In the Kingdom of Langertz research was important. For a wizard to use magic it was necessary to understand the world. For a knight to fell their adversary it was necessary for him to understand him. 

That was the job of a researcher, classify and inform the people. The job of researching was extremely difficult and important! 

 

Sometimes we would get help from Sages, however, they were rare existences that were rarely seen. But across history it was proven that their teachings were something that lasted a lifetime. 

What were the teachings of a Sage? 

 

It was something that not everyone could understand, and maybe even sometimes incomprehensible. However, I had comprehended something with time. 

 

 

Sometimes it would make me desperate just watching it. Unmoving on my table. Sometimes I felt like it was judging me with its rocky stare, sure it had no eyes. But I could feel it. Judgement. As if it was observing it. 

To begin with it was a rock, or stone… or whatever it was… It didn’t have a name. It’s species? Rock? It was something hard to classify to begin with. 

 

Well I suppose I could start with writing a diary about it. A diary about the life of a rock, or rather the life with a rock, or stone… Well first I had to give it a name. 

One does not go through life simply saying: Man! Woman! Well maybe when a husband calls their wife. ‘Woman! Get me the damn water!” Or something like that haa… However… If a random person calls that husband’s wife ‘woman’, then… Things wouldn’t end well for that man at all. 

 

He’d be lucky to get away with amputation of fingers to be honest. I nodded to myself. Knights sure are scary. Well that didn’t matter. 

 

My gaze focused on the rock-stone-rock on my table. What should I call it? I couldn’t think of a single name. What did a name mean? Did it have to mean anything?! This is too complicated! 

I had so many questions, and so many answers that I needed… However, the path of a researcher is not one without obstacles, and that’s why I couldn’t complain. 

 

Well… actually everyone can complain, but… Complaining and not doing anything? 

It was the worst of the worst. 

 

Or well, that was what my father had said. Hmm… Wait a second. Why am I even complaining? Had I forgotten? I looked back at my desk. The rock… A name…

I couldn’t overthink the name. A name could be as simple or as complicated as one wanted. I didn’t want it to be complex, and that is why I stopped thinking about it. Nothing good would come out from thinking! And thus, I shouted to no one but myself its new glorious name! 

 

“Remilia!” It felt refreshing to shout it! 

 

My voice resounded throughout the entire house, however, I had done it. I had named my rock after a lot of work! I nodded to myself in appreciation of my creativity. Nn, you’ve done well Emilia. Honestly, I would’ve given myself a head pat if I could. 

After all, a normal person would’ve said name things like, Rocky, Lala or something like Von Julius the Sixth! But, they were all bad, after all. A rock had to be noble and powerful, graceful like a rock and sturdy like a… rock. Well that came out weird. 

 

While I was nodding to myself in satisfaction, my ears twitched hearing steps coming from the corridor. The door of my room opened. Behind the door, there was a tall man with a groomed brown beard and nicely curled hair. However, his eyes were red. He was unmistakable! My father! 

I had to tell him! But before I could jump to his arms, I noticed his gaze was closer to annoyance than joy or anything. Why? 

 

“Emily,” he said in a grave tone that made me pause. “You know you shouldn’t shout in the middle of the night, right?” 

 

I instantly turned pale, I could feel a cold sweat on my back. But, night? It was nighttime?! I hurriedly looked towards my window, and that’s when I saw the twinkling of the distant stars, like a jewel box filled to the brim. It’s splendor, infinite. But I turned back to my father, unable to appreciate the starry sky. 

He simply frowned while he looked at me. “So?” He asked with an unchanging gaze. I didn’t know what to say to him. In the end all I could do is audibly gulp, which made him frown harder before he started to reprimand me. I would never shout in the middle of the night ever again… 

 

Since old times, researchers have always existed. When dragons dominated the land and the sky, the knights and wizards fought in the front lines. 

However! 

 

Without researchers, the knights and wizards wouldn’t have been able to fend the dragons off! That’s why researchers are the coolest of all professions! Everyone depends on them, they are as bright as the sun in the sky! 

And the best part, anyone with a studious mind could become a researcher with enough effort. It wasn’t like a knight that one needed rigorous training and a gifted body. Or a wizard that needed years of practice to make fire appear from the air. Sure it was amazing, but it wasn’t that amazing. 

 

And that is why I wanted to be a researcher. No, I want to be one. Well, it wasn’t always like that. Once upon a time I had grand dreams of becoming an archmage, being a knight was out of my reach after all. But after finding out my parents were researchers something changed. 

While my mother was no longer here, my father still was. And he was someone worthy of following! While reluctant to explain to me about his job, the more I heard the more fascinated I was with it. It truly was a noble job. 

 

However, he didnt’ want to teach me the ways of an investigator, saying stupid things such as: Kids should need time to decide, or, You’re too young , you don’t know what you want, among other things. 

I was going to show it to him. I was willing to work hard for my goal. No matter how difficult, no matter what he said. Research is what I want! 

 

As a researcher, or well; as someone that wants to be a researcher, I should get into the habits of a researcher. Basically what a researcher does to… research. From what I understood, researchers would use the researcher method, or scientific. First one had to know what they were researching. 

Well in my case it was… A rock. Or rather it was Remilia, which at the end of things, it was a rock with a name that I felt somewhat regretful about. No naming is worth an earful after all. It was a name strangely similar to my name, which was Emily was a common name in the kingdom 

 

So I supposed Remilia wasn’t an incredibly strange name. My full name was Emilia, well noble name anyway. Emily was way better though. I nodded to myself. Well in my case I was researching Remilia, so the first step of the method was pretty much done. 

 

Well, I already knew what I was researching, so now I had to ask questions about what I was researching. It was a test, well sort of. A question could be. Was it really alive? Well, it wasn’t the right question. Or rather it wasn’t a question at all. After all,

 

I had asked the mighty Sage for a living being and he benevolently complied. 

 

Sages couldn’t lie! I think. Well that wasn’t the point, the point was that I needed to think about how it could be a living being. Well, first. As the researcher I wanted to be, I had to ask myself about what makes it alive, versus unalive. Well that sounds wrong but… 

I bit my lip trying to think of a better term, but was unable to think of anything. 

 

Well, a living being did a lot of things, so I suppose starting with a single question would be good for me. Patience was a virtue. Or so they said. What is a virtue anyway? 

No, no. Wait. I was doing something extremely wrong. Extremely super wrong! No, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t even close to good! I had forgotten something extremely important. 

 

I looked at Remilia on my table. It was there, unmoving. However, that wasn’t the problem. It was a living being! I think… As a living being that it was, I had to be careful. It wasn’t the same thing as studying a piece of parchment, or something like that. If it was alive, then it needed things to…

 

Live! 

 

It needed a place to sleep and… Other things? Food… sleep… Well, and other things that living beings need to live, in order to be alive. 

Hmm this was extremely difficult… Very difficult.