Chapter 442: Unknown Quantity_Millennial Mage

Chapter 442: Unknown Quantity

 T met up with Rane and Osip outside of the family’s new house just before lunch. The n that they’de up with was for the two Refined to take the siblings out for a meal. Obviously, Nea wouldn’t be joining them, but they’d grab a meal and catch up with her that evening.

 Thankfully, T hadmunicated with her siblings before arriving in the city, but they hadn’t firmed up ns before the morning. As such, it wasn’t actually difficult to get the school-aged ones out a bit early for lunch, and the professionals to have their work covered for a simr timeframe.

 Thus, Latna, Caln, Mita, Akli, Miro, Fedir, Olen, and Se were all prepared toe with them, when T, Terry, Rane, and Osip arrived.

 T took a moment to really look at the house behind the waiting group.

 It was set back from the road just enough to have a nice little entry garden, barely ten feet deep, but that was still pleasant enough.

 The house itself was nearly the same size as the shop, healers, and two residences that the family had been sharing with Master Leighis thest time that T hade for a visit.

 It wasn’t shy in appearance, but it definitely looked to have been well constructed. Her threefold sight could actually pick up basically all the details of the construction, even those that would obviously be hidden to mundane inspection, and that confirmed that the outward appearance matched the truth of the matter. Those who had built the ce had done a great job.

 Within the house, her threefold sight also picked up theyout, seeing five rooms that the children appeared to be sharing, a far cry more than the two that they’d had in their previous home. Their mother and father had a slightlyrger room—but not by much—and there were enough open rooms and bathrooms throughout for such a family to not be constantly tripping over each other, even on days where inclement weather and ack of other activities might keep them all at home.

 The kitchen and pantry wererge, and it actually reminded T that, while she’d been growing up, her mother had often expressed the desire for a bigger kitchen. Regardless, the woman had made do well enough as the family had always had plenty to eat at the right times of day. Sometimes it had been leaner than at others, but even so.Finally, a small office was tucked off to one side, overlooking the front entrance. The room looked like it was just for family and home business, rather than for the running of the family business.

 The Alchemist is probably at the shop.

 -As makes sense. You’ve taken five of his helpers from him at the moment, after all.-

 T didn’tment on that.

 After greetings were exchanged—and everyone gave Terry head scratches—T led her siblings toward a restaurant that could amodate a group of their size. More specifically, she led them to the one that she’d already set up the meal with, so that it would be a smoother process.

 Osip was over the moon, gushing about all the little factoids that Rane had apparently shared with him about being a Mage. He would asionally also mention something that he’d learned about the Academy, but that seemed secondary to the boy.

 Rane walked beside T with a sheepish smile on his face.

 “So, it seems that the breakfast went well?”

 He shrugged. “He’s a good kid. Good question asker too.” He grinned and chuckled. “Honestly, it reminded me of someone quite strongly.”

 T frowned. “Oh? Who?”

 He hesitated. “Wait… are you serious?”

 Her frown deepened. “Yes?”

 “You, T.” He shook his head. “You are one of the most intense question askers I’vee across. Osip is actually a bit easier to deal with, because he’sing from a ce of ignorance. His questions are easier to address than yours ever were.”

 She felt her cheeks color slightly, and she coughed. “Oh…”

 They walked side by side for a bit before she shifted sideways to nudge him.

 “Thank you. It seems like it was good for him, and it gave me some time.”

 “Sure.” He smiled down at her. “I was happy to help.”

 Latna fell back to walk beside T. “So… I can’t help but see that you two are acting closer than you were even thest time that you were here…?”

 T grit her teeth, dreading theing exchange. Regardless, it was going to happen at some point. So, she mastered herself and answered, “Yeah. We are courting.”

 Latna let out a happy squeal, causing the other siblings to look back. “They’re courting!”

 T’s eldest sisterughed happily, and T grimaced again. Still, the other siblings offered congrattions before turning back to avoid what was clearly a more personal conversation.

 “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Latna rambled. “I should probably have let you tell them when and how you wanted, but that’s so exciting!” She giggled again.

 T’s eye twitched, but she kept herposure.

 “So… When are you getting married? When will you have kids? I want my nieces and nephews, and it’s not like any of the others are up for parenthood soon and—”

 Rane cleared his throat, causing the exuberant woman to stop her word-vomit. “Pardon, but T did say courting, not betrothed. We are taking our time to really make sure this is the right choice. Who to marry is always an important choice—just like whether or not to get married in the first ce. For us, though, we will have to bear or thrive with our choice for far longer than most. T and I will take all the time that we need to ensure that it is the right choice. As to children? If we do get married—which I hope we do—we very well may not have children for a long time. That is, again, a critical choice that we will make when the time is right.”

 T could tell via her threefold sight that every sibling had heard Rane’s response, but she didn’t care. She would treasure the look of utter shock on Latna’s face for a long time.

 -I’ve gged this particr memory for easy recall.-

 Thank you, t.

 -I aim to please.-

 T couldn’t keep a smile off of her face. She couldn’t have said it better herself, anding from Rane, Latna wouldn’t argue. If T had said it, her sister would have seen it as a sisterly challenge and set out to contest the various points. Rane, though? He was still enough of an unknown quantity that Latna wouldn’t push propriety by arguing.

 Latna cleared her throat, clearly gathering herself once again. “Well. I see. Thank you for rifying things, Master Rane.”

 Rane gave a slow nod of acknowledgement. “Of course.”

 T shifted her walk a bit closer to him, reaching out to hold his hand. As they sped, T squeezed his in thanks, and he gave a light squeeze in return.

 That set the tone for the whole lunch. The topics discussed were light and friendly, mostly consisting of T and Rane inquiring about the siblings and their lives in greater detail.

 No one else inquired about their rtionship, but no one really seemed to feel the need to. After all, Rane hadid things out rather inly up front, and T was more grateful than she could easily convey to have the topic dealt with so cleanly.

 * * *

 T, Nea, Rane, and Terry sat around a table in a rather fancy restaurant. The sun had set and it was thest meetup of the day.

 To their credit, the staff hadn’t batted an eye either when T had requested a ce at the table for Terry, nor when the group had ordered food specifically for him.

 Nea had been delighted by the turn of events, and that had, as a result, cut the tension.

 When T had picked the girl up from the ssworks, she’d been rather filthy. So, T had shunted her into the sanctum for a bath and to have a chance to change—Nea had at least had some clean clothes to put on. If she hadn’t, T would have had to make her clothing with her own elk leathers, before severing the material, much as she had for Kannis’s little silver man—Fannis—in the past.

 This novel''s true home is a different tform. Support the author by finding it there.

 T had let Nea out just beside the restaurant, much to the girl’s startlement, but the surprise had quickly passed, assisted by the whole Terry seat and food situation.

 Now, they were awaiting their food, and the silence was almost getting ufortable. There was, of course, the din from the rest of the building which reached them as a quiet murmur and the distant clink and scrape of metal and earthenware.

 T could hear it more clearly—and Rane likely could too—but she was able to tune it out to the point a mundane would experience it, simply pleasant ambiance.

 Rane cleared his throat, speaking into the quiet, “So, T tells me that you’re enjoying ssmaking? What’s that like? What do you enjoy about it?”

 Nea seemed hesitant for a moment but answered nheless, “Well, I find it really gratifying to work with my hands—and the various tools—to take what is essentially specialized sand and craft useful products at the end. There is something… just wonderful about creating things with such a range of utility. I can create sks and other implements for alchemy, though I’m not really skilled enough, yet, to do so. At the same time, I can create panes for windows that anyone could have use for. There is obviously a range of other things that ssmakers provide that are both between and beyond those two extremes.” She shrugged. “That marriage of being able to both help peak craftsmen in their work and themon folk improve their day to day lives is really wonderful.”

 Rane smiled, but didn’t respond immediately, his eyes flicking toward T.

 She felt gratitude well up once again. He’d gotten the conversation started, but he was letting her take it from there. “That sounds like a wonderful way of seeing things.”

 Nea’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But you don’t see it that way?”

 T hitched at the seeming hostility. She frowned, confused. “Well, obviously not, but I chose differently than you did, and that’s fine. Some people enjoy ssmaking, alchemy, or baking, some enjoy magic. I just happen to be one of thetter, and you the former.”

 The girl seemed to be mulling over T’s words, likely looking for some hidden barb or slight. Blessedly, Nea didn’t seem to be able to find one. Finally, she exhibited the directness of children—and those often called socially inept—and asked what was really bothering her, “Why do you onlye when one of us is making the choice of whether or not to go to the Academy?”

 T blinked a few times. She’d wanted to address that exact issue, but she’d assumed that she’d have to approach it delicately, maneuvering the conversation around to it. She’s as direct as Osip is.

 Her eyes flicked to Rane, remembering hisment about her own questioning nature.

 As direct as me, I suppose.

 Terry trilled a series of calming notes, obviously sensing the sudden tension, and Nea reached over to scratch hisrger-than-usual head. He had grown to be about their size, so that he was nearly eye-to-eye with them while perched on the chair that had been provided for him.

 T finally gave a slow nod, drawing attention back to herself. “Thank you for the direct question.” She smiled at Nea’s look of confusion and continued on, “When I went to the Academy… I didn’t really feel that I had much choice. I felt abandoned and cast out. I don’t regret going—not by any means—but I do regret the manner in which it happened, the way in which the choice was made. While I don’t know you all that well—and our lives are hardly connected by more than brief threads of remembrance and the loosest ties of blood—I did not wish for any of you to be in the same position as I was.”

 Nea raised one eyebrow, “That was rather honest of you. So, it’s for our own good?”

 T huffed augh. “Only indirectly. It is for my own ego.”

 That seemed to surprise the girl yet again, and she didn’t have a ready response.

 “I refuse to have you all in the position that I was in. So I make it so that doesn’t happen. That is one of the benefits I am afforded with my position. While I am impressed that you secured your own future without need of my influence, I would have happily helped set you up in any profession you desired.”

 “ssmaking is what I desire.” Nea stiffened, seemingly ready to mount a defense of her own choice.

 “I was not trying to say otherwise.” T smiled. “As silly as it sounds, what I have least of right now is immediate time.”

 Nea frowned. “Immediate time?”

 “Time in the now. So long as I am not killed, I will live a very long time. Thus, all things considered, I have time in abundance, but it isn’t avable to me now.”

 “So, what you need is a loan, to get more time now and pay it backter?” The girl grinned at her own example.

 She really is a clever one.

 -All your siblings seem to be, yeah.-

 Rane chuckled, and Tughed. “Actually, yes. If I could do that, I would in a heartbeat. What I am doing helps a lot of people, and while it’s possible that others could do my job just as well, I don’t know that for sure. There are others in simr positions to me, and so I can take times like this, but I always feel like I should be back there, fighting for humanity. That is what I feel called to.”

 Nea was about to respond when there came a knock on the wood beside the open entrance to their semi-private dining space. Their food had arrived.

 What followed was a flurry of activity as a massive spread wasid out before them. The four of them expressed their gratitude to the staff before digging in.

 After the food was eaten and they’d all settled back in a state offortable fullness—except T, who simply stopped when the others did—Nea brought them out of the easy silence, “You know. I do know that I chose to stay based on fear… The core of my choice away from the Academy wasn’t built on solid reasoning.”

 T leaned forward a bit but didn’t say anything.

 “Magic is amazing in so many ways, but it… it just doesn’t feel right to me. I know—in my head—that I have a gate, and I have magic but choosing to wield it specifically?” She shook her head. “It just doesn’t seem right to me.” She hesitated then quickly added. “For me! It doesn’t seem right for me. I don’t have anything against Mages…obviously.”

 T smiled. “So, you’re happy with your choice, then?”

 “I am.” The thirteen year old girl smiled broadly in return. “I really, really am. The work is hard—and ss is wickedly sharp—but I really love what I am learning to do.”

 T’s smile grew and softened further. “I am so d to know that.”

 From there, the night progressed inpanionable ease. After a while, they got dessert and continued talking until Nea let them know that she really needed to get some sleep. Throughout that time—and the walk back to Nea’s master’s house—T did her utmost to inquire deeply into her sister’s life, even if this one had made choices that she simply couldn’t understand.

 * * *

 Their time in Marliweather passed quickly, and in the end, T, Rane, Terry, Master Leighis, all her remaining siblings, and their parents gathered to see Osip off to the Academy as one big group. Even Nea hade with her master to give him a hug and tell him goodbye in person.

 The boy was exuberant, talking about how he would say hi to all their siblings and friends once he arrived, and how he hoped to see the younger siblings on the ind as soon as they were old enough.

 And then, with a deceptively small flick of power, he was gone.

 T bid her siblings, Master Leighis, and Nea’s master goodbye then. T and Rane left, Terry riding contentedly upon T’s shoulder.

 Her eyes lingered on her next oldest brother even as she went to leave the out-bound teleportation room.

 Fedir will be making his choice in just over two years…

 -Do you think you’ll be back before then?-

 Honestly… probably not.

 Rane looked her way, her pause seeming to clue him in to some of what she was feeling. His voice was just above a whisper, “You’ll see them again.”

 She shrugged. “In two years, probably.”

 He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

 “Yeah, Fedir will be turning twelve in two years,e the winter.”

 He grunted at that. “Is there any way to see them sooner?”

 T sighed, then began to shake her head. Then, she really took in what her threefold sight was showing her… the teleportation tower. “Oh.”

 Her voice was loud enough that everyone turned to regard her.

 “Oh, I’m a fool sometimes.” She turned back toward her siblings, smiling. “Hey, before I go, I just had a realization.”

 Those listening exchanged nces but didn’t interrupt.

 “Anytime any of you wish to visit me, I will pay your teleportation expenses.”

 There was a moment of stunned silence, and T took advantage of that to add a brief exnation.

 “I would teleport to you all, but I have some… peculiarities that would make that exceedingly difficult.” She smiled wanly. “On the other hand, it would be very easy to have youe visit me and be back here within the same day.”

 The adults were staring at her with mouths open, they understood the expense of such an offer, even if most of the children wouldn’t.

 Latna and Caln definitely did, and they were almost as aghast as the non-siblings.

 Why are they acting that way? It’s just more than two pounds of silver to pay for a teleport each way.

 -Per person, per visit. You just offered to let them do it whenever they wanted. If they all came, that would be just more than thirty two pounds of silver. That’s more than five gold.-

 … oh… can we afford that?

 -Marily? It would actually be pretty difficult if they visited very often, but…-

 Mistress Ingrit?

 -Yeah, I’m reaching out to ask if we can make a deal to allow your siblings to teleport to you. How many teleports do we want to get out of this?-

 I think it’s an unknown quantity. Let me know if we can’t get that.

 -Understood.-

 Their conversation within T’s head had taken less than a second. As such, the siblings were just exploding with excitement as t began reaching out to the Librarian.

 Rane leaned closer to T. “If you need extra funds to make that happen, let me know.”

 She smiled his way. “I’m working on something, but I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

 He nodded in return, a small smile pulling at his lips before he whispered, “I have a thousand gold you can have.”

 She jerked slightly, then had to fight down augh while ring at him in mock anger.

 He simply smiled back until she broke and grinned, shaking her head andughing under her breath.

 Her offer sparked a much longer conversation, but when things calmed down, it was decided that T wouldmunicate with Latna, as that sibling had the most consistent ess to the Archive.

 With the basics ironed out—that of the first visit being in a month—T bid them goodbye once again, leaving each of her siblings with a token from the teleportation tower, which would grant them transport to Alefast at the appointed time.

 Back on the streets of Marliweather, heading toward the gates, Rane nudged her. “That was really kind of you. I’m sure they’ll appreciate seeing you and having the potential of greater ess going forward.”

 She gave a weak smile in return. “I certainly do hope so.”

MillionNovel

Chapter 442: Unknown Quantity