~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
to shiver at the thought of perishing,
and to lash out when things become frustrating,
those feelings have been long forgotten.
my only fear now is the risk of abandon.
after infinity, only in your embrace
do I feel that everything is in its correct place.
-R.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
In front of the mansion gate, Esmeralda greeted Grisia who was accompanied by a limbering Kairo and a floating Aisia.
"I see that the training has begun," Esmeralda commented with her charming face that was naturally accompanied by a smile.
In the time it took to return to the mansion, the minor physical enhancement spell had worn off, but it was enough time for Kairo's body to regain much of its mobility.
Gradually growing closer to Esmeralda, even when one of his eyes was less awake than the other, he told her, "You wouldn't believe it, Esmeralda! Grisia made her float with a magic spell with just a snap of his fingers!"
Hearing this, Esmeralda had a severe, startled expression and immediately grabbed Kairo by the shoulders.
"Ack! I knew I said you wouldn't believe it," Kairo said. "But I thought you were already aware since you knew Grisia for so long..."
She then recomposed herself with a sigh and loosened her grip, losing her crazed look. "Kairo, be wary of what you speak of. Never say such a thing again, understand?"
"Huh, why?"
Esmeralda turned to Grisia with a helpless look, only realizing that he most likely hadn't explained to Kairo what incantationless magic implied. She also inferred that since Aisia was unconscious, she may have already passed out before having the chance to tell Kairo about it.
Grisia saw all of this written on her face and decided to leave it to her without a word, catching Aisia in his arms as the levitation spell had also worn off. He entered the mansion with her.
"Kairo dear, casting a spell without chanting or reciting an incantation... is nearly impossible and very difficult."
Seeing how Esmeralda was so worked up about it, he decided to heed her words. But knowing that Kairo blurted out those words without any caution, Esmeralda knew he couldn't possibly fathom the gravity of the situation.
And so, she sat down on a patch of grass that wasn't too covered with snow and urged Kairo to do so as well. Kairo followed as instructed, and a gentle breeze blew past them. Realizing how close they were to each other, Kairo noticed her scent which presented him with a pleasant refuge from the still, icy air, making his lips tighten with a gulp.
"Kairo," Esmeralda had a somber look on her as she caught Kairo's attention.
"Y-Yes?"
"Don't be so uptight," she chuckled, wiping her fogged glasses with her apron. "I wish to tell you about incantationless magic from my perspective, in hopes that you would understand and be more tight-lipped about it in the future," she wore her glasses and looked at him with her deep, green eyes.
"Oh, c-certainly!"
"Turn your attention to that pebble over there," she pointed at a random pebble nearby from where they sat. He almost didn't see it due to it being covered by blades of grass. Kairo examined it and thought that it was so small, he could hold it with merely his pointer finger and his thumb. "That is the typical person's magical capabilities. Imagine a slightly larger rock, one that your whole hand wouldn't be able to fully grab hold of. That's how much bigger it is when an amateur gets used to using spells daily."
"So that's how great Grisia is?" Kairo asked her, but she simply shook her head.
"We haven't even gotten to the half of it. At that level, you still have to chant an incantation. Now, imagine a large boulder, one that's larger than a tree, trained combat arcanists are usually at that level. Many of them still chant incantations to cast a spell, but if they specialize in a certain magic, they may not have to chant it. They need only to recite the incantation at least once instead. Believe me, I've seen it."
Her amazement didn't reach him as his first exposure to magic was Grisia's incantationless spells. Noticing this, she continued after clearing her throat, "After that is quite a huge gap. The next level is on the realm of fabled heroes, royal wizards, master warlocks, and legendary sages..." Kairo was expecting her to describe a larger size of rock. Instead, she uttered, "... are akin to the tallest mountain."
Kairo broke a sweat. Mountains are incomprehensibly larger than a mere boulder, that his mind was still trying to wrap around the sudden jump in level. Esmeralda was not kidding when she said that there was quite a huge gap. "That is... a hundred— no, a thousand— no, five thousand times larger than an enormous boulder!"
Esmeralda shook her head once again and said, "No. Five thousand is a petty number," she frowned while looking at the small pebble they first saw.
Kairo turned to her and saw her expression, it was as if she was pitying such an infinitesimal and inconsequential piece of rubble, or maybe she was sorrowful by what such an immense and terrible power could do to the world if it fell into the wrong hands.
"Even then, only a rare amount of those mountain-level beings have been able to reach the apex that is incantationless magic. Most of them peak at one, two, or three words. That is still absolutely praiseworthy and deserving of being renowned by kingdoms and continents, as a single moment can decide a battle between high-level arcanists."
Esmeralda turned to Kairo, whose jaw had been open for quite some time now. "Do you understand now, Kairo? If anybody else were to catch wind of this, that information shall spread like wildfire. This can cause problems for Lord Grisia," she closed her eyes and talked to Kairo passionately. "As someone who specializes in espionage, I know much about how even a single piece of information can change the tide of battle even against an unconquerable enemy. The right amount of preparation can lead an army that is only a tenth of the opposing army's forces to utter victory," Kairo nodded as he took in everything Esmeralda said.
"But on the brighter side, as long as the information is correct and accurate, that means miracles can happen," Esmeralda's usual, friendly smile returned and she ruffled Kairo's head before standing up and leaving him blushing.
"Let's go inside now, dear Kairo. Breakfast is waiting. Tiraga cooked a lot of yummy food since she knew that you'll be needing the energy from here on out."
"Tiraga's food is always hellishly divine!" he exclaimed before running off, but as he started his first step, his entire body ached, and he had to resort to a slow advance once more.
He arrived at the dining hall and saw that Aisia was already awake, hungrily devouring as much as she could. For such a tiny body, she sure ate a lot even if it was understandably Tiraga's cooking, he thought. Maybe too much.
Grisia and the other maids were also present and the dining hall was rambunctious as usual. There was an empty spot where he usually sat. He asked the maid if no one was sitting there, and turned out it was Alex who he inquired.
"Lord Grisia saved that spot for you!" she said in a manner that was even more cheerful than usual. Kairo noticed this but ignored it since he was deathly starving. His stomach grumbled as he smelled the delicious food on the table.
He got seated and started his feast.
All of a sudden, Grisia spoke, "Sia, you passed out sooner than I thought," hearing this, Aisia completely halted her chewing for a few moments, her surprised look resembling someone who was just caught red-handed. "Did you not get enough sleep?"
She gulped to swallow her food, but it worked to only reveal her anxiety to Grisia. "Well... about that..."
"It's fine. Talk."
"I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about the stuff that happened yesterday and I was excited to start my training in the morning, and yeah..."
"I see. Well, do take care of yourself. Lack of sleep will affect your training, and more importantly, your growth."
"Yeah, yeah, old man," she snarkily replied as she resumed eating.
"Old man..." Grisia repeated as he fell down in the dumps.
"A critical hit," the maids started commenting, amused by their master's unanticipated downfall in the dining hall.
"More damage taken than when he went on a quest to behead a dragon in its lair..."
"My affinity in magic as a dark elf cannot heal emotional wounds..." Agata added.
Grisia heard all of their comments and started to eat gloomily.
"A-And... also... I was thinking about how you were right and how you helped me a lot... pops. Thank you," Aisia added before resuming her impressive feast. Those sweet words perked Grisia right up, and he started to eat more enthusiastically than ever.
At the same time, the maids began their murmuring again, "What an easy person."
"Doting father."
"Ah? Was it because of my cooking? Am I finally free to cause mayhem?" Tiraga commented.
"My healing magic cannot cure the delusions of a father who uncontrollably spoils his beloved daughter..." Agata added once again. Kairo was beginning to see a pattern in Agata's comments.
After breakfast, Aisia and Kairo were instructed by Grisia to rest and stay put for a while before leaving. He had other matters to attend to, so he told them that they were going to head to the bakery by themselves. He also asked them to be careful when returning home and to be watchful of any strange people, man or woman, old or young.
They agreed, and after resting, they finally went on their way. Grisia went on his separate way once they arrived at the marketplace area.
Once Aisia and Kairo showed up inside the bakery, they were greeted by the old man and were ordered to wash their hands up to their arms, as well as to wear gloves and a hairnet. Their job was to manage the store and stock bread on the display stands on the inside and outside of the bakery's store.
The heat from the bakery was perfect for the winter cold. If they started in the summer, it would've been hell on earth. Though, Kairo thought that Tiraga never complained about the temperature outside of hell. Maybe hell wasn't actually a fiery place filled with lava. Or maybe demons can quickly get used to different weather?
The job was simple enough. On top of that, they enthusiastically greeted the customers even though the old owner hadn't explicitly instructed them to do so. He thought that they had a good sense for running a store since they were naturally responsive with the service and had a pleasant attitude towards the customers.
"Must be how it is with good kids," he commented with a hearty laugh.
Once it was noon, more of the full-time employees appeared until the two of them were no longer needed. "Good work, kids! Fortunately, there weren't any troublesome customers today. I forgot to mention it, but if a troublesome one ever appears, just call for me and I'll handle them, understood?" he told the two before giving them each a handful of bread to take home.
They waved goodbye to the wonderful owner and staff before returning home. For the rest of the day, Kairo and Aisia spent their free time reading books together in the library. Although, Kairo instructed Aisia to try reading a book on her own, with only a minimal amount of help from him as to nurture her own ability to understand new words for herself through context clues.
He told her to start with a fictional storybook, which he procured himself since he had to write it down in the records anyway. Aisia agreed since she didn't want anything to do with the records, logging in, and looking for a book herself, relying solely on Kairo's recommendations for now.
They were absorbed in their reading. For a while, Aisia still had to ask Kairo for help as frequently as the previous session, but bit by bit, she started to do well on her own. Kairo was then able to focus on reading new books and challenged himself by perusing through the more advanced tomes, but found out that he still wasn't ready for most of them yet. There were a lot of words and symbols he just couldn't decipher.
When it was time for dinner, Esmeralda had to call them or they wouldn't have realized how famished they were.
And so, they ate dinner in the dining hall. But one thing looked off, Kairo saw Alex in an unexpected state.
She had a vile, pissed look on her face. It was quite unlike her, even though he just saw her behave livelier than usual this morning. But the most jarring thing of all was that her eye color wasn't the usually friendly and vibrant bluish green. It was a rich, striking purple with a subtle red hue. It had a brightness that was as if a dark purple glass was glowing a blinding white-red from being heated up from the inside.
Although, even in her bitter mood, she seemed to be still enjoying Tiraga's cooking. But she was evidently much harsher with how she stuffed her face with the knife and fork.
"She's in quite a foul mood. Don't mind her too much, Kairo," Agata, who was sitting beside Kairo this time, told him in her reserved voice.
"Why, what happened, Miss Agata?"
"A certain dunce forgot their anniversary," gossiped one of the other maids on the other side of Agata, who giggled after she said it.
"Anniversary? Alex has a partner?" he asked.
"Oh, absolutely. You didn't know? The one and only gatekeeper."
"Gatekeeper?" and then it clicked. "Alex and Fredrick are dating?!" he shouted unwittingly, which everyone at the table heard.
Kairo's eyes widened and turned to Alex to check if she heard. What was he thinking? Of course, she did. But he was praying that somehow, she didn't.
When he turned to her, their eyes made contact. It was the first time he was faced by Alex with such a bitter and hateful glare that it looked like a vein would pop on her youthful face by how she winced and clenched her teeth.
"Oops."