When Mes woke up, he struggled to open his eyes for a while. It felt as though a heavy weight was pressing down on his entire body. Then, as he remembered what had happened, he forced his eyes open despite the difficulty. Just a few seconds before he had passed out, Professor Reiner had told him that everything was fine now.
'What exactly is fine now?' he wondered.
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Bera, sitting right beside him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
'Don't worry. This isn't good,' Mes thought, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. All he could do was blink.
"Why isn't he saying anything?" Bera asked, turning toward the other side of the room. Mes followed her with his eyes.
"Don't worry. He's just getting used to his new condition. His body had been in a terrible state for over a decade. He's doing even better than I'd hoped at this point."
Hearing this didn't seem to reassure Bera. Mes was sure that the normally quiet man had asked Professor Reiner the same question countless times.
"But what about his siuni?" someone else asked. This time, it was Walter.
"We'll find out soon enough. I don't think it'll take him long to figure it out," he replied.
'How can you be so sure? I don't think I'm even capable of using a siuni,' Mes thought.
"I'm sure he's thinking right now that he isn't capable of doing it..." This time, it was Arsh. "Mes, just focus on resting for now. By tomorrow, you'll be as good as new."
Mes's lips curled into a slight smile.
"All right, everyone. Back to bed. It's already late."
With a brief commotion, everyone left the room. Only Bera remained beside him. As Mes looked into her worried eyes, he slowly drifted off to sleep again.
...
"Something's wrong with me," Mes said.
After two days of rest, he looked healthier than ever. In fact, he'd already returned to the library that day and started studying again.
"What do you mean? What's wrong? Tell me!" Bera asked, quickly moving closer to Mes.
Arsh would never have expected this usually quiet man to be so talkative. Even when they were at home, Bera would normally just follow Mes around quietly. But this time, he was more talkative than ever.
"That's not what I mean. When I touch a book, I know what's written in it without reading it. I can just feel it. And when I touch a table, I feel like I know what it's made of or something like that."
"...Touch this," Arsh said, holding out a book he'd picked up. Mes took it without hesitation.
"It's about the myths of the Western Seas. It contains information about mythological creatures and some history. Should I go into more detail?"
Arsh opened the book and checked its contents. Everything Mes had said was correct. Then he handed him a pen he'd found on the table.
"Made of cedar. The tree grew in Yulos," Mes said, sounding surprised himself.
This time, Bera began handing him random objects she found around the room.
"Mes, do you know what your siuni is?" Arsh asked after a while.
"I think... I think I do," Mes replied with an uneasy smile.
His siuni had probably given him the ability that suited him best. Perhaps, who knew, it had been influencing him since childhood, giving him these scholarly abilities even before he fully awakened it. But his love of knowledge was genuine.
When Arsh had asked the girl earlier what kind of ability Mes's siuni had given him, she'd answered, "Knowledge... an endless ability to learn."
A moment later, a blue light began to shine from beneath the bandages on Mes's arm. Bera quickly lifted his arm and unwrapped the bandages. There wasn't a single mark left.
...
"You've been gone for two days," Ezra said during dinner.
Since everyone had been busy with Mes for the past two days, nobody had come to the manor for meals. Everyone had simply eaten whatever they could find. But today, with the good news, a proper feast had been prepared to celebrate.
"Mes can finally use his siuni thanks to Haru. We've been busy with that. Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm fine," he replied, glancing at the other side of the table.
"Why are you acting like that? I've been keeping you company for the past two days. Don't you know how to be polite to a woman?" Helen said.
Ezra said nothing and turned his gaze forward. Arsh could see that he was blushing.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to his shy new friend.
They enjoyed their meal, but suddenly, shouting erupted outside the manor's entrance.
Reiner asked what was causing the commotion. The two guards who were usually stationed at the entrance approached them.
"Sir, they're saying there's been a fire at the orphanage you sponsor, in the city center."
"Prepare the carriages. Now!" Professor Reiner shouted after a brief pause.
Although it took them fifteen minutes to get there, by the time they arrived, the place had already burned down. Some of the children and staff had been injured. Fortunately, things hadn't been any worse.
Nobody around them had any idea how the fire had started. These children were ordinary kids. None of them had the kind of ability that could turn the entire place into a fire zone. And the fire hadn't started in the kitchen.
While they continued investigating, one of the children waiting outside to be taken to their new accommodations approached them.
"Kid, are you feeling okay?" Reiner asked, bending down toward him.
The child nodded before speaking in a slightly trembling voice.
"There was a man. I saw him while I was looking out the window. He just did this," the child said, snapping his fingers. "And suddenly, everything started burning."
"I see... Now go back to your friends. Thank you for telling us," Reiner said, gently patting the child's head.
"Let's leave things here to Herman. We need to get back immediately," he said, quickly heading toward the carriages.
A little while after they set off on their return journey, Arsh could see smoke rising from the direction of the manor.