"And if no one checks if they've been mentally altered between them making that declaration and going through with it then it's possible the mage already did something to them and was covering their tracks."

"But you could have somebody check. Go, 'I have depression, it's gonna kill me if I don't do something, I have not been mentally magicked before but I want to get mentally magicked now' -"

"Most people who are that desperate are willing to learn enough magic to do it to themselves."

"S'pose. If it doesn't take that long."

"Little enough time that it hasn't been worth it so far to come up with a sufficiently strict way of checking. Possibly little enough that it wouldn't be worth it to go through one if it existed."

Nod.

"So you said you wanted to do agricultural things like Odette's been doing in Tapa?"

"Yeah. My family owns some farmland and grazing area - free and clear, if you were worried about blues breathing down my neck, it's not rented out - and if it stepped up production that'd be swell."

"Okay. There's one more thing you need to understand. The magic murder and mind-affecting things? They're not just incentivized through social stigma. People who break them die."

"...so does getting magic like - constitute acknowledging that you're entitled to kill me -"

"Only if you do one of those things but yeah kind of."

"Okay... uh, I don't mind personally, I wasn't going to go into mental health or commit murder, but maybe make sure you're on the same page as governments about stuff before you start doing DIY criminal justice."

"It's understood to stand separate from conventional governments back home but this is not back home and I will do that."

Nod.

"Okay. I'm tentatively willing to teach you. I'll let you know when I've done enough interviews to see if it's worth doing a class or just individual teaching."

"Okay."

"Congratulations, then."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

And then she and Odette leave.

They go back to Tapa.

So I ended up agreeing to teach some clean Amentans magic conditional on them convincing me they weren't interested in using it to make reds' lives uh, obsolete, do you want me to come over very discreetly and see if I can teach you now? she asks Peka.

Reaaaaaally discreet.

We can be invisible and inaudible and stuff.

I'll go sit outside so the door has a reason to open and close when I go back in.

Okay. Uh, I don't think I know where you live.

Peka produces a map. There's no detail in the red district, but: I'll be outside.

Okay. See you soon!

A little while later an unseen hand taps her on the shoulder.