Reincarnated as a mana core

Luna went a bit overboard with her breakfast. She made scrambled eggs for a dozen people on top of pancake mountains and salad. Argul watched the whole thing fascinated and only cleaned Luna’s tools now and then. She thought she was still dreaming, but no those pancakes were real.

Argul took the full plates and brought them to the dining area. There she put together three tables so they could all sit together and still have the food on the same table. While Luna was still rummaging through the kitchen for something, Argul set the table with empty plates and cutlery.

The enticing smell of still hot pancakes began to fill out the inn and Argul hat to pull herself together to not start eating. Hopefully the smell would wake up the others. She went over to the windows in the chilling area and opened them. 

An excited shout came out of the kitchen. “Hah! Finally found you!”

A moment later Luna walked through the door with two glasses of honey. She presented them proudly to Argul. “Now we are all set!”

Someone knocked at the door and Luna set down her honey on one of the tables. “Right, I still have to actually open up.”

She went over to the front of the inn and opened the curtains of the windows before she unlocked the door. A moment later Tania walked inside and they all greeted each other.

Tania raised her eyebrows when she saw the amount of food on the table. “You have prepared quite a feast there.”

Luna laughed awkwardly. “Well, I got to cook without having to clean afterwards thanks to Argul, so I might have gone a bit overboard.”

She smiled brightly. “You wanna join us?”

Tania closed her eyes and took a deep breath to enjoy the smell. “I won’t say no to that offer.”

Then she looked at Argul inquisitively. “So you are going to clean everything.”

Argul shrugged. “It’s not wrong. I am cleaning with magic though, which makes it a lot easier and faster.”

At the mention of magic Tania's smile vanished and Luna looked concerned at her. “Is something wrong Tania?”

Tania sighed. “I actually haven’t come here for no reason.”

She looked out of the front windows. “The mana zone reached the city in the night and all the people that hadn’t been integrated got so forcefully.”

Tania looked back at the other two with a frown on her face. “While more of them stayed sane than we were told they would, a few of them still changed. The guard force has taken up on calling them goblins and are actively patrolling the inhabited parts of the city. Still, it’s not safe outside anymore and a few people have already been killed.”

Luna looked horrified at her. “That’s awful, those poor souls.” Argul didn’t care all that much and shrugged. It just meant she would have to be a bit more careful and keep an eye on Mia to ensure her safety.

Tania glanced at Argul thoughtfully. “You don’t seem to be too phased by the news.”

Argul went over to the table to sit down. “Well, I knew it would happen and I have seen and heard worse.”

Luna looked at Argul in doubt. “There has been worse?”

Argul eyed her and sighed. “Mia is the only survivor of her village. All the others either turned into gigantic killer squirrels or ended up as a gory mess on the floor.”

This time even Tania was moved. “Oh the poor child.” 

It was silent for a moment before she smiled softly at Argul. “At least she has found a capable person that looks out for her.”

Argul looked away a bit embarrassed and a heavy silence set in between them.

The excited voice of Mia sounded out from the second floor. “Come on Aly, Arthi. Hurry up or I will eat your share of food!”

A second later the girl came running down the stairs and loosened the somber atmosphere in the room. She was followed by Arthur and Alyra and the topic of death and loss was set aside for now to have a nice breakfast.

When Argul was finally full she demonstrated her cleaning spell to Tania, who was really impressed by the magic, despite it being a simple cleaning spell. She glanced at Argul. “Would you be able to teach that spell to me? It seems to be really convenient.”

Alyra snorted and nearly got a piece of pancake into her lungs. “If you were able to learn her version of the spell I wouldn’t understand the world anymore. No matter how easy my mother makes it look, the formula alone is insanely complex.”

You just had to concentrate on all the things regarded as waste and shield the actual target of the cleaning at the same time. Argul had no idea why that would be too difficult for an organic brain.

Tania sighed in defeat. “Well that’s a pity.”

Alyra pointed her fork at Tania, still chewing some pancake. “She could still offer her cleaning at your stand on the market and you could get a share of her profits.”

She waved her fork at Tania. “No screw that. It would be better if you managed the pricing for her or otherwise she wouldn’t make any money.”

Argul took away the leftover pancakes from her daughter and glared at her. “Could you stop selling my skills without asking me beforehand?!”

Alyra looked at the pancakes with longing. “Do you want Arthur to make money for us?”

Argul opened her mouth and closed it again. Arthur had been a thief and drug dealer so maybe that was a bad idea.

Tania watched the two thoughtfully. “Let me think about it today and I will tell you my conclusion tomorrow.” Argul was pretty sure she just said that to look more professional.

After that Tania paid Luna for the breakfast and wished them a good day.

Argul helped Luna tidying up a bit more and Mia played with Arthur in the chilling area. Once Argul was done she went over to her daughter who was watching the two. “Would you mind taking care of Mia with Arthur today?”

Alyra smiled at her. “Sure mom. Take your time with your experiments.”

Argul eyed her a bit suspicious. “Make sure nothing happens to her okay?”

Alyra rolled her eyes. “Mom, I am not a kid anymore.”

Argul put her hands on her hips. “You are not even a year old.”

Her daughter grinned. “And so are you. Now we need someone to keep an eye on you.”

She waved Argul away before she could answer. “You can trust me mom. I will keep Mia safe.”

Argul knew she could trust her daughter. She wasn’t her daughter and the system operator for nothing.

Now having a free day, Argul went over to Mia and wished the girl a nice day with her niece. Mia complained about not being together with her a little, though it wasn’t that much of a problem. Argul thought it was refreshingly easy to deal with Mia compared to other children her age.

After that she went to the backyard of the inn to continue her experiments. There were mysteries to be solved.