“I don’t think so. I think… when I’m wanting to do something kind… I’m doing it as myself.” It wasn’t that being a mage meant you couldn’t be kind, it just meant you had to be more cautious of the gifts you imparted. “Even though Elias isn’t here, I’m still his apprentice. That makes me a mage… in training, at least. So his advice is always at the back of my mind.”

Maybe, she thought, it would be easier if she didn’t think of Elias while she was here. Didn’t think of home. But Chise already knew that wasn’t possible for her. Everything she had accomplished since she had met him, every step that she had taken since then… it wasn’t just under her own power. Elias had saved her, making it possible, and the people she had met along the way had given her support. So she couldn’t just discard him like that.

“Likewise, does not using magic mean you aren’t a magic user? Does being yourself mean you aren’t abiding by the rules and mannerisms you’ve been taught?”

Anther question that Chise wasn’t sure of the answer to. And she wasn’t wanting to grill Loki, but she was curious of the answer. Then, for good measure, she took a bite of food… just so he couldn’t call her out on stalling or something.