Before I could think about the expedition tonight, I had to deal with something more important. I don’t know whether it was the training. Rufus said it was harsh, but I could never feel anything except for the chills from my wand. I felt like something was nearby, in the streets, unlike those weak, but unnerving summoned beasts. I also remembered how cold and wet it felt to…

Er, whatever was making the adults of Luminaire City all sick was getting to me, Rufus said when I asked him.

“You! Lily, just rest before we go out tonight,” His mood quickly changed from didactic disappointment to concern.

He didn’t want to see me by myself, so he settled cutely in my room, as I reclined and did homework. Today was the weekend, so I could relax and work at my own pace, but I did everything to keep from being alone with my thoughts. At least tonight, I could go on my mission without having to keep it from my parents, but now that his work was suspended, Father just sat there, hoping I was doing well in school.

So I enrolled Blake in my plans. She was to visit precisely when we would meet up, recite a fake scenario, and ask no questions. I felt bad about deceiving her and Father, but it had to be done.

I did everything I could to learn how to use magic. I could now safely conjure armor and could shoot projectiles. Rufus told me I was a natural, but I knew it wasn’t true. I saw Rose electrify those things. I wanted to be like her, maybe not like her ditzy self, but she seemed brave.

“Rufus, I promise to save my dad, and Blakes’s Mom,” I don’t know where that came from, but when I felt those words come out of my mouth on to the idle conservation, I felt really good. It was warm, when everything else, my magic, my wand, those beasts, the Avian’s professionalism, felt cold.

But when I said that, Rufus was not proud, not even mild proud like when we would practice. He was still wearing his sunglasses, so I couldn’t see his face, but he looked at me, and I knew I had said something strange.

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I was right in my evaluation. He looked damaged, oddly enough, but he said, “You shouldn’t worry about that right now. I’m sure that everyone would adjust to having less mana,” but I knew from earlier that was not true.

“Anyway, I want you to get some rest right before we leave, so I’m going to brief you now. The culprit is likely a counterfeiter, whose using the mana from this city to create any of those illegal and dangerous substances which I mentioned earlier. We determined this because those summoned beasts were likely made from that material. We can’t be sure, though. Hopefully all we must do is beat through the stock of those summoned beasts, and then we can apprehend the criminal.”

I wanted to say anything, but I was a little confused from what I had said, so I still wanted to keep quiet.

“Now, since I want you to relax, you can ask me any question and I will answer truthfully,” he said.

“What are Avians like?”

I was less interested in what he said, so I wasted my question. That is what I rationalized it with, but really, I wanted to hear something far away from Luminaire city.

“Avians are small and attuned to magic. So, we don’t use many resources and don’t really care for anything else. We use magic to take care of our needs, and we barely need to work to produce what little we eat. That is boring, so every Avian spends a great deal of of their long life simply travelling and enjoying nature. There’s a bit more to why so many of us became recruiters, but that’s for later.”

I was interested in what he said, but it seemed like a sad story, and frankly, I didn’t understand much of what he said. I couldn’t imagine being so old, that I’d just start wandering.

“Well, we like other things besides nature too. Like cigarettes. Devoting ourselves to the arts and sciences. Magic research. Our thrift and longevity force us to be haughty. We have no choice but to help others. Only because we get bored of ourselves.”

“Oh, then you must know a lot about humans too. Then why do you ask so surprised when I do as I do?”

“I’m new to this whole recruiter thing. After this week and some, I don’t feel so good about it either. Maybe I should have gone somewhere else. Then I wouldn’t be caught here.”

“You’re a liar. Avians seem like they only want something to occupy their lives.”

“Well, aren’t you sassy. Let’s get moving soon. I wanted you to relax for a while, but all I’ve done is given you something to think about. I don’t understand human children, then, do I?”