Lina’s face was unchanging, the same familiar expression—just in a different skin.

  “I really miss your real body, Lin,” Vierna said.

  “Aww, but isn’t this one better?” Lina stood up and twirled around. “Honestly, if we didn’t have to drink the elixir every once in a while, I’d want to keep it.”

  Vierna shook her head. “Nope. Your real body is better.”

  “Hehe… look at you, being sweet and all.” Lina patted Vierna’s head.

  They talked for a while about other things—about how disgusting Korrn was, how Mirelle’s betrayal had been unexpected yet had still somehow allowed them to infiltrate the village.

  “Well, since we’re lucky things worked out in our favor, we need to actually mingle with the villagers. Right now, even if we save them, we’re still outsiders. So when we get a job, try to befriend whoever ends up working with us.”

  “Just like how it was in Haustwitch?”

  “Yeah… just like that.”

  Vierna’s answer thinned at the end. She turned toward the window, letting the moonlight catch her face. Her eyes drifted, unfocused, as if something far beyond the window had pulled her back. Haustwitch hadn’t been home, not even close, but the memory scraped her all the same.

  She rubbed her thumb against her palm, as if reciting somekind of mantra to ward off the sting of betrayal.

  “Hey, let me look at your gun,” Lina said.

  Vierna tilted her head. “Why?”

  “I’m bored. Besides, I’ve never seen one up close.” Lina gave her a mischievous smile.

  Lina said it lightly, but something in Vierna’s mind wasn’t entirely convinced that was her only reason.

  “Oh right… Moony said not to use too much magic, right?” Lina added. “Sorry, forget I asked.”

  “Hmm… well, I actually need to inspect it too. Let me ask her.” Vierna closed her eyes.

  Moony, would you be able to use the storage rune?

  ‘I think runic magic is still fine. They don’t use that much mana.’

  Even with Moony reassuring them, Vierna still wasn’t convinced. So instead of conjuring the rune with her mana like usual, she decided to draw it manually.

  “Lin… did you bring ink or something?”

  “Hmmm… what for?”

  “I’ll draw the rune instead of conjuring it. It should lessen the mana usage.”

  Lina conjured her own storage rune, then pulled out paper along with ink and a quill from inside it.

  “You brought paper too?” Vierna asked.

  “Yeah. Who knows when we’ll need to write something? I borrowed it from the tax office—remind me to return those.”

  Vierna chuckled at the remark, then used the quill to draw the rune on the paper.|

  The rune she drew was more complicated than the simple shapes she usually formed with her mana. Imagining a spell was easy—your intention flowed straight to your spirit, and the spirit filled in the gaps. Writing it into a scroll was different. Every mark had to be exact; it was as if every period and comma needed perfect placement or the entire spell would collapse.

  A rune acted as a conduit for mana. It differed from spoken incantation: incantation told your spirit what to do and left the execution to them. A magic scroll, however, let the formula perform the action for you. All you needed to do was pour mana into the runes, and the runes carried out the effect instead of your spirit. This was also why runic magic—whether conjured in the air with mana or written into a scroll—was more mana-efficient than ordinary spells.

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  The more complicated the spell, the more runes you had to write, since they formed the basis of the formula. Luckily, the storage spell wasn’t a complicated one.

  When she finally finished the scroll, she poured a bit of mana into it. Moony didn’t whimper; it seemed that as long as the mana stayed low, she could handle it. The rune glowed, which made Vierna quietly relieved. Even if the spell was simple, this was the first time she had put her theoretical knowledge into practice.

  She pulled out her gun and handed it to Lina, then took out a small brush and a cloth.

  “Why are you so smart… I know it was a simple spell but still I never saw someone making a magic scroll.” Lina muttered, still studying the weapon.

  “Well I could teach you if you want.”

  “Haha… later okay?” Lina said as she returned the gun. “Hmm… how do you actually shoot that?”

  “The inside of this gun has an incomplete drawing of a fire rune.” Vierna pointed near the barrel above the trigger. “When you pull the trigger, the missing piece of the rune connects, completing the circle. That finished rune ignites the conjured powder inside the chamber and pushes the conjured bullet out.”

  “Ah, I understand.” Lina scratched her head as she said it. Vierna honestly doubted she really did.

  “That animal even made you learn the mechanism, huh?”

  “Yeah…” Vierna looked at the ground, Sieg’s shadow still haunting her. “Every time I see a gun now, I’m reminded of him.”

  “Vierna…”

  She looked at Lina, her gaze steady. “It’s okay, Lin. I can’t wallow in self-pity and trauma forever. I’ll use even what I learned from that bastard for my future. One day, we’ll leave all of this behind.”

  “Of course.” Lina smiled.

  They continued talking about the kind of life they would have when the Reich finally reunited the Continent. Vierna spoke while she brushed the gun with a cloth, running it through the bore as well. She knew she didn’t need to maintain it—she hadn’t even fired it before—but she wanted to be useful to Lina, conjuring the weapon even if her condition forced her to find an alternative method for her storage spell. And in a way, it also gave her a chance to try making spell scrolls, so it wasn’t a waste.

  During the talk, neither of them was sure if the war would even end within their lifetime, they still needed the hope. They also talked about what would happen if peace never came. Vierna said she would be fine marrying Lina while still continuing her service to the Reich. The Reich didn’t forbid same-sex marriage, though couples were required to adopt an orphan and raise them.

  They even discussed how Halwen might react when they eventually broke the news to him. Vierna couldn’t imagine his face when two of their research subjects announced they wanted to marry each other. Lina mimicked his expression, which made Vierna laugh. The joking continued for a while until they circled back to the mission at hand.

  “Hey, Vierna, I also thought of a way to gather information.”

  Vierna looked at her. “Shouldn’t you rest until your back’s fully healed?”

  “Normally, yeah, that would be wise. However, we’re on a time frame, remember? Even if Loran’del told me to let it heal, I’d still force my way.”

  “But please don’t push yourself, okay?”

  “I won’t.”

  “So what would you actually do, Lin?” Vierna asked.

  “My mother was a healer in my village. So I know a bit about healing arts, I could make some ointments or medicine from plants. And Albrecht also secretly trained me in healing both magic and non magic.”

  Vierna frowned, confused. She hadn’t known Lina was training in healing magic. “Why did Albrecht make you train in healing instead?”

  “Well, he said the Imperium healers are really good—even better than the Reich’s. He made me practice with Grace. Also, he said since I am hopeless in melee, maybe I should stick to supporting you. So if you are injured, I can tend you back to health.”

  “Haha… that would be really convenient,” Vierna said, smiling. “So, are you going to become this village’s healer?”

  “Yeah… that’s probably all I can do.”

  “If you heal using only your mana, it’s okay. But if even a bit of Grace leaks out, it could arouse suspicion. Can you heal using only mana?”

  “Um… it would be hard. My mana is limited, so a bit of Grace always leaks out,” Lina said, scratching her head. “Maybe I should just stick with the non-magic stuff. I could probably ask some of the village healers about Moony’s condition too.”

  “No, don’t. We don’t know if there are other things that could injure a spirit the way Loran’del’s tea did. Asking them about it would risk arousing suspicion.” Vierna looked at Lina, curious. “But still… a healer, huh?”

  “Hehe… I learned a bit from my mother, then Albrecht basically forced me to learn the more advanced stuff.”

  “Did he taught you personally?”

  “No, he assigned Strau as my mentor on it. I guess he also wasn’t really good on it.”

  Vierna look at Lina’s “Why don’t I know any of it? I want to know everything about you Lin.”

  Lina’s cheeks reddened. “I wanted it to be a surprise for you, you know? I want you to see that I’m actually learning something and not just some silly girl.”

  “Aww… you’re not some silly girl to me, Lina.” Vierna patted her head. “But does our ‘master healer’ really not know anything about Hairon root?”

  “Sadly, I don’t. Maybe it’s a local plant.” Lina sighed. “Too bad we can’t ask the villagers about this, though. A plant that directly interferes with spirits is really intriguing. Besides, I think these elves and beastkin understand spirits better than we do. We could learn a thing or two here.”

  Vierna remembered the totem standing in the middle of the village. For her, religion had always felt like mere formality. Even when her parents made her attend the Church of Precedence, she had never felt anything divine. Now, freed from all the pretending and lies, she finally noticed it—the atmosphere in Rolbart was different.

  “Yeah, I would ask the beastkin healer who heal my back. I’am sure I could handle non magic healing stuff.” Lina said.

  “Okay, Lin, just be careful, okay?”

  “I will, hehe…” Lina said as she yawned. “Let’s go to sleep. We had a long day today.”

  “Sure. Good night, Lina.”

  “Good night, Vierna.”