There wasn't much to be said about last night. After returning to Abil-Kisu's place, I went to my room to scream my worries away and fell asleep without eating dinner. Dime guarded my things well. I woke up regretting all the wrinkles I made on my brand new yellow dress. Ironing was a thing but the irons were clumsy and coal-powered.

And I was greeted with a big brown, white, and green bird pecking at my eyeballs. Fortunately, Nanna was right. My powers still worked.

"Morning, Bloodstone," I hugged the eagle. He complained. "Calm down. You know I won't eat you, right?"

Our link was down because my magic was still sealed by Nanna's cursed amulet. I pulled it up and checked. The strings on the dreamcatcher-like weave were frayed but not ruptured. Soon. I hope it worked.

Dime chirped meekly. I scratched his head. "It is okay. I love you, Bloodstone," I cooed. He lowered his head and ruffled his crown's feathers like a cockatiel. And no, he wasn't bald.

I saw that he shed some feathers yesterday. I picked those and straightened my dress and sash. Dime flew back to his perch. He tilted his head as if to ask something and I just poked its beak. He screeched to complain. Then someone knocked on the door.

"Sandra, are you awake?" I heard Arwia's voice. "There's a lot of people at the gate to see you."

Oh, damn. The scribes and soldiers. I was about to put on my sneakers but I noticed I hadn't taken them off. Double damn. I threw the door open and smiles at my maid.

"Morning, Arwia!"

She nodded. "You should eat breakfast first. I can't believe you went to bed without eating! Was the meeting that bad?"

"Yes, yes, and yes. Could you take these feathers to Nanna? I'm going to eat then meet those people at the gate. Don't worry about me. And ask someone to get Honey Cake saddled."

"Okay, boss!" She snickered. "Hey, nice necklace. Too bad it is frayed."

"Oh," I slipped the amulet back under my dress, "You saw nothing. Let's go."

I went to the kitchen where a bowl of fresh fruit along with bread and grilled sausages waited for me. I wolfed down my food and washed it down with sour kefir. We need to make sugar.

"I assumed you were hungry," Belle-Sunu said, "But can you eat slower? Food isn't going anywhere."

"Tell that to the soldiers outside the gate," I replied.

Seeing that freckled face flustered was my daily dose of schadenfreude. Teasing Belle was the food to keep my inner bitch locked in.

"So-soldiers?"

"Yeah, they came from me on orders from the Enshi. I guess I have no choice but to go meet them..."

"No! You have to run away! They can't get you!" I started to laugh and Belle got angry. "You! What did you do at the audience yesterday?"

"Apparently I'm a minister of the state now. Charged with agricultural and infrastructure improvements. I forgot to ask for a stipend but I can spend the city's treasury as I see fit."

Belle's eyes went wide with disbelief. "The Enshi nominated you a minister? I thought you hated each other!"

Yes, teasing her was pure gold. "People can hate each other and still work for a common goal. But now it is official, none of us will be forced to go to the bride market or work on the ziggurat."

She stopped to think and I finished eating. "So, gotta work. Don't know if I'll be back."

I went out and saw Penny coming my way. Without my magic, I couldn't sense her through our link but I knew my animals were already friendly enough they would work with me even without magical compulsion. I patted the mare's neck and thought on how I'd control her without the bond and reins. Well, I could just walk with her by my side and see if the amulet would break during the day. I walked with Penny by my side.

I thought for a moment that I should go back, take a bath and change my clothes but I decided against it. I had work to do. A lot of. I wouldn't die if I spent some time without a bath. I spent four months without it. Pushing those silly thoughts aside, I reached the gate and went outside. The troop of soldiers and the scribes were there, annoyed for waiting. I could see the scribes had a sizeable pile of parchment and scrolls tied up with leather straps. They also carried a bottle of ink and some pens. The soldiers were in full garb, armed and armored. Three guards were carrying a stand very similar to the stand Earth musicians used to hold their sheet music.

I was doomed if they attacked me. But if they did so it would also doom Nephew and the city.

"There she is. Lady Rinaldi, the Enshi sent us," A middle-aged scribe spoke. "I'm Gu-Maranu, senior scribe. Command us as you will."

"Thank you for your kind words, Gu-Maranu. We are going to work hard for the sake of this city. Remember that. We are doing this for the city and for the people. Some decisions we are going to enforce are not popular and even you might think it is strange or wrong. However, I can assure you they are necessary. Remember everyone. We are doing this for the people. Not for me, not for the Enshi, not for Ishtar."

They seemed confused but they nodded. Well, I read somewhere that starting with your intentions clearly stated was a good thing.

"We are moving to my estate a few gates down from here. We will convey inside and talk. Let's go."

We walked silently. I was leading and the soldiers and scribes coming up behind me. I thought about calling some of my guards but then I would put them in danger. I had Penny and I knew I could trust the mare to get me out of a pickle fast. We reached my estate and we entered. I could see immediately that some people entered and did their business on the walkway. Ignoring the already sun-baked vandalism, I took them to the backyard. There I learned that the little furniture I left behind was turned into firewood.

Oh, well.

I gathered everyone.

"The first thing we are going to need are several maps of the city. Do we have recent maps?" I asked Gu-Maranu.

"We have some maps, but they are rather old," He answered.

No good. I would need to use Dime to do some aerial surveys. I continued asking what date did we have.

"Do you have the harvest data for the last year?" Negative. "The tax collection statements?" Burned in a fire. "The records of ownership for the farms around the city?"

Gu-Maranu finally nodded. "Yes, those we have. They are in the courthouse."

They were all looking at me and I could see they were unsure of what my goals were.

"I'll explain my goals. But first, which one of you scribes is the best to record a conversation fast?"

One of them raised a hand, "I'm a junior scribe, my name is Lum-Baba, milady. I have a good memory. I can record a conversation."

"Good. Lum-Baba, you are responsible for recording everything we discuss. Including what already transpired ever since we entered here." I could see the other scribes making faces, scowling or snickering at the junior scribe. "Guys, you should stop that. This is a team effort. We either succeed together or fail together. And--"

I cut off my own speech because I took an electrical shock. It was like every single touch receptor in my body fired up at once. I felt myself burning a slow simmer like a heatstroke. I suddenly became aware of everything around me. The air, my clothes, underwear, socks shoes, the amulet sliding down my cleavage underneath the dress, even the grass and soil beneath my feet. The burning sensation became a tingling and then everything returned to normal except for that hyper-awareness of the matter around me.

"Milady! Is something wrong?"

I noticed Gu-Maranu was holding me by the waist.

"I'm fine. Get me some small rock, please."

One of the guards handed me a pebble. I clutched it in my hand and I knew what I could do.

I Decomposed the rock into silicon and a bead of aluminum. Then I bellowed a hearty and very unlady-like maniacal laughter. With my palm up, I shaped the silicon into a disk and moved the aluminum bead through the silicon in a circle.

I focused and I could feel Dime and Penny. And all the items in my storage. Focusing inward, I could feel my magical energy pool, crystal clear and filled to the brim. It was overflowing actually. It seems the energy I generated was contained by the amulet and it had nowhere to go. I could feel the excess magic flowing out of my being and permeating the environment. Too bad I still couldn't see it or sense the magic after it left my body or I'd be able to cast spells.

No luck in that department. Maybe it was so by design.

"Things have gotten a lot more interesting now, gentlemen," I told the scribes with a huge grin. "Lum-Baba, you stay here with half the scribes and soldiers. Gu-Maranu and the others come with me. I need to pick up some things."

I didn't wait for them. They had their orders and they knew Nephew wouldn't allow disobedience. And now with my powers unlocked, I would raise hell. Penny came next to me and I jumped, putting a foot on the stirrup and completely forgetting I was wearing a dress.

The skirt climbed up, showing my legs up to mid-thigh. I should let them sunbathe and tan.

Inebriated by my power rush, I couldn't care less. I commanded Penny to ride forth, and I knew just the song to go with what I was feeling. And I sang it as we moved.

Only my Railgun (English Translation):

Note: Sandra sung it in Japanese. For the readers, here is the English translation of the beginning of the song.

> Fire away! Release your dreams etched in your heart, leave even the future behind

> I know no limits, they're senseless!

> This power disperses the lights all around

> Out where there's a feeling that's far away

>  

> If I can do nothing but look back on the path I've walked down...

> I can destroy everything here and now

>

>

> How long can the people stand against this darkness that falls on the city?

> Surely somebody will protect them from the pain that is racing through

The meaning of a message is what the listener or reader makes out of it. Mikoto is a girl that takes no BS home - honorable exception for Touma because protagonist BS - and she shies away from no challenge. Even if what it takes to solve it is violence. 5 million volts of violence. She's independent, confident, outspoken, sassy, cheerful, and a tsundere because genre.

The men were having a hard time keeping up with the speed junkie mare. I reached the gate and I could swear Penny would try to jump over the two-meter-plus barrier if they didn't get it open in time.

"Sandra, what is wrong?" Tiwatura at the gate asked me.

"All is fine!" I shouted back. "I just need to get my bird!"

It was time for aerial recon bio-drone Dime. I got down carefully to avoid ruining my dress and flashed anyone that cared to look my way. I reminded myself that Mikoto always wore shorts under her miniskirt. Such a role model!

I lifted my skirt and ran into the villa. I could sense Dime itching to get out, now that our link was fully supplying him with invigorating magic energy. I heard Arwia behind me, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I barged into my room and called the luggage case on the bed right before I was assaulted by the feathered critter.

"Yes, I know!" Our joy was shared through our bond. "I'm healed. Bloodstone, do you want to get out of this room and soar over this city for me?" I knew he wanted to. I could also feel him urging me to go and hunt that damn cat. I giggled. "No cat hunting!"

I slipped out of the dress and picked up the pieces of the cursed amulet. I had to go thank Nanna for the help. Her timing was impeccable. I didn't know what would happen yesterday if they could sense my magic. Too impeccable, to be honest.

And I finally changed my underwear. Things were so bad I cut off a piece of the side and tossed the rest away to disintegrate. I really needed to take a bath but that would have to wait until tonight. I just Decomposed all the dirt and sweat away from my body. Then I put a new set of underwear, shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, a spaghetti dress, and hiking boots. Naked legs, deal with it. It is hot as hell and I'm not putting on yoga pants. Let's not forget the falconry bracer and Dime's ribbon. I also put the GoPro strap so he could go and take some aerial footage.

Satisfied with the outfit, I sent all of my stuff to the storage. I picked up Dime and opened the door. Arwia and Belle were there, waiting for me to come out.

"What happened?"

"Why the hurry?"

"Are you hurt?"

They barged in and started to circle me. Dime crowed, annoyed by the harrying, and I held his head against my shoulder.

"I'm okay, girls. My powers came back. I just had to come and get Dime to take some aerial pictures of the city. To plan the renovations. Just that."

They weren't convinced so I showed them. I summoned my handbag and took two tiny gemstones and a tiny chunk of gold. Then I made settings of gold around the gems and a loop at the top. It used very little gold and in the end, I had two small pendants. I gave one to each of them.

"Is that enough proof that my powers are back in full swing? You can keep the pendants. I'll make a chain for them later."

While they were distracted admiring their new jewelry, I slipped past them and fled to the annex. I knew it was a cheap blow but I couldn't stay still. Too much pent-up excitement. I wanted to tackle the world and make it cry, uncle. Dime flew out and perched on the roof of the annex as I went inside.

I barely reached the door to the room I was using as storage and Nanna jumped out of her room. She did a double-take and shaded her eyes when she looked at me. The stench of boiled liver drifted from her room behind her.

"What's this thing... Elder god's tentacles, what did you do, girl!"

What did she just evoke?

"What is wrong, Nanna? I did nothing, your amulet broke a few minutes ago. I'm taking my things back to storage. I'm feeling like I'm oozing power."

"That's because you are," She answered, averting her gaze. "I can't even look straight at you. I thought the amulet would fix your leaking but it apparently made it worse."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I sensed my magic again. It was still overflowing. "That's because it is not a leak. I think the amulet held the magic and it overflowed. Was it supposed to work that way?"

"No, not at all," Nanna turned sideways and was looking at the wall. "A magician does not generate more magic than they can hold. Unless..."

Nanna chanted something in a language that I could not understand even with Tarhun's bugged universal translation boon. Then she stared at me. I could feel her gaze as a looming presence on my soul.

As an addendum, it is funny how all this metaphysical stuff a person is made of is there all the time but you never really sense it. It is kinda like your internal organs. You don't sense them but they are there. Once someone tugs and pulls it around, like after surgery, one can become aware of them, as if some interoceptive sensation awakened. Or like some people know how to trigger the muscles that move their ears or twitch their lips independently. Once you know where it is, you never forget. That's what happened to me. My disembodied experience in Tarhun's divine realm and the recent burnout made me aware of my soul and magic energy, respectively.

And the witch was staring at both right now.

"Crafty little bastard," Nanna mumbled. "That's what he did. He hid a limiter... that's why she was shedding so much and why Ishtar... did they want to do this so badly? Stupid idiots, involving the girl in..."

Your guess is as good as mine as to what she meant.

"Is something wrong, Nanna?"

She blinked and the pressure of her gaze on my metaphysical being disappeared. "No, nothing wrong. The damage is done anyway, I can't revert or change what was done. It seemed I was mistaken, you are perfectly healthy. Your burnout is cured, but please don't go messing with that kind of material in that quantity anymore."

I had to go but I had to ask. "Did you just call Tarhun a 'crafty little bastard'?"

She grunted and waved a hand at me, "Mind your own business, girl. The way I call that dumb oaf is my problem. If he has a problem with that, he can come here to complain!" Nanna was basically yelling up at the end and she seemed very angry.

And with that, she returned to her room and slammed the door shut.

I spent a few moments staring at her door with my mouth slightly open. I just shrugged and entered the room to take everything back to storage. With the checklist in my smartphone, I marked what I used up or gave away during the last week and checked my inventory. Every item accounted for.

I sighed in relief. I was so afraid of losing my stuff, my irreplaceable mementos of home...

Outside, I saw Nanna peeking through the door. "Good afternoon, Nanna. Did you know today is Sabbath?"

"Yes, what about it?" She replied with an annoyed tone.

"Is there something to be done on the Sabbath? Some kind of rite or custom I should know of?"

"Yes and no. Used to be a day of worship but nobody cares anymore. And neither should you, especially you least you worship wrong."

I really should have gone on my way, because Nanna was about to jump on my neck. She wasn't being aggressive but her animosity was over the top. It reinforced my idea that Nanna was the priestess of some deity, probably a fallen one. Even though she was knowledgeable in the subject, she was bitter about religion and the situation was only aggravating. As if the events transpiring in the city reopened old wounds. And I didn't want to offend or hurt her.

"Okay, thank you for everything, Nanna. Especially the amulet, it was very handy and helpful."

I wanted to ask her why she didn't give me that amulet earlier. It would've saved me a couple days at least. Maybe it wouldn't work if I wasn't at a certain stage of my recovery. I lacked the courage to ask that.

"I would say don't mention it but you owe me, girl. Remember I'll collect when the time is right."

I nodded and smiled at her. It had no effect on her grumpiness. "I will. I promise."

"Now go. People will get impatient if you waste too much time. You have a world to save, away with you!"

Did I? No. I didn't sign up to save the world. Nanna shut the door again and I went back outside. I carried with me a pang of pain in my heart for her. I had no doubt Nanna had suffered a lot during her long life and I wanted to make it right by her. I wanted to help her. If only she opened up to me. If only she talked to me. It was useless to brood. She would open up when she wanted. I had to be patient.

I gathered my animals and rode out. The guards and scribes were waiting outside and we gathered with the second group after a few minutes.

Lum-Baba's transcript was done by the time I returned. I checked it and skimmed the text. Everything seemed just fine.

"Now, every single act of this group should be recorded. And I want four copies of the records. One for the Enshi, one for me, two for the archives," I told the scribes. "And it won't be Lum-Baba's sole responsibility. I want all the scribes to help. Everyone will also be responsible for the contents of this report. Now, gentlemen, we are going to the roof of the villa. Follow me."

I climbed to the roof and saw that even up here the vandals visited. I quickly Decomposed the little undesirable gifts they gently left behind and repaired the broken silicon table, parasol, and chair I was using as the home base for my bio-drone surveys. I made two more sets of tables and chairs overlooking my station where the scribes could sit and record what I was doing. And finally a perch for Dime. I needed him to stay still for a while during the setup. I placed the battery and solar charger on the ground in front of the table and turned to address the scribes as they finished climbing the ladder.

"Who among you is the best with making maps?" There was no word for 'cartography'.

One of the scribes raised his hand. "I think that's me, milady. I'm Bur-Bartolo. I like maps."

"Good. Glad to see you volunteer your skills, Bur-Bartolo. Please take a seat and prepare to draw a map of the city. Lum-Baba, take the other one. Anyone that thinks they can assist either one, sit by their side. I want you to work in pairs. I'm going to prepare the devices. Bloodstone!"

That was one of the most impressive things I could do. Raise my arm, shout his name and have the huge eagle soar down and land on my bracer. At least visually.

After all the devices connected, I set the GoPro on the bird's harness and sent him back to the heights. After two hours of aerial surveys, we had enough footage to compose a map of the city and the outskirts. I skimmed the video footage and took the images to compose using GIMP. I sent the image to the iPad and iPod, each team of four scribes on one device. I showed them how to pan and zoom the images and left them to do their thing.

It would take a while. I roamed around and decided to give the guards something to do. I went back to ground level and shaped some aluminum scythes. The blades were sharpened with the Dremel. I gave the scythes to the soldiers so they could trim the grass. Another group was charged with picking up the debris and trash while a third was tasked with going out and procuring food and drinks for the whole group.

With that out of the way, I went to the lab building and looked down into the hole where I destroyed the uranium. It was still there and the smooth dark walls were foreboding enough to discourage anyone from going down. I could see it didn't stop them from using the hole as a makeshift toilet. I had to go down there. After thinking for a while, I got an idea. It was something I thought of before but never got to try.

Rocks that were mostly silica and weighed around two kilograms would be enough to give me oxygen to breathe for a whole day. I knew I could put a rock in my mouth and slowly Decompose it to give me oxygen and save me from having to breathe air. I picked some gravel from the ground and washed it. I would need someone to do the safety for me. I called one soldier.

"Your command, milady?"

Nephew must be very interested in getting in my good graces and then in my panties. The soldiers and scribes were indeed following my every order without a single complaint.

"What is your name, soldier?"

"Tamiwa, milady."

"Tamiwa, I am going to do a test. Here I will put a wrap around my head and wait for a while. I am going to set several symbols on this device. When it becomes all circles, you are to remove the wrap from my head if I am unconscious."

I showed him the chronometer of my smartphone and set it on a countdown of five minutes. Then I put a piece of gravel in my mouth and wrapped my head with a plastic bag. The first hurdle was to fight back the suffocation panic. I wanted to Decompose the whole rock at once. Earth ingrained on people's minds the correlation between a bag over one's head and death too strongly, and they were not wrong. The rock became silicon fast and I had to remove the bag after just a couple minutes.

Another thing I didn't think of was that I would make quite a lot of gas during this exercise, and inside the plastic bag, the gas had nowhere to go. Give it enough time and the bag would inflate like a balloon. I should ditch the bag as it was a stupid idea and just hold my breath without inhaling.

The second run lasted for three minutes. Without the bag, the psychological effect also vanished. Then the third and fourth tries helped me develop a technique that might not be pretty but was one that worked. I would puff my cheeks with air from my lungs and breathe it back in, circulating that air up and down like a bullfrog. Repeat and wait for the feeling of suffocation caused by the lowered oxygenation to set, exhale and slowly Decompose the rock to build up the gas volume back.

On the tenth try, I went for ten minutes without breathing in external air.

That was enough training for what I had in mind. I took the largest rock and the bag, feeling confident in diving back into the hole. I put on my climbing harness and tied the rope to the carabiner, handing it to Tamiwa. He could lift me without a problem. And down I went. I made dents in the wall to climb down and soon reached the bottom. Decompose took care of the refuse and debris at the bottom and I retrieved the bowl with lead.

With the hole cleaned, I could remove the bag around my head. My special breathing technique would surely come in handy later.

I checked with Decompose, there was not a single trace of radiation in the hole. I also checked the chunk of lead and all I could sense was an unknown light element inside the lead. It didn't take much to figure out which element. One made of four baryons, a subproduct of radioactive decay. Pleased to meet you, milord noble gas helium. I took a condom and with some effort wrapped it around the chunk of lead. Then I removed all air from the inside and with the opening down, slowly Decomposed the lead out, focusing on my power to let only the heavy metal through. The tip of the condom inflated in bursts and I had to use over forty condoms to hold all the helium. The pockets of helium inside the lead were pressurized.

Uranium releases eight alpha particles through its decay chain. I estimated around half a kilogram of uranium, which would be around two moles of uranium. Sixteen moles of gas was a lot. I was unable to hold it all in and some helium escaped.

To think I would one day be thankful that the people at the Devil Ridge reserve rave had that much sex.

No, I was not jealous. Not at all. When was Brandon coming back from his recruitment mission? I was no longer wounded...

Time to get out of this hole. "Tamiwa, pull me up!"

He lifted me by pulling on the rope. It felt nice.

"The supply gathering team returned, milady. The scribes paused their work to eat, we are waiting on you to start," Tamiwa reported.

"Well, I'm starving!" I checked the sun. It was past noon. "I have to seal this hole and then we can eat."

Lunch was meat skewers, ale, and a mixed rye and wheat bread. When one is surfing on taxpayer money, it was easy to overindulge. And speaking of the beast...

"We are going to use this villa as our base. You will use the rest of the afternoon to procure furniture and bring what you need to repair the place. Unless something exceptional happens, our work hours will be from one hand after sunrise to one hand before sunset. All of you, soldiers and scribes will live here during our project. I want repairs done to the doors and window shutters. You should also arrange a guard schedule to protect the place."

They agreed and we sent some guards to hire the craftsmen to repair the doors and windows and purchase furniture. After lunch, we worked on the maps for a few more hours.

"We can finish the maps from memory now," Gu-Maranu reported.

"Good. I'm going to retrieve my devices," I told them. "Remember, We need four copies of each map. Make six, because we will have to work with these maps and they are bound to get damaged. Use the rest of the day to get settled. No disputes over who gets what room."

I left them behind and went to the pile of debris the cleanup crew created. I filled the now empty flagon of ale and a couple two-liter PET bottles with glucose crystals from the plant matter and Decomposed the rest of the debris into water, salts and a chunk of graphite.

"Milady, is that the coal that doesn't burn?" One of the soldiers asked. "Some townsfolk found chunks of coal like this lying around one of the destroyed city blocks and complained it wouldn't burn."

Burning graphite was almost impossible without a proper setup, very good oxygenation, and high temperatures. Burning the graphite Decompose created, with its almost perfect crystalline structure, was even harder. Most wood fires wouldn't reach the ignition temperature of graphite.

"Yes. It is called 'graphite'. It is a very compact and pure type of coal. It is not for burning though," I replied to the soldier that asked. I was done for the day so I had everyone present gather. "I'm going to retire for the day, we will plan our initiatives tomorrow. I need copies of the map. If possible, find out where the ziggurat will be built. And fetch the information about the farms I asked."

I looked at the results of one day of work. We had the updated map info for the city and the surrounding areas. I think I also earned a bit of respect from these people. Less chance of them undermining me. The pure glucose starch I could extract from plant matter was one powerful source of energy for the people. I had to find a way to ferment it to make alcohol. And make baking soda. I waved the men goodbye and left with my pets.

Back at Abil-Kisu's place, I sent Penny to the stables, the harness less Dime to do whatever he wanted to, and went to the kitchen. I arrived at the end of the dinner rush. Belle noticed me and smiled.

"Welcome back. How was it with the scribes?"

"It was fine. We scouted the city and drew some maps. I need to whip that group into a team, the scribes are too individualist and are used to undercut each other. The soldiers were super polite and helpful."

Yes, they were too polite and helpful. I wonder why.

"Only you to be at ease among all that men, Sandra," Belle remarked. "Any other woman would be scared to death of being assaulted."

"Ha!" Barani the Cook said. "As if any of these men would dare lay a finger on the lady. After all, she's betrothed to the Captain Brandon Al-Amir!"

Excuse me? I was what now? I stared him down. There was a whole new wellspring of indignation that I didn't know I had, threatening to overflow and put me into immediate Overdrive Bitch Mode™. I tilted my head and smiled. I was hoping it was a creepy smile so he could get a clue.

"I didn't hear what you said, master Barani. Could you repeat that?"

And it seems he did. Get a clue, that is. "I'm sorry, milady. It was a rumor the servants were saying, that you were promised to the captain," He spoke measuring my reaction. "I'm really sorry, I overstepped my bounds."

I sighed and stood up. "My private life is not a topic for gossip. If there's something I want to make known to everyone, I'll announce it myself. You go and tell these 'servants' you heard the gossip from that I won't... Know what, nevermind."

I turned away from Abil-Kisu's cook and found Belle.

"I have too much on my head to worry about what the grapevine says about me. Belle-Sunu, get me some chicken eggs, milk, wheat flour, and salt. Let's make some comfort food."

She didn't understand what I said. "You want to rest on food?"

"No. Comfort food is a food you eat to make you feel good. Just fetch the things I asked, I'll show you. Where's Arwia?"

"She is out shopping. She took Lipit-Ea and Huzzi-Ya with her," Belle answered.

She brought the ingredients I asked and I put myself to work. I put Belle to sift the flour, ground starch, and a pinch of salt. I broke the eggs in a bowl and separated the shells. I Decomposed the calcium carbonate from the eggshells and mixed it with the salt in a cup of water. Then I forced hydrogen gas and crystallized calcium chloride out of the solution. What was left in the cup was a baking soda solution.

After distilling the water using the trickle-over-fingers trick to get the pure baking soda, I noticed I had just used Decompose on two compounds at once.

The flea doesn't jump out of the circus because she believes she can't.

Whatever. I added the baking soda to the powders and had Belle mix everything well. I sent her to warm up the oil and used an ingot of aluminum to create a whisker, skimmer, and donut cutter. Now with the proper tools, I could mix and beat the powder mix with the milk and eggs. Once the mix was with the proper texture, I cut the donuts and we fried them. They didn't grow as much as I'd like but I probably messed up some step of the recipe. We made around fifty small donuts.

"And this, miss Belle-Sunu, is comfort food," I told her like a shopping channel host. "Cool it down and take a bite."

She ate the donut. "Karattu Ermeeanu!" Her squeal-moan was so sudden I didn't translate what she mumbled immediately. Their A's were all open like in 'salt'. She said "Merciful Heavens!" or more precisely "By the Mercy of Anu's Canopy." where Anu is one of Tarhun's names. Or one of the deities he absorbed. Divine syncretism was a complicated subject.

"Is it good? I told you. This is comfort food."

Fried carbs. Or as Theresa used to call, "slow death (of the hips)".

"Oww, Sandra! This bread is so good! So fluffy, so delicious, sweet, and crunchy!" She mumbled between bites.

Belle was on the third donut when she noticed she might've eaten too much. As in, she was the only person in the kitchen eating donuts.

"Do you want some?" She asked with her mouth full and watery eyes.

"Come, let's go around and give everyone a 'donut'," I told her.

She picked up the tray and kept stealing guilty glances at the delicacies.

"You know we can make more donuts later, don't you? Right now we can only make them with my power, but later everyone will be able to make them. And they have a problem..."

I shut my mouth right before I would tell her the donuts would make her fat. There was zero chance of that happening. These people worked from sunrise to sundown and ate meager portions even in a rich house like Abil-Kisu's.

We went to the backyard and gave each of the children and guards a donut. The sun was about to set when we reached the annex and I knocked on Nanna's door with the last two donuts.

"Who is it? Can't an old woman take a nap in peace?" She complained from the other side.

Nanna opened the door. I was already holding my breath but only the normal smell of herbs came from her room this time.

"Nanna, we have something for you here. It is a delicacy from my world," I told her and offered her the two last donuts.

The witch glanced at the donuts, "Fried food gives me farts. Don't wanna," She croaked her refusal.

"Mistress Nanna!" Behind me, Belle spoke. "Please try one. They are delicious, it is food from the heavens."

The witch rolled her eyes and picked up a donut. She nibbled and returned the donut to the tray. "Too sweet! Don't wanna."

Belle gave the witch a hurt look. The witch had insulted the high priestess of the round starchy savior.

"Is this a joke?" Nanna asked. "You two seem too mischievous. Is this a joke?"

"No!" I protested. "It is food, good food."

"If I take them, will you leave me alone?"

She was totally going to throw them away.

"Only if you promise to eat them," I replied.

"Fine. Give me that," She took the two donuts in one hand. "Now go leak magic elsewhere. You'll spoil my potions."

She was extra-grumpy. I noticed I might be the cause. Those stamina potions made with the liver should be really valuable and delicate.

"Am I still leaking magic?"

She snorted. "You were designed to leak magic! Haven't you figured out yet?"

No, I hadn't. "No. Would you please explain it to me like I am an idiot?"

Nanna sighed, took her time eating the donuts and spoke after licking her fingers.

"Delicious. Thank you for the treat and please make more. Now, about you. Tarhun limited your magic pool to half your maximum. Honestly, I had no idea a mortal as you could even exist. But you keep generating magic power because you are not ever full, you see? And you can't be full because you can't hold more magic. So it leaks. And the ambient around you becomes saturated with magic.

"This world doesn't have much magic. I bet he told you that. Did you understand now?"

I couldn't say I did.

"Is it a bad thing?" I asked.

"Bad for whom?" She asked.

"To me, of course. To the people around me. To you," I clarified.

"Maybe, no, and definitely not," She answered and then explained the 'maybe'. "You won't ever wield your full magic potential. But that's irrelevant because I can't tell what would be your full magic potential. And you can't wield magic directly to cast spells anyway. Just don't do whatever you did to suffer burnout again and you'll be fine."

If she meant I shouldn't try to neutralize a half kilogram chunk of naturally enriched weapon-grade uranium again, I can totally agree.

"I got it. Thanks, Nanna!"

She nodded. "Now, would you mind going away? If my potion fizzles I'm making you pay," she rhymed like any self-respecting witch should then shooed us.

I held Belle's arm. "Let's go back to the kitchen," I told my cook. "We need to make more donuts. Arwia deserves some when she gets back and I bet Abil-Kisu would like to eat a few."