"Oh!" I nodded.
"Miss Ana, what kind of Acolyte are you looking for?" A man shouted from the audience.
"Miss Ana, pick me please, I will do anything!"
"Miss Ana"
"Miss Ana"
The Acolytes began to agglomerate and I was pushed to the back.
"Hey, be careful!" I shouted.
"Out of the way brat!"
"Yeah, we are busy!"
"Fuck off!"
I was worried that someone could hurt Hope so I tried to get to the back.
However, when I looked up, a woman, on her thirties, grabbed my hand.
"Careful"
The woman pulled me out from the crowd.
"Thanks" I said.
I looked up, the kid who saved me was an eleven something year-old black-haired boy, he was thin and white as the snow.
"SHUT UP, YOU TRASHES!"
A voice interrupted my thoughts, when I looked back, Ana was literally spiting flames from her eyes.
"Noah! Are you okay!?" Said Ana.
Ana run towards me and looked at me from head to toe.
"Yeah, I am alright, hope is also alright" I said.
Ana smiled and then she turned around.
"Listen up, the one who wants an Acolyte is him, not me, so, you better show the respect a mage deserves or I will let you know the consequences of enraging a mage!" Said Ana.
The acolytes trembled in fear and some of them fall to the ground.
Even the woman who helped me, trembled in fear.
"Don't worry, she is a good person" I murmured to the woman's ear.
"…" The woman didn't answer me.
"Noah, let's go, there is only garbage here" Said Ana.
"No, I think I found what I was looking for" I said.
I looked at the woman and smiled.
"My name is Noah, I am going to be a mage in the academy in a few days, do you want to be my acolyte?"
..........................................…
We went outside of the tavern and Ana, Leyla and me
Oh, Leyla is name of this woman.
We went to her house that was a bit further to the south.
The house was pretty clean, however, there wasn't a lot of things.
"Basically, What I am looking for, is someone that looks out for my little sister while I am at the mage academy and take care the house, I don't trust people to look out for my sister, however, you seems trustworthy, of course, the benefits will include, apart from the gold, that I will share with you the knowledge of the academy plus a day off, if you have anything more that you wish for, if is nothing too farfetched, we could discuss it, oh! It can't be more money though" I said.
Leyla looked at me with disbelieve.
I looked back at Ana.
"Acolytes are usually treated as slaves here" Murmured Ana.
Oh, so that's why.
"A-a-are you… a mage?" Said Leyla with a low voice.
"Yeah" I answer.
"C-c-can I really, be… your Acolyte, I am already old and I won't be that much of help…" Said Leyla.
"I only need you to be my sister side, she is really young and have not the love that only a mother can give, I tried my best, however, I still think that she needs a maternal figure, I am not asking you to be her mother, however, I want you to protect her in my place… " I said.
I looked at her straight into her eyes, people said that the eyes are the window to the soul. This person… I don't know, I feel like she is someone trustworthy. In this year that I have been in this world, I think I develop a keen eye to people.
Leyla kneeled on the ground and said
"My master, I promise that I will serve you well" Said Leyla.
..........................................…
{Leyla's POV}
My name is Leyla Igrid, my life hasn't been a lucky since I was a child, I was born in a high-class family, all of them were magicians, as I was the first daughter of duke Igrid. When I was thirteen years old, my family discover that I had a gift for magic, so, they send to the magic in order to bring honor to the family.
However, life likes to give us a slap straight to our faces.
I discover that my supposed gift was non existed compared to others. When my family discover it… well, that was the last time I heard from my family.
I tried my best to improve, I attended all the magic classes and so on, I was very hard working…
However, on my twenty-eight birthday, I was degraded from student to Acolyte…
I knew that this was the end of my journey, the life of an Acolyte is very simple, if a magician picks you, you are lucky, if you don't, then, you will die in this town as a nobody.
Work is also complicated, there aren't a lot of works than an Acolyte can do and the majority of the money that we make goes to the academy for all the time that they invested in failure like us.
Today I went to the tavern to try my luck, I don't know why though, as you get older, the possibility of being picked by a magician decrease.
I am already thirty-three years old, a couple years more and I won't be able to sense the flow of magic.
"How strange, what is there a commotion inside? Unless…?!"
I some a huge crowd going to the cauldron, so, there was only one possibility
A magician!
A magician came from an Acolyte.
When I enter, I saw that a huge group of people are surrounding a mage.
I try my best to enter the crowd, however, just as I was to push my way… I saw something, no, to be more precise, somebody being pushed.
"A kid?" I though.
I notice that he had someone on his back…
"Poor kid, I must help him!"
I grabbed the kid by the arm and pulled him out of the crowd.
The child was pretty cute, with his short black hair and blue eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah"
That was the first encounter I had with master Noah.
It will be years later that I will look back at this day and smile.
"I made the best choice of my whole life"
This phrase would repeat alongside my adventures with master Noah and how he changed not only my fate but the fate of this country.
Of course, that's a story for another day.