Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

The Gift

Days had passed since Celis stopped by and dropped off the monthly needs. Since then, Mindy and I grew closer as friends. She still referred to me as 'milady', but I did not mind. Unlike before, she seemed more comfortable around me than ever before. Plus, honorifics aside, Mindy was still a great friend. 

The two of us were at the usual training spot. While Mindy was sending a breeze my way with her wings, I was practicing my control over my magic, forming various simple shapes with my water ball. I was tempted to try my hand at some attack magic, if there were any for water affinity, but Mindy advised against that. For one thing, if I were to get started on an attack spell without having complete control over my mana, accidents may occur. In magic, control was important. Without control, there would be no telling what would happen.

"You're doing really good," Mindy said, watching as I formed a bird made of water.

“You really think so?” I asked, concentrating much on keeping its form more than anything.

“Of course! Keep this up, and we will get started on some combat spells,” she eagerly told me. The smile on her face then dropped, as she added, “Is what I want to say but… I don’t know any spells for water affinity. You’ll have to figure that out on your own.”

Hearing that brought my own mood down, causing the water bird to waver. “It doesn’t help that none of the books at my old place has anything about water affinity,” I stated. “Since this magic is something akin to commoners, I would love to go out to find a village and learn some things from the experts, but something tells me they don’t know any combat spells either.” 

“Considering you humans have viewed magic, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised…” Mindy stated. She then panicked slightly and hastily added, “Not that you’re anything like them, milady!” 

I lightly chuckled at her expression, knowing that she only meant well. Besides… “It’s fine. You’re not wrong, anyway. We have been viewing it the wrong way this whole time.” 

According to books, magic power is based on the affinity one was born with. Water was supposedly the weakest, while fire was supposedly the strongest. However, as I had learned from Mindy, that was not the case. Magic affinity did not define how powerful one’s magic was; it only told us what element we were most connected with. Nothing more, nothing less. And yet, somehow humans had misunderstood how affinity truly worked."My god... Just who in the world wrote those books?" I could not help but question. "If it wasn't for that person, my own family wouldn't have kicked me out."

"True but... at the same time, we would not have met, if the person didn't write them," Mindy had pointed out to me.

A smile formed back on my face when she said that, as I gently placed the water bird back in the river. "Yeah. That's true. Speaking of my family... How are they doing?"

Mindy sent a small, sad smile back to me at my question. "I already told you; your old home is too far for me to use my ability for."

The day after Celis's visit, I had asked Mindy how she knew of my family situation, when I never said a word of my family to anyone. I had doubted that it was from the monthly meetings, as my father had arranged a normal, rental carriage for the servants to use, as well as had them take a secluded path to my new home, thus making it impossible for anyone to know where I live, or about my connection to the Anberibca family. 

That was when I learned more about what harpies could do with wind magic. Aside from using that magic to create gusts of wind that would either support themselves and their allies, as well as weaken their opponents, harpies could also use wind to redirect sound. That is, they were able to use wind to hear what goes on in other areas, though only from a limited distance, which varies based on their hearing and how well their control is over wind. They could also use wind to trap sound, thus making an area soundproof. Likewise, they may also use it to send messages from afar, though also at a limited distance. 

It was from this ability that Mindy had apparently overheard me dreaming about my family on the night of her arrival, something that sounded plausible, as I do often get unpleasant dreams about them, especially on a few nights before and after my birthday. Often times, when there were events going on in town, it would also make me think back to them, and thus lead me to dreaming about them as well. Though they were usually happy dreams, they also ended with them leaving me in some way. 

That being said, although Mindy can use this ability to overhear what goes on in other areas, unfortunately, she could only listen in on what goes on within a mile radius, and the Anberibca household was much farther away. Even though I knew that, I still bothered to ask if there was anything new from them. Not only that but... aside from Ethan, Mindy doesn't know anything else abut my family, not that she knew he was my brother anyway. Despite that, I kept asking her as though she did know. 

"Right... Sorry, I guess I forgot," I said, resulting in the harpy simply smiling back at me with a small sigh. "Well, I don't know about you, but I am starving. All that training really took a lot out of me, and I know for sure you must be tired from flapping your wings all afternoon."

A bigger smile formed on Mindy's face, as her ears started flapping in excitement. "I'm in! What's for dinner?"

"Hmm... Let's check and see..." I said.

Unfortunately, when we went to check the fridge... there were nothing but a few fruits and berries left. There were also some chicken meat left, but not enough bread and filling to call it dinner for two.

"Should I get us some fish?" Mindy asked.

"We had fish yesterday," I indirectly declined, thinking of something to make with what we had, only to come up with nothing for a meal for two. A thought then came to my head, as I had realized something else. Something quite important. "On second thought, let's eat out for today."

Mindy turned to me in surprise at my suggestion. "Huh? We're not having anything you make?"

"We don't have enough for dinner, and I kind of want to eat something that is not fish for today. Plus, I am getting kind of tired from having my own cooking. Even the chef wants to be treated every once in a while."

Mindy flinched slightly at those words, for ever since she became a member of this household, I had been the one doing all the cooking for two. She helped me train often, and she helped clean around the house, but her wings were not well-adept with cooking.

Before she could even think of uttering out an apology, I quickly placed a hand on her head. "Now then, it's been decided. Let's eat out."

******

The two of us ventured out to town, walking around to see what stores were open and what was good to eat.

"Every eatery here looks like they have some good eats," I observed. "Just about any one of these places would do... Mindy, do you still want to eat some fish? We can find a place that makes some really good fish dish for you."

Rather than a response, all I got from my harpy friend was silence. Looking back, I noticed she had been trying to cover her arms, attempting to hide them from the eyes of the many citizens around us.

This was not the first time Mindy had been stared at for her wings. Ever since she started living with me, whenever we went out together, a lot of people stopped and stared at her in fright. Heck, the first time they saw her wings and legs, they had completely thought she was a monster that somehow snuck into this kingdom and tried to get the guards to kill her. Luckily, she stayed close to me, and due to how well the locals knew me, they trusted me when I said she was friendly. Well, most did. Some were quite doubtful, but did not go as far as to contact the soldiers still about her. It did leave quite the mental scar on Mindy's mind, though. I would've given her my cloak so she would not have to worry much about her wings, but I only had this one cloak, and Lennox strictly told me to keep it on me at all times when I went out. As this was a 'request' given to me by the most powerful duke of Flammel Kingdom, I did not want to even imagine what he would do if anyone in that household even caught wind of my being out in public without it. Of course, that did not mean I did not have a solution to the problem. If anything, it should be...

"Now that I think about it, I have to make a stop some place first. You mind if we go there before getting something to eat?" I asked.

Mindy looked up at me, making eye contact while trying to ignore everyone else's eyes. "Huh? But I thought you said you were starving?" she asked back.

"It's just a quick errand. I'd rather get it now than eat and forget about it."

Upon seeing reason in my decision, Mindy could only nod. I knew she was worried, though. Not for me, but for herself. 

For one thing, there were some places here that were human-only, meaning crossbreeds and purebreds like her were not allowed in. It was not out of spite, as it was more that the owners were concerned for the well being of their employees and customers, especially as there were people here who were quite allergic to animal fur, some more severe than others. Though crossbreeds often only had ears or tails showing on them, as well as wings or scales, for the former pair especially, those still counted as animal fur, and thus they were not allowed inside the building. Despite this, though, the crossbreeds were still allowed to browse the shop from the window. Should they have found something they liked, they could always call for one of the employees working in the shop and bring the item over to them. Well... that was one option, at least.

It just so happens that the place I had to go to was one of those human-only places. It took only a few seconds to get to my destination, as Mindy and I stood right in front of a clothing store.

My harpy friend tilted her head in confusion upon seeing the place. "Isn't this... the store you had been coming by every few days?" she asked.

"Yeah, this is," I confirmed. "Come on. Right this way." I started walking towards an alley right next to the place. Before I walked in, I noticed the lack of footsteps behind me and saw Mindy at a distance away from me, looking at me in shock. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing just... I thought you had business at this store," she said.

"I do."

My response confused her even more. "Then why are you heading down the alley?"

"Because we are here for that errand."

Mindy became taken aback by one word in particular in my response. "'We'?"

"No time to waste. Hurry up," I told her, continuing on in the alley, with the harpy following.

Once we were near the dead end, I turned to the door leading to the back of the store and gave it some knocks. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a beautiful, mature woman there in a green dress, with a yellow neckerchief around her neck. Her light brown hair was long and curly, and her light green eyes were piercing with long eyelashes.

A smile appeared on her face when she caught sight of us, especially me. "Ah! There you are. I was just wondering what was taking you," she said, her voice very soft and gentle.

"Sorry. I actually almost forgot about today," I apologized.

The woman's face softened, as she then turned to Mindy. "And I assume this is the customer?"

"You would assume right."

"Um... 'Customer'?" Mindy asked me, confused with what was going on, not that I blame her.

Rather than answering her, the woman gestured us in. "Well, your order is ready. Come right in," she said, walking further in.

As we followed her through the backdoor, Mindy came up to me. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"That's the owner of this shop, Celina Viper," I introduced."Although this place does not allow crossbreed customers from the front door, she always keep the back door open to them."

"Even crossbreeds would like to wear new clothes, after all," Celina stated, opening a door. "This is my office. No one will come in here without my permission."

I gave her a nod before leading Mindy right into the room.

As Celina closed the door behind her, she approached a long suitcase on the other side of the room, one that held my order.

"I really have to say, you gave me quite the order," she said. "While it is simple, I never thought that just these alone would be fashionable until I actually made it. I know you gave me the design, but you have to understand, normally no one would just go out of their way to buy these alone. It was when you got me convinced about matching them with the dresses that I agreed, as well as how there may be some certain type of crossbreeds who would like this sort of clothing."

"So then, are they ready?" I asked. 

"Of course." At that response, Celina faced the opening of the case to us and opened it.

I could sense Mindy tilting her head in confusion right next to me. "Um... It's just sleeves," she said.

As the harpy said, in the suitcase were a pair of long white kimono-like sleeves with green floral pattern on it.

"We know. These are for you," I said, much to her surprise.

"For me?"

"You always looked uncomfortable whenever someone stared at your wings, so I had been thinking of a solution to help you feel comfortable with your harpy traits in public, and this was the solution I could think of."

"And looking at you now, I can definitely see the idea working," Celina said, approaching Mindy and getting a feel of her wings, much to her embarrassment. "You know, you could've asked me to make some clothes for her instead of just the sleeves."

"I didn't think you would if I had told you," I answered.

"And yet you specifically requested for sleeves that would fit bird crossbreed's wings?"

"Take up less materials, as far as I knew, and took up less of your time, I'm sure."

Celina only hmm'd in response to my reason. "Well, in any case, it's time for your friend here to try them on. Clothes are made to be worn, after all, even if they are just sleeves."

"You heard her, Mindy. Try them on. I'll even help you."

Mindy looked at the two of us before nodding, allowing me to put the sleeves on her wings. Once the sleeves were secured, I tightened the drawstring on it, complete with a cordlock, and took a step back at Mindy's new look.

"Um... How do I look?" she asked so innocently.

The green sleeves were long enough to reach the bend of her wing, with the rest of the sleeves almost touching the floor, though hung well with the primary feathers. The colors contrasted well with her brown wings and matched her dress quite nicely. Looking at her with those sleeves on, I felt satisfied with her new look. 

"You look great with those!" I exclaimed.

Celina nodded in agreement, a hand on her chin in thought. "Looking at them being worn now, I'm getting some new ideas. I have to say, those sleeves are better than I thought. Try flapping your wings a little. They don't restrict much movement do they?"

Mindy did as told and flapped her wings, sending a nice breeze our way. "I don't feel any restriction. And they feel comfortable on my wings," she said, much to the woman's joy.

"That's great to hear!" Celina said.

"How much for the sleeves?" I asked, taking out my coin pouch, much to Mindy's shock.

"Huh? You're really going to get these?" she asked, much to my and Celina's confusion.

"Well, yeah. That's kind of the point in ordering those," I answered.

"Y-Y-You don't need to! I'll get used to the stares... Eventually. You don't need to spend your money on these."

"You say that, but Celina already had it made for you."

"Like your friend said. You don't want me to waste my materials for nothing now, do you?" the designer questioned.

When she puts it that way, it was difficult for Mindy to refuse then, though she still had a troubled expression on her face.

I smiled softly at her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mindy, it's okay to spoil yourself every once in a while. Especially for special occasions like today," I told her.

The harpy looked up at me in confusion when I said that. "A special occasion? Was today an important event?" she asked.

"Of course. If anything, the fact that you don't know makes it all the stranger." My words served to confuse her even more. "Today has been exactly one month since we've met." Those words baffled her even more.

"That's... an important event?" she questioned.

"It is to me. It's the day we first became friends, after all. I think it's special enough."

Mindy's eyes widened, speechless at the words that came out of my mouth. Tears then started to form, in which she hastily wiped away with her feathers. With the tears gone, she looked back up at me and nodded.