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When we get to the waiting line, we meet Lilian, who seems to be one of the people in charge of distributing people to the boats. When she sees us, she motions for us to get out of the queue and head towards her. Behind her, as always, is Sebastian, her bodyguard.

"Don't be silly. You guys don't have to wait. You're coming with me," she says as she extends a hand to shake mine as a greeting.

I shake her hand, and Deirdre, for her part, stands quietly behind me, as she always does when we meet Lilian.

"Wait a minute, Lilian! How come you're sneaking people in? Where's all that justice you're always talking about?" says a voice behind her back that sounds familiar, though I don't remember exactly from where. The voice belongs to a tall, blond, green-eyed guy like Lilian. He is probably another member of the Estella family.

At this, Lilian sighs angrily and, turning around, replies to the voice, "In case you haven't noticed, Victor, he is the champion of the tournament, which makes him the champion of this expedition against the orcs. I think he should get special treatment, don't you?"

"Well, you may be right, but that doesn't include the cat girl," complains Victor, whom I already recognize as Vector's son. It seems like ages since I confronted him at the military academy that first day in the capital. "She does have to stand in the queue. It's only fair, right?" He finishes with a smirk.

I was about to tell Lilian that, if Deirdre has to stand in the queue, I want to join her, but it wasn't necessary.

"No," says Lilian, raising her voice a little and looking increasingly annoyed, "she's going with Xelean."

"I can't wait to hear what ridiculous reason you'll give me to justify that decision," he sneers, "it seems that the law can only be applied when it suits you..."

"I will give you no reason other than that is my wish. I don't need to explain myself to you." says Lilian, who is getting a nervous twitch in her eye "Need I remind you that your father is still in the army thanks to my mercy? Or have you already forgotten that grandma wanted to evict him?"

"Mercy!" exclaims the boy, exasperated. "And what good has it done him that mercy if, at the slightest opportunity, you have sent him to the end of the world to explore I don't know what forest from which everything indicates that he has not managed to come out alive? Besides, if 'someone' hadn't gone and told our grandmother some strange stories, my father wouldn't have needed YOUR mercy."

"Are you calling me a liar, soldier? Should I remind you of your position?" says Lilian, raising her voice for all to hear.

"No, cousin, no way." says Victor, looking around with an annoyed expression, noticing that other members of the militia are looking at him. "I would never dare do anything like that."

"Should we let them argue like that in front of so many people? I don't know the boy at all, but I know Lilian is your 'friend'," Deirdre whispers to me when it seems the discussion is over, uttering the last word with a grimace.

"I don't think we should interfere. It's a family matter," I reply to Deirdre, and my response catches Lilian's attention.

"Sebastian!" She says, whereupon the girl's bodyguard rises from the stool he was sitting on and approaches, "Put Xelean and his companion on the boat you and I will be on, please. And make sure they have a comfortable cabin," she finishes, looking cheekily at Victor, who glares at her.

And, following his protégé's orders, Sebastian guides us to one of the boats.

***

Once inside the boat and already installed in the cabin that Sebastian indicated was ours, I told Deirdre about who that guy with whom Lilian was arguing was and about the time I faced him in a fight, thanks to which I found out I could do magic.

The cabin in question is a small room with a double-decker bed, a table, a small closet, and a tiny bathroom with a shower and a toilet. The closet is irrelevant to us since I can store all our stuff in my inventory, but everything else is pretty good.

'Although it would be better if we had a little more space…'

"Hmm, that last story has left me thinking about something, master," Deirdre says, as she looks at me, seeming uneasy for some reason. "Now that we're going to be on this ship for quite a while without much to do, I'd like to know if you could teach me how to do magic. I already know how to do simple math, read, and write, so I can't entertain myself with those things. But you've never tried to teach me magic until now. Why? I want to be able to light fire with my hands too."

"There's a very simple reason for that," I say, and I proceed to explain to her that, without affinity to some element, it's very difficult for any person to succeed in casting spells, as it would need too much mana.

"Hmm, I'd still like to give it a try. I've seen you do basic wind and water element magic while we were camping in the forest, and as far as I know, you have no affinity with those elements. So I already know it's possible. It doesn't hurt to try," Deirdre says, displaying the stubbornness that sometimes characterizes her.

'It is true that I am capable of using some water magic to get water from the environment or wind magic to conjure a cooling breeze, but those little things cost an awful lot of mana and are of no use in a fight.'

"Well, okay. First, we'll see if you're able to learn to sense and manipulate the mana in your body," I say, thinking back to the magic sense enhancement training I had done with Sabrina so long ago. "But, before that, are you sure you don't want me to try to get another cabin? Are you comfortable sharing a bedroom with me?" I ask, looking closely at her expression, trying to see what she's really thinking. I've asked her before, but I find it very strange that she's willing to sleep in the same room as me.

"Xelean, I already answered you that question the previous three times you asked me, and the answer is still the same. I DON'T CARE. But I swear, if you ask me one more time, you'll be a lot more uncomfortable sharing a bedroom with me than YOU already seem to be..." she says as she unsheathes one of her daggers and begins to fiddle with it, tossing it in the air and holding it by the edge.

"I'm not uncomfortable!" I say this, trying to sound convincing, but Azur's laughter, which I feel through the bond, distracts me. "I'm just surprised you're not embarrassed to be sharing a room with a boy.... You must remember that we'll have to change clothes while the other is in the same room."

"Well, if you care so much, the solution is simple..." she says, looking at me with a smug smile "We can change in the bathroom, or we could also just turn around while the other changes clothes, couldn't we?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say, admitting defeat.

"Good!" she says, sheathing her dagger and clapping her hands in glee. "Now let's get back to the mana thing.... What do I have to do to feel it?"

"Well..."