"The modern magic of machinery has been increasingly focused on adapting to the recent advancements in technology, by either directly incorporating spell arrays into machinery, or by contributing to designing machines to better function through magic."

Mela had surely picked this class to show me how far my field of study had progressed, but even after a little extra study in the library I had to admit that I was somewhat disappointed. At least it didn't appear that the field as a whole had regressed, as I'd feared, but it seemed that most of the progress made had not really been in the direction of my primary pursuits. It seemed like magic had been adapting to advancements in technology, and not the other way around.

"This is delicate work, but ultimately the goal is to improve ease of use and increased efficiency, by streamlining the spell activation process for appropriately trained professionals. Additionally, standardizing spell array structures makes designing compatible mechanisms easier, requiring a somewhat constrained approach."

I was struggling to stifle a yawn as our instructor, Enina Ledas she was called, was starting her lecture with amazing enthusiasm. Not because I wasn't interested in the subject, as the opposite was true, but I'd barely slept. The idea that I, or Mela at least, had fae ancestry had been thrust on me without much of an explanation, and the implications of that revelation had been whirling in my head all night. I was still too distracted to give the lecture my full attention.

"Since last week, I've decided to go back to study the basics, so to speak. Upon consulting what written works still remain at the academy, from of our respected forerunner, Tannel, I've come to the decision to slightly refocus the subject matter of this course. We will certainly still be dealing with advanced magic of machinery, but I want us to focus on some of the more neglected aspects."

I couldn't help but groan as our instructor's nearly manic gaze rested squarely on me. I could guess what it was that had brought about this change of direction. Was she trying to guilt me over the Tannels possibly hiding some of my work? But even if they did have research that they hadn't shared with the academy, I had no way of knowing what it even was, nor was I about to start listing off everything I'd ever written on the magic of machinery.

"Tannel was able to refine the technique of controlling mana far beyond what is expected of the average mage in the field these days. Many of his more ingenious methods have since fallen into disuse, because their relative complexity makes them appear less practical than the alternatives, as the preference has shifted towards maximizing the efficiency in the utilization of technology."

I had to admit that Enina, whilst a tad too nosy for an instructor, had caught on impressively quickly. What she said matched my own thoughts regarding the state of the field. My more recent compatriots had certainly taken to heart the principle of simplifying the spells wherever possible, by relying more on the mundane uses of technological components, but it seemed like the pure pursuit of magic had stagnated, and as a result the magic of machinery had come to be primarily utilized as a way to complement technology.

It was the reverse of how I'd thought about machinery. What work I had personally put into designing mechanisms was for the purpose of opening new avenues for magic. My designs had been planned for the purpose of experimentation with spells, and I had built new mechanical components in order to explore as large a variety in spell array structures as was possible.

"I believe that this has led to the progress of research in regards lagging behind too much. Perhaps there are even more techniques, like Miss Tannel showed us last week, that have been totally forgotten as a result of streamlining!"

I wasn't certain if our instructor's focus on looking for secrets from my past work was the right approach. I doubted that there were many more such surprises that I could pull out. Rather, I found it to be an issue that what limited progress had been achieved, in the magical techniques of the field, was almost all based on research that I'd been working on before my death. I suspected that it was a similar story for the Tannel family's work. But perhaps it was true that those without my unique perspective were better off going back to the basics, as she had put it.

So her expectations were wasted on me. I didn't even know where the starting line was, as to the current level of knowledge. Despite that, I might have gladly taken over lecturing about such matters, if I could have spared the time to study up on the matter. Attending multiple lectures every day was already stretching it, when my primary research was progressing at a snail's pace. I couldn't forget that all of this was just so that I could start uncovering the bigger issues with the Fae rift.

Whilst I could appreciate Enina's efforts, I was annoyed that she seemed to have taken what had happened during the last lecture as confirmation that I possessed the secrets that she was after, and that pestering me was the way to uncover them. It was especially bothersome that she'd ended up making my own past achievements the focus of the entire lecture.

I could at least appreciate being known for the work that I'd put more than half of my life into as Tannel, compared to any of the other achievements that had been put under that name. Whilst I had been welcomed as a genius by my peers in the field, back then I'd never known such a level of fame. Perhaps it was only to be expected, as the true significance of many a discovery has been only unveiled after centuries.

Compared to that, I felt awkward when being credited for the Tannel family's influence, or my work in taming the Fae rift, when it seemed like Mary was just trying to give me glory that belonged to her. And whilst I was proud of the work that I'd put into creating an artificial human, to me Mary was my daughter – as awkward as that idea became when I was in her granddaughter's body – more than she was a research result. Unfortunately I couldn't claim much credit for having raised her either, with how early I'd had to leave her.

But it was still a little awkward, when Enina kept referencing some of the basic research papers that I'd written, with a reverence like they were from some ancient scripture. It might have been just that she was getting overly excited, but I felt that Celine had never really conveyed the significance that my name had been afforded over the centuries. The way Enina kept talking about me, it was like I'd come up with the whole idea of the magic of machinery, and she seemed convinced that my work still wasn't appreciated quite enough.

"Now, I think we should continue where we left off last time! I've designed a simple array spell that should work according to the principles laid out by Miss Tannel last time. I'd like each of you to attempt to cast the spell in turn, based on these instructions, whilst the two of us judge the results."

And just like that Enina roped me into her experiment, without as much as asking for my cooperation. I grimaced at the thought, but I accepted the paper that she handed over to me, with the instructions for the spell written down. At least she wasn't asking me to serve as an instructive example again, and in theory she was even being respectful, by treating me as if I was a colleague, and not her student.

"This spell should work."

I wanted to find something to grumble about, but it was definitely simple and safe enough to have students cast under supervision, even without further preparation, so I tersely gave my go ahead in response to her expectant look. As she hurried to arrange the array and have the other students line up, I leaned back in my seat, wondering how I'd ended up getting roped into the role of a secondary instructor, when I was supposed to be the one catching up to centuries of progress.

Enina seemed to have smoothly appropriated the lesson for her own experiment. Or, being slightly more charitable, she might have just failed to prepare anything else for the lecture, and had decided to just utilize the results of her last week of study for it. I'd certainly known a few of those types at the academy. Either way, her approach was sensible, as the experiment became more valid with the extra participants, and measuring their success against each other could help narrow down the exact optimal technique.

"Ah, that was fast! You've done it!"

I had barely been paying attention, idly observing the mana flow as each student in turn made their attempt, but I wasn't particularly surprised when Sahra was the first one to successfully complete the spell. It was, understandably, a little clumsy, but she'd really done quite well, if it really was her first time trying. She seemed to have grasped the core of the technique, when I explained it during the previous lesson. She looked quite proud as she spun around to give me an excited grin.

But distracted, and perhaps in a somewhat bad mood, as I was, I didn't feel like playing along with her showing off, so I just nodded my acknowledgement that she'd succeeded. Her smile faltered shockingly quickly, but when a girl that stood next to her opened her mouth, probably to pick a fight with me, judging by the disgruntled look she was giving me, Sahra interrupted her right away.

It made me feel rather bad for treating her so coldly, since Sahra looked genuinely hurt by my disregard. I became aware that I had been wearing the familiar stony expression that Mela seemed so used to. Knowing her, Sahra was probably just excited about learning a new technique, and looked to me for approval, for some reason that I still didn't quite get, whilst her friend felt offended on her behalf. But I just wasn't very good at dealing with such easily excited people, and in that moment I had something entirely different on my mind.

It had finally occurred to me to to ask the spirit if it could tell whether I really had fae ancestry. It surely knew more about the fae than anyone else I could ask, and I thought that maybe it could be able to tell something from my mana. I had continued to carry the scarf with me most of the time and, since I could talk to it without being overheard, I had decided it was as good a time as any.

I had however immediately run into an issue, when it came to how to ask the question without the use of words. I still hadn't actually seen a fae, and had no idea how to depict such a complex concept through simple sentiments. Hesitantly, I tried to use old artistic depictions that I'd seen, to try to envision an approximation of what a fae might have looked like, in my head.

To my chagrin, the response that I got was that, yes, I was in fact a woman, but that it wasn't sure if the concept of beauty was quite as fitting a descriptor – the worst thing was that I didn't even know which part of the response annoyed me more. Seeing as the spirit seemed to have a standard to judge these concepts by, and the sense of mirth that passed to me from it, I got the sense it was being cheeky, which was in itself rather interesting.

But it seemed that my mental image had indeed ended up being too vague, being based on a collection of traits that weren't particular to the fae. If we were alone, I'd have just tried speaking out my question, to see if the spirit would answer, but instead I tried to amend my mental image. I shared a sense of the mana of the Faerie in association with it, which I was confident it would recognize, as well as an impression of myself being related to such creatures.

I finally got an indication of understanding from the spirit, but it still didn't seem to know how to answer. It agreed that there was a connection, but upon clarification it seemed to decide that it wasn't exactly a matter of relation or ancestry. That seemed to support my hypothesis that it was the mana of the Faerie itself, that had changed me or Mary in some way, but I couldn't really get a clear answer from the spirit, and I wasn't certain if it was being evasive on purpose or just wasn't able to tell such details regarding me.

"Excuse me. Could you help us with something?"

My lunch with Phila and the others was interrupted in a rather unpleasant manner, as an anxious looking young man stomped over and slammed his palms down on table, looking right at me as I looked up. There were three of them in fact, two guys and a girl, each with a prefect's pin, but I didn't recognize any of them. Phila and the others seemed equally confused by the intrusion, it did seem like the one that had spoken was there for me specifically.

"With what exactly?"

I had no idea what to say to such a vague request, but my interactions with Rokus and Sahra convinced me that I should at least hear them out, since at least I couldn't see Maeve's brother among them. The guy that had spoken seemed hesitant to continue, glancing at the others at the table, but finally explained when she saw my impatient gesture.

"Two students were, um, seen heading into the Faewood yesterday. They haven't been seen since. I think you were with them at instructor Mennes's class last week? Can you think of some way to help us track them down?"

I was somewhat amazed that anyone thought to do that after all the cautionary tales dealt with during that lecture, but maybe those without my keen sense of mana didn't necessarily take them as seriously. Even if I'd stayed there alone for a bit, to talk with the spirit, I hadn't taken a step past the clearing where we'd been as a group. If it was a regular forest, I would have said that they were getting too panicky over what was still just an overnight disappearance, but the Faewood certainly wasn't regular by any definition.

The others at the table of course looked confused, with the predictable exception of Kellen, no doubt wondering what the prefects had to do with me, but they didn't say anything. I was also a little surprised that they were asking me, since I'd had the impression that the prefects didn't really like me acting with any authority at the academy.

I thought that perhaps I had overreacted to a certain Byrnoi brat's lack of manners, and that maybe the head prefect had expected him to deliver his message with more tact. In fact, I wondered if they perhaps got the idea, that I knew my way around the forest, from him. In which case, I considered that I really shouldn't have acted like I knew more than I did. Since something had actually happened, involving the forest, I even thought that maybe I should have at least tried to explain what I did know.

With how genuinely worried the trio appeared, I was sympathetic. The problem was that I didn't really have a reliable method. I thought of trying to track their mana, but that seemed unlikely to work with the concentration of mana there, and I really wasn't the person to ask for spells for that sort of job. Besides, they looked like they were intending to head there themselves, which I really didn't think was a good idea, whether they were prefects or not.

I wished that there was something I could do to help, but in the first place I had no idea what sort of protocol existed regarding such incidents. I wasn't sure if I even have the authority to head into the forest myself, even if I was a Tannel, but it seemed unlikely that I should bring other students there regardless. As I managed to calm down, and evaluate the situation better, I arrived at the only answer that made sense.

"I believe instructor Mennes would be of more help to you, in that regard. In the first place, have you informed the academy? I'm sure the instructors can arrange the search, and the headmaster can contact the Tannel family if necessary."

It was very frustrating not knowing what my duties actually were. It felt like I was off-loading my responsibility just because I didn't want to overstep my own authority. But I convinced myself that acting rashly had the chance of making things worse. Ultimately I believed that it wasn't the wrong answer, as the academy's administration could evaluate such a situation better. And, if they thought that I could help, they had the authority to ask.

"Of course, you'd make it about your damn family! You are so full of it, Tannel!"

The girl prefect exploded immediately, when I laid out my carefully considered answer, her anxiety immediately lashing out as rage. So much for giving them the benefit of the doubt, I thought, but it was also clear that they were in a stressful situation. But more unfortunate than her not taking my genuine advice well, which I could have just ignored usually, she'd gone and said that I was a Tannel. I regretted not going along with them to talk in private.

"Wait! You were that Mela? Mela Tannel?"

Mateo blurted out, in his usual thoughtless manner. It turned out that at least he was familiar with the rumors after all. Maybe Mela was a more common name than I'd thought, or I just didn't match the image he'd had in his mind. It wasn't like I could deny it, but I had no idea what to say either, despite how many times I'd imagined this scenario. I stiffened up, my previous calm demeanor gone, as I waited for what was to come.

"Hah? Oh, can the Tannel not even find friends without pretending to be someone else?"

And there went the last of my sympathy towards the girl. But I still had nothing I could say in response, because she was right. Well, technically I'd just avoided mentioning the last name, but it was true that I was hoping to hide my identity. And it was true that I was pretending to be someone that I wasn't, and that would be true even if I said that I was Mela.

"Why don't you just sod off now? I thought you had an emergency to deal with, miss prefect?"

I'd never heard Phila speak to anyone with such utter scorn, as she interjected when I couldn't come up with a response. Such cold manner was totally unlike her usual cheery character. It seemed like the trio hadn't expected it either, being prefects and all, but apparently that they concluded that she was right, and they left, seeing that they didn't have anything else to do there. But I didn't know if Phila was defending me, or if her anger was just as much for me. I still didn't dare to look at anyone who remained at the table, and after a seconds of frozen silence I just stood up.

"Excuse me."

I muttered an odd greeting, as I picked up the tray with my half eaten meal on it, and turned to leave. I saw Kellen show a displeased frown, but none of them spoke as I left, and I didn't dare to see what the others were thinking. I knew that I was running away, but I excused it as giving them the time to come to terms with sudden revelation. I was sure that I would be able to tell if they didn't want me around any longer. I decided to go and see if I couldn't find any sign of the missing students after all, if I tried to sense them from the edge of the forest.

SootShade

I feel this chapter turned out fairly nicely, since I got started on it at a sensible time, rather than having to rush to finish it again.

That said, I think the latter part of the chapter could really have used some more set up earlier. As it is, I don't feel like I've properly justified the emotions that I've described there, but those parts should have been in the early chapters, that I released before I had a proper handle on the story. Another thing to fix with the rewrite, I suppose.

Also, I finally got around to naming a couple more characters. Even as I introduced more without even descriptions. Since I'm still partly winging it, I just don't know who's going to stick around.