Tiral flinched as he heard an unfamiliar voice call out his name. It'd have been one thing if it was just another one of the Iron Rose Knights, but this voice... No, this one was thoroughly unfamiliar. While it would have been unfair to have jumped to any conclusions, the fact that whoever had singled him out probably had good reason to. He wasn't any sort of notable among the knights, and it was that exact reason why nobody else had seemed to notice his presence.

"...Ah? T-the Court Mage?"

All the woman had needed to say was that, and every muscle in the mage's body tensed up. Why would one of the most important magicians in the kingdom seek him out? Had he touched upon some subjects that had been frowned on?
...
No, that couldn't have been it. After all, all he had done was manipulate water and ice for combat.

Was that it, then? Just using water and ice meant nothing in the long run; just having a similar affinity to the nation's patron goddess meant nothing. NOTHING. Just a coincidence.
Nothing more.

"Oh, uh... Right, my apologies. You are correct, Miss Ravenwood; I am Sir Tiral Yevan of the Iron Rose Knights. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he fumbled, hastily bowing in response. His worries had almost caused a major misstep of his own. Even if the Court Magician seemed to be a bit more embarrassed by the ordeal... Or, well, he assumed it to be embarrassment. She did seem to be stuttering a bit much than he'd have expected from someone so deeply intertwined with the royal family.

As soon as he heard the Court Mage request information on how he used his magic in the midst of his duties, though, Tiral's ears perked up and his tense muscles relaxed a bit.

[i]So it wasn't any trouble, then? Phew...[/i]

Standing up straight and nodding, the ice mage let out a small, relieved sigh and thought for a moment about how to respond. It was a topic that he hadn't expected, after all...

"Please, though, do be at ease. In regards to your question, though..." he trailed off, glancing downwards with his right hand stroking his chin. "Using magic in the midst of combat is a bit of a strange ordeal. Unlike many of the more traditional mages who are allowed to chant complex incantations in the rearguard of an army and fire at will, I'm forced to truncate many of the spells that I have and make them up on the fly. In the end, the stability of the magic as a whole is slightly compromised, but the flexibility increases tenfold. The use of a special catalyst also becomes a necessity for a great amount of my spells because of this; in most cases, it ends up being this dagger here."

With a steady hand, Tiral drew his dagger from his side and presented it to the Court Mage to let her examine its quality.

"Regardless of how good or bad it may be as a catalyst, this dagger is surprisingly useful for emergency situations. It's not as sturdy as a standard dagger, though, so I prefer refraining from using it in actual combat unless it is a life at stake and I am unable to create an incantation quick enough."

The young man's gaze panned downwards as he explained the usage of his precious dagger, but after realizing that the Court mage's chest was rather... [i]Outstanding[/i], turned his head off to the side, his face a slight shade of red from the embarrassment of his own.

"M-my apologies. I-in any case... Is there anything in particular you wanted information on? I'd be happy to provide whatever is necessary if that is the case. I have a few questions of my own for my own research, so if it isn't too much of a hassle, I'd like to humbly request if you could also answer a few own my own selfish questions, Miss Ravenwood."