Logan's heart almost shattered, especially upon hearing the time it would take to reach his barony.
He was now second-guessing the decision.
Although in reality, he didn't have a particular choice here. He needed to go north to Highcrest, and it seemed impossible to go against the plan set for him.
"Well then, Sir Logan, I will leave you for tonight. Will we need to get up early tomorrow?" Ruri asked, seeing that Logan was too busy thinking to speak with her. She also noticed how gloomy he had gotten with the news.
"Oh yeah, one more thing, I have this for you Ruri." He brought out a storage ring and a communication amulet, the maid stood dumbfounded holding two very expensive magical tools.
"But Master Logan, I can't use magic well. I don't think these items will be good for me," she tried to refuse.
"I heard that it doesn't need too much mana, just accept them, please. You know me and how I forget to tell you where I am; with this, you won't have to worry anymore. As for the ring, it stores just the essentials, so it won't drain too much of your mana." Logan tried to convince his maid.
"Oh and one last thing, I placed a small mana crystal inside it, so it should help you maintain the mana that you lack," Logan added, thankful for the girl's care so far.
The crystal Logan gave her was a small mana stone, just a little part of the large crystals he still had in his storage.
Ruri left Logan after a few too many bows. The boy stood in his room, lost in thought, until a knock was heard at his door.
"Who is it?" Logan asked, opening the door slowly, hoping no one was trying to harm him.
"Logan, let me in quickly. I don't want others to see that I am here," Lisa said, trying to be as silent as possible while entering.
"What are you doing here, Lizz?" Logan asked while letting her inside.
"Well, I thought I would visit you, knowing that you won't try doing the same for me," she said jokingly.
"Of course, it's not right to check in on a girl your age at this hour," he said, imitating an old man's voice.
"Always worried about how others think, Logan. You need to be more proactive… Anyways, it's good to see you're better. So, how does it feel to be a noble?" Lisa said while sitting on his bed.
"Just like before, I guess. The only thing that has changed is the money I got," he said while sitting next to her, although not as close as he hoped due to shyness.
"Well, that was a lot of money. I hope you didn't spend it all," Lisa laughed, looking at a particular beast she had never seen Logan have until today.
"Well, I did spend a little. I had things I needed urgently, and speaking of that particular subject… it's a perfect time to introduce you to someone I wanted you to meet," Logan said while lifting his hand for his new owl to fly to.
"I wondered why you had a new beast. Was that the only one you bought?" she asked excitedly, petting the white, soft feathers of the bird.
"I did, but this one in particular I bought for you. It might look strange with its four limbs, but I bet my whole bag of money that it will evolve into something amazing," Logan said while scratching the bird's neck.
"You mean like your raptor?" Lisa asked, having never seen how that particular beast looked before it became the fearsome dinosaur.
"Exactly. Remember I told you it was just a little salamander about 10 or so centimeters long when I arrived?" He used his hands to show Lisa just how long he recalled the salamander being when it hatched.
"Now that is real magic… but why would you give me this little one?" she asked, still excited at the notion of having her own tamed beast.
"I hope it will help you in your journey. I know the labyrinth is dark, so having this guy might help in that place. It is also a rare light magic beast, which should help you understand the light element. Based on my mentor's teachings, it is good to have an elemental beast for reference to see how magic can be used," Logan said, placing the owl slowly on Lisa's shoulder.
"How about you try communicating with it using our link, but try sending it towards it instead," Logan suggested, noticing how well the two made a perfect duo.
The radiance both of them showed even blinded him.
"I forgot to ask you, but do you have a communication device?" Logan asked, trying to rush through the things they needed to talk about before relaxing.
"I do, but I wanted to buy another. You know, you can't be too careful with the things you are given," she said, placing the owl on her lap. The small creature made cute noises, loving the attention.
"Then I guess buying this was correct. Here, it's a ring with a mana crystal in case you ever run out of magic, a few vials of mana-filled water, and a few magical tools I thought you would need," he said, passing her a ring just like Ruri's, which contained things he wanted to hand over to Lisa to keep her safe in her travels.
"Oh, and also feed for this little one. It shouldn't go bad since it's just dried seeds, so don't worry about having no food for it for a good while," Logan added.
"Sounds like you already spent a good amount, but really, thanks, Logan. I did not want to ask the church for money and later worry that I owed them," Lisa said, holding herself from hugging the boy.
"Well, I did add a few coins in there too. And don't worry about owing me anything. I just want you to take care of yourself when you go to the labyrinth. This little one will protect you; just make sure it also gets some levels in when you fight," Logan said, finishing most of what he planned to speak about.
"So I take it you're not coming with us then…" Lisa looked dejected.
"It's not that I won't, but I was told that I can't. You should know why I was sent to some city up north instead of going with you all who are going south," Logan explained.
"I knew it. I tried looking at a few maps in the library, and it all made sense—they still want to separate you. Well, it's not like we could do much… but just you wait. When we are strong enough, we will have the last word. So, don't just stay up there and sleep. Train hard, Logan," she said, trying to motivate the boy, but also herself from the thoughts that made her wonder why everything was happening the way it was.
"So now that I have given you that creature, how about I tell you about a serpent I bought…" Logan began, recounting his day's events.