"Oh, reading, of course," he teased. "We're called the Loreseekers, and we track down answers to questions - our own, or whatever people bring us. Usually those answers are in books in the Atheneum, but sometimes they're in people's minds or experiences. For instance, if someone came to me with a question on fire magic, I would come ask you to find the answer." He tipped his young friend a wink. "And sometimes answers have to be found by going out and seeking. If someone wants a map of the Underground to get to that new shrine that was found, for example, I'd assemble a team to go down and create one." It wasn't all books, after all. Just mostly.
He tilted his head at her answer, a smile widening his lips. "Then maybe you won't have to wait very long at all to find out what I'm making," came the mischievous chuckle. Her own question - impertinent as it was - had him laughing. "Madame! I swear I'm not a day over eighty-five!" he declared, pretending to be offended - and then using the excuse to double over a bit and wheeze like an old man. Sadly, it wasn't entirely an act since the bag of ingots wasn't getting any lighter. "Hmmm not having months makes it a little harder to tell the time, but I suppose... I must have turned twenty-seven recently?" he hazarded, only a little more seriously. "Though it certainly feels like fifty, some days!"
He tilted his head at her answer, a smile widening his lips. "Then maybe you won't have to wait very long at all to find out what I'm making," came the mischievous chuckle. Her own question - impertinent as it was - had him laughing. "Madame! I swear I'm not a day over eighty-five!" he declared, pretending to be offended - and then using the excuse to double over a bit and wheeze like an old man. Sadly, it wasn't entirely an act since the bag of ingots wasn't getting any lighter. "Hmmm not having months makes it a little harder to tell the time, but I suppose... I must have turned twenty-seven recently?" he hazarded, only a little more seriously. "Though it certainly feels like fifty, some days!"
