Both Reiki and Melanor had an odd look on their faces. Melanor had a smile on her face, she said. "If there's anything you need during your stay here, I'll be sure to provide it to the best of my abilities." Reiki thought. Wow, Melanor doesn't want the queen of the elves to find out what she did behind her back huh… He turned his head to see a shocked look on Moranor's face. Reiki placed his hand in front of her eyes and waved it up and down but got no reaction. Enrel had a smug look on her face, she said. "I don't have anything I want at this time… But I'll clap my hands when I want something."

Reiki poked Moranor's cheek and still failed to get a reaction out of her, he said. "Moranor-san? Anybody home? If you keep this up I'll draw all over your pretty little face. Hello? Check one, two, three?..." Reiki turned his head towards Enrel, he said. "I'm not a doctor but I'll diagnose the elf next to me as dead." Melanor didn't comment as she kept a smile on her face, Enrel let out a chuckle, she said. "I think she's just in shock."

Reiki shrugged his shoulders and said. "Which is why I said I wasn't one." Enrel rolled her eyes at him as she walked towards the couch they were sitting on. She made a gesture towards Melanor as she stood up and walked to the side, Enrel tapped on Moranor's shoulder and said. "Please be a dear and make some space for me."

Moranor was still shocked and subconsciously nodded, Enrel pulled on her sleeve as Moranor sat on the right couch near where her mother was standing. Enrel sat next to him and lazily laid on the backrest, she turned her head towards Melanor and said. "I remembered that you always stashed some special candies. Bring me some, I suddenly have a craving for something sweet." Reiki saw Melanor's jaw tightened, she said. "Understood, one moment, please."

As she suddenly vanished from the room. Reiki looked at Enrel, he said. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I haven't known Melanor-san for long but even I can tell she's the type who won't take this lying down." Enrel let out a scoff and said. "Don't worry, she won't be aiming at you. Tell me more about yourself."

Reiki moved his gaze onto Moranor as she was still in shock, he said. "Me? Well, there's nothing special, I lost my scholarship and exercise in the morning." Enrel flashed him a big smile and said. "Give me more details, you can't tell me that's how you would introduce yourself to new people?" Reiki placed a hand on his chin pretending to think, he said. "I also play a lot of games and have a good memory." Enrel kept her eyes on him, she said. "A good memory? Then name five different books from the shelves, prequels and sequels are not counted."

Before he could say something, Melanor appeared in front of Enrel and was holding a small wooden container with both hands. Melanor stared at her while holding the container for a few seconds, Enrel had a smirk on her face, she said. "I'll take that off your hands." As she reached out for the wooden container with her right hand and tried to pull it away from Melanor's hands.

Enrel tried to pry it away from Melanor's grip as she refused to let go of it. Enrel flashed her a smile as she slowly increased the force in trying to get Melanor to let go of the container. With one strong tug, Melanor finally let go as Enrel quickly opened it and revealed 12 pieces of white round candies that were the size of a golf ball. Reiki thought. Those look like jawbreakers.

The entire inside of the container was a red soft red fabric as each of them was a certain distance to prevent themselves from touching. Enrel rummaged through her pouch as she took out a white handkerchief and took six candies from the box. She placed them in the middle of her handkerchief and said. "Take one. I can guarantee this is good."

Reiki reached for one while using the corner of his eye to look at Melanor, he looked at Moranor who finally snapped back to reality at some point and was curiously looking at the container. He picked up one of the jawbreakers and sniffed it, Reiki thought. Doesn't have any scent to it.

Before he could do anything he could feel a hole burning into him. He looked at Melanor from the corner of his eye and felt the staring sensation disappear, Reiki quickly placed it back in the container. Enrel gave him an odd look and said. "What's the matter?" He thought. I don't want to wake up seeing an arrow flying towards my head. Reiki let out a chuckle and said. "I don't have that much of a sweet tooth, which is why I specifically asked for dark chocolate." Enrel shrugged her shoulders and said. "More for me."

She took a couple of more jawbreakers and placed them in the middle of the handkerchief with the other six. She started to tie up the handkerchief using the corners and placed it inside her pouch. Enrel reached out for one more and held it with her fingers using her thumb and index finger. She closed the container using her other hand while saying. "She never told me what these candies are called."

She stared at the jawbreaker in her hand. Enrel continued. "I tried to look into it but nothing bore fruit from my endeavors." She turned her head towards Melanor and saw she still had a smile on her face, Enrel said. "I tried asking her a few times but she just wouldn't tell me."

She skillfully balanced the jawbreaker on the tip of her finger. Reiki stared at it with an odd expression, he said. "Looks like a jawbreaker to me…" He thought. At least in terms of looks. That mystery skewer put me through the loop in how it tasted… Enrel stared at the spinning jawbreaker on her finger, she said. "Jawbreaker?... Your kind gives the most bizarre names to some things." The jawbreaker was slowly losing its momentum as she caught it, Enrel opened her mouth and placed the candy inside.

The same finger where she spun the jawbreaker around started glowing as she wrote in the air using elvish language. She wrote. "I know this is bad manners but, I'll have to use this means to communicate for the time being. At least until the candy dissolves." Bright blue letters appeared mid-air as Enrel had a blissful look on her face as she passed the container to Melanor. After a few seconds, the letters made from mana in the air we're slowly fading away.

Melanor took the container off Enrel's hand while Melanor used both of her hands. Reiki stared at it from the corner of his eyes and saw Melanor's grip on the container was too much as it cracked slightly under her fingers. He slightly flinched away as Melanor flashed him a smile that sent a chill down his spine as he quickly broke eye contact and stared at the floorboards. He thought. I hope I'm not going to be the scapegoat if she dies in the morning…

Melanor stared at Enrel who was enjoying herself, Melanor said. "Anything else?" Enrel wagged her finger at her as she snapped her fingers as a book started floating from the shelves and went flying in her direction. When the book was inches away it immediately came to a sudden stop as she grabbed it mid-air and started reading. Melanor walked out of the room and turned her head sideways and glared at Enrel.

She opened the door and closed it as the sound of footsteps were getting farther. Moranor's mouth was moving indicating she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. She took a deep breath to calm herself and said. "W-What kind of candy is that?" Enrel gaze didn't move away from the book as she moved one of her hands and started writing letters in the air. She wrote. "Don't know what it is, but Reiki called it a jawbreaker… Do you want one?" Moranor stared at Enrel's pocket where her pouch was located.

Moranor started playing with her hands, she said. "I-I've seen mom hold that box from time to time, but she showed me what was inside… H-How good is it?" A small smirk slowly formed on Enrel's face, she wrote. "Very." Moranor stared at her hands for a few seconds while thinking, she said. "I-." She saw Reiki shaking his head sideways as he gave her a meaningful look.

Moranor narrowed her eyes which made Enrel turn her head towards him and saw Reiki reading the erotica in her hands. Enrel turned her head back towards Moranor, Enrel wrote. "Your answer?" Moranor saw that Reiki was still giving her a meaningful look, she said. "I appreciate the offer but I'll pass. Mom should have her reasons for not telling me." Enrel let out a muffled chuckle, she wrote. "Such a good daughter."

She went back to reading her erotica as the room fell silent. Reiki stood up from the couch and walked towards Moranor, she gave him an annoyed glance and stayed silent as she crossed her arms. He said. "Can I have some parchment, ink, and a quill?" The annoyance in Moranor's eyes slightly disappeared, she said. "What for?" Reiki answered. "Practice."

Moranor placed her elbow on her thigh and lazily leaned her head on the palm of her hand. She said. "Practice what?" Reiki stared into her eyes and said. "Can you get it or not?" The corner of Moranor's eye twitched as she suddenly stood up from the couch and started walking towards the door. While walking Moranor spoke in a mocking tone of voice. "Can I borrow a quill, ink, and some parchment?"

She reached for the doorknob and opened the door and walked down the hallway. Reiki walked towards the door that Moranor left open and closed it. Enrel flipped to the next page and looked at him from the corner of her eye, she wrote. "Why did you prevent her from accepting the deal?"

Reiki walked towards the couch as he sat on the floor near the coffee table. He said. "I don't know what you're talking about." Enrel narrowed her eyes as she wrote. "You don't need to hide it. I felt the couch cushions when you were moving." Reiki let out a chuckle, he said. "Guess I've been caught red-handed." Enrel wrote. "Answer my question."

Reiki placed his elbow on the coffee table as he rested his chin on his knuckles. He said. "No hard evidence… Just some wild speculation." Enrel closed the book in her hands and wrote. "Elaborate." Reiki scratched the back of his head, he said. "Why hasn't Melanor offered Moranor to try the candy before? And how did you." He made a gesture at Enrel and continued. "Who's able to get information about almost everything hasn't been able to find a single lead?"

Enrel placed a hand on her chin as she pondered for a moment. She wrote. "My minio- brokers. Tried to snoop around here and there to try to find a link towards, this how you say 'jawbreaker' in this elven town. And-."

Reiki interrupted her and said. "Didn't you notice her reaction? Anything off?" Enrel had a confused look on her face as she wrote. "If you've known Melanor for as long as I do, you would say everything about her is off." The writing slowly faded as the sound of the door being opened made them both look towards the direction of the door. Moranor returned with five pieces of parchment, a medium-size ink bottle that was made out of glass, and a different red quill.

She looked around the room to find Reiki and noticed that Enrel was pointing at something. Moranor looked in the direction she was pointing to see Reiki was sitting on the floor by the coffee table, she walked towards him and placed everything on the table in front of him. With a monotone voice, she said. "Happy." Reiki flashed her a big smile and sincerely said. "Thank you."

He picked up the quill and carefully took the cork off the bottle of ink. He dipped the quill in ink as he carefully added mana, Reiki tapped the quill in the bottle's neck to make sure the ink wouldn't stain the coffee table. He sprawled the parchment all over the table as he started drawing and with a few strokes, a detailed sketch of Moranor's face was halfway done.

Enrel and Moranor stared at the drawing in surprise, Reiki did a couple more strokes and carefully picked the parchment up using both his hands as he passed it to Moranor. He said. "Here you go." Moranor's gaze was glued onto the portrait of her in the parchment. It was an accurate drawing of her face with a small smirk as she was looking at something in the distance. She was so absorbed in staring at the drawing she didn't notice Enrel was behind her and also admiring it.

Moranor faked a cough as she carefully folded the parchment in half, she said. "Mediocre… But since it would be rude to tear this- my beautiful face I'll begrudgingly accept it." Reiki was hovering the quill above the parchment and practicing some wrist movement for a more fluent motion. Without taking his gaze away from his hand, he said. "The ink hasn't dried yet." Reiki was moving his hand by the use of his wrist and tried making a circle by movement followed by vertical and horizontal lines.

Moranor froze and undid the fold and saw that the drawing was ruined as her face became unrecognizable. Reiki used the quill to draw a large plus sign in the parchment making four equal squares. He said. "It looked something like this…" Reiki moved the quill to the top left and made a few strokes, he moved the quill to the bottom left and did the same.

Moranor tightened her grip on the parchment as the area where she held it crumpled. Enrel moved her gaze onto him as he watched him draw an inscription. She thought. Isn't that a… Temperature. Control… Mana, freeze…

Reiki dipped the quill in the ink bottle again as he drew another portrait of Moranor. This time it was half body as she was reading a book with one hand and moving a few stray hairs away from her eyes. The second drawing had better shading with better attention to detail, he moved the drawing to his right and dragged the parchment with the two inscriptions to his front again. Reiki stared at the inscriptions on the left and started thinking.

Moranor saw the drawing and slowly walked towards it, she stared at the drawing for a couple of seconds while standing before she reached out and snatched it. Reiki ignored her as he started recreating the inscriptions on the right side with a few slight differences, with a few strokes, he finished the first one on the top right. Enrel was staring at his every move while making sure she didn't miss anything, Moranor, on the other hand, was carefully blasting a soft gust of wind on the parchment to dry the ink on the drawing.

Reiki let out a short sigh as his eyes already had a small thin ring that was constantly adjusting its thickness. Enrel notices the small change in his eyes, she thought. What is that… After a couple of more strokes, he finished the inscription on the bottom right. Reiki placed the quill on top of a piece of parchment as he stared at the inscription he drew.

All four of them were in the elvish language that was a combination of two words together. Reimi placed an elbow on the coffee table as he lazily laid his head on his palm and observed the four inscriptions he imitated. He thought. Now I hope what's written in that book is right... Melanor suddenly appeared on his left standing, her eyes were glued on the piece of parchment with the inscriptions just like Enrel. Melanor said. "Reiki, what did you make?"

Melanor reached out for the parchment when the sound of fingers snapping was heard. The parchment flew off the coffee table and into Enrel's hands, she was intently observing the inscriptions. She whispered. "They're completely identical… Wait! There are minor changes on the right… Strange… If this works it could-." Melanor took the parchment off her hands, she snapped her fingers as the parchment completely vanished.

Enrel stared right into Melanor's eyes. Enrel said. "Melanor, give that back." Melanor maintained eye contact and kept a straight face, she said. "I politely refuse." Enrel eyes slowly turned cold. She said. "I'm a 'guest' of your house, so unless you don't want something to spread to the entire town. You'll give that back." Melanor narrowed her eyes, she said. "That was a different matter. With… This at stake I'm afraid you have to personally ask her majesty about it."

Reiki let out a long yawn, he said. "It's nothing special. If it works it'll just give the inscription a three percent in mana efficiency." He lazily stretched while sitting on the floor, his gaze wandered onto Moranor who was still admiring the drawing. She had a small smile on her face combined with a small blush on her cheeks, he let out a small chuckle. Enrel appeared on his right at the same time Melanor appeared on Reiki's left. Enrel grabbed his shoulder and said. "What do you mean by three percent? Where did you even get that number?"

Melanor had a frown on her face, she said. "Are you sure about this Reiki? Telling someone would open the possibility of…" She looked at Enrel using the corner of her eye and continued. "Your work will be stolen." Enrel pointed a finger towards Melanor and said. "I didn't even steal anything! All I did was publish the elf's work! His name was on the first page!" Melanor turned her head to face Enrel, with a monotone voice and a deadpan expression, Melanor said. "Your name was three times the size of his."

Enrel let out a chuckle and said. "He still gained fame from the hearing." Melanor commented. "You wouldn't let him speak half a word." Enrel crossed her arms and said. "Everyone knows what he looks like." Melanor let out a sigh and said. "They still think he's your assistant." 

Moranor walked to the couch and sat on it. Reiki stood up and carefully maneuvered himself away from the two arguing elves and sat next to her. He looked at Moranor and said. "Did you like the drawing?" Moranor was still carefully holding the parchment with both her hands, she let go of one of the edges and covered her mouth to fake a cough. She said. "It's barely up to my standard."

Reiki changed his gaze onto the two elves who were still in the middle of a heated argument. He said. "How long do you think this would last?" Moranor hesitantly touched the ink and saw that it was finally dried. She said. "If it's a short one, half an hour. A long one would be an hour or two give or take." Moranor carefully folded the parchment as she placed it inside her pouch. The sound of two elves arguing was growing louder.

Melanor said. "You've been doing this since we were in school. You kept on stealing projects when your 'research' and 'concoctions' failed you." Enrel raised her voice and said. "Neither have failed me! It was just a series of unfortunate accide- coincidence!" Reiki poked Moranor's forearm and said. "Want me to stop them?" Moranor's eyes narrowed, and it was quickly replaced with an amused expression. She said. "How?"

Reiki had a small smirk on his face, he said. "Melanor-san, I think you should just give it to her. I don't mind if I was in human territory it would have been stolen without my knowledge and the same thing would happen regardless. At least if Enrel-san takes it I can be assured she would give me some form of credit."

Melanor reluctantly took a piece of parchment from her pouch as it was instantly taken by Enrel. Enrel said. "I have somewhere to be and I'll be back by dinner!" She ran towards the door and opened it and didn't even bother to close it behind her. Melanor and her daughter stared at the doorway with an odd expression, they heard Reiki chuckle as he softly laughed to himself. Melanor turned her head to face him and said. "What did you do?"