While Maya opened up, revealing her tragic past, Maureen was surprisingly professional. She listened attentively and conducted herself respectfully. Maya couldn’t help but feel the atmosphere being reminiscent of counselling therapy.
Perhaps, it was even easier than Maya’s past counselling experience because Maureen’s ear felt like that of an understanding friend while her kind green eyes also held a strange wisdom beyond her age. Maureen helped Maya up, offering words when Maya struggled to find the right ones. As they went on Maya felt that Maureen understood her deeper and deeper, even anticipating what Maya was going to say before she did.
‘Is this why Maureen was so praised among academy students?’
If this was a place where anyone could come and vent out and release a burden off their chest, Maya could see why people liked to visit. No wonder they called it confessions. And the tea was delicious. It had a sweet scent and refreshing taste, and Maureen was attentive enough to never let your cup be empty.
Maya wondered if the tea she served was expensive. Mellgrah worked a bit differently than Vetus Orbis. Here they didn’t have a tropical climate so many goods that would be mass-produced in those areas were in shortage in Mellgrah. Coffee and tea leaves were no exception. But, considering many people couldn’t live without coffee, it was still wildly available, although a slightly more pricey commodity.
Sharing something so precious with her guest made Maureen appear generous in Maya’s eyes and therefore invoked more respect.
After finishing her story, Maya received encouraging words. Now she was concerned about a different problem.
“I don’t know what information to offer in return for what I want to know,” Maya confessed.
“Do you feel as if you don’t know anything? Don’t worry. You have a whole year of information I want to know,” Maureen grinned, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest. “Since you are the last person to come from Vetus Orbis, the information you know is the latest one available on the whole market! You are a very valuable guest.”
Maureen took charge, bringing out a plethora of questions Maya never even considered offering. From the current state of the Vetus Orbis, politics, fashion trends, celebrities, popular songs, and what was trending on social media. Everything that might have seemed like background noise back then was valuable in the isolated world.
Any new interesting fact that emerged within the last year was considered currency to Maureen. Maya was her way of confirming the information she had already gathered from other students, and it was context to understanding new trends being brought into Mellgrah from every new batch of students.
Since Maureen dealt with information and students were her main clientele, she needed to be on top of things that interested them. Her bits of advice needed to be the most relevant to them. Maya was in awe of how good she was at business. Who would’ve thought someone near her age had such foresight?
Unfortunately, Maya wasn’t able to deliver answers to a satisfactory level. She had lived as a recluse for a long time and things that were of interest to teenagers were as equally foreign to her as new trends were to Mellgrah. Leo helped a bit, chiming in here and there, but Maya didn’t feel too confident repeating words about facts she was unfamiliar with.
A little disappointed she couldn’t get relevant information that can be sold well, Maureen started poking into more serious matters. The news about the world, new wars started/ended, global incidents, and public scandals.
“Since you’re from the U.S., you must’ve heard about this incident at a school that was loud when students started to trickle in,” Maureen began describing an incident Maya was already familiar with. “Has it been resolved? Was the student found?”
‘That case again…’
Maya swallowed her bitterness at the case that seemed to haunt her wherever she went and recounted everything she knew about the case at Maureen’s request.
“So there was no new development. Hmm… Curious.”
“Why are you so interested in this? People everywhere can’t give this hopeless case a rest.”
“Do you not think it is interesting? It is the only public case that we have of a possible proof of our existence in V.O.,” Maureen shed some light on for Maya. “Think about it. The student has completely disappeared, leaving no trace as either living or dead. Do you get the hint of where she could have ended up?”
Maya blinked at the realization. She never thought about it because of her past resentment, but Maureen could be right.
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“Are you saying that the girl that has killed the shooter could be among us, freshmen students?!” Maya almost stood up.
“There is a chance.”
“…Here, at this academy?” Maya didn’t know what to think of it. This incident could be someone’s reason why Elements chose them.
“The chances for that are one in five, but certainly, a chance there is.”
“So we could have a killer walking among us?!”
At that, Maureen almost choked on the tea she was sipping. “A killer?” she found Maya focusing on that aspect of it amusing. “Does it frighten you? I personally wouldn’t think it would be such a big deal. Think about it, my dear guest. You’d be surprised at how many people ended up here after either directly or indirectly being responsible for someone’s death. You’d easily fall under that category yourself. So let’s not point fingers and call each other killers.”
“Ah…” Maya calmed down. ‘I bet I was being insensitive toward many students right now…’
“Alright. Considering all the information you have provided me, you can ask me three questions,” Maureen moved on, returning to her ambiguous business smile. Anticipating Maya may feel unfairness to receive only three after providing so much information, she quickly elaborated: “I presume those questions come with follow-up questions which I will also answer, so I should really say three subjects. Do you agree?”
Maya had no objections. She began by asking questions about magical beasts and Maureen offered answers to the best of her ability while also listing books and references Maya could use for further research. The information about such creatures was valuable, but not too detailed, so Maya wrote down suggestions for reading.
It seemed like her first question was unexpected. People would often come to Maureen for more trivial matters about school, love life or self-help tips, so Maya’s question was intriguing.
“Hmm… I will note this as your interest and promise to deliver more information next time.”
“Thank you. My next question is: has the Appraisal Ritual ever been wrong before?”
Maureen pondered for a moment. “You are a curious person, my dear guest. Your first questions are quite challenging. But no matter, I will uphold my reputation.”
Maureen paused to gather her thoughts before speaking again.
“Officially, no. You and your mentor are the only cases where your full affinity wasn't caught, but that was not due to a flaw in the ritual but rather due to ending the appraisal as soon as the first element responded.”
The answer was very sensical and Maya accepted it. But to her surprise, Maureen continued.
“However, off the record, there may be cases when it was wrong,” she leaned in, narrowing her eyes. “The running theory is that some of the uninitiated who ended up in the slums could have been the victims of incorrect appraisals. Since we can’t confirm with the ones taken away, all we have are unreliable reports of others. Such as claiming to witness one failing at their own appraised element but succeeding in another.” She leaned back into the chair and made a gesture with her open palm. “Take it only as a theory as I have not confirmed a specific case myself.”
With this information, Maya became convinced that coming here paid off. Maureen was an incredibly insightful person. She was the source where Maya could buy information that circles around but isn’t spoken out loud.
With this visit, Maya had already gained two things. First, she found a reliable source of information she wasn’t able to gather herself. And second, she provided Maureen with a field of interest on which she will continue to further investigate and provide Maya information she may not be aware was relevant. With her conclusion, Maya was ready to ask her third question.
“How can I get closer to someone?”
“Ah…” Maureen was surprised at how strongly this question differed from the others that she chuckled. This one should at least be easy since it was in line with questions she often receives. “That’s a bit vague. Should I take a guess which boy is of the interest?”
“Boy?” Maya blinked. “Oh… No, It wasn’t boy problems.”
Gossip being her field of expertise, she must know all the rumours, so Maureen must’ve assumed it was either about Adam or Keith.
“I want to get closer to Elena… as a friend,” Maya added the last part to avoid any misunderstandings.
At Maureen’s questioning look, Maya confessed that although on the surface it seems like they get along most of the time, Maya feels a wall between them she is unable to breach and sought her advice.
It turned out, this question was also a challenging one. Maureen had a lot of information about Elena, but the catch was that it all came from other sources. Maureen was dying to have a tea party with Elena for a long time, but she was seemingly the only person at the academy who wasn’t interested in her information guild.
The impression of Elena Maureen meticulously divulged from all the confessions concerning her was her being a volatile person with very shallow interpersonal relations.
Maureen looked at her intently before speaking. “It’s unclear how one can gain her trust or whether the closest person to her — Keith — has gone past those walls. If I could get some of her time, I would find the best method, but it seems as if she knows that and avoids me like the plague.”
Her expression softened a bit as she continued, “The best advice I can give you is to not even try. You got no chance of her feeling indebted to you. All debts between you two are the ones you owe her, so I am guessing she is somewhat secure in your loyalty to her,” Maureen’s gaze turned firm. “Instead of forcing a friendship, strike a deal with her.”
‘A deal, huh? We already have something like that.’
“I would like to ask one final question,” Maya concluded. “How does one become a Hunter?”