After taking a slap to the face, I rubbed my cheek with a look of disbelief.
"Do you just hit anyone whenever they remotely bother you?" [Solace]
"Not if they're stronger than me." [Leyhna]
"...Who taught you this?" [Solace]
"My mom. Why?" [Leyhna]
"..." [Solace]
No amount of words could describe how I felt. It made me wonder whether or not it was the mother's fault for her education, or it was just Leyhna's common sense.
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." [Solace]
"What do you mean? It works all the time." [Leyhna]
"It works all the- What?! You've actually done this to other people?!" [Solace]
"Yeah?" [Leyhna]
I placed a palm on my face and sighed. There were so many things wrong with her I didn't even know where to start.
"No wonder why Mrs. Wendle is tired of your family..." [Solace]
"What was that?" [Leyhna]
"Nothing." [Solace]
Seeing how Leyhna turned out, I just have to hope Vincent could teach better.
"So? Was slapping me all you wanted?" [Solace]
"Oh, nope. That was just because." [Leyhna]
("God damn it…") [Solace]
"Okay? What did you actually need?" [Solace]
"This." [Leyhna]
Reaching her hand into her skirt pocket, Leyhna handed me a folded paper.
"What's this?" [Solace]
A schedule. I won't be going with you to visit uncle Vincent anymore, you have to go by yourself." [Leyhna]
"Uh-huh…" [Solace]
I unfolded the paper, unveiling a map along with a note at the bottom.
"Is this… a map?" [Solace]
"It's a map of the school. I marked where Fina's room is and where uncle Vincent's classroom is on it." [Leyhna]
I skimmed over the map, allowing me to get a little bit more familiar with the school.
("Oh hey, it's the training grounds. Maybe I could use it whenever there's no one there.") [Solace]
As I passed over the map, my eyes wandered to the note at the bottom of the page.
"What's this?" [Solace]
The note read:
"Classes will be once a day starting from midnight. The time class ends is to be determined." [Vincent]
("To be determined?") [Solace]
I flipped the page on the back to see another note.
"P.S. Breaking the gentleman's rules will result in punishment." [Vincent]
"..." [Solace]
I wasn't so sure what to say to that, but I decided to keep it in mind.
"Is this it?" [Solace]
"Yeah. See ya around I guess." [Leyhna]
Giving me a little wave, she left.
"...Guess I'll go back to Fina." [Solace]
Using my |Mimic| I returned to my ball-like form.
("I wonder how she's- huh?") [Solace]
I was stunned the moment I entered the room.
("Gone! Fina's gone!") [Solace]
The bed was empty. I glanced around frantically, but there were no signs of her.
("The balcony!") [Solace]
I rushed over to the balcony, only to feel small traces of mana.
("Did someone take her?!") [Solace]
"Warning: You have entered an elevated state." [Spirit Guide]
I felt a rush of adrenaline go through me, empowering me and my thoughts.
("What can I do?! Feel the mana?!") [Solace]
I closed off my vision and tried feeling for mana, but it was incredibly vague. Mana wasn't something solid, but something similar to smell.
("It's not working!") [Solace]
I threw aside the idea of sensing, but then changed it to seeing.
("If it isn't something solid, I'll make it solid!") [Solace]
I attempted to look where I sensed traces of mana, however it didn't work.
("Something! I just need something!") [Solace]
An idea popped into my head. If the naked eye won't work, maybe I need to add something to it. So, I decided to send mana to my non-existent eyes.
("Work! Work damn it!") [Solace]
Something appeared in my vision. It was a lightish blue mist that seemed to trace into the sky.
("Is this… mana?") [Solace]
There wasn't much time to think, so I simply followed it.
("Where does this go?!") [Solace]
The mist seemed to grow longer and longer. After traveling a fair amount, my destination came into view.
("That's… Fina's home?") [Solace]