บท 29: Witnessing magic
Eliseline stared at the teenage girl grinding away at the brand's details with her new tool, looking like someone who did blacksmithing for twenty years.
It was a confusing juxtaposition to the light dress she was wearing and the oddly holy looking hair she had.
Each stroke of the tool was never too deep, nor too shallow, methodical and practiced. Even though it was Eliseline's first time seeing someone work with such a tool, she could feel that Savine never made wasted movement and she was never greedy to over-scrub the material.
Even if she was wrong with her assessment, one look at the blacksmith, who looked like his whole world-view was shattered would be enough to tell the truth of the story.
Eliseline then heard a group of people running to the furnace house.
'Shit,' she realized her mistake. 'I should've blocked that tool's sound!'
With how loud and alien it was, there were definitely going to be people who would come and see what was going on.
She quickly walked up to the furnace house's entrance and saw the people. Like she expected, they looked to be the other families of the shared furnace, all looking curious and confused.
"We're trying a new type of a sanding tool!" she shouted over the tool's noise. "Please don't disturb the process."
"Who are you?" one of the older blacksmiths asked.
"I'm a mage from the Temple!" Eliseline said. "We're testing a new magic tool here!"
"A magic tool?"
"Why here of all places?"
They were confused, but listening to the sound of the spinning sandpaper, they craned their necks to look inside.
"What is that?" one asked.
"Why is there a little girl there working?"
"Why is it so loud?"
Eliseline wasn't sure how to reply to their answers. Should she lie or tell the truth? If she lied, then she wasn't confident in creating something plausible in such a short time. That would make them even more curious.
"It's something we made recently and wanted to try out. But it's too dangerous for normal people to be around! Please exit!"
The people were curious, but they couldn't really ignore a mage's request.
Eliseline looked back at the brand Savine was making. It was quickly turning into the exact shape and size of the drawing she made.
'If a mage could make something like that, then what could the craftsmen do?'
The thought felt wrong. Her subconsciousness insisted that even the best craftsman in the world couldn't be better than Savine.
Already, she was only making small adjustments to the brand, already finished making the main shape.
Another ten minutes later, she finished the brand and nodded to herself at a job well done. It was a circle with a cross inside, but it looked stylish and sophisticated due to the curvy lines with varying thicknesses across its length. It also had a faint blue hue, perhaps due to the manastones.
The girl smirked and picked the brand up. At least she tried to do it, but her strength wasn't enough for the feat. Eliseline could see why. Her limbs were still skin and bones. It was a miracle she was able to work with that tool for so long.
"Zuri," Savine spoke in her undeniably authoritative tone.
Her valet was also surprised with the situation, but she quickly got herself together and picked the brand up in her stead.
Savine threw Eliseline's Vasa to her and pulled out her own one. She put it to the brand and mana surged through the wand. The brand shone a soft blue and Savine nodded with satisfaction.
"Thanks for letting us use your tools," she said. "We'll likely visit you later."
Savine said friendlily and walked out.
Outside, Eliseline looked at her with an eye of wonder and curiosity, practically asking her to explain the situation. Ignoring her, Savine spoke as if nothing was wrong.
"Which place should we go to first?" she asked. "Maybe a family that serves meat to the duke's house?"
Eliseline wanted to glare at her, but since she looked like a teenage girl, she felt that was unbecoming of her.
"Let's go to the northwestern side of the city, then," she finally managed. "It's a bit far, so let's get a carriage."
The three got onto a carriage and trudged on.
"Did the blacksmith ask for anything when you paid him?" Savine asked.
"No, young mistress. He only wanted to refuse the coins, saying that he didn't do anything. I urged him to take it and explain the situation to the other blacksmiths as clearly as possible."
Eliseline felt like that was a bad move, but Savine nodded in an approving way.
"Very good."
She then stretched and leaned onto the carriage's door, looking deathly tired. A few seconds later, she held out her two Vasas in the air and it slowly absorbed the free, untainted mana in the air.
Finished recharging, Savine closed her eyes. A minute later, she looked to be napping. Eliseline found the fact weird, but she could tell she was napping, because she looked like a real 12-year-old. An immature, slightly chubby face, and an expression of peace and serenity. Nothing like the mysterious, will-bending, worry-inducing face expression she donned normally.
Zuri also looked at her and was briefly flustered, not knowing what to do.
"Leave her be," Eliseline said. "She tends to do that when there's nothing to do."
Zuri nodded. She then picked up the brand again and stared at the piece of work. Only the brand's handle had that distinct dark and grimy color that was common in forged metal. The rest of the piece, especially the brand looked like the polished armor of the royal knightmages.
But Eliseline was more interested in the faint trace of mana the tool exuded. She couldn't help but wonder. Is it because it has manastones scattered over it, or is it because of the shape? Savine was quite particular about that, so Eliseline thought that might be the case.
'She also mentioned runes for the farmlands, are those going to be as precise as the brand?'
Reminded of the topic of magic, Eliseline brought her Vasa out and tried to recreate the tool Savine made.
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