Tale Of The Half-Blood Wizard

There was a pause filling up the steel walls in front of us, "I have never seen one before," a deep voice creaked softly, breaking the silence we created. 

I turned my head, seeing him looking at something so far away, "What is that?" I was curious. 

He  turned his head and looked at me so gently, "You really can't be judged be the cover." 

Instantly I burst into laughing listening to his joking-like utterance, "hat is wrong with me?" I asked back, "What kind of 'cover' do you mean?" He was quiet, looking at me as if to judge. 

I took a deep breath, decided to ignore his gaze, and told him, "Mickey is Antonie's cat. He asked me to look for fire lilies that could be used as an exchange to the Manji, for a request," I glanced at him. He was still staring at me. 

"It was not easy to reach the place where the fire lilies grew, but we made it. our struggles were paid off because we found not only one fire lily. That morning, I gave a flower to the Manjis, but I did not make any request:" I smiled sadly, recalling my meeting with Mika which was really short.

"The following day, I came again and gave a flower to the Manjis as the farewell. Like the previous meeting, the second meeting I did not make any request, and instead I offered them something that was quite impossible for a 'normal person' to do. I told them I would give eyes for them, so that each would get one eye. That way they could see those beautiful flowers without giving back something to other people," I glanced back at him who was listening to my story seriously. 

"I did not know if that made them come with me, following me. This is the second time I killed someone with the Manjis, but to be honest, I did not know if they could be that terrible, either," I took a deep breath, waiting for Naar's reaction. 

"It was my first time to see the Manjis. I thought they were a just a myth but now I believe they are real," Naar sounded so amazed. which was beyond my expectations, "They are like armors that protect you and do everything for you," I just smiled faintly listening to it and speaking nothing. 

I looked at Naar deeply, "Do you also know this matter?" I asked him out of curiosity. 

Naar shook his head, "I just got an assignment to look after someone who would come here. I was also asked to be careful and take good care of it," Naar replied. He looked at me strangely. 

"Stop staring at me like that,' I felt uncomfortable with his gaze, "I will not disappear because Azalea locked me in this room," I convinced him.

Naar smiled as he got up from his seat, taking out a small knife from his pocket, "Tomorrow morning I may not be allowed to go into the meeting room so I wont be able to take care of you. You must take care of yourself in my absence. Just be careful," He was so thoughtful, and then handed me that knife. 

I was still surprised to receive it, "Did Azalea ask you to do it? why did you do this?" my voice raised a little without me realizing it. 

"Could you speak more slowly please, chatty lady? Someone might hear you," He snorted, looking annoyed at a man who was walking to the door. "Just follow my advice, okay? I am a free bird now," Naar said and smiled wittily. 

Honestly, I was glad to hear that, but my pleasure evaporated as soon as the door of my room was closed. I knew what Naar told me was not a joke. He was not that type of person like that. 

I looked at the knife Naar handed to me. It was a mixture of the sea-colored and platinum-colored knife. I smiled when I saw an engraving of my name on the hilt.  I knew he had prepared this for me. And now I was getting more and more curious about what would happen in that meeting later.

It would be my first time sitting down at that table and sharing the menu in front of me with important wizards I might never even have met. Hana and the other maids were busy preparing the dishes for the banquet, while Azalea did not let the guards away from me even though I just stood and watched as the maids were preparing everything.

Today, the Elder would come. Antonie's death spread up quickly. This news was even more shocking especially because of his status as the master of illusion, the prisoner who was hard to get rid of even by a great wizard like Azalea was finally killed by a human who just walked into the world of the wizard. 

I saw some of Azalea's maids who used to be my friends start to drift away from me. They looked at me in fear when I got closer. I could not understand why. I was really sad because it was not entirely my fault. I didn't mean to kill him. Everything happened beyond my consciousness. It was something in me that suddenly overflew and was hard to control. 

.

I could not really predict what would happen next, now. There was a chance that the spell would disappear with Antonie's death, which means that the seal on the marionette had reached its time, and Zie's spirit would disappear. 

"Are you okay?" Asked Naar who was currently sitting by my side. Azalea assigned him to guard this room along with several other soldiers.

"Husshhh!." I signaled him to stay away from me, "If Azalea knows, you will be in big troubles, "I warned him. 

"Hm, don't be sad, okay?!" He patted my shoulder to comfort me, then he went to help the maids to prepare the room. 

I felt today was not going to be a good day, so I heard Naar's advice to bring a knife he gave me. Although it turned out that he was finally assigned to guard the room where I was in, it did not mean I could be off guard. I knew my father would come. I did not really know what he would do to me especially after I killed his wife, I had also prevented him from taking that marionette. 

My mind wandered, tracing all the events involving father and marionette until something was bothering me. 'Did he use that marionette as a trap for me, or did he really want to get it? What is actually his real aim?' There was something really odd but I was not sure yet. What side he was on I did not know either. 

Azalea called me, asked me to follow her. We walked to the gate, together with Naar by my side. It was the first time I saw that man wearing armor that was a bit different from the one he had on his usual day. He had two swords tucked by his waist. In ordinary days, he carried a sword and a shield. 

I felt so small walking by Naar's side, especially Azalea asked me to put on a knee-length black brocade dress and I dressed up as a woman. 'Be patient, Tha. Just thinking that today you camouflage into a sweet girl, my heart cried seeing myself and the way I walk was in accordance with my wish. 

"Are you taking the knife with you?" Naar whispered so slowly that I hardly heard him although he stood by my side. We were waiting for the elder's carriage to come. 

"Yes," I replied softly too, showing him a small bag I carried with me. 

I gasped when Naar suddenly grabbed  my finger and then hid it under his robe, "Ishh, what are you doing?" I said half-whispering, so much embarrassed. And he only responded with his innocent smile. 

"Ssshhh!" A rebuke came from azalea. She glared at us, so I withdrew my hand so quickly and calmed down again. 

"Be careful," that was the last message from Naar before he left to greet the arrival of the elder's carriage which was entering Azalea's courtyard. 

An old man of perhaps around 70-80 years old, who I had seen before got off from the carriage. He was tall, and well built, with gray hair which was neatly slicked back. He was gentle and polite, but we could not judge a book by its cover, can we? 

"Where is that person?" He immediately said after talking for a while with Azalea.

The next second, Azalea signaled me to come closer. I complied by walking toward them, then greeted him. 

I was just silent when I saw him judging me, "I did not think there was a human who-," I did not know what he would say because he did not continue his speech.

"Tha is a descendant of Youenha," Azalea explained.