Connection

The two met up with many different personages back to back. This time, it was the crown prince. The person who started it all.

“Your Highness, I am here to discuss the safety of the country. The country faces a threat of calamity.”

The crown prince looked uninterested. “Are you also part of those who do not have trust in the kingdom?” he asked.

August clenched his jaw.

“That’s not the problem. The problem is those monsters will bring certain doom,” Heilke firmly stated.

The crown prince stared directly at Heilke. He said, “This is the reason why there must be a way to convince non-believers. The power of the knights is impervious to any threat,” and turned to August. “Isn’t that right, Vin Gardner?”

“Must you find a way?” Heilke said. “Even if all the people in the kingdom die?”

“Even if there is sacrifice,” the crown prince said.

“That’s not what your subjects want,” August said.

“And?”

“Why not convince them with soft power? Show them that this kingdom can offer things no one else can.”

“Do you know why I don’t use soft power?” the crown prince said. “It’s in the name. It’s too soft.”

“We will stop you, Prince Harold.”

“Give it your best shot,” he said while scoffing.

*

After that meeting, August and Heilke had been working together to blueprint the spell. They did it in one of the spare rooms in the Vin Gardner mansion, far from the main offices. If they wanted any hope in convincing Björnn Crowell to change the spell, they would need to prove their dedication, and the benefits for improving magic to him.

August had roughed out what the spell would consist of, but he did not know where to combine the spell. The refinement was for Heilke to do, where she planned what magic and script to write on what part of the base that was the semi-complete spell Björnn had for summoning the monsters. And so August decided to write a presentation for why Björnn should let them change the spell.

After an arduous day of work, August noticed his eyes felt heavy and consciousness going back and forth. He was tired and decided to take a nap on the couch.

He stirred to the sensation of a blanket being softly put on him, followed by a peck on the forehead. “You’ve worked hard. Rest well.” And he fell asleep again.

The sky was dimming when he woke. He noticed Heilke sitting on the couch next to him reading a book.

“You’re awake?”

August nodded. “Did I sleep the whole day?”

Heilke put down her book and stroked August’s forehead, brushing his hair out of his face. It felt good.

“You did. You’ve been working hard lately, it was a well deserved sleep. You should get some more.”

It was as if a pleasant feeling was weighing him down, to the point where he didn’t want to get up. “But you did too,” August said. “You should be the one resting, not me.”

“I’m completely fine. Just rest.”

Heilke’s hair was roughly tied up in a bun, tiredness visible through her eyes. August sat up. “What did you work on?”

“Mainly research. I wanted to find if anyone had pre-existing spells that have chained weaving magic with duplication magic, or any other type in your plan.”

“Is there anything I could do to help you?” August asked.

Heilke thought for a moment. “Nothing comes to mind right now.”

“Maybe something to relieve your stress or worries?”

“To make this work, I might have to hole myself in at my brother’s.”

“That’s fine. I don’t think I can help you with the spell beyond this point, so maybe I should enlist next month.”

“Oh?”

“You know how the monsters became stronger within the next year? If it happens again, I would be in the army to prevent as many casualties as I can.”

Heilke scratched her head. “Do you really have to go?”

“Please let me go. I feel like I would have no purpose otherwise.”

“August.”

August put on a forced smile. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Stop it.”

“So would you let me go?”

“Would you think like that until after 387? Always on edge of ‘if the monsters actually come.’”

That forced smile became more of a rueful one.

“I don’t mind, as long as you are going in with a clear mind,” Heilke said. “I can finish this spell within the month and cast it on the crystal before the enlistment date, and you can decide what you want to do.”

August spread his arms for a hug. Heilke stood up to reciprocate his hug, where his head was right at her collarbone. Her left arm embraced his shoulders, while her right hand patted his head.

It was comforting.

*

“Father.”

“Heilke.”

“Remember what we proposed before?”

“What?”

“Where you worked with me to prevent the overrun of monsters.”

“I thought he was joking.”

“Instead of that, let’s work towards a better thing,” Heilke continued, ignoring Björnn’s comment.

Heilke unravelled a large scroll onto the coffee table.

“What is this, Heilke?”

“I’ll let August explain.”

As usual, the father/daughter pair was quite entertaining to watch. Blunt words and interesting conversations.

August cleared his throat.

“We propose the spell in the crystal to be altered to a mass healing spell.”

Björnn squinted.

“This way, you can improve the way magic is manipulated, since it is another spell that goes beyond your current ability.”

Björnn rubbed his chin, then sighed. “That crown prince will confiscate the crystal if I don’t use it to do his biddings.”

“Then we just have to convince him before we get caught. He doesn’t believe in soft power,” Heilke said.

“Or hide it from him by shattering it and pretending they were mana crystals traded from the dwarf town,” August added.

Björnn raised both eyebrows. He seemed to be convinced.

“Alright. August, you may leave now. I won’t see you out. Heilke, you’re coming with me.”