Heron had never been under arrest in the thirty-five years he’d been alive.

  Not even cardiac arrest which would not have surprised him at all considering the amount of overtime he had done, the many sleepless nights, and countless packs of ramen he ate over the many years while working for the small, shady company he had been hired at right after university. In addition, he had neglected his health in the utmost middle-aged fashion of not exercising regularly, not eating or sleeping well, and continuously and consistently overdosing on stress and anxiety from his job.

  Certainly Heron had had more ulcers to count than the number of times that he got in trouble with the law. The exact number?

  Zero.

  Except now—in less than one full-day’s time—Alice had already broken his record and put him under arrest, not just once, but twice.

  The scent of the Knight’s Station was much nicer than Heron had expected it to be. He’d imagined it would smell like sweat and blood, possibly a ‘knightly’ smell to it. Instead, it smelled of resin and old wood, like a well-aged library.

  The Knight’s Station reminded him of the City Hall—except instead of a cold and sterile lobby where there was only one receptionist at the front desk to complete the paperwork of his registration as a provisional citizen, the Knight’s Station reception area had been warm and welcoming with better lighting and had a clerk that had greeted them while her pen danced across the paperwork she was working on. While both spaces were uncrowded, there was a staggering difference in the atmosphere. Either way, both were places of business.

  Perhaps the Knight’s Station should have been more nerve-racking considering he was being arrested.

  Alice had barely stopped to say hello when she had strutted by, leading their group of four past the front entrance, down the hallway, and had stopped in front of two large, wooden doors with a sign above it that said Intern Division.

  Pushing the two doors open, Alice ushered all of them in before shutting the two doors firmly behind her. Heron had followed her obediently and quietly—whether it was from shock of being arrested for reals this time or the whiplash of all the events that had happened in one singular day.

  When they had entered, the first thing Heron had noticed was that the Knight’s Station Intern Division had been… empty.

  Not a single person or elf or what-have-you in sight. Which seemed odd given that it was a large room with many wooden desks and chairs and what one would expect to see in a medieval-looking room that resembled an office space. It smelled of books and wood with the room dimly lit by hanging lanterns from the high ceiling. It was a nice space except this strange feeling of loneliness in it.

  Heron didn’t question why Alice was the only one working at this very moment.

  Now, he was staring at Alice as she sat at a wooden desk with a boxy-looking item—its size and shape looking similar to a monitor but was definitely not attached to a computer—while she pulled out paperwork from a wooden filing cabinet beneath her desk. Heron felt the urge to brush his fingers over this faux monitor; it was the color of obsidian and designed just like a monitor except it was thicker and didn’t have an LED screen. It was an odd item and there was something about it that called to him.

  Something unexplainable.

  Magical essence. Lucifer’s voice resonated in Heron’s mind. Don’t touch it.

  Heeding Lucifer’s warning, Heron continued to hold Lucifer like a football. But after holding the rabbit for several hours, his arms were getting tired from switching it back and forth to relieve the ache in them. He attempted to set it down on Alice’s desk which only earned him a rapid shake of the head from Lucifer as it squirmed to remain in his grasp. Spoiled little thing.

  A low rumble escaped from Serafina and Heron could swear the mini-black dragon was laughing.

  The sound of paper shifting on the desk snapped Heron’s attention back to Alice as she cleared her throat.

  “Heron, I’ll be asking you some questions. I’ll need you to answer them truthfully. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  Now why would he do that? He was perfectly compliant and had been completely obedient the entire day.

  Albeit he had thought about running away once or twice but had thought better of it. He had always been kind of a pushover.

  As Alice asked him basic questions like his name, birthday, and other important questions that would totally doxx him, he answered as truthfully as he could.

  “…You’re an office worker? A… salad-man?”

  “No, a salary-man.” Heron corrected politely, now cradling Lucifer like a pet cat with both arms supporting its weight. It was heavy, alright? It was a big bunny. And Heron wasn’t very strong even with all the hoeing around he did the last six months or so with his farm work.

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  “Or was I supposed to say farmer, now that it's my profession?” Heron pondered aloud. Alice simply stared at him, unblinking.

  Yes, he really believes he’s from another world. What did I tell you, Alice? Serafina snorted as it curled up like a golden retriever by Alice’s desk.

  “That. Makes. No. Sense.” Alice said carefully as she returned to filling out the paperwork. “But I’ll let it go this time. Make sure you get health benefits at the Farmer’s Guild. And maybe get your head checked out.”

  Heron could only grin sheepishly as Alice completed the first page of the papers she had pulled out.

  “Okay, hold on.” With one hand, he gestured dramatically at the papers on Alice’s desk. “So what does this mean? You said I was under arrest. Am I going to jail or…?”

  Alice sighed as if he was stupid. Setting her pen down on the wooden desk, she glanced up from the paperwork, her emerald eyes meeting his. “So I’m currently completing the paperwork of your offense of trespassing and squatting on a planet owned by the kingdom of Morningstar in which you had no registration for living on that land.”

  “Uh, how do you know I was living there? Maybe I was just visiting!” Heron flashed her a smile. It was a joke. Mostly.

  Alice rolled her eyes as she crossed her arm, leaning back in her wooden chair. “You literally had a cabin and farm built. You’ll either have to pay a fine or go to jail. Besides, who else could it have been but you?”

  “Maybe it was Lucifer.” Heron whistled once, his eyes wandering.

  Hey, don’t pin it on me! He may be my servant but I am no accomplice. No, only I get accomplices for world domination—

  I can literally read both of your minds, Sir Heron and Lord Lucifer. Serafina’s voice was light but calm.

  Well, at least there were two beings in this room taking this whole thing seriously, and it wasn’t Heron or Lucifer.

  “Alright, that’s fair.” Heron reluctantly agreed. Well, at least he tried. He kind of wanted to keep his record clean but there was nothing he could do about this situation. He was caught red-handed—dragon-handed really, but—

  Wait. Did Alice say a fine!?

  Yes, a fine. If you do not want to go to jail, you will be required to pay the penalty for taking advantage of a land that did not belong to you but rather the king.

  Okay, that was ‘fine’ and all, but Heron was broke. Like, really broke.

  More broke than he had ever been in his entire life, including when he went to university and lived off of cheap ramen he could buy with coin money, not paper money. If he was being fined in his first life, he wouldn’t be broke and could actually pay—but last he checked, the isekai god didn’t let him bring his debit card with him and there were no bank withdrawal machines.

  And this world? Probably, most definitely, did not accept his ‘another world’s’ currency.

  “I don’t want to go to jail.” He blurted out, squeezing Lucifer. It made a noise that sounded like a squeaky toy.

  Well that’s too damn bad, mortal. Lucifer sniffed as it wriggled in Heron’s arms.

  “Going to jail is not a good thing, Lucifer.” Heron retorted. “You’re supposed to be on my side of things.”

  Heron was not built for jail. He was probably allergic. Definitely allergic.

  What’s a jail anyway?

  Oh. My. God. Heron held back from thinking things. But to the dear isekai god above, did he want to pull out his remaining middle-aged hair. Good thing he wasn’t a parent, he’d probably be bald by now—

  “This isn’t up for negotiation.” Alice said coldly, her gaze meeting Heron. “You pay the fine or you go to jail. It’s as simple as that.”

  “But… what if I can’t do either?”

  “That’s not how this works,” Alice frowned. “What do you mean you can’t do either?”

  “First off, I can’t pay a fine if I have no money to my name, right?” A pause. “That doesn’t seem very fair. Shouldn’t I have a right to work to earn some money before paying for a crime? Also, is the law just if I can just pay it off?”

  “Huh?” Alice sputtered in response but was interrupted by Heron once more.

  “Well, say I was the king—wait, no. Then I wouldn’t have made a rule like this,” Heron muttered under his breath. Speaking clearly now, he continued on. “Doesn’t this mean people who can’t pay the fine just go straight to jail? How is that fair? Wouldn’t the less financially fortunate be punished unequally? Doesn’t justice mean fairness?”

  “No?” Alice frowned. “Hold on, we’re not going to argue about semantics or the law. What did I say earlier? Don’t make this harder than it needs to be—“

  “Can I dispute this with someone?”

  “What?”

  “Is there someone I can talk to about my situation or case or whatever you would call this?” Heron tried to stop himself from grinning but failed.

  He should be terrified of the consequences, he’d never even seen a jail cell before in his life besides on TV. He shouldn’t be smiling or happy about this. But he was. Strangely enough, he was having fun. Maybe because this was his second life, but with the accumulation of the crazy things that had happened to him thus far, he had begun to feel himself… changing. No, not like monster evolution or anything like that. He just felt—

  You want to argue with the decree set by the king? Serafina raised its head and rested its chin on the edge of Alice’s desk as it stared at Heron with its golden eyes.

  “Well, I don’t know.” Heron shrugged, adjusting Lucifer in his arms. “I kind of got thrown into this world without any say about it. I figured I could try to make an appeal or some sort.”

  “You are not meeting with the king.” Alice replied firmly, her jaw flexed.

  “Didn’t ask to,” Heron flashed back. “I mean, do you guys have a courthouse or anything like that?”

  What’s a courthouse? Lucifer yawned as it dozed off in Heron’s arms.

  Silence. Then Alice sighed, uncrossing her arms as she leaned over her table, elbows pressed in as she interlaced her fingers.

  “…Yes. We do,” Alice responded curtly. “I can take you to court and you can see one of the judges and see what they say.”

  Alice. Serafina flicked its head to the side, shooting its companion a glance. This is not protocol—

  “Yes! I won’t let you down.” Heron interrupted, almost pumping a fist. Gosh darn, this world sure made him feel youthful sometimes.

  “I mean,” he cleared his throat. “Sure, cool. Thanks. Sounds good.”

  With a heavy sigh, Alice pushed off from her desk and stood up. Picking up the filled paperwork, she clicked it on the wood, straightening it before inserting it into the black box on her desk. Heron blinked as he watched the thing he thought looked like a monitor gobble up the paper work.

  Ding.

  [Heron Saito — registered as… provisional citizen of Morningstar.]

  Holy crap, the box can talk!?

  Magical essence. Lucifer whispered in Heron’s mind.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Alice sighed as she pushed her chair into the desk. Serafina stood up, booping its snoot on Alice’s shoulder.

  “To the courthouse?”

  Alice clicked her tongue before looking back at Heron. “Yes, to the courthouse.”

  Heron was mighty proud of his accomplishment—perhaps he was truly a master debater, and he should join a debate team. And the judge was about to either prove him right or prove him wrong.