Before the Snow Falls (1)
When the cold wind suddenly brushed my cheek, I realized the window was open.
Was there still a little time before the snow started to fall? I stared blankly at the sky, still a dull gray-white, until I caught sight of the sun peeking through the white-streaked clouds and understood that morning had come.
“...Ah.”
A cracked voice rasped out of my throat. Maybe I’d stayed up too late, or maybe I’d just slept badly, but my body felt stiff and I wasn’t in the best mood.
Then again, it might just have been because today was my birthday. At least there was one good thing: I didn’t have a cell phone anymore, so there was no one left to call me.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I pushed the window open wider and looked outside. The wind that slipped in through my nose was cold. Why did last night feel like nothing more than a dream?
It was the same then as it was now—the wind was still cold. When I closed my eyes, a bright light brushed across my eyelids.
The sun, which had been hidden behind the clouds, rose high enough to wash over my face, and when I opened my eyes again, the gray-white sky beneath the thick cloud cover finally began to show blue.
It was morning. I couldn’t just stand here doing nothing; I should be getting on with something.
Leaving the light that spilled in through the window behind me, I set off. I brushed the dust from the curtains, fastened the sword that sat on my desk to my hip, and stepped out of the room.
The hallway was flooded with sunlight, and the gloomy atmosphere I’d seen last night was already gone, replaced by a lively energy.
Was that because we’d dealt with the black mage? If I hadn’t taken care of him yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have been able to see this scene again.
Just thinking about it made something swell in my chest, and I let out a faint sigh—then an all-too-familiar voice came from beside me.
Bright and lively, like a sparrow chirping from a tree before dawn.
When I turned my head, sure enough, it was Ropena.
“Good morning!”
“...Yeah.”
My mood, which had been sinking, seemed to float back up again, and I gave a small smile as I waved a hand. How could anyone dislike a kid who smiled so brightly?
If I’d caught the black mage and kept Ropena from getting hurt, that alone felt like enough to be grateful for.
“I heard you hurt your shoulder. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s not even bleeding anymore.”
It had been a fairly serious wound by my standards, but after one night it had healed naturally. The blood was gone from the bandage now, and I wondered if the scar might disappear without a trace in about a week.
Ropena’s face clouded over as she looked at the bandage that still had a bit of blood on it. I was the one who’d been hurt, but she somehow looked more pained than I did, which made me snort before I could stop myself.
“This is serious, and you’re laughing?”
“There’s no reason to be serious. You’re not the one who got hurt.”
“Still...”
I really was fine, though. Laughing, I ruffled her hair until she finally frowned, shook off my hand, and glared at me.
Yes, this expression was much better.
“Pfft.”
“Seriously, stop laughing at me.”
“You look better smiling than making a face like you’re about to cry.”
“...Really?”
Apparently she liked that, because her lips that had been jutting out in a pout suddenly blossomed into a grin. What, was she a clown? Still, thanks to her, I did feel a lot better.
Maybe everyone needed at least one person like that. Someone who could stand beside you and, by doing nothing more than being there, somehow become a source of life.
Maybe Irene still hadn’t completely fallen apart because of Ropena, too.
“So, did the young lady wake up?”
“Yes. She’s been up for a while and is reading now. It’s already well past ten. You do know you overslept, don’t you, Sir Knight?”
“Sure seems like it... The sun’s pretty high already.”
No wonder the air felt a little different from usual. I must’ve used a fair amount of mana, because my body definitely wasn’t in great shape.
Or maybe it was because I’d been exposed to black magic.
Frowning a little, I massaged my shoulder, and Ropena’s expression darkened again.
“...Does it still hurt?”
“No, no. I’m fine now. Come to think of it, did the swords I ordered arrive? I heard they were all supposed to come this morning.”
“The swords?... Oh, right!”
Apparently she’d only just remembered, because Ropena clapped her hands once and smacked herself on the head before shouting,
She probably hadn’t just received one or two boxes, so I wondered when on earth she planned to check them all.
Following the direction Ropena ran, I soon spotted a mountain of boxes piled high in the courtyard before the estate’s main gate.
“Sort the boxes! The duke has ordered that they be sorted and delivered to the young lady within two hours!”
“Yes, sir!”
People were moving everywhere, dozens of them gathered and working in a frenzy, and yet there were even more boxes stacked up in one place like a mountain.
Were all those boxes from that weapons merchant?
What had possessed me to buy all of this? Even thinking about it now made me feel a little sick, so I let out a sigh and dragged a hand down my face.
“Let’s go help...”
It seemed like I had more than a little to do with this ridiculous pile of weapon crates.
#
Once all the weapon boxes had been sorted, a few of the most expensive ones were carried over in front of me.
While I was wondering why they’d been brought to me, Ropena looked at me with a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
“Looks like the young lady wants to give them to you as a present.”
“...A present? Ah.”
Come to think of it, Irene knew it was my birthday, didn’t she? Maybe that was why she’d asked if there was anything I needed—so she could give me a gift.
Maybe I was wrong, but if so, I was grateful all the same.
...But still.
“Sigh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was just remembering something embarrassing.”
Asking her to smile for my birthday present.
At the time I’d been swept up in my own feelings and said it without thinking, but after sleeping on it, how could I have said something that embarrassing?
I was sure Irene would laugh at me. Really, just recalling what I’d said made my face heat up on its own.
Still, that didn’t mean the words were a lie.
I’d said it because I’d wondered what it would be like if she could have even one day where she laughed without reservation.
If I could prevent the black mage, and the tragedy to come, and if the day ever arrived when she celebrated her twenty-second birthday...
Maybe then I’d get to see that expression.
“Still, I’m only going to use one. I should take a few of them to Sir Chris.”
“Isn’t that a waste? Things like these are the kind of weapons one person can hardly afford to buy in a lifetime.”
“...Then maybe two?”
As I said that and smiled faintly, Ropena smiled back and lifted the lid off one of the boxes.
But wasn’t Ropena supposed to be Irene’s personal maid? For someone in that position, she seemed to wander around with a lot of freedom.
Noticing me staring, she turned her eyes away and tilted her head.
“Can you really just stay here? What about the young lady?”
“Ah, I’m on leave. Actually, I could go home, but this is home to me.”
“...I see.”
Leave, huh. Come to think of it, hadn’t Sir Chris said he’d need to meet the duke today? He hadn’t been called yet, but maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see Irene before that.
After all, I should probably thank her for giving me these swords.
With a grunt, Ropena opened the box lid, and beneath it lay a sword wrapped in cloth.
About seventy centimeters? Maybe around that length. The blade, etched with a refined pattern, gleamed a clear silver.
I stared at the sword, elegant enough to feel as though it had been carved from moonlight, then picked it up, and my mouth fell slightly open.
“...It feels like there’s nothing in it at all.”
My everyday sword was also rather light, but this one felt so weightless it was as if my hand were empty.
Maybe this was what it felt like to hold a dagger. But a sword being light wasn’t exactly an advantage. It needed weight when you swung it, so that force could transfer properly; otherwise, you might end up cutting too shallowly by mistake.
“Adamantium,”
I’d heard it was the lightest and hardest metal in this world. Because it grew lighter the more it was refined by magic, it was often used for armor.
Maybe making a sword from a metal like this would be nice because it was so light, but I wasn’t particularly fond of it.
“...This one.”
But when I opened the next box, I frowned faintly.
There was nothing inside but a hilt, with no blade attached.
Ropena called it a complete scam, but I ignored her and took the hilt in both hands.
The grip was marked with a toothlike pattern, as if some beast had bitten into it.
This was unmistakably the sword that had been mentioned once in The Rose with Thorns.
The sword Irene had carried into battle when she fought the heroine for control of her territory.
Unlike ordinary swords, it was said to be a magic sword that could neither break nor wear down, and there was only one like it in the world.
Half in hope and half on a whim, I poured mana into it, and from the empty space where only a hilt had been, a blade with a blue sheen suddenly sprang forth.
A sword the color of deep blue, as though waves of water were rippling through it.
Its shape was different from what I remembered, but there was only one sword in this world with that kind of function.
“...Ha.”
The sword Irene had wielded—now it was in my hands.
There was no better explanation than luck. The value of a magic sword was something that couldn’t be measured against any gold or jewel in this world.
A sword that wouldn’t break. No matter how much mana it held, no matter what attack it endured, it would still block the blow if you laid the blade in the right place—wasn’t that the point?
“W-what... what is that?”
For a moment I just stared blankly at Ropena’s wide eyes, then I broke into a grin and slipped the hilt into my arms.
This was turning out to be far more rewarding than I’d expected. I really was going to have to thank Irene properly.
“I’ve decided. Send the rest to Sir Chris.”
“What was that just now?”
Ropena called after me as I turned away, but I only looked at her for a moment before raising a finger to my lips.
“It’s a secret.”
Seeing Ropena stare at me blankly like that, a laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. If she asked how I knew, things would probably get pretty complicated.
Walking down the hallway, I headed, naturally enough, toward Irene.
What I’d said yesterday still made me pretty embarrassed, but after receiving all this, it was only right that I thank her at least once.
“Ah.”
As I walked, yesterday’s memory suddenly surfaced and a sigh escaped me before I could hold it back. What on earth had gotten into me? It had to be the moon.
The moon had left me all sentimental, and I was the one at fault for blurting out such nonsense.
If I saw her like this, I wasn’t sure I could keep my expression under control.
I just wanted you to smile.
Beating a fist lightly against my chest for no good reason, I gave a bitter smile and started walking again.
Before long I reached Irene’s door.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then hid the tremor in my voice and spoke as steadily as I could.
“My lady, it’s Evan.”
But no answer came, and before long confusion began to set in.
Even after I knocked, there was no reaction, and my face started to stiffen.
“My lady.”
Ropena had said a moment ago that she was reading, so she couldn’t be asleep. Had something happened? Was she being attacked?
If so, what on earth was Sir Chris doing, not paying attention to what was happening to Irene?
My thoughts tangled together at once, and I let out a heavy breath.
There was no time for this.
My thoughts scattered, and I shoved the door open right away, searching for Irene with my eyes.
Just what was she doing that made me...
“...Ah.”
And when my gaze landed on a woman—when I met the sight of those blue eyes flickering unmistakably with panic—I could only part my lips in a daze.
Irene was standing in front of a mirror, tugging at the corners of her own mouth with her fingers, and it was so absurd I almost laughed.
Covering my twitching mouth with a hand, I spoke cautiously.
“My lady?”
She looked almost like someone practicing how to smile.
At that moment, a memory flashed through my mind, and my brows knit slightly.
Could it be because of what I’d said?
“...Evan.”
Irene’s voice when she said my name was trembling so badly it couldn’t even begin to compare to usual.
Had this been the first time I’d ever seen her so flustered? Her usual expressionless face was gone, and in its place she looked faintly flushed as she quietly opened her mouth.
“Get out.”
What was I supposed to make of this situation?
All I could do was stare at her in silence.
Honestly, I was speechless.
Really, completely speechless.