-You know, I never told this story to anyone - he suddenly declared. - Not even father… I mean, Jack knows about it, somewhat... I never actually spoke with anyone about my past…

-So why are you telling me that?

-I have no idea… - he replied, confused.

-Hm. I might have a guess…

-Hm?

-Technically, you are not telling me that.

-What? Aren’t we talking right now?

-You are thinking it. It's slightly different.

-What does that even mean?

-I know. It's strange. The whole effect is the same but… Have you ever thought of imaginary scenarios in your head? Thinking of dialogues, discussing with yourself?

-I… - he hesitated.

-Of course you did. A lot of people do. It's quite common, we just never talk about it with anyone. It's pretty embarrassing, right?

-You got that right…

-See, and yet we are talking about it. Or rather we aren’t. And we don't even feel different at all. Because this conversation is basically the same as that: a scenario in your head, but this time it's all very real. I bet I even sound different.

-Sort of… although I don't think that has to do anything with this…

-Oh?

-Yeah, I heard some of your thoughts before - he admitted. - And I remember you being surprised about the weird tone of your voice. I assume that's just it…

Good thing that he mentioned that. I never knew he was eavesdropping. Hell, he was getting quite powerful. I needed to be a lot more careful in the future.

-Uh-uh… strange, because you also changed your tone… - I pointed out. - Or, to be clear it's not the tone… it's more the way you conduct yourself. I wasn't really paying much attention, but you sound a lot more mature. Like I am not talking with a kid or teen… you're just like an adult person now. Hell, you're probably even more mature than I am.

I could feel his confusion.

-That's the first time in my life that someone genuinely thought that.

-What, Jack has that low opinion of you?

-Nah, he and Vendi don't count. They will tell me whatever I want to hear.

-Have you ever thought that it might actually be the truth? You've been through quite a lot, you know. I would've been surprised that something like this would not change someone…

-I suppose so… besides, I'm not that young.

-Oh really? How old are you then?

-20.

-Excuse me? - I didn't bother hiding my surprise.

-What?

-When I saw you at the inn, the first time we met, I'd have sworn that you are not older than 16… hell, maybe less. What gives?

-It's really gotten this bad…?

-What?

-That's just… an unfortunate side effect of my magic… my healing rather. Or to be precise it's more like just the problem with me…

-With you? How does that work?

-I just lack imagination.

-What does THAT have to do with anything?

-To heal… or to change someone's body, as I mentioned before, I need to know what I am making. See, it's pretty hard to think of something that you've never seen before. Like me in this case. I have never seen my older face, obviously, so I always go for the one I remember and know. And so it happens that it's just the one younger than what I am… At a certain point I figured I started sounding a bit strange for my visible age, so I tried making something different. Didn't really work, I just managed to create a face similar to Jack, as you saw me. Too bad that even that one was younger than I was aiming for. Inconvenient, isn't it?

-Inconvenient? - I couldn't believe what I was hearing. - The hell are you talking about? You literally have eternal youth on your hands and you think that having someone be weirded out about your behavior is a problem? Don't make me laugh. A lot of people would pay a ton of money to be in your place. What am I talking about, not only money, I know people would've done more than that! Besides, you already figured that out, you just can act as a child.

-Sure… but I'm not good at it… it's strange…

-I bet someone would be so into that… In any case, don't sell yourself short, you're better at it than you think. Fooled me good.

-Thanks… I guess? I didn’t even try…

-You didn’t? Ha. You definitely acted like a kid when we first met. Hell, was that whole story about learning to read also Jack’s bullshit?

-Emmm…

-That means yes. Holy hell, he really does everything for you.

-You’re not wrong… I don’t know, I think he’s still feeling guilty for working in slave trade.

-As he should.

-But… that was not his idea. Or, to be frank… it was just a… a failure from me.

-Failure?

-Yeah. The thing is, he doesn’t know everything about me.

-Sure, you mentioned that…

-That includes my age and…

-Ha. So you fooled him too.

-Seems like it. Although I failed some time ago…

-That’s where the “he learned to read in such a quick time” came from?

-Yeah… He caught me. He told me a lot about him, how he wanted to change and all, but it seemed like his story was missing something. So I started digging. During that, I managed to find his office with documents one day. He never knew that I could read, so never bothered hiding the papers from me.

-Yea… I think he mentioned wanting to get you a teacher to finally make you be able to read though…

-He did? - he did not sound surprised, despite the question. - Sounds like him alright.

-He really is an overprotective father…

-Yeah… even when he caught me red-handed, browsing through his documents, he didn’t even yell or was mad. The exact opposite. He was so proud and happy that I was able to do it myself, and I could almost see him shining with pride…

-That man is something else…

I couldn’t tell if he was just trying to get me on his side or just plain fact that Jack was such a person, but it was definitely working. The initial rage and animosity I felt towards him after I learned that he stooped so low as to experiment on the kids already was vanishing. Although I still had a sour taste in my mouth after that discovery.

-What about that master of his though… Ilon? Do you know something?

-I assume you are also curious about his magic?

-His magic?

-Yes. The ability to wield multiple elements is somewhat rare, but to be able to manipulate all of them is unparalleled…

-Thanks.

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-Huh?

-What, you didn’t notice? I can do that too. Not that hard, really.

-Wait, what?

I couldn’t help myself but to release an exhausted sigh.

-Yes, I can use all the elements too… It really was not that much of a feat…

-Wait, so if not for that, why are you so interested in him?

-What, you assume I wanted to get to him to learn to use more elements? Ha, good one. First off, that’s not something you “teach”.

-If not then how did you learn it?

-I mean… I just could do that from the get go? It’s somewhat weird…

-Wait, so you come from the race of people who could just manipulate EVERYTHING? Woah…

-While it’s not really a race, I guess you could put it like that…

-If not a race then what?

-And why are you so interested?

-I mean… I am just curious…

-What, you wanted to learn that? - I suddenly realized. - That’s why you stuck with Jack and all others?

-It’s not like I wanted to learn more elements… I just wanted to learn more about life magic… This thing is hard to control.

-Oh, I assure you, I am aware.

-You can use it too?

-I told you, I can use all kinds of magic. But it’s not like I am very proficient in it. I can understand and cast spells, sure, but that does not mean that I can do each of them well.

-Oh.

-Yea, doesn’t sound so omnipotent, now, does it? It probably was the same for that mentor of his. Speaking of, you know anything about him, that is besides what Jack already told me.

-No. So wait, that’s why are you so interested in him? Because he’s similar to you? You think he’s… a kin of yours?

-Something like that. To be honest, I am not sure how I exactly ended up where I am, but I am pretty sure that I am not alone. Especially after learning about that guy.

-I mean, whenever Jack was talking about him he never mentioned that he was a crystal person, but he seemed to know a lot about them, so maybe…

-Oh, I am not looking for him because I think he’s a crystal remnant. But now while you mention it, that’s possible… No. I am looking for him because I am pretty sure that I know him. Or at least I know who he is.

-What?

-Yeah. If I am not wrong, “Ilon” is just an alias, and his real name is Noli. Didn’t you hear what I was thinking earlier?

-Bits and pieces… but while that definitely seems possible… So what? What’s so interesting about that?

-Besides the apparent focus of the whole continent on his wife? I just want to know how he got here. Maybe he could help me understand this whole predicament…

-Yes… I was wondering about that. What are you looking for? You want to go back to your homeland I presume?

-To be honest, right now I think I don’t have one any more - I replied truthfully.

-Really? That’s sad…

-Yeah… but that’s a story for another time. Right now I have some other things to worry about.

-Like what?

-Like what to do with you and the rest of this merry band of idiots.

-I thought… I thought you were going to help me…

-Oh, don’t try to get on my good side. - I rolled my eyes. - Besides, yes, I still intend on helping you. The issue is Jack and Vendi. I can’t in good faith leave the rest of the kids in their custody.

-I mean… the issues with magic are pretty bad - Kon agreed with me - but it’s not that bad! I still can help them.

-And can you take care of every single one of them? - I asked, not convinced. - Help them develop their magic, control Jack and his strange fixation on trying to make revenants, while at the same time taking care of their needs?

-I mean…

-Sure, even if we consider the fact that Jack and Vendi would at least pay for most of the things, to cover their needs, the education itself is a hard one. And I am not sure that you can even manage that on your own. You are still young, even if not a child as I thought before. Besides that, you can’t control your own magic that well, and that band of kids is surely a handful, if I was to judge from what Jack said.

-There were no problems before, I think I can manage! If you are worried that I would teach them life magic, it's…

-Oh, I am not worried about that. You already got bit by using it too much, so you’d have to be a very irresponsible person to try and teach them something you are not sure about yourself. And I already know there were some accidents here, so don’t feed me that crap.

-That was before I started teaching them! - he protested. - That’s the reason I started in the first place!

-Hmm. What were you teaching them anyway?

-Basics of mana control and how to convert it to your own element… I couldn’t really handle much more without revealing my abilities completely… - he admitted. - I picked up some theory thanks to Ilon… or rather Noli.

Maybe it wasn’t the worst idea in the end… Kon seemed like the most trustworthy of the bunch, and responsible, surprisingly enough. Even if we consider his previous failures, he was still a better candidate to help those kids than either Jack or Vendi. The thing he was mostly lacking though was just straight up money. But then, Jack would definitely follow him if asked, and with him owning this place…

-Okay, sure… but how do you imagine all this? I am not talking about the whole issue of your current state, that’s a completely different problem.

-What do you mean?

-Say we get you back to your body. You are back to normal. What next? How are you going to make sure that Jack won’t start acting up again? From what I know you didn’t even know that most of that crap was going down.

-I had some inkling that he was up to something… but…

-So why didn’t you stop him?

-Because I thought he was doing it in good faith! He’s never done anything to hurt any of us, especially me. He always was trying to better our living conditions, constantly using his own money to try and somehow aid the kids. Whenever any of them needed something, he provided, or at least tried doing so as hard as he could. You should know, after all…

-Yes, yes. I know. The ends don’t justify the means though.

-But…

-Okay, okay. What about the other one though? I can see you managing Jack somehow, but Vendi is a loose cannon. I’ve seen him be both a bootlicker and an absolute pain. How can I be sure about him?

-Oh, that’s an easy one - he instantly replied. - He cannot defy Jack. He is his slave after all.

So it was true. I felt like that was the case, especially after he got slapped to the other side of the building and didn’t react, but it was good to have confirmation.

-You know that doesn’t speak well of your “father”.

-Okay, that’s not his fault though! He told me that he willingly agreed to that.

-Someone willingly agreed to be a slave? Don’t make me laugh. Sure, I could see that happening if Jack was some ultra-rich noble or something along those lines, but an outlaw? Hell no.

-But that’s true! He did save his life after all! Or at least, part of it.

-Ah, so the healing was not exactly free, huh? I see…

-Okay, you say like that's something strange - he suddenly protested. - I mean, sure that’s a big price to pay, but…

-Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am not judging anyone for getting paid. He provided a service, and the service usually goes hand in hand with payment. That’s absolutely fine.

-So what’s the problem?

-The problem is, what kind of payment he got.

-You know that he’s trying to help us! Okay… it’s a bit… dark to use the same thing you so much hate and… but…

-Again wrong - I stopped his defense. - I agree, that’s strange and all, but not the thing I am worried about currently.

-So what’s the problem then? I don’t understand…

-I don’t blame you. There are not many people who do. See, the problem is that this “slavery”, call it what you will, is blood magic.

-You mean blood pacts…?

-Yeah, that one. That’s elven magic. And as we are well aware, elves are not exactly friends of yours… nor mine for that matter.

-Okay…. but why then use their own magic against them? What’s wrong with that?

-Nothing. The problem is that the magic is very, very unreliable and awkward.

-Unreliable? Blood pacts? How? - he sounded very surprised. - I have never heard of someone being able to break those.

-So you haven’t heard much. I’ve not been long in your country, but I already managed to trick multiple people into signing something like that with me, even without knowing what the contracts were.

-What…?

-Yep. The fact that everyone is so eager to use those contracts in everything is a definite weak spot in itself.

-How? I mean… it’s unbreakable right? That is until you fulfill your contract…

-Right. And what were the contract’s contents?

-I… I don’t know…

-Exactly. We don’t know. So we are not sure for how long they would hold. Even if you set up the conditions as tight as you can, it is essentially a monkey's paw.

-You really don’t trust this magic, don’t you…?

-It’s not like I don’t trust this thing in particular… It’s just the uses and overall the whole idea of this system is flawed. Hell, I used it multiple times, some by accident, some on purpose, and still I am not sure how helpful that was…

-I don’t understand.

-Me neither.

-Eh… whatever… - I finally said aloud after a long while. I will help. But only you for now - I added in my mind directly to Kon.

I left the room and instantly found myself next to Jack and Vendi, who were apparently waiting for me outside. At first I was slightly alarmed, but for naught. They were just calmly waiting for my answer. Okay, maybe not both of them. Jack was definitely far from being calm, pacing back and forth, only Vendi was just standing there, staring into space.

-I will help Kon. But only him. I need all your information on the remnants. I will be preparing the ritual.

-I… of course… - Jack sounded slightly relieved, but immediately asked - What next though?

-Next, there will be some changes around here.

-Changes? - even Vendi got interested.

-Yes. Think whatever you want about it, but I made up my mind about a few things.

They did not say a thing, but I could see them tense up. They realized that I did not change my mind about this whole thing, although they definitely did not figure out my idea about this place.

But first, I had to deal with Kon.