Karl DuFeu sat across from Kira, a large table separating the two. He'd reorganized his headmaster's office at the Atmont Academia to create a more comfortable environment - cozy couches, tall bookshelves, and a round table in the middle surrounded by squishy armchairs, rather than the imposing desk and throne-like chair that used to occupy the space.

Kira's golden ear cuff sat on the table, a Chat window open to communicate with Karl in more detail through System-translated text messages while she spoke their content aloud, allowing the Archmage to compare between what she said in Enliss and how it translated to Common. Several dozen index cards were sprawled across the surface of the table, containing words and letters with little doodles to help depict different concepts.

Despite what she initially feared, her translation work was actually kind of fun. The Dragon wanted flash cards for the alphabet, and the sort of basic rules for reading she learned when Fred was helping her learn. She started school late, which meant she missed the window for when teachers were giving the entire class standardized lessons.

It was so frustrating, at first. Realizing books had knowledge, and that she was kept from them due to unfortunate circumstances. She used to look at pictures in textbooks with a mixture of longing and curiosity, unable to parse the surrounding context and feeling both ashamed and angry about it all. When the teacher called on her to read in front of the class, everyone laughed without even bothering to hide their contempt about her stumbling attempts.

Reading was an exhausting, embarrassing, hateful chore until Fred realized she was struggling and spent an entire summer helping her learn. And Karl looked at English books the way Kira used to. She felt more than a little sympathetic for the wistful longing in his emerald green eyes as the Dragon flipped through a stack of cards depicting the different ways vowels were used and pronounced.

「Oh, hold on...」 Kira opened her inventory, pulling out a couple of small books with brilliant pictures printed on the front. 「I just remembered. These are for you.」

Karl's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she slid the books across the table.

Karl What are these?

「Books.」 After receiving a flat deadpan glare, Kira grinned and propped her chin in her hands. 「For you. As thanks for helping me out so much. Children's books for learning to read. They have simple sentence structure so they're good for beginners. Also, the pictures are cute!」

Karl's eyes widened. His hands shook as he retrieved the books, holding them like they were priceless treasures. It was a long moment before he composed himself enough to type out a message.

Karl How... Did you get these?

「You gave me money? So... I guess you bought them for you... Sorry. Didn't think about that...」

Karl No, no, that's not what I meant! The money I gave you is yours, what you do with it is up to you entirely and I sincerely appreciate the gesture. I mean... What... How did you get these? These are Enliss! But brand new!

「My System shop has stuff like that...」 Kira muttered, feeling a bit bashful under the Dragon's intense gaze. She made the shop screen visible and turned it around to show him the categories - books, television, movies, music, comics, games, snacks, spices, toys, clothes, electronics...

After being Attuned, her shop expanded exponentially to include everything available for sale in the world at the time she went in to the Gate, aside from stuff like vehicles, houses, or properties. There were even things like fresh produce and fast food!

Unfortunately, it didn't include anything created after she entered the Gate. Her heart ached for all the half-finished comics and stories she'd never be able to see completed...

Wait a second.

「It's completed?!」 Kira spun the window around, catching sight of a graphic novel series she followed that was definitely still in the early chapters when she entered the Gate. She typed away furiously inputting the names of various authors, artists, comics, and anything else she could think of with unfinished works. 「Hang on a sec, I have to-!」

After a few moments, tears welled up in her eyes. She slowly laid her head on the table, covering the back of her head with her hands. Karl, concerned, hovered between standing up to comfort her, and sitting there looking confused.

Karl Miss Kira? Are you... Are you okay?

「Whoever made the System is actually really nice,」 Kira muttered, her voice muffled by the table's cold, hard surface. Anything created when she went into the Gate, if it was still ongoing at the time, had its continuations available in the System. Things permanently canceled or abandoned were marked as such, while reboots or late renewals were available in the shop. Content whose pilot creation was after Gate-day wasn't included, but even things she never got around to reading or watching had their later continuations for sale.

Karl Ah, yes, well... Janus has a reputation for being capricious, but among all the gods, he's the one most considerate of how mortals actually feel and live their lives.

Karl nodded as he typed, then sent a quick SOS message to Lilian.

The Automata entered the office under the pretense of bringing drinks and snacks on a trolley. She paused next to Kira, then placed a cool metallic hand on her shoulder. "Kira. Are you unwell?"

Shaking her head, the Human straightened her posture and swiped tears from her face with the corner of her coat sleeve. Though she didn't understand the words without her translation ear cuff on, she could guess what the question was. She accepted the warm cup of spiced juice Lilian passed her away, along with a plate of frosted cookies, then made her Chat window with Karl visible so she could show it to Lilian while speaking. 「I'm okay, really. I was just a little surprised at the thoughtfulness of whoever arranged this. I can buy books and stuff that didn't exist when I went into the Gate, so long as their initial release was before then. So, stuff I was waiting on updates for, I can still... I can still read it. Or episodes of shows I used to watch with my family every week. I can still... Not everything is gone, after all...」

She started to tear up again, hiding it by lowering her head to examine the decorated cookies, as the adults silently watched on with a tinge of sympathetic sorrow in their eyes.

「Cat,」 Karl said, stumbling and emphasizing the last consonant a little hard. Kira smiled encouragingly, giving a thumbs up with the hand not holding up the index card.

「Yes! What is the first letter in 'Cat'?」

「Cat... Start letter... C!」

「First letter.」

「First? Not start? Start first?」

Kira could practically see steam pouring out of Karl's ears as he tried to parse the difference between Start and First, so she switched to using the Chat window to spare his dignity and brain cells.

Kira First means coming before others in time or order. A leading position or rank. Start in this context means an event or process is coming into being, at a point in time or space. Technically they can be interchangeable in certain circumstances, but that's not really the intended definition. Karl There is another context for Start? Kira Yeah, it can also be a sudden movement or jump, like in surprise or alarm. Start has more of a feeling of initiation, while First is a position in an ordered list. Karl I see... Enliss is quite analytic, isn't it? Kira Yeah, in English only nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs are inflected. There's uninflected adjectives too, which is pretty weird among European languages. Also I think we have a lot of invariable forms? I can't remember the examples Dad used, but he used to laugh because for some verbs that English only had four or five forms for, German would have like... 16. English has the benefits of vocabulary openness and function flexibility while being simplistic with inflections, but there's so much context and connotation that learning it as a second or third language is actually pretty hard. Especially coming from languages without the same linguistic roots!

Karl stared, open mouthed, at the Chat window for a good three minutes. Then he scratched at the base of his horns to hide his grin, causing the golden jewelry on his head to jingle melodically. She sure typed a lot for someone who didn't talk much.

Karl That... Is a very thorough analysis. Kira Dad was pretty passionate about languages in general. He knew like, 12 of them fluently? I used to have trouble reading, but I liked to learn new things, so he figured the best way to teach me was to teach me ABOUT the language first. It worked pretty well, English is weird and cool but also rude to people learning it. We have a lot of identical nouns and verbs that can get really confusing. Especially when you start using plural nouns as adjuncts or conjunctional groups? English pronunciation is simplistic but our syntax is complex so it's a bit contradictory. Kira Also, can we take a break? My head is starting to hurt... Karl Yes, yes! We can stop here for the day, thank you very much!

Karl's eyes sparkled as he carefully gathered up each of the index cards she made for him, holding each like a delicate and precious treasure. Kira put her ear cuff back on, so he dismissed the Chat window and returned to speaking. "Thank you, Miss Kira! You've given me much to consider!"

"No problem. It was fun!"

Unlike Ancient Dragons with their pure draconic bloodlines, the Fixation of lesser Dragons like Karl didn't lead to Hoarding or jealous seizing of perceived treasure. Instead, Fixations led to Dragons being absolutely delighted at finding kindred spirits who could understand and share their passions.

Which was why he suddenly felt overwhelmed with crushing guilt. He glanced toward Lilian, standing quietly to the side, who took the hint and wheeled her snack trolley back out of the office. "Miss Kira, I have... Something of a confession."

Kira paused in the middle of shoving two cookies into her mouth simultaneously, her cheeks puffed out like a greedy Squirrenk. "Mm?"

"I... Was not entirely honest with you before. I told you there might be dangers when enrolling you in the Academia, but I didn't explain them or ask for your opinion about my decisions. My motivations for protecting you were selfish so I didn't think to get your input. For that, I apologize."

She stared at him for a long time before swallowing the cookies and letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness."

"Huh?"

"Mm... I don't... Hm." Kira frowned, trying to organize her thoughts into something resembling coherency. "I like your honesty. And I didn't feel anything... Shady... When we first met? Brigit, and Plank, and even that bunny guy and you. Everyone I met actually felt like they wanted to help me, and it was... Weird? Brigit I accidentally helped, Plank is a Healer doctor whatever, the bunny guy I think was paid by Brigit? Even Lilian, she works for you so she helped since it was her job. But you...

"I went with it cuz I didn't have other options, but I uh. I feel kinda better knowing you were helping me for your own sake? Strangers trying to help without asking anything in exchange up front are just hiding that what they want is something you won't like."

Karl frowned, stashing the index cards away and fixing a very intense stare on the Human girl as she sipped her juice. That wasn't the sort of experience or mindset any child should have, especially one as young as Kira!

Something Ailsa said rankled in the back of his mind. Karl hesitated, then sighed. "Miss Kira... Ailsa scolded me for my thoughtlessness, and told me I should talk to you. She wouldn't tell me anything else, and said it was your story to tell."

Kira shifted uncomfortably, nibbling on another cookie. Talking about her Sordid Past wasn't something she wanted to do for a third day in a row. Crying was exhausting! "She can tell you, it's fine. Tell her to ask me if she needs proof. I... Don't wanna talk about it again... Not yet."

"Very well." Karl nodded, reluctant to press the issue further. "Do you have any plans for the future? Something other than attending the Academia, perhaps?"

"No..."

"Well, that's not surprising." Karl chuckled, pouring himself a cup of juice from a pitcher Lilian left on the table. "You're very young, you have time to try things out."

She seemed surprised by his response, a slack-jawed expression transforming slowly into a disbelieving scowl. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"My... Teachers used to get mad. When I didn't know what I wanted to do. They yelled about college, or university, or careers..."

"That's absurd! You have an entire life ahead of you, they were trying to set your path before you could even walk it? Do let me know if there's anything you want to try, but it's much too early for you to be pushed into considering the rest of your life. It's barely even started for you! I suggest travel when possible, there's plenty of options for doing so once you pass the first Trial. My Academia offers many Quests for satisfying wanderlust."

"I can travel?" Kira's eyes lit up, her previous scowl disappearing entirely.

"You have to do well in your first Trial coming up to qualify for Quests outside the Academia campus, but yes. Your scholarship would cover travel expenses for your entire Team or Party." Karl sipped his juice, cradling the warm cup in his palms. "But then, you should be aware of the dangers that threaten you."

"Like... Monsters?"

"More than monsters, Miss Kira. People. You are a Clanless Human 《 Relic 》. Humans are strong, admired and feared for their astounding innate ability and stat growth. A Relic can create and adapt spells with relative ease, something it normally takes even an Archmage like me decades of study to ever attempt. And you are Clanless, which means the Human Clans will fight among themselves to make you their own. Other Beings may get involved in an attempt to curry favor with certain Clans by handing you over."

"So, the danger... Isn't to my life?"

"Both your freedom and your life, Miss Kira. If someone decides they'd rather you were dead than a potential tool of their rivals..."

"I... See..." Kira paled, sinking down in her chair. "So that's what you meant... I thought... Cuz I don't know about this world anymore, it was just... Not knowing about things that put me in danger... But..."

"I will do everything in my power to protect you, Kira Hawthorne." Karl spoke slowly, clearly, enunciating her name with gravitas. "Because you are an investment. Your Enliss knowledge and access to Enliss books through your System makes you invaluable in my eyes, far more than your title, species, or affiliation. It is in my best interest to protect you and ensure your happiness, so that you will keep assisting me. That is my inherent motivation."

If the Dragon tried to spew something about obligations of adults or doing it for the sake of friendship, she wouldn't have believed him. Karl was an Archmage and had a political position in a big city, people like that didn't just help random folks out of the pure goodness of their heart. And they didn't even know each other that well! Age gap aside, they could be considered friendly acquaintances at most, with something like a circuitous and vague teacher-student-teacher relationship.

Not friends.

His honesty about it was refreshing. She decided to express her gratitude by politely avoid the topic of how his continued friendliness since their first meeting was vaguely unsettling, since he just clarified his interest in her well-being had to do with access to English knowledge rather than anything sordid or otherwise questionable. Excitement over an obsession made more sense than a random strange adult suddenly befriending a kid for no good reason.

Still pale, the Human girl nodded with visible relief. "Okay."