Briar sighed. While Rien was as cute as a little angel, Briar knew she had to somehow distance herself from Rien-at least until the time her male disguise was terminated. Briar quickly placed the spelled headscarf onto her head and switched to ‘Magician Briar’.

“Teacher! I’ve come to see you-oh my!” Briar acted as if she hadn’t just been inside the room. “Why, teacher, I didn’t know you’d be having guests today!” She said, in surprise.

Madam Rothema chuckled. “I just so happened to run into an old friend, earlier. Meet my friend, Arthur Pendrag, and his two grandchildren, Karu and Rien.”

Briar smiled as she looked at Karu and Rien. “Yes! We’ve already met-outside at the food courts, I do believe.” Then she turned to curtsey to the old man. “But, I’m afraid I haven’t made your acquaintance yet, even though your grandchildren were telling me so much about you earlier.”

“They did, did they? I hope it was all good.” Grandpa Thur chuckled lightly as he eyed his two grandchildren.

Briar closed one eye. “Well, it was a very interesting description, I’ll give them that.” She left things hanging on purpose to bother the old man. There was no way he’d drop the conversation without trying to find exactly what the children had said to her.

Briar then turned to Madam Rothema. “Teacher, I’ve returned, but where is my brother? I was told by Helen that he’d be with you.”

Madam Rothema nodded. “And so he was, right up until the time he left. It was no more than a few minutes ago. If it’s important, then you may catch up to him if you go quickly.”

Briar hesitated, then shook her head. “It’s no good to keep missing each other due to the both of us moving about. He’ll probably end up coming back here, sooner or later. It shouldn’t matter as long as I can speak to him before the contest is over.”

Rien’s eyes widened as she looked to and fro from Briar to Madam Rothema. “So, does this mean that you’re Briar-nii’s sister?”

Briar smiled down at Rien. “Well, yes! Yes I am.”

Grandpa Thur spluttered as he coughed on his tea. He remembered Briar boy’s smile of death when he had tried planting a rumor about Briar-boy and Briar-girl eloping together with Thales. No wonder why that Thales had said it was unlikely! The Rogue had probably been laughing at him behind that grim face of his!

The old man began plotting how to get back at Thales for making a fool out of him as he wiped the tea off his clothes, absentmindedly.

Rien nodded. “That makes sense, then.”

“What does?” Briar asked.

“It makes sense that you’d have the same golden eyes, if you’re family.” Rien said, satisfied.

Briar glanced over at Madam Rothema, with a question.

“Is it true? Did the eye color spell wear out that quickly?” She asked her.

Madam Rothema waved her hand. “Come closer, my dear.” Briar approached her seat, and sat down on a footstool nearby. Madam Rothema looked closely at Briar’s eyes.

“It seems that it did wear out. A whole three days early, too.” She said. “Even though we’ve been trying to make sure that you aren’t discovered as your brother’s sister, this makes it rather difficult…”

“Why?” Rien asked.

Rothema glanced at Rien. “Because it means that her eyes are resistant to the magic of a Magi, which is the highest known form of spellcaster in the world. If I can’t hide her eye color, then it’s almost impossible that there are any others who could.”

“Oh. Then why doesn’t she just change the color?”

“Like I said, if I can’t change the color, then it’s near impossible for anyone else to-”

“But, I saw the golden eyes turn green when Briar-nii used magic!” Rien interrupted. “If their eyes are the same, then maybe she can change her own eye color.”

Briar paused. To be honest, she had long forgotten that her eyes could do such a thing.

“Is that true, my dear?” Rothema asked.

“I wasn’t aware of such a thing. Now that she mentions it, I’ve never really looked at myself while performing magic. Shall we test it out?” Briar said, performing a basic levitation spell.

“It’s true. Land-sakes!” Rothema breathed. Recognition flashed in her eyes. “Could it possibly be a new strain of mana?”

“Eh?” Briar recoiled, as her feet once more landed on the ground. “Isn’t that no longer possible?” She asked.

“Not quite. It was merely highly improbably. The mana we are surrounded with in our day to day lives is merely the mana which is most prevalent. There are actually documented facts of certain people becoming bearers of different colors of mana.”

Looks like I’d better not tell her about the mixed martial-mana mode. Briar noted.

“But, if that’s true, then that sickness back then-” Her eyes opened wide.

“Yes. It is as you surmised. Hades fever is not an illness. It is a deliberate means of planting a new strain of mana into people, illegally, I might add. ‘Hades Fever’ was simply what the normal doctors called it. They had no idea that it was something this terrible.” Rothema replied.

“But, why go through the effort? What does the planter even hope to accomplish? Doesn’t he know that most people would die due from mana rejection?” Briar asked.

“Of course he knew that. How could he not? But, he did it anyways.” Rothema replied.

“Then…why?” Briar asked.

Madam Rothema pointed at Briar. “Because they were probably hoping for people like you to emerge. Up until now, there are only a small percentage of people who survive Hades Fever. Moreover, it’s unknown precisely what is so special about this mana that makes it different from the usual mana.”

“…And me and my brother going out in front of everyone like this?” Briar asked, pensively.

“It’s like waving a large red flag and yelling, ‘look! It’s me! I’m a successful experiment! I’m completely open for capturing and further experimentation!’ Or something like that.” Master Thales replied.

“How did it come to this!?” Briar collapsed to the floor. “All I wanted to do was prove how well I was learning! I didn’t think that it would come to making me the number one capture target in the country!”

“Well, to be perfectly honest,” Madam Rothema noted, “We didn’t think things would escalate this badly, either. While golden eyes are certainly rare, it’s not like they can’t be naturally found…My apologies. It seems I have somewhat failed you in this regard. If I had looked more into that Hades Fever, I might have discovered all of this within a year after you arrived.”

Rien patted Briar’s head. “Don’t cry! We won’t tell anyone!” She said.

Briar smiled weakly at Rien. “Thanks. But it’s hard to hide something when it’s already out there in the open. All of my previous matches have been recorded, so if anyone was watching closely, they’d definitely notice if I changed eye colors mid-contest.”

Briar looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “I suppose this means that we’ll have to keep our guard up from now on.”

-------------------------------

In a darkened room, a figure once more pored over the match between Briar and the Muscled Swordsman. He instantly paused upon a close-up of Briar’s face. Her golden eyes shone out bright and clear in the battle.

“There we are. Now, what are you doing all the way out here? I could have sworn that the last batch was in the Grayelle kingdom…” He chuckled to himself. “But, still. How sneaky. To hide yourself in plain sight like this! In front of the entire magic council, and nobody has realized it yet! Huhuhuhu!” He chuckled again, as he transferred the image to a flat crystal card.

“Well, we must make sure that this one remains under surveillance for a while. I would hate to have Rothema catch onto things too quickly, especially when her prime pupil carries such great potential within her~AHahahahahaah!” He laughed out loud as he tossed the card onto a nearby table.

--------------------------------

“…Unforgivable!” Laura huffed. “Spreading such a dangerous thing about with such disregard for life! If I ever find him, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind!”

“Might I remind you that you were the person who originally had been plotted against with this?” Briar said. “If it weren’t for me, this could be your story, you know.”

“No way.” Laura waved her hands. “I’d be deader than a dust bowl by now, and we both know it. You and your ..huhu..brother can handle this one.”

Briar sighed and looked down on her hands. It was certainly unpleasant, but her main concern was that there was now another psychopath that she had to deal with. This time, a mad scientist! Of all the rotten luck! She frowned and closed her eyes.

Master, how should I handle this? She wondered.

Then she snapped her finger. “Ah. In times like these, it’s time for a cup of tea.”

Laura looked at her oddly. “We’ve been having tea this whole time. What on earth will having a cup of tea do to relieve the situation!?”

Briar waved a hand in reply. “This tea is different.” She took out a porcelain tea kettle, several earthen tea cups, and some tea leaves. After pouring water into the kettle, she used a small spell to regulate the temperature of the water so that the tea would steep well. Then she placed the leaves in a small cloth bag and placed it into the pot as well.

While it didn’t appear like anything had happened, soon enough, a refreshing scent filled the air. After roughly five minutes, Briar took out the cloth bag and placed it to the side, then filled the earthen cups with the liquid.

“What is that?” Laura asked.

“Tea.”

“I’ve not smelled any tea like that before! Is this another one of your strange concoctions again?” Laura asked, suspiciously.

“If you’re going to try some, I suggest you start now. While it also has a great fragrance when cooled, this tea is best served hot.” Briar suggested.

“Why should I drink something hot on a hot day when I can drink something cold on a hot day?” Laura asked.

“Suit yourself.” Briar said, sipping from her tea cup. Laura looked around and found that everyone aside from her had taken a cup, if only out of curiousity. She relented and took the last cup.

“Why, bless my soul! It’s wonderful!” Rothema exclaimed. Briar smiled. Surprisingly, Briar had come across a field of wild jasmine one day, and had sneakily spent the morning twilight hours picking them. She had also marked the spot for future acquisitions.

Since the flowers were kept fresh in the bottomless bag, she could easily store them indefinitely until she found some green tea. Preparing it was quite the chore, but the resulting taste was somewhat like the kind her master had used. The nostalgic scent instantly soothed and calmed her frazzled soul as she breathed it in.

Worry and fear clouds thoughts and good judgement alike. While the situation was a cause for concern, it had not escalated to anything yet. Now was the time to consider options for what to prepare in self-defense. It needed clear thinking and sound judgement. That is why Briar opted to have a cup of tea as soon as she heard the news.

But, while the others were only delighting in the flavor, Briar was also drinking in and sinking into her memories of her past life. The words and advice which her Master had given her over those years, surely, there would be something she could use!

Then, she remembered.

“Briar Nee-san?” Rien asked. Briar’s expression at that time was the very picture of mischief.