Evin was left inside the room, hearing the voice’s thoughts on the matter.

<That part about him having paid his dues was probably bullshit, but he seems like a nice enough person. At least he explained his situation to us and warned us what to be careful about…> the voice commented, <If I was him, I’d probably try to gloss over the subject instead of explaining it to us…>

Evin nodded subtly as he stole a glance at Arza, who was standing near the window, looking at something.

<Though, I really don’t know what’s the point of leaving this Talisman of Listening in his son’s dorm room. Are they trying to kidnap Arza and then demand he pay back his debts?> the voice murmured.

<Well, that’s not our problem. Let’s just hope they don’t involve us in it somehow. And besides, there’s still someone out there spying on us, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need to put the same talisman in Leanne’s house… And now that I think about it, the surrounding drawings on those talismans differed a little, didn’t they? The two that he ripped looked almost identical, but the one we put out looked a little… rounder?>

Evin remembered how the three Talismans looked, and sure enough, he remembered thinking how one of them looked a bit weird compared to the others.

<This means that there are two parties with unknown intentions, one that’s hounding Aran and one that’s observing us… Sigh, there’s no point in mulling over this topic now. We’ll eventually learn what everything’s about…>

Evin was still quite distraught, but since things weren’t as mysterious as they were an hour ago, he had calmed down a fair bit.

“Hey, are you from this city?” Arza asked suddenly.

“Yeah, from the 2nd grade district. You?” Evin replied.

“I’m from the nearby Smallwall town. Have you heard of it? I think the proper name for it is Jiha Town, though,” Arza smiled.

“Oh, it’s somewhere to the North, right?”

“Uh-huh, a day’s travel by a carriage.”

A brief silence ensued. The red-haired boy didn’t really seem to mind it that much, but Evin felt a bit uncomfortable, so he started asking some random questions.

“By the way, is your father a mage? Considering he’s so knowledgeable about these Talismans and whatnot.”

“Yep. He’s a graduate of the Arcvallen academy. He was talented enough to pass their entry examinations, even though he wasn’t a noble, and he was also one of the smartest students at the time. Cool, isn’t it?” Arza smiled.

Arcvallen was the capital of the kingdom, so of course, their branch of the Academy was probably the most prestigious of them all. It was basically where all the talents in the kingdom gathered. So for Aran to stand out from among those countless prodigies, then he really was someone to be respected.

“If you don’t mind, can you tell me about it? This debt of your father’s,” the man’s origins made Evin a bit curious about what the deal with him was, so he decided to try and ask.

“Dad doesn’t allow me to tell others about it, especially mages, so sorry,” Arza replied, “But if you’re worried about today’s stuff… well, you don’t have to worry much. It’s something that happens all the time.”

It was a shame, but Evin couldn’t push further with his questions when he was so clearly refused.

“No, it’s fine. Sorry for asking.”

“Ha-ha, why would you apologize for asking questions?” Arza asked with a laugh, “My father always said that to become a proper adult, one had to question things endlessly. They just had to be careful of not overstepping one’s boundaries.”

<Great advice…> the voice tooted.

“How about you? What about your family?” Arza asked casually.

Evin was a bit taken aback by the question, but he quickly calmed himself down and started speaking.

“I usually live with my father, but I can’t visit him for now. Thankfully, I netted a dorm room here, so I can focus on studying more.”

“Hmm? What does your father do?” Arza asked casually.

“He’s a blacksmith.”

“What, really? Does he make magical swords and armors?”

“Unfortunately, no. He usually makes kitchenware utensils; stuff like ladles, spoons and pots. The one thing that resembles a sword are the kitchen knives he makes, I suppose. But sometimes he gets asked to make other stuffs… like shovels and axes.”

Arza looked slightly dejected hearing that armors and weapons weren’t the only things that blacksmith made. Evin was used to it, since for whatever reason, every child seemed to think the same as Arza.

“Why can’t you visit him, though? Since you’re staying in a dorm room for a whole year, I’m guessing it’s some pretty serious stuff, right?”

“Ah, he’s uh, sick with something… We don’t know what it is, but it looks kinda serious and he also thinks it’s infectious.”

<Just tell him the truth. Or don’t tell him anything at all,> the voice sighed.

Evin obviously didn’t wish to tell a random stranger about his family’s circumstances, so he could only work out a convenient lie for the time being.

“Is that so? Well, I hope he gets better..”

“Thanks…”

Again, silence ensued in the room.

Evin could easily introduce himself and get acquainted with others thanks to his politeness, but he really wasn’t the best person for small talks. The voice always reminded him to be silent when he didn’t have anything to say, but Evin always found trouble staying silent with someone else in a room with him.

‘Are things going to be like this for the rest of the year?’ Evin thought dreadfully.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask… do you use the World of Fire?” Arza suddenly asked.

“Yes. I’ve only learned that I was a mage, so Irratas is the only Magical World I have access to. How did you know?” Evin asked, surprised.

“I knew it. Whenever Fire magic is cast in an area, the air smells a bit different afterwards. That was how I guessed that you were a mage of Irratas… But I guess I can’t call you a mage of Irratas outright, as you still don’t have access to any of the other worlds. Who knows if you’ll find that you’re more talented in the other ones?”

“The test showed that I was probably more talented at Exivear, the World of Darkness,” Evin chuckled, “What world do you use?”

“Me? Apdenul,” Arza worded an unknown word.

“Apdenul? Which one is that?”

“Oh, it’s also known as the World of Life, sometimes even called the World of Healing… but in my case, it would be more accurate to just call it the World of Life.”

“What does it do?” Evin asked.

Arza smiled, and walked over to the bed. He chanted something under his breath, and Evin could see the skin on his hand taking on a pinkish hue, and looking more… solid and hard in a way. He could also see some pinkish steam leaking from his pores, similar to how his father, Aran’s prosthetic arm emitted the same stuff. The boy then effortlessly picked up the bed, making Evin wonder if the thing was hollow inside. The sight even looked oddly comic in his eyes.

“It allows me to make my muscles stronger than normal people, while also making my skin much more durable than a normal human’s,” Arza put down the bed and clapped with his solid-looking hands.

Instead of a clapping sound, an almost grinding sound came from the impact, one that sounded like two tree trumps being smashed together by their barks.

“It can also be used to heal your own wounds and maybe even heal others… but I’m not talented at those. I can heal small cuts and bruises on my body, but I can’t do anything about serious injuries like broken bones and larger cuts. And don’t even get me started on my attempts at healing others,” Arza laughed.

“That’s very impressive,” Evin said, trying his best to not sound too excited.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll become good at it later on, so maybe I’ll be able to help out your father.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Evin replied casually, before noticing that Arza was dashing towards him for whatever reason. Time seemed to slow down, as Evin noticed the boy making a pose, as if he was trying to swing a punch… but the boy’s calm and collected expression said nothing of his supposed ill intentions.

<Duck!> the voice suddenly shouted, and Evin found himself instinctively crouching towards the ground under the order.

He felt something swing past above his hair at high speed, but Evin wasn’t sure what it was exactly. He then looked above and found Arza looking down at him with his hands stretched out like he’d just thrown a punch, an impressed expression on his face.

“You’re pretty good… To be able to dodge like that,” the boy said, whistling.

Shaking himself out of his shock, Evin dashed back a few meters and looked at Arza with confusion. The boy didn’t seem like he was going to dash in to hit him anymore, so Evin asked the obvious.

“Did you just try to punch me?”

“Yeah,” Arza replied in a matter-of-fact manner.

“Why?” Evin asked.

“Because you were lying to me.”

“Huh?”

“Exactly what I said. I sent you a punch, because you were lying to me,” Arza said, then added on with a smile, “But since you managed to dodge it, I won’t insist on trying to punch you anymore. But don’t lie to me again, alright?”

“Are you crazy?” Evin couldn’t help but ask.

“Why would I be crazy?”

“Who the hell punches someone just because they’re lying?”

“So you admit you were lying?”

“I… I mean…”

“So you were. I mean it was kinda obvious, but I’d still feel bad if it turned out to be the truth, you know?” Arza chuckled in a relieved manner, “If you don’t want to talk about something, just tell that to my face. You don’t have to make up a half-assed lie for me. Act like a man and learn to say no straightforwardly.”

<I thought there was something wrong with his head, but he’s actually kinda cool,> the voice commented in a weirdly satisfied way, <You know what? I’ll allow it.>

“Now, I’ll ask you again. Can you talk to me about your father? Or rather, your family?” Arza grinned.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“There you go. Ain’t that much easier?”

“I guess…” Evin murmured, though he still felt very wronged about the whole thing.

‘Who doesn’t lie in this world?’

“Alright, I’m gonna go around the city for a bit. You wanna tag along?” Arza said after a satisfied nod.

“No , I’ll stay here.” Evin replied grumpily, though inside his head, a thought was pointing out to him that technically, he wasn’t lying. Evin didn’t know why that was so important.

“Ha-ha, alright. See you later, then.”

The huge red-haired boy said waved casually and walked out the doorway.

<Damn, I wish I was inside that boy’s head instead of yours.>

Evin sat on his bed and wondered if this was going to be his life for the next year.

—–