The next morning, it's Firoday. The first of Rosen, the month of war. Rostor's month...

Two days left.

Trying not to think too much on that, I look around our room. I'm glad to see everyone sleeping soundly, nice even breathing... No signs of coughing, and when Emily checks their temperatures, she says they don't have fevers. Jannette also sounds fine. Riko got some lightning mana in her when she got home yesterday, so she never showed any signs of getting sick.

With everyone looking better, we head downstairs. I sit and teach Emily more of the alphabet, but as the first bell approaches, I have to ask her about work. Matthew isn't going to be mad at her, is he?

"Oh, no!" she immediately shakes her head to deny my worries. "I ran over there yesterday to tell him I couldn't work because of what's happening here. He actually told me not to go to work if I get sick, because I would just get all of the customers sick, and that would be bad for business."

"O-oh." I had no idea she already took care of that. I awkwardly nod, and return to teaching her more letters.

"So, are you going to work today?" I eventually speak up again.

"I'm not sure, it depends if the other girls feel better later. They made it to dinner last night, I'll ask them how they feel at breakfast."

"Wait, how does that work if Mister Fredricson is gone?"

"Well..." she glances away. "When he's gone, everyone mostly sticks to the usual schedule so he doesn't punish them when he gets back..."

"Oh..."

"So, umm, that means we'll have breakfast like usual. I'll talk to the everyone when they wake up and see how they're feeling."

"Ok." I still have a dark knot in my stomach from her mentioning Mister Fredricson punishing kids when he gets back. After just abandoning us all...

When John arrives to take me to work, I soon realize that there's more going on than I realized originally. It's not just the kids at the orphanage. In the quiet morning streets, I direct John through the northeast district, and I can hear them. Coughs here and there, coming from inside houses. This sickness, it's already spreading through... what? Part of town? The entire town?

As much as it's my duty to protect the people, there's nothing I can do about this. Not on this scale. I can't even guess how many people live in this city, except to say that it is way more than ten thousand people.

I can't possibly help all of them, and even if I could there's no way I would be able to get all of the lightning mana back out of them afterward. It's doable at the orphanage because there are a limited number of people and they're all in one place, but spread out through town? Impossible.

Riko, back at the garrison after helping out last night, picks up on a few guards coughing too. Frank just apologizes that he can't let them take time off because they don't have the manpower to spare with how things are going in the city. Do adults really have to keep working even when they're sick?

When I get to the refinery, Eryk doesn't look good. He doesn't look sick, he looks worried. "What's wrong?" I ask immediately.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Aria," he waves it off.

"Is it related to people getting sick?"

He sighs. "Yeah, some of my relatives have gotten sick. It's not usually not as big of a deal for adults, but getting sick can be really bad for children, they aren't as strong," he explains, probably assuming I don't know. Which is good, since I didn't... "It's a lot harder for them to fight it off and get better. My sister has been worrying so much, she already took Thelia to a doctor, but besides some basic remedies, there wasn't much to do for her. She's so young..."

"W-wait, Thelia is sick?!" I rise halfway out of my chair. "I can help!"

"You can?" Eryk blinks a few times, then he gets it. "That's right, Frank had you curing poison, didn't he? You can help with illness too?"

I emphatically nod. "I gave some lightning mana to John, then my roommates, and then all the other kids at the orphanage. I think it helped. Or at least, it did for John, he's fine now."

Eryk opens his mouth, then suddenly twitches a little, and gets this strange, conflicted look. He leans heavily on his desk, head in his hand. "Damn it, I'm such a hypocrite," he mutters under his breath, but I hear him anyway. "Aria. I don't want to ask, but..."

"I'll help," I offer right away. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, or die. I know I can't help everyone, but I can't just..." I gulp. "I can't just let people I know die when I could do something about it."

"Ugh," Eryk groans, sinking further. "I'm so sorry. This isn't something you should be burdened with. Not someone your age. You're just too young..."

Seeing him so defeated, my heart sinks. "It's fine, really. As long as I can help, I want to do anything I can." Just like Emily told me, I can do good for people. I can help. So I'll do it, with the last of this time I have here...

"Thank you Aria. And I'm sorry. This means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, really."

After a pause, Eryk straightens up again. "Alright. Thank you. So, how do we actually do it? I hardly believe my sister will be alright with me bringing you over to see her sick child for no apparent reason," he points out.

"Ahh..." He's right. I've only met Thelia once before, even if we did have a lot of fun playing together... It's not like I can show up and tell Kathy I'm going to use magic to heal her... Maybe I could get Chisa or Riko into her room through a window or something, but there's no way I could explain that to Eryk.

Oh, wait. "I'm overthinking this." I look back up at Eryk. "You can do it."

I see the moment it dawns on him. Since I taught him to use mana, he doesn't need me to do it, he can help her himself. "I can, can't I?" Then his brow furrows. "But you said I need to use lightning mana. I can't actually tell it apart."

"Mm, that's right..." I bite my thumb, trying to consider how to make it work. Maybe he could convert some right then and only grab the mana he gets back, because he'll know that mana is lightning. "No, he might get the amount wrong..." The amount? That finally makes me realize that there's another very dangerous possibility. "How old is Thelia?" I ask.

"About four years old, why?"

"Because, she might not be able to hold much mana. I don't know what kind of mana affinity she has. If you try to give her too much, well, you saw what happened to me when I messed up with that." The thought makes us both cringe. "I don't even know if my guess is right, but... if her affinity is like yours, she should hold about two and a half mana, so it wouldn't be a problem. But if she's more like John... How old is he?"

A dark look on his face, he answers, "Twenty four, I believe."

"Then..." He holds a little less than Emily, maybe two mana. "She'd hold about one third of one mana at most. You'd need to get the amount exactly right, or it could just make things worse."

Leaning into his hands, Eryk groans. "This is a lot more complicated than I expected. Do you have a plan?"

A way for him to get the exact right amount of only lightning mana, despite not being able to tell mana types apart? The first thing that comes to mind is emptying him out so he only has about a quarter of one unit, all lightning, and he gives it all to her. But he would knock himself out if he did that, and who knows when he would wake up on his own?

No, that's way too dangerous. Even if I ignored all the problems with filling him up completely with lightning mana instead, he has essentially no practice, asking him to control any specific quantity of mana is too much to ask. I know it was for me when I first started controlling my mana. I need a way for Eryk to hold a specific amount of lightning mana that he can't get mixed up with anything else...

Wait, I have exactly what I need for that! Digging out my manastone, I look at it briefly. I could put exactly the right amount of lightning mana in here that he needs, and he could pull it from the stone and give it to her, without any chance of getting it mixed up with anything else.

But... that means I need to give it to him. Just the thought makes me anxious. Giving up the thing that I created from a living creature. Its soul that I warped so far from its original, intended form...

I grit my teeth and hold it out. "You can use this."

"That? You called it a manastone, right?"

"Yeah, I can put exactly what you need inside, so you just pull it out and give it to Thelia."

"Is that really alright? I mean, you look... really attached to it," Eryk says, clearly conflicted.

"I am," I admit, "but I want to help Thelia. Please just... get it back to me, alright?"

"Sure. So how do I do this?"

I open my mouth to tell him, but the time jumps out at me. We only have twenty five ticks until second bell, Claire will be here really soon and I haven't eaten breakfast yet. "Sorry, I have to eat, I'll show you how after my lessons, alright?"

"Sure," he agrees. Leaving aside my manners briefly, I eat a lot more quickly than I have been lately. It's a good thing too, because I finish just barely as the bells sound. I have just enough time to wipe my face with a cloth Eryk tosses to me, since apparently I'm not supposed to use my sleeve, and move over to the other side of the table before Claire arrives.

Without any sign of our other plans for today, we share an ordinary greeting with Claire, and head to the back room.

"Ahem," Claire clears her throat, and I settle into my seat. "Today, I'll teach you about history. From my understanding, you don't know anything in particular, do you?"

As much as I've learned from her over this last month, having my complete lack of knowledge pointed out still feels bad. "No, not really," I answer anyway.

"Alright, then I'll start at the beginning. There have been three ages in history, three general periods of time," she elaborates. "First, there were The Ancient Times. They can be said to date back to the beginning of humanity itself. It's unclear just how long this was, nearly all specific knowledge from that time has been lost, with only some stories surviving. Even those have likely changed significantly over the long years and countless retellings. While the specifics are unclear, The Ancient Times lasted for many thousands of years." Wow, that's a really long time... Wait, but I thought the gods were a lot older than that...

Claire pauses for questions as usual, and I ask, "What about before that? Before humanity, I mean?"

That makes her smirk a little. "Yes, there was certainly a time before humanity. We call it The Age of The Gods. It would be the first age, but most don't actually count it as an age among the others. They prefer for the first age to be at the beginning of humanity, rather than the beginning of time."

"Oh." That's... really weird.

"We have no records of course, but there was surely a vast amount of time since the creation of the world by the gods, and the birth of humanity. Just how long is a complete mystery." Yeah, if there were no people, there would be no one to remember. You'd have to ask a god. Actually, maybe I can ask Reena about that later?

"Moving on... As I said, the first age is The Ancient Times. During that period, we do not know much specifically, but from what we do know, things were quite simple for a long time, and it was only later that small nations started to take shape. At the time, most nations were city states, meaning that their whole nation was based in just a single city, unlike the large countries of today, with multiple cities within their borders. Pretty much all of them fell over time, or were swallowed up by larger nations that formed around them."

She pauses again, but I don't have any questions this time. "There is one key exception, Liantra. The most important event in The Ancient Times is called The Liantran Ascendance, referring to the founding of Liantra. As I've mentioned, they are a mysterious people. Their country is by far the oldest of the countries today. Exact dates are unclear, but the country was definitely founded at least a thousand years before the end of The Ancient Times."

"A thousand years?" At least? That's... wow...

"Yes, we'll cover that in more detail later, but as I said, it is the most important event from those times." I nod emphatically, and she takes a moment before going on. "That leads us into the second age, The Age of Heroes. Again, we don't have exact dates, but it was a much shorter period of time than the first age, somewhere between a few hundred and a thousand years from beginning to end." Oh wow, that really is a lot shorter. The entire age was shorter than how long Liantra had already been around?

"During The Age of Heroes, the other four countries we know today were all founded. First was Shonamakase, right as the age began. Though, depending on who you ask, it may have been founded slightly before the second age began," she points out. "It's hard to say for certain. Following that was Bromunst. Melphira and Eschalle were founded around the same time, so it depends who you ask about which came first, since Melphira was still in the middle of a civil war and some don't count it as a proper country until the war ended. Either way, we'll get to that topic later." I nod along slowly, trying to follow. It's a little hard to imagine it all without any good numbers to work with to determine exactly when things happened, but I guess there's no helping it for things that happened hundreds of years ago...

"In general, The Age of Heroes was signified by two things. First and foremost, were the eponymous heroes-" she cuts short, "Ah, eponymous means that they were what gave the age its name, since as I said, they were the defining feature of the times."

"Wait, I'm sorry, I haven't heard of 'heroes' either, what are they?"

"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't know about them. They were people with miraculous abilities." She doesn't mean... "Each one was different, some with incredible, superhuman strength, or unnatural skill in combat, and some who could wield magic, just like magical creatures."

"..." I have to choke back my torrent of questions, forcing myself to stay silent.

Heroes could use magic?! What does that say about my thoughts from before, about the difference between humans and magical creatures? And how does that all tie into rail units and mana and, and... and everything else?!

"Aria?" Claire quirks an eyebrow. She must have caught my confusion. Or my panic.

I try, but my thoughts are a wreck, I have no idea what to think now. I don't even know what response I end up babbling at her. Whatever it is, it just draws a concerned look. That finally gets me to realize, I shouldn't have a reaction to information like this! It'll just make her suspicious!

I shake my head. "S-sorry. I was really amazed. People using magic? Like magical creatures?"

"Yes, it was truly miraculous," she agrees, her concern turning to amusement, but then her expression darkens slightly. "This may be more of a personal opinion on my part, but I find it particularly unfortunate that the second defining aspect of the age was the increasing amount of war and conflict that took place across the continent."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What's unfortunate about it?" I guess it's bad since most people don't like fighting...?

"Due to the escalating hostilities, the heroes, gifted with all sorts of incredible powers, were almost universally sent off to war. I just can't help but think that some of their skills could have been put to use making the world a better place." Then she shakes her head slightly. "But I'm probably just being an optimist. Those with great power generally use it to amass more power. Another unfortunate aspect of the world we live in, I suppose. But I digress."

Getting back on topic, she explains further. "As I said, The Age of Heroes was short-lived. It ended..." and she purses her lips uncertainly. "It's rather hard to say. We should have many more written records since it was much more recent, but few are available to the public. The most complete historical records are probably kept in the private collections of nobles. From what I have been able to gather, The Age of Heroes ended somewhere between one hundred and three hundred years ago."

Wait, that's confusing. It ended? How? "Why did it end? What happened?"

Claire lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Heroes stopped being born. No one knows why. But with no heroes, The Age of Heroes naturally came to an end." She tilts her head to the side slightly, musing, "I have heard a few propose that the loss of heroes is why Rostor gave the divine gear to humanity, but I personally don't believe the theory, there just isn't enough evidence to back up the claim."

I take some time, trying to digest this new information. Heroes existed. People who could use magic, even without manastones. That guess, about Rostor creating the divine gear because heroes disappeared... maybe there's more to it than Claire thinks. Maybe it was his way of making new heroes...

Despite my anxious thoughts, Claire eventually taps a hand on the table to draw my attention back on topic. "That brings us to the third age, the present. We call it the Modern Age now, but..."

With a smirk and a chuckle, she explains, "We can't really name an age based on historical events that haven't occurred yet, can we? In all likelihood, these times will be named many years from now, based on what is happening at present, or in the future. For all we know, they'll name this The Age of War, based on our present wars, since they have escalated so far beyond the wars of the past. Or perhaps, there will be an even larger event that eclipses even the present work of The God of War. There is no way to tell for sure what the future holds."

I stare at the table, taking in her words. Eventually, I look back up, and Claire continues. She starts to go over things in a bit more detail, providing a general overview of each time period and the major shifts and events that occurred, even if a lot of the information is fragmented, lost to time. As always, she stops frequently so I can keep asking questions about things I don't understand, or places where the explanations reference things I don't know about yet.

After lunch, she continues with history. Even if she's barely scraping the surface. Even if most of the knowledge has been lost. Even leaving those big topics she mentioned, like The Liantran Ascendance, for later... There are thousands and thousands of years of history to talk about.

We go right until the eighth bell, and rather than feeling like I know more, now I realize the incredible amount of information that I just don't know about at all.