Chapter 687: After the First Step

Sylphie reached the lakeshore first and began looking for stones.

Kael did the same.

The nameless man remained a few steps behind them with his notebook tucked under one arm. Seraphine closed the book she had been reading and sat on the bench near the lake, apparently willing to watch. Umbra walked toward a larger rock by the shore and assumed a more defined form, her arms crossed.

"Three throws each," she said. "No mana. No manipulating the water. No outside interference."

Sylphie looked at Kael.

"She’s looking at me when she says the second part."

"From experience."

"You still have no proof from the first time."

"We have a witness."

Umbra raised one hand.

"I witnessed it."

Sylphie narrowed her eyes.

"You only said that afterward."

"Memories remain valid when reported at a later time."

Kael pointed at her.

"Finally, someone using records correctly."

Seraphine laughed.

"You managed to turn skipping stones into a documentary debate."

"It wasn’t me," Sylphie replied.

Kael found a flat stone, weighed it in his palm, then handed her another one of similar shape.

"You can start."

Sylphie examined the stone he had given her.

"You’re trying to eliminate the excuse that you chose a better one."

"Exactly."

"Smart."

She positioned herself and threw.

The stone touched the surface five times before disappearing beneath the water.

Umbra counted aloud.

"Five."

Sylphie stepped back.

Kael threw his own.

Six.

The nameless man opened his notebook.

Kael noticed.

"You’re going to record this?"

"Maybe."

"You don’t need to."

"I know."

He wrote anyway.

On the second round, Sylphie managed seven.

Kael chose his next stone more carefully, testing the edge with his thumb.

He threw.

Seven as well.

Umbra tilted her head.

"Tie."

"Last one," Sylphie said.

Kael found a relatively small stone.

Sylphie looked at it.

"You’re going to use that one?"

"Yes."

"It’s too light."

"Maybe."

She seemed suspicious of the answer but selected her own stone.

Her throw was good.

Eight skips.

Sylphie raised her arms.

"Eight."

"I saw."

"Going to give up?"

Kael turned sideways toward the lake.

"No."

He threw.

The stone struck the water at an almost perfect angle.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

The ninth touch was so light it barely made a sound before the stone sank near the opposite shore.

Umbra remained silent for a second.

"Nine."

Sylphie looked at the lake.

Then at Kael.

"You practiced in secret."

"When?"

"I don’t know. That’s what makes it suspicious."

"I’ve spent the last few days practically under supervision."

Umbra nodded.

"Confirmed."

Sylphie placed her hands on her hips.

"Then you won."

"By one."

"You don’t need to repeat it."

Kael smiled.

The nameless man wrote something.

This time, Sylphie went over to him.

"I want to see."

He pressed the notebook against his chest protectively.

"It’s mine."

She stopped.

Then looked at Kael.

"This is your fault."

"For teaching him that personal property exists?"

"For teaching him that phrase."

The man thought about it.

"I learned it myself."

Kael pointed at him.

"See?"

Sylphie started laughing and returned to the bench.

Kael remained by the shore for a few more seconds.

His body still felt perfectly normal.

No pain in his ankle.

No delayed reaction in his chest.

Throwing the stone had required his left shoulder, and even then there was no discomfort.

He realized he was evaluating his own condition.

There was nothing wrong with that.

The difference was that he no longer needed to turn every good result into permission to demand more.

He walked back toward the others.

In the middle of the afternoon, Kael brought the seven pages he had separated from the folder into the garden.

Not all forty-two.

Seven.

Amelia noticed when she passed along the path.

"You’re reading out here?"

"Yes."

"Do you want a room?"

"No."

He was sitting beneath Eleonor’s tree with the documents resting on his lap.

Sylphie was reading beside him, though her book was about cultivating plants.

The nameless man remained near the garden bed, alternating between his notebook and the book about animals.

Seraphine was in the library.

Amelia looked over the scene.

"This looks much less official than I expected."

"That’s the point."

"Any questions?"

Kael lifted one page.

"Only one."

She approached.

The section he had marked concerned the complex located in the region of the five settlements.

Irelia had suggested that first contact be made by independent messengers before any technical team arrived, to prevent the presence of representatives from the Empire from being interpreted as an attempt to impose control.

Kael pointed to one note.

"It says here that the largest settlement has a formal council and the other four don’t."

"Yes."

"Don’t use that as an argument for speaking with them first."

"We won’t."

"Good."

Amelia waited.

Kael turned the page.

"That was it."

"You want to discuss the rest?"

"Tomorrow."

She looked at the other pages.

"Did you finish all of them?"

"Five of seven."

"Then why not finish?"

Kael thought about it.

"Because I’ve read enough for today."

Amelia didn’t answer immediately.

Then she nodded.

"All right."

Sylphie didn’t look up from her book.

But she smiled.

Kael noticed.

"No."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You don’t have to."

Amelia continued on her way.

Kael finished only the page he was currently reading and closed the stack.

He placed everything beside the bench.

The nameless man looked over.

"You’re not going to finish?"

"Not today."

"But there are two left."

"Yes."

He thought about it.

"You can finish tomorrow."

"Exactly."

The man opened his notebook.

Kael pointed.

"You don’t need to record that."

The pencil was already touching the paper.

"I know."

Kael gave up.

Later, Sylphie went to fetch water for the new garden beds she still planned to prepare with the seeds bought in the city.

Kael remained near the lake.

The nameless man approached.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can."

He sat at the opposite end of the bench.

"When you were injured, did you want to use the Step again because you needed it?"

Kael considered the question.

"Sometimes."

"And today?"

"Today, I wanted to because I wanted to know if I still could."

"Is that different?"

"Yes."

The man looked at his notebook but didn’t write.

Kael continued.

"One thing is needing a technique because there’s a problem in front of you. Another is missing something because it’s part of the way you live."

"So you missed it."

"I did."

"And now that you can use it again?"

Kael looked toward the lake.

"I’m still sitting here."

The man followed his gaze.

"Because you want to?"

"Yes."

He remained silent for several seconds.

"I think I understand."

Kael didn’t ask what exactly he had understood.

He didn’t need to.

Sylphie returned carrying the watering can, and the man went to help her before she even asked.

Kael remained on the bench watching the two of them.

A few weeks earlier, almost any conversation like that would have ended in a conclusion.

A decision.

A rule.

Something had to be determined.

Now it didn’t always have to.

Sometimes a question could simply remain a question.

During dinner, Eleonor asked how his body felt after the Step.

"Normal."

"Any delayed pain?"

"No."

Sylphie answered before he could add anything else.

"I checked twice."

Eleonor looked at her.

"So tomorrow?"

"Maybe two Steps."

Kael immediately raised his eyes.

Sylphie pointed her fork at him.

"Maybe."

"You just said—"

"I said maybe."

"That’s cruel."

"That’s medicine."

Umbra appeared near the table.

"I want to see when we reach ten."

Sylphie looked at her.

"Don’t encourage him."

Kael cut a piece of meat.

"I’m not going to try ten tomorrow."

"Good," Sylphie replied.

Eleonor studied her grandson.

"You really won’t?"

"No."

"I’m almost disappointed."

Kael looked at her.

"You spent the entire morning supporting Sylphie."

"I wanted to see her win."

"This family is against me."

"You survived."

The nameless man was sitting near Seraphine, eating a small portion of vegetables.

After several minutes, he set his fork down.

"Kael won at the stones."

Eleonor frowned.

"At the stones?"

"Sylphie."

"By one," Kael added.

Sylphie rested her forehead against one hand.

"I should have banned the notebook."

"It was without mana," the man said.

Eleonor nodded seriously.

"Then it counts."

Sylphie looked around the table.

"This family is against me too."

Kael smiled.

The next morning, Kael woke with the familiar sensation of having trained lightly the day before.

It wasn’t pain.

It was simply his body remembering that it had returned to performing a technique requiring extreme coordination.

Sylphie examined him again.

"No reaction."

"Then two."

"You didn’t even ask."

"I’m anticipating."

She passed mana through the channels in his chest.

"Two, with an interval."

"How long?"

"Five minutes."

"That’s too much."

"Ten."

"Five is fine."

Sylphie smiled.

Kael realized it too late.

"You did that on purpose."

"Maybe."

After breakfast, there wasn’t such a large audience.

The nameless man appeared with his notebook.

Seraphine came with him.

Umbra was already in the courtyard.

Eleonor didn’t appear.

Neither did Amelia.

Kael approved.

Sylphie chose a slightly greater distance this time.

Twelve meters.

Kael performed the first Step.

Clean.

Fast.

No pain.

Sylphie examined his channels.

They waited five minutes.

The nameless man watched the courtyard clock.

"Two minutes left."

Kael looked at him.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Sylphie’s."

"Betrayal."

"She asked me to count."

Kael looked at Sylphie.

She didn’t even try to hide her smile.

When the interval ended, Kael returned to position.

The second Step was just as stable as the first.

No change in his ankle.

No pressure in his chest.

No inflammation in his shoulder.

Sylphie completed the examination.

"Good."

"Then three tomorrow."

"We’ll see."

"You like that phrase too much."

"I’m discovering that."

Kael put his outer shirt back on.

This time, he didn’t feel any desire to test a third Step.

The satisfaction was already there.

His body was responding.

That was enough.

When he left the courtyard, he found Amelia in the corridor.

She was carrying a single folder.

Kael pointed.

"One."

"You won."

"Was this a competition?"

"No."

"Then why did you say I won?"

"Because it seemed appropriate."

She handed him the document.

"It’s the two pages you left yesterday, plus three new observations from Irelia."

"Five."

"Five."

Kael accepted it.

"I’ll read them before lunch."

"And afterward?"

"Afterward, I’m going to the garden."

Amelia nodded.

No irony.

No surprise.

"All right."

Kael continued walking.

Sylphie came alongside him.

"Did you notice?"

"What?"

"She didn’t ask whether you were coming back afterward."

Kael thought about it.

"Maybe she’s learning."

"Maybe everyone is."

When they reached the garden, they found the nameless man kneeling in front of the garden bed.

He said nothing.

He only pointed.

There was a third sprout.

Kael crouched beside him.

"Three."

The man opened his notebook.

Kael waited.

After writing the date, he voluntarily showed him the page.

THIRD SPROUT.

KAEL USED TWO STEPS TODAY.

BOTH WORKED.

THEN HE CAME BACK TO THE GARDEN.

Kael read the final sentence.

This time, he didn’t call it interpretation.

"That’s correct."

The man smiled and closed the notebook.

Kael remained crouched in front of the small plants for a few more seconds before standing.

There were five pages of work waiting for him.

Two Celestial Steps completed without any problems.

One bellflower beginning to grow.

Three sprouts in the other garden bed.

And in the kitchen, there were probably still enough pears left for the next tart.

His recovery was coming to an end.

The routine that had emerged during it didn’t need to end with it.