Chapter 37
While Fay was busy sweating and explaining things to Virelda, Zynie came by the house, where Alnazir was alone.
Knock, knock, knock.
The man, who’d been lazily sprawled on the sofa, lifted his head at the sound. Sensing a witch’s energy, he figured Fay must have come home already.
That was fast—she usually took forever to come back.
Without giving it much thought, Alnazir waited for Fay to open the door and come inside. But instead, the witch just lingered in front of the door, as if she had no intention of coming in.
That was unusual; she’d never acted like this before. Was something wrong? He sat up, trying to get a better sense of what was happening outside.
The moment he sat up, the witch stepped inside—but she gave a short yelp, clearly startled to find someone in the house.
“Wh-who are you?”
She looked too young to be called an adult. Clutching her chest, she muttered a few more things, but Alnazir couldn’t understand a word.
She was definitely human, but why did her aura feel so similar to Fay’s? Why did she have such a special power?
Alnazir was confused. Zynie was equally bewildered. She’d come several times before, but with no one home, she’d used her key—never expecting to find a strange man here.
He didn’t look like a thief, though. His clothes were comfortable and he seemed perfectly at home here, as if he’d spent more than a few days living in the house.
For a long moment, the two just stared at each other, quietly sizing one another up.
“Are you Fay’s boyfriend, by any chance?”
Zynie finally asked. If Fay had brought a man into the house, that was the only explanation she could think of. Plus, his looks were exactly Fay’s type, which made the ‘boyfriend’ theory even more convincing. Zynie flashed him a bright smile.
“I’m Zynie. Fay’s sister.”
“……”
“Has Fay ever mentioned me to you?”
Surely he’d heard of her at least once! Zynie’s eyes sparkled, but Fay’s supposed new boyfriend just stared at her, tilting his head slightly.
“She’s never said anything about me?”
“……”
“Uh… can’t you at least say something…?”
It was getting awkward, being the only one talking. Zynie started to pout but finally closed her mouth—her crow, Donovan, squawked loudly on her shoulder.
“What is it? Is he not her boyfriend but a thief?”
There’s no way a thief could be so calm, but since Donovan was shouting “Danger!” she checked the strange man again.
“What’s so suspicious about him, anyway? He just has a sharp look in his eyes. It’s fine, Donovan. He doesn’t look like a temple guy, and even if it came to a fight, I could handle it.”
Just then, Alnazir finally opened his mouth.
“[Let me ask you something.]”
Was he from some distant country? Zynie could tell he’d said something, but she didn’t understand a word—she’d never heard that language before.
“Wow, a foreigner who can’t speak Common—how rare is that?”
It was strange, but now things made sense. No wonder Fay had been gone so long; maybe she’d gone traveling and met this guy.
“My name’s Zynie! Witch Zynie!”
Since words weren’t working, Zynie patted her chest and spoke loudly, using gestures to get her meaning across.
“Where’s Fay?”
“……”
“Did she just step out for a bit?”
Alnazir watched her mouth move, frowning. Listening to an unfamiliar human language was tiresome—especially the language of humans. Maybe he should turn her to stone, like he’d done to some bandits who’d shown up before.
He considered it—turning her to stone would stop all that annoying noise, and then he could go back to lounging on the sofa and waiting for Fay.
But at the same time, he was curious about who this human really was. After thinking for a second, he grabbed some paper and a pen from Fay’s desk and wrote something down before handing it to the girl.
Zynie, a little nervous, accepted the paper.
[Who are you?]
“Oh, so he can’t talk but he can write!”
Zynie was relieved—it would have been a pain if he’d drawn some weird symbols or pictures. She set aside her wand and wrote her reply.
[Witch Zynie. Fay’s sister.]
Alnazir’s brow furrowed as he read it. Fay had never mentioned having a younger sister. And a witch, too…
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.