Chapter 24 - Nice Slice

Lilly stretched her back, feeling somewhat tired after her conversation with Myndia. ‘So much needs to be prepared before next week. How can we get him to meet me somewhere else without raising suspicion?’ she wondered.

She turned to Eolande again, hoping for advice. “Elly, is there any way for us to get Grandfather to meet us somewhere else without alarming him?”

“Before that, what was that look you gave me about?” Eolande asked, still with her eyebrows raised.

“Oh… Myndia was laughing at me after I explained how I was flying, and she asked who came up with the idea. She said I can just hold the staff to be able to fly.”

“Oh, that makes sense. I’ve heard of enchanted items like that,” Eolande said, seeming innocent.

Lilly suspected she had misled her on purpose, but without any proof, it was hard to accuse her openly. “Of course you have… But about Grandfather.”

“Right… I suspect he will have his guard up in any situation, but more so in new locations. So I don’t know that we can. Attacking him in his quarters would not be a good idea, so here seems like the best option.” She was stroking her chin thoughtfully, deep in thought.

“Myndia says I’ll have to say goodbye to this room then… She’s planning to make a giant sphere of fire around him. Luckily there aren’t any people in this area of the barracks, so we won’t have to be too concerned about collateral damage. I’ll have to send Daisy on a task, though.”

“Well, I think that’s fine. I don’t know how much help I’ll be during the fight, but I’ll do my best.”

Feeling nervous about the worst outcomes of the confrontations, Lilly suggested, “Maybe you could stay home and protect Gramps and Mia?”

“... If that would make you feel better, sure. But how would you explain it?”

“Telling him I feel confident in my own strength now might be believable; he knows how much I’ve been training after all. And Mia never comes here while he’s teaching me, so it’s believable that you’re protecting them instead.”

“True, that could work. And honestly, I’d prefer not to be there…”

“I understand, Elly. Myndia and Selene should be plenty. Myndia alone might even be enough.” Lilly said, having high expectations for Myndia’s display of power with this improved flame. “We could have you stay home during the lesson tomorrow so he’s less suspicious next week. What do you think?”

“Yeah, that’s clever…” Eolande seemed deep in thought again, but she had to come to terms with this on her own now. Lilly had convinced her as much as she could.

The door to the smith-enchantery opened again, showing a proud-looking Mia holding a completed cuirass of shiny silvery metal.

“It’s finished! This thing could block a dragon fist!” She knocked on the front of it firmly, making it give off a clear melodic sound. It was surprisingly shiny and smooth, and Lilly had to admit she was surprised by Mia’s skill.

“That looks amazing! And expensive. Do you have a buyer in mind?” Lilly wondered, considering the massive expenditure something like that would be.

Mia froze slightly, but quickly livened again. “You think people won’t be lining up for this thing? Something like this could room a bunch of enchantments, even without any crystals.”

Lilly smiled at Mia’s shamelessness. “Ah, so it’s up to me then. Well, we could make that my first proper project. Everything to this point has mostly been practice.”

“Exactly! Are you ready to head home?” Mia asked, seeming unusually eager.

“Sure, I’ve wasted enough time here now. I won’t be training in the quarry anymore now, so my evenings will be at your disposal.”

“Really? That’s great! I’ve been thinking about another date for a while. Are you up for one tomorrow?” Mia asked, seemingly happy to get the cozy evenings with her girlfriend back.

“Oh yeah, it’s about time for a second date, for sure! Do you have anything in mind?”

“Well, it could be anything, really. I got my perfect first date, so the second one can be less extravagant.”

Lilly got out of her chair and got ready to leave, picking up the staff from where it was floating beside the desk. “Let’s discuss it on our way home. We won’t reveal anything dangerous by discussing dates. Elly, what would we do about security?”

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Eolande also got out of her chair and stretched he shoulders. “Well, depends on how okay you are with me spying on you. Only the Skyview restaurant has privacy formations as far as I know, but there’s also the Golden Oyster, which has pretty decent security and private rooms.”

They all walked out of the office doors, waving at Daisy as they passed her. “So you could keep us safe without spying in those places?” Lilly asked, preferring to keep the date between her and Mia.

“Yeah, that should be fine. I can guard the entrance at the Oyster, making sure no one enters without permission. You would of course be capable of protecting yourself, Lilly, but the collateral damage is a great problem. As long as Mia is there, you can do almost nothing.”

“Don’t I know it…” Lilly was tempted to try infusing her body with flames right there to see if she could control the temperature well enough, but she decided against it. Bursting into flames in public was a bad look, even if her underwear was enchanted to be flame-proof now.

“Won’t the new bracelet protect me from the heat?” Mia asked.

“Well… That would depend on how much heat. I can vaporize rock if I’m not careful, so your bracelet might not be enough. And if it fails, you’ll… uhm… poof.” Lilly demonstrated with her hands how Mia would go everywhere. It made her slightly nauseous to think about.

“Oh, you should do something about that. Can’t you control it pretty well now?” Mia asked with slightly pale cheeks.

“I’ll try it a bit later, just to see. Theoretically, I should be super strong now if I could learn to control it. Oh, right!” Lilly stopped walking before they left the barracks, remembering what Myndia said about the flying enchantment of the staff.

“Hang on, let me try something.” She held the staff up in the air and focused on the flying enchantment. ‘Let’s fly together this time,’ she thought, hoping the staff could understand her. She envisioned her body being enveloped by the same energy the staff got when it was floating and could feel something happening.

Slowly, she tried making the staff fly up. And slowly, she followed, feeling herself lose all notion of gravity. Her hair and skirt floated weightlessly, threatening to expose her to everyone around them. Panicking slightly, she quickly pushed her skirt down with her free hand, again wishing she wore trousers more often.

“I can fly properly now!” She exclaimed, excitedly floating back and forth in the air, feeling very little momentum. The air was still blowing her hair in the other direction, but she could accelerate surprisingly fast without feeling any gravitational pull in any direction.

“Wow, you look a lot less ridiculous now, but your movements in the air look strange,” Mia said whit her neck craned to follow Lilly’s movements.

“Thanks, dear, that means a lot. Elly, why am I feeling so little momentum when I change directions?”

Eolande, also looking up in the sky, considered her words before replying. “I think it has to do with how the forces work. If it pushes every part of your body evenly when it changes direction, then… Uhhh, nothing is squished, if that makes sense. It’s the same theory my boots work on, essentially.”

Lilly was still testing her flight while listening, but she understood the basic theory Eolande was explaining. Probably. “I think I get it. Is there any easy way to avoid the wind blinding me at high speeds?”

“I’ve learned to use my mana to reinforce my eyes, but that took a long time. Use goggles, maybe?” Eolande suggested helpfully.

Lilly couldn’t quite imagine herself walking around with goggles on her head, but maybe it was a decent look. “I’ll consider it, at least if I’m traveling far.”

Lilly descended towards the ground again, feeling satisfied with her testing. She would have loved to fly home, but much preferred walking with Mia. ‘I’ll try tomorrow while they both stay back home,’

“That’s enough experimenting for today. Let’s decide on the venue for tomorrow before leaving the barracks, so I can send a message to Daisy. Do you think the Golden Oyster sounds fine, Mia?”

Mia smiled, looking at Lilly’s wind-blown hair standing in every direction. “That’s perfect! I’ve got just the dress, but I’ll have to head home– No, I can do that tomorrow while you’ve got the lesson.” Mia made plans on the fly, seemingly having forgotten she would be staying back home tomorrow.

“Then Golden Oyster it is! Let’s hope they have available spots. Hey, soldier.” Lilly pointed at one of the soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the barracks, getting his attention. “Could you go tell Daisy, in front of my office, that I’d like a reservation for two at the Golden Oyster tomorrow?” The guard nodded nervously.

Lilly considered for a moment before adding, “Also, could you maybe ask her not to strongarm anyone into giving us the reservation?” The guard nodded again, getting ready to leave his post.

After that, they exited the barracks and entered the city proper. The streets of Thundrel were as they always were at this time of day, lively and busy. Everyone would make way as Lilly walked by, greeting her with friendly smiles.

It still felt weird, but she had gotten used to it, at least.

“I like it when you use your authority, dear. You look so… in charge,” Mia said dreamily, silently so no one else would hear.

“Well, that makes sense since I am, in fact, in charge. But let’s hope that will change soon enough.”

“Aww, I like important Lilly. But fine, I guess ‘secretly super strong badass enchantress Lilly’ is good enough.”

“Oh, it’s sooo secret that I’m strong,” Lilly noted sarcastically. The entire city knows she’s capable of sinking a fleet single-handedly. But at least it might be true at this point.

“Well, secretly stronger than super strong then, but that was too long.”

Lilly wanted to disagree, but stopped to consider her current strength for a moment. “Elly, wouldn’t I be pretty much the perfect warrior if I learned not to melt my surroundings while infusing myself with flames?”

“If it makes you as strong and resilient as I suspect, then… Yeah? But you lack the speed and defenses to be perfectly powerful. And obviously, enchanted items can make a massive difference in a fight.”

Lilly started thinking about the different enchantments that could help her in combat, but nothing outside of protection really stood out to her. That probably stemmed from her inexperience in battle situations, but she still felt pretty confident.

The wonderful smell of baked goods let her know they were close to home now. Lilly felt the urge to train her temperature control rising as she walked the final few steps and opened the door to the familiar bakery.