'Sir Grif…' Siel straightened up in his seat, the motion making his oversized clothing puff out like one of those frilled neck lizards, except the neck was his whole body.
Focus.
'My senior brother and I are fortunate enough to hail from a tower with ample resources,' he said with a smile.
Sir Grif looked a little confused at the seemingly sudden change of topic.
'Well, I wouldn't doubt it,' he said at last. 'It does make sense for magicians such as yourself, with talent enough to save our village, to be from such a place.'
Siel's smile widened, and for just a moment, Arin thought he saw a faint shadow of that white-haired man in the boy's expression.
Like master, like student, apparently.
'Since it is so,' Siel continued, 'you should know that beyond the extent of our talents, we also possess several tools. Tools that might aid us in identifying the exact nature of those cursed flowers. Be it a curse, or a distorted phenomenon, or…' The boy shrugged. 'In any case, we mean to make use of everything we have at our disposal. Part of our duty is also to track down the real cause, after all.'
A number of strange expressions flickered across the village headman's face. It finally settled into a strange sort of bewilderment, with a barely discernible trace of panic.
'What's wrong, Sir Grif?' asked Arin.
'Ah…' The man paused. A small bead of sweat trickled down the side of his ruddy face. 'I'm afraid… I'm afraid that won't be possible, Sir Siel. You see, the remnants were disposed of earlier this morning.'
'Were… disposed of?' the boy's already wide eyes widened.
'I didn't think… I assumed that since the matter was already resolved… Ah, what I'm trying to say is that since the supposed curse was already broken last night, I didn't want something as ominous on our premises. I had the destroyed remains burned by someone with a fire talent.' Sir Grif shook his head apologetically. 'I didn't realize you'd want anything to do with it anymore. I owe you an apology, good sirs.'
*
Arin and Siel were walking back to the room they'd been given in the estate. The wide-eyed boy was uncharacteristically silent.
Arin glanced at the downcast boy a couple of times, until he finally couldn't hold himself back.
'What's wrong, junior brother?' he asked.
Siel didn't respond for few seconds. Then, 'This isn't like me, brother Rin,' he mumbled in a low voice.
Arin didn't say anything more. He just kept his gaze focused on the boy as they walked.
Sure enough, after about a minute or so, Siel's talkative nature won over whatever was troubling him.
'I would never usually be quite so careless. You must believe me, brother.'
'Hm.'
'I mean it. I cannot understand how I could've forgotten about something as important as the cursed object. How did I fall asleep without securing it? And why, even earlier this morning, did I not remember?' The younger boy had pursed his lips. 'I must admit, my thoughts seem strange. Well, everything seems strange. I've been trying all morning to ignore it, but -'
'Why have you been ignoring it, Siel?' Arin interrupted.
Siel blinked up at him, confusion apparent in his eyes. 'I - well, because you've already destroyed the curse, and -'
'Have I?' Arin interrupted again. 'Have I really, Siel?'
He left the sentence hanging ominously.
Well, he was kinda hoping his vague theatrics would help the boy pick up on something. All he knew for sure was that he couldn't have been the one to destroy the curse. The kid had a better chance at actually figuring out whatever was going on.
Siel stopped short, and his gaze locked onto Arin's face. Then, he took in a deep, sharp breath.
Bingo?
The younger boy, slowly, started nodding. 'I see,' he said. 'I see, brother. I finally understand.'
Bingo!
Arin just hoped that Siel would get around to explaining whatever he'd finally understood to him at some point.
He himself was still as lost as a fish on land, after all.