Diana held the book firmly in her hands as she trailed behind Galahad and Beatrice. Her eyes were glued on the words written before her, taking the knowledge like a fish to water. The tome detailed the behavior and anatomy of Eukaryotic cells - specifically animal cells. Plant cells were a whole other thing together that she will study later.

"Where would you like to go, Galahad?"

"..."

"Over there? Well, if you're sure Galahad."

"..."

She flipped a page and ignored their odd conversation. She didn't know how Beatrice could communicate with her twin brother with nothing but body language, but it was a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that Galahad doesn't really talk much and a curse in that the twin sister is keeping up the slack for that silence.

It's a bit grating hearing one voice when you knew there were two people in a conversation. It's a bit odd.

"Excuse me, miss but this place is off-limits."

Diana blinked as a man in a dark blue outfit and cap blocked her path. She shifted her head around and found the grey-haired twins close by, their curiosity watching the spectacle that was shown before them. Diana turned towards the source.

"Apologies." Diana nodded in acknowledgement and she stood back. The man smiled before returning to his post. Beatrice ran towards her and the blonde sighed as she closed her book. So much for learning.

"Diana!" Beatrice ran towards her, Galahad following. "What do you think happened?"

"What do you mean?" Diana scanned the area a few guards were hanging around in. The place looked like a crime scene with tape and police occupying a store - the building's door and glass cracked and broken. "Obviously a felony has occurred here."

"Yeah but how?"

Before Diana could answer, Galahad tapped on the girls' shoulders and pointed towards a collection of the city guards.

"Another one?"

"The fifth one this past week."

"The crime spree's been pickin' up. Found anything?"

"They've been robbing specific items from the local shops but otherwise everything they've stolen are magical in someway or another."

"A rogue Wizard?"

"Probably."

"Great, just great."

Beatrice took a sharp breath, her eyes narrowing at the idle crowd's words. "There's a criminal running around Fernus."

"There's always been criminals running around Fernus." Diana quirked an eyebrow. Taking advantage of their occupied minds, she opened her book and focused on the words there instead. Got to get that knowledge. "All cities do, it's just that Fernus seems to like attracting the magical kind."

Kind of makes sense. Fernus housed a wide arsenal of magical items and any Wizard worth their salt would salivate at the thought of all those ingredients and artifacts in one spot.

"Ah," Beatrice nodded, relaxing. "I suppose you're right. I guess I'm just paranoid." Galahad smiled and patted his sister's shoulder, his calm and confidence infectious to the twin's other half.

"Don't be." Diana flipped another page. "The chances of encountering a criminal in a city as large as Fernus is rather low." She paused. "Unless we actively look for the criminal but that's stupid."

What can students do to an adult Wizard? Even prodigies can fall to experience.

Beatrice calmed at her confidence. "That is true."

"Even those of lower blood can deduce that simple fact," Diana went back to walking. The twins followed next to her. "Don't worry about it, Beatrice. We're plenty strong ourselves and isn't your brother a knight-in-training?"

"Yeah." Beatrice stared at her twin fondly. "Galahad would protect us, like always."

Galahad straightened at his twin's faith. The boy had a big smile and gave a strong nod.

"And we also have that esoteric magic Mr. Spinel has been teaching you to defend us, right Diana?"

"Urk!"

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"That didn't sound like nothing."

There's no way in hell that Diana would admit to them that she hasn't even mastered a single spell from that branch of magic. She closed her book and coughed. Her pride as a noble was on the line!

"It's nothing." Diana continued. "All of us have a wide assortment of magical spells because of our teachings. We should be fine."

Beatrice didn't look convinced but she shrugged. "Okay?"

"Let's just go somewhere already."

"Sure." Beatrice nodded, smiling at the new topic. "I've been thinking of buying some new books to read..."

XXX

"Is this really necessary?" Aster griped, a pristine white cup held between his hands, the flowery scent invading his senses with its surprisingly calm atmosphere. He still held firm though if only to glare at the woman in front of him.

Emilia smiled, a similar cup held between her fingers. They were in a cafe, sitting on one of the plush chairs available outside. A polished marble table was in front and a tasteful umbrella sat in the center. Aster noted several civilians and customers stop and stare openly at the blonde professor, their eyes glued to the soft curves that her thin, blue cloth hugged tightly.

He moved his eyes away. Better to not be accused of being a perv.

"It is."

"I don't see the logic behind this."

"You don't know how to relax." Emilia noted. "At least not in anyway that counts. You're always so tense Aster and with all the things my college did to you, I can sympathize." She sighed. "That's why I want you here."

"To relax?"

"To calm your head." Emilia corrected, her smile teasing. "You're always thinking, always plotting, you gather every little detail and try to link it to your magic. An admirable trait for a researcher." She sipped her tea. "But it has its drawbacks. Have you ever thought of slowing down?"

"Heresy." Aster waved away her statement. Slowing down? He can't do that. How could he advance his research if he took a break?! "What kind of Wizard do you take me for?"

"A foolish one."

"I'm used to it." Aster sipped his tea. "Thinking calms me, it reminds me of my goal, of the reason why I am doing all of this."

"I didn't mean to stop thinking entirely." Emilia raised her hands in feigned surrender. "Just to keep it a manageable level. You should enjoy some of life's pleasures, Aster. Slow down and look at the flowers. There are some amazing things out there."

"I am enjoying life." Aster sipped his tea. "Ever since I've had the proper tools in hand, I've been experiencing nothing else but." The feeling of advancing on one's magical field, of making breakthroughs that he knew no one else made was a sensation that he was addicted in. It's the best feeling in the world.

Emilia kept silent at his words, a contemplating quiet descending upon their table. Her orange eyes watched him with a calculative glint that stiffened Aster's form but he held firm. A smile blossomed on her lips as she chuckled. "Fair enough, Aster, fair enough." She placed her cup down before meeting his eyes. "I still would like to show you around Fernus if not for pleasure then at least to get a lay of the land." Her smile brightened. "Who knows, maybe you'll find something you enjoy while we're at it."

"Doubt it."

"Always the pessimist."

XXX

The city was truly bustling. Aster walked the busy streets - noting all the positive energy in the air. Teenagers, adults, and children were conversing and enjoying the activities the city had to offer. Emilia walked behind him, the woman taking advantage of her position to scan the populace. Despite the woman relaxing, her title as a Magic Knight was not for show.

She's taking her duties seriously, hiding in plain sight to not garner suspicion.

Aster ignored her in favor of marveling at the tall, white buildings and clean cobblestone roads. Everything looked new and with a quick scan of the city's infrastructure showed why.

He couldn't help but gasp in surprise at the amount of magic this city holds. Emilia looked at him in concern but he ignored it, instead taking time to analyze the dense magical energy in the city.

This...this was magic at one of its most advanced forms.

The city's infrastructure was swimming with magic, spells and runes intertwined every single part of the city, every single function utilized for a specific purpose - from cleaning the streets to keeping the lights on. This was a utopia of magic that he has never seen with fields of magecraft and theory that he has never witnessed.

He watched the denizens and his eyes widened when screens created out of pure magic conjured itself out of nowhere. The moving images popping up on nearby building walls, Wizards and villagers alike stopping and watching the floating screen with curiosity. He walked towards one.

When he noticed several reporters in the image explaining several current events, he widened his eyes.

"The news."

"Indeed." Emilia looked towards him in confusion. "You've never seen these before?"

"Moving pictures?" Aster asked. "I've heard of them - it's using a form of pure magic to record a specific location's current events right?"

"It's a public service." Emilia nodded. "The city reports all major events occurring in Erasma. Foreign news shows up time to time when it concerns us but otherwise, they feed the public most of the information."

Amazing. Aster analyzed the spell in front of him.

How?

Maybe they used runes to mark the locations for the spell - then created an algorithm to activate the spell via the runes at predetermined times. It made sense.

"Aster?"

Of course, with magic constantly in the air, they could take advantage of activating a one-way or even two-way network that links the locations together. Wizards have discovered how to record footage before with the use of several techniques; maybe they simplified it to an affordable cost.

"Are you spacing out again?"

Even then, the amount of resources to create it for every public gathering in the city...

"Oleander didn't tell me it was this bad."

Runes. Linking magic in the atmosphere. There's probably more to it than that, but his specialization limited his analysis. He cursed. Oh well, it's not something that he's really interested in replicating no matter how fascinating it was.

He felt a soft tap on his cheeks and he turned only for his vision to be flooded with pale skin.

"Do you always doze off whenever you see something interesting?"

"Not all the time."

"You know, your occasional distractions could be a security risk."

"Sorry about that." Aster sighed. "It's just...to have enough money to set up this kind of magic everywhere in Fernus. It tickled my curiosity. Forgive this researcher for following his instincts."

"It's fine. It's intriguing watching your little episodes." Emilia smiled. "As for the money needed..."

She pointed at some of the large and elaborate buildings that littered the city.

"It's to keep everyone informed." Emilia shrugged. "Nobles pooled in a lot of resources to build this and for good reason. Most can't afford to have a spell like this engraved into their homes. The majority still read the papers but with the moving images, the spread of ignorance is mitigated."

"Nobles." Aster looked unimpressed, his eyes watching the news with a cautious light. "Something tells me that they control what kind of information leaves and what doesn't."

"It's certainly a possibility." Emilia smirked. "Propaganda is something we at Fernum-Magnum know firsthand. Thankfully, most sponsors favor having our college standing in once piece."

"Thankfully." Aster rolled his eyes. He scanned the crowd, noticing several students from the institute watching the news from afar. Huh. That reminded him. "Speaking of our college, where's Oleander? Wasn't he supposed to be with us?"

"Oleander?" Emilia blinked. "He was with us in the beginning."

Huh? "Where did he go?"

Emilia tilted her head in contemplation but shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure. He said he needed to go somewhere." The blonde professor frowned. "Now that I think about it, he was acting strange ever since we left for the city."

He has a feeling that he's going to regret this...

"Strange in what way?"

"He kept trying to distance himself from us." Emilia's reply was met with a sigh. "He kept giving us odd looks, muttering about how he 'approved' before giving a thumbs-up and left."

"Of course."

Aster was not dense. His best friend has always been intrusive of his personal space and this is no different. He appreciates his best friend's tendency to look out for him but this is ridiculous. Oleander, stop playing matchmaker. His (nonexistent) love life is none of his business damn it!

Besides, he's not doing anything of the sort. Spending time with a Witch Hunter is absolutely tedious. Even when the Wizard Slayer looked at him in a favorable light, the risk of angering one of the most feared soldiers in Erasma's military is not something to take lightly.

"Where are we going?"

Emilia brightened at his question. "We're going shopping."

Ah...

Shopping.

"Why?"

"I told you that you'll need more clothes in the future." Emilia's warm smile grew. "Admittedly, this is more of a selfish venture than a selfless one. I would like to update my wardrobe. Forgive a woman for wanting to look pretty, Aster."

"Whatever." Aster waved his hands in dismissal. If he argued with her, it would go nowhere. Better to accept and deal with it then to waste time debating. "Let's just get this over with."

"Thank you for entertaining my request, Aster."

"I'm going to have to get new stuff anyways. Better now when we're here than later."

Emilia smiled in approval. She grabbed him by the hand and lead him to one of the nearby stores available.

XXX

This was a bad idea.

Aster sat idly on one of the comfort seats available, on one arm holding a few bags of clothes that thankfully was enough for him to carry. He thanked the gods that he improved his body enough that the bags barely strained him. He had a feeling Emilia was careful with not going overboard with clothes for his sake.

Thank the gods. Thanks Emilia for taking this poor practitioner's feelings into account. He truly appreciated it.

He stretched his arms as he yawned in apparent comfort. The clothing shop they were in was one of many that took advantage of Alchemy, Construction, and Replication magic to mass-produce normal objects.

Lines of clothes neatly aligned the store - giving enough room to explore yet efficient enough to have a variety of different apparels for all events. It was cheap too, but then again, that's the advantage of magic.

"You're not getting anything, Aster?" Emilia's head popped out of a stack of clothes she was analyzing.

"I'm good." Aster shook his head, getting up from his rest. He watched the woman only take a few clothes from the stack, Aster noticing a sudden pattern of male clothes among them. "Are you?"

"I'm fine." Emilia smiled. "I think that these are enough."

"Enough?" Aster counted her purchase and was surprised at the modest cost. Huh. "Are you sure? I was kind of expecting..."

"More?" Emilia smiled wryly. The woman's eyes were colored with amusement.

"Yeah." His cheeks flushed at his predictable answer.

Emilia chuckled. "Believe it or not, Aster, I don't spend my wealth callously."

"Aren't you here to enjoy yourself?"

"And I am enjoying myself." Emilia smiled warmly. "I bought some new clothes and I am spending time with a good friend."

Aster widened his eyes at her admittance. He always assumed that Emilia, as a professor of one the greatest schools in the world, would be rather high-maintenance considering his past experience with Samuel Rook. He knew they were well-off, after checking Oleander's sudden increase in his already growing bank, it was a given but this was a welcome surprise.

Emilia's needs were rather spartan. Just a few dresses and some time with friends was all she needed to be content.

Then again maybe this was because of her military and teacher professions at work. She didn't have the time to indulge in simple pleasures and thus didn't take them for granted.

"Surprised?" Emilia noticed his expression and her smile turned teasing.

"Pleasantly." Aster grinned much to Emilia's satisfaction. "I'm more confused as to why we didn't go to a tailor for my clothes."

"Oh we are." Emilia's smile widened, Aster's form freezing in place at her answer. "I bought you some casual clothes, Aster but for formal apparel, I won't hold back a single coin. I may not need much, but sponsors can appreciate custom-made dress clothes."

Oh gods no.

"Let's go, Aster."

Oleander, where the hell are you when I actually need you?!

XXX

"What the hell are we doing?" Barberry griped, glaring at his fellow redhead.

"No clue."

"Shush!" Oleander bonked on both of their heads much to their displeasure. The redhead glared at them as his golden eyes glowed with nigh divine magic, his eyes shaking and rabid as it roved the environment with crazed fervor.

"What the hell, Oleander?"

"What's got your knot up in a twist?"

"Is the coast clear?" Oleander ignored them in favor of searching for their target.

"Uh..." Ala Barberry looked around before shrugging. "I guess?"

"You guess?"

"I'm a researcher, Oleander." Barberry glared. "What were you expecting, a veteran soldier? Apologies but I lack the credentials."

Oleander sighed. "You can be so useless at times, I swear."

"Hey!"

"How about you, Sam?"

"Samuel." Sam corrected. "Other than the large crowd of citizens staring at us with suspicion, I think we're good." The Runesmaster of Fernum-Magnum spoke clearly and precisely, his blue eyes scanning the area with the expertise that surprised the others. The black-haired man looked at Oleander. "I'm still confused on what we're doing."

Ala Barberry raised his hands as if in agreement. "Yeah. What the hell, Oleander." His infamous glare was emphasized by the dark green glow in his eyes. "You just grabbed us and dragged our sorry asses to the city. Where are we going?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Oleander spoke as if it was. It definitely wasn't.

"Explain it to us." Sam said. Barberry nodded.

"We're going to spy on Aster!"

Sam looked absolutely bewildered at the man's declaration. What. How did this come about? "I don't understa-"

"I'm in!"

Sam turned to Barberry as if he was crazy. The green-eyed professor noticed the sudden attention and shrugged.

"What? If I get to spy on Aster, I may be able to discover his magical secrets!" He scowled. "You don't understand Sam, Aster's magic is phenomenal and I will do everything I could to figure out its secrets!"

"Even when it comes to invading a fellow Wizard's privacy?"

"If that's what it takes!"

Sam finally decided...

Both Oleander and Barberry are absolutely bonkers.

Sam shook his head and looked at Oleander, trying to ignore the madness that is their logic. "Is there any reason why we're doing this?"

Oleander paced in front of them, his golden eyes's glow growing even more intense. "Aster is currently alone with Emilia. This is my best friend's first outing with a girl and as his closest ally, it is my duty to make sure that it goes as smoothly as possible. This is for the sake of my friend's future to pass his lineage and my reputation as his wing man!"

What.

"You're all insane."

"I am with you, Oleander!" Barberry strolled towards the redhead. "For the sake of figuring out Aster's magic, I will aid you in your endeavors!"

"Barberry..."

"Oleander..."

What.

"What happened to being an asshole, Ala?" Samuel Rook took a deep breath. He has no idea what's going on anymore.

"For the pursuit of discovering more magic, I am willing to turn over a new leaf." Ala shrugged. "Besides, I gained new respect for Aster's drive for his research. He's pretty impressive even if I dislike some of his ideals."

"Thank you, Ala."

"No problem, Oleander."

What.

"This is a bad idea."

"Don't be a spoil sport, Sam."

"It's Samuel." Sam automatically corrected. "And it's a bad idea because we're not just spying on Aster, we're also spying on Emilia and you do know who she is, right?"

"Aster's future-girlfriend if I have anything to say about it!"

"No." Sam rubbed the side of his head in exasperation. "She's a Magic Knight and one of the scariest to graduate Fernum-Magnum."

"An obstacle to be overthrown!" Ala pumped his fists in the air. "We can take her."

"Ala's bias against Emilia aside," Sam sighed, "you do know what her job is, right?"

"To defend Aster." Oleander shrugged. "So?"

"So what does it look like in Emilia's eyes when three grown, magically capable men in suspicious-looking clothing stalk her charge with various mysterious intents and motives?" Sam slowly emphasized each and every word in hopes of getting it through their head that this is a pretty bad idea.

"Shit."

"Exactly." Sam sighed in relief at Oleander's sudden revelation of the errors of his ways. Just when he thought of suggesting on going back to the college, his hope in humanity was shattered.

"It's a risk that we must be willing to take!" Oleander nodded resolutely.

Ala Barberry nodded back. He grinned savagely. "Besides, it's just one Magic Knight against three professors, we have skill and numbers on our side."

Oleander gave an appreciative nod towards the Spell Creator, shrugging while smiling reassuringly at Samuel.

He was not reassured.

"What could possibly go wrong?"