"Where am I...?" Linnie sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and looking around. "Oh, it's the hotel room. How'd I get back here?"
He swung his legs off the bed and dropped down to the floor. He spotted a note left on Alwyn's bed. It read:
"I'm looking for around for some stores; don't know when I'll be back. I trust you can take care of yourself? I left more money than you'd ever need, so go buy something if you're hungry. Wait, can you even read? Perhaps this note is useless... then why am I writing this part out, too?"
The last two sentences were poorly scribbled out. Luckily, Linnie was able to read. A kind old man had taught him and many other orphans how to read and write in hopes of finding a successor to take over his library.
There was one boy who showed some interest, but the old man died before he could fully take him under his wing. A real shame, since that same boy went on to get killed in some crime-related incident.
"Well... what do I do now?" A growling filled the room, and Linnie looked down at his stomach. "Heh."
He left the room and headed down the stairs into the bustling tavern.
"Oi! It's the little kid the wizard had following him around! Perfect, we needed one more!"
"One more for what?" he asked with suspicion.
The group had tons of food and drink on the table, and they were passing cards around.
"What else? Poker, of course. Sit down!"
"Aw, I'm no good at poker. And you think I've got money for something like that?"
"Just sit down, you don't gotta put a lot of money in! You can eat anything you'd like, too. Don't worry, we're good guys!"
"And gals, too," one of them, a woman, winked.
"Well... I guess one or two rounds won't hurt," Linnie laughed, grabbing a seat. The entire table cheered, thrusting plates of food in front of him. "Pass me a beer, will you?"
"...Sure thing!"
Meanwhile,
"Hmmmmmmmm. Well, I—hmmmm." Alwyn stood in front of the store clerk, dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, I've actually got no clue what the fuck you're talking about."
"In the life. In the before there are with then was the end before with and and there with sickness and the cat and and before are with the life," he sputtered.
All of a sudden, he coughed, spraying purple liquid onto Alwyn's face.
"You..." he started to shake. "You dare...? I—"
Without warning, the clerk doubled over, screaming in pain. His back expanded into a lump, glowing purple and exploding across the wall. The man collapsed onto the ground, dead.
"Well, where am I supposed to find a boggart egg now...?" he sighed. "Wait, I'm not infected, am I?"
He touched his face, feeling the purple liquid. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted exactly what he needed, sitting there on the shelf. Looking around for a moment, he quickly grabbed it, stuffing it inside his hat.
"You don't mind, right?" he asked the clerk. "Err... may you rest in peace."
He left the shop to the ring of the doorbell and disappeared into the busy evening streets.
"All that's left is that place..."
He walked through the streets, towering over everyone else. In crowds like these, his height became apparent. It was strange, though, how active the city was, even considering the time.
Or, it would be, if it were any other city. It was the one designated time for Aliza, the city's one and only miracle alchemist, to take patients.
People rushed through the streets, carrying their family and friends, hoping for a chance of treatment.
"I can't stand this awful stench. Time to get out of here."
He prepared to cast a flight spell so he could fly over the crowds and get back to the inn quickly, but he didn't raise even an inch off the ground.
"Huh? That's weird..."
He tried again, but only felt a strange sputtering. He looked at his hands, and though it was invisible to the naked eye, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He turned down an alley and rested against the wall.
Closing his eyes, Alwyn focused on his mana core.
Strangely, drawing in and circulating mana came with an unfamiliar sensation.
"Pain? Just from circulating mana? No shot..."
He let out a snicker, which evolved into a full-blown outburst of laughter. He grabbed his forehead, laughing maniacally in the alleyway.
"So it's a mana-based illness, then. If I'd known it was so contagious, I would've gotten out of here instantly. And to cripple my magic only moments after I came in contact? How deadly. Obviously that bitch didn't tell me everything."
Three thugs appeared in the alley, warily watching the scene.
"Look at this, boys, a psycho! Doesn't he look rich? Think his mistress broke up with him or something?"
The thugs laughed. The leader drew a blade, waving it in the air.
"If you don't wanna get cut, hand over all you've got."
"Huh? Who're you guys?" Alwyn asked, breaking free from his laughter.
"Your valuables! Now!"
"Seriously...? Don't you see I'm in a moment of distress?"
"Oh, this fucker thinks we're playing around, does he?" he shouted, charging at Alwyn with the knife.
Alwyn grabbed the man's arm. "You're actually trying to kill me over some coin? Pathetic, don't you think?"
The man's arm froze in an instant, turning into blackened, frost-bitten flesh. He tried ripping his arm away, screaming, but though he stumbled back, his arm stayed in Alwyn's grasp.
"A wizard! A real fucking wizard!" he screamed, rolling onto the ground and clutching where his arm used to be.
"I feel like the hat makes it pretty obvious, though...? Oh, didn't the guard say there were fakes going around? Now I kind of feel bad... a little. Who am I kidding?"
He dashed forwards, grabbing the two remaining thugs' faces. "Any last words?"
"Please don't kill me! I've got a family! My wife, she's pregnant!"
"Me too! I've got a daughter at home—"
"Hold on, hold on. Why're you making me sound like the bad guy now!? You attacked me first!" he said, shoving them onto the ground.
"Please, please spare us! We didn't know you were a wizard! Please!"
"So, what? You would've killed me if I were just a regular guy? Tch, despicable bastards."
"D-despicable!? We're sorry! We just need money!"
As they argued back and forth, the first thug, who was now missing an arm, was still rolling around and screaming.
Passersby started peering into the alley to see what all the noise was about, and Alwyn started feeling the pressure.
"Damn it..." he thought, looking back and forth. He broke into a sprint, running away from the scene. "This is humiliating... I can't even fly away with presence... I need to find that bitch, Aliza."