Jeor was looking at him with a shocked look on his face.
'Eliza often wrote about raising a boy who was born into the Vaelor family. She said he was treated badly by the family because he looked a little strange, but this...
This kid looks like a royal of the north,' Jeor thought.
They both sat in silence for a while as Jeor processed everything that Isfrid said.
After a few moments, Jeor asked, "What were the events that led to her death?" in a much softer tone.
"It was my fault." Jeors' brows furrowed as soon as he heard this.
"I angered one of my siblings in the Vaelor house. He sent a guard to rape Eliza." Before Isfrid could even finish, he was enveloped in a hug.
Isfrid's eyebrows raised for two reasons. He couldn't track Jeor's movements before he was right in front of him. And he had no idea why he was being hugged right now.
"Sir, did you not hear me? I said it was my fault." Isfrid said.
Jeor, without separating the hug, spoke. "It wasn't your fault, boy. The only people to blame are those who ordered it, and those who carried it out."
"Don't you worry, kid, I'll have that guard's head on a platter in a month," Jeor said while separating the hug.
"That's impossible, sir," Isfrid said.
"Kid, the Vaelor house is influential, sure, but there was an agreement that Eliza would be protected while she worked at the house.
The guard's head will be the least we can get. Maybe even a punishment for the child who ordered it."
"No. I am saying it's impossible to take the guard's head because he is already dead....
I killed him."
At his words, Jeor's eyes widened yet again. "How old are you, boy?" he asked.
"I'm seven, sir."
...
"That's too young to be doing such things," Jeor said in a solemn tone.
"...." Isfrid had no response.
"You'll live here from now on. You'll be treated as if you were family." Jeor spoke with a tone of finality.
However, to his surprise, Isfrid's response was, "No.....that's not why I'm here."
"What do you mean?" Jeor asked with a confused look on his face.
"I came to meet the person whom Elizabeth said was a good man. And to ask you a question."
"And what question would that be?"
"Where was the Starlight family buried?" Isfrid asked.
"They were all buried in their house crypt," Jeor responded, confusion still written all over his face.
"I would like to give her a proper burial there," Ifrid said as if it made perfect sense.
'Ahh, that makes sense. Of course, she should be buried with her family...' Jeor thought. However, after a moment, his face went back to confusion.
"Are you saying.....you traveled all the way here with her body???"
"Yes," Isfrid replied again, as if what he was saying made perfect sense.
"But that trip must've taken over a month! Her body would have.... Well, it would have decomposed by now!"
At his words, Isfrid raised his hand. And instantly, Eliza's body, encased in eternal ice, appeared from thin air.
He used magic to gently place the ice coffin on the ground between them. And Joer's face went from confusion to absolute shock.
At first, his eyes flicked towards the ring on Isfrid's finger. Having a spatial ring was rare, but that's not what shocked him.
'That's the ring of the late Patriarch of House Starlight!.... Eliza never mentioned she managed to preserve the House's treasures.'
Then his eyes shifted to the Ice coffin.
"Have you been continuously casting magic to make the ice not melt!?" He asked.
"No, this ice will never melt," Isfrid replied like it was nothing.
Joer felt like he was going to have a heart attack. The number of shocking things that have happened since Isfrid entered his office wasn't good for his old heart.
And lastly, his eyes landed on Eliza in the coffin. What he saw might've been the biggest shock of all.
He'd never seen such a serene and happy smile before. He hadn't seen her in years, but seeing that smile assured him that she had died happily.
"This ice..... Is it a spell made in Eldara?" Joer asked in a much more relaxed tone, having seen that Eliza was happy in her last moments.
Ice magic was a lot more common in the north, and thinking that Eldara made such a spell would be very surprising.
"No, I made this spell myself."
The shock came back instantly.
'This.....this boy is a genius!' Joer thought. Not only to create a spell that this world has never seen, but also to cast such a spell at the age of seven.
He might just be the most talented mage of his generation.
As Joer's thoughts drifted, he noticed the katana on Isfrid's waist.
"You're a mage, right, Isfrid?" He asked in an awkward tone.
"Yes, I'm a mage." Isfrid's reply made Jeor sigh in relief.
"But I'm also walking the path of a knight," Isfrid said in his usual monotone voice.
Joer's eyes widened once again. 'For such a genius mage to be spending his time trying to progress with aura is such a waste of talent!!! .....Wait'
"Isfrid, would you say you're a better mage or knight?" Another question was asked in an awkward tone.
"Hmmm, I'm probably a better knight. I'm only at Adept core grade, while my aura is at Bronze grade."
Jeor felt like a stroke was definitely in his near future. 'This kid isn't a genius... He's a godamn anomaly!!!'