Nathan had remained seated on the bench throughout the entire scene.

Without moving. Without speaking.

Watching.

*Let’s process this quickly.*

*Point one. The Temple of the Three has the authority to arrest Hunters for contract violations. I didn’t know that.*

*Point two. High Priest Selrick—who three minutes ago seemed like a warm priest willing to help with information about the Gray Forest—just handed over another Hunter who apparently did exactly what I’m about to do: refused to continue a job because he suspected it was human trafficking.*

*Point three. Without documented evidence, the accusation is an unverifiable defense. That’s what Selrick just said out loud. Which means if I walk in now with the box, without prior proof of my suspicion, and say "Father, this is trafficking," the Temple’s institutional position is exactly the same as the one applied to Markell.*

*Point four. Selrick is Maen’s law. It’s not malice. It’s not corruption. It’s procedural justice applied consistently. Which is worse for me right now, because it means I can’t appeal to his personal morality. I can only appeal to evidence. And I don’t have evidence he’d classify as verifiable. I have a Soul Sense reading he can’t confirm without an equivalent Class. I have an incriminating note from a body on the road—but I also have six bodies I’m going to have to explain.*

*Point five. If I walk in now and present everything, I’m not a heroic Hunter reporting trafficking. I’m an F-Rank Hunter who killed six people on the road, who has a box without legal authorization to open, who has a Seal that doesn’t appear in any official record, and who’s trying to convince a Maen priest to act based on information that can’t be verified through institutional channels.*

*That doesn’t end with me free. That ends with me in the cell next to Markell’s.*

Nathan rose from the bench slowly.

Selrick looked at him.

"I apologize for the interruption, Hunter. Where were we?"

"On my Class," Nathan said, keeping his face perfectly neutral. "But I just remembered I have a delivery pending, and it’s later than I thought. Could I come back tomorrow to continue this conversation?"

Selrick looked at him for a full second.

It was the look of someone who knew perfectly well what had just passed through Nathan’s head, who knew the response was a polite exit, and who was evaluating whether to press or not.

He decided not to press.

"Of course, Hunter. The Temple is open during the day. Ask for me at the entrance when you return." A pause. "And Hunter. About the Gray Forest presence. That information is valuable. If you decide to come back, that’s worth the conversation."

"Thank you, Father."

Nathan walked toward the exit at a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow. He stepped out into the plaza. Picked up the box. Hoisted it onto his shoulder. And started walking in a direction that was neither Five Anvils Street nor The Black Barley.

It was a direction toward the alleyways of the commercial district.

---

The alley he chose was narrow, with no direct exit on the other side, and enough cover that no one could see him from the main street. Soul Sense confirmed no one alive within the immediate radius. Nathan lowered the box to the ground, leaned it against a wall, and sat down across from it on the stone floor.

*Alright. Summary.*

*The Temple isn’t an option. At least not without stronger evidence than my word and the note I took from a corpse. Mira at the guild isn’t either, for the same procedural reasons. Berran doesn’t want to be involved.*

*Which means I have to handle this myself.*

*Which means I need to know what’s actually inside this box before making any further decisions.*

*Which means I have to open the box.*

*Which means I have to break the lock.*

He looked at the lock.

It was a heavy lock, clearly of quality, with a mechanism that probably required a specific key Brenwick hadn’t given him. Forcing it with physical strength would make noise. Cutting it with a tool would be slow and difficult. And, according to Brenwick, there was an internal mechanism that damaged the merchandise if forced.

*Though the word "merchandise" in that context meant "living person." Damaging a living person by forcing the lock is exactly the kind of insurance a trafficker would put in place to keep the carrier from freeing them.*

*Which suggests the mechanism is real.*

Nathan stared at the lock.

And as he did, an idea occurred to him.

*I have five new skills I just unlocked and haven’t tested.*

*Harvest of Souls is passive. Pale Rider is movement. Death’s Domain is area. The Last Bell is scheduled execution. Soul Reap is direct soul attack.*

*None of those, in theory, can open a lock.*

*But...*

Nathan focused on the System menu. Opened it. Searched for the details of each new skill. And as he did, something at the back of his perception pointed out something he hadn’t noticed before.

An additional option. Small. Almost hidden in the Class configuration menu, in a section labeled **Derived Skills**.

He clicked it.

```

DERIVED SKILLS [Level 5]

A derived skill develops automatically

when the bearer’s Class interacts in a

sustained manner with a specific domain

not explicitly covered by the base skills.

Derived skill detected:

TACTILE ENTROPY

Type: Active — Contact.

The bearer accelerates the natural deterioration

of an inanimate object through direct contact.

Reversible: the bearer can restore the object

to a previous state if done within 30

seconds of the deterioration.

Current Level restriction: Only small objects

with low to medium mechanical complexity.

Cost: 400 mana per significant activation.

Applicability to living beings: THEORETICALLY YES.

Ethical restriction: Activation requires defensive

intent or liberation of an innocent bearer.

Activate / Cancel

```

Nathan stared at the screen.

*Wait.*

*Wait.*

*A skill. That ages objects. That can reversibly return them to their previous state. That just conveniently appeared right now. In this specific alley. When I have a lock I need to open and don’t want to break because it has an internal mechanism.*

He stared at the screen a second longer.

*Let’s see.*

"Let’s talk," Nathan said out loud, addressing no one in particular and everyone at once. "Coincidentally, right now, at this exact moment, a skill appears that’s exactly what I need? After two institutional options failed me one after the other? In the alley I entered by elimination and not by planning?"

Pause.

"Am I a web novel protagonist?"

He waited.

The System, true to its nature as a system, didn’t respond.

"Yeah," Nathan said, nodding slowly. "I’m going to take that as a ’no comment.’"

He looked down at the lock.

Pressed his index finger against the main mechanism.

And activated the skill.

---

What he felt wasn’t exactly what he’d expected.

Not heat. Not pain. A specific sensation of transfer—as if a very small part of his mana were flowing from his finger into the metal, and the metal were responding to that transfer with an internal acceleration of something that was already happening very slowly.

The lock, before his eyes, began to rust.

It wasn’t fast. It was slow, controlled—like watching a field in autumn from a window over several hours, compressed into seconds. The metal’s shine dulled. The surface became covered in a fine orange powder. The internal mechanism emitted a faint creak—the sound of parts that had become brittle.

Nathan withdrew his finger.

He kept his attention on the lock for a moment.

Soul Sense confirmed something strange: the box’s internal security mechanism—the one that damaged the merchandise if forced—depended on the lock’s mechanical state. And the lock, now, was too deteriorated to activate the mechanism properly. The security system simply didn’t have the integrity to function.

```

TACTILE ENTROPY applied.

Target: Cargo lock.

Status: Advanced deterioration.

Mana consumed: 380.

Internal security mechanism: DEACTIVATED

due to induced structural failure.

```

*Coincidentally.*

*Of course.*

Nathan grabbed the rusted lock with his hand. Turned it with a short motion. It came off the hasp with the specific ease of metal that had lost its integrity.

He dropped it to the ground.

He looked at the box.

Soul Sense confirmed that the person inside was still sedated. Still alive. Still unaware of what was happening.

*Before opening it, one last thing.*

Nathan activated Tactile Entropy again, this time in reverse, on the fallen lock. He restored it. The metal regained its shine. The rust receded. The internal mechanism returned to its original state. Within thirty seconds, the lock looked exactly as Brenwick had handed it over at the inn.

```

TACTILE ENTROPY — Inversion applied.

Additional mana consumed: 400.

Remaining mana: 920 / 2,100.

```

*Good. That’s useful. That’s very useful.*

He picked up the restored lock and tucked it into his jacket’s inner pocket. If he needed to show later that the box had been delivered sealed, he had the original lock to present again.

*I’m a web novel protagonist.*

*I’m literally accumulating physical alibis and skills that appear at the convenient moment.*

*This is happening.*

He placed both hands on the box’s lid.

And opened it.