The Courier

It had been three days since Yulian had come to visit and there were no words heard in regards to Theodore's request. Having little expectation of his request going through in the first place, Theodore went about his day as per usual, continuing to be tormented by the idleness of his life in this place. He was beginning to put together a plan for sneaking out in earnest.

It was while he idly ate his breakfast with Peter in his lap, finalizing his grand escape plan, did the bell at the front entrance rang.

"Good day! Lancea Delivery here, at your service!" Standing at the front gate with a package in hand, a girl with silver hair and emerald eyes gave her greetings.

She wore no robes and instead had a thick jacket and what they call a 'newsboy' cap. She had a big, cheery smile plastered on her rounded face as she spoke, something that impressed upon Theodore at first sight. Her smile seemed, to his eyes at least, to be manufactured.

"The delivery service you say? We haven't a need for delivery, have we?" Fiana turned a quizzical look towards Theodore, who was recalling the conversation he had with Yulian.

"I was named by the Archmage herself to act as your exclusive courier. Albatross is the name, a pleasure to meet you." The girl who called herself Albatross handed over the package in her hand. "This is for Theodore, courtesy of Yulian. It's just for borrowing though, so I'll be back to pick it up in a couple of weeks or so."

Without checking, the girl handed the package to Theodore, as if she already knew who he was. It shouldn't be surprising, as it was known that the workshop was only open to Kalman and Fiana. As such, the extra person had to be Theodore. Despite that, Theodore felt that there was something odd about this girl, something he couldn't quite put a finger on.

(One thing is for sure. 'Albatross' can't be her real name.)

From Albatross's words and upon weighing the package in his hands, Theodore guessed that it was probably the books Yulian had promised. It seemed that at least one of his requests went through.

"Why an exclusive courier, by the way? Can't we just use any ol' courier?" Theodore turned towards Fiana, not concerned at all with Albatross's presence.

"With regular couriers, you tend to have to wait for them to eventually get to your order. There's plenty that needed delivering and never enough couriers, after all. With an exclusive courier, your deliveries will always be prioritized and delivered with no delays," explained Fiana.

"That's more or less the case. So whatever you want, go ahead and order. If you want me to be on your bed, I'll head straight there too," said Albatross, winking at the end.

"I... I see..."

Within Theodore, there was a feeling budding from within him, a feeling of deep disgust. Not to mention, there was something eerie about her attitude of compliancy towards her circumstances and he couldn't help but wonder if all of them were like this.

"Anyways, I hear that you've got a letter as well. Since the post offices within Lancea only deliver within the bounds of the city, I'll be taking this one to the town outside, the one right by the lagoon, if that's alright with you."

"You can go outside?"

"That, I can. Special courier privileges, you see. Can't go further than the town though. They put a curse on me that turns me to stone if I try."

"A curse?"

"Of course! No mages would be careless enough to just let anyone handle their stuff without some kind of insurance. That goes for all other kinds of work as well. Curses are only natural for us who are without the ability to sense or wield Aether."

A deep frown was plastered on Theodore's expression while he listened. Though lacking in details, the circumstances of these couriers and those like them did not please him one bit. Even so, the girl who called herself Albatross had a chipper demeanor the whole time she was explaining, giving Theodore the impression that she was someone not quite sane. He had thought that she was odd before, but he came to believe that she might be actually crazy.

"Well... The letter isn't done yet," said Theodore. "I'm still working on it."

"Oh, is that so? When will it be ready?"

"Tomorrow perhaps..."

"I see. Then I'll see you tomorrow. Farewell!"

With that, Albatross took off, skipping away with all the vigor in the world. Only Remigia knows where all of that energy came from.

"Fiana, about the couriers..." Theodore asked, wanting to know the current situation within the city.

Though it wasn't exactly the most important thing for him to know right at this moment, there was something within him that dissuaded him from turning away from the reality before him.

"I am afraid it's all true. The mages took the children of those indebted to them and made them apprentices. Though in truth, they would be only apprentices-in-name and be treated as indentured workers. It's not just those indebted either. They would also take in children from outside of the city, usually orphans, and trick them into servitude. Either way, these apprentices-in-name would all have curses applied to them to prevent the leaking of secrets."

Fiana had a sorry look on her face. She was clearly unhappy about things as they were. However, the hierarchy of Lancea was dependent on the raw power an individual could wield. Though Fiana had the rank of 'master', an alchemist was barely considered a proper mage. There wasn't much she could do even if she wanted to. As for Kalman, though skilled and important enough to become an elder, he simply didn't care.

Once again, Theodore could only wallow in the feeling of powerlessness and began to hate this city even more.

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End of Chapter 37

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