Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

"System user?" Remi asked curiously. Melina clenched her fists tightly, doing her best not to show her nervousness. Alistair trying to find other System users was bad news for her. He could start looking for clues or even try to acquire a skill that would let him identify individuals.

"Yes. I am ashamed to admit that I've been having some trouble figuring out one of my skills. I had hoped that a more experienced System user could help me," Alistair explained. Some of Melina's nervousness vanished.

He is merely looking for some advice, not for all System users. That's good, although it doesn't mean I can let my guard down.

"That's a shame," Gilbert said with a shrug.

Silence grew heavy and Alistair's expression turned gloomy again. "Perhaps, I should request that somebody from the Church come to Sunglow since I cannot leave."

No, no, no. Don't call anyone from the Church. Especially not someone experienced with the System—they could easily have a skill that allows them to identify people or search for other System users outright.

Melina clenched her fists and took a deep, somewhat shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself. No matter how much she wanted to tell Alistair to not do that, she had to keep her mouth shut and remain calm.

"Is it really something so important to call the Church here?" Gilbert asked somewhat casually, although Melina did notice that his hold on Knight's reigns had tightened.

"I don't think you should do that, Lord Sinclair," Remi suddenly said, a frown appearing on her lips.

"Why not?" Alistair raised his eyebrow.

"People of Sunglow aren't big fans of the Church and their preachings. The last priest that came was scared away the very same day."

"Oh, yeah, that was quite the sight to behold," Leon chuckled and a mischievous glint appeared in Remi's eyes.

"What exactly happened?" Melina asked, getting a feeling that the elven girl was involved in the incident.

"Nothing much. It's just a few phoenixflies might have accidentally found their way into his bag," Remi snickered.

"First the priest's whole bag lit aflame and he tried to desperately put it out shouting for a water mage. Alas the only mage at the time was preoccupied, so soon his robe caught fire too. In the end, Guildmaster tossed him into a mud pit and the poor guy had to return dressed in nothing but his underwear and a thick layer of mud," Leon explained with unhidden amusement which disappeared as soon as his eyes met with Alistair. He cleared his throat. "It was rather tragic."

"Perhaps, it'd be wise for us from the Adventurer's Guild to make sure that such an incident doesn't happen again and people from the Church could feel safe coming here," Alistair said, narrowing his eyes at Remi who looked down on her hands.

"Yes, of course, Lord Sinclair."

The situation was growing uncomfortably tense. Melina looked down at her hands, wondering whether she should say something to diffuse it.

I really shouldn't draw Alistair's attention to myself. Best to stay quiet, even if we have to endure a sickeningly awkward and tense ride home. But if I do stay quiet, then he'll without a doubt call somebody from the Church here. I should at least try to change his mind, shouldn't I?

Besides whatever trouble he has with the System, I could surely help him. Not directly, of course, that'd be too dangerous. But what if I could do it subtly? Like maybe leaving a note for him somewhere with the answers he seeks. No, even that is too reckless—he'd try to find out who left the note.

But what if there was a System user who Alistair could contact only through letters? Somebody he wouldn't try to search for personally. Perhaps, that could work. If Alistair found his answers that way then he'd have no need to call the Church's priest here.

Melina glanced at Alistair who looked even gloomier than before. Whatever problem he had, it plagued him deeply. She had no clue which part of the System caused that much trouble for him, but seeing him like that made her want to help even more. He had sacrificed so much for her before—yes, she could do at least this much.

"Master, you've traveled to many places in your youth, right?" Melina asked. Gilbert gave a suspicious look, narrowing his eyes at her as if asking "What are you plotting?".

"Yes," he dragged the word out.

"So you must have met some System users too. After all, you've met the late Queen herself," Melina continued. This caught Alistair's attention and he moved his horse a bit closer to the cart.

"Yes, I have met a few." Gilbert's eyes narrowed even further—there was a clear warning in them. Stop now. She faltered.

I really should stop. It'd be so easy for things to go wrong and for Alistair to discover that both Master and I have access to the System. But I want to help him—to repay at least a little bit of what he's given me.

"Perhaps you could write a letter to one of them in Lord Sinclair's stead and ask them for help?" Melina said instead. Gilbert looked like he was seething inside, his forehead completely scrunched up with wrinkles.

"Would that be possible, Master Gilbert?" Alistair asked, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. Gilbert clearly wanted to say "no". But she subtly pulled on the hem of his shirt, pleading for him to say "yes" with all her heart.

The old baker looked her in the eyes and let out a sigh of resignation. "Yes, I suppose I could do that. But it might take a while for the letter to get to the destination. My friend lives on the other side of Alemahria."

"That's quite alright, I can wait."

"I thought the matter was rather urgent since you were ready to call the Church," Leon asked. Melina had the urge to smack the mage, and even Remi threw a glare in his direction.

"It's not urgent—I merely had run out of options of where to ask for help. Calling the Church is the last resort if I'm being honest," Alistair said, frowning. "They are not positively inclined towards me at the moment."

"Why not?" The question escaped Melina's lips before she could stop herself.

As far as I know, Alistair had always been the rising star of both the Church and Sinclair family. Was it not so in the beginning?

"Let's just say that I broke one of their rules."

"Oh, yes, I heard about that. You were sent here as a punishment," Leon noted in a self-satisfied sort of way, and both girls glared at the mage. He didn't seem to care about Remi's glare, but the cold stare from Melina made him flinch. She'd been all smiles with the mage until now.

"You don't have a single subtle bone in your body, do you? And they call elves insensitive to human issues," Remi shook her head.

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"That's alright, Miss Remi. It is true and denying it would be foolish," Alistair said, a bitter smile lingering on his features. "Besides, I do not regret what I did."

The question everyone wanted to ask him next was almost tangible in the air—what did he do? However, nobody dared to ask it, so after a moment of silence, Alistair spoke up again. "Master Gilbert, would you mind telling me more about this friend of yours?"

"He's retired," Gilbert replied and threw an annoyed glance in Melina's direction. She would definitely get an earful for this later.

"Retired? So they must be experienced with the System?" Alistair continued prodding.

"I wouldn't know, I've never asked them about the System. But as far as I'm aware, he's trying to live out his old age in peace. I am not sure whether he'd even be willing to talk about such matters," Gilbert grumbled, and Melina pleadingly pulled on the hem of his shirt again. The man added. "Perhaps a little persuasion on my part might help him open up."

"Really? That's wonderful. Will you give me a few days to compose a letter for him? I'll come by your bakery to give it to you. Of course, I'll compensate you for your efforts, Master Gilbert."

"There's no need. It's just a letter. Just don't expect your problems to be magically solved with it," Gilbert warned.

"Of course," Alistair said, but then his expression hardened and he stopped his horse. "We're about to be attacked."

Everyone stopped, and Remi got off her horse and notched an arrow in her bow, her keen eyes looking into the thick of the forest. There was a tense moment of silence, and the elf let the arrow fly into the thicket. An angry snarl resounded from where it flew, followed by another one and then an angry sort of howl.

There wasn't much time to react when a group of six nightshade wolves bolted out of the forest heading straight for the cart. Despite being called wolves, they were much smaller and looked more like foxes, except with dark fur. But Melina knew that despite their small size, these monsters were far more dangerous than regular wolves, for a single bite from their venomous fangs was enough to kill a person within a day.

Remi released another arrow which hit one of the wolves in the chest, killing it. Unfortunately, the rest of the pack kept moving forward, unperturbed by their fallen comrade. Alistair took a stance in front of the cart and swung his sword at one of the wolves. It jumped to the side, avoiding the blow, and tried to circumvent the cart from the other side.

"Nasty little beasts! Stay back!" Leon growled and released a ball of fire at the remaining group, scattering them in every direction.

"Don't let them bite you! One bite is enough to kill," Remi called out.

"Don't let them near the cart!" Alistair yelled and rushed towards one of the wolves, trying to hit it with his blade. But the creature was just too agile. It ducked down and then lunged forward, trying to bite Alistair's ankles. But he pulled his leg away and smashed the monster full force with his shield, killing it.

Seeing this the three wolves growled and put some distance between themselves and Alistair. Remi tried to hit one of them with her arrow, but it dove out of the way and ran towards the elf, keeping its body low to the ground. Leon launched a fireball at it, hitting the wolf's side, and making it yelp in pain. It wasn't enough to kill the monster, but it had a horrible burn.

This wolf decided it wasn't risking its life and ran back into the forest. Its companions only became angrier, growling menacingly as they rushed towards the cart simultaneously. Alistair met them head-on moving his feet with the grace of a dancer to avoid the venomous teeth of the two monsters.

Wait… there are only two wolves here? Where is the third?

Melina spun around just in time to see the third nightshade wolf sneaking up on her from behind. It jumped straight at her as soon as she noticed it, a vicious jaw full of venomous teeth eager to tear at her flesh. Melina jumped off the cart, ending up straight on Knight's back who let out a dissatisfied sputter and tried to get free from the reins.

"Untie Knight," Gilbert yelled. Melina turned her head, worried that the wolf would attack the old man next, but instead, she saw it preparing to jump straight at Knight. Hurriedly, she undid the clasp that held the nightmare to the cart and it ran forward narrowly avoiding the wolf's nasty bite.

Unfortunately for Melina, she had nothing to grab onto as the nightmare ran and fell down to the ground. The impact was so strong it knocked the wind out of her, leaving her helpless on the ground. Noticing this, all three of the wolves rushed towards her, swiftly avoiding Alistair's, Remi's, and Leon's attempts to stop them.

If only I had my magic…

One of the nightshade wolves opened its jaw, ready to bite into Melina's flesh with its venomous teeth. She didn't even have time to draw breath, kicking the wolf from underneath its jaw and disorienting it for a moment. This second of stillness was enough of an opening for Remi to launch an arrow and hit the wolf in its hindleg.

It whimpered but didn't relent in its attack, once again lunging for Melina. She tried getting up, but her leg flared up in agonizing pain.

Dammit! I must have injured it when I fell from Knight. What do I do? What can I even do?

Melina scrambled back, trying to avoid the sharp teeth, but the wolf was much faster even with an injury. It was only a matter of time before it'd get to her.

"Lightning Dash!" Alistair called out and burst forward, electricity crackling behind his footsteps. Melina barely managed to blink, when he was already standing behind the wolf, his sword embedded in its chest. Next moment, he spun around and threw his shield at one of the approaching wolves, hitting it so hard that it died on impact.

The last wolf, seeing that all of its friends had been killed, tried to retreat back into the forest, but one of Leon's fireballs found its mark, setting the monster aflame. Remi finished the burning wolf with a well-shot arrow to its skull.

"Miss Melina, are you alright? Did it manage to bite you?" Alistair bent down next to her, his voice creased with worry.

He protected me yet again. How useless can I be that I can't even defend myself from nightshade wolves anymore?

Melina let her long hair cover her face, hiding the frustrated expression that she bore. "I'm alright." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Always being defended. Even when I had my magic, that's all Alistair did—protect me. Archmage, baker, or whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm always so weak.

"Can you get up?" he asked, extending his hand towards her.

"I'm fine," she spat, unintentionally letting some of her frustration show. He retracted his hand and nodded. Melina didn't mean to snap at him, but whenever Alistair was around she found it difficult to put on a facade.

"Miss Melina, are you injured?! Let me help you up!" Leon ran up to her and gingerly pulled her up to her feet. She winced when her injured leg touched the ground.

"You're injured after all," the mage exclaimed, and Remi ran up to them, examining Melina's leg. It was a bit swollen and red, and slightly tender to the touch. But the leg didn't bother her. It was her ineptitude that hurt more.

"It looks like a sprain. You must have gotten it when you fell off the horse. It's no big deal," the elf said.

"No big deal?! Look how red it is. It must hurt a great deal. Miss Melina, allow me to help you to return to the cart," Leon said, a little bit too eager. Quite honestly, she wanted to shake the man off, but then her innocent, happy girl facade would be broken.

"Let's heal it with a potion," Alistair said, walking up to his horse and retrieving the potion from his saddlebag.

"There is no need for it. My leg will heal on its own in a few days, right?" Melina did her best to put on a smile, trying to channel her skill.

"But why struggle when it can be fixed right away?" Alistair argued.

"Potions are expensive," she said, remembering all too well how much she charged for her potions. After all, not every mage could brew them and alchemists lacked the mana necessary to make potent infusions.

"They are not that expensive. Besides, my job was to protect you—something which I had clearly failed. Allow me to at least repay you in this way," he insisted and knelt down beckoning Melina to show her his foot. In the end, she relented and he poured a little bit of the potion on the sprain. The red liquid soaked into her skin almost instantly, removing the swelling and pain that went along with it.

"Thank you," she muttered, putting her foot back on the ground.

"It is my duty," Alistair replied and corked the potion. A memory came to Melina's mind.

"Protecting you is my duty," Alistair said, kneeling before Melina, a wide smile on his lips. She was sitting on an old log in the middle of the deep birch forest, their white bark making it eerily light despite the thick canopy of leaves above them.

"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, Alistair" she retorted and winced as he took her injured foot—deep bite marks visible on her lower thigh and ankles. Seeing that he loosened his hold and then poured the potion over the wounds.

"Yes, I can see that," the man grumbled.

Melina gritted her teeth and pushed the memory away. There was no use lingering in them—they've been erased from existence and they would not happen again.

"We should get going," Melina said, but then noticed that Alistair was staring into space, a confused expression on his face. "Are you alright, Lord Sinclair?"

"Alistair…" he muttered, gazing into Melina with his golden eyes. "You called me Alistair."