Death, Devotion, Dissonance

They arrived in Jiha town two hours earlier than the driver anticipated, thanks to a small bit where Evin had Bella practice weightlessness on the carriage.

From first glance, Jiha town looked to be a miniature version of Ankelite city. The main difference was that there was no beautiful piece of architecture similar to the Mage Academy of the big city, with the tallest building in town being the Citizens Bureau, responsible for practically everything government related in the town. 

One more thing that Evin noticed was the thick, yet terribly short wall that surrounded the city, which was the reason for the town being called Smallwall town half the time. Thinking about it, Evin could only conclude that the wall's purpose was ornamental, as they were practically useless against any threat that the town might face. 

Perhaps it could keep out the occasional animals, but any mana-beast would easily be able to jump over it, and the wall wouldn't even be able to keep out a confused drunkard.

"Why did they built this wall in the first place?" Evin couldn't help but ask.

"Now, it's barely taller than you, but originally, the wall was at least three times as tall as this. Maybe even four," Bella explained. "And if you look closer at the top section of the wall, you'll be able to see a very interesting detail."

Evin briefly floated above it, and inspected the wall from above. A few of the townspeople pointed their fingers at him, but Evin didn't care. He was absorbed in his thoughts as he looked at top-layer bricks of the wall. These were all half as short as the bricks below it, meaning that as long as the builders for some reason cut the bricks in half before laying them on the wall, the wall protecting the town was cut in half at some point in its history.

"What kind of mage would be able to do something like this?" Evin murmured as he landed inside his carriage once again. 

"The story goes that the cut was made by the Paramour of Liberty himself."

"Who's that?" Evin asked.

"Didn't you learn it in history? It's a pretty important figure from the kingdom, you know?"

"No… first time hearing it," Evin said.

"Ah, I guess he can be considered a bad influence for the kingdom's mages… Well, I'll be sure to tell you all about it later on."

They then went through the gates of the city and were allowed quite easily, considering Bella's background. The gateman even offered to send for servants from the mansion, but Bella waved it off, saying that she was going to get there by herself.

Bella then wrote up a brief note for the driver and asked him to carry their stuff to the Viscount's manor in the town. Evin and she planned to eat out in Bella's favorite restaurant before going back to her house.

But just as they began walking, Evin heard a distinctly familiar voice.

"I told you, it's faster if I just run there and bring him along with me. I'll be back in six hours at worst."

Ears perking up, Evin looked towards the source of the voice and saw Arza talking to someone.

"No, no. Didn't you say he was still unconscious? Are you going to bring him like that to me?" a woman, a 3rd grade judging by her clothes, replied to Arza. "I know it's embarrassing to ask, but please just carry me through the road. Please!"

The woman was pretty, despite her being a 3rd grade, with an oval face, small eyes, and long dark-brown hair; giving away her northern origin. She looked to be around 30, maybe even 35, with how disheveled her look was. But what confused Evin was how familiar the woman looked to his eyes. 

He was so focused on her that even the two's talk failed to register in his mind.

"Come on, Ms. Lora. I'm not talented enough to carry you around without hurting you. And I'm sure Evin's awake already. He was technically up by the time I left him, so he's definitely up and about by now…" 

'Lora…?' Evin's eyes focused on the woman Arza was talking to, his face turning into a thoughtful frown. 

"Hey, Arza!" Bella shouted from next to him. 

The red-haired boy turned towards Evin and with him, Lora. Her eyes met Evin's and her already sorrowful expression fell even more, with tears appearing on her eyes. She took a step towards Evin, but stopped abruptly, hesitation apparent from her movements. 

"I…" she whispered under her breath and began to sob.

As for Evin, it did not take him long to understand who this woman was. Was he supposed to run at her and embrace her? Wipe her tears off and tell her it was okay? Forget about the fact that she left him behind with Edmund? But it's not so hard to forget about these things, now is it? His emotions in disarray, Evin felt like he was going to fall over.

Perhaps his foot encouraged him to do so, as a sharp sting of pain assaulted his mind, forcing him to his knees, as his hands clasped for the spot where his flesh met metal.

Bella's hands grabbed at his chest, as she deftly held Evin back from falling down to the ground. But Evin noticed another pair of hands, calloused and rough, appearing in front of him and trying to hold him up.

"A-are you okay?" Lora had come next to him, trying to help him up. Perhaps her maternal instincts had kicked in upon seeing Evin's state, and rushed over despite her hesitation before that point.

But Bella was no going to have any of that, and shoved her away with her free hand. "Stay away, woman." 

Some part of Evin hurt deeply at this sight, so he pulled Bella back, "No, please… Don't do that to her."

"Evin? Who is thi-" 

Bella was saying something to him, but Evin's mind was on the figure of his mother. From up close, he could notice that her complexion was much worse than what he saw from afar. Dried, ruined face… tired, bloodstained eyes… holes and patches littering her already wilting dress. 

Seeing such a scene, Evin's hands subconsciously went towards his mother, but like Lora, they too stopped due to hesitation. 

Before he became a mage, he often imagined a meeting with he. And in each one of them, they would meet each other in the streets randomly and Evin would finally have someone to bring him away from his father's reach. Unfortunately, reality often worked much differently than one's expectations.

'Can I really be able to take her hands? What am I even going to say? That I forgive her? What sin did she do to require my forgiveness in the first place? She just ran away from a monster in human's clothing, but wasn't able to bring me with her. In the first place, I should be the one asking for forgiveness, no? Shouldn't I have searched for her whereabouts when I finally became able to?'

But Evin's moment of contemplation was interrupted by the rebirth of a presence in his mind.

<Just take her hands… You can't put blame on people who had no choices,> Endra suddenly spoke in a neutral, almost sighing way. <I was there when Lora went away from you and I can tell you that she definitely didn't want to go without you. Your grandfather practically had to drag her sorry figure away from your house and I don't even know what happened after that point.>