"Are you guys absolutely sure you don't want any?"
We were sitting outside a café, having finished the bulk of our shopping list, as the girls enjoyed pastries and whatever viscous liquid was inside those immense cups they called coffee.
"Yeah, I'm good. You go ahead." I denied Lor's offer, leaning back and massaging my stomach.
None of us felt like eating after what we'd seen; we only had water in front of us.
"I am intensely curious about what was inside that door," Irina broke the silence.
"I am truly dying from it," Lor admitted.
"Hmm," Leyla's agreement was, typically, more muted.
I offered them a polite smile but said nothing. I needed to sort that out with my uncle first. It was unwise to share, perhaps ever.
"Let's just finish the shopping, Rimel. Talk to me." I turned to him.
He cleared his throat and checked the parchment.
"...We need the standards for potions. I'm not joking. It just says 'standards'." He looked up, utterly bewildered.
I checked in with the ladies.
"Hmm, we know," Lor said confidently.
That still didn't tell us what that actually meant. What would we have done if these nosy girls hadn't come with us? Damn you, old man.
"Also... standards for—I am not being facetious, Ferith—standards for dueling, it says!" He showed us, laughing.
"We can absolutely tell you about that, too," Irina laughed along with Rimel.
I switched my gaze between them. Look at my boy, suddenly smooth with the ladies.
"Yes, but still," I reached over the table, taking the list. "The man is a lunatic. Who could possibly understand what is needed from this?"
"In his defense," Lor immediately sprang to my uncle's defense, "you can usually just tell the shop owner you want the 'standards' for what year you are in at school, and he gathers them for you."
Everything here was so convoluted. They seemed to intentionally break their backs trying to make simple things just a little more confusing.
We spent the rest of the trip in relative peace until the very end.
"Ferith Aslan!"
We stopped walking and collectively searched for the source.
We saw Milan and a few other boys near him, not far from us. He waved at our group, looking slightly awkward.
I started to wave back, but then I heard his sister.
"Those guys!"
She was fuming.
Pelit looked at me, his face asking, 'What's happening?'
I just shrugged.
Lor suddenly took off, her friends close at heel.
"Should we follow?" Rimel asked, already tense.
"Calm yourself, brother. Your lady love has not left you yet. Calm, calm." I tapped his robe. I decided to use the time to tease him.
"I'm not sure I follow," he asked, attempting to sound stoic.
"I don't know, man," Pelit chimed in. "I believe what Ferith meant is that Irina is... aynaclaynabangbang. No?" He turned, asking me.
"Absolutely. In fact, it's a wonderful case of Flahhamagham," I confirmed.
Looking at his face, we were shaking with repressed laughter.
"Those... are not... real... words!" he ground out through his teeth, then took a few deep breaths. "You won't catch me with that childish nonsense anymore. You're immature assholes."
He turned his back to us, focusing on the kids ahead.
We had long ago discovered that his pet peeve was people using made-up words as if they were real.
...As in.
"There is nothing to do, Ferith. We might as well domachelga, since he's a wall of ignorance."
"Sheyboldu, brother," I tapped Pelit, seeing our friend's shoulder shake.
"Alright, alright. We're sorry, okay?" I stepped beside him, attempting to make amends.
But he kept looking ahead. I looked myself.
The conversation up ahead seemed to have devolved into a confrontation. Lor had grabbed her brother by his robe, and his friends looked angry at the trio.
"I think we should intervene."
Rimel started walking before he finished the sentence, and we followed close behind. The road was empty aside from us; it was getting late.
"...You can't just order him what to do! And if you try again, I will curse you into bits!" Lor was going all out at one of the boys, who looked like someone who had been on the receiving end of her fury many times before.
"Orders, favors... what's the difference? Besides, it was harmless." He smiled at us as we stood slightly to the side.
"That's not the point! And I—" Irina tapped her side, and Lor finally noticed us.
Her silence was deafening.
"Ferith! Hey, hey. Are you guys enjoying the city?" Milan broke the silence, desperate to change the subject.
I wasn't against it, to be honest. How they treated Milan was neither here nor there for me. But Rimel looked triggered, and I knew this wouldn't end easily.
"How about we just leave?" asked the smallest boy in Milan's group.
"Not yet. You see, you called out for Ferith just now. What was your purpose?"
Rimel took a few steps forward, directing his question to Milan. I closed my eyes momentarily before checking with Pelit, who looked to be on the same page as I was.
Rimel was the quiet one in our group—until he saw someone bullying another. Then... well, he changed.
The boys beside Milan exchanged glances, likely regretting their decision to make that poor guy call out to me for no reason other than... just because, I suppose.
"I was just... I wanted to say hello, that's all." Milan tried his best to salvage the situation, but I saw Rimel's hand twitch. I knew we were seeing this through to the end.
"Hmm. Then why would your own sister react this way?" He pointed at Lor, standing between her friends. "Let me venture a wild guess."
He walked around Milan and stopped in front of the two fidgeting, third-rate extras.
"Maybe you heard my friend is attending your school. Maybe Milan told you he can use magic without a wand. Maybe you made him come out today when you heard we did, too. So you might as well bully him more. Wrong?" he finished, the question sharp.
That was the point when the tall, black-haired guy found his courage.
"What if you are right? Look, Ferith," he found my eyes and continued. "We didn't mean anything by it. We're sorry."
"You're too familiar. And you're talking to the wrong guy," I answered honestly.
He looked confused. Then, he found himself hanging upside down.
Pelit's wand flashed next to me, and the other, now nameless gentleman ended up in a similar situation, joining his friend in the air.
"Ahh!! AhhAh... P-put me down! H-HELP! HEY!!!"
Rimel walked closer and collected their wands from the ground.
"Y-you d-don't know who I am! You're messing with the wrong man!" the smaller one added, flailing his arms.
I took a quick look around. Other than some random employee inside the store we stopped at, no one was watching. I turned my attention back to the dangling pair.
"We don't give a damn who you are, bro. Shut your mouth."
I waved my hand, and they both instantly lost their voices.
Rimel walked to Milan. "You okay, man? I mean, did this happen before? Do you get harassed a lot?"
"Oh, no... no..."
"Oh, shut up! You've been getting bullied by this lot for a while." Lor stepped in, then turned to me. "The smaller guy is from some noble house. My family can't afford to offend them, please..." She finished, looking a little embarrassed.
I understood. Besides, it was my friend who had initiated this.
"You didn't stop him? You helped?"
I turned to the side, seeing Leyla asking Pelit.
"Oh... well, it was a reflex. It was necessary," he answered, looking a little lost.
"Hmm," she narrowed her eyes slightly and walked back to her friends, crossing her arms. To me, she was just strange, but it visibly pleased Pelit for some reason.
"...I didn't know you were that proficient with spells, Mr." Irina stood in front of Rimel.
He immediately reverted to his sheepish, head-scratching persona. "We were agents for two years. It gives you a lot of experience," he humbly answered.
They smiled at each other, and Milan was completely forgotten.
"Psst," Pelit stepped beside me. "Won't we get in trouble for this? Noble houses and such?"
I understood his concern, but it was needless.
I made my way toward our cartoon villains. I released the magical constraint to allow for some civilized conversation.
"How about we just forget this whole thing and—"
"Nothing will be forgotten, you little fre—"
I grabbed the ringleader's mouth, stifling the rest, and placed my other hand on his noble friend.
"Or I can take the easiest route... and you forget it anyway." I offered a small, slightly deranged smile.
I let my magic work, and soon they stopped even struggling.
"You... you're not going to kill them, right?" Lor asked, sounding worried.
I let them down gently, and they answered in my place.
"Wh-what are we doing here?" the black-haired fellow asked. He looked around confused and stopped at his friend.
"...I don't know. We..."
"You guys came too. We were worried," I stepped closer, helping them up.
"W-what happened?" the tall one asked.
"We found you like this... knocked out cold," I lied.
I heard some snickering behind me, but I was firmly in character.
"I don't remember anything since this morning. Do you, Blaze?"
"No... nothing," answered the noble Blaze Sequins.
I nodded, pretending to feel concerned, and offered my hand.
"Hmm, I'm Ferith, by the way. Ferith Aslan. Nice to meet you."
They shook my hand, slightly surprised, and noticed their supposed 'friend'.
"Milan, do you know them?" I turned to him.
"Umm, y-yes. I do," he stepped closer.
Thankfully, he caught on quickly. The smaller one, Blaze, nodded upon hearing him.
"I see. I don't know what happened, but it's always nice to meet a fellow noble. I'm Blaze Sequins," he introduced himself.
"Jolly good, friend. Well met." I shook his hand again. "I'm afraid we have to finish this at school. I'm terribly swamped, as you can see."
I nodded toward the bags of our stuff, then stepped beside Milan and put my arm around his shoulder. "My guide and new friend is taking us on a tour around the city."
"Oh, cool, cool. We will hang out. Milan is a good friend of ours, ain't he, Ross?" He turned to the other.
"Y-yes, he is. Mr. Aslan... I mean, Mr. Ferith, we can hang later?" A new family fan, by the sounds of it.
"Absolutely. That's great to hear. Let us all be good friends. Now take care, boys, and I'll see you soon."
I turned around, ignoring my friends' smiles, and grabbed some of our bags. The others followed, with Milan joining us.
"Thanks, brother," Rimel walked beside me.
"Always," I smiled.
"Handled it with grace, good Sir," Pelit stepped beside me, lifting an imaginary top hat.
"Jolly good, Sir. Hahaha."
"Hahaha..."
We spent the time walking back in a good mood.
The others were happy the situation passed without any real fallout, and Milan was hopefully free of their oppressive requests.
"...You took an entire day from them. That's impressive."
Lor walked beside me and offered the compliment.
"It's more meaningful than that, love. It's magic," I smiled.
She returned it, and we slowed our pace. Walking inside the Ecouves woods was the best remedy for my lingering homesickness.
"Thanks. Our family is a banner man of theirs. It doesn't mean much today, but the land we own is somehow still tied to them," she continued.
"We could have lost a lot if Blaze decided to talk to his father. So thanks again."
"No problem."
She looked at me and gave a distinctly different smile.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. You just looked like you were blushing, that's all." She walked ahead.
"Pfft. Nonsense." I touched my face.
Although it did feel hotter than usual... probably just some sort of delayed magical sickness.