An Offer

"This human child... how come he has a strength that can even break my arm bone?" The village chief thought as he held his arm.

"Father, are you all right?" Blake and Natasha asked again.

The village chief looked at Blake and Natasha one by one, and then he said, "Are you two dumb? How can you ask such a stupid question? Isn't it obvious when you hear the sound of bones breaking?" while he was trying to endure the pain that he fell.

The elven villagers who were outside Blake's house were worried about the commotion going on inside Blake's house, but they couldn't do anything because all important things in the elven village, such as Raymond's appearance, had to wait for the village chief's decision to further action.

Meanwhile, Raymond was seen holding his necklace tightly as he thought, "I don't know why this man wants to take the necklace my mother gave me, but I won't let him touch this necklace."

When Raymond was thought like that, the village chief held his injured hand and then he said, "High heal."

As soon as the village chief said that, bright green light particles gathered towards the village chief's injured hand, and at that moment his hand immediately healed.

Raymond who saw that, feel amazed because it was the first time he saw spirit magic, and then he thought, "Those bright green light particles are so beautiful, I want to try touching them," as he tried to touch one of the bright green light particles in front of him.

The village chief who saw that thought, "This human child seems to be interested in spirit magic, what if I offer him to teach him spirit magic in exchange for him having to give the necklace to me?"

"Hey human child, are you interested in spirit magic? I can teach you but give me that necklace in exchange," as he pointed at Raymond's necklace that he held tightly.

Hearing what her father said, Natasha couldn't accept it and immediately said, "Father! What are you thinking? Teaching this human spirit magic? Have you forgotten what they did to our ancestors?" as she walked closer to the village chief.

"Natasha, listen to your father first," the village chief said.

In the middle of the village chief and Natasha's conversation, Raymond said, "I will never give this necklace to you," as he pointed at the village chief.

When the village chief heard what Raymond said, he stopped his conversation with Natasha and then thought, "It would be dangerous if I let that child carry a necklace with a powerful spirit in it, I could have taken the necklace by force, but took something by force is a despicable act that the Goddess of Beauty hates."

Suddenly an idea crossed the village chief's mind, "Oh, what if I offered him to teach him spirit magic while allowing him to live outside the village, if I did that, I could observe the powerful spirit within the necklace without needing to take the necklace by force, but it would obviously take a longer period of time."

"Father, explain to me! Do you really intend to teach this human spirit magic?!" Natasha shouted at the village chief as she pointed at Raymond.

The village chief looked at Natasha with a sharp gaze and said, "Shut up Natasha, I am the village chief and my decision is absolute, keep that in mind."

Silently, Natasha backed away slowly while bowing her head because of what her father had said.

The village chief walked closer to Raymond and then he crouched down in front of him.

The village chief smiled and then he said, "Human child, pardon my impoliteness earlier, first of all, let me introduce myself, my name is Isaac, the village chief of the elven village," as he extended his hand to Raymond.

When Raymond heard what Isaac said to him, he thought, "I think... he's not a bad person since he already apologized to me," as he grab Isaac's hand.

Raymond take a closer look at Isaac's face and then he said, "I accept your apology, my name is Raymond."

After their introduction, Isaac sat across from Raymond.

They sat as they looked at each other.

They just looked at each other without speaking a word and kept silent.

In that silence, Isaac said, "Raymond, I would like to offer you to teach you spirit magic, and in exchange let me observe that necklace because there is a powerful spirit inside the necklace," as he pointed at Raymond's necklace.

When Isaac said that, Raymond was happy, but his expression was worried.

"Ah, you don't have to worry, you don't have to take the necklace off because I'm just going to observe it," Isaac continued his words.

Hearing what Isaac said, Raymond thought, "He wants to teach me spirit magic? Moreover, he would only observe this necklace, isn't his offer sounds good- no, I have to go to my mother's hometown soon, but how am I supposed to go there if the map is already drenched? I don't even know the name of my mother's hometown."

"Is there something on your mind, Raymond?" Isaac asked Raymond.

Raymond hesitantly replied, "Y- yes, the offer is quite good... but I have to go to my mother's hometown soon, but I don't know where it is because the map I brought is already drenched and I don't know the name of my mother's hometown."

Hearing what Raymond said, Isaac thought, "Looks like this kid has gone through a tough time that he had to go to his mother's hometown alone, I feel sorry for him."

Isaac looked at Blake and said, "Blake, don't you have any other clothes? Give yours to Raymond."

Blake shook his head and said, "I'm sorry father, I only have this because my other clothes were damaged during the orc subjugation, and you already know that I only have two clothes." at the same time he pointed at his clothes.

Isaac looked at Natasha and said, "Natasha, give one of your clothes to Raymond."

Natasha looked surprised at what her father had said and said, "B-but, I only have dresses and Raymond is a boy."

"Are you going against my orders? Dress or whatever doesn't matter, as long as Raymond has something to wear so he doesn't catch a cold, and I can't ask the villagers either because they will definitely refuse." Isaac replied to Natasha's words.

Hearing what Isaac said, Natasha turned and walked out of Blake's house to get one of the dresses she had in her house.

When Natasha came out of Blake's house, the elven villagers approached Natasha and tried to question her about what was going on inside Blake's house, but only with a sharp gaze in Natasha's eyes, the elven villagers gave up their intention to ask her.

Back inside Blake's house, Raymond, Blake, and Isaac were seen still in their positions with silence between them.

In the midst of the silence, Isaac said, "For the time being you should accept my offer because you yourself don't know where your mother's hometown is, if you are determined to find your own mother's hometown, you can end up sad because there are so many bad humans out there," as he looked at Raymond.

Raymond who heard Isaac's words swallowed his saliva and then said, "I think, I will accept your offer, but I am worried if my mother finds out that I have not arrived at her hometown."

"Your mother? Why don't you just go with your mother then?" Isaac replied.

"Yes, my mother, at first my father said he was going away for a long time and told me to go with my mother and Aunt Mariana to my mother's hometown, but suddenly my mother said that she chose to go with my father."

Hearing what Raymond said, Isaac felt that something was off from what Raymond had said, and then he thought, "I don't really understand what happened to him, maybe I should use memory-reading magic on him."

"Raymond, can you allow me to use memory-reading magic on you?" Isaac asked Raymond.

Hearing what Isaac said, Blake immediately walked up to Isaac and grabbed his shoulder, and then he said, "Father, what are you thinking right now? Why do you want to read his memory?"

Isaac looked at Blake, and then Isaac said, "I need to confirm something, and you should tell the villagers to go back to their activities because they must be tired of waiting."

Blake sighed, "Sigh..." as he walked out of his house.

Outside his house, Blake was greeted by hundreds of elven villagers, some of them looked tired of waiting for Isaac.

"Elven villagers, listen to me, my father- no, I mean, the village chief ordered all of you to return to your activities first," Blake said to the elven villagers.

Hearing what Blake said, the elven villagers seemed to feel a little relieved, and make them forget the reason why they came to Blake's house.

The elven villagers turned around and then they walked away from Blake's house to go back to their activities.