Kalina’s favourite flowers were peonies and hydrangeas. Her favourite tea was earl grey with a touch of honey, and she always liked 4 sugar cubes with her cup. Her favourite snack was… the only thing I didn’t bring with me. I didn’t know her current favourite, and to be honest, that might have been for the best.

  I arrived in front of her hospital room, holding the bouquet of flowers in my hand. I mixed in a few flowers other than the peonies and hydrangeas, but they stood out the most. As for the tea, it was dimensionally stored. At the perfect temperature of course.

  “Kalina?” I called.

  “Come in.”

  She was already awake. That was pretty normal for her. Kalina often recovered quickly from the backlash of messing with Time. I could guess she woke up in the middle of the night and the hospital staff forced her to stay in bed. She was probably twisting and turning the whole night too.

  I opened the door to find Kalina sitting in her bed, reading a photo album. She had small eye-bags under her eyes, which confirmed my theory. She had an open laptop on her bedside table, the screen facing away from me. When she heard the door open, she looked in my direction and brightened up.

  “Machia. It’s nice to see you.”

  I awkwardly smiled back at her. “I got you some flowers. Here, let me place them on your bedside table.”

  “N-no thank you…” Kalina stammered. “I’ll store it in my bracelet.”

  “These flowers are still alive actually. There’s a Life enchantment placed on it to continue nourishing them. It’ll last as long as you feed it mana, so if you want to store it you’ll have to wait for the flowers to die too.”

  When I explained that, Kalina’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “Y-you didn’t have to do that…”

  “I’ll put the bouquet on the table… Oh your laptop’s in the way. Is it alright if I put it on your bed?”

  “No!” Kalina said a bit too loudly. “No thank you. I’m still doing a report on it. It’s important and confidential. So don’t look.”

  After a moment of silence, she added, “Just put the bouquet at the foot of the bed.”

  I did as she said. “I have some tea for you too. I’ll place it on the table… Oh is it okay if I-“

  “Just put me out of my misery…” Kalina interrupted. “You knew from the beginning, didn’t you?”

  “You folded quickly,” I remarked. “You could have kept your laptop with you, you know.”

  “It would’ve drawn suspicion on me wouldn’t it? I’ve never been good at lying,” Kalina admitted, while closing her laptop.

  “Your phone’s recording me too.”

  “Urgh!” Kalina snatched her phone and turned it off too.

  “… Sorry.”

  “It’s alright. Tea?”

  “Yes, please,” Kalina sheepishly answered.

  I chuckled a bit before pulling out a table, a teapot, two cups, and a container with sugar cubes from a dimension. When Kalina saw I had a table, she clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she soon after, she perked up when she smelled the tea.

  “Earl grey? That’s my favourite.”

  “It’s one of my favourites too. I have other types if you want.”

  “No need. This one is perfect,” Kalina responded while putting in her 4 sugar cubes.

  The two of us sat in silence and enjoyed our tea. It was still midday, so Machua and the rest should still be on that expedition. I didn’t know what they were going to find or the dangers they were going to face. I had never gotten involved with Chimaera, so I had no reason to do any of that. In fact, while I was in Aramaya… all I did was rest.

  Dalan was an excruciating opponent for a first mission. The added firepower and my foreknowledge of the oscillation allowed Machua to come out on top without any severe injuries, but for us, who had none of that, it was different. We had all collapsed on the floor and passed out. If Reina hadn’t come by when she did, Dalan’s men would have killed us off.

  So, it was decided that we’d spend the month resting in Aramaya. So much for charring me a little in the fire. I was burnt to a crisp. It was during our stay that I met Kalina for the first time.

  “Um, sorry again for recording you without permission. I wasn’t sure if you could be trusted. I’m still not sure, actually,” Kalina talked.

  I looked to Kalina’s eyes with a bittersweet smile. “If you want, we can cut to the chase.”

  “Yes, let’s.”

  Kalina took a deep breath and gave me a pointed stare. Her words were firm and straightforward, and even though I expected this question, I still felt anxious.

  “How can you move in my stopped time?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Hah…” I deeply sighed. I recited the excuse I had prepared over a year ago, “I… don’t know. I didn’t even know someone like you could even exist.”

  “…” Kalina glanced away. “It’s… Minor Time.”

  “No it isn’t. If you could stop time with only the Minor Aspect, just how many people do you think would have it already? The Regressor broke Time, which left Major Time unattainable and the Minor Time Aspect functionally underpowered compared to other Minor Aspects. You’d have to delve absurdly deep to get usage out of it. You must have Major Time.”

  Kalina closed her eyes with an almost anguished expression. The cover she had been living under her entire life was blown just like that. All because of a random person who happened to break her time stop.

  “I’m sure you can understand it’s confidential. You can’t tell it to anyone, not even your sister.”

  I nodded. “I have my own secrets. I won’t tell anyone without your permission.”

  “Thank you. That said, do you actually have no idea why or how you broke my time stop?” Kalina asked again.

  “I don’t have Minor Time if that’s what you’re asking. My Minor Aspect is Dimension and you know that.”

  “People can attain multiple Minor Aspects. But each one is subsequently harder to attain. Are you sure?”

  For a moment, I considered it. It wasn’t… out of the question. I travelled through time, and that changed me. It wouldn’t be weird if Time lodged itself inside of me and I received a new Aspect.

  “Tell me the time down to the second.” Kalina ordered with such confidence, I reflexively obeyed.

  “Twelve thirty… three. 24 seconds?”

  “Close. It was 12:23, 15 seconds when you began, 19 seconds when you finished,” Kalina stated with absolute certainty.

  She continued, “Five seconds off… That’s not enough evidence.”

  I felt a wry smile coming on. I had almost forgotten how Kalina acted when she was determined. She was single-minded and focused solely on the issue at hand. It relieved me, knowing Kalina was the same.

  “Have you ever tried speeding… no, a novice couldn’t do that. And without something to help you control it, you could hurt yourself.”

  I had to stop Kalina from getting too worked up with this. If I really did have Minor Time, it would have to be so faint that I, who spent a lot of time with her and knows how it feels to be touched by it, would somehow not realise it. And in that regard, there was actually another possibility that should be considered too.

  “Kalina, have you thought that it might be the Phantom that had Minor Time?”

  Kalina’s eyes widened again. She cupped her mouth and began muttering, “That’s right, that Phantom moved in stopped time too. They were the person I noticed first, so maybe… they broke the time stop, and then you were able to move?”

  “I don’t know. The only way we can find out is…”

  “Find that Phantom. You’re right. I can’t stay here. Machia, let’s go!”

  Kalina moved to stand up, but I held my hand in front of her. “Kal. You don’t even know where the Phantom is. It’s been a night, they could have caught a flight out of here and be gone already.”

  “I’ll… acquisition the flight ledgers of last night. It’ll be difficult, but I can call in some support.”

  I lightly sighed as I thought of what to do. Seeing her so focused made me feel conflicted. Just how much should I be helping her by? If it was my Kalina then I would have done my best to try and find that Phantom. But this Kalina didn’t know me.

  “Kal…” I absentmindedly said.

  “Yes?”

  Looking into her eyes, I couldn’t help but want to support her. She might not know me, but I knew her. She was at least important to me. I could at least guide her in the right direction.

  “I don’t think the Phantom left the City.“

  “How do you figure?” Kalina asked.

  “I’m… an info broker. And I deal with a lot of underground folk, secret deals and the like. So, I happen to…” I meandered a bit.

  “Yes, Machia?” Kalina urged, almost threateningly. She definitely realised what I was about to say.

  “I know that Phantom.”

  Kalina sipped her tea with a bit of a glare. “Go on, Machia.”

  “I’ve had some dealings with them. I don’t know who their true identity is, but they mostly act the same. So, knowing them, I don’t think they would have left the City yet.”

  Kalina closed her eyes and took the deepest breath I had ever seen her take. She sat without moving a muscle, almost as if she was frozen. From afar, she looked tranquil, but I knew what was going on underneath.

  She was trying incredibly hard to calm herself down. There were more important things than an emotional outburst, she often repeated that saying from her teacher.

  “Well, since you know them. I think I’ll be taking you with me to look for them,” Kalina said without a hint of emotion. “It’s the least you can do, don’t you think?”

  Kalina swiftly stored all of her things and prepared herself. She directed me to face away from her, so she could change into combat attire.

  “Don’t forget this conversation started with you trying to record me,” I muttered.

  “I think losing an artefact that could cause a crime family to take over an entire City is much worse,” she retorted.

  “I didn’t even know they were there. I don’t know them personally, I don’t even know if they’re a man or a woman.”

  “We’ll see then, won’t we?” Kalina finally finished changing.

  When I turned around, I found that she was holding her hand out to me.

  “I’ll forgive you if you help me find them,” she told me.

  “Hah… I can’t believe you’re saying that to me. Of all people.”

  Kalina recited, “It’s important to reach out an olive branch to those who are keen to make up for their sins.”

  “I didn’t do anything!” I exclaimed. “But fine, I’ll take your deal.”

  “Here’s to a happy partnership.”

  My hand clasped together with Kalina’s and we shook vigorously. Today was going to be a very long day.

  ———————————————————————

  Today’s expedition was going the same as before. Unearthing an ancient City was a several month-long endeavour, so it was expected progress was slow. Once supplies arrived, the excavators were going to set up a base camp, as Aramaya would have to leave at some point. It would require the appropriate defences and wards to keep monsters away from them at night, but that would take time to set up. So, for the meantime, they would be hiring Hunters.

  Luckily, the area of the excavation was not particularly infested with monsters, so it was a relaxing bodyguard position. So relaxing that people would often overlook some missing guards. It wasn’t worth the effort to reprimand them when they were just stand-ins. It was the perfect position for someone who wanted to mess around outside the City while having an official reason to be out there.

  “He’s going really deep into this area,” Plue informed. “There’s only a few monsters around though.”

  “Mana purity levels are about 42% and rising,” Rasa stated.

  “We’re rising a lot too,” Carmine muttered with irritation.

  Machua spoke, “Can’t be helped that they’re climbing a mountainside and we have to follow them.”

  “You’re not even walking!” Carmine yelled.

  Amidst the forestry of the mountainside, the Galem squad were steadily trekking up. There was a dirt road, but the squad didn’t want to leave behind any traces, so they had to trudge through the forest. Toolbox was leading the way, guided by Plue’s directions, and she was having no trouble moving through the forest. In contrast, the rest of the squad were struggling with the uneven ground and the shrubbery. Other than Machua. She was sitting down on a moving escalator.

  “I suppose an object in another dimension wouldn’t give anything away…” Rasa muttered, clearly a little irritated too.

  “Let me on your back, Carmine ordered.

  “No, you’re heavy.”

  “Machia would’ve carried me.”

  “No, he wouldn’t and you know it.”

  “Tch.”

  Carmine couldn’t exactly refute that, but what she said earlier wasn’t exactly a lie just to get Machua to carry her. She didn’t know if he really would, but she felt that if she caught him at the right time, he just might. Maybe. For a brief moment, she considered how it would feel to be on the receiving end for once, but she was interrupted by the fact that they had just stopped in front of a cliff wall.

  “Ooh. It’s tall,” Toolbox remarked. Her eyes almost lighting up.

  “The road that guy’s taking leads to a mineshaft above this clifftop,” Plue explained with enthusiasm. “I made us trail behind him from a distance, so he doesn’t find us, but if we climb the cliff we can catch up.”

  Carmine groaned loudly at the idea of climbing the cliff. It wasn’t like she couldn’t do it, but with a fight looming ahead of them, she had to conserve mana for it.

  “I’ll set up a climbing hook for you guys,” Machua said.

  Machua pulled out a climbing hook and created a dimension with a working elevator in it. It actually took a bit of studying to learn all the inner workings of an elevator to form it inside a dimension, but the result was all worth it.

  Just as Machua entered the imaginary elevator, multiple seals lit up on the cliff side. The seals all had a cat’s paw image within them, similar to the seal she saw before the Serration Hermit Mantis’ head, before Toolbox blasted it away.

  Toolbox got on all fours, and mana shaped itself into claws around her hands and feet. She rushed up to the first seal. Her hands grasped the sturdy hold and her feet stamped onto the cliff-face, launching her to the next paw seal. She leapt from paw seal to paw seal and in almost no time at all, she had successfully climbed up the cliff.

  “Come on guys, let’s go!” She called.

  The rest of the squad weren’t looking at her though. They were looking at the seals that she had left behind. The seals weren’t used up, like before. Instead, they remained, and on closer inspection, the seals were placed on sturdy handholds. Each and every seal lined up in the perfect way to climb up the cliff if you were to jump from seal to seal.

  “A perfect pathway?” Machua muttered, having finally arrived at the top. “How does this work?”

  “When I look at things, my eyes can find the best way to move through them, and it marks the spots for me to jump to,” Toolbox explained with pride. “I can go anywhere!”

  “I can’t understand the magic behind this at all,” Machua murmured. “The way it flows just doesn’t… make sense.”

  Normally, magic flowed according to the specifications of the spell. Anyone can cast any spell, provided they have the skill and the mana to do so. But this wasn’t the same thing. It was composed of mana, so it was magic for sure, but she couldn’t even imagine the first step to casting this. Never mind how World affected her.

  “It has to be an Engraving,” Rasa answered.