“Miss Hel, what’s this ‘demonite’ like?” asks a sorcerer, quizzically tilting his head and pointing at a piece of paper.
“They’re black stones that come in all shapes and sizes. We’ll take the stones you bring to an appraiser to determine whether they’re demonite or not. Your reward scales with the number of genuine samples you bring, so this assignment isn’t as efficient as the rest. Still, we’ll accept these stones at any time, so you might as well be doing other assignments and, should you come upon any demonite in the process, please let us know.”
“Huh. Gotcha. Alright, I’ll take the pest-control one for today.” He takes the assignment paper and walks out the guild, looking gallant.
“Good luck, sir!” I wave at his back.
My ordinary days are back. It’s been a month since the whole thing with the Time Keeper. After my conversation with the director and the knight commander, we brought the king into the loop about the demonite situation, and he decided it wouldn’t be wise to search for it in Doran alone. Thus, demonite became well known not only to our neighboring states but to the rest of the continent as well. The king’s reasoning was straightforward—why act in secret and risk word getting out, creating distrust and stoking the flames of war, when we can bring everyone in to make a coordinated effort out of the demonite rush?
We also have to keep in mind the fact that Dr. Aristo was helping Städal. Doran’s obliged to do everything in its power to avoid further tarnishing its rep with other states.
Furthermore, it’s not like demonite is only found in the Kingdom of Doran. Städal’s fragments must be scattered across the whole world, and there’s only so much territory a single country can search.
There’s still not a lot we know about demonite. I’m visiting the knight order to be “interrogated” every five days to help with the investigation. That time we talked through the mirror was the first time I ever mentioned speaking with the Ice Ancient, and the knights have been summoning me ever since; I’ve been more than happy to divulge anything I can. They keep asking me why I didn’t tell them earlier. It’s not like I knew about demonite before, so I simply didn’t think it was so important that I’d talked to an ancient.
Publicly, the state’s treating demonite like an illicit substance—dangerous to use, illegal to possess. Not that I’d expect any ordinary person to want something that can spawn demons—at least, not wittingly. Not handing it in to the kingdom has been made a punishable offense, just in case.
We’ve kept a tight lid on the truth of the stones’ power; it’s the one detail we’d rather the masses not know.
“’Sup, Nanalie. You got any work that pays about this much?”
“I do. Just a moment, please.”
The young male sorcerer holds up three fingers and has a bashful smile on his face. I’m assuming he means three hundred pegalo. I get up from my seat and take two, no, three assignments from the box that fit the bill.
“There’s this, this, and...”
Treyse was put on house arrest for a year and has been banned from attending any events—everything from house parties on up, or so Nikeh put it the other day. According to the medical checkup, she was found completely healthy. That was a relief to hear. Apparently it’s still not clear whether her life span’s shrunk, but they’re planning to send her to an institution that can examine her more thoroughly.
I’ve heard her memory’s been fuzzy since she ended up in custody, and she doesn’t remember much from before she went to Rockmann’s place. Also, apparently it wasn’t Treyse but Rockmann himself who stuck that dagger in his chest; the docs are saying it might’ve traumatized her.
“How about this one?”
For buying the Time Keeper on the black market, Count Drenman has been forbidden from visiting the castle for the same period as Treyse’s house arrest.
“Can I really take this? I’m only an associate.”
“You’re an expert already. You ranked up the other day, remember?”
Though the truth remains unclear, the count insists the demon had possessed him as well and made him do it.
“What?! Oh, you’re right.”
As for Rockmann, apparently his looks were completely back to normal the following day. Nikeh came to tell me as fast as she possibly could. According to her, he can use magic without any issue. He recovered so fast that I feel stupid for ever worrying. It really was temporary like he said.
However, the demon-like powers coursing through his veins remain the same. Nikeh asked him whether it had any impact on his magic, and he said he couldn’t really tell. It would seem the demon still refuses to talk, so we’re not making any progress on that front.
The fact Rockmann is both back to normal and not leaves me with a slightly hazy feeling. I’m almost angry—like, what if he had lost his powers permanently? I’m not a fan of that kind of noble sacrifice. Though I imagine I might’ve done the same thing in his shoes, so it’s hard to actually get mad at him.
While I don’t think I have any right to scold him, if I were his mother, Duchess Norweira, I’d probably shout, “You need to value your life!” or something.
“Nanalie. Today’s take.”
“I got it.”
Once things quiet down and the row of sorcerers in front of my counter finally clears, Zozo hands me a large gunny sack. Rolling around inside is a bunch of possible demonite samples brought in by our clients. One of my new duties is carrying these stones to an appraiser. I’m the only one who can do this, and the location of the appraiser is kept secret from everyone else. The director has threatened to immediately fire me if I tell anyone; obviously for that reason alone I would never do such a thing.
“You can go straight to the order after you’re done delivering this. Man, there’s no way I could go through with helping the investigation along if I were you!” She waves her hand, looking annoyed by the thought of it, which prompts a smile from me.
Today I have to go to my regular interrogation—or rather, I’m going to help with the investigation. I lift the heavy sack and head to the backyard. If this were getting in the way of my job, I’d rather not keep going to the order, but it only takes half a day and they try to summon me on my days off, so it’s not a problem for me yet.
“Ah, Miss Nanalie! How about we go drinking today?” calls out Cheena, resting on the bench in the backyard, once she sees me walking with the gunny sack. Her adorable, slightly unruly bangs leap up.
“You mean it? Sure, by all means!”
Cheena folds her hands behind her back and starts fidgeting.
“There’s a new place in front of the Vegetarian Wolf. I was hoping to check it out.”
“Well... I just hope the usual hostess doesn’t get angry at us.”
“You mean like, ‘You’ve cheated on me with a different café!’?”
“Heh heh, that does sound like her.”
I softly bring a hand to my chest; Cheena’s spirit always soothes my soul. It’s like her innocence soaks up all my fatigue, or at least that’s how it feels. Given how I’ve recently had to stare back at some brazen faces in the order during questioning, I appreciate the assist. Otherwise it would be just like Zozo said.
“Well, I’ll be going,” I tell Cheena.
“Okay! Be careful on your way!”
I summon Lala and get on her back, then cast the Coat of Many Colors to make myself invisible and soar into the sky. The cold wind whipping at me high in the sky suggests the season’s about due to change.