"How can it get so cold all of a sudden?", Fengari grumbled in her form as Ahri Adenia, spitting fire from her mouth. Cale thought it was a strange way to heat the fireplace.

"It's spring, so it's generally not that warm. In summer, on the other hand, you'll die of heat."

"Hard to believe I was swimming just a few weeks ago."

"The weather here is unpredictable", Cale explained. "Why does the cold even bother you? You're a dragon."

"We dragons only warm ourselves with our inner fire. But since I'm not supposed to use magic, I have to make that flame smaller too."

"So that means you're generally colder than you're used to?"

"Exactly", commented the blonde-haired girl, grabbing a blanket before spreading it out on the floor in front of the fireplace.

Since yesterday evening, Bellator had been shrouded in dark clouds and the temperature had been falling steadily. During the night, it had rained so heavily that it sounded as if the world above them was collapsing.

By now, however, it had calmed down a bit and scattered rays of sunshine were breaking through the cloud cover. It was still cold, though, which is why Cale was very happy to have this evening off. He stood in front of the window with a cup of tea in his hand and watched Fengari for a few moments before looking out the window and observing the small river that had formed on the street.

"Did you to your teachers about your interest in music?"

"Ah! Yes, I did. Two teachers even played infront of my class, once the piano and once the violin. But they don't offer music lessons at the school, at least not for beginners like me."

"Were you interested in any of the instruments?"

"The violin sounded beautiful."

"There are a lot more than just these two instruments, but you'd have to actively seek out musicians. Can any of your classmates play an instrument?"

"Some of them, yes."

"Maybe you could ask them who their teacher was. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone here."

"I'll think about that tomorrow. I'll find my way around."

"You've become independent pretty quickly."

"Haven't I?", Fengari replied proudly. "Through school, I've learned pretty quickly what you humans consider normal and what not. The lessons themselves are a little too easy for me, but therefore I'm learning how to behave properly."

"That's good. If you get bored, let me know."

"I won't, I promise!", Fengari exclaimed euphorically and grinned before lying down and burying herself in the blanket. Cale, on the other hand, smiled, watched the white mountain for a moment, grabbed a chair, and sat down in front of the kitchen window.

Cale had been quite excited all day because the Eldest had told him that Aaron himself would be coming to Bellator. When exactly he would arrive in the capital and whether they would see each other were questions that had tormented him all day. But at the end of the day, nothing had happened. Not even Julius Venlan or Loys von Freigoud had mentioned the subject, even though he had talked to them about it at length.

So he had spent the last two days talking a lot with his supervisor, Mamoru Meyrl. He would join the patrols through the city for the coming week and remain in his group until further notice, until he was independent enough to be assigned to a pair.

Just as he took the last sip of his tea and was about to go to bed, a familiar source of mana announced itself on the street. Cale sat up abruptly, and Fengari also pulled her head out from under the blanket. Cale quickly went to the front door and opened it a small crack so that the rain couldn't fall into the hallway. He peered down the main street and could hardly see anything thanks to the rain, but he knew with absolute certainty that Aaron was a few meters in front of his house.

"What is he doing?", Fengari whispered, squeezing past Cale's feet so she could see outside too.

"I guess he's looking for our house. Why else would he be out in this bad weather?"

Cale conjured up his brown cloak and pulled the hood over his head before slipping on his shoes and stepping outside.

"Wait here, please", Cale called to the dragon and opened the garden gate before slowly walking down the street, battling against the wind.

It was only after several meters that he could make out Aaron's silhouette and realize that he was looking at the individual houses. Completely unimpressed by the fact that the rain was falling on him unhindered - as if he had already given up. As Cale got closer, he noticed how soaked Aaron was. He was only wearing his mage uniform, which was an official service uniform and in no way designed for the weather.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

When Aaron noticed his presence, he turned to Cale and stared at him for a moment, which made Cale suspect that he couldn't see him clearly. But when he raised his hand and asked for his attention, Cale smiled and the two men approached each other.

"Forgive the interruption, but could you possibly help me for a moment? I'm looking for an address."

"In this weather?", Cale replied in surprise, pulling his hood forward a little so that rain wouldn't get in his face when he looked up.

"Sir Adenia?", Aaron replied, however, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Yes?", Cale simply countered, staring silently at the man as he recalled the memories of his sixth life. "Did you not recognize it was me?"

"Admitted, no."

"Are you looking for me?"

Aaron didn't answer, so Cale tilted his head and gave him a confused look. If he wasn't here because of him, what exactly was he doing here? How likely was it that another acquaintance of Aaron's lived here?

<Aaron doesn't have any acquaintances, he only has Damian. And considering what's going on right now, he must have been looking for me. Did he perhaps not want to show himself?>

"Let's go inside, no one can talk like this", Cale urged, stepping aside before asking Aaron to follow him. The High-Magician followed him silently and after a minute entered the small house belonging to the Adenia family. Fengari was crouching on the floor with her blanket over her shoulder, watching as the two men entered the hallway and closed the front door.

"You're soaking wet!", Ahri exclaimed indignantly, causing both men to turn to her.

Cale automatically looked back at Aaron, who had a puddle forming at his feet. His clothes and hair were stuck to his body, but instead of taking them off, he stood motionless in the doorway, unable to utter a word.

"How long were you out in this weather?", Cale asked.

"An hour, I guess", Aaron confessed quietly.

"Why didn't you use your magic? Do you have clothes with you? Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"I wanted to apologize to you, Sir Adenia", Aaron suddenly changed the subject, ignoring every single one of Cale's questions.

"What? Why?"

"I didn't realize that you... didn't want Karekama to be revealed to the public."

"And that's why you're out in the rain during a thunderstorm like this? Have you gone mad? It's freezing outside and you're completely soaked!", Cale scolded sternly. "By the beard of the Eldest, you're insane. Come upstairs and take a warm shower. I'll give you some of my clothes, you can't stay like that."

"I didn't mean to bother you for long, Sir Ad..."

"We'll talk about the definition of bothering later, now come with me."

"Sir Adenia, I..."

"No arguments!", Cale snapped back and grabbed Aaron's arm.

With a gentle push, he forced Aaron to walk up the stairs. Once upstairs, Cale pointed to the half-open door leading to the bathroom. Fengari followed them, taking great care not to step in the puddles of water. She was the only one wearing socks.

"Here, please wash and dry yourselves. You can leave the door open, I'll put some fresh clothes in there for you. Don't worry, my daughter won't barge in."

Wordless and presumably somewhat overwhelmed, Aaron's gaze shifted back and forth between the door, Fengari, and Cale.

"What are you waiting for? The whole floor is going to get wet", Fengari grumbled, demonstratively hopping over a large puddle. After a moment's hesitation, Aaron finally gave in and thanked her for her hospitality. Once in the bathroom, he immediately took off his coat as Cale closed the door and turned to Fengari.

"The beautiful wooden floor", Fengari interjected.

"He'll survive", Cale replied, about to use magic to remove the water - but Aaron was less than two meters away and would sense it immediately. Which meant he couldn't make his own wet clothes disappear without being noticed.

"Is there anything I can do?", Fengari asked when she noticed Cale's indecision.

"Could you put some hot water on? I'll take care of the mess here", Cale explained, and a moment later he heard the water from the bathroom begin to flow.

Fengari, on the other hand, simply nodded and disappeared down the stairs, while Cale ran back to his room and changed his clothes as well. There he found a towel from yesterday, which he then used to dry the floor - something he hadn't done by hand in decades.

Afterwards he went back to his wardrobe and looked for a change of clothes. He grabbed a pair of loose-fitting pants, a long-sleeved top, and some warm socks, folded them neatly, and headed for the bathroom. Cale knocked gently on the door three times and opened it a crack, just as Aaron turned off the water.

"I'll put your things here. Leave your clothes in the bathroom, I'll wash and dry them later along with ours", Cale explained through the small crack and placed the clothes on the sink in front of him - without entering the room.

"Thanks", Aaron said, and Cale closed the door again. He quietly came down the steps and watched as Fengari put a pot of water on the stove and looked at Cale.

"Is he okay?"

"I'm not sure, he seemed a little... strange earlier."

"In what way?"

"Different from how I know him."

"Do you want to let him stay here tonight?"

"I'll definitely offer it", Cale said quietly, motioning with his finger for Fengari to speak quietly as well.

"Aaron has very good ears. Please be careful what you say in his presence", Cale explained, stepping into the kitchen.

<"Okay">, replied Fengari, hopping off the chair she had been standing on. <"If you let him stay the night, you're welcome to stay in my room.">

<"I can offer him the couch, but thanks for the proposal. Maybe I'll come back to it.">

<"As you wish">, replied Fengari, stopping in front of him. <"I'll leave you two alone tonight.">

<"Thanks, Fengari.">

Cale crouched down in front of Fengari and smoothed her hair, which was a little tousled from the blanket, while they continued talking in their minds.

<"You're welcome. You let me stay with you for free, so I can at least do that for you.">

<"You're my daughter. It would be weird if I asked a six-year-old girl for money.">

<"Aren't there children my age who already work?">, the blonde-haired girl asked.

<"It's rather rare. In Sylve, school attendance is compulsory, but many children from poorer households help their parents with farm work.">

<"Then consider this my farm work">, Fengari replied with a laugh and began to skip away, which is why Cale let her go. "You know I'm a very good girl!"

"That's right, you are", Cale confirmed with a smile on his face as Fengari skipped past him.

"I'm going upstairs to get ready for bed."

"Do that, dear."

A moment later, she disappeared up the stairs giggling, leaving Cale alone. Even though no one was sure if Aaron could really hear her, Fengari seemed to be having fun. Cale could sense Fengari disappearing into her room at the same time Aaron seemed to be finishing his shower.

So Cale neatly pushed the chairs under the table and cleared away his cups before making some space in front of the fireplace and arranging the cushions neatly on it.

He had a feeling he would be talking to Aaron for a long time tonight.

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