«Aizen»

How should I put it, I am rather impressed? This bath... is… great. White shiny floor and bathing tub? Well, it really isn’t a tub. It’s more like embedded inside the ground. A pool was it? Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s warm and it’s relaxing. To think nobles would enjoy something like this every time they want. I kind of want to be a noble now… Yeah, definitely

I nodded to myself.

I wonder if the noble found it rude? What was his name? I forgot. Cecil’s father? Well, he did not seem to have ill-will unlike the butler when we first saw him. But, I don’t like formalities much, I wonder how Kuro is doing alone in that room? Hmm, well it doesn’t matter much, does it? Now onto what has been on my mind lately — To go or not to go to the magic academy? I kind of want to see the elf. I haven’t seen that many elves after all. I heard they were good at magic or something along those lines.

I chuckled and muttered under my breath — ’This is going to be interesting, isn’t it?’

“Aizen?” Ari called out for me.

“Ah, no. Nothing…” I forgot she was there.

Ari was looking at me with observant eyes. Before, she raised her hand slightly.

“Aizen, there is soap here. Want to try it?” It was a rather peculiar question. Now thinking about it, Kuro did ask about soap that one time. Or was it more than one time? Well, the biggest issue for me is. I don’t exactly know what soap does, I mean it makes you clean. But, how do I know water doesn’t do the same thing? Dragons only bathed in lakes. So…

“Sure…” I silently agreed to Ari. I did want to try it.

She sluggishly approached me and handed me this oval-shaped bar that was somewhat dark. It felt greasy but smelled nice. ‘So this is soap?’ I muttered while feeling it on my hand. I had never seen soap before. It was slightly slippery and let out some bubbles. I saw Ari rubbing herself with it earlier so I did the same.

It felt… Normal? Like sliding something slippery atop of one’s skin. But I did notice that it smelled nice and it made my skin shiny. I began rubbing it diligently, the shiny skin it reminded me of my precious silvery scales. Before I knew the soap had run out. I looked at Ari who now had a bitter smile etched on her face. I wordlessly stared at her.

“...”

Her eyebrows eventually went into a frown.

“W-Why, would you use all of the soap?” She shook her fist in anger, but I did not really care.

“It felt nice,” I monotonously informed her.

“Sigh... Just because it felt nice doesn’t mean you should use it all… I hope Firil doesn’t get mad,” she dejectedly said. However, who was Firil? I wonder. It does sound rather familiar, but I don’t quite remember who was named ‘Firil’. Well, it doesn’t matter.

Before I knew it, I heard some knocking behind the distant door on the bathroom.

“Dinner is ready.”

A firm voice informed us and left. I think it was that hostile butler. What was his name... Gerard? I wonder why did he not just step into the bath, to look at us? I mean, better than talking behind a door... Kuro did try to avoid looking at people without clothes. Why is that? Well, no use. Clothes are a foreign concept to me, I only wear them because wind against the bare skin is uncomfortable.

Ari and I left the bathroom without saying much. I wore the same clothes that Kuro gave me. They never really got dirty, I knew that. It’s not something I could explain, but well. They did seem to have some type of magical energy roaming inside them. They were rather nice; items were nice.

I noticed a lot of the butlers and maids were hurriedly doing chores or running from room to room. I wonder what was all the fuss about? Ari and I arrived at the main hall without saying much. I noticed Kuro was coming out of the guest room with a neutral expression. Looks like I did not miss out on much.

“Ah, Aizen,” she called for me in surprise.

“What?” She took long enough to notice me.

“Let’s have dinner, or rather. A banquet as Firil called it.”

A banquet? Hoh, this is rather nice. Who was Firil again? I keep hearing the same name. Is it the noble? It must be the noble. He is the only person continuously being mentioned non-stop. Well, a banquet still doesn’t sound so bad, I guess it can’t be helped.

“Banquet it is.”

After saying that, I followed Kuro. She grabbed Ari by the hand as we continued walking. Looks like Kuro was quite familiar with the mansion. Or was it Yami? Well, as long as I call her Yami when I address her I think it’s fine.

We arrived at a big room with chandeliers hanging from the white roof. A somewhat lengthy table with food being covered by dome lids. However, there were only five plates. The table looked rather empty on that part. I noticed the windows to the left were closed by soft-looking red curtains. It wasn't really a big banquet. Only five empty plates and a lot of covered food at the center.

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As soon as the butlers saw us, they took our hands and guided us to our seats. I ended up next to Yami. Ari next to Cecil, and Firil in between Yami and Cecil. We were sitting at one end of the table. So, it looked kind of funny seeing the table was extremely big. It could probably take thirty people instead of just five.

“I must thank you, girls; for bringing my daughter back,” he humbly bowed. So, this was Firil? I do remember looking at him briefly earlier today. I ought to admit. That tea was really good.

“This banquet is a fest. A celebration of the unprecedented and unexpected events that happened recently!” He joyfully said. I glanced around the room. Some butlers were awestruck, some flinched as if what they saw wasn’t normal. Gerard remained expressionless to his side.

After we were sitting on the table and Firil had finished his speech, the butlers lifted the dome lids. A fragrant smell covered the room in an instant. I couldn't help but lick my lips. Firil lifted his brow watching me. I glanced at him and before I noticed there was food in front of me. I curiously looked at it⁠⁠ — different types of meat and vegetables, accompanied with some type of bread I had never seen before, for some reason I felt disappointed; you could expect nobles would eat something more... Exotic?

“Is there something wrong with the food?” Firil asked seeing my puzzled expression. I just quietly shook my head and started eating.

It was delicious, to say the least. I enjoyed dinner, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves but I noticed Firil’s shoulders were somewhat stiff-- I couldn’t quite understand the reason.

The butlers took the plates and cleaned the tables, while we were still sitting. I don't know if it was a normal thing. I kind of just looked at Ari and she had a puzzled look. Eventually, we were left alone in the room with only the five of us and Gerard.

A cold and eerie silence descended as Firil was thinking.

"So, I have been informed that⁠ — Cecil learned mana perception and manipulation through you, correct?” He said as he looked at me with a cold gaze. I just nodded. What was the point of this anyway?

Cecil seemed pale from the atmosphere. Gerard emotionlessly stood next to him. Yami started looking down not wanting to interrupt. Ari was just curiously looking at the whole situation without saying anything.

When Firil heard me, he nodded.

“Would you mind telling me your methods?” I would have normally given a nonchalant reply, but the atmosphere was a little odd so I just nodded, however before that I had to confirm something. Was this the right thing? I wordlessly stared at Kuro until she met my fixed gaze and eventually, she awkwardly nodded. I began talking.

“Firil, do you have mana perception?” Hearing me; his mouth closed and he frowned.

“Yes..."

Ah, that was good. I did not need to do a lengthy explanation then.

“Well, then. I want you to see the room’s mana.” He nodded and Gerard frowned from me commanding him, but what else could I do? I don’t mind shattering people’s expectations. Now, how would I go about this? I could either ⁠— take my ring off and show just how easy it is to manipulate mana, or just explain the whole process. Hmm... Well, I guess I will start with an explanation. The only reason I can think of the atmosphere being so sudden like this; was the first time we met the butler and he mentioned torture or something.

“So, if I remember correctly, torture got mentioned. Correct?” Hearing this, I confirmed with their nodding as sweat dripping from their foreheads.

“Well, I guess it could be seen as torture, if I did not know what I was doing,” I nonchalantly said. I knew that mana for most beings was also hazardous as well as a blessing. Of course, one could overcome it through sheer strength alone. If I were to try the same thing on Kuro except trying to kill him through mana poisoning or whatever it is called, it just would not work.

“What do you mean by that?” Firil calmly asked for an explanation.

“Well, as you know, mana poisoning is a thing,” he awkwardly nodded. “But what if, the mana was also automatically extracted? Wouldn’t it be harmless while at the same time allowing the target to perceive and feel mana?” He froze.

BANG!

“What blasphemy are you saying?! Are you telling me that you ⁠— out of all people. You can bend the laws of nature? Sorry, but… that’s a distasteful joke.” He rudely said. I just lightly chuckled and denied it with my finger. He frowned but did not say anything. It was time.

“Just watch then,” I said as I focused. ‘Let’s see, seeing he believes that that is a law of nature, then I guess taking the ring off would be too much.’ With that consideration in mind I started. Breathe in breath out and⁠—freeze. The mana in the entire room stopped moving. It wasn’t really a spell, it was more of a party trick. Mana manipulation only.

“H-How…” he asked in a trembling voice as his eyes darted around the room; everywhere he looked the mana was frozen. It was like watching the flow of the wind or watching blood flow through water, except it never moved. However, I could not keep this for long. I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed my shoulders. Mana continued moving. It was mentally taxing to keep it from moving. Just having to imagine the action of every single particle of mana being frozen without missing a single one is tiring.

He looked at me in disbelief with an agape mouth.

“Dad?” Cecil suddenly looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Cecil, didn’t you see what just happened?!” He looked at her with wide-open eyes. She just nodded.

“Well, yes. But what’s so special about mana not moving?” She asked with even more confusion. At that moment, Firil sighed and muttered something before breaking into a smile.

“Looks like I need to give you a quick lesson on magic.” he paused. “Mana flows around and comes around, meaning it can be influenced by manipulation to cast a spell for example. Mana is eternally moving, it is not supposed to stop, however, stopping mana is possible through manipulation, however, stopping the mana of an entire room is… unheard of. The more mana you manipulate the more mental capacity it requires. The highest tier of spells does not require more than about this size of mana,” ⁠— he clumsily gestured with his hands. It was not a very big space. He breathed and continued talking in excitement. “Being able to manipulate mana in that quantity would place you next to the best magicians, however, the whole room? It kind of just looks pitiful in comparison.” He ended talking with a dry chuckle. Cecil awkwardly watched her father speak passionately about mana so she was stiff.

Firil looked at me.

“I am sorry for earlier,” he bowed. “May I ask, who are you?” His voice was extremely polite as if talking to a superior. Gerard was incredibly stiff and pale. This was rather awkward. I looked at Yami and Ari and they frantically shook their heads. My face turned into a smile.

“Just a girl.” They looked at me in disbelief. Gerard was about to open his mouth but paused. Firil, on the other hand, had been thinking for a bit before nodding.

“So, that’s how it was.” He lightheartedly laughed. “What an interesting group of adventurers!” He then looked at Cecil. “You have made good friends.” A soft smile could be seen on his face as he stood up; leaving the room with a paled butler following behind.