Water dripped down Astolfo’s red hair, making spots on the mat below him. The boy donned an ivory tunic with brown seams. The baggy brais pants snugly fit around his waist as he continued drying the top of his head with the towel.

The wooden flooring all over the room looked sparkly clean. A bed slightly bigger than a single person’s was pushed against the eastern wall of the room while a small tea table with two chairs served as a dining place on the opposite end. A modestly-sized closet covered another wall in the small room with a bookshelf next to it. Right across the boy was the wall window in the flat with lines of wires tied across it.

“Hah…” Astolfo sighed. He walked up to the window and put the towel out to dry in sun, making sure there weren’t any folded bits on it. Looking at the twin suns dazzlingly glimmering in the cold blue sky, he let out a wry smile.

“Just what the hell happened here?!”

That scary man who looked like he was about to make Astolfo skewers hugged him and started crying! He then brought him to his home and gave him a change of clothes. Just what kind of twisted psychopath was this guy?

Astolfo scratched his head with widened eyes. “Is he going to make me feel at home and then eat me alive? Or…” He gulped and bent down. “Could it be… he’s actually a good person?”

Sharp red eyes, thick brows, and an extremely evil grin. Just imagining that guy being a kind-hearted softie sent shivers down Astolfo’s spine.

“But, I can feel he means no harm… Is this what a dilemma is?” Sighing again. Astolfo thought about what he should do now. That scary man and his goons, as Astolfo saw them, had already left after furiously waving their hands at him.

“Should I wait, or should I leave?”

He knew no one around, had no money, and couldn’t even speak the language. Being alone would be difficult, but while the scary man didn’t seem harmful, Astolfo had not a speck of trust in him.

In the end, he decided he should leave. As he was now, he was just a sitting duck. He couldn’t take the risk. Having decided, Astolfo looked around the room for whatever little money he could get and pocketed it all.

“Well, it’s time to go,” he said with a determined smile. “But before that…”

The left end of the bed was further off from the wall than the right, the chairs in the room were not lined up, and the vase on the tea-table was crooked. There was no way he could leave it alone. No way.

**

Being the only pub in a town full of spirit, Moons’ hideout had more than enough money to upscale itself in various ways. One such venture that the owner had embarked on was private rooms. Thinking it could be used for parties or workplace dinners, the owner splurged on making great rooms. Unfortunately for her, though, the rowdiness of her customers was not to be underestimated.

Coming back from a tough fight with monsters outside? Drinks for everyone! Raided a tomb or mapped a ruin? Drinks for everyone! Increased your mana assimilation level? Drinks for everyone! Got your mercenary band hired by a big company? Drinks for everyone! Had a passionate night? Drinks for everyone!!

In the end, the private rooms didn’t work out no matter what she advertised them as. Still, they didn’t get taken down because there was no reason to do so and ended up being used about once or twice a month.

“I guess he’s deaf and never learned to speak, or he could be mute as well. Such a harsh life that young boy has been living.”

Sitting in one such room in front of a low table with legs folded and arms crossed was Morris.

“That is so harsh… With all the wounds you described. He must have it so hard.”

Still, in her armor, Tigress echoed Morris’ words.

“Well, won’t it be better to send him to the orphanage? He’ll be taken good care of there. He’s not too old either. No matter how much freedom they have, kids around twelve are still just kids.”

Staring at her assortment of rings through the big sunglasses. The woman with thick chains and a fur coat was the owner of Moons’ hideout. Most of the people didn’t know her name and called her owner. The owner too didn’t bother with correcting them.

“Owner, you don’t get it, do you? He’s still a mysterious critter. And did you see him fucking fight? I was right there, that kid fights like a fucking beast. And he’s drowning in those damn scars, I won’t be surprised if he is a new type of monster.”

Sean, the vice-captain of the city guard put in his input.

“So you were in the pub. That’s why this town is not safe at all.”

Adjusting his robe, the wizard John rolled his eyes at Sean.

“Hey, what the fuck was that for?”

“Now, now. No need to start fighting,” Tigress said.

“Well, Sean is correct. That boy is too powerful to be put in an orphanage. I am sure he has had formal training of some kind.” Morris placed his hand on his chin, making an incredibly terrifying scene.

“Well, if he’s all that. Why don’t you just bring him in your trade?” Owner remarked.

“Hm. I agree. The path of Wizardry will be impossible without language. His identity is suspicious so we can’t get any official help either. If he can’t go to an orphanage or any care facility, then making him an explorer is the most solid way to get him integrated into the society.” John said before casually shrugging his shoulders. “But that’s just what I say. Do what you want.”

“Fuck. He’ll probably kill it as an explorer.”

“But…” Tigress sighed, resting her chin on the back of her head. Seeing her, everyone else followed with a sigh of their own.

“The test will be a problem…”

After pondering like that for a few more minutes. Morris sighed again and stood up. “Well, no use worrying about it. Let’s see if he can understand enough to give the test. The explorer’s guild should have some way to accommodate a kid like him.”

Saying so, Morris nodded in determination and walked out the door.

**

“Where should I go~ Where should I go~ Sing, sing, get on the dance floor~” Astolfo hummed as he passed through the streets of Vicino. After the bath and the change of clothes, he wasn’t conspicuous enough to attract many stares.

Even now, his goal remained to go back home. For that, it was necessary to know where he was. But without being able to speak or write the language, there was absolutely no way to find any kind of information.

He continued to wander around the stone-cold streets of Vicino, looking for anything that could serve as a clue.

“That looks like a café… and, that one is a café too. Oh, is this something like a hotel? I want to go in but…”

During his walk, he had seen many establishments to accommodate people. From restaurants to hotels and cafes. That meant this place must be one where a lot of people gathered. And from the severe lack of entertainment establishments, it couldn’t be more than a pit stop.

“Maybe it comes on the way of some famous city? That must be it.”

Nodding his head, Astolfo continued onward. In the quieter parts of the town, Astolfo came across a fairly large building. He couldn’t read the signboard but could see numerous shelves lined up together from the windows. Each of them was stacked with rows upon rows of books.

“Ah!” His inner geek jumped in excitement. “A library!!”

With a bright smile, Astolfo pushed the door open and stepped in. Right at the entrance was an old man sitting behind a desk. He gave the boy a curt nod and turned his head away. Shelves of books filled the inside, creating a maze within.

“Oooh,” Astolfo whispered and made his giddy way through the shelves. Scanning them with his eyes, he picked the book with the prettiest cover and flipped it open.

“Ah…” Of course, the books were written in a different language. The boy quietly grit his teeth and closed the book again. “If only there was something like a universal language…”

As if his words were the missing wires of a circuit, a light bulb went off in his head.

“Universal language! Magic!”

The boy’s eyes gleamed with excitement. Magic was indeed the language of the world. No matter where the elegant realm of magical formulas and methods were always the same. It was a constant in the world. And amongst the magic, the most accessible term that anyone would know of was…

“Assimilation!”

Astolfo immediately moved to the section with childish books. Mana assimilation was a concept that was the very basis of the world. The measure of how much a person’s existence was in harmony with mana and how much mana they could make their own, was the person’s assimilation level. Starting from level ten and dropping down to level one, it was the absolute indicator of a person’s ability when it came to controlling mana.

The boy flipped through the books until he found any illustrations or drawings pertaining to magic. When he felt he had gathered enough, he stacked them up and went in search of a table to sit at.

“Huhu, the very basics of Mana Assimilation must be the same everywhere. I remember most explanations and technical terms verbatim! Just find matching words and… huhuhu,” Astolfo grinned as he found a table.

Sitting across him was a beautiful lady. With her cheeks resting on her palm, her platinum blonde hair dropped from the side of her face like a veil of gold. The sharp blue eyes next to the high nose bridge and the pointed ears perfectly aligned on her face. With a listless gaze, she looked as if she had jumped out of a painting.

Astolfo admired her beauty for a second and then sat at the desk. He got excited again as he flipped through the pages in search of words he could match with what he knew and get a clue into this language!

**

‘I am bored.’

The listless elf in the library sighed as the sea of boredom covered her mind. This small town of Vicino that was once had unending beauty had become repetitive. Everything she did became boring eventually... She had even taken a job as the receptionist of the rowdy explorer’s guild, but with time, even that job had lost its luster. There was no stimulation, no spice.

Sighing again, she continued to stare in the distance.

‘The long lives of elves are a real pain, huh. I have so much longer left to live.’ The girl was about to sigh again when a young boy came up across her.

With long and messy red hair and a scar on the left end of his face, the young boy stared at her with gleaming eyes. He was completely mesmerized.

‘Hah. Another kid fell for me at first sight… Even this is getting old—’

The boy had his share of staring at her and settled down without hesitation. His gleaming eyes went wide in anticipation as he started flipping through the texts with a grin.

‘D-did he just, ogle at me and turn away when he was done? How very rude! Just how is that book more interesting? This is why I hate kids!’

The elf’s forehead twitched and she ignored the kid to go back to her listlessness. As time passed, her eyes would drift over at the boy again and again. He had already piqued her interest.

‘Hmm, this kid, is he even reading?’ she thought. His flipping was too fast-paced for him to be reading something. He would scan through a book, click his tongue, and switch to the next. Before she knew it, she was staring at the boy with an inquisitive gaze. The boy himself seemed to have noticed and leaned slightly back to give her a clearer view of the books.

Eventually, the boy stopped around the middle of the fifth book. His eyes were shining even brighter and his nose puffed in excitement. On the book was an illustration of mana and below it was a highlighted word that the boy was pointing at.

‘Why is he so excited with that?’

“Mana Assimilation,” she instinctively muttered. The boy turned his wide eyes towards her and smiled.

“%^&$!”

The elf tilted her head at the strange sound the boy had just made while pointing at the book. Then, it dawned upon her.

‘It’s a different language!’

She pulled the book from his hands and placed it in the center, pointing at an illustration this time.

“Magic circle.”

“%^&*#)”

This time, the boy pointed at a word.

“!**)([email protected]”

“Mana properties!”

“Natural attributes.”

“&#*(@$”

“$*#(@)#!”

“Wizards!”

The elf slid her finger off the book, the boy following them with his eyes. She gracefully turned her hand towards her chest and pointed at herself.

“Julie,” she said.

“…Astolfo.”