'Good, good!' the younger tower magician smiled. 'Then we shan't need to worry about any more innocents being made its victims.'
Arin found himself scrutinizing the boy's face for any signs of sorrow or dismay.
But if Siel was feeling any regret or reluctance with regard to the death of Elara - someone whom he too, had interacted with - then he hid it well.
Arin already knew that this wasn't because of apathy or detachment, and much less, some sort of callousness.
Had that been the case, the boy would've insisted they inform the officials and have the girl killed as soon as they learned of the existence of the distortion.
That was, after all, the 'proper procedure' they'd been expected to follow, the lives of even the other villagers be damned.
And that was pretty much what had helped Arin understand something. Such deaths, in this world, seemed to be far more commonplace than within the sheltered and relatively peaceful society he himself came from.
And if so, it made sense for the boy to seem more practical and unaffected than what he might've expected from a teenager.
...
Or maybe he really was overthinking things, and Siel just knew to hide his emotions well...
'Whatever caused the delay?' rasped the healer's voice from under his hood.
Arin blinked, shaken from his thoughts by the abruptness of the question.
What, did this guy think he was just part of their team now?
'Delay... with destroying the distortion?' he confirmed.
The cloaked healer nodded.
'I just...' Arin glanced down at Siel, who was also looking up at him with those round, wide eyes of his.
'I just had to make sure we were far away enough that the backlash couldn't affect anyone else.'
He couldn't tell them about what he'd actually wanted to try. He doubted the real Rin would've done something that foolhardy, and frankly, stupid.
'Backlash!?' Siel's eyes opened even wider. 'I'd never even considered such a thing!'
'An evolving distortion is new territory. I didn't know what to expect, and figured it wasn't worth taking the risk,' Arin shrugged a shoulder.
'Amazing!' exclaimed the younger tower magician. 'You'll have to tell me all about it later, senior brother Rin. For now, I'm just glad that things went well!'
Went well, huh?
Considering he'd died, and was somehow still here, Arin found himself inclined to agree.
'Hmm...' The healer didn't say anything else to Arin. Instead, he turned towards Siel. 'Went well, hm? Even after everything that has happened?'
Arin frowned. 'What do you mean?' he asked. 'What happened?'
Siel cleared his throat. 'Well, as I was saying earlier, I was trying to be stealthy as I left to follow your mouse. It was then that there was an unexpected commotion.'
'It seems that some of the healed could awaken long before the likely hour.'
'If one's body is healed enough to keep their life, an individual with exceptional resolve, a sense of urgency weighing upon then, or even a knot in their hearts, might push through sooner than the others,' offered the cloaked healer from the side.
'And unfortunately,' Siel continued, 'Sir Grif happens to be one such person.'
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