Chapter 5: Mana Crystals

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the unfamiliar 2-D room. Before I could become confused, the prior day's events came rushing into my head like a tsunami.

"DING"

'Subject: Mornin'

From: God

Finally, you are up! I thought you were going to sleep the whole year!

(*^｡^*)Rise (*^o^*)And * ＼(^0^)／*Shineｰ!!'

"Ah, yeah, you exist." I bemoaned, too tired to be polite.

"DING"

'Subject: Mornin'

From: God

So mean~, I am hurt

໒( •́ ∧ •̀ )७ '

"So you can hear me. I suppose this means you purposely kept quiet and didn't message me when I asked you about the system?"

"DING"

'Subject: Mornin'

From: God

Oops, you got me there

(▰∀◕)ﾉ

Anyways, you should probably get started on your mission! Soul transferring must have taken quite the toll on you because you were out like a light for 4 days!'

"What?!"

All the insults I was generating in my head flew away like the wind after reading the second part.

' The mission was for a week, so if I was sleeping for 4 days then... System, show mission'

'<l Mission:

You are currently being mistreated by the marquess. If this persists, permanent damage may be done to your body. Find a way out of this position!

*if you fail this mission you shall receive a penalty

Time: 2 days 14 hours

Reward: ??

Penalty: Heart shall stop'

'2 days and 14 hours?! Should I just spend this time making a grave instead?' I inwardly groaned. 'Okay, I will need something to write on.'

I scavenged Sage's worksheets and picked up a sheet of paper with an unused backside. I then picked up the cheap fountain pen and started writing about the marquis (in English, of course).

Marquis Everflame

(Sage's father)

He and Marquis Jade own a popular clothing business. After Marquis Everflame's wife died in the middle of giving birth to Sage's elder brother, Marquis Jade offered his step-sister (whose husband also died) for a political marriage, and Marquis Everflame accepted. Soon after giving birth to Sage, it was found that the stepsister was a spy from an unknown company. She committed suicide after being found out. Marquis Jade's stepmother had died a few years back, so there were little to none leads. This infuriated Sage's father because he was a BIG workaholic who poured his soul into his work. He then hated Sage, as she is the sister's daughter. He covered the death up as a carriage accident hoping that the company would be exposed (never happened but some blows to his company that happen in the future make me infer that the company is still targeting him). He now is very protective, secretive, and overcautious about his work.

Satisfied with my work, I read over it and started thinking.

'Impressing him may work, but due to his irrational reasons for hating me, the chances are a bit low. Since I am not only the younger one but also a girl, having academic achievements are quite useless to him.'

In this world, although it is legal for females to do anything males can, there is heavy sexism towards females, and therefore, normally, females are simply married off, and just nurse their children. While females do go to school, they usually get tutored on things like dancing, embroidery, etiquette, sewing, nursing children, make-up, etc. they normally only take elementary courses on things like math, ELA, history, and all.

'Is there anything else? Hmm... is there anything I can do to make myself useful? '

I scan the fresh ink of text once more.

'If I could help the company… but would he trust me? Is there anything I can offer other than academics… Sage has an average amount of mana… wait! Her unique magic! She has the ability to tell if anyone is lying, which would be a big upper hand in business, and one can't fake unique magic.'

Thinking of this a bit further, I started fabricating a plan.

Mana crystals, a popular and common crystal that stores magic and mana. You can embed a spell into these crystals that don't need mana to activate. This is commonly used in the military, or worn as safety accessories. They normally are quite cheap, but it depends on the spell level. One of the most expensive types are crystals with unique magic embedded within them. Due to the rarity of people with unique magic, and how useful some unique magics can be, these crystals quickly rose within the ranks of both popularity and price. These little things would be a big part of my plan. By embedding my magic, I can make 'truth crystals' that would tell if people were lying or not. Not only would it be a big help to his business, but it also would help him with his obsession with making sure there are no spies. There was one problem, however, and this was the fact that until the age of 10, nobles from this world's magic are sealed. This is to prevent accidents from occurring, as the child's body is not completely used to, and thus has a harder time manipulating mana. I had a solution, however, it was quite the risky one. Because Sage's father neglected her, he wouldn't have realized if mana was leaking out, and the servants are mostly daughters or sons of wealthy commoners or barons, and therefore, probably are not overly sensitive to mana. (If they were talented in magic, they would likely be doing something else, like having a magic-related job (which are quite high in demand, and pay better), or be learning magic, rather than doing servant work, which pays less.), if the seal was a bit damaged, and I managed to use my unique magic on myself, Sage's father may do the appraisal ceremony, where you see your affinities, mana, and unique magic. If this manages to happen, then I can immediately strike a deal with Marquis Everflame, where in return for me supplying him with a surplus of 'truth mana crystals', I get to live in a better situation, with some allowances, and a few rights that would let me control my future a bit better.

However, if one servant does happen to be quite sensitive to mana, or some other factor happens that proves me wrong, I would not only be beaten for lying, but also would lose all trust from the marquis, and probably be thrown in a worse living situation.

'Ugh, whatever, would die either way,' I sigh.

'Operation Deal with the Devil… commence!'