Levi was beginning to understand how this Scholarium thing went.

Back when he went to a normal school, he would wake up, get ready, get driven there, and be led through whatever the teachers wanted to get the kids to do that day.

It didn’t take Levi very long to realise that this was very different to school. Not even because everyone was older than him.

It wasn’t that the teachers were particularly nice or mean. They just– didn’t even agree what to teach. Which was quite confusing.

“And such is what I believe to be the mechanism of–”

“YOU CAN’T JUST TEACH YOUR STRANGE THEORY AS IF IT WERE FACT. ESTABLISHED THOUGHT DICTATES THAT–”

“Would you lower your damned tone already? It’s people like you propagating those falsities that halted the progress of magic!”

Levi, alongside much of the rest of the room, wore flat looks. The two scholars continued to argue– having forgotten the lesson altogether.

Lady Mia stretched, “Well, this lesson’s not going anywhere, I might go to the library… Levi?”

Levi blinked. “Um, yeah, I’ll come too.”

Levi was making pretty much all of his own decisions these days, there was something nice about it, but sometimes all it meant was that he forgot to eat, and had to stay hungry until lunchtime… unless he just ate… outside lunchtime…

He smiled to himself at this new revelation.

HIm, Mia, and Mia’s Knight walked through the deceptively disorderly wooden halls, Levi tracking the lights with his eyes as he got within range of each one. “I thought the wizard’s theory was making sense, but after the older one told him off– I don’t know which one is right.”

Mia hmmed, “The one who cut him off is probably right. That’s how it was taught to me.”

Levi nearly nodded, then paused. “Probably? Isn’t there a right and a wrong answer?”

Mia opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated. She turned a confused look up at her knight, Luna.

The Knight, following close behind, was wearing as much armour as could be worn without clattering. She lifted her visor to speak.

“The root cause behind people’s ability to increase in mana capacity is not something that can be defined so easily. Although, as the older wizard was trying to say, scholars of the past seemed more certain than we. It is possible we forgot the reason and just remembered the answer.”

Levi furrowed his brows. “So the scholars said people get stronger by achieving great things, not by feeling great emotions?”

The Knight answered patiently, though she had no obligation to anybody but her assigned charge. “Such a question is better asked of scholars in the larger cities of the empire. What is left here are either those who couldn’t find opportunity elsewhere, or a few with confidence this city will continue to grow.”

Mia frowned at the implication about her city, but continued the magical discussion. “It’s not like what the younger wizard said was all that different anyway. People would be feeling extreme emotions during a great event. It’s interchangeable.”

Levi crossed his arms, thinking. “Yeah. But it made more sense to be about what the person is feeling. Who decides what a ‘great event’ even is?”

Mia considered Levi’s point, then made a measured response. “If a person’s mana capacity improved every time they felt desperate, poor people would be super strong, though?”

The Knight looked between the two debating nine year olds, and slid her visor back over her face. She was here to guard.

—

Oliver and ‘Paige’ made their way through the low trees, climbing over roots carefully, moving in such a way that they would not agitate their wounds. By ‘their wounds’, it was mostly just Oliver’s arm, which he had hurt by way of overexertion

The girl trailed after him, her blonde hair and gaunt features hidden by her new hood. She didn’t look at all similar to how Paige had, but Oliver would have to come up with something else if that was a problem.

Oliver sucked air through his teeth as he misjudged a step. To distract himself from his arm, and from his emotions–he spoke hastily. “Hey- uh, what’s your name?”

The girl in Paige’s blue poncho looked up. “P-Paige?”

“No– that wasn’t a test. Argh-” His arm shifted again. “I mean, what’s your real name?”

“... River.”

Oliver ducked a branch.

“Hello River, I haven’t introduced myself, have I?”

“No..” River seemed exhausted, taking her time to breathe. It was fair enough, after what she seemed to have been through, but Oliver suspected–

“Well, my name is Oliver. I’m from Earth.”

River nearly tripped and caught herself. She looked at him– eyes wide.

“From Earth? But you were with…”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She suddenly looked even more anxious. “So everybody was… We were fighting…” She started breathing faster.

Oliver hurriedly clarified, “Nonono, I’m pretty sure I was the only one. The rest were criminals, I’m way more concerned about the guys from your side.”

Oliver thought about what he’d just said. Stopped in his tracks. The moment he had begun to think of how strange it was to be walking away from the battle so normally, a different kind of dread overwhelmed him.

He brought his hand to his face.

What did I just say?

And, differently to all his other emotional outbursts, he went cold.

What… did I just say?

Oliver sunk to a knee, allowing himself this moment. “River, disregard what I just said. I’m… not thinking straight. It was… so many people at once… How am I–”

Oliver vomited, shivered, and just looked at the ground for a second.

And then he felt… normal-ish again.

It was frightening.

But, he was not some kind of psychopath. Oliver wasn’t exactly a level-headed guy, so this strange kind of… apathy… was new.

Oliver collected his energy–not his mana, just his energy–and made a conscious effort to feel some kind of emotion. He was confused, but he decided… he decided to be angry.

Maybe the right brain chemicals weren’t going around for him to feel it within, but intellectually, he was angry.

So, Oliver decided, that is what he would act on.

Oliver wore an upset expression, not exactly a mask, but partly. Maybe he would be more normal after some rest, but he wouldn’t rest yet.

He stood.

“River–” Then he remembered.

The old lady he’d dragged with him to the tree. Had she burned?

She might be alive.

… We can’t go back.

“River, did you see where the old lady went? The one I brought to the tree?”

She shook her head.

They would keep an eye out, he decided.

Oliver recalled what he was about to say.

“River, I’ll get you to safety, I’m going to need you to stay with me.”

River’s eyes looked hopeful and guilty in turn, as if she didn’t want to let herself believe it. They continued in silence.

Oliver spoke again after they had walked a short distance, they were getting closer to the edge of the forest. There were things they would need to talk about later, but Oliver was not in the right state of mind– he needed to escape all the heavy events of the day.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

She looked surprised by the question. She looked down at her poncho, dusty but untouched by fire. She looked back up. And her earnest expression managed to defrost some of Oliver’s emotions.

“Blue.”

—

Curtis was paling. It’s not like this was the first time he had pulled this kind of manoeuvre with the Secretary of Finance.

Curtis wasn’t so dull as to present such a weak argument to just any man. Secretary Jameson was as corrupt as they came, but for some reason…

Somehow…

Things were not going in the usual direction.

Curtis was just keeping Marland’s daughter in line, as requested. A favour he hoped would be repaid. He had a deal with Secretary Jameson. He thought Marland did too?!

What is he doing!? What changed??

—

Emilia raised an eyebrow at Curtis’ expression, the High Official looked incredulous.

If she was being honest, she felt similarly. When did this become so easy?

She continued recounting each and every incident. Every slight against her, every slight against Oliver that she knew of.

The Secretarys’ creepy smile just extended further and further across his face. By the end, he was grinning like an idiot, teeth bared. Emilia wasn’t even sure he was listening.

“How scandalous!” He chuckled. His eyes, wide with some kind of ecstatic joy, alighted on Curtis.

“High Official, I should like to take this issue to the Minister, do stay put!”

And with that, Curtis went from incredulous to furious, but only for an instant. Looking into the Secretary’s eyes–

The High Official became frustrated.

Then afraid.

Emilia was just sitting there, somewhat relieved at the idea things were in motion. She didn’t feel stuck anymore, even though she was unsure what the Secretary was doing. It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Secretary Jameson swiftly left the room, leaving the two Officials in opposite moods to how they had entered.

—

The Minister of Finance, by all accounts, was a very honorable man. What one might call a model citizen of the Empire. He espoused meritocracy, having risen through the ranks from the very bottom himself, he was an inspiration to many.

Of course, there were many powerful people who found his ideals troublesome, given their unscrupulous practices. Remaining in the top brass of this city for as long as he had, the sixty year old had to possess a decent amount of cunning of his own.

He sat behind his desk in the large corner office, on the fourth and highest level of the ministry. The bustling street visible through the windows behind him. His ministerial peers were hardly as present as he at their respective posts, but the Minister of Finance kept the city’s money flowing.

Arguably, the Finance Ministry was the most important Ministry in the city, everybody and everything needed money, after all.

He tapped his foot as he waited for the results of his latest maneuver. Trimming the rot out of his Ministry was something he was happy to do, especially whenever it was beginning to inconvenience him.

Secretary Jameson entered the room, wringing his hands with glee. “I’m pretty sure this will do the trick. Blatant, straightforward, and plenty of people to cross-reference”

The Minister heard his secretary efficiently relay the relevant information, stonefaced all the while.

At the end of it, he peered at the secretary for a long second.

“... That headache of a man… I recognise he never had any sense, but that is just plain unproductive. I suppose it’s time enough, Curtis is becoming less useful as an idiot.”

Minister George Theowill of Finance, a very honourable man.

“He’ll make a fine example. You know how this goes from here, Jameson.”

The Secretary of Finance grinned.

“George, this is my favourite part of the job.”