Chương 142: Chapter 218: Checkmate, Father-in-Law

"Another tank slayer!" A familiar voice cut through the chatter. Will and Brianna glanced at each other and then scanned the bustling surroundings.

"There." Will said, pointing with his pastry before shoving the rest of it in his mouth. Hunched over at his seat was a handsome blonde who made the table look like it was made for a child's toy set. In front of him were two empty shotglasses with a recognizable film of tank slayer on them, and he was calling for a third. The handsome young man had puffy eyes and a vacant stare as he peered into the wood grain, seemingly trying to divine a way out his mess. I should probably do something about this.

"Hey Reggie, you're not trying to kill yourself before the wedding are you?" Will asked, sliding into the seat beside the looming Tank.

"No, I…don't think so?" Reggie said, his unfocused gaze landing on Will and slowly clearing.

"Will!"

"Me." Will said. Will was engulfed in a hug that might've been crushing if Will's Resistance had been lower.

"Oh, man, you have no idea how glad I am to see you guys!" Reggie bawled.

"This whole wedding is a living nightmare?"

"You and Alicia not good?"

"Nah, we're good. More than good. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. Her dad on the other hand…"

"Ah." Will nodded.

"He doesn't think I should be breathing the same air as her, just because I'm a Tank. When we got here, he fuckin' told me to take her luggage in through the servant's entrance. When he found out we were dating, he just about tore down the palace. Only reason I'm still alive is because a fisherman found me floating through the void." Will inhaled sharply at the appropriate time.

"Then he found out we've been…doing stuff, and after they reassembled the palace, he decided that he's gonna make me into a Lord, like retroactively make me the guy that he wants for her and that's that.

"Huh." Will grunted at the appropriate time.

"And I'm dying here, man, he doesn't respect me and is trying to make me 'better' at the same time, and it's just not working…there's just…no bridge I can cross there that's gonna take me to a place where we're cool.

"You can't really help someone if you don't respect them." Will said, patting Reggie's arm while glancing at Brianna. Get me out of here!" Exactly!" Reggie said.

"He undermines everything he tries to do to 'help me' which basically makes everything worse! I'm fuckin' losing it!"

"Well, what are you planning on doing after the wedding?" Reggie leaned back in his seat, letting out an impressive groan as he stared at the ceiling.

"He's sending us up to the fifteenth Floor to set up a Stronghold." Will frowned.

"Do you…wanna do that?"

"It's not really a matter of want." Reggie said.

"I mean, sure, I don't want to, but I also know I can't. I don't have the Build for it, and while Alicia's got a devastating attack, she's died before so she can't be a Lord, and her Build isn't really suitable for extended fighting, and only against living creatures with circulatory systems. Sooner or later she'd get a bad match or run out of Charge, and then we'd both get slaughtered." … It just feels like he's trying to kill us. literally kill us.

But he's too wrapped up in his feelings to actually see what we're capable of." Reggie muttered, his eyes shining with tears.

"…Why don't you knock her up?" Will asked drawing from his experience giving pregnant women emergency Doors to leave his Floor. Reggie froze.

"… What?"

"Lords are obligated to give pregnant women Doors down at least one Floor. It's one of their common-law duties. If she's pregnant she's gotta leave The Tower. You can tag along as her Tank to make sure nothing happens to Lord Zodiac's grandchild. Believe it or not, Advanced Tanks aren't super common. You can reliably argue that you are the surest way to get them back safe. Once you're outside the Tower, his influence is greatly reduced. Then you just… don't come back, maybe raise a family.

In a few years Zodiac makes time to stop by and strong-arm you into coming back up, but then sees a bunch of his grandkids pitter-pattering around and bam! Checkmate, old man."

"…You're gonna be a pain in the ass son-in-law." Reggie said.

"Maybe." Will said with a shrug.

"It's pretty crude and forceful, but I guess being delicate and polite isn't gonna save our asses." Reggie mused, absentmindedly raising the Tank Slayer to his lips, which Will intercepted and replaced with some water.

"What if he only sends Alicia down and sends me up to die?" Reggie asked. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"…say no?" Will suggested.

"Can he force you?"

"He'll kill me!"

"Isn't it death if you accept?" will asked.

"…Yep."

"I tell you what, if you say no and he forces you anyway, I'll go up with you and give you a Door that bypasses the 11 th Floor. by the time Zodiac figures out you're missing you'll be long gone."

"Really?"

"Really. But seriously, just try saying no." Will replied.

"You make it sound so easy." Reggie muttered, his tone hovering on the edge of sarcasm before giving a dour chuckle.

"Alright. I'll go talk to Alicia about your…idea." Reggie said, standing, his balance a bit wobbly from the liquid courage.

"If you guys choose to follow that plan, you gotta make sure to stick with it and follow through. It won't work if you pull out at the last second."

"Haha, fuck you," Reggie said, taking a halfhearted swing at his head, which Will dodged easily.

"Have fun, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Will said as Reggie turned to leave.

"You can do it, Reggie!" Brianna called after him.

"You can do it all night long!"

"Yeah, put your back into it!" Will shouted. Will ducked a thrown mug which hit a patron behind him in the back of his head. The warrior turned around in his seat and glared at Will.

"Bar rules?" He asked, rather than immediately throw a punch.

"Eh?" Will grunted. Bar rules? The man stood up, cracking his knuckles before pointing to a sign hanging from the crossbeam. Bar Rules: No weapons No active Abilities No stupid-ass damage loops or other cheese.

"Sounds good to m-" Will swayed around a fist the size of his head, stepped inside the man's range and punched him in the ribs. Some passive activated and the man's chest thrummed outward, nearly breaking Will's wrist.

"Will, your suit!" Brianna shouted.

"I got another!" Will shouted back a moment before a chair shattered against his shoulder, sending him tumbling into another table of Climbers. Reggie made his escape as the brawl rapidly escalated.... ……

"Sometimes it's nice to get in a brawl every once in a while, ya know? I miss the sixth Floor a little." Will said as he limped out of the inn with Brianna. Whoever ran the Inn had some kind of Ability that reassembled the building and furniture automatically, which was handy when people were throwing each other through walls. Will's second formal outfit was tattered and hanging from him, in some places literally by a thread. There were also blood stains. Food stains. Booze too. Will himself didn't feel half bad.

Sure there were some bruises and a black eye, but his whole body felt a bit like… like a rug that had just had years of dirt beaten out of it. He felt light and loose. That was an interesting thing about being a Lord in his own stronghold that Will only understood in hindsight. He couldn't just fight people for fun in his own stronghold, because he represented the law, and therefore anyone he fought was automatically in the wrong. A criminal.

This was something that he had understood instinctually, always making sure to restrain himself to the appropriate level of violence. Maybe if I made some kind of boxing club? How many people would die? Sooner or later someone with a bunch of Strength would punch someone with too little Resistance, and ruin everyone's fun. Something to think about. Maybe I can ask Bakton how he keeps people from dying in his little arena.

"I have never felt the urge to get into a brawl, no. So I would not know what that feels like." Brianna said, raising her nose.

"It's probably a guy thing."

"Ask Bee." Will"…Okay, so I have felt the urge to get into a brawl before. But I never felt better afterwards."

"William Oh!" the guy from the tavern who'd broken a chair over Will's back shouted as he approached, causing Brianna to tense.

"You hit like a girl, but at least you can take one like a man!" The guy said, raising his hand.

"Pfft. You're one to talk." Will said, receiving the high-five in front of a gaping Brianna.

"I thought that chair was made of stone, not seafoam."

"You know that person?" Brianna asked.

"I do not, no." Will said, watching the dockworker saunter into the night.

"It's probably a guy thing." The population was overwhelmingly male, so it made sense for the culture of the higher Floors to be…rough around the edges.

"Well, at least nobody got killed." Brianna said with a sigh.

"And I actually got to throw the first real punch in freakin yea-" Will paused. A point on his Map bloomed with fear, cutting his sentence short and dragging his attention away from Bri. Will consulted the map's legend for the matching color of this specific type of fear. Fear of being caught by William Oh.

"…This really is unfair," Will mused.

"What?"

"Oh there's some people over that way who don't want me to find them, and I'm gonna go ask why." Will said, pointing. By the gods, Map was a good investment.

"Do you…want me to come?" Brianna asked.

"Could get violent." Will glanced down at his shredded, bloodied clothes.

"Violent-er."

"You mean more violent." Brianna said.

"Eh."

"…I think I'm done with 'guy things' for tonight. I'll send Ria with you." Brianna said after a moment of consideration. A few seconds later Ria budded off of Brianna, who handed her copy a tightly-rolled tunic from the bottom of her purse.

"You two have fun chasing bad guys. I'm going to go take a bath in a scented swimming pool, then sleep in a velvet-covered down bed like a normal, well-rounded person." Ria on the other hand… The athletic brunette glanced after Bri for a moment before looking down at Will. Which was impressive.

"What did they do?" She asked, a halberd forming in her hand. Bri must've switched rings. Right to the point. Brianna had sent Ria because that was the facet of her personality most concerned with justice and 'fairness'. She'd be willing to help Will rough people up, but only if they deserved it.

"Well, I don't know that yet. We're going to go find out, then play it by ear." Ria nodded, falling in behind Will as he followed the glowing point of fear on his map. Right…here. Will thought as he arrived at a hollowed out crystal, like all the other houses on this Floor.

"He's only here for the wedding. All we have to do is grab a bit of food and water from the inn and hole up here for two weeks. Then he's gone." Despite the thickness of the crystal walls, Will's Acuity was able to make out voices. Familiar voices.

"Why stay here for two weeks? Why not just run now?" A woman asked.

"Because dropping everything to run attracts attention." A man replied.

"So does breaking off our agreement with Zodiac and holing up for two weeks." Another woman pointed out. Will wanted to confirm his suspicions with Phantom Eye, but if Maybin Glasswind could sense Phantom Hand, then there was no guarantee these people wouldn't either. Best not to use any active Abilities and just fade into the background.

"Zodiac. That's it. Let's hide behind Zodiac. We can shuffle our place on the away team to go bright and early tomorrow. I'm sure we can find plenty of them that want to stay for the wedding. That way we'll be out of town the majority of the time William Oh is here, and if he does track us down, he'll have to answer to Zodiac if he tries anything." I think I got everything I need. Will thought, stepping away from the wall and back out onto the street.

"Let's go to bed," Will said, catching Ria's arm and heading back towards the palace.

"We're… not going in?" Ria asked with a frown.

"I know where they'll be," Will said.

"Bright and early." These familiar voices were working for Zodiac right now, so Will needed to speak to the Lord himself before he went around murdering the man's laborers.