"Marga! Titus! We're leaving in a few minutes!"

Sphintus called as he walked through the corridors that led to the garden. He had just received word from General Muu Alexius that the Transfer Magic Circle to Balbadd was about to be activated and they are just waiting in the courtyard for the Magi and his ward. He walked out into the garden and continued calling the two. "Hey! I know you're here! I demand that you show yourselves right this instant-eh?!"

A giant white furry cat pounced at him, effectively knocking him to his feet. The oversized cat, which was the size of a standard hippo, kept the 23-year-old healer pinned by its huge paws as it licked his face, "Get off me, monster cat!" he tried pushing but the cat kept licking him as it wagged its tail. Kukulcan expertly slithered away from the onslaught.

Laughter erupted from a nearby bush as Marga and Titus emerged. "You looked like a shocked porcupine, Sphin-nii!" Marga choked out in between gales of laughter. Titus couldn't get in a word as he clutched his stomach, trying to stop laughing at his friend.

"Not funny, you two," Sphintus grumbled as he finally rolled out from the cat's grasp. He dusted his clothes, and he had just bought this set just for the wedding, and now it's almost ruined! "You owe me a new set of clothes, and don't cheap out on me like last time!" he demanded. It was the third set their infernal pet had ruined for him this month alone.

"Alright! Alright! We're sorry!" Titus stood up straight and wiped a few tears. Marga was patting their pet for a 'job well done!'. "What were you saying earlier?"

"Oh!" Sphintus exclaimed, "I was told we should head out to the courtyard now."

Titus and Marga exchanged looks of excitement. They were both thrilled at the prospect of seeing their friend Aladdin again after some time. Last time they saw Aladdin was about a year ago. "Come on, Marga," Titus held out his hand to the 13-year-old girl who happily intertwined their fingers as they walked out of the garden, their beastly pet trailing after them obediently. Sphintus raised an eyebrow at the two's antics, making a mental note to have his mother talk to Marga soon. The girl was hitting puberty and she was still sleeping beside Titus. People were starting to talk.

"Wait! You two are forgetting me, again!" and he ran to catch up with the Magi.

Indeed, when the three arrived at the courtyard of the temple, General Muu Alexius and two other members of the Fanalis Corps were waiting for them, as well as Shambal Ramal, Toto and Olba and the Yambala gladiators from the Coliseum. They all deferred to the Magi as he apologized for making them wait.

"Is this all of us?" Titus asked as they all stepped inside the Transfer Magic Circle that would take them within seconds into the courtyard of the Royal Palace of Balbadd. Everyone nodded in affirmation and Titus raised his hand, activating the magic circle, "Then, let's go to Balbadd!"

And they watched as the scenery changed. From the front of the Sacerdos Maxima's Temple in Reim they were suddenly in the courtyard of a foreign palace. And in front of them was the bloodied body of who they easily identified as King Alibaba Saluja, the 24th king of Balbadd.

Sphintus Carmen had seen his fair shares of trouble in his life, half of them came when he started being the official physician for Titus and Marga in the Reim Empire. His family, employed as healers in the Sacerdos Maxima's Temple did not only use magic to heal but were compelled to research herbs and chemicals for use in medicine, as per the previous Magi's rule of minimal use of magic. Now, not only was his family specializing in healing magic, but also in pharmacology.

He had survived a vicious war six years prior and he was convinced he had already gone through his lifetime's worth of horrors. So never in his wildest dreams did he think he would have to witness the assassination of a king, especially one he was familiar with. He stared in horror at the corpse, willing himself to move because 'for fuck's sake, he could still be breathing', but the shock was too much and his body wouldn't obey him. He pitied Marga for having to see such a sight and he cursed whoever did it. Why did they have to do it in such a joyous occasion?

He was pushed aside by Muu Alexius as the Fanalis Corps general approached the body, his two companions, Myron Alexius and Lo'lo' following closely behind him. The three were emitting a solemn aura he couldn't explain.

Muu knelt beside the corpse of the king and said, "Yo, Alibaba-kun! Thanks for the invite! Congratulations on your wedding!" his smile was almost blinding. "I can't believe you're getting married before me!"

"Tsk. You better have excellent food if you had us travel this far for you," Myron gave the body a kick.

"Heard you finally snagged some chick. Good for you," Lo'lo' said as he stood above the body.

Sphintus blinked as the three nonchalantly stepped over the body and walked into the palace, Muu thanking Alibaba for the 'warm welcome' over his shoulder. "What the fuck just happened?" he turned around to look incredulously at Titus, who just narrowed his eyes at the healer, "Language, Sphintus. I don't want Marga picking up such foul words,"

"That's your problem?!" Sphintus almost screamed at his friend, "The king's dead right in front of us, Muu ignores him, and your problem is that I'm using bad words?!" he put his hands on the Magi's shoulders in exasperation.

A laugh erupted from behind them as the 72-year-old Shambal Ramal walked past Sphintus and approached the king, "My, what a lively reception you've got here, Alibaba!"

"What lively? He looks very dead to me!" Sphintus quipped from behind them. He was ignored as the Magoi manipulation master stood over his former disciple. Sphintus wondered if he's the crazy one and the only one seeing the dead body. Was he dreaming and in actuality, the king was standing there greeting everyone cordially and there were lots of fanfare? But no, Sphintus pinched his cheek, he's not wrong. The king is really lying there in his own blood.

"Congratulations, Alibaba! You finally faced reality and asked for Princess Kougyokuu's hand in marriage! Toto and Olba are so proud of you!" Toto gave her king a slight bow.

"No, you're the ones who have to face reality." Again, no one seemed to hear Sphintus.

"I'm so glad this is finally happening for you, Alibaba-san! I could see you're very excited about this!" Olba said beside Toto.

"What the hell are you people seeing? Are you blind?"

"Hahaha! Well, I guess we should get a move on. Alibaba is a busy man," Shambal motioned for his retinue to follow him inside as Toto and Olba led the way.

"Busy with what? Being dead?!"

Sphintus was left staring at his travel companions as they disappeared inside the palace. It took a few seconds before he completely lost his cool and tore his hair out in exasperation, "What the FUCK just happened?!" Sphintus screamed in frustration. He can't believe it. Here he was, panicking and his companions just brushed the incident off like it was nothing. Was he missing something? Was this a normal occurrence for these people? Is this a custom in Balbadd and he's the only one not getting it? Even Titus and Marga were ignoring the situation, off again in their world with just the two of them. Titus was even currently helping Marga climb onto the back of the huge cat.

"Just calm down, Sphintus," Titus said after hitting his friend on the side of the head with his staff to remind him to use proper language. "King Alibaba is fine. Muu and the others are just messing with you," Titus smiled. He then peered over Sphintus' shoulder innocently at the body lying on the ground, "But I guess he could use some medical treatment right about now. It's not really life-threatening, but his injuries are serious,"

Sphintus sulked the whole time as he healed the king with his magic, promising to take his vengeance upon the Fanalis Corps and the Yambala gladiators before the trip was over. Marga and Titus were making plans to tour the city the next day after breakfast.

"There. But he needs some rest so-hey!" he looked up to see Marga and Titus already riding her pet into the palace, "Don't leave me, you dummies!" he yelled as he chased after them, the unconscious king already forgotten where he laid.