Chapter 16

"Okay little guy—"An annoyed squeaking chirp assaulted my ears, coming from the summoned spirit of air perched atop my latest project. Well, not so much a new project as an offshoot of a current one, but I decided that since I could do it then it would be nice to go ahead and do so. The air spirit had taken the form of a translucent crystal butterfly, tinged faintly green glow as it radiated an invisible breeze. "Sorry, girl. And a pretty girl at that."The spirit chirped happily and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. That was the problem with dealing with intermediate and above summons—being intelligent enough to carry out orders sometimes also meant some level of sapience. As in the case of the vain little wind spirit helping me out today."Are you ready?" Another positive chirp and crystal legs wrapped around the glass sphere I'd crafted around a mana crystal. "Remember, high as you can, okay?"The critter chirped again before taking off, straight up. And up. And up, until it disappeared. I stopped tracking it and turned my attention to the piece of magical technology in my hands. It was kind of a phone. Sort of.Vaguely.I'd kept the basic slim, rectangular shape for ease of storage and holding it. It had a lot of the same functions as a phone. But over the course of months, I had gone above and beyond what even a smartphone could do in some ways, and in others was still lacking. It would be fair to call it its own thing now, which only really shared some similarity to a cell phone as I knew them. "Alright, sync up with the drone and display its feed, please."My phone chirped before an image lit the quartz screen—a view from the glass drone I'd made, looking down on Roa and Fittoa. "Projector mode." A hologram sprang to life above it, turning the image 3-D. Tapping the image of Roa, I instructed, "Begin photographing the city, then pan out from there and get the surrounding area as altitude increases, zooming in as needed. Highlight all roads between them. In the future, default to projection mode unless I specify otherwise, please."I had hit a wall in my project towards making a magical cell phone. Yes, I could make spells for light, sound, touch, and even transmit light and sound between them using summoning/sending spells. Physically constructing one and enchanting it the spells I did have was easy enough—just required a little quartz, a small magic crystal, and some metal for the edge (I was using brass at the moment). What I couldn't figure out was how to get it to store data, let alone how to begin programming it if it couldn't retain data. No data storage meant no OS, no apps, none of the fancy stuff that made a cell phone a pocket computer.Given enough time, I'm sure I would have figured it out eventually, but I wanted them up and running ASAP so I could send one out to Roxy.So, I cheated.Is it artificial intelligence when you summon a spirit of intelligence and convince her to live in your magi-tech device to play the part of its operating system? I mean, it was an extant intelligence created from magic and whatever else made spirits, so it wasn't actually artificial… but on the other hand, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck then there's little reason to believe it's actually a goose disguised as a duck. (It's a goose.)The little sprite hadn't actually had a name when I'd called her up with a Saint-level summoning spell and the intent behind it to summon up something smart enough to help me and compliant enough to listen. Intent mattered when summoning thinking beings. I got a spirit of light who agreed to inhabit my phone and manage every device connected to it, including other phones. In return, I provided it mana, entertainment, and shelter. Two of those were self-explanatory—I had to power the phone with my own mana and she just sipped off the top from the mana crystal, while the phone itself provided shelter. As for entertainment, apparently being a spirit is pretty boring stuff unless they're interacting with living beings.In other words, she was constantly spying on me. Not that I minded all that much. She didn't really talk much, even though she could—mostly resorting to affirmative or negative chirps and the occasional sound to get my attention if she felt it was warranted. It was unobtrusive enough that I could almost forget she was there.I had been super creative in naming her Sprite and calling it a day (that's sarcasm, I suck at naming things). Now, I had something in my phone that would follow instructions, retain data, use the enchanted spells within it, and which could make suggestions for new enchantments.Still not quite 'pocket computer,' but getting damn close.As a spirit of intelligence, Sprite's memory was infallible. I had initially been skeptical, even a bit suspicious, but over the past month as nothing bad happened I had begun using the phone to digitize… spiritize? my information. Maps I'd had Phillip buy for me where I couldn't get them myself from town were photographed and could be called up at any time, as were my research notes, designs, and blueprints. I was about to the point of going into the library and copying everything in there, too.Sprite loved every minute of it. New knowledge, to a spirit of information, was like manna from heaven. A steak for a starving man.Or maybe drugs for an addict.Either way, I had four phones up and working at the moment—enough to have one for myself, Roxy, Sylphie, and a spare. It wouldn't take much effort to make more, but I didn't want to burn through my collection of mana crystals. I was getting kind of low and they were expensive, even if I had 'fuck you money' now.Eventually, the 'drone' I'd sent up (little more than a magical camera carried by a spirit of wind) came back down and I collected it. I had plans for a more advanced drone later, something that would be closer to the ones I was familiar with from Earth, but this was good enough for now. I used it to get a lay of the land and had Sprite use the maps I'd stored to start labeling things, giving me the most accurate map possible. Using light spells, the camera had a ridiculous level of zoom and Sprite worked very fast. Pretty much everything she could see was photographed in minute detail—the kind of detail that would let one read microfiche clearly from orbit."Okay, now, let's see about sending one to Roxy."Back when I'd first started the warehouse project, I had created a set of boxes and sent them off to Sylphie and Roxie. Sylphie had gotten hers within the week, but so far, Roxy had yet to receive hers. At this point, I was testing it daily by summoning a letter from within it then sending it back. The letter came with a simple set of instructions—a single line, actually.Roxy, when you get this, write something on this letter and put it back in the box. -Rudy.Focusing on my mental image of the box, I summoned just its contents to my hand. Unfolding it, I grinned when I found a new line beneath my first.I have received the box, Rudeus. I've also taken some time to examine it. Is this a magical tool to allow one to send and receive mail? -Roxy.Summoning Roxy's phone to hand, I sent it to the inside of the box. "Sprite, give me a visual from the phone I just sent."A hologram sprang up above my phone, showing black. "Okay, it's late afternoon. She should be free, unless she's doing something. Chirp over there for me, would you?"Sprite complied and I heard her chirping through the feed. When nothing happened, I sighed. "Okay, keep watch on it and if you hear or see something, let me know. You can shut down the display now."Since Roxy would have her phone today, tomorrow at the latest, I went ahead and sent Sylphie hers—direct to Sylphie, as opposed to her mail box, because at this time of day she should be practicing by herself. "View from Sylphie's phone," I instructed, and a hologram filled the air over my phone, showing a surprised greenette looking at the piece of crystal and brass along with her surroundings—which was currently the view from our hilltop tree."Rudy?" Sylphie wondered quietly."Full A/V transmission. Put a hologram up on her side," I ordered.Sylphie dropped the phone. "Eek!"I laughed. "Hey, don't drop it," I sent her a smile, and the girl lunged for the hologram.Her hands passed right through and Sylphie pouted. "It's not real?""It's just an illusion. Well, hologram. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. But hey, we can talk like this now. Neat, huh?" Sylphie nodded so hard I worried she'd hurt herself as she picked up the phone and moved to sit down under the tree."So, how does it work?" she asked, turning the phone over curiously in her hands."Magic," I grinned, getting an eye roll in answer. "Short answer, I summoned a spirit and she's controlling my phone and everything connected to it—which includes your phone and Roxy's."Sylphie looked excited. "So I can talk to Roxy too?!""Sure can. As soon as she finds it. It's in her mail box now. I'll tell her to call you later.""Mm!" Sylphie nodded happily. Studying the image, she asked, "Where are you?"I gestured towards the lab behind me. "Oh, this? It's where I go to get away from Eris—I mean, work on projects."Sylphie's eyes narrowed as she frowned. "You shouldn't be mean, Rudy.""I'm not being mean—""She's not there to defend herself," Sylphie pointed out.I resisted the urge to sigh. "It was a joke. Mostly because yeah, it's where I used to go to get some time to myself. She's gotten a lot better now."Maybe I did too good a job of teaching her to stand up for herself? I wondered, before dismissing the idea. As she was before, I was afraid someone could have just come along and forced her into pretty much anything and she wouldn't have protested.Sylphie didn't look particularly appeased, but she allowed it to drop. "What's that in the corner?"Turning to look, I spotted the triangular form of the delta wing I'd made for the ultralight bike modification. I had since removed the fan and was working on a purely spell-driven engine—essentially a tube that was wider on one end and would act as a forced air engine. "That is a wing, for flying."I went on to explain how it worked and what I was doing with it, before Sylphie moved on to the next curiosity that caught her interest—a scale model of a drone that I'd been working on. And so on, and so forth.Finally, once her curiosity was satisfied, I asked, "How have things been with my family?"Sylphie hummed quietly. "Your sisters are doing well. Aisha is doing very well in her studies and loves magic. Norn," she hesitated, "not so much? It's not that she doesn't like magic, or she prefers the sword or anything. She's just… not as quick to learn as her sister. She's interested, she just takes longer and seems to struggle more than her sister.""That's normal for some people. Some grow out of it, some don't. Just be patient with her.""I am," Sylphie agreed. "As for everyone else, well, Lilia is fine. I think she misses you. But you know it's hard to tell with her. She keeps everything to herself."I nodded. "Yeah, she really does.""Your mom has been spending a lot of time with mine, playing with the baby.""Did they finally name her?" Apparently, most people tended to wait a few months to a year before naming a new child, especially if they didn't have access to a healer. Infant mortality was pretty high here, so I wasn't surprised. Even with Zenith and Sylphie on tap, Sylphie's parents had decided to wait a bit before naming the little blonde bundle of… screaming and mess-making joy.Smiling, the limette said, "Elin.""Cute.""She really is!" Well, at least she was enthusiastic.The smile slipped from her face as Sylphie said, "But Zenith hasn't had much time to come visit lately. She, your father, my father, and every watchman in the village has been called up to put down monsters in the forest. Apparently, something is setting them off or drawing more in and there are a lot more than usual. We've had some attacks on the outlying farms and some people have lost some livestock to them. Uncle lost a couple of sheep, the next farm over lost a cow, and the one next to that lost a horse.""Really?" I asked, frowning as I considered what she'd told me. "And they haven't asked you for help?""I offered, but everyone says it's no place for a child. I heard them saying they might have to put in a request with the Adventurers' Guild if it gets much worse.""Huh. I see," I murmured. On the one hand, I don't owe a bunch of people who turned their backs on me anything. On the other hand… This problem directly affects Sylphie, Zenith, my sisters, Lilia, Uncle, and the few decent folk in the village.After a moment, I came to a decision. "I'll talk to Sauros and ask if he can do something.""Should I let anyone know…?""No," I shook my head. "Don't want them figuring out we have a means of communicating. Sprite, the spirit running the phone's functions, won't respond to anyone but you or someone you or I explicitly tell her to, so there's no real risk of someone stealing it and figuring out what it is that way but that doesn't mean someone couldn't take it away from you."The girl smiled mischievously, her ears wagging slightly as she did. "I could just summon it back."Her grin was infectious and I felt myself smiling in return. "You could. It seems I've corrupted you.""Oh no. Whatever shall I do? I'll never be able to marry now," Sylphie laughed.We talked a bit longer before she had to head off to teach Norn and Aisha, but not before promising to call when she could. Once she was off the phone, I slipped mine into my pocket and made my way out of the lab to get cleaned up for dinner. I ate with the family for a change, speaking with Phillip about where I stood on certain projects he was interested in using to turn a profit along with the status of Eris' education (much better than it had been), and in turn getting updates on how much we had made off our ventures so far (a lot).I broached the topic of the monster incursion in Buena Village to Sauros, but the old man shook his head. "Let your father deal with it. That's what I pay him for. If he needs help, he'll put in a request with the Guild."Seeing as that wasn't going anywhere, I gave up on that line of dealing with the problem. Instead I said goodnight and left the dining room. Making my way to Ghislaine's room, I knocked and waited. "Come in."I opened the door and slipped inside to find Ghislaine reclining on her bed. Her pants, coat, and sword were on the floor, leaving her in just a black set of thong panties and the floss and eye patches she called a top. One hand rested on her inner thigh while the other held a bottle of alcohol of some sort. "Rudeus. Did you need something?""Ah, yeah. Did I come at a bad time?"The big cat woman shook her head. "It's fine. What did you need?"Leaning against the wall beside her door, I crossed my arms over my chest as I thought about how to word what I wanted to ask. "Suppose a village has a monster problem and they send in a request to the Adventurers' Guild. About what level would you need to be to take such a quest?"Humming quietly, the woman considered me for a moment before she answered. "Depends on the monsters and the area. Somewhere like Buena Village? It'd probably be a C-ranked mission, maybe B. Meaning a C-rank adventurer could take the job.""How long do you think it would take three people to get to C-rank, if they had the benefit of a motorcycle?"Ghislaine shrugged. "That would depend on the available jobs and how quickly you could finish them. Most F- and E-rank jobs are within whatever city or town you're operating in. Did you have something in mind?""I spoke with Sylphie today. Apparently, there's some kind of surge in monsters coming out of the forest. No one's sure why. They've attacked a few of the outlying farms. Paul has it handled for now, but they're already talking about getting Guild help.""Mm. I see." The big woman sipped at her bottle as she thought it over. Finally, she made a suggestion. "If you wanted to switch to more practical lessons for Eris, I wouldn't be opposed. We could treat it like the field exercises we've been doing. Go out, get you two registered as adventurers, do a few missions. But I don't know that you'd be in time to do anything to help your village. Don't think you should, either. Not like that, anyway. You already talk to the old man?"I nodded. "Sauros told me to let Paul deal with it. Thing is, I know the stubborn idiot and he's not going to ask for help until after he's already beaten, not before.""Sounds about right," Ghislaine confirmed. "Don't think you should try to go behind the old man's back.""So how am I supposed to get this done if the guy ostensibly in charge of the village isn't requesting aid?""You don't. It's not your problem." I opened my mouth and she held up a hand. "You have to learn when to let things go. Even if you can do something doesn't mean you should, Rudeus. You could cause more problems by sticking your nose in."Reaching up, I pinched the bridge of my nose as I bit back a sigh. "Right. Okay. Thanks, Ghislaine."I left and made my way up to my room for some light reading and fine mana control exercises. It grated, especially because I knew she was right, but I supposed I would have to let it go for now. I knew I had a very 'see problem, fix problem' mentality sometimes, but in this case, it wasn't Sylphie's place to ask for help and wasn't my place to fix it.If I was being honest with myself, it was likely leftover frustration at being unable to do anything about the ominous mana sphere hovering above Roa. I'd taken some time recently to test it, carefully. As reported, the thing ate any mana used on it, to no visible effect aside from growing just that much stronger, according to Ghislaine's eye. Physical objects just passed straight through it with no effect, either on the object used or the sphere.I had even tried to set up a sort of backwards charging enchantment on a cage that would drain mana off of whatever was placed inside it and feed the mana to a mana crystal. That worked, since it could drain the mana the thing was passively radiating just by existing, but eventually the mana crystal got full with no significant change. Enchanting a constantly cast telekinesis effect to keep the cage in place and a few others to waste mana, I'd managed to strike a balance of constantly absorbing and burning off about five percent of the sphere's total passive output.That worked for about an hour, before the whole thing suddenly collapsed and fell out of the sky. I'd checked my enchantments and everything was fine, but when I tried to set it back up, I found that it could no longer absorb mana from the damn thing and I had no idea why.So yeah, maybe I was looking at the Buena Village thing as something to take my mind off the potential rain of pink elephants—or fire, flood, locusts, plague, or who even fucking knew at this point. The number of potential effects was ridiculous even if I kept them out of the realm of the absurd.What about using it as an excuse to take Eris out on a 'live fire' training exercise?Shaking my head, I forced myself to drop it and focus on my book.Shortly after I had settled in to read, my phone chirped. "Sprite?" I asked, using telekinesis to pick up the phone from where it sat on my writing desk and bring it over. The holographic projection spit out a black image, but I could hear footsteps in the background. Sprite chirped from the other side and the footsteps stopped, before quickly drawing closer. Light came to the hologram along with a familiar face as the top of the box opened. Roxy looked down at the phone in confusion."What in the world did you send me, Rudeus?""Full hologram transmission, Sprite."A moment later, Roxy's eyes went wide. "Rudy?!""Hey there, beautiful," I sent her a grin.Roxy sighed, closing her eyes as a quiet laugh left her lips. She picked up the phone and hurried across her room, before dropping onto her bed. "Of course. I am going to guess, based on the descriptions you gave me while we were together, that this is a 'cell phone?'""Ooh, good work on the English. You're right," I agreed with a nod. "Or close enough, anyway. But yeah, now we can talk and don't need to wait months for letters to arrive, or send multiple copies. You just have to remember to charge the mana crystal when it gets low. Sprite will let you know when it's time. Just make sure to keep it on you at all times. Don't want someone getting ahold of it that shouldn't, even if she won't respond to anyone else. Sure, one of us could just summon it back, but I'd rather not have to.""'Sprite?'" Roxy asked. The phone she held chirped twice and she nearly dropped it. "Is that a spirit?""Got it in one. Sooo…" I drew out the word and grinned. "How'd you like my books? Done anything interesting with them?"The bluenette smiled. "Perhaps."I sent her an amused look. "So, you're keeping it a secret?" Roxy nodded once. "Fine, fine. Surprise me later. Now, how have you been?"And so, I spent the night catching up with my former master/future wife. Unfortunately, there was no kinky video sex. I suggested it, but Roxy didn't feel secure doing it. Apparently, the however manyth prince Flatulence (that was his name, right? I'd have to go back over her letter and check it) was still persisting in his attempts at seducing her, even after she had declared herself betrothed and set his head on fire.Serious fire, not comedy fire. He was persistent, I'll give him that much.Oh well, that was fine. Even just being able to hear her voice again was a treat.Eris practically vibrated in place as we waited. Ghislaine leaned against the wall, her visible eye closed as she waited. I'll give them this, for all the talk I'd heard about the Adventurers' Guild being a rowdy bunch, Roa's branch ran a tight ship and kept their guild offices separate from the general gathering area for adventurers."Okay, I'm ready for you now. Just come up and press your finger on the plate here," the busty guild worker instructed.Eris ran over and slammed her hand down so hard she nearly sent the device off the counter. I approached at a much more sedate pace, letting the redhead enjoy her moment. At my side, Sylphie quietly laughed at the other girl's antics.You're probably wondering how that worked, exactly—what with Sylphie's father not wanting her to have anything to do with me.The simple answer was that Sylphie stopped playing nice.It was a bit more complicated than that, of course.I had introduced Eris and Sylphie over the phone and after a bit of initial awkwardness, they hit it off. Sylphie asked if I could give Eris her own phone so they could talk without needing to borrow mine, so I had given Eris the spare. Then, because it made sense for her to have one if Eris had one, I'd made a new one for Ghislaine. Followed by one for the house, since it would be better if we could communicate if there was some problem. I finally made another spare that I was holding on to in case one broke, but I was almost out of magic stones so I'd had to put in an order for more.Things had sort of spiraled from there.Sylphie liked Eris' bike, so I made her an identical one, in a shade of green to match her hair. That was my first attempt at making one with the new titanium-aluminum alloy and so far, nothing had gone wrong with it, so I had upgraded the rest of the bikes the same way.A motorcycle wasn't exactly something she could hide effectively, so of course, Laws found out. He was not pleased. At all.Sylphie had filled me in on what happened.Sylphie was… not a happy girl."Has the rebellious teenager phase come early?" her mother wondered as she and her father exchanged glares over the table.Well, Sylphie glared. Her father looked tired, and like he would rather be doing anything but having this conversation. "No."It was a sign of just how angry and frustrated she was that she was actually willing to stand her ground against her father, and so firmly that she didn't call him 'sir' or address him as 'father.' "Sylphiette, give me the journal and whatever that magical tool is. It looks like some kind of magical vehicle, and if you think you're using it to go visit Rudeus, you're mistaken. I'm not going to ask again.""My answer isn't going to change," she denied him again."I know you're using the journal to communicate with Rudeus somehow. I've seen what's in it. I don't know what it says and that worries me." Sighing, he gestured helplessly at her. "Luffy, this isn't like you."Crossing her arms over her chest, Sylphie asked, "Why does it worry you? What has Rudy done to lose your trust, father?"Her mother sent her father an annoyed look. "Yes, dear. What has Rudy done?""Nothing in particular," Laws admitted, shooting a sidelong glare at his wife that silently screamed, 'you should be taking my side on this!' "I just don't want to see anything bad happen to you.""And what has Rudy done, to make you believe that something bad will happen?"Once upon a time, she wouldn't dare talk to her father like this. A few years ago, she would have been a nervous, stuttering wreck if she even thought about it. It was thanks to Rudeus that she could actually hold an argument.She didn't truly understand why he occasionally did it at the time, back when she was still learning under him—even when he explained that it was to prepare her for dealing with 'people like him' in the future. Why he sometimes asked her questions, then made her defend her position, sometimes coming after her with reason and seemingly logical counter arguments—other times coming at her with nonsensical arguments, words that played on her emotions in one way or another, even insults, cruel words, and sometimes raising his voice (though after those instances, he always hugged her and apologized, told her she did well, and explained where she went wrong if he thought she had).Now she understood.He hadn't been teaching her to stand up to 'someone like him,' Rudy had been teaching her to stand up to himself—and in so doing, teaching her how to stand up to anyone else as well.Lately, she had pieced together that for some reason, their fathers really didn't want her speaking to her friend. She had suspected that was the case when he was forced to leave for Roa. He had never said it outright later on, when he had taught her how to summon their journal, but the more time she spent around Rudeus' family, the more her eyes were opened to the truth. Eventually, Lilia had confirmed it when Sylphie asked—that Paul had lost faith in his own son. The maid laid out the entire situation and let Sylphie draw her own conclusions as to why that was.Sylphie may have been a little more vindictive in her spars with Rudy's father after that.Then, one day while she was out practicing her magic under their tree, a flash of light had announced the arrival of a slab of what looked like glass and brass, but was clearly a magical tool given the magic stone in it. An image of Rudy's face and the inside of what looked like some sort of office had filled the air over the tool and she had dropped it.Rudy explained what the 'phone' was and how to use it to speak with himself or Roxy. After a nice call with Rudy, Roxy had called her the next day and she got to catch up with their former master. That was when she broached the topic of the things going on in the village. The rumors. Their fathers. Rudy's being sent away. What Lilia had told her.Roxy had taken it all in, thought it over, and explained it as best as she could with what little information she had. Needless to say, Sylphie had not been pleased.At some point in the past few days, her father had apparently searched her room and found the magical phone and the journal. Not knowing what they were (one because it wouldn't respond to anyone but her, the other because it was entirely in English), but suspecting who they were from, he had left them alone. And now, after apparently finding her motorcycle and speaking with Rudy's father again, he had come to demand she hand them all over.She was hurt that he had violated her privacy and searched her things, out of fear that she had been in contact with Rudy through some unknown means. She was more upset that her father didn't trust Rudy, after all he had done for her, for their family, and for their village. It was so frustrating to hear the villagers talking bad about the boy that had done so much for them and being expected to just… let it go. To not 'rock the boat,' as her father put it. She was getting sick and tired of it and it had all come to a head, finally.So, just as Rudy had taught her, she confronted the problem head on—calmly, rationally, forcing the other party to justify their argument with reason instead of feelings. And her father clearly couldn't.Which was why they found themselves at an impasse.Her father wanted something that belonged to her and she refused to comply without just cause, which he couldn't provide. She didn't think her father would try to force her to obey, but if he did… Sylphiette was a Saint-level mage of water, wind, and earth, and she had trained with Rudy to cast silently and almost instantly. She had also been training with Paul and getting pointers from Rudy via the journal, and later the phone, so she knew how to use her Touki and was at least Intermediate-rank in Sword and Water God styles.Her father knew that any physical confrontation would end in her favor."Listen, Luffy. I'm your father, you just have to trust that I know what's best for you.""I don't because you can't tell me why it's better." Something Rudy had said to her came to mind. "If you can't defend your position, you know it's not worth defending."Finally seeming to have had enough, her father stood and pointed towards the far end of their home. "Go to your room. I'm taking your books and you're not getting them back—"Sylphie focused on the mental image of her books and Summoned them to her. Her father blinked. Sylphie focused again and Sent them to the tree, with her journal, phone, and the bike."Where did you put them?" came the demand.Standing up from the table, Sylphie shook her head and made her way to her room, before closing her door and laying down on her bed. Magic really made any threat her father had to give… meaningless. Just as it had the threats from her former bullies. Rudy hadn't just given her some toy, or even a means to defend herself from the people trying to hurt her, he had given her freedom. She was coming to realize just what that meant—freedom to walk about the village without being bullied by the other kids, freedom to live her life in peace, the freedom to choose who she wanted to spend her time with, or how she wanted to live her life…"You see what I mean?" her father grumbled from the kitchen, causing her ear to twitch in that direction. "This is his doing! She was never like this before—""You mean 'before,' when she was being bullied for her hair?""Nn," her father sounded frustrated. "That's not— I didn't mean it like that! Paul was right, he's gotten into her head."Her mother sighed. "I think you're forgetting something, dear." Her father made a questioning noise and she continued, "Weren't you just as stubborn and rebellious, at her age? If not more so?""This is different. I was at least thinking for myself, not just going along with what someone else wanted.""What if it's what she wants?""She's too young to decide for herself. Until she turns fifteen, as long as she's living under my roof, she'll do as she's told."Her mother sighed. "The more you try to put your foot down, the more she's going to rebel. And now, she has a way of leaving the village quickly. I've seen her on that thing. No horse could ever keep up. If she decided to leave, we could never catch her—and we certainly couldn't stop her.""That's my point! It's why we need to take them away, before she does something stupid.""Laws, husband. Sit down for a moment." Sylphie heard one of the chairs at the table scratch across the floor as her father put his weight in it. "Listen to me. Our daughter is a mage—a Saint-level mage, at that. If she wanted, she could leave tomorrow and make her way wherever she went. She could take after their master or Rudy himself and become a teacher. She already does work around the village, so becoming an itinerant mage isn't out of the question, especially with the 'bike' Rudy sent her. Or an adventurer. Or a bodyguard to some noble. Any of those things would pay handsomely."You saw the way she and Rudy 'played' with magic. You've seen her training with Paul. If someone caused her trouble, I don't doubt that she'd be able to defend herself. The only thing stopping her from leaving and doing just that is her love for us and Rudy's family. She doesn't need us, in the way a normal child does any more because she's been taught everything she needs to provide for herself. If you keep pushing, you're going to push her away. She'll leave and there'll be nothing we can do about it. So please, I'm begging you, leave it aloneLaws.""Should have just burned those damn books. Poisoned chalice."Sylphie's eyes narrowed in anger at the threat to the precious, priceless gift Rudy had given her. She hadn't realized how valuable they were at first, until she fully understood English. Then she realized that math and science were really just another extension of magic. Or perhaps it was the other way around.She had already begun experimenting with things in the 'biology' section in an attempt to improve her healing spells, using crickets, ants, field mice, and rabbits, and what she had seen so far was amazing. She knew now how Rudy could come up with things like a spell to fly—but even with another lifetime worth of knowledge, the things he took for granted as simple 'common knowledge' where he came from amazed her. It was a magic all to itself, really.Then she had spoken to Roxy and truly understood just how much they were worth, and how dangerous they could be in the wrong hands.And that phrase, she had heard it before, but still didn't understand why Rudy's gift to her would be a 'poisoned chalice.' I should ask him. No, he gave Roxy books as well. I'll ask her."It's not an engagement present, dear. You know the boy has his eye set on Ms. Roxy. Rudy isn't trying to buy our daughter."Oh. Oh! That made so much more sense. And in light of that, almost everything else made sense now.Rudy had pursued Roxy and pretty much the entire village knew about it by now.After Roxy left, Rudy spent a lot of time teaching her.Rudy gave herself and Roxy books, because he wanted to.Her father thought the books were an engagement present from Rudy to her… when he was already pursuing Roxy. She didn't see why that was a bad thing, but apparently he felt it was, and it had something to do with Rudy's father and the fact that Rudy now had two little sisters—one by his mother, the other by Lilia, his father's second wife.Rudy's father is with Ms. Zenith and Ms. Lilia, and they aren't the only people in the village where it's one husband and two wives. Roxy and I agreed that Rudy had to be fair with the two of us. I don't see why father would be worried about Rudy doing something bad.It really just seemed like her father and Rudy's were being stupid and unfair.I'm tired of it, she finally decided.Opening her closet, she took out the leather bag Rudy had sent her some time ago, using the journal to explain that it was 'in case of emergencies.' Folding her clothes neatly, she slipped several changes inside. Going around her room, she gathered up everything she wanted to take. Prying off a loose floor board, she took out the box of silver she had been saving and emptied it into one of the pockets on the bag.The figurines of herself, a brown bird with a white head and a golden beak landing on a branch, and some kind of black and white spotted dog she didn't recognize (but Rudy called a beagle named Snoopy) all went in the bag. Her wand was already safely in her pocket, as it always was. The books and phone, she summoned back to her and stuffed them in their proper places as well—books in the backpack, phone in her pocket. The magical mail box she left, so she could send letters to her family.That was when she realized that, aside from a few odds and ends, she didn't really have much in the way of mementos. Any toy she got before had inevitably been stolen or destroyed if she took it out of the house, before Rudy came along. She had told her parents what happened to them, but they didn't really have the money to replace them. Everything she had that wasn't clothes had been given to her by Rudy.Shouldering the pack, she adjusted the straps until they were comfortable before leaving her room. She had to pass through the kitchen on the way out, but that was fine. She intended to tell her parents where she was going anyway. Her mother and father stopped arguing as they saw her."I thought I told you—" her father began, only for her mother to smack his arm and shut him up, her eyes fixed on the backpack."Sylphie, dear, where are you going with that?"Sylphie sent her father a warning look before answering her mother. "I'm going to go get a job in the city. If I'm not living under your roof, I can spend time with my friends and talk to who I like."Laws actually winced at that. "You heard that? I'm sorry, Luffy. I didn't mean it like that.""'We often say the things in anger that we wish we could say but can't.' Just because you were angry doesn't mean it's not how you feel," Sylphie countered."And my ears aren't decorative, father." She wagged them for emphasis. "That's not the only thing I've heard. You, Rudy's father, and most of the village—you're all being dumb. Rudy never did anything to me or taught me anything strange. He wasn't trying to turn me into some doll or toy, either.""You're just a child, you couldn't possibly understand—""No!" Sylphie cut him off, a gust of wind bursting off of her for emphasis. In the back room where she had been put down to sleep for the night, Elin woke and started crying. "I'm not going to stand for you or anyone else badmouthing the boy I like any more! Especially when he's not here to defend himself. Now, I'm leaving."Sylphie's mother stood and hurried around the table, before wrapping her arms around her in a hug. "Will you be back?"Sylphie nodded. "On the weekends, to check on Norn and Aisha. I'll come visit."Her mother took a deep breath, squeezing her harder for a moment, before letting go. "I know your father's being stupid," she turned a glare on Laws, "but we both love you. Just… be careful, okay?""I will," the limette agreed quietly.She left without saying goodbye to her father, who had turned and stormed off towards Elin's room. Summoning the bike to herself, she slid on and started to leave, before a thought occurred. Remembering that she was leaving something behind after all, she focused on what she wanted and summoned it to her. The sword that appeared in her hands was heavy, but she had been training to use it for a while now. Strapping it on, she let it hang just under the backpack, the handle sticking out to the right so she could grab it easily.That done, she hit the switches to turn the bike and its lights on (both the headlight and the eerie green glow that came from inside the bike), then left the village. The little needle in the dimly lighted circle mounted between the handle bars pointed to 45 when she got up to what she felt was probably the fastest safe speed she could make in the dark, even on the nice, smooth road to Roa. Wind whipped her hair around, but a set of riding goggles kept both wind and hair out of her eyes. It was cool on her skin, but a bit of magic changed that, making it feel like she was driving through a stream of pleasantly warm air.As she rode, she wondered what to do from here. She hadn't exactly left with a plan beyond getting out, after all.I can't impose on Eris' family. I'll stop by to let them know I've left home, then go get a room at an inn. I have a good bit of silver, so I should be okay for a while. Then, I need to see about work. Perhaps I could become an adventurer?Some time later, she found herself pulling up to the gates of Roa. They were firmly closed, but one of the guards on the other side called out to her when he spotted it. "Oy! You with the governor's lot?"She knew that Eris' father was the governor of Roa, and technically she was 'with' them in the sense that Rudy and Eris were her friends, so she hesitantly answered, "Yes?""Thought so," the man nodded, before opening the gate. "They're the only ones going around on those contraptions. You're free to go on up to the manor. Just do us a favor and go slow through town. Ms. Eris gives people a fright when she won't slow down.""Of course!" Sylphie agreed easily, a smile on her face as she rolled through the gate. Once she was through, she pulled her phone out of her pocket, holding it left handed so she could operate the throttle in her right. "Ms. Sprite?""Just Sprite," a voice answered quietly from the phone, light and young-sounding.Sylphie nodded. "Sprite, could you show me how to get to where Rudy is?"A hologram of an arrow popped up above the phone, pointing down the street. She followed it, taking the occasional turn as directed the further into the city she got, before she found herself slowing to a stop in front of a gate. Beyond the gate lie a castle—that was the only way to put it. A man on duty there looked out between the bars and eyed her and the glowing bike. "That's one of Rudeus' bikes, but who are you miss?""Sylphiette. I'm—"He opened the gate and waved her in. At her confused look, he grinned. "We've got standing orders from the young master to keep an eye out for you and let you in if you ever showed up at our gate. Go on up to the house and they'll show you inside. You can park that thing out front and we'll get it moved into the shed with the others.""Thank you, sir," she beamed a smile at him, before riding slowly up the path to the front of the house. There, Sylphie found a pair of beast-kin maids waiting for her."I'll take that, miss," a rabbit-folk woman offered, approaching the bike. Sylphie nodded, pocketing her key as she handed the bike over to the maid, who began rolling it away.The second maid gestured towards the house. "Follow me, please. I'll take you to see the young master.""Rudy?" she asked, and the maid shook her head."Master Phillip. But don't worry, I'll summon Rudeus too."Sylphie said her thanks and followed along, looking around at all the fancy decorations. The smooth, warm wooden walls. The stone floor, polished to a shine. The paintings that probably cost a fortune. It was nice, but she didn't think she could live somewhere like this. It was just… too much.She looked up as she was led into an office, where she found a brown haired man sitting at a desk, tapping away at a mechanical contraption that had to be Rudy's handiwork. The maid disappeared, leaving her alone. The man tapped a few more times before the thing dinged and part of it slid to the side, before he began pulling out a sheet of paper. Looking up as he set it aside, the man smiled. Something about it, about the way the man looked at her, set her slightly on edge. "So, you're the Sylphiette I've heard so much about. First from Paul, then from Rudy. It's nice to finally meet you. Please, sit."Taking the offered chair, Sylphie waited patiently. "I am Phillip Boreas Greyrat, the governor of Roa and Rudy's employer. Also, your sponsor to get into Ranoa College of Magic, per the deal made with Paul and Rudy to teach my daughter. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask a few questions.""I don't mind, sir," Sylphie shook her head.Phillip smiled, and this time it was at least a nicer smile. "Firstly, just so I know what I'm dealing with, can you cast like Rudeus?" By way of answer, Sylphie held out a hand and conjured up a Water Ball, before letting it disperse into vapor. "Excellent. And what rank would you say you are?""Rudy said Saint-level. I'm better with water, wind, and earth, while fire lags behind a level. But I've grown since then and I think I may be able to cast those three at King-level. Healing is what I'm best with, but I don't have any spells other than the Elementary and Intermediate ones. I think I have two or three spells of King-level worth of mana capacity, maybe a little more."Phillip raised an eyebrow. "And lightning?"Sylphie frowned. She knew Rudy had told her to keep that one to herself, but if he already knew, then there was no point hiding it. "The same as everything but fire.""I see," the man murmured, clasping his hands in front of him and resting his chin on them. "You're here awfully late. May I ask what for?"Biting her bottom lip, Sylphie hesitantly answered, "I decided to leave home and find a job in Roa."Nodding, the man asked, "What sort of skills do you have?"Sylphie considered the question and frowned as she came up short for a moment. "Magic. Rudy's father said I was around Intermediate-level in Water and Sword God schools. I'm literate and educated in mathematics and other subjects. I've been teaching Rudy's younger sisters as well, so I would say that I have experience teaching.""Not bad. Not bad at all." Picking up the brass thing he had been using, he held it out above the floor to the side of the desk and dropped it. With a crunch and a ping of metal on stone that made Sylphie wince, it hit the floor and broke into several pieces. "Fix this."At her confused look, Phillip elaborated. "Rudeus demonstrated his competence as a mage by fighting my daughter and later, putting on a demonstration of King-level magic that, according to Ghislaine's report, drew the attention of Perugius himself. Consider it a test of your ability."Nodding, Sylphie stood and picked up the broken device. A bit of wind magic drew the scattered pieces to her and she sat it all down on top of the desk. Focusing on earth magic, she reached into it to see how it worked. It was broken, obviously, but a few of the internal pieces were still intact. There are letters written backwards on little parts inside that, when you push one of these levers on the front with the matching lever, push it against the paper. So, I'll start by straightening everything out and removing the dents…She worked silently, straightening out dents, dings, and bends. Where pieces had sheered off, she fused them back together. Parts that wouldn't move, she adjusted until they actioned correctly. Finally, she handed the whole thing to Phillip and the man slotted in a new piece of paper. Then, he began tapping away at it. Within a few moments, he finished and pulled the paper out. Drawing two lines on it with a pen, obviously made by Rudy, he signed one and turned the paper around. "You're hired. Sign here.""Wha—?" Sylphie asked, picking up the paper and reading it over. The gist of it was that room and board would be provided at the mansion. Her duties were to go around and inspect the equipment Rudeus had made and Phillip had installed in various facilities and repair anything that had broken or perform 'preventative maintenance' to make sure they didn't break. The pay was listed in gold, not silver. "This, isn't this too much?""I've had another mage I trust look at it before, but he can't make heads or tails of half the stuff Rudy makes and the half he can, he can't figure out how to fix with magic. The boy says it's supposed to be repairable completely without magic, but honestly I'd rather just have a mage of his caliber look over them once in a while and keep them from breaking in the first place. Rudy's inventions have made us a lot of money and will continue to do so for many years. I'm sure we'll be able to train up people capable of fixing them without magic eventually, but in the meantime there is no such person and Rudeus is stretching himself thin enough between teaching my daughter, his lessons with Ghislaine, and his various 'projects.' Asking him to go back and fix something would only slow down his development of whatever new thing he makes next.""I see." Considering the paper, she asked, "Is there any set schedule…?""No, no," Phillip shook his head. "You'll be expected to go around once every fortnight and inspect everything, but when you do that and how you divide the inspections up is entirely up to you. You could do it all in one day, or spread it out over the course of a few hours a day every week. If something breaks, you would be expected to repair it within a reasonable timeframe, but I'm going to be pretty lenient on that considering that the normal idea of 'reasonable' for getting a blacksmith to fix something is measured in weeks or months. Otherwise, your time is your own to do with as you see fit. The figure listed is a retainer fee—money I'm paying you to keep you on hand and available. I'll pay more on a per-repair basis."That sounds beyond fair, Sylphie admitted to herself. Taking up the pen, she signed her name below Phillip's and passed the pen and contract back.Phillip held out a hand and Sylphie hesitantly took it. "Welcome aboard," the man grinned. "Now, why don't you—"The door opened and Rudy stepped in, looking around in confusion. "Sylphie? What are you doing here?" His eyes trailed over her form and he asked, "Is that my sword?""Mhmm. And I got a job!" she beamed.Rudy's green eyes cut over to Phillip—a warning look in them. Phillip held up both hands. "Nothing horrible, I promise. I'm going to have her do some repairs and maintenance on the cannery and printing press."Rudy sighed. "You could have come to me for that. I told you, the parts are all user serviceable—"Phillip chuckled. "Not everyone understands it like you do, Rudeus. It's going to take time to get to the point where we can train up a few people who do. Sylphiette here can fix a broken typewriter without ever having seen one before and in less than an hour. It'd be a shame to let those skills go to waste."Looking between Sylphie and Phillip, Rudy asked, "Is that what you want?""Mm! It's better than I was expecting when I left home."The boy frowned. "Yeah, you're going to have to tell me about that later. But fine, I won't stop you from making money. Where will you be staying?""I believe we have an open room in the same wing as yourself and Eris," Phillip suggested.Rudy sent the man a flat look. "What are you playing at?"The older man smiled. "Keeping the mage who makes us so much money happy. I don't think you realize just what you've done for us, Rudeus. As it stands, Roa is set to surpass Ars in terms of its economy within a few years. The only way things could be better is if we had a way of moving goods faster and further, to a wider audience.""Could just make a train," the boy muttered, getting that distracted look Sylphie recognized any time he started working on something new.Frowning, she asked, "Rudy, when was the last time you went out and did something just for fun?""Huh?" the boy blinked, fixing her with a confused look. "Last weekend? Eris, Ghislaine, and I went out camping—""Was it part of a training exercise?"Rudy looked more confused. "Well, yeah. We're teaching Eris woodcraft."Sylphie sighed. Sending Phillip a smile, she took Rudy by the hand and dragged him from the room. "Why don't you show me where I'll be sleeping? Then we can talk about going out and doing something fun this weekend!"Eris quickly discovered Sylphie's presence and, after including Ghislaine in the discussion (because the big woman would be coming regardless), it was decided that we would go out and register as adventurers and have ourselves an adventure. That was how we found ourselves in Roa's Guild the following weekend.Taking her card, Eris held it up triumphantly before pulling me into a hug and planting a kiss on my cheek. Then, she spun out of the Guild on cloud nine, Ghislaine hot on her heels. I shook my head, but a moment later a second pair of lips pressed against the other cheek. Turning a confused look on Sylphie, I asked, "What was that for?""So we're even," she smiled, stepping up and putting her finger on the device and stating her name. She accepted the card it printed and placed it in her pocket.Then, it was my turn. "Rudeus Greyrat," I said, and a moment later what looked like a magical laser printer spit out my own card. Reading it over, I found the information was correct and pocketed it."Would you like to register a party now?" the clerk asked, and I shook my head. "We can just do missions as a group without being a party, right?""Technically, yes. If you work as a group the credit, reward, and rank up will be distributed evenly.""Then that's what we'll do for now," I decided. Turning to Sylphie, I motioned her to follow.We found Eris out in the general area, looking over the job board. "What do you mean, there's no goblin extermination quest?!""There are no goblins to eliminate in the area," was Ghislaine's simple answer. "And elimination missions are typically C-rank. As an F-rank adventurer, you can only accept F- and E-ranked jobs."Eris stomped her foot and put her fists on her hips, thrusting her chest out and glaring at the board. "This sucks!"Sylphie made her way over and soothingly patted the redhead's arm. "It's okay. We can just work our way up the ranks and go somewhere they have a goblin elimination mission. We have the bikes and I don't think your father would be against a road trip.""Only if you can prove you can handle it," Ghislaine stipulated.Eris took a deep breath and relaxed. "Okay. Okay, fine. So, what now?"Sylphie cast a look over the board and frowned. "How about we do something else for the rest of the day. None of these really sound fun after all. More like chores."Looking over the board beside the limette, Eris nodded. "Yeah, you're right. The point was to drag Rudy out of the office and away from work, not into a different kind of work." Looking contemplative, she turned to me and asked, "How about we go visit your family?"I shook my head. "Paul would pitch a shit fit. I'll try it on my birthday. Besides, if we go there, I'll just wind up heading over to the forest and setting the whole thing on fire or something to get rid of the monsters. Or maybe a large scale wind spell, to strip the oxygen out of the air for ten minutes or so. Long enough for anything inside to die. Sure, a bunch of wildlife would die off, but they'd repopulate eventually…""Could just go out for a ride," Ghislaine supplied, pulling me from my thoughts."Fine by me," I agreed. Honestly, I was kind of at a loss here. I'd be perfectly happy just sitting somewhere reading a book, but the girls wanted to go out and do something and Sylphie felt the need to get me outside and away from anything remotely related to work, so I went along with it.Besides, it's not like I hated the idea of spending time with Sylphie, or Eris. Especially when they were actually getting along.I should probably take more time outside anyway. Going to have to do something nice for Sylphie after this.