New Face

There were less and less people outside as he walked towards his destination. The town didn't have many entertainment opportunities at night and taking into account that it would be a workday tomorrow, people saw no reason to be outside at such a late hour.

Most vendors were already closed and he could only hope that he wasn't too late. The bookstore would also close soon enough and he had to make haste. Fortunately for him, it wasn't such a long walk from the hostel he was in, so he ought to make it in time.

After 5 minutes of peaceful walk, he finally saw his goal and thankfully the lights were still lit, indicating that it was still opened.

As he was about to open the door, he sensed a magic coming from inside. More than that, it was one coming from a living being. Although it wasn't powerful by any means, but right now, with his measly energy reserves, this one could technically overpower him. Nevertheless, he didn't stop for even a second to hesitate, as the door opened and a small bell rang from inside.

 He concealed his power to the limit, seeing no reason to get himself in trouble, but still curious about the person.

'I hope they know more about the world at large. If I can somehow get into contact with them, I can obtain more information and see a larger picture.' Lucius thought.

There was only one way to find out the answers to his questions and he believed this someone could provide them in spades.

×-×-× 

Isabella was reading a book that caught her attention when she suddenly shuddered greatly. She carefully looked around, trying to see the reason for her body to react so violently, but she didn't see anyone besides the shop's owner whom she was familiar with for a long time. She was sure that he was a normal human through and through.

*Ding*

Then, a bell rang, indicating that someone entered the shop. 'So late?' She thought idly. But as she was behind the bookshelf, she didn't see the one that entered. 'I should just act normally. Maybe I've catched cold.' 

"Good evening, sir. Can I help you somehow?" She heard the store owner but she couldn't interpretent that anything was wrong from his voice alone. Maybe it really was just her imagination.

"It's fine. I'm sorry if you were about to close the shop." The voice was unfamiliar, which didn't tell her a lot.

"Ohoho, those are unwarranted worries. The shop will close only in an hour, so no need for apologizes." 

"Then, if you will excuse me." After that sentence, there was silence in the shop, interrupted only by her flipping the pages. Somehow, the situation felt weird, but she couldn't exactly catch on what caused this.

Soon, she heard footsteps moving towards her, which pumped up her anxiousness to a whole another level, but she forced herself to not pay any attention. Soon, they stopped not too far away from her, only then prompting her to look up from her book.

She saw a quite handsome young man, even if his unnaturally pale skin could somewhat dampen this impression. What immediately caught her attention though, were his green eyes, not so different from her own, but enchanting in their own way. She then glanced at the book in his hands that he was skimming through, recognizing it as one of the history books she had read before.

As if sensing her gaze, he also distracted himself from inspecting the book, looking at her and sizing him up. His gaze though didn't really pause on her face or her body, but instead she felt that it went beyond them, as if gazing at something she herself didn't know about herself. It was a feeling she got only from some of the most powerful mages she knew, but their old, cranky visage couldn't be applied to the man before her.

"Are you also interested in history?" He asked suddenly, which prompted her to escape her downwards spiraling thoughts. Only after looking back at her book did she answer the question.

"Yes, although this one is more for my studies." After she answered, there was a small awkward silence. It was one she didn't like, even if she scarcely interacted with other: "So are you?"

"Well, you can say it is of interest to me, indeed. I just feel that history is one of the subjects that can greatly expand one's worldview, helping me understand the world better. But this book piqued my interest in another way." He said with a small smile adorning his lips.

"In what way exactly, then, if I may ask?" After she asked the question, she could swear that she saw his eyes flash with some sort of light. The next words confirmed the feeling she got at the start of it all.

"Mmm, I'm sure you have heard of Merlin Ambrosius, haven't you?"

×-×-× 

Lucius saw fear flash in her eyes for a second, before it was replaced by determination and some sort of complicated emotion. He certainly was amused at this moment. The lady in front of him wasn't slow in understanding the situation she was in, although she could interpretent it in a wrong way if he didn't add anything.

"Don't misunderstand. I have no bad will against you, young mage." At those words, she looked around nervously, as if she was a cornered animal caught in his trap. The sight even elicited a small chuckle from him, "Don't worry, we are alone here. There's no ambush. And if you are worrying about the normal humans, then they shouldn't hear us." He flicked his fingers to show a magic circle beneath them and a thing barrier encompassing them. All in all, it was a simple magic that blocked any sounds from getting out.

Even then, she wasn't calmed down and only stared daggers at him. Certainly, she didn't trust him at all, which wasn't really surprising.

"You don't trust me, do you? What can I do to rectify my mistake?" He asked then. Although he was sure that at this distance he could easily defeat her if need arose, but there was no need to go around and making enemies left and right. Sometimes, something hard-earned was far sweeter than something that fell right in your hands and also usually brought far more benefits in the long-run.

She frowned at his words: "Do you even have to ask? A strange man in the middle of the night corners a defenseless woman and asks if she can trust the man?" But after a while, she finally showed some resignation to the situation she founds herself in, "What do you want?"

"Defenseless? From those magic circles I can sense, you are far from that. But if that makes you feel safer, then go ahead." He saw a flash of astonishment shimmer across her face, before it was replaced by a horrifying realization, "What I want is quite simple, or maybe hard, depends on what angle you take it from. All I want is to know more about supernatural world."

This time, there was only surprise to be seen and no words came out of her mouth for a while. After a moment though, she regained her bearings, "What do you mean by that exactly? You know magic and you are able to even cast circles without anyone noticing. You are clearly superior to me in strength, so I have doubts that you are some newly self-awakened who knows nothing."

There wasn't any arrogance in her words, only cold facts. Truth be told, Lucius liked such blunt people, who didn't think of themselves as superior to others because of some naive thoughts or measly power they held.

"You are right that I didn't acquire the magic recently. And even though I may be stronger than you, it doesn't mean that I know that much about the world. Hmm, it will be easier for you to understand that I'm not from around here, nor really from this time." As far as Lucius knew, trust was a mutual thing. You couldn't acquire it without giving something in return, so some facts about him could be given out quite freely.

"Not from this time and place..?" She thought about those words and then a realization dawned on her, "You are not human, right?" She asked incredulously, which Lucius found a little bit strange. Weren't there still a lot of supernatural beings around and about?

"In short, yes, I am not human. Although I have to ask, aren't other beings quite common?" It wasn't really pleasant to be on the side of a country bumpkin, but he couldn't really do anything about it. Swallowing some pride wasn't a big deal for him if it meant getting something in return.

"Well, you would be right, but I have only heard of them, never seen one with my own eyes. Or maybe I did, but I remain ignorant of it. Anyway, what you want to know is how things go around here?" She still looked wary, but not as scared as before. It certainly was an improvement in his book.

"I like it that you catch on quickly. Mind if we hold that conversation somewhere else? I do in fact enjoy the fresh air more than this dust-filled shop." He offered her his hand, which she, although reluctantly, still accepted.

Only after they were about to exit the shop did he remember about his initial goal.

'Am I really so old that my memory is faulty now?'