“I’m not a blacksmith,” Cal pointed out. As far as he knew, only people in the trade could sponsor others for qualification tests.

Orrin, for some reason, looked to Tavia for backup. Which he got.

“But you are an Apprentice. You have the authority to get Orrin into the blacksmith test if you wish.”

Cal eyed the hand that was resting on Orrin’s shoulder. It looked like Tavia got along with Orrin nearly as quickly as with Seris.

“Is Apprentice better than Initiate?” Seris asked curiously.

“It’s higher ranked in the guild, and that was something Tavia shouldn’t have mentioned so casually,” Cal said dryly.

“Ah, I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret,” Tavia said sheepishly. “I'm sure these two will keep it quiet. Right? Orrin? Seris?”

The two nodded their head rapidly while staring at him with wide eyes.

Cal cleared his throat. “Anyway, when is this test?”

“A week from now!” Seris was the one who answered, but Orrin nodded beside her.

With my relationship with the guild in limbo, I can't do much. One week will be more than enough time to consider my options.

“I’ll look into it,” Cal tried to be noncommittal, but Orrin didn’t take it that way. The kid’s face lit up as if it was a done deal. He quickly tried to distract him. “You were pretty firm on doing this yourself. What made you change your mind?” He hid a wince.

That wasn’t a distraction. It will make Orrin think of it even more.

“Well, it was her,” Orrin pointed at the girl near his age.

“Seris?”

“She tried to sell the booklet you gave her, and she practically gave it away. I didn’t want her to keep giving you losses, so I decided it was time for me to pull my own weight.”

The more Orrin spoke, the more Seris looked outraged. “What do you mean I gave it away! I sold it for twenty silver!”

“Wait,” Cal held his hand up to stop any further words. “How did you manage to sell the spell for so cheap?”

“None of the Initiates were interested in buying it, so I had to go to the bazaar to get someone to buy it.” Seris fidgeted under Cal’s blank stare.

He wasn’t annoyed at her for selling the spell booklet so cheaply, but more so that she was in such a rush to get rid of it when there was no need. He hadn’t given her a timeline to sell it, just a minimum price he wanted her to get. Instead of taking her time, she sold it for a third of the minimum.

This did work out for me in the end.

“We’ll need to discuss why you didn’t want to wait for a better price… later,” Cal felt like he was some sort of guardian to Seris at this point. “So, who was the lucky person who bought the spell from you?”

“Benan,” Seris said moodily.

Cal blinked before asking. “The merchant we met at the bazaar? That Benan?” She nodded in reply. “Is he still there?”

“… Probably? The bazaar doesn’t close for another day or so,” Seris hesitated before continuing. “But boss, Benan won’t return the spell booklet.”

Cal wasn’t sure what she was talking about for a second since he wasn’t thinking about the booklet at all. “That’s fine. Why don’t you go introduce Orrin to Nibbles?”

Seris was pleased to get away and pulled Orrin out the door.

“I was wondering why you hired Seris. I was almost convinced that it was purely out of generosity until I saw Orrin. He’s a good discovery, Cal.”

“What?” Cal denied it instantly, “No, it’s nothing like that. Seris was just helpful. I found Orrin later. And that’s not important. You know how you wanted to go to the bazaar? What do you think about visiting today?”

It was Tavia’s turn to look thrown off. It looked like she had forgotten this was something she had initially suggested. Her eyes widened before a smile took over her lips. “That sounds great! But we will take my carriage. Seris told me you like to run around. I do not.”

“That’s acceptable.” If Tavia hadn’t returned to her room immediately, she would have seen Cal laugh to himself.

I can’t imagine Tavia running to places. It’s almost as absurd as imagining Overseer Marek doing so.

Cal left the house and noticed that almost all of the carts were empty, and the field would soon be peaceful again. The last of them were unloaded before most of them filed out of the field in an organized manner.

The worker who barked out instructions approached him.

“Sir, Drex informed me that the payment isn’t an issue. He hopes you visit him at the port when you have time.”

“Hm, I’ll be sure to do so,” Cal smiled thinly, looking forward to finding out what Drex was playing at.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Soon, the only cart left was the one that Seris and Orrin rode in on. He eyed the size of the cart and the beast of burden that was attached to it.

I can use this to take the harvested crops to town. This ox looks strong enough to make the trip.

Cal quickly moved to find Seris and Orrin, who were being entertained by Nibbles making fun of the golem… again.

“Seris!” He saw her flinch as if he feared the following words out of his mouth. “I need to borrow your cart. Why don’t you stay here while I use it?”

“Oh, I was scared you wanted to talk about something—” Seris shut herself up when Cal raised his brow. “I mean, of course, Cal!”

“… Good,” Cal kept himself from cracking his serious expression. “Don’t touch anything you know you shouldn’t, and don’t go near the pond. Nibbles will watch over you, but don’t make her job harder.”

“Apprentice Cal—”

“Just call me Cal, like Seris does,” Cal interrupted Orrin. It was tiresome hearing him be so formal all the time. He couldn’t deny that he got a small thrill when reminded of his position, but the constant repetition was grating.

“Ah… Cal,” Orrin looked pained as he got his name out, “I wanted to test some ideas for the irrigation system you wanted. Do you mind if I get started now?”

Cal’s instinct was to deny it since it wasn’t necessary, but on second thought, the new designs of this irrigation system might test Orrin’s skills. Who was he to stop his progress?

So much for not being a mentor. I made a mistake rejecting [Benevolent Mentor].

“If you don’t think it will take away from your other projects, then you are free to do as you wish,” Cal paused before reiterating, “As long as you don’t go near the pond. It’s too dangerous.”

“You really don’t want us to go near the pond, Cal,” Seris looked like she was getting ideas.

“And that’s why we will avoid it, right Seris?” Orrin stared at her like he was daring her to argue.

“Right, you two know what to do,” Cal quickly left and started to load the cart with the harvested crops.

He put the plain Sunfire Grains on the bottom and the ones with the red grains on top. Nismus’s reaction was enough for him to conclude that the red grains were unique and valuable, and he did not wish to have them accidentally damaged during the travel.

“I guess this means we’re not taking my carriage.”

Cal turned to see Tavia staring at him with her arms crossed. She didn’t look upset, more… exasperated.

“Since we’re going to town, I figured I might as well take my harvest to the port.” He then noticed that she was dressed a little differently. “You’re not wearing your robes?”

Tavia gave him a look that said he was clueless. “I wanted to try something new. Take a closer look at the colors!”

Cal tried, he really did, but it all looked like the same shade of purple and black to him. He had assumed that Tavia had a good sense of fashion, but it might be that it was also just as strange as her decorating tastes, just in a different way.

“It looks good,” Cal offered. It wasn’t a lie, and he sidestepped the matter of not seeing the difference altogether.

Tavia beamed before hopping onto the cart and immediately grimacing. “I forgot how much I dislike open-air carriages.”

“I'm sure you’ll be fine. This won’t take long anyway,” Cal took a seat beside her with a chuckle.

***

“Won’t take long, huh?”’

Cal laughed nervously as he kept the ox on the path. The damned thing wanted to veer into the forest every few minutes. He didn’t know if it was the ox’s issue or his driving issue.

“I might have forgotten to factor the weight of the crops slowing the ox,” Cal said sheepishly. “On the plus side, I have time to ask you things I’ve been curious about.”

“Oh?” Tavia turned to face him in interest.

“Why did you really leave the core guild? I believe you when you say that you need peace for success, but I still find it hard to accept that you ran to me. You have to admit I didn’t give you the best impression when we were Trainees.”

Tavia stared at him for a few seconds and said, “I might have told you a half-truth. I could thrive in the core guild if I really threw myself into that situation, but it could also be a short-lived success. So I left.”

“That doesn’t explain much,” Cal said dryly.

Tavia shifted uneasily. “It became clear that I would have to adapt to thinking about winning regardless of cost. It could help me greatly, or I might set someone on fire and force the guild's hand after I'm out of control. I couldn’t say which was more likely.”

… I feel like this is another half-truth, though some things are making more sense.

“So you came to me in hopes that I could still push you,” Cal said confidently.

She gave him a toothy smile. “There was no need for hope. I knew. And you didn’t disappoint, Apprentice Cal.”

He was surprisingly happy with her reason for coming to his station. He would have found it disingenuous if she had said anything else.

There were a few minutes of silence before Cal broke it. “Were you really going to leave the territory to try and save your friends?”

“Yes, without a doubt.” Tavia was dead serious.

Another few minutes of silence. “I was told that leaving the territory, for either of us, could result in a fatal punishment.”

“Wait, why would you need to be told that?” Tavia moved closer as if that would help her read him.

It wasn’t said explicitly, but it was certainly implied. “Some things about the guild are giving me second thoughts.”

“Seconds thoughts for what? As in, you’re thinking of leaving??” Tavia’s questions were more incredulous than the last.

“Nothing like that,” Cal denied quickly. “Just some annoyance that I’m sure will be sorted out.”

Tavia narrowed her eyes to see if that was the truth before saying, “You are soaring up the ranks here. Why leave and break a good deal only to get a manhunt as a reward?” She lowered her voice. “If you really want to leave, wait until you’re strong enough that they can’t stop you.”

Cal had intended to do so before the guildmaster’s aggressive negotiations. The man’s sudden change reminded him of how much was changed from his first life.

I can’t know if the guild that attacked the Celestial Order will keep the same timeline. The only sure thing is that the two beings that reversed time will keep the girl away from the battle.

“Cal?”

He glanced at Tavia’s concerned face and gave her a forced smile. “I won’t do anything stupid. Not after I told you of the consequences of trying to leave.”

“That’s probably the least convincing thing you’ve said so far,” Tavia rolled her eyes.

Cal chuckled as she started to extoll the benefits of staying in the guild for the rest of the trip, none of which were wrong. It still wouldn’t make him change his mind. He was waiting for Overseer Marek to get in contact with him before fully committing one way or another.

Tavia had moved on to trying to instill the fear of losing his farm as they passed through the gates to the town.

“Tavia,” Cal interrupted after giving her more than enough time to vent. “I’ll make you a promise. If I think that I’m going to leave everything behind, you’ll be the first I tell.”

She was finally mollified after that concession. “That works, and it can’t be at the last minute!”

“Agreed,” Cal accepted as he hopped off the cart. They had reached the platform that was connected to the port. He led the ox onto it, and they descended slowly.

“So this is how they move large goods from the port… This is highly inefficient, isn’t it?” Tavia spoke over the clicking gears as the pulley lowered the platform.

“It is. My understanding is that most of the larger goods are sent to Gale’s End. The port there isn’t situated at the bottom of a cliff.”

“That just brings up more questions,” Tavia laughed lightly.

Cal agreed, but he had little interest in finding out the answers to questions as unimportant as this.

The platform hit the ground and stopped with a rumble. He could see Drex in the distance and led the ox there.