Kaiser and Drobar walked back to the inn.
While walking, Drobar just had to ask, "But that still doesn't explain the heavy air we're feeling." He scanned the busy road around them. "Other people look fine. Is it just us, then?"
Kaiser didn't slow down. "Maybe we've been trained to detect magic, energy, and curses. Or maybe these people are simply accustomed to the feeling. So we are sensing it more than them...maybe."
Drobar frowned. "Is this what you meant before? When you said you felt like someone was watching?"
"I don't know." Kaiser's voice dropped. "The only person who could explain that is… Lady Ayumu."
He went quiet after saying her name. Drobar watched him for a moment, then he looked toward Kaiser's belt. "That red pouch back there—that's the one Lady Ayumu gave you, isn't it?"
Kaiser said nothing. Just walked.
Drobar sighed and stretched his arms behind his head. "Look, I don't get all this ancestral magic stuff you magis people have. But a person's feelings can't just be manipulated that easily. What you feel is what you feel, right? That's just my opinion."
Kaiser stopped.
"You're right," Kaiser said.
Drobar froze mid-step, hope flickering across his face.
Then Kaiser turned towards Drobar.
"You don't understand anything." His eyes were cold. "So I suggest you keep your opinion to yourself."
He walked off without looking back.
Drobar stood there, mouth half open, processing the words one by one. By the time they landed, Kaiser was already twenty paces ahead.
"Why you useless, selfish, heartless son of a—" Drobar's voice cracked with indignation as he scrambled after him. "You insolent, arrogant—"
Kaiser just kept walking.
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That night, the expedition members gathered in the girls' room for a private discussion—away from any eavesdroppers.
Drobar sat as far from Kaiser as possible in protest. Kaiser didn't seem to notice. Or care.
Kaiser opened the meeting by relaying what the Brinn had told him. Now, for the magis among them, things were starting to make sense.
Fifi, the most knowledgeable aside from Ayumu, spoke first. "So… a djinn. The king of Paititi summoned a djinn."
Drobar groaned. "First a spring-son, now a jin. What is all this?"
Levain corrected him flatly. "Spriggan, Sir Drobar. Spriggan. Not spring-son."
"ANYWAY." Fifi snapped everyone's attention back. "A djinn is a being from another dimension. Not the underworld, to be precise. I don't know how the king accessed such information… isn't this from forbidden texts?" He looked at Ayumu.
Ayumu blinked. "You're right, Sir Fifi. Though I myself cannot access the sacred texts guarded by the previous White Magis in Graitan—my caretaker, Lady Elosha, did tell me of a book that delves into this. The book itself is cursed and is hidden for safety of others. It derives from the Black Magis tribe."
Rhea scoffed. "Of course it does."
Kaiser looked at her with knitted brows.
Ayumu continued, unfazed. "To summon a djinn, sacrifices and spells are required. It's not an easy feat. But once you successfully call one, you must form a contract. These beings possess power far beyond imagination—yet they are bound by the terms of their contract."
Drobar perked up. "Like the spirits each magis has?"
Ayumu turned to him with a warm smile. "Precisely, Sir Drobar."
Drobar looked immensely proud of himself for guessing. Several others rolled their eyes.
"You may ask a djinn for anything," Ayumu went on. "But everything comes at a price. So I suspect we need not worry about the djinn itself."
Fifi nearly jumped out of his seat. "Are you mad?! Why shouldn't we worry about the djinn? It's more powerful than all of us combined! YOU JUST SAID SO!"
Ayumu just shrugged. "I have a gut feeling it won't harm us."
Silence.
Fifi pressed a hand to his forehead. "So we're putting our lives on the line based on your gut feeling? I can't believe this. Someone put a sense of danger into this White Magis' head, please."
Rhea cut in. "Ayumu has golden eyes—she sees visions of the future. Though it is not definite, the visions are a possible future." Her tone was firm but patient. "I don't think she's saying to ignore the djinn entirely. But the real threat might be the other things. Like the spriggans."
Ayumu was practically emitting glow from her body. A soft light but slightly blinding. She is beaming with admiration towards Rhea as she had translated Ayumu's thoughts and meaning so effortlessly.
"Stop glowing, Ayumu. My eyes are hurting," Rhea said, half-joking.
"Right. Im sorry, Rhea." Ayumu looked down, and the glow faded.
Kaiser and Drobar exchanged a glance. The guildmaster's words echoed in their minds: A white ghost that glows from time to time. As if looking for something.
So it means that Ayumu glows whenever she is happy. Like when she'd found treasure at the base of the forest.
If she glows—then wouldn't that attract danger? The monsters can see her from a mile away if she starts glowing.
Both of them sighed at the same time, imagining the disasters ahead.
Levain frowned. "Why are you both sighing?"
Drobar and Kaiser answered in unison. "...Nothing."
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The next day arrived gently and Ayumu was the first to wake.
She slipped out of her bedroll and knelt beside Rhea, placing a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "Rhea," she whispered. "Wake up."
Rhea stirred, her eyes fluttering open. And immediately got blinded.
Not by the sunlight streaming through the window—but by Ayumu, who was practically radiating joy. The white magis glowed from within, a soft luminescence that filled the small room like a lantern wrapped in silk.
Rhea groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes. "Why are you so happy, Ayumu?" she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep. "We are about to go into a dangerous forest, you know."
"Yes." Ayumu's smile was radiant—literally. "And that is why I am excited."
Rhea peeked out from under her arm. Ayumu's glow had actually brightened, as if her happiness were a flame and someone had just poured oil on it.
"Urgh. My eyes." Rhea sat up, rubbing her face. "Ayumu, you need to control your emotions more. Your glowing light will attract the monsters to us."
Ayumu's face fell and her glow flickered.
She cant have the monsters be attracted to them and bring danger to the group, especially to Rhea.
The thought struck her like a physical blow. She immediately knit her eyebrows together, squeezing her eyes shut, her whole face scrunching with effort as if she were physically trying to absorb her own light back into her body.
And she did it.
The glow dimmed.
She opened her eyes, relieved. "I understand, Rhea. I promised Lord Kaiser to also not cause trouble." She bounced up from her kneeling position, landing lightly on her feet. "So get up, Rhea! Let us go!"
As she shot up, her excitement spike and she started glowing again.
Rhea just shook her head, chuckling softly.
Rhea wondered as she stretched and yawned, how long can Ayumu keep herself out of trouble?
She had a feeling she was about to find out.