Bound Together by Corinn Heathers Page B

someone else do things like help you dress in the morning, serve your meals and fetch anything and everything you needed. Maybe it was a good thing my salary was terrible. I'd make a shitty rich person.
    “Misaki,” I began, giving her as big a smile as I could muster, “try not to think of me like you thought of your Masters. Did you ever have any friends?”
    She shook her head.
    “Never? You're going to learn what that's like, then.” Before she could react, I reached out and picked up her plate and dished some of the meal out onto it. Misaki just stared at me, those vivid green eyes wide, as I set the plate down in front of her.
    “Go ahead and eat.” I sipped at my tea and served myself, taking a little rice, a lot of vegetables and even more of the fish. I wasn't the best when it came to chopsticks, but for some reason I didn't want to get up and grab a fork. It would have just made Misaki feel even more inadequate and out of sorts.
    “This is really very good,” I said around a mouthful of vegetables. It was just some random stuff I had in the fridge, but Misaki displayed a great deal of skill when it came to cooking. I wasn't the worst cook, but the uniformly paper-thin slices of sashimi told me that her abilities were several levels beyond mine.
    Once again the ears gave her away. It was pretty obvious Misaki had never really been complimented, especially not by someone who filled the role of “Master.” I tried my best not to grimace at the thought. She may have had her own mind, but it was clear enough to me that if I ordered her to do something, anything, she would do it without question.
    “T-thank you,” Misaki managed, the words coming out almost in a squeak. Her ears were flattened, her cheeks flushed and her speech thick with embarrassment. I tried not to stare at her too obviously, but it was becoming increasingly difficult not to. I mean, she's really easy on the eyes.
    “Things aren't going to stay this peaceful for long.” I clumsily picked up a piece of sashimi with my chopsticks and dipped it in a small dish of soy sauce before eating it. Misaki was already almost finished with her meal, obviously being used to having to eat quickly in order to resume her tasks as a maidservant before the important—the male— members of her clan were done with their meal.
    “N-no, they won't.” Misaki's voice was obviously troubled. “AEGIS will come for you eventually.”
    I drained the last vestiges of my tea. “So will your ex-family. AEGIS I'm less worried about.”
    Misaki nodded, but she looked unconvinced.
    “Look, AEGIS is the government. I work for the government already, so I know how they operate.” I took a moment to chew a bite of rice and fish before changing the subject. “You mentioned earlier something about a 'True Relic.' What's that all about?”
    “The sword I am imbued within is a True Relic.” Misaki placed her chopsticks on the table. “All True Relics are much the same; a new spirit created from the remains of slain specters, imbued into a master-crafted weapon using a powerful invocation ritual.”
    I arched an eyebrow. “So it's magic, then?”
    “Yes and no. It is an approximation of magic, sometimes called magecraft or astral thaumaturgy. Spirits can draw upon the lines of force to safely pull mana from the astral world and into the physical world. Humans cannot do this safely and must draw upon the loose mana in the world around them.”
    “But you can use magic,” I reasoned.
    “Yes. I was born from a seed crafted from the remains of purified specters. Like all spirits, I can use magic, but I can't draw new mana from the astral world. I depend upon channeling mana through my Ma—I mean, through you.”
    I smiled. “Show me something.”
    Misaki nodded and lifted her right hand. The air around her seemed to crackle and pulse with power. From the empty air a swirl of flame appeared around her hand, shaping itself into a sphere that glowed brighter and