89. The Heroine Needs More Manpower (By Which She Means, Spies)
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"I got it!" Rosa announced, slamming a fist down onto the counter.

Without a flinch, I continued drying the glasses. "Oh?"

"Yeah! I just need to remember a traitorous family that Snow White hasn't discovered yet, find out all about their treasonous acts, then find Snow White and tell him about it!"

"Ooh, sounds interesting."

Putting down the glass onto the drying rack, I counted to three in my head.

One.

Two.

Three.

"BEEP! This is impossible!" Rosa yelled, her stool crashing backwards. Her hands were now fisted in her hair, and she looked ready to rip them out. "How am I supposed to know who Snow White hasn't discovered yet! And how am I supposed to figure out what they did!!! I only have three maids and a footman, and they're already occupied!!!!!"

"Sounds hard," I agreed mildly, the glass in my hand squeaking as I wiped it with my towel.

It was now a week after we'd gone to the gambling ring, and I was back to work like normal. As for Rosa.... Rosa....

Well. Rosa was currently going back and forth between epiphanies and despair, every five minutes.

"Who said you had to commit treason, huh!" she was bellowing, kicking the overturned stool.

I finally cracked. Slamming the glass down (gently, of course) onto the counter, I glared at her. "Leave the stool alone!" I yelled. "Go home! Talk to Mother Lily! Bother somebody else!"

"No! I'm not gonna!"

"Oh?! You wanna fight me?!"

"Fight me!" Rosa roared, and I threw down the towel (into the sink, of course) and made to hop over the counter.

"Girls!" interrupted a stern voice. "What are you two doing!"

We both turned our heads towards the entrance, where the doors were swinging shut and Mother Lily stood, her hands on her hips.

Immediately straightening, I gave her a bright smile. "Oh, Mother Lily! What's the occasion?"

"Hello, mother," Rosa said as well, though her voice was obviously still sulky.

Giving both of us some narrow-eyed glares, Mother Lily crossed her arms. "I came for Ava's examination, which starts in ten minutes, isn't that right, Filian?"

That's right! I'd almost forgotten, thanks to a certain complaining friend who had been acting on-and-off like some kind of depressed slime.

"Has it been that late already?" I began putting away the glasses in a hurry. "Rosa, if you're not going to be doing anything but complain, can you finish drying these? I need to wait outside for the medical examiner."

"What!"

"And put back that stool, will you?"

"What!"

Without waiting for another answering, I gave Mother Lily a brief hug. "Could you wait upstairs with my mom? I'll bring the examiner in."

"Perfect. And don't be so nervous, Filian."

Flashing her a grin, I rushed outside.

As soon as the doors shut behind me, I looked both ways, but I couldn't find anyone that shouldn't belong there-- that was Auntie Wendy, and there were Mr. Drin's kids over there, and I knew that grandma from the antique shop. So whoever was supposed to be coming wasn't here yet. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment, just to calm down my beating heart.

It was finally the day. 

A month1and approximately 30 chapters since I'd visited the Academy to volunteer Mom for a potential magical fix for her eyes, the researcher they'd promised to send for "eligibility" was finally coming. Since I'd put Rosa's contact information (or more like, she'd put her information) in whatever forms they'd taken from me that time, Rosa had received the letter from them about this appointment and told me as soon on Monday, as soon as she'd come back from classes.

If Mom passed this examination, then this was a chance that she could finally come to see again.

My heart fluttered at the thought. The image of Mom sitting by the table, knitting her little gray scarf, seemed branded into my eyelids, and I was so focused on the excitement and nervousness crawling down my skin that I didn't notice Lindent's presence next to me until he spoke.

"Filian."

"Howah!" Eyes flying open, my hands instinctively went to a defensive fight stance. "Oh, it's you! Goodness, Lindent, don't surprise me like that!"

Lindent wasn't facing me-- he was facing the same way I was, just standing side-by-side-- but he glanced at me then, grimacing apologetically. "Sorry."

Sighing, I went back to my original position and shook my head. "Nah, it's fine. I'm just a bit wound up." I inhaled deeply and exhaled, calming myself down, but my heart was still racing. The examiner would be here any moment now. Were ten minutes up yet? Was the examiner late? Were my palms sweaty? They probably were.

He glanced at me again, this time a bit curiously (haha! I really was getting better at reading him!), and I began explaining myself to him without further prompting.

"Remember I told you about the time I went to the Academy?"

He momentarily stiffened, but then relaxed and nodded, albeit a bit slowly. Did he seem... nervous? Huh, my nervousness was probably rubbing off on him, which made my nervousness feel even worse.

Clenching my hands into fists a few times, I swallowed. "Yeah, the medical examiner for my mom is supposed to be coming any time soon now. I'm waiting outside to guide them in."

Lindent lifted his chin up thoughtfully, like he was going ohh in the inside.

"If they find that she's eligible," I continued, swallowing again, "then she might be able to get treated for her eyes. She might be able to see again."

"That's great," he said quietly, and I nodded. At that moment, I heard the sound of a carriage rumbling down the dirt street, and my head snapped up, inhaling sharply.

Looking in the same direction, Lindent lifted one hand to pat me on my shoulder once, then jogged off in the opposite direction.

I blinked. Was that supposed to be encouragement? A slow, amused smile lit up on my face, and I couldn't help but laugh. Typical Lindent. "Thanks!" I called, and he raised one hand in a lazy wave, not bothering to look back or slow down.

Shaking my head, I refocused on the incoming carriage. It was a pretty standard taxi carriage, but nobody in Minstia really used carriages except for out-of-town visitors and Rosa. This was probably the examiner-- and by the way they came to a stop just a few feet from me, I was sure I was right.

A man in a top hat came out, handing a couple coins and a bill to the carriage driver. The driver tipped his hat and drove on, and I watched all of this with rising anticipation.

I should probably approach him first. Swallowing once more, I briefly clenched my hands into fists one last time before I stepped up to him with my best Customer Service smile.

"Excuse me, but are you the examiner from the Academy?"


The air in the room was still.

Everyone was probably holding their breaths, as the examiner murmured some magical words or something under his breath with his hands right over Mom's eyes. Things were probably happening, since his eyes were darting around like he was reading something in the air, but I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

He'd been at this for the past five minutes now, stopping now and then to jot down notes on his little clipboard. It was at these times that I wished the most I'd bothered to learn how to read, wishing my past lazy self had not been so, well, lazy.

Next to me, Mother Lily had her hands folded together, as still as a statue and looking as calm as ever. I was clutching my hands together in a similar way, except it was because my hands were starting to tremble and not because I was as calm as she looked.

The examiner had gone straight into his magical whatever the moment he'd seen Mom, after greeting her with a small bow. Now, he took his hand off entirely and scribbled down a few more lines.

"Mrs. Avaleen," he began, and his voice in the silence of the room startled me. "May I ask a few questions about your injury?"

"Of course," Mom said, her voice as graceful and kind as ever.

"How long has it been since the injury?"

"Oh, twelve or thirteen years ago. I can't seem to remember exactly."

"Have you ever employed any sort of treatment to your injury?"

"The apothecary gives me painkillers for my headaches, and I put a warm towel on my eyes every night."

"No other medicine prescribed for your eyes specifically?"

"No."

He scribbled down a few more notes. "Very well, Mrs. Avaleen. Last question. Were any magical artifacts or magic in itself involved in the causation of your injury?"

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Good, none of the questions seemed to be of problem. It had been a carriage accident, so all three questions would be fine. Yes!

But as time passed, I slowly became aware of a different kind of silence that had dropped into this room the moment the question had been asked. Even Mother Lily-- who'd been silent all this time anyways-- seemed to have tensed up somewhat, though I couldn't be sure about that. I looked around and saw the examiner raise his head, too, at the long pause. My eyes then moved to Mom's face, which, even from the side, appeared to be mildly conflicted.

I watched in confusion as Mom opened her mouth hesitantly. "Magic," she answered, finally, carefully, slowly, "may have been involved."

"I see. Well, that concludes my examination, Mrs. Avaleen. The research institute will be sending a letter to your point of contact in regards to your eligibility for the program in the next two to four weeks, and..."

The examiner's voice seemed to fade in and out of my ears as I processed Mom's answer. Magic had been involved? I thought it was a carriage accident. What?

What?

What?

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