Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 47: Storm of Hearts, Part Three

{Mel}

{Three years ago}

Mel couldn’t remember the last time she slept on an actual bed.

The morning sun launching a fiery barrage against her eyelids forced them to part. Mel sat up on the park bench she was sleeping at, stretching her hands up as she yawned.

The cup resting by her feet had no money in it. That was odd, given that Mel had received a few dollars from people passing by yesterday.

[Someone stole it.]

She sighed.

Thankfully, she’d long since developed a countermeasure for this.

She would stuff 75% of whatever money she received into her panties. The 25% she left out in the cup was intentionally placed there, to make anyone who wanted to rob her think that was all she had.

Thus, she pulled that 75% out. 8 coins, each worth one royal respectively, with a few stray pubes decorating them.

[Okay...] Mel breathed out. [I can buy some breakfast.]

Like other children of mana, Mel had spent most of her life in an orphanage. But, upon turning 16, she became a legal adult in Telvan which meant that she’d have to go out on her own. Not that she’d liked it back at that orphanage, but at least she had a roof over her head back then.

Now, she had nothing. Nothing but a school uniform that was long overdue for a wash, some running shoes that were pretty much falling apart, an old, holographic, cell phone, and a few royals that smelled like pussy.

Still, she kept going. Her needs largely moved her body for her, which meant that, currently, it was her growling stomach that was dragging her legs over to the nearest restaurant. Mel allowed them to take her where she needed to go and, soon, she was standing in front of a hotdog stand, holding up those royals.

The old man behind the stand sneered at her but gave her the hotdog all the same.

"Thank you..." Mel said but her voice was so low it may as well have been a whisper.

And so, she walked away from that place, hotdog in hand, wondering just how long it would take before she curled up and died.

---

{Nearly two months ago}

Getting accepted into the Watchful wasn’t something Mel had seriously thought would happen. She’d applied on a whim and had been surprised a couple of days later when the evaluator called and said she was in.

She figured it had something to do with her mana, of course. The amount of mana she possessed wasn’t normal, even among other children of mana, as Mel had learned back at her orphanage. Whatever the reason was, suddenly, Mel had a way out.

A rope had been thrown at her and all she could do was try to pull herself out.

So, she walked to her dorm room, where she met her roommate.

"Ugh, excuse me? I’m not sharing a room with a freak like you."

A roommate she met and spoke to for all of 10 seconds before she walked away and Mel never saw her again.

Such a reaction was, of course, to be expected, though. Mel just shrugged and set that aside, walking into the room that was now completely hers. It was quaint but, honestly, it could have been completely barren and Mel still would have been glad to call it home. Especially if...

Mel walked toward the door to the right.

[The bathroom.] That hadn’t been what she was looking for.

No, she found what she was looking for to the left.

A bedroom.

With an actual bed inside of it.

Mel fell to her knees and wept.

---

{During her first day}

Walking through the halls with some books she’d picked up from the library, Mel was ready.

She didn’t know what to expect, though she could guess that there wouldn’t be much glory in the low-rank courses she was about to take, but she was prepared to start this new phase in her life.

She didn’t go long without an accident, though, as Mel ended up bumping into someone.

"Agh!"

Her books hit the ground.

Mel was about to go pick them back up when she caught sight of the woman she’d actually bumped into just now.

[...]

Her mind went blank.

Long, wild, crimson hair, one red eye and one green eye, both of which were slightly narrow, giving them a naturally mischievous glint, wide, voluptuous curves, and a little smirk on her face as those differently-colored eyes roamed Mel’s frame up and down, the woman Mel had just run into was...

[... Beautiful.]

The girl picked up both of Mel’s books and held them in her hands as Mel uttered "sorry", though she figured the other girl likely didn’t hear her and moved to grab them.

"Here. Damn, I get that I look good from the back but, please, watch where you’re going~"

Mel swallowed. That voice had just the right pitch to it to invite thoughts into Mel’s mind that hadn’t been there in... Well, ever.

And, that same girl had just walked into the very classroom Mel was headed for.

She couldn’t tell whether it was good luck or bad luck, but it definitely was some type of luck that made that happen.

---

{The present day}

{Lianna}

Although the tower looked old and rusty from the outside, from the inside it was fairly standard technologically.

Air conditioning, a carpeted floor, and light music filled the halls as Lianna and Enverna were escorted to the elevator at the back. On the way there, Lianna caught sight of several young women, some of which looked quite a lot like a certain friend of hers, all studying or practicing spells.

As they entered the elevator, their escort tapped the button for the highest floor, Floor 15, and the elevator doors closed.

A moment later, they emerged at a much more narrow hall with just one, singular door at the back.

"Any advice on what we should expect?" Enverna asked.

"..."

Their escort remained silent.

"Good talk."

"Come on, haven’t you heard that the key to a good first impression is to smile nice and wide?" Lianna asked the stoic lady. "You-"

"We’re here."

On that note, their escort turned around and walked away.

"So, uh, guess that gives us a good idea of what these people will be like. Let’s see what they want."

Lianna then pushed the door open and revealed a meeting room, equipped with one giant, oval-shaped table in the center and many chairs surrounding it. At the back was a woman staring out a glass wall from which she could see the landscape of Telvan.

She turned and smiled at them.

"Greetings," she said with a curtsy. "I hope the journey here wasn’t too tedious."

The lady wore blue robes that nearly touched the floor. The fact that it did not reach the floor allowed Lianna to notice she was barefoot. Her robe’s sleeves covered most of her arms but Lianna could see she had on some white bandages beneath them.

"Not at all." Enverna bowed and the two girls sat down near the door.

"So," Lianna said, crossing her legs, "what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, as the representative of the Starsign Association, I just wanted to get to know the Watchful’s top, new recruits. Especially given that one of you is so similar to me, hehe."

"Ah, so you’re a child of mana too?" Lianna asked.

"Indeed. All of us are, including the stern-faced lady who brought you here," the woman replied. "My name is Al’has Varim. You are Enverna Alteri and you are Lianna Velcross. I would like to make the two of you an offer."

"Uh, okay. We’re listening," Lianna replied.

"Two offers, actually," Al’has continued. "One, we wanted to inform you that we are willing to purchase any and all mana cores that you find. Whatever is the market price for it, we will pay double."

Lianna’s eyes bulged out of their sockets.

Selling mana cores found in Fiends and in other dead players, was one of the main ways in which players earned money. Hearing that they’d be willing to buy them at double the price, was insane.

"Second, of course, Lianna," Al’has looked over at her, specifically, "we would like it if you could join us."

"Um," Lianna quickly went to decline, "I’m not really interested in joining any guild that isn’t-"

"The Starsign Association is not a guild, Lianna," Al’has quickly cut her off, "it is a community. Therefore, you can be a part of both the association and the Watchful. We would not make this offer if that was not possible."

Hearing that, Lianna was effectively silenced.

[So... I can join both?]

She’d need to check with the administrator to know if that was truly the case, but before she could decide on anything like that, she wanted to know:

"Okay... So, what are the benefits?"

"Well, for one," Al’has began, "we, of the association, would love to work side by side with another Constellation’s follower."

Enverna and Lianna both tensed up.

Al’has smiled politely.

"I’m sure you’d both like to learn a little about what is truly happening, no?"