Special Consultant

"For the position of special consultant, I'll offer protection in exchange for your professional knowledge. You won't need to call anyone master, nor swear loyalty to anyone. The manor will cover your daily expenses. Any magical support needed under special circumstances will count as a formal commission."

Keira listened carefully without replying at once. Her fingers lightly traced the rim of her teacup before she looked up.

"What if my presence draws witch hunters here? Or even Redania's regular army? Can your pathetic earthen walls and militia stop them?"

"Witch hunters? If they have the nerve, let them come. Not an inch of land here will be set foot on by outsiders."

Keira looked at him, no longer with her earlier mocking scrutiny, but with a more careful gaze, as though reassessing something. She set down her teacup.

"Fine. But I won't charge into battle for you, and I won't kill for you. I decide the direction of my own research. If you truly run into serious trouble, then come find me."

"Agreed. Also, there's a child at the manor who is my adopted daughter. You'll be responsible for teaching her reading and herbalism."

Keira's hand froze as she reached for a book. She turned around and looked at him with an expression caught between helplessness and disbelief.

"You mean I'm not only going to be your resident sorceress, but also a tutor for one of your little underlings?"

She closed the book and tapped her forehead with its spine. "Go on, before I change my mind. The next time we meet, remember to bring a bottle of Novigrad red wine instead of wearing that terrifying armor of yours. There's Dimeritium in it, isn't there? What an unpleasant feeling. And if you want me to tutor a child, you'll need to offer better terms. Hmm... have her pick some sage first. I'm not responsible for coaxing snot-nosed brats to sleep."

With that, she tucked the book under her arm and headed into the inner room. Her golden hair swept across her shoulders in a pale arc. She lightly tapped the magic lamp with her fingertip, and its light flickered.

Before closing the door, she slipped a brass ring from her finger and lightly tossed it to Ron. "Wear this. It won't trigger the alarm next time you pass through the barrier. Goodbye."

Ron looked down at the ring in his palm, then tucked it into his clothes.

Keira moved into the manor two days later.

She brought only two chests. One was filled with spellbooks, scrolls, and potion bottles; the other held silk sheets from her cottage and several exquisite gowns.

Erwin arranged for her to stay in a detached stone house near the herb garden. It had once been used by the castle's former steward and came with a fireplace, spacious rooms, and decent lighting.

Keira stood in the doorway, cast a critical glance around the room, then casually used magic to clear the cobwebs from the corners.

"Better than your barracks," she said. "At least it doesn't smell like horse shit."

That evening, Gretka poked her head out from beside the herb garden. She watched the blond woman, dressed in an exquisite robe that no one in the manor had ever worn before, stand at the stone house's entrance and direct several soldiers carrying boxes.

Gretka peered out from behind Aina and asked softly, "Is she a princess?"

Keira heard her. She turned around, looked at the girl with braided hair, then at Gretka, who was crouched by the herb garden with allheal clutched in her hand.

"So you're the little one I'm supposed to tutor?" She bent down and lightly flicked Gretka on the forehead.

"First, learn to tell the weeds in your hand apart. Tomorrow morning, bring me a basket of fresh sage. Then we'll talk about tutoring."

She straightened up and walked into the stone house, her green robe flashing past the edge of the doorway.

Gretka rubbed her flicked forehead and looked up at Aina, her expression somewhere between confusion and curiosity.

Aina said nothing. She merely moved the herb basket in her hands aside to make room for her.

The girl with braided hair leaned closer and whispered to Gretka, "You'll be taking lessons with that big sister from now on? Can I come with you?"

The next day, Keira's magic lamp was hanging from the rafters of the new laboratory, bathing the entire stone house in a soft blue glow.

"Little one, have you ever had lessons before? Can you read? Count? How many herbs do you know?"

"I know allheal," Gretka said, counting on her fingers. "And broom, and that... that one that smells like dirt after rain. I don't know what it's called."

"The one that smells like dirt after rain is probably moleyarrow."

Keira pushed the basket of sage aside, took a glass bottle from the potion rack, and set it in front of Gretka. "You're not touching these today. You can't even name them properly. Come here. Stand there."

Keira took out the smallest copper scale and placed a small pinch of dried broom on one pan. She pointed at it. "First, divide this broom into three small piles of equal weight. Use the scale."

Gretka stared at the scale for a while, then stretched out her hand and carefully pinched up a piece of broom, placing it on the left pan.

After dividing it into three piles, Gretka lowered her hands and looked up at Keira, waiting for her to speak.

Keira set down her teacup. "First lesson: measuring. You need to be precise down to the weight of a leaf. You're still far from that, but at least you didn't knock over the scale. Better than I expected."

Gretka grinned, the gap where one of her front teeth was missing especially noticeable.

Ron stood outside the laboratory window with his arms crossed. Through the wooden window, he saw Gretka standing on tiptoe as she placed broom onto the scale, while Keira sat beside her with her legs crossed and a teacup in hand. Her words remained as critical as ever, but her eyes never left the girl.

Keira suddenly stood, pushed open the wooden window, planted her hands on her hips, and glared straight at Ron. Her green eyes were filled with the irritation of someone thoroughly annoyed.

"With you standing there, my scale isn't even accurate. The Dimeritium is interfering with my instruments. And you're frightening her. She could have divided it faster."

Gretka poked her head out from behind the scale, a tiny scrap of broom still stuck to her lips. She raised a little hand to defend Ron. "I'm not scared! I was dividing it really fast just now!"

"You may not be scared, but your hands shook twice." Keira shot Gretka a glare, pressed her back into her seat, then turned to stare at Ron again. "Go farther away. She's being very good, but you standing here is getting in my way."

Ron tilted his head slightly, then turned and walked down the stone path toward the training grounds.

Gretka's voice drifted out through the laboratory window. "Can I weigh one more little pile? Just one little pile?" Then came Keira's impatient reply. "We'll talk about it next time. I decide what this lesson covers."

Then came Gretka's giggling, along with the crisp clink of the scale's pan lightly striking the tabletop.

Several days later, Ron arranged for Miko to lead a squad of regular soldiers in escorting a batch of Keira's magical items through the swamp.

With that, Keira Metz officially took up residence at Calrad Manor. Standing in the central courtyard, Ron could see the blue light of magic lamps shining through the windows, mingling with the scent of herbs from Aina's garden in the afternoon sunlight.

From the direction of the training grounds, Hans was practicing battle formation coordination with Miko at the front of the ranks. His steps were still unsteady, but every time an order rang out, he struggled desperately to keep up.

From the direction of the smithy, the sound of Brom's hammer remained the most steady background sound in the entire manor.