Thursday, February 19th, N.E. 807, 07:54

Pine Family Carriage, 3rd Circle, Royal Capital Arvas, Fredirin Kingdom.

Olivia Pine Fredirin.

“It’s been awhile since you’ve been to school, I hope you haven’t fallen behind Olivia.” My sister, who was sitting beside me in the carriage, said.

“Mmm,” I replied off hand.

School… I had never experienced something like school.

“I’m sure she will be fine.” Sitting across from us reading a book, Timothy added without looking up.

“Mmm.”

In my previous life, there was nothing like a school, at least not to this extent. The powerful, and the knowledgeable, would take disciples, and they would teach them in something that was similar to a classroom. But, these classrooms, if they could even be called that, were not part of any greater facility, they were separate, belonging to the one who had taken the disciples.

“At least there is only today and tomorrow until the weekend, so you will not need to suffer through an entire week.”

“...”

There were a few military training schools, and a few groupings that were essentially research institutes, but a structure dedicated to teaching a wide variety of subjects, was a foreign concept.

“Olivia…? Are you okay?” Pamela whispered to me.

“Mmm…?” I looked at her confused, I wasn’t fully paying attention. “I am fine.”

The Olivia that existed before I had woken up, she had gone to school. And her entire existence was now a part of me, so memories of school existed with me. But…

“Are you sure?” She whispered again, seemingly trying to avoid letting our brother hear.

“Yes.”

But… what that Olivia did not know, or did not understand, existed in far greater amounts than she could have ever known. I, however, understood far more than she could have ever begun to comprehend.

“You are sweating though?” Pamela’s voice seemed unsure.

While my understanding and knowledge far exceeded the prior Olivia, the fact was, I didn’t really know what to expect in school.

“Hey? Olivia?” Pamela’s voice had gotten a bit louder, enough to draw Timothy’s glance up from the book he was engrossed in.

That Olivia, she had few positive memories of school, but many negative ones. In fact, she absolutely dreaded going to school. But, she had held it in, for fear of burdening her brother and sister.

“Olivia, look at me!”

Pamela was now in front of me and kneeling down so that her face was right in front of mine. I could see Timothy had put his book down and was standing behind her, worry could be seen in both of their eyes.

“I… am fine” I choked out, my mouth was strangely dry.

“Timothy, tell the driver to stop.”

“No!” I almost shouted. “No, we need to go to school.”

Right, we needed to go to school. We needed to maintain our schedule as much as possible, to avoid suspicion, we could not skip. No matter how badly the prior Olivia did not want to go.

No matter how badly I did not want to go either.

“Olivia, what is wrong?” Pamela’s voice was steady, but I ignored it.

Why did I want to avoid school this badly? The prior me hated it, but she was only a part of me. I wasn’t her, not anymore, what upset her would not bother me.

There must be… a memory or something I didn’t notice, I need to look through those memories again. No matter how painful they were.

“Hey! Pamela, what is going on?”

“Just stop the carriage, she needs to get out.”

Memories of Gimmy being taken from me and burnt with acid.

Memories of eating alone in the cafeteria until I was chased out and forced to eat elsewhere.

Memories of having my books cut and covered in ink.

Memories of having my belongings disappear.

“We can’t stop the carriage, we are on a major road.”

“Shit! Olivia, look at me!”

I remembered having food, rolled up paper, even dirt, thrown at me.

I could remember the mocking whispers that followed me wherever I went.

The muffled snickering whenever I couldn’t answer a question.

“Olivia, it is okay. Just calm down.”

I could feel Pamela pull me into a hug, but it did not stop my memories from returning.

That time I was locked in the bathroom.

That time when I was pushed down the stairs.

That time when hot tea was poured on me.

That time someone used a knife to cut away some of my hair.

“Pamela, what is going on!?”

“She is having a panic attack,” Pamela said while drawing me deeper into her embrace. “Don’t worry Oliva, it will all be okay. It will be fine. Just calm down. It’s okay, you are safe here.”

Pamela… right, my sister, I could even remember when my classmates mocked her, claiming she was a worthless mage and a worthless artist. This one time, and only this time, I had stood up, fought back.

And for my efforts, I had been smacked in the face, had my hair pulled, and then was dragged outside where I was tied to a bench in the rain. If not for a groundskeeper who found me, who knew how long I'd have been tied there.

“Ha… Ha… Ha… need… Ha… School…” I tried to speak, but could only pant furiously.

“Olivia!” Pamela shouted as she grabbed my face with both hands and forced my gaze to meet her eyes. Some small part of me wondered where her eye patch had gone. “Breath. Slow. Breath in. Breath out. Do not think of anything else. Breath in. Breath Out. Listen to my words. Breath in. Breath out. Slowly.”

Pamela’s eyes were filled with concern and worry, but they were also steady as they locked with my own.

“Breath in. And Out. In and out. You can do it Olivia.”

Right, I needed to breathe. Just like Pamela was saying.

“Good, good Olivia. Just like that. Slowly breath in, and breath out. You are doing good.”

“Pamela, seriously, what is going on?”

“I told you, she is having a panic attack.”

“What does that mean? What should I do?” Timothy almost pleaded with her.

“She is… We need to go back. Olivia… she is… scared. She is really frightened.”

“Scared? Of what?”

Was I? Scared? How could that be? I, who had been through tens of thousands of battles, who had massacred my enemies, was afraid?

“I don’t know. The carriage, school, getting attacked again? I don’t know, but we need to go back.”

“Alright, I will tell the driver.

How could I be afraid?

“Don’t worry Olivia, we are going home. You will be safe there. It will all be alright…”

Thursday, February 19th, N.E. 807, 09:10

Mitchell Canyon Fredirin’s Office, 3rd Circle, Royal Capital Arvas, Fredirin Kingdom.

Mitchell Canyon Fredirin.

Mitchell Canyon Fredirin was the 4th oldest child of the Canyon Family. He had an elder brother and two elder sisters. At 22 years of age, he was a splendid adult, and he looked the part. He was tall, just shy of six feet, but he looked a shorter than he was due to the fact that his body had nearly perfect proportions. His chest was broad and muscular, sturdy arms and sturdy legs completed the ensemble. His hair was a dirty brown, cut short, that blended well with the small but bushy mustache he had under his nose. Mitchell spent time training his body daily, giving him a toned and muscular physique.

He looked even more adult-like in his crisp military uniform, a utilitarian outfit of gray, white, and burgundy.

The Fredirin Kingdom severely limited the number of troops and military hardware the various noble families were allowed to field, this was true even for the six ducal houses. However, the Kingdom’s own army was commanded by officers that were made of a mixture of the Royal Army officers and the ducal houses officers. The Royal Army’s uniform was a simple gray with white accents, and the Canyon Family replaced some of that with a ruddy burgundy.

Mitchell’s uniform was adorned with a silver insignia of a spear and sword crossed over each other, indicated his rank of colonel. The uniform, his rank, his body shape, and his stern countenance would all lead a person to assume he was a powerful warrior, but he was anything but. In actuality, Mitchell was only as skilled as a low-rank knight, at least when it came to martial skills. His rank stemmed from his tactical brilliance, his organizational skills, and powerful talents in magic.

He was one of the few Spiritualists, his talents lay in the summoning of fey spirits. Most Spiritualists contract a spirit, a fey, an elemental, or an actual spirit. Their contracted spirit can then share their magic with the contractee, allowing them to use the spirit's innate magic. Talented Spiritualist that have a strong affinity with their contracted spirit can temporarily manifest the spirit, allowing it to do battle directly.

Calling him a prodigy would not be going far enough, because Mitchell Canyon Fredirin was able to contract with three separate fey spirits. While some Spiritualists can contract even more, in fact, most can contract at least twice as many, Mitchell’s affinity with his contracted spirits was at the max, allowing him to permanently manifest all three of them.

And due to a loophole in the Kingdom’s law, Mitchell was able to apply for citizenship for each of his contracted spirits. Not only was citizenship granted, but each spirit also joined the army along with their contractee.

Mitchell sat at his desk looking over the document in front of him, his expression stern. However, the other three human occupants in the room didn’t feel any tension, since Mitchell’s sternness was softened by his contracted spirits. Standing at attention on his shoulder was Ixall, she was six inches tall. Her defining characteristic was her mostly bald head, the only hair being a single long braid of dark orange hair that went down to her waist and then acted as a belt, her glowing orange eyes, and a pair of tiny orange and white butterfly wings. Cartivo was laying on her back, on top of Mitchell’s head, as she lazed about playing with his hair. Unlike Ixall who looked like a normal, if small, human, Cartivo’s entire body was pitch black. Her hair, eyes, even the inside of her mouth along with her teeth, were all pure black, even her massive wings were black. And finally, Zyaipa, the shortest at barely four inches, was also the most muscular of the fairies. She was currently sitting on the desk, sipping a small cup of tea and snacking on a jelly filled biscuits. Zyaipa looked mostly human, but she too had a pair of wings, hers were like a dragonfly’s, and she also had a pair of small bony horns coming from her head that were only partially hidden by her dull brown hair.

Each of the three fairies wore the same uniform as Mitchell, only instead of the silver sword and spear insignia, theirs were simple gold circles, indicated each one of them held the rank of captain.

“Have you read this?” Mitchell broke the silence and looked up towards one of the two other men in the room.

“I have sir.” The man answered.

He was Brent Toors, the steward of the Canyon Estate. Brent was formerly a powerful warrior that served the head of the family, Duke Patrick Canyon Fredirin. However, when he was serving under the Duke, he suffered an injury that ended his days as a warrior. In gratitude for his service, Patrick Canyon Fredirin had made him the steward of this estate.

“Your thoughts?”

“I have none, sir.”

“I see.” He said and then turned his gaze to the only human woman in the room. “Miss Tammy, what can you tell me about my late brother’s maid, Shannon?”

“Shannon?” She looked surprised for a minute before stopping to think for a second.

Tammy Bestel, Miss Tammy as Mitchell called her, a habit from when he was a child, was the head maid for the estate, all of the servants were under her direct orders. She was a veteran of many years, her hair was gray and her face was crisscrossed with wrinkles.

“Anything you can tell me,” Mitchell added.

“There were several complaints about her from the other maids she worked with. However, upon investigation, almost all of them were blown out of proportion or were false claims. My understanding is that Shannon was not only an orphan, but a foreigner too, so she had… a difficult time with the other girls.” She calmly stated.

“Anything else you can tell me?”

“Besides the complaints, she has always completed her work mostly satisfactorily. She had not completed all of her training as a maid, but she did achieve passing grades on what she complete. She was always close to the late Young Master.”

“What about you, Cory? Is she clean?”

“As far as I know, and we have gone over everything with a fine-toothed comb since yesterday.”

Cory Canyon was a commoner adopted into the Canyon Family, and he was also in charge of security in the estate.

“Then call her in.”

“Yes, sir.” Miss Tammy said and then exited through the only door.

A few seconds later, she came back in, and behind her was a young woman. She was short and small, and lacking in presence. She was pretty in a way, but in a completely ordinary fashion. However, right now she looked haggard, her eyes were red and teary and she was clearly exhausted, physically and mentally. Like she was the walking dead, she shuffled up in front of the desk, but she kept her gaze down towards her feet.

“You are Shannon, Daughter of Jerry?” Mitchell asked firmly.

“...Just Shannon. I do not know my father, that was just something that Mich- that the Young Master made up to make me seem presentable.” She almost whispered without looking up.

“I see,” Mitchell said as he shot a glance towards Cory, who lightly nodded, confirming what she had said. “Do you know who these people are?”

For a moment, she looked up and glanced at the three people, Miss Tammy who was standing behind her, Cory who was leaning against a bookshelf to her left, and Brent who was seated on a sofa to her right.

“Head Maid Bestel, Steward Toors, and the chief of security, Sir Canyon.” She said as she lowered her head again.

“You are well informed,” Mitchell said as he leaned back in his chair and stared at her.

“Madam Bestel is my superior, and Steward Toors is too. As for Sir Canyon, I often coordinated the Young Master’s security detail, so I have at least seen him before.” She answered.

“And do you know who I am?”

“Mitchell Canyon Fredirin, the Young Master’s elder brother.”

“I do not believe we have met before.”

“Silly," before Shannon had had a chance to respond, Zyaipa who had finished her biscuit and who was licking the jelly off of her fingers, spoke up, "she probably does not know you, but she probably knows us, is that not right, human girl?”

“That is correct My Lady," she replied to Zyaipa before turning back to Mitchell, "I recognized my Lord from your summoned spirits.”

“See? I told you, Silly.” Zyaipa said as she stuck her tongue out towards Mitchell. “Oh, can I have another one of these?”

“No, you’ve already had enough”

“Mitchell………….” A voice came from atop his head. “This child…….. The shadow of death……. Surrounds her……… she has forsaken……. Life……”

Cartivo rarely spoke, in fact, she rarely did anything but lounge around.

Of Mitchell’s three contracted spirits, Ixall and Zyaipa were the youngest, even by fairy standards they were young. Fairies do not keep track of time like humans do, but by asking them about the things they experienced, it was possible to estimate their age. Zyaipa was about a hundred years old, and Ixall was just slightly older. Of course, while the fairies themselves did not know how old they were in years, they could instinctively know if another fairy was older or younger. Ixall’s and Zyaipa’s memories weren’t that different, and if it was left to human hands, most likely no one would be able to determine who was older, but the two fairies knew.

As for Cartivo, the things she remembered were all nonsensical, none of her memories existed in any records Mitchell could discover. Since it was only young fey that would contract with humans, it would have made sense for Cartivo to be very young, a newborn in fairy terms, after all, her memories were illogical in the first place.

However, both Ixall and Zyaipa were not only convinced she was older, but that she was positively ancient. Even having conferred with other Spiritualists, no other contracted spirit would feel even close to Cartivo’s age.

“Cartivo, that is rude.”

“Sorry……..?”

“It is fine My Lord. Lady Cartivo is right.”

“Hmm…” Mitchell frowned at her reply.

When he had lead men into battle, occasionally after the fight, there would be soldiers like the girl in front of him. Those who had no hope, who had given up on life. Sometimes it was guilt due to failing to accomplish something that was important, other times it was because someone important to them had died.

Cartivo was right, people who looked like this would soon find themselves dead. And it was very rare for anyone else to be able to do anything about it.

Mitchell didn’t look down on these people or belittle them, he only found it to be a pity.

“This,” He said as he pointed to the document on the desk in front of him, “Is my younger brother’s will. There is a section for you.”

“...”

“Also, this,” he now pushed a simple wooden box across the desk towards the despondent maid. “Is what he bequeathed you.”

That garnered a slight response as she looked towards the box and her hands twitched towards it.

“I will read out loud what the will says about you.” He said and then picked up the will.

In regards to Shannon, I have left an oak box in my vault, it is magically sealed, and only her ring has the spell to unlock it. The box contains two items and a letter. The letter has a request for Shannon, if she accepts, and I hope she does, then read the next section. If she does not, then skip that and go to the next page.

As he finished speaking, the only sounds in the room where the light, repressed sob of the girl.

“I’ll need to ask you to open the box here, and we will need to see the contents, and to read the letter. I am sorry.”

While Mitchell regretted forcing the young woman to go through this in public, he had no choice. He steeled his heart as Shannon slowly reached forward and swiped her hand over the box. The ring she wore, a gold band with several small gemstones studded in it, glowed briefly, and then with a click, the box popped open. Shannon stepped back and made no effort to go near the box, allowing Mitchell to reach forward and grab it.

As was written in the will, the box did contain two items and a sealed letter. The two items were two identical golden rings, neither of which were magical. Mitchell returned them to the box and then put it aside before turning his attention to the letter.

“Forgive me, but I will need to read this. If you would prefer, I can read it out-loud.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Then I will read it out-loud,” Mitchell said as he used a small dagger to open the letter’s wax seal.

To my dearest Shannon,

I know you never let me talk like this to you, but now that I have passed on, I hope you will forgive me just this once. However, I suspect you will not be able to read this in private, so I shall hold myself back.

As you are no doubt aware, I have died. I would like to hope that it was painless and natural. I would also like to hope that you were there with me, I know that would be painful for you, but I shall be selfish.

Still, I have rewritten my will every six months, and the next time would be on my 15th birthday, which unfortunately means I died when I was 14. It is rather unlikely that I died naturally and peacefully, in which case, I hope you weren’t there for my death. Since you are reading this, I can at least console myself with the fact that you are alive and okay. Thank the gods for small mercies.

My will should have instructed my family to pass you the box that contains this letter and two rings. I am sure my family could figure out how to bypass the lock, so if you did not also receive the two rings, go complain to someone. From this point on, I will assume you have the rings, but put them aside for now.

A long time ago, when you first rejected my proposal, you also told me about the customs of the Holy Uvalin Theocracy, specifically, the tradition of exchanging rings and also of the tradition of the engagement ring.

I confess I lied to you.

The ring on your hand, the very one that should have unlocked this box, is not only a magical item, but it is also an engagement ring. Although smart as you are, I am sure you realized. The fact that you wear it, well, I guess I do not need to spell it out.

Back to those two rings.

They are the wedding rings that we should have exchanged when we married. If you should put your ring on, it will signal your acceptance of my proposal. For various reasons, the Theocracy allows posthumous marriages, and while our Fredirin Kingdom has no law to govern such a topic, if my family has allowed you to read this, then they should be agreeable to letting this slide.

It is my deep regret that I could only call you Shannon, Daughter of Jerry. That I never had the chance to call you Shannon Canyon. That I could only introduce you as my maid. That I could never introduce you as my beloved wife.

I am so sorry.

I am so sorry that I have left you alone.

I know it will be hard, but as my legal wife, I can at least make sure you will be provided for, so please, Shannon, I beg you, accept the ring.

I know I have failed you by dying, I know you are upset, that you are sad. But please, grant me this one last selfishness.

I will wait for you, but I hope you make me wait a long time. I hope that when we meet again, you have many stories to tell me, I hope you have a rich life, a happy life, a meaningful life. I know there will be bad times along with the good, sad along with the joyous. I not only want to hear about your triumphs, but I wish to comfort you over the rough patches and setbacks.

Sadly, this parchment is running short. And I know you do not like it when I talk like this, so I will leave it at that.

But Shannon, never forget, that I, Michael Canyon Fredirin, loved you more than anything. You were my everything.

With love,

Michael Canyon Fredirin.

Having finished reading, Mitchell slowly folded up the letter and then stared at it, as if he were trying to see through the parchment.

Miss Tammy was secretly wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, Cory was looking down and frowning as he leaned against the shelves, Brent had a bittersweet look on his face, even as his eyes were unfocused, his mind lost in the past. Ixall was shifting her weight between her feet, outwardly she appeared the same, but Mitchell could tell she was upset. Zyaipa was sitting still, looking at the box, trying to see the rings. And Cartivo had stopped moving on his head where she still sat.

As for the maid, she had frozen still.

“Shannon, Daughter of Jerry,” Mitchell said as he placed the letter back into the box beside the rings, before pushing the box back in front of the young woman. “The choice is yours. If you choose my brother, I will ensure that the Canyon Family accepts your choice.”

“...”

“If I may,” Mitchel began as he glanced at the will that was still in front of him. “I hope to one day, call you sister-in-law.”

The young woman, however, remained frozen. She neither spoke nor moved, her gaze still locked on the floor. Seconds turned into minutes, and still, she didn't move.

After five minutes passed, just as Mitchell was about to sigh and take back the box, her hands haltingly came up and took the box. Her entire body was trembling, tears leaked down her face, but she withdrew the smaller of the two rings, and then slipped it onto her left hand’s ring finger, the gold band coming to rest right against the ring that already existed there.

“I wish it were under better circumstances, but I welcome you, Shannon Canyon, to the family,” Mitchell said solemnly.

“My Lord-” she began, but then stopped to correct herself, “No, Brother-in-Law Mitchell, as the wife of Michael Canyon Fredirin, I can expect the Family’s support?”

“Yes, that is the case,” Mitchell responded while frowning, not at all liking where this was going.

“Then I have a request.” She said, her voice cold.

“...”

Mitchell looked at his new sister-in-law. Tears still leaked from her eyes, her body still trembled, but now, an almost imperceivable energy emanated from her body. Light wisps of black energy were leaking out of her, swirling around her body like a light fog.

“What is your request?”

“I wish to be in charge of my investigation of my husband.”

“That…” Mitchell was taken aback, he didn’t expect that from her at all. “Putting aside whether or not you are able to do so, why would you want to?”

“Revenge.” She suddenly looked up, and Mitchell could see that her gray eyes now had flickers of red hidden within. “I will figure out who killed my husband, and…”

“And…” He prompted.

“I will tear them apart!” She yelled.

At her yell, the black energy that was swirling around her suddenly exploded. A sinister wave of blackness shout out across the room, the tea set cracked and shattered, the papers blew, the windows rattled, the wood corroded, the food even began to rot. Brent and Cory took defensive stances, mana coating their bodies. Miss Tammy shrieked and fell over, and Ixall created a thin wall of fire in front of Mitchell.

But, before anything could happen, Cartivo appeared in the air over Shannon. Between Cartivo’s tiny hands was a small black ball, the ball wasn’t a physical object, but a mass of some kind of baleful black energy.

Like water draining from a tub, the sinister energy still emanating from Shannon was sucked straight into the ball, within a second all of the energy in the room was gone, absorbed into the ball.

Cartivo blinked out of existence again, this time reappearing right in front of Shannon, where she gently laid a palm upon the much larger human’s cheek. Once the two made contact, Shannon immediately lost consciousness and crumpled onto the floor.

“Mitchell……..” Cartivo’s drawn out voice was the first sound to break the new found silence. “This child……. Has awoken……. A bloodline……… She is like me……..”

“I see…” Mitchell said as he leaned back into his chair before shooting Ixall a glance. “Thank you Ixall.”

“Hmph. I need to protect my Contractee.” Ixall spoke her first words today in a humph as she erased the small wall of fire.

“Mitchell……. Let this child……. Do as she will…….” Cartivo demanded.

“Hmm…” Mitchell thought to himself.

Cartivo rarely did anything, let alone make demands and requests, so just simply based off of that, he wanted to indulge her. However…

“Cartivo, she seems… unstable right now.”

“That does not matter……. I will support her……..”

“If that is the case, then it will be fine. Sorry Cory, can you work with Shannon on this one?” Mitchell said, but then added. “And Cartivo too.”

“Yeah, that will be fine.”

“Miss Tammy, I hate to bother you, but can you take my sister-in-law back to her room for now?”

“Yes My Lord.” she said, having already stood back up and also having straightened out her dress.

“When she wakes up, she will need a new room, see to that too.”

“Yes My Lord.” She said with a bow. “Sir Canyon, would you help me move her?”

“Sure”

Mitchell watched as the two of them lifted Shannon off of the floor and carried her out. The whole time Cartivo sat upon her stomach as the fairy slowly began to eat the black ball of energy she had condensed.

With nothing else to do, he went back to his brother’s will and looked over the first section.

Thursday, February 19th, N.E. 807, 10:10

Olivia’s Bedroom, 3rd Circle, Royal Capital Arvas, Fredirin Kingdom.

Olivia Pine Fredirin.

“How are you doing Little Sister?” Pamela asked me as she came back into my room having just seen the Pine Family’s doctor out.

“I don’t know.”

I was laying on my back on my bed. I still had my school uniform on, a dark gray skirt with white stockings, and a white shirt with a loosened blue ribbon. The jacket that went with the uniform was discarded on the nearby chair.

“I see,” Pamela said while folding up dark gray jacket and placing it on a hanger before sitting down in the chair.

“What did Dr. Minkle say?”

Was it a poison? Or some kind of illness?

I should be immune to nearly all poisons, but something that was magically created might be able to survive within my blood. The same could be said for any bacteria or virus that could infect me.

However, something that was durable enough to survive within me, and was also able to cause… whatever it was that just happened, should have been easily noticed when I was reforging my body. Even in my past life, a poison or disease that could stay hidden and survive while being able to do that to me was unheard of it.

I might have thought it was a curse, but there was no way I wouldn’t notice a curse being cast on my soul.

“Physically, you are fine. As far as he could tell.” Her response betrayed my expectations, however.

“I am?” I asked, shocked.

“Seems so. You are probably still tired, it hasn’t been long since… that accident with your carriage.” She paused and looked at me for a second before continuing. “Your magic is a bit unstable, but that is probably due to the fact you recently awakened a bloodline.”

That, or the fact that I had cut open my own chest and hidden someone else’s soul inside of my heart.

“You have no signs of any illness or disease, not even the common cold. And while you can never really be sure, there was no sign of poison either.”

“Impossible,” I said.

“... Hey, Olivia, I doubt they went over this in school yet, but did you know that the study of medicine is in its infancy?” She asked.

“...no…?”

“Most healing is done either through alchemical potions, or magic. It is much easier to set a bone than to cast a spell capable of regenerating it, and yet, most people have no idea how to make a splint, let alone attach it to a person with a broken bone. Magic makes it too easy to bypass those basic steps.”

“Okay…?”

“Humans, our bones, and organs are slightly different than the other races. Elves have thinner and softer bones, but they have larger lungs. Dwarves have thick and heavy bones, their lungs are about the same size as a human, despite being smaller than a human, but their other organs, besides their livers, are much smaller. And beast-folk are all over the place. When you consider that there are so many races, and then when you add in the half-breeds, it is simply impossible to unify them all into one set of medical rules. That is why we instead focus on magic and alchemy.”

“So… does that mean Dr. Minkle is wrong?”

“He certainly might be, but I do not think he is. The focus on magic is sufficient, most of the time. But not always. And because we focus on magic, very little effort is spent researching the other aspects of medicine.”

Pamela stood and went over to the table and poured two cups of tea, one of which she placed on the nightstand table next to my bed.

“Olivia, did you know, sometimes when soldiers go to war, some of them return home and are plagued by nightmares?”

“I did not.”

Not only did I not know that, but I had to check my memories as to what exactly a nightmare was. I did not sleep like a mortal would in the past, and even before I had awoken and taken over this body, trace amounts of my existence still affect the previous Olivia, and she had never had a dream or nightmare before.

“Not only nightmares, sometimes they will have flashbacks. They will mistake a simple kitchen knife for the head of a spear, a child throwing a ball for an attack spell, a stray dog for a rabid wolf.”

“I do not understand?”

“Somethings… they work on a person’s mind. There is no physical cause, healing magic does nothing to help, but there is an undeniable problem, it is just in the person’s head.”

“So you are saying, something is wrong with my head?” I asked in disbelief, and a little bit of fear.

“You know Olivia, your big sister, she could be considered an expert in this field.” She said with a sad smile.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” She said and then removed her eyepatch. “You might not know this since I never really told anyone, but for months after I was injured, I could not paint at all.”

“I remember that.”

It was almost a year after her eye injury when Pamela had completed her first painting, at least the left half of it.

“No, see, you probably think that I did not want to paint, or that I was too upset to try painting, or that my results were disappointing and I never finished. I mean, I was physically incapable of painting.”

“...what?”

“I really wanted to paint. My magic studies… losing them did not bother me that much, but my art, oh Gods Olivia, you have no idea how badly I wanted to just retreat from the world and paint. Nothing would have made me happier, but I couldn’t.”

“Why? I don’t understand.” I was getting flustered, without realizing it I had sat up and looked towards my sister.

“Whenever I tried, I would get sick. Looking at the canvas, I would get dizzy, touching the brush would make me throw up. I would shake, I would become pale and get drenched in sweat. If I kept trying, I would faint. How many times did I wake up on the floor of my studio?”

“I… I didn’t know,” I said, taken aback.

“No one did, I hid it.”

“But… why?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t understand what was wrong with me, I was scared. I was embarrassed and ashamed. I had already lost my magic, and now I couldn’t even paint, what else was left of me? The person known as Pamela Pine Fredirin did two things, paint and study magic, with both of those gone, what worth did I have?” Pamela said sorrowfully.

“No one knew?”

“No one. Some people probably suspected something, but the exact circumstances, I do not think anyone really knew. I also never had any intention of telling anyone.”

“Then… why are you telling me?” I asked.

“Because, well, I think telling someone is probably good for me. Even now, it is not as if I have fully conquered my problem. I am certainly not enjoying this conversation, but, I do feel as if a knot hidden within me is coming loose. It is still tied, but it is looser now. And also…” But before she finished, she stopped to take another drink of tea.

“And?” I promoted her.

“And, you are probably going through the same thing.”

“... I am?”

“I think so. Just like your body can be wounded, so can your mind. If you experience something terrible and traumatic, then a scar can be left behind in your mind.”

“But, nothing terrible has happened to me.”

“Oh…? Is that what you think?”

“...Yes?”

“Did you not almost drown a week ago?”

“That… that was…”

That was terrifying for the previous Olivia, and it was also confusing and chaotic. It was undeniably an unpleasant experience, but it wasn’t something that that would leave a mental scar.

“Well, that probably is not it,” Pamela’s voice refocused my attention. “I thought it might have been at first, but I knew you had been in a carriage since then, and that wasn’t even the same route that you took that day. No, I think the source, would be school.”

“School?” I said, but even simply saying that word alone, I felt as if my stomach was churning.

“When I mentioned that accident, your expression did not change at all, but just now, when I said the word ‘school’, and when you repeated it, you became paler, your breathing sped up, and I do not know if you noticed, but you clenched your fists.”

“Wha…?” I looked down, and indeed, I had balled both hands into fists.

“Olivia. Answer me honestly,” Pamela spoke with a steady, yet stern voice. “What has been going on at school?”

At school?

“Nevermind. Your expressions just told me enough.”

“...”

“Olivia… haah….” Pamela sighed. “I can guess what happened now.”

“...What should I do?” I asked.

“I do not know,” She put down her empty cup and then stood and walked over to the window. “Sometimes, facing the source of your fear helps. They say that when an adventurer has a close call with a monster, they should immediately go and fight something similar, otherwise they will have a lasting problem. At the very least, repeating something makes it easier to do on subsequent times.”

“On the other hand, if we knew exactly what was causing you distress, we could work out something specific. But if my own experience is any indication, that is easier said than done. Afterall, I do not know what the linchpin of my own problem was. Do you have any ideas?”

“...no… or I should say, there is more than one.”

“As I thought,” She said and shook her head. “Then all we can do is work through this one step at a time.”

“I do not understand why this happened. I was fine before.” I said.

“Well… that is obvious,” Pamela said as she turned and smiled at me. “Do not tell me you haven’t realized?”

“...realized what?”

“Haah… Olivia… no, well, I guess it is only to be expected, you are only seven after all.” She shook her head and then came over and sat down on the bed next to me. “When you woke your bloodline and unsealed your magic core, you inherited the bloodline’s memories, right?”

“Of course.” I lied. It wasn’t exactly false, but it wasn’t the truth either.

“The memories gave you knowledge and wisdom. You might not have realized, but your personality has changed quite a bit this week. All of that means that you now see things differently, and I would say, more accurately. Maybe… maybe before this, you didn’t fully understand… exactly what was happening around you. But, now you do, and with that improved clarity, well, this happened.”

I flopped back on the bed. Pamela was right, completely right. The former Olivia, in her naivety, was able to look at her situation optimistically, something I could not do. She dreaded going to school, but she still hoped that things would get better. For her, there was a sliver of hope.

Not to mention, many of the things that happened to her, some of them went over her head, she didn’t realize exactly how bad the situation was. Why had that groundskeeper who discovered her tied to a bench not report it? Why had none of the teachers stopped these things? Perhaps they didn’t know about some of it, Olivia never said anything, but there were things that they were clearly aware of, even if Oliva did not realize they knew.

Not only could I see the extent of the bleakness, but to me, it was even more dark and desolate than Olivia had thought.

“Do not worry Olivia,” Pamela tried to comfort me. “We will work through this. Together.”