The petal was basically screaming at me. I nodded. “Kelly, I give this duty to you for now.”

  Clara nodded, closed the book, and then presented it to my priestess. With it now back in a closed book, its effect on me waned and nearly vanished altogether shortly after. Clara then returned to me, and we tested out mana. Unlike Bria, whose control was so perfect. There was a wildness to Clara’s mana, not unlike her wild blonde hair, and it unsettled me a bit. I realized just how strong her mana felt. It wasn’t large like Beladone; it may even have been fair to say it was smaller than Lady Evelyn’s, but that aspect of it only added to my fear.

  “Nothing else then?” Lady Evelyn asked.

  Clara turned. “I just wish to reaffirm that you may ask anything of me, and at anytime.”

  The three sisters stood up, but they paused when Lady Evelyn pulled out a glowing purple jar. “You surely have something worth my time?”

  Bria laughed. “Wisteria’s Tears are valuable beyond measure, but they keep only for an hour. Their value to me is-”

  She stopped, and her eyes bulged. Looking at the jar, I realized there was a sigil carved into its bottom that she was displaying.

  “You taught me well after all,” Lady Evelyn added.

  “To think, you’d have a piece of Kiara here, of all places. Hmm. And you aren’t afraid of me simply talking it by force?”

  “You won’t harm anyone I care about!” I shouted. If there was anything I knew, it was the danger these ladies presented, so I needed to make myself clear, right from the start. If they all really served the wind, presumably they would listen to some degree. Or so I hoped.

  Clara and Galina jumped in front of me and Lady Evelyn, clearly our shield. Tessa and Kelly ran behind me as well. Tessa grabbed my hand, and I could feel mana flowing into me. Was this some sort of defensive spell?

  Bria laughed. “Well played. I suppose that is what I would have expected of little Evie. To think you are all grown up. Okay. I’ll pay. Anything in particular you want?”

  I thought the tension would loosen, but everyone remained on edge.

  “The most valuable thing you have. Information.”

  Bria touched her chin for a moment. “Okay, then I shall tell you this. The Maiden of Lightning has been discovered. In the lands north. We were heading there after dropping off the petal, but by giving that to the Wind Maiden, we can change course and reach her all the sooner.”

  Galina softened her posture. “We know that the Maiden is merely fourteen. So she can’t begin searching for her husband yet. Thus, we have been asked to train and protect her in the meantime.”

  Clara nodded as she relaxed, too. Lady Evelyn set the glass vial down, and Bria picked it up before smiling. “If any of you share this information, please do leave our names out of it. But, we should feast before the dinner gets cold.”

  We all sat down, and Clara set a bottle down in front of me, her smile bright. “Maple moth syrup. I procured an entire bottle just for you.”

  “Oh my,” Kelly said. “That must have been expensive this time of year.”

  “She likely harvested it herself with permission,” Lady Evelyn added. “But, Kelly, this is a golden chance for you. The sisters of storm, water, and wind, you should use this chance to talk to them.”

  “But I would not wish to impose!” Kelly said, looking as if she were about to faint.

  “Is it not your responsibility to learn? So that you may pass this knowledge onto the Wind Maiden when she asks?”

  “In that event! I insist,” Clara said as she moved to sit near Kelly. Galina joined her as well.

  I took a bite of the grilled meat. Ah, so that was Lady Evelyn’s invite to Kelly; she was a tribute to the wolves. You have my sympathies, Kelly.

  “But you mentioned Kiara and ultimate magic, and Wisteria Tears? What are these things?” I asked.

  Kiara is the Goddess of time,“ Bria said. She held up the bottle. “Evie had consecrated this as a magic item of time. One that holds the Wisteria Dust, mixed with holy water in both space and time. Even a single drop would cure most illnesses.”

  I looked to Lady Evelyn. “And you’d trade something that valuable away?” Think of how many she could help with it.

  Lady Evelyn sipped her tea. “It is not as if I am wasting them, Bria, or more accurately, Galina, shall see them being used well. Plus, the knowledge of the Maiden of Lightning far exceeds it for us.”

  I took a bite of the bread topped with the syrup. And I couldn’t contain my excitement. “Wow, that is good!” Like, better than anything I have ever tasted, and by a large margin!

  Bria and Lady Evelyn merely giggled for a moment, but I noticed Tessa pausing and looking at the syrup bottle. Sure, why not, I thought. “Would you try for me? I wish to gain your opinion on the taste.”

  She nodded. “I thank you deeply.”

  She didn’t make any outbursts or exclaim anything, but her eyes did bulge, and she resumed eating quicker than I had ever seen before.

  “Maple moths' syrup is something of an Anlage specialty. You must be a commoner if you have never sampled it even once at this age,” Bria paused and rubbed the rim of her teacup. “They say it is great for mild sicknesses as well, but that is inapplicable right now.”

  I took a sip of tea. Oh, I bet it would even make the worst tea taste amazing. “I don’t think there is anytime I would think better health is inapplicable.”

  “She means the Wisteria Dust,” Lady Evelyn said. “Every individual in this entire town has likely found themselves cured of every medical issue they possessed.”

  “Including you, little Evie,” Bria said with a smile.

  “I swear you and the king wish to see me work myself to exhaustion, those naive fools who see you are kind,” she said, sipping her tea this time.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Wait, do you mean to imply Lady Evelyn is sick?” I asked.

  “Is? Far from it! Was? Most certainly,” Bria added. “It is why I wanted to use ultimate magic-”

  “Enough! My medical status, as well as ultimate magic, have no business being discussed. Though is the Maiden of Lightning all the news you can share?”

  Bria nodded.

  “So, what does this mean? The Lightning Maiden,” I said, looking around. I wasn’t sure if I felt worse for her or not. Fourteen, not even an adult. On one side, I guess that meant she had more time, but it also meant she had less of her childhood. At least the gods had been kind enough to wait until I was an adult.

  Bria cracked her neck. “The more time a Maiden gets to prepare, and the more Maidens that are summoned near each other, the stronger the threat to come is. For two to appear so close together. It would not be surprising if a third appears soon enough.”

  “Three would still be a good sign, though,” Lady Evelyn added. “If they are all in this area, then that clearly reflects how the challenge is local to this area. But if we get more than three-”

  “Or others begin to appear over the ocean,” Bria paused. “Then that would mean that the coming calamity is quite dangerous.”

  My stomach sank a bit at the idea. Of course it would. I am the one expected to fight these things. “I don’t understand. Why? Why me! I am just a village girl! Lady Evelyn. Storm sisters. You are all far stronger than I am! Why is it me-”

  Bria just fell back laughing. I didn’t consider this amusing, but before I could say something, she stood up. “Apologies, it is just, clearly, you don’t understand just how powerful the gift you have is, and you haven’t even properly begun to tap into it. Allow me to demonstrate.”

  “How many times must you make me repeat myself?” Lady Evelyn said, looking exasperated.

  “It is adorable how hard you are trying, but if you think I didn’t understand, then I shall be insulted. I can appreciate your integrity, but well then, would you rather I talk about the storms?” Bria said as she squinted at Lady Evelyn.

  With Kelly still distracting the other two sisters, the only one I could look to was Tessa, but she merely took another bite of meat, her sharp teeth ripping it off the bone easily enough. She did not appear to have any more idea than I did.

  “Fine,” Lady Evelyn said, her face fidgeting, oh. That was rare. I wonder what was so strange about this kind of magic for her to be so leery of my learning it now.

  “Elves first and foremost have the highest quality of mana, but our reserves are low. And unlike humans, we don’t recharge it so quickly after a meal. This gives us a different fundamental experience with ultimate magic. But with that in mind, the core principle of it is the key to the divine,” Bria said as a purple glow began to form in her hand.

  “Key to the divine?” I asked.

  She nodded. “When a divine figure trusts you, they shall descend down, and their light will expose who you really are. This exposure is the divine key, engraved in your heart. At that point, one needs to do little more than recite what the divine told them. It is quite simple, because it is impossible to forget something carved into your heart.”

  Hmm. I thought back to how I spoke a name when we did it. Well, none of what I spoke was anything I knew. “Frauenleben Verursacht.”

  “Wait!” Lady Evelyn shouted. “That isn’t what you said back at Stechen? When did you learn that?”

  “Huh? Did I say something different back then?” I asked. The only thing I remembered was what I just said.

  She sneered. “That reckless….” She took a deep breath and looked to Bria. “You were going to tell me, right?”

  “What? You make it sound like I am sick or something!” I asked, and I was getting worried. I looked at Tessa. “Do you know anything?”

  She shook her head. “I know only of goblin magic. I do know that ultimate magic is said to be the strongest that any race can use, but my knowledge goes no further.”

  “Wind Maiden,” Lady Evelyn said, her glare resting heavily on me. “Do not say that name without asking me. I shall explain when the time is more favorable.”

  I nodded. Bria giggled. “She is right, Wind Maiden, ignore that advice, and you shall find that this world may suffer beyond imagination.”

  “And you cannot explain it to me right now?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Beladone is already walking this way. Little Evie was right to send such a musclehead away. He and Clara would likely fight, and those circumstances would not be favorable. I trust your teacher to give you what I do not have time for. But what I wish to show you may be equally important.”

  “As long as you understand not to repeat that phrase, then she is right,” Lady Evelyn added.

  I didn’t like it, but when was that any news? I nodded.

  “It is the gale that clears the path ahead, it is the rain that washes away the pain, but I will walk always with the Lightning. I accept no altar, and I claim no shelter. I have no vows to break, no oaths to fail. Show me no worry, and I need no mercy. I am Your daughter. I am Your thunder. I shall fetter the entire world in chains, until all of heaven descends to submit, and Your word is heard by all in reality! Glyzinien Leuchten!”

  A purple glow formed in her hand. Unlike the previous Wisteria Dust blooms that were each meters across, this one was barely the size of a watermelon.

  Tessa reached her finger towards it. “May I?”

  Bria moved it towards her. And the light vanished as it moved to her pink skin, and I saw a few lines glowing through her fabric, but I couldn’t say much about them. “Use it well.” Bria was now breathing with difficulty.

  “I promise it,” Tessa said.

  “Okay, and you are going to explain all of that? Are you okay? Are you risking mana sleep?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “That is all I could manage, one bloom, and only enough for a single goblin, and not even the healing effect. Granted, I used about three-fourths of my mana during the festival, but what I can do is not even on the scale of what you can do.”

  “But you-”

  “She used mana mixing to get you synced up, Wind Maiden,” Lady Evelyn said as she gestured to Kelly.

  Galina and Clara seemed to understand the situation enough. I wonder if they could feel Beladone as well.

  “So, wait, you're saying the dozens of Wisteria blooms from earlier were-”

  “Your divine mana backing up my Elven skill,” Bria said as Galina helped her to her feet. She took hold of her staff.

  All three bowed, and then they walked outside the room, and with it, the sound from outside returned.

  “I can’t believe it,” Kelly said, holding her red cheeks. “I wasn’t nearly ready for something like that. I should have waited with Sir Beladone.”

  I chuckled. Oh, that did appear to be the point, sadly enough. Wait, right. Tessa. “What did the Wisteria dust do! What did she mean by using it well?”

  She pulled her shirt down a bit, and I saw a glowing purple line. “We goblins have small amounts of mana, and we don’t have the quality of an elf, so we learned to store mana in the skin. Mana like that, I should be able to save it for years, a powerful card.”

  “Such a strategy should not be abused, or it would be unsafe to do so, but for this demonstration, Tessa should consider herself lucky.”

  I took the last bite of my meat while thinking. I smeared as much of the syrup as I could before bringing it to my lips. Mana in the skin, that felt familiar. “Oh! Isn’t that sort of like the adventurer card?” I asked.

  Lady Evelyn shook her head. “I do believe mentioning that such a thing was based on goblin magic.”

  Did she? Hmm.

  The door opened, and Beladone was muttering something as he whipped his lip. Was he bleeding?

  “Priestess Kelly,” he said. “Come use a healing spell.”

  Lady Evelyn subtly nodded her head, and I almost laughed. I guess Clara likely punched him, even in passing. I wanted to know for sure, though. “Sir Beladone, what happened?”

  “That rude priestess, the one with long hair. She punched me. I had half a mind to arrest herm, but well, it doesn’t matter. I shall file a formal complaint with her church tomorrow.”

  Yep, was Clara. I almost wanted to know what he did. But I decided not to push my luck. If he was distracted away from his previous anger at Lady Evelyn or me, sending him away, then I would send Clara my thanks and not misuse this gift.