Esoteric Fantasia [ F!Reader x Various Male ]

Ch. 17* [ A Talk ][ Vin Route ]

Upon slowly opening my eyes, the first thing I was greeted with was darkness, save for the faint light that the nearby clock was emitting. As expected, I woke up in the middle of the night as usual. Curious about what time it is, I glanced at the clock to my side and saw that it was exactly 1 AM right now. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, I sat up and stretched my arms, making sure my body was actually awake. After all, since I didn't feel sleepy in the slightest, I knew that it would be a pointless endeavor to force myself to continue resting. It's a pain but it's something I'm so used to, sadly...

With a sigh, I got up and quietly left the tent. The instant I got out, I immediately spotted Vin still sitting near the campfire, staring into the flames with an unreadable expression. Before I could speak, as if noticing that I was looking at him, the blue-haired male turned his attention to me. He quickly went back to looking at the fire and patted the space beside him, not bothering to say a single word. Deciding to take up his offer, I quietly went up to him and took a seat near him.

"So, is there anything you want to know about?" Vin asked as he glanced at me. "No matter what you ask, I'll try my best to answer all of it."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to know more about the kingdom Chalybes. The Academy seemed strangely hostile about that place whenever I heard about it when I was there so..." I answered, frowning. "You're the only one that I could get reliable info from about that place."

The archangel lets out a sigh. "Why am I not surprised you'd ask that? Knowing how Devourers are treated, I suppose it's only a given you would become curious about other outcasts like you." He commented, then paused for a bit before continuing. "...before I answer, let me ask you this. Do you believe the learning of magic should be controlled and monitored or should it be allowed for everyone to freely learn of it?"

Caught off-guard by that question, I crossed my arms over my chest as I thought hard about it. Controlling and monitoring who learns it can prevent or lessen people with ill-intentioned goals from gaining access to said magic. ...however, it can never fully prevent it. No matter what, they'll always find a way. ...and of course, that's also assuming if the people responsible are good, too. Frowning, I glanced at the blazes from the campfire. Yet, letting everyone freely learn it prevents magic from being monopolized. One can easily counteract against someone using it for ill means and perhaps everyone will be more able to protect themselves easily, too. ...but that also means those who are bad can learn said magic without anyone being aware of it.

"I'll be honest, that's a difficult question to answer, you know? If I'm allowed to give a different answer than what's provided, I'd take the middle position." I admitted as I turned to look at him. "Why? Is Chalybes a place where everyone is free to learn magic?"

He nodded his head in response, catching me by surprise. "Correct. Of course, there is some laws and restrictions for safety reasons but that's expected." Vin explained. "That's why that kingdom and the Academy don't get along with each other. Since that group is in every kingdom except that one, if ignoring the recent happenings, Chalybes is essentially isolated from everything against its will due to the mage organization keeping a close eye on the borders. Outside entries to the kingdom is closely monitored and those leaving are forced to join the Academy due to the exposure of mage knowledge, whether they like it or not."

"...forced to join?" I repeated, not liking the sound of that at all. "Are they at least allowed to go back and visit? It would be too cruel if they're not..."

"Technically, yeah but none of us trusts the organization enough to believe that they wouldn't do anything shady while we went back. It didn't help that we're required to sign a contract and accept having certain spells cast on us if we want to go, which made us even warier." He said, then turned his gaze back to the campfire for some reason. "...because of that, the option we ended up choosing is long-distance communication, even if we require Academy approval to do so. Sure, we're being watched while we talk but the risk there is minimal."

Well, if that's the requirement for visiting, I can see why they're skeptical about going. I thought to myself with a frown. That reminds me though, if I recall correctly, Vin mentioned that some of the members from Machina of Dawn tend to make their work reflect the aesthetics of the kingdom Chalybes, right? ...did they do that so it's reminiscent of the home they can't go back to? Upon realizing that, I couldn't help but feel sad for them. I'm sure people tried to fight back but it all probably resulted in failure. Otherwise, some sort of change would've happened already by now.

"So, what about you, Vin? Did something happen, forcing you to leave and join the Academy?" I questioned, both worried yet curious.

He stared at the flames for a bit in silence, then let out a sigh. "No, I reluctantly left the kingdom and went to join them with a few people that had the same goals. I was younger at the time but my parents wanted me to go out and see the world, especially when I expressed interest in learning more about the outside world." The blue-haired male replied, taking me aback. "They felt that I shouldn't be imprisoned in that isolated kingdom but knew that I most likely can't come back due to circumstances. They were conflicted but eventually, after giving me many warnings, advice, and gifts, they let me go. ...and maybe some nagging from mother to call from time to time too."

"From the fact that you said you reluctantly left, I'm guessing you didn't want to really say goodbye, especially since you knew going back wasn't likely..."

"...pretty much. I wished the people close to me could go along with me but...well, it didn't happen sadly. All of them had their own reasons for staying so..." Vin stated as he threw alchemical fuel into the campfire. "In the end, after leaving, all I could really do was talk to them about it. Whenever I talked to them, I tried my best to stay strong so they didn't know I felt sad and lonely that none of them were there to see what I saw."

...that's... I stared at the ground, a troubled expression on my face as I tried to process what I heard. ...that's just too sad. Just because of a clash of beliefs, they lost their freedom to freely leave their kingdom. They'll never get to see with their own two eyes what's outside of their kingdom without abandoning their homeplace and the people they knew. ...and for those who left, they can't risk going back out of fear of the Academy doing something bad...

The instant I turn to look at Vin to say something though, he immediately pulled his hand away from me in surprise and hurriedly looked somewhere else while blushing as if he was caught doing something embarrassing. For a second, I was confused about why he was acting like that until I realized he was about to try comforting me but caught him in the act halfway through. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"Ah, sorry! Guess that was bad timing, huh?" I remarked, laughing cheerfully.

"...i-it's fine. It's technically my fault for hesitating, anyways..." The archangel admitted. "I'm no good at dealing with these kinds of emotional situations but if it's something simple like this, I think I have an idea of what to do. ...though I've never comforted someone before so the best I could do is put a hand on your shoulder and awkwardly tell you it's fine..."

That would be quite the difference compared to his usual serious self, just like how his reaction was just now. Of course, I didn't vocalize that but merely kept it to myself. Though, he never comforted someone before, huh? The implications surrounding that... Out of curiosity, I decided to ask him about it while replying to what he said.

"Better than nothing! Short and awkward as it may be, it still gets the message across!" I replied in an attempt to reassure him. "...though, if you don't mind me asking, you never comforted someone before...?"

With a frown, he nodded his head. "Pretty much. Before the Machina of Dawn, I was basically a loner or an outcast of sorts. After all, I hardly made any attempts to socialize since I was too busy trying to learn more about magic, combat, and the world outside of the kingdom I knew." He explained. "Though, admittedly, I have tried socializing a few times but soon realized I could only get along with the strong-hearted and the ones constantly striving to get better. My serious, blunt nature was apparently hard to deal with, especially when it came to the emotionally sensitive types. I remember one of them yelling at me, saying that I'm an emotionless, cold-hearted monster or something."

Oof, I bet that certainly stabbed him in the heart. I thought to myself with a frown. ...though, why do I have a feeling it was because of a spar or something? My instincts tell me he's probably dangerous in combat so if you add that with him being blunt, that might be the result. I can see someone getting emotional and saying that when they get their asses kicked in battle by their opponent and that said opponent emotionally wrecks them too. ...though, that's me talking from experience when I defeat someone, minus me saying the savage burns. Before I could get carried away by my own thoughts though, I quickly returned my attention to Vin but noticed he wasn't saying anything.

Eventually, he spoke up and continued, refusing to elaborate on the sudden silence. "However, despite that, one person invited me to be one of the founders of the Machina of Dawn. As to how that talk went..."