Chapter 16: Chapter 16

After leaving Thalia behind and returning to Gija, I headed straight for my lab, where I was working on the commission Nate asked of me. But as I continued to study, I realized that I lacked a few materials that I needed to encapsulate the ring. I already got the spell and the wizard ready for such a task, but I still don’t have the necklace casing.

And so, the next day, I headed straight for Ace’s office to ask him for a favour. One that I am sure is going to take a lot of convincing.

“You want to head to Sanver?” A look of disapproval wrinkled his features when he asked me, “Why?”

“It’s for a commission. I need some parts that can be bought in Sanver.” I answered. “One that I can’t tell you about because I promised him that I would keep it a secret.”

“Does your sister know about this?” He was still being skeptical even though all I wanted to ask of him was to deliver the letter to Sanver because only he can do it. And because I plan to head over there after our little talk. I mean, I could head over to Sanver right now because I know that Ren would welcome me with open arms. It’s just that I want to make it a formal visit.

“She doesn’t. It’s just a quick visit. Plus, it’s Ren’s territory. I’m pretty sure that I would be safe there.” I told him.

The look on his face tells me that he was unconvinced, but he knows that I am already old enough to make my own decision. All that he can do now is just give me some advice and warning. “Viex.” He nudged the sleeping fox at the side of his table. Viex let out a yawn and eyed Ace in annoyance at being awoken from his nap. “Glare at me like that, and you are going to lose an eye,” Ace warned him. “Go and find that demon pup. Your master’s sister wants to visit King Ren.”

Viex blinked before eyeing me. By the looks of it, it seems like he wanted to tell me something, but since I am not a tamer like my sister or the others from Gija, I can’t exactly know what they are saying.

Viex got up on his legs and shook his fur when all we did was stare at each other. Then, he began to head for the window and began to walk on the railings to the other room.

“You know, you can head over to Sanver without going to Ren. You said you need some parts for your commission, so all you really need is to head to town.” Ace folded his arms in front of him as he studied me closer, “Admit it, you wanted to interrogate Ren about what he knew about Kellar.” His eyes narrowed at me like he was testing me if I was going to deny his accusations.

Knowing him, he already has it all figured out. So making up some alibi and lies would be pointless. “Are you going to stop me?”

“No,” He shook his head and grabbed a nearby paper and pen from his desk and began to write on it, “I know that you got the same stubbornness from your sister, so there’s no point in stopping you.” After placing the pen back down on his desk and folding the note, a falcon came in through the same open window that Viex exited from. It took the letter from Ace’s hands before it flew out yet. “But you know,” He continued, as if a falcon grabbing the letter was a normal thing for him. “Information alone can be dangerous. Depending on its weight, you might get too obsessive, especially when it does not answer your question.”

“I know that.” I told him, “I am a researcher myself. I know my limits.”

Ace sighed. “Well, it’s not like those mutts can tell you anything helpful.” He leaned back in his chair just as we heard the scratching on nails on the door. “It seems like your sister’s familiar is here. Bring him along with you, so if Rose finds out that you have left, she won’t be worried because you got that furball there to protect you.”

I smirked at him. “Even when you call Custard a furball, you seem to trust him a lot.”

“Those furballs saved my life more times than I can count. So, of course I can acknowledge their strength. Now, are you leaving, or should I throw you out of the window?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, “How about a deal? I won’t tell my sister that you just threatened to throw me out of the window. In return, you won’t tell her the reason why I went to Sanver. I don’t want her to worry about me, not when she has kids to worry about.”

Ace seemed to ponder about my request. “How about I throw in an extra ‘threatening the Lucas child to stay away from my daughter’ and your sister won’t even know that you are gone? You know, that stupid son of Daniel who likes to hand around Arcie.”

“No, that’s practically traumatizing a child.”

He clicked his tongue together in disapproval. “It was worth a try.” He sounded disappointed, “But fine. I won’t tell your sister. Now, get out of here, you brat. I’ve got work to do and your teenage drama isn’t even helping me one bit.”

I rolled my eyes and began to head for the door. When I opened it, I was greeted by Custard, who immediately attacked me with his slobbering kisses.

“Hey,” I said in between chuckles while feeling my face away from him. “Down, boy. You’re ruining my clothes!”

“Stella,” Custard and I paused in order to turn back to Ace, wondering what he wanted now. He already had his working glasses on while arranging some documents. He looked up at me from the stack of papers that he held in his hands with a look that I rarely saw from him. “Be careful.” It was an expression that he usually used for his children, Rose, and Nora.

And dare I say it, I actually thought that he was starting to act like a proper brother-in-law to me until he said the next words, “Hurry up and go. And make sure to close the door when you leave.”

I had a tight smile on my face as I was trying really hard at the moment not to curse at him. “Yes, thank you for your time, dear bro,” I said sarcastically, and earned a satisfyingly disgusted look on his face before I left his office along with Custard.

Since Custard was accompanying me, I decided to ride on his back instead. He was faster than any other horse when it came to travel. Plus, Custard has a lot of shortcuts that he knows. Although they are a bit… jaw-dropping and heart-stopping, he can guarantee that you will arrive at your destination at a shorter time than you originally planned.

By the time I reached the outskirts of Sanver, I felt like my hair was in a tangled mess and my body was as stiff as a rock. I mean, who wouldn’t be frozen after the countless cliffs and jumps that Custard took?!

I noticed that Custard was giving me a look when I hadn’t left his back yet. “H-Hang on, boy. Let me just check if I am still in the world of the living.” I rolled to my side and ended up dropping dead to the ground with a loud thud. Custard let out a surprised yelp and angled his whole body so he could regard me curiously.

“Custard, don’t.” I groaned when he began to poke me with his paw, probably checking if I was still alive. “I should have heeded my sister’s warning before that your shortcuts can be catastrophic.” I started to stretch my back and rubbed my neck to bring myself back to the present. “Alright, Custard. Let’s head into town and find ourselves some light ores for the necklace’s metal.”

I felt weird talking to Custard while I was walking into town, but after seeing my sister doing that for a while, I began to develop the habit as well.

Sanver is as busy and as rowdy as I could remember, but this time it was more developed, not to mention that the pricing increased as well. I headed for the market where the imported chains from the Dwarven kingdom were being sold and began to scan around for something that could withstand my eternal freeze. Finding the perfect material that wouldn’t break after the intense temperature from my magic was difficult. The shop owners were all kind enough to give me a bit of their sample metals that I could freeze.

Some metals would break the instant I cast my magic. The others would rust and chip after a few seconds—some even minutes. A few do stay intact, but after defrosting them, I noticed the changes in their weight and specific gravity.

“Well, Custard, I guess we do need to incorporate some special wizardly magic as a coating to stop the metal from rusting or deforming.” I glanced down at the wolf familiar beside me and saw him looking at one of the food stalls on the other side of the street. “You hungry, boy?” I asked him after I gave the merchants a tip from the money bag that my brother Nate gave me.

I mean, I wasn’t kidding when I told Nate that I would put him into debt for teasing me.

Custard turned to me with his tongue hanging at the side of his mouth and wagged his tail excitedly. He barked at me once in response to my earlier question. I grinned and headed for the food stall and bought all the meat Custard liked until I could no longer carry them.

Using Nate's money, we went to the park where we settled on a bench so that we could properly eat all the food that we had bought.

“Listen, Custard, if you still get hungry, do not hesitate to ask for more, alright?” Custard barked with joy as I told him. I kept feeding Custard most of the food because it was also sort of my way of bribing him to keep this expedition a secret from my sister and to convince him to accompany me next time on my future endeavours.

When we finished eating, Custard was so full that he lay on the bench and panted heavily from a full stomach. I had just thrown the trash out and was heading back to our bench when something bumped into me. It was a hooded man who moved so fast that I didn't even see where his hands were, until I heard the sound of my coin purse rustle.

I summoned a block of ice in front of me, hoping to capture him with it, but he had already moved away before the ice appeared. The ice attracted a few people and they turned to us with a gasp.

My hands automatically moved to my purse and I checked to see what got stolen. My face paled when I realized that the money that Nate gave me had been stolen. I gulped and looked up only to see the hooded pulling his hood lower to cover his eyes. But he was dagling the money bag in the air like he was teasing me for my failed attempt to stop him.

I could feel a vein pop at the side of my head when he gave me a mock curtsy before running ahead.

“Custard!” I yelled for the wolf familiar, but when I saw him drooling and sleeping under the bench, I knew that asking for his help was going to be a long shot.

I guess I have to take this matter into my own hands then.

I began to chase after him and balls of snow in the thief’s direction whenever I got the chance. But it’s like the guy has eyes at the back of his head because he kept avoiding my attack no matter how precisely I threw them.

Damn it! When I said that I wanted to exhaust Nate’s money, I wasn’t asking for this! I guess this is karma for me.

We were starting to attract a bit of attention in the marketplace, so when I noticed that we were leaving the vicinity of Sanver, I began to hesitate, especially when the thief stopped just before entering the woods. It’s like he was making sure that I was following him.

When I no longer showed any interest in following him, he dangled the money bag in the air like he was trying to bait me.

Is that money bag really worth it? Because, to me, it looked like that guy was luring me into a trap, an obvious one at that. I may be reckless, but I am not that stupid to fall for an obvious trap. I'm pretty sure that if I explained the situation to Nate, he would understand.

“You can have it, you asshole!” I yelled at him in frustration, and I saw the man reaching into his like he was massaging the bridge of his nose. At least that’s what I thought until I heard the sound of a whistle coming from the guy that set me on edge.

It was a call. He’s calling for reinforcements. I have to get out of here!

I started to turn back to head to Sanver, but my path got blocked by a massive black panther. I raised my hands as I prepared to defend myself with my magic, but there was something about this panther that made me hesitate. This panther isn’t as massive as the other beastmen, so that could only mean that this is a familiar.

And there was only one black panther familiar to me who always tips her head to the side whenever something confuses her.

“Javi?” I whispered the name and saw her respond by lifting her head until she was looking at something—or—someone behind me. When I tried to turn back, something pinched the side of my neck, and I was starting to lose consciousness.

“I’m sorry about this, Stella. But it’s the only way that I could talk to you.”