Enigma of Sin

Kayn spent the day after the semester ended trying to get everything in order so that he could be gone for a while and nothing would pop up on him. Maria approached Kayn on this day as she was graduating from the academy, but she still felt that she had a lot to learn from him.

She asked for his permission to apply as an official assistant professor directly under him, which he gave his approval for. She had been very useful during his classes and he didn't mind teaching her more as he found it nice to have a peer to bounce ideas back and forth with who wasn't an old monster.

The unpleasant news came when he reported to Director Vix that he was planning to leave academy grounds for the duration of the break.

"I can't approve that Professor Ashan, I apologize. I forgot to mention it to you, but the first two weeks of this break is our biannual healer convention that we share with academies from across both our Mancean Empire, the Carnet Empire, and even some individual nations within Inmortuea. Even the Royal Healers of both empires attend this convention.

"Naturally, the leaders of the various healing organizations are also invited, so Charlotte Erving will be in attendance as well. I'm surprised she hadn't told you about this during one of her frequent visits." Director Vix may have mentioned it in an offhanded way, but Kayn could tell she was curious as to why such an esteemed individual was visiting his residence so often.

"I see. As for Leader Erving, we are working on something together which is why she visits so often. Is there anything I need to prepare for the convention then? Where is it taking place?"

"Very interesting, if you two need another brain, don't be afraid to ask me," Director Vix smiled. "As for the convention, we will be using a one-time teleportation scroll to go both there and come back as it's held in a secluded area between both empires. 

"Before you ask, your daughter is welcome there, otherwise you can make arrangements for her to be taken care of here. As for preparations, I didn't put you on the docket for any presentations, so just a clean notebook for your own personal use. Everything else including housing is provided."

Kayn gave a small bow after listening to her before taking his leave. Now that his plans for this break were entirely ruined, he needed to reschedule how he was going to do everything. He was originally going to work on contracts for the first two weeks and then spend the last week with Kinzie and Rowen.

He really wanted to learn everything the old man knew about enchanting and inscription, but that plan was in the trash now unfortunately.

Kayn also needed to figure out what he was going to do with Lara. He could bring her along, keeping her inside the Villa, but that didn't seem very pleasant for her. At this point, he didn't want to risk carrying her around openly in front of the top healers of the Carnet Empire.

If one of them knew about his features or recognized them because the two of them were together, it was game over. His only choice was to keep her hidden and alter his features a bit, including wearing long sleeves and gloves the entire time. The other professors he worked with might find it odd, but in the end, they shouldn't think much of it.

He also had the option of leaving Lara with Rowen and Kinzie. He was strongly considering this, but even if he hired some personal guards, it made him extremely nervous to be that far away from Lara in the case something did happen.

Kayn was well aware that he was overly protective of Lara and that he tended to think that the worst was going to happen whenever he was away, but she was just that important to him and the worst tended to happen to him or his family.

In the end, he came up with a plan that would give Lara some social time while also providing him with the security and assuredness that she would be safe. So, he pulled out one of his communication crystals to ask the other party if they were interested.

"Hello brat. What can I do for you? It's odd you're calling me and not Kinzie." Rowen's ever-mocking voice resounded from the crystal.

"Grandpa Rowen, I would like to ask if you would be interested in staying at my place for a couple of weeks and watching over Lara? Obviously Kinzie can stay here with you, but I'm supposed to go to a convention and bringing her with me isn't a good idea. 

"You know how protective I am of her, and you guys staying in my residence would bring me the ease of mind I need to leave her behind. Obviously, I'll pay you for closing your shop for two weeks as well as some extra that you guys can spend on the shops around the academy. I would definitely owe you one if you can agree to this."

Kayn was actually a bit nervous while he was asking Rowen this. He could have asked Kinzie, but she would have accepted immediately even without asking Rowen. However, he knew that Rowen would be hesitant because shutting down his shop for two weeks was lost profit and lost exposure, hence why Kayn offered money.

"Hmmm, I guess that can be arranged. When do we need to show up by?" Rowen asked without even mentioning the money, which honestly surprised Kayn a little.

"If you guys want to show up tonight, that would be amazing! Otherwise, first thing in the morning." Kayn replied with excitement as he was happy that at least one of his plans worked out how he imagined.

"Sure kid, I'll close up shop a bit early for the night and let the trouble maker know, I'm sure she'll be glad to see you before you head off."

With that the call disconnected. Kayn decided to get things prepared for their stay, including putting clean bedsheets on the beds and setting out clean toiletries.

Fortunately, the home had two guest rooms. One was claimed as a second home for Charlotte, so Rowen would be staying in the other. As for Kinzie, he didn't think she would have any problems staying in his room. Rowen himself might be suspect of the situation, but they were adults, so he would have to get over it.

Kayn was of half of a mind to see if he could pick up any contracts on scumbag healers, but decided that it was too risky. Not to mention if he got caught, it wouldn't just be his ass on the line as those who accompanied him would be implicated as well.

For the remainder of the time until the two elves arrived, he played with the mana in his body in order to change his hair color to black and eye color to green. Kayn sighed though as he looked at his arms, 'If only I could get rid of these black lines.'

The scars he was never able to heal that the Tethers of the Void now occupied were a pain to deal with, not to mention a dead giveaway with his other features taken into account. However, the Carnet Empire shouldn't know that his scars turned black as night.

Also, fortunately for Kayn, people changing their actual eye color wasn't a widely known practice here. On Earth, one could just put in a pair of contacts and call it a day. But here, one needed to know the inner workings of the eye and how they got their color in the first place.

This was fairly easy for Kayn as he had his previous knowledge from Earth. Even on Talgonoth, all eye colors were related to the melanin being in high or low quantities. Kayn had discovered that there were also some other pigmentation that aided in the various eye colors seen here, such as his own crimson eyes. None of it was hard to change though, it just required more practice, especially to keep his eyes a different color.

Getting rid of the ring around his pupils was an entirely different problem though. No matter what he tried, they remained the same. He could veil his eyes much like he had when he was in Myrem, but after calling Charlotte and getting a general understanding of the convention, he learned that external spells were strictly disallowed unless you were performing a demonstration.

Changing his hair and eye color was easy to cover up as they were internally regulated spells, but the veiling spell he used to use was technically external as it was cast on the surface of his eye.

Maybe they would allow him to wear sunglasses? Not that they were even invented here.

While Kayn was lost in his thoughts, Rowen and Kinzie arrived at the gate to be let in. Rowen was allowed access and a guest pass for the academy due to having a student as a granddaughter and because Kayn had put in for a guest permit for him.

When the duo got settled, he fed them and Kayn went over Lara's typical diet, education lessons, and other habits she had. Rowen merely waved his hand at Kayn saying, "Yeah, yeah, I got it," before picking Lara up and leaving the two young lovers alone.

That night, just like many others, the two enjoyed each other's warmth before falling asleep.