“One time, long ago, the person I consider my mentor and greatest benefactor told me that life was not worth living unless you’re at least enjoying it somehow. It has been many, many years since, but the truth behind that advice is one I found time and again in my life. It’s why you don’t see me hunting and executing people all that often, really.

Even I want to enjoy life at times.” - Unverified quote from a conversation between the Bounty Hunter and the guild leader of Al-Hassid’s Adventurer’s Guild Branch, veracity hotly debated, circa 109 FP.

“What is this? This is very good!” exclaimed Kino as she took another large bite and munched on the remaining half of the pastry in her hand.

The pastry in question was a local favorite, made by wrapping thin dough sheets around a filling of minced meat, eggs, and a large amount of a local plant that grew abundantly in Elmaiya’s hotter regions. The plant itself became sturdy yet hollow segmented trees when they grew to maturity, but the young shoots – after some treatment for detoxification – were not only edible but even became a local staple food.

Those shoots were julienned then braised in spices along with the meat and eggs before they were stuffed inside the thin dough sheets that were then rolled into thick cylinders roughly two fingers wide and either deep fried to a crisp or steamed until translucent. It had a bit of a pungent sweetness, and had a crisp and pleasant texture when bitten. Even many of the carnivorous therians enjoyed it as a snack.

“It’s just some braised grasswood shoots with wild bird meats and eggs, lass. Have more if you like it!” said the jolly old vendor – likely a grandparent from his age – that sold the dish from a streetside stall as he piled another three of the fritters on Kino’s plate. He didn’t forget to refill the small bowl on the side with more sauce made from some sort of fermented beans either.

“See, I told you there’d be plenty of good stuff to have out here,” said Aideen with a smile from beside the girl. At first Kino was nervous about being out and unfettered, but it had not taken Aideen too long to realize that the girl’s curiosity outweighed her fear of the unknown outside world. As such, she took Kino to see the sights and enjoy the good stuff in life and quickly got the timid girl to enjoy herself before long.

“I believe you, Miss Aideen,” said Kino between voracious bites. The girl’s furry ears twitched with joy as she munched on her food, and even her bushy tail wagged from side to side unconsciously. Her therian blood was thin, so the ears and tails were the most easily visible of that heritage on her features, though she had other characteristics as well that were only noticeable on closer inspection.

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For example, the way her eyes squinted and her pupils narrowed into slits when she was happy. From time to time, as she munched on her food with what some would consider poor table manners – which most therians gave no damns about – her more developed canine teeth also became noticeable. The only part that was hidden most of the time were the soles of her feet along with her clawed toes, which were concealed by her shoes.

It had been a couple of days since Aideen and Lucea had their private talk. Lucea had also brought Aideen when she informed Oleg – the only other person who was truly privy to Kino’s identity – about the matter, and the agreement was pretty much settled. Aideen would take care of the girl and educate her in Ptolodecca, while the Empire would quietly scrub off what records they have of her to help keep the secret.

The secrecy and carefulness might have seemed rather overkill, especially when one looked at how the girl was just innocently enjoying her food much like a little child being given their favorite treat, but the potential of what she could be warranted it. Kino’s very nature meant that many people who caught wind of her identity would likely be tempted to make use of her, while she was still naive and malleable.

After all, nobody could ask for a better pawn than one that was not only undying, but also capable of annihilating most anything.

As Lucea and Oleg kept her existence a secret and covered their tracks, it was left to Aideen to care for and educate the naive girl so that others wouldn’t take advantage of her. The girl had never had a chance to have a life she could call her own since birth, since those that raised her did so with ulterior motives, then later just treated her as a sample.

Aideen wanted to allow the girl to be able to live the rest of her years on her own terms, at the very least.

For that, the girl would need to learn a lot of things. Power and knowledge were all necessary things to be able to determine one’s own fate in life, most of the time. Power wouldn’t be a big issue for Kino. In the weeks since her rise – which technically also counted as the time since her magical awakening – she had swiftly grasped the basics of how to manipulate her magic.

That was nearly unprecedented, considering that her affinity was the Void affinity. What few void mages Aideen knew of – there were a few in Ptolodecca she was acquainted with – were only capable of controlling their magic when they concentrated hard. That was for small workings at close ranges, even.

Kino was able to manipulate void workings almost casually at a further distance and a larger scale, and that was with only weeks of acclimatization to her magic. What the girl would be capable of after some years of training was likely going to be something nobody had ever seen before, probably rivaling that of the late dwarven void mage Aideen had heard of, whose last gasp caused the annihilation of a mountain.

Much less what she could do after decades or centuries.

For the time being, however, Aideen instead wanted to show the girl how to enjoy her life first. After all, how could one live for themselves if they don’t even know how to live properly?