1

By the time the sun began to set, they could see the walls of Leirest. Even though the city was nowhere near the kingdom’s border, its barriers were heavily fortified because it was a main travel hub. Since they were currently at a higher elevation, Ix and Yuui could just about peer into the city. It was packed with roofs, not a single space left between.

“Aah, I’m so hungry…”

Ix looked back at Yuui, who followed on unsteady feet. They’d arrived later than he’d hoped because he’d had to match his pace to hers. According to what she told him on the way here, she’d arrived in Leirest the previous evening, which meant she’d walked for basically an entire day. She hadn’t eaten since having dinner on her way to Ix’s village; no wonder she was running out of energy. On top of that, she’d probably been on edge the whole time because she was on a mountain path at night. That would’ve added to her fatigue.

Ix waited for Yuui to catch up, then told her, “This path’s protected from magic beasts, but we’re still in the mountains, you know. There are plenty of garden-variety creatures here that’ll see you as nothing more than a meal.”

“The moon was out last night, so I decided it was not dangerous. Also, I was planning on purchasing food at the village, but you made me rush ’cause you were being so inconsiderate.”

“I don’t remember saying anything out of line.”

“You just…do not have any manners, do you?”

“Master never taught me how to interact with the customers.”

“Can you be a craftsman without that?”

“I’m actually one of the more likable of his apprentices.”

“Huh?”

Once the two of them made their way down the mountain, the trail merged with Kusa Zuf. The path underfoot was now cobblestone.

Farm fields enclosed by a simple wooden fence stretched out a short way from the edge of the road.

“That’s surprising,” muttered Ix.

“What is?” asked Yuui.

“The fields have gotten a lot bigger since the last time I came here.”

“Is that so? I only just arrived, so I wouldn’t know.” Yuui nodded. “Good to see they are so diligent.”

“I wonder…”

“Is something bothering you?”

There had been a surprising amount of distance to cover from the point when they’d first glimpsed the walls of their destination; by the time they’d reached the gates of Leirest, the sun had already dipped behind the city skyline.

The massive gates were still open. Guards stood on either side, glaring threateningly at the people coming and going. Occasionally, they would demand merchants and travelers stop for a moment before checking their piles of goods.

Ix produced his travel pass from his shirt and hung it from his neck so it was visible. Yuui did the same but put her hood up again.

“Hold on, you two!” shouted a bearded guard just as they were about to pass through the gate. Ix immediately stopped and stared at him. The other travelers halted as well, looking similarly anxious.

The man strode over briskly and passed Ix to stand before Yuui. He was about Ix’s height, so he really towered over her.

“Show your face,” he demanded.

“Do you mean me?” replied Yuui.

“That’s right. Hurry up.”

“I…”

“Hey, don’t worry,” reassured the guard, his tone suddenly turning soft. “It’s just a precaution. You got a pass, no one’s gonna stop you ’cause of your face.”

“…All right.” Yuui lifted her hood and cast her eyes down, her tanned skin and blue-tinged black hair now visible.

“Huh…?” The guard cocked an eyebrow. “An early delegate?”

“No,” replied Yuui.

“Of course not, not a kid like you… Hey, let me see your pass again,” he demanded, tugging on the pass Yuui still had in her grip. The action pulled her up on her toes, and she grimaced as her neck muscles craned. A laugh rose from the circle of travelers surrounding them. It was impossible to tell who it came from.

After examining the pass for a while, the guard suddenly released it. Yuui teetered but managed to regain her footing without falling.

“Eh, whatever. You can go,” said the guard.

“Thank you.”

“Just don’t get into trouble, ’cause if anything happens to someone like you, we ain’t gettin’ involved.”

“…Of course.”

“Hey, the rest of you, don’t stand here blocking the gate!”

The travelers started up again as though they’d suddenly remembered how to move, but now things were different. This time, there were whispers about Yuui mixed into the chatter of the crowd.

Covering her face with the hood again, Yuui moved forward and kept her eyes on the ground. Ix watched her.

He didn’t really know how people from the east were treated in the kingdom. People from all walks of life used to visit the shop, but nobody had ever told him outright what it was like for them. Besides, this was actually the first time he’d met someone from the east. But based on how the guard had harassed her and the reactions of the crowd, Ix wasn’t getting the impression they were greatly welcomed.

As they passed through the gate, Yuui whispered, “Let’s go, Ix.”

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug.

Leirest was busy even in the evening.

It had originally expanded as a trade city, but since Kusa Zuf’s construction, it had become a gathering point for people and goods flowing in and out of the kingdom and grown even more prosperous. In fact, its economic activity and population had risen so consistently that there were now enough people crammed between its walls to make you feel as if you were suffocating.

Merchant after merchant called out to Ix and Yuui as they made their way down the street. Everything was on offer, from food to gems to fabrics spread on the road. Yuui stopped momentarily in front of a merchant who’d set out some tools with strange patterns on them.

“Hey, you, with the face I can’t see! Here we have items exhumed from the disposal grounds of indigenous religions, of gods long dead in this kingdom, and…” Without missing a beat, the merchant launched into a fishy spiel. Yuui hastily pulled her hood down farther and strode away. Ix remained completely expressionless as he passed by the merchant.

Tired of the crowd, the pair stepped into an alleyway, only to be hit with a horrible stench halfway down. Garbage and detritus were scattered everywhere.

“…We’re going this way?” asked Yuui, looking unhappy.

“Personally, I prefer real trash to human trash. If you don’t like it, you can take a different route, though.”

“I—I will stay with you,” she said, following him so closely, she was almost clinging to his back. Ix wondered why she was forcing herself if it bothered her that much.

“By the way, where are we headed?” asked Yuui.

“A wand shop.”

“A-are you off-loading me onto them? But you promised to fix it…”

“I am accepting the responsibility as promised. I’ll fix it. But I need tools and materials to do it. And before that, I’ve got to examine the wand in detail. I can’t do that by myself. Not without specialized equipment.”

“I take it you know someone, then?”

“There’s this lady—she was another one of my master’s apprentices. Since he left this job behind, she won’t refuse to assist us.”

“This lady… Is she as dreadful as you are?”

“She’s highly capable.”

“Capable, huh…?” mumbled Yuui, placing a hand on her cheek as she thought. “But is there really a wand shop here? I did search this city fairly thoroughly to locate someone who would fix mine.”

“First I’ve heard of that. You couldn’t find anyone?”

“W-well, I was told that just examining the wand would cost quite a bit of money… And while it was unclear whether your master was alive, I had the contract, so I opted to go there first…,” explained Yuui, looking down in embarrassment.

A wand as high quality as that needed to be handled delicately, so the craftsman had probably requested an additional fee to cover the difficulty of the job. Buying a good tool took some serious cash, and using it for a long time required even more. You could even argue a tool was only as good as the money you put into it.

Following his memory of the area, Ix turned a corner. As they were about to leave the alley, something moved at his feet.

“Eeeek!” Yuui let out a brief shriek and hid behind Ix.

They saw some rags squirming down at the edge of the road. Ix initially suspected a large rat or a stray cat, but that wasn’t it. Sprouting out from beneath the rags were a pair of arms and legs with dull skin.

It was a human.

A thin, starving homeless person sat on the edge of the road. They stared into the space with lifeless eyes.

Ix and Yuui quickly went elsewhere but soon ran into a number of other people in similar situations. One was curled up in a ball, while another begged from passersby with a withered outstretched hand. The area was overflowing with starving masses, regardless of age or gender.

“The people in this alley are too weak to go beg on the main street,” murmured Ix. “If there’re this many here, how many are there in the entire city…?”

“The capital wasn’t nearly this bad…”

“It wasn’t this desperate when I came a few years ago, either. I’ve heard stories that the capital doesn’t have many homeless people—is that true?”

“There are a few, of course, but most are taken to an almshouse or given work. The rest scrape by through begging.”

“The current king is apparently big on antipoverty initiatives; he must be working on it close to home first.”

In places beyond the king’s reach, however, unhoused people were simply ignored. Even if folks wanted to help them, the funds weren’t there. Given Leirest’s reputation as a commercial hub, it seemed obvious that raising taxes to help the poor would be a controversial idea. Other cities would be much the same. Places where Marayism was strong might be another story, though…

Yuui sighed glumly as she walked beside Ix. “I had heard the kingdom was prosperous,” she said.

“It is. The increase of homeless people just means the population is increasing accordingly.”

“That does not matter if there are more citizens in poverty, though. Why is there this unrestrained growth?”

“Dunno. Might be a rebound effect.”

“Rebound from what?”

“You heard of the sonim plague?”

“Yes, I am aware of it.”

An epidemic of sonim, an illness sometimes called the broken-mind sickness, had swept the kingdom about twenty years ago and wiped out nearly a third of its population. The plague pushed it to the brink of collapse. And it wasn’t confined to the kingdom, either; the disease also spread to neighboring countries and similarly devastated them.

Although Ix had grown up in a tiny mountain hamlet, he knew a lot about the topic, having learned from his master’s customers who came to visit.

He began to explain, prefacing to Yuui that everything he knew about the plague he’d heard secondhand.

“Since sonim killed so many people regardless of status, commoners and aristocrats alike, it weakened the grip of the nobility. Serfs gained money and freedom. Some peasants even managed to save up small fortunes. As a result, those people started having lots and lots of children. The kingdom’s population exploded, and it keeps going up to this day. Supposedly, that’s why the kingdom recovered a bit faster than the surrounding nations. With a larger population, you’ve got more people to work.”

“But how would that result in there being more people in poverty as well?”

“That’s simple. Food shortages,” explained Ix, shaking his head. “The number of people in an area increases, but the amount of food to go around doesn’t. That’s why the cost of groceries is on the rise. Some people have so little to eat, they stoop to begging. When their family scatters, they have nowhere to go, so their only option is sleeping on the side of the street. It looks like they’re scrambling to increase the amount of arable land right now, but…I don’t think they can catch up, especially when you consider how easily populations can grow.”

Yuui nodded in understanding, though all Ix could see was her hood moving slightly.

“Then why don’t they employ the poor to assist in expanding farmland?” she asked.

“There’s only so much land to work with,” replied Ix immediately. “Get it? They’re now having to go into areas that were previously unsuitable for agriculture.”

“Because of poor soil?”

“There’s that, but the biggest roadblock is magic beasts.”

“…Ah, I see.” Yuui sighed. “So what you are saying is that any acreage that has not been converted to farmland is infested with magic beasts. They try to expand agriculture but are unable. There are few magic beasts in my country, but I have heard similar stories.”

“Because of that, you got everyone making a big deal about this bunch of people called adventurers.”

“Adventurers—”

“Originally, they worked in sort of self-governed troupes, but now they’ve been systemically organized, so they’re hunting more and more magical beasts. I guess farmers or the government rewards them for eliminating creatures that stray too close to crops. Adventurers are a dangerous bunch who walk around with weapons out in the open. The scale of the Adventurers’ Guild has grown to the point that they’ve co-opted some of the rights of people to hunt and harvest crops on their own land. It seems even the kingdom’s government can’t quite control… Yuui?”

Ix looked at her questioningly. She was hugging herself and muttering something in a low voice. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she leaped in response.

“What’s wrong with you? You dare touch me, Yuui Laika—?”

“That’s what I should be asking. Are you that hungry?” he asked.

“Oh, yes…,” she answered, seemingly back to her senses. “I’m sorry—it seems I was a little out of it.”

“Uh-huh. All right, what inn should we stay at?”

“I-i-inn?! At wh-what point did I say I would pay with my body?!”

“Huh?” Ix raised an eyebrow.

“…Um, I thought we were going to the wand shop?”

“There’s no point. The sun’s already setting. The store owner is only around during the daytime. She closes at nightfall.”

Yuui blinked a few times, then nodded more strongly than he’d ever seen her before. She gripped her hood tight and spoke in a rush.

“Y-you should have said so sooner.”

“I did. On the road here to Leirest. Were you so tired that you didn’t hear me?”

“Uh…”

“Is that hostel over there all right with you? I’m also fine with lodging you’ve used before.”

“I really don’t mind where we stay. Oh, but I would like a private room instead of a shared one.”

“A private room… I wouldn’t expect a hostel to have anything like that, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“A-a private room for one, yes? Not a private room for two.”

“Obviously. A room for two would mean you’re staying with someone.”

“Ah, yes…”

She pulled her hood down even farther.

2

Yuui Laika rubbed her tired eyes.

She took off her coat and threw it on the bed. The temperature was climbing in this area. Though she’d been uncomfortably hot the entire time, she wasn’t bold enough to walk around outside with her face and skin exposed.

Yuui collapsed into a sitting position, unable to move further, as though her body had rooted itself there. Her legs had become stiff from the fatigue of walking nonstop since the night before.

“Agh, aaah…”

She rubbed her calf with her thumb, pain and comfort mixing perfectly until they exited from her mouth in a sigh. On top of that, her empty stomach had finally been settled with her first meal in a full day. She yawned.

Yuui wondered if she could trust that man Ix.

She knew the name Munzil. He was such a famous wandmaker that he was known even in the east, the subject of all sorts of legends that were told as if they were the truth. Tales of how his wand had allowed a child to defeat a soldier, or how he’d fixed a broken wand with a single finger, or how he’d constructed a staff from a dead branch when in distress in the forest. Obviously, those stories were quite exaggerated, but she was well aware of how amazing the products of his craftsmanship were. Solely focused on high precision, Munzil cut away everything unnecessary in a wand to the point of obsession. The wand of his she had was so natural, fit her hand so perfectly, that she hadn’t understood its brilliance at first. When she happened to use one he hadn’t made, she mistook it as broken because of the stark difference in performance between the two. That was when she fully understood.

But how much could she trust that apprentice of his, in terms of both his skill and his personality? He was a suspicious character. His unchanging, emotionless expression and his colorless, washed-out hair looked utterly alien to her.

There was a knock on the door.

She bolted up and replied, “Who is it?”

“It’s Ix. I’m coming in.”

“What?”

Before she could say anything else, Ix opened the door and peered into the room. She’d forgotten to lock the door.

“Aaaaaaah, wh-wh-what are you—?”

Yuui quickly grabbed her coat. She didn’t have time to put it on properly, so she just wrapped it around her body. After doing that, however, she remembered that Ix already knew who she was. There was no reason for her to hide from him. Now that she thought about it, she realized he hadn’t really reacted at all when he’d learned she was from the east.

Ix shot a glance toward her, then came into the room. He was carrying a rectangular box. It was long, thin, and wooden, with a metal handle on top. The container was large enough that it would have just barely fit into his bag. Yuui wondered if that was the only thing in his luggage.

He sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Something clanked within the box.

Yuui was confused. This didn’t seem like a normal nighttime tryst at all. Her grandmother had taught her what it meant for a man to come to a woman’s bedroom at night, but perhaps things were different in the kingdom.

Poking only her face out from her coat, she scolded, “What were you thinking, setting foot in a maiden’s bedchamber at this hour?!”

“I was thinking I could look at the wand.”

“Moreover, entering without waiting for a response is ru—The wand?”

“I have to repair it, don’t I? I’ll do a more detailed examination tomorrow, but I want to get a quick look now. Things will go faster that way.”

“Wh-what…?”

“If you’re tired, I can go.”

“I—I am not tired.”

“All right.”

Ix nodded and opened his box, then withdrew some strange tools and spread them out on the floor. Brief preparations complete, he wrapped something around his head. When he looked up, Yuui saw he had some device over his left eye, like the opposite of a telescope. Finally, he put on a pair of white gloves.

The series of motions had been smooth and elegant, like a sword dance from a skilled warrior.

“Mm.” Ix wordlessly extended his hand.

“…?”

“The wand.”

“Oh, r-right.”

Yuui’s face flushed as she realized how fascinated she’d been. She’d felt as if he was asking her to dance.

Before he took the wand from her, he raised his arms high, then opened his hands to show their fronts and backs to her. After that, he delicately accepted the wand as if it was precious.

Among Ix’s tools was an instrument that looked like a thin needle mounted on a wooden base. With careful motions, he placed the wand on the needle. It wobbled for a moment, then finally came to rest perfectly parallel to the floor. As he pushed the tip of the wand with his finger, it began to spin.

Ix scrutinized the rotating item with an expression of utter seriousness. Yuui watched from the bed, but eventually, she shyly asked a question. Otherwise, she was likely to give in to slumber.

“What was that before, that ritual?”

“Ritual?” replied Ix, adjusting the device over his left eye.

“You raised your arms and did something.”

“Oh, it’s what you do before touching a wand. An…oath? Or a declaration? I’m not sure what you’d call it, but it’s something like that.”

“Does it mean anything?”

“It means that the wand takes priority over my life the moment I start working on it. That if there’s anything the client is dissatisfied with, they have permission to cut off my arms.”

“Hmm, I had no idea there were such traditions.”

“Not ‘were.’ People still do it,” corrected Ix, his gaze not moving in the slightest.

“What?”

“I have no issue with losing my arms if someone has complaints about my work. That’s well within the customer’s rights. And if on the off chance I break the wand, I would pay for it with my life.”

There was no hint of a joke or lie in his eyes as he spoke.

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

“…Do you want to die?”

“I have no desire to lose my life. But a wand is a magic user’s third arm. My master taught me to be prepared for the risks when I handle another person’s arm. I’m going to polish it now.”

“Huh, polish?”

Ignoring Yuui’s confusion, Ix produced a dry cloth and gently rubbed the wand. Then he took out a bottle of solution to remove grime from its surface. He took off the lid, and out came a thick, white, ointment-like substance. Next, he pulled out another cloth from the box and dabbed a tiny amount of the gel on it. When he’d finished using the new cloth to polish it, the wand was beautiful beyond recognition. With the black grime that had built up from handling removed, the wand’s original wood was now plain as day.

“…Now that I think about it,” noted Yuui suddenly, “isn’t it a crime to repair a wand if you aren’t registered with the Guild?”

“This doesn’t count as repairs. Cleaning falls well within the scope of everyday maintenance.”

“O-oh…” Yuui hung her head as if she’d been reprimanded.

The candlelight flickered over Ix’s face. She’d known him for only a single day, but his expressionless face couldn’t have prepared her for how absolutely serious he now looked. It seemed he truly did put his work above his own life.

Yuui decided that perhaps she could trust him—as a wandmaker at least.

…That face—he looks so intense, she thought.

The tension in his features made it abundantly clear that he would place his life on the line if need be.

And something in that expression looked very familiar…

Suddenly, that face was staring at her. “The core?”

“Wh-what?” stuttered Yuui, working her sleep-addled brain. She brought a hand to her mouth. He’d probably seen her drooling.

“Do you know what this wand’s core is?” asked Ix, holding it for her to see.

The core was a material embedded in a wand that determined its characteristics. There was an infinite variety of core materials, including bones and fangs from magic beasts, stones, and plants; even human body parts were used on occasion. The greater the compatibility between the user and the core, the more they could draw out their tool’s power. You might say it was the wand’s heart.

The core of Yuui’s wand was a red gemstone, a special material that felt slightly warm to the touch.

But there was a tiny crack in that stone.

There had been an awful shattering noise when she’d tried to cast a particular spell, and the stone had cracked. It could still be used for magic while damaged, but its power was severely reduced. Instead of releasing flames, for instance, it might instead produce sparks that wouldn’t even be able to burn through the skin of your finger.

“I already know it’s made from nueb wood, and I’ve mostly figured out how it was created. But the most important thing is the core, and that’s…strange,” said Ix.

“Is it a material you don’t recognize?”

“Well…” Ix looked at a loss for words for a moment. “It’s most likely shinee aletts, but…”

Shinee aletts, commonly known as red saintstone, was a gemstone famous for its use as a high-end core material. Ix had told Yuui it was an excellent core to have in a wand of this caliber.

“Then what are you concerned about?” she asked.

“If that’s the core, then something seems a bit off to me. I mean, obviously from a cost perspective, you could say they spared no expense, but…it’s not something my master would have chosen. And…”

“And?”

“No, it’s just…the disposition…”

“Your roundabout way of getting to the point is making me anxious. Please just say it.”

“…It’s extreme. It’s an incredibly moral wand.”

Munzil’s wands were characterized by an incredibly strong disposition; they chose their user. If wand and wielder had good compatibility, the user could gain great power. On the other hand, if they weren’t compatible, and the wielder tried to use it for something against the wand’s disposition, they wouldn’t be able to draw out even half of its strength. That was why the slogan of Munzil’s shop had been “Putting wands in the right hands.”

Even Ix, who was used to seeing wands like that, thought this one was abnormal. With a mixture of admiration and frustration, he muttered, “He really went all out on this one.”

Turning to Yuui, he continued. “This wand is totally abnormal, even for something my master made. That aside, I’m curious about how the shinee aletts was fabricated. I wonder what would happen if a magic user with poor compatibility tried using this thing…”

“They wouldn’t be able to cast spells?”

“Maybe something even worse.”

“Is it possible the core could be made from something other than shinee aletts?”

“Hmm…,” muttered Ix, opening his hand. “I can think of one thing, but that can’t… Well, either way, it’s best to ask someone who knows. Got any ideas about the core?”

“No…I don’t,” replied Yuui, shaking her head.

“You don’t? The wandmaker should definitely have explained that when you picked it up. Especially with my teacher. He’d talk for ages until the customer had memorized everything.”

What good would that do? Yuui wondered, then said, “It was my father who ordered this wand.”

“Then you should ask your father. Where is he?”

“Nowhere,” she said with a sigh. “He passed away. The only things I have left to remember him by are that wand and the contract.”

“I see.” Ix nodded, expressionless. “Nothing we can do about that. Let’s hope we can figure out what it is tomorrow with the equipment at the shop.”

“Ah…okay.”

Giving up on his investigations into the core material, Ix pulled out another strange tool. Yuui tried asking what he was doing just to see if he would answer. Surprisingly, he explained it all to her.

There were parts she didn’t understand, but it seemed he was conducting some sort of in-depth inspection of the wand’s condition. Whether its components had sustained minor damage, if it was warped, if it was degrading—all information that would be useful for its repair. Yuui had a lot to learn about wand maintenance tools, even the ones she used regularly, so soon she found herself completely absorbed in asking him question after question.

“I want to look at it a bit more, but you seem tired,” noted Ix.

“I’m not…tired.”

Though her eyelids had been drooping for a while now, Yuui still insisted she wasn’t tired. It seemed as if her mouth couldn’t keep up with what she wanted to say.

“Sure,” said Ix sarcastically before dexterously gathering all the tools he’d laid out and standing. He heaved up the box by the handle, then walked to the door.

“You’re going already…?” asked Yuui.

“I’m tired, too.”

“Wait… There was something I wanted to ask…”

Ix stopped and turned to her.

“What is it?”

“You’re not going to use test magic?”

“No.” He gave a quick shake of his head.

“Why not?”

Test magic was used to determine the condition of a wand. You channeled a small amount of it into a magic catalyst to get a feel for it. It wasn’t just for repairs, though; magic users also employed it in place of warm-up exercises.

“Because I can’t use magic.”

“…Huh?”

I must be really tired, thought Yuui dimly.

Surely she had misheard him.

What had he just said?

“Oh, and,” Ix continued in his deep voice, “sorry about barging in here earlier. Next time I’ll knock and wait for a response. My teacher never bothered with manners, so…sorry.”

She heard the door shut, followed by footsteps.

Her eyes closed.

Yes, I must have misheard.

Yuui sank into the warmth of her bed and smiled.

Ix? Apologizing?

That rude, inconsiderate man?

No way, not possible…

3

The next day.

Yuui looked around while closely following behind Ix. As always, her hood was pulled down low, so she could see only his back. The street was jam-packed with pedestrians. She could get lost if she wasn’t careful. I’ve got no other choice, she thought.

However…

“Um, is this really right?” asked Yuui.

“Is what right?” replied Ix.

“Is there really a shop around here?”

“That’s why we’re going this way.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

They were wandering through an older part of town, far from the city center, in an area where only lower-class people lived. The rows of buildings they’d passed consisted mostly of houses, with the occasional shop here or there. Even then, those shops were primarily bars and general-goods stores.

Wands were high-end items. Since they required valuable materials to craft and wandmakers were scarce, they always ended up being quite expensive. Even if that weren’t the case, you could cast spells well only if you had received a high-level education. Plus, the kingdom didn’t exactly encourage people to have wands, since they could serve as powerful weapons. Most citizens rarely encountered magic in their daily lives anyway. In fact, it seemed so dangerous that some were even averse to magic. That was why the only sorts looking to purchase a wand were a small portion of adventurers, researchers, soldiers, nobles, and students studying magic. It was a product for the rich, in other words. The average citizen had nothing to do with them.

For that reason, wand shops were typically situated in high-class areas. Their interiors were often so resplendent, they resembled a noble’s manor, with trained staff who waited hand and foot on potential buyers. When Yuui had been looking for a wand shop before, she’d searched the district where the wealthy lived. Even though she hadn’t brought any money, they’d all treated her respectfully. They’d even told her the location of Munzil’s shop, though it was already gone by that time. Apparently, news of his death hadn’t even spread to his fellow wandmakers.

But a wand shop was the last place you would think to find in the area they were in now. It seemed as if you were almost asking to get robbed if you tried to sell wands or other items here.

Sensing Yuui’s anxiety, Ix said, “The land here’s cheap. She didn’t need much to set up shop. And she doesn’t get many customers. Even though our master’s name is famous, only people in the know are aware of his apprentices.”

“Isn’t it a problem to not get many clients?”

“It’s actually a good thing. She lets her incredible skills do the talking. That way, she makes plenty from existing customers.”

“When you say she’s incredibly skilled, what exactly does that mean?”

“It means she’s the best of all us apprentices,” asserted Ix, as if it was a simple fact. “And being the best apprentice of our master means she’s the best in the kingdom.”

“I—I see.”

“I guess you could say she’s a genius… Even though she was his second-to-last apprentice, she learned her craft incredibly fast. She surpassed the others before they knew what hit them.”

Yuui was behind Ix, so she couldn’t see his face, but she sensed a hint of admiration in his voice. That confused her.

“If she was the second to last, that means she was before you?”

“Yep. She was the only one I lived with. The other apprentices had already moved out by the time I came along.”

“Huh…,” said Yuui, thinking about how horrible it would be if this other apprentice turned out to be as unfriendly as Ix. “What is her name?”

“Morna Velle.”

They wound their way through the city lit by the morning sun until they came upon a stagnant water channel, where they crossed a wooden bridge that looked about to break. A horrible stench floated up from the water and made Yuui nauseated.

They continued along the channel until the road curved partway through. Out of the row of shacks, they spied a house that appeared to be of slightly superior make. That being said, it still looked more suited for animals than people.

“……”

Yuui stared at the building, taken aback. A sign over the entrance read MORNA’S WANDS. That was the only evidence this was a place of business.

“Ah, w-wait for me,” said Yuui, following Ix into the shop.

Suddenly, the smell of mold assailed her nostrils, and she couldn’t help covering her nose with her coat. She frowned as she looked around the room. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the dimness.

When she could finally see clearly, she realized the inside of the shop was just as bad as the outside. No, even worse.

The first thing that caught her attention was the large number of logs. Timber of all colors was stacked against the walls, which prevented light from coming in, leaving the room dark despite it being morning. Light from a candle wavered in the center of the room, but it was so weak, it was almost pointless.

Yuui quietly headed deeper into the store. Something strange was piled up in the corner. She moved closer. Squinting, she realized they were the corpses of magic beasts.

“Urgh…”

She quickly turned away.

It was a mountain of magic beast carcasses of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Their cloudy eyes glared at her. They must have been enchanted with a spell to prevent decay, but it wasn’t a pretty sight, regardless.

Yuui realized there were magic wands and staffs lined up neatly farther into the shop, the only place properly cleaned and organized. Each of the wands and staffs was displayed with care.

Her eyes settled on one staff in particular. It was painted completely white, with a blue gem sparkling from the top. She’d never seen such a beautiful staff. It wouldn’t feel out of place in the hands of a saint. Its splendor contrasted violently with the filthy shack housing it.

This place was far shabbier, messier, and stranger than any wand shop she’d ever visited.

I think this is less that wandmakers in general are weird and more that…

She glanced sideways at Ix. He seemed to have forgotten why they’d come there and was glued to one of the logs lined along the wall. She sighed.

Were all Munzil’s apprentices like this? If they were, then how strange was the master himself…?

“Engraved number: 0070, Halted,” came a voice by her ear out of nowhere.

“Aaah?!” Yuui shrieked, leaping back.

At some point, a boy had crept up next to her. He must have been around ten years old. The boy was short, with swaying blond hair and a small smile on his face.

“It uses good-quality artey. Its core is brilliant rosestone. It’s pure but has an affinity for difficult people,” continued the boy.

“U-um…”

“Though the wand’s durability is excellent, it has some minor issues with tenacity. Overall evaluation is excellent. It has already been sold.”

Even as she tried to interrupt the boy, he just kept staring at her and moving his mouth as if he couldn’t hear her at all, the smile never leaving his face.

“Oh, Ottou. We just barged in,” someone said from off to the side as the boy’s spiel ceased.

Ix headed over with a hand raised in greeting. In response, the boy he called Ottou turned to him, stood stock-still for a second, then murmured, “Ix.” The smile glued to his face didn’t waver.

“You really helped me out with sorting through the stuff Master left behind,” said Ix. “Sorry for coming to the shop all of a sudden.”

“Sorting. I also received something.”

“Yeah, thanks for caring,” added Ix in high spirits. Why doesn’t he show that attitude toward his customers? Yuui wondered with dissatisfaction.

“Ottou, let me introduce you,” said Ix as Yuui realized his arms were spread. “This is my client. Her name is Yuui. She came to ask me to fix a wand.”

The boy looked at her after blinking a few times.

“H-hello, I’m Yuui,” she said, bowing her head.

“I’m Ottou.”

“N-nice to meet you, Ottou.”

“She’s not a client,” remarked the boy.

“Huh?” Yuui was confused. “What do you—?”

“True,” Ix said, cutting her off.

“Can’t right now,” replied Ottou.

“I’m going to.”

“All right.”

Yuui was baffled. She looked to Ix for help, since he seemed able to have a conversation with the boy, but he refused to interpret.

“Ummm, is he…Ms. Morna’s apprentice?” asked Yuui.

“No, he’s just a kid from the neighborhood who comes to help her out,” explained Ix. “At first, he just showed up out of curiosity, but now he handles everything outside of wand crafting. He deals with the customers, does the accounting, all that extraneous stuff.”

“He looks like just a kid.”

“You’re probably older than he is. But when it comes to brains, he’d probably have anyone in this town beat.”

“His brains?”

“He’s a genius. So smart that it’s scary. Honestly, if it weren’t for Ottou, this shop would have collapsed by now.”

“Um, I do not mean to be rude, but I find that hard to believe,” admitted Yuui. “I could not understand a word he was saying.”

“It’s ’cause he doesn’t have time for useless things like courtesy or proper sentences. Only geniuses are like that,” came Ix’s cheerful response. “If you don’t believe me, then, hmm… Oh, if you don’t mind, try taking off that hood of yours. He’ll tell you something interesting.”

“But…”

“Do you see anyone here who’ll speak ill of you?”

Yuui glanced around to check. After confirming it was only the three of them in the shop, she removed her hood so that her characteristic skin and hair were visible.

The boy looked her way, still smiling, and froze for a few seconds.

“Ottou. What about Yuui?” asked Ix, concealing his mouth with a hand.

“Shipukk, Taakdue, Masakak, Nadam,” chanted Ottou as if he was singing.

Yuui gasped. He’d just recited the names of cities near her hometown. She hadn’t even told Ix that. How could Ottou have…?

But that wasn’t the end of what he had to say.

“Her earring has a similar character to items belonging to the Habi royal family. Rough areas in the metalwork. A village in that city cluster has similar things. That’s all.”

“H-how…?”

Yuui unconsciously touched her earlobe and felt cool metal. It was true that her earring was proof of her bloodline, but no one in the kingdom should have been able to recognize its significance.

Pulling her hood back up, she asked Ix to explain.

“Apparently, he does this by comparing what’s in front of him with what’s in his memory,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“You might meet someone similar to someone else or see an object that resembles something else you’ve encountered. You do it, too, yeah?”

“Yes, but…”

“I told you. Ottou’s a genius,” insisted Ix, spreading his hands with his palms up. “His memory and observational skills are way above average. He can tell your place of origin, your tribe, and even your family relations just by looking at your facial features or bone structure. The kid can also intuit your position and social standing based on your clothes and mannerisms. Guess he’s always been like that. ’Cause there are people of all social classes from inside and outside the kingdom gathering in this city. That makes him perfectly suited for gathering information. With those skills, he—”

“Are you saying he can tell I’m one of the minority Lukutta people?”

Lukutta was a country to the east. The kingdom invaded it several years ago. Though they fought back for all they were worth, they had to surrender their ravaged land in the end. According to the kingdom, Lukutta was their “eastern ally.” In reality, however, the kingdom had forced Lukutta to give up its people, land, and resources, so the region was now nothing more than a powerless vassal state.

The sun shifted; a thin ray of light poured into the shop.

Something clinked. Yuui looked over to find Ottou arranging the wands and staffs. He moved lackadaisically, making tiny adjustments to each wand’s location. The boy seemed to have lost all interest in Yuui. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he hadn’t had any interest in her in the first place. He’d simply pointed out that certain things resembled other things.

She felt somehow discouraged and let out a sigh.

Ix shrugged and urged her to follow before opening a door leading into a room in the back of the shop.

“Well, that’s Ottou for you. He’s a good kid. Not many people understand him, since he’s so out there. Apparently, he gets treated like a nuisance at home, too, but still, he’s a good kid,” said Ix quickly, as though he was making an excuse.

“It’s all right. I understand he didn’t have any ill intentions,” said Yuui.

“And, uh…” Ix’s expression was changing so quickly, it made Yuui wonder what had happened to his normal unsociability. She smiled awkwardly as he said, “So what I’m trying to say is…”

“Yes?”

“Morna’s so specialized in making wands that she needs a genius like Ottou. So, uh, you remember how I said you can only meet her during the daytime?”

“I do.”

“What that really meant is, Ottou’s only in the shop then.”

4

They made their way to what looked like a storage room. It was surprisingly organized, with slender objects neatly lining the shelves. As soon as they entered, they saw a door leading to the garden to their left. No one was there right now. Brilliant white light poured in from a small window at the end of the storage room. Near it was another door on the left-hand side. It appeared this property consisted solely of the shop, the storage room, the middle garden, and a rear room.

Yuui watched Ix knock on the door.

“Morna, it’s Ix.”

There was no reply.

He looked at Yuui. After exchanging nods, he placed his hand on the door.

As the door scraped open, they heard the sound of a few objects thumping to the floor.

Ix paid that no mind and walked in.

“Sorry to disturb you,” said Yuui quietly as she followed behind him. However—

“Huh? Huh?”

She couldn’t find anywhere to put her foot down, so she ended up wavering with one leg in the air as the room came into view.

Wooden boxes and paper bundles were heaped on either side of the door. One of those mountains seemed to have collapsed in an avalanche, and it was spread all over the floor. Something like black cloth was also draped over the floor. On closer inspection, she realized it was clothing.

Yuui stepped back out into the storage room for a moment to get a view of the entire rear room. She let out a sigh, lost for words.

She’d thought the mess in the shop was bad, but that was nothing compared with the catastrophe in here.

The floorboards were entirely invisible, obscured by a chaotic mix of everyday items, clothing, several strange tools, wood (of course), magic beast corpses, other things that appeared to be materials, and what looked like dirty garbage.

The only place in the room you could even think of calling tidy was the area around the workstation in the back. The chair was free of any clutter, and only a few wands in progress and a knife for working on them rested on top of the desk. Similar tools were scattered over the floor nearby.

Ignoring this disaster of a room, Ix casually stepped on the items strewn across the floor until he was near the middle of it all.

Then he leaned over and reached a hand into a small mountain of rags near the work desk. Since piles of trash were blocking her view, Yuui couldn’t see what was there.

The pile swallowed Ix’s arm as he touched it. When his arm was concealed up to the elbow, it gave a violent tremor.

“There we go—fished her out,” he announced, pulling back his hand. The trash and cloth fell to the ground to reveal a human being.

“Yikes!” cried Yuui as she recoiled. The light of the sun allowed her to get a clear look at the person’s condition.

It was a woman with long hair.

Her disheveled locks fell to her waist, with flyaways going in every direction. She wore a giant smock with a hole for her head to come through that appeared to have been resewn on numerous occasions. The cloth was untreated but dark, and it seemed too small on her. Actually, it looked ridiculous, tight around the chest, then falling limply down from there. Even so, it obviously wasn’t long enough, as Yuui could see part of the woman’s bare leg peeking out near the floor. Her ankles were thin, like twigs. They seemed ready to snap.

She was tall, perhaps nearly as tall as Ix, but her poor posture made her seem shorter. Her eyes were half open and lacked any sort of life. There was a trace of drool on her chin.

“Uhhh…,” groaned the woman quietly.

Either she’d just been roused, or she was still half asleep. She pulled on Ix’s arm and rubbed it hard across her face. Was she trying to clean it off? There must have been some paint or varnish on her face because his sleeve cuff turned black. Yuui didn’t miss the slight frown on his expressionless visage.

I see, she thought.

Yuui had only these two to go off, but she was starting to understand what sort of people Munzil had taken on as apprentices.

“Wake up,” demanded Ix.

“Aaaaaaah…agh.” Though the woman remained in place for a little while after Ix waved his arm, she crumpled to the ground before long.

The woman sat up, touching the back of her head where she’d struck it hard. “Ow…” She rubbed her eyes and looked around. “…wie?”

“Morning, Morna,” greeted Ix flatly.

“I-Ixie.”

Ixie? thought Yuui, feeling faint.

The woman, Morna, spent a few seconds with her mouth agape. But when she looked at Ix’s face, she started making a fee, fyuu sound that was neither breathing nor speech. Her mouth was oddly twisted.

“I—I—I…,” she stammered.

“Last night, I told you I’d come over once I got everything sorted,” reminded Ix.

“R-really? Fee, fyuu…”

“You forgot. I figured you might.”

“Hee, hee-hee-hee…” Morna let out a disconcerting sound as her shoulders shook.

Yuui realized that the strange sound Morna had been making was her way of laughing. It wasn’t that she lacked the energy to use her voice or that she was groggy from being woken up; that was just how she was.

Morna rose unsteadily to her feet. Her neck flopped like a baby’s as she looked around the room. Then her gaze fell on the door. Her eyes met Yuui’s.

Suddenly, Morna grew pale. She retreated a few steps, mouth half open, before backing into the wall and letting out a groan.

“I-Ixie, th-th-th-th-that girl…”

Morna trembled, looking terrified. This went far beyond shyness of strangers. The extent of her fear actually made Yuui feel guilty.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about her,” Ix told Yuui as he saw her attempt to exit the room. “Morna’s always like this with people she meets for the first time. She’ll get better if you spend some time together.”

“U-uh-huh…”

“H-hey, Ixie, don’t i-ignore me…,” cried Morna, tears welling up in her eyes as she clung to Ix’s sleeve.

“This is one of Master’s customers. He’s dead, so she came to me,” explained Ix simply. “It’s a wand repair and maintenance job. I want you to lend me some tools and your assistance.”

“A c-customer?”

“That’s right. She has a contract from Master.”

Both of them turned to look at Yuui, who stepped forward and bowed her head.

“My name is Yuui. I apologize for any inconvenience we have caused, Ms. Morna.”

“Yuui…,” mumbled Morna.

“Yes.”

“……”

Morna stared at her with damp eyes. Yuui thought they looked like translucent emeralds. They stared at each other for a few seconds. After a moment of silence, Morna violently broke eye contact.

“U-uh, um… T-t-tea…,” she gasped.

“No thank you, I’m all right,” replied Yuui.

“Wh-wh-where was…?”

“Calm down, I’ll get it,” reassured Ix.

He deftly placed his right hand on Morna’s head as it swiveled left and right. He kept holding on to her back until she let out a “feeyuu” and stopped moving.

She plopped into the chair and looked up at Ix with puppy-dog eyes.

“Th-thank you,” she said.

“Mm.”

“Oh, I’ll prepare the tea. If you don’t mind telling me where I should go?” said Yuui.

She almost sprinted out of the room. Yuui definitely didn’t have the courage yet to be alone with Morna.

5

With the new face gone, Morna managed to achieve a semblance of calm. She looked here and there around the busy room, her fingers squirming like a millipede’s legs, but that was normal for her.

Ix gazed at Morna, which made her cringe with fear. She looked up hesitantly.

“Oh, s-sorry,” she managed.

“For what?”

“Uh, w-well, nothing really…”

“All right.”

“Yeah.”

“……”

“Oh…”

She opened and closed her mouth, making noises that could have been words or something else entirely. Though she wasn’t good at talking with people, she also couldn’t stand silence. It was a nasty combination of personality quirks.

“Oh, r-r-right,” she said tensely. “Show me.”

“Show you what?”

“Uh, the c-contract. You h-have it, right?”

Morna was like their master in that she had excellent wandmaking skills but horrific interpersonal skills. In fact, she was probably worse than their master. At least Munzil had managed his own shop. And in some ways, she was his exact opposite, since he was always very aggressive toward everyone, whereas she was always afraid.

After passing her eyes over the letter, Morna placed it carefully on her work desk.

“I—I see…”

“Seriously, he’s left us an incredibly inconvenient contract. And I thought I’d just finished sorting out everything he’d left behind.” Ix sighed.

“W-well, we should still repair it…right?”

“Yeah. The core’s broken, though.”

As he explained that he couldn’t figure out what material was in the core, Morna seemed perplexed.

“Y-you mean, even you couldn’t figure it out?”

“There’s only so much investigation I could do. I don’t have magic anyway.”

“I suppose so…,” said Morna, lifting the contract. “A-all right, I’ll take on this job.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

They looked at each other questioningly.

“Uh, w-well, I…,” whined Morna.

“No, I’m not angry,” said Ix, raising one hand placatingly as Morna trembled, tears in her eyes. “It’s not that. I was just asking why you’d take the job. It says right there, doesn’t it? In a way, I’m the ‘simpleton who read it first’…”

“B-b-but…” Morna stopped herself there before continuing. “I-it says ‘c-craftsman’?”

“Oh…” Ix heaved a dull sigh, unable to prevent the sound from escaping his lips.

She was correct. The contract did indeed say “a craftsman who apprenticed under Munzil.” Of course it would.

The thing was, Ix wasn’t a craftsman.

It was exactly as he’d told Yuui.

That meant the wand’s repair would fall to Morna, so it would have nothing to do with him anymore. Her skills were significantly better than his anyway, and someone without leeway in his coin purse wasn’t in a position to take on a free job. Realistically, it was also the better option for the client.

However—

“No, I can’t put this burden on you, Morna.” His mouth moved before it had time to catch up with his thoughts.

“Huh? B-but—”

“I’ll do the repair. I just have to register with the Guild, right?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Unlike you, I don’t have any other work lined up anyway. You just need to help me in the beginning.”

“Mm…” Morna nodded, albeit uneasily.

“I get why you’re worried,” Ix replied with a snort, “but even someone as unskilled as me can handle swapping a core out.”

“Ah, no, your capability isn’t the problem…”

“Oh, funding? Luckily, I’ve got some cash saved up for now, so I’m fine.”

“Mmmm, money isn’t, well, um, that’s also a problem, true, but that wasn’t what I meant…,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “Wh-wh-why are you doing it?”

“I told you; it’d be a burden for—”

“I-it’s not really that big of a deal. It’s Master’s wand. I w-want to check it out, too.”

“Ah…” Ix frowned. “Well, that’s fine, I guess. But you can leave it to me. It’s my first job after all.”

“R-really? First job… Hee-hee…”

He didn’t get what was so funny, but it appeared he’d convinced Morna with that, because she didn’t question him further.

So…why am I? he asked himself.

It being his first assignment wasn’t a good enough reason. Not only would he be better off if he left it to Morna, but also it was something he should leave to her anyway. In other words, he was being selfish.

Was he really taking up this annoying job his master left him out of selfishness?

He didn’t understand his own decision.

A crease sat between his eyebrows for a while, but eventually, he sighed and decided to forget the question. The breath he let out stirred the dust in the air. It spread and disappeared.

6

Yuui prepared the tea in scattered vessels, then returned to the room.

Morna slurped the tea, her fear of Yuui fading slightly. Even so, Morna refused to make eye contact with her, instead staring at her feet as she spoke.

“S-so the, uh, wand…”

“Thank you for examining it,” said Yuui.

“Fuu, heh-heh-heh…”

Morna accepted the wand, recoiling from Yuui as she did so. Cradling it in both hands, she gently transferred it to the work desk. Then she performed the same ritual Ix had.

In contrast with Ix’s polished motions, Morna’s were disconcerting. She slouched even worse and stared at the wand creepily while she inspected it. As she swayed her body to and fro, she occasionally let out a giggle.

“All right,” Ix murmured quietly, bringing his face close to her ear. “It was made in the year… Its transmission efficiency is… The adoption method was a type-two Rednoff pipe transfer… Its disposition is incredibly moral… Estimated flexion rate is…”

Yuui wondered vaguely if the hair scratching his face didn’t bother him.

For nearly an hour, Morna used complex instruments to investigate the wand. Ix stood next to her, lending a hand. Surely their inspection would be finished soon.

But their expressions weren’t promising. Deep furrows lined their brows, and their faces were beset with confusion. They’d just removed the wand from an instrument that had a large crystal set in its middle.

“You agree, right?” murmured Ix. “The cycle is strange for a shinee aletts core.”

“The R-R-Rednoff type could explain it,” Morna replied, shaking her head. “It speeds up the junction…”

“With extreme affinity?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Well, it’s an interesting thought from a theoretical standpoint, but not even Master could ensure that kind of precision. Besides, it wouldn’t function as a wand.”

“Oh yeah…” Morna swiveled her head. She was so completely engrossed in the world of wands that she didn’t even react when she turned toward Yuui.

“I have to try using it…,” said Morna.

“Will that be okay?” asked Ix.

“Y-yeah. Probably. It’ll work.”

“All right.” Ix nodded, walked over to Yuui, then leaned against the wall next to her and crossed his arms. He watched over Morna with an intense expression.

“Excuse me, what is she doing…?” asked Yuui.

“Test magic. Stay back—it’s dangerous,” replied Ix.

“Dangerous?”

“It’s been a while since she’s used that instrument, and she isn’t exactly a great spellcaster. It might explode.”

Before Yuui could ask in more detail, Morna announced, “H-h-here I go.”

She remounted the wand in the instrument they were using before and closed her eyes. Yuui knew this part well. People who weren’t used to using magic often focused like that.

Morna drew in a long breath and cast the spell.

Test magic didn’t create light or sound, so Yuui felt only the flow of mana. The volume and quantity Morna produced were both fairly decent. You could say she had plenty of potential as a magic user, but her handling was rough. It was obvious she hadn’t been trained in it.

After maintaining the spell for a few seconds, Morna let out a sigh.

“I’m done,” she said, looking over at them.

“Yeah?” Ix tucked his chin in slightly. “So?”

“Mm, mm…” Morna glanced at the instrument, and her mouth curled with a “fuuee.”

“Morna?” asked Ix.

“Foo-fyu-fyuu-fyuu…”

“Wh-what’s wrong, Ms. Morna?!” asked Yuui, but she didn’t reply. Instead, she swayed her shoulders as drool dripped from her mouth.

Yuui glanced up at Ix’s face. He looked shocked, but that expression slowly brightened until he let out a cry of delight in the end.

“No way!” he shouted.

“Hee, way…,” said Morna.

“Ha-ha-ha! I can’t believe Master’s bullshit story was true. Makes sense…”

“I’ll h-have to investigate more. It m-might be reusable if I reshape it…”

“Hold up, wait. That’s my customer’s wand. First I…”

The two gathered around the wand, creepy smiles on their faces.

Yuui timidly asked, “Pardon my interruption, but what are the two of you so happy about?”

“Oh yeah, Yuui,” replied Ix, his face betraying that he’d just remembered her existence. “Long story short, we know what the core material is.”

“It isn’t shinee aletts?”

“No. It’s actually something completely different. I’d thought it might be a possibility, but I can’t believe I was right.”

“So…what is it?”

“Well…don’t be surprised when you hear.”

“Please just get to the point already,” Yuui said with an exasperated sigh. “It is my wand after all.”

“It’s dragon heart.”

“What?” Yuui blinked a few times, unable to believe her own ears.

“It’s dragon. Dragon heart,” said Ix, deeply impressed. “I thought our master was just bullshitting us when he said he’d made a wand with dragon heart before. But I’ve got no choice but to believe it when the real thing is right in front of me.”

“Dragon…?”

“Yep. No doubt about it, right, Morna?”

She nodded emphatically. “Th-th-that’s the only possibility. It’s absolutely dragon heart. There’s nothing else it could be.”

“Huh…” Yuui was confused. “And that’s what the two of you are happy about?”

“Of course,” said Ix. “Why aren’t you? What’s with that strange reaction? This is an amazing wand. Who was your dad?”

“No, what I want to know is, is this material easy to get?” asked Yuui.

“Of course not,” replied Ix immediately. “Morna and I didn’t even believe it until now, and we heard the story straight from Master’s mouth. We can’t even be sure any more exists other than what we have here.”

“Um…then how are you planning to fix my wand?”

“Huh?” Ix stared at Morna.

She stared back wordlessly.

After a few moments of silence, the two looked at Yuui at the same time.

“Are you really telling me you two were that excited just because you got a chance to see a rare material?” she said incredulously.

If what she knew was correct, dragons had been extinct for over a thousand years.