As much as I wished otherwise, Arden was no less crowded in the following weeks after our birthday.

  The day started peacefully and quietly, as most days did.

  I was sitting in the living room at a desk, scratching and scribbling away in a notebook as Mother sat across from me, rambling off about Samsara as she broke down the intricacies of every runic function of its ritual form, pausing every once in a while to evaluate my progress.

  Well, that was how it was on most days. Today's topic was a bit different.

  “…so, that’s the gist of how Anitya works. You catch all of that? We’ll probably be spending the next month just breaking down every microsecond of its invocation. It’s imperative you understand how it functions, it’s the foundation of everything Samsara is built upon, in both its ritual and spontaneous form.”

  My quill slowly came to a halt.

  I sighed as I looked down on my shoddy notes.

  “I think?” I frowned.

  I wasn’t really sure.

  A large portion of my notes were unclean, particularly surrounding the idea of Null energy existing outside our three-dimensional understanding of the world.

  I liked to think that by now, after several months studying under Mother and roughly getting the hang of extraplanar geometry and physics, I was at least somewhat competent in the field of spatiotemporal mechanics, particularly in the usage of the fourth dimension as a tool for runic invocations, but…

  I pursed my lips, my eyes lingering a bit too long on a confused sketch of a thread being spun in every direction as it was wound around a human heart, before petering out into… somewhere, I guess.

  The Spell of Anitya was the entire basis of the principles the Paradox Engine was founded upon.

  Mother’s theoretical invention was a simulacrum of the Void, requiring all three of its axes to achieve infinite energy output.

  The true power of the Void, unleashed in its real, genuine form, however, was something else entirely. Anitya was capable of truly infinite energy output just by itself, serving as both the metaphorical and literal ‘heart’ of the Void’s Spells.

  Supposedly, enabled by Nirvana disentangling the Void’s victim from our standard understanding of the world, and using the heart as its medium, Anitya was able to cycle all four Elements and pull them beyond the third dimension to create Null energy.

  I was alright by now at converting one element into another by now – I still wasn’t capable of a full cycle just yet, not without significant energy loss and backlash, but progress was smooth.

  And I liked to think I was decent at the extradimensional calculations by now, but…

  I sighed.

  “The Four Elements and Null energy… I-... I just don’t think I can reconcile these two concepts into existing in the same reality, I think. The three-dimensional world, the wheel of the Four Elements… and the extradimensional, extraplanar stuff, to me, that’s just an abstract thing that just… exists out there, I guess? And maybe it’s useful as a tool to construct some runic formulae.”

  Mother frowned, but nodded in a gesture of reluctant understanding.

  “Yeah, that’s a normal reaction. There’s a reason why invoking the Void makes people go insane, and there’s a reason why I’m still doing most of this side of the work on the Paradox Engine by myself. You’re already picking this up better than I could have asked for. I’d probably have hired you as my personal assistant by now if you weren’t my daughter.”

  I grumbled, blushing lightly.

  It didn’t really feel right taking that praise.

  The other magi in Arden – and even Luna herself – were much smarter than me when it came down to it. I still lagged behind in almost all matters of traditional magecraft.

  I was just lucky to have been raised by the right person, being her singular focus for what was cumulatively years – if not close to a decade – of personal, focused tuition by this point.

  At the very least, I wasn’t alone.

  Almost everyone, including both those who disliked her and those who respected her, thought of Mother’s intuition for matters like these to be absolutely insane.

  Even putting aside the fear and danger that the Void provoked in people, Mother was probably the only person on Manusyara capable of naturally intuiting its mechanics.

  There was a reason trying to take the burden of the Void’s Spells without Ain Soph Aur’s calculations turned people’s brains to mush, but Mother was able to casually shrug all of that off.

  There was apparently an urban legend that spread through magic-related circles about the outright absurdity of Mother's talent. Apparently, in her youth, she would frequently come up with proofs for absurd concepts and formulae that baffling always proved correct upon checking and testing. When asked how she came up with them, Mother would just shrug and say they came to her in a dream.

  I never asked her whether or not those stories were real, though. I don't know, I just found it… awkward and embarrassing to ask about?

  Either way, whether it was true or made up, that was the kind of freakish genius that led so many people to be both jealous and in awe of her.

  I opened my mouth.

  “I-”

  Before I could say anything, I was cut off by a knock on our door.

  In unison, we craned our heads to look at it.

  Mother groaned, putting down the chalk and stretching her neck out a bit before answering it.

  Just out of sight beyond the door frame, an armoured knight grimly nodded and saluted her in greeting.

  “At ease,” Mother sighed, waving the respectful gesture away, “what is it?”

  “Ma’am, there’s been an incident. The Church and Citadel had a heated dispute in the Commercial District, which slowly escalated into a minor conflict. The Royal Knights had to step in to resolve it, but since then… neither party has been willing to disclose the nature and source of the conflict. They’ve been rather tight-lipped, only just now letting slip that it might be related to the Paradox Engine. We were hoping you could come in and mediate for us, given…”

  Mother sighed, rubbing her temples in annoyance.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever. If anyone can get the Citadel chucklefucks to talk, it’ll probably be me. I know what makes them tick better than they do, probably.”

  This had been happening more and more recently.

  One would think that with the big event finally being over and done with, Arden would find itself in a more peaceful state compared to the previous two months or so.

  But counterintuitively, without the distraction of the build-up to the first part of the Paradox Engine’s assembly to keep all parties distant, observing and neutral, tensions and agendas slowly heated up, reaching a critical boiling point.

  I couldn’t help but find myself a bit worried.

  “U-um, excuse me.”

  I found myself nervously peering around the corner, waddling to the doorway.

  I bit my lip in concern, looking at the faceless, helmeted knight.

  “You said there was a conflict? Are there any injuries?”

  I normally would have minded my own business.

  I wasn’t politically savvy or interested. This had happened a couple of times recently; ‘this’ being Mother being called away to settle an argument between a couple of the diplomats and factions visiting Arden, and all of those times, I was happy to be left on my own, either keeping my head down, focusing on my studies, or saying hello to all the familiar locals.

  But this was a bit of an escalation compared to those previous incidents.

  Hell, none of them were even called incidents before, let alone conflicts.

  That implied something bad. Some level of destruction, damage, foul play, or something like that.

  Whatever it was, I couldn’t help but stress a bit, and I found myself hoping that no innocent bystanders were caught in the crossfire.

  The knight paused briefly, scanning my figure behind his visor.

  “There weren’t any serious injuries, Young Lady. But… there was some property damage that had a few civilians caught in the crossfire, and a few of the Citadel magi are unconscious. And of course, the Church’s priests are refusing to lend their aid, given their involvement in the matter.”

  My eyes flicked over to Mother, asking her a silent question.

  She grimaced in response.

  “Are you sure, kid? I promise you, dealing with the headache of those two factions ain’t worth it. I guarantee you I can handle it by myself, and everyone will come out okay, maybe they’ll have a bruised ego or something, but that’ll be it.”

  I hesitated for a moment, before nodding warily.

  Mother just sighed, shaking her head before chuckling wearily.

  “Yeah, that’s just like you, Estelle.”

  She stretched her neck out one more time before rolling her eyes and gesturing to the knight.

  “Well then, go on, show us the way.”

  The knight straightened himself out and saluted to the both of us.

  “Yes, ma’am. Thank you for your aid, Lady Symphonia, and you as well, Young Lady.”

  Maybe I should have expected it, but the air grew thick with noise as we drew closer to the site of the incident.

  Hushed whispers, tense murmuring, leering eyes.

  The increased presence of Sol worshippers was unmistakable too.

  The uncomfortable sensation of judgemental eyes passing over my white robes, which were now accompanied by the tall hat sitting atop my head…

  The ‘maiden in white’, one of the very few healers who resided in Arden, had naturally and unwittingly become somewhat of a legend to the native residents, but for the cityfolk who were visiting this season…

  I was just the epitome of everything heretical about this city and its grand plan for the future, spitting in the face of their religion.

  “That witch… could she not at least choose a less disrespectful colour to wear?”

  “Starlight wasn’t enough for Symphonia to steal, of course, leave it to her offspring to rob the sanctity of healing too.”

  Still, I did my best to shrug off their whispers.

  I wasn’t doing it for their sake.

  As we made our way further through the city, though, the nature of the sound slowly began to shift.

  Squabbling, shouting, spitting, petty disputes.

  The singular murky crowd slowly started to split into two clear factions across a damaged street, surrounded by a hesitant crowd of onlookers.

  A freakishly tall, towering figure beckoned us to him with a sharp wave, his armored boots thudding heavily on the stone roads as we approached.

  Betraying his abnormal, imposing figure and the tension in the situation, there was a wide, cheesy smile on the man’s clean-shaven face, decorated lightly with clean battle scars.

  Spiky, lion-like hair shook stiffly as he saluted Mother with glimmering brown eyes.

  “Lady Symphonia!” He greeted excitedly, his silver armour clattering with every tiny movement.

  “At ease, soldier.”

  Mother just lazily waved him off.

  He just responded with an oblivious, smiling nod.

  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! I’m General Valder Hywind from the Royal Army. I grew up in Arden myself, but got bored of the countryside and eventually left to make a name for myself. I always heard the rumours about you and your accomplishments, but… well, seeing what you’ve done with Arden with my own eyes during these years is truly something else, isn’t it!? It’s a blessing to hav-”

  “Save the compliment for when I do something other than bother Arden with my nonsense,” Mother rolled her eyes, “just give me the situation.”

  Still, the man – General Hywind – was unperturbed, and continued smiling excitedly for a moment as if he was shown no rudeness.

  “Of course.”

  It was only then that his expression grew more serious, his brows furrowing slightly and his wide grin turning into a small frown.

  “As you know, while none of the delegations are currently claiming this part of the commercial district, it is situated very close to the cathedral the Church delegation is currently residing in, and offers a prime vantage point to stake it out from. According to witness reports, earlier this morning, a small group of Citadel magi started to take up camp here, conspicuously encircling and spying on the Church delegation from afar.”

  We looked out towards the damaged street.

  On a second, deeper look, the portions of the buildings along the street which were damaged were very clearly not random. It was obvious they were prime locations to be observing someone from.

  “We received reports of their presence earlier. When they didn’t tell us of their purpose and showed no certification or permission of their presence, we asked them to vacate the premises, however, they refused to respond. Eventually, word made its way to the Church delegates. When confronted about it directly, the two parties still failed to resolve the issue and things just… escalated from there. A brawl broke out, resulting in… this.”

  His brow only creased further as he finished his recap.

  “One thing confuses me about the situation. It is obviously an attempt at espionage, no? But if so, why do so in such a blatant and obvious manner? Whatever the Citadel was looking for, surely their illustrious magi would be capable of employing some level of subtlety, no?”

  Mother just rolled her eyes and scoffed as she walked forward to approach the ruined street.

  “Capable? Yeah, sure. Technically, they can do it. Are they going to? Hell no. The Citadel is a bunch of bullheaded stubborn assholes who force the fastest way through to a problem’s solution. I can already tell you what they’re going to say. Things like ‘subtlety’ and ‘deception’ are beneath true wizards and witches, they’re tools for weak and insufficient minds.”

  A line of knights, their armor decorated by Sangferrus’s royal insignia, separated two armed forces, who sat across from one another, glaring at each other tensely as they cradled and nursed their injuries.

  On the side of the magi, cuts, lacerations, dents and scorch marks of holy light littered their half of the street, with similar injuries appearing over their body.

  And on the side of the clergymen and holy inquisitors, a wide variety of elemental, arcane chaos made what was formerly the Artisan’s Promenade unrecognisable. Fresh debris and rubble tumbled down the damaged walkway, spilling into the river across from us.

  Unlike the magi opposing them in their standoff, none of them appeared to be injured in the slightest, at least not anymore, only retaining damage done to their clothes and armor.

  For a moment, as I looked upon the one-sidedly injured forms of the magi, I hesitated.

  I never really considered what I was supposed to do as a healer in a situation like this. It wasn’t like there was a clear, innocent party involved, and these were people who were causing trouble.

  Was it my responsibility to aid them? Should I have cast my moral judgement upon them and leave them to tend to their wounds by themselves?

  I wasn’t like the priests of Sol. Healing was not a divine duty or sacred law. I couldn’t hide behind things like ‘worship’, ‘heresy’ or ‘allegiance’. And I wasn’t like a doctor, who had ‘patients’ and ‘clients’. All I had were silly, arbitrary principles I had decided to childishly chase.

  And I would chase them even if everyone called me a madwoman while doing so.

  …

  Ah.

  Well, when I put it like that, I guess the answer was a bit clearer.

  I approached the wizard who seemed to be the leader of this small rogue crew of magi, which seemed apparent given the more ornate decoration and trim of his robes and the way his compatriots circled around him.

  “Excuse me, sir, would you mind turning around so I could take a look at your injuries?”

  The man instinctively responded to my words, turning around without a thought, albeit slowly, hobbling as he spun on a broken leg.

  He looked rather worse for wear. The tips of his hair and edge of his eyebrow were singed, dried blood trailed down his forehead, scuffed scratch marks littered his face and his lip was split.

  “Thank you,” I smiled politely, before extending my left hand towards him, my fingers hovering over his bruised cheek as warm mana traced his injuries.

  It was only then the man realised what was happening as he flinched and reeled, almost batting away my hand as he stumbled back.

  “I didn’t ask for your so-called divine aid, nun. Spare your hypocrisy and arbitrary judgements for someone else. It will sting less than you tending to my wounds.”

  I could only smile in exasperation, letting the words just pass right through me.

  It was a situation I had gotten used to many years ago by now.

  It was so uncommon to see anyone other than a member of the Church be practiced in healing arts that most people automatically defaulted to assuming I was one as well.

  I flicked the brim of the very conspicuous hat flopping off the side of my head, my smile creasing lightly.

  “Well good for you, I happen to be a witch. Now are you going to let me heal your injuries, or do you want to have a bruised and bleeding face for the rest of the day?”

  He blinked owlishly, his face twisting in a mixture of confusion and disgust, before eventually settling into a reluctant, but indignant and dissatisfied acceptance.

  “Arden really does accept anyone into its walls, no matter how much of a lunatic or reject they are,” he huffed, “a witch, you call yourself, yet one that practices healing arts? Please, at least have the decency to call yourself a ‘healer’ or ‘doctor’. Who gave you permission to wear that title, surely even a child is not ignorant enough to award it to themself, no?”

  “That,” Mother sighed sharply, grumbling loudly in annoyance, “would be me, her mother.”

  The wizard flinched in response to her scathing glare, recognising her immediately from the harsh coldness in her yellow eyes.

  Still, despite the evident shame in his eyes, he could not find it in himself to apologise.

  Unperturbed by the insult, I just nodded one final time, smiling as I finished.

  I couldn’t help but find it a bit funny, honestly.

  The magi of the Citadel were so committed to their pursuit of truth and knowledge they couldn’t even force themselves to make an apology if it wasn’t absolutely sincere. Despite knowing it was a blunder, he still stood by his words and did not believe me to be deserving of the title.

  “Alright, you should be good now,” I tapped his leg with the butt of my staff once to make sure, earning me an annoyed wince, before turning around to address the small conclave of injured magi surrounding us.

  “Would anyone else like my assistance?”

  They looked back and forth from me to each other, giving me wary, untrusting gazes. Nonetheless, despite their grievances from having to be treated by an ‘unworthy’ form of magic, receiving help from me stung less than looking across the street and knowing the other party was already fully touched up because of their monopoly on healers.

  It quickly became routine to me, making me a little bored, even.

  To pass the time, I just focused on the discussion happening besides me.

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  The wizard grit his teeth, greeting her through a clenched mouth.

  “Symphonia.”

  “Person I don’t know the name of,” Mother remarked dryly, “care to explain why you’re causing trouble for this city?”

  The man huffed.

  “I’m not causing trouble for your city, Symphonia. Despite everything, your grand experiment was approved by us, and even if it has grown beyond its expected scale and impact, that does not mean we have reason to sabotage the research of another mage. The completion of your work will only prove beneficial for us in the long run.”

  He scowled, shooting a dirty glare across the street to the Church, who started to perk up and stand at attention at the arrival of the city’s patron – that being Mother.

  “Unlike them, we have no reason to interfere with your work.”

  “Yeah, yeah, sure,” Mother dismissed his words with a quick waving, shooing motion, an action that earned her an annoyed look for her nonchalance.

  “First off, not my city. Second off, that sounds nice and all, but you did destroy this street. I don’t remember causing property damage and public unrest being a part of the Citadel’s directive. Thought you guys kicked people out for that kind of disturbance, isn’t this behaviour supposed to be ‘lowly’ for you? A true mage needs nothing but their research, right? Or whatever it is you say. Does your research concern how to best blow up a city, or the worst possible ways to stalk someone?”

  Her blatantly provocative words, despite how hilariously obvious the intent behind them was, did their job.

  I sighed, taking a quick glance at the wizard’s ticked off expression.

  It was obvious to everyone he was being baited. He knew it.

  But still, there were two things that every Citadel mage always swore by, and no matter what, they would have to defend them.

  The truth – that being the sanctity of pursuing knowledge and the process of research and experimentation – and their pride – the meaning of what it meant to call yourself a ‘witch’ or ‘wizard’ and the eternal promise that came with the title.

  In the end, it really was easy to provoke someone from the Citadel, just like Mother had said.

  The mage just scoffed.

  “I was not stalking them. What do you think of us, assassins? Saboteurs? Spies? Tactics of deception, subterfuge and espionage are beneath us. They are tools for those who are incapable of solving problems with their own merit.”

  I paused briefly, looking away from my work.

  The three of us – The general escorting us, Mother and me – shared a small look of amusement.

  “No, of course not,” the mage narrowed his eyes and shook his head, oblivious to what had just happened, “if we wanted to take something from them, we would have just done so, without need for any of these paltry surveillance tactics. If anything, Symphonia, you should be thankful for us. They are the ones with malicious designs for your work. We were simply doing our jobs and making sure they could not interfere.”

  It was that statement that finally drew the attention of the other party involved in the incident, leading the head bishop to march across the promenade.

  “That is an absurd accusation to make!” The bishop shouted, stomping towards us.

  For a second, he stopped, narrowing his eyes dangerously at me, before addressing the wizard again.

  “Even if the Church does not approve of this project, we understand that it is an ongoing cooperation between the Crown, the Citadel and Symphonia herself! Setting aside the authority of the royal family in a project concerning the welfare of all the Sangferrian people would be tantamount to suicide! Even if the Church holds distaste for the Paradox Engine, we at least understand that we are not to act on those selfish impulses, unlike you wizards and witches of the Citadel!”

  “What, and you think that all that we do is for a selfish end?” the wizard scoffed, “How typical of you Sol fanatics, obsessed with your halcyon days in the Halcyon Land, thinking that paradise is found only in past glories. Just because you are scared of the future does not mean that we are evil or selfish just for pursuing it! We pursue truth for a cause just as righteous as you claim yours to be. The only difference is that we are willing to pay the cost of leaving behind familiar ground in exchange for unknown knowledge, something you ancient relics stuck in the past couldn’t comprehend!”

  Behind us, the Royal Army’s general frowned, tensing as he prepared himself to physically de-escalate the heated argument before it resulted in any more damage.

  Mother just sighed.

  “You know, none of this grandstanding and ego-measuring between the two of you is helping your cases. Don’t exactly know how you expect to worm your way out of getting the asses of everyone here thrown in jail. Neither the Church or the Citadel is going to be willing to bail you out if your excuses are that you just picked a fight with them and gang-stalked them just because you didn’t like them.”

  The wizard clicked his tongue as he sent a cold glare to the opposing faction.

  “That might be true for them. If the Holy See hears of what their plans were, they would be abandoned immediately for utmost treachery. I, however, was simply doing my duty as a civil servant, and protecting an asset of national importance. I would be exonerated within an hour.”

  “And what, exactly,” Mother raised an eyebrow, “did this civic duty of yours entail that made it worth destroying a part of the asset over?”

  The mage just rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious.

  “Protecting the designs of the Paradox Engine, what else?” he scowled, “Those blind, superstitious fools were stealing important documents, designs and components of your work. As fellow mages working towards the future of Manusyara, even if we are from rival institutions now, it is only natural that I step in to protect your project. There is nothing more sacred to a witch than her research, no? That was it, it was simple common decency.”

  He huffed.

  “My men and women were not stalking them, we were not spying on them. We had one goal only, and that was to cage them. Make sure none of them could leave the city, that there would be eyes on them at all times. It was not meant to be subtle. It was an explicit warning to stand down and abandon their plans and turn over the stolen assets before things had to escalate. There did not need to be a confrontation unless they wished to continue pursuing foolishness. They refused, of course, so we were left with no choice.”

  Mother frowned, but before she could respond, she was beaten to the punch by the bishop, who growled in annoyance.

  “What a poor story. No wonder you Citadel people are so desperate to find ‘truth’, you’re all very lacking in imagination. Could you not do better than simply reversing the situation of the parties involved?”

  That gave her pause though, leading to a brief moment of consideration before her frown deepened.

  The bishop swung around, looking her fiercely in the eye.

  “Do not listen to their horrid lies, Symphonia! They were caging us to keep us from acting and disrupting their plans! They were the ones sabotaging your work, keeping us from being able to stop them. They’re using the city of Arden and the destruction of this promenade as a distraction from their schemes! Our time is being wasted by those foolish Royal Knights who have committed to their stance of neutrality, to your detriment, Symphonia! As we speak right now, who knows what they might have already managed to steal and smuggle out!? And they’re trying to lay the blame at our feet!”

  Mother’s brow started to crease.

  “Sorry, but that’s impossible.”

  The wizard scoffed.

  “See! As fellow magi, you ca-”

  “Both of your stories. Neither of them is feasible.”

  Her simple words froze the boiling tension, leading to a momentary wave of confusion.

  Mother just shrugged in a matter-of-fact manner.

  “This scenario, in where someone has even managed to find something to steal. Flat out impossible.”

  “W-what are you talking about?” the bishop blinked, not understanding.

  Mother rolled her eyes again.

  “Well, you’ll be happy to know that your reaction to that bit of information has just confirmed your innocence. Congratulations. But anyways, you don’t need to know. Just know that it isn’t possible.”

  She gave a lazy look towards the Citadel mage.

  “You should understand, as ‘fellow magi’, no?” she drawled, “Protect your research at all costs. Paranoia is the first requirement for an aspirant of the Citadel. There is a less-than-zero chance for any part of the Paradox Engine, whether it be its physical components or its design, to be compromised. It would take my death for such a thing to be possible. And I’m still alive.”

  The bishop, emboldened by her declaration of his innocence, shouted once more.

  “Then our righteousness has been affirmed, no? The Citadel magi are the ones with mali-”

  “Shut up, would you?” Mother clicked her tongue in annoyance, silencing him with a harsh glare.

  Her head snapped back towards the wizard.

  “What I want to know is why the hell you were convinced that someone had managed to snatch something. It isn’t very characteristic of a Citadel wizard to act on shoddy, unverified information. Are you getting complacent with your people? One of them sell out or have an ulterior motive?”

  Whether or not the wizard was telling the truth was not in question. Mother seemed to know just from experience as an alumnus of the Citadel that he had enough pride to certainly believe he was doing so.

  It was just a question of ‘why’ then.

  “Do you think of me as a third-rate scholar, Symphonia?” The wizard narrowed his eyes back at her, “Maybe not all of us are as unfathomably talented as you, but that does not mean the rest of us are bumbling fools. I did not rise to my current rank by being so sloppy and amateurish with information I receive. Of course I verified the information. The information came from a trustworthy source, and I myself personally double-checked to confirm it.”

  “And what exactly did your ‘double-checking’ look like? Did you walk in to the central Spire and break into our offices? Did you sneak into the underground tunnels? What and who exactly is your source for believing this bullshit?”

  “Are you really asking a Citadel mage to cite their sources, Symphonia?” he rolled his eyes, “Do you think of us as children?”

  “Then prove you aren’t one,” Mother laid down her ultimatum, “or pay for the damages you’ve done to this city and get the fuck out of its peoples’ lives.”

  He scoffed.

  “A paltry task. If you must know, then the information came from…”

  He trailed off.

  He blinked.

  Mother’s glare intensified.

  “What, don’t tell me you forgot?”

  “No, that’s impossible. I’m not careless,” he frowned, lowering his head in bafflement and grimacing lightly, “Any witch or wizard worth their salt knows that their greatest obstacle is their own self. Every unknown must be eliminated before action is pursued. I would not have acted so drastically without being completely certain of the information I was given, and even if I had verified these facts, I would not have acted emotionally. I would have taken the time to consider only the best course of action. I would have only done this if it was an act of necessity.”

  “What a poor attempt at lying!” the bishop bemoaned, “Look, is their guilt not obvious!? They cannot even come up with a reasonable excuse!”

  “What about you, then?”

  Mother barely bothered to even turn around when she asked him that question.

  “Of course, the Church received word of the Citadel’s schemes from…”

  And somehow, against all odds, he found himself trailing off too.

  Something clicked for the two magi, and they found themselves clicking their tongues in annoyance in unison.

  “Tch. There was still one possibility I hadn’t considered. I suppose, if there was one way for our pride to serve as our undoing, this would be it.”

  “Well that makes things real fucking annoying, doesn’t it?”

  The towering royal knight standing close by frowned.

  “Care to enlighten me on what bright thought just came to the two of you? Not all of us are well-versed in sorcery.”

  The wizard looked at him as if he was a fool.

  “Magics pertaining to the mind.”

  The knight blinked, not understanding.

  The wizard rolled his eyes in exasperation.

  “Spells to alter perception, influence thoughts and muddle memories.”

  The bishop scowled, fury wrinkling his cheeks.

  “Heretical rituals and invocations. So it is the fault of you magi. Even after all these decades and centuries spent trying to purge them and their practitioners from these lands, it seems they still live on in your ranks, wizard.”

  The mage just shot him a glare.

  “The Citadel of Magi is no more fond of those arts than you, priest. The scars from your inquisitions still linger, but even we are to admit it was not without cause. Magics pertaining to the manipulation of the mind are strictly forbidden within our halls. They are not even allowed to be recorded. It is an art most frowned upon. If such a spell is responsible for this current mishap, then the perpetrator is not from our ranks. It is impossible for one to even learn those arts under the Citadel’s eyes.”

  “In other words, Sir Hywind,” Mother frowned, “both parties here were provoked into this course of action by an unknown third party. Doubly annoying that they seem to be just competent enough in this form of magic to leave behind no clues in their memories.”

  “Um, excuse me,” I raised my hand, interrupting the moment, “this damage… is it possible to undo or heal? Can the memories be restored, perhaps?”

  The conversation brought up a concern I had not previously considered, leading to faint anxiety and worry welling up inside of me.

  I had spent most of my new life learning how to heal physical ailments and injuries, but I hadn’t considered the possibility of mental, spiritual or emotional phenomena.

  Even after all these years of living in Manusyara, the innumerable vectors that ‘magic’ was capable of exploiting and penetrating through still remained as surprising as ever.

  I could cure diseases, mend broken limbs, and maybe even restore lost senses. Certainly, there were many, many tragedies I eventually grew capable enough to overcome and overturn, but…

  The thought had never occurred to me; if I were faced with someone suffering memory loss, if someone’s mind and soul were breaking down… was there anything that I could do?

  Mother shook her head.

  “The damage has already been done. By now, the experience would have already set in stone. Most defensive measures against this type of magic have to be done either pre-emptively or dispelled and countered in the moment. So unfortunately, we’re out of luck. The best we can do is prepare for the next incident and make others aware.”

  “Oh, perhaps I might be able to help with that, dear Belle~”

  A familiar voice interrupted us in a playful sing-song tone, cutting through the tense atmosphere.

  Dainty heels clacked on cracked stone walkways, parting the crowd.that had slowly gathered.

  Mother sighed.

  “Oh, great. It’s you.”

  The wizard stiffened in alarm.

  “L-Lady Nyxth! I-I apologize for causing trouble for the Citadel delegate with this incident… it is entirely my own error, caused only by my complacency and arrogance. I shall accept any punishment you are willing to impose upon this lowly one!”

  “There there, at ease now~” Selenia chided, winking at him with her lone eye, “I can hardly fault you, given the nature of this… encounter.”

  A brief glimmer of madness, amusement and curiosity stained her eye before she wrestled her emotions under control again.

  “Although, the damage done to this poor city will likely be paid directly from your paycheck. You’re lucky no civilians were caught in your crossfire, otherwise I would have had to resort to more… drastic corrections.”

  “I don’t suppose you’re here as a coincidence, are you?” Mother pursed her lips.

  “Of course not,” her old friend rolled her eye dramatically, “you know as witches that we do not believe in such paltry superstitions like ‘coincidence’.”

  A slightly wicked smile slowly spread from her lips.

  “If you must know, I just finished dealing with the most interesting incident on the other side of Arden. It was quite a ruckus, you know? I’ll probably have to take out the funds for my next few tea parties to restore that poor beautiful park.”

  She sighed loudly, wistfully staring off as she remembered the beautiful (?) recreational spaces of Arden.

  “Can you get on with it?” Mother’s eyebrow visibly twitched.

  Strangely, it seemed like she had less patience for her friend’s antics than she had when it came to dealing with strangers.

  “You’re not any fun, are you?” Selenia pouted, “It’s not proper etiquette to push a lady on such a delicate conversation, you know? It is best to let her approach the matter at her own pace. Do not drag her into the muddy swamp, let her lift the hem of her dress first, if nothing else.”

  She sighed again, chortling lightly.

  “But, very well, if you insist-”

  “I do.”

  “There was quite a lot of noise, you know? It was very hard to understand what was happening, this lady’s ears were quite overwhelmed, but, eventually, I did eventually get through to the heart of the matter. As it turned out, a small crew of inquisitors and priests launched an assault on the nearby encampment of Citadel magi, suspecting they had stolen top secret information and assets from Arden. I don’t suppose that sounds familiar, does it?”

  “T-that’s-!” The bishop’s eyes widened as his jaw slowly fell open in disbelief, “No, impossible! I was not made aware of such a decision. And there is no way my subordinates would have acted so rashly given the delicacy of the project in Arden!”

  The general’s eyes slowly narrowed, his face taking on a grave expression, coming to quickly analyse and comprehend the situation at hand, despite unknown magics being at play.

  “I see, a coordinated attack by the same third party, only with the situation mirrored. Someone or something is trying to intentionally create chaos within this city, stirring animosity between the gathered factions. I’ll make my men aware of the situation immediately, and raise the security level as quickly as I can.”

  “Make them aware of what?” The wizard scoffed, “Lest you forget, we have absolutely no idea of who is responsible for this mess. Do not forget that you are also uneducated on the proper defensive methods against this school of magic. All spreading word of this will do is create unnecessary panic and paranoia within your ranks, and make them even more susceptible to such attacks.”

  “Well, you say that,” Selenia perked up, chiming back into the conversation, “but as it turns out, I had the strangest encounter this morning. It was so strange in fact, that I couldn’t help but take a small souvenir from the ordeal to show to my friends!”

  She waved a small brown paper bag she was carrying in her hands.

  “Here, Belle, catch!”

  Mother caught the thrown bag effortlessly.

  She sniffed.

  Her face wrinkled in disgust.

  “Ugh. The fuck is this?”

  She grimaced, warily opening the bag.

  She winced immediately, looking away and glaring at her old friend for the unwelcome surprise as she sealed the paper bag shut again.

  “Dear Sol, what is it with you and the rest of Expedition trying to find new ways to gross me out? Do you have a fucking bet running about who can get the worst reaction from me or something?”

  “What is it?” The general frowned, “Do you mind handing it over, Lady Symphonia? Given Lady Nyxth’s tone, it’s probably important evidence, no?”

  Mother just gave him a weird look before wordlessly tossing it over.

  The knight did not so much as flinch upon seeing what was inside, probably due to his many years of experience on the battlefield.

  He looked up from the bag, greeted by a sea of curious looks towards his direction.

  “A severed human hand,” he flatly explained, earning him varied looks of shock and disgust.

  “Yes, yes,” Selenia nodded along, laughing as if it was just a small, cute surprise, “it was quite a strange encounter. It happened in my temporary office just a bit earlier today. A man I did not recognise came into my office, claiming to be one of the wizards I had brought along, relaying to me scandalous events he had witnessed, involving the Church trying to sabotage the Paradox Engine and destroy it. I almost wanted to believe him too, but sadly, there was just one thing he didn’t count on.”

  She lightly tapped her eyepatch, smiling widely, almost splitting her cheeks as insanity danced in her eyes.

  “I have already been visited by the touch of madness once, and am the leading mind on the matter of mental contamination. Compared to the whispers and oh-so-enticing tide of the Black Moon, his silly words were nothing to me.”

  The expression then fled from her face in an instant as if it were never there, replaced by a solemn, serious frown.

  “Sadly, I was unable to catch him. Though I do hate to admit it, he was rather competent. His magic was still able to conceal his face, despite me being able to resist his sorcery. Not even this lone eye could pierce that veil of deceit. And additionally, the man was still quite capable in… traditional spellcasting as well… a bit too traditional and old-fashioned, if anything. I was only able to sever his hand before he managed to escape.”

  “Is this meant to help us beyond identifying the perpetrator of this madness as a one-handed man?”

  The general frowned.

  In response, Selenia just gestured towards the bishop and the squad of inquisitors trailing behind him.

  “Not quite. Hand the hand over to the good father, would you?” She chortled in amusement at the ill-timed joke.

  The general gave her an unamused look before going along with her words.

  “There’s one last surprise on the hand. I was wondering, father, history and religion is not a field of study that I am well-versed in. It isn’t a field of study that any Citadel mage is an expert in. But, surely, if anyone in Arden was able to recognise such a thing…”

  Holding back his disgust at having to handle the severed appendage, the leading bishop slowly pulled the cold hand out of the bag.

  “Surely the Church of Sol and its inquisitors, with centuries of records of dealing with cults and troublemakers, would recognise such a mark, or at least be able to decipher its meaning, no?”

  The bishop frowned, holding the back of the hand to the side for the inquisitors accompanying him to see.

  It was a strange, malevolent insignia.

  A vicious coiling serpent wrapped around the roots of a tree.

  One by one, he and all of his accompanying soldiers shook their heads.

  “The Church of Sol does indeed have a complete record of every cult it has been in conflict with, as well as a detailed archive of every piece of recorded human history. I thought myself well-studied in that archive and all of the symbols recorded within it, whether heretical or just belonging to other nations and tribes, but… it appears my study is incomplete. I do not recognise the significance of this marking. A serpent coiling around a tree’s roots… this is not a deity or figure of worship that appears in human history.”

  “But…” Mother stressed, “it’s something.”

  “Indeed,” the wizard nodded grimly.

  The royal knight swept his gaze over the people gathered before him one more time.

  “Magi of the Citadel, is this new evidence sufficient reason in your eyes to raise the alarm?”

  The wizard closed his eyes, pondering the matter.

  “It is an unmistakable, strange and provocative symbol. Highly specific. Highly identifiable. It is unlikely that you will be able to catch the perpetrator directly, but at the very least, spreading awareness will cut off their ability to act freely. You will require our aid in the matter though, given the strange magic of influencing minds they seem to be able to employ, but… yes, I do believe this is sufficient information to act on.”

  Paper scrunched as the bishop shoved the hand back into the bag.

  “It appears we have our own work to do as well. It does not sit quite right with me that I am unable to identify this symbol. It clearly is trying to represent something… it lacks the telltale signs of being a spontaneous or modern invention. There is history behind this marking… it is our job as inquisitors to bring this truth to light.”

  The knight sent one final look towards Mother.

  She just grunted solemnly, nodding back.

  “Someone’s trying to stir shit for the people of this city. I’m not gonna let a bunch of bystanders get caught in whatever the fuck it is. Do what you must to protect Arden.”

  He didn’t need to hear anything else.

  General Hywind spun around resolutely, immediately barking orders at the knights under his command.

  “You heard them! Spread the word! I want all the entrances and exits to Arden locked down at all times! No one gets in or out without a complete inspection! I need orders written for every mage, soldier, priest and researcher in the city! Everyone is to receive the proper precautions for protecting against mental attacks! Anyone with a tattoo of a serpent wrapped around a tree’s roots or missing a hand is to be taken in without questioning or warning immediately!”

  And like that, a tense alliance was formed between the three leading powers in Sangferrus, with the city and people of Arden being swept along the chaos.

  I held back a sigh.

  Contrary to my hopes, it seemed like Arden was a long way off from becoming peaceful again.

  I hoped things would be a little calmer by the time Luna came back.

  Will be getting back to 2-3+ updates per week now probably.

  This one didn’t actually take too long to write, it was mostly just a bit late because I was preparing some of the more complicated stuff that will start to show up relating to the game of SoLS itself.