Natalie's magical growth record

Chapter 15 Lord Mallow’s Laboratory and the Unique Customs of the Southern District of the Earth
  "Alina, little Natalie, we're here!"

About ten minutes later, the three of them stopped in front of a rather simple hut. When Natalie was still confused, she saw that Blair, who was leading the way, had filled the magic circle on the door of the cabin with fresh magic power at some point.

As the rotation of the magic circle stopped, the door that had been closed magically opened automatically.

"Wow, there are really a lot of stones..."

As soon as she stepped into this ordinary research room, Natalie's attention was attracted by the stones of various shapes and colors inside. She stood next to the teacher and looked at the surrounding display windows from time to time. I was quietly amazed at the exquisite sparkling stones in the cabinet.

"Come on, pick out a piece you like, little Natalie."

Sensing the unbearable curiosity in the young girl's eyes, Blair couldn't help but become interested and personally led Natalie to view the display in each window of the research room.

They are all so beautiful, and they look very expensive. Is it really okay to give them to her like this?
  Thinking of this, Natalie hesitated again.

"What's wrong, little Natalie, don't you like these stones?"

Noticing that the little girl was obviously hesitant, Blair immediately expressed concern.

"No..." For fear of being misunderstood by Mr. Malkui in front of her, Natalie quickly shook her head and explained weakly: "Is this very expensive... Mr. Malkui, does it really matter if you give it to me..."

"It's okay, Natalie, these are not expensive things." Seeing Natalie's obviously embarrassed look, Alina quickly spoke to enlighten the students, "And the habit of giving stones as important gifts is a common practice. It’s a unique custom in the Southern District!”

"custom?"

Hearing this unexpected term, Natalie's curiosity couldn't help but be aroused again, and she asked questions without thinking.

"That's right, customs," Alina glanced at Blair next to Natalie, cleared her throat, and slowly recounted her knowledge of regional humanities, "According to legend, in our In the southern area of ​​​​the Earth in the Olivia continent, in order to commemorate the birth of new children into the world, parents will hold their children and select suitable stones from the local mountains as their children's guardian stones. And that piece is What about the stones that a child likes? The parents will take them to a nearby magic workshop to be processed and polished into some trinkets or magic tools for the children, and then accompany the owner until adulthood or even throughout his life. Although we do not have such a custom in the East District of the Wind , but if you can receive such a processed stone from your peers in the Southern District of the Earth, it means that they want to establish a deeper relationship with you, such as friendship or love. If an elder gives a stone to a younger generation, It means blessing and encouraging future generations."

"So that's how it is. I'm sorry, Mr. Malkui..."

Natalie suddenly understood and hurriedly apologized for her rude behavior just now.

"It's okay, little Natalie. You are not from our Southern District, so it is understandable that you don't know these things. Moreover, the fact that you specifically apologized is much better than the lady next to you! "

Blair touched the little girl's head and said gently.

"Brother Shitou, please pay attention to your words and deeds!"

Before Natalie could cast doubtful glances at the young man nearby, Alina, who was leaning casually against the door not far away, changed her previous casual expression, raised the corners of her mouth, and gestured in front of her. The man a few years older than her uttered moderately threatening words.

This is a fact, I don’t want to think about who gave me three days of hard work..."

"Brother Shitou, be careful with your words and actions!"

Alina looked at Blair with a half-smile, a ball of violently beating flames ready in her hand, threatening calmly.

"Okay, okay, Alina, I won't say it! Put away your flames quickly, and besides, aren't we here to pick out gifts for little Natalie? Don't put the cart before the horse, okay?"

The moment he saw the flame in the opponent's hand, Blair quickly ran to Alina without thinking, stopped the opponent from throwing the flame out, and said anxiously.

"That's right. That's okay. You can choose slowly and I won't disturb you."

Alina glanced at the students beside her, and then, under the advice of Earth Mallow, she put away the flame in her hand, found an empty seat, picked up a book and started reading.

"Okay, little Natalie, let's continue picking rocks." Confirming that the uncertain woman in front of him had given up her dangerous thoughts, Blair secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to smile at the little girl beside him. road.

"Um…"

Natalie, who was once again confused by the strange interaction between the two adults, was in a trance. Suddenly she heard someone calling her, and she couldn't help but trembled with guilt. Then she cheered up again under the smile of the sage, nodded.

So after experiencing this little episode, Natalie didn't dare to be distracted anymore, and focused her attention vigorously on observing the various stones in the research room.

Suddenly, Natalie's eyes were attracted by a faint blue light not far away.

Out of curiosity, she quickly trotted forward, and soon found the stone that attracted her attention among the many stones on display.

"This is aquamarine, a precious stone that I specially collected from the Water North District. Little Natalie is very discerning."

Blair touched Natalie's head kindly, walked to the display window in a few steps, and took out the square light blue gem.

"But speaking of it, I remember that Maxwell seemed to have such a stone..."

Blair looked at this blue gemstone, which was as calm and gentle as the sea, and became thoughtful.

"Water Begonia?" After hearing this, Alina raised her lips slightly and smiled with interest, "Brother Shitou, your idea is very interesting."

"Alina, you used your wind magic to eavesdrop again, right?"

After the scolding, Blair seemed to have just realized Natalie's presence, and cleared his throat pretending to be calm, put on the kind smile that an elder should have and corrected himself, "You can't do this next time, you know? "

"understood."

Alina nodded helplessly, and then she picked up the book again and continued reading.

"Then this is the decision?"

After finally confirming that the person at the window would not cause trouble again, Blair returned his gaze to the aquamarine in his hand and gently bent down to ask.

"Um...thank you..."

Natalie nodded and was about to say thank you. At this moment, there was a loud knock on the door of the research room. Natalie trembled and quickly retracted her gaze that was still on the aquamarine, and ran over without thinking. Beside the teacher.

"Please come in."

After a moment of surprise, Blair quickly adjusted himself and cleared his throat in response.

Then the door of the research room was suddenly pushed open, and a strange man hurried in.

"What happened?"

Blair looked at the person, adjusted his glasses with a headache, and asked.

"Lord Mallow, something bad has happened! The mountains near Eden Village have experienced severe landslides due to sudden weather changes. Not only has the main mountain road been blocked, but it has also alarmed the rock monsters on the mountain. The current The scene in Eden Village is in chaos. Please rush to the scene as soon as possible to maintain order."

(End of this chapter)