Alec looked Old George in the eyes after taking a mont to control his breathing.
"Do you hold regret in your heart, George?"
"Yes."
"What do you regret in your life, George?"
"I regret not accepting the offer to move to the capital and work in the royal kitchen."
Alec frowned. If Old George had connections to the royal palace, they were in trouble. Fortunately, it seed like that wasn't the case. But he couldn't be certain, so his wariness rose several degrees.
"Do you regret anything other than not moving to the capital and working in the royal kitchen?"
"Not really."
That was all the answer Alec needed. Old George didn't regret what he had done. He deserved everything coming to him.
There was no way Alec could forgive soone who sold out orphans.
That made him the perfect test subject.
Alec put him to sleep again. He turned to Red.
"Let's bring him sowhere else, where we can interrogate him properly." Red nodded and darted off to get so logistical support.
Alec was strong, and he could use magic to move Old George, but even if it was dark out, they didn't want to take the risk of being seen when abducting soone.
A little while later, Red returned with Dario, another orphan strong enough to help carry George, and a cart with a tarp to cover George with. They wrapped George, put him on the cart, and then pulled away the cart like a well-oiled machine.
Alec was impressed with everyone's cooperation as he walked behind them. He would have offered to help if he had both hands.
It was a good thing he had magic. It was awfully convenient when he could only use one hand.
Red also packed up the few things he found.
They left the gold and valuables, excluding the Nilver, which Alec took. That much money would be useful, but they didn't have the ans to use it.
They were orphans. If they started using pure gold, it would be obvious what happened.
Alec couldn't help himself, though, and took a couple of items. He could always use magic to lt them down.
Alec handed over the rest of the interrogation to the orphans, who were more than willing to do whatever it took to squeeze the answers out of George.
As he watched, though, Alec had a feeling that so of them were disappointed at how easily George caved. He didn't like pain, and he was smart enough to realize the situation he was in. He was also starving for so reason. So, as soon as food beca part of the equation, he couldn't resist and spilled as much as he could.
Unfortunately, he did not know much.
Every now and then, a masked visitor would co after sunset to ask for good picks or see if George had gotten hold of anyone himself. They would pay him for the information or the target and then disappear into the night.
The only things he knew were the fact that they were middlen and the na, Iystar's Ring.
As soon as he heard that, Dario put a couple of kids to watch Old George's house. If they were lucky, they might catch mbers of Iystar's Ring when they went to look for information from George.
He also shared the information with the rest of the factions of Gorao. They needed to look out for masked people. They also shouldn't walk around alone.
When they were done with the interrogation, they handed George over to Alec, who asked for their help transporting him out of the city.
He had a couple of things he wanted to test on Old George, including the third spell formation he did not rember reading.
Millie accompanied Alec since she wanted to hear the Poem again and say hi to Milo's grave.
It might have been because of his and Milo's similar appearances, but Alec had a feeling that Millie had gotten attached to him. He didn't mind. It was nice not being alone.
And even if she didn't understand, he could talk to her about the problems he faced in looking for a preventative thod to monsterification.
However, a sudden, but perhaps not unexpected request from Millie, added another item to his to-do list.
"I want to beco a mage," She asked when they returned to the lab and got George settled in one of the cells. She had been powerless when Old George grabbed her. She had just barely managed to make the signal to Alec and Red between when she saw him and he reached her.
After that, she had been about as useful as a doll when Alec handled the situation.
If it had been just her and Red, they would have been screwed.
It wasn't the first ti she felt powerless in her short life. If anything, she had felt it the majority of her life. Nothing she did could change her fate.
But now, she might have a path forward. It was sothing she hadn't considered before, since magic was such a distant concept for soone who struggled to make it past the day.
Alec's teoric intrusion changed that.
"How old are you?"
"What does that matter?" She shot back with a frown and crossed arms. She was small for her age, but she wasn't that small.
"Magic…" Alec trailed off before he could even utter a second word since his brain worked a lot faster than his mouth.
"Yes…?" Millie urged impatiently.
"I was going to say that magic circles strain your heart, and that if you're too young, your heart is too weak to handle the burden. The safe limit is said to be fourteen years old. Since you've suffered from malnutrition your entire life, I would have wanted you to wait even longer."
"But…?" Millie could tell Alec wasn't finished. With how much he loved talking and explaining things when it ca to magic, there was no way just two sentences were enough.
"I solved that, too, so it's not an issue as long as I can get it to work for you."
Right. He had to brag as well.
"What do you an you solved it?"
"I created a thod that protects your heart from the interference of your magic circles."
"Alright, so let's get started, then?"
"No. Absolutely not yet. It's full of flaws, and I don't want you to die because of them. Wait a little, and I'll make sure to create a fully functional thod."
"..."
"Sure, I guess." Millie rolled her eyes but agreed. It wasn't like she could force it. After all, she was asking Alec for a favor.
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