Staying in bed was more challenging than I initially expected. Elincia assured me Firana was faring better than she had expected, considering the burden on her shoulders, so I agreed to remain put. Reading, however, was considered a form of resting. As soon as Elincia went to prepare breakfast, I got out of bed and began rummaging through Mr. Byrne’s suitcase. I quickly grabbed the man’s old notebooks and returned to bed.

The more I put my head into the mysteries of the System, the more I was convinced it was man-made. To my disappointment, the first notebook was just a field diary in which Mr. Byrne wrote down scribbles about the Farlands. It contained an extensive list of edible plants, each rated from zero to three stars. Notably, Hermit’s Gold had the highest rating. There were annotations on alchemy, cooking ingredients, geology, weather, and monster behavior. The detailed passages about Black Wolf's behavior and their apparent enmity with the Gray variety were fascinating.

The difference between animals and monsters seems to be related to Corruption. Gray Wolves (not the same as Canis Lupus from Earth) are considered animals by the inhabitants of Farcrest, and even the orc tribes let them roam unimpeded most of the time. Most notably, Gray Wolves don’t act aggressively unless they stumble upon a pack of Black Wolves or other Corrupted monsters. Dassyra told me she once saw a pack of twenty Gray Wolves fight a similar group of Black Wolves. The fight continued until no Black Wolves remained alive. Most notably, [Identify] can distinguish ‘Corrupted Beasts’ from ‘Beasts’. Further investigation is required to find out the origin of this ‘Corruption’. What’s certain is that Corruption doesn’t seem to be considered natural either by the tribes or by the System Church.

I reread the paragraph twice until the words got imprinted on my brain. A particular line caught my attention. Without delay, I jumped up again and grabbed a bunch of Elincia’s alchemy raw ingredients from the shelves. There was a particular way Byrne indexed the information that reminded me of the System’s ‘style’. I’d bet my left kidney that the man had access to [Identify]. I just had to prove it. I gritted my teeth, bracing for the pain, and used [Identify] on Elincia’s ingredients. Like an icepick going through my brain, the familiar sensation assaulted me. This time, I had to hold back the urge to vomit. When I managed to control the nausea, I read the descriptions and compared them to Byrne’s scribbling. The flavor text was the same.

For a brief moment, I froze. I had just verified Mr. Byrne was a Scholar with access to [Identify]. The man was a subject of the System, and yet Dassyra knew about his real origin. I couldn’t dismiss the possibility of the System warning dimensional travelers without punishing them. However, Dassyra didn’t use the System, so it wasn’t too farfetched to presume that the System did not have power over her. Another possibility was that Mr. Byrne had somehow ditched the System altogether.

I sighed. Despite my desire to tell Elincia the truth, I was back in square one. There were still too many unknowns to ensure safety, and yet, with my connection with the System partially severed, there might be a chance nothing happened.

The field diary left aside the issue of Corruption and continued with the geological and ecological notes. Mr. Byrne traveled from the orc settlements to Farcrest and back, making lists of monsters, plants, and ingredients. His observations were interesting, but I expected something else.

There was a high chance these annotations were from before he learned to create interdimensional portals. I checked the Class Compendium, just in case. Scholars didn’t learn any skill related to portal making, or at least the book didn’t say so.

I skimmed through the pages until I finished the first notebook. The last section was the most intriguing of them all. Mr. Byrne narrated the expedition into the cave system he had accidentally discovered alongside Mr. Lowell. What puzzled Mr. Byrne the most was the discovery of perfectly square corridors intertwined with the natural caves.

The tunnels go deep into the mountain. They were made with magic, without a doubt. There are no marks of any kind. The cut on the stone is too clean, and the finish is too sharp to have been made with tools. Lowell knows nothing about them, and Dassyra refuses to speak about them. Despite orc magic being powerful, it’s not near enough to carve these tunnels. I know there’s something down there. Lowell shows little interest in the tunnels. His pursuit of knowledge starts and finishes with Alchemy and education. I might ask Dassyra again later. She has been showing interest in me lately. I wonder if I can convince her to–.

The following few pages had been torn off. I rummaged through the briefcase, but the missing pages were nowhere to be found. The remaining notebooks contained information unrelated to the tunnel diving. Byrne’s last words left a bad taste in my mouth.

Elincia opened the door and caught me out of the bed. She carried a tray with two steaming cups and two plates with scrambled eggs, sausage, and toasted bread. The aroma of Green Moss Tea filled the room.

“I’m not going to keep you pinned down, am I?” Elincia put the tray on the desk when I pushed the pages back into the suitcase.

“I feel fine, Rosebud. As long as I don’t use too much mana, I feel nothing strange.” I tried to reassure her with little success.

Elincia gave me a worried glance and put the cup of tea and the plate of food in front of me. She then sat beside me and stabbed the sausage with her knife. Unlike me, a sensible person who saved the best food for last, Elincia dove right into the most delectable item without hesitation. Forgetting about our worries and enjoying a brief moment of privacy with Elincia was the highlight of my day.

“You are by far the naughtiest person that has set foot in this orphanage,” Elincia said as she bumped me with her shoulder.

“The second one. I know how you behaved.” I replied, savoring every subtle expression on Elincia’s face.

“I’m experienced enough to know when a kid is ungovernable. I know you have to visit Sir Janus and Captain Kiln to settle the deal about the Stephanis Cup, so I propose a deal.” Elincia said, pulling a white square of paper —a picture from the instant camera.

When I tried to reach for it, Elincia pulled away with elven agility.

“I took this when I was taking a bath the other day. If you want it, you should behave until the end of the Stephannis Cup.” Elincia said with utmost seriousness.

“What if a guardsman picks a fight with me?” I asked.

“You run away.”

“And if there are kids with me?”

“You take the kids and run away. Same thing with nobles, mercenaries, thugs, and vagrants. No fighting, understood? No damn fighting.” Elincia sighed. She was getting annoyed. “Is it that hard to understand, Rob? I want you to be safe… I don’t want something happening to you.”

I grabbed Elincia’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

“I promise, really,” I said with my best serious voice. “I do plan to annoy you for the foreseeable future, so you are not getting rid of me so easily.”

Elincia smiled and gave me a soft headbutt.

“Good. Now go and tell Sir Janus we are going to participate.” Elincia kissed me.

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I grabbed Sir Janus’ silver medallion and Ginz’s deck of cards and left the bedroom. I saw Ilya, Zaon, and Wolf playing in the backyard with the younger kids through the windows. Firana was nowhere to be found. However, I knew where she would be. I turned toward the abandoned wing of the orphanage and headed to the ballroom.

Just as expected, Firana was doing sword drills alone. She was covered in sweat, and her chestnut hair stuck to her face. The charred arming sword Captain Garibal had given her was in her hand. The Aias heirloom. I watched the girl repeating the same pattern of movements over and over without faltering. Despite not knowing the style, I could tell her form was almost perfect. Even after years of teaching, it still surprised me how fast some students picked up skills.

Firana continued her silent dance until her arms gave out, and the sword slipped through her fingers. A weak burst of mana sparks exploded where the blade touched the floor. I used [Mana Mastery] to examine the sword. Thin, almost invisible, magical filaments crossed the edge from point to pommel. It lacked ‘life’ as if something were missing.

I knocked on the open door and went inside. Firana’s face flushed with embarrassment, and she averted her eyes as soon as I crossed the threshold. A sign of a guilty conscience. But there was no means of escape. The lateral doors were locked, and the tall windows were not designed to open.

“Want to come with me on a walk?”

Firana seemed surprised. “Why me?”

“I thought you might want to stretch your legs for a while,” I said.

Firana nodded and wrapped the sword in a linen blanket before returning it to the wardrobe. Moments later, we were out on the streets. The icy wind stung my skin, so I wrapped my scarf tightly around my neck. Autumn was over, and winter loomed over the city. The sky was completely clouded over, and it seemed snow might be coming. Despite the low temperatures, the town was lively as ever.

Firana walked next to me, her face buried in her scarf and her hands deeply jammed into her pockets.

“Cold?” I asked.

“Only a little. The new clothes are good.” She replied, her voice more relaxed now.

“Your birthday is soon, isn’t it? What would you like as a gift?” I asked, ignoring if giving birthday gifts was a thing in this world.

“Ilya’s birthday comes first, but yeah, I suppose my birthday is soon,” Firana shrugged, although I noticed a certain tension in her words. “Miss Elincia always prepares a cake, so that’s okay for me.”

Turning fifteen was a massive milestone for those who submitted to the System.

“What would you like as a gift from me?” I asked again, but my question made Firana even more self-conscious.

“I don’t know.” She simply said.

We advanced through the market. Despite the amount of foodstuffs on sale having diminished, the stalls were well stocked with other valuable goods. Living stock, seeds, fuel, construction materials, everything to survive the winter. Further down the street, a group gathered around a vendor's blanket.

“Let’s check it out.” I pointed toward the clump of people.

A furry creature like a ferret showed off his enchanted items with mastery that made the rest of the vendors jealous.

“Good afternoon, beautiful citizens. I’m Opoki de Itoria, merchant extraordinaire, and welcome to Opoki’s Gold Coin Store. For today and only today, I’ll be selling a uniquely curated selection of enchanted items from all around the continent and beyond.” The furry creature said. “First item. Self-tying shoelaces.”

Opoki pointed towards his shoes, an extravagant pair of boots with tiny shards of mirror glued all over the surface, and then clapped. The crowd gasped as the shoelaces came alive and tied on their own. Problems surfaced when the nearby people started clapping. The shoelaces tied and untied until they seemed to get confused and tied the boots together.

The crowd wasn’t amused when Opoki fell face-first.

The following items weren’t spectacular. The ‘almost invisible’ cloak left the merchant slightly translucent but completely noticeable nonetheless. There was a set of cutlery that turned limp, a quill that tickled the hand that wielded it, and an elusive saltshaker that moved away from anybody attempting to use it.

Although some items would make for perfect pranks, the surprised crowd had completely disappeared after a minute. Knowing how things were in Farcrest, people were more interested in collecting firewood for the winter. Opoki would be rich if he presented his products to a playful noble.

“Hey, Scholar, come here. You look like you have love issues. What about an illustrated guide…” Opoki said, rummaging through his seemingly bottomless bag.

I quickly shielded Firana’s eyes.

“My love life is wonderful,” I said, despite Elincia and I being so overworked that we had little time to do things. “I’m looking for a birthday present.”

Opoki put the smutty book back into his bag, and I removed my hand from Firana’s eyes. The girl gave me a curious look but refrained from asking questions. Opoki ignored our silent exchange and put his hand back in his bag. Then he showed us a pair of slippery socks to ‘easily glide through the house’, a mirror that reflected the viewer having a particularly awful day, and a vial of invisible ink that remained invisible no matter what.

The ugly mirror was depressing, and the invisible ink was outright useless. That didn’t prevent Firana from laughing at every item. The slippery socks were… intriguing. The corridor between the sleeping quarters and the kitchen had to measure well over fifteen meters.

No item had truly piqued Firana’s interest, other than in a humorous way, until Opoki pulled out an aged cape dyed in a washed-out vermillion hue. Opoki draped the cloak over his shoulders and closed his eyes.

“Behold!” The merchant said, suddenly opening his arms.

A sudden wind made the cape flutter most dramatically. Then, to show it hadn’t been a fluke, Opoki did it again, this time acting like a powerful wizard. Unlike the shoelaces, the cape obeyed his orders every time without fault.

I could tell Firana was in love with the cape.

“How much for that one?” I asked.

“Everything costs one piece of gold in Opoki’s Gold Coin Store. No haggling.” Opoki replied.

Firana’s smile was swiped away as if someone had slapped her across the face. A piece of gold was a hefty amount of money for the ordinary citizen. On the other hand, the cape was a genuine enchanted artifact despite its uselessness. A gift, however, didn't have to be useful.

“Do you perhaps have something for a gnome who wants to be a Hunter?” I asked, thinking that Ilya might be more pragmatic than Firana.

“Opoki might have something for an archer gnome, but you’ll have to trust me on this one,” Opoki said as he pulled out a bow without a string. “This is the Cooldown Bow. Pulling the string back doesn’t require strength, but the string will become rigid for a while depending on how much you charge the shot.”

“Why would you have a bow without a string?” Firana asked.

“Opoki is a lover, not a fighter.” The merchant replied, lowering his voice and looking around in the most suspicious way. “Also, Opoki may have declared the bow as a walking stick to avoid paying weapon taxes.”

Firana laughed at the creature’s weird revelation.

In the end, I bought the cape and the bow. Firana beamed at me as she put the cape over her cloak and struck a pose. The cape fluttered on her back, and I couldn’t help but smile. She loved it because she hugged me so tightly she almost broke my ribs. A moment later, we left the merchant behind and continued on our way to the Great Hall.

“Aren’t you mad at me?” Firana finally asked.

“I don’t think you did anything wrong.” I simply said.

“But Uncle Kellaren…” The girl’s voice broke.

I stopped and placed a hand on Firana’s shoulder, searching for her gaze.

“Do you want to go with them?” I asked.

Firana shook her head.

“You are safe, and I’m alive. Then there’s nothing to be sad about.” I smiled. “Look, Firana, the orphanage will always be your home. Whether you end up in the Imperial Academy or leading the Aias mercenary group, we will be here waiting for you. Right?”

“Right.” Firana sniffled.

“Wanna go with me to the Great Hall?” I asked.

“Can we enter?” Firana asked.

“Sir Janus gave me this, so I say we are pretty much honored guests,” I said, showing the silver medallion he had given me.