In the reception room, Owen Eisen sat waiting for the second mage to arrive. On the other side, Butler Ryan was brewing a pot of high-quality black tea, preparing to entertain the guest.
After all, the other party was a rare fire mage in Border Garrison Town, so he couldn't be neglected. Leaving a good impression on her first might allow them to retain her two months later, so she could continue contributing to Border Garrison Town.
Soon after, Owen Eisen's personal guard walked into the reception room and saluted with his hand on his chest.
"Marquis Aisen."
Owen Eisen craned his neck, constantly glancing behind, but saw no one, and immediately found it strange.
"Where is she?"
"I was just about to tell you about this, Marquis Aisen," the personal guard replied. "That young lady brought a little girl with her. I told her that only mages could enter to meet the lord, but she insisted on bringing the little girl in, so I came back to ask you."
"One more person won't hurt. Just let her bring her in."
Owen Eisen didn't care about these things; moreover, allowing it could show his generosity.
"Yes." The personal guard acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Hearing that there was an extra guest, and a child at that, Ryan immediately instructed a waiting maid to prepare an additional teacup and dessert. For this, Owen Eisen could only give a thumbs-up, thinking, "How reliable!"
After waiting for a while longer, the personal guard appeared again. This time, he was followed by two people—a young lady curiously looking around and a little girl with two braids.
After bringing them in, the personal guard retreated to the reception room door to stand guard.
The two stood directly in front of Owen Eisen. The young lady appeared somewhat reserved, as if it was her first time entering a noble's castle, while the little girl hid behind the young lady, only peeking out with half her head to observe Owen Eisen.
Upon first seeing this mage from East Rise Fortress, Owen Eisen was quite taken aback. He had never seen such a shabby mage; she carried a large bundle on her back, and her mage robe, a symbol of her status, was even patched.
Regardless, the other party was a fire mage needed by Border Garrison Town, so Owen Eisen tried his best to be polite, so as not to displease her.
"Please have a seat, both of you." Owen Eisen gestured to the empty seats opposite him.
Looking at the seats, the young lady was hesitant to sit down, asking timidly, "May I? I might dirty the seats."
"It's fine. If it gets dirty, I'll have someone clean it."
Confirming that the castle lord truly didn't mind, the young lady then took the little girl's hand, placed her bundle on the floor beside the seat, and sat side-by-side on the spacious chair.
As soon as the two were seated, Ryan brought out three cups of black tea and a small cake to entertain the guests. The simple-style cake was for the little girl, and her black tea also had sugar added.
"First, let me introduce myself. I am the issuer of this commission, the Lord of Border Garrison Town, Marquis Owen Eisen," Owen Eisen began.
"Hello, Marquis Aisen, I am Fanny, the fire mage who accepted the commission." After a pause, Fanny added, "This is my younger sister, Lilika."
"Miss Vanni, thank you very much for specially coming to Border Garrison Town. We need your strength here. May I ask what your adventurer Rank is? And how long have you been an adventurer?"
Owen Eisen needed to understand her strength level to further design training arrangements.
After a moment of hesitation, Fanny replied, "Porcelain Rank, and I've been an adventurer for two years."
"What?"
Owen Eisen thought he had misheard. Only when Fanny repeated it did he confirm he hadn't.
That's right, Porcelain Rank, the lowest Rank among adventurer Ranks. Why was she still Porcelain Rank after being an adventurer for two years?
Although the commission Owen Eisen issued had no Rank requirements, and the Adventurers Guild would naturally set it as a no-Rank required commission and post it on the bulletin board since the content wasn't dangerous, it didn't mean that just anyone who met the requirements could accept the commission.
It was a commission issued by a lord, after all. Did she not have enough self-awareness regarding her own strength? Two years remaining at Porcelain Rank was enough to indicate the problem.
Perhaps sensing Owen Eisen's dissatisfaction with her Rank, Fanny eagerly tried to show her strengths.
"I'm especially hardworking. No matter what kind of work it is, I'll do it. As for Qi, my Qi is definitely sufficient; it's just that I have a small problem casting magic..."
Fanny's last sentence was spoken very softly, seemingly very unconfident about her magic.
This isn't a matter of being hardworking or not, Owen Eisen thought with disappointment. However, she said her Qi was sufficient. Should they conduct a further test?
After thinking for a while, Owen Eisen looked up at Ryan and nodded slightly.
Ryan understood immediately and withdrew from the reception room. A moment later, he returned, holding a transparent crystal ball with a stand in both hands.
Placing it on the table, Ryan then stepped aside.
"This is a Magic Sensing Orb," Owen Eisen introduced. "Miss Vanni, I hope to test your magic power. Is that alright?"
"Yes, yes." Fanny nodded repeatedly, afraid that Owen Eisen would not want her.
"Then, just place your hand on the sensing orb and slowly inject a little magic power into it."
Getting up from her seat, Fanny came to the sensing orb, reached out to touch the orb, and felt it was a bit cold. Next, she directed the magic power within her body to slowly inject into the sensing orb.
With a 'clang', the sensing orb emitted a soft, pearly white glow. From the bottom, a blue liquid, like water, appeared inside the sensing orb and began to flow. The liquid gradually increased, quickly filling about three-quarters of the sensing orb's volume, and then stopped increasing.
Owen Eisen's expression on the side gradually turned surprised, staring intently at the final test result of the sensing orb.
This amount of magic power was more than double that of the mage already working at the cement workshop. With this level of magic power, why was she still a Porcelain Rank adventurer? He couldn't understand.
"The test is complete. You can take your hand off," Owen Eisen reminded her.
Fanny removed her hand, and the sensing orb immediately returned to its original state. A hint of fatigue flashed across her face, and she let out a soft breath, returning to her original seat.
Owen Eisen keenly caught this detail and remembered she had also said earlier that she had problems casting magic.
So that's how it is, Owen Eisen nodded to himself, understanding a little, but there were still things he couldn't figure out.
"Miss Vanni, you seem to struggle when controlling magic power. Why is that?"
"Eh? Do I have to say?" Fanny was startled, clearly not wanting to reveal her private matters.
"Yes, firing cement requires precise control of magic power. If you are unwilling to explain the reason, then I can only..."
"I'll tell you! That's because..."
Fanny, worried that Owen Eisen would not want her, completely revealed that she had attended less than half of her magic courses at the adventurer Academy, and all her magic power control was self-taught. She then also revealed the incident of her parents' death and being adopted by relatives, though she didn't mention almost being sold off.
Now, everything was clear. It turned out she hadn't taken any magic power control classes.
In this regard, Owen Eisen could personally teach Fanny and lend her relevant books; it would just depend on her own learning ability. However, doing so might be a loss. If she only stayed in Border Garrison Town for two months and then left, wouldn't the initial investment be wasted?
Therefore, Owen Eisen couldn't directly hire Fanny as stated in the commission; he needed to be flexible.