he
had found them unusually quickly, regardless of the kidnappers'
numbers. It would take unnatural endurance to cover the ground he had in so
little time. In other words...
"You're a magician," the girl stated.
"Yeah. Y'know, ya coulda done me a favor and not bothered with all that
runnin' about," the man grumbled.
"This isn't how you're supposed to treat children, you know!" the girl
informed him. "Why are you chasing me?"
"Just lookin' to make some cash. With a pretty and intelligent face like
yours, I reckon you'd be worth a pretty penny."
"How dare you!"
"Whatever. Money makes the world go round, y'know. I don't care what
ya think of me, 'slong as I get my cash." This time, the man set his sights on
Arcus, letting out another vulgar laugh. "Ooh, this one's got a nice face, too!
Friend of yours? He'll make me rich, too. And quick!"
The situation was escalating quickly. Although Arcus was confident in his
magic skills, he had never used them in actual combat. Not only that, but he
had to protect and create a way out for this girl as well as himself. If he
hadn't been up against a magician, he might have stood a chance. Arcus's
mind whirred, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. If only he
hadn't pulled the girl into this alleyway.
Magic-users were rare—he had hoped to catch his opponent off guard
with a spell or two, but that was a mistake. Now he'd pay for it.
Why did he try to play the hero? He should have just gone to get a guard
like he originally planned—a guard, or at the very least an adult. But no
amount of regret was going to extract them from this situation.
It was then that Arcus noticed the kidnapper was making no attempt to
close the gap. Arcus briefly wondered whether he was planning to use a spell
to capture them, but he hadn't yet made any move.
"Now, how should I do this..." the man wondered aloud. He hadn't even
chosen a spell. Perhaps he wasn't taking this so seriously after all.
At the very least, he didn't seem to think Arcus and the girl would be able
to fight back. Maybe they could use that to their advantage.
I'll wait for him to open his mouth... Arcus decided.
It was at that very moment that the man parted his lips to speak an
incantation."I know! May my power take the form of a rope and punish thee!
Moreover—"
The man began to recite his spell. At the same time, Arcus opened his
mouth to chant an incantation of his own.
"May my burning tongue incinerate the darkness. Turn my screams of
despair into winds of calamitous change. Set forth, and permeate the sky."
But it wasn't Arcus's spell. It was the girl's. Both Arcus and the
kidnapper were taken by surprise, and the kidnapper hadn't even managed to
finish his own spell yet. He stopped his long incantation and made to cast a
different spell, but the girl's magic was already cast.
Artglyphs as orange as the scorching sun rose up in a magic circle as
flames burned in the middle. Those flames burst forth, twisting and turning in
the air, before diving straight toward the kidnapper.
Arcus watched in awe; this looked like it was a spell of the girl's own
making. Craib mentioned before that there were no children of Arcus's age
who were capable of creating their own spells, but it seemed every rule had
its exception.
The kidnapper just barely finished his defensive spell, but because he had
rushed, its most important clause was cut short, and the bubble of magic
surrounding him now was thin and brittle. Arcus looked on. At first glance, it
seemed the girl had the advantage.
Wait... her spell isn't going to work!
Just as Arcus thought, the flames scattered against the kidnapper's
defensive bubble. It was clear the girl had not expected this development.
"How did that not work?!" she gasped.
"Well I wasn't expectin' that!" the man exclaimed with a piercing laugh.
"Y'know, I thought your spell didn't sound familiar. I didn't know kids these
days could make their own little magic tricks!"
"Why didn't it work?" the girl asked herself, still completely perplexed.
"You chose the wrong expression." Arcus stepped in with the answer.
"What?"
"Your spell contained the phrase 'incinerate the darkness,'" Arcus
explained. "Darkness. In other words, night. But it's the middle of the day.
Spells inimical to darkness won't be nearly as effective right now."
"R-Really?" the girl asked, staring at him.
Arcus nodded. Beside them, the kidnapper let out an intrigued hum."Ya know your stuff, kid. But yeah, that's right. Ya must be educated. Ya
don't see silver hair like that much 'round here, neither." The kidnapper
began to approach the children, who stepped backward.
There was nowhere to run. The three walls of this dead end belonged to
three- and four-story buildings. There was no spell in either of their
repertoires that would let them clear such a height. Though the girl cast spell
after spell to fend off the kidnapper, he blocked every single one. It did seem
to be getting on his nerves, at least.
"Hmph! I was hopin' not to damage the goods, to be honest. But
whatever. If I end up disfigurin' ya, least I can patch ya up with magic later.
Now..."
"Wait! We're just kids!" the girl protested. "Aren't adults supposed to
look out for children?!"
Arcus couldn't tell whether this was all bluster or not, but she followed up
her proclamation by sticking her tongue out at the kidnapper.
"Quiet!" Despite his words, he still didn't seem to see the two of them as
a threat.
After the girl's attacks, he probably felt he knew the extent of their power
now. He didn't seem particularly impressed. Suddenly, the girl lowered her
voice.
"Guess I have no choice..."
She was no longer speaking like a child. Now her tone was cold, cruel,
and composed. She had cast off her sweet persona and was now playing a
different game.
"I'd cover my ears if I were you," she warned Arcus.
"What?"
Instead of answering, the girl pulled out a dagger from under her cloak,
likely so that she could fend off an attack mid-chant. Arcus could already feel
the tremendous excess aether rolling off her in waves. It was enough to give
Lecia a run for her money, if not even more than that.
The kidnapper's face was quickly draining of color. It seemed he had
noticed too.
"May the echo of these footsteps ignite the firmament. O, dazzling
skies..."
"O-O, ruler of chains, may you leave these evildoers gasping for air and
freeze..."The two of them began to chant at the same time, completely focused on
each other. This was Arcus's chance.
"A greedy man longs to possess as much as he can without discretion. He
is hungry even for the specks of dust on the ground. Take this unprejudiced
right arm and receive all that it holds."
"Huh?!"
"What?"
Thinking quickly, Arcus recited his own, shorter spell before the other
two could finish theirs.
He raised his right arm above his head. The next moment, artglyphs began
to snake around it, pulling in a flood of trash from the alleyway
indiscriminately toward them.Debris, trash, broken plant pots...
Almost immediately, Arcus's arm was sheathed in junk.
"Whoa!" Instead of finishing her incantation, the girl let out a gasp.
It wasn't long until Arcus was ready to launch.
"Scrapped Arms!"
"What the...!"
Arcus swung his giant junk-covered arm down. The kidnapper just
laughed at him.
"Ya stupid or somethin'? Ya ain't gonna hit me from all the way over
there!"
"In that case, I'll have to launch a Rocket Punch!"
At that very moment, the junk around Arcus's arm launched at the
kidnapper with the same speed and force as Arcus's first attack.
"What?! No—"
Caught completely off guard, he had no time to chant a defense. The
impromptu missile came apart; its component junk clattered and crashed
against the kidnapper, burying him in a pile of garbage.
They had done it. Arcus let out a sigh of relief; suddenly, the girl spoke
up. Hurriedly, he tried to stop her.
"We did— Huh?!"
"Don't say that yet! You'll jinx it!" he gasped.
A jinx. Arcus should have known more than anybody just how powerful
words could be. He managed to stop her, but not before most of the "spell"
was already out of her mouth. The two of them stopped still, holding their
breath. But it didn't look like the kidnapper was going to be moving any time
soon. Satisfied, Arcus moved his hand away from her mouth.
"What was that for?!" she demanded.
"Listen. Any sort of victory cry after a battle will make the enemy stand
right back up again!" Arcus explained.
"What sort of magic is that?" she asked.
"It's not magic."
Arcus knew it was all just superstition that he had picked up from the
man's memories, but even then he didn't want to risk anything.
"Wait a second!" the girl spoke up, as if suddenly remembering
something.
"Right," Arcus agreed, knowing just what she was about to say.This wasn't the time for idle chit chat. They had to make sure that the
kidnapper was really down. Apparently, Arcus had misjudged the girl's
thoughts; the next second, she was throwing herself at him.
"That spell you cast just now! You know, with all the junk flying to your
arm? What was that?! Tell me! C'mon, tell me!"
Arcus stayed silent.
"What's wrong? Come on! I wanna know! Tell me! Tell me, tell me, tell
me!" The girl continued to badger him about his Scrapped Arms, either
oblivious or indifferent to his uncomfortable expression.
"I think we have bigger things to worry about than that right now," he
finally said.
"Huh? Why?" She really didn't seem to have a clue.
"We need to make sure that magician isn't just playing dead," Arcus
explained.
There was a pause.
"Oh!" The girl let out a belated gasp of realization. Had Arcus's spell
really impressed her so much that she lost all semblance of common sense?
Or maybe she just really liked magic. That was probably it.
Once she calmed down, Arcus gave a gentle, experimental kick to the
man lying beneath the rubble. There was no movement.
"Are we good?" the girl asked.
"I think so. It would probably be wise to hit him with a binding spell,
though." Arcus glanced back at the girl.
That was all it took. The next second, he found his body being lifted into
the air. Arcus could still move his neck to see what had happened; there was
the kidnapper, dirtied from the trash. He had his arms around Arcus and was
lifting him up from behind.
"Weren't expectin' this, huh?" He screeched with glee.
"You rotten—" But the kidnapper put a hand to Arcus's mouth.
"Uh-uh! I can't have ya castin' spells now. Even if you're just kids, your
magic's kinda too powerful, y'know?"
Arcus writhed, kicking his legs with all the strength he could muster. He
was just a kid; there was no way he was going to be able to leave a scratch on
a fully-grown adult. The kidnapper didn't even flinch.
"You guys are a real pain, ya know that? Ugh. I wish I had a better
assignment for my first job. I shoulda been more careful..." the man muttered to himself.
Suddenly, the girl cried out.
"Let go of him!"
"Not happenin'. And don't get any funny ideas, neither. Any magic ya
cast could hit him, y'know."
He was right. Not only that, but there was nothing stopping the kidnapper
from launching his own magical attack. They were backed up right into a
corner. Arcus tried to think. What could he do? If he couldn't speak, he
couldn't use magic. Should he leave things to the girl to sort out? But what if
she messed up?
Think! Think! Think!
There had to be something. Something he could do. He went through the
contents of his bag in his head. His wallet. The Sorcerer's Silver. The
pigment. Nothing that could help him now. What else did he have?
Aether. He still had some left inside him. And it wasn't just any aether: it
was the hot, burning aether from when he practiced kneading. He had held it
inside him ever since. Aether was released as waves; if he let it out now, he
might be able to make a breakthrough.
He had nothing to lose.
Arcus pushed out his aether with all the force he could muster.
The hot waves that burst out of him were much more powerful than he
had expected, like the moment a balloon bursts from being overinflated. It
briefly crossed his mind that he wouldn't come out of this unscathed.
Arcus cried out as he felt himself being launched through the air like a
rocket. His kidnapper had been at the opposing end of that explosive force.
He too screamed as he was thrown violently back in the opposite
direction.
Arcus managed to get to his feet as he groaned from the pain. Though
battered and bruised, he had gotten himself out of danger. He studied the
man, but it looked like he really was down for the count now. He was
twitching and convulsing but otherwise completely unconscious. The girl,
astonishment still written on her face, opened her mouth to speak.
"Was that like... a huge fart or something?" she asked.
"No!" Arcus snapped. "That was aether!"
The fact that the man was thrown back from behind him may have made it
look like that, but he still felt it was rude for her to point it out. The girl didn't seem to notice his irritation as she kept asking questions.
"But aether doesn't come out that forcefully!"
"Neither do farts!"
"What? Sure they—"
"No, they don't! And I'd thank you to stop making such embarrassing
assertions!"
Once the pair calmed down from their quarrel, they tied the man up before
handing him over to one of the guards who patrolled the capital. Apparently,
the other men who had been working with him were also apprehended.
Questioned about their activities in the backstreets, it wasn't long until they
were arrested.
Arcus and the girl made their way out of the backstreets and toward the
city's central plaza. "Central" was a misnomer; the plaza was a little to the
southeast of the castle at the city's true center.
Roads split off from the plaza to the east, west, and south, meaning that if
you wanted to go anywhere in the capital, you would invariably pass this
plaza on your way. The ground was paved with a level layer of stone, and a
flower clock in the center painted the area with color. Stalls were dotted
around, filling the air with lively voices. Street performers and artists took up
position in the most conspicuous spots, drawing in crowds of commoners and
low-ranking nobles who sought entertainment.
It reminded Arcus of the scenes from medieval Europe he had seen in his
dream—noblewomen in dresses carrying parasols, and boys in quilted jackets
adorned with lace. He admired just how much attention to detail was paid to
the clothing in that world.
Although he would have expected otherwise, in this world, the same kind
of ostentatious coats, jackets, blouses, and scarves were also popular. In
terms of fashion, there wasn't much of a gap between the two worlds.
Whether noble or commoner, women would wear scarves, and noble boys
would wear long, formal jackets.
At first glance, this world didn't seem very technologically advanced.
However, when you took a closer look at the production of glass, spinning of
textiles, and construction of buildings, there were many technologies in use
that simply didn't exist in the man's world. The difference between the
worlds in civilization's evolution was likely due to the existence of magic
and seals and the highly-advanced civilization that occupied this world hundreds of years ago.
Arcus and the girl sat down by a flower bed on the edge of the plaza.
After they had their breath back, the girl spoke.
"Thanks again. My name's Sue."
"You're very welcome. I'm Arcus Raytheft."
Sue frowned thoughtfully. The frown became a quizzical gaze.
"The Raythefts are nobles, right?"
"Well... Yes, they are."
"Huh. So you come from good stock."
She continued to study him, her curiosity piqued.
"Stop prodding me."
"But your cheeks are all squishy and soft!"
Not content just with poking them, Sue went on to pinch them. Sure, they
were probably soft, but so were any eight-year-old's. Arcus waited patiently
for her to stop.
"Oh!" Sue exclaimed. "You're a noble, right? Are you gonna set the
guards on me for playing with your face?"
"Of course not."
"No? How about asking me to pay with my body?"
What on earth was she talking about?
"Do you know what that means?" Arcus asked.
"'Course I do! It means you get like, one of my organs or an arm or
something, right?"
"The organ trade is not something that should be taken lightly." Arcus
was beginning to get concerned. "Anyway, although I may be of noble blood,
you may treat me as you would anyone else."
"You sure?" Sue asked. She grabbed his hand to shake it. "In that case,
it's nice to meet you!"
Arcus couldn't tell if it made him embarrassed or just shy. He didn't
really have any friends at the moment, and it was unusual for him to meet
children his own age.
At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder who exactly this girl was.
Even if she hadn't given a surname, it was entirely possible that she came
from a wealthy background, especially given her appearance. Her long black
hair was well-combed, and her skin was completely free of dirt. She even
wore jewelry, although it was subtly placed. The thick cloak she wore was of the tailor-made cut typical of aristocratic children, unlike the more common
cloaks, which were fastened at the neck. The former were usually given to
help disguise a child's social position when afield.
If Sue wasn't a noble child, then she could have belonged to a merchant
family. In fact, it might have been Arcus who should be treating her more
respectfully. In any case, what concerned Arcus the most was what a child of
her status was doing wandering the capital by herself.
"Anyway! You gotta tell me about that magic now! I've never seen
anything like it!" Sue leaned forward excitedly.
"That was a spell I created," Arcus replied.
"You can do that?! Wowie!"
"It's nothing, really..."
"Yes it is!" Sue objected. "I tried to make my own too, but you saw how
they ended up, right?! And you knew straight away why they didn't work!
You must be really smart!"
The more she praised him, the more embarrassed Arcus felt himself
become. Although he didn't have room to say it, the final spell that she tried
to cast sounded to him like it was going to be quite something.
"Y'know, you don't see a lotta spells like that. Usually if you wanna
attack, you use water, wind, or fire... Natural stuff like that."
She was absolutely right. Fire, water, wind, stone... those were the sorts of
elements used for offensive spells the majority of the time. It was probably
thanks to inspiration from natural disasters that gave people the impression
that they were so strong, and therefore the first candidates when creating
these kinds of spells. Other kinds of destructive phenomena were not as
widely known, and many people lacked the vocabulary to incorporate them
into their magic.
It was thanks to Arcus's extra memories that he was able to picture and
describe exactly what he wanted his spell to do.
"What did you picture to have all that trash fly to your arm?" the girl
asked.
"I suppose I was thinking of people who collect waste," Arcus replied. "I
mean, trash can be really heavy, right? And probably heavy enough to kill
someone, even without needing to create fire or water. Although the
kidnapper survived in the end."
"There probably wasn't enough trash for that in those streets. But your thought process is super interesting." Sue tilted her head thoughtfully, taking
in his words. "Was there anything else?"
"Well..." Arcus began.
The two of them continued to discuss magic. Before they knew it, the sun
had already set.
Although many days passed after the attempted kidnapping, Arcus
continued to meet with Sue from time to time. The two of them had become
friends. It wasn't just her personality that made her easy to get along with;
they had a lot in common. They were both at the same place with their magic
skills, what with Sue already starting to create her own spells, so
conversation came very naturally. Not only that, but her interest in magic
covered a lot of ground that Arcus's didn't. They had already arranged to
study together the next time they were both free.
She certainly is a strange girl... not that I have any right to talk, Arcus
thought to himself.
Most children her age spent their free time playing outside, but she
seemed to be studying every waking moment. While studying magic was
more enjoyable than other kinds of work, since you could actually see your
skills improving, it was still a little strange.
Arcus was reminded of a proverb from the man's world: "Birds of a
feather flock together."
In any case, he was very pleased to have a friend who shared his passion
for studying. Having a friend who could help you improve your own skills
while you helped them was quite rare indeed. Although Arcus would have
appreciated it if she stopped prodding and pinching his cheeks and calling
him baby faced.
Today, Arcus was busy carving seals in his room. He had everything he
needed: a bottle of Sorcerer's Silver, a case of pigment, and his notebook
filled with artglyphs. He had learned that if you carved using the hot, kneaded
aether he was now able to produce, your seal would be even more effective.
Ever since that incident with the kidnapper, he kept an emergency reserve of
that tempered aether and had even practiced controlling it. On a whim, he
decided to use it when making a seal, and the results were impressive.
This kind of aether required much more careful handling than the regular
kind, as well as a great deal of focus, but it was all worth it for its effectiveness. In fact, using it for seals made Arcus realize that his original
way of carving probably hadn't been terribly efficient in drawing out the
spell's full effects.
It was a new discovery, and one made by him alone.
Although there may be someone who discovered this before me, he
thought.
Although he had struggled with seals before, all those struggles had led up
to this discovery. That knowledge made Arcus feel all warm inside. He
continued to carve as a cheerful song played inside his heart.
"Brother!"
"Ack!"
He hadn't noticed his visitor until she was standing right behind him. The
shock caused him to lose focus and the careful control of his aether. He
struggled to keep his grip on the dagger in his hand, but it was at the cost of
his Sorcerer's Silver bursting out of its bottle.
It splattered over the floor, the drops sparkling and catching the light.
Flustered, Lecia began to gather it all up.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. It's fine."
"I didn't think I'd scare you..."
"R-Right. Most people wouldn't." Arcus let out an awkward laugh.
He felt bad that she was apologizing, given that he was the one who
should have had his guard up.
Having collected up the Sorcerer's Silver, Lecia sat down next to Arcus to
watch him work. In the past two years she'd overcome her lisp, and now she
was perfectly capable of a fluent conversation.
Proper speech was essential to a magician, since you wouldn't be able to
properly enunciate spells otherwise. Not only that, but poor language
acquisition in your mother tongue would lead to problems when learning
artglyphs and the Elder Tongue. As the heir to a noble military family, Lecia
must have received rigorous speech therapy.
Lately, she had taken to tying up her silver hair with a blue ribbon. The
hair that fell around her face was long, and her eyes were tired. She was just a
little shorter than Arcus. Beneath her white blouse, she wore a frilly blue
skirt, as well as suspenders to hold up her socks. Lecia peered at Arcus's
handicraft curiously."You're making seals again today?" she asked.
"That's right."
"You must have worked very hard to be able to carve seals like that."
"Have you done any yet?" Arcus asked.
"Not yet. I've only just started learning magic, after all."
Lecia's magical education had been delayed, likely until she was judged
properly able to handle it. Arcus had jumped the gun a bit. Most people
didn't start to study magic until the age of twelve at the earliest, and some
didn't start until fourteen.
"Have you learned any spells yet?" he asked.
"No, not yet."
That didn't surprise Arcus, either. It had taken more than six months for
Craib to give him permission to start casting spells himself. Lecia would
probably need around the same amount of time.
"What about you? I'm sure you've used magic several times by now,"
Lecia said.
"Yes, although they've mostly been basic spells. Uncle taught me
Flamlarune, too, and I've learned how to cast that properly."
"Really? That's amazing!" Lecia looked up at Arcus, her eyes sparkling
with admiration.
"I'm sure you'll learn it soon yourself. You won't have any trouble with
it."
"I'll do my best!" Lecia promised as she beamed at her brother.
At first, Arcus worried that Joshua and Celine would turn Lecia against
him, but she had continued to come and see him over the years, and he found
her presence incredibly comforting. If it weren't for her, who knew just how
deep he would have sunk into self-pity.
Arcus explained what he was doing to her as he carved, but eventually her
break time was over, and she had to return to her classes. Arcus decided it
was time for him to take a break, too. He gathered his aether, ready to tidy
up, but then he stopped.
Unless he was mistaken, one of the drops of Sorcerer's Silver on the
ground just moved. Arcus let go of the aether he gathered inside him. The
spot of liquid on the ground shrunk again, as though it had been expanded a
moment before.
Intrigued, Arcus centered his aether again. Sure enough, the drop expanded. It was very odd. Even though he was putting his aether to use, it
wasn't like he was trying to do anything with the Sorcerer's Silver.
"Perhaps it's reacting to my aether," he wondered aloud.
It was the only explanation he could think of. What he couldn't work out
was why. He had never seen Sorcerer's Silver behave like this, and so he
concluded that it must have had something to do with the aether he released
when Lecia made him jump. Following that line of logic, it was probably
connected to the moment the Silver shot from its bottle. But if that was true,
Arcus couldn't work out what about the incident would cause this
phenomenon.
"I wasn't using it to cast spells, only to carve out seals," he murmured.
"So something must have happened to it the moment it exploded..."
It was then that he remembered the hot, tempered aether inside him.
That had to be it. When Lecia scared him, he lost control of that aether,
meaning the Sorcerer's Silver would have been exposed to it. There was no
other explanation. While the Silver would have been exposed even as he
carved out the seals, that exposure would have been very limited. Not like the
intense burst he released when the Silver exploded.
Imbued with that aether, the Sorcerer's Silver had transformed into
something else.
"It's awfully curious for it to change size like this..." Arcus said.
Now that he had worked out what had happened, he now had to figure out
what to do with this new material. Tentatively, Arcus released some aether.
As though reacting to it, the former Sorcerer's Silver began to grow in size
once more. Arcus stopped. The liquid shrank back to its former size. He
repeated this exercise over and over for a while, until suddenly it came to him
like a bolt of lightning.
"That's it! A thermometer!" Arcus began to tremble with excitement at
his discovery. "This is just like a thermometer!"
Watching the Sorcerer's Silver expand before him as it reacted to his
aether reminded Arcus of mercury thermometers. Suppose he contained the
Silver within glass—it would let him measure his aether expenditure
accurately. He would no longer have to rely on his gut, and he would be able
to fine-tune the effectiveness of his magic in no time.
Here was a possible solution to his eternal bugbear as a student of the
aetheric arts. That night, Arcus stayed up researching Sorcerer's Silver and its transformation until dawn. His research confirmed his hypothesis: by
exposing Sorcerer's Silver to hot aether, it became aetherically reactive. By
all accounts, creating a device to measure magic power (which Arcus dubbed
an aethometer) should work.
That morning, Arcus headed straight for Craib's place as soon as he
deemed it prudent. He informed the guard at the gate that it was an urgent
matter. The guard went to fetch him immediately.
Craib was still yawning as he welcomed Arcus into the reception room.
Arcus's arrival must have woken him up. He was clad in a black tank top and
long pants, presumably what he wore to bed. Arcus gave a slight, apologetic
bow.
"Good morning, Uncle," he began. "I apologize for imposing on you so
early in the morning."
"Early is right!" Craib studied him. "Hey, are those bags under your
eyes?"
"I was working late into the night," Arcus admitted bashfully.
Craib let out an exasperated sigh.
"Y'know that sleepin' properly is important for kids, right? If you don't
sleep right, you'll be stuck with that baby face and puny height until your
fifties at least!" Craib teased, prodding at Arcus's forehead with a thick
finger. He clearly knew where to hit Arcus right where it hurt. "So, what're
you here for? You didn't get kicked out or anythin', right?"
Craib's expression suddenly turned dark. Arcus had a feeling that Joshua
wouldn't be in for a good time if that were the case.
"No, that's not it," Arcus reassured him.
"Just be careful, okay? I think he really hates you, y'know. He might be
too worried about his reputation to throw you out right now, but push him
much further and he might snap."
Craib was right. His brother detested Arcus, and while he and Celine
hadn't thrown him out just yet, the threat they posed to him if he rocked the
boat was more palpable now that he was older. Arcus decided to keep his
uncle's warning in mind.
"I shall be careful," he promised.
"Good. But just come straight here if it ever does happen, yeah? I'll give
you a good home!"
"Thank you!"