The morning after the "Celestial Invasion" — as the bards were already calling it — began with me being awakened not by Liriel, but by a rock thrown against my inn room window. When I got up, I saw Brom, the stableman — though "former stableman" was more accurate now — making threatening gestures from the street.
"Takumi! My fifty coins! Or I'll cover your bed with manure!" he shouted.
I hid behind the curtain. My financial situation was dire. The entire town seemed to have a list of debts with my name on it.
Liriel entered the room, unbothered as always, her wine cup already in hand. "What an insufferable noise. Mortals and their fixation on 'coins.' Just mint more."
"That's why you were deposed," I muttered, still hiding.
She ignored the comment. "While you worry about trivial matters, I thought of something more important. Celine hasn't given up. She's persistent and bureaucratic — a dangerously efficient combination. We need an advantage."
"What kind of advantage?" I asked, suspicious.
"I heard a rumor in the tavern last night. After the dimensional rupture, a sealed chamber in the Temple of the Setting Sun was exposed. They say it holds an artifact called the Orb of Unquestionable Truth. Whoever possesses it can force anyone to speak the absolute truth."
The idea was tempting. I imagined forcing Celine to admit her plans — or better yet, making Brom confess that his stable was already falling apart before the sentinels attacked. But I knew my group.
"That sounds like a recipe for disaster. Do you remember what happened the last time we messed with something 'unquestionable'?"
"Details," she said, waving her hand. "Besides, if the orb is as powerful as they claim, we can negotiate its return to the guild for… let's say, an amount that covers all your debts."
The temptation was too great. I went downstairs, where Elara and Vespera were already seated, surrounded by a small crowd of angry merchants.
"…and my divination crystals shattered from the blast!" fortune-teller Elowen accused Elara.
"My barrier saved the city!" Elara retorted, but her voice was weak. She was still recovering from the mana drain.
Vespera looked bored with the conversation. "Yeah, yeah, the city was saved. Anyone see where my blue arrow went? I think it's my favorite."
I interrupted the debt-collecting session. "Everyone! One at a time! Write it all down and… we'll see what we can do." I turned to Elara and Vespera. "We've got a mission. Temple of the Setting Sun. Valuable artifact. Could solve all our… financial problems."
Vespera jumped out of her chair. "A dungeon! Perfect!"
"It's a recovery mission, Vespera, not an amusement park," I warned.
Elara looked at me, worried. "Takumi, after what happened with the portal… I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"It's the only idea we've got," I said, with a confidence I didn't feel.
The journey to the temple was silent, the air heavy with the scent of damp earth and residual ozone. The Temple of the Setting Sun was a marble skeleton atop a hill, and a new crack at its base revealed a staircase descending into darkness.
"Inviting," Vespera commented, lighting a torch.
"Inviting us to our death certificates," I muttered, following her.
Inside, the air was cold and the silence absolute. Statues of forgotten gods watched us with hollow eyes. At the back of the main chamber, a crystal orb rested on a pedestal, pulsing with a soft, hypnotic light.
"The Orb of Unquestionable Truth," Liriel whispered, approaching. "I can feel its power. It's… coercive."
Before anyone could make a sensible move, Vespera decided the best way to test a magical artifact was to throw a rock at it.
The rock bounced off the orb with a sharp clink.
Nothing happened.
"See? Safe," she said proudly.
Then, the orb emitted a pulse of light. A soft, irrevocable voice echoed through the chamber.
"The truth shall be spoken. Let the weakest begin."
Elara, unintentionally, said: "Sometimes I pretend my mana lasts longer than it does so Takumi won't think I'm... completely useless."
She was horrified, covering her mouth with her hands.
The voice continued. "Now, the most reckless."
Vespera, struggling against the words, shouted: "I miss when the arrows hit! Chaos is more fun when everything goes wrong!"
Her face turned red with anger — at herself.
"Now, the proudest."
Liriel clenched her jaw, but the words came out: "I'm... jealous... of the freedom you all have. Of being loved... without needing a throne."
She averted her gaze, ashamed.
All eyes turned to me. "Wait, what—"
"And finally, the most hesitant."
The truth hit me like a brick. "I... I don't know which of you I... like more. And I'm afraid to choose. And sometimes I think that Liriel, with all her pride, is the most... genuine. And that Elara deserves someone better. And that Vespera... Vespera makes me laugh even when I want to cry. And now I've said all of that."
The silence that followed was more awkward than any magical disaster.
Vespera broke the silence, still under the orb's effect. "I knew it! He likes me because I'm fun!"
"He said he doesn't know, Vespera!" Elara retorted, also forced to tell the truth.
"He mentioned that I'm 'genuine'!" Liriel added, with a triumphant smile.
I grabbed the orb from the pedestal, and the effect ceased. The embarrassment didn't.
"Let's... let's just take this and leave," I stammered, avoiding everyone's eyes.
On the way out, we ran into Gorrin, the pottery seller, who was inexplicably hiding behind a statue.
"Ah, Takumi! I thought you might be here. The 'forced truth' vibration cracked three of my new vases. That's thirty coins."
I just shook my head, holding the orb that was worth a fortune — but that probably no one would buy for fear of being forced to confess their deepest secrets.
Some truths, I realized, are more expensive than the lies we tell to survive. And the cost of our daily disaster kept rising.