When Fatenai returned to the wooden cabin, she was surprised to find horses standing in the yard. She recognized them—they belonged to Helise and Hubert.
They were back again?
Fatenai had been focused on Marrison's invitation and hadn't given much thought to why the two mages had suddenly appeared here. She pushed open the cabin door—and sure enough, it was Helise and Hubert inside. Fatenai's sudden entrance had clearly startled them; both sprang to their feet. She had no idea what they'd been doing before she arrived.
"Hello," Fatenai greeted them politely. Her noble upbringing told her to pretend nothing was amiss.
"Fatenai, it's you." Helise seemed a little slow to recover, and her face was flushed. Fatenai's pretense of not noticing clearly helped her regain her composure quickly. "Have your parents still not returned?"
"If you need anything, just tell me." Fatenai had hoped to avoid trouble, and she was reluctant to make things even more complicated. She was also a little puzzled. Don't these people know I live alone? "They won't be back for a while."
Helise's expression immediately turned troubled, while Hubert looked thoughtful.
Looks like it's something they need to discuss without a "girl" around. Fatenai had some idea what was going on, but she didn't want to create trouble for herself, so she stayed quiet.
"Would you like something to eat? The Waterdrop Grass Salad is quite good," Fatenai offered.
"Um... thank you very much." Whatever it was, it seemed urgent enough that Helise wasn't as lively as before. She looked preoccupied.
Hubert, by contrast, seemed much the same as when Fatenai had last seen him. The difference between the two was obvious, and Fatenai could more or less guess why they'd teamed up and come out here.
Thinking of that... Fatenai remembered that night when she'd overheard the two mages talking. They'd mentioned graduating from what seemed to be a school. The noble circles of the Kingdom of Luther had no schools. Girls received an education at home from tutors hired for the purpose, while boys went to the estates of higher-ranking noble families to receive knightly training.
So Fatenai had been quite surprised when she first heard about schools.
But she didn't have any information to trade with them right now, so she could only set the question aside for the time being.
After Fatenai went to prepare the food, their discussion seemed to grow heated. She could hear plenty of key words from the next room; there was no need to rely on the ability granted by the Eye of Connection.
"She's just a little girl. What could she do?"
"Didn't you say she lives alone? Why not just ask her?"
"That's too risky..."
"Wasn't the whole point of coming out here to take risks?"
When Fatenai returned to the cabin, they still hadn't reached a decision. Helise in particular looked preoccupied and hesitant to speak. Hubert, who seemed to be against whatever she was proposing, faced her as if constantly reminding her to keep herself in check.
These people really knew how to agonize over things.
As the minutes passed, Fatenai felt their furtive glances. Their indecision was starting to make her feel conflicted, too... She wasn't someone who liked asking for help, but the way the two were acting made her hesitate over what to do about Marrison.
The atmosphere grew awkward, even though none of them said a word.
"All right, friends. If you need help, just tell me."
"Fatenai... I'd like to ask you for a favor, if you can..."
"Helise, if you insist..."
The Waterdrop Grass Salad was nearly gone, and the atmosphere had grown as awkward as it could get. All three spoke at once, then froze, staring at one another in bewilderment.
"Ahem. All right, let's talk about this favor..."
"Oh, what a coincidence. We were just about to ask you..."
"She doesn't mean anything by it. She just hopes you can..."
After a brief standoff, all three spoke at once again. This time, the atmosphere didn't grow more awkward. Instead, it unexpectedly became lively, and all three looked relieved.
"All right, I wanted to ask if you know about... the Champagne Tavern?" Helise had gradually regained her usual liveliness, though she still asked Fatenai cautiously at first.
"I know about it," Fatenai said. "What happened there?"
"We're investigating something related to it, but we can't find the place." Helise's sincerity made Fatenai feel more at ease. Remembering that she'd come here to ask for help, she told the little girl everything she knew—even if Fatenai didn't look particularly reliable.
"We heard that only adventurers who've earned the forest's approval know where it is."
Helise's information made Fatenai even more suspicious that there was something behind Marrison's invitation.
"An investigation?" Fatenai was thinking of Marrison and a little distracted by what Helise was saying, so the question slipped out.
Helise paused, then glanced at Hubert. He was clearly wary. She turned back to Fatenai, decided there was something trustworthy about the girl, and said, "Yes, it's our investigation. We went looking for that Stone Platform and found that something important had been moved elsewhere. It was connected to the people at the tavern."
"What are you looking for—the Eye of Simorely?" Fatenai thought of what had happened recently.
Hubert had initially seemed to think Fatenai was asking too many questions, but his expression changed. The light in Helise's eyes confirmed to Fatenai that they were indeed looking for that item.
"What is the Eye of Simorely used for? I think I know where it is, but something about this is strange." Unable to hold back her curiosity, Fatenai asked.
Since she could trade information about the Eye of Simorely's whereabouts for an explanation of something that didn't seem particularly important, it seemed like a good deal. Helise answered, "It's an alchemical item that stores mana, made by the great archmage Simorely. Mana can be accumulated inside it."
No wonder they were looking for it.
Fatenai more or less understood. The Eye of Simorely could store mana, and its significance became obvious once you considered how mana was used.
Mages gathered mana from the air, then converted it into various elements to use. But there was only a limited amount of mana in the air, so having many mages didn't mean they could all use enough spells at once to kill their enemies. If they carried alchemical items that stored mana, they could cast spells without using the mana in the air.
"Ed Ansendil of the Ansendil Family took it," Fatenai said. Now that she had the information, she didn't try to deceive them. "About half a month ago, they killed Wickel at the Stone Platform and took the Eye of Simorely."
But Helise and Hubert fell silent after learning the "truth." Their expressions held something strange, making Fatenai feel uneasy.
"Do you have any leads?" Fatenai asked.
It was a long while before Helise spoke. "Our investigation showed that the Eye of Simorely was taken by a party of adventurers, also about half a month ago."
Fatenai couldn't help but be surprised. "But I saw it with my own eyes..."
"The person we questioned also saw the Eye of Simorely at the Champagne Tavern. There's only one Eye of Simorely around here—could you have mistaken it?" Hubert clearly didn't believe her.
"I'm certain it was the real Eye of Simorely." If it weren't real, they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to find it, so Fatenai was equally certain.
"Then that's very strange. We still need to go to the Champagne Tavern," Helise said, puzzled. Both of them seemed to have solid evidence, so they couldn't reach any conclusion by arguing. "Please help us. This matter is very important to us."
At this point, Fatenai had no reason to refuse them. Besides, she was going to the Champagne Tavern anyway.
"Tomorrow afternoon, I'm supposed to go there with a mage. I can take you with me—but I'd like to ask for your help, too, since I may run into some trouble." Fatenai considered it and named her "price." It wasn't unreasonable; both requests were things she could manage while taking care of what she already had to do.
"Then it's settled. It's wonderful to get one thing taken care of," Helise said sincerely. She didn't seem to be in the best spirits, clearly worn down by all the work she'd been doing on this matter.
Fatenai told them to get a good night's rest.
"By the way, you met Ed Ansendil before?" Helise was about to head to the guest room when something suddenly occurred to her, and she asked.
Fatenai nodded. She didn't particularly want to bring him up, so her expression grew a little awkward—but Helise didn't notice the subtle change.
"They say he's the most likely person in decades to become an archmage. His ability to control mana is incredibly powerful... Oh, you might not understand. Anyway, he's quite extraordinary, but it's a shame..." Helise said. When she saw Fatenai's questioning gaze, she added, "He can control more mana than his body can bear, so he's very weak. In that condition, people usually don't live long."
Fatenai said nothing, but she didn't want Ed to die so soon because his body couldn't withstand the mana.
She remembered when she'd met Ed: the boy had been lying beneath a tree with his eyes closed, his pale skin revealing his weakness. He wore extravagant clothes that his frail body could barely support. When he opened his eyes, they were as deep blue as the ocean. They were beautiful, but his nature, too, was as hard to fathom as the sea.
She wanted to kill him with her own hands.
Before you continue