Oliver never imagined that his inability to communicating with girls would hold him back like this. 

Yesterday, the Director of the Magic Association summoned Oliver and Marina to his office. It was regarding the Kroma herb. Oliver knew exactly what this was about, the sudden shortage of stock and the spike in prices.

"I've already spoken with Viscount Starlight," the Director said. "But unfortunately, he's not willing to make a deal with us."

Oliver swallowed hard. He had a pretty good idea where this conversation was headed.

He had not yet interacted with her--probably never would, but he was in the same class as the Viscount's daughter, Aurora.

"Why don't you try talking to her?" the Director suggested. "Maybe she can convince her father to be more reasonable. I know it might not be what either of you want, but it would really help us out. Our research will ultimately benefit a lot of people."

Oliver groaned in pain. Next to him, a cute girl with white hair named Marina seemed okay with the idea.

"I'm not the best at communicating," Marina admitted. "But I'll give it a try."

And so, the mission given by the director led to the current situation. Oliver found himself secretly watching three girls meeting in the garden.

He saw Marina, his fellow potion-making enthusiast, talking with a blue-haired girl named Aurora and a small girl named Ruby.

He couldn't hear their conversation clearly, but he was certain they were discussing the herb.

This is so unfair, he thought. There's no way he could compete with Marina when it came to talking to girls.

Throughout his life, besides his mother, the only girls he had ever had proper conversations with were Nova and Marina.

He still remembered it clearly. Because his magic element turned out to be darkness, his family had encouraged him to become a magic warrior. After all, darkness magic was known to be the most offensive of the six elements.

But he disliked fighting. What he wanted to do was make potions.

But his parents didn't care about what he wanted, they kept pushing him to train in magic and sword fighting.

At one point, he was forced to join training with the Wilder family. They were well-known for their expertise in darkness magic, so his family thought he could learn something from them.

At first, he didn't really interact with Nova Wilder, the daughter of the family. To be honest, she scared him. All he wanted was for the training to end quickly.

But after long hours of training, when he was resting alone, Nova approached him.

"The training is harsh," Nova said, "But I can tell your heart isn't really into it."

He could only nod in agreement.

She suddenly sat down next to him and his heart began to race.

"I heard you're good at making potions," she said.

"Um...a little," he replied nervously.

"Is that what you really want to do?"

He reluctantly nodded.

"Then go for it," she said. "Just because you have a talent for darkness magic doesn't mean you have to pursue it. It's important to follow your own interests."

"But..." he began to protest.

She gave him a light punch on his arm. "You're too weak anyway. No way you'll be able to master darkness magic with such half-assed effort."

And with that, she got up and left.

Oliver smiled to himself. That was the moment he decided to ignore everything else and chase after what he truly wanted.

Getting attention from the Magic Association is great, but it's the findings that have him most excited. 

With Marina, his interests align and it's easy for him to talk to her. Especially during that one week they spent at the lab, surrounded by adults and professionals, they had no one else to talk to except each other. 

And then they were given a chance to experiment with rare tools said to be relics from ancient times. Through their experimentation, they somehow discovered the special properties of the Kroma herb.

At that time, he and Marina had a conversation.

"Hey," Marina said, "I'm not really happy they praised me as a genius because of this."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Oliver agreed. "It feels wrong somehow."

"But I won't reject it," Marina said. "I'll just think of it as an opportunity. This time my accomplishments were just because of luck, but next time it will be from my own skill."

Oliver smiled. "Yeah, me too. I won't lose to you."

And from there they promised to be rivals, competing to see who would make the next breakthrough first.

But then there he is, secretly watching three girls talking. He feels like a creep. 

If he had some sort of skill to talk to a girl, he might be able to join their conversation. But that just impossible, a hurdle too high for a guy like him. 

He was about to leave when a voice called out to him, "What are you doing here?" 

He looked back. Marina, the girl with white hair, was staring at him.

"I-it's nothing," he stammered.

"Watching us secretly is creepy, you know," she said.

So she noticed. His face turned pale.

"Well, I can guess why you did it," she said. "It's fine. We already have an agreement."

"Meaning...?"

"Aurora will sell Kroma herb to us at a low price."

***

Today, Aurora and Lyra walked through the busy town streets, taking in the sights and sounds around them.

"So, where are we headed?" Aurora asked, turning to Lyra.

Lyra looked at the paper she was holding. "Um... Based on this message they sent you, it looks like we're headed to that tavern over there," she said, pointing to a nearby building.

Aurora took a closer look at the place Lyra had pointed out. It was more like a cafe in the modern world, with a few chairs and tables set up outside.

Aurora picked a table that was shaded by a nearby building and sat down. Lyra stood behind her.

A young tavern worker approached them, around the same age as Aurora. "Welcome to our tavern," she said with a smile. "What can I get for you?"

"I'd like a cold drink," Aurora said. "And we were waiting for..." she looked at Lyra. "What's his name again?" 

Lyra looked back at the paper. 

"Dante," she replied.

Aurora nodded. "Dante. If he's coming, please make sure he finds us," she said to the tavern worker.

"No need," Before the worker could respond, a purple-haired young man appeared beside Aurora, catching everyone off guard. "I'm already here," he said nonchalantly.

Lyra and the tavern worker were surprised, but Aurora looked at him calmly, as if she had expected him to arrive at any moment. 

"That's fast," Aurora said with a hint of amusement.

Dante grinned, "Maybe I was here before you even arrived," he said as he took a seat across from her.

"I'll have the same as this lady," he said to the tavern worker, who nodded and quickly went to fulfill the order.

Finally, Aurora met Dante Raven, the leader of the Information Guild and the secret capture target. 

"Let's talk," Dante said.

Aurora replied, "Sure."

Lyra looked at the man with careful eyes. She was certain that this was the man who had given her the envelope. That mean he could be a threat to her master. 

"So," Dante began, "I heard you're looking for us."

"Yes," Aurora said, getting straight to the point.

Dante leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I wonder what a noble lady like yourself wants from us. I hope you're not looking for any bad information, right?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Stop playing around. We both know why we're here."

"Fine," Dante said. "Usually, I don't meet with clients directly, but I made an exception for you. I bit into your invitation and met you here. So, you think you have something we want? But what can you really offer us?"

Aurora let out a sigh. "You already know that, don't you? If not, it might not be worth making a deal with you."

His expression becoming serious. "So it's true? About you being able to see the future?"

Lyra gasped. 

"Yes," Aurora simply replied, "as expected you already know."

Aurora then gave a short glance towards her maid, Lyra. Lyra's face turned pale and she lowered her head. 

Dante stared at Aurora, trying to read her expressions as she spoke. The blue-haired lady seemed confident in her words, and Dante couldn't help but believe that she was telling the truth.

"Then I will tell you my offer," Aurora said. "Your guild is currently dealing with a big mission, right? And from all people, it's come from the king himself."

Dante was taken aback. "How... How much do you know?"

"I believe he's worried about the rising of a group of rebels that call themselves the Black Knights," Aurora continued. "He's asking your guild to find information about them. But even as amazing as your Information Guild is, you guys are stuck."

Dante sat there in silence, seemingly afraid to speak and reveal any unnecessary information.

"Lyra," Aurora said, "Give me the map."

The maid quickly reached into her bag and handed the bundled paper to her master.

Aurora unfurled the map on the table and, using a pen, marked three spots on it.

"These are the first three locations of their secret hideout," Aurora said. "Why don't you confirm this information first and we can make the real contracts later?"

She slid the map over to Dante, who eagerly took it and began studying it closely.

Aurora stood up from her chair, "That's all for today," she said. "Have a good day." 

She left and her maid quickly following her behind. 

Dante, still in shock, couldn't even bring himself to try and stop her. He pocketed the map and couldn't help but smile to himself. 

"What an interesting girl." 

The tavern worker came back over with two glasses of drinks, breaking Dante out of his thoughts.

***

Lyra timidly followed her master, her heart pounding with fear. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground, trying to steady her breathing as she walked behind her master. 

A quick glance from Aurora was all it took for Lyra to realize that she had been caught. Aurora knew she had been eavesdropping and was aware of her big secret. 

At the tavern she couldn't help but be surprised at how the information guild knew about it. After all, the only people who were supposed to know were Aurora and his father. But her gasp gave away that she knew too.

"Lyra," Aurora said, stopping in her tracks.

"Ye-yes?" Lyra stammered.

"Don't you have something you should say?" Aurora said without looking at her.

Lyra blinked. Aurora was giving her the opportunity to admit her mistakes. At first, her weak heart was planning to make excuses, that she was accidentally listening or that she didn't mean to.

But before she could open her mouth and start babbling a lie, she could feel it. Her master, in some way, already knew everything. How angry would she be if she added lies on top of that?

She shuddered.

"I...," Lyra started, "I'm sorry miss... I, I eavesdropped on your talk with your father..."

Her tears fell. "I'm sorry..."

Aurora turned around, her hand touching Lyra's cheeks. But not out of kindness.

"Is that all you did?" Aurora asked.

"Ye-yes," Lyra said, "I'm sorry..."

"Did you sell that information to someone?" Aurora asked. "Like that Dante guy from before?"

"N-no, I never told anyone..."

"You're not lying, right?" Aurora asked.

"Of course not," Lyra said.

"Okay then," Aurora said, releasing her cheeks. Lyra still looked down, too scared to look at her master's face.

"But Lyra," Aurora said, "you know you've disappointed me, right?"

"Y-yes, I'm sorry. Please punish me. I'll do anything you want," Lyra replied, lowering her head. She expected her master to hit her or something, but to her surprise, her master didn't do such a thing.

"For now," Aurora said, "go back home. Tell my father that information about my ability leaked. Someone betrayed our family."

***