28 A rebel studen (1/2)
Being a little more paranoid than usual, Alexander set up another spell to avoid any eardrop. Verifying all the other spells and magic defenses located in the room, he found nothing unusual. Feeling satisfied, he looked at the little girl in front of him. Normally, a new student will naturally fall under the magician that tested him. It was logical, first of all, the mage was the first face that the little kid saw. Then, during the travel, the mage will take extra care of the potential genius and definitely create a connection between the two. For if a student is extraordinary, his master will definitely be rewarded.
At that time, the old grumpy man would have been jumping in joy to discover such potential in a commoner child. First of all, to make all the nobles magus less arrogant since the last magus that wasn't from one of the noble families died a decade ago. And of course, since it was probably his last few years on this planet, to groom a powerful disciple was the dream of every elder magician. But it was not Moo that grabbed this treasure but Alexander Arastil himself, by sheer luck.
”What is your name, little girl?” For the first time since his days as a student, Alexander kneeled in front of Leilade. He discarded all his tricks and facades and seriously spoke to her. To become a magus, one couldn't be stupid and even if he was not attentive to the behavior of the kid, he still noticed her strange reactions. Since she was not a normal kid, she will be treated as an adult.
”Leilade.”
”Leialde … something else? Or just Leilade?”
”Just Leilade.” The two voices had the same lack of heat and while the magus was specialized in ice, he didn't gain the upper hand in that battle. He thought about how strange it was since her fire element was clearly the strongest of all. And the behaviors of the fire mages were cheerful, frivolous and temperamental. Not calm and collected like the girl, but she was probably the exception that confirmed the rule.
”Do you have any family?” Alexander really hoped she will say no, even if it was cruel. That way, only the small kid herself will decide of her allegiance and he had a huge advantage on that.
”No.”
”Great.” Of course, Alexander didn't say that loud and only thought about it. The laconic tone that answered his question was disturbing for someone at such a young age and he was thinking about what could have happened to turn her like that. Numerous possibilities were present, from kidnapping and massacres to a catastrophe or a monster attack.
”What happened to them?”
(So you agree on that story or not?)
”Do I really have to look that pitiful? Can we have something else as a backstory?” While the magus was searching for a weak point to use on her, Leilade and the Viscount were battling on her fabricated past. He was thinking about using her original past, the one where she was caught by dark mages. It was the easiest way but Leilade wanted something more common. While they had destroyed the Church of Torment and could easily match their movements, it was still highly different than the past of the rest of the students. So a potential investigation could be conducted. In the end, she had no choice but to fuse the truth with some lies.
As she told Alexander all that happened to her, the magus felt his heart grow colder. He really thought that it would be something terrible but not that terrible. Her family slain by dark mages, herself captured and subject to numerous experiments. He wasn't even sure if he could survive such an ordeal but she was still alive. Also, he understood why she was like that and so different from the usual joyous and curious children. When she stopped talking, he was unsure about what he should say. He was not heartless and if someone found out that he exploited such a pitiful creature, he will suffer an immense backslash.
”I am … eh, … sorry about what happened to you. No one should suffer such a fate. In the future, you will be able to personally hunt them and end this madness once and for all. In the meantime, there is still something that I want to ask you.” The handsome man tried to change a little his voice while saying this but it was as cold as ever. And some concern was still visible on his face. The last sentence, however, piqued the curiosity of Leilade.
”You are an orphan and had already been abducted once. Therefore, to prevent another accident like that, I want you to hide your potential. If you are just a normal student, no one will try anything on you. I know, it is a weird request, but don't worry. At the same time, I want you to get close to this person.”