"Hm, I wonder what could have happened if I didn't appear, ah, it's nice to be young~" Said a woman who was dressed in a fashionable but elegant way, remembering old times.
After the scare Jay and Sarah had gone through in the backyard because of the mysterious voice, it turned out that the voice belonged to a woman that Sarah knew very well, so she wanted to explain the situation to her.
However, before either of them could say anything, the woman snapped her fingers and lifted them both into the air, causing them to float into the living room, which was where they were right now.
This woman had short blue hair that reached her neck, accompanied by a gentle and knowledgeable look, her facial features were very refined and pleasing to the eye, giving rise to a beautiful face and smile that would undoubtedly make the heart of many skip a beat, in her hands she had a small cup of tea that she made for herself a few minutes ago.
"Ahaha...ouch" Jay laughed in response to the woman's comment, right now he was lying face down on one of the couches as he had not yet recovered from the muscle pain.
"Anyways, now you can tell me how you both ended up in that situation in the first place...unless it's a private matter, because if that's the case..." added the woman with a teasing smile as she left her tea on the small coffe table and looked at Sarah.
"C-can't you help us first, auntie Iris, please...?" Asked Sarah, who was also lying on one of the couches.
"Hum, ok~"
*Chak!*
Then, Sarah's aunt snapped her fingers again, causing two pills to float out of her purse.
One of these pills was blue while the other was golden, both pills fell into the mouths of Sarah and Jay respectively, moments later, a faint glow momentarily got out of their bodies.
"Ohh, bless the alchemists..." Said Jay, feeling much better than before as he stood up and began to stretch.
"Thank you, Auntie~"
Sarah also sat down on the couch, thanking her aunt for her help.
Although her voice sounded normal, she was actually a little embarrassed that her aunt had found her in such a situation, so she began to explain what had happened.
***
"Hm...I see...well, next time it wouldn't be a bad idea to check your surroundings, after all, you don't know who could be watching~" said Iris after hearing her explanation, then she snapped her fingers again, and a small animal screech could be heard coming from the door to the backyard.
Jay and Sarah then turned to see what it was...and they saw that it was the squirrel that had been spying on them the other day!
The squirrel, upon seeing them, simply turned his head, avoiding their glances, acting as if he didn't know them, then slowly floated away against his will until he reached the woman's side, where he remained floating.
"Anyway, Sarah, dear, I really don't mind you spending time with this handsome young man, however, I'm here now, which means we can continue your training." she continued, turning her attention away from the squirrel and inspecting Jay.
'Ohh, she called me handsome... nice!'
Jay couldn't help but feel a little proud of it.
"Auntie, give me at least one more day, please!" Said Sarah as she looked at her aunt with pleading eyes.
She knew that Jay was planning to go to the South Zone soon, so she wanted to stay at least a little while longer to ensure his safety.
"I'm afraid that's not possible my dear, you know the entrance exam is very close by now, we have no time to lose."
However, her plea was firmly rejected by her aunt, so Sarah turned to Jay for help.
"Jay, help me convince her!"
"...she called me handsome...hehe~"
However, he just stood there with a dumb smile on his face and mumbling something.
'This guy...!'
Seeing that Sarah was reluctant to leave, Iris let out a sigh before snapping her fingers again, although this time the target was not the squirrel, but Sarah.
"Ah, auntie, wait, just one day, please...!" She tried again to convince her aunt, but she knew it was useless, so she changed tactics.
If she couldn't help Jay, then she would give him something that could help him, "Damn! Uh, Jay, I left something for you in the guest room, please use iiiit!"
That was the last thing she could say before she left the living room floating, followed by the squirrel.
"Then, young man, many thanks for entertaining my dear niece, see you later~" said Iris bowing a little to Jay.
"A pleasure to meet you, miss~!" Jay responded with a bright smile on his face as he also bowed a little.
It seems that being called miss cheered Iris up, who seconds later also went out into the backyard, not before making float another pill that fell on Jay's hand.
Iris had obviously noticed that he would be doing something dangerous judging by Sarah's insistence, which along with Jay's attitude made her decide to help him a little.
'...A regeneration pill!'
"Thank you very much!" He said, bowing to the woman again, even though she was gone already.
That way, both Iris and Sarah had left his home, leaving Jay alone with his thoughts.
He already knew that Sarah would have to leave at some point for serious training, so it was not much of a surprise.
Plus, the pill that Sarah's aunt had given him was definitely a really appreciated gift considering what he was planning to do.
'...It's going to be a little lonely without her and James here...'
They would both be training hard for the entrance exam, so obviously they wouldn't have time for anything else.
'And what happened before... Resistance to Female Charms, you have failed me!' He thought, feeling betrayed, and to think that he even considered it his strongest skill!
'...Well, it's not as if I didn't like it so it's fine...!'
He then remembered the scene again, making him feel glad that his skill was not as strong as he thought.
"Anyway, I'd better get ready."
Deciding that he would deal with the matter later, he quickly went up to the second floor to take a shower while considering all the things he had at his disposal right now.
'Let's see...I have the Wind Control skill, although I can defend myself with it, it would be best to avoid a direct confrontation...secondly, I have the Phantom Trace, while I can only use the first and second step for now, it will be what I use the most if I have to face someone...finally, my trump card, Overdrive, I better save the last free use as a last resort...'
After he got out of the shower and put on some new clothes, he went to the guest room where Sarah had stayed.
There was a small suitcase next to the bed in which were probably the pajamas she was wearing, but Jay assumed that obviously she hadn't referred to her pajamas when she said that he had to use it, so he looked on top of the bed where there was a blue cloth bag.
"They're...bandages...?"
After opening the bag, what was inside were what appeared to be normal bandages to the naked eye, however, if one looked closely at them, there were small circles with complicated patterns on them.
"...My goodness, they are magically reinforced bandages!" He said, visibly impressed.
Jay then started thinking about how Sarah could have got them, getting the bandages was easy, but the magic circles were not her specialty at all.
In fact, the branch of magic that Sarah studied had nothing to do with them!
Right then, Jay remembered that there was actually a very competent and fearsome person who was actually capable of making those circles.
"...Her father...haa, I definitely have to invite her to a feast the next time I see her." He said with a smile on his face.
After picking up the bandages, he went to his room and started dressing for the special ocassion, since he didn't want to stand out too much and needed to be able to run at any time, he chose dark colored clothes that wouldn't hinder his movement.
Resulting in him putting on black sweatpants, a gray shirt and a black sweatshirt, the only thing missing now was to cover his face and hands because he didn't want to risk leaving any way for them to identify him.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he searched in his room, he couldn't find any gloves, mask or anything like that.
Just when he was thinking about whether he should cut out a shirt to make a mask, he remembered that he had something that could serve his purpose very well.
After dressing properly, Jay headed to the bathroom to see how he looked.
In the reflection of the mirror, he could see a young tall man who was completely clad in black, the only part of his body that was visible was his face, which was half hidden by the hood he was wearing.
However, the little that could be seen... was his totally bandage covered face, with only his green eyes visible.
"This... is perfect. Jay said with a big smile on his face.