The Eve of the Storm (2)

Aileen didn’t like her body, which had already surpassed her mother’s height. It was because, in her first meeting with Yujin in the Mental World, she had promised to remain a child if she wished. But when she looked in the mirror, a young lady, youthful but by no means childish, was reflected in her eyes.

In fact, she knew. She couldn’t remain a child, and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t. This irreversible growth was not something she could control herself. Her soul was not yet stable. If she forcibly reconstructed her body, it could easily crumble like sand.

Considering only her mental age, this was right, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Aileen, who had been trapped in a dark world for decades, yearned for her parents rather than resenting them. She was so envious of the world she saw with her eyes that the desire to be a part of it dominated her ego.

If an ego is formed before birth, there is a high possibility that the ego will be tied to something. One piece of information the World Tree told Yujin. She said that this was why Elves were obsessed with protecting the World Tree, and why Dragons were so excessively arrogant.

But Aileen was free from that. Although she was free, the obsession unconsciously engraved in her still manifested in her actions.

She was obsessed with love.

Of course, she was receiving enough love now. Having parents who would give her their liver and gallbladder for Aileen was a blessing in itself. However, even though she knew she would be loved forever, her obsession did not stop.

This became more severe when she realized that the world was more boring than she thought.

At first, everything felt unfamiliar and fun… but her interest waned in less than two months. It wasn’t as serious as Yujin. She was just bored with the unchanging days. She wanted variables. Wandering around the city and monopolizing attention was in the same vein.

Aileen chose emotional connection as a means to fill her empty satisfaction. When she was with her parents, she felt truly happy. She was happiest when she was with her father in particular.

It’s not that she disliked her mother. Yujin and Aileen were mentally connected. They could confirm each other’s true feelings without necessarily saying anything. But Shuriel-nim couldn’t confirm unless she saw and heard, so she hugged, kissed, and rubbed her cheeks to confirm her true feelings.

She also made efforts to look good. Shuriel-nim, who had few emotional changes, didn’t react unless she was pushed. But that wasn’t the only reason. After a sudden and unintentional incident, she knew when Shuriel-nim revealed her ‘true feelings’.

Every time that happened, her mother fidgeted and fussed… but Aileen was as anxious as Yujin was.

Yujin, who had experienced everything from conception to their first meeting, believed without a doubt that Aileen was her daughter, but for Shuriel-nim, everything was sudden. If a girl she didn’t even know came to her and said she was her daughter, would she easily believe it?

But she believed it. She believed that Aileen was her daughter, and she truly was her daughter. But adapting to parenting that skipped the intermediate process was another matter. It meant that she couldn’t treat her daughter like a normal family, and she didn’t know how to do that either.

It was an unnecessary worry, but she felt strangely anxious. It was an anxiety that made her envious of her mother, who was always with her father.

Still… she couldn’t keep sticking around. Both of them were busy managing the city. Knowing that, she didn’t cling to them unreasonably. I wasn’t a child, after all.

Would it be better to learn administrative work instead? Then I could be with Dad. Aileen thought she should finish this appointment quickly and walked down the street.

But.

“Pani, just a moment.”

Aileen turned her head as she walked to the meeting place.

“What are they doing?”

“Neh?”

Pani tilted her head at Aileen’s words and turned her eyes. She saw a group of thugs intimidating a passerby and extorting money.

“Hmm… they’re thugs. You don’t need to pay attention to them. If they keep acting like that, a golem will smash their heads in.”

She said indifferently as she passed by. She didn’t have time, but it was also because it was something that would be resolved without her having to step in. Pani Alphenris was a noble, and she worked for nobles. She didn’t think reaching out to commoners was her role.

“If you keep interfering in things like that, too many guys will cling to you if rumors spread. Ignore them. Building a good image will only give you a headache.”

Pani was firm.

She felt sorry for them, but it was something that could be solved by summoning a golem.

If a hundred people came into the city, ten of them were trash. It was inevitable because they actively accepted vagrants and adventurers, but Yujin wouldn’t sit idly by. She installed golems all over the city to smash their heads. She didn’t give them a break just because it was their first offense. Thanks to the golems that analyzed and tracked Mana wavelengths, crime prevention was amazing.

“Just wait a little.”

“…Are you going to deal with them yourself?”

“Eung! It’ll be done in ten seconds!”

But Aileen didn’t ignore them.

Aileen smiled slightly, pursed her lips, and took out an apple.

“Eit!”

Hwiik! The golden apple flew in a clean straight line.

“Keueok?!”

――Peoeok!!

The apple, imbued with Aura, smashed the man’s head from behind and shattered into pieces. Two thugs with wide eyes stood next to the man who was hiccuping from a concussion.

“Bad people!”

Aileen bound their shadows to prevent them from escaping. She blocked their mouths with stone fragments and tied their hands with rings of water. She would have to hope that someone would find the man with the concussion before he died. Of course, she didn’t care whether he lived or died.

The sense of justice established through Yujin was extreme but firm.

The way of thinking that bad guys should die has never changed since she awakened her ego. Recently, it has gone beyond hatred to near loathing, and she is beating them up as soon as she sees them.

“Let’s go, Pani!”

“Haa… Next time, you have to ignore them, okay?”

The meeting place was the Central Hall. Mages rented the entire Central Hall to see Aileen’s magic. Nearly two hundred seats were all packed. They were all mages. Red Magic Tower, Blue Magic Tower, Black Magic Tower. In addition, numerous wandering mages took their seats.

Aileen’s magic could not be categorized. The magic that created water droplets and cast them like drawing a picture was a technique far removed from the existing methods.

Usually, magic was activated according to a set formula after subordinating Mana to a magic circle. But Aileen’s magic was not like that. The flow of Mana was fluid. There was no subordination process.

“…How do you do it?”

The most frequently asked question.

Aileen always answered like this.

“Like this!”

The water droplets Aileen created became fire, became earth, became light and darkness. Even when she showed them the series of processes, the mages’ minds still didn’t work.

“Th, that’s the problem! How, how did you transform it?!”

She received and answered numerous questions, but the mages only realized the gap in talent and despaired, unable to understand. Usually, incantation-less magic should be weak, but Aileen didn’t do that either. She drew out even a small fireball at maximum output, which was enough to drive them crazy.

Water droplets were just a medium. Aileen, who couldn’t express magic with her mind alone like Yujin, expressed magic through the three-dimensional image of water.

It just worked when I did it that way.

This was the summary of Yujin and Aileen’s magic.

“Shall I show you other magic?”

“Yes, yes! Please!”

In the end, they had no choice but to watch Aileen’s show until they realized it.

Aileen danced. She scattered colorful Mana while drawing water droplets on the stage. Grass sprouted with every step, and the air split with every gesture. The feast of light and darkness unfolding in between became a spotlight that illuminated Aileen.

She felt complete on the stage. She felt recognized. She replaced the emptiness of not being with her father by dancing. The moment hundreds of mages held their breath and fell into ecstasy, the corners of Aileen’s lips rose as if ascending.

“Uwaah…”

She had seen it many times, but she never got tired of it. Pani Alphenris watched Aileen’s dance as if possessed.

‘I’m glad I became a maid…’

She remembered hearing that it was popular in social circles these days to watch plays with a partner. Now, if she only had a partner, it would be perfect. Alphenris licked her dry lips, unable to hide her disappointment.

• Tuk tuk.

The moment she felt an unfamiliar sensation from behind.

“Ah, eh?”

She turned around, making a rather foolish sound.

“Wh, who?”

“Are you Aileen-ssi’s maid?”

The one who spoke to Pani, who was still out of her mind, was an unknown man with white hair in a ponytail.

“A maid?”

“Yeh.”

Pani, who finally came to her senses with that short and concise answer, was finally able to answer the question.

“It’s not official, but for now, yes.”

“That’s fine. Then…”

“Wait a minute, I don’t accept recruitment or invitation requests. And wouldn’t it be polite to introduce yourself first?”

She went outside to avoid being noisy.

Pani didn’t like the man in front of her who abruptly brought up the main point. Even more so because his face looked like a gigolo. He must have been tempted by Aileen’s talent and was making a suspicious offer. She shook her head, reciting her familiar rejection mantra.

The man bowed politely and respectfully.

“I’m sorry. I was too hasty. I’m Kroniche, the Vice-Chancellor of Astra.”

“I’m Pani Alphenris. Nice to meet you. What brings the Vice-Chancellor of Astra here?”

Astra? Isn’t that the academy in the capital? The Vice-Chancellor there must be a very high-ranking and skilled person, but the exclusive maid had the privilege of stopping even the Emperor once.

“It’s nothing special, I just wanted to talk about a letter of recommendation.”

“…Little Miss?”

“That’s right. It’s not a coercion or a request, but… if Aileen-ssi were to enroll in Astra, the Chancellor would be willing to write a letter of recommendation.”

“Neh…?”

“I enjoyed the dance. Well, I’ve delivered the message, so I’ll be going now.”

At that moment, the man’s figure disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Wh, what…?”

He just said what he had to say and left.

“Little Miss.”

“Eung?”

“Do you know about Astra?”

“Astra? Why there?”

Aileen, who had been dancing for hours, left the Central Hall with a light heart. Pani began to explain what had happened earlier to Aileen, who was still recovering.

“A person called the Vice-Chancellor came and said he would write a letter of recommendation… Are you interested?”

“Is it a fun place?”

When she received such a proposal, Aileen always asked if it was fun first. It meant that she wouldn’t be interested unless it was something more fun than now. Until now, the proposals were always rejected because Alphenris and Aileen thought they were not fun――

“Hmm… I’m not sure either.”

Academy life…? Astra was a place admired everywhere for its educational system and effectiveness. A proven institution for nurturing talent that even other races besides humans came to. When Pani was young, she wanted to go to Astra if she awakened magic or Aura.

‘But I couldn’t, so I’m working as a maid.’

So she couldn’t give a definite answer.

“What do you do there?”

“You’ll learn a lot and make friends, right?”

“Friends?”

Aileen perked up her ears at the word friends.

“But, if you go there, you can’t meet Dad.”

“Where would you find a student attending the academy with their parents?”