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“The afflux of newcomers seems to never end…”

My co-worker never ceased to complain. It was amazing on its own.

“Look, I know it’s not easy… But you have to do your job properly. Otherwise they’ll cut your pay. You already know that, right?”

We were assigned a few days ago as assistants to the administration department. Our job wasn’t that complicated, all we needed to do was consigning the name, origin and reason of visit of each person entering Lagida.

We also had to record every merchandises they brought inside their carts before giving them the go. Equipment, consumables, food, everything had to be checked in order to avoid any dangerous article to bring harm to the populace.

It wasn’t that hard of a job… The most difficult part was the visitor himself. If in your misery you found yourself with someone who tried to play the big head, well… As students hired as assistants, we couldn’t do much ourselves, so we relied on the stationed guards to keep the line in order and to dissuade those kinds of people to try and cheat us.

Those case asides, I could not hide it was a hassle to have to check by yourself everything they got. Common objects were… Well, common, as the name implied. For everything else, we had to check more thoroughly.

“Magic, show me its properties.” I casted an analysing-type of spell at the artefact. The thing looked like an urn, but the suspicious fog it generated could be harmful in some way.

“There is no need to worry, my boy. This magic item is specifically designed to add a foggy ambiance inside a room. I already tried it myself, it’s harmless.” The fat merchant described to me the uses of this object. I thanked him for his explanation, however I still couldn’t let him in as long as I didn’t receive confirmation from my magic that the thing was indeed harmless.

While holding the urn in my left hand, I grabbed a small paper in the other. Words slowly appeared on it, filling the cases with the information I asked for.

“Let’s see… Urn of fog’s the name… It does function the way you describe it, sir…”

“Then it’s fine, right?”

“Well… Even though it doesn’t say it’s poisonous, I am still not certain if the fog can be dense enough to block one’s vision… Also, I don’t believe it’s limited to its environment. We’re outside, and the thing is trying to cough fog in my hand.”

“Then it’s fine, right?”

I sighed hearing me repeating the same question. Why was he so impatient about this one item? I wanted to throw it away, however I had a respectable job to do right now.

“Just in case, I have to record it in our yellow list. You can bring it inside Lagida, however you will need a permission to sell it.”

“But why? You said it yourself, it’s perfectly harmless. Nobody can choke on fog, right?”

“This and that are different, sir. I suggest you bring it to the official appraisers if you wish to sell it. They can give you the permit after further investigation on the matter.”

“That’s absurd.” He had to insist, of course. “What’s the point of you analysing it if you tell me I must seek another sorcerer?”

“Sir, if you-“

“Nah man.” Interrupted my fellow co-worker. “Let him go with the item. What’s the worst that could happen from selling an unauthorized item anyway? Prison? Interrogation? Torture? I mean, it’s only a perfectly harmless magical urn, right?”

He was devilishly smiling when he enunciated each of the punishment that criminals were sentenced. The bastard, he enjoyed looking people from above whenever he had the opportunity. I didn’t like when he acted like that… But I disliked it even more when I thought I owed him for this one.

For some reason, the merchant was suddenly less reluctant to go against the rules, and bid us farewell before disappearing behind the walls.

When he were alone again, I turned to face my co-worker.

“Damn it Torne. Stop scaring my line of visitors.”

“Don’t be like that. You’re smiling too, you know?”

Of course I was smiling after what happened. You piece of… Nevermind. I will have to ask him later what kind of beer he would like to drink tonight.

…

Our team leader rang the ball, signalling the end of our turn. Neither Torne nor I were tired, and we could continue this work for the rest of the day, however that was only from our perspective. For some reasons I was profusely sweating, and I needed a drink to water my dry throat.

Spending half of the day inspecting the incoming guests didn’t sound that tiring. What actually exhausted us the most was casting magic again and again with no rest. We weren’t that winded, but I couldn’t deny we were in a state where we lacked focus.

Our job here was over, so together with my friend we left the place and entered the city. The sun was high in the sky and my stomach growled with ferocity.

“Argh… I need to eat something…”

“Same… How about a brochette?”

“Are you asking me to pay you back now?”

Again with his devilish smile. Damn this guy. But I didn’t mind, I would gladly accept a fast food at this time of the day.

I didn’t have much on me, but the stall itself wasn’t expansive either so it was fine. We passed through the streets while eating our brochette, talking about how we would spend the rest of the day.

“I’m not as free as you. I have to go back to the Small council and see what I missed.”

This guy had it rough.

“Then why did you volunteer as an assistant in the first place?”

“Because this morning’s meeting is about something I don’t particularly care.”

Torne was a member of the Small council. It meant he basically had as much influence as a professor in Lagida. Fellow students liked to call it the student council because only students could be part of it… Actually, only the elites could be part of it.

It was a small group with the purpose of handling communication between teachers and students, but they also many other responsibilities which eluded me. Not that I wasn’t curious, but I wasn’t part of it, so it didn’t concern me.

Anyway, this guy admitted he ran away from his duty. How should I admonish him?

“Please don’t tell everyone.”

“It is too late to plead!” but I kept my silence, sighing while facing his exasperating behaviour.

I took another bite in my brochette, biting at the last piece of tender meat. This thing was delicious, maybe it was the sauce or the heating or I didn’t know, but I didn’t regret spending my money on it.

I gulped it down before asking him the unavoidable question “What was the meeting about? For you to actually not attend, it must have been horrendous.”

“No it wasn’t about butterfly or flowers. You know I’m specializing myself in limbology, right?”

The studies of the world of demons, a plane where the soul was supposed to go after our death or something like that. I didn’t know much about it myself. He was the specialist, not me.

“Yes. So what?”

“Well… Let’s just say they were talking about something that didn’t interest me.”

Curiosity was not a bad thing. I thought it wasn’t bad to know a lot of things related to magic, but alas you cannot spend enough time in one day to be curious about everything.

“Oh, we’re here.”

We arrived at the central plaza. From here, we were attacked by all the colours of the rainbow. There were garlands hanging from trees to trees, the façades were adorned with many wooden shape forming a constellation of stars that are probably enchanted to shine in the darkness of the night.

Everything here seemed to come from a festival… Well, the festival would begin tomorrow actually.

A three days long festivity to celebrate an old tale. It was a tradition held by our ancestors that we kept in our calendar even on this day.

I think I’ve read somewhere what this tale recounted. It was about how the world suddenly became a better place or something in the same line.

“Alright, I’m going this way. See ya later.”

“Yeah. Bye, Torne.”

He probably had a ton of paper to read, and a long scolding to attend from his colleagues. Poor guy. Or not.

As for me, my work wasn’t done yet. Even if the festival hadn’t officially started yet, it didn’t stop some people to already start selling, like the brochette stall. Someone had to make sure the rules were followed even now, so I must regroup with the team I will patrol for the rest of the day.

But before that, I had a special someone to visit first. Just thinking about her made me smile.

I jogged towards my destination. Luckily it wasn’t that far from the plaza so I was there in a couple of minutes. I climbed the few stairs leading to the main entrance and searched for my keys. They were in my pockets. I used the longest one to open the door before coming inside my home.

“I’m home!” I yelled at the corridor to let everyone know it was me.

“I’m in the living room!” A gentle voice answered back.

I silently casted a refreshing spell to cool my head before following the voice back to the living room. There, I saw a beautiful yume sitting on the sofa reading a book about some monsters from the deep sea. She had a strange hobby, but… She was Narufi Drimhduno, previously Narufi Linieïera. She was my wife.

She let go of the book as soon as she saw me, showing a worried look at my sight.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to work until daybreak?”

“I have a short break, so I wanted to see you.” I gave her a small lie. Who cared if I was a tad late? I didn’t for sure if I could use this time to see my beloved.

She smiled when I gently hugged her. “Don’t be so rough, you’ll hurt the baby.”

“Oh. Sorry.” That’s right. Her belly showed she obviously was pregnant. I tried to be delicate with her, but sometimes I forgot myself when I missed her that much.

“What did the healing sorcerer told you?”

“The same as always.” She cheerfully laughed because I must have asked the same question too many times. “Everything will be fine. It’s only a matter of days before he is born.”

“I see…” I could not not touch her belly when I knew the baby inside was my child. In a few days, I would become a papa. This single thought gave me all the strength to shed all the sweat and the blood I had to everyday.

“So, when he’s born… We’ll have to visit your tribe, right?”

As every yume, Narufi was part of a tribe where she had to baptise her child according to the Rules. Only then would the toddler be recognized by the spirits and be granted their protection when he would need it the most.

“That’s right, I hope it doesn’t bother you too much with your studies…”

“Not at all. Nobody at the Academy would mind if I departed for a few days.”

Besides… I found it hard to tell her directly, even if she already knew what my intentions were when I would escort her. She already knew what kind of studies I specialized in, but it didn’t bother her at all. Actually, I think that was what drew us closer.

I’m Syrias Drimhduno, a student at the Academy of Lagida. And I specialize in the studies of the famous yume’s spirits.