"Go ahead," Leanne frowned as she squinted at the girl. From their vantage point looking at the girl, the sun directly shone into their eyes. Ada felt perfectly fine staring at the sun but Leanne as a mortal felt quite uncomfortable.

"Give me ... give me one second," the redhead named Ruciella leaned against the wall and steadied herself. She took a few deep breathes and arched her back. She twisted her neck slightly to rearrange a few hair strands that have jostled in front of her face. The afternoon golden sunlight glinted off her fiery locks in vibrant ruby hues.

Quite a beauty here with red hair and emerald eyes but finally here's a girl even shorter than me, Ada observed with an odd feeling of superiority. Ada was never bullied for being short but she still felt a little self-conscious for being usually the shortest person in any room or any roof, the latter being a rather less frequented social ground.

"Fajika rajis?" the man's voice rang from the steel box. The sound sounded jarring and strange. On her next script update, she would have to add in the feature of an optional padding to the box since a steel cube created quite the annoying echo.

"Randa satrli, sayone meas!" Leanne replied tersely in a stern tone without turning around. In Ada's head, her words translated to, "Shut the hell up, you bearded disgusting man!" She doubted Leanne was this mean though.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Leanne asked Ruciella.

"His name is Sçæaisøh and he's one of the thugs hired by the local city council to handle certain matters. He would be a lot more threatening if he wasn't such a pickled fish gill. And don't worry. He can't understand the Divine Tongue so I can insult him."

"Pickled fish gill?" Leanne asked.

"Sorry, local slangs don't translate well. Not sure why it means what it means but it refers to someone who is both stupid and cowardly. This guy is also not the best man for spying but the council seemed to have a lot of faith in him for some bizarre reason. I'm not surprised you two caught him. Any way, he was probably sent here to observe two highly suspicious people," Ruciella talked so fast that she took a moment to catch her breath after her explanation.

"Watch us? How are we suspicious?" Ada spoke up.

"Is that a trick question?" Ruciella appeared genuinely surprised.

"No, it's not. Lots of people in the Galacia Club speaks the Divine Tongue. How are we suspicious?"

"That's true for members of the Galacia Club but the average person can't speak the Divine Tongue. And here shows up two people with the capability to speak the Divine Tongue that neither the Galacia Club nor the Czitu government knows about? Add on to that you're not priestesses. How is this not strange?"

"Hmm, I can see your point. We were actually trying to keep a low profile but it seems that's out of the question now. Do you know what the city council want to do with us?"

"I am also curious on what you suggest we do with Sçæaisøh here?" Leanne added.

"I'm honestly surprised you have so much faith in me."

"Um...thank you?" Ada said.

"Just saying that I'm used to being ignored by all the grown-ups around here when I feel like I have something worthwhile to say. Even Master Obar a lot of times," Ruciella grimaced.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Leanne's face softened.

"I'm sorry too. Yeah, okay, I completely understand how you feel," Ada sympathized.

"Well, clearly, you two are very intelligent but I wouldn't expect any less from two magicians."

"Magicians?"

"Master Obar suspected it but I didn't really believe his words until I saw what you did making the quicksand and the cage."

"It's science technically?"

"Science?" the girl looked like she had never heard of the word.

Might as well go with it since the truth is even more unbelievable, Ada thought and sighed. She formulated her words carefully. "You're right. We are magicians. Will this be a problem?"

"Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me. I'm not an ignorant commoner. I have always thought that developed human ability is way more interesting than any of the deity blessings," Ruciella exclaimed. "This also explains why you know the Divine Tongue. I'm guessing you learned it at an Academy?"

Ada glanced over at Leanne and a wordless consent passed between them. They both nodded.

"This is great! I never thought that I would meet fellow magic practitioners. I mean...I'm not a magician or part of any Academy myself but I do have a friend who is attending one. I'm guessing you must be from one of the other Academies? Maybe the one in the Southern Isles?"

"Yeah, we've tried to stay away from the limelight. We left as soon as we could. Too much politicking if you know what I mean?"

"I completely get it. No need to explain more. Before she moved overseas, my friend would always talk about how the professors and staff were constantly backstabbing each other. Also, the smartest students were always passed over for any rewards or special courses since they typically weren't the ones belonging to families with the most political or financial clout," Ruciella's words fired off of her mouth like firecrackers going off. Ada decided that if she was going to give this girl a nickname, little firecracker would be an appropriate choice.

"I guess that's the same everywhere. Even worse where I'm from to be honest," Ada concurred.

"As Master Obar has always said, genius has its limits. Stupidity does not," Ruciella nodded.

"Yup, and not everyone who attends an Academy is there for the right reason," Ada nodded as well.

"Sorry but may I interrupt one moment? What are we planning to do with Sçæaisøh?" Leanne interjected.

"Usually, I won't suggest such a drastic measure but we may have to before anyone shows up...or his dog. Sçæaisøh usually has a mangy mutt by his side but I don't see the disgusting creature anywhere."

"Is his dog something we need to worry about?"

"Maybe? The dog is definitely more threatening than the man himself. A number of people who threatened Sçæaisøh have been sent to the clinic for months due to his dog. I think it's larger than you," Ruciella pointed straight at Ada. Ada was amused and could not hide a small grin. On the issue of height here, the pot was calling the kettle black. Or as her mom would say in Chinese, fifty steps laughing at 100 steps. Ah, those Chinese proverbs always tripped her up when her mom just threw them out casually but she did remember some of the more common ones.

"My suggestion is to get rid of him. If we let him go, he's just going to report to the city council and they're all idiots who would want to examine you for your abilities or imprison you at the very least. I mean magicians are very uncommon and always seen as dangerous. I doubt even Master Obar could stop them if they claim you're two rogue magicians endangering the well-being of fine citizens such as this fine citizen here," Ruciella continued and pointed at the metal box.

"We? Are you saying you are with us now?" Leanne asked.

"Magicians always stick together even if from a rival Academy."

"But you just said you are not a magician," Leanne pointed out.

"Uh um, I'm not explaining myself very well. I want to help you guys, okay? We're all young girls. We shouldn't be pushed around by old men with fat pocketbooks and overblown egos."

"I agree with Ruciella here. Leanne, you and I are not going to go to jail or be examined like lab specimens. But are you really suggesting killing a man?"

"Possibly? I mean he's a real scumbag. I know he raped a woman and had her husband beaten up just because they couldn't pay back some money she owed to a rich merchant on the council."

"But kill? This is taking the story to a whole new level. Have you ever killed anyone?"

"I haven't," Ruciella gulped.

"I have not either," Leanne said.

"And neither have I," Ada added. Ruciella didn't notice but Ada saw a flash of surprise on Leanne's face.

"Did she really think I would kill someone that easily?" Ada thought. "But from what I infer, the gods in this world don't really care if mortals die. Humans must seem like ants to them. Or maybe cockroaches. Do cockroaches even exist here? If they do, I sure hope they're not huge like the size of the bugs I saw earlier."

"I'm sorry for suggesting that. It's just something that popped in my mind. But on the other hand, what else can we do?" Ruciella scratched her head furiously.

"I wish I had some power to compel him to do what we want. Maybe we can threaten him?" Ada said.

"Threatening him won't work since he'll be way more scared of the Council than us. If they find out, his life would be toasted like a well-fried mackerel. On Compulsion powers, these are quite rare. I don't know anyone who has mastered it at the local Academy here. Despite my faith in our human abilities, I know that there are things which gods find easy while we mortals find near impossible."

"Huh? Explain?" Ada asked curiously.

"Well, it's easy for deities to enforce their will on their followers. It's the highest level of Compulsion actually where the followers would have no choice but to obey. I hear a deity can even force the follower to change his or her personality to follow dictates. And there's no way to squeeze out of this," Ruciella explained and then added. "That's what I heard from my friend any way."

"Leanne, did you know this?" Ada turned to her Seer and tried to smooth her face at the sudden shock of knowing the level of control she has over Leanne.

Leanne nodded. "What the girl is saying is true. Are you thinking that we should force him to comply?"

"I'm thinking that may be the simplest way. I don't have anything ready at hand to transport him without attracting a lot of attention. And if he goes missing, we'll be the culprits so it's a moot point to do that to start with," Ada replied.

"As you wish. I can be your translator."

"What are you two talking about?" Ruciella looked at the two in apparent confusion.

"Ruciella, would you kindly leave? We are going to perform a powerful ritual here to ensure that he tells the council nothing," Leanne said.

"Uh, if you don't mind, can I stay?"

"It might be dangerous," Ada lied.

"I may be little but I'm not scared. I am perfectly capable of handling myself," the girl puffed up her chest. Good attempt but that hardly looked convincing, Ada thought.

"Oh good! I have full faith in you. If the mutt comes back, we can use your help dealing with it," Ada replied with what she hoped was convincing enthusiasm.