It’s interesting. Really, really interesting! Fiara gratefully poured over the ancient texts the chief had brought her. I don't know where she got these, but they're amazing! Magic Engineering? Conductive Spell Patterns? Circuits? So much to learn!

They finished going over the text and attempted to make a simple CSP using a stone tablet and the chief’s blood. Fiara tried not to flinch as Vyra easily slit her wrist over an earthen bowl.

I know she has that ridiculous skill and it doesn't hurt her, but I wish she wouldn't harm herself so easily.

Still, Fiara drew the Spell Pattern with poise and precision. She watched eagerly while the chief gave it a try. The first attempt was a failure. The second, third, and fourth attempts were failures.

But it’s fun to experiment, Fiara thought giddily.

Then, the Human girl, Runa, appeared. Fiara glared at her.

I don't like her. She doesn't respect the chief, and she runs around doing suspicious things.

Fiara was going to reprimand the Human more, but the chief managed to extort a Magic Tool out of her.

The chief has been much calmer after evolving. She’s even been more lenient about people lying to her, which she hates. Isn't it strange? Shouldn't a Dominance Orc be much harsher than a regular one? Hey, Adelai, am I misunderstanding what a Dominance Orc is?

She felt a pair of yellow eyes bubble up to the surface of her consciousness and take a look.

“That one desires an unreasonable amount of control,” spoke a cold feminine voice that only Fiara could hear. “She is in the process of determining what she can and can't let go of. Her mind is still in a state of recovery, not to mention that volatile soul of hers. She is very dangerous.”

I think the chief just needs support while she gets her bearings. She’s been through a lot, you know? You shouldn't say bad things about her, because I love and respect her a lot.

“It was an objective statement; neither good nor bad. There is a good chance we will be able to get along with this one even without the W condition being embedded. She has a radical worldview.”

A good chance… I don't want the chief to know about you, though. I'm afraid what she would think of me. What if she thought I wasn't me at all?

To distract herself from these unpleasant thoughts, Fiara went back to experimenting with CSPs. The pair of yellow eyes floating in her consciousness watched on.

“You’ll require a propagating circle.”

A what?

Images floated into Fiara’s thoughts, and understanding along with them.

Ah! Amazing!

She glanced over and saw Vyra still noting down properties of the Magic Tool they had seen earlier.

While she’s doing that, I'll experiment with these principles, she brought her stylus to the tablet and began to carve. Within minutes, she had a working, primitive Magic Tool. An orb of light appeared over the tablet, and she cried out in surprise and joy.

The chief came over and sat beside her, leaning down to look at her work. “What did you do?”

“Chief,” Fiara grinned happily. “I drew this circle so the Magic Power that goes in keeps propagating. For it to work this way, I built some circuits so the Magic Power can come from the sides. It would work perpendicular if I put a solid circle of conductive material underneath the Spell Pattern and connected them with some circuits, but that’s more wasteful, and you would still have to put your hand where the spell will activate.”

The chief thought about it for a minute, then reached up to ruffle Fiara’s hair. “Yeah, good work, Fiara,” she smiled. “You're a genius as always. It would have taken me a long time without your help.”

Fiara blushed, happy to receive praise.

But it’s Adelai who taught me.

“The knowledge I possess is simply your memories from a previous life. Treat them as your own accomplishment,” the yellow eyes said coolly. They had grown tired, so they slipped back into the depths of her consciousness. Fiara didn't mind it, and cheerfully explained to the chief what she had learned about Magic Engineering.

After a minute, Fiara noticed that the chief seemed to be deep in thought, and had stopped paying attention. She frowned and tilted her head.

“Chief? Are you listening?”

The chief started and looked at Fiara, shaking her head. “Sorry, my mind was wandering. Would you explain it to me again, please?”

Fiara sighed, but wasn't upset about teaching the lesson again. “Alright, from the top then,” she smiled.

This time the chief listened properly. Fiara explained away everything she had comprehended from Adelai’s recent teaching, grinning happily when she was done.

“So, that’s why I think, the humans ran with that technique and just made a giant node to put their CSP in! It's really very clever, but the rarity of the material would make Magic Tools inherently uncommon. If we look for other examples, I think we would find some that used other interesting methods. Right, chief?”

The chief reached over and patted her head. “It's a good theory. If I ever happen upon a magic core, I'll give it to you to experiment with.”

Fiara felt happiness bubbling up in her chest.

Mm! This is what a true bond between a chief and her subject feels like. Since she values me so much, I should put as much effort into being useful wherever I can be.

“Hey, Fiara, there’s something I should tell you,” the chief said, pulling Fiara out of her thoughts.

“What is it, chief?” Fiara asked, thinking the chief’s tone was a little more serious than usual.

Vyra scratched the back of her head. “There’s no way to say this without seeming rude. I used on you a minute ago.”

Fiara’s blood froze.

No, but… I was enjoying our current relationship…

Fiara didn't know how much detail could reveal. She decided to hope it couldn't expose Adelai.

“E-eh? Chief, that’s rude.” She tried to joke about it while hoping for the best, but she felt truly worried. Maybe that’s all the chief wanted to say. Maybe she simply wanted to apologize for doing something rude.

“Yeah, sorry.” The chief shrugged, “Did you know Orcs feeling pain while hungry is genuinely listed as a curse? So harsh.”

“Ah, is that so?” Fiara struggled to respond while desperately hoping for the casual banter to be the end of it.

“And so, I happened to notice, while I was looking,” Fiara felt her nerves straining, and she tried to keep from meeting the chief’s eyes.

I didn't betray you, chief. Really, I swear! Please don't say anything else.

“You seem to be a reincarnated Indigo.”

Fiara started, and the tears began to flow.

The chief ignored that and pressed on. “Did you know about it?”

Fiara sniffed. She wanted to lie and say it wasn't true, but if the chief’s showed it in the results, her lie would be obvious and only make things worse. With all the reluctance in the world, she nodded her head.

“For how long?”

Fiara trembled. Her throat closed up and she felt some tear drops starting to fall on her skirt.

I'm sorry, chief. After you told me everything about yourself...

Vyra sighed and pulled Fiara into a hug, stroking the top of her head with one hand. Fiara instinctively pulled closer into the embrace.

“Sorry. How can I say this? You aren't in trouble. I didn't bring it up to confront you, either. Because you're important to me, I didn't want to hide from you the fact that I knew.”

“I'm sorry,” Fiara tried to wipe her tears away, but they kept falling, so it was useless. “I know how sensitive you are about these things. I thought you would be really mad if you found out.”

“No, you did a good job. I wouldn't have reacted like this in the past.” Vyra continued to stroke Fiara’s head while she calmed down.

Fiara felt her tears slowly stop, and she decided to ask the chief about it. “Do you know about Indigos?”

“Yes, there were some other papers mixed in with these, so I learned a few things. They could travel between worlds, they made great progress as a society, they could speak directly with the spirits, they shattered a god and nearly destroyed the whole world.”

Fiara felt badly when she heard the final account.

“Do you hate me for having been one?”

“No, I don't hate you.” Fiara broke out into tears again from simple relief. “Hey, hey! I know I was bad before, but I wasn't that bad, right?” the chief exclaimed.

Fiara tried to talk through her tears. “No, that’s because you don't have the W condition engraved for some reason, so I thought you would hate Indigos.”

“W condition? The texts mentioned it briefly, but what is it exactly?”

Fiara managed to stop crying. “It's a self defense measure the Indigos made. Basically, any soul that has it engraved will think of the Indigos in a positive light and wish for their return.”

And since something like that was necessary, I understand that the Indigos were very, very bad somehow. Adelai hasn't told me about what happened yet.

The chief tilted her head. “And I don't have that? How can you tell?”

Fiara fidgeted, “Well, you know, right?” The chief had already figured out this much. Fiara found it hard to believe she wouldn't know about Adelai.

Vyra thought for a moment. “The mind seed? I was under the impression it was a collection of memories and self, but can it still actively investigate things?”

Fiara nodded, “Yes. We can even hold conversations together.”

“Huh. So maybe more than a fragment, it's a literal mind seed meant to grow into a complete Mind.”

Yes, Fiara remembered Adelai becoming more active after her evolution. For example, the illusory feeling she felt of “yellow eyes” rising up to the surface of her consciousness whenever Adelai was present only began occurring after that. Before, her voice would either appear, or it wouldn't, and she had no way to tell which it would be. She certainly agreed that Adelai, the Mind seed she was born with, was growing with her.

She knew this, and she had known this since her first week of life. And she had kept it a secret from the person who told her everything she ever asked and more.

And there’s something else I've never told her, which is how much else I know.

Fiara resolved herself and bowed. “Chief, I’m sorry. You told me right away when you peeked at my soul, but I hid it from you when I did the same.”

“No, no. You had your reasons. I don't blame you for it.” She waved her hand dismissively.

“But you already told me what you know, so I should do the same. I'm sorry, chief,” Fiara looked ashamed, “without meaning to, I learned your secret.”

“My secret?” A nervous look came over the chief’s face. “Tell me what you know.”

“Yes. Chief,” Fiara raised her head to make eye contact with her chief, “you are the Orc Lord.”

***

I could only blink and stare in confusion upon hearing the words that left Fiara’s mouth. A slight smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

“I'm,” a small chuckle escaped, “I'm the Orc Lord, you said?”

Fiara lowered her head again, nervously. “Yes, chief.”

I genuinely laughed. “That’s funny. Wouldn't I know if I were the Orc Lord?” I'm still chuckling, but Fiara is tilting her head, looking more and more confused.

“Chief? Are you playing around right now? I know what I know, but if you want me to pretend I don't, I will do so.”

“Come on, Fiara. I've asked the spirits what my race is before, and they've never said Orc Lord.”

“It isn't a race,” Fiara shook her head. “It's a variation of the soul, but it isn't accompanied by a different body. Did you really not know? But Lady Oolga has the skill. She should have known it when you were born. Didn't she tell you?”

What is this? Is she really not joking? Fiara’s next words made me doubt myself.

“Haven't you ever used on yourself, chief? The way you did with me?”

No, I've only ever used it to look at my skills in the beginning. Since then, I've taken to asking the spirits everything, since that doesn't require magic power. I've never done a full of myself.

I don't need to now, either. I attempt to evaluate only my status, and the information flows into my head as clear as day.

Status:

Body: Healthy

Heart: Content

Mind: Recovering (grief; trauma; guilt)

Soul: Unstable (fused with Lord spirit: 100%; soul shell fractured: 0.2%; rejecting evolution: 8%)

I try to swallow, but my mouth has suddenly become dry.

“Fiara, can you tell me what a Lord spirit is? Or what it means to have an unstable Soul, for that matter?”