On the road back to the market, while he was wiping the dirt on his face and clothes with the clean towel handed to him, Nero asked Rius: “Will Amé really be alright?”

The dog just whimpered.

“And that poor knight…I wonder what happened to him. What did he do, Rius? Do you think he’s a bad guy? I don’t feel it, though. Not that it mattered.”

For a while the young healer pondered as the summer heat slowly rose with the sun. “And how about you, boy?” he asked the dog. “Are you okay now? Or…are you still my dog?”

Rius barked, in a playful, high voice.

“Oh. Can you understand my words?”

—Bark! 

“Stand, boy!”

The dog obeyed and stood on its hind legs, jumping to retain being by his side.

“Wow! That’s great, boy!” He patted its head and let it walk normally. That revival… Before, it wasn’t the smartest of the dogs (he still adored it to death, though). But now, this progress…it’s only possible because of his dog’s revival, he’s sure of it.

Going down the Siedsy Market (again), he went to Gueré Pharmacy (again). The old man Laiz, in surprise, said, “Good heavens, boy. Look at you! What happened to you? Where’s your glasses? Has your uncle’s invention exploded?”

“Well, you can say that…” He cleared his throat. “But, that’s beside the point, doctor. Just give me a kilo of aether sand.”

“Again?” The old man shook his head. “You should buy 3 kilos, I advice, so you won’t be coming down here again and again. Aren’t you tired?”

Nero looked at the wooden ceiling for a while, pondering. “Yeah. Give me 3 kilos. And 2 mana orbs also…no, make it 2 mana pearls. And a portable extractor.”

“Even your things got destroyed? Ah, you don’t even have your backpack. Just what is your uncle…” The old man mumbled something which he didn’t catch, as the former prepared him with what he asked.

The apothecary then handed him his goods all inside a leather bag.

Nero paid with a platinum plate (which was surprisingly inside the leather pouch his uncle had handed him) for 1,650 Pirasos worth of goods, then received a change of 4 gold and 6 bronze coins (amounting to 350 Pirasos) (This mental arithmetic hurt his brain, but he couldn’t help it; maybe he’d hire a banker sooner.) Then he went on.

He wanted to get back as fast as he could to the cliff, under the tree, where he left both his uncle and the knight. But when he passed through the square individuals in need of his service came to him; they were asking for treatment for their various illnesses; from mild allergies to injuries dealt by violent disagreement, he healed them. This Siedsy Town really was a very active place. His activity went on way after lunch time. So, he ate his lunch late in a nearby restaurant. Of course, he also fed Rius, the set of lunch he ordered. (The dog never was a picky eater.) Only after then they returned.

But when they climbed the cliff and reached the tree where they left the two old men, they were nowhere to be seen. Only the burns on the tree’s bole and his destroyed bag and other items remained.

A sudden chill creeped onto his spine. The cold calmness of the place—cold, though it was summer…its eerie silent ambiance…

He felt a void inside his heart, as if he lost something valuable. Was it so? Or was he just imagining things? Confusion struck him. The anxiety he felt before he left this place had obviously stayed here, and now had creeped on him again.

“Come,” he told Rius, then he scampered back to their tents.

First, of course, he went to the workshop directly; it was oddly dark, whereas Amé never really turned off the lights here. So, he turned on the lamp near the door. Its white light was enough to reveal what happened to the workshop—which was nothing. The working table, the tools and materials cabinets, the machines and platforms, the tall metal rack shelves where numerous unfinished inventions were displayed—everything was on its place.

Except for one thing: on the table was a green ball, the size of typical melon fruit. This caught his attention immediately, before checking everything else. Then when he thought no other thing really was different, then he returned to the green ball.

It had several straight creases all around its body, forming some spherical geometric shapes in various sizes, though they were not too obvious unless scrutinized.

Below it…was a letter. The words were almost scribbled, some even unreadable. But definitely, the letter was written by his uncle, and apparently it was written for him. He laid to the ground the leather bag containing everything he had bought, then picked up the letter.

It says:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nero,

I’ll be going somewhere. And I may not return. So this time, stand on your own feet. I’ve told you that, countless of times already, that someday you’ll be independent. You need to be.

But I’ll leave this flocom to you. Just insert some mana, use the aether sand you bought. Or until it activated. It’s not the same as the commercial ones. I made this myself, so you won’t need to constantly insert mana pearls here. Don’t sell it. It’s priceless.

For all other items, sell them down the market. Everything is yours. Be shrewd.

I trust you.

Your uncle,

Amé

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He read the letter multiple times. Making sure he read it correctly. Then he remained dumbfounded. Silence filled the workplace. Only when Rius whimpered that he returned to reality. He patted his dog’s head.

“What a troublesome old coot…” Nero sighed. “What now?”