"What do you mean, a break? I was sure you had something both important and urgent going on…"
Seeing such a wildly surprised expression on Ayda's face somehow filled my body with warmth. It wasn't something that I could observe all that much, even with how the last four days in this world were completely filled with this girl's presence.
"As I said, if I ever want to have a chance to return to this… place, I need to fulfil my mission or at least a part of it."
Shaking my head with fake disappointment I was in fact buying some time so that I could come up with a proper excuse. It was my fault that I brought this topic up as soon as it appeared in my head, before seriously thinking about my words or actions.
"I… I understand."
After a moment during which Ayda stared at me with her eyes wide open and filled with something that I could only describe as a calling of some distant fear, my young teacher shook her head before slapping her face with the palms of her hands.
"Ah, it seems that you misunderstood. I do not wish to part with you. In fact, I'm quite positive that you could help me solve my problem. It's just that… I might have a certain time limit before both my wish to return here after solving my problem, or even dealing with that matter… They both have an expiration date. If I'm too late with either one, then I either won't be able to save…"
For a moment, I allowed my emotions to take the better of me. With how the last four days were filled with training my ability to feel my emotions and ride on them in order to cast witch's crafts, it seemed like my natural grip over this part of my soul slightly loosened. For this one particular moment, I allowed the regret and determination to fill my mind, almost making me say a bit too much.
After all, those four days taught me something. Unless it was due to the difference in our skill, then Ayda had no way of directly reading me like she appeared to be able to. She could get clues, hints and given her experience when dealing with emotions, she could discover a lot from them. But it would ultimately be just a guess. Not a fact.
That's why I was a little hesitant to share this detail openly. While it didn't matter whether Ayda knew about the reason behind my determination. But if I were to bring this situation to the open, that would mean that I acknowledged it in the first place.
"Okay, okay. I understand."
Shaking her head in defeat in response to my words, Ayda raised her eyes that suddenly regained their energy. While I wasn't sure whether her sadness from before was an act or her natural reaction, I couldn't help but enjoy the thought of the latter possibility.
"Then, what is that mission that you want to achieve?"
Casting away all the signs of her previous expression, Ayda looked directly into my eyes. Something that would baffle and make me shy just a few days ago now didn't seem like that big of a deal.
"Well…"
Raising my hand to the back of my head I rubbed my hair while dressing an apologetic smile.
"I need to discover and learn at least a tiny amount of at least three different forms of the magic of this world…"
After those last four days, I had an idea of how easy this task would be. Or rather, if going by the system's classification, then it would be a medium-difficulty task. And knowing the situation from within, I knew that it didn't fall short of an impossible challenge.
But who I was to judge the system inner-workings? Maybe the great hardship of the task meant that my reward would be as insane? Or maybe it was all Ayda's fault for so conveniently appearing to teach me the ways of magic? It was pretty easy to bitch about reality, but ultimately, that kind of behaviour in its deepest form was no different from whining about the things one was too lazy to change himself.
"Are you fucking serious?!"
If her previous expression of surprise was lovely, then right now her expression was a mix of an utter shock combined with strange ecstasy...
"Ah!"
Suddenly moaning, Ayda moved a few paces forward, weakly falling into my arms. Supporting her weight with a steel grip on my shoulders, she took a long moment to calm down.
"Oh, gods… I'm not even sure how to call this feeling…"
Pushing away at my chest, the girl stood still for a moment before finally regaining the clarity of her head and moving her chest up.
"What you just said just confirmed my guess. There is no way for you to actually believe it's possible. Unless you are from a different world!"
As if unwilling to let me see her vivid excitement, Ayda turned her face away for a moment. Once she looked at me again, her expression was back to its mischievous usual.
"Either way, it's impossible. It's not that I don't know all sorts of magic that you could learn… The thing is, only a proper user of said art can properly awaken one's potential. Even if I were to explain everything to you, without the initial pull…"
Hanging her head before shaking it a little, Ayda looked at me with a serious look on her face.
"And what about the wizards? Is it really impossible to ask them for help? It's not like I need to master it, just learning anything that would classify me as a wizard should suffice."
Still probing, I could quickly see the answer with Ayda's shaking her head vigorously to the sides.
"That means they won't help voluntarily… How about we kidnap one then?"