The late afternoon spread a haze of orange light across the world. It bathed over my granduncle’s robe as he walked beside me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you when you were with a friend.” Fermez spoke.

We strode along the street at a leisurely pace, Amanda and Agni walking a respectful distance ahead of us.

I pretended to take in the sights around me, and Gold stared at my granduncle with unashamed and unblinking eyes.

“You would have interrupted me no matter what. I don’t want to know what you would’ve tried if you hadn’t reached me at the academy.” I spoke calmly.

I wasn’t going to give him any leeway. Not this time. However, I remembered the kindness he had shown me in our last conversation.

I would hear him out.

Fermez pinched a piece of robe between his fingers as he took in my words, dodging a stranger that had gotten too close.

“My sister put in a request for six tickets to Gesti Sky.” His voice was weary. “Five children.”

My heart sank at the idea of my granduncle spying on my grandma. She couldn’t even go places without him knowing.

Then I shook my head.

That didn’t make sense. My grandma was the head of the household, and the head of the main branch of the family. She was in control, not my granduncle.

Fermez chuckled as he saw my expression.

“She asked me to buy the tickets. I’m not a monster.” He tapped his side. “I have them here for her, but I wanted to talk with you first.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you won’t know the business ramifications of her actions. Or your own.” He shook his head. “I am here to make sure that the least amount of people get hurt. Nothing more, nothing less.”

I paused in the middle of the street and my granduncle stopped with me. He had a connection with the Gesti family, my whole family did, but I didn’t know what it was.

I hadn’t been given the chance to find out.

“Since you haven’t told me not to go there, I’m assuming you’re going to tell me everything.” I kept my tone firm. “And don’t do it cryptically. Telling it to me plainly will make it faster.”

“Strong words. Like your dad.” A smile crossed his features. “I like that.”

My granduncle chuckled and gestured for us to continue walking. I saw that Amanda had stopped up the road.

She was watching out for me.

I waved at her and put a smile on my face. Then I turned to Fermez.

“Our household works with the Gesti. I gathered that much from our last conversation.” I spoke.

“Everyone works with the Gesti, in one way or another.” Fermez pointed to the buildings around us. “They supply many things. Arms. Appliances. Tools. Games. Everything that magic has touched has gone through their hands at some part of the process.”

I wondered if he was exaggerating, but his eyes were deadly serious.

“Our biggest business contract is supplying support regents to Gesti Sky.” He clicked his fingers together.

A regent appeared in his hand. It was a snowy white box. It twirled in his hand and jumped through the air.

Gold squawked at it, and I found my eyes drawn to the box.

Then it shimmered and changed. Its form liquefied and melted together into a blob. A moment later there was a bird in its place, and it ruffled its feathers and chirped back at Gold.

I stared at it.

The core had to stay stable, or else the symbols would be destroyed during the transformation.

“Your grandma and I have been working with them since our parents were running the household.” My granduncle smiled gently at the bird.

“It would be a big blow to lose their work. On top of this, most of our other contracts come from businesses they have recommended to us over the years.”

I could read between the lines.

“You’re worried that if grandma goes to Gesti Sky with me, she’ll be declaring that she’s going against the Gesti household’s wishes to keep me isolated.” I spoke. “She’ll effectively be declaring she’s against them.”

If Fermez was telling the truth, then it would be disastrous for my family.

Businesses were built on foundations of work with their partners. Losing a single big company contract could be a deathblow and losing multiple contracts over a single person was folly.

“No. She wouldn’t be declaring that because they don’t know you’re against them.” Fermez shook his head. “I don’t mean to be harsh, but I doubt the main Gesti family will ever know who you are. Save one.”

I frowned.

This was the household that had tried to keep me from my family, and they were still putting pressure on us.

How could they not know I was against them?

“You haven’t opened the gift they gave you.” Fermez stated. “They believe you are still making a decision.”

My hand hovered over my inventory on instinct.

I could see inside it at all times when it was on my person. In one of the corners towards the back of the space lay a single metallic ball, hollow inside.

I didn’t know what it contained.

“Good job holding out.” My granduncle flashed me a smile. “Any other kid your age wouldn’t be able to hold back the temptation of grabbing something they’ve been told not to.”

“I trusted your words.” I recalled the warning he’d given me.

He told me not to open it and to forget it existed.

“Good, because that’s why I’m here.” He nodded. “I’m going to need you to do the same during this trip. No matter what happens. As long as you keep that gift closed, then you can do whatever you want.”

He frowned.

“Wait. That was an exaggeration.” He waved his hands hurriedly. “I meant to say, you can have fun and ignore the world around you. Don’t go around carving symbols onto benches that induce vomiting when sat on. We can’t afford to do that again.”

A jolt of scepticism skipped over my heart, and I looked at him for signs that he was joking.

“My niece. Not your dad.” My granduncle grinned. “The staff were not happy that day.”

I let out a chuckle despite myself and shook my head. My granduncle could slip so easily between heartfelt praise and serious discussion.

The box he had unleashed into the air was still shaped like a bird, but with a single whistle it flapped down to his hand and transformed back into a box.

He clicked his fingers and it disappeared.

I stared at his methods curiously. I couldn’t activate my symbols or any regents with a whistle, or a click of my fingers.

Gold couldn’t either. He needed physical contact to power his shields.

“Now- oh.” Fermez looked down at his robe.

It had started glowing a bright white colour. I could see a symbol similar to a tidal wave appear on his chest. It exuded power and Fermez put a hand up to his ear.

“Yes? Yes… understood. That time of the day already, is it?”

He nodded his head absentmindedly, talking into the air.

His robe was a communication regent.

I’d only seen one other regent of this type. My cousin Berlia had used it at William’s party.

Were they rare?

I imagined they had to be, or the students around me would be using them instead of texting regents. There could be a trick behind them, or maybe they were only usable by certain people.

“You’ve got the same look your dad used to get when he had an idea.” Fermez’s voice spoke out from beside me. “Or maybe it was his constipated look. Those two things came hand in hand more often than you’d think.”

He chuckled at my expression and pressed his hands over mine. I felt him slip something into my palm.

“Lovely meeting you again, grandnephew. Take my advice to heart.”

I raised my hand to speak to him and blinked. He had disappeared. I hadn’t seen a portal arrive, and there were no traces of one having visited.

Odd.

I unclasped my fingers and found myself holding six pieces of paper. I raised them to my eyes and saw a picture of a snow-white bird with big cartoon eyes waving at me.

‘Gesti Sky pass x1 Child.’

Huh.

These were the tickets that my granduncle had mentioned.

My grandma had made the purchase before I’d even confirmed my friends were coming.

It brought a smile to my face.

The sound of fluttering wings grabbed my attention as Agni appeared in front of me. I waved at her and she turned around, leading me through the streets.

At some point Amanda had disappeared from my sight and I hadn’t noticed.

The church and the hospital were located in this part of the city. It was at the opposite end of the industrial area, and to the right side of the middle of the city using Koshima academy as the starting point.

According to what I’d learnt, there was little difference between the church and hospital, except that some people made their choice using their beliefs or lack thereof.

I’m sure there would be differences if I looked deeper, but on the surface, both strived to help the injured.

Agni led me through various twists and turns. Soon I found myself in a random side street, wondering if the phoenix was going to mug me.

I saw Amanda leaning against a nearby wall.

“We’re here.” She banged her hand on the bricks behind her. “Ta-da!”

She stepped forward and I looked at the wall.

It looked ordinary to me but judging from her expression and barely restrained glee I could tell there was more to it.

Another minute of examination and I was coming up with nothing.

“I give up.” I raised my hands. “What’s here?”

I couldn’t feel much mana within the walls, but that wasn’t a surprise. It was harder to sense and control materials in the city.

They had all been specially prepared against earth magicians. It was a good precaution, considering I could manipulate houses and buildings into nonexistence with ease if they didn’t have these defenses.

“Step back and watch the magic happen.” Amanda grinned.

Her hair flared lightly, and I saw Agni’s body glow. Their flames blended in nicely with the orange sky above us.

Then the wall reacted gently to her touch, and the outline of a door appeared.

“Keyed to our bloodline, just like our estate’s gate.” Amanda explained.

The door clicked open, and she rushed inside. I followed close behind her, Gold flapping his wings as the surroundings grew darker.

“Behold! My mansion!”

Amanda swept her arms out wide, a skip in her step.

“Well, that’s what I call it.” She gave me a sheepish smile. “My dad calls it our safehouse.”

I took the final step inside, and the door shut behind me. I heard a click, and I felt the slight shift of magic behind me, locking the door.

The light of Amanda’s hair illuminated the room. The area was big, but it wasn’t the size of her regular mansion.

She fumbled her hand against the wall and a light appeared on the ceiling.

Now I could see properly. The front foyer led directly into a living room, and I looked into it curiously.

It was messy.

There were books strewn across the floor and the furniture. Clothes hung in random places, and I saw a couple of dishes left on a table.

It was a far cry from the minimalist atmosphere that Amanda’s father had cultivated in their mansion.

Amanda saw my staring and bit her lip guiltily.

“My dad is in the remaining mansion we have.” Amanda gestured her thumb at the door. “I can afford to slack off for a bit.”

I left my shoes by the wall as she spoke, noticing the lack of warmth that I was used to when visiting one of their places.

There was fire mana in the area, but not much.

“Also, I haven’t been too motivated lately.” Her voice softened. “I got a bit lazy.”

I took in the sights around me with a curious eye. This place was well hidden, and if I didn’t know it was here, I wouldn’t believe it.

It was a safehouse in every definition of the word.

The closeness to the hospital wasn’t the only reason Amanda was here.

There was no way her father didn’t know how their family’s involvement could impact Amanda. He had sent her to the safest place he could think of while taking the public attention onto himself.

“Actually, can you give me a couple of minutes?” Her hair flared bright red in embarrassment. “I want to clean up a tiny bit.”

She rushed off inside, leaving me and Gold alone with Agni.

The phoenix led me to a sofa at the side of the living room and I laid back, resting my eyes.

When I opened them, Amanda was standing in front of me, a plate of crackers and cheese in her hand.

“Okay. Nobody can hear us here, so we can say whatever we want.”

Amanda sat down beside me and laid the food between us. Agni and Gold hopped beside the plate, eyeing the food curiously.

“I have so many questions.”

She crossed her arms and I saw a troubled expression pass over her face.

I could tell there was a lot going on in her head, not all of it good.

“That’s alright.” I laid back into the cushions. “Ask away.”

Amanda had seen my golden mana, and the church knights defending me. She’d seen Gerial too, through the portal connecting us.

She could put two and two together.

Her actions suggested she already had.

I’d discussed with Gerial what could and couldn’t be said. He had told me that anything was fine to say as long as I decided on it.

The church trusted who I trusted, and if I shared information with Amanda then they wouldn’t object. My decisions were as good as law for them.

Amanda shifted her posture towards me.

“I guess I’ll start at the part that confuses me most.”

She took a deep breath.

“Are you a Marked one?”