skirt, which was eaten by holes, laid it over the chair by the crackling fire and looked at him sadly with her hazel-brown eyes. Then, following an invisible sign, the dam in her heart that had stored the waters of the Acheron suddenly broke and her words gushed out of her mouth.

"All night I tried to convince the people of the village that you were a good person," she said excitedly, while Ranma quietly devoted herself to the stew that began to cook over the open fire. "I told them what you did for me, but they didn't want to listen to me! I knocked on every door, but nobody wanted to listen to me! They said I was enchanted by you and my family has gone so far." to send me back here to ask you to take the spell off me! They just don't want to understand me! Say, are you listening? "

"Of course, Akane," he smiled torturedly at her, but remained silent until he had filled part of the steaming stew into two white bowls, which he finally placed on the small table in the kitchen before placing two spoons next to the bowls. and motioned the young woman to come to him."Thank you, Akane. I appreciate your standing up for me, but I already told you it was of no use. The villagers' faith is stronger than your word. But you didn't just come to telling me about this, right? Why don't you tell me why you're still here while we eat? "

"Eating?", Akane asked curiously when she had entered the kitchen and the spicy smell of the stew hit her.

"Yes, eat," the black-haired man repeated with a smile and pointed to one of the two chairs, while he took a seat on the opposite chair. "I think good food would do you good; you said yourself that the harvest was bad and, if I remember correctly, your parents have to feed two more children."

The young woman nodded gratefully and waited patiently, as custom required, for the host to taste the first bite of his stew to make sure there were no poisonous wild herbs before relishing the hearty meal. In silence, pondering their own thoughts, the two young adults ate their food and only continued the interrupted conversation after a lookup, which Akane politely declined, while her stomach growled hungrily so that Ranma began to laugh out loud.

"So, why are you really here now?", He asked with his arms crossed after they had finished the meal and put the dishes next to the fireplace where the rest of the stew was slowly cooling down. "Surely you didn't just want to tell me that the people in the village don't believe me."

"No," the young woman shook her pretty head. "I wanted to bring your cloak back to you and thank you for lending it to me."

"And?" The young man insisted, while Akane bowed his head in embarrassment.

"And," she breathed nervously, unsure whether she was going too far with her next question. "And I wanted to ask if, well, you meant that you weren't a wizard, but then how did you open the door or know that I was coming or ask myself this question in the forest? How can you do that, if you're not a wizard? "

"Hm, a difficult question. Are you sure you want an answer?", The black-haired man asked thoughtfully, while he exhaled deeply and focused his gaze on the hesitantly nodding, but silent, young woman without actually looking at her. "Well, how should I answer your question? Every living being, whether human, animal or plant, has an aura that surrounds it. Most people are not aware of this aura, although they can do so with the right training for their purposes Hm, I really don't know how to explain this to you, but maybe you can compare your aura with your soul or with your mind that works with you, that shows you when someone is lying, that can move objects, that are out of your reach, who can even communicate with animals if you only know how.What you see of me is not magic, it's my aura, but the villagers don't understand, so they think I'm a wizard! For example, I could teach you to use your aura and they would not understand, but claim that I have bewitched you! "

"You, you could teach me to use my, my aura, so that I become like you?" Akane asked after a short pause, startled.

"Of course!" Said the youngster proudly. "I could teach any of the villagers to use their aura, but they wouldn't want to. That's why I live here and not in the village."

"But, I mean, if you could, you would, I mean you don't have to, but could you teach me how to use your aura?" She asked carefully.

"If that's what you want," the young man muttered thoughtfully while looking at her intently.