Rotan hesitated. Of all the questions he had prepared for, this wasn’t really one of them. He attempted to keep a straight face but noticed Meena openly frowning.

  Wait, does he mean fight each other?

  Rotan was relatively confident in his strength but more for lifting things than punching things. His mother was very insistent that he does not end up a “brutish simpleton”. Regardless, he didn’t think he could take Meena in a fight anyway.

  What am I seeing here? A tree? A tree person? Some type of fey.

  She wasn’t unique, but it was still rare to see half-fey people. Considering the fey themselves were notoriously out of sync with modern society.

  What am I thinking?! I don’t want to fight anyone!

  Atum’s grin froze and rapped his head with his knuckles.

  “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. Or not exactly that.” He said apologetically. “Please, sit. Let’s do introductions”

  Rotan and Meena grabbed some chairs and placed them in front of Atum’s desk. Once they sat and were comfortable, Atum began speaking.

  “Ok, first order of business. Me. That is, my name.” he grinned. “My name is Atum. Call me that. Or boss if you’re the more formal type. Not Mr. Atum, because that makes me feel old.”

  He stopped and waited to see if either would respond. Meena remained silent, and Rotan was focused more on maintaining his sitting posture.

  Back straight, maintain eye contact. Rotan reminded himself of his mother’s advice.

  Atum’s smiled faltered a little from the direct eye contact, but he continued speaking.

  “Welcome to the Magical Integration Department. Or MID. You can spell out the acronym or just say mid. Except when talking to citizens. Otherwise, they think we’re weird. So, do you guys have any ideas about what it is we do?” Rotan raised his hand. “Don’t need to raise your hand bud. Shoot”

  Rotan cleared his throat. “The Magical Integration Department is part of the Magical Domain Division. As a whole, the division deals with clashing magical realities in Rhiavas. For example, elf kind have a large part of their magical ability shaped by how they connect with land. They live forever, or close to it, because they sort of become part of the land they reside in. Dwarves on the other hand don’t directly cast magic, nor is it an intrinsic part of their physiology. They prefer to extract it from material and shape it to do their work. Like enchantments or spirit tools. That sometimes clashes with elves way doing things. So, this division’s job is to reconcile that difference, through policy changes and negotiation.” Rotan took a pause to breath. “That’s what I understand at least.”

  “I mean, it’s a whole lot more complicated now. It was just elves, dwarves, and humans in the beginning but now dozens of different species are existing here together. I mean, before the elves, the fey were there. Much more part of the land than elves could ever be.” Meena said, ending it with scoff. “But I don’t really know what this specific department does. I was told it’s a lot more hands on and niche?”

  Atum smiled. “Correct, both of you. Our responsibilities broadly do fall under what you’ve described. The reality is, there is no clear-cut order to how this city runs. Law is difficult to maintain when the very realities we live in are different. What ends up happening is that those with greater populations, power, and wealth start to push the scales little by little. Namely, elves, dwarves, and humans.

  “Normally, the people up top wouldn’t really care. Fortunately, or unfortunately to some, this city is a living breathing thing, literally. It responds to the lives in it, magically and physically. Even a small part getting hurt starts to have larger repercussions down the line. Do you guys know about the fire that started in the industrial district? Last year?”

  “Yeah, um, it was storage facility I think?” Meena responded. “Magical ores or something. Wasn’t contained well.”

  “Sure, that’s the basic details released. It’s a little funnier than that. The owner, a human, had ordered a pest control specialist. The pests in this case were the fairies who started hanging around the warehouse, probably attracted to the shiny things.” Atum grinned a little. “Anyway, the owner didn’t like it and wanted them out. Said they were messing up the storage conditions. Turns out though, that the fairies were actually the only reason a reaction hadn’t started. Busy bodies that they are, they were cleaning up residue and rearranging the ores into a safer way. They’re gone and a few weeks later: Boom!”

  He raised his hands to emphasize the incident.

  “Post-incident, they did a little research and turns out that fairies hanging around cleaning up magical things is more common than we thought. Hell, there’s a shoemaker they found that swore that the quality of his goods relied solely on how the resident fairies helped. Regardless, the owner suddenly switches attitudes and is all about fairies now. He says, “They’re essential to our services, how could we kick them out?”” Atum shrugs and rolls his eyes.

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  “These fairies aren’t stupid though; they usually like to keep to themselves and go about their business. But now this is actual ‘business’, right? They know they’re necessary and they know money is being made of their efforts. They want a cut. The owner takes another turn and is suddenly not so pro-fairy. Which is where there the city steps in. The owner insists that this purely a business matter, an internal hiring process he says. But now we know that fairies are all over the city doing this kind of labour and that it’s essential.”

  Rotan interrupted, “Wait, if so many people know, why hasn’t this been discussed before. Surely someone would have brought it up?” Meena nodded in agreement.

  “You would think so. But that’s what I meant when I said there’s no clear-cut order to how this city runs. It’s a melting pot of so many different cultures, species, and magic. Magic is the one that’s so concerning. No one wants to let slip the tricks of their trade and magic is the true differentiator. I mean, think about the Archmagi. Essentially one-man armies and all because they’ve taken magic to the extreme. Magic is power, more than strength, wealth, or anything else.”

  Atum had gotten a little louder near the end but reigned himself in.

  This is important to him. What magic is? How it’s used? Rotan thought to himself. I kind of understand. My father got away partly because of magic. How do you catch someone who can easily slip away to another dimension?

  Atum continued speaking. “Sorry, let me get to the point of the story. So, fairies are providing an understated but essential service to this city. This is where legislation steps in. Compliance, infrastructure, and whole lot of things need to be considered. The difference here is magic, which is what our division exists for. Research, testing, policy advice, we do a whole lot of things to understand magic and make sure the wheels keep turning. Sometime this year, you’re going to see a whole policy plan be proposed and implemented for the benefit of fairies, and the magical intricacies of it will be due to the work of the Magical Domain Division.”

  “So that’s what we are? Researchers?” Meena asks.

  “No, they’ve got others for that. We’re a specialized department. We confront issues head on. The weird things, the annoying things, the troublesome things, all ours. Which is why I asked if you could fight. I don’t want or expect you to, but sometimes it helps to. Honestly, if it comes down to it, I can handle anyone, but I want you guys to have an honest understanding of the job. We’re going to be seeing the weirdest things in this job so keep an open mind.” Atum gave a wide grin as he said that.

  “I can handle myself.” Meena calmly said. Rotan believed her.

  “So can I.” Rotan said, not even close to convincing.

  Hammer to my head, of all my mother’s advice I can’t believe that this was what comes up.

  Atum gave Rotan a knowing look. “Like I said, worst case scenario only. Otherwise leave all that to me.”

  Rotan had doubts. He wasn’t one to judge by looks, especially in this city, but Atum did not inspire great confidence. Sure, he seemed fit, but he seemed to be the least threatening person in the room.

  “Hard to establish my authority when I’m the smallest in the room huh?” Atum said, as if he was reading Rotan’s mind.

  Freaky. Speaking of, I haven’t seen anything from him. Meena’s magical essence was visible to Rotan, as was most peoples’. In a city like Rhiavas, it was nearly impossible to not be touched by magic in some way. Yet Atum didn’t show a single spot. He seemed to be a blank slate to Rotan’s senses. He tried focusing a bit more.

  I’m still not seeing anything, what’s up with- ouch!

  Rotan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head that faded away as fast as it came.

  “Tsk, tsk, manners Rotan.” Atum said jokingly. He quickly moved onto the next topic as if Rotan’s peaking wasn’t worth considering at all. “Let’s talk about what I actually expect from both of you and your futures. I know you both have specific goals in mind, yes?”

  “Yes! I’m hoping to get some sort of role in legislation. Maybe social safety.” Rotan said.

  “Urban planning for me. Focus on environmental preservation.” Meena said.

  “Good, makes sense.” Atum nodded. “Working here can help you build experience for those kinds of roles. Like I said, we deal with a lot. Particularly if you apply yourselves. You’ll be working in an assistive capacity to me. I’ll expect you to learn admin and general documentation. On a more practical level, you’ll be talking to many different people in this city. Nothing quite as informative as being out in the field.”

  “Um, are there specific skills you think we can develop on our own.” Rotan asked. He also pulled out a little notebook and was ready to write.

  “Hmmm. Honestly, two things can get you by. First, endurance and stamina. Exercise.” Atum said. “Second, patience. Frustration is sure way to ruin your day and reduce the quality of your work. Well, these are easy to say, but hard in practice. You’ll get a feel for the job as we get into it.”

  Rotan silently noted down what Atum said. Ok, this is not so bad. I can do this!

  Atum gazed at the two freshers before him. From first appearances, Meena seemed to have a better aptitude. Considering her background, she was no stranger to manual labour and was patient. Very taciturn though.

  Rotan was the opposite. He certainly has muscle, but they seemed to be more hereditary than exercise. However, he was inquisitive and enthusiastic which Atum greatly appreciated.

  Ah, no need to make assumptions for now. We can cultivate the rest. Give em a year or two and they’ll be able to handle anything.

  Atum was excited. He hadn’t really wanted new employees as he was used to moving on his own. But there was opportunity here and change was always good. The unknown was always exciting.

  “Right, you can ask more questions as we walk.” Atum said, while getting up and moving towards to the door.

  “Where are we going?” Rotan asked.

  “Like I said, you learn best on the job.” Atum said. He also noticed that both were wearing formal shoes, as would typically be expected of government employees. “I recommend wearing sneakers from now on. Something that can last, especially for running.”

  “To be honest, I thought this was going to be more of a desk job.” Meena admitted. She had been mostly silent through the conversation, just taking in information.

  “Hah!” Atum laughed, “I wish!”