We simply watched as Greyjoy went into the distance, wondering what he meant by his threat, as the Mayor got our attention.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He doesn't care about any of that; all he wants is to return home."

"Is it really true, Mayor?" Maera asked, trying to confirm what she heard about the young lord.

"I'm as sure as I ever am, Maera. Poor boy got exiled from his family estate, away from the State capital. He must not step foot there, or he would be given another set of punishments." The Mayor stared into the distance. "I feel for him. I also was a troubled child when I was younger. You just feel angry at everyone, at everything, feeling lost."

Now I understood why the Mayor was so good at dealing with him. So puberty made him an angry, spoiled bastard? Not a chance. Some people are just spoiled and arrogant, I thought.

"But why was he exiled? It must have been something really bad, I'm sure?" Astraya added.

"To be honest, I don't really know exactly what got him exiled," the Mayor sighed. "I tried everything, seeing if he would open up, but he didn't say anything at all. But it was something about him completing twelve labors—of deeds assigned to him by the task force. Once completed, he would take all twelve letters of his deeds that speak good of him to the Mage Court, headed by the King. Only then will he return home to Bearmount House."

"Wow, twelve deeds sounds like a lot of work," I said out loud.

As Astraya added, "I wonder how many deeds he has completed currently."

"I think this should be his seventh or eighth," the Mayor replied.

Granny Maera looked saddened. "But his behavior still hasn't changed from what I see."

The Mayor explained, "I believe some people do need more time to find themselves in life. Nobody is beyond change, as that is truly the only difficult deed he must find out; he just needs proper guidance, and I will try my best to help him."

This Mayor really believed that guy could change? I wasn't buying it. The same person who just wanted to burn down a board all because he wanted to make the town reborn new. What a clown.

The board was returned to its place, and everyone that formed the crowd now casually settled down as time passed while we waited for Father.

"Your dad, the Manomancer, hasn't returned yet?" the Mayor asked.

"Oh, he was instructed to park our wagon to the designated area, Mayor," I explained.

"Hmmm, we don't have a designated area for parking wagons, I'm afraid."

What? Was he serious? Could Father be in trouble? I began to escalate and analyze the whole scenario of what could have happened to Father in my head, as Astraya held my hand.

"You don't think he has been...?" Granny Maera already clutched her chest in fear.

But then, I heard a familiar voice. "I'm back!" It was Father, grinning, unknowing of the unimaginable fright he had caused.

"Dad!" we both shouted as we ran to him. "We thought something bad happened to you!" I couldn't believe I was this worried about my father. Was this me personally feeling this vulnerable, or the child's body I resided in that came over me? But one thing was sure: looking at my dad's face, he was indeed the best father I had in both worlds, and I wouldn't ever imagine losing him.

"Why did it take you so long, Dad?" Astraya pouted. "We got in big trouble, you know, with some royal teen!"

"What, really? I missed that much?" he said. "I hope it wasn't that serious? And I hope nobody knows you two are, you know…"

"Don't worry, Father, thanks to the Mayor." Father followed my eye direction to the two elderly figures, which were Granny Maera and Mayor Mostleey.

"Ah, you must be the father of these two heroic children, and the Manomancer."

Father chuckled. "Haha, yes, I am. My children heroic, how so?"

"Well, let's say they defended Maera here from an angry royal who wanted to burn the board down. That's why his Mana Beast was scary, a snake type, but your children didn't care and came to her aid."

"Wow, you two!" We both grinned at him as the praises were getting too much.

As Father replied, "Sometimes they shock me myself. I forget they're four years old sometimes because of how mature they are."

"Four years old?" the Mayor chuckled. "Smart father, like yourself, I'm not surprised, hahah! Could I see it—your pocket watch?"

Father replied with a calm and relaxed tone. "Sure, here." He displayed it.

"Wow, a pocket watch given directly by the King itself!" As the Mayor really looked at it in admiration. "Can... can I touch it?"

"Of course." Dad tossed it to his palms.

"Wow, it's so light, yet beautifully designed, and has the signature of the King itself. Truly remarkable." He returned it back as Father put it back into his pocket.

"So what brings a Manomancer to Blackroot?"

"Well, we came to buy spices and meet up with some old friends."

"Yes, Blackroot is the home of the Blackroot spices, but unfortunately, things haven't been going our way. I don't need to say it all out; you could tell already."

"Yes, Father replied. "The missing people... What exactly is going on? Do you think they are bandits? Or killings?"

"To be honest with you, I would be lying if I said I knew. But an old man like myself, stuck in the office doing paper works all day, couldn't even tell you a thing was the cause. All I knew was four years back we had an unimaginable thunderstorm that lasted for five days. Usually, when it rained, people would stop at our town, restock, and be on the move. But you could imagine the crowd that would come in after a five-day rain—it made our town packed with travelers, explorers, adventurers—nothing out of the ordinary, really. But after two weeks, they began to leave, and then it

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