17. Suspicion

Dear Uncle,

I've heard everything from Therius about you and the Outsider's power. I'm glad you're managing it well, and I hope you continue to be careful with it and use it responsibly.

As for Lazulis, the peace treaty has been finalized. The Gurak Continent and Lazulis are trading more with each other, which should help our economies recover from the war we once had. Things are much more peaceful, now. There are some that will not be as accepting of the Gurak and vice versa, but otherwise, there is peace. However, there is still much work to be done in terms of the Empire's mainland, and so on.

It's likely I'll be making a visit to Selphia. I'm not sure when, yet, but probably before winter hits. I'll let you know in advance when I do.

-Calista

"You can make things float now?"

Arganan couldn't help but sigh. It was only the next morning, but the moment he told Jones and Nancy at breakfast about the whole floating teapot incident from last night, Frey ended up coming to the Clinic only an hour later to hear the news.

"Yes, I'm capable of making things float. Either that, or I was dreaming." He managed.

"Can you try it right now?"

"I was in a pretty relaxed state from the bath and drinking the Relax Tea at the time. I'm not sure if I can just replicate it on command." The former Count watched Frey pace around the clinic's main floor, and he sighed. "You can stop walking around, by the way. There's no need to stress about it if it's not doing me harm, right?"

"You didn't feel any loss of energy from lifting things with your power?" Dr. Jones asked, hurriedly scribbling notes on his clipboard.

"No. Nothing like that at all, honestly."

"Well," Jones mused, "At least we know of an ability that doesn't do you harm in return for you using it. Speaking of abilities…" He looked up from his clipboard. "Have you tried using your shield ability at all, lately?"

Arganan shook his head. "Not really, no. Not since the demonstration I did with Therius and Vishnal." Jones and Nancy gave him strange looks. Arganan sheepishly looked away from them momentarily. "It was a while ago. Therius wanted to know how it worked, so I tested it out for him."

"Firstly," Nancy managed, looking Arganan in the eye, "Let us know about any attempted testing like that immediately, in the future."

He swallowed, seeing the too-serious look in her eyes. No one was to disobey Nancy when she had that tone. "Yes ma'am."

"Second," She managed, "Were you still drained of energy afterwards?"

"Yes. But I recovered a lot faster. It might be due to the fact that it was such a brief punch to the shield, rather than a constant assault like when Amber attacked me, Frey and Forte in her monster form."

"That would make sense." Jones noted. He paused, then spoke again. "I read the notes that Miss Mirania sent us. The ones you handed to us, that is."

"And?"

"The way your power works seems to be based off your personality. With Zael and the late Zangurak, it worked differently for them."

Arganan vaguely remembered seeing Zael, using the Outsider's power to attract enemies towards himself and debuff them after counterattacking at the right times. Zael was always one to look out for others. It made sense that his powers would reflect that.

"And so my shielding and floating abilities are based off me?" He asked. "Lumie came up with the theory last night, too."

"Illuminata?" Frey echoed.

"I went to see her first thing, last night, after the whole floating incident." Arganan explained. "She said it might be based off my own personality. And given that you're bringing it up now, maybe she's right. The question is: What do I do about this, then?"

"Well, as I mentioned last time we discussed your powers, keeping an eye on them was of importance. It still is. Now that we have Mirania's research on the Outsider's power, I believe it might be pertinent for you to train those abilities. Practice them."

Arganan raised a brow. "Practice them? To make sure they don't go out of control? Take down enemies?"

"No one is making you use them for combat." Jones managed. "and if you don't want to use them for those purposes, that's fine."

Arganan thought back to last night, when he made that teapot float. Could he have put it down peacefully, had he not been so shocked by it? He knew back in Lazulis, that there were magic users that weren't built for battle; the fire mages that lit fires in the fireplaces, the mages that used healing magic, like Mirania, and ones that focused on research like Yurick did. And Arganan knew, for sure, that he wasn't wholly comfortable with utilitizing his abilities in combat. Hell, he wasn't sure if most of the townsfolk really were involved in combat, save for Forte (who had no magic) and whoever Frey dragged out with her outside town to investigate everything going on so far. He doubted Illuminata had magic, or else she would've shown it already. He imagined Arthur might, but given his current position, he probably didn't engage in combat all that much.

"It's just something to think about," Jones continued, and Arganan looked up at him to see the doctor offer him a reassuring smile. "That's all. What you do with them is up to you. As long as you're not harming yourself or anyone with it, I don't see why you shouldn't practice them."

Arganan could only nod. He remembered how he saw Zael's power. How he made him use it to turn Lazulis Island into a fortress, once, and to summon the Outsider's power in an attempt to shoot down all the Gurak at the final battle. He didn't give Zael a choice in that matter. Not really. But here he was, right now with the same power (though different abilities), but he had the choice to use it as he wanted. He had these powers right now, whether he wanted to use them for combat or something else (within limits, he figured, given that the Outsider drained him of his energy if he used it as a shield, but still).

And unlike back in Lazulis, with the previous threat of Zangurak trying to take the power of the Outsider all for himself, not too much unlike how Arganan tried to use Zael's power for his own benefit, Arganan didn't have that same threat running after him in Selphia. At least, not now.

He was safe. He had time. In a way, he had the most ideal situation with the abilities he had.

He then thought back to what Therius said, about the reports going missing, and he shuddered. What if someone else truly did get their hands on them? What then? There wasn't anyone in this town that might try to use them to their advantage, right? Ventuswill was powerful enough as is, and seemed more than fine with her position. Frey was too sweet to do anything like take advantage of anyone, from his experience with her. Everyone seemed relatively nice…

Except Arthur.

Arthur, who was supposed to be actually ruling Selphia, but chose to stand in the shadows and let Frey do the work. He said he had something to do while he was here, didn't he? And I know he's helping Frey with tourism here, but…

Something didn't seem right.

And he had to find out.

After the meeting with Frey, Jones and Nancy was over, Arganan walked straight into Porcoline's restaurant, taking a deep breath.

"Arganan! Good afternoon " Porcoline called from the counter at the back. "Is there something you'd like?"

"I was wondering," Arganan managed, looking up to face the chef, "Is Arthur in his office? I need to talk to him."

"Well," Porcoline paused, putting a ladle down, probably from cooking a stew or something, "He certainly is. He doesn't have any visitors right now, as far as I know, so he shouldn't be occupied…"

"Good. Because I need to see him." Arganan bid Porcoline a quick goodbye, thanking him for his help before rushing into the office. Conveniently enough, Arthur's current office was in the building to the right of the restaurant, and both buildings were attached as is, so Arganan just had to walk through another set of doors to get there. Just as Porcoline mentioned earlier, Arthur was seated at his desk, but he stood the moment Arganan entered the room, clearly a little startled.

"Arganan." Arthur blinked. "Is there something you need? You look in a hurry."

"I need to talk to you." Arganan managed, looking him in the eye. "It's about Frey. And me."

"About Frey?" Arthur looked intrigued, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he faced Arganan. "Are you concerned for her wellbeing, regarding her amnesia?"

"Well…yes." Arganan admitted. It would be wrong of him to say that he wasn't worried about her because of that. "But I also think you know more about her than you let on. You and Venti both. The whole Earthmate situation, the fact you quickly let Frey take control of Selphia only a day after she was mistaken for you…and back when Sir Therius was visiting town, I heard that the original copies of research on the Outsider's power, which I have, went missing. What are you planning with any of this?"

"I don't understand why you'd link missing research on the Outsider's power to me." Arthur raised a brow. "Why make that assumption?"

"You said you had other things to do that you couldn't accomplish, if you were busy ruling Selphia. And clearly you'd have a better idea of how Selphia and Norad at large would function, given your previous position as Prince. And you are also one of the first to know about my having the Outsider's power. Naturally, I'm sure you'd want to know as much as you can about it. Being deeply involved in Selphia's tourism and trade would give you the excuse for research on other prospects…Lazulis included, given that Therius told me that my niece is interested in setting up trade routes in Norad, starting with Selphia. If anything, you have good motive to exploit Selphia's trade business for whatever power you get in return. The better Selphia does, the better you do. You put yourself into a position of power, not just over Selphia but potentially over Lazulis."

"It's true that there is a level of power that can be made when you play the markets right." Arthur managed. "But isn't that the same with business and trade in other areas? As far as I do know about the Outsider's power, it's not like you can use it to make transportation more efficient, or anything like that."

"I—" Arganan stopped himself. What if Arthur doesn't know anything about the Outsider? And if that's the case, he might not be the one who took the original research. If I say anything, he will know more of how it works.

"I'm just simply doing my job." Arthur managed, his voice still level. Still calm, as always. "I just simply look for a need, as a merchant, and do my best to fufill that. That's all it comes down to. And right now, Lazulis and Selphia are both in need. Selphia would benefit in the future from further trade, financially, and Lazulis especially so, given that they just formed a new peace treaty with the Gurak after ending a long war. But I'm sure you know all the details about Lazulis, given how you were previously its Count."

"I'm sure I'd know better," Arganan finally managed, sighing, "If Calista sent me more information about all of that."

Before Arthur could respond, that was when Frey burst into the office, panting. Vishnal followed behind her, also gasping. "Arthur? Arganan? Oh, this is convenient…"

"Frey?" Arthur's attention turned towards her, frowning. "Vishnal? Are you both okay?"

"Yes, we're fine, just…uh…" Vishnal cleared his throat, but Frey beat him to it.

"We have to head to Obsidian Mansion. We've got someone to save."