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((Triple Saturday -- Page 2 of 3))
“Oh, ha-ha. But I’m being serious. Where are all your men? I’ve hardly seen any of them around. Not even that handsome one with all the muscles.”

In spite of himself, Parson turned and glared at her. Then he remembered his work and returned his eyes to the empty field ahead.

“Hah. Made you look.”

He growled. “Woman. Supper had best be ready by the time I get home, tonight.”

She laughed. “It will, dove. Which reminds me. I need to go to the market, today. I was hoping you’d come with me, actually.”

“Can’t.”

“Tch. You don’t mind Lerotos sprouts, then, do you?”

“Of course I mind Lero--”

‘North entrance,’ interrupted Overra’s silent voice. ‘Come quickly.’

‘On my way.’ He stood immediately and gave his wife a peck on the cheek. “Back soon.”

“Where are you--?!”

“No sprouts!” He leapt out of the watchtower and down onto the top of the Wall.

It was a long drop, but his body held fast, and he ran along the Wall at top speed, looking for a safe place to jump down. He wasn’t concerned about himself, but rather the crowd of pedestrians there. If he dropped down that far, the impact would doubtless crush several hapless people.

The street below was far too crowded, however, and he couldn’t see a safe or quick way down from here. So it was going to be annoying, but he decided that he would use the rooftops.

The nearest roof was a good twenty meters away, much too far to jump normally, but with his ability, it was doable.

Transfiguration was an irritating power, however. Without Overra present, it required him to sacrifice body parts in order to be useful, which could be quite the downside at times like this.

To accommodate, Parson had devoted much of his training over the years toward trying to mitigate the amount of bodily mass required for each use of his ability. Twenty years ago, he might’ve needed to sacrifice both legs in order to propel himself with enough force to make such a leap, but now, he needed only sacrifice the epidermal layer and blood. It hurt like hell, of course, but that was no new thing. Pain was more common in this life than not for a transfiguration user.

As he soared through the air, his shoes and socks slipped off and flew away from him. That, too, was an annoyingly common occurrence. He was beginning to think that he should simply stop bothering to wear socks and shoes altogether. It was just a shame that he had to be mindful of his appearance as a ranking officer of the Vanguard.