Chapter Text
Genau preferred to work alone. And if he was required to have a partner, he would’ve preferred an experienced, capable mage. But Mistress Serie had assigned him a newly qualified first class mage to take care of demon sightings up north.
As he flipped through her profile, he saw that she was an accomplished mage, having written a couple grimoires and contributed to the development of new spells. Although she had a track record for not showing up for exams, she did pass them with good scores.
He had seen her a couple times at the Continental Magic Association headquarters at AuBerst. More than once, he had seen her dragging herself out the library in the early morning with her dark hair disheveled and dark circles underneath her eyes, presumably having spent the night there. She seemed to be married to the library, and she studied obsessively. She would constantly be surrounded by piles of books - history, botany, alchemy, almost every topic that existed.
She didn’t socialize much - so all that people knew about her were rumors. They said that she was half demon, that her demon mother seduced her father as a sick experiment. Her demon side was what made her so secluded. Others said that she descended from a long lost line of forest elves, based on her obsession with folk magic and useless topics like botany and alchemy. But to Genau, she simply seemed introverted. When he was also a new, quiet mage at Aubert he wasn’t spared from rumors, so he knew it was pointless to listen to gossip.
No matter, Genau concluded. Being sociable didn’t translate to battle skills. She just needed to be strong enough to hold her ground and not make any unnecessary mistakes. From first glance, her mana pool didn’t seem to be large for a first class mage, but she had performed well on her combat exams. So she was either suppressing her mana or had a very precise control over her techniques, and he was fine with either of those conditions. Again, as long as she didn’t hold him down.
Maybe mistress Serie thought it would be amusing to pair up the two quiet ones together.
As they journeyed to the northern plateau village, he learned more about her. She was quiet most of the time, with bursts of chattiness. He noticed that she frequently got lost in her thoughts, aimlessly looking at the scenery around them. She would get excited about the new and exotic species of plants and flowers, telling him about the time of the year they bloomed, for how long, and if they had any useful properties. It seemed like she had a wealth of non-magical knowledge stored up in her head. It was useless.
Today was one of her more chatty days. She turned towards him, saying something.
His thoughts were interrupted as his red eyes met his companion’s. Her dark irises peered up at him, the evening sun changing them from black to a light brown.
“Did you hear me?” Her voice snapped him out of his trance.
“No, what were you saying?”
“These bloom towards the end of the winter.”
Genau glanced sideways. She held a silver flower, gently touching one of its petals.
She had a small smile across her face. “They’re frost lilies,” you continued thoughtfully. “The roots draw in heat from the surrounding ground during the winter, which allows them to bloom even when the ground is still partially frozen. They’re too impatient to wait until spring.”
He returned his attention to the road.
She continued, “Still, you may ask, how do they manage to survive if the animals that normally pollinate flowers are basically absent during the winter?”
Honestly, he really wasn’t that curious. It didn’t seem like she cared. “You see, the local birds like them because the nectar is warm,” she said as she offered it to one of the many birds Genau was using for surveillance. “The nectar has very small seeds inside, which the birds aren’t able to digest. So the seeds find their new home as the birds fly to new places.”
“…I see.”
She paused. Then she continued explaining.