Teerom waited for Paley and the girls outside. Helping Paley with the bags he struggled to lift with Air magic.
"Teerom! Look at this ring that I found," Bacha showed him the ring she found in the mana zone.
"Is that a magic ring?"
"Yeah, but I don't know what it does." Bacha lifted the ring to eye level.
"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." They went into the cottage. Paley began cooking dinner with Madella, using the berries he picked as a dessert.
"The mana zone fruits are so good," Madella said and ate one of them.
"Agreed. Should we make a salad with peaches and these berries?" Paley suggested.
"Ah, I didn't buy any peaches, sorry." Madella apologized.
"Don't worry. I've got some. There are some peach trees around a lake in the mana zone, so I picked some." Paley took five peaches out of a bag and set them on the table. Though, he kept the sixth one for himself.
"So... Jurie likes Teerom." He said.
"Oh, does she now?" Madella asked sarcastically.
"Yes, I know that it's obvious, but she said it out loud, well, not really; she whispered it. But she still said it." Paley took out three pans and cleaned them with Water magic. He put them on the hob and lit the fire underneath.
Madella oiled the pans and seasoned three big steaks before dropping them onto the pans. Paley sliced some vegetables and organized them over the steaks.
"Those two seriously need to tell each other how they feel," Madella crushed some garlic and put them in.
"Jurie wants to confess tomorrow. We came up with a plan. All we need is a dress, a suit, and a table. I'll go with Jurie to the town to pick out a dress. Can you cook them a romantic dinner?" Paley placed two small slices of butter in each pan. After they melted, he kept putting them back on the steaks with Air magic.
"I can see where you're going with this. Pretty creative of you, Paley," She patted him on the back and took the steaks off the pans, "I'll make sure to cook the best dinner for them."
"Thank you." Paley said as they began cooking three more steaks.
Before Paley, Madella didn't work; she received money monthly from her family (though they didn't necessarily want to give it to her). She received about five hundred gold coins a month but spent most of it on everyone's living expenses.
She'd always be doing the chores - with help from Jurie and Teerom now and then - and taking care of the orphans. Now Paley did the chores, quickly too, and tended to the orphans if they got hurt. As a result, she had more time on her hands to do things she liked.
For example, Madella loves flowers, so now she picks them and sells them in the town for an extra few silver coins. They never used the barn, so Teerom planned to raise cattle in it soon.
Everyone gobbled dinner down and spent the rest of the night chatting.
The next day, after eating lunch, Paley and Jurie flew to the city. If Teerom asked where they were, Madella would say that Paley was training deep in the mana zone and that Jurie was watching him.
While they flew, Paley noticed that she was calmly taking in the vast fields of grass and forest beneath them.
"Are you not scared?" Paley asked.
"No, why?" Jurie closed her eyes as she relished in the wind.
"You're completely relaxed." He replied, "Bacha and Rauba always shut their eyes,"
"Why do you think? Because I trust that you won't drop me." She turned on her back. Paley stared at her for a second before dropping her.
To fly, Paley would generate a dense current of air that swept his weight up. It took a lot of mana for one person. Flying with more than one person meant that he had to create two currents of air. As a result, the mana consumption doubled, and the flight time was halved.
That wasn't why he dropped Jurie, though.
She screamed as she fell, reaching her hand out toward him. He quickly swooped down until he was in range and caught her with his Air magic, making her fly again.
"Why would you do that!?" She yelled.
"I wanted to see if you trusted me," Paley replied jokingly.
"I said I trusted that you wouldn't drop me!"
"Oh..." Paley's slim smile dissolved, "Sorry,"
"You better be!" She shouted, and he nodded subserviently. She paused for a second, panting before shouting at him again, "Don't ever do that again!"
He nodded.
They flew over the city for a while, looking for a shop that sold dresses and suits. Jurie pointed out a shop with a clear window on the exterior framed by expensive wood. It was placed in the outskirts of a marketplace, and its name was Bride's Rose.
"Let's check it out," Paley flew down, concealing himself and Jurie with illusion magic. After becoming visible, they entered the shop. The wooden floors were oiled until they were nearly as reflective as a mirror. Suits, dresses, and various other formal clothing items floated in glass cages on the walls.
They were the more expensive clothes. The affordable ones hung on circular clothes racks, littered around the shop. It was a large yet cozy shop, dimly lit by floating candles. Paley wondered if someone was using magic to make the clothes float and the candles burn constantly. If that was the case; then your average mage would be extremely powerful.
They were greeted by two jolly shopkeepers, a man, and a woman. They were about the same height and showed signs of aging, though the woman had young black hair compared to the man's grey slick back hair. They both wore matching suits, and the man had a thinning brown mustache.
"Hello, sir and ma'am. How can we help you?" The man clasped his hands together formally.
"We're looking for a dress and suit. It's a romantic occasion." Paley explained quickly.
"Ah yes, love. Quite the beautiful concept, is it not?" The woman rested her head on the man's shoulder.
"I take it you're not the lovers?" The man asked.
"No. Just her," Paley said, and Jurie nodded, agreeing.
"I see. Come with us," The man motioned for them to come further into the shop.
"My wife will help you out," He said to Jurie, "And I shall help you out."
The two split apart. The man continued on his path, but his wife turned to the other end of the shop.
"Is this for a family member?" The man asked.
"Yeah, my brother," Paley answered.
"Does he look like you?" He stopped and turned to Paley, observing him.
"Kinda, I guess."
"Is he as thin as you? How tall is he?"
"He's pretty well-built, but he's still slightly thin. He's like this much taller than me." Paley held his hand about two feet above him.
"Hmmm," The man squinted at Paley, thinking hard, "I think... black will suit you perfectly." He flicked through the suits on the racks for a while but couldn't find a suit he thought would fit Paley. He groaned and took another long look at Paley.
Something suddenly clicked in his eyes, and he rushed to the counter at the end of the room. On either side of it, there was a male and female changing room. He pulled out an old, dusty box and placed it on the counter.
"We made this long ago. We made it for a prince who wished to propose to his princess. But he didn't find our suit to his liking and reduced us to this tiny shop in Gouon. We've been trying to get rid of this sour memory, but we've become attached. After all, it took months of hard work and a lot of money for the luxurious materials to make this." He took out a three-piece suit; a black jacket, waistcoat, and stiff trousers, "I want you to try it on."
"You want me to put these on?" Paley took the suit.
"Of course," The man gave him the red tie and urged him towards the end of the men's changing rooms. Paley sighed and began putting the suit on, on top of his rags.
"You have a white shirt on, which should contrast nicely with the suit." The man said eagerly outside. Paley spent about ten minutes in the changing room trying to figure out how to put the suit on. He eventually realized that the waistcoat goes under the jacket.
He didn't bother to check himself in the mirror and rushed out while putting the tie on. The man was waiting impatiently outside, but the wait seemed to be worth it. He grinned from ear to ear.
"Finally. Someone who it suits." He stroked the soft texture of the jacket, making sure that it fitted Paley properly.
"You've been looking for a while?"
"Years now. The tie matches your eyes perfectly. And your stature is that of a knight's." The man puffed his chest out, mimicking Paley's straight posture.
"Wow! You're looking handsome," Jurie appeared in an off-shoulder white dress. It wasn't too long, reaching down to just below her knees, but it suited her.
"You're looking nice," Paley replied.
"Can you do me a favor?" The man bent down toward Paley slightly, "How old are you?"
"Twelve, I think."
"Keep that suit for yourself. I'll pick another one that I think will be good for your brother." The man started to look around for another suit.
"Sorry, but I don't have that much money," Paley said and began taking it off.
"I'll give it to you for free. I have never seen someone fit one of my works so perfectly. If you are to ever fall in love, wear that. I promise you, my boy, that suit will bring you great luck among the ladies."
Paley brushed off the weird pep talk. "Alright," He said and took out a bag of gold coins.
"The dress will be fifteen gold coins," The woman said.
"What!? That expensive?" Jurie asked, panicked.
"Don't worry. It's not that much." Paley took out fifteen gold coins and handed them to the woman. She took them and rushed to the counter and put them in a tray beneath. The man quickly picked out another suit, this one for Teerom. It was a joyous grey compared to the pitch-black suit Paley wore.
Teerom had returned to the cottage after cleaning out a lot of the barn. He noticed that the other orphans were acting strangely around him.
"What's going on?" He asked and looked around to see that Paley and Jurie were gone, "Where's Jurie?" He assumed that Paley was out training.
Paley and Jurie went back into the changing rooms to change back into their rags. They put their suits and dress in a bag and began walking to their next destination.
"Where are we going now?" Jurie asked.
"We're going to the dwarves' work hut," Paley replied.
"Why?"
"We're going to have them build us a fancy table for your dinner date," Paley explained.
"Ohh, I see." Jurie tried to hide her face turning red at the thought of eating a romantic dinner with Teerom.
They arrived at the dwarves' hut about twenty minutes later. Aleisar opened the door for them, yawning in their faces.
"Ah! Paley." He let his eyes focus till he saw Jurie clearly, "And the beautiful young lady must be Jurie."
"Do I know you?" She asked.
"Nay, we only met once and didn't talk. But I know nearly everything about you. Come in, come in." He took them inside and sat down.
"Teerom probably talked a ton about you," Paley whispered as they went in.
"So, what brings you here?" He asked.
"We want you to make something for us." Paley put the bag of gold coins on the table.
"About time! I was just about to die from boredom."
"Why? Where are the other dwarves?" Jurie asked. Aleisar sighed and made circles on the table with his finger.
"An inspector is supposed to come over and register our hut. It's to make sure that people know where to go to buy a job. We wanted to go to the restaurant, but in case the inspector came while we were gone, we decided to keep one of us behind," Aleisar explained, but Paley pieced together the rest.
"So you decided it over a game, and you lost." He finished for him.
"Exactly." Aleisar nodded, "But worry not, I will make whatever you want at the highest possible quality. Since you're Teerom's brother and lass, I'll give you a discount."
"Can you make a table for a dinner date?" Paley asked.
"Of course! I can make five thousand of them in a night! That'll be thirty gold coins." He put his palm out.
"Exactly how much are we getting discounted?" Jurie asked.
"One percent," Aleisar grinned cheekily and took thirty gold coins from Paley, "Come back in two hours. I'll have made it by then!"