On the shelves stood "Optics and Mechanics" by A.D., "Mechanisms as Obedient Tools in the Service of Humans and as Living Organisms" by Trin, and many others with unfamiliar names to me.
"Hey, these are books from the Empire! How did you get them?" Aileen quickly scanned the titles and recognized familiar authors.
"Well, my father is a trader, and he knows sources on the black market as well."
"But that can't be; the Empire cut off all ties with Verania long ago, and these books are brand new!"
"That means not all ties were severed. Believe me, many imperial merchants value magical goods and Veranian gold, while Verania needs mechanisms and products from the Empire."
"What nonsense! The Emperor put an end to all relationships a long time ago. How dare these brazen smugglers defy him!"
"You can't be serious!" The girl grabbed the guardswoman's hand. "You're from the Empire, right? I suspected it when you showed the boys a golden coin with a dragon at the mine."
"Yes, I'm originally from the Empire, and now I'm studying at the Academy through an exchange program."
"Wait, wait, you offered those boys imperial coins as payment? What were you thinking?"
"Well, I just needed what they had, and I had nothing else to offer as payment."
"Damn, what were you thinking? And what are these books?"
"Well, they're mostly books on technology and applied sciences. I particularly like this one," the girl took a book from the shelf that I had noticed earlier, authored by someone named Trin. "I really enjoyed the theory about creating mechanisms capable of moving independently without human assistance. Although the author seems to have had issues with its energy source, I think if I had the chance to meet him, I could have suggested some magical energy sources commonly used in golem creation."
"Heh, then you'd better learn how to bake tasty cakes," Aileen smirked lightly.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, I think Trin's appearance and behavior might shock you a bit."
"Mmm?" The girl tilted her head. "Although there's no portrait of the author here, I imagined him as an experienced person with a beard, and perhaps even with a couple of mechanical devices instead of a hand or a leg."
Aileen awkwardly scratched her nose.
"Heh, I think you'd be greatly disappointed if you met Trin."
"Wait, I've heard this name from you before. Who is she?"
"Well, you met her; Trin is one of the imperial guards."
"Her? So Trin is a girl?" I recalled the guards, apart from Aileen. "I remember a girl with crossbows and a katana. Unless you're saying that's your alias."
"No, Trin is not any of them. But I know her very well."
"Can you tell me about her? What is Trin really like?" Serena perked up upon hearing Aileen's words.
"Well, okay, let me tell you how we met. I used to be the Empire's top engineer-inventor until I came across this book three years ago." Aileen pointed to Serena's favorite book. "I immediately realized that only a true genius could have written it. It outlined principles of constructing mechanisms and device schematics far ahead of its time. I wanted to know the author, but the publishing houses claimed it was handed to them by the inventor's assistant, and after that, she locked herself in her house and refused to see anyone. Finding her house wasn't too difficult. The inventor's home looked like a massive castle with armored walls and plenty of pipes, a veritable laboratory protected against any attacks. But the strangest thing was that the house had neither windows nor doors. I went around the house and decided to climb the roof, where the only window for light was. Sneaking inside carefully, I discovered a complex system of mirrors that amplified a thin beam of light and allowed illuminating all the rooms."
"And did you meet her?"
"No, she hid much deeper. She had prepared a few traps in case of intruders. They were more like tests of intelligence, agility, and strength. At the end stood the guard, her first mechanical soldier, spewing fire and swinging ten huge swords, though it couldn't move from its spot. I had to calculate the trajectory of its attacks, and I eventually reached the last room, where Trin sat surrounded by parts, mechanisms, and blueprints."
"And how did she look?" Serena held her breath.
"She was a little girl, she even looked younger than she actually was. That was two years ago when she was only twelve."
"What?!" I was astonished. Building a house with so many traps and inventing such complex mechanisms at twelve—it was simply impossible.
"I know, at first, I thought the shelter's owner was pulling my leg, and besides, the girl looked as small and fragile as a doll, but she proved me wrong. She spoke confidently, as if she held my life completely in her hands. 'You passed my trials, and so, I'll give you a couple of minutes of my time,' that's how she greeted me. When I showed her the book, she snatched it and threw it into the fire. It turned out she used to have an apprentice who helped her build this place, but then he stole her research diary and sent it for publishing. He claimed he wanted Trin to become famous worldwide; with her ideas, she could have become the greatest inventor in the Empire. But the girl threw him out and sealed off all the doors. Since then, she hasn't communicated with the outside world."
"But he didn't mean any harm."
"It hurt her that he didn't understand her. She invented not for the whole world but for herself, to amuse herself while locked away in her castle."
"Aileen, you've mentioned it several times; was Trin sick or something?"
The guard remained silent, finding it difficult to reveal her friend's secret to us. But after looking at Serena, she decided to continue.
"There was another reason why I didn't believe immediately that this girl was Trin. She had pale, slightly transparent skin, colorless hair, and reddish-toned eyes. It's a condition that is not uncommon among newborns in the Empire." Aileen glanced at Serena, who also fit the described symptoms.
"I had no idea that my condition had become so widespread in the Empire."
"Seems like I'm completely clueless here. What is this illness?"
"Among the symptoms, I found only one reason that could have led to my condition," Serena lowered her gaze, "mana depletion, which afflicts all inexperienced mages when they try to reach beyond their capabilities. However, I couldn't find the reason for it since I never used magic."
"We call it the spirits' curse," Aileen paused for a moment before continuing, "At birth, every person is given life—more accurately, a certain spiritual power. Some have more, some have less, but everyone receives it. This power is what we call magic, which gives people their life force. However, sometimes people are born without this power, and the signs are colorless hair, eyes, and skin. Many doctors believe it's related to their inability to connect with the world of spirits, as magic comes from there. And the longer it's been since the last summoning, the more children are born like this. Such children are physically weak, grow slowly, and often die young. That's why parents in the Empire usually abandon such children, and there are even orphanages specifically for them."
"Wait, something doesn't add up here. The Empire has no mages, so why are these children born more frequently there than here?"
"Perhaps because we are much farther from the portals than you are, and therefore, our connection with the world of spirits is much weaker. And the most frightening part is that no one has come up with an effective way to cure this disease in all these years. The best that can be done is to prolong the lives of sick children by making them move less."
"Well, if it's mana depletion, there is a way to help. You just need to transfer magic from another person," I recalled the incident in the swamp. "Katrina once saved Leira when she was almost dissolving into thin air, and after that, her eye color changed."
"And that proves the impossibility of a cure."
"What do you mean?"
"Katrina saved Leira because they both were lightning mages. And you yourself said that her eye color changed, so I won't be surprised if Leira became better at controlling lightning after that."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Experiments like this were conducted in the Empire too, where they tried to infuse sick people with someone else's spiritual energy, but they usually couldn't survive the process. The problem lies in affinity with a specific type of magic, which is said to be determined by the color of their eyes and hair."
"That makes sense; many fire mages are red-haired, and lightning mages have golden hair."
"Exactly. But those afflicted by the spirits' curse have no predisposition to any element, so they can't accept other people's magic. They need pure magic from the spirits, which is impossible to obtain."
Pure mana can only be obtained from spirits, but with the portals closed, all sick children are doomed to an early death. Besides, just now, Aileen told the girl in this room that she will die soon, and there is no cure for her.
"I knew about it before; I just didn't want to upset my father," Serena said with a sad voice. "I know that my time is limited, so I've been doing everything in my power to help the people in our city. I want to be remembered after I'm gone."
She must be a very strong girl to speak so calmly about death.
"I'm already seventeen, and I know that those like me rarely live to see twenty. If only I could, I would have liked to join the Academy, to interact with other people, to learn something new. But I knew it was impossible," Serena smiled, trying to comfort us. "But let's not dwell on the sad part. You were telling about Trin, what happened afterward?"
"I tried to convince her to come with me to the capital, where she could apply her inventions for the benefit of all people, but she wasn't interested. She wanted to quietly live her life in solitude."
"But did you convince her?"
"Yes..." The girl sighed heavily and continued, "I convinced her when I showed her the only person in the Empire who was cured of the curse."
"But you said it was impossible?!" I couldn't understand why she kept that from us.
"Tell us, who was it?" Serena leaned closer to Aileen.
The girl raised her hand and placed it on her chest.
"It was me," she said, and a heavy silence filled the room. But the guardian continued, "I, too, suffered from the curse, and my comrades in the orphanage were dying before my eyes. But one day, a dragon came to us and tried to cure me. I don't know why he chose me, but I was the only one he could save."
"So, there is a cure?"
"No, to save me, the dragon gave me a part of his life. The life force of dragons is pure magic, unburdened by affiliation to any element, so it can save those like me. But after he saved me, he left, and soon after, all my friends died. I blamed him for saving only me, but when I went to the capital, I learned the truth."
"Who was that dragon?"
"Emperor Uraz. His scholars wanted to test this theory, but it required a dragon of great power, one with a sufficient life force. Unfortunately, even the mightiest dragon in the Empire, the Emperor himself, almost died while saving just one person. After curing me, he lost consciousness and didn't wake up for over a month. They said he had given me too much of his strength, and perhaps he should have let me die, as his life was in danger. But he saved me, risking his own life, and since then, I vowed to serve him until the end of my days."
"So, to save someone cursed, it requires the life of a dragon. That's too high a price," Serena fell silent, unable to demand such a sacrifice.
"When I told Trin about this, she finally agreed to come with me if she was given access to all the materials about the curse of the spirits. Since then, she never ceased her attempts to find a cure, but she also pursued other projects. With the resources of the capital and the help of local engineers, she managed to assemble her first Tactical Operative RoboSuit, or as she called it, T.O.R. It was a huge armored suit with a space inside for a small person, and, of course, Trin became its first pilot. The power of T.O.R. was evident, and she was accepted into the ranks of the Empire's guardians at the young age of twelve. She became the youngest guardian. Since then, she has invented many things: steam engines, a reloading system for crossbows, flying devices, and much more. By the way, you must have seen her during the attack. I recall someone managed to sever her suit's arm, and she hates it when her toys get damaged."
"Oh, when you mention it, I remember she blew up a lawn near the Academy, laughing maniacally," I said.
"Very much like her. Trin achieved a lot, but unfortunately, the magical sciences never came easily to her. 'What cannot be explained by logic does not exist!' Armed with this slogan, she couldn't find a cure for her illness."
"She must be a good person. If I had the time, I would go to the Empire to meet her at least once."
Alas, that was impossible now. Aileen was in the territory of Verania as both an ambassador and a hostage, and outsiders could enter the country only at their own risk.
"Perhaps I can come up with something," Aileen said, looking at me for a moment before turning back to Serena. "What would you like as a gift?"
"Hmm," the girl put her finger to her lower lip. "Honestly, I've always been interested in Empire's technology, even if it's something small, I would be very grateful."
The girl beamed a radiant smile as if she had only a few months left to live.