“Hey, wait a minute. What do you mean by those words? Explain it all to me. HEY!”
Quince felt his temper rise as the blue-haired woman left him with more questions than answers.
He had never been treated like this before. Nor had he ever been humiliated to such a degree.
Most people did not shy away from answering when he asked them a question but here this female was, pretending as if she could not hear what Quince was asking.
There was a time in life Quince had trusted every single word his father had said. But lately, he could not help but feel like something was missing in the tower. It was changing at a rate Quince had never seen before.
“Thinking over nothing will not help anyone. I better head back and take a look at Clove. This potion looks authentic as well but I’ll have a healer check it for me.”
Quince had already sent a signal for help. Someone will arrive here from the tower tomorrow to help clean their mess.
It was lucky for him that Aurora was in a mood to leave before the help from the tower arrives. Otherwise, things would have gotten complicated fast for Quince.
“Clove, how are you feeling?”
The house Quince and Clove had been stationed in was not too shabby. It was well-furnished and easy to live in.
“I’m alright now. By the way, did someone save us from that monster? I can’t remember clearly what happened there.”
Quince deliberated about telling Clove the truth for a second. He did not want to keep her in the dark if he could help it.
But thinking back over what had happened and Clove’s weird obsession with that blue-haired elder, Quince decided to keep quiet for the time being.
It was better if Clove did not know how close Aurora was to them.
“No, nothing happened. I used the emergency attack supply we were granted and we managed to get away. But the backup from the tower will be arriving tomorrow so that is no need for us to worry.”
Besides, Quince had already felt the magical barrier go up around the village. It was strong enough to keep the smaller monsters out of the village.
“Quince, learn to lie better. But I will choose to believe you this time. I am too tired to go out right now anyway.”
Clove seemed to be out of energy. Her fever had yet to break and Quince felt bad to see her in this condition.
Despite how Clove behaved with him, she was his childhood friend and he did have feelings for her.
Quince knew he had a solution for her problem in his hand. If what Aurora had said was true, then the potion he had could cure Clove in an instant.
But in the end, he decided not to use the potion unnecessarily.
“Yeah. Rest for now and tomorrow will be a better day.”
==========================
Once her talk with Quince was over, Aurora did not hesitate to knock on the door of the village elder couple. She had an important thing to talk about with them.
The door was opened by a well-aged lady. Her white-haired head looked right through Aurora and into the distance.
“Hello. Is someone there? I’m sorry but I cannot see very well.”
The milky-white eyes of the elder did look to be empty. Aurora should have noticed her sightlessness way before being told about it.
“Good evening miss. I am someone from a magic academy. I was hoping to talk to you about one of your children and a chance for free education. May I enter the house?”
“Of course. Please come in.”
The old lady did not hesitate in inviting Aurora inside. The lack of defense irritated Aurora but she decided not to let it bother her.
“Honey, someone from the tower is here to offer our child a chance.”
It snubbed Aurora’s pride to be taken as one of the tower’s lackeys but she chose not to correct the old lady yet.
It was better to lay her cards out once she had everyone important gathered in front of her.
“What did you say? Why did you not tell me before? Ying, come down with your wife right now. Our young one’s future is at stake here.”
Once the old man got news of Aurora’s arrival, he quickly gathered his whole family down except the child of the house.
This degree of double-standards disgusted Aurora a lot.
When it came to Emilia and her magic, the village had treated her as an outcast and actively tried to break her. But when it came to their child, they could not help but be overjoyed.
“Miss, please continue with your offer.”
Aurora had a lot of words to say to these greedy people. But she chose to calm herself down and focus on her main reason for being here.
“I recently discovered a child in your village with a good amount of potential. And I would like to offer her a chance to learn magic. Though I am not from the tower, I know a fair share of magic myself.”
“I have also covered your village with a protective spell as an offer of goodwill. Small monsters and beasts will not bother you any longer.”
Aurora poured a tone of information over the family in one go. It was a tactic to confuse the family and not give them time to think on their own.
“T-That’s wonderful news. S-So how soon can my grandson leave….”
“I was not talking about your grandson but the small orphan girl in your village. I would like to take her under my wing.”
Even if Aurora was not from the tower, most of the magical academies were affiliated with the tower. It was natural for the couple to doubt her words even if Aurora did make it clear that she had nothing to do with the tower.
Not that it mattered much to her now. It was better that these people believe Aurora had connections with the tower.
“So, you are saying that you want to take the child away with you to train her in magic? Are you sure you are talking about the right child?”
The younger leader’s wife asked with a hopeful look.
“I am quite sure it is that young girl I want. I am not doing it just for her, but for you all as well. Her magic is extremely powerful and will explode if she does not learn to control it.”
“Won’t it be better for her to leave with me? As for your grandson, some officials from the tower will be arriving tomorrow. You can try your luck with them.”
The family looked relieved to hear Aurora’s news.
Aurora could see that they had already made their decision but were hesitating just for the sake of showing that they cared.
“B-But we have taken care of Emilia for so long. W-we can’t just let her leave like this?”
“R-Right. She is like my own daughter. How can we let you take her away.”
Aurora could not help but scoff at the duality of this family. They were very good at lip service. Even their expressions seemed to be genuine.
But their aura gave their real intention away. It was time to pull the real big guns.
“I am well aware of how much you care for Emilia. And that’s why I am willing to show my sincerity to you as well. Here, a token of my goodwill, a mana stone for your son.”
Aurora held out a small glowing stone toward the family.
Manastones were a precious resource that allowed a normal human to be able to perform magic for a short while.
But it was only a temporary solution to one’s problem.
“I-I see how sincere madam is about Emilia. Of course, Emilia should go with madam.”
“Yeah, Madam knowns the best.”
Aurora smiled a charming smile but she also knew that her aura was working on this family.
Refusing a goddess was impossible for a human in the first place. Ones without any magic like this family were even worse.
“Then, please sign on these custody papers and we’ll be done here for now.”
“O-Of course. But c-can I ask m-madam a favor? Can madam take a look at my son real quick?”
The man of the house (the younger one) asked. This was the first time he had opened his mouth to say something.
Aurora wanted to ignore him but she felt she had to oblige that man. Something in her was telling her she should heed his words carefully.
“Alright, I am willing to take a look. But no one else comes inside with me when I do so except this gentleman.”
Aurora made her conditions clear. The family did not look happy but the man who had asked Aurora to have a look did.
After all, he was the only one Aurora was allowed to accompany herself.
She was sure there was nothing left that could have surprised her like this, but Aurora found herself taking her words back once she looked at the kid in front of her.
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