Winter’s face lit up. Finally, one of the mages she wanted! Nereus still hadn’t arrived, so Velvet would be her first selected.

She was going to offer part of the Queen’s resources, after all! No mage could resist that!

Of course, Winter didn’t know that Velvet, together with Alrai, had bullied two of the Queen’s selected, those being Igern and Creftalia. If she did, maybe her decision of picking Velvet would be changed.

But what you don’t know can’t hurt you in the present!

Winter watched Velvet’s demonstration. As someone that had already seen several Selections, she no longer found any novice magic show remarkable, and that feeling was shared between several official mages. That’s why she found more interesting watching the novice’s trip to the Mergifari.

Velvet’s show consisted on using teleporting paper figurines, making them jump around and explode on several targets she had set before.

She is trying to get away from the supporting position that knowledge mages usually have. Therefore, she is already aware that knowledge mages aren’t really needed. Winter analyzed Velvet’s choice on the demonstration. Showing that she is versatile, and unconfined to just making charms.

Once the demonstration was over, Winter picked a glass shard, filling and pushing it until the shard fell and entered the fog on the floor.

…

Velvet watched the Mergifari’s Director, waiting for her to check the glass pieces in front of her. She had counted six pie-

The Director threw one to the floor. Five pieces.

Five is great. Velvet refrained herself from jumping from one foot to another in anticipation, but the Director was slooow.

Cmon, there’s only five! Give them to me already!

The Director looked at the last piece for a few seconds, before putting it down and making the pieces appear in front of Velvet, neatly arranged.

Almost instantly, she picked the first one, reading it.

Siberiald Ropertti. She almost dropped the piece to the floor, fumbling with it. A crackle resonated from the official mage’s seats.

Looking up, Velvet’s gaze met with a pair of mismatched eyes. She looked away immediately, her attention on the piece.

Who puts just his name?! She screamed in her mind. The glass shard had no offer or demand, with only Siberiald Ropertti’s name. What useless gamble is it?! At least put some-oh. Son of a-

She finally realized Siberiald’s gamble.

He is betting on the other offers being dangerous choices. Picking him allows me to enter the Mergifari without ending up in an unfair demand… But with him as a teacher. Velvet felt a shiver run through her back, setting the glass down.

I still have four more… The next one sure is better!

Catrine Maneely. Velvet flinched, this time unable to contain her grimace. This one had an actually nice and simple offer. Accepting to teach in exchange for three years of work.

Hm. There’s no way for Maneely to know I am the one that bought her clothes at a low price and stole her chain, so… After recovering from the shock, Velvet started connecting dots. The Maneelys sell clothes, and there is another family that I know deals with clothes.

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The Grahams. Cornelius talked about it, after all.

So they are connected… Hm, I guess it’s a nice way to get revenge without raising much suspicion. Velvet set down the glass shard, determined to pick Siberiald’s before that one.

The third one.

Queen’s Arsenal, Winter.

Oh. I’ve heard this title. A bit more motivated, she started reading that offer.

Winter offered to teach Velvet as one of the Queen’s chosen, making no distinction or discrimination, giving her all she needed for her studies. The demand was, however, ten years of work after becoming an official mage.

More than three times the time the Maneelys asked for… But the offer is a hundred times better… Velvet liked that offer, even when it probably included dealing with Igern and Creftalia.

Oh, but I’m sure those two would warm up to me in no time! I’m a great person and a better friend! Even then… ten years… I don’t know if I have that time.

She wanted to find the chained man, after all.

Going for the fourth piece, another name that she heard of was written.

Hasdrubal.

Oh, he doesn’t use his title? How humble. She read the offer.

Learn under the best knowledge mage. Hasrubal offered to teach her everything a knowledge mage would need. The demand was, however, the sharing of knowledge. For every hundred things Hasdrubal taught her, Velvet would have to teach him something he didn’t know.

Wha-? How does he expect me to teach him something he doesn’t know? Isn’t he All-Knowing? Velvet thought about the dream symbols. That was the only thing she possessed that no one did.

That was dangerous. Hasdrubal could either help her immensely with the dream, or he could simply brainwash Velvet.

She didn’t hope to cheat Hasdrubal. He was the knowledge mage number one for something.

Putting down that shard, she picked the last one.

Hm? I cannot see the name unless I answer a question? Velvet noticed the difference from the others when she grabbed it.

The question appeared slowly, saying: This question can only be answered one time, if you fail once, forget it.

How many bodies does Udulluay possess? The answer is a number, and cannot be your previous answers.

Velvet's mood did a swing, at first she was extremely happy, then her mood sank upon reading the question.

Why the Udulluays again?! I don’t know how many there are! Mister, you are extremely petty!

Velvet started thinking. There was no way for anyone to know how many Udulluays were, so the question was a trap.

Reading it again, she put her brain to work.

Was it bodies? Or possession? The answer is a number…

What were bodies for the Udulluay? Was there a true body, and the other Udulluays were like hands or fingers?

No, Udulluay talks equally about the other ones, there seems to be no difference between them.

Possession? Possess means own, is there an ownership over the Udulluays?

No, but as a hivemind, you can consider they share the mind and own the bodies.

The answer is a number, and cannot be your previous answers.

Velvet didn’t like that wording. First, her previous answers weren’t numbers, so why the clarification?

Also, it said the answer was a number, not that the correct answer was a number. That was important.

And Velvet still didn’t know the answer. She looked at the piece of glass with disdain, as if it was the shard’s fault.

Answer, answer… She had a little idea, and hated it. If that was the correct choice C was more petty than she thought.

Looking at the glass piece, she gave her answer.

The glass’s lower half started getting scrapped on its own, a name appearing. Velvet sighed.

Like Siberiald, he didn’t offer anything, nor did he demand it. But, unlike Siberiald, Velvet was choosing him.