"Here, this one amplifies the efficacy of your Spells for 47 minutes..." Luvia said as she handed a Quartz crystal to the girl in gray... who was actually named Gray.
Johan became curious about her parents when he found out, but didn't comment, as he had found an odd paradox.
Was Gray named after gray because of her choice in colour? Or did gray become her favourite colour because her name was Gray?
...It was like the chicken and egg dilemma.
Logically speaking, in this case, it was probably the latter instead of the former.
...Actually, it could also be the former since she had gray hair... did her parents name her that because of her hair?
Maybe, her hair turned gray because she was Gray...
"...This one has an explosion sealed inside. To release it, just inject some Od and throw it as fast as possible." Luvia explained as she tossed a shining Ruby into Gray's hand.
"U-Uhm..." Gray stuttered as the Ruby fell into the pile of jewelry stacked atop her hands. "Miss Luvia... I-I think this is too much..."
Of course, since she has introduced herself, the pair of Lawrence and Edelfelt had done the same.
"...Oh, and don't forget this one! If you press this against your face every day before amd after sleep, you won't have to worry about oily skin ever again!" Luvia continued as she shoved another gem, this time a glossy black Obsidian, onto Gray's arms.
"A-Ah..." Gray seemed to realize that complaining wouldn't lead anywhere.
After Johan had kindly refused to pay for her 'services', Gray didn't seem to mind, not quite viewing it as something worth being paid for.
But someone had other ideas...
"...Listen, if a brutish man approaches you with an invasive gaze, all you have to do is stab him with the sharp edge of this Emerald, and it will freeze his nervous system." She whispered to the younger girl as she sneakily gifted the gem onto her as if Johan couldn't see.
Ah, why do I feel offended? If I say anything, she'll just trap me with rhetoric and ask why I thought she was talking about me, what a nasty trap... Johan mused to himself as he glared at Luvia.
She just smiled back all innocent-like.
"Y-Yes... I understand, Miss Luvia..." Gray responded with a hesitant nod.
If the lord was so stingy that he refused to pay, then it was naturally the lady's duty to step up—that had been Luvia's words...
So she paid Gray in something that the Edelfelt Family always had an abundance of; Jewelry.
Particularly, Jewelry that had been infused with various Spells.
"...Ah, that reminds me! If you're ever trapped in a really tight place, use this one!" She said, pulling out an Opal. "It's like a drill once activated, and it can even effortlessly dig through solid steel!"
Johan distinctly felt that the reason Luvia was doing this was less as a form of kindness or charity, and more of just for outright flexing.
"Oh... really? I... I have a drill too... well, it's not really a drill." Gray said awkwardly.
"Hey, Welsh girl." Johan said, deciding to interject. "...When you saw my brother, what was he doing, anyway?"
If he was lucky, then Johan could also get some nice info on this 'new girl'.
"Ah... the man with the hat was chasing a black bird." Gray said softly as she stumbled about due to the weight of the gems.
"...A bird?" Luvia asked, confusion etched in her features.
"...Was it a crow? And was its right eye slightly larger than the left eye?" Johan asked, realizing what Gray was talking about.
"Yes... it was exactly like that." Grau agreed with a nod. "Although, I didn't really see the eyes properly... so..."
"It must be Amon." Johan concluded as Luvia gave him a confused look.
"Amon?"
"...It's Noah's new Corpse Familiar, he gave it a whole name and its own separate Consciousness." Johan explained as they walked. "For some reason, it mutated to have a larger right eye after becoming a Familiar..."
"It's probably because of your brother's special interest in monocles." Luvia noted with a smirk. "...I swear, it's almost like an obsession."
"Don't be like that, it's more of a family tradition..." Johan scolded as he adjusted his own monocle.
Just like how the Edelfelts dressed like posh noblemen, the Lawrences had their own sense of aesthetic—that being Victorian-era clothing.
It was why Johan himself could be frequently seen wearing tophats, monocles, and the like.
...However, for Noah, he was always wearing a monocle no matter the circumstances, even when sleeping.
Johan had even seen him use a specialized aquatic monocle when swimming once...
Eventually, they managed to reach the outskirts of Slur Street, the surroundings gradually turning more and more foresty.
"...You guys have a whole park here?" Johan said with wide eyes as he noticed the Bounded Field that protected this pocket of wilderness. "This doesn't look too shabby, what's it for?"
Gray turned to him as she considered what to say. "Yes, it's been here since... a long time ago."
She probably hadn't bothered to learn the history behind this place aside from the basics given by the lecturers.
"The Department doesn't have any training grounds large enough for most of the students, so we can practice here instead." She continued the explanation.
Although it seemed to be a public park, most of it was encased in a large Bounded Field, thus there were no problems with Magi testing out their various Field Spells.
...One of the gems that Gray was carrying fell on the ground with an audible clink, attracting everyone's attention.
It was a Ruby, the same one that Luvia had said to contain an explosion.
Flustered and panicked, she tried kneeling down to pick it up.
However, that just caused the other gems to rain down from her hands, making a messy pile on the floor.
She looked a bit teary-eyed after that.
"Ah..." Johan couldn't help but tremble in a familiar kind of joy. "Pft—Hahahaha!"
But that moment of joy was short-lived as Luvia flicked his shoulder. "...To be laughing this much, are you really a scumbag?"
Her face was full of disaproval, as if he had kicked some 8-year-old's pet cat.
...Scumbag my head, you literally did the same thing just an hour earlier! However, since they had both agreed to 'forget' that scene, he couldn't bring it up.
"Uh..." Johan mumbled awkwardly as he knelt down onto Gray's level. "Sorry, about that."
"N-No, it's fine..." Gray wanted to refuse the apology but stopped as Johan picked up the gems one by one.
"If someone apologizes to you, that means you should accept it." Johan calmly said. "...Even if you're in the wrong, you should still accept the apology as if you're right, it validates their own personal opinions and you don't have to bother correcting them."
"...Okay..." She nodded with wide eyes as Johan began organizing the gems in a detailed and intricate manner.
"What kind of philosophy is that?" Luvia asked with a weird expression.
Johan just chuckled knowingly, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
"Here, you can have this..." Johan said as he produced a small pouch from inside his suit.
He quickly stored all of the gems inside, but the pouch somehow did not get bigger—it was a Mystic Code that was larger in the inside than it was on the outside, with a storage space of about 10 cubic meters.
"Woah..." Gray was visibly amazed as the pouch was tossed in her hand. "Ah!"
It was a lot heavier than one would, but Gray didn't seem to struggle with carrying it.
The reason why it's so heavy was because the Mystic Code pouch did not reduce the weight of whatever was carried inside.
Nevertheless, it was still very practical.
"This is so cool." Gray muttered as she gazed at the pouch deeply. "Thank you, mister..."
"Yes, your welcome." He nodded as he got up. "It feels a little wrong if Luvia spoils you, but I don't give anything... and don't call me mister, I'm only 19."
The Edelfelt laughed haughtily at that statement.
"Okay... sir." Gray nodded respectfully as she adjusted her hood in order to better conceal her expression.
Ugh, sir? Seriously...? Johan mumbled internally.
"Right, then." He stood back up as his head turned towards the park. "So Noah chased his bird into this place? Then, what happened next?"
"...I'm not sure." Gray said with a shake of her head. "I-I was passing by, so I didn't really..."
"Alright, that's fine." The Magus nodded his head. "Let's just go in a find out..."
It didn't take long before Johan's shoes eventually landed on the dirt as the trio entered the Bounded Field, which apparently allowed all Magi in and not just those from Modern Magecraft.
Immediately, he stopped walking and casted a Spell onto the earth, one that hid their footprints beneath the dirt.
After all, such things were much more noticeable on the dirt than they were on the pavement.
"Really?" Luvia complained with a chuckle.
"Yes, really." Johan responded with a deep gaze.
It was always wiser to be cautious.
Eventually, he found something after a dozen more minutes of walking.
"Here..." Johan remarked as he glanced down. The ladies did the same, following his gaze.
Upon the ground were the distinct shape of footprints, those that he recognized to have belonged to Noah's shoes.
Interestingly, right next to Noah's footprints, were a set of slightly smaller footprints.
This shape... it must have come from a pair of loafers. Could it be the new girl that Old Neil was talking about? Johan reasoned silently. Wait... no, he was following her from a distance?
"So is it him?" Luvia asked with her arms crossed. "You've been glaring at those footprints for a minute now."
"...It is Noah." Johan confirmed. "But..."
Instead of walking together, Johan started to think that perhaps Noah had actually been following her tracks, just like what Johan was doing right now.
This was because the smaller footprints showed more signs of age than Noah's footprints, which wouldn't have been the case if they had been walking together.
Johan did not have the deductive reasoning of Sherlock, but due to the Lawrence family's education, both him and Noah were taught these things.
As a family of treasure hunters, the capability to track down others and hide your own tracks were essential.
How incompetent. Johan lampooned, internally scolding his brother's carelessness for not properly taking care of his own tracks.
"But what?" Luvia continued to ask.
"He seemed to have been following someone from a distance..."
"Well, isn't that what we're doing?" Luvia chuckled at the situation.
"Wait..." Gray suddenly interjected.
Both of the nobles gazed at her.
"Uhm..." Gray glanced down for a few seconds as she considered what to say. "When I saw the hat man chase the black bird, he was also accompanied by my... friend, which is why I was staring at them in the first place." She revealed.
"Your friend...?" Johan mumbled to himself. "Is she a girl? What can you tell me about her."
"She is..." Gray confirmed. "Miss Ayaka is from the Department of Botany, but she occasionally comes here to listen to the lectures."
"Botany?" Johan took note of that. If she really was a student from there, then it might be good to stay in contact with her even after Noah eventually breaks her heart like a scumbag.
A lot of the ingredients listed for the other Potions were those that would be much more accessible to someone from Botany.
It would be good to establish positive relations with her at least, that way, he could procure ingredients at a much faster rate and save valuable time.
"Ayaka?" However, Luvia caught on a different thing. "Is she Japanese?"
Gray nodded at her statement, confirming this Miss Ayaka's ethnicity.
"...It's quite rare for a Japanese to enroll here. Hopefully, she doesn't face too much trouble." Luvia said with genuine concern.
The Mage's Association was a very European-centric organization. Magi from Asia were generally looked down upon due to this reason...
Other than the Association, there were several organizations in Asia itself that were more suitable for Asian Magi.
However, when it came to education, the Mage's Association was still the top dog, which was why many Asians still took the risk to join Clocktower.
"Wait, if he had been with her from the beginning, why do these tracks show a different story?" Johan wondered out loud.
Then Johan realized that he might have been underestimating his brother...
"CAW!"
Suddenly, the sound of a crow could be heard in the opposite direction.
He's been misled!