Chapter 39 - Young Visitor

  Felicia wasn't sure what to make of the boy standing in their doorway.

  He was young—couldn't be more than ten or eleven—but there was something odd about the way he carried himself. He studied her as well, showing neither respect nor pride. Just plain curiosity.

  "You can come in while we wait," she said carefully, stepping aside to let him pass. Her mana-sight swept over him, trying to understand what she was sensing. "He will be right out."

  "Perfect," the boy replied, walking past her and into the room. He glanced around briefly at the bookshelves, the blackboard, and the telescope. There was recognition in his gaze, almost nostalgic.

  My ability to read faces must have dulled over the years of blindness…

  "Can I get you anything?" Felicia tried, not quite sure how she should treat this guest. Was he a student? A visitor? Someone important? "Tea, or—"

  "No, thank you. I am simply here to see your… teacher? Guardian?"

  The pause before the words suggested he wasn't quite sure which label fit.

  “I think teacher is the most accurate,” Felicia replied. It wasn’t, but the exact nature of their relationship was hard to pin down. And not something she should share with just anyone. “Did somebody send you here?”

  That would at least make some sense, given his age. Perhaps Quill had learned of their return?

  But then he would have sent Lily, right?

  However, the boy chose to ignore her question. “Oh, he decided to pick up a student? How interesting…”

  Felicia couldn’t quite shake the feeling she was talking to someone important. She kept studying him closely, looking for any clues to his identity.

  “Your mana vision is quite advanced, young lady, but it is starting to become impolite.”

  Felicia froze, and heat rushed to her cheeks. Never having expected him to sense her mana, she hadn't even considered it might be rude. Was it rude?

  Fabric stopped nearly all vision from going past it, but even then, she would likely feel quite embarrassed if she sensed someone studying her closely like this.

  "I… I apologize." The words came out smaller than she intended, and she immediately pulled her mana-sight back, limiting herself to just his face.

  "Don't worry about it. Very few people would be capable of sensing such fine mana." He paused, and she could feel his attention shift, focusing on her more intently. Like he'd just noticed something important. "Though, are you perhaps blind?"

  Was that not obvious from my closed eyes? Or do people do that when training their mana sight?

  She nodded. “I only just learned mana sight a few days ago, so I’m still getting used to it.”

  “A few days? Truly?”

  There was genuine surprise in his voice now, the first real emotion she'd heard from him.

  She nodded again, unsure what else to say. Was a few days impressive? She hadn’t even improved much since first learning it.

  “...What is your name, my dear?”

  The term of address should have sounded patronizing from someone who looked so young, but somehow it didn't.

  “Felicia Harrowbloom.”

  "Ah, Harrowbloom." The boy tilted his head thoughtfully, and she could see his eyes searching through memories. "There was a girl from the Harrowblooms here recently. Talented, but quite fiery."

  That could only be one person.

  “Are you talking about Lily?"

  "Mmmh, no, but something starting with an L."

  That narrowed the number down to zero. No one else in their direct family had studied at the academy for many decades. And especially not anyone starting with an L.

  Is he mixing names in his head? Or…

  "Lyzelle?"

  "That was it! Your sister?"

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  The confirmation came with satisfaction, like he'd been trying to remember all along. But the question made Felicia's stomach drop.

  "No, that's my… My grandmother."

  "Ah." The boy blushed slightly, a look that seemed oddly out of place. "I suppose it has been longer than I thought."

  Oh. Now I get it.

  The pieces clicked into place all at once. The way he'd shown up without announcement, the fact that he could sense her fine mana control, and most importantly, that he'd been here when her grandmother was a student.

  There was only one logical conclusion, though his appearance was completely different from what she expected.

  “You’re the headmaster.”

  "Indeed, I am." He studied her face, as if measuring her reaction. "But I hope this stays between us if you see me like this in the future."

  A secret form? To mingle with the children at the academy? Or does he actually look like this?

  Either way, he wasn’t someone she needed to be wary of. As one of the only people Daniel knew from his past, they were on the same team.

  “Sure. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets. I have to be, considering my teacher.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched upward—almost a smile. "Very true, as long as he decides to stay hidden. Is he coming out soon?"

  Felicia glanced toward the bedroom door, remembering the exhaustion that had hung around Daniel like a heavy cloak. The confrontation with Elania had taken more out of him than he'd let on, she was sure of it.

  "He should be, but it has been a long day. Elania appeared."

  The headmaster sighed. "I know. I felt it from here, which is why I came to visit." He looked over at the bedroom door with something that might have been concern.

  He felt it from here?

  The tower was several kilometers away, and Elania had contained her mana so that it did not even reach the ground. Could it still be sensed from so far away?

  “...Is there a particular trick to sensing mana?”

  The question escaped before she could stop it. This was not the right time to ask, and she knew it. But the ability sounded so useful.

  The young headmaster glanced at her with a smile. “A curious girl, are you? That is a great quality to have.”

  Felicia felt her hopes rise, only to have them immediately dashed.

  "Unfortunately, mana sense is far too advanced for you at this point. It relies on years of high-level training at the archmage level. Far beyond making circles on paper."

  Oh no.

  Now it was Felicia’s turn to blush, as the hastily hidden stack of papers she had been practising on clearly hadn’t escaped his senses.

  “Is it not rude to search someone’s room with mana vision?”

  The words came out defensive, trying to turn his earlier criticism back on him. If she was being rude, then so was he.

  "It is." The headmaster's smile grew slightly wider, clearly enjoying her indignation. "But there are nearly a dozen pieces of crumbled-up paper in the vicinity of the waste bin, so I didn't have to. You managed to hit it once, though."

  Curse my bad aim. And lack of vision range.

  The bedroom door opened, and Daniel emerged, looking more rested despite having only been gone for an hour. His hair was slightly damp, like he'd splashed water on his face, and there was a softness to his expression that suggested he'd actually managed to relax.

  "Zoltran," he said, not the least bit surprised. "I should have known you'd show up."

  Zoltran. So that's his name.

  The boy—Zoltran—looked back at Daniel, studying him for a moment with those too-old eyes. Then his expression hardened.

  “I told you she would try to kill you at first. You weren’t supposed to let her.”

  Daniel’s hand reached for the bloodstained bandage around his neck, almost like he’d forgotten it was there. “...Neither of us was in our right mind. It seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. Giving her the choice, after all the pain I—”

  “You stupid child. Did you want to condemn her to another eternity alone?”

  It would be a funny scene if it weren't so serious, with a small boy scolding the adult like a disappointed parent. But there was nothing funny about the weight of those words.

  Another eternity alone. She would hate herself if she hadn’t stopped her sword in time…

  Felicia had to agree with the headmaster. She'd been terrified of losing Daniel in that moment, watching the blade press against his throat, seeing the blood flow. She'd been angry that he let it happen, that he'd just stood there and accepted potential death without fighting back.

  Like his life meant so little.

  What would I have done if she'd killed him?

  The thought made her chest tight, made her hands clench into fists. She'd only known him for a short time, but already the idea of losing him felt unbearable.

  Daniel only shrugged weakly, glancing at Felicia with a guilty face. “...Like I said, not in my right mind.”

  The anger disappeared from Zoltran's face as he sighed, deeper than such a small body should be capable of. “I will take some of the blame. If I had known she could return at any point… I hoped you would have a few days to prepare.”

  Days to prepare for seeing Elania again, to figure out what to say. Instead, he got seconds. I can’t say I know how he could have felt, but still…

  “It ended well. As well as I could have hoped, honestly.”

  "That is a blessing," Zoltran nodded, before turning his attention back to Felicia. "I'm surprised you didn't tell me about this student of yours. She seems quite talented."

  Yeah. I was also surprised by that.

  She wasn't hurt by it—or at least, she told herself she wasn't. But she thought she'd been significant enough to mention, at least.

  Though, it was a reunion after a thousand years. There would be a thousand things to talk about… Right?

  “Explaining what Felicia means to me would take quite a bit of time, so I left it for later. And yes, she is quite talented, even by your standards.”

  Okay, I forgive him.

  The warmth in Daniel's voice, the way he said her name, made the earlier sting vanish completely. She couldn’t help but smile at him.

  Zoltran's eyebrows rose higher with each of Daniel's statements, climbing up his forehead in surprise. "More than a student, then. But surely you know my standards?"

  Daniel remained silent, looking at her with a confident smirk. “Why don’t you show him your magic, Fillie?”