Garett of the Draconyx Discipulus exhaled slowly as he massaged his forehead. It hasn’t been a great week. Far from great. It had been simply awful. After the stupid, stupid, very stupid, fiasco of the assassin followers of Pyre, bungling the only lead they had on the thief, the investigation was back to zero.

It was probably a step back because the guards of the city were now also looking for that mysterious man who exhibited void powers. If he was really the thief, that is. However, they don’t know that the Church was helping them look and guard the city exits because they wanted to find the Dragon’s Heart. They should be the ones to get to the thieves so that no one else would know that they had the precious artifact of the First Emperor stolen from them.

Apart from the signals of the Dragon’s Heart that were detected during that night their forces clashed with the city guards, there were no other leads whatsoever on the whereabouts of the Dragon’s Heart after it was stolen. Their agents have scoured the entire city for information, and surrounding cities as well. The immense gold reserves of the Church were nothing to be scoffed at and it was ready to flow to loosen the tongue of any person who could point the assassins in the direction of those that needed to be purged for laying their hands on the artifact of the First Emperor.

But so far…nothing. The black market for information yielded nothing. Mercenaries, thieves, people engaged in fencing disown any major robbery, saying that no one in their ranks would attempt anything big during the festival where security was heightened. These people have no honor among themselves and would gladly snitch on each other in return for some gold, but they also knew that there was price to pay if they gave wrong information.

The identity of the item stolen was, of course, kept secret. But the underbelly of the city now knew that something from the Church was stolen. Something exceedingly important.

Garett shook his head. They wouldn’t be able to guess what was stolen. It was important that government officials would not know about it. Many among the upper echelons of the Adminstrativo would love to control the Church. He knew that the Martial Noble House of the Fahllyrs would also want to have them regulated.

His eyes wandered to the carvings of on the walls of the mechanized couch, a creation of the engynares that run automatically on wheels powered by newly discovered mana residue, aureon, a waste product of mana purification rituals of mages. The emblem of the First Emperor was embossed on the wall beside the window, the familiar dragon claws grasping the Orb of Perdition, one of the surviving fragment of which was the Dragon’s Heart.

That thing was probably as big as a house. From the history books, the dragon form of the First Emperor was always described as being as large as a castle. The holy shard in the temple was also proof that the dragon it belonged to was massive. If the dragon form of the First Emperor was that large, then the orb it was grasping was also huge.

Garett didn’t know what the original purpose of the Orb of Perdition was. He only knew that during the time when the First Emperor walked among them, it imprisoned myriads of demon spirits and other unclean abominations, corruptions of the natural order of existence. His mouth momentarily curled as he remembered the corrupted spirit that possessed one of the contracted assassins. That was unexpected. There was a chance that that spirit came from the Dragon’s Heart, preying on the weak in psyche.

Pyre, the shadow bastard, already assured him that they dealt with that bumbling contractor. They made it look like there was a remnant of the corruption inside him that ate him. Something to be praised, despite my hatred for that shadow bastard.

His thoughts wandered back to the Orb of Perdition. It couldn’t have been simply a prison, right? It had to be something more than a that. Its fragment, the Dragon’s Heart, allowed one to amplify their powers by boosting their connection to the essences of the existence. And to some extent, it also purified the mana of its user as time went on.

However, it wasn’t a super weapon of destruction. It wasn’t something like the Devastator Armor, a fearsome equipment to increase one’s power severalfold. Only a select few mages of the Church, the bishop, his Holiness, included, could use it. Its boost in power wasn’t that much. It wasn’t like you could take on a Devastator Knight if you were able to use the Dragon’s Heart.

Possibly, when it was still whole, it gave tremendous aid to the First Emperor. But that wasn’t the case anymore with just a fragment.

Which still begs the question, why would someone steal it? While it was an item that increased power, it was also a very famous religious relic. It would be too ‘hot’ to sell even in the black market. Even the infamous treasure collectors would be insane to commission someone to sell it.

To Garett’s mind, there were two factions that would benefit the most if the Dragon’s Heart was stolen. The void mages would want the item that could detect them, including children who haven’t had their void gates open, to be destroyed. Because of the intense connection to the fabric of existence that the item forges with its user, it was easy to spot little pockets that would appear to be a ‘vacuum’, or at least that was what he was told on how they were able to spot children of the Void. The bishop, or one of the high priests that could use the Dragon’s Heart, would visit cities, preaching or meeting with leaders, any reason at all, and in that time, they would already have a general idea of the location of possible targets.

If the Dragon’s Heart was lost, the Church would have lost their primary way of finding the corrupted beings of the void.

Another plausible candidate for the thief was someone from the government, possibly one of the Martial Noble Houses, certainly jealous or fearful of the influence and the power of the Church. Losing the Dragon’s Heart wasn’t a simple case of a lost religious relic. It was also one of the relics of the First Emperor, specifically a relic that the government wanted to have for the past five hundred years. All the other surviving fragments of the Orb of Perdition were in the custody of the Administrativo, all but one. The Dragon’s Heart.

Garett could already hear the arguments that would be made by the ministers in imposing heavy regulations on the Church because of such loss.

Besides those two groups, he didn’t have any idea who would want the Dragon’s Heart.

The closest they got to one of them, for Garett was sure that the perpetrators were an organization, was the large, muscular man who let himself get captured by the city guards. One would think that he was a void mage since he was obviously emitting void magic signals that even made the city’s alarms go off, but Garett wasn’t so easily convinced by evidence so blatantly shoved down their throat.

A man who appeared to be carrying the Dragon’s Heart while appearing to be a void mage? At a glance at the evidence before them, it appeared as if the void mages were fighting back against the Church. It seemed to be an open and shut case. No. The city guards appeared too quickly and in such a large force that they effectively overpowered the men of Pyre. Instead of going after the ‘void mage’, if he really was one, the city guards focused on apprehending the church’s assassins.

Quite a large mess that required pulling many strings to clean up. It was as if someone wanted to make a scandal. Very suspicious.

Even if that large man was really a void mage, it does not mean that he was helping the void mages who were smuggling children from Krysperia. And there were rumors that the government was keeping void mages for experimentation and other sinister purposes. Of course, those were just rumors, but given the current circumstances, Garett was less inclined to chuck them out at simple rumors. Perhaps the threat was not from without, but from within the city walls themselves.

Call it a gut feeling, but it feels like someone is trying to throw us off. Garett didn’t appreciate being tricked. It felt so convenient to simply blame the robbery on the void mages. A clue that could show otherwise was how the robber incapacitated the priests and the guards who were protecting the treasures of the Church.

That wasn’t void magic, as far as he knew, although the Church’s records on actual void magic were scant. The mana circulating the bodies of the unconscious victims were all used up as if they cast spells until they were exhausted. Rather a different scenario from getting your mana drained. I think so? I’m not sure what the effects of mana draining actually look like besides the opinion of the healer that examined the victims. Not that he was an expert on mana drainers, he hasn’t even seen the people who have mana draining Bloodline of the Empire of Krysperia.

However, he had a suspicion of somebody walking around Krysperium who probably has the power to drain mana. And that man was sitting in front of him.

The Roghinian warrior calling himself “BasketSlayer” munched on the food he had in front of him. He looked up at Garett and said, “What? I just love to eat food.”

Garett smiled. Wouldn’t it be too convenient if this person was the thief? “That was why I invited you. And to know more about you. It’s rare to have Roghinians in the capital.” He couldn't forget what happened during the fight of Maurice against this person. Maurice fainted while trading punches with the Roghinian. The healers' diagnosis was that he used up his mana during the fight. Quite understandable. However, Garett knew the capabilities of Maurice very well. He was sure that Maurice had plenty of mana to spare. Although, it was clear from their fight that there was no way he could have won, he should have been able to hold out longer. An explanation was that his mana was drained, or a spell was cast that had the same effect of using up one's mana-similar to what happened to the priests and guards who were attacked by the thief. "I hope you enjoy your food."

The Roghinian nodded and dove once again on the food Garett had prepared. After they finished an uneventful meal with the princess, Garett offered  his mechanized coach to take home the Roghinian. Obviously, it would be faster if the palace mages flew him back, but Garett also offered him different pastries that Krysperia was famous for. It was well known in the arena that the Roghinian loved to eat. The people in the arena told him that the Roghinian would eat everything that was served.

It probably looked suspicious to invite him for a ride, for they were the contenders for the finals of the tournament, but Garett reasoned that he too would like to get to know more about Roghinia. The Roghinian was very vague about his country throughout the meal with the princess. Which wasn’t surprising, if he was a real Roghinian. However, it was the sort of vagueness that came from someone who most likely had never been in that place before. 

Garett cleared his throat and said, “I was an orphan, raised up in an orphanage of the Church.” He surmised that if he talked about his story, the Roghinian would also talk about his origins. He needed to learn as much as he could from this person, even if to simply close of a lead so that they could focus on other things. “Showing promise for fighting, they trained me to become a warrior of the Church.”

“Oh, that’s good then.” The Roghinian wiped his mouth. “So we’re telling backstories now? My name, given to me by my first master is ‘Aya’. I know it sounds like a girl. My master probably didn't care what to name me. Or she knew someone named Aya.”

“Master? From your clan? If my knowledge of Roghinian culture is correct, you aren’t really attached to your parents. Those who become warriors, anyway.”

“I’m not from the clans, actually. And I don’t know who my parents were.”

Garett kept his expression neutral. Why was he telling me about this? Does he know that I was investigating his connection with the Roghinian warriors of the Venenum clan currently in Roghinia. He licked his lips as he thought of how to proceed. Garett had his own followers investigate the lead concerning the Roghinian. He didn’t want to alert Pyre on what he was doing. If Garett came up with nothing, Pyre would try to discredit him and gain control of the whole investigation. Pyre owed him a lot after helping out his assassins that got caught by the city guards. He wouldn’t want to give that shadow bastard any ammunition to use against him. Garett didn’t say anything but simply looked expectantly at this ‘Aya’, if that was his real name, to continue talking.

Aya scrunched his nose and said, “In fact, I was raised by a mercenary band who was hired by a mercenary sealcrafter. So they’re all mercenaries. I’m not really sure who picked me up when I was abandoned; the sealcrafter or his bodyguards. But they raised me. I really didn’t have a name back then, nor did I care about having a name. I only had a name after my master picked me up after they all died. So I guess we’re both orphans then?”

Garett chuckled and raised his cup. “A toast to us then? For having reached this far despite having such backgrounds.”

Aya also raised his cup and downed it. “So…what’s with all these detectors?”

“Detectors?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb. Your carriage here is full of them.”

“Well…uh.”

“I guess it’s preparation for our fight?” The Roghinian stood up, balancing as the coach moved, and examined one of the gems in the mouth of a dragon carving on the handle of the door of the couah. “I’m sure this one is a detector of some sort. Pretty advanced than what I used to encounter, but that’s understandable.”

“Haha, you got me,” Garett said, holding his hands up as if he was apologetic. He intended to invite the Roghinian to his coach so that his body could be examined discreetly by the numerous detectors he has placed inside. Various void magic detecting items crafted by the Church through the years of hunting them down. What these couldn’t do was detecting someone whose void gate wasn’t opened, like a child, but Garett was confident these could detect void mages just fine.

The detectors were silent the entire time. Garett wasn’t expecting the Roghinian to be a void mage, anyway. But that it didn’t mean that the Roghinian was already exonerated in his eyes. No. Garett was sure that the one who stole the Dragon’s Heart was a different person from the one Pyre’s men chased. 

“What are these things looking for anyway?” Aya said, poking at another dragon’s eye which contained a scanner of a person’s passive mana field around their body. “Are you scared of how I transformed in my fight? I heard that you could also transform.”

“I admit I was curious as to how you transformed. Reviewing the recordings of the fight, it didn’t look like something caused by a beaststone.”

“So you invited me here to get examined?” Aya tilted his head. “I guess, that’s fine since you fed me.”

“I hope you did not find my…uh…conduct as offensive,” Garett said with a sly smile. Although, the Roghinian couldn’t do anything about it if he indeed found it offensive, he thought. If the detectors so much as peeped that he was a void mage, Garett wouldn’t hesitate to execute him on the spot. Garett relaxed a notch after confirming that he wasn’t a void mage.

“No, no, not at all. It’s not surprising that I have many fans,” the Roghinian said. Then he laughed. “I’m joking. I know you have more fans than me.”

Garett nodded while allowing a glimmer of smile reached his eyes. “I must confess, Roghinian. I find you interesting.”

“It’s interesting that you find me interesting.”

“What’s interesting is that you don’t have hereditary tattoos.” Garett’s face turned serious. Surely this would rattle this Roghinian. The people of Roghinia were extremely secretive, especially their warriors, but information about concerning powerful skills would surely surface somewhere.

“What do you know about hereditary tattoos? Those were supposed to be the secret of Roghinians,” he said with a fake smile on his face, totally hiding any emotion.

Playing the victim, are we? “I know you’re not a real Roghinian.”

“Real Roghinian…warrior.” He leaned back and crossed his legs on the table between us. 

Garett blinked. “Well, yes. You’re not a Roghinian warrior, because they have hereditary tattoos from each clan. Quite interesting that you’re impersonating one given that the Roghinian warriors are, huh, protective of their status. At the least, you’re a Roghinian. That can be seen. Or are you? You’re already impersonating a Roghinian warrior, maybe you’re also impersonating a person of Roghinian descent?” Even though Garett had some experience in dealing with illusions and disguises, especially by virtue of his association with Pyre and the church assassins, he knew that there were disguises that he wouldn’t be able to detect. For example, Garett wouldn’t even dream of seeing through the illusions of Devastator Knight Elverius. However, he hoped that the magical detection instruments installed in the coach would be able to alert him if the person in front of him was using a disguise.

There was a large possibility that the one who stole the artifact of the church was one well-versed in disguises. Another plausible explanation how he was able to trick the priests into opening the treasure chamber was that the thief was capable of powerful hypnotism. Most of the investigators were leaning towards the latter explanation. The high priest who led the group to the treasure chamber said that his memory of that time was hazy and he wasn't sure what he was doing.

“So who are you? Why did you come here? Why join this tournament?” Garett asked.

“I’m Aya, like I said before. I have other names as well. More like titles though. As for this tournament. I wanted food so I joined. And then I enjoyed playing around in the arena. I missed the carefree life of being an adventurer, just beating up monsters. I didn’t find any monsters around, so I just beat other humans.”

“Are you some kind of psychopath?”

“Nope. I just want to play around for now. It’s tiring to bear the burden of responsibility all the time. And I’m waiting for the ceremony of the princess. I think that would be interesting.”

Garett didn’t ask what he meant by “burden of responsibility.” Instead, he asked, “Would you be leaving with those Roghinians?”

“You mean the real warrior ones?” Aya said without beating a brow.

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It’s like he doesn’t even care his cover was blown. Garett said, “Are you with them?”

“Nope, I didn’t even know they were here. Of course, they got angry that I’m impersonating a warrior. I think anyone who has met a real Roghinian warrior would immediately notice the carvings on their face.”

“But you’re Roghinian?”

“Yes…Maybe? Haha. I don’t know who my parents were. But I do look very much like one so, that’s that.”

“You’re a Roghinian and a warrior, so you can call yourself a Roghinian warrior?” Both of them laughed. Garett didn’t mean to joke but there was something about Aya that made people relax. It was like he simply didn’t care and just did what he wanted to do.

Garett had an idea why those Roghinians, the real warrior ones, as Aya put it, were in Krysperium, so far from their country. They were dealing with the Baccarats, that meant weapons and armors. It was another question why they wanted those. Preparing for war? But Roghinia should be stabilized right now because of their powerful king? Those were matters Garett shouldn’t concern himself with. It was enough that they weren’t connected to this fake Roghinian warrior.

He rummaged around the inner pockets of his robe and pulled out a circular object. It was big as a saucer for tea. It had a clear surface on top, almost like a mirror, while there was half a sphere attached below it housing all its important components.

Lightly laying it on the table, it balanced on its curved back. Garett and Aya’s faces were reflected by the shiny plate on its top.

“This is a Rhysmus Disc. It analyzes your mana, how pure it is, it’s nature, different aspects. It shows up the results on the disc.”

“You want to examine my mana?"

“If you would be so kind.”

“That’s kind of…intrusive? I don’t know the word. I mean, I understand that you want to know your opponent in your next fight, but this is too much. That’s already like asking me to submit myself to a full body examination.”

“I understand,” Garret said. The Rhysmus Disc could actually tell if one was a void mage. Obviously, if the man before him was a void mage, he wouldn’t use his void mana, or else this leisurely trip would turn into an execution. Then he would use his normal mana. A void mage’s normal mana was as if it was a normal person’s mana, as if it wasn’t used for magic at all. Most void mages’ mana would be worse off than a normal person’s mana; absolutely useless for casting magic, only good for heretical deeds. This would confirm once and for all if this person was a void mage. “I know it’s asking too much to have your mana willingly examined, and after I have scanned you with my detectors…I do sound like a damn grakker.”

Aya waved his hand. “I don’t mind the detectors. I already said that I’m fine with it because you fed me.”

“So how about we make a wager? On the results of the tournament.”

“Like if you win, I get to be examined by that thing?”

“Something like that. I am confident of winning.”

“So am I.”

“It’s a deal then?” Garett was fine with waiting until their fight. He would incapacitate the Roghinian so that he wouldn’t even be capable of running away after their fight, but conscious enough to channel mana into the disc. It wasn’t a good idea to force him to get examined now. Now, I just have to make sure he doesn’t escape before the fight. Maybe I should put all my men to guarding him? There was this…gut feeling Garett has that there was something more to this man than clowning around in the arena. Was he really the thief?

“Why not now?”

“Huh?” Garett raised his brow.

“Let’s do an exchange. You’re going to use the disc to know something about me. Then let me ask you a question. And you will answer. And that’s the trade.”

“Just a question?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there might be questions that I couldn’t answer.”

“Just answer it the best way you can. I’m not going to ask about your secrets.”

Garett nodded. “It’s a deal. But you have to get your mana analyzed first.”

“Sure, fine with me.”

“Before that, may I ask you why you agreed? I’m your next opponent. The nature of your mana would tell me a lot about you.” Besides from showing if Aya was a void mage, it could also provide Garett information on whether or not he was capable of draining mana or doing something like what the thief did to the priests and the guards. 

If he was able to get the reading of Aya, he would then use his connections, favors, even ask help from the high priests, to get a reading of the mana of one of the mana drainers of the Empire. Hell, he would even ask Pyre to steal one. It was then a simple matter to compare them. If Aya wasn’t a mana drainer but still, somehow, had the same power as the thief who was able to exhaust the mana of the victims, that would probably show up on the analysis of his mana. It sounds like a Bloodline.

“Why I agreed? I just want to see your reaction when you examine my mana.”

Garett gestured at the disc. “Go ahead. Surprise me.”

Aya grinned and held the disc with his hand. A slight white glow lit the couch as Aya channeled his mana into the disc. As he removed his hand, Garett held his breath, his eyes fixed at the disc to see what color it would show. He wasn’t an expert on mana analysis, he might need to take it to the engynares, but he was sure he could make a cursory analysis.

“Wha-wha-what?” Garett quickly leaned down, his eyes unbelieving.

“Told you you’d be surprised.”

“But…how?” Garett’s hands were shaking as reached for the disc. “This is impossible.”

“It’s possible,” Aya said, tapping the disc. “You just have to know how to do it.”

The disc contained a liquid that reacted to mana channeled to it. It was very rare, rumored to come from the Delphine Pool itself. There were precious few Rhysmus Disc produced every year. Garett had his own after he was promoted to the head of the Discipulus. He had special interest in results of Rhysmus tests because his own results were unique because he had a mutation in his mana channels.

He had seen several plates of how manifestations of other mutations would look like and he was also familiar of how normal mana from varying calibers of mages would appear, however, what he saw was something that he has only read from books.

The liquid turned clear, clear as water, yet it was swirling violently. But it was unmistakably clear, despite the ripples messing up its surface. Garett could glimpse the mechanisms on the bottom of the disc.

“How is it so…so clear?” Garett said, transfixed on the clear swirling liquid. “No one can achieve that level of purity. That’s, that’s just theoretical. Humans could never have mana that clear no matter what method they use to purify their own mana.”

“You’re an experienced warrior. Probably had your share of surprising things. But I don’t think you’re one of those people who’ll say that nothing will surprise them anymore.”

Garett didn’t answer. He stared dumbly at the disc. His mouth moved but he spoke no words. He blinked several times before looking at the Roghinian.

Aya smiled and said, “I don’t know what you were expecting in testing out my mana, but I’m sure it wasn’t this.”

Chuckling, recovering slightly from the shock, Garett managed to reply, “Yes…I wasn’t expecting that.” He grabbed the disc and turned it over. Removing the back cover, he examined the runes inside. All completely fine. He wasn’t familiar with the wires and other engynaretech weaving through the runes but they also looked untampered.

“Heh, you still couldn’t believe it, can you? How about you test it yourself?”

Garett hesitated. While it was obvious that the best way to see if it was working correctly was to test it himself, he didn’t want to show the Roghinian his mana reading. His mana was…uncommon, to say the least. Which was the reason why his body could achieve nearly impossible synchronization with beaststones. But his curiosity got the better of him. He set the disc on the table and channeled mana to it.

The disc made whirring sounds before settling down. He removed his hands. The swirling liquid inside the disc slowly turned a pale orange with streaks of red.

“What’s that? A mutation? That’s a cool looking one. And that’s saying something since I have seen several mutations.” Aya leaned back on the plush seat and grinned. “Mine is still more awesome than that.”

With his brows furrowed, Garett bowed down to think. The disc is working fine. It correctly showed the reading of his mana. His reading always looked like that, from the time he was tested in the orphanage nearly three decades ago, up to now. There were more red parts in the past, but in time, he was able to purify most of his mana. The disc is working, damn it. What does this mean?

He glanced at the Roghinian, checking his reaction to his own mutated mana. The Roghinian was munching on the remaining food, without a care in the world. Garett’s eyes narrowed. Without a care in the world that his mana was probably the purest form there is. 

He wasn't a void mage. Even the most learned archmagus could never hope to achieve this sort of purity, much less a void mage who don't even use their normal mana. Garett slowly breathed as he tried to calm down. This was an important find. If only he could convince this person to be in the employ of the Church. Or even submit to full examination. The recording of the reading itself was priceless. Who in the entirety of Krysperia could say that they had the reading of the purest mana? 

"So that's why Maurice's mana run out," Garett muttered to himself.

"What?" 

"Nothing. Nothing. Just thinking about something." Garett then looked again at the disc. Maurice and Aya exchanged blows towards the end of their fight. If Aya covered his body with his mana as well as powering his punches with it, then the pressure alone would shave off Maurice's own mana. Garett couldn't even imagine the pressure exerted by this level of purity, which was probably why Aya haven't used any spells at all. He simply brute forced all his enemies with his mana, akin to the psybatteries used against the Blight. This person could actually fight the Blight barehanded!

"Alright, my turn now."

Garett sat up straight. What sort of question would the Roghinian ask?

The Roghinian cleared his throat. “I’m going to ask you a hypothetical question. It’s not going to be an indirect question that will make you divulge those precious secrets of yours. I’m just asking you to think about it and answer honestly.” He shrugged. “Well, if you don’t answer honestly, it’s not like I can do anything about that.”

Garett was intrigued. His goal of finding out information about the lost treasure seemed to have been shoved aside by sheer amazement in finding someone who had such a pure mana. If I can bring him into the church…at the least, he isn’t a void mage. That much was sure. Garett leaned forward and sincerely said, “I promise to answer honestly.”

Aya nodded. “Let us say. There’s a village. It’s growing fast, many people coming over to migrate because the land is fertile, many plants and animals around. So, people need food, water, all that. Fortunately, there’s a river nearby. This river has a very uncertain flow. During high times, it would reach even the village, maybe even killing some people and livestock, destroying houses. And in low times, there would be hardly any water, even if they dug canals to water their fields.

“They all came together, and even some people from other villages to discuss what to do. And they all decided to dam the river and make canals and tunnelworks to distribute the water not only to the village near it but also to other villages, their lands, and so on. So all in all a good plan.”

Garett said, “I must confess, Roghinian. I’m not well versed in public works."

“And neither am I,” he replied. “Let’s just say that this dam they’re doing will help a lot of people. There you are, the head of the workers who will make this dam and canals. One day, in clearing the land where you’ll build stuff, you found this, uh, group of small animals and insects.

“Let’s say they can talk to you or make signs; the point is you can understand them. They plead with you to stop the construction because it will destroy their home. They can’t move because the food they eat only grows there, and, well, they’re wild animals that grew in that specific environment, it’s not a simple task of just packing them up and putting them in another forest or something. They plead with the big and powerful human to stop what they’re doing. They know that they can’t stop the humans by fighting back so they gathered to talk to you, the head of the workers, to stop what you’re doing.

“So…what would you do in that situation, head of the public works? Basically, the question is don’t build the dam and the village nearby will keep on getting flooded during high season and the other villages won’t get water, or build the dam and damn the insects and small animals living around. Sorry for that pun”

Garett mulled things over. It doesn’t sound like a question to trick me into divulging any sensitive information. “I think it isn’t as easy as what is the right thing to do.”

“That’s a good observation, warrior of the Church. This isn’t as simple as I’m going to help my parents do chores because that’s the right thing to do. Hmmm, a dam would also affect the fishes in the river, right? So, yeah. The fishes also plead with you to stop it.”

“This is a situation of the lives of these animals or improving the lives of the people around the village," Garett said, "and even affecting their lives indirectly. If the river gets dammed and canals get constructed, it would benefit the fields, food, livelihood, make the river safer, I guess? But if I say that I’ll help the humans, I would look bad because I’ll be condemning the small animals.”

“The perception of others affects your choice?”

“Uh—”

“That’s the import of what you just said.”

“Are you a philosopher, Roghinian?”

Aya grinned. “I think I have asked that question to two others. Their initial reaction is that they would, obviously, help humans. That’s the greater good. A dam, bountiful fields, a forest. You could have a small town grow in a few years. One even said to me that you can compare the long term aspects. That place could be a bustling city in the future. If you don’t build the dam those animals and insects will just…be there. It’s not like they will leave that place or do good, or whatever.”

“But what prevented those people you asked from instantly saying help the humans is that the animals and insects could communicate?” Garett said.

Aya nodded.

Garett said, “I can honestly say that that is what stopped me as well from instantly answering your question with what I think should be the correct answer. Is there a correct answer, anyway?”

“Nope. There’s no correct answer. It all lies within you. If you’re a crazy murderer your answer might be that you will just destroy the village and kill the animals so you won’t have any problems in choosing. Perfectly valid answer. I’m simply trying to see how others would answer it.”

“A moral dilemma of sorts? That was an interesting question, Aya. And yes. I’ll help the humans.”

“You’ll let the animals and insects die?”

“That does sound bad if you say it that way. Even this city of Krysperium was built on the crystal mountain that used to be a dragon hive. Many dragons were killed by the great First Emperor to take control of the mana node beneath this city. And look at this,” Garett said, gesturing outside the window, the forest of buildings making up the lower levels of the city showed up as they rounded a path on the edge of their current level.

“That’s some nice timing to prove your point. And your First Emperor killing dragons, that’s also a good point. Kinda fitting the situation I outlined.”

“That was all you had to ask?” Garett said skeptically. Sometimes, the priests who ran the orphanage would get into intense discussions of morality. He didn’t really understand those when he was a young child. For him, the best thing to do was what would yield the greatest benefits for all. Just like what the First Emperor did in making the city of Krysperium. Just like what the Emperor did when he sacrificed his life to destroy the most powerful Blight creature and turned the tide of war.

“That’s it. Thank you for answering.”

“On the talking animals, that was an interesting twist on this moral dilemma question. Small animals and insects, obviously insignificant; I think everyone has killed an insect at some point in their lives even if due to inadvertence. Quite different if those animals were able to converse with you”

“Did it bother you that they were able to plead with you?”

Garett paused. This man, whoever he really was, wasn’t a simple joker. Garett felt that there was more to this man, something mysterious, something deep, something powerful. He was shrouded in secret. No one could provide information about him before he got to Krysperium. Yet, Garett felt safe. This man could be trusted. "I was supposed to answer only one question."

Aya chuckled. “Guess the mighty warrior, the one who defeated all his enemies with one hit all throughout the tournament is bothered by talking insects? Or is it because I’m in front of you that you were bothered by them? If you were really in that situation without anyone around, I suppose that you will make your choice even faster.’

“Is that another question?” Garett didn’t want to answer the Roghinian because he was probably right. And what happened to this situation, anyway? He was supposed to be finding a lead on the person who stole the Dragon’s Heart. But he got sucked in a philosophical discussion. “You’ve already asked your question. That was for testing you out with the disc. I also gave you food as apology in advance for getting scanned by the detectors in my couch. That makes us even already. Unless you really want me to answer that question? Then I have to ask you a question of my own.”

“I just like seeing how people think. I don’t really think normally.”

“That’s an understatement coming from someone who has the purest mana I have ever seen and who entered the tournament carrying the name ‘BastketSlayer’ and fights with a basket.”

 Aya looked out the window. “Guess we’re getting near. Do you have any more need of me? It looks like you have a question for me.”

“So a question for a question? You can ask me one more of your moral dilemmas.”

The coach lurched to a stop right in front of the golden gate leading into the villa rented by the Dolsworth students. They both alighted and Aya gestured that they go inside.

“This is a cozy place, so you say you’re staying here in return for teaching one of them?” Garett asked.

“Yes, and he got into Milla.”

“That’s amazing,” Garett said, genuinely surprised. Aya made it sound like anyone could get in Milla if he taught them. Even the most gifted students of various mage academies couldn’t assume that they’ll get accepted. But then again, this person's mana was amazing to say the least. He might even be one of those ancient sages that travel the land to increase their knowledge. The ones who hide their identity, never caring for fame or fortune. They could easily concoct a potion to make their bodies younger.

Aya sat beneath a tree in the garden and said, "I'll ask my question first."

"Sure, go ahead." Garett sat on a rock in front of the tree.

"Let's go back to dams. This time, it's a big dam upstream. You're in charge of the dam. After I defeated you in the tournament, you quit and went to work for the government, taking charge of this dam."

"That's not going to happen."

"We'll see in our fight tomorrow. Anyway, there's this big storm incoming. You're pretty sure the dam will burst because of the amount of water that will fall. If you don't open the dam early and lower the water level, it will burst and rage downstream to destroy the cities below, something like that."

"You really like dams," Garett said chuckling.

"So, obviously, you want to open the dam. However, there's a message that some people were going upstream to visit you, let's say your friends from the Church. They missed you and wanted to check on you. If you open the dam, they'll be washed away. Hey, I don't know how dams work. Let's just say it's like that. I don't even know why your friends would go there under heavy rain."

"Your question would be choosing between my friends and saving the city?" Garett said. "If I wait for them to get up to me then it would be too late and the dam would burst. So, this time, the choice is between them in contrast to earlier that it's between animals and humans?"

"Nope. That's not the question. As you were thinking what to do, whether to open the dam or not, another employee told you that he would make the choice and answer the higher ups on whatever happens. I think I'm correct in assuming that you won't allow that."

"Yes, I would not hand over that responsibility to others."

"My question is, why?"

Garett had a ready answer. "Because that would be cowardly," he said simply. "Do you want me to elaborate?"

Aya gave him a sad looking smile, as if he was remembering something. He shook his head. "No need to elaborate. Ask me your question."

"You'll answer honestly?"

"Yes,"

"Did you steal an orb from the temple?"

Aya met Garett's eyes and said. "No."