When Reeve asked what she was thinking about, she hurriedly changed the topic. The rest of the day was spent in class. They sat through some boring explanations about how magic worked. Reeve had already read the theories, so he couldn't help but fall asleep when the professor started blabbering on and on.
After leaving school, strangely enough, Reeve was tired. He yawned repeatedly, as it felt like he had been doing hard labor the entire day. By the time they arrived home, it was already in the evening.
"Good evening", Miranda greeted them with a warm smile.
"Oh, hello Mrs. Roswell. How was your day? You must have been bored, with Eskaria not being around", Reeve replied.
"Not at all. In fact, I spent the day at a shop which opened recently. The old lady who runs that shop is quite nice, and she had all sorts of herbs."
'Eh? This sounds very suspicious… Don't tell me it's Wynn's grandmother!' Reeve thought. He asked, "Is the name of the shop Cyrla's herbs, by any chance?"
"Yes, how did you know?" Miranda showed a surprised expression.
"Coincidence …" Reeve was dumbstruck. He knew this was no coincidence, and maybe it was related to the feeling he had of being watched. "By the way, where is Rizaneth?"
"She went out in the afternoon, and she hasn't come back."
"Did she say where she was going?"
"No, she only said she would be back in a few minutes."
"It's been a few hours, hasn't it?" asked Reeve.
"Umm … yes …"
"Well, let's wait for her. She might be on her way back already."
The three people sat down, as Miranda prepared some food. A few minutes later, Alvis came home looking even more tired. The five people ate supper and talked about what had happened during the day.
When the following morning came, Rizaneth Wolfe still hadn't come back. Reeve was beginning to miss his world. Back there, there were many ways of tracking people. Well, as long as the person had a phone, and they had GPS, then their location could be found. Of course, the direct method would have been to call the person and ask where they are.
Reeve and Soren went to school with Alvis, leaving Eskaria and Miranda at home. Reeve thought that at least Rizaneth would be back by the time they returned home in the evening, which also turned out to be wrong. He was now getting worried about her. He knew that she was strong, but there should be stronger people out there.
Putting this situation at the back of his head, he slept peacefully. When morning came, he went to school alone. He made an excuse saying there was something he wanted to take care of along the way. Of course, rather than calling it an excuse, it was partial truth.
He went to a bar called The Ogre's head, and there he left a request for Merezeka. The young man had proved to be quite capable. All the requests Reeve had left, had been fulfilled. For example, during Riza and Soren's training, Reeve would often ask for small bounty hunting missions in the city. Whenever he completed them, they always got their gold coins.
Now, with Rizaneth missing, Reeve decided to ask Merezeka to do an investigation. He wanted to know what had happened to her. So, after leaving the information he had, he headed for Artemine.
After arriving at Artemine, he decided to head towards the Hall of Missions. This hall had missions which students could pick from. As Rokkai had said earlier, they were supposed to complete at least ten missions before graduation. Reeve didn't know how hard the missions were going to be, so he didn't make a comment when he heard this statement.
If they proved to be really difficult, that would mean that it was almost impossible to graduate from this funny magic college. Of course, Reeve had hope … not that it helped, but at least he could try his luck.
Walking into the Hall of Missions, Reeve looked at a board placed at the far end of the hall. Besides the board, there was a white-haired old man, with a purple robe. He was surrounded by students, and it looked like he was explaining something to them.
After scanning the surroundings for some time, Reeve walked towards the old man as the other students scattered.
"Good morning", Reeve spoke, in a polite manner.
"How can I help you?" asked the old man, as he stared at Reeve with a dazed expression.
Reeve smiled bitterly when he saw the effects his face had on people. However, ignoring this, he spoke, "I would like to know more about missions. How do I select a mission, and what are the restrictions of the missions?"
"Well, the board you can see over there contains missions for beginners", the old man pointed at the board next to him. He continued, "Each mission has its own requirements, and as long as you fulfil those requirements, I can let you take it. When you complete the mission, you will get points as rewards. These points will contribute to your overall grade at the end of the semester."
That sounded a bit okay. However …
"How do you know if I have completed the mission?" Reeve asked.
The old man seemed to be thinking, before replying, "We'll know. You see, before you go on a mission, you infuse your mana into that crystal over there." He pointed to a medium-sized crystal which was at the corner of the hall. The crystal was blue, and it looked like it was glowing.
"If you pass the mission, then the crystal will glow blue. If not, it will glow red", the old man spoke.
Reeve looked a bit confused, but then suppressed his confusion, before saying, "I would like to select a mission. Which missions are currently available for me?"
The old man pointed at the board, and replied, "Why don't you take a look for yourself and choose one which you think you can complete?" He had a faint smile as he gave this reply.