The conversation ended in a heavy silence. Kain walked back to the room at a leisurely pace, arriving just in time to find Mera lying on the bed, still sulking under the covers."Come now, why are you still upset?"
"But... that Faith guy is our opponent..."
Mera pouted. She still found it difficult to accept that someone who acted like an enemy and dragged them into this mess had somehow convinced her sister, Myra, to insist on following him.
Kain didn't have a good way to handle this either; Faith certainly hadn't left them with a good impression.
In truth, it wasn't that Mera didn't want Myra to pursue something else. As a person who valued freedom, she understood how much courage that required. What Mera feared was that Myra would be taken advantage of or mistreated while following Faith, as that blonde man clearly wasn't the type to show mercy.
She feared Myra would be hurt once again.
"Alright, I'll go give that Faith guy a warning later."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
At that, a small smile appeared on Mera's face, though she quickly hid it beneath her pillow.
...
The next day.
Although the inner city of Adia was buzzing with unrest and anxiety due to the appearance of a grand-class Magus, it had little to do with the three minor figures: Kain, Mera, and Myra. Carrying a check for three million Cents—redeemable at any city-state within the Akazac Empire—and a "small purse" of 1,000 Cents, the three were personally escorted out of Adia by the servants of the Egretta family.
Drifting back toward Esten on a large passenger ship, Kain didn't hesitate to spend money for the highest quality service.
He and Mera sat at a tea table on the top deck of the ship, watching the scenery pass by.
Myra was resting in her room, knowing she should give the two of them some private space; she had no desire to be a third wheel.
"Here is your ice cream, enjoy."
The server brought out two large bowls of ice cream: a pink strawberry-flavored one for Mera and a pure white vanilla-flavored one for Kain.
Having tried this wonderful treat back in Esten, both Kain and Mera had developed a mutual fondness for the soft, cool dessert.
"I really didn't think a passenger ship would provide so many services; it's like a miniature neighborhood," Mera remarked. She scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, closing her eyes in happiness as she enjoyed the light sweetness of the strawberry.
Kain also took a bite. The flavor was indeed not bad.
"It is a ship meant for transporting people, after all, and people always have different needs. For the wealthy folks from Adia, they probably couldn't stand being on a boat without entertainment."
"I suppose that's true."
After her third spoonful, Mera pushed her strawberry ice cream toward Kain.
"You haven't tried any flavor except vanilla, right? Try some of my strawberry."
"Alright, let me see."
However, because both bowls were quite large, Mera accidentally let her strawberry ice cream brush lightly against Kain's vanilla bowl. When she pushed it in front of him, a white streak appeared on the side of the strawberry ice cream, while a pink streak of similar size appeared on the vanilla side.
Kain didn't pay it much mind, but Mera stared at it, frowning and scratching her head in confusion.
While Kain didn't care about the ice cream or the colors, he did care about Mera. Seeing her strange expression, he immediately asked, "What is it?"
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just... shouldn't this be wrong?"
Mera pointed her finger at the smears on both bowls.
"If my ice cream brushed against yours, or yours brushed against mine, shouldn't only one side be marked? But look, it's like both bowls exchanged marks with each other."
Faced with her confusion, Kain didn't answer immediately but replied with a hint of humor.
"I didn't think you had the heart of a scholar in you."
"Hmph! I've always had the heart of a scholar!"
Mera pouted and then tugged on Kain's arm, pleading for an explanation.
He gave in.
"Alright. You aren't exactly wrong in theory, but you are failing to consider something."
"Failing to consider what?"
"You are failing to consider the nature of the objects. With these two scoops of ice cream, you are unconsciously assuming they are solid blocks."
Mera knitted her brows for a moment and then nodded, seemingly understanding, though whether she truly did was anyone's guess.
"However, looking at the result, the two scoops didn't just take something from each other; they exchanged. This only happens when the object isn't a solid block, but a plastic mass made of countless discrete parts."
"Wait, wait, slow down. What is that supposed to mean?"
Mera's lip twitched. She didn't understand why the conversation had suddenly jumped to "plastic masses" and "discrete parts."
Kain could only offer a wry smile.
"Fine, I'll start from the basics."
He took a spoon, scooped up a small bit of ice cream, and gently placed it into a cup of water he had been drinking from earlier.
"Do you know the difference between stirring and mixing?"
"Um... is there a difference?"
"Not a huge one, but yes."
He used the spoon to gently stir the water. He stirred very lightly and carefully, so the tiny piece of ice cream only deformed slightly without dissolving.
"Although the ice cream here is a single mass, it isn't homogeneous; it is plastic and discrete. So when I stir like this, you only see it change shape, right?"
"Well, yeah... you mean, this is stirring?"
"Yes. The essence of 'stirring' that I'm talking about isn't just the motion, but the act of stretching the density of a substance into different layers without actually destroying its structure. Like this—even though my stirring force is very light, the ice cream is still being stretched in the direction of the water flow. But if I simply reverse the direction, the counter-force acts like a reversal of time, bringing the mass back to its original structure—or at least close to it."
"From that, we can draw a general conclusion: the nature of stirring is defined by whether the structure of the object is merely being stretched into layers, such that a proper counter-action can reverse the process and return the object to its initial state."