"I think I'm successful."

  After I said that, for some reason, Savi burst out laughing.

  Again, I knew my standards were pretty different from a typical Terran's, but considering she lived out here too, was she really in any position to make fun of me for it?

  She was pretty weird by Terran standards too. Well... or so I, a non-Terran, thought, anyway.

  "Sorry, sorry," she raised her hands in a placating gesture, though I didn't think I'd shown her any sign of annoyance, so I wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. "It's just, you said it so seriously, like a little philosopher. Well, I know you're not just a kid but... it caught me off guard, okay?"

  "Okay."

  "There, there! See? Your level of stoicism is too dangerous!"

  Though she was still giggling a bit.

  I wasn't sure what was so funny, but I didn't feel any need to sour her mood.

  Though once she calmed down a bit, I did explain my thought process a bit.

  "I'd like to celebrate after all. I don't want to mooch though."

  "Wait, really?" She stared at me, almost dumbfounded. "What's gotten into our stoic Kid to make you wanna do that?"

  "Um... I have ulterior motives."

  Of course, even I knew perfectly well that you're not supposed to just broadcast that you have ulterior motives like that. However, not only was I bad at lying, but in this case, keeping them hidden would just be counterproductive.

  "You know, usually you're not supposed to announce those."

  "I know. But in this case, I don't have a choice."

  "Huh?"

  "I'd like to change my name after all."

  "I see, I see... you did just say getting a Skill is like becoming a noble. It's like that on Terra too, more or less. The Empire separated Skill users from classical nobility a couple of centuries ago, but it used to be like that for us too, although... things were a bit more sinister."

  "Sinister?" I asked. Though I could imagine what she was getting at, it seemed polite to let her finish the thought.

  "Yeah. The established nobles didn't always appreciate letting random nobodies join their ranks, so they heavily controlled all information pertaining to Skills, forcibly adopted anyone who got one anyway, and even killed people they didn't approve of. That's still how it is in some countries."

  "I think it was similar in the Lost, except for that last part. Killing a Skill is inefficient."

  "True that. That said, I'd advise against it. No, hear me out... you don't have enough money."

  "Huh?"

  Surely I did though. I'd been earning 60,000 a week for the past few weeks. There was a brief pause when I'd gotten kidnapped, but otherwise, I'd been diligently tutoring Savi everyday.

  "Unless you're planning to invite everyone here and cook for them yourself, you don't have enough. Even a diner or buffet could be 2000 a person. A fancy restaurant would be closer to 10,000 or 20,000 each."

  'If it's only 2000 a person, then I could invite 30 people on a week's pay, though?'

  "A noble would pick a fancy restaurant," she added. "I think I understand your plan, but it's just too much. You have more efficient avenues."

  "More efficient avenues?"

  "Yes. First of all, ask your guild to cover it. Then, ask them to file official paperwork with the Empire and on behalf of the Lost to recognize your new name. Oh, and since you're buddies with the Demon King of all people, just tell him your name too. Even if he does nothing, that'll still be three whole worlds that officially recognize it."

  Her plan definitely made sense.

  It would be very cost effective for me... since I would just be telling other people to do all the work for me.

  Which was why I didn't particularly like it.

  "Look," she continued. "You pretty much need to do all that anyway. If you don't file something with the Empire, they'll never update your ID. If you don't tell the Demon King, he'll just keep using your old name."

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

  "Why do I need the guild to pay for a meal though?"

  "Uh... I mean... why not? I mean... it's free food?"

  So anyway, I decided to ask the guild what cheap buffets or diners they liked, and invited anyone who wanted to go.

  It was a small guild, so even if everyone showed up, it'd only cost a week or two of my savings.

  ***

  Although I wanted to invite people like the convenience store worker and the librarian, never mind my first employer, Cierri, I didn't.

  Aside from Savi and Lilac, I kept it strictly to the guild.

  They were something like honorary members too, for practical reasons, so it was pretty much a guild-only event.

  This was for strategic reasons.

  If I started inviting everyone in my life who'd helped me get this far, I'd inevitably either have to invite Zaitenmodi too, or explicitly exclude him.

  I understood by that point that his very presence apparently intimidated most people, even including high ranking adventurers. So bringing him sounded detrimental to say the least.

  Excluding him specifically would probably offend him though.

  It was easier to explain it off as a guild-only event.

  After all, though gaining your first Skill was certainly a life-changing event worthy of celebrating with friends and family, a Skill advancement was a bit more mundane.

  It wasn't really a big party kind of celebration. I think they were all just excited about mine because they'd never done it for me before, but it was closer to... going out to lunch together, or getting a cake.

  It was basically an adventurer's birthday party.

  Gaining or advancing a Skill once a year wasn't even considered a bad rate by most.

  It was a bit slow for the Azure Dragons, since they were a guild of A rankers and potential A rankers. They aimed for two a year, but that wasn't a rule or anything.

  After all, you could be an S or A ranker with a single Skill.

  'Wait, if it's like a birthday party... are they this excited about me just because they think I'm a kid...?'

  I really hoped my plan would work.

  Or at least help a bit...

  ***

  Naturally, it was a bit difficult getting a bunch of adventurers to go to lunch together, so we ultimately picked a date, a time, and a place about a week ahead of time.

  "So, have you picked a name yet?" Savi asked me while I was filling the brick molds with clay. Lilac was helping me too.

  "Huh?"

  "Your new name. Or, I guess... is it just your real name? How's that work anyway? Do you already have a name besides Kid?"

  I'd had a lot over my various past lives, but I couldn't remember the vast majority of them.

  Nevertheless, I nodded. "Yeah. I have a couple. I guess I do have to pick one..."

  "Wait, you have a couple...?"

  It was too complicated to explain my whole curse, so I just gave her the shorthand version.

  "I've been alive for a very long time, so I've been called different things before. A couple common ones were demon or witch, but I don't want to use those."

  "I... see... please don't use a name like that. I know you're friends with the Demon King, but... still..."

  'I already said I didn't want to, though...'

  I was a bit worried that being kidnapped would rattle Lilac, either cause her to regress or worse.

  But she'd handled it fairly well.

  I thought she'd become even more clingy toward me than usual. Before, she'd stuck close but often avoided physical contact, whereas now she would hug me, or hold onto my arm when we went places.

  But that was hard to call a bad thing.

  I wasn't sure she needed the same things as a developing child, but children supposedly benefit from physical contact, so it seemed like it could be good for her.

  It wasn't too bothersome, so I obliged, but I also didn't want her developing any unhealthy dependencies, so I didn't oblige too often.

  I tried to instill a healthy level of discomfort by ruffling her hair or squishing her cheeks, but it didn't work. She never seemed to mind much.

  'Is she... also obliging me?'

  Did even Lilac think of me as a child...?

  ***

  A bunch of old men gathered together in a buffet.

  It seemed like an ordinary lunch meeting, but the buffet was controlled territory, so everyone there spoke openly and freely.

  "Have we moved all the assets we intend to keep?"

  "More or less. A couple didn't get the memo quickly enough."

  "So be it. Survival of the fittest can be cruel at times."

  "Do you think a public execution will satisfy the dragon king?"

  "We're not doing it for his satisfaction. We're removing rot."

  "We should have never sponsored such a youngster."

  "Well... we need fresh blood eventually."

  The staff attending them could only be baffled by the laughter that followed. Was it an inside joke, or did they simply see the youth of their rotten organization as inherently expendable?

  Given they were the youth in question, it was an uncomfortable laughter to bear... but none of them dared complain or question it.

  As the exotic mixture of flavors from their cigar smoke filling the air indicated, these were not ordinary old men.

  But even though each one gave off a deeply unsettling aura, the staff served not out of fear, but loyalty and awe.

  They weren't inherently bad bosses.

  Just terrifyingly strict.

  ***

  It was finally the day of the celebration.

  Well, it was really just a big lunch.

  When I demanded to pay for everything, they started suggesting the cheapest places in town. Unfortunately, I'd never eaten at any of them, so I had to go by their suggestions.

  The original plan was to use this to unveil my new name, in hopes doing so would convince whatever strange force that was responsible for conveying it to change mine.

  But Savi was right. It was just more effective to file some paperwork with the imperial government, and let Zaitenmodi know too.

  I still finalized it all on the same day though, in case a sudden switch might have more metaphysical weight than a gradual one.

  Sort of like a sudden push.

  So I went with Van and Lilac to the CORA branch office to get my new ID that morning.

  CORA was short for the Imperial Coexistence and Outsider Relations Administration. Basically, they managed outsiders like Lilac and I.

  It was just us three, because nobody could guess how slow or fast imperial bureaucracy might be on that particular day. Fortunately, there weren't too many people waiting ahead of us, although another visit there did serve to remind me, once more, how varied outsiders could be in appearance.

  "She says her name's not correct, that she was accidentally given the wrong one. I've already filed the paperwork with the bureau, here are reference copies. We'd like to get her ID card updated today."

  Van led the bureaucratic side of things.

  "Is that possible...?" The clerk asked, sounding uncertain.

  "It's definitely rare," Van answered. "But it can happen in cases like hers."

  "Well... as long as the paperwork is in order..."