(...) Long ago, only those who had the form of an animal were able to wield magic. Later, when they had enough of racial segregation, they joined with people. Some used their mana and form-shifting abilities t0 experimentally transform themselves into battle tools created by humans. This weakened their magical skills, locking them in a third form. Shockingly, their descendants were born with this form instead of being mages, with the same form as chosen by their initiator, which could not be reversed. The military in every country saw the potential in this and encouraged the animal-eared to abandon their magical powers in favor of becoming a weapon of war, for they were better and more durable than the prototypes that came from humans. Then those born without magical powers began to be born with them through blood mixing, and by combining them with the animal-people weapons, armies of havoc and death have been created. However, even the victims of the war cannot deny that the sight of the master and his weapons at his side is one of the greatest works of art.

~ Rin via Kavaru, History of the Old Era.

Chapter 3

To heavens, or to nothingness

A young boy ran into the office where the army base was located. He was an adept, most often involved in the transmission of information, and the rest of his duties were to train his abilities. He knocked on the door of the general's office.

“General!” he shouted. “We have some important news!”

“Come in, comrade.” The young boy obediently opened the door. He saw a black-haired woman sitting by her desk filling in the rest of the census documents. She bent down while sitting on a chair with papers in her hands and started putting them into a big box.

“What news do you bring?”

“We bring news... Unsatisfactory ones.” He swallowed hard. Emerald shifted her sight to him.

“Speak, comrade. No one will cut your head off for bringing bad news.” She looked at the box again, took different files of paper and put them carefully into it.

“...General, we’ve found two dead bodies. They belong to a magician and an ordinary soldier, but we’ve noticed traces of a magical aura as well. One of them belonging to the soldier and the other to the murderer... We’re suspecting Matevigo Jenkins.”

Emerald squeezed the sheets of paper in her hands. A drop of sweat appeared on the young man's face.

“But I will cut off the head of the one who made this happen. - She answered in a terrifying tone. - What were their names?”

“Edmund of Videni, Herweush of Myzen.” He answered solemnly.

“I’ve got two orders, comrade: First of them is to take their bodies to their hometowns and bury them there. Second: I’m ordering for the manhunt for Matevigo Sivio Jenkins to be extended to the whole country’s area, he is to be declared a dangerous criminal. Execute immediately, pass it to other stations, Matevigo is to be captured alive!”

“Yes, general!” he saluted and then ran out of the room. Emerald closed the door using her magic, sat down in her chair and put her fist on her forehead, leaning her head against her.

‘What an absolutely shitty situation...’ she thought. ‘Hopefully it'll get him away from Ed and Peter... And then when I catch him, I'll put him on trial.’

~

Finally, after spending the night in the clinic, Peter dared to go home. He spent the whole night thinking about how to apologize to Edward. He thought he would explain why he did it, swear he would never harm himself again, and do everything he could to make up for it. All the way home he thought about what he would say to his brother. He stopped in front of the gate, breathed deeply, then opened it with a key and went towards the house. The closer he was to it, the more his breath and heartbeat accelerated. When he got to the library door, he shyly knocked on the door.

“Ed? Are you...?” He opened the door and looked inside. He didn't find his brother there. He was a little surprised. ‘Maybe he went into town?’, he thought.

He looked into Kasei's room, Ed's bedroom, and other rooms, such as the kitchen, the large storage where they kept most of their things, and even the bathroom, but Edward or Kasei were nowhere to be found. Peter was worried. He went out into the courtyard with no idea where else to look, and then he noticed a piece of paper lying on a wooden table. He came closer and read it. He recognized his brother's handwriting.

‘Left with Kasei?’ He thought, and then closed his eyes. ‘It's understandable that he needs to rest...’

Peter fold the card and put it in his shirt pocket. He went into Ed's library again thinking he could find something here. He looked carefully at the titles of books that were lying on his desk, the majority of them were about philosophy, which did not surprise the golden-haired man. But after a while he found a book about plants, the natural ones, as well as those created by magic. He thought he could use it, so he willingly took it into his hands and opened it. He flipped a few pages and then closed it and put it under his arm. He searched a bit more, but he didn't find anything new. After a while he thought he might find some useful books at Ian's home, but quickly got the thought out of his head. The military forbid him from going there until Mateo was caught.

Peter went out of the house, worried about them, but knew they needed a break. Now he wanted to focus on hard work to make up for the stress he caused them. H also decided to prepare something during their absence that would make them feel better when they returned. He didn't know what he will do yet, but he believed that the idea would soon come to him. When he closed the gate, someone stopped him. It was Cassandra.

“Peter, there you are... What happened? Ed ran away from home crying, then you...”

“Well, we had a fight.” He said, lowering his head down. “Doesn't Granny know where he might be now?”

“He isn’t here?”

“Well... I think he was, but he left me a message that he's going somewhere with Kasei for a while and that I don’t need to worry.”

“Strange...” The old woman thought. “He hasn’t told me anything, and most often he tells me about his future trips. Maybe it’s for some books again, or to listen to some lectures. I don't know well where he goes. Don't worry, I know you're stressed out after that quarrel, but Ed will come back for sure.”

“I know” he answered with a slight smile. “Thank you, Grandma!”

Peter ran straight ahead and the granny only smiled. Peter's concern, thanks to her assurance, has diminished. Now he wanted to focus on his work and his patients.