Staying in the shade

The next day, we walked through the streets of Port Schtark, passing by buildings as we spoke.

To no one's surprise, my face was bright as day. “Surprisingly we did in fact find an inn. And it happened to be near a bookkeeper~~”

“You did end up buying useless grimoires…” Marieka narrowed her eyes.

“And it was worth every penny…!” I smirked proudly.

It’s not often you come by such a rare antique… Aside from me goofing around, we did manage to find a map of the kingdom. Which is nice…

Marieka exhaled. “Say… When do we even set out…? We still have to go around no man’s land right?”

"ーAt least stay patient… We’re traveling around the world, remember? Not on a quest to defeat the demon lord or something.”

“Ehhh?? Does the demon lord even exist…?” She tilted her head.

I shrugged in response. “Meh. Probably not.”

Besides me making the demon population cower hiding. I guess.

Clearing my throat, before continuing. “ーNever heard of him… I guess hundreds of years ago he might’ve probably existed? And that the hero slayed him? I’ve never really seen any records of him existing anywhere.”

Annaliese scratched the back of her head, prompting a mmm~~ sound which came out of her mouth. “....I'm not really familiar with this history, but that could be the possibility… I’m sorry I can’t be of use to mistress Varieka…”

“Don’t sweat it. It’s just simple banter. We can relax, it’s the first time you two have been here, right?” I cleared my throat. “Our next stop is a week from here, because we’ll go around no man’s land and head towards the forest. We'll need all the rest we can.”

Marieka crossed her arms and sulked, hesitating at first before giving in. “AAHHH.!! I WANT SWEETS!! IT HAS BEEN LONG SINCE I’VE CRAVED FOR SUGAR!!!”

“Oh? Perfect, we’ll settle in for some fancy desserts. Imperial Vascht does serve the best sweets thanks to Nixie Pixie over the capital.”

Annaliese softly chuckled, holding her stomach. “Nixie Pixie…? That’s quite the name mistress Varieka.”

⇔ ⇔ ⇔ ⇔

“Mmmm!! Delicious!!” Marieka squeaked while eating a cake almond delicacy.

We sat at a shop that sold desserts, eating from the outside as our plates were filled with sweetsーplaced on top of a metal table. Which was far-fetched to the ones from our kingdom’s wooden inferiority. 

Annaliese, in the middle seat was fidgeting her fingersーher dessert left untouched, more so having a staring contest ever since we sat down.

“.....I still can’t believe that I’m sharing desserts with one of the Pointed hats; Eiliー. Uhm…” She held back her tongue. “Sharing a plate with you, mistress Varieka!’

“No need to be stiff. I’m not that famous… I think…? It has been a year since I disappeared so…”

Marieka gave me a long expression, raising her browーskeptical before finally shaking her head. “No… I'm pretty sure you’ve gotten more famous ever since you disappeared, Varieka.”

I held my temple, agreeing without a nod. “You’re probably right… If anything it’s worse… When I said I wanted to distance myself from the public, this is not good for my health...”

“ーSo… What do you plan to do now? Mistress Varieka…?” Annaliese placed a hand on her cheek.

“...Word about my disappearance surely hasn’t spread across the kingdoms, I’m sure our people wouldn’t dare reveal that outside of the kingdom… For now, we’re still two fifths of the world left to go, Annaliese. Remember? We have about eleven months.”

I turned to Marieka. “Until she becomes a 5th year, aka graduates. We have plenty of time.”

“...Huh? I didn’t expect to hear that from you Varieka.” Marieka’s eyes opened.

“That’s only because I care for your education. Along the journey, I expect you to learn more about magic and suchーthings you wouldn’t learn from self practicing alone in your house.”

Annaliese nodded, agreeing with what I said. 

Annaliese nodded, agreeing with what I said. “It’s true, Marieka. Gaining real hands-on experience is essential. Experience is key. And not only that, you’ve got Mistress Varieka on our side to teach you. And you’d know how much you’ll gain considering you two go way back.”

“ーFinding another reason to drag my name again… Fine fine, I said I’d teach you pocket magic right? That’ll begin soon after we depart here.”

I took my spoon and scooped a bite of my mint cake. Chewing the spoon as I spoke. “So yeah, Marieka, about yesterday. I think it might be a good time to explain our relationship with the ten warlocks. But I do have to warn you, that it is mainly history and nothing else. We never hold any grudge against any members.”

“Hmm… I think I had this topic in our class… As far as I remember, hundred years ago, during the hero’s time? Is it regarding the discrimination against the warlocks?” Marieka scratched her head.

“That’s correct, a Warlock's purpose is to study black magic with the purpose of researching advanced healing magic. After the incident. It was decided by the royal magic organization, that healing magic will only be used by members of the church, and that pointed hats are not allowed to learn.”

“....Ooooohhh!!!! That’s why you said you weren’t allowed to learn healing magic??”

“I mean. I did create one healing magic… I visualized a whole different theory and method and polished it, but because of my restriction, I made it exclusive for myself.”

“You really did have healing magic… Why didn’t you say so? You could’ve told us and we’d keep it a secret.”

“Listen Marieka. This spell is different compared to your average regular healing magic. Its effects are very strong, and I mean I’m capable of healing any wound, even regrowing my limbs in a split second. However, this magic uses synchronizing magic… Remember when you slept at my house?”

Marieka tilted her head. “You mean, when the staff was running even while you’re asleep?”

“Exactly. It’s connected to me, tied to my mana, and will only affect me. It’s the reason why you were able to find my staff even when it was invisible, you’ve memorized my mana right?”

It’s also the reason how she found my identity. I’ve used at least twenty high seals to suppress my manaーmatching that of a regular student. Yet still… a few seeped through.

Marieka placed a hand on her chin, tilting and leaning her head back. “Hmm… Was there not another way you could’ve created to use for others…? Like by removing synchronizing magic and creating it normally?”

“I’m respecting the rule… And back then, I didn’t plan on using this for anyone. I wasn’t always active in the army. Only assisted a few armies. I was busy with the demons on my own.”

Annaliese leaned back from her chair. “That means, you’re skilled in close range combat…? Mistress Varieka?”

“Well. Not necessarily…. I tend to restrain myself from my usage of very destructive spells. Don't expect me to whip out cool and fancy fighting techniques.”

“O… oh. Is that so…? I would be eager to see you fight in close range, mistress Eilise.”

“I’m already desensitized to war…. No less do I want to keep on fighting without a proper reason…” I muttered to myself, clenching my fist before clearing my throat.

“Save that for later would you…?” I yawned. “Imperial Vascht has plenty of things to offer so… You’d be in for a treat.”