55. Finding answers (3)

Shelly came out from the dust-covered room and looked at them with a glare.

Mona instantly hid back behind Sandra. The appearance of the head magician looks awful and pitiful yet her intense glare mixed with anger terrifies her a bit.

Shelly's shoulder-length black hair turned grey from the dust, and her white coat was wrinkled and dirty. The glasses she wore were already missing one of its lenses, and her face was covered in tiny bruises.

Staring at them with a fiery gaze, she snarled and asked, "What?"

"What happened here?" Sandra asked back, glancing around the wreckage inside the room.

"Don't answer my question with a question."

"I was just amazed you're still alive."

"I don't care. I asked why you're here."

Before the conversation went even more awry, she stepped out and gave Shelly an awkward smile.

"I wanted to thank you personally for checking me up every day-"

"Do you think I did that willingly? I am the head mage and was ordered by his grace. You're thanking the wrong person here." Shelly said sourly, cutting her words in mid-sentence.

'But you could have told another mage to do it instead since it was just a mana check-up...' Mona thought, but she decided not to voice them out knowing that the lady would only deny it and get mad at them more.

"I see." She answered instead and looked around the interior as well. "This is quite an explosion."

"Yes. And none of your business as well."

Mona only grinned at the rude treatment towards her. But her maid appeared to be riled up.

"The head mage is such a foul-mouthed."

Mona was a bit shocked to see her picking a fight first, but the headmage only smirked and responded in an even-provoking tone.

"The maid is such a buttinsky."

Sandra glared at the mage and stepped forward. Truly surprised her, because the maid barely reacts to anything and yet here, she was, ready to wage war against someone.

It's like Mona was seeing the Saintess getting expressive whenever she was irritated and pestered. The thought made her giggle, and the sound snatched the attention of the other two women.

One was looking at her with confusion and the other with scorn mixed with displeasure.

But the latter doesn't give the same intensity when they first met. Mona could even tell that the mage's treatment and behavior towards her was just like a child being sulky and prideful. Acting tough and unkind to hide her real emotions.

"That's enough. We didn't come here to bicker with you. Aside from showing you my gratitude, there is another thing I came here for." She intercepted and looked at the mage seriously.

Shelly raised her eyebrows at what she said. Now, her eyes were filled with curiosity, and Sandra was also looking at her with a question.

"But first, can we enter? The matter is something private. I just want to be careful." She added, looking around to check if there was another unknown presence.

Shelly stayed silent. She just kept looking at her, as if trying to guess what was going on in her mind. After a while, the head mage flicked her fingers and every mess inside the room came into order again, restoring it to the state before the explosion.

"Come in," Shelly said and moved to a single bed and sat.

"You don't even have a seat inside?" Sandra commented.

"My bed can accommodate you and your lady just enough. Be grateful I'm even letting you sit here." The mage replied with a scowl, rolling her eyes toward Sandra.

"Thank you." She chipped in and sat beside the mage, giving room to Sandra but the latter only shook her head and kept standing.

The room was back in its old state, so Mona gave it another glance to perceive the owner's personality. They say that one's haven reflects the owner's character.

Books are piled in every corner, as well as scrolls and tubes. Pencils and scratches of papers were thrown everywhere, and the board opposite the bed was filled with doodles. There were some paraphernalia she couldn't recognize displayed on the racks near the board, and some tools and apparatus were lying on the table beside it.

"Quit touring my room with your eyes. Tell me what you need and get out already."

She turned back at Shelly. Her folded arms are kept on her chest with her fingers tapping on them.

"Then....can I hold your hand?"

Shelly grimaced but didn't answer. She just held out her hand reluctantly and waited for what she intended to do. Perhaps she was thinking the conversation would only get longer if she chose to comment, so she just obeyed her with a sour look on her face.

Reaching her outstretched hand, she infused divine mana on her, which made the mage flinched and snatched her hand back.

"...what?" Shelly asked in a slight daze. The intense warm sensation of divine mana must have flowed out through her body already, leaving her in a daze. Then gradually, her bruises started to fade and restore her healthy complexion.

"You have seen me use this power back in the frozen lake already, right? I wanted to show you properly this time, and....." She paused and stared at her bewildered eyes, and then all of a sudden, the shadows of every single thing in the room moved and stretched out to the ceiling, completely blocking any ray of light and enveloping them into abyssal darkness.

Mona heard a terrified shriek and she instantly returned the room to its former state. After the darkness retreated, her eyes witnessed how the mage trembled in fear.

Sandra came rushing and held Shelly's arms while patting her back gently. When the shock of frightening someone came down, Mona immediately held the mage's hand and imbued divine mana on her.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Shelly. I didn't know you'd react this way. I'm sorry." She said apologetically. Squeezing the sweaty hands of the head mage while calming her down. "And please, don't misunderstand me. I wanted to show you both of this power and asked something."

Shelly's breathing gradually calmed down and her hands also stopped trembling. She lifted her head and met Mona's eyes filled with worry and nervousness. In her mind, she had never seen such eyes as black as the darkest night.

Gulping down the invisible lump in her throat, she answered nervously, "W-What do you want to know?"

Sandra stopped patting the mage's back and went to the table where a pitcher of water and a glass was. She waited for her to come back to let the mage drink first.

After the water had been consumed, she opened her mouth to answer her.

"I....heard that you're a genius among your peers. Sir Lionel told me that you have a knack for inventing and discovering anything that relates to magic." She paused and gave Sandra a glance, who was listening to her attentively. "As you have seen, I possess both white and dark magic. The dark belongs to this body's previous owner, but the white one...I have no idea where it came from."

She recalled the very first time she manifested divine power after finding out that she had it inside her. It was a week after she arrived at the Holy Nation. When First Highest Priest Yunis took her to an abandoned temple.

It was a temple whose beauty and magnificence remained even after being covered with grasses and vines. The vines wrapped in the whole time even gave it a mysterious atmosphere. The first highest priest performed a ceremony while she accompanied him. But she never asked him who that temple belonged to.

Now that she recalled it, she asked herself why she had not asked the first high priest before.

"I....." Shelly snapped her out of her reverie, she blinked and focused her eyes on her after, "...have never heard of something like this either. I saw you created a barrier, but I wasn't aware that you can wield dark mana as well. So, that time...at Omun, it was you who covered us in darkness...?"

She nodded at her.

"I see. I... acted contemptuously towards you back then. I....wanted to apologize."

Shelly lowered her eyes and bowed at her slightly. Which she accepted and returned with a casual smile.

Shelly continued to speak, "I don't know why you're telling me this. But if...you think I can help on whatever this is about, then...I will try."

"Thank you." This time, it was she who bowed at the mage.

When she lifted her head again, she saw her expression quite bashful and uncomfortable.

She smiled and continued, "I want to find out many things about this. So, can you help me research?"

"Research...? You mean about this unique mana of yours only?"

"No. In both. My mana and me." She looked at her intently and continued, "I will tell you things I find weird and unique, then help me understand them with concrete explanations."

Mona intended to ask the first highest priest or the Saintess, but knowing it by herself would also set her mind at ease.

She played with her fingers and dared to speak again. But when the door was knocked from outside, all three of them turned their head. Shelly stood and opened it.

"...brother..."