"Just how long are you going to stay there?"

    A voice from the outside suddenly startled Aqueo from his deep thinking, the imposing voice of the mage.

    "W-Wait a minute. I'm still wearing my clothes."

    Aqueo hastened buttoning his clothes and observed himself on the mirror. He was now wearing a white and brown long sleeve with a blue sleeveless shirt with buttons on top of it, and a trouser with a matching design of blue, white and brown. It looked rather formal yet old-school in Aqueo's eyes. Regardless, he sort of liked it.

    When he came out, the mage was sitting on the chair at the left side of the table where her mage hat was sitting. Azbert, her servant, was standing near her at the side of the exit opposite the side of the bathroom door where Aqueo stood.

    "Come sit," the mage said, pointing to the bed with her left hand.

    "About my question while you were eating," she said the moment Aqueo was seated. "Do you remember?"

    "What was I feeling while eating? Yes, I remember," Aqueo answered politely, even nodding a bit. And now that Aqueo remembered, it made him curious why she would ask that specific question.

    "Yes, that was the question. But I want to know first—," she paused while weighing how she should ask it without directly mentioning life force depletion. She finally said, "—how did you end up in that situation?"

    "A-ah, about that—," Aqueo looked at his side while scratching his head.

    'Ahhh, can I trust this mage?,' Aqueo thought while looking at the spirit. 'They clearly can't see Aqui floating by my side here.'

    It took him a few moments of thinking to finally look at her again and said sincerely, "I'm so sorry about that. I know you saved my life, but I can't tell you that information."

    "Tha-that's right—," Aqueo added. "—it has something to do with the herbs I was talking about, so I can't tell anyone about it."

    'Me saved his life,' the mage thought. 'He was still alive and walking despite having those severe symptoms of life force depletion. He should already be dead when I met him, and yet he wasn't. With the scent of the magical energy he is exuding, even if I did nothing, he will still be alive by now. But, I will not say that. It seems like this guy knows nothing about it— Tha—that's right! An opportunity. I want him to continue to think that he owes me. He will be my precious rare specimen. I have to make him stay here.'

    "That's right, that's right. I saved your life. But it's fine. If you can't tell me that, can you tell me how you were feeling before eating? Before you met me."

    'Ehh? Why does she want to know that? I suppose it won't hurt to tell her that,' Aqueo thought.

    "I was feeling weak and my head was pulsing because I was so hungry," Aqueo said. He thought, 'I won't tell her about the warmth and relaxing feeling from Aqui.'

    "I see. How about while you were eating? What were you feeling?"

    "Uhmm—," Aqueo hummed. 'I suppose it won't hurt to tell her that, too,' he thought. "—I was just feeling hungry and I wanted to eat a lot."

    The mage stared at him for a while, quite underwhelmed by the answer she just got. Finally, she said, "Your stomach. That's right. What were you feeling in your stomach while eating? You ate seven large plates. Each plate is equivalent to four large servings of an—expensive meal in an expensive restaurant. Aside from that, the volume of your stomach should only be able to hold three full servings. One plate was more than enough, yet you actually ate seven before finally stopping."

    "E-expensive?" Aqueo uttered in a slightly shocked tone. "That's seven times four," he mumbled.

    'HUHHH? THAT'S TWENTY EIGHT EXPENSIVE SERVINGS,' he screamed in his head while panicking. 'H-how much is all that? W—wait a minute. Is it just me or she said the words expensive meal and expensive restaurant in a slow manner as if to emphasize it just like how she said the word horribly when she mentioned her father?'

    The mage smirked in her mind at Aqueo's panicked expression and the way he uttered the word expensive.

    "That's right. The meals you have eaten a while ago are expensive. I'll take half of your herbs," the mage said. It had been her plan before she went inside the room—to price the meals more than their actual worth. She knew the herbs were expensive but with her pricing, she could take more than half of it.

    "I-I see," Aqueo said in relief.

    'That's still good. I was worried all of it wouldn't be enough to pay for the meals,' Aqueo thought.

    "Let's go back to our previous topic," the mage looked at him with a hint of interest this time. "What were you feeling in your stomach while eating?"

    'That's right. I actually managed to eat those seven large plates.'

    Aqueo thought for a bit to recall how he felt. "It felt like it was so empty. Every time I swallowed food, it felt like it wasn't getting full. I would feel the food in there but the feeling would vanish a moment later and it would feel empty once again. So I just ate continuously until I was feeling full."

    The mage crossed her arms on her chest and put one of her hands on her chin. She was looking at the floor while thinking a bit deeply.

    "Azbert, did you write that," she finally said a few moments later.

    "Yes, young master."

    Aqueo turned his gaze to Azbert. He didn't notice him taking out a notebook and writing there.

    "How about your body? You said you were feeling weak and your head was pulsing. How did they change while you were eating?"

    "Those feelings vanished while I was eating the first plate."

    "Really?" She leaned a bit forward, unable to hide her curiosity even further. "When was it exactly? How many bites?"

    "A—about . . . the fifth bite," Aqueo said, a bit taken aback by the sudden show of her emotion. She looked rather childishly excited in contrast to her previous serious and commanding demeanor.

    "How about your skin? Especially the skin of your face? The part around your eyes, your cheeks and your lips," the mage asked further, leaning a bit more closer towards Aqueo.

    'Huh? What's with all these very specific questions?'

    Azbert suddenly cleared his throat, loud. It made the mage flinch as she realized that she was leaning forward. She sat straight once again and recomposed herself.

    "Let's stop here for a bit. You said you weren't from this town when I asked you while we were walking. Do you remember? You looked rather dazed while answering my questions," the mage asked as if her flinching a while ago didn't even happen.

    'Th—that's right. She did ask me some questions and I just answered absentmindedly because I wasn't in my right mind. And I don't exactly remember the things she asked me. What if she makes further inquiries about my origin,' Aqueo thought.

    "Yes, I am not from this town."

    'But—the original owner of this body must be from somewhere here. What if somebody recognizes this body, what am I supposed to say? I don't trust her enough to tell her that I actually came from another world without magic in it,' Aqueo weighed in his mind if it was worth telling this information to the mage.

    "This is your first time coming here and your goal is to trade herbs?"

    "Yes."

    "How long are you going to stay in this town?"

    "I haven't really thought about it."

    "Then you have found a place to stay."

    "Huh?" Aqueo was a bit taken aback. He thought she would further ask about his origin, so he was making up excuses in his mind.

    "You can stay in this mansion for as long as you like. I won't ask you about where you got your herbs or where you came from. You seemed so adamant about your origin even when you were in a dazed state so I won't ask you about it."

    With her saying that came the memory of him refusing to say his hometown while walking on that small path toward the house in the middle of the field. Aqueo felt glad he didn't say a word about his previous world.

    "Me and Azbert are going to watch the tournament near the townsquare. We'll accompany you to a renowned and trusted merchant there to help you exchange the herbs."

    The mage took her mage hat and started walking toward the door. But Aqueo still had some lingering questions about the specific questions from her. The questions might be connected to what was going on with his body, so he stopped her.

    "Uh-uhm, wait. May I ask? Why were you asking about my body, especially my skin?"

    The mage paused for a moment and looked back at him.

    "It's just that . . . your skin was looking sullen when you came here . . . so devoid of life," the mage said in a knowing tone, now uncaring whether she had implied to him the life force depletion he was unaware of. She would tell him about it anyway if she wanted to study his life force closely.

    It was then when Aqueo confirmed that there really was a connection between her specific questions and what was going on with his body. Because aside from the warmth Aquifer was exuding, there was another thing he didn't say about how he was feeling while he was eating—he was continuously feeling the exact rejuvenating feeling he felt from hearing the beautiful tone in the lake chamber.

    . . .