When I opened my eyes the next morning there was a young girl’s face staring directly at me. “Good Morning, Tomar!”

“Wuah! Riala!?”

She was smiling at me, as if standing there, in front of my bed, in my room, in my house, was the most ordinary thing in the world. “What are you doing here?” I asked after I had recovered from the shock.

“We made you breakfast!” she said.

“We?” I looked out of my room into the hallway, where Zara was waving at me.

“I couldn’t convince her that you didn’t need us to bring you breakfast anymore,” she said with a frown.

“We also got you water!” Riala followed up.

It was so nice of them to still worry about me, but after accepting the food and the water I sat down with Riala and told her that I would be fine. That she didn’t have to worry anymore.

“Do you promise that you’re better?” she asked.

“I promise.”

She looked at me with suspicion, but accepted what I had said. After Zara apologized for barging into the house like they had, we said our goodbyes and the two were on their way.

‘The girl was really worried about you,’ Miles commented.

“Hmhm. I see that now. She shouldn’t have to look after someone else at that age though,” I said, dejected.

‘She’ll be fine, another breakfast or two and she’ll take the hint.’

“Very funny.”

I had to be at work in an hour, so I started to get ready. I ate the food, used the water, and put on my suit. Then I left the house to go to my first official day of work. Even though I had never felt out of place in my old clothes, something felt different about walking through the streets in a suit. People were looking at you differently. Like an adult. A contributing member of society. I kind of like it.

When I arrived at the office in time, Borus was already working. Mirya had arrived just before me and was getting ready as well. “Let’s do it!” came Borus’ battle cry.

For the first few hours we essentially did the same things we had done yesterday, but shortly after noon we stumbled over something that was immensely interesting to Miles. An order form for stones that was due next month.

‘This is it...’ he said.

Going by this form, the addressant, and other files we found in the archive, it appeared that stones were ordered regularly, always adjusted for current demand. And they came from the neighboring town, a place I knew nothing about.

To Miles’ disappointment, we learned from Borus that there was no reason why we would have to travel anywhere. The deals would be made by other departments and experienced merchants, all we had to do at this point was manage the orders.

‘The job description lied to me...’

We still gleaned interesting information from the forms and Borus, however. Like the fact that we were ordering not only blue stones. For convenience's sake, we were also responsible for ordering white stones in summer, for the rituals. And finally, there was one order, where one time, we had ordered a black one. A stone color I had never seen or heard of before. Unfortunately, Borus didn’t know anything about it either.

“Some high ranking jerk wanted it and we sent the order together with the one for blue stones. All orders go through us, but we don’t really see where the non-blue stones go,” he said.

Apparently you needed to have some sway to just order random stones, because of how every bit of additional cargo made the trip to the neighboring town and back a bigger risk.

During a break, while I was taking a walk, Miles began theorizing what the stones might be used for. We knew the blue ones were for creating water, and the white ones were used in the rituals. Those were widely varying applications, however, and we didn’t know the ritual script. That made it even more difficult to determine what the stone was for.

The black stone was an even greater mystery. Someone had ordered it, so they must’ve had some kind of use for it. But we didn’t even know where exactly it had gone. We couldn’t just order one ourselves, and we wouldn’t see white stones before the rituals next year. The only ones we got on the regular were blue stones.

With that, all hopes of going out of town or discovering other stone colors had been crushed for Miles. Honestly, I was glad, as this would make it easier for him. He wouldn’t be tempted to want to leave town and risk our lives, or go to a water source for experiments early in the morning again. We had learned how the water source script worked, and there were no more plants or stones. There was nothing more to do. We could stay as far away from beasts as possible.

***

I started to like my job, even if I didn’t understand half of what Miles had me doing yet. I figured that if we did this kind of work for a few years, I would eventually even learn enough to do it by myself.

That line I had said to Gean back when I had chosen this job started to sound more genuine in my mind as well. Bringing vital resources to citizens. This was an important job, and I was proud that Miles and I were doing it well. We worked, we talked with our colleagues, issues came up, they were resolved, we shared laughs and worries. And it did turn out that Borus was a nice guy, just as Mirya had assumed.

After another long day, I left the office in the late afternoon to go home. When I arrived at the main square, my eyes fell on the market in the distance, as I realized that I didn’t have any food at home. I wouldn’t even have had something to eat this morning if Zara and Riala hadn’t been there... Maybe they should keep worrying over me after all, I thought with an awkward smile. Since I was alone now, I didn’t have much of a choice. I prepared myself and made my way over to the market district.

In an attempt to not wander too deep into the streets, I stopped at the first stall that had a decent selection. Despite my best efforts, the young and pretty merchant immediately locked onto me as she praised her wares. When she came closer, to whisper in my ear, I heard a warning from Miles while I was already taking a step back.

She looked at me impishly as she said “Sorry, got to try with newbies.”

How she knew that I wasn’t a regular market visitor I didn’t know, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again easily. Not after Mother’s lecture. As an apology, the young woman actually gave me some helpful tips, like avoiding attractive members of the opposite sex if I wanted to lower the risk. Apparently they could have a field day with inexperienced shoppers that didn’t pay attention, which I had experienced firsthand.

A little proud over having paid reasonable prices for food, I finally was on route back home again.

‘Good job.’

“Thanks,” I said with a laugh.

This was what my mother had done almost daily. A normal routine.

I was almost on the main street, when I noticed a large man that was apparently waiting for me. Once I had gotten close enough and stopped before him, he spoke up. “Tomar, do you mind walking together and having a talk?” Gean asked.

A little nervous, I agreed. I didn’t have any real reason to refuse him, and I didn’t plan to tell him anything. He started by giving me his condolences, but the next thing he said made me stop in my tracks. “You’re being investigated.”

He motioned me to keep going, but it took me a few seconds until I managed to will myself to stop staring at him and move forward again.

“I don’t know all the details,” he said, “and I don’t know your situation, but I’ve been questioned by a guard captain about your test. He is suspicious about something, and the questions he asked made it obvious what he’s thinking.”

Gean had already believed it, and now there were more people who thought something was off. I gulped as Gean leaned closer and asked “Are you a Mad One?”

Before saying anything, I actually thought about the question for a moment. I actually aren’t, am I? I hadn’t reconsidered this question since the beginning. Naturally, I initially thought I had the Mad Calling. Even on second thought, that would’ve seemed like the right answer to me. But aside from the voice in my head, there was not a single thing that would qualify me as a Mad One. And even though my Calling wasn’t a traditional one, Miles was helping me with my work, as a Calling was supposed to do. Not only that, he was doing a good job! I didn’t know what I was, but I wasn’t a Mad One.

“No, I’m not,” I answered, truthfully.

“But something is going on with you. I’ve noticed that from the start,” Gean said and I flinched again. “Listen,” he continued, “I was curious about what had happened to you, but I didn’t mean any harm. After the test, I didn’t consider you a danger anymore. I just wanted to let you know that something is happening. Take care of yourself.”

With that, he took a turn to head in the direction of his own house, while I was looking after him.

“Why did he tell me that?” I asked Miles.

‘Shrug.’

“Did you just say ‘shrug?’”

‘You’re right, that was weird. You shrug for me.’

We chuckled lightly before Miles started again. ‘It’s hard to say what his intentions were just now. That confession only confirmed our suspicions that he was looking into you. And that won’t exactly lower your defenses, especially if there’s supposedly yet another person investigating. I think he might actually be looking out for you.’

Gean disappeared around a corner and I finally made my way back home. Someone is investigating me. So what? I thought. I was just a normal young man that had been involved in a weird beast incident. Of course they would look into that. But from now on there would be absolutely nothing suspicious about my life. Just like the past two days. I would visit the market, go to work, befriend my colleagues, do my part, and maybe visit Zara and Riala some time, to thank them for all their help by inviting them to dinner. My normal life starts now, I thought.

***

“Any news on the boy?” the High Priest asked the figure that was kneeling before him, clad in black.

“Yes, sir. Gean Maila met with him. We couldn’t get close enough to make out the topic of their conversation, but the two of them talked for several minutes before parting ways.”

“Gean? You don’t say...” the High Priest mused. Gean still showing interest in the boy, even after clearing him, only strengthened his suspicions. He had to be careful about how he would approach this situation, but if he was right, Tomar could be a huge asset to him.

“Other interested parties?” he asked.

“We’ve seen activity from the king’s agents and the eastern guard. They appear to be following Mr. Remor less aggressively, however.”

That’s good, the High Priest thought. He might be a step ahead of the others. Given the current situation, he was hopeful to be able to get to Tomar first. He decided to make a move soon as he dismissed the figure in black. I can’t let him slip through my fingers, he thought.