Inside the guest room, an ornate porcelain tea set was prepared in advance atop the round, mahogany table with four seats around it. Above is a skylight with the family crest of the Florel depicted using stained glass. Of course, there’s flower patterns, blue roses and lilac spiraling out from behind the round shield depicting a three white wands spread out like a fan. Family crests are an old human tradition that were more common in my early days of existence; now, I rarely see them even after scouring the darkest corners of Peris using my senses.
Whatever happened to it doesn’t really interest me.
I take the seat offered to me by a kind maid and continue working. Progress has been slow these past few days with me simply trying out all possible Magic Circle structures I can think of. Even if some work perfectly fine, I continue to try and rebuild them, searching for ways to improve upon the original design—in order to create the perfect structure for my spell network.
Sadly, time is short and my participation in this discussion about me seems mildly important so after deciding on the patterns I’ll be testing later and saving it to my memory, I let my mana in the Universal Threads free. The old parasol I brought with me falls into my hands and I place it leaning against my chair.
Madame Alkin sits next to me, or rather her chair floats up and plops itself down to my right. Mrs. Florel sits opposite of us with an empty chair to her left. We wait for the last person, silence bearing down on us like an animal observing its prey. Does’t bother me or Alkin though. On the contrary, its Mrs. Florel who’s feeling discomfort.
The two maids seem unaffected but underneath that facade is repressed fear. I on the other hand, am reminded of my… first ever home. Finding myself in the grasp of dreadful, lonely silence is nostalgic, almost comforting but not quite. Ever since my existence, I’ve always hated this feeling that humans call loneliness.
Will you finally tell me why you’re giving me away to a clan?
Alkin pauses for a brief moment before continuing to sip of her tea as if she didn’t hear me.
“You never told her?” Odelphia frowns.
Indeed, she did not.
“Um, I wasn’t given exact details, but—”
Alkin sets down her tea cup with an audible clink.
“They want you to kill some people for them. Is that alright with you, Lily?”
Understood.
The human Odelphia shifts slightly and just stares at her untouched cup of tea.
Alkin takes one more small sip before turning to her and asking, “Are you feeling guilty? Don’t be, Mrs. Florel. Lily may look like an innocent young girl, but she’s quite capable—and experienced—in killing.”
I sigh and drink some tea as well.
Ugh. Too sweet. I gently put down the cup, deciding not to pick it up.
But that isn’t all I have to do. Why else would I have to stay here? Unless… Madame Alkin decided to abandon me.
Unlikely.
I perform the motions we practiced—the expression called ‘smirking’—towards Madame Alkin. A small upward curl followed by a slight tilt of my head. Not sure if I’m doing it right but whatever.
“Yes, this case will take some time.” Alkin says, a well of emotions erupting to the surface only to be brushed away by a shaking of her head.
She continues, “Lily, please, stay here with the Florels. In, soon I’ll be turning 17 and attending college at Peritet. So, I won’t be able to look after you for quite some time.”
The door to the guest room opens and a tall human man strides in.
“Congratulations, Madame Alkin. Your talents have been recognized.” The man says in a leveled voice despite how tired and haggard he sounds and looks.
Another human, the butler, following closely behind him shuts the door before walking ahead and pulling out a chair for the man. After which he takes his place by the human’s side.
“And you must be Lily.” The human man turns to me, green flames flaring in his eyes.
Rude.
The human blinks. Then lets out a low chuckle, “My apologies. Just had to confirm for myself. Anyways, allow me to introduce myself. I am Quinton Florel, head of the Florel clan.”
I nod.
Pleasure to meet you, Sir Quinton. I am indeed Lily, as you can already see.
Right now, this human—one of the handful of Grand Magies—is seeing through mana infused eyes. Any magic that Alkin had used to obscure my mana is powerless against such a high level of precisely controlled mana.
He lets the green mana dissipate. After giving me a look through normal eyes, he gives a single nod.
“Excellent use of sealing magic, Madame Alkin. One deserving enough for an invitation to Peritet Academy.”
“Surely you jest.” Alkin says in a neutral tone.
“I’d estimate that most Magies would be fooled, dismissing discrepancies in her mana for illness or side effects of her Concept.”
“You flatter me. Now, shall we start?”
Both humans nod and shortly after there’s a subtle change within the room.
“
“Of course, dear.” Quinton says with repressed surprise.
Madame Alkin simply nods.
“Then, first I’d like to ask, what exactly is Lily? She’s unlike most of the Entities roaming the Eldritch world and more intelligent than any humanoid Anonalies we’ve seen in history.”
“And you mentioned in your letter that Lily is capable of sensing human emotions.” Quinton adds.
Alkin gives an answer I’m sure she prepared beforehand:
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“Do you remember the research paper published by Rina Scartes—the one titled: ‘Evolution of Mana’? Her theory was proven by quantifying the amount of mana stored within Eldritch Entities over the course of several years, showing that very slowly, their mana quantity is increasing. What if it isn’t just mana quantity that’s improving, but the overall quality of these Entities?”
Odelphia clenches her fists, “Similar to how human children slowly refine the control over their mana at the same rate as mana quantity increases.”
“Precisely. Just like how Humans evolve, these beings evolve too, be it a much slower pace.”
“Entities pose more of a threat,” Quinton says in an even tone, “They grow more deadly and—if your theory proves to be true—they could one day become strong enough to destroy entire worlds.”
Do humans not evolve too?
Alkin looks at me, her eyes shimmering with delight.
“Yes, but not the exact same way. Not like you do, Lily.” She takes a sip of tea before turning her attention back to Odelphia, “To answer your question, Lily is one of, if not the earliest Entity to achieve complete cognitive function and emotion processing. Any other questions?”
“I can think of several, but none that seem necessary to know at this very moment.”
“I see. Mister Quinton?”
Quinton lets out a tired sigh as if he didn’t want to ask this obvious question:
“Is she dangerous?”
Alkin looks at me expectantly and I comply.
Of course I’m dangerous, I send the mental message happily, Not enough to destroy the human world if that’s what you’re worried about.
“Hm, let me rephrase the question. Can you ensure that Lily won’t decide to kill humans indiscriminately one day? Humans have tried to coexist with the Eldritch beings in the past and according to the records, all attempts failed.”
With every word he says, the hostility towards me makes itself known more and more from beyond the thin veil of indifference. I’ve been aware of his hostility even before he opened that door. After all, not a single resident of this mansion isn’t feeling either weary or hostile towards me. Since the very start—the Florels were prepared to fight us. Well, not like me and Alkin are any different.
In an even voice, Alkin says, “And what if she does? Humanity probably deserves to go extinct for what they did during the Great War. If we haven’t learned from that, well, maybe Lily should eradicate humanity… one day. Not in her current state.”
“Blind trust?” Quinton asks with genuine curiosity.
Indeed. You need me for something and so does Madame Alkin. I don’t know why, but she’s leaving me in your care—trusting you—and your clan.
“Oh? You’re mistaken, Lily. I only trust this particular family.”
“You… trust our family?” Odelphia says.
“Why of course. Sir Quinton has done quite a lot. Fixing the Florel clan’s finances issues, improving the work environment for your weavers, this and that done by the book. Like a knight from children’s stories. Ah, I meant that as a compliment.”
“J-just who did you—”
“Don’t misunderstand, Madame Alkin. Everything I’ve done came at a cost. There are many within the Florel clan who’ve tried to have me relieved of my duties.”
“And yet, you’re still here. Still able to keep your wife and son safe, are you not? Lily isn’t as soft and fragile as us, so she won’t be a burden.”
Quinton stays quiet for a long while and the butler standing at the sidelines is preparing to attack at his master’s command. Meanwhile Alkin and Odelphia remain unchanged, the latter being uncertain and the former as confident as ever that the everything will simply go her way when there’s no guarantee. If things don’t go her way then I’m here to salvage the situation.
“That is…”
My muscles tense, ready to unleash the flood of mana depending on Quinton’s next words.
“…acceptable, for now. Success is born from the risks we take in life and learning from our failures. I hope that this time, you will be different, Miss Lily.”
“She will be.”
The one who said that wasn’t Madame Alkin—it was Odelphia. Vibrant violet lights dance within her dull purple eyes as she makes that promise. An eternal pact between Magies that weighs heavily on one’s metaphorical soul.
A bold proclamation, human. There’s nothing special about me.
I keep these thoughts to myself, choosing to simply stare at the human with mild curiosity, but that is all. My role is, and always was, to simply observe this meeting. Observe and learn, as Alkin had told me.
Or so I thought.
“What about you, Lily? I’m sure you have plenty of questions for me. I’ll answer them honestly just for today.”
Sometimes I forget the fact that Madame Alkin is a liar.
I sigh, take a sip of this awful tea, and ask her: How long will you leave me here?
“From what I recall…”
“Three years at the very least.”
“Ah, thank you, Sir Quinton. Before you ask, I won’t be gone for three years and I’ll make sure to visit or check in to make sure they’re treating you right.”
Then I have nothing more to ask.
“Really, you aren’t curious about anything? Resources you have access or the degree of freedom you’ll have while staying here?”
I shrug, “Not necessary right now.”
I’m more interested in the specifics of the case which I had missed out on yesterday. If only I hadn’t overexerted myself or had an appropriate wand to cast
Alkin’s goal will remain impossible to achieve—and my own goals as well.
I give a small smile and motion them to proceed with the discussion.
Unperturbed, Alkin continues, “Well, if you insist, and if nobody has any objections, then let’s move on to the next agenda.”
***
“…and that should be all.” Alkin claps twice, causing the tea cups to
Humans tend to overcomplicate things, so I’ve summed up the details and specifics of this case myself:
‘Kill this person and gather information, all while remaining undetected.’
Undetected is optional as I’ll be going with an alias. Where am I going? Someplace that even the great Florel clans dare not to enter—a high school for prestigious Magies. My target: A Grand Magi.
Even if the Florels had any child soldiers, it’d be near impossible for one—or ten, for that matter—to kill even the ‘weakest’ Grand Magi. Of course, I am no different. The current me lacks a proper wand, has only a single unrefined grand magic spell, and Alkin’s teachings. With a bit more… I’d estimate my chances of winning to be a little less than 50%. And that’s against the ‘weakest’ Grand Magi while the one I’m supposed to kill is not at all weak—no Grand Magi is.
They’ve reached the greatest heights that humans can achieve with magic. I’d be very disappointed if a child like me could topple one so easily. Nonetheless, I’ll do my duty and complete this case.
Once the meeting had concluded, their butler, Hubert, was ordered to escort me to give me a tour of the manor. Reluctantly, I left Alkin alone with those two and the one remaining maid who’s been standing there suspiciously the whole time. I might simply be overly paranoid since we’ve already agreed to take on this case, but… I kept my ‘roots’ connected to that room in case of any trickster crap they try to pull.
She called Mr. Florel honorable yet from what I’ve seen, humans care little for honor in matters concerning life or death. Most lose themselves and their logic, focusing solely on self preservation or protecting loved ones. This one of the few things I’ll probably never understand about humans.
“Ahem,” the butler coughs to gain my attention so I face towards him, “Excuse my rudeness Miss Lily, for I must say this now. After this tour, let us keep our distance from one another unless absolutely necessary.”
“…I see.”
Do you have unfortunate experiences with Eldritch beings, Mr. Hubert?
He scowls, “Don’t pry, young miss. I’ll treat you like I would the family’s biological son and so will the other servants. However, my hatred towards you and your kind will remain unchanged. I implore you to keep that in mind for the future, Miss Lily.”
Hm, alright. If that ‘s all then please take me straight to my room. I can explore the place from there.
I refrain from mentioning how, wanting to keep our interactions to a minimum as per his request. Hubert has his suspicions but ultimately stays true to his word and leads me to my room at the second floor of the mansion. Throughout the meeting, Alkin never mentioned my ability to create my own room, likely telling me to keep that hidden during my stay along with a few other things.
The room I’m given is apparently only a guest room despite how luxurious it is. Having a large bed with silky white sheets, the windows give a wonderful view of the forest, and the serene garden at the back of the mansion. I’ll explore that later.
“A servant will arrive shortly. Tell them if you need anything or have any questions.”
I see. Thank you, Mr. Hubert. It was still nice meeting you despite your contempt towards me.
Hubert leaves without another word. Manners aren’t so important to me as it is to Madame Alkin. Being rude is another thing entirely.
After giving the guest room one final look over, I toss the umbrella into the air and create a magic circle on the ceiling at the same time. Strings suspend the umbrella in mid air while I collapse into bed and split my mind into focusing on two tasks. Practicing my magic and exploring every inch of the Florel Mansion.
Time to get to work.