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Join the ServerVapgis shooed Aurora into the next room.
“Go, stand over there and don’t move. I’m sending a message. When you hear it, call me.”
Aurora stood in the middle of the bedroom, bored out of her mind, counting the cracks in the wall. When she reached seven, Vapgis’s voice suddenly popped into her head, like someone had stuffed a half-elf into the back of her skull, speaking perfectly against her cerebral cortex:
“Vapgis is a genius.”
“…If you’re going to send a message, could you at least be serious?”
Aurora pushed the door open and went back.
Vapgis was sitting upright at the table, chin in hand, wearing a smug grin.
“Received? Repeat it.”
“I’m not repeating it. The short message spell is fine. The scroll works.”
Aurora pulled one from the remaining five scrolls and prepared to test it herself under Vapgis’s guidance.
She closed her eyes, and Keen’s face formed in her mind,
Brown curly hair, dark eyes with a sharp inward gleam, delicate features vaguely reminiscent of Easterners, a green robe, two curved knives at her waist, a walk that cut the wind, the words ‘I’m dangerous’ written all over her.
Image locked.
Aurora spoke into the scroll: “Short message spell. Target: Guild Master, Nine-Fingered Keen.”
She paused half a second, then said in a dead-serious tone:
“Hey there. I’m Aurora. Is this Keen? Please respond.”
The blue patterns on the parchment flashed once, then the whole scroll crumbled to dust, sifting through her fingers.
“Did it send?”
Vapgis rolled her eyes.
“How should I know? I’m not Keen. Whether she gets it, whether she replies, that’s up to her.”
“Can’t you at least be encouraging?”
“What good would my encouragement do? How do I know if the scroll you made even works?”
Luckily, Aurora didn’t have to wait long. About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a hoarse woman’s voice suddenly rang in her head,
“Keen here. What is it?”
Aurora shot upright and slapped the table: “It connected! She replied!”
“Really?”
Vapgis’s eyes went wide.
“To transmit over such a distance, this seems like a genuine communication scroll.”
Striking while the iron was hot, Aurora picked up another scroll and began casting.
“Please come to the mansion tonight for a talk.”
Again, the scroll shattered. This one didn’t need a reply; whether she showed up was the answer.
Aurora leaned back in her chair and let out a long breath.
Alright. Now she didn’t have to worry about how to contact the guild while she was away.
She and Vapgis had been working overtime for two days, churning out over a dozen communication scrolls. She’d give them all to the guild, enough for them to report in every day.
Before dinner, Keen arrived right on time.
When Vapgis went to the front door to greet her, she almost didn’t recognize her.
Standing at the door was a tall middle-aged woman. A soft hat with a peacock feather, a well-tailored blouse with puffed sleeves tucked into high-waisted bloomers, a short deep purple cloak over that, and a lute slung across her shoulder.
She looked like a wandering bard. If not for those sharp black eyes and the faint bulge of curved knives at her waist, Vapgis would never have connected her to the ‘Underground King of Farania.’
She had to admit, the disguise was spot on.
Juliet said she and Keen were relatives, looked like she wasn’t just talking nonsense. This transformation was so good you’d believe she was a mimic.
Vapgis led her into the parlor.
This time there was no dim lighting with violin accompaniment. Just a normal living room with wall lamps lit, a simple dinner on the table: bread, bacon, cream mushroom soup, and fruit.
Aurora had already sent Balian and Juliet away to eat in the side hall. Once the dishes were served, she…
Keen took off her hat, swept her eyes over the meal and the relaxed setup, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Aurora added, “Sorry for the poor hospitality. Please, have a seat.”
Keen didn’t stand on ceremony. She pulled out a chair and sat down. She leaned the lute against the table leg, grabbed a piece of bread, broke it, and dipped it in the soup.
“So, what’s the urgent matter? A communication scroll costs twenty livres.”
“I just invited you for a simple meal, and to discuss recent information sharing.”
Keen’s gaze swept across Aurora’s face. The corner of her mouth twitched.
So she was called over just to chat?
Using a twenty-livre item as a messenger, was she rich beyond measure or just had a hole in her head?
“Madam Keen, I called you here to inform you of something in advance.”
Aurora put down her wine glass and spoke seriously.
“I’m leaving the capital in a few days to join the Marquis for the royal hunt. About two to three weeks.”
Keen paused mid-motion of tearing bread and looked up.
“And?”
“So during this time, the investigation into Happy Water can’t stop. I need to keep in touch with you remotely.”
“How?”
Keen shoved the soggy bread into her mouth, chewed twice.
“Via short message spell? Miss Aurora, I don’t know if you’re aware of the market, but a short message scroll costs twenty livres, and often there’s no supply. The guild can’t afford to burn that much money.”
“I know. Money is something the Marquis’s mansion has plenty of.”
Aurora pulled a stack of parchment from the cloth bag beside the table. Ten sheets, neatly placed on the table.
Each one shimmered with faint blue magical patterns.
Keen’s hand froze mid-air.
“…All these?”
“Ten short message scrolls. A gift for you. Since I’ll be away and hard to contact, with these on hand, you can send me messages anytime. Of course, this is only half. The other half will be ready tomorrow.”
Keen stared at the scrolls for several seconds. The sharp gleam in her dark eyes flickered.
Ten sheets. Two hundred livres. That could buy several houses in Farania! And this Marquis’s daughter just laid them out like flyers.
“Miss Aurora, if I may be blunt…”
Keen looked up, expressing concern about Aurora’s view of money as an ally.
“Do all nobles spend money like this?”
“Vapgis and I made these ourselves. No money spent. We’re both mages.”
Keen glanced at Vapgis again. The latter was busy with a caramel pudding, not lifting her head, just raising a finger as a greeting.
“Self-made…”
Keen clicked her tongue and reevaluated the nineteen-year-old blonde girl before her.
A moment later, she reached out and gathered the ten scrolls in front of her, rubbing the parchment edges with her fingertips.
“Since they’re a gift, they’re mine now?”
“Of course. Keep them for contact. Whatever’s left, you can do as you please.”
“Do as I please?”
Keen raised one eyebrow, the corner of her mouth curving slightly, a smile that said she’d been waiting for this chance.
“Then I have a proposal.”
“What?”
“I’ll hold onto these scrolls for now and won’t use them.”
Aurora blinked: “What do you mean?”
Keen said: A scroll costs twenty livres; she couldn’t afford it.
“I have cheaper ways to contact my people. No need to burn twenty-livre communication scrolls.”
Keen tucked the scrolls into her bosom and patted them. “Twenty livres for twenty-five words? Not for me. I’ll save these for emergencies.”
“Then how will we communicate? Compared to money, I’m more short on time. I can’t afford to delay important matters over a little penny-pinching.”
Keen spoke again:
“I have an idea.”
“What?”
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
“Simple. I’ll come hunting with you.”
Aurora’s expression froze for a moment.
“Huh?”
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore My Star, Your Star. Start reading now!
Read : My Star, Your Star
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