"Well, why wouldn't I be?"
"Anyway, you should leave this to me. Now you'd owe me a favour", she responded with a grin.
Reeve rolled his eyes. 'A favour she says…' he thought.
"So, what am I supposed to do now?"
"My father gave us fifteen silver coins which is enough to pay for the carriage to the capital. However, how are you going to pay for the entrance fee? In order to enrol at Artemine, you need to have at least five gold coins!"
"Really? How do you know about that?"
"My b… actually, let's say that I know someone who once went there and studied magic", Rizaneth spoke, with a slightly hesitant tone.
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter who. Just go and work for Jaen, maybe he will pay you a few gold coins", she chuckled as she said this.
"Last time you said he was arrogant, but when I talked to him, he didn't seem that arrogant at all. Were you lying?"
"You don't know Jaen at all. Anyway, you'll see."
"Have you decided to help me look for the Valerian plants?"
"Ugh! No! Go and do it yourself!" and with that, she stormed off.
Reeve was left standing in the garden alone. He surveyed his surroundings, and he began to think. People who used magic might be very scarce. From the time he arrived in Sky City, he had never seen anyone doing anything resembling magic. He began to suspect that magic was not as widespread as the funny god of death had said. Letting out a sigh, he started walking towards the mansion.
After he left the mansion, he didn't know which direction to go. He could leave the city, but then he didn't have any identification papers. Which meant that coming back would be a problem. Last time they went in because they had what-was-her-name-again? Anyways, because the guards identified her carriage, they simply let the carriage pass without stopping them. Long story short, he was smuggled in.
He thought that they might be shops selling herbs, but then again, the Valerian plant was one which people would not comfortably keep around. So, now he was in a conundrum. Where could he get the Valerian plants for his experiments? As he was still standing at the gate of the mansion …
"Excuse me … ummm … I'm looking for Rizaneth Wolfe", said a female voice.
Reeve turned to see who had said that. It was what-was-her-name-again. "Oh, hello. How have you been?"
"I have been well. I need to speak with Rizaneth, is she around?" asked Cindi. She was wearing a yellow dress, with green ribbons. Her beautiful face was expressionless, but it seemed like she had an emergency.
"Yes, she is inside. But, before you go, can you tell me where I can get Valerian plants?"
"Umm. You can go to Cyrla's shop. She sells herbs, and her shop is closer to Jaen's."
"Is that so? Thank you then", with a bow, he left.
Cindi was left in confusion. Why did he bow? Thinking that she might be overthinking, she went inside the Wolfe mansion.
"So, why were you looking for me?" asked Riza, when the two met. Gaur had called her when Cindi rang the doorbell and asked for Riza.
"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?" asked Cindi.
Riza rolled her eyes, before taking her to the garden. There was a table and chairs placed at the far end of the garden. The two ended up sitting there.
"Please, you need to help Soren… I think he's in trouble again…" said Cindi, with a pleading tone.
"Huh? What made you come to that conclusion?"
"Umm… I saw Charles, my father's butler. He was talking to someone wearing a black hat, with a mask hiding his face. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but I think I heard the man with the black hat mention Soren's name", Cindi replied.
"So, why are you telling me this? What am I supposed to do? And where did they meet?"
Cindi was at a loss. She had been asked so many questions, she didn't even know which one to answer.
"Soren came to our house yesterday. He said that, even though you saved him, you didn't go to the Skycrawler family to ask for compensation. He was very grateful for that."
"You know that I didn't save him because of goodwill or anything like that? He simply followed us when we were escaping, and that's how we ended up together. That's all, and it's not enough to go asking for compensation for something like that!"
"Even though that might be true, he was still grateful. That was why I wanted you to help him."
Rizaneth groaned inwardly. She wanted to stay away from whatever storm was brewing, but it seemed like this girl wanted to throw her right in the middle of it.
"I'm willing to pay three gold coins. Please, just help him escape from Sky City! I'll give you more gold coins before you leave the city."
"Huh? Why don't you just go and report it to his family?"
"Soren once told me that he feared there was a spy within his family. He said the spy is probably the one who told the bandits when he was going to return from the Southern Water tribe. I'm afraid if I go and report this, things might get worse."
"So, how am I supposed to do this then? I'm just supposed to kidnap him and run away?"
"I … I don't know. B-but he needs help!"
"By the way, there's a question you didn't answer. Where did Charles and this masked man meet?"
"In the Southern district. We were passing through there and Charles said he had an errand to run. I followed him, that's when I saw him speaking to the masked man."
"Is that so? Well, I won't make any promises. It's been nice talking to you", said Riza, standing up.
"Umm … are you going to help him then?"
"Like I said, I can't make any promises. Have you told anyone else about this?"
"No. There's no one I can tell about it…"
"Good. Keep it that way", said Riza, with a mysterious smile.