11.14 cycle fifteen, Ba'seth, of calendar Moonrachia

  I took the seat across from her before realizing Alias was trying to pull a chair over

  Is she afraid of people or just shy?

  Seeing Alias struggle to move it, I helped her, then move the chair into the position she wants, which is beside me

  Rheya was looking at Alias with a warm smile, which is weird, since she had never smiled at me like that even once

  “I think the reason Noah is letting you play with her is that there’s a meeting in the royal palace, though I don’t know much of the details.” Rheya then slowly extended her hand to Alias, offering her a snack

  Alias, extending her hand unsurely, before taking the snack with a quiet “Thank you.”

  “A meeting? Seems important, Given that you weren't invited.” Shrug my shoulder

  Rheya didn’t answer and just smiled at me, before a loud thump sound could be heard

  The top of my head was stinging a bit, with a small bump forming

  “So? What’s the reason you came to me?” She crossed her arms over her chest

  “Can you watch over her?” Though I could see Alias shaking her head a bit while looking at me

  Sorry, Alias, I can't sacrifice you either. In a few hours, I need to meet with a rude demoness, just bear with it

  “Nope,” Rheya said

  “Do I look like some unemployed person? I have class to teach after lunch break,” While gesturing for me to leave

  “I got something to do too after lunch break.”

  Do I really have no choice? But to bring Alias with me?

  “You're working with Millenia, right? I know because she told me herself when I asked, because you were staying too late at the academy before,” While sipping her tea

  So she does worry about me, huh? That’s so Rheya-ish

  “Just bring Alias with you, pretty sure Millenia won’t mind it, she has a little sister too, so, just maybe she could understand your situation.”

  “You don't seem very confident in your answer…” Letting out a heavy sigh

  “I mean, no one in this academy is really close to her, how could I know how she’s going to react?”

  “Besides, it's your situation and your responsibility now, learn how to handle it by yourself.” While Rheya gives Alias another plate of snacks

  Adulthood is full of this, constant responsibility. How troublesome

  Grumble

  Stolen story; please report.

  It seems breakfast isn’t enough. I really should go into the cafeteria, but with Alias here, I couldn’t move freely

  Then Alias extended her small hand with a snack in it toward my face

  She’s really cute, I can’t help but smile a bit

  “For me?” Before she nodded her head

  “She really likes you, huh..? I wonder which part of you was likable,” While shaking her head

  *****

  13.42 cycle fifteen, Ba'seth, of calendar Moonrachia

  “I should leave now, I don’t know what kind of trouble I will get if I am late.” Standing up from the chair

  Seeing how messy Alias's face was, “Do you have a handkerchief I could use?”

  “You really are one kind of person…” Before she gave me one from her pocket

  Then I wipe Alias's mouth and her hand slowly to make sure it's clean, I can't let her dad find out she ate something without his permission

  “Here, thanks,” While trying to give them back

  “I don't really need it back since you've already used it. You probably don't have one anyway, I got another one with the same color and pattern already.” While sipping her tea and looking outside through her window

  “Should I pay back for all the snack she eat?” I reached into my pocket for my wallet

  “I don't take money from people who are broke,” While keeping her gaze at the window

  “Just leave already.”

  I truly felt like a homeless person just then. Do I really look like one? I can’t help but wonder…

  Thank her once again, before leaving

  The hallway is now filled with students, and I couldn’t help but notice that Alias's hand grabbing my sleeve, became stronger and stronger

  A lot of students are looking at us, especially Alias. It's a kind of normal reaction, so I just ignored them, but pretty sure Alias can’t, she might feel overwhelmed

  I guess I can’t just ignore her, can I?

  Squatting down a bit, before I carry her up and fastening my pace toward Millenia's office

  After a while, I finally arrived at the front of Millenia office

  Inhale…

  Exhale…

  She’s surprisingly heavier than I expected, or I just lack working out, before putting her down slowly

  Letting out a heavy sigh, while wiping some sweat on my forehead and opening the office door slowly, before my entire senses, filled with the smell of old books, a small figure could be seen sitting on the chair

  “Good morning, Ms. Millenia.” As I bow slightly

  Millenia glanced at both of us and continued reading her book, before letting a “Mhm” noise

  Walking toward her, I moved a chair near my usual seat, and then sat across Millenia while Alias sat beside me

  “…You’re not going to ask who she is?”

  “Should I?” Without leaving attention on her book

  I guess she’s not interested? Are all geniuses as weird as she is?

  Then she closed her book, with a soft thud

  "Do you know the reason behind your twisted mana?" She stood up as she spoke, placing her book back on the shelf

  “Um-“ Before she cut me off

  “Well, if you don’t want to answer, then don’t, I’m not really interested anyway.” Then she sat back at her usual seat

  “Do you know what kind of element healing magic belongs to?” she asked, letting her arm support the weight of her head

  Is she testing my knowledge? Does she underestimate me? The best graduate in Metamagic? Seriously?

  “Healing magic comes from the combination of 2 elements, which are wind and water. The wind acts as a barrier, while the water serves to sterilize the wound, though the main important thing is high control over the mana itself.” Then Millenia just nodded a bit

  “The reason behind high control over mana is to connect the mana connection that has been cut in the wounded individual, before the wounded individual's mana regenerates the wound itself. Of course, if the individual doesn’t have much mana left, the healer will perform with her own mana.”

  How’s that? I’ve rewatched a lot of Kaleth's lives before already, there’s no way I didn’t know

  Then, she stared at me dead in the eyes, “Then do you know how holy magic works?”

  “I don’t… this academy doesn’t teach holy magic, so… of course I wouldn’t know.” Damn, after all of that yapping, I still feel stupid. Is she doing this on purpose?

  “Then wipe that smug smile off your face.” After that, she massaged her forehead

  I mean, how am I supposed to know all of that? Her expectation of me is just too much

  “Holy magic element is light, no, holy magic work over light itself is probably the easiest way to explain it.”

  “Work over light…?” I touched my chin, thinking back on her words, before my gaze fell on Alias

  I don’t know how long it is already, but I could see Alias' eyes sparkling a bit, she really does like magic, huh?

  “Precisely as I said, holy magic is basically using the light itself as a medium, that’s why healing service in the church is really pricey, because it requires many people and a massive amount of mana.” While she tapped her finger on the table

  Make sense enough, I mean, there’s no way a human could easily control light

  “Ah, so that’s how the holy magic works… so they’re using the light as the bridge and then manipulating the time for the wound area, am I correct?”

  But how much mana is actually needed to turn back time a bit?

  “I see, so you really are smart despite your lazy reputation, huh? But it's half correct, no living being could manipulate time, the holy magic merely rewinds the specific area of the wound.”

  “Before you said it’s the same thing, manipulating time is much broader. It is like saying humanity will go extinct simply because a single territory is destroyed, which is obviously incorrect. The same applies here: rewinding the state of a wound is not the same as controlling time itself.” Millenia, then looking at Alias

  So… the healer is basically trying to load the previous save data? Something like that?

  “When are you going to give me some work to do?” As I asked Millenia, since at least half an hour has passed already

  “Why? Do you really want to work that badly? Besides, I don't want to make you work while you're babysitting your daughter.”

  “She’s not my daughter…” How many times have I answered this question today…

  “Don't lie to me. How could she not be related to you? Her mana resonates with yours. Do I look that foolish?” While she was leaning back into her chair and glancing at both of us a few times

  The… same... mana characteristic… as me?

  A thousand questions rose in my mind, in the end, only one came out

  How?

  ---END---