As the conversation moved further, Dawn took the initiative to express more, even though she was still much more reserved compared to someone like Jenni. Although she mentioned she was not big on conversation, Dawn seemed to be an all-rounder on nearly every topic. Her experience might not be deep, but she seemed to know a lot about various subjects.
"You mentioned you learned the language recently," Jenni asked. "Does that mean you're not from the empire?"
Dawn shook her head.
"Where are you from?"
"I don't think you'll recognize the place," she said. "I was born in a nameless village, and my work has had me moving all the time since I was sixteen. But for the last couple of years, I've mostly stayed in the Republic and the kingdom of Iman."
"I see," Jenni gave a thoughtful look. "As far as I know, the Republic uses the common tongue, but Imanian is difficult. I heard there's a huge difference between how men and women talk."
"Not a huge difference, but you are correct."
"You know that language?"
Dawn nodded.
"Say something in Imanian," she urged.
"Tu para e asta?" Dawn said.
"What does that mean?"
"What do you want me to talk about?"
"Hmm," Jenni hummed. "You're good. I think all you need is just a little more confidence..."
Dawn practically blushed at the compliment.
"Your hair, is it natural?" Jenni asked, moving her palm to touch it. "Can I touch it?"
Dawn thought for a moment before nodding. With her approval, Jenni didn't waste any time brushing clumsy fingers over her silky hair.
"It used to be black," Dawn said. "But it mutated to this when I was seventeen."
"What happened?" Jenni smelled the locks of hair and then became flustered.
That was probably why he asked for us to meet, Jenni thought. I guess it worked out.
Jenni prepared a tier-I script to heat the food before serving. "So what do you plan from here?" she asked. "How long are you going to stay?"
"I'm not sure... Sir Warden needs to complete some work," she said slowly. "I guess I'll help with that."
"Why do you call him Sir?" Jenni asked. "You're both silver rankers, no?"
"He doesn't like that either," Dawn sighed. "I guess old habits don't go away."
"He advanced to Silver only a couple of weeks ago, while you look like you've been in Silver for some time..."
"Oh, you might not know, but Sir was a gold ranker before—" Dawn paused, as though only just remembering she shouldn't discuss any more.
"What?" But Jenni only needed a little to get her interest piqued. "How did he fall back to iron rank?"
"I shouldn't discuss this without Sir's permission," Dawn answered neutrally.
"Hmm," Jenni didn't mind, though she didn't stop. "Is this how he became a Master Runesmith so early?"
After all, a Master Runesmith in gold rank is much more believable than a Master Runesmith in Iron or Silver rank.
"I don't know which accomplishment is greater," Dawn cut in, "but I know for a fact that he advanced to Gold at 24."
"Holy mother of gods!" Jenni stood up. "You are joking, right?"
Dawn still had the same look on her face.
"I'm twenty-five and would have been Silver if I hadn't fallen in the subspace," she said, clenching her teeth. "But there is a huge difference between gold and silver advancement. I know I'm not the greatest of potentials... still, as far as I know, the youngest gold ranker was in his early forties..."
"Common sense does not make sense about him," Dawn stated, "someone once told me."
Jenni sighed. "I guess I'm only dregs—" A bell chimed, alerting her. "Oh crap, Father is coming..."
Before she could do anything, she heard a knock, followed by her father's voice. "Jenni, I'm coming in..."
"Wait, Father, I'm..."
The man was already in her room, observing her.