Krieg exited the bathroom while still slightly dazed. He had bathed with people of the opposite sex before—especially Eleonora since she took him in when he was still just a kid. But this time it felt different.
There was a lingering quickened pulse beating throughout his whole body accompanied with a light headedness that his senses would always associate it with severe wounds and yet—he was none worse for wear.
In fact, it was such a foreign feeling he had to press his right hand knuckles against the space between his eyebrows and close his eyes while taking a deep breath in order to calm himself. Even as he did so, the image of the high elf refused to get out of his mind. She was, for lack of better words, stunningly beautiful in his eyes.
'Get it together.' He thought, clenching his teeth. 'You're Leona's knight, you mustn't falter or show weakness.'
The more he thought about his liege, the more steady his heartbeat became until he could finally breathe without feeling that strange heat rise up to his face.
"Krieg?" A familiar voice came from his left side as his eyes jolted open. Leona was standing beside him holding the splintered wooden staff. "Why are you flustered?"
"Huh?" That question was all it took for the image of Kaeli to flash in his mind. He swallowed dry and answered as calmly as he could. "Oh, I just came out of the bath. Setsuna insisted on me taking one."
Leona had felt a distinct difference in his mana. That coupled with his uncharacteristic flustered face made her simply nod once while trying to maintain a straight face.
"Ah… I see. Robert told me to take a break so I thought I'd spend some time with you."
He couldn't help but smile as he bowed his head.
"I have some training left to do but it would be my pleasure to keep you company until then."
She smiled warmly at him. They both sat down on the couch near the empty fireplace and Leona started with a question.
"How has your training been?"
"Better than I expected." He answered with a faint smirk on his face. "Setsuna and… my father, helped me discover how to use mana reinforcement."
"Dragon's aspect."
Setsuna interjected while still mopping the floor. Krieg smiled wryly before turning back to Leona.
"As she said, I'm slowly making use of it in order to better keep you safe from harm."
She felt a gentle warmth coming from his words. Her eyes lowered to her own hand as she squeezed her own leg.
"Thank you Krieg. You've always put my safety first and foremost."
"As a knight should, my lady."
"Listen… this might sound off coming from me but, I also want you to better experience the world around us." His smile slowly faded as he focused on her words. "I… no, my family was always known for caring about others and for that alone it always made me proud to be a Crossford. But time and time again I've thought about how isolated we were because of that."
"Are you saying that you won't continue your father's legacy?"
"No, nothing of the sort. I still believe we should aid those in need, that hasn't changed."
"Then…?"
"Being here made me think about the bigger picture. Only after traveling so much did we truly grow stronger. Conversely, while our house's goals were noble, it did nothing more than to delay the inevitable conflict brought to our doors." Her eyes were sharp and filled with conviction as she turned to him. "That is why I want you to experience everything there is to experience out here. Things that you wouldn't be able to do in Arcadia so that when we return, we'll do so even stronger than we are now."
"I see. But… I'm not sure what you meant by 'experience all there is to experience' here."
Her surprised expression slowly gave place to a more subtle smug one as a faint grin started to show on her face.
"Oh Krieg… you may be a great swordsman but I see you still struggle with people don't you?"
Her eyes glanced to the side and as he followed her gaze—he noticed Kaeli leaving the bathroom just as flustered as he was. She wore the same clothes as him, a clean white raw cotton shirt and shorts of the same color.
"I… have not the faintest idea what you speak of. My lady."
She chuckled playfully.
"For better or worse, my senses with magic have sharpened. I can even tell if someone is worked up from the abrupt shift in their mana. And for the entire time I lived with you, this is the first time you ever showed me that expression."
He couldn't tell himself, but his stiffened posture and gradual fluster of the edges of his cheeks made it an obvious tell that he was embarrassed.
"Ahem." He nervously cleared his throat. "Pray tell, my liege, what is the point of experiencing such… endeavors?"
She shifted on her seat and relaxed her head against the couch. Despite her rather lax manners, maybe somewhat unbefitting of a noble young lady, she still had a sharp gaze in her eyes.
"It will surely make you stronger." She replied firmly. "I know your sense of duty to me is second to none but there are its limits. Krieg. I don't want your entire life to be anchored to me. Not as your liege or as your cousin. You must find your own happiness too."
At that moment, the stiffness in his body vanished as well as any signs of embarrassment.
"Happiness you say…? You remind me of Lady Ravness."
"My mother?"
"She used to say the same. That I wasn't just your knight, but my own person."
She closed her eyes as a smile curled on her lips.
"That does sound just like her. You know Krieg, I've always sensed a certain familiarity between you and me, but I never thought we'd be cousins."
He chuckled.
"Me neither. It is still a bit strange to think I taught you how to hold a sword despite your father being strongly against it."
"Hey, that was a long time ago."
"Still… the little girl that once saved me turned out to be my own flesh and blood."
"I just did what I was taught to do." She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "To always help those in need."
As their conversation went on, Kaeli quietly watched on the side as she mopped the floor alongside Setsuna.
'They sure are close…' She thought as her eyes glanced between each of them as they spoke. 'And he is… smiling?'
She would often spot Krieg training whenever she was going to the city to look for work, but never once she saw him smile. Strangely, seeing him do so made her heart flutter.
"Hey, Kaeli." The shrine maiden beside her whispered. "What are you staring at them for?"
That prompted her to glance at her and whisper back.
"Huh? Oh… no, it's nothing."
Setsuna raised an eyebrow as she noticed the high elf's slightly flustered cheeks.
"Nothing happened between you two inside the bathroom right?"
Those words were enough for her to flinch back and raise her voice.
"W-what are you talking about?!" That made both Leona and Krieg stop their conversation and glance over at them which made Kaeli try to embarrassedly shrug it off. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you two…"
"No, it's alright." Leona answered with a smile while Krieg tilted his head sideways and avoided her gaze. "As I was saying…"
They continued on with their conversation and the mage turned to Setsuna before giving her a light elbow strike to her ribs.
"Oof."
"Why did you say that?"
The shrine maiden rubbed her hand on where she was struck.
"I mean… Krieg's mana seemed to 'stop' for a brief moment before going haywire for a short time. I thought something happened between you two."
She turned her head away.
"It… it was-" She brought her right hand to her face to cover herself. "-nothing serious."
"Oh, so something did indeed happen.
She could feel a certain heat rise to the tip of her ears as they twitched slightly. It was true that it was the first time she ever saw a man almost naked and it didn't help the fact that Krieg was undoubtedly handsome in her eyes.
"I told you it was nothing…"
Setsuna scratched the back of her head as she brought the mop inside the bucket of water before lifting it up.
"Well, we're done cleaning thankfully so you can go now." She turned around and was about to leave before suddenly switching back to the high elf. "Oh, huh… father told me to tell you in advance he wants you and Phoebe to have dinner with us."
That made Kaeli tilt her head down as her hands tightened around the bucket she held.
"Huh? Us two? Is that really okay?"
She nodded firmly.
"Yes, he specifically said for you to be here as well."
"...alright."
After helping Setsuna to clean up. Kaeli proceeded outside to the back of the household where the wooden shack was located. The sun was already setting and the view of the orange horizon made her relax even if only for a little bit.
She sighed as she reached for her head, but only after all that ordeal she realized she was no longer wearing her straw hat.
"Ah… that's right. I lost it on the farm." Her head hung low as the thought of purchasing another hat made her feel exhausted already. She opened the door to the shack. "I'm home."
Phoebe was standing by the window with her walking cane. Her shoulder length hair was tied back with a string of dried plant fibers and as she turned around to face Kaeli, the single lock of hair flicked to the side.
"Are you alright?"
"Huh…? Oh, yes. Thanks to you telling Krieg to look after me."
"...that's good."
She turned back to look at the horizon and sat down on the chair. Kaeli briefly glanced at the table and noticed the plate she had left breakfast on was empty. That made a small smile appear on her face as she grabbed the wooden dish to clean.
As the sound of running water echoed inside the shack, Kaeli kept thinking about what her former master meant by extending a dinner invitation to her.
'If anything, I thought he'd make an example out of me…'
She was reminded of the first days when she had arrived in Nara. She was thoroughly used as a tool to make Leona take action against Robert. She was nothing more than a helpless magician in the face of her master. Deep down she knew just how powerful he truly was and if he really wanted to, he could simply erase her existence with the snap of a finger—it would be that simple.
Yet, the cold calculating master she knew was no longer there. She closed her eyes and started to remember their 'deal'.
She was forced to meet him alone in the hidden laboratory he had under the mountain. Nobody but they were there and if something were to happen to her, no one would know about her fate. Robert sat down near the table where he kept tools and blueprints scattered over it. Directly behind him, there were three women sleeping on top of stone pedestals in some sort of stasis that kept them from aging.
"So, you want to live off your days accompanying your sister, is that it?"
He asked while crossing his arms—his gaze was as cold as ice.
"Yes." She replied without any hesitation. "I'll do whatever it takes to be by her side. This time I won't ask for anything else other than the permission to be here."
"Even though you vowed to serve the dragon god?"
She shook her head while keeping her gaze focused on the floor in front of her.
"Nothing would bring me greater joy than being able to spend the rest of my days atoning for my past mistakes."
There was a moment of silence where she wanted to raise her eyes and look at what sort of face he was making but instead, a low chuckle echoed in the room as he grabbed his own chin and rubbed between the index finger and thumb.
"Very well. But you do know the consequences of breaking a vow as a paladin—don't you?"
"Yes."
"So be it. I'll relieve you from your oath, but in exchange." He stepped down and held the underside of her chin before lifting her face. "I'll have all the magic you have right now." Her eyes widened in surprise. "You know, relying solely on mana to keep this physical body intact is quite laborious."
"But master, I…"
"This is the price for what you are asking of me."
"No… I thought you…" Would kill me. Was what she wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to. Not after she was able to find a resemblance of redemption. "But then, how will I defend her?"
"You foolish apprentice. Haven't you realized how strong Phoebe truly is?" He smirked while slowly letting go of her chin. "You should be more worried about yourself."
A terrible chill ran down her spine. It was the same when she inherited the mantle of paladin. Instead of a god, she was dealing with a human, but the man in front of her had ambitions even greater than any god.
"I… if I accept your conditions, what will happen with me?"
He turned around as he crossed his arms once again.
"For one, you'll hardly be able to be called a mage. Magic will seem like a complete foreign concept to your body once I get rid of this oath that binds your soul."
"Is there anything else?"
"If you want to use magic again, you'll have to start completely from scratch."
She took a step forward and her hand clenched tight into a fist.
"Then I accept." That forwardness made Robert look at her over his shoulder. "No matter how painful it is, I will endure it."
His smirk faded as he locked eyes with her.
"You've changed Kaeli."
"Kaeli…"
"Kaeli."
"Kaeli!" She snapped out of her daydream as she noticed Phoebe standing beside her. She had her left hand resting on the table. "Did you have plans for tonight?"
"What do you mean?"
Her sister pointed at the doorway behind her with the walking cane and as she followed it with her eyes, she noticed Robert leaning on one side of the door frame. His left hand had an orb of light floating just above his palm.
"Hey."
"Mas- Robert, what are you doing here?"
He sighed before rolling his eyes.
"Didn't Setsuna tell you to eat dinner with us?"
"Ah- yes, but isn't it only later?"
"It is late already, you doofus."
He motioned with his chin to the window and the sun had already long settled. Only twilight illuminated the ocean beyond.
"Ah! I'm sorry… I was thinking about-"
He flicked his hand a few times—shrugging off.
"It's fine. Just come have dinner." He turned briefly to Phoebe. "You too."
The younger sister nodded shortly.
"Mhm."
"Good, I'll see you two then."
He turned around and left. Phoebe slowly made her way to the door and briefly glanced at her sister, asking.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Ah, I will. Let me just put this to dry."
She flicked a dish cloth and left it flat on the table before leaving the dishes to dry. While doing so, she couldn't help but feel that Robert had also changed.
'Was he always this warm…?'
After that she headed to the door and closed it as they both headed outside. It was a short and slow walk with Phoebe since she could only take a few steps at a time. Kaeli couldn't help herself but ask.
"Are you alright?"
"Huh? Why are you asking that?"
"Your legs, they don't hurt do they?"
"No. It just feels awkward to walk. Lady Isabel told me that I needed to exercise more often to make sure they 'connect' better to the rest of my body."
"I see. That woman is really skilled in healing magic isn't she?"
"She is an angel so…"
"Hehe, I guess that makes sense."
They reached the entrance to the other homestead. It was brief, but Kaeli felt like she had become just a bit closer to her sister.
'One step at a time…'
She thought as she opened the door to let Phoebe pass through. Inside the back of the kitchen, she noticed Leona standing with her back turned towards her. The tactician seemed so absorbed in watching Robert prepare something on top of the marble counter that she didn't even notice Phoebe sneak from behind.
"Boo!"
The assassin poked Leona in the ribs which made her jump away from her.
"Gah! Wha…" She turned and noticed them both. "You should've said something… I didn't even hear you two coming in."
"Sorry, sorry." Phoebe waved her free hand back and forth in front of her face. "I couldn't help myself."
"Hello." Kaeli bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for having me."
"Yeah, yeah." Robert replied nonchalantly. "Feel free to have a seat in the main hall, I'll be there with food shortly."
"Mm." She nodded and walked past them, but something caught her eye as she passed by the counter and she took half a step back as her head tilted towards the top of the table covered in flour. "Are you making pizza?"
He nodded while quietly shaping the dough into a wide circle. A quiet smile appeared on Kaeli's face before she slowly continued on her way to the hall while Phoebe stayed behind with them.
She walked around the large round wooden table in the middle of the room, but unlike before the room was a bit more lively. Yuna and Setsuna were chatting while sitting on the couch.
On the other side of the room there were two faces she didn't recognize. Ren noticed her gaze and locked eyes with her before raising his hand in a friendly manner.
"Hello."
"Hi." She answered as it was the first time she met either of them. "Are you two guests?"
Ren glanced at Tomoe before smiling to the high elf.
"Something along those lines. My name is Ren, Robert's apprentice. Nice to meet you."
The oni maid on the other hand bowed politely before introducing herself.
"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Tomoe. I'm Ren's vassal."
'With a maid outfit?'
Was her first thought before she also bowed slightly.
"The pleasure is all mine. Ren, Tomoe." She addressed each of them with respect. "I'm Kaeli. Phoebe's older sister and Robert's former apprentice."
"Fellow apprentices then." The young man smiled. "I've heard about you before. He sang praises about your abilities."
"Robert? Praises?" She chuckled sourly. "Now that's a good joke."
"No, no it's true. He would tell me time and time again when I was too slow to understand."
She scratched the side of her head with an awkward smile.
"That doesn't exactly sound like praise…"
"Trust me, it was. He never saw someone master so many elements so fast like you did." He smiled somewhat sourly. "Me on the other hand I can't even cast elemental spells."
That quickly picked her interest as she unconsciously pulled a nearby chair to sit down.
"You can't cast elemental spells?"
"No… I'm not sure why. Oh, but I am very adept at ephemeral enchanting." He offered his open right palm next to her hand. "May I?"
She raised an eyebrow as she reluctantly put her right hand on top of his.
"Sure but… what do you intend to do with…" She didn't even need to finish her sentence. As he started to inscribe strange glyphs onto her hand she could feel a surge of mana gathering at her fingertips. Much like how she would cast spells of her own. "What the…?"
He gently let go of her hand and she noticed the familiar light blue glow of mana emitting from it. It was as if the glyphs marked her skin had been imbued with their own mana reserves and she could feel the magic coursing through them.
"This kind of enchantment lets you use all of its magical content before it runs out. It also prevents crystallization from excess mana."
She listened to the explanation as she closely observed her own hand.
"How did you come up with this?"
"Well… as someone that is unable to make use of elemental magic, I thought if I gave raw magic to anything, it would be more effective at doing its own job. Say for example, an arrow. If you fire one with this kind of ephemeral enchanting, it will fly faster than an unenchanted one. Although the result will always be worse than using Windshot to propel it faster."
"Interesting… very interesting…" She closed and opened her hand. The familiar sensation felt almost nostalgic. "How long does this last?"
"Huh… depends on the recipient's mana conductivity. The better it is, the longer it lasts."
"Hmm… so it follows the conventional rule of enchanting… interesting. I never heard of enchanting a living being with magic before."
"Robert also said it was peculiar but a worthy endeavor to resign oneself to. That being said, he didn't seem all that surprised as you are."
"Heh. He is a peculiar man himself after all." She placed her palm against her chest, but unlike what she expected, the sensation didn't spread out to her body. "Maybe I can cast spells again with this…"
"Pardon?"
"No, nothing. Thank you for showing me this." She chuckled a bit as she stood up. "I have to say, you are more skilled than I was back when I studied under him. I've managed to learn all elements thanks to his tutelage but you achieved something unique on your own."
"Haha… I wish it was completely on my own but thank you."
"No need to be so reserved. You achieved something amazing, you can be proud of yourself."
He smiled warmly.
"I'll keep that in mind."
She nodded shortly before parting ways. Her hurried steps towards the double doors in the attempt to go outside were thwarted by someone grabbing the back of her collar, pulling her backwards into a tight hug.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Setsuna asked with her breathing slightly pushing Kaeli's hair forward. There was a noticeable hint of alcohol coming out of her mouth. "Don't you think you're acting too cold with us?"
"Setsuna! You're… too close… and why do you reek of alcohol?"
"It's… our birthday, I'm allowed to drink… a little."
She hiccuped.
"Sis!" The younger sister grabbed the older one by the waist and pulled her away from Kaeli. "Please show some restraint…!"
"Oh come on…! We're finally all reunited at last!"
She burst in laughter as she almost fell backwards. Yuna steadied her footing and managed to keep her from falling over. She held her drunk sister with a firm grip as she apologized to the high elf.
"Sorry, Kaeli. I think the stress from keeping watch in the northern region made her go all out drinking today."
"Haha… it's okay. She needs to let off some steam too. I just need to get some fresh air outside, I'll be back soon."
Setsuna pointed her finger at her and started to throw a tantrum.
"Haaaaa…! Don't leave again Kaeli!"
"Calm down sis!" Yuna pulled her back once again before tossing her on the couch. "You need to learn some self control!"
Kaeli scurried along before Setsuna could make another fuss and left the homestead. Her heart was pounding with excitement. The lingering feeling of the ephemeral brand on her hand still felt fresh and her slow steps quickly broke into a full sprint. There was a lingering sensation of doubt mixed with hope inside her mind as she stopped just outside the cave's entrance.
The waxing moon above shone an eerie light above the treetops and the solitary wind brushed the foliage above and below her. She stretched her hand out with her fingertips curling slightly inwards as she swallowed dry.
'Will this even work?'
She couldn't help but feel a chilling sensation growing from her stomach. The anticipation was killing her. She wanted to know—she needed to know. If making use of magic despite almost not having any mana was possible, she too could make herself useful. She looked up and focused before chanting.
"Fulgent lightning-" Mana gathered from the top of her palm towards her fingertips before it started to crackle with purple energy. "-smite my foes, Chain Lightning!"
In a blink of an eye, the mana that had gathered burst forth as a blast of lightning that arced in many directions in the air, creating a momentary blinding light that lit up the dark sky. The rebound from the spell made her flinch backwards and fall on her butt as she stared at the dark sky.
"I did it…" She looked at her right hand and the glyphs on her skin were gone. She felt a cathartic release as her hand still tingled with the lingering sensation of electricity. "I cast a spell!"
She was about to stand up to run back to the house but her legs felt strangely heavy.
'What the…' Her vision started to become blurry. 'No way… this is… mana shock…'
She wasn't used to this sensation, after all, she was already quite a skilled mage even before she left Nara for the first time. Her encounter with Alexander and consequentially becoming a paladin only served to further make her even more powerful than she already was.
Something so intrinsically tied to being a weak mage never occurred in her mind given the euphoric state she was in.
'I can't… not here…!'
She was trying her hardest to lift herself up but to no avail. Her body felt too weak to do anything on her own and as she was about to pass out she noticed the silhouette of someone approaching from the outside.
"Kaeli?" It was a familiar male voice but she couldn't make out who exactly it was. "Hey! Are you alright?!"
Footsteps became louder and as her eyelids were closing on their own, she could see a familiar silver gray hair accompanied with two distinct sharp crimson eyes.
'Ah… Krieg…'
It was then when she blacked out.