A man with red hair was currently being questioned on a podium in front of an assembly of important looking people, all sharing the distinct trait of long ears.

“Luca Varethe! Is this a behavior befitting the position that the Elder Council bestowed upon you?”

“You as the captain of the Flame Brigade, keep abandoning your position and running to who knows where, all with the same excuse!

“Do you think that just because you can commune with the Fire Spirit, you can keep using that as an excuse to disregard your duties!?”

Different people from the assembly yelled out one complaint after the other, trying to get Luca Varethe to admit to their allegations. Each of the claims becoming more absurd than others.

“That's enough !”

The man sitting on the highest seat on the podium called for silence. His gaze was piercing as he directed it towards Luca and spoke with an authoritative voice.

“Luca Varethe, is it true that you left yesterday's assigned post to the members of the brigade present at the area?”

“Yes elder.” Luca, who didn't answer to any of the previous allegations, obediently replied.

“What important reason, pray tell, do you have to be able to validate such a rash course of action when your absence could mean the loss of the lives of your brigade members and even of those living nearby?”

“It was to save the life of a boy.”

“Another excuse!!” One of the long-eared men stood up from his seat, pointed a finger at Luca, and was about to spout more nonsense but was made to sit down by the glare of the man who asked the question.

“And? What of the boy?”

“By the time we got to him, he was surrounded by the Nifyr in the area around Erden's Tower. He seemed to be alright as he was only unconscious.” Luca replied.

Everyone looked at the man questioning him. After a bit of pondering, he nodded his head and accepted the reason, causing the surrounding people to reluctantly stand down. They gave up and assented as they could no longer do anything to pursue the matter.

After dismissing the assembly, the highest seated man called for Luca and asked one last question.

“Where is the boy right now?”

- Daerin -

Standing in a corner of the city was a peculiar looking building. It was built at the base of the roots a rather large tree, a third of a kilometer tall, and extended into its interior. This was the building where the elder council had resided.

A while later, Luca met up with his brother-in-law, Simone, outside of the building. Only those invited by the elder council were allowed to participate in any discussions inside so Simone had to wait for Luca nearby until the assembly had ended.

“Luca! Is that farce of an assembly done?”

“It's done. Watch your words, the ears of the council are still present.”

Luca cracked his neck and shrugged his shoulders, releasing the stress from standing still at the podium.

“Doesn't matter, they won't do anything to me. Not with the old man keeping them in check.”

“Geez, you know you can't always rely on your father's influence?”

Simone showed a complicated expression, only after walking a distance away from the building did he speak.

“Those bunch of old fools keep reprimanding you like this. Aren't they just afraid for their own safety? I mean, they do know that the city needs you more than they do.”

He started complaining about the council, not bothering to separate his father's name from the aforementioned group of old fools.

“Ashur said he wanted to visit the boy.” Luca said.

After the words left Luca's mouth, Simone's footsteps were put to a halt.

“I don't think my sister would like that, you know they don't exactly get along.” He said.

“Yeah, he wants to go in person to validate the excuse for violating protocol.”

Simone clicked his tongue. He replied with an irritated tone.

“The nerve of that old man. We'd better go and inform Stella in advance.”

Luca nodded in agreement and they continued walking towards the direction of the Varethe Residence.

“You think the kid's awake?”Luca asked.

“Might be. I can smell my sister's freshly-baked bread coming from inside.”

Arriving at a dainty looking house, Luca and Simone entered through the front door and made their way to the dining room. From the doorway, they could hear the voices of a sniffling woman and a child engaged in a conversation.

- Varethe Residence -

“Mrs. Varethe? What's wrong?”

Nearing the end of his recollection, Stella had suddenly begun to shed tears. Out of concern, Urie came closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Little Urie, may I call you that?” Stella asked.

With a nod from Urie, she gave him an affectionate smile and ruffled the hair on his head.

“My little Celeste has been gone for over a year and I haven't received any news about her. I'm just relieved. My thanks to you for telling me about her.”

Looking away from her gaze, an expression of worry appeared on Urie's face.

“Is something wrong? Don't worry, we'll find a way to get you back to your family.”

“No... it's not that.” Urie paused, “We were together inside the tower just before I arrived here. I don't know if she and our friend Elicia are safe. ”

[They're fine.]

Stella and Urie were both startled. A voice had suddenly intruded upon their conversation.

Urie saw two men enter the room from the doorway, one of them having red hair similar to Celeste while the other, an appearance akin to Stella's. Both of them, however, looked equally stunned as the voice didn't seem to have come from either of them.

[It's gone now but I had to make sure, just until Luca got here.]

Reverberating throughout the room, the voice was deep and husky. The light in the room slowly dispersed before coming together in front of them in the form of a small, humanoid flame, a will-o'wisp.

“Volcanus, what do you mean?” The man with red hair asked. Seeing as he recovered from his surprise faster than the others, he must've known what it was.

[Kid, when you first arrived, you had the stench of the fire dragon's mana with you.]

“Fire Dragon?”

Assuming it was talking to him, Urie wondered about what it said. The only other person to ever mention that word in front of him was the headmaster of the academy, Arinndra.

[Have you ever met the fire dragon, child?]

“I've met an old man asking me to kill one, but the dragon in question... I don't believe I have. Umm, Sir?” Urie wasn't sure of how to address the ghostly flame.

“ About Celeste and Elicia...“

“—Volcanus!” Hearing the name of his daughter come out from the boy's mouth, Luca was flustered and came closer to the wisp. “What is this about!? You told me to pick this boy up!”

His sudden outburst prompted Simone to take a step back, he knew that Luca was prone to anger.

“Why does he know about my daughter!?”

“Luca shut it!”

Different from the warm impression that Urie had gotten from her earlier, Stella looked threatening as she shot her husband a glare, dousing his anger with cold water.

“S—Sorry, Stella.” Luca apologized.

[Humph, cowering at the words of others! That is no way for someone who has received my blessing to—huk!]

Volcanus, the Greater Fire Spirit, shut his mouth as the target of Stella's glare shifted from Luca to himself.

“So... floating candlewick. Explain everything.” Standing up and crossing her arms, Stella instructed.

[Floating—! How dare you compare this magnificent fire to–— fine!]

The fire spirit floated down to their eye level and spoke with a reluctantly humbler tone.

[Although I have no idea how you got into that room, I assume you came here through Erden's Tower?] He directed a question at Urie.

[The connection I left over at your side was agitated by the small trace of the fire dragon's mana that was with you.]

Urie remembered the red glow that appeared on his head when he was attacked by the dark, mysterious magic creature.

[That triggered a reaction in the tower's mana, transferring you over to our side. Once I felt the disturbance, I instructed Luca here to check on the tower where they found you.]

“Volcanus, you sayin' he's from wherever you sent my daughter a year ago?” Luca asked with a raised voice.

[Stop being so loud, boy!]

The Fire Spirit yelled at Luca as it was irritated at his behavior. Luca, becoming meeker at the spirit's admonition, asked again,

“If this boy can come here, then couldn't my daughter return as well?”

[She can't. It wasn't just me that was involved in transferring your daughter. The situation was dire so I used my connection on their side to contact Undine. ]

“Then we could send him back the same way, and then—!“

[My connection had already been severed the moment the boy came here. Back then, Undine could take your daughter because she was eligible to receive her blessing. It was a stroke of luck that this boy was present at the same spot on the other side to act as the medium of the transfer of mana—]

Volcanus was interrupted. His body was starting to flicker away. The flames that radiated from him, dimming.

[I can't hold this form any longer. I can't separate my consciousness from my origin for too long, the Nifyr would become rampant.]

Volcanus' body slowly dispersed, returning light to the room.

[— Kid, someone will be here to fill you in on the other details. We will talk again sometime...]

With no candles or lamps, Urie was initially curious about where the lighting had come from. He wondered if it was Volcanus that was providing it.

“Wait, Volcanus, I have a lot more questions!” Luca wanted to ask a few more things but no longer heard any replies.

“He's gone... So that was the Fire Spirit, huh?” Simone, who had stayed quiet throughout the conversation looked intrigued.

The emotions of a person blessed by a greater spirit would be more or less affected by the spirit's personality. Seeing how the Fire Spirit interacted with them, he finally saw the source of Luca's hot-headedness.

“My sister could rein in brother-in-law... I didn't know she could do the same with the fire spirit.”

He muttered under his breath, being careful not to let Stella hear him.