Hiro prepared his second serving at the buffet table, slightly depressed.

  (A shame, there's no fish or anything from the sea for that matter.)

  He held back a sigh as he recalled someone then left for the second floor, where he sensed Aleus's presence. His food tray filled with cakes and other light pastries with some milk to go with it.

  He navigated his way through the crowd and tables, no one stopped in for a brief chat, something he partially contributed to his conversation with the Rune King upon arrival. Not long after he reached the staircase and began his ascent.

  On the second floor, Hiro found himself in corridor with a number of rooms connected to it. Knowing his destination he proceeded with confidence.

  (I suppose as nobles even at lively banquet like this, private settings are to be expected.)

  The thought flashed in his mind while he continued down his path, eventually reaching his destination.

  After knocking on the door three times in succession, Hiro was acknowledged to enter. Inside the room Aleus was sitting alone on a couch with a bronze and rectangular table before him. On it was a stack of papers and roughly palm sized thin rock maybe metal tablets, rune tablets, some blank some engraved.

  Beside them on the table was a barely touched meal of rice and lamb stew.

  Evidently he had chosen to use one of the private rooms as a temporary working space.

  While Hiro entered Aleus bitterly smiled at him, gesturing for the couch across him.

  "And here I was thinking the palace was gloomy enough, only to be proven wrong."

  Hiro said jokingly.

  (Hmm?)

  Aleus was puzzled by the remark but resisted his desire for understanding, instead he said.

  "Don't tell me you came all the way up here carrying that tray. You could've asked one of the palace servants or waiters at the banquet hall to do that for you."

  Placing his tray on what little space was left on the table, Hiro then sat down while replying.

  "I originally planned on eating first before finding you, but seeing as you remained in the same spot for so long. I changed my mind and decided to come up here after preparing this serving, and I'm not so lazy as to hand it to someone to bring it for me.

  On a similar note, why did you bother attending the banquet if you were going to lock yourself up here and work the whole night?"

  Clearing some of the documents off the table Aleus sighed.

  "It's complicated."

  The response was vague to say the least but Hiro did not pursue, instead asking what had been on his mind since arriving at banquet.

  "Why is everyone wearing black?"

  Looking at Hiro as though he had just said something incomprehensible, Aleus then leaned back on the couch.

  "Come on, you can't be that clueless right. Since you prefer black, as the MVP isn't it natural that the atmosphere should match your taste at least, having you as the odd one out is definitely not acceptable."

  Aleus explained as a matter of fact.

  "I see, but I'm just one person and I'm not stubborn enough to not wear something different when the occasion calls for it."

  Hiro said flatly, making Aleus tremble a bit.

  (Really man, we even had to do a complete restyle on those robes. Doesn't that count as stubborn, but really who here would tell you how to dress.

  Ah, I suppose that one was on me for making the suggestion.)

  Aleus thought, half self deprecating, acknowledging that they hadn't given much thought to how Hiro would feel or think about the matter.

  "Aleus, you are a man and so am I. This being the case, we both know a day is more than enough to prepare for a trip. But that's the thing we haven't really talked about what's necessary for the journey.

  We can't be doing the preparations in private only to present them to the other just before leaving. So let's talk about it, what do we need for this adventure?"

  Hiro said suddenly, not beating around the bush about the purpose of his visit this evening.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "That goes without saying so I agree. As the expert world traveler, what did you have in mind?"

  (Hey, hey, what expert world traveler, I'm also a noob. Don't give me any unnecessary pressure.)

  Thought Hiro amused at this assumption and recalled he still hadn't explained that there might be a misunderstanding regarding his World traveling, while he said.

  "Food is optional but I'm inclined to taking what we can in this aspect. After all we may and may not find ourselves in a World without anything to eat."

  (If Aleus wasn't exaggerating then they and I are similar. We don't need food. I don't know about their case but for me, a few ranks above master, even a literal mountain of food a day isn't enough to satisfy my needs.)

  Hiro recalled and assessed both himself and Aleus.

  There were no exaggerations, the energy his body needed, normal food simply couldn't satisfy. Only by replenishing his spent energy by drawing it from the mystical realm linked to all wills, similar to the soul corridor, could he sustain himself without fail.

  By an expectant and natural side effect, it resulted in someone of Hiro's calibre not needing to relieve themselves from time to time. And also the reason he didn't mind this large serving of sugary treats at this late hour.

  As for Aleus and any other rune practitioner not needing food to sustain themselves, Hiro wasn't too clear on the matter but was confident it wasn't a result of their physiology, likely a rune he guessed.

  "The same goes for clothes, but they are more likely to be discarded, I believe. I assume I don't have to explain this point?"

  Hiro asked while glancing at Aleus who gave a slight nod, then he returned to his tray scooped another piece of cake before guiding it to his maw.

  (As expected of someone from such a land, he understands that beasts are walking pieces of food, equipment and clothing. And since I mentioned danger several times, going by his background he would expect the kind that comes from beasts.

  As long as there's sizeable beasts I can make us something decent to wear, perhaps not classy but better than average. When the time comes he won't need some convincing to try them on.

  Hehe, who knows he might be better than me in this aspect, crafting using beast carcasses, I certainly hope so. I still don't know which rune field is responsible for making rune artifacts. But the helper path and finder path are my best guesses.

  And in case we end up in a World with just civilizations but without beasts that can be turned to gear, earning money shouldn't be a problem even with just my skills alone, and of course he's far from being useless as well.)

  Hiro continued to eat as he mused over the details of World travel.

  After his first experience he now saw things differently but more clearly, his decision making regarding the subject wasn't as disorganized as his first time.

  "For travel and accommodation I was thinking along the lines of sky ship."

  "Mhm, we are of the same thoughts. Believe it or not I was planning on convincing you so we could take it. As we speak my sky ship has been prepared, with a descent amount of treasure. But after our conversation I see that a few things are lacking."

  Aleus reflected with a solemn gaze, before taking out a piece of paper from the few remaining on the table. He flipped it over to reveal a drawing of a person wearing a butler's uniform, but his skin wasn't normal, it was a metal grey.

  Hiro recognised the appearance, some of the humanoid golems he'd seen were like this, a type of messenger golem.

  Like the drawing was a gate way to some other realm, Aleus's hand entered while causing the drawing to ripple slightly on the surface, before he retracted it, bringing with it the golem drawing.

  As it was pulled out of the paper, the drawing gained volume while it grew rapidly before becoming the size of an adult man. In the process of its growth Aleus had brought it to stand beside his couch, to his left.

  (The dream rune, it against my subspace, which is more versatile?)

  Hiro wondered while watching Aleus give instructions to the messenger golem before it hurried out, to carry out his wishes.

  It was instructed to convey to some of the active palace rune practitioners to prepare a batch of various seeds and send them to Aleus's personal sky ship, this very night.

  "Ahem, I must confess."

  Aleus began, with an expression and voice tinged with guilt, so clear the blind could see, and the deaf could hear. As such Hiro only slowed down his eating and raised his brows to show his attention but said nothing, allowing Aleus to continue.

  "The thing is, if I'm going it has to be today, or rather tonight.

  My father is on to me, I don't believe I'll be able to escape once he takes action.

  I've in fact already taken some measures so we can leave any moment from at most an hour from now.

  If it's not possible then you can just say so, I definitely understand."

  Listening to Aleus divulge all this Hiro could not help but smile awkwardly, and be grateful he wasn't drinking anything at the moment.

  (I see, this fellow is likely not proactive when it comes to doing work around the palace. This being the case his recent behavior must have been suspicious, would those familiar with him think he changed overnight, definitely not.

  Putting my presence into the mix and the unspoken fact of my departure, arriving at the truth isn't strange.

  But really isn't this putting the cart before the horse, or maybe this escape is only possible if it's done this way.)

  Considering he had said they could leave at anytime, Hiro didn't immediately reject and thought things through, trying to find reason for this turn of events. In the end he chose to go along with this outcome.

  "Sigh, you are lucky I'm fully recovered in aspects that matter. Explain, what preparations did you make?"

  "Most of my preparation are irrelevant to you, like the several farewell letters I wrote. One other preparation is the sky ship of course, another I'm wishing you'd forgive me for is my grand escape..."

  Hiro frowned, he had an inkling that he should of asked about the said preparations first before agreeing, the moment he heard 'grand escape'. Aleus proved him right as he continued to explain, but Hiro had agreed and he would not go back on his word.

  "That's a crazy idea."

  Hiro said honestly, after Aleus concluded with his explanation.

  Put simply he wanted to be chased as they escaped on his sky ship.

  "It is bold, a manly way of doing it"

  (I don't think running away from home through the front gate counts as manly.)

  Desperately resisting the urge of giving the man across him, a few slaps of reason, Hiro said indifferently.

  "I'm fine with it on the condition that when you are captured I leave alone."

  "Hahaha, if I'm captured so be it then I wasn't meant to join you on this adventure."

  Replied Aleus in a heartbeat, his eyes flashing with resolve and confidence.

  Although Hiro wasn't serious with his condition, certain even without taking action his presence would ensure a successful escape, he was satisfied with the answer.

  (You hadn't reached my bottom line yet but I how could I make it easy to judge it. We definitely can't have you acting boldly in the future as well.)