It was Saturday and on this day, we were visiting each of our instructor’s households. The first one we were visiting was Sir Keh Tauzad.

We were surrounded by quite a number of guards but it wasn’t like last time because other groups of the summoned were also in need of guards.

We were told that the remaining terrorists of that

recent incident had been sent running as no stones were left unturned as they searched and rooted them out so it was relatively safe for us.

As we made our way, we got to see the settlement once more. We were using the boat surrounded by four boats that covered our every side on one, of the two canals, which was a mode of transportation in moving around faster.

Around us, the natives were minding their own businesses as all of them had something to do. Some were heaving farming tools while others were fishing at the edge of the canals. I remembered in Sir Keh Tauzad’s lesson that in Athryshiayl, there was no such thing as a barter system or the usage of currency to buy necessary goods like foods or basic clothes. All necessary goods required were distributed evenly among the people. Although there is a currency system that used something called Quilens, which is a currency in trading for anything that isn’t considered necessary goods.

In Athryshiayl, everyone can choose the assignment they want and from there, they would be trained. They then have the obligation to fulfil the quota of the assignment. And most of the jobs were done with the aid of simple Eomancies such as fisherman using Deep Grey Eomancy as a physical net to catch the fish’s in the canal or the farmers using Light Green Eomancy to accelerate the growth of the farm.

The natives that saw us waved and bowed at us with reverence. It was almost blissfully peaceful of an atmosphere as though paradise was here.

We soon stopped at a certain junction of the canal and we were ushered onto the side pavement where there was a row of Fhagecs. One of the Fhagecs was larger and obviously was the preeminent amongst the others.

In front of that Fhagec, stood Sir Keh Tauzad. On his left side, was an aged humanoid woman with a scaly tail and was wearing a simple dress. I presumed she was his wife. On his right was a young woman with blue hair was also wearing a simple blue dress. A little girl with the same hair colour and a tail coming out of her back was currently clutching the young woman’s dress while staring at us.

“Welcome, Egazov, to my humble abode.”

Sir Keh Tauzad greeted us with a smile.

As the guards parted and went standing on standby on each of our sides, we greeted them back.

“This is my lovely wife, Ithuza.”

He introduced his wife on his left and the wife bowed sincerely with smile.

“This is my daughter-in-law, Dalann Fe and my grand-daughter, Keh Misha.”

The daughter in-law bowed formally and the granddaughter imitated her mother’s actions.

…

Where is his son then? I’m pretty sure everyone in the group had that in mind but it was not an appropriate question to ask as of yet. All of us are being tactful and considerate here.

He muttered something to his family and they all went inside and Keh Tauzad ushered us into his Fhagec.

The guards were left outside, waiting on stand-by in case.

It was quite a large and spacious inside with the tree that was the central structure of the Fhagec; which was a large oak-like tree with a greyish bark.

We were in their Fhagec’s living room which also had stairs leading to a second floor and there were five more doors leading to other rooms beside the bathroom.

“Please, take a seat, each of you.”

Keh Tauzad politely gestured his right hand towards the empty lounge chairs. We all sat down and his wife, Ithuza who had come out from what seemed to be the kitchen with a tray of cups.

She put the tray on the table that was in front of us and distributed the cups to each of us in turn.

After everything was settled, we then broke into conversations with the family.

Time passed and suddenly, the little girl shuffled uneasily as she was still clutching the hem of her mother’s dress as though she had decided something.

“Do you all know where papa is?”

The conversations stopped and everyone halted as they froze.

Everyone in the room was rigid uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer the simple and innocent question.

The silence continued until a lone, gentle voice broke it.

“Did he say anything before he left?”

Vefal got up from her seat and calmly walked towards the girl, kneeling on one knee while softly stroking the little girl’s blue hair, staring at her with a kind smile.

The girl looks back with an uncertain expression.

“He said that he will be there on my eighth birthday so we can celebrate it together.”

The light within the little girl’s eyes flashed with excitement at the mention of her promise.

I wanted to stop Vefal but I felt that I had no valid reasons to do so because at this point, stopping her would confuse the girl greatly. What had been done was done.

“Have he ever broken a promise before?”

Vefal asked with a tender tone.

The girl was looking up as though she was collecting all her memories. Then she looks back at Vefal.

“He never did!”

“Then if he never breaks not even a promise, would he break the last one?”

Upon hearing Vefal’s conclusion, the girl eyes shine brighter as life was surging through them. She excitedly jumped back at her mother with a joyful grin.

Her mother received her with an uneasy smile.

Keh Tauzad and his wife also wore the same smile but Keh Tauzad was gripping his hands silently.

The rest of us watched silently with various expressions but none of us had anything worth saying.

Looking at Vefal from here, even though her face was of a tender smile, in that smile, there was a shadow of doubt.

--

“Are you all disappointed in me?”

Vefal asked without looking at any of us.

We were sitting on the boat, on the way to the next household. We had left Keh Tauzad’s Fhagec about an hour ago. When we sat on the boat, none of us had spoken.

“… If I had cared, yes and in all honesty, it was better not to say a word.”

“But wouldn’t that be more awkward? She may be a little girl but even she would notice the significance of the silence.”

Akujin grumbled while August put forth his thought respectively.

“It was wrong because nothing solid validates the reasoning but still…”

“False hope or wishful thinking, both of those are bad either way but I understand why you said, what you said Vefal…”

Erganisu pondered while Kiefy was staring at Vefal with a clear sorrowful expression.

…

“I asked Keh Tauzad about his son. He told me that he had been sent leading a contingent to the mountains towards the east, the Eastern Unfathomable Reach. That was four months ago.”

Everyone went silent again when I told them that. Four months without any communication is a long time and perhaps only a miracle can prove that he is still…

“We’re here.”

Erganisu’s almost well-timed words stopped me from thinking further.

We arrived at the Folcruza’s Fhagec.

Let’s not think about that matter now, brain.

We hopped out of the boat and in front of the entrance, a pair of old couples, wearing dandy-looking clothes, were grinning from ear to ear and our intrepid and fluffy haired, tiny genius of an instructor looked proudly at us.

“Welcome to the Folcruza’s grand Fhagec!”

“Pipe down, Dekhine! That’s not how you greet honoured guests.”

The said genius with a childish smirk welcomed us but was patted roughly by the man on her right who was probably his father.

“We’re sorry for our daughter’s manners, honoured summoned ones, come, come…please come inside!”

Said the woman on Dekhine’s left, her mother then ushered us in.

It was almost of the same size as Keh Tauzad’s Fhagec but the difference was that there were four people who looked like servants but in truth they are actually sworn helpers that volunteered to serve the Houses like those in the Palace of Tchekaz.

We had a good chat about their daughter and the incident of blowing up the library. Dekhine bared the brunt of her parent’s criticism, but she took them with a cavalier attitude.

After a while, Dekhine was called to the Palace for the Athryshiayl Eomancy Council weekly meeting.

After she left, we were confided in by her parents that since she grew up being a genius in the art of Eomancy, she had almost zero social skills and almost no friends.

So they wanted us to cultivate and develop a friendship with her. It’s kind of awkward when a parent asks a group of adults like us to befriend their daughter, but as responsible adults, it’s not a challenge we would reject. How hard is it to befriend a little genius who sometimes thinks too full of herself?

We left the household with light moods as we had tremendously enjoyed their hospitality.

I still don’t understand the class system in Athryshiayl , but there’s no such thing as the nobility’s that we expected from the medieval feudalism’s, but still it was like Athryshiayl was practicing a lenient caste system that at its core, had respect in every class.

Moving on, we were next on our way to Gavrau’s household.

After being outside, I realized it felt less constricted and the mood in the air was a blissful peace as children of various races were playing games around and the adults were doing work with smiles on their faces.

I focus on inhaling the air and realized something I didn’t realized when I was summoned. I could feel the purity and cleanliness of the air through my very nostrils. Unlike the air back on earth, the air here has no impurity and was refreshing just by breathing it.

After enjoying a simple activity like breathing, we had arrived at our destination.

The area we were currently in was a military compound or the like, as most warriors and guards were staying here. Gavrau himself was a distinguished Captain of the Athryshiayl Warriors.

His Fhagec was like the two before and he was standing in front of it along with four individuals, one sombre-looking boy, an impassive-looking woman and two young girls, who sported wolf ears and various hair colours.

It’s… it’s a petting zoo!!