Time And Time Again

"The entrance examination will be held next week. And you only need to pass two tests to get in there." Rei started explaining. "But the first test is easy, so you only need to think about the second test." He added.

And after going through the pile of his shopping boxes, he finally seemed to have found what he was looking for. "Ah, there it is."

Aria was actually curious about those items. Starting from the colorful sandbags she saw earlier, the random bottles, and even the dried insects…

But before asking that, Aria was still troubled by Rei's words just now. "Um, that, is the first test really that easy? What is it?"

But as if disappointed by that question, Rei slightly furrowed his brows. "You'll find out later. It's really easy." He said wryly.

"..." Understanding his subtle meaning, Aria pursed her lips bitterly. From the furrow of his brows, Aria could almost hear Rei continuing in his head, 'if you can't pass that easy test, I might really should just fire you'.

"The second part of the test is also simple, but handling it is quite difficult. Especially for a weak magician like you." Rei said again.

"Is it a physical test?" Aria asked again, but unfortunately Rei didn't answer because he was getting busy with his sand.

First he transferred the sand into a smaller bag. Then after everything was neat, he began to pour the liquid from the bottles depending on the color. The amount also varies. Then the dried bugs too.

Realizing what Rei was doing, Aria began to widen her eyes in admiration. "You can work with chemicals?"

"Of course. It's not magic." Rei replied lightly. "Once learned, it's actually very easy."

"But I thought you don't like it."

"Yes, I don't!" Rei replied as if he was offended by that, which again left Aria confused.

'He really is weird…'

After that, Rei finally led Aria to the courtyard again. But his face still wore a displeased expression as he handed three small sandbags to Aria. "Here. You just need to catch them."

"...Catch how?" She asked, confused while looking at the pouches in her hands.

But even before Rei answered, Aria suddenly felt something moving inside the pouch. "What just…!"

Panicking, Aria spontaneously dropped all the bags to the ground. Aria was almost thinking whether or not the bugs had come to life again or something. But compared to insects, its rebellious movements were much bigger as if a creature the size of a mouse or maybe even a cat was trying to get out of it.

BANG! And without any warning, one of the pouches shot straight up and bumped into Aria's face until she fell backwards. And before she even had time to wail the pain in her cheek, it was the second pouch's turn to attack her. Then the third pouch too.

"Haha…" Enjoying the sight a bit, Rei had let Aria run around in panic by herself. But after a while, he began to give directions. "You have to catch it, you know!" He said again, reminding her.

Unable to think straight, Aria could only spread her arms wildly with her eyes closed. But of course nothing got caught. Instead, her face was again unprotected and again received a heavy blow. So the only thing she could do was just curl up on the ground…

Time and time again, and hours like that.

So of course Feny got really shocked as soon as she came back and saw Aria got bruises all over her body. Even though she and her father had been looking for Aria all over the city, they never thought that Aria would actually meet Rei and be taken home first to be tortured.

"I-I'm fine." Aria said for the umpteenth time. She had been busy using her own magic to treat her wounds. But since the sun was already setting, she couldn't do it quickly.

"Grr… As expected we really should have just poisoned him then." Feny grumbled. That's why when Rei was seen walking towards them, Feny immediately growled at him like a stray cat. "What else do you want from her?!"

But with lips that were curved as well, Rei turned out to only hand out a small bottle. "Here. It's medicine." He said curtly.

Aria was confused again for a few seconds, but she finally took the bottle. "Ah, thank you."

"Why are you thanking him? He's the one who hurt you in the first place!"

"Yeah, but I've been telling you, we were just practicing." Explained Aria.

"What kind of practice?"

Not sure if she could answer it or not, Aria glanced at Rei. And from the looks of it, it seems that Aria shouldn't tell her too much detail. "Well, just basic magic stuff."

Feny didn't want to buy that yet, but then Rei talked again. "But by the way, where is your father?" He asked. "Why's he not with you?"

Still a bit annoyed, Feny actually didn't want to answer it. But she finally answered in a sour tone. "No idea. But earlier he met with an old friend, I think. So maybe they went out drinking or something." She told him.

And instantly, Rei immediately chuckled sarcastically. "Haha, how dare that old man go drinking after neglecting a job…"

"Don't blame them." Aria complained. "I told you that I was the one who agreed to Mr. Loir's invitation."

"...I certainly don't 'just' blame them." Rei replied coldly which instantly made Aria feel guilty again.

But while Aria was still curling her lips sadly, she also then noticed that Rei started looking at her strangely as if he still wanted to say something else. So Aria asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"...Of course there is." He sighed. He looked agitated again for a moment. But after clicking his tongue, he returned his gaze to Feny. "You… Do you know Lukan city?" He suddenly asked.

Feny looked confused for a moment, but then she replied, "Well, I've been there. Why?"

"She needs to go there tomorrow."

Feeling that Rei was glancing at her, Aria pointed her own nose. "Wait, m-me?"