Dear diary, I wonder if I can be a magic theatre actor

“So, what did you think of the play?” Annabelle asked me once we found a nice place to eat.

“I thought it was great. The things they could do with magic were amazing. Turning that one guy into a dragon was super cool,” I say

“Yeah, it was good, but wasn’t the story inspiring to you? A commenter and a Nobel falling in love, that kind of stuff does not happen,” she asks, looking at me intently.

“Right, I mean, I don’t know. We have lots of those storeys where I am from.”

“Really, tell me more?” Anna asks me excitedly.

“I don’t really know how. I feel like a lot of the value would be lost if you are not there yourself to see it.”

“That is a shame. I would love to know more about it.”

“Anna, aren’t we doing that right now? I mean, I hold no status here, and you are a noble.”

“Yeah, but you are different. There are no nobles in your country, right?”

“That is correct.”

“So then they can only send out the best of their country, making them elites in their own way.”

“You do realise I got sent here on accident and not by choice, right?” I ask, a bit confused.

“But, but, you have so much magic, and you are smart and everything,” she says.

“Yeah, but those are mostly things I learned while travelling. I mean, you are the reason I even have magic in the first place.”

“Well, I am still going to believe that you are special.” She says with a huff.

“Thank you. I think that you’re really special, too,” I say with a smile.

“I uhm, thank you,” she says as her face turns red.

“Ooh, look, our food is arriving,” I say to rescue the little creature.

After we had our lunch, we stroll about on the streets for a bit, exploring different markets and looking at different dress designers and jewellery. This place has a lot of nice stuff. It's a bit old-fashioned, but it's still nice nonetheless. It is going out like this when I stumble on something great.

“What is this?” I ask the seller while lifting up the silvery bar of metal.

“That miss is Mithril, a special type of metal. It is both as strong as steel and very resistant to magic,” the man explains.

“Resistant to magic, how does that work?” I ask, a bit confused.

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“Apparently, mana can’t penetrate the metal, making most spells just bounce off without leaving a mark. It is popular in both shields and armour.”

“Huh, I see how much?”

“5 Doubliers,” the man says.

I still don’t really understand the economic system here, but I believe that it is rather expensive for a metal bar. Then I shrug and pay the man. Gilford has given me some money to spend. I might as well get it to make something fun.

“You know how to forge mithril?” Anna asks once I join her again.

“No, but it sounds fun. Got any tips?” I ask, curious.

“Well, working with it is hard since it needs a lot of heat to melt, and you can’t use magic.”

“You know more about it than I thought you would.”

“It is one of the more expensive metals, an important trade good, so as a noble, I have to pay attention to those kinds of objects.”

“I nod. That makes sense. Well, something to experiment with once I get to a forge again.”

“If you do make something out of it, the worth of the metal becomes almost twenty times as high depending on the craftsman,” she says excitingly.

“Well, I'll try my best then.”

I am ripped out of my train of thought by a crowd of people gathering, making going further down the street a lot harder. I walk up to one of the onlookers.

“What is happening?” I ask.

“Apparently, there is a noble coming into town, and people are lining up to get a look at them.”

I take a look at Anna, who also looks excited. “I see. Thank you for telling”

Then I grab Anna’s hand and start pulling her away. “Come on, let's go.”

“Why, what if it is my father?” she asks, confused.

“Then I think it is even better to go back to the castle so that we are ready to receive him”, I explain.

“Ah yeah, let's do that”, she says with a nod.

We start racing through the streets, trying to make it back to the Arc Magus castle. Once we make it, there is still a crowd we have to pass through, but this one is noticeably smaller, and the guards let us through without much issue. As we walk up to the entrance, we are just in time to see Gilford leave.

“Do we know who it is?” I ask as I walk up to him.

“Yeah, it is your father”, he says while looking at Anna.

Anna smiles. “Yeah, that is great.”

“It is, so let's go meet him properly then. Traveller, you stay beside me,” Gilford says.

I nod and fall in step beside him. We walk down the bridge and wait at the end of the road for the duke to come into view. And what a view it is; they all are riding big warhorses and are fully covered in blackish armour with a bright blue stripe running across it. They come to a halt a few meters away from us, and the front-most rider gets off his horse and removes his helmet.

The face of the man is old and rough-looking, like that of an army general. He has a long scar going from one side of his cheek. He is tall as well, giving the general impression of power and authority.

“Daddy!” Anna shouts as she sees him and runs towards him.

The man's stone facade cracks as a huge smile appears on his face. He wraps his arms closely around Anna in a hug. They stay like that for a while as we all wait in an awkward silence. Once they finally let go of each other, they walk over to us.

“Arc Magus Gilford, I am in your dept for rescuing my daughter. Is there anything I can do to repay this favour,” the duke says.

“I did no such thing. It was my apprentice who rescued her. She should be getting all the credit,” Gilford says while indicating to me.

The duke turns to me. “In that case, is there anything I could give you?”

I think about it for a bit. “I don’t think so. There is nothing that I really need, and I did not do it for any reward in the first place.”

“Then why did you do it?” the duke asks me.

“Because it was the right thing to do. Someone was in danger, and I could do something about it, so I stepped in trying to help her.” I explain.

“You're a good kid. Here, take this” he takes some kind of emblem out of a pouch on his belt. “This is my token. If you ever need something, you can use this to get in touch.”

“There is really no need for all of that, sir,” I say

“Nonsense here, go ahead, take it,” he says as he presses the thing into my hand.

I nod. “Okay then, thank you, sir. This is very generous of you.”

“I am sorry to interrupt this discussion, but do you all want to come inside instead?” Gilford says.

“That would be most pleasing Arc Magus”