Sagey

"So? Where are my letters?"

He walks back to his chair and begins to rock it again.

"Oh, I don't know."

He says with a shameless look on his face, as if it wasn't an important thing to know about the locations of where he worked.

How did he even become a physician, and why did the Mint Estate choose him as the one to monitor my recovery? I'm about to take his head from his neck and play with it like a ball if he rocks that chair and throws that ball one more time.

My anger is temporarily subsided as I notice a unidentified error.

Wait, what is that ball? It looks familiar–

Just as William throws it up once more, I reach out my hand, just above William's, and grab it as it falls down before he even manages to react.

"Hey!"

He stops rocking, his chair coming back down in a powerful slam.

I bring the weirdly textured ball close to my eyes, and pretend to inspect it thoroughly.

Finally looking up from the ball, and seeing William's mildly angry face, I hold the ball out, further from me, so that we both have a clear view of it.

"Where did you get this… rock?"

"I don't know, I just found it on the table when they first assigned me to your room. It was weird looking but felt unique so I just kept it as a good luck charm. Why do you want to know?"

I bring the rock closer to me and end eye contact with William, looking back at it with gleaming eyes.

"This is mine."

He leaves his chair with haste, and immediately objects.

"What?! No way, it's my good luck charm!"

I make direct eye contact with him, forced to tilt my head up because of the difference in height between his tall, adult stature, versus my shorter, undeveloped body. However, as if our bodies were switched, I stare at him with low, relaxed eyes that know, but wish not to tell, for he, so much lower, that it isn't worth my breath.

What is he, a child? But I will admit that this back and forth conversation between the two of us is quite interesting. I was too blinded at the time, due to my understandable rage, that I held no empathy for him, not wishing to see a sign of humanity in him, but instead like a demon. But I think I understand now, why Arcanus would put off killing me, just for the sake of conversation. Isolation is lonely. The ten years I spent in the Grand Library were lonely, the only conversations I held, with my own mind fragments. But those voices left me as well once I followed that manual's instruction. I desired companionship.

My relaxed eyes close, as I stealthy smile to myself.

"How silly, I had an artifact amulet around my neck when I came here, didn't I? I'll make you an offer since you're so adamant. How about I give that Divine Tier artifact for that rock?"

William's eyes light up, his greed practically visible through them.

"Really?! But why are you making such a deal? Is this rock valuable, or are you just trying to trick me? I won't ever treat you again if you're tricking me."

After going through a cycle of emotions when he spoke, he finally settled on a serious look, as if he was interrogating me.

My sneaky smile slides into a wide grin, as if I were dealing with a child.

"No, all that I say is genuine, that rock is a family memento of sorts, and that amulet has no use to me."

William's face makes no visible changes, continuing to stare at me intensely, not yet believing my words, while I continue basking in enjoyable conversation.

As much as I would like him to never be my physician ever again, it's true, I read the Mythical Age Encyclopedia of Artifacts written by: who would've guessed, Luke Wolkan! And, unfortunately for me, I had chosen just about the worst artifact from the Wolkan Academy Treasury. The Eye of the Storm is a Divine tier artifact, the tier above ancient, which were the highest tiered artifacts I found in the Zidden Dungeon. And its abilities are, well, lets just say, it's worthy of being a divine tier artifact, definitely, no matter how shitty the craftsman who made it, you can't make something bad with a body part of a god as a catalyst. The Eye of the Storm is made with the eye of the God of Lightning, and I'm not a lightning mage so it does nothing for me. 

When I exit my trance of thoughts, I see William who, with a big smile. stares directly into my eyes. We stare at each other, neither of us saying anything.

"So, are you going to accept the offer?"

He nods his head ferociously, up and down, up and down, up and down…

"Yes, of course!"

So is he going to tell me where to go? What the hell is he doing?

After much more staring in silence, William finally understands the meaning of my annoyed face.

"Oh! You wanted to know where to go? Just go to Martha, she knows everything about this place, in fact, I just transferred to this clinic by order of my teacher about a day before you arrived!"

Oh, so that's why he doesn't know about anything. But something doesn't add up, skipping past all of his other superiors, and immediately telling me to speak to a retainer of the Mint Viscounty, the head Physician of the Capital Mint Estate Clinic, and the boss of his bosses. Just who is he? Who is his teacher? Martha didn't seem to be the type to just let any slacker work in her clinic, she seemed competent and professional, like the perfect assistant. 

"Haaa… Alright, I'll go find her, since you're so useless on remembering locations, just go get me these three herbs: One Ashveil Fern,"

I hold up one finger.

"Two Lunarfrost Blooms,"

I hold another finger up, as William continues to stare intensely at my hand instead of making eye contact.

"And one Windshade Root."

He brings his face closer, looking even more intensely at my hands as I drop my middle finger. Finally snapping out of his trance, he straightens his back and looks back at me with a displeased face.

"Hey, why do I have to do this? I'm not your servant–"

His voice ends abruptly, now fully concentrated on my rising hand that holds the rock.

"Shh, artifact remember?" 

He nods his head intensely, all the while, his eyes never veering away from the tan colored orb in my hand.

I suddenly feel the urge to cough, and bring out my left hand to mask my mouth before letting it out.

"Oh, and find me another room while you're at it, this room is not to my liking."

I quickly turn around and leave through the door without awaiting a response.

Yeah, I'm going to need those ingredients quickly.

I stare at my hand, its back side covered in blood.

Looks like even after all that body cleansing, I was unable to remove all the poison. 

I look down at myself, and then up at the mirror directly outside the door.

Huh, should I really be going out into public just wearing a bathrobe? … Ahh, whatever, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm a patient here after all.

My eyes look up and slightly to the left from myself, directed toward the reflection of the door number.

The same room that I was in, in my past life huh? Ha… fun times. 

I continue walking down the hallway, taking the path that I remember from my memories.

I examine the dull looking orb closely as I continue making my way down.

Hmm… This really does just look like a regular rock that's just been smoothed. 

I lightly tap on it with my finger.

Funnily enough, this artifact wasn't mentioned in Luke Wolkan's Encyclopedia of artifacts from the Mythical Age. I guess he really was secretive about it, only managing to finish it days before his death.

I stuff the round rock into a pocket in my bathrobe, taking a turn and continuing down the hall.

Well, I have regressed four weeks before my story with the Sage System originally started. Actually, it's more like three weeks since a week's already gone by, yet today is the first day that I've done anything. Sagey only turned on with its bright blue eye three weeks later in my past life, never making any movements at all in the days prior so I'm sure this is just part of the process. It's probably registering me as the user as I walk down the hallway right now. 

Making another turn, I suddenly look up, and to my shock, forced to make a decision immediately, I run back around the corner, and peek, circling it.

Is that Lillian? 

Reminiscing on my past memories about her, completely oblivious to the area or details, I feel a smile spring from my mouth.

But my excitement is short-lived, as I finally get past my blinding memories, and see the current Lillian, straight faced and serious like an experienced merchant, while also holding herself highly, dressed in the finest gown, and maintaining the proud posture of noblesse. 

Did Lillian ever act so dignified in front of me? I remembered her being extremely clumsy, and bad with directions, yet she marches at the spearhead of the formation? Was how she acted with me fake, or is this elegant appearance of hers fake?

Trailing closely behind her up the stairs, came six veteran-looking knights, their hairs grayed, and scars covered their faces.

That insignia on their armor is the Mint Viscounty's! They look and act so much more different than the arrogant guards in the clinic after I came back from the Zidden Dungeon in my past life, they must be part of the Fesselteed Guard, one of Viscount Mint's two Knight Orders, stationed at Mount Fesselteed, the capital city of the Mint Viscounty territories. Since they are known to only move at the Viscount's command, that must mean that the Viscount arranged for this transfer!

After the knights come to a halt, reaching the top of the stairs, behind Lillian, there is one more who climbs up the stairs, their footsteps so light and faint that they're barely audible.

Martha! There she is!

"Alright, I'm here, you can all go now."

Lillian says, scoffing and in an annoyed-displeased manner, standing in a place not visible in my line of sight.

"Young lady, the Viscount said–"

One of the knights with less gray hair tried to say, before being abruptly cut off by a high pitched noise from Martha.

"Tsk."

The knight stops moving his mouth, their face becoming slightly paler.

"S- still, she should have at least one guard–"

The knight is cut off once again.

"The young lady wishes for you to be gone, so why are you still standing here? Or are you trying to say that you could best me in a duel?"

Martha stares intensely at the pale knight, staring daggers from her eyes as he admits defeat and retreats.

"No, I would never mean to imply that, we'll leave the young miss to you, Dame Martha."

The younger knight hurries past her, down the stairs, the other knights slowly moving with him. After all the knights clear, Martha takes a low bow.

"Have a good rest, young lady."

She keeps her head down until the sound of the closing door comes. 

Wow, how impressively professional, she would seriously be the greatest assistant ever! I want to have her.

Suddenly, without lifting her head, her figure blurs, and disappears.

Ah shit, I knew she noticed me.

"Do you need help finding the way back to your room, Arthur?"

Her shadow looms over me, blocking the light from the lamp behind.