I was only seven years old. The fact that I knew things that nobody else did in this world was bound to be puzzling. Even if you wrote it off as a kid’s imagination, that couldn’t apply to the sort of stuff I was saying. This stuff was well beyond anyone’s notion of common sense.
The fact that Dad had accepted all this about me without question spoke to his own broad-mindedness. I would probably disturb everyone else. Most people would try to dig deeper into my motives, or try to stop me altogether.
Not Dad. He mulled it over, then said, “Hmm, I get it. Let’s go for it. We’ll have to go to a mine to test it out.” He turned to Graste. “Is there one nearby?”
I felt so grateful! I was damn lucky to have been born to this man in this world.
Graste didn’t question me any further. He scratched his head, deep in thought.
“Yeah,” he eventually said. “It’s a few minutes’ walk from here. Shall we go?” Graste patted me on the head.
We walked outside. Graste shut and locked the door, and hung up his Closed sign.
I resisted asking him if he was sure about this. He didn’t look concerned in the least. So, I didn’t question it.
With that, the three of us headed off to the thundercite mine. I felt a twinge of nerves. Everything was going so well that I was starting to feel anxious. No point in dwelling on things, I thought.
There was a mining facility about a ten-minute walk from Istria. It was much closer than I imagined. Was mining a big industry here? If it was a place we could just wander into, then that suggested there many mines around that were open to the general public. As we approached, I saw mine workers as well as ordinary people. The road we were on must’ve doubled as the way to the mine and a footpath to other locations. We passed by travelers and merchants as we walked.
The mine was divided into two sections. One was a restricted, private area for employees only. The other could be entered by anyone who had acquired permission. All you needed to do was pay a fee, and then you could enter the mine freely. Given that it was a public mine though, the available ore wasn’t worth much. It’d take a considerable amount of labor and tools to excavate anything useful out of it. For those reasons, Graste explained, the public-use mine was actually running at a loss.
The thundercite we were looking for wasn’t located within the bedrock, but outside and exposed to air. Before long, we saw a sign about it: Thundercite Warning.
Straight ahead on a large hunk of rock, I saw the thundercite shooting out electricity, as promised. Bright blue sparks crackled and forked around glowing white stones. Looking at it was like watching high-powered sparklers. The stone itself looked slick and smooth.
It looked dangerous, so keeping a distance was vital. There were both large and small hunks of thundercite, and the amount of electricity they emitted corresponded with their size.
“Approach carefully,” Graste warned. “Or you’ll get burned.”
I looked around our surroundings. Certainly, the thundercite stones that were as big as my own body were too hazardous. The hand-sized ones didn’t look as powerful, but they still made plenty of fireworks.
“What’s your plan?” Dad asked. “Are you going to try and touch it with the peralite?”
I shook my head. “This peralite is thick enough that the electricity wouldn’t pass through it, even if it wasn’t an insulator. So, I’ll have to do this…” I tried to tear off a layer of the mica, but it was tougher than expected. I couldn’t rip it away.
“Gimme here,” Graste said. I handed it over. He immediately tore the mineral apart into layers.
Well, that simplifies things. I thanked him while stacking up a few of the layers. Then I held them loosely in my palm. I didn’t feel very protected, making me nervous. Nonetheless, I sat down next to a smaller piece of thundercite and quickly touched it with the mica.
“Wait, Shion!” Dad rushed over to me and yanked me away from the thundercite, forcing the mica to fall out of my hand.
“What in the world are you doing? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
Dad examined my hand closely and found no injury there. Once he realized I was okay, he put his hand over his heart. “Heaven’s sake. Don’t do anything dangerous, Shion!”
“Sorry, Dad. I’m perfectly fine. It really is mica. It’s an insulator!”
Dad finally let me go. I gathered up the pieces of fallen mica and showed them to him.
“See? There’s no sign of burns or damage. Insulators absorb electri—I mean, lightning.”
Dad nodded. “You’re right. It’s hard to believe it, but you’ve proven it.”
Graste was watching us from the side. He came closer. “So, it’s safe if you touch it with the peralite, eh? Lemme try.” He snatched the mica out of my hand and piled it up in his palm. Then he reached down to the thundercite.
“Huh. Whaddaya know? It’s completely safe.” Graste glanced in my direction with surprise. He had a deep suspicion in his eyes.
I searched quickly for words. “W-well, see, now we know that peralite is an insulator. Now we just need to buy a few big pieces of it, then we can safely transport thundercite.”
Achieving this objective proved possible. The whole process would take a lot of time and effort, but it would be worth it. There was no other way to generate a convenient source of electricity. I couldn’t complain, especially when the prospect of more magic was on the horizon.
Graste was thinking about something, but he didn’t share it with us. Had I gone too far? Mom and Dad never bothered me for saying things beyond my years, but not everyone loved me unconditionally as they did. Graste seemed like a good guy, but that didn’t mean he would accept everything I said or did without question. Maybe I’d been too hasty.
“I suppose, now, we go back to town, buy more peralite, then come back,” Dad said. He seemed unconcerned, only giving Graste a quick glance.
Dad and I were two minds of a kind, now. Although, I’m sure he would’ve tried to stop me if he understood what I was trying to do. He hadn’t thought that deeply about it. Neither had I, honestly.
Still, with our goal seemingly achieved, all that was left to do was get the thundercite and head back home. I had a lot to think about, but I felt a surge of excitement at having discovered this new direction for my magical research.
I hope that this approach is even more exciting and magical than Flare, I mused while we began the walk back into town.