Elincia’s feline grace turned into predatory precision, and without warning, she pounced over Astrid as she violently drew from my mana pool. Bright blue sparks crackled around Elincia’s arms as she pushed Astrid to the ground. When did Elincia learn how to channel mana offensively?

Astrid raised her arms just in time to divert Elincia’s punch. The fist grazed Astrid’s face, leaving a red mark, but Elincia didn’t stop there. She siphoned even more mana from my reserves, sending a shiver down my spine. I could almost feel Elincia’s anger flowing like a river of flames across our connection.

My first reaction was to channel my mana, waiting for Astrid to retaliate. The Book of Classes had given me a general idea of the combat prowess of most Classes, although the power graduation methodology was still unknown to me. Zealots, however, were a mystery even for the book’s author. Their page was blank. I sharpened my mana sense, hoping to see Astrid channeling her mana before she cast whatever Skill she had prepared.

But nothing happened. Astrid limited herself to coiling her legs around Elincia’s abdomen and blocking her punches. Elincia was a bright blue flame, while Astrid was a gray opaque slate against a background illuminated by environmental mana.

“Stop!” I yelled, turning my mana into a rope and grabbing Elincia’s wrist.

Elincia fought against the mana shackles but ultimately surrendered. I grabbed her by the armpits and broke the fight. She slapped my hands away as soon as she stood and retreated to the stone steps. Something was wrong with Astrid. She didn’t seem to have more mana than Zaon or Wolf, and even Ilya had more before she achieved her Class.

“She has no mana. You were going to kill her,” I said.

Astrid rolled away. Her face grew more swollen by the second, even though Elincia hadn’t managed to connect one good blow.

“What makes you think I don’t want her dead?” Elincia replied, panting.

I sighed. Elincia wasn’t herself that night.

“You are not like that, Eli. Since the moment you got your Class, you have been helping others. You even sacrificed your desire to become a Hunter to become an Alchemist and help the orphanage,” I reminded her.

“I shouldn’t have told you,” Elincia grunted.

Astrid used her knees as support and stood up. She remained silent, but a guilty expression crept on her face. I looked at her with renewed interest. Her long black hair was made a mess, and her cloak was torn apart. Astrid was the fourth orphan who had inherited Mr. Lowell’s lifelong project and the first one to betray it. Elincia and Astrid never got along, but my instinct told me there was more to it than a simple betrayal.

Maybe it was the [Scholar] Class wanting to know the truth, but something inside me needed to make sense of the orphanage’s story. I took a deep breath and let my mana go. Astrid was the last piece of the puzzle.

Risha had enlisted in the army to provide the orphanage with a steady flow of money while Elincia was away, collecting alchemy ingredients in the Farlands. Astrid was in charge of informing Elincia and Ginz, but she mysteriously disappeared that night. But why? It didn’t make sense.

Astrid searched in her pockets and handed me the copper bracelet.

“No surprise you arrived on your own. The manor used to be your home,” I said as I recovered the bracelet.

I felt like an idiot. Risha even told me Astrid’s name while he told me the story of his departure from the orphanage. I gave [Awareness] a metaphorical look of contempt, but I knew it wasn’t the skill’s fault. I directed the skill toward certain chores, like observation and vigilance, to avoid information overload.

“You know who I am?” Astrid asked.

“You were one of Mister Lowell’s orphans. I’ll introduce myself again. I’m Robert Clarke, a teacher and caretaker at the Lowell orphanage. We always welcome former students,” I said.

Elincia glanced at me murderously, but I ignored her. Whether she liked it or not, the manor was Astrid’s home for the first sixteen years of her life. And despite Astrid’s betrayal, my gut told me there was more to it.

“Elincia and Risha told me about you, but I think it would be fair to listen to your side of the story,” I said, adopting my best teacher’s voice.

“I can tell you the whole story. She betrayed us and made it all worse,” Elincia grunted.

I shook my head. Elincia deserved to know the whole story. No. She needed to see the truth to make sense of the last decade of her life, even if it was painful. I wouldn’t let Astrid go before she told us her side of the story. It was the least I could do for Elincia after she completely changed my life.

Damned be the System and its Quests.

“I want to hear it myself. Let’s go to the kitchen,” I said, walking into the manor.

Astrid hesitated for a moment but ultimately followed. Once inside the receiving room, I noticed she walked toward the western wing.

“Not there. One of the beams in the ceiling rotted, so we use the service kitchen,” I said.

Astrid followed in silence, examining the peeling paint of the old walls and the spots where old portraits and tapestries used to hang. Even if I never knew the orphanage's original appearance, I could tell the manor used to be an elegant and distinguished place. There were details that even time and misery couldn’t take away; the sturdiness of the doors, the ornate brass knobs, the solid iron window frames. Astrid didn’t comment on anything.

I lit the kitchen’s light stones and fed the oven embers. Elincia leaned against the counter and watched us in silence. To say she was annoyed was an Olympic understatement.

“This was the room where the maids used to hang out. We weren’t allowed here,” Astrid said, examining the room.

“Did Elincia use to spend a lot of time here?” I asked.

Astrid left her cloak on the bench and sat at the table without answering.

“Is Risha coming?” Astrid asked after a moment of silence.

Elincia let out a dry laugh, but I understood the question. My previous words could be interpreted as Risha still living at the orphanage, but that wasn’t the case. Astrid didn’t know that Risha had been missing as long as her.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“The best I can do is Ginz,” I said.

“That’s not much,” Astrid replied.

“At least he is here, unlike you two,” Elincia pointed out; her words were daggers.

Astrid deserved Elincia’s contempt and probably much more. Yet, I couldn’t help but sense something was out of place in the orphanage’s history.

Why did Astrid abandon the orphanage without telling Elincia that Risha had enlisted? I could understand those two never got along, but that level of sabotage against Mister Lowell’s legacy was uncalled for. Astrid might dislike Elincia, but that wasn’t a reason to retaliate against the other orphans. Moreover, Elincia would know Risha’s whereabouts when the payments started rolling, so Astrid didn’t have a reason to hide the information.

It didn’t make sense, no matter what angle I looked at it from. The kettle broke the silence, and I poured three cups of tea. Elincia didn’t bother touching hers. It was the moment for answers.

“I know you were Risha’s accomplice, Astrid. I don’t know why you left the city without telling Elincia about Risha’s whereabouts,” I said.

“I thought we were going to talk about the System’s Quest,” Astrid coldly replied, but I noticed a certain urgency in her voice.

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact origin of the urgency, but she had endured Elincia’s blows without complaining just to talk about her Quest. There were other questions I wanted answered first.

“There's no need to rush it. It’s been almost a decade since you last visited the orphanage; you must have a couple of minutes to spare. To catch up,” I calmly said.

Astrid’s uneasiness only grew. Was it the lack of the Zealot’s mask? During our previous encounters she seemed to be more of the composed type.

“Why did you leave the orphanage? Elincia, Ginz, and Risha needed you,” I asked.

Astrid sighed, accepting this was an obligatory detour before talking about the System.

“The orphanage didn’t need me. Ginz became a Craftsman, and Elincia an Alchemist. You don’t get better crafting Classes than that. Even Risha got a decent combat Class,” Astrid replied, her Zealot composure slowly being washed away. “My presence here didn’t change anything.”

“I’m not accusing you, Astrid, but you could’ve at least relayed Risha’s message. What was it that you couldn’t wait a single day to leave?” I asked.

Astrid gave me a bitter smile. She had three sets of long canines, one longer than the others.

“You don’t have much choice when you become a Zealot,” Astrid said. “Why does it matter, though? Elincia was a talented Alchemist, Ginz was passionate about his craft, and Risha had more strength than what was healthy for him. I wouldn’t make a difference even if I got any other Class.”

For an almighty Zealot, Astrid had quite a low self-esteem.

“Everyone has a choice,” I pointed out.

My words seemed to offend her.

“A Zealot? Choice? You don’t know what you are talking about, Scholar,” Astrid sighed, covering her face with both hands.

Despite her words, I didn’t feel any ill intent against me.

“Our Quests are an itch in the back of our brains—an itch that can’t be scratched unless you accomplish your mission. It’s like ants crawling under your skull.”

Astrid looked at me directly, and I noticed a glint of madness in her yellow eyes. She clenched her fists, and a drop of blood fell on the table. For an instant, I feared she lost control of herself, but ultimately, she regained control.

“And now I’m stuck with an unsolvable Quest, and this sensation inside me urging me to do something to solve the quest,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Zealots eventually learn how to control the discomfort; otherwise, we couldn’t even sleep. At first, however, it is almost unbearable. When I got my Class, the System told me to travel to the capital.”

I nodded in silence. Being a Zealot wasn’t as glamorous as I initially thought; it sounded more like a curse than a blessing.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.

“What do you mean? The System chose me. My mission is a great honor and a great responsibility,” Astrid replied defensively.

Enslaving the Zealots and convincing them their captor blessed them was cruel yet effective. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Astrid. Even if the people of this world were tied to their Class until their death, they had a certain level of freedom to choose which Class they wanted. Zealots, on the other hand, were pawns forced into obedience.

“I’m still sorry for you. Elincia can choose not to brew potions, but you can’t stop obeying the System. The whole situation seems unfair,” I said. “But that doesn’t excuse you for the problems you caused the orphanage.”

“What do you mean? I have been traveling the continent for almost a decade. How could I have caused problems to the orphanage?”

With Astrid’s piece, the orphanage’s story came together.

“Mister Lowell knew he was sick some time before he died. Mister Byrne offered him treatment, which meant traveling across the Farlands back to Connecticut, maybe permanently. Mister Lowell decided to stay at the orphanage despite knowing he would eventually lose to sickness,” I explained, catching both Elincia and Astrid by surprise.

“How do you know that?” Astrid asked.

“When Mister Lowell died, you four took charge of the orphanage. Things went well for a while, but then money ran short. Elincia was too low of a level to make any real money, Ginz spent more on materials than what he earned, and you were classless. Risha tried to bring money by escorting Alchemists from the Guild and second-class merchants, but it wasn’t enough for the number of orphans living in the manor at the time.”

Astrid shrunk in her seat, knowing what came next.

“Noticing the orphanage was on course for a disaster, Risha confided to you he would enlist. The Royal Army was bolstering its ranks for the Farlands Campaign, and Risha understood that one less mouth and extra income would keep the orphanage afloat. It would help Ginz pay for materials to develop his Class and give Elincia time to improve hers. But before you could tell Elincia about Risha’s plans, you got your Class, and the System dragged you to the capital,” I continued with the story.

“What’s the problem then?” Astrid asked.

“Risha’s money never arrived,” I replied.

“Risha died!?” Astrid jumped from her seat.

I sighed, alleviated. Astrid’s reaction told me everything I needed to know about Risha; the only reason he would’ve stopped helping the orphanage was his death. My trust in Risha seemed well-placed.

“Risha is alive and well. We believe he sent the money, but it was stolen before it reached the orphanage. The lack of communication between the frontlines and the rest of the kingdom helped the thieves scam many soldiers. We only found out about the missing money after the army retreated into the city,” I explained. “Elincia and Ginz believed Risha, and you abandoned the orphanage to its fate. Ginz left shortly after you; he wasn't ready to bear the burden, leaving Elincia alone.”

Astrid was out of words.

“Are you finished?” Elincia grunted.

“No,” I replied, focusing back on Astrid. “Elincia has looked after the orphanage since then, believing you and Risha betrayed her. Have you looked around, Astrid? Do you think the orphanage is in a particularly good spot? You could’ve crawled back to the manor and told Ginz about Risha’s whereabouts. You could’ve left a note.”

“It wasn’t my intention,” Astrid muttered.

“I know,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “The manor is in a better spot, but Elincia had to weather an unforgiving seven-year-long storm alone. I’m not the one who you need to ask for forgiveness. You owe her an apology.”

Elincia let out a dry laugh. “Why do you think I want an apology?”

Even if Elincia didn’t want to admit it, I knew she needed closure. The betrayal of her fellow orphans was still a festering wound in her heart, and no amount of love and affection would heal it. That wound could only be healed by Astrid, Risha, and Ginz.

“Elincia, listen. Someone is trying to harm the orphanage. Someone prompted Holst to poison our crops and tried to take the kids from us. Someone tipped the thieves that I carried the money from the potions. Someone has been trying to subvert the City Guard and kill Captain Kiln,” I said. “Someone is trying to sabotage the orphanage, but that person isn’t Astrid or Risha.”

“Like I care. As far as I am concerned, Astrid and Risha are as guilty as Holst and whoever is pulling the strings,” Elincia left her cold cup of tea on the counter and walked to the door, leaving us alone in the kitchen.

The prospect of a heartfelt reunion slowly slipped through my fingers.