Heron was all for new experiences. Like testing a new cooking recipe or chomping on a new snack or trying a new TV show.

  And what he would consider a swell evening in his first life was a half-eaten meal after failing a new Thai recipe, popping open a pack of wasabi banana chips, and watching a drama show with lawyers and criminals with a splash of romance in it.

  Not that the lawyers and criminals were entangled with one another, that would not be good. But more like lawyer office romance and criminals going to jail. Not a bad plot at all.

  So why was Heron stuck in a plot where he wasn’t getting any lawyer office romance and about to head straight to jail if he couldn’t seduce the judge into reconsidering the fine or incarceration time?

  Finding out what going to jail was like was not on Heron’s bingo card for the year and that was not a new experience he was looking to try. He’d prefer to stick to his wasabi banana chips, that was exciting enough.

  Looking up at the tall building in front of them, Heron grinned as he stared up the many steps of stairs that led up to the entrance of the courthouse. He had some bad knees but he would survive.

  Are you sure about that? I hear ‘em creaking over here.

  Shushing Lucifer in his mind, Heron ignored the dread of making the climb. He still hadn’t set Lucifer down, not because he wanted to carry the dreadful, adorable little creature but because Lucifer wouldn’t let him. It physically clung onto Heron in every way, shape, and form possible. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought it was because Lucifer was too anxious to hop on its own.

  Surely not, it was probably just using him as free transportation. Why would it hop if it had someone to carry it?

  Glancing over to Alice and Serafina who had begun the ascent up the stairs, Heron followed reluctantly as he carried Lucifer. Maybe, just maybe, they shouldn’t have walked all the way to the Knight’s Station if they were just going to walk all the way back to the City Hall.

  Because the courthouse was right behind where the City Hall building was.

  “Here we go, to the final boss.” Heron muttered under his breath as he took the first step up the stairs.

  He was coming for the judge and Heron was going to come out victorious.

  Heron was not surviving.

  Forget about the judge, the stairs were defeating him. He would not come out victorious against the judge if he couldn’t even make it up several flights of stairs.

  Huffing and puffing, Heron felt a bead of sweat drip down his temple as he stared up the many flights of polished stairs that lay before him. Alice’s metal armor had clanked every step of the way except now she stood still, waiting for him several steps ahead. She stared at him, judgmentally.

  “You realize we’ll never make it at the rate we’re going?” She pursed her lips, eyes half-lidded—probably full of judgment.

  “It’s. Not. My. Fault,” Heron breathed at each word as he hauled himself up one step at a time. “That they built like, a hundred steps.”

  Alice blinked once, twice. Her eyes flicked past him, then at him. “It’s only been like twenty steps.”

  “That’s twenty steps too many.” He retorted back, still breathless. “Besides, Lucifer is heavy.”

  Hey, don’t pin it on me! I’m just sitting here!

  “Exactly.” Heron placed his free hand on his knee, taking a breath before continuing up. “Can’t you turn back into a dragon? Look, Serafina literally just flew up the stairs.”

  Shall I get us checked in? We might have to get a ticket and wait our turn anyway. Serafina offered as she folded her wings in, staring at the three of them from the very top, right by the front entrance of the courthouse.

  “I wouldn’t bet on it.” Alice sniffed as she turned, climbing ahead. “We’ll probably miss our turn if you pull now.”

  Normally, Heron wasn’t that weak or that easily defeated by stairs.

  But he’d been walking all day already without a proper meal in him. He’d been living off of potatoes, bread, and soup the past half year. He was surprised he wasn’t as scrawny as he felt—not to mention, his prime years were kind of over. He wasn’t a thirty-five year old post-Olympic athlete but a sedentary office worker who cracked open a cold one on the weekends while playing video games. Six months of farming wasn’t going to fix his athletic ability.

  There was a difference between farming leisurely—making enough to feed himself and his cohabitant dragon, taking breaks in the middle of hoeing around—versus farming like a real farmer that had to grow enough to make a profit.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He also wasn’t training like one of those shounen anime characters who ran 10 kilometers, pushed 100 push-ups, sat 100 sit-ups, and squatted 100 squats every single day. That was training for the main characters, the ones that were born to be overpowered and destined to save the world.

  Heron just wanted to go back to his tiny planet, feed Charcoco charcoal, hangout with Melvin, and watch the stars with Lucifer.

  Eventually, Heron made it all the way to the top of the stairs. Serafina was long gone, probably in the courthouse grabbing a ticket for their turn to see the judge while Alice watched him with her arms crossed, her emerald gaze sweeping over his pathetic state.

  Great, he was now sweaty, heavy-breathing, and in a disheveled state. This was going well. Not. So much for first impressions.

  Why was the courthouse built like a Colosseum?

  It wasn’t exactly built to look like one, but it sure felt like one. With large pillars stemming from the ground all the way to the high ceiling, Heron felt tiny in the building. Unlike the City Hall and Knight’s Station, the Courthouse felt even colder and more sterile than the other two buildings. The City Hall was cold but tight, so it still felt cozy. The Knight’s Station had been the most vibe-friendly in terms of architecture.

  The Courthouse? Not only was it empty but it was also frighteningly quiet.

  Heron found it peculiar that while the streets of the kingdom of Morningstar were busy and loud, the buildings like the City Hall, Knight’s Station, and the Courthouse now were… not that busy at all. Granted, the City Hall probably had more employees in the back and the receptionist was just the face of the building. And the Knight’s Station did have a few stragglers in the reception area along with the cleric, even if the Intern Division had been empty.

  But in the Courthouse, where Heron would expect there to be judges, lawyers, paralegals, clerks, and officers, it was completely empty except for a child sitting at one of the many seats in the lobby eating a sandwich.

  This was really weird.

  “Hey,” Heron whispered over to Alice as they crossed the room. “Where is everyone?”

  “What do you mean?” She asked, staring straight ahead as she walked.

  “Why isn’t there anyone here?”

  Alice halted in front of Serafina who proudly held up a glowing ticket with its black paws. Grabbing the ticket, Alice turned to face Heron. “Because no one requires the courthouse’s services?”

  What did that even mean?

  Sir Heron, please explain to us why you think a courthouse is needed? Serafina asked gently in his mind.

  “Well, it’s to uphold the law and maintain social order?” He blinked, shifting Lucifer into his other arm.

  “So what happens when the law is upheld and society is functioning perfectly well?” Alice replied simply, taking a seat at one of the chairs nearby.

  Heron stared at her because what the hell. That made no sense. Why would a world that functioned perfectly even build a courthouse anyway? That shouldn’t be possible and sounded like utter bull—

  We do have a king. And he… has solutions when citizens act up. Serafina mused in Heron’s mind as it curled up in front of Alice’s legs like a cinnamon roll.

  “Uh, like what? He guillotines them or something?” Heron snorted before taking a seat next to Alice.

  “…Yeah.” Alice blinked at him as if he had asked the dumbest question in the world. “He’s the king.”

  Oh.

  Oh. Lucifer agreed as it shifted into Heron’s lap like a pet cat.

  “Then why does he have a courthouse?” Heron responded meekly, eyes meeting Alice’s.

  Alice shrugged, crossing her legs. “Beats me. Smaller disputes still happen that don’t require the king’s attention. From time to time, there are still cases that need a judge’s ruling but they’re small things like two farmers arguing if someone stole the other’s seeds. Sometimes the thief gets beheaded—“

  “Holy crap!” Heron yelped. Okay, what? That seemed like a heavy punishment for stealing seeds. For crying out loud, he accidentally built a cabin and farmland on the king’s tiny planet. He did not want to experience, “Off with his head!” From a king he’d never met before. Or even from one he’d met!

  “Well you see, the crime isn’t simply because one of them is stealing the seeds,” Alice began explaining, as if there was anything pragmatic about beheading a man who stole a seed. “Someone had to lie in the first place about stealing. And then that farmer wasted the other farmer’s time, the judge’s time, my time and your time now that I’m explaining the situation. Stealing seeds is no joke, there’s an entire cascade of events that all started from stealing a seed.”

  Well, when she put it that way, Heron could kind of understand the logic. But still!

  “Okay, so you said I could make an appeal to a judge,” Heron said slowly. “Am I going to lose my head if I fail the appeal?”

  Crickets.

  Not actual crickets. Just dead silent.

  Wait, he’s bound to me. You can’t take my slave— I mean, servant away!

  Sighing, Heron patted Lucifer as he smoothed out its fur. He wasn’t getting paid to take care of the dragon-rabbit but he still appreciated that Lucifer was standing up for him (?). Even if it did call him a slave—or, technically an unpaid servant?

  Ping!

  The glowing ticket in Alice’s hand poofed into thin air.

  “What does that mean?” Heron frowned as Alice stood up, patting herself down.

  “It means that the judge is ready to see us.” She answered simply before looking around the room.

  Heron remained sitting but turned in his seat to look at the gigantic double doors that separated this large, empty lobby from what he assumed would be the actual inner courthouse where there would be hallways and rooms that would be fitting for this grand design of a building. If the judge was ready for them, surely the judge would open the doors and enter like a final boss battle?

  His eyes flicked to the child who had been sitting in one of the chairs of the lobby when they had first arrived. The child appeared like a young schoolgirl, dressed neatly in a plain black gown with brown pigtails braided and big round glasses. She’d finished her sandwich and was… casting magic on her hands? The blue glow dimmed as the spell was completed. Hopping off the chair, she skipped away.

  Until she stopped before them.

  “Hi there, ready to see the judge?” Her voice was airy and soft, and she stared at them with her doll-like blue eyes.

  What.

  Was this child lost? Messing with them? Shouldn’t she be in school right now? There was no way she was working here, right? Maybe her mother was the clerk? Or maybe the judge?

  “Yes, we’re ready. Thank you for having us.” Alice responded politely to the child as the child grinned.

  “Yeah…” Heron stood up as he placed Lucifer in the crook of his arm. “Um, do you work here?”

  “Mhm!” The little girl beamed at him before spinning on her heels.

  The king of this kingdom guillotined seed thieves but allowed children to work?

  ...What about child labor laws!?