To say the atmosphere suddenly turned for the worse would be a wildly inaccurate observation. After all, that tension between these two was already there from the beginning. They didn’t bother to hide it now that the unassuming boy left the waking world.

  “My actual questions, huh? Was I that obvious?” Marianne asked, undisturbed.

  “Very. It makes me wonder why you bothered to hide that in the first place. Except I’m well aware of your reasoning! We wouldn’t want to disturb the innocent boy over there with some potentially unsavory answers, I suppose.” The voice has suddenly stopped shifting altogether. Instead, Arclan spoke with a tone lacking the inhuman quality of his usual voice. The echo was gone, too. And yet, this was the least human he ever sounded.

  “That’s certainly true, but there was something much more important at play.” Ever since they reunited, there wasn’t a single moment at which Marianne felt entirely at ease.

  “Which would be?” He asked as he stood up and flapped his wings forcefully.

  The moment her lips opened, he began to speak as well.

  “To see how trustworthy you are.”

  “To determine whether I’m a threat!”

  “!”

  Marianne flinched slightly, looking up at the little creature who stared at her gleefully.

  “Whew, that one took the sails right out of you. Seeing you panic a bit does make me feel very accomplished, I must say!” He smiles at her all too innocently.

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  Regaining her composure, she looked at him with apprehension in her eyes.

  “Could it be that you- “He cuts her off before she can finish the sentence.

  “-can read minds? Yes, I can!” He spoke with triumphant glee, assuming a pose undermining the threatening way he tried to come across.

  “...” Marianne grew quiet for a moment in contemplation.

  “Correct! You can’t hide anything from me, so I recommend giving up any plots you might have against me. Thought I’d tell you this in advance so I wouldn’t waste your time.” His grin never left his face as her face relaxed ever so slightly. Now it was his turn, for his face tensed ever so slightly.

  “In that case, I will take you up on that offer. If you can read my mind, I don’t even need to bother asking them for you to answer them, right?” She crosses her legs, looking up at him defiantly.

  “Uh, I suggest more caution around me if I were you. You don't know anything, so don't you feel you should be more... careful?"

  “You already know my line of thinking, don’t you? Then, quit asking pointless questions. You’re the one with the mind reading, so aren’t you embarrassed to ask something that silly?” The fairy looked genuinely bothered by this nonchalant defiance displayed by a mere human.

  “Fair enough. Geez... you’re a puzzling one, you know that. Usually, humans get so frazzled by all this that they forget about this talent of mine. They’d continue plotting inside their heads like a bunch of morons, and while I always found it amusing, I must admit that this feels very refreshing.” He lowered his altitude and dropped atop a nearby boulder facing her.

  “Seeing as to how I’m a helpless mortal who can’t read minds, I would prefer you to converse with me normally despite this fact. Could you humor me?” Otherwise, she felt it would be tiring if she didn’t even get to speak before he answered her.

  “Sure. I can do that much.”

  “Thank you. Regarding your prior comment, I’m very good at adapting to many things. But more than anything, I was already preparing myself for any tricks you might have. I’m now in a world where magic and creatures like fairies exist, so I’d be an idiot to forget that fact suddenly. Your mind-reading ability might be a massive issue, but as I’ve said, All I need to do is adapt.” She spoke calmly, never skipping a beat. Arclan was admittedly a bit impressed.

  Suddenly, he froze.

  “Now, you’re in a world of magic and...? Could it be that you?” He asked with genuine surprise in his voice, but after staring at her quietly for what felt like an eternity, his grin widened.

  “Interesting! I have a fun proposal if you’re interested.” Suddenly, he flew toward her with gleeful excitement.

  “A proposal?” She was a bit surprised by the change in attitude. It seemed like he had found something out. She wasn’t sure whether she liked the direction of where this was all going.

  “Yes! Remember that game you played with the boy? The one where you asked each other questions. It seemed like fun, so I thought about trying it out myself! Care to humor me for a few rounds?”