The Journey to the Empire (4)
It had been ages since I last saw this view.
Seeing the familiar sights from the Snowfield again stirred a fresh sense of nostalgia.
Even the minuscule yet realized extreme climate still amazed me.
It had clear blind spots, of course, but it was nowhere near enough to kill the Snake God itself.
Still, the subordinate creatures—a pack of little black snakes—should have been more than sufficient.
These snakes never twisted or curled up like they do when burned by fire or tossed into the desert.
They simply froze solid, as if the cold had crystallized their very essence.
All nearby enemies stood rigid, yet from the far side a black wave still surged forward.
"H-huu... I-it's freezing... S-slow down a bit...!"
Everything else was fine, yet I couldn't identify the Blizzard that had swapped the entire climate.
The man who had been bitten by a swarm of snakes for weeks now shook uncontrollably.
Cold... or chilly... I could no longer recall the exact sensation.
Moreover, my body felt far too heavy.
As mana exploded out of control, it had already begun to affect my condition.
I shouted to hold on for just a moment, slightly irritated.
"Hold it. Do you want to die?"
"H-hiiik...!"
···For some reason, it felt even colder than usual.
Was it the poor condition?
Ta-da-da-da!
The sound of the ground shaking showed no sign of stopping.
Despite their low weight, the vibration reached my soles, proving how countless the numbers were.
The black snakes had gone mad as a group, charging forward in a desperate bid to sink their fangs in.
It was a pathetic sight.
This was thorough genocide, after all.
Picture it as mobs under a certain health threshold rushing headlong into the Blizzard barrier without regard for life or death.
When one snake collapsed, two or three comrades tumbled over it, but they lasted no longer.
Three became two, two became one... and finally the reinforcements were cut off.
Even the last resisting group fell.
The little black snakes melted away without leaving a trace, for they were not mana but summons from the Snake God.
If every corpse had remained, it would have been horrifying—this was a fortunate development.
The battle had ended.
"······."
Yet there was still post-processing to handle.
I lowered my hand and surveyed the surroundings with a keen eye.
Every gaze in the circle, now capped with snow, fixed upon me in utter shock.
In a life-or-death situation, relief and gratitude should have shown on their faces, but nothing of the kind appeared.
Among the silent crowd, Anasha took the lead in speaking.
"You... what exactly is your true identity...?"
It was a barely uttered question.
The bright, friendly aura was gone, replaced by something close to reverence.
I understood why.
After all, the Blizzard was a high-grade magic, certainly.
It went far beyond ordinary spells to the domain of 'magic arts' that transcended magic itself.
It was natural that someone of Anasha's caliber would be impressed.
But that wasn't it. That wasn't what you thought it was.
"Quillere."
She raised her voice to avoid the implication.
"You know that's not what it means!"
I clicked my tongue internally.
Just let it pass. What difference would it make?
From the start... I wasn't what you thought I was, not at all.
Of course, I had wiped out countless black snakes, but that was purely due to superior compatibility.
Looking at it as a basic ability, the Blizzard was nothing more than a fancy skill.
It devoured mana without limit yet produced almost no damage.
Without a compatibility advantage, there was no hope.
Right now, as long as you remained intact.
Even if I eliminated top-tier monsters, humans at my level would have been wiped out by the Blizzard without a chance.
Well, if I simply stood still, I'd eventually freeze to death anyway. But no one would do that.
When I was barely controlling the mana and they approached to finish it in one swift slash, that would be the end.
Game over.
"I once served as a magic instructor in the Griant family. With my experience, the spell I saw just now was absolutely absurd······."
"Not at all."
I cut her off coldly.
"It's nothing."
Out of a desire to be understood, I laid bare my true feelings.
Yet another heavy silence fell over the crowd, stronger than before.
...What was the issue this time? My tone again?
I felt embarrassed and decided to wrap things up quickly.
"It's late at night."
I tossed the words out casually, as if urging everyone to rest, and turned my back.
The surroundings were a wasteland.
The tents and blankets set up for the black snake ambush had become rags, and the bonfire had been extinguished by the Blizzard.
It would take considerable effort to prepare a proper rest.
Using the items I had would restore everything instantly.
But I had no obligation to help.
Considering the extra hassle, there was no reason to assist when I had already saved everyone's lives.
Just before leaving, I felt a particularly intense gaze and glanced back.
"You are······."
Sigilla.
An enigmatic female expert.
She seemed about to speak, but I ignored her and began moving my legs.
Of course she wanted to ask how I had used magic to such an extent.
Originally, the plan was to say farewell at dawn and part cleanly.
Yet everything had changed in real time due to the unexpected turn.
It was better if I handled this extra bother myself.
No need to repay kindness—don't worry about someone like me.
I walked alone toward Riveha.
Quillere had left.
The remaining people had spent a long time discussing her, but it was already midnight.
To continue the march tomorrow, everyone needed some sleep.
The group hastily repaired broken tents and tore non-restorable items to use as blankets.
The result was poor, and everyone endured an uncomfortable night, with aching backs and sore necks.
Yet even that pain was welcome, for the simple joy of being alive.
The next day, before setting off again for the empire, the group completed final preparations.
Anasha Sheril stood a short distance away from the others, lost in thought.
"What on earth...?"
What was her true identity?
She had pondered it through the night without finding a convincing answer.
Recalling everything, Quillere had always been calm.
Even when isolated from the group.
Even when surrounded by the little black snake horde.
A normal person could never have remained so composed.
Even the battle mage herself had felt a chill down her spine last night.
Perhaps that immense presence was merely the tip of an iceberg.
"...Maybe she knew something."
Even recalling it now, she was a puzzle.
Anasha, who had wandered every region, had encountered someone in a strange outfit and unfamiliar face.
She had said she would leave Uristia the very day she arrived, heading straight for the Arundel Empire.
But something felt off.
If her destination was the same, why had she parted from the group?
No one would dare belittle or ignore her.
Perhaps it was simply her preference for solitude over company.
Yet the direction she faced posed a deeper problem.
That direction led to Riveha.
Without means to cross the vast sea, it would be a dead end.
In that case, doubt arose about her stated goal of reaching the empire.
Perhaps she had never intended to go to the empire?
If so, it raised questions why she had joined the group at the Uristia relay station.
If they were to split later, there was no need to accompany them from the beginning...
"...Wait, no way... Is that it?"
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
Perhaps there was a reason behind her consistently cold and composed demeanor.
For example, maybe she had known from the start what would happen.
Then everything would make sense.
Why she had sought out the relay station in the city upon arrival to join the group.
Why she had calmly left after literally slaughtering the black snake swarm and vanished into the wilderness.
In short, she might have foreseen the events of the previous night.
What would have become of us and the group if Quillere had not been there?
Anasha possessed great magical skill.
Yet during the confrontation with the snake horde, she had not been confident of victory.
Perhaps she had come not to save herself and the others, but to save us.
Like a fairy.
Her cool demeanor might not suit the word "fairy," but that wasn't entirely true either.
-Do we have to stand watch?
Her words right before the ambush.
-I'll handle it.
Coldly dismissing the people, she had seemed sharp-tempered.
Yet she had been the first to volunteer for the dreaded all-night watch duty.
That clashed with her personality and actions.
One of the two explanations was false.
And Anasha, it seemed to me, matched the former.
Standing the all-night watch was also tied to the idea of 'foreseeing the attack'.
She had known an enemy would raid and had taken the initiative to prepare.
Above all, Anasha could not possibly have been evil.
Some hidden story must have led her to become so cold.
Even if no confirmation method remained now, Anasha believed it.
"...She appeared like a fairy and left like one."
I had no idea where Quillere had gone.
We might never meet again.
This mystery might have no end either... but I would remember it.
About that mysterious woman who resembled a fairy.
"Excuse me, Lady Anasha..."
While I was still nodding inwardly, a man approached.
Anasha woke as if from a dream.
"Everyone has finished preparations. However......"
"However?"
"One person is missing."
"...What?"
Shocked, she opened her mouth.
It was time for final checks before departure.
Everyone had been resting and counted for personnel.
Was there a missing person here?
"Who is the missing person? Is their luggage okay? Everything seems fine."
"There are no missing items. All are intact. But the person's luggage has completely vanished. The one missing is······."
Anasha, with her gentle heart, asked anxiously.
If something had happened, we needed to respond quickly.
The man continued with a troubled expression.
"It's Sigilla, the woman."
The missing person was someone Anasha knew.
She had been overshadowed by the overwhelmingly powerful Quillere and not received much attention, but she had fought with equal skill.
Could such a capable person have met with an accident?
Yet something felt strange.
Upon checking, everything was intact except Sigilla and her possessions.
It wasn't the work of bandits.
Even if someone had attacked her alone at dawn without waking anyone and left no trace, it was possible.
The investigation continued for a while with no leads found.
In the end, Anasha's group left behind only questions and departed.
Lacitea calculated the value of the Orgel and was astonished.
Her mind raced with infinite possibilities for its uses.
Yet she could not act on it.
She knew nothing about it.
Somehow, a hunch screamed that seizing the Orgel might yield greater benefits than immediate gains.
The Orgel was an astonishing object.
The music from its core was a masterpiece worthy of imperial demonstration, but how it was crafted remained a mystery.
She would have to meet the maker herself.
"Find that woman, Quillere."
The family head's order had been given, but the hidden blade could not be moved.
Thanks to the testimonies of Sorap, Fett, and Morris, they knew Quillere's destination was the Arundel Empire.
Morris provided additional information.
"T-that... my Orgel... h-huu, no, not that... the map I gave to the guest, right? It was clearly······."
From his distressed expression, I learned of the nine different kinds of maps Quillere had taken.
It was hoped to be a lead, but there was no harvest.
They had scattered in too many directions to pinpoint a location.
With that, no firm conclusion could be drawn.
In the end, the only clue was that she had headed toward the empire.
But the empire was far too vast.
Even the route there was filled with countless paths and methods, and once there, how could one locate a single woman within the sprawling imperial territory?
They could not risk deploying the elite assassin unit for such a faint possibility.
If she had a proper position, they would send someone for a short time, but the tail had already been lost.
Lacitea believed there was no hope of meeting Quillere from here on.
···That's what she had thought.