Chương 36: Visiting the City

Ch 36: Visiting the City With the help of the crew bringing us food and water, Sahirah and I spent the next two days hiding in the gambling ring. She spent all her time studying Grey language in an attempt to make up for the imperfections of our current simplified translation spell, while I finished the one hundred wallhack spheres for an early delivery to the Mayor.

At the end of those two days, Niko paid us a visit, informing us his Zufi friend from the food delivery company had agreed to give us a ride to the city in his vehicle.

He would charge us just one hundred credits for the ride, which was currently nothing for us after the fifty thousand we made from the slot machines. Yeah. Fifty fucking thousand. Even as we made our escape from the school, I couldn't help but smile at the absurd number of credits the Maltronian had made us. After crossing all the corridors and doing our best to avoid being detected by the surveillance globe, we reached the depot and climbed into the back of the floating truck.

The Zufi driver gave us a single nod and locked the rear door, leaving us in the darkness as he began the journey from the school to Serenity Valley. There was no comfort whatsoever inside the vehicle, and Sahirah and I simply sat side by side on top of two crates, waiting until we left the range of Elitha's translation spell. When we had our privacy, we activated our translation spell, an improved version I had created during those two days.

"Do you think avoiding Zorik for all this time was really our best choice?" Sahirah had suggested a few times that we confront Zorik directly, arguing she could be very persuasive against this forced adoption if I provided her with a few copies of the FEIO spell, and a few more customized spells that could leverage her large mana pool.

"I know this whole thing is stressful for you, but trust me, Zorik is paying a price for not finding us. Every day he doesn't find us and pay a search party to look for us in the forest, he looks more and more stupid in front of the teachers and the Krosak family themselves." My reasoning was that someone who couldn't be found also couldn't be adopted. And even though it felt cowardly to avoid a confrontation for so long, I had always been more logically inclined than someone guided by emotions.

Of course, this was just a temporary strategy. I would make my move against Zorik in due time. But for now we really needed to talk with Mayor Fernik, and check if our roles as city officers were enough to fight back against Zorik. Sahirah accepted my reasoning once more, and deactivated her translation spell, sparing our minds the toll so that we would be rested enough to talk with the Mayor. She then leaned against me, and it took around half an hour before the truck stopped.

The Zufi driver opened the rear door, stepping aside for us to leave but always staring with the eyes of someone who wanted to get paid. We stood up and jumped outside, and after I paid him, he just left. We watched the floating truck depart, leaving us on a busy street of Serenity Valley, where Sahirah and I found ourselves lost and standing out amid the crowd of Greys. The city was different from what I expected.

There were very few large buildings, with most houses and commercial establishments having two floors at most. Wood seemed to be the only material they used for doors and windows, with the walls being mostly made of dark stone blocks. They had been cut so evenly that it took me just a glance to conclude the Greys had a spell to split stone. Sahirah suddenly activated the translation spell.

"Those crystal lights are so beautiful!" She pointed excitedly at the rows of large red crystals hanging from metal chains attached to curved poles along the edges of both sidewalks. They were lighting up on their own as the sunlight gave way to evening, producing a warm light I could only describe as cozy and gentle. As if to mock my first impression, the crystal right above us glowed in a flash that hurt my eyes and died out within seconds. The excitement was erased from Sahirah's face.

"Will I always be the girl who ruins all nice things with her mana?" I placed my arm around her neck.

"I'll convince the mayor to make the whole city Sahirah-proof," I joked.

"Now let's go." Thankfully, her mood improved as no more lights died when we started walking. But mine only soured when I realized how limited my translation spell was. It was incapable of translating written signs, and to make matters worse, most Greys we tried to ask about the mayor's official residence got scared of the shared mental state shortcut and refused to cooperate.

And this was happening even with the current version, which was significantly less intense than the one Sahirah and I had used in the woods for our first field test. In the end, it was Sahirah herself who saved the day, using just her knowledge of Grey language to get the information we needed. The only challenge after that was enduring the judgmental gazes. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

They never stopped, because unlike at the school, the Greys of the city were not used to our appearance, much less to the fact we were a couple of different species. We endured this until we crossed the threshold of a large gate leading to an open garden of a manor. This was Fernik's home, and this became obvious when two guards in light armor came running toward us, ready to intercept us before we even had the chance to knock on the door.

"Halt!"

"Who are you? And what's your purpose visiting the mayor at this late hour?" Late hour? The sun had just set and this was nothing compared to the time the mayor himself had visited us in the middle of the night.

"We are the newly appointed city officers," I said, hoping the translation spell wouldn't scare them. Sahirah added, "Can you tell Fernik the students from the Riftschool are here for a meeting?" It took a long moment before either of them said anything, the absurdity too much for them to handle. Well, how wouldn't they find it bizarre that two rare species students showed up unannounced claiming to be city officers? Still, the older of them decided to verify our claim instead of just refusing us.

"Wait here," he said.

"I hope for your own good that you're not lying." He rushed inside the manor while the other guard stayed behind, staring at us with a grumpy face that left no room for interpretation. But luckily, it didn't take long for Fernik himself to emerge from inside the manor with a smile.

"Come on in," he said.

"How did the two of you get here? Don't tell me that on top of your other talents, you're also geniuses who learned our language this quickly?" With wide eyes, the grumpy guard got out of the way, letting us walk towards the manor. The moment we crossed the threshold and found Fernik greeting us with a smile, I said, "We're using my version of the translation spell. I hope you don't mind if it makes you slightly uncomfortable."

Fernik's gaze locked onto a stain in the carpet, his body motionless as his mind focused on the side effects of my spell.

"Curious," he said, "it feels like your feelings are echoing in my head. Slightly uncomfortable indeed." Well, he took it way better than the Greys on the street, so I couldn't complain. Even better, he didn't even ask about the spell, and took a seat on one of the nice couches, urging us to do the same with a polite gesture. Sahirah quickly scanned the large room with her gaze, checking the nice furniture, the chandelier, and only then moved to the couch and took a seat. I claimed a seat at her side right away.

"I suppose you are here because you finished your Mimic scanning spell earlier than we agreed." Fernik crossed his arms, his loose sleeves hanging beneath those limbs.

"But I just can't picture you two taking the risk of coming here on your own just to deliver it, which means something happened in the school and you need my help." I didn't expect him to read us so well, but at least that would save us time.

"Are you familiar with the Krosak family, Mayor?" Sahirah beat me to it and brought up the main subject. The mayor laughed.

"The Krosak?" he said.

"They're still causing me trouble because of the incident with their son, and I believe with all my heart they will continue to do so for years to come."

"Zorik transferred the responsibility of Sahirah's education to them." I took a deep breath.

"He's calling it adoption." Silence took over the room. Fernik noticed Sahirah's pleading eyes, and then his gaze landed on our interlocked fingers. He closed his eyes. And when he opened them, a sharpness that wasn't there before had taken shape.

"I won't lie to you," he said, "the role of city officers can stop Zorik, but it can't stop the Krosak family."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If they believe she belongs to them," he said, "they will capture her and drag the case to court forever. First the city court, then the provincial court, and finally the royal court. And even if they lose in the end, years would have passed, and by then they most likely will have found another way to bind her to their family." Silence followed that statement. Sahirah's fingers pressed against mine, but neither of us found the right words to utter. We didn't find them, because there weren't any.

Thankfully, Fernik noticed our discomfort and offered a solution.

"Did you bring the Mimic detection spheres?" I nodded, grabbing my backpack and showing all the spheres inside to him. He nodded, and said, "You cannot win against them through the legal system, but I could arrange transportation for you that would take you out of this city to some small village. As much of a loss as it would be to this city to lose you, at least you can be together and safe."

Sahirah and I exchanged a long look, letting us see in each other that neither of us was thrilled about the idea of leaving the school right now. First, I would hate to abandon the crew. Even my daily meeting with the archmage was something I was starting to grow fond of, since Elitha didn't mind sharing all kinds of magic knowledge without concern as long as it helped with her sensory problem.

Second, Sahirah actually liked attending the classes, and she hadn't even quit her job with the kids even now that she didn't need the extra credits. Finally, being forced to leave would feel horrible, absolutely not the same as deciding to leave. It would mean Zorik won, and that he successfully got rid of us on his own terms. Fernik noticed our hesitation and he sighed. It was the kind of sigh one gives when watching two young people about to do something stupid.

"Get help from the archmage," he said, "that's your only chance if you don't take me up on my offer. But believe me, I don't see Elitha Hearthstrong helping you, and I would think twice before returning to that school if I were you." Fuck. I was sure I knew Elitha much better than Fernik did, but I also had no idea how she might react if I ever asked her for help for something this significant. She was such a wildcard that I might regret it later even if she agreed to help us.

We were really screwed this time, weren't we? Still, regardless of how awful our options were, what I needed right now was time to think, and a private conversation with Sahirah. She realized this too, and she said, "A girl will come back tomorrow with a decision. We are going to spend the night in an inn, and we won't return to the school tonight." An inn? That wasn't something that we had planned to do, and I was also hearing this for the first time. Sahirah didn't explain her reasoning.

And after we talked with the mayor for some time, I realized that we really didn't have that many options besides hiding or getting help from the archmage. In the end, I left all the hundred spheres with the Mayor even though he hadn't managed to help us in the way we wanted or even paid our first salary yet. He checked a few of them, and bowed, thanking us for our services. I replied with a smile, but said nothing.

Fernik hadn't thought twice before offering us a way out of this city even with the risk of getting himself in trouble, so I also decided to trust him and help the city while Sahirah and I figured out what to do. Though I would certainly appreciate getting paid tomorrow. The night had claimed the streets in full when we left his manor. Sahirah and I were strolling through the streets when I spoke.

"An inn?"

"I was thinking..." She didn't complete her sentence, and just kept walking for a while.

"Maybe we should push to the third stage of dual cultivation in the morning." She suddenly forced us both into a stop, and stared into my eyes.

"We need the power burst right now... and it might help us get assistance from the archmage. She wanted you to complete the third stage, didn't she?" Wait, it was true. Elitha actually wanted me to get to third stage to awaken my Earth memories, but Sahirah and I hadn't discussed everything we had to discuss yet. I had only learned her big secret. So why was she so at ease about proceeding right now? And besides...

"Push to the third stage in the morning?" I asked.

"Don't you mean tonight?" She avoided my gaze.

"No. I don't mean tonight," she said.

"We're in the city for the first time. A girl wants to visit a restaurant, and later..."

"Later?" She finally gave in to the pressure.

"W-we find out if it's wise for us to spend the rest of our lives together without either of us getting frustrated."

"What do you mean, Sahirah?" She didn't reply. And as we strolled through the city under the warm light of the crystals, it took me a shamefully long time to understand what she actually meant.

"Oh." I said no more than one word when it clicked. And then I realized this night would be challenging in ways I hadn't even imagined.