B4 - Chapter 5 - A Warm Invitation

With no more food to look forward to, the evening started to wind down as they discussed more casual things than Lily had expected. Hana's parents both seemed to ask her entirely mundane things, like how she was finding her classes, what goals she had, and similar things.

They also ended up asking Lily about Hana herself and how she was performing, perhaps to get an outsider's perspective or confirm some of their daughter's previous claims. It eventually became extremely relaxed, and soon the four of them were casually chatting away.

However, there seemed to be one more important thing to discuss before the evening was finished, and it started with Darien speaking about his line of work. As he had mentioned earlier, he ran an organization for adventurers that sought tasks that best suited their capabilities and goals. It was sort of like an agency, where the organization took a small cut of the proceeds as a "finder's fee." Still, it also did more than that, such as helping like-minded individuals form groups or obtain the necessary permissions to explore a dungeon, catacomb, or ancient ruin.

It didn't take Lily long to realize that Darien was trying to sell her on his organization, perhaps so that when she graduated, Regarth, then his would be the first one that came to mind. There was also the obvious possibility that if Lily went, Rose would follow, so it was perfectly understandable why he was going this far.

Selene also touched on her line of work, which seemed to focus mostly on negotiations with various nobles and occasionally the royals. This was where she mentioned that she had invested in several professionals from various trades, also acting as a sort of agent for the upper class. If Lily wanted to sell her enchantments, obtain rare resources, or even apply for higher-tier licenses, then Selene could pull some strings.

Of course, there was an unspoken third option in their offer, and that was for Lily to do both. Adventurers weren't on the road for their entire life, and Darien himself was proof of that, as he ran his organization while still adventuring on the side. A trade profession was slightly less flexible, but only if you were booked with back-to-back appointments.

Lily hadn't been expecting to receive effectively two job offers this evening, but to her relief, they weren't expecting her to make any decisions on the spot. If anything, it felt more like the pair were putting their feelers out to see if Lily had any interest and would consider it in the future.

She'd be lying if she said that both weren't tempting, as access to rarer resources or locations of dungeons and ancient ruins sounded just like something both she and Arakil needed. It was also obvious that Hana was going into her father's line of work, and if Lily wanted to team up with her in the future, joining the same organization would be an ideal choice.

All in all, it was a more pleasant evening than Lily had expected. She had gone in a bundle of nerves and came out with her heart warm and her belly full. Selene and Darien were both very pleasant to deal with and patient with Lily throughout the evening. If being forced into noble politics was inevitable, then she couldn't have asked for a better first experience.

When they departed, they made sure to thank Noah and Paige for a delightful meal, and would have thanked Christopher too if not for him already having gone to bed. It was far later than they realized, and Lily wondered if they weren't technically breaking curfew.

"Darien, you'd better fly them home, or Headmaster Fabrelis will give us an earful," Selene said as they looked at the evening sky.

Hearing the word "fly," Lily wanted to immediately decline, but then she saw the look of pure joy erupting on Hana's face and felt too awkward to speak her mind. For whatever reason, this looked like the most important thing in the world to Hana, more so than even the wonderful meal they had just experienced. Not only that, but there was another voice expressing enthusiasm at the idea.

[Interesting… So they've managed to maintain group flight spells. That's a relief, I'm most curious to see his methodology.]

"Very well. Then you'd better say goodbye to these two, and I'll meet you back at the inn," Darien responded.

Hana rushed up to her mother and gave her a big, warm hug. She was happy for her friend, but a small part of her wished that Margit or even Camilla were here for her.

"Thank you for accepting our invite, Lily. Whatever you decide to do, I think you have a very bright future ahead of you. Thank you for being there for our daughter," Selene said with a warm smile.

"The pleasure is all mine," Lily said, offering a small curtsy. "Thank you for the food, and Hana helps me just as much as I help her. I couldn't have reached the second floor without her."

"Along with Lotte, we make an excellent team," Hana said proudly. "Next up is the third floor. We've got to keep our lead."

Selene seemed to flash Lily a quick apologetic smile before stepping back. Darien then extended his hand to his daughter, who grabbed it before extending her own to Lily.

"Grab on, and be sure not to let your grip slip," Darien said.

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Lily's eyes widened in horror moments before Hana hit him on the shoulder. "Dad! Don't say that!" Hana yelled and quickly turned to Lily. "Don't listen to him, he's talking absolute nonsense. Holding hands just makes it more stable, you won't fall or anything like that!"

Darien scratched his cheek awkwardly and nodded. "Sorry, it's sort of a common Vandriel joke. I didn't realize you were afraid of flying."

Lily tried to chuckle in response to the "joke," but it fell flat. Hana kept apologizing over and over again while repeatedly punching Darien's shoulder. Eventually things settled, and Lily nervously took Hana's hand while Darien was nursing his shoulder by rubbing it.

"Mind giving us a light before we take off?" Darien asked Selene.

"I'm sure our daughter can provide you with one," Selene replied, pointing at the now pouting Hana.

Darien sighed and looked at Hana. "Sorry… It's a force of habit."

Hana seemed to accept his apology, although Lily caught him whispering under his breath about "Putting his foot in his mouth". Hana jumped at the opportunity to show off to her parents and began casting a spell that enveloped the three of them in a glowing aura, banishing the darkness.

With that out of the way, next up was Darien, who began casting his spell. Lily had expected it to be similar to what Hana did, but instead of turbulent winds, it was more like a gentle breeze gathering around them. The winds seemed to embrace the three of them, and Lily couldn't get the image of being surrounded by fluffy clouds out of her mind. Then, slowly, their feet began to lift off the ground.

Lily immediately tightened her grip on Hana's hand, who flashed a reassuring smile in response. Gradually, their height increased, and then, without warning, they began soaring forward. Lily blinked a few times in surprise, as without the roaring wind around them, it felt more like they were just silently gliding forward.

Instinctively, she tried to see what was happening with her Magesight and saw numerous layers of wind working in tandem around their three figures. Not only that, but maybe because of Lily, Darien was keeping them relatively close to the ground, maintaining a near-perfect parallel trajectory to the surface. Yet despite the smooth experience, Lily was still holding on tight as if Darien's earlier words were true.

"Why don't you also help out, Lily?" Hana suddenly asked.

"With what?" Lily managed to respond.

"Your stars, of course. Show my dad what you can do!"

Part of Lily wanted to say no, but then another part of her realized that maybe Hana was trying to get her to calm down. Either way, Lily relented and lifted up her free hand, which was clenched into a tight fist.

Her Mana began to circulate, and with it came a small sense of calm from the familiar, routine actions. She managed to unclench her hand and revealed a fistful of stars, which then began to scatter around them. In response, Hana's own spell dimmed its radius, as if she'd been planning this, and soon their surroundings were littered with a stream of stars orbiting them.

"So this is Astral magic?" Darien asked, a hint of awe in his voice.

"It might not be flying, but I certainly think it's magical," Hana replied, giving Lily's hand a small squeeze.

"It's a pity you didn't show this off in the tournament, I'm sure you would have gotten a lot of praise for it," Darien said to Lily.

"Maybe… But, well, I'll be participating in the interschool competition," Lily replied.

"I'll tell my wife to look forward to it then," Darien chuckled.

Shortly after that, they reached Regarth, where they were met by a few concerned staff members who practically intercepted their arrival. Apparently, a group flying towards the school this late at night was extremely uncommon, and they feared something was wrong. Lily and Hana's uniforms, however, quickly smoothed things over, and Darien was able to explain and defuse the situation.

"Thanks again for accepting our invite. I'm glad Hana has made some good friends this year. I know she can be quite a handful," Darien said to Lily, earning himself another punch in the shoulder.

"You're the handful. I don't know how Mom deals with you," Hana fumed.

Darien chuckled while rubbing his shoulder. Lily thanked him again and got the feeling she should give the father-daughter pair some space. When she left, she caught the two of them embracing in a tight hug, evidently a little closer to her dad than to her mom.

Who would've guessed she's a daddy's girl? Lily giggled to herself.

When Lily reached the dorms, she had to defuse her own situation, as she was met with Beatrice's harsh glare and had to quickly explain herself. To her surprise, however, it looked like there was actually a note pardoning her situation, so the old woman didn't give Lily too much flak for her late arrival.

When Lily reached her bedroom, she nearly collapsed on her bed, but before that, she retrieved Arakil from her pocket and placed him on the desk.

"What an evening…"

[It sounded like you had fun, though. I must say I expected it to be far worse.]

"So did I… But why do I get the feeling you and I have different definitions of worse?"

[Well, back in my day, you could get beheaded for even talking back to a noble without permission. The fact that they gave you several options to choose from, including outright refusal of all of them, would not have happened back then. If a noble wanted you, your child, or even your damn shoes, you gave them.]

"I don't think that happens, but I wouldn't be surprised if some think that it should be the case."

[Well, as long as they don't have actual authority to act on those desires, then things are much better off. Not only that, but I got to witness a true master of the wind in this day and age, so I'd say it was a very pleasant evening.]

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't think I'll ever get used to flying…" Lily sighed.

[Unfortunately, I think both Hana and Rose have different opinions from you. I fear those two will get you used to it one way or another. Hana is still in the dark about your flight inscription, so you're partially safe there, but you're an open book to Rose, and I can't imagine her letting that one fly by.]

Lily groaned at both the awful pun and the truth of the matter. She'd already promised Rose to try to help her with her own flight, and that probably meant experiencing it herself as an example. The one saving grace was that she trusted in glyphs and inscriptions more than any spell ever could, especially ones with Arakil's seal of approval.

Since her stomach was full, even though it was late, Lily went through some of her usual routine so that she could use up some of her Mana and thus burn up some of the food. The meal was delightful, but still far too much food for her, as she was used to.

Speaking of which… I wonder if Professor Melina knows how to make any desserts? Her cookies are great, but that pudding was out of this world…