"Who are you people, and what are you doing here?" the stranger demanded to know.
He had short gray hair and a thick beard. His broad shoulders and powerful arms spoke of a strong physique in his younger days. However, his body had started to give in to age long ago. His rough, calloused hands were a monument to a lifetime of hard work. This person was without a doubt the man they had come to see.
Zeke scanned him with his [Perfect Spatial Awareness]. What he found only reinforced what he had already been suspecting. The old man's organs were showing the first signs of failure. There was no healing Mage that could fix that.
The old man was glaring daggers at Zeke. It also wasn't lost on him how the man's gaze shifted to the small figure beside him nervously. The slight panic Zeke could sense from the man bore testament to his worry for the girl. He clearly didn't like that she was sitting this close to a stranger.
However, before Zeke could defuse the situation, a high-pitched voice beat him to it. "Don't be rude, Gramps. Zeke and his friend came here to see you!"
The old man was perplexed upon being scolded by the very girl he was worried for. "Who the hell is Zeke?" was all he managed to say.
Zeke took this chance to join the conversation. He placed the girl's schematics carefully on the spot next to him before speaking up.
"She is talking about me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ezekiel von Hohenheim, acting head of the von Hohenheim family."
The man stared at Zeke for a while before nodding. He shifted his gaze to David before nodding at him. "And him?"
"This is David, my bodyguard," Zeke supplied.
David was still standing next to the entrance. His tall, stalwart figure was the very picture of a guard. His stoic demeanor and watchful eyes made it seem like he was ready for anything.
"I don't like the look in your eyes," the man stated, as he looked David up and down.
"I can assure you, David only has the best of intentions," Zeke explained.
"I was talking about you, boy," he said as his gaze finally returned to Zeke. There was an awkward pause as Zeke didn't quite know how to respond to this statement.
"Well, I have the best of intentions as well," Zeke eventually said with a lopsided smile.
The old man didn't waste a second before responding, "Good for you. Don't forget them on your way out."
"Gramps, you're being rude again!" Lue interjected.
The adorable pout on the girl's face was enough to soften the geezer's stance. With a sigh, he shifted away from his combative attitude and said in a more cordial tone, "Fine. What did you want?"
"I want you to work for me," Zeke stated plainly.
"I refuse."
The instant rejection didn't deter Zeke. With a subtle smile on his face, he said, "You haven't even heard my offer yet."
"No need. I'm not interested." His tone made it clear that he didn't have the slightest doubt about the veracity of the statement. It was clear that he only humored Zeke for the sake of his precious granddaughter anyway.
"No harm in hearing me out then," Zeke said with a shrug. "Who knows? I might deliver your heart's deepest wish."
The old man scoffed. "You know nothing about me, boy."
"I don't?" Zeke said with a raised brow. "Does that mean you're not trying to get Lue enrolled in the LMI."
"Who told you about that?" the old man yelled. The shock on his face was plain to see. Slowly, his expression morphed into one of suspicion. "Do you have a Mind affinity?"
"I do — along with Blood and Space," Zeke admitted freely. "However, I don't need to use Mind Magic to figure that one out."
The old man stared at Zeke with a cryptic expression. He seemed to be trying to ascertain something. After a moment, his tense body relaxed. Whatever the old man had done seemed to have calmed him substantially. "I'm listening," he eventually said.
"There's this saying among engineers. What was it again? The devil's in the detail?"
The old man nodded, curious to see where Zeke was going with this.
"Wonderful," Zeke exclaimed as he beckoned Lue closer. "You see, I consider myself somewhat of an expert when it comes to noticing minuscule details."
The old man tensed as the girl happily scooted over onto Zeke's lap. Slowly, Zeke lifted both of his hands to cover her ears.
"That tickles!" she exclaimed with a giggle. Even so, she didn't try to free herself from Zeke's hold. Zeke returned her smile as he made sure her ears were properly covered. Only then did he address the old man again.
"Your heart, lungs, and liver are already showing signs of deterioration. At this rate, you might have two years left before a rapid decline sets in. What's more, I'm pretty sure you are aware of it as well."
The old man shot a panicked look at Lue, but the girl clearly hadn't heard. She was merrily inspecting one of her paintings, Zeke's hands still covering her ears. After taking a relieved breath, he nodded at Zeke. "I am aware, yes."
"At first, I was under the impression you just wanted to spend your remaining time with your granddaughter," Zeke continued. "However, the state of the house and Lue's expression when speaking about how you were working told me that's not the case. I bet you spend almost all of your time in the workshop."
The old man gave Zeke a dirty look. Clearly, he was offended by what was implied in those words. Undeterred by the apparent disapproval, Zeke continued his deduction.
"One might think you work so hard to make sure the girl is cared for once you're gone. However, on closer inspection, that doesn't fit either. You turned down all those high-paying jobs, after all. It's also not because you don't care about her. You are obviously protective of her."
"So?" the old man said. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Zeke concluded, "that you are working for her sake, but for a reason that is not related to money. How am I doing so far?"
Zeke tried to gauge the old man's reaction. However, the man's face gave nothing away. "Go on," was all he said.
"The next part is just me speculating, but I'm almost certain that you had originally planned to teach her yourself. The same way you were taught by your mentor, no doubt—"
"How do you know about that?" the man interjected.
"A guess," Zeke admitted, "albeit a safe one. How else would you have learned? There is no academy in Tradespire that will teach magical engineering to a non-mage."
"Fair enough," the old man said, slightly embarrassed.
"Where was I…" Zeke continued. "Oh yes, no academy will take her, and there aren't many mages that will teach her either, no matter how talented she may be. It is widely considered to be a waste of time to teach somebody that will die mere decades later."
"I knew I didn't like that look in your eyes," the man spat with contempt. "You Mind Mages are all the same, cold and calculated. I have to admit, there's a lot going on up there." He pointed at his head and fixed Zeke with an intense glare before putting his hand on his chest, right above his heart. "But almost nothing in here."
Zeke's voice turned to ice. "You know nothing about me, old man," he said. His eyes were seething. But even as his shoulders tensed and his eyes blazed, the hands covering Lue's ears remained gentle.
The old man's face displayed shock at Zeke's reaction. It was not what he expected from a Mind Mage. He also reminded himself that it was not a good idea to provoke somebody that had his hands around his granddaughter's head, no matter how amiable that someone appeared.
However, what happened next shocked the old man even more. The boy got his temper under control a mere instant later. No violence or outburst ensued. Instead, Zeke said calmly, "I am merely stating the facts as I see them. I neither make the rules nor do I like them, but denying reality will do nothing for you."
The old man was aware that he had crossed a line. It had not been fair nor proper to accuse the boy of being heartless. It shamed him even more to admit that he had taken a personal trauma out on a mere kid.
"Apologies, Ezekiel," he said. "I should not have said that. There is a lot of old grief buried there, but none of that is your fault," he admitted.
Zeke nodded, accepting the gesture for what it was. "What I was getting at," he continued, "is that you can't teach her yourself, and the academies won't just accept her. That leaves only one option: you made a deal..."
The old man remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the guess.
"…and as it happens," Zeke continued, "the Lumos Mechanics Institute is not only the best engineering school in Tradespire, it's also the only one that is privately owned. My guess is that you made a deal with the Lumos family. You most likely offered them something in exchange for enrolling Lue. A new invention or something the like."
After finishing his hypothesis, Zeke remained silent. He watched the old man intently. Even without any clear proof, he was confident that he had hit the nail on the head.
After a moment, the old man's neutral facade crumbled as he let out a deep sigh. "I guess there is no point in denying it. Yes, you are right, I made a deal with old Lumos. It's impressive that you managed to figure that out, but I don't see how that helps you."
"What if I told you," Zeke said mysteriously, "that I also have a way to get her into the academy?"
The old man scoffed. "Doesn't sound very tempting," he said. "Even if you could make good on that promise, that's the same deal I already have."
"You are mistaken," Zeke said with a smile. "The offer couldn't be more different." He paused for a moment before going on, "What I'm offering is for her to go there - as a Mage."
"That's impossible!" the old man exclaimed immediately.
"Not for me," Zeke simply stated.
The conviction in his eyes was so strong that the old man didn't dare to outright refute him again. "That's a bold claim," he said instead.
"Not for me," Zeke repeated. "Neither of my parents has a core, yet I have three affinities, one of them perfect. What are the chances of that occurring naturally?"
The old man just stared in shock, his mouth agape. Even David, who had remained silent so far, had a change of expression. Zeke glanced at his guard, signaling for him to remain silent.
He removed his hands from Lue's ears to lift her from his lap. He gently placed her on the couch as he stood. His face turned utterly serious as he faced the old man again.
"Listen closely, because I'm only going to make this offer once," he said in a solemn tone. "If you agree to work for me, I swear that Lue will become a mage. I swear that I will look after her in the years to come. And lastly, I swear that I will provide her with the same opportunities as my own little sister."
After every sentence, Zeke took another step toward the old man. At the end of his offer, he had arrived right in front of him. He extended his hand for a shake. "Now tell me, old man, do we have a deal?"
"Can I really become a Mage?!" a squeaky voice demanded to know. The old man looked past Zeke at the beaming face of his granddaughter. With a sigh, he returned his focus to the boy in front of him.
"Do I even have a choice at this point?" he asked with half a smile.
Zeke raised his brow. "Does it matter?"
The old man's grimace transformed into a look of determination. Without further hesitation, he grabbed Zeke's outstretched hand in an iron grip. "We have a deal."
"I'm glad to hear it, Mr. Robins," Zeke said with a wide grin. "You will not regret it."
"Call me Jettero," the man said with a smile of his own.