"Oh darlings welcome back! it felt like you two have only left Yesterday...Literally, get it?" Jihi greeted the two returned travelers with a not-so-funny joke.
Tea has been already served for Ned and Yurei, by the time they sat down in the mage's office.
With narrowed eyes, "Really? do we look like we're in the mood for Your Stupid jokes Jihi?" Ned spoke annoyed.
"BTW, Doesn't Ned hate hot drinks? wouldn't an ice tea be more fitting for him?" Yurei questioned a little confused when Jihi personally handed them both of their boiling hot teacups.
Yurei didn't know that Ned used to have teatime with the cloaked figure before, it was actually considered a sign of huge respect from the highest authority around, to be invited to drink tea.
And It was the first time Jihi served Yurei some tea, or did seem to care about Yurei, since Jihi was always working on something important, and didn't seem to have time for chitchat outside work.
Whenever Yurei came to office, it was strictly for work only, and Jihi would always have their hands busy with some documents while ordering Yurei around.
The Ex-Prince loved having tea, he would've loved it even more if he was invited more often, So Seeing the treatment Ned got, made Yurei feel...like an outcast.
"I do hate hot drinks, especially This tea that only Jihi knows which pit in hell was it made in." Ned spoke, hesitatingly accepting his cup.
"Oh Ned darling! worry not! I'm sure it doesn't taste like a cat piss anymore, I got your memo!... and it is poison free, Yurei." Jihi replied with a cheerful tone.
"Huh? why would you even mention poison!" Yurei quickly placed away the now-suspicious-in-his-eyes teacup, he was a little terrified of the unexpected remark.
"Haha I'm joking Yurei! take it easy! " Jihi responded giggling.
"A tasteless joke, like your tea Jihi." Ned replied smirking a little
"Was roasting me necessary Ned?" Jihi replied.
"Yes! Judging by how much time passed since I made a remark on your tea making skills, it's funny how come it still tastes like cat piss! well it's less worse than before, I admit there's some sort of progress."
"I see, since I'm in a good mood, I'll take that as a compliment, Ned darling."
"Sure! you won't get much compliments from me anyways, Jihi."
"Do you hate my tea? or do you just hate me personally?"
Yurei who sat down awkwardly unaware of what's going on, decided to interfere, since the back and forth argument between Ned and Jihi was annoying him, "You guys are seriously Arguing about tea?
Ned Did you forget, you and I just literally broke Our backs throughout history to get those damn pages?! And you're arguing about...Tea?" He said irritated.
"Ah right, the pages...the book of Judgment!" Jihi said remembering the reason why the two men were in the office.
Suspicious, "You two either know something you're not telling me, or are planning something behind my back, I can tell." Yurei spoke again.
"Yeah, like world domination you Royal pain in the Ass." Ned said sarcastically, "What the hell gave you that idea? there's nothing going on seriously...
Anyways listen Jihi, Yurei is annoyed since he has a mate now, he's probably eager to see Tacito and it must be really a pain in 'HIS ASS' for him to wait for another month, before he could see Tacito again." Ned spoke again, "So why don't we start the paperwork already?"
"Hmm I hear you Ned.
Well, Tacito is already working his first day on the job, and with the two of you stuck here for another month, Yurei won't be able to see Tacito around much, if not at all." Jihi responded, "But I think I have a solution for that problem! our Yurei might be able to see his mate as soon as today! " They added cheerfully
Yurei's eyes sparkled a little at the mention of such possiblity, "What solution? Aren't both Ned and I supposed to piece together the book of judgment and restore it to it's original form?" he asked.
"True, however the book has many confidential informations that nobody should know about, aside from those who have my permit to do so, including you two since you've collected it.
That's why while it's getting restored during this period of a month, I mustn't allow you two to leave or interact with anyone who's not allowed to be near the book, until the book is back to its original form..." Jihi said.
"I feel a 'but' coming." Ned spoke placing his teacup away.
"Yes...but, I don't need two people to do the job after all!
Due to the nature of the book, its importance of it and its relevancy to the concept of history, it would be more fitting for Ned to work on the book...Alone." Jihi replied hinting at the lord of time.
"Because of his time ability? isn't this too much for Ned to do by himself?" Yurei asked.
"Ned is more than capable of handling the book on his own, and I'll be giving him a generous reward for that, if he chose to do it by himself." Jihi said.
Ned chuckled a little, "Haha! you seem to have a reward ready for each task, not that I mind such system at all, I like it!"
"But why didn't you say so from the start? you told me before the mission started that I'm going to spend a month after returning just working on the book!
If you didn't need me at all...then why you Never told me about it Jihi?" Yurei asked again, this time he was on the edge of getting furious.
"At the beginning I was fascinated by your intelligence and productivity Yurei, but soon enough, I came to realize I can't fully trust you as I do with Ned.
Also, don't take this personally Yurei darling, working with Ned is going to be more useful to me than working with you, I have more use to him and he's a much better subordinate than you are.
In the end, All you care about Yurei is yourself and Tacito.
You're selfish, unpredictable and you barely follow any rules." Jihi explained.
Yurei went silent After that comment, but threw a glance at Ned's direction "Thank you Jihi, for proving my point that I'm not the only one here with a dirty mouth.
You can't just say things like this that, people can easily interpret your words meaning as an insult!" Ned spoke up.
"What if my intention darling, Was to insult." Jihi replied.
Breaking his silence, "You are not being fucking serious YOU FU-!" Yurei was about to Shout when Ned cut him off, "I get it, You never intended to free me from the start, did you Jihi?" Ned spoke skeptical, he suspected something bad was gonna happen the moment Jihi welcomed them with Tea.
"Honestly speaking? yes! And after the book gets restored, I want to offer you a partnership deal, Ned.
You'll work With me instead of For me, and I can assure you... I will be rewarding as usual for your work darling." Jihi replied.
"What about poor Yurei whom you just crushed with your previous statement Jihi?
Since you said you only need me to work on the book...are you going to release him like you promised?"
"If you Ned Valentino, agree on fixing the book by yourself then of course! in that case Yurei is free to go from this moment, and he can keep his powers and immortality, under the conditions he already knows and agreed to." Jihi responded.
"What about his other reward for the mission, you said something about another reward aside from our freedom?"
"Oh darling I almost forgot your goodbye gifts! here." Jihi said handing the two of them metal made bracelets, "You may be immortal in the sense that you do not age, but your bodies are still very human in structure.
These bracelet will heal wounds that your bodies might sustain at some point in your lives, although it can't revive you if you get killed or something." Jihi added explaining.
When the cloaked figure's was done explained, Yurei stood up unflattered by the way Jihi keeps treating him like he's disposable, The insults Jihi directed at him Were the last straw.
"Then I guess this is a goodbye...this useless selfish person will remove himself from your office!
And btw, it wasn't so nice knowing you Jihi!and don't expect me to visit you anymore, unless it's Tacito related-matters.
You and I are done for good." Yurei spoke angrily then stormed off towards the office door's.
Before Yurei Could leave, "HEY! COME BACK! I HAVEN'T EVEN SAID YES TO FIXING THE BOOK!" Ned shouted, But he ended up receiving a middle finger from Yurei before The Ex-Prince swung the door open and Left.
Ned quickly turned back to Jihi as he angrily shouted "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?! the boy was nothing but good to you all this time?! do you have any idea! how much he suffered WHILE AWAY FROM HIS MATE?!"
Without responding, Jihi just simply removed the hood of their robe, revealing their face to Ned for the first time, and Ned instantly went silent.
"Now that I have your undivided attention, shall we continue speaking business, Mister Valentino?" Jihi spoke in a firm tone.
....Few days later....
"Jihi has told me to avoid Yurei at all costs, they even advised me to wear a cloak or shape-shift if I ended up anywhere near him.
is Yurei perhaps someone dangerous, Master?" A curious Aroon who was now sitting next to Ned asked, concern ringing in his voice.
"Not necessarily, however, it would be for the best for him to not see your face." Ned replied while his hands were tirelessly working on the book.
Ned was busy reordering the pages according to the correct timeline, while also taking notes as Jihi requested.
Fixing the book turned out to be a serious Task, when Ned and Yurei first collected the pages, the pages were so difficult to read due to it being another defense mechanism of the book, which encrypted what was written on the pages into a bizarre looking language, so it was hard to tell the pages apart And which page came before the other.
Jihi handed Ned a one of kind magical gadget that was especially made to solve this problem, a magnifying glass with enchanted glass.
And as Ned used it, he was able to see what was actually written on the pages, glowing in a purple light on the yellowish-white pages, instead of the previous confusing encrypted words.
However the magnifying glass works using The Mana energy of the person who's using it, which is the magical energy that mages need to have plenty of to be able to use their magic for long periods of time.
So basically Ned couldn't work on the book for more than few hours at the time, before his energy is drained and left him super hungry or too sleepy that he'd fall into an involuntary deep sleep, in order to restore his energy.
"The book is quite untidy, the handwriting of the bookkeeper seems impossible to read!" Aroon commented on the seemingly messy handwriting.
"Hmmm I've seen worse handwriting at medical school, mine included...but I must admit, the way the bookkeeper wrote some the letters like the 'v' and 'r' is quite confusing, I can't tell them apart most of the time." Ned replied, his stomach growling with hunger.
"My energy is quite full! I can help you finish your work Master while you eat something."
"No thank you Aroon, this job is strictly mine to do, besides I can eat while working, it would've been a problem if I felt sleepy instead...also why are you calling me Master?"