“Come see me for a moment,” Elysand says.
Nodding, I get up and follow him.
He takes me to another room and closes the door.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Uhm, yes…”
Achoo!
I cringe as soon as I sneeze and place my hand over my mouth.
“Sorry.”
“You are not well.”
“I was…well enough this morning but…”
“People with no spiritual energy are as vulnerable as mortals to the elements,” he says with a sigh.
I stare at him blankly.
“You have a cold.”
“A…cold?”
He nods. “It’s gotten much colder in the last few days here. It’s not abnormal that someone with your stats would suffer the consequences.”
I lower my head. Right, I’m so weak even the elements pose a danger to me. It seems my father’s shield was at least protecting me from that since this is the first time I’ve ever experienced such symptoms.
“I’m sorry,” is all I can say. “I did not mean to bring the illness here.”
He waves his hand at me. “Don’t you worry about that. No one else can catch it. You on the other hand…” he trails off.
“I can still work. I promise, it won’t affect my performance.”
Another sigh. “Colds pass in a few days. If this persists, please let me know.”
“All right…” I mutter and go back to my station.
Although I do my best to work through this mental fog, I can’t help but notice the way people around me stare at me and snicker every now and then. And when I move from one area to another, they all give me a wide berth, as if I were contagious.
Elysand said no one could catch the cold from me, so why are they behaving as if I could infect them all?
“Are you all right, Nykander?” Pekka eventually asks, but he keeps the same distance from me.
“Yes.” I force a smile. “Just a small cold.”
He nods. “Understandable with your condition.”
That’s one way of putting it.
“I’m curious, have you never tried advancing?”
I purse my lips. How do I explain that I’m prohibited by law to seek any teacher that might help me with advancement? Or that I am not allowed to do it on my own either, even if I were toknowhow.
“I don’t think I am good at such things,” I answer carefully. “I am more suited to office work.”
