Inari’s Gift

After her bit of excitement with the attempted mugging, the thieves, and the noble controlling them, Cera was quite tired of the day already.  Her plan for the morning had been thoroughly destroyed, and now she’d have to change her plans.  She did, however, insist on continuing to the bank to deal with her money.

She considered herself fortunate that she hadn’t had to give up any of her own money, like she had offered, since the noble was able to do that instead.  Unfortunately, today just didn’t seem to be her day.

As she walked toward the entrance to the area full of wealthy residences, she heard a scream from someone down the road and, looking that way, saw a man pointing at her before he screamed, “Monster!”

Cera immediately bolted, heading for the nearest alley.  Hopefully the man couldn’t describe her well, or she’d likely have serious problems if, as she suspected, he reported her.  As she ran, Cera did her best to disrupt any traces she might leave, creating random bursts of wind behind her, sending gusts of air straight up to try to displace her scent, and randomly scrambling the grime in the alleys with earth magic.

After crossing several streets, while attempting to make herself totally invisible, she stopped in the next alley, panting and trying to catch her breath.  After several minutes, she straightened back up and followed the alley to the next main road, carefully checking from the intersection to see if there was anyone in sight.

Seeing no one present, she changed back to her normal illusion from the attempted invisibility, then began her way down the road.  She had no idea where she was anymore, but it was easy enough to find her way out of this area, as she just had to look for the less impressive buildings and head that way.

Not too long afterward, she found some guards blocking the entry to the wealthy area, though they didn’t seem alarmed at all, so it was unlikely they were there for her.  They were also facing the other way, toward the rest of the town.  After a moment of thought, she shifted her illusion to display much fancier-looking clothing than she was actually wearing, then focused on her stance and tried to act like she was better than everyone else.

Now prepared, she headed toward the guards, wondering all the while why there had been none when the group led her in.  Then again, it probably didn’t concern her.  While she’d hoped to pass without incident, the guards did stop her for a moment to chat, asking how things were going and what she was up to.  Probably just trying to be friendly, but still worrying given her current situation.

After a moment of consideration as she told them she was doing decently and headed to visit an acquaintance, she mentioned hearing someone scream about a monster, but not having noticed anything like that, and perhaps that person was just trying to get people to pay attention to them.

She wasn’t terribly hopeful it would help, but maybe they’d spread what she said, and the man from before would be ignored.  Fortunately, neither of the guards seemed the slightest bit worried, so she was sure neither could see through her illusions.  Eventually she was able to leave without seeming in a rush, and calmly continued onward, keeping her stance as best as she could.

Not long after, she turned the corner, and finding no one present, quickly shifted her illusion back and relaxed.  She really didn’t like acting like that, nor was she comfortable pretending to be someone she wasn’t.

A few streets later, she found someone who didn’t seem to be in a rush and asked for directions to the bank, then made her way there.  As she’d hoped, everything went smoothly from then on, easily making her way to the bank and depositing most of her money, bringing her up to just over six silver in the bank, meeting her goal for what she wanted to have before going to the capital to join the magic academy.

She’d still stay at least another month so as to not abandon her students, but now she felt she was actually prepared.  After taking a few moments to congratulate herself mentally for reaching her goal, she headed to the mages’ guild, though she’d wanted to go outside town and experiment more.

Upon arrival, she got Ann’s attention and mentioned she wanted to talk privately for a moment.  The other woman nodded before grabbing a small gem from the corner of her desk and bringing her to one of the small rooms nearby.  Cera then spent a while describing what had happened, asking if Ann had any advice.

Unsurprisingly, Ann mostly agreed with her actions when leaving, though she wasn’t a fan of how she handled the noble.  In Ann’s opinion, she should have simply killed the woman after the second attack.  When she explained that she didn’t want to risk having guards hunting her for killing a noble, Ann brought up the point that no one would be likely to report her from a bunch of criminals, and she doubted that Cera was foolish enough to leave evidence of who she was.

With a sigh, Cera explained that she wasn’t the sort to kill easily, even if she’d killed a number of goblins and bandits, and even the man who broke into her room.  Even as she spoke, she felt she was losing her point, realizing just how many times she’d killed since she entered this world.  In the end, she sighed and just added that she really didn’t like killing and would prefer to minimize how much she did it.

Ann simply shook her head, called her foolish, then asked what she would do if she was hunted due to the person calling her a monster.

“Well, not much I could do if that happens.  Try to hide long enough to get my money from the bank and, if I thought I could manage it, let you know so you could tell my students I had to leave unexpectedly, maybe ask you to get a message to the healers’ guild too, then get out of town as quietly as possible.  I seemed to do okay in trying to make myself invisible when I fled; at the very least, no one raised an alarm as I ran, so I could try that again on the way out.  The guards would likely be more alert, so I might have to try to sneak out somewhere other than the gates, though, I guess?” Cera immediately responded, frowning as she thought about the possibility and hoped it wouldn’t happen.

This time, Ann nodded, seemingly satisfied at her having a plan already, even if it wasn’t perfect.  After a moment of thought, she stated that she’d see if her friends could discourage a hunt from beginning.  Cera was quite thankful for this, though she was uncertain how much that would help.  Then again, given how well-off Laura seemed, perhaps Ann had more influence than she thought.

Cera thanked the woman and remarked that was all she needed to talk to her about.  With a nod, Ann got up and led the way back into the central chamber, placing the small gem back on her desk as she sat down again.  Before Cera had time to turn from watching this action, the gem began to flash several colors, and Ann stood up again, heading toward the entry of the guild, remarking that there was a new applicant before she opened the warded door and disappeared beyond it.

Curious, Cera lingered near the doorway, looking through books as close to it as possible.  A few minutes later, Ann led a man into the room, and he looked around before heading toward where Cera stood.  She put the book she was holding away and moved to the side to allow him to pass, receiving a nod of thanks as he began down the aisle, glancing from side to side as he went.

After quietly asking Ann about the man, she learned he was a traveling scholar who had earned entry to the guild in another town and was apparently searching for some sort of legend.  She hadn’t pried too deeply, just verified his token.

Having satisfied her curiosity, Cera headed toward a table, planning to practice control over her magic until later in the day, when she planned to meet Laura again.  The next hours passed without incident, the new man taking a few moments to observe her as she moved small masses of fire, air, and water through the air, testing how rapidly and precisely she could control them.

Cera considered herself fairly skilled already, but more practice never hurt, and it was relatively relaxing for her, which she needed after the excitement she’d had so far today.  Eventually, she considered enough time had passed.  She dismissed her magic, moving the water she’d been practicing with back to the small basin she’d taken it from before heading out the door.

Not long after, she found her way to Laura’s home, meeting the man out front once again, then being directed to a different room to meet Laura this time.  As she entered, she spotted an older man and woman and immediately assumed they were the woman’s parents.  Much as she’d guessed, they introduced themselves that way before bringing up their daughter’s request to allow her to live there.

Cera immediately stated that she was more comfortable living on her own rather than having to rely on the goodwill of others, though she wouldn’t mind some help from them.  Before they could ask what she meant, she immediately brought up her desire to go to the capital’s mage academy and asked if they knew anyone who could help her get in more easily, bringing up her unique magic and how she was certain it could get her in, if she got the opportunity to showcase it, but that she was doubtful a random applicant could get that kind of attention.

She also brought up her issue with the guards when she was experimenting outside the town.  The two looked at each other for a moment before the woman nodded.  They focused back on her, and the man stated that he’d see about his contacts in the capital, while the woman stated that she’d have words with the guard who’d been so hostile towards her.  Apparently, much to her surprise, the woman was associated with the guard’s leadership, while the man helped run a chain of clothing stores focused on the nobility, leading to the family’s reasonably wealthy, but not quite noble status.

After she thanked them, they admitted that they were worried about the idea of housing her and were trying to figure out how to refuse in a way that wouldn’t anger her or drive her to abandon teaching their daughter.  Cera couldn’t help but laugh at this, and remarked that she was glad there wasn’t any issue with that in the end, to which the two nodded, then remarked that they’d get out of her way and let her get to teaching.

A moment after her parents left, Laura sighed and remarked, “You don’t need to guard me.  She isn’t going to do anything, or else she’d have done it when we were alone the other day.”

Cera was wondering who she was talking to before a sigh was heard from the corner and, with a shimmer, a guard stepped into sight before leaving the room.  Cera’s eyes went wide at the apparent invisibility, and Laura nodded, remarking, “You don’t want to know how expensive that enchantment was.  But that’s part of why I was so interested in illusions.

A few hours passed before Cera decided to end things for the day, and Laura agreed, stating that she was feeling unusually tired as well and would like to get to bed.  She did insist, however, that Cera join her for dinner before she left.  Seeing no reason to refuse, Cera agreed and followed her to the other side of the manor, finding that food had already been prepared.  Admittedly, it was fairly simple and easy to prepare, but it was still surprising.

Laura saw her expression and remarked, “Even if they aren’t present, our servants are always able to listen if we don’t choose to block the enchantments.  I normally like my privacy, but my parents have insisted that you don’t go unmonitored.  They probably wouldn’t like me telling you that, but I don’t care.”

With a faint chuckle, Cera shook her head, then stated that she honestly would have been more surprised if she wasn’t being monitored somehow, and had been surprised when the hidden guard had left without any issue.

In return, Laura responded that he’d probably been waiting right outside the door until they’d left, though she obviously wasn’t sure, given that he was hidden.

Cera replied that such a thing made sense, then that they should get to eating so they could each get to bed.  With a nod, Laura agreed and began eating, at which point Cera followed.  She hadn’t wanted to start eating first, in case it was some kind of social issue and she got treated worse or told not to return over it.

Not long after, she found her way back home, saving a bit of money since she’d already eaten for free, and headed to bed.  Thankfully, nothing eventful occurred while she was away, and no one tried to bother her.  As she lay down, however, she suddenly realized she’d been incredibly lucky.  Her paranoia and worry that people might steal her clothes while they were drying had led to her always drying them with magic and taking them with her immediately after washing them.  If she’d left them to dry naturally, someone might have noticed the holes for her tail and reported the presence of a non-human.

She’d been quite lucky since she hadn’t even considered that, and had avoided it by chance due to her distrust of others.  That thought kept her awake for quite some time before she finally relaxed enough from hugging her tail to finally drift off to sleep.

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