"Ah! Sh-she's not me…!

"

Zoemi flinched and hurriedly waved his hands in denial, managing to not blush only because of the rigorous attendant training he went through in the past.

"Oh? But you look like you suit each other so well!

"

Elsby raised her brows in surprise.

"So… maybe it's only 'not yet'?

"

She tilted her head and added with an encouraging smile.

"That's…

"

Zoemi looked away and awkwardly rubbed his arm.

"…might be complicated…

"

Even with the black-haired boy doing his best to control his emotions, his expression showed the sadness ever so slightly.

"…

"

"…

"

The two young women looked at each other – Oktria frowned at the worried Elsby.

"Don't mind her! Just come have a look at this!

"

Although Oktria seemed to be way more timid than her companion, she clearly had more of business sense than Elsby – or maybe she just wanted to change the subject and selling things was her first reflex – she pinched her companion for talking unnecessarily before letting go of her hand and pulled Zoemi back towards the counter while keeping some distance from Miriette browsing through other goods.

"Zoemi, you don't look like a guy who likes jewelry too much, but how about buying something for your friends or family? A cute accessory is always a good idea for a present!

"

Oktria talked like a true salesperson while Elsby kept her mouth shut and just stood by her side, nodding vigorously.

"You don't need to buy a necklace or a ring to show your good will if you're buying something for a female friend a hairpin could prove to be a far better idea.

"

As she talked, Oktria was showing Zoemi various accessories. Every one of them was masterfully crafted and was a work of art on its own.

"…

"

…but the boy couldn't focus on the accessories at all – not with Octra being so close…

"If you are trying to act so friendly, why don't you deactivate that spell first?

"

"!!!

"

After a minute or so, the black-haired boy had enough – the shadow of the darkness blade spell was hovering over the young woman's head even though no physical manifestation of it could be seen – and made her let go of him and step away with a shocked expression.

|…does it manifest on her legs or something…?|

Zoemi thought to himself furrowing his brows while glancing at Oktria's knees in search of the actual darkness blade, which only created more questions in the boy's mind.

"I… I need to go check something in the back…

"

Oktria muttered and scuttled away, basically running behind the carriage leaving Zoemi with Elsby looking at each other in silence.

"That's right, shadow magicians wee supposed to see unique shadows… You didn't have to be so rude.

"

The short-haired young woman sighed while nodding her head with an awkward expression.

"I wasn't. Not to mention that approaching someone with an offensive spell at the ready is basically a threat, but yes sure – blame me for noticing that.

"

Zoemi scoffed and sugged his shoulders while leaning down, acting as if he was interested in some hairpins.

"I didn't mean it like that – please, forgive Okty, she manifests her darkness blade as her hair and never turns it off. She didn't have any ill will.

"

"…?

"

Elsby apologized and explained – but seeing Zoemi's raised brow she realized that she needed to tell him more.

"Oh, right – you must have not grown up around darkness magicians, right? Others might mock us that our only offensive spell is the darkness blade, but what they are not aware of is that with enough training, a darkness blade can be changed into its perfect original form that is different for each and every darkness magician.

"

She revealed while moving her hand to the side.

Without as much as opening her mouth to utter an incantation, the shadow extended from underneath her feet and a jet-black slightly wolf-like beast emerged from it without making a sound.

"See? This is my darkness blade – shadow beast – cool isn't it?

"

Elsby asked proudly, crouching by the shadowy creature and started petting it as if it was alive -and to Zoemi's great surprise, the creature started wagging its shadowy tail as if it enjoyed that.

"How does this knowledge makes you think about becoming a darkness magician? After all, darkness is a natural step forward for shadow…

"

She pointed out with a cheeky smile.

"…

"

That definitely didn't work on the black-haired boy.

|She was listening in… who are they exactly… they… they wouldn't be Ghosts, right…? Aspakeony said that they would be interested in me, but none of the darkness magicians here seem to be all that impressive… Or are they hiding their powers…?|

He thought to himself, barely containing himself from grabbing Miriette and running the hell out of the carriage-turned-stall of the darkness magicians…

"…shadow connect…

"

Still, the black-haired boy ended up muttering and a thin hair-like shadow sprouted from his feet and slithered straight to Elsby's spell.

"…

"

The boy waited for her reaction, it seemed like she didn't notice – and truth to be told it wasn't even that strange – when comparing the darkness of the two spells, Zoemi's looked bleak, while Elsby's were like the silky darkness of the starless sky in the dead of the night.

His shadow connect didn't even feel like it actually connect to anything and he couldn't get a read of the spell at all…

"I might consider it… how long does it take to master an original darkness blade like yours or lady Oktria's…?

"

"You ARE interested?!

"

Zoemi asked cautiously attempting to gain some more information from that seemingly innocent question – but was taken aback by the happiness of the girl's reaction.

"Maybe… how long…?

"

The black-haired boy shrugged his shoulders and asked while backing off a little bit – seemingly just because Elsby came too close for his comfort, while actually he was inching closer to Miriette and readying himself…

"Well, first you would have to become a shadow magician, which I actually am not all that certain how to make that happen, probably with a steady supply of mana or something – the commander and vice-commander have more experience in that though – but if we're talking about the original darkness blade itself then it's anything between thirty to one hundred and fifty years! It all depends on the complexity of your own creation – there is no limit to it, seriously! I have shadow beasts, Oktria has her hair, aunty has actual working wings that allow her to fly – and once a prodigy could even his to hypnotize and influence others, almost like the possession that the old fart can use – but, well, he is dead so I can't tell you how exactly he was doing that… But If you really wish to become one of us then…! AH! I know! I'll call the commander – he will LOVE the news!

"

"…

"

The short-haired young woman became bouncing up excitedly, not even paying attention to how tense the black-haired boy in front of her have become…

|…I need to get Miriette out of here as soon as possible…!|

Zoemi gritted his teeth as the worst scenario was confirmed while Elsby ran behind the carriage, leaving him together with the wolf-like shadow beast wagging its tail at him.

The boy ignored it and hurriedly went back to Miriette – but he was too late…

"Oh, Cupcake?

"

Kirissu raised her brows and turned away from Miriette and faced an overwhelmingly tall black-haired man who appeared from behind the carriage and smiled wryly at all three –Kirissu herself, Miriette, and the tense Zoemi.

"Hello there. Before I start let me just explain, my name is Carcassuss, only my wife calls me cupcake because she thinks it sounds similar.

"

He said in a low voice.

"And cuter!

"

Kirissu added and grinned proudly.

Kirissu added and grinned proudly.

Carcassuss only shook his head and walked towards them.

Kirissu's husband, and the man whom Elsby called commander, had a huge jagged scar going across his entire face and neck and Zoemi was sure that it went through half of his torso too, even though an old fashioned shirt blocked the view.

A scar like that wouldn't mark just anyone, this was a mark of a seasoned warrior…

The tall man noticed where the boy was looking and his smile became wider.

"A souvenir I got while protecting this.

"

Carcassuss grinned while pointing at his scar and simultaneously patting the side of the carriage stall.