Chapter 684: A Day That Didn’t Need to Be Useful

Kael woke up without pain.

He remained lying down for a few seconds just to make sure he wasn’t

confusing the absence of movement with improvement. He rotated his left

shoulder, moved his ankle, and took a deep breath until he felt his mana

channels expand through his chest. There was a slight sensitivity in the

center of his sternum, but no noticeable resistance while breathing.

Two days.

He remembered perfectly the deadline Sylphie had given him.

There was still one left.

Kael got out of bed without testing his mana.

When he finished putting on his shirt, he noticed Sylphie watching him

near the window.

"Aren’t you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"If you can use the Step."

"You said two days."

She remained silent for a few seconds.

"All right." ℴℴ𝘮

Kael adjusted his sleeve.

"Why do you sound disappointed?"

"I had an answer prepared."

"You can use it tomorrow."

Umbra emerged from the shadow of the wardrobe.

"She probably prepared several."

"I prepared three," Sylphie replied.

Kael looked at both of them.

"Let’s check the garden beds."

The garden was still damp in some places, although the surface of the

paths had already dried. The first sprout in the man’s garden bed

remained firm and had opened two tiny leaves. Beside it, a second green

bump was beginning to break through the soil.

The nameless man hadn’t arrived yet.

Kael crouched down.

"Two."

Sylphie approached.

"The second one isn’t completely out yet."

"It’s coming out."

"Yes."

Kael checked the other garden beds. The bellflowers still showed no sign

of growth, but in the space beneath the tree there was a small

irregularity in the soil that might simply have been caused by the rain.

He didn’t touch it.

Sylphie noticed.

"I’m impressed."

"Why?"

"You looked and didn’t touch."

"We’ve already established that digging doesn’t help."

"Yes."

He stood up.

"They don’t need water."

"No."

"Then we’re done."

A voice came from the path.

"There’s another one."

The nameless man approached faster than he normally walked through the

garden. Seraphine followed behind him, carrying her own bag and trying

not to laugh at his haste.

He knelt in front of the garden bed.

"Did this one appear today?"

"It’s just starting now," Sylphie replied.

The man took out the sheet of paper.

Kael watched as he added the date and wrote:

SECOND SPROUT BEGINNING.

Then he counted the days since planting.

"Five."

"Five," Kael confirmed.

The man put the sheet away.

"Are we really going to the city?"

"After breakfast."

"I want to buy another notebook."

"For the plants?"

He hesitated.

"Maybe for everything."

Kael nodded.

"Then the bookstore is our first stop."

Seraphine approached.

"I’m not going to complain."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time, no one needed to study the map before leaving.

The man already remembered the way to the main square, where the bakery

was, and which street led to the bookstore. Seraphine still carried the

map in her bag, but she didn’t open it once during the first twenty

minutes.

Sylphie wanted seeds.

Seraphine wanted books.

The man wanted a notebook.

Kael didn’t want anything in particular.

He discovered that this made the outing considerably easier.

They entered the city through the same side road they had used before.

There was less movement than on their last visit because the caravan had

already departed, leaving the main square occupied once again only by

the usual merchants.

The man recognized the bakery when they passed it.

"Can we come back later?"

"We can," Kael replied.

"I don’t want to buy anything now."

"Then why come back?"

"Maybe I’ll want something later."

Kael nodded.

"Good reason."

Sylphie looked at him.

"You’re teaching someone to postpone decisions."

"He asked."

"I’m not criticizing."

Kael distrusted her smile but kept walking.

The bookstore was open.

The bookseller recognized them and, this time, showed no surprise at the

group’s presence. He simply greeted Kael and turned his attention to

Seraphine.

"Did you finish the book?"

"I did."

"Did you like it?"

"Very much. I want something similar."

The bookseller pointed toward a section on the second floor.

"I have a few travel accounts written by merchants, healers, and two

naturalists. The styles are different."

Seraphine immediately headed for the stairs.

The nameless man remained near the counter.

"Do you have notebooks?"

"I do."

The bookseller opened a drawer and took out several different kinds.

Some had leather covers. Others were simple, bound in cloth or merely

stitched together.

The man examined them one by one.

Kael remained beside him without interfering.

After a few minutes, he picked up a medium-sized notebook with a dark

blue cover.

"This one."

"Would you like to check the paper?"

"Do I need to?"

"No. But some people prefer thicker paper."

The man opened it.

He ran his fingers over the first page.

Then he looked at Kael.

"How do I know which one is better?"

"Depends on what you intend to do with it."

"Write."

The bookseller smiled faintly.

"Then any of these will work. The rest is preference."

The man touched the paper again.

"I prefer this one."

"Then it’s settled."

He checked the price.

This time, he didn’t ask Kael whether he could buy it.

He simply opened the pouch containing his own coins, counted the amount,

and paid.

Kael didn’t comment.

He didn’t need to.

The man put the notebook away beside the animal book, but then seemed to

change his mind. He took it back out, opened it to the first page, and

stood there with his pencil in hand.

"Are you going to write now?" Kael asked.

"I want to mark when I bought it."

"Makes sense."

He wrote the date.

Then added:

MY FIRST NOTEBOOK.

He closed it.

Seraphine came downstairs shortly afterward carrying four books.

Kael looked at the stack.

"Do you intend to read all of those?"

"Yes."

"Today?"

She looked at him.

"I recently learned that I don’t have to."

The nameless man smiled.

Kael recognized his own words and decided not to comment.

Seraphine brought the books to the counter. There was an account written

by a traveling healer, two travel journals, and a volume about popular

festivities in small rural communities.

"That last one seems specific," Kael said.

"That’s why I chose it."

"Fair."

While the bookseller wrapped their purchases, Kael noticed a small

section near the wall that he hadn’t seen during their last visit.

Cookbooks.

He approached.

Sylphie noticed immediately.

"No."

Kael turned his head.

"What?"

"You found a dangerous shelf."

"They’re recipes."

"Exactly."

He picked up a volume.

The title indicated that it contained household recipes from different

regions of the empire, with notes about local ingredients and possible

substitutions.

Kael opened it to a random page.

Mushroom stew.

He turned to another.

Spiced honey bread.

Another.

Pear tart.

Sylphie stopped beside him.

"Are you going to buy it?"

"Maybe."

"Your recipe notebook has one recipe."

"That’s why I need more."

"That is dangerous logic."

Kael took the book to the counter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they left the bookstore, everyone was carrying something except

Sylphie.

She pointed toward the square.

"Now seeds."

Kael looked at her package.

"You still have seeds at home."

"Not these."

"Naturally."

The stall she chose was on the other side of the square and larger than

the one where Sylphie had bought the previous seeds. Packages hung in

rows, alongside small pots, tools, and containers holding

already-germinated seedlings.

Kael immediately realized he would be making a mistake if he asked how

long she intended to take.

So he didn’t.

He sat down on a nearby bench.

The nameless man sat beside him and opened his new notebook.

Seraphine stayed with Sylphie.

Umbra appeared in the bench’s shadow.

"You’re learning."

"About what?"

"She walked into a shop with seeds and you sat down before asking how

long she would take."

Kael watched Sylphie compare two packets with absolute concentration.

"Experience."

The man beside him raised his head from the notebook.

"What should I put here?"

Kael looked.

The first page contained only the date of purchase.

"You don’t have to put anything."

"But I want to use it."

"Then write something you want to remember."

The man thought.

"About today?"

"Could be."

He put the pencil to the paper.

Then stopped.

"I don’t know how to start."

Kael remained silent for a few seconds.

"Start with what happened."

The man slowly wrote.

Today I went to the city for the second time.

He stopped.

Then added:

I knew the way to the bookstore.

He reread it.

"Does this work?"

"If that’s what you wanted to record."

"It is."

Kael looked at the notebook.

"Then it works."

The man wrote another sentence.

I bought this notebook with my own money.

This time, he didn’t ask whether it was correct.

He continued writing on his own.

Kael leaned back against the bench.

Sylphie took twenty-six minutes.

Umbra counted.