"She is not waking up. Is she dead? Should we throw her in the canal?" Cally asked.
"No, she is not dead yet, and no, we cannot throw her in the canal. Also, the canal is full of foam."
"What does foam have to do with that?"
"I don't know, you tell me."
Mara was lying on the couch. Before her eyes could open, she could already hear someone talking. As she opened her eyes, she saw an old man with gray hair and a gray beard looking straight at her face.
As the sight became clear and Mara was able to process everything, she quickly jumped up, shouting loudly,
"Help! There is an old pervert! Help!"
Before she could stand properly, Cally smacked her head, making her fall back on the couch. This made her quiet down as she sat there rubbing her head. Before she could say anything, Cally offered her the glass of water she had already brought.
After chugging down more than three glasses of water, the girl finally spoke.
"My name is Mara Veyren. Thank you for saving me."
Cally didn't say anything, nor did Mr. Vincent. They just stared at the girl with blank looks on their faces. The feeling of their eyes on her made Mara very uncomfortable as she tried to get into a more defensive position.
"What?"
"Your accent is very specific. Where are you from? Why were you lying on the road?" Cally asked.
"I am from a small village called Herui. It is far away from here, it's in Fryopi. I came to this country a few months back and somehow found myself with no money, which made me end up in such a situation. The only possession I have is my bag," she said while looking to her side for her bag.
"Wait, where is my bag!?"
"Oh... it is probably where you were lying unconscious."
"What!?" Mara quickly dashed out of the workshop. A few minutes later she was back, this time carrying a big black handbag.
"If you picked me up, wouldn't you also want to pick up my belongings? What would I have done if someone stole my bag? My most precious thing is kept inside!" Mara said angrily.
"I am very sorry, I didn't know your mother's urn was inside that bag. I am very sorry for not carrying your bag," Cally said, bowing her head.
"Huh, what? My mother is alive! My most precious thing is my book—my chronicle!" Mara said in an annoyed tone.
"If it's not an urn, then you should stop complaining and apologize I even considered saving you," Cally replied, matching her tone.
Both of them were fighting like cats. Mr. Vincent was watching them, and it reminded him of his childhood when he used to argue with his friends, which also brought back memories of how he would lose control and end up blasting a few fireballs at them.
As soon as those bad childhood memories surfaced in Mr. Vincent's mind, he quickly stepped forward and stopped the girls from arguing any further. He didn't want his workshop almost blown up again.
"Ah, right, why am I bothering arguing with you? I am leaving. Thank you and goodbye," Mara said as she turned around to leave. Just before she could step out, her stomach growled loudly.
Mara turned around, her face showing a very distinct fake smile as she said,
"By any chance, do you guys have some food?"
...
"Oh, so you are 19? I thought you were younger, more like around my age," Cally said.
Mara and Cally were inside Mr. Vincent's kitchen. Mara was sitting at the table with a plate of emberloaf stew. This was her third serving, and she was still hungry. While eating her food, she looked at Cally, who was sitting across from her.
"What? No. In fact, I thought you were older and around my age," Mara replied, her mouth still full.
The girls who had been fighting like cats not so long ago had become friendly as they chatted the entire time. Mr. Vincent, on the other hand, had been called by the inspectors from Iron Patrol regarding the foaming of the canal.
"So how did you get here?" Cally asked curiously.
"I ran away from my academy. My grandfather was the village chief of Herui, so I had a very easy life. I was sent to the prestigious academy, Carvax School of History and Heritage, in the capital of Fryopi. But then I learned about something... something I wasn't able to ignore, and so I left the academy unannounced and ran away two years ago. Then a few months back, I arrived here." Mara told her story.
"What did you learn about?" Cally was more curious. She didn't pay much attention to the fact that the girl was a runaway.
Mara looked around cautiously before replying,
"It's a secret."
"So, do you know about Theology?" Mara asked.
Cally shook her head side to side, showing that she wasn't aware of Theology.
"Theology is the study of religions. You know how there are the seven major churches of the seven moon goddesses? Except for Zamaria—the people there don't follow any of the major churches and instead worship the crescent moon.
"My family is a devout believer of Goddess Solvyra. But during my time at the Carvax Academy, I found some historical evidence that does not align with the accepted theological history at all! So I started to research more on the topic."
Cally was listening carefully. Although she wasn't interested in history or theology, but she was interested in this runaway scholar.
"I plan to go to Zamaria and find out more about the true history of the world. After that, I want to publish my own book." Mara took out a diary from inside her handbag.
"This is my chronicle. All of the discoveries I make, I note them here. My most precious belonging."
"I wish I was a wielder. My journey would have been so much easier. Right, aren't you a wielder?" Mara asked Cally.
"Yes, I am a penta-wielder."
"What!?" Mara asked, surprised.
"Yes, you heard that right. But I don't have any affinity for Umbrosine, so even though I am a Tier 5 wielder, there are several spells I can't use."
"Aren't penta-wielders like super, super rare? I mean, not having affinity towards one manacule isn't that big of a trouble when you're already so high in tier, right?"
"Well, since affinities are random and not related to mana force in any way, it's just unfortunate to not have affinity for a particular manacule. Because of the lack of affinity, I can't use Tier 5 spells like Regeneration, since it has Umbrosine in the spell formula." Cally explained
"Still, you are pretty lucky to be a high-tier wielder. Wouldn't official wielder forces recruit you?" Mara asked.
"They won't if they don't know about it. Since I'm famous for my manalogy techs and also famous for turning down offers, most people don't really know my wielding level," Cally said with a smug face.
"So what will you do now? You don't have a place to stay, nor do you have any money?" Cally changed the topic.
"I haven't really thought about it, but I will figure out something."
Mr. Vincent had returned by then. He had to pay a lot of reimbursement for the damages caused to the canal and also received a warning to stop carrying out experiments that caused harm to the surroundings. This was his fifth warning. By now, Mr. Vincent had understood that warnings didn't matter much.
"I know! Since you don't have any money, you should work here at the workshop."
"No, that is not happening," Mr. Vincent said as he entered the kitchen, denying the suggestion.
"But Mr. Vincent, I will be gone in a few days. You'll need someone to help you. Even if she isn't a wielder, you can keep her for cleaning and other chores, isn't that right?" Cally tried to persuade him as she turned to Mara for her thoughts.
"I guess that would be really helpful," Mara said.
Looking at the young ladies making the cute "puppy face," Mr. Vincent was a little hesitant. He wasn't able to reject the offer right away, but the old man had enough rationality not to blindly accept either.
"Cally, we don't know her. What if she steals something and runs away?" Mr. Vincent expressed his concerns.
Cally thought for a while and then said,
"Oh, then we can use that!"
As Mr. Vincent understood what Cally was referring to, he thought it wasn't a bad idea to put it to use. He went out of the kitchen and then came back five minutes later holding a small black box.
The box had a seemingly ordinary-looking pen.
"Take this pen and write on a piece of paper that you will not steal anything or cause any harm to me or my workshop intentionally," Mr. Vincent instructed Mara.
Mara took the pen, a little confused, but did as she was told and wrote:
"I won't steal anything from the workshop. I will not cause intentional harm to Mr. Vincent or the workshop."
The text became visible on the paper. Mr. Vincent glanced at it, picked up the pen, and went back to keep it safe.
Cally looked at the confused Mara and explained what had just happened.
"Don't tell anyone about the pen. It is a replica we made of a strong artifact that only the police are allowed to have. That pen only writes truth."