Snow Blossom (1)
From my brief travels around the world, I'd realized magic was an incredibly rare power. The fact that robbing bandits multiple times had only yielded a single Refinement spell said it all.
Perched atop the rattling wagon, I drew my dagger and murmured, "Illuminate. Blue Night."
A blue enchantment overlaid the blade. Leon stared at its beautiful form and spoke up.
"What in the world is that strange chant?"
"It's not a chant. It's an incantation."
"I was under the impression Refinement magic didn't require one."
I let out a small sigh. These people truly had no sense of romance. Ignoring him, I examined Blue Night closely.
Refinement was a magic that hammered one's inner self into a weapon. That meant continuously striking at one's inner self to grow the weapon was essential, yet honestly, I had no feel for it. I didn't even understand what "hammering the inner self" meant, let alone how to do it.
Magic obtained through trade was entirely mine. How I used it was my freedom, and whether I could grow it depended on me. However, this growth was rather ambiguous. Frankly, if I had been someone capable of raising Refinement's proficiency, I would have learned it long ago. The irony of acquiring Refinement through trade precisely because I lacked the talent, only to be unable to advance it—this endless cycle was almost a chain of hatred. Someone had to break it. In other words, it was my turn to step in.
I stared intently at the Refinement magic. Magic gained through trade wouldn't vanish if left alone. Therefore, rather than desperately trying to raise its proficiency, focusing on other areas would be more efficient. But then Refinement would be pitiful, wouldn't it? That was absolutely unacceptable.
"Lady Ruina! The horses seem thirsty!"
"Let's rest for a bit."
At Chris's words, I climbed down from the wagon and set up a makeshift resting area. Gathering some firewood and lighting it quickly warmed the surroundings. Chris sat before the campfire, blowing on her hands.
"It's really freezing. Are you okay, Lady Ruina?"
"You know how it is. Once flame-element mages reach a high enough rank, they stop feeling the cold or heat."
"Doesn't that start at the fourth rank?"
"Which is why I'm cold too."
I put a pipe in my mouth and looked up at the sky. Snow poured down from the high heavens.
"We're almost at our destination."
"Thanks to you, I can finally breathe easy."
"Me too."
The wagon was currently loaded with a large quantity of grapes, all meticulously protected by every method imaginable. Baskets ensured ventilation, only undamaged grapes had been selected, and above all, we had deliberately chosen underripe ones. Underripe grapes ripened slowly at room temperature, making them far more suitable for transport than fully ripe ones. On top of that—
"The weather turned cold so quickly. How did you know?"
"My hometown is a cold place. I notice when the weather turns chilly right away."
The sudden drop in temperature around the time we left Shade Grayton had been the biggest factor. We'd departed in the cold, and our destination was the frigid north, so it was essentially like keeping the grapes in a natural refrigerator the whole way.
Anyway.
I added more wood to the fire and asked, "What have you been doing all this time, Sir Leon?"
"……I was thinking."
It was strange how quiet he'd been despite our chatter, so I turned my head to find Leon staring into the campfire.
"Thinking? About what?"
"About what my mission truly is."
"Ah."
It was that again. Such a pointless worry. He should just play quietly with Chris instead. Leon gazed at the campfire while calmly receiving the falling snow. Maybe it was because of his snow-white hair, but the snow suited him quite well. Beneath that white hair rested the innocent face of a boy. Every time I saw that face, I understood immediately. No wonder mercenaries kept coming after him for just one night. Understanding complete.
I followed Leon's gaze toward the campfire. Crackle. The flames rose. Within their flickering light were countless meanings: expansion, extinction, regeneration, purification, sanctity, transformation, life, foresight, protection, summoning, fusion, resistance, transition, manifestation, enhancement, connection, healing, distortion, memory, guidance, marking. And fairness, predation, trade.
Recalling images associated with flames was an extremely easy task for me. It was something I'd done every day even before reincarnating, so it was merely an extension of daily life. But knowing something in your head and actually realizing it were entirely different realms. At least, that was true for magic.
What use was knowing intellectually that flames possessed the characteristic of extinction? If I didn't know how to bring about that characteristic of extinction. Therefore, raising one's understanding of an element was, to put it metaphorically, like this: sensually realizing how to actually use the countless characteristics one had only known in theory. This was why people said that in magic, sensation was the most important thing and everything else was meaningless.
The characteristics of flame I had currently realized were two: fairness and predation. Through fairness, I'd discovered the principles of rules and restrictions and reached the third rank. Through predation, I'd uncovered the principles of digestion and deepened my understanding of magic even further. Seven years into learning magic, and this was my level. I had no idea if this was fast or slow. The person who could tell me was waiting for resurrection in the afterlife, so there was nothing I could do about it.
I took in the quietly burning campfire. Training had to continue without rest. That was my personal belief.
……Did wood that had burned to ash still feel hot? If so, how much—
"So what's your goal, Lady Ruina?"
The sudden voice pulled me from my thoughts. Chris had been watering the horses and seemed bored enough to strike up a conversation. I answered calmly.
"My goal has always been the same."
"The world's greatest tycoon?"
"To use every single magic in this world at least once."
"So your dream is to become an archmage?"
"It's a little different."
In the extreme, if I experienced every magic at least once, I wouldn't mind never using magic again for the rest of my life. That was what magic meant to me.
After finishing watering the horses, Chris plopped down beside me and muttered, "How complicated."
"Let me guess your goal, Chris. The world's greatest tycoon, right?"
"How did you know? Lady Ruina, are you perhaps a mage?"
"That's right."
After giving an appropriate reply, I mixed the pipe smoke into the campfire. Right after—
Gurgle.
A cute sound rang out. I blinked. The culprit was obvious.
"Is it because you're still growing? You're always hungry, aren't you, Chris?"
"You eat the most food out of all of us, Lady Ruina."
"Which is why I'm never hungry. Shall we have a meal? We still have a bit further to go."
"Yeah."
Chris was in charge of our meals. I was fairly confident in cooking myself, but Chris was quite skilled as well. If my cooking was mechanical, then Chris's—what should I call it? Her cooking warmed the heart. To have this level of skill without a cooking pouch was impressive. If she'd had a well-stocked cooking pouch, she might have made dishes that brought people to tears.
Where did all the food Chris ate go, leaving her so flat? It was one of Happy Mid-land's three great mysteries.
I took a bite of the stew Chris had made. My body immediately warmed up. I couldn't resist this. Rising from my seat, I retrieved the mead we'd brought from the wagon and took a sip. The sweetness of the mead seeped into my body.
Mead was alcohol made from the sweetness of honey. Therefore, if mead was sweet, it meant fermentation had been stopped midway, which would normally cause it to spoil quickly in Mid-land. However, Happy Mid-land's mead was different. It didn't spoil even when left at room temperature, was sweet like plum wine, and even maintained its coolness.
"This is truly fascinating. How is something like this possible?"
"Huh? You didn't know, Lady Ruina? That's liquor made with sacred law."
"Liquor made with sacred law, you say."
No wonder. It had felt too miraculous to be mere magic—it was imbued with divine power. Kelton didn't drink, so we'd never discussed it, and personally obtaining information was difficult because Happy Mid-land was such a closed place. This was my first time hearing about it.
"It's liquor made by the priests of the God of Alcohol. Aside from the Creator God, this place might be the most famous for it?"
"Is that so?"
But why hadn't Leon known about this? When I'd asked about mead before, he'd said he didn't know much about the outside world, but if it was liquor made by fellow priests, shouldn't he have known? Then again, the denominations that worshipped the Creator God were exclusive toward other gods. If he'd only stayed within the denomination, he might never have heard such information. The Genesis Sect had created an entire nation with its sheer number of followers. Even if they rejected everything else, they were self-sufficient internally.
"No wonder Sir Leon is so ignorant of worldly matters. He grew up in that kind of environment."
"Let's get going."
After finishing our meal, we climbed back onto the wagon. We traveled like that for a long while. Without rest, all the way until the sun was about to set over the horizon.
"Lady Ruina! Over there!"
Chris called out in a bright voice. I looked ahead. In a world where snow fell endlessly, red dots were scattered here and there, illuminating the darkening sky.
Belmonte Winterhaven.
Our destination this time.