"Did you find anything to be to your liking," Irwyn mused as they excited the shooting range. This time around only Elizabeth and Desir were behind him. Alice had to stay behind so that Gill could get a proper understanding of what her weapon should be like. Irwyn would return to pick her up after sunset.
"It surprised me," Desir admitted, "Although they can pack a punch, I would probably be better off training my magic rather than learning how to use those rifles properly," especially considering his accuracy had been abysmal, "I doubt they would be particularly useful from third-tier and beyond."
"I agree," Elizabeth chimed in from the side. Although her results were not as bad as Desir's, she also didn't have the knack for sharpshooting, "Though I wonder what Alice is going to get."
"A real Magitech weapon, far beyond those mass-produced rifles you saw, or even regular Magitech guns which occasionally pop up around these parts," Irwyn smiled, "She will get the best design for both the technology and the magic. I believe it will help her forget about yesterday."
"Unfair!" Elizabeth jokingly complained a bit, although there was probably some honesty to her jealousy.
"Don't you already have a weapon?" Desir pointed out.
"That is not the point!" Elizabeth harrumphed.
"I know, let me make that up for you," Irwyn said she turned to Desir, "Catch," Irwyn threw an object he had previously removed from his pocket. When Desir caught the object he could clearly see it was a key with a number tag, "Lost maiden tavern, everything had already been paid for," Irwyn finished as he also handed Desir a pouch of coins.
"I…," Desir was at a loss for words. He originally intended to find an excuse to disappear for the night, however, Irwyn seeing through that in advance was unexpected. After all, there were likely not many 12-year-olds that would take into consideration the pastimes of an Incubus, "Thank you. I will be back at the Blackburg manor by noon tomorrow. See you around," he thanked before they exchanged their goodbyes and Desir vanished in the crowd.
"What was that about?" Elizabeth tilted her head if slight confusion.
"Desir still needs to take care of some business," Irwyn decided to not burthen the girl with a detailed explanation, "It should've been your birthday recently, right? Today I will follow your lead,” he said as he smiled. His body was still young and there was a limit to how far he could push it. Since that was the case it would be good to relax this way once in a while, and the fact that he could bring Elizabeth into further into his control was also great.
“Really?!” Elizabeth’s eyes shone as she almost yelled, before she realised her broken composure and spoke again, this time much more conservatively, “Really?”
“Would I lie about something like this,” Irwyn just kept smiling. In the end, Elizabeth was still a young girl. The glitter in her eyes was beyond obvious.
“Then let’s try that thing!” she pointed at a construction in the distance, it was a rather simple roller coaster following a short circular path. Irwyn naturally didn’t disagree and they walked towards the construction. As they reached nearby it became obvious that the line leading to it was quite great, in fact, it would take perhaps at least an hour to reach the front. Elizabeth’s face turned sour as she saw that seemingly endless queue
“That is why I got us these,” Irwyn showed her the VIP bracelet he had paid for at the entrance and pointed towards a second entrance right beside the first one, “Just show it to the staff and we get to skip the line,” Elizabeth’s eyes shone as she heard Irwyn’s words. To Elizabeth's great joy, they were indeed let through in front of everyone, although some people in the line gave them dirty looks. The ride itself was not interesting for Irwyn, however, Elizabeth seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Over there!" Elizabeth pointed at another rollercoaster, her eyes sparkling. This time around it was a bit more complicated and larger construction with ascending and descending rails, and that seemed to make Elizabeth all the more excited. She decided to ride the track multiple times, and Irwyn naturally didn't complain.
The next breakthrough happened when Elizabeth discovered candyfloss. The sheer amount she ate might have doubled the sales figures for that day, if not more. Irwyn was already wondering whether Elizabeth was usually just hiding her fondness of sweets, or of it was candy floss in particular that struck a chord. It would probably not be difficult to bribe over of these people to take up the position of Blackburg designated candyflosser.
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"What is going on over there?" Elizabeth noticed a large crowd had lined up in front of one of the larger tents.
"Let's take a look," Irwyn said, though he had his guess. Walking closer they quickly noticed that in front of the crowd stood a man on a circular platform. He was wearing a tophat and a conical device, which he held in front of his mouth.
"Come, one and all!" Irwyn and Elizabeth heard him clearly from quite a distance away, likely because his voice was amplified by the megaphone, "A show the likes of you had never seen! Brave man taming foul breasts with nothing but a stare! Daring acrobats floating through the air, risking their very lives with each leap! And last but not least: A man who dares bent steel with his bare hands!"
"Should we go and see it?" Elizabeth asked, a bit unsure. She did not feel that those feats were quite as difficult as most 12-year-olds would. The Blackburg manor was full of rather powerful individuals, so it would not be impossible to meet someone who could overcome these claims with ease.
"It's up to you," Irwyn just smiled and gently shrugged. He promised that he would let Elizabeth decide everything today after all.
"Then let's give it a try," she eventually decided, and so they went to see the show. In the end, Elizabeth seemed to enjoy what she saw, perhaps because everything was well directed and paced, or even more likely thanks to the clown intermissions. When they eventually left, dusk was already not far away.
"I have a suggestion," Irwyn spoke as he pointed to something in the distance. Looking over, Elizabeth spotted a gargantuan circular structure, much taller than any building in the city.
"What is that?" Elizabeth was immediately excited as she already lead the way. Even from a distance, the towering structure looked exhilarating.
"It's called a Ferris wheel," Irwyn explained, "It's fundamentally different from the rest of what we have seen today,” trusting Irwyn’s recommendation, Elizabeth quickly arrived at the construction with him in toe. Once again they were let to the front thanks to their badges, though this time Irwyn made a special request of the staff: “A booth for just the two of us,” he said, handing one of the staff members a gold coin. The man seemed startled, and could not give Irwyn an immediate answer. And older, and apparently more experienced, man on the side immediately interfered as he saw the situation, arranging everything according to Irwyn’s demands.
And so, there they were: Ascending the Ferris wheel with just the two of them. Although Elizabeth was at first not sure what was so special about this thing, she quickly began to notice how different the world looked from up above.
“This is amazing!” she exclaimed, her eyes glowing with joy as she stared down at the countless ant-like figures below, “Its as though we are flying. I can even see the Blackbrug manor in the distance,” she pointed in a direction. The sun was already setting around this time.
“There really is something to this feeling,” Irwyn smiled and nodded, but he was naturally not impressed. Although seeing the world from such a height was amazing, it could not even begin to compare with how the universe appeared from the top of the Spire.
“You did so much for me today,” Elizabeth eventually calmed down her excitement and sat down, her cheeks suddenly flushed, “Don’t mention it,” Irwyn chuckled, “Consider it a birthday present.”
“Thank you,” she smiled brilliantly, “I also made you something,” Elizabeth then reached into a hidden pocket of her dress, and took out a small cloth woven talisman, “Here,” she handed it to Irwyn and he took it with curiosity.
“You made this?” Irwyn was very surprised as he felt the gentle enchantment woven into the fabric. He definitely had never taught Elizabeth enchantment, and if she had learned it she would have had to do so in her free time and by herself, someone would have reported it if she found a teacher among the Blackburg servants.
“Yes,” Elizabeth nodded, “Sometimes during the night you would shake and mumble as though you were haunted by nightmares. I read that this enchantment soothes the soul during sleep and wards from the horrors of the night.”
“This is honestly amazing,” Irwyn honestly smiled and put the talisman around his neck, “It is incredible that you can make such an enchantment on your own. I can teach you more if you are willing,” Although the enchantment itself would be absolutely useless because of how powerful his soul was, the enchantment was nothing to scoff at either, considering it was made by a 12 years old girl who was focusing most of her time on different kinds of magic. And Irwyn could always use a capable enchanter, considering his inability to do anything in that area.
“Yes!” Elizabeth seemed filled with zest at the mention of Irwyn’s specialised training. Around this time, the sun fully left beyond the horizon, and a new sight appeared. Muffled explosions sounded all around them. As Elizabeth looked out of the booth, she noticed a myriad of colours covering the skies as countless colourful fireworks turned the darkness into light.
“Happy birthday,” Irwyn petted Elizabeth’s hair suddenly as her glittering eyes took in as many of the colours as possible.
“Thank you,” her smile was wider than ever. She would surely remember this day for a long time to come.