Since Lith had been officially admitted at the White Griffon academy, the lives of the inhabitants of the village of Lutia had become easier and safer, especially for Nana. When news spread that the village was the birthplace of a mage, nobles had become friendlier, avoiding to break the law or cause any trouble.

Even passing merchants would be more likely to offer discounts, no more harassing the local smiths. The usual crowd of rogues and troublemakers, that usually hanged around the tavern during the night, had turned meek or left altogether.

Of course, such behaviour didn’t come from the goodness of their hearts, nor from the fear of the youth that maybe in the future would become a great mage. Everyone knew he was away, and it would take no less than two years for him to return.

The reason for such sudden change of heart, depended by the fact that those who didn’t behave had made the strange habit of disappearing without traces, kill themselves leaving behind a suicide note confessing their crimes or simply died in accidents.

What everyone but Nana ignored, was that a mage’s birthplace was his starting fief. Being Lith evaluated as a Rank A student, one of the Queen’s personal units was constantly monitoring the village, weeding out problems in the bud.

They had no way to distinguish a simple criminal from someone that, either by his own will or because manipulated, was attempting to harm Lith’s family. Most importantly, they did not care.

As soon someone was identified as a potential threat, even if the investigations gave no results, they would get rid of the problem, just to be on the safe side.