Aqueo squinted his eyes to see if he was seeing correctly. "Are those buildings?" he mumbled.

    The mage heard him and replied. "Yes, you are correct," she said as they walked in careful haste towards the huge gate a bit far from them. Azbert and the still-blushing Hermina were following her with him, occasionally glancing here and there to make sure no one would see them.

    "But—aren't we in the middle of the field? How come there are so many buildings out there?" Aqueo reluctantly asked, feeling quite odd about talking like this to her when they had not even introduced each other's names properly. He wanted to ask, but hadn't had the opportunity to do so—aside from the fact that he was careful because of the obvious social standing of the mage.

    They were now walking on the light brown stone paths of a grandiosely designed spacious garden, complete with garden paths, archways, a set of tea tables and chairs, grasses, flowers and plants that looked so foreign to Aqueo—some even looked like they were glowing—, and even pollinators.

    Earlier, Aqueo just followed them quietly on the way outside the house because no one was supposed to see him except the mage and her servants. What greeted him when they reached the outside were the spacious garden and the countless buildings that could be seen outside the fence.

    "We were. But that door leads to another mansion somewhere inside the town. We have to keep you a secret and this mansion is rarely used so I chose this," explained the mage. "And the garden here is overgrown so we can hide conveniently," she immediately added.

    Aqueo made a quick glance at the door with eyes of wonder. He had already witnessed a lot of magical things in the spirit's memories, but experiencing it firsthand excited him to discover and experience even more of this world. The plants and bushes here were indeed rather high and numerous as if the garden was a forest but he could see that it was still well maintained.

    "Wait!" They all halted. "My sister is coming," the mage said in a dim tone. Azbert pointed to a hiding spot and they all went there hastily.

    Aqueo peeked through the gaps in the bushes. "I can't see anyone coming. The street outside is deserted," Aqueo mumbled curiously.

    After a few seconds, a horse pulling a carriage could be seen turning from a corner one street away from the gate.

    "There she is," said the mage.

    Aqueo looked at her in amazement and curiosity, 'How did she know that?'

    "We need to hide here for a while. Wait until she passes the garden," the mage said.

    'I'll just add it to the things I need to know,' Aqueo thought and just peeked at the bushes.

    A few moments later, Aqueo noticed something and mumbled, "Huh? Why is the horse so small? The carriage seemed loaded. How is it pulling that?"

    Hermina, while peeking, blushed a little and took it as an opportunity to say what she had been wanting to tell him since the shouting incident. "Th-the size doesn't really matter to us g—hmm." She wanted to say 'girls' but she stopped and blushed even deeper, both because she didn't want him to realize that she heard him shout and of the bashfulness of the current topic—at least in her mind.

    "Really?"

    Aqueo's intonation was that of a sulking child who suddenly felt uplifted after somebody complimented him, so Hermina turned her head at him in thought that she had successfully conveyed what she really wanted to say.

    "Is it because of magic?"

    He didn't. Aqueo's eye's were glittering while looking at the carriage. Hermina sighed as she went back to peeking. She didn't know whether to be disappointed or thankful that he didn't find out that she heard him. 'I-I'll just try to tell him again later.' She was about to mention something about magic but was interrupted by her master.

    "Quiet! She might hear you," the mage quietly hushed.

    "Hear us?—"

    "Too late!" A soft mature voice of a woman sounded from behind them. Everyone flinched, their faces were painted with shock.

    Aqueo's eyes widened even further when he looked back and found that his face was just inches away from the woman. "S-so pretty," he mumbled.

    "Hmmm! Aren't I?" Aqueo's cheeks went warm when he realized she heard him. Her voice was like silk with the fragrance of flowers that sent shivers all over his body, especially his heart. She giggled and said, "I like you already!"

    'HAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH~,' Aqueo screamed in his mind. 'I LIKE YOU TOO! I LIKE YOU TOO! I LIKE YOU, TOOOOOO! I can't believe it! This is the greatest blessing I have ever received so far!' In that short span of time, Aqueo proceeded to fantasize about his future with the woman inside his mind: going on dates, getting married, and having children of their own. His current feelings reached Aquifer beside him, so the spirit danced around with its cheerful eyes.

    "This shouldn't be possible! You broke through?" the mage exclaimed. She had the most shocked expression among them.

    The smiling woman looked at the mage. "Are you sure you weren't found out this time, too?"

    A look of understanding suddenly replaced the mage's shocked expression, but she just pressed her lips and went back to questioning her. "That doesn't matter! Tell me your current mage rank right now!"

    The woman puffed her cheeks, "Hmmff! Himi! I didn't break through! You should be able to tell that! Why do you have to make me say my failure in front of a guy I like?"

    'So cuuute!' Aqueo's heart beat even faster at the mention of 'guy I like'. "Th-that's fine by me. I accept you, failures and all!"

    "Waaaahhh! Really?" Her eyes brightened; Aqueo was so glad about it, he nodded affectionately. Although he felt somewhat disappointed because their faces weren't as close as before.

    "A guy . . . you . . . like? How the hell was I supposed to know that?" complained by Himi. Now, Aqueo finally knew the name of the mage, and was a bit surprised that she could shout like that in contrast to her previous mature and composed demeanor.

    "HI-MI! You know I like big guys like him!" It earned a distorted look from Himi.

    "B-big?" Aqueo thought for a bit, 'I'm pretty sure I'm not that buff. But I'm definitely tall. That must be it.'

    Hermina, misunderstanding him, immediately interjected, "Huh! Ou-our dear guest, th-that's not what she meant by that! Size doesn't really matter to us gi—, gi— uhmm!" She stuttered her last word again, especially when they all looked at her with clueless eyes. "S-size . . . doesn't . . . matter. . ."

    "What are you saying Hermina?" The woman asked her.

    "Uhhm! No-nothing! Sorry!"

    "Hmm! That's fine! That's fine! Your face is so red! You don't have to feel so reprimanded!" The woman affectionately looked at Aqueo. "So, tell me your name! I'm Himera Liversprout," she said, extending her right hand.

    "I'm Aqueo. Aqueo Harp." He accepted her soft hand, his heart fluttering as he did so. Now that he could see her fully with their current distance, he was even more entranced. She was wearing a battle dress that was similar to what the girl mages usually wore in the spirit's memories while adventuring in the wild although a bit different in colors and patterns. The one she was wearing was embroidered with a lot of swirly patterns while the ones he knew in Aqui's memories were less grandiose.

    "Save that for later. We have to go, we're getting late." Himi said as she started walking towards the gate.

    "Ehhh? Where are you going? I'll come with you!"

    "Young master, Himera!" Everyone, except Himi who was already walking away, looked at the servant who gently called Himera as he bowed his head. "The head of the house requires your presence."

    Himera once again puffed her cheeks and looked at the mansion contemptuously. Finally, she just sighed and said to Aqueo while smiling, "Hmm! We'll talk later," and quickly strode towards the mansion.

    Even if she couldn't see him anymore, Aqueo still nodded his head affectionately and waved his right hand.

    "When are you going to stop waving? She can't see you anymore!"

    The sudden call from Himi woke Aqueo from his daydream. The three of them were already near the gate.

    "Uh! Yes, coming," he shouted as he sprinted toward them. They were already beside the carriage when he arrived. Azbert went to the driver's seat, the three of them in the carriage, and Aquifer just floated beside Aqueo.

    The carriage was spacious and long. The walls and seats were covered in red fabric and the four windows on all sides were decorated with matching red curtains lined with gold patterns and decorative ropes. There were three sets of long seats in the carriage, Himi and Hermina occupied the first, and Aqueo the second one.

    "So your name is Aqueo Harp. I forgot to ask you earlier. My name is Himi Liversprout," said Himi as the carriage started moving.

    'I introduced myself so late. I hope he doesn't feel too bad about it. All I was thinking about was the pleasant smell of his magical energy and how to make him stay here,' Himi thought.

    "Yes, Aqueo Harp is my name," said Aqueo.

    'So she just forgot about it. My condition probably had something to do with it since she was asking so many specific details when I was eating. I'm certain she knows something about the sensation I felt when I experienced that healing.'

    "Feel free to feast your eyes with the new scenery around you," she pointed at the window, "You're new here, right?"

    "Uhh, yes."

    Aqueo did as he was told. He gazed outside the carriage for the majority of the time, and during so, Himi would occasionally talk to Hermina and Azbert outside through the small window between the passenger seat and the driver's seat. They would also occasionally ask him something and he would answer politely.

    And weirdly so, as the ride went on, Aqueo found his affection for Himera getting farther and farther away just like their current distance. He realized he was just rather blinded by the heat of the moment. He knew because he had already experienced this in his previous world a couple of times.

    He was raised by human traffickers in a highly controlled environment, denied the freedom to experience things that normal people in his previous world would naturally experience. There were times that he wanted to try some things that he saw in others, and when he did, either they weren't as he expected or it turned out there were other things better or he would just feel simply deceived. Even so, despite the disappointments, he was happy to experience those things. He also saw those as rebellious acts toward the human traffickers.

    In his case with Himera, he felt that he was just long deprived of experiencing such things that his heart leapt at that very moment. He finally had a new life now. He need not to worry that the same chance would never come by. Get to know the other person first as what he learned the hard way in the past.

    He didn't want to remember his past as much as possible so he just turned his attention to sightseeing.

    A lot of things were so familiar to him as he had already anticipated. He recognized the common designs of houses, pavements and streets, a few landmarks and historical buildings. Familiar, indeed, but most were different. None of these places completely resembled the things that he saw in Aquifer's memories when they touched. Maybe they were in the memories that he couldn't quite clearly see. But the differences were rather dramatic.

    He wondered, why were things rather so different from Aquifer's latest memories? When they finally reached the townsquare, his questions were finally answered, albeit it just intensified his current state of perplexity.

    The townsquare, too, was indeed familiar but it wasn't as he had seen it in Aquifer's latest memories. He knew what memory was the latest because of the huge year calendar displayed on the most prominent building around here. And that was the most baffling thing about it.

    Because based on what was written on it, ten years had already passed since the last memories he knew.