the sign at the entrance, features a lot of black and gold metal combined with lots of glass and dark wood.

Anyway, the man stops before a closed door and knocks once. Seconds later another, though much younger-looking, man opens the door and invites us inside. It's a private room with a single large table in the middle. The seat at the head of the table is occupied by a black-haired woman with Asian features.

Duchess Song looks up and smiles slightly. "Welcome, please sit down. We have a lot to discuss."

We have? I still have no clue what this is about. I'm the first one inside and after a short curtsy which she acknowledges with a nod, I take the seat to the Duchess's right. Lucy sits opposite me and the others take the seats further away from the Duchess after showing their own signs of respect.

The Duchess snaps her fingers which causes the waiter to come closer with a stack of menus. He hands them out and fades into the background again. My eyebrows raise slightly. If this follows the same scheme, this is a top-notch restaurant!

"Please order whatever you like, it's my treat," the Duchess's voice is soft but carries to each of us. We don't need to be told twice and dive into the menus. A few minutes later, we're ready and the waiter happily takes our orders. He tells us that it's going to take about 30 minutes, but he'll be back with our drinks shortly.

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After he delivers them, Duchess Song casts a spell and all surrounding sounds vanish. She looks at me expectantly with a hint of respect. "You do have a lot of control… Aren't you curious why I invited the six of you?"

Of course, I am! What do you think? But I don't have a clue. Still, everyone looks at me and I have to respond. I look at her and shake my head slightly. "I'm sorry, your Grace, but I don't know why we're here today… My only guess is that it has something to do with my connection to your daughter."

She nods once. "Alright, then let me explain…"

At the same time, I feel a Communication spell trying to connect to me. I didn't notice any magic being cast around me, but I catch something in the Duchess's eye. Like she's expecting me to do something. That probably means the spell is hers. That also means that she's an expert at hiding her spells. But I should expect that from an Archmage. I should be able to do it as well after all – if someone told me this was a thing…

Curiously, I accept and hear the Duchess's voice in my head. "Sorry to ambush you like this, but you came conveniently close to my home, so I had to take this opportunity. First, you have my gratitude that everything worked out well with Lisa. She's much happier now that she has a female friend who is her peer and doesn't try sucking up to her. But this is also where today's issues lie… I'll explain later so that the others get a genuine reaction from you. So please play along. Or do they all know your real identity? This would let us cut things short."

Seems like things are getting interesting… My connection with Lisa is causing issues. I wonder what's that about. "Thanks for the warning… As for my friends, most of them do know, but Tim and Nick don't. I also would like to keep it that way for now, please."

"I understand. Then we'll continue like this. I'll talk to you later."

As our mental communication with the spell is so much faster than talking, barely a second has passed since the Duchess started speaking. Therefore, she continues with practically no pause.

"You are Lisa's retainer. With that comes a certain set of responsibilities as I'm sure she has explained to you before signing the contract."

She asked me to play along, so I nod once. "Yes, she did, your Grace."

She lifts her cup of tea and takes a sip. "Good. One of those responsibilities is accompanying Lisa to certain events where she has to show her good standing. This goes especially for strong Mages in her retinue. One such event is the Earth expedition that starts in a few months."

Ohh! That's the reason. Duchess Song looks at me sharply, and I lean back with wide eyes. That's something we should have known months ago! I guess Clara was forbidden from interfering again. Both Lisa and I didn't think about it at all. Sure, we knew about the accompanying, and I also went to a fashion gala with Lisa, but we didn't see the Earth adventure like this. Especially, as we both knew that I already had a team.

"I see… So that's why we're here. Is there a way to resolve this issue?"

The Duchess nods. "Indeed, there is. I intend to get to know the people who managed to make you choose them instead of Lisa. We'll see about resolving this later."

She lets her gaze wander and looks at each of my friends. "So tell me, why did Sara choose you?"

The others look taken aback and suddenly very uncomfortable. I'd laugh if the situation wasn't so tense. Tim awkwardly clears his throat.

"Err, I don't know… We basically formed the team before Sara even learned about Miss Lisa… I guess Sara's loyal?"

He really doesn't sound sure. The confident Tim is suddenly nowhere to be found. I wonder if he'd be the same toward me if he knew who I am.

Lucy picks up after a bit of silence. "Yeah, both Lydia and I have known Sara for a very long time. We did everything together. It would be very weird to suddenly be without her."

The Duchess starts chuckling. "Oh, I made you squirm alright. But enough of that. Lisa already told me that you are quite the group. I do not intend to rip you apart, but it does cause some issues when Lisa's strongest follower leads her own team in the competition and who knows, she might even win. How would that make Lisa look? What do you think?"

Not good at all… Dang it. I just wanted all those random Nobles to stop bothering me. When Lisa came up with the idea of joining her retinue on paper for appearance's sake it sounded so good. Too good, I guess.

"Oh," Alina winces and voices all our thoughts.

"Indeed," the Duchess replies. "But don't fear, I've got a solution for you."

She looks at me, and another Communication spell comes knocking. "Sometimes you have to live with the consequences of your choices."

That sentence is so multi-layered… Dammit, now everything I did to make things easier for me comes biting me in the ass. Right now, I wish I'd never decided to disguise myself. But I guess there would have been a whole stack of different problems and issues then… I'll never know.

"I understand…"

"The proposal I'm about to make will take away a lot of the glory you might get if you manage to win the competition, but that's just how things are, I'm sorry. But, from what I heard from the Emperor and your parents, there is something big for you planned after you reveal your identity. So maybe the little loss right now won't be that bad…"

I let out a mental sigh. "I've brought all this onto myself, so hit me with it, I guess."

I manage not to show too much of a reaction after our mental communication. The Duchess continues to speak out loud.

"I know you already have a greater team extending your core group for the Earth adventure. You're actually quite well covered on most angles with the six of you specializing in exploration and your other friends doing archeology. Lisa also heard you mention other friends who will take care of your supplies. I must applaud you on that, as most people would forget about such things. As you know, you will get a single Peacekeeper ship added to your group for protection."

She pauses for a moment and sips her tea again. She's frighteningly well-informed!

"So that leaves one angle that you don't have covered right now. Well, you could cover it yourself with a bit of extra work, but it also gives us the possibility to resolve our issues quite easily. You're lacking an administrative group who can coordinate all your work during the adventure in the Solar System. That's where Lisa and her small team comes in."

She leaves the sentence hanging in the air and looks at our reactions. Now I know what she meant with the lost glory… If Lisa takes the administrative role, most people will see her as our leader. Not that I care much about glory… It would be glory for Sara Green anyway and she ceases to exist after I graduate. But it still stings a bit. Also, the Duchess asked me to play along.

I let out a long huff of air, voicing my annoyance. "Is there no other way? That means Lisa swipes in and gets all the fame if we manage to do well… While we're doing all the work!"

The others don't look that happy as well, but I guess they still have a bit of fear to openly criticize a Duchess. I hope I didn't go overboard myself.

Duchess Song chuckles. "Others would have seen that as insubordination, you know?"

There's this glint in her eyes, as we both know this is all for show. Still, I manage to react accordingly and put my hands to my face in shock. "Uh… I'm sorry?"

"But you are right. The six of you did all the work and could have done it all by yourself. That's why we'll announce you and Lisa as co-leaders of your group, Sara, and set up a contract that entitles the six of you and others of your choosing as the sole owners of everything you might discover in the Solar System."

That's actually not too bad… Allowing Lisa to do the administrative stuff opens up more time for us to do the real fun stuff. I can't react too happily though, but her offer with the ownership makes it acceptable for Sara Green, I'd say. Also, she's the Duchess so her word is final anyway.

Then there's the fact that Lisa is my friend. And why should I care about a bit of lost fame when I'm bound to be a hundred times more famous once I'm introduced to The Empire as the sole discoverer of Earth? Yeah, I can live with that quite well. Now I just have to show a halfway disappointed acceptance.

I lower my head and answer the Duchess with a low voice. "Then there's no other way than to accept, I guess."

I look back at my friends and find them nodding as well. Then I focus back on Duchess Song. "Okay, your Grace, we accept your proposal and will sign the contract once it's finished."

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