“Oh, if it isn’t the little healer?” Kirielle saluted me as I entered her office. “What brings you here, Edrie?”

“Little healer, really?” I glanced at her, to which the woman just shrugged. I sighed. “Anyways, I’m not here to pay you a visit, and certainly not for your antics.”

“Oh, really? But people enjoy my antics!” The mentalist laughed.

“Do they?” I grimly said. “Do they, Kirielle?”

“I enjoy showering people with my antics.” The woman confessed which got another sigh out of me. “Well, are you going to reveal to me why you’ve come to visit? I am a very occupied person.”

“Yes, I have heard that.” With my emotionless response, I gained the mentalist’s attention. “When were you going to tell me you were a Minister of the Arcane Sanctum?”

“Never?” Kirielle’s lighthearted tone only gained a dirty gaze from me. “I mean, it’s a recent thing, and you never asked.”

The deadpan drawn on my visage was so neutral, so lacking yet visceral, that I could even feel it myself. That prompted a response from the mind healer.

“I mean,” she added in a hurried panic, “Alatea knows it, so that must account for something, doesn’t it? And judging by how close you are to her, isn’t her fault that you didn’t know it?”

I was authentically flabbergasted at Kirielle’s train of thought. Was this characteristic of mentalists, or was she just being a prick?

“Are you really trying to blame Alatea?”

“Perhaps.” Kirielle blinked innocently. “Okay, okay. I forgot to tell you, but what’s the matter? You didn’t come here to reprimand me, did you?”

“When did you even become a Minister? And why?”

“Not much, just five years ago.” At this point, I don’t know why I kept trying to discuss time with ellari. “And as for why, it’s a funny story. It’s kind of your fault.”

“Come again?” The reveal hit me like a Rock Hammer spell. “Are you seriously trying to pass the blame on me now?”

“Yes. Well, no. I...” Kirielle scratched her hair wildly. “Yes, I’m being serious.” She responded once she recovered her composure. “You know that I’m the Minister of Education, right?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Okay, so when I say that it’s your fault is because a few years ago, when we met, we had this whole discussion about the current High Arcanist messing up education. So that gave me an idea. If no one’s going to fix the issue, why don’t I? And after a couple of years or so, some paperwork and disputes with the previous Minister of Education, I got the job.” She explained. “You’d be amazed at how easy it is to get a job anywhere once you tell them you are a ten-star mage or higher.”

“I can guess.” Technically, I got my soldier position because of my recent ten-star.

“That’s basically it.” Kirielle straightened her platinum hair and placed some strands behind her modest pink ears. “It isn’t like many people wanted the position, and the Minister himself didn’t care about the position, but the fame and income that it carried. So, once I showed I was infinitely more competent, they kind of just appointed me the new Minister.”

“Huh, that was indeed quite the story.”

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“Told you.” She shrugged.

“But how is it that you spend most of your time in the healing ward? Shouldn’t you be working at the Arcane Sanctum?”

“That’s where you are wrong, little healer.” Kirielle waggled her index finger back and forth and tsked in disapproval. “I am working right now.”

“And how’s that?” I asked the ‘working’ woman.

“Well, all these documents are certainly not what you would expect from a healer. They are some paperwork that I have brought from the sanctum.”

“Is that even legal?” I tilted my head. “Aren’t governmental documents like classified and such and aren’t allowed to be taken out of certain areas?”

“Yes and no,” Kirielle responded. “Yes, these papers can’t leave a perimeter. But also no, because that perimeter is Sin’fal, and by extension, the academy and its healing ward are well inside the district. And either way, we are about a five-minute walk from the sanctum. No problem at all.”

“I wish I could be as carefree as you, Kirielle.”

“Carefree? Perhaps. Duty-free? Certainly not.” The mentalist slouched on her chair. A weird commodity for an ellari. “I don’t know why I’m still a healer. Yes, I haven’t done any actual healing for a few years now, but I still need to publish a paper or help with the healing ward once in a while to keep my office.”

“Why are you even in this office then?” I asked, finally taking a seat. “Wouldn’t it be far easier to have your own office in the Arcane Sanctum?”

“Oh, it would definitely be. But you are neglecting a little detail, little healer. I fucking hate the High Arcanist.”

“Oh, yeah. Fair enough. I’m not his biggest fan either.”

"On a more serious note, the Minister's offices are too big for my liking. We essentially got a whole floor to ourselves, and that kinda makes me uncomfortable." Kirielle rose from her chair and put her elbows on the table, cradling her head between her hands. “But enough talking about me. Why are you here, Edrie? You have been avoiding my question all this time.”

“I guess I should say it.” I sighed.

Kirielle was right, I was avoiding the subject. This wasn’t exactly an easy petition to request.

“I... I need your help regarding your position as a Minister.” I grimly stated.

“Sure, why not.” She responded with a smile.

It took me a hot second to rewire the mess that my brain had become with that answer. I blinked a few times before talking again.

“Shouldn’t you at least what I was going to ask you?”

“No, not really.” Kirielle undid her commanding pose and rested once more on the back of her chair. “You intend to summon the ish’mat’era, won’t you?”

“I... yes. But how?”

“How did I know it? Well, there’s a bit of a crash course on how to be a Minister, and whilst they don’t exactly teach you all your rights and responsibilities that your position carries, I am a bit more thorough than others. And the ish’mat’era isn’t a thing you forget easily. The question would be, how do you know about it?”

“Au’ter, the previous High Arcanist, told it to me,” I revealed.

“That old man’s still alive? Huh, why doesn’t it surprise me.” She added the last part muttering under her breath.

“Do you know him?”

“Of course!” A smile sprung out of Kirielle’s visage. “Au’ter is a genius healer, he advanced the whole field by centuries himself alone. As a mind healer myself, a neuromancer if you will, I was destined to meet someone as influential on the field as him. And we are both of the eleventh star, so that helps, even if I met him far before I reached such a milestone.”

Kirielle raised her arms and stretched them along with her neck. She pushed hard, her brown hair flowing with the movements, and only stopped once a satisfying crack was heard. Then, like nothing, she grabbed a pen and started writing on one of the papers of the many stacks.

“I enjoyed the rest, but you should go now.” She explained with a neutral and professional tone.

“Alright,” I stood from my seat, “it was nice seeing you.”

Kirielle scoffed. “Edrie, we saw yesterday.” More like a week ago.

“Nonetheless, it’s been my pleasure.”

“Wait.” But before I could take my leave, Kirielle interrupted me. “You should mention this to Alatea.”

“Why should I?” I looked at her with confusion. “She will clearly be against this. If I tell her, she would do anything at her disposal to keep me away from it.”

“I mean, yes.” The mentalist said. “But she’s a powerful healer, it will be of great aid during the confrontation. Or at least, once it has ended.”

“I... will think about it.” I certainly wouldn’t say a word to Alatea about the whole ish’mat’era thing.

“Sure, you will.” Kirielle scoffed as if she read my mind. Actually, she may well be able to do so. “I’ll message your commander about the details later. The Ceaseless Storm, wasn’t he?” I nodded. “I’ll patiently wait for the showdown of the century.” She added with a smile.

As I stepped away from the office, I could hear Kirielle’s muffled cries.

“Open it again and slam it shut! This door is a menace to sonority and concentration!”

I rolled my eyes I did what she said, better not to anger the person on who the whole plan lingered.