Chapter 11: The Ice Witch's Secret
I have no idea what kind of person this Ice Witch was. From Frau's stories alone, she came across as nothing more than a child abuser. But the more I chewed over what I'd heard, the more something felt off.
Frau wasn't related to her master by blood anyway. If the Ice Witch truly hated her, she could've just cut ties and been done with it. Plus, she'd never scolded Frau while she was eating Topliya. That was the one fond memory Frau had of her master's cooking—the only salvation amid days spent crying herself to sleep. It was the sole moment of respite.
But let's think from the Ice Witch's perspective. If she really despised Frau, she'd have nagged and scolded her even during meals, without fail. She didn't, though. Why?
"Frau, just to be sure... did your master ever hit you?"
"Why ask that?"
"It might be the final puzzle piece to recreating the Topliya from your memories."
I looked at her seriously. She gave me a puzzled look but sighed softly and answered.
"Not really. She never hit me."
"I see."
"So, you can make the Topliya I want now?"
Even as she said it, Frau didn't stop eating her Topliya this time. It wasn't the exact taste from her memories, but it seemed to suit her palate.
Watching her slowly spoon the stew, I zeroed in on one fact. It had bugged me since we first met. That cold mana steadily leaking from her body. At first, I figured she was keeping a chill spell active on purpose, wrapped up in her furs like that—maybe regulating her temperature instead of changing into lighter clothes from her homeland. She always carried that precious last chunk of Topliya in its ice block, too.
But magic ice wouldn't melt as long as she kept supplying mana, and from a mage's view, it'd be way more convenient to just wear lighter clothes than constantly emit cold from her body.
And when she talked about her master, the chill intensified with her emotions. My instincts as a mage pointed to one possibility.
"Frau... did your master ever say anything about the cold mana flowing through your body?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"That cold magic you're leaking—can you stop it completely, just for a bit?"
Normal mages don't walk around with an aura like that on purpose. I've studied all sorts of magic, especially elemental stuff, deeper than most. Sure, some mages burn mana to flaunt their power, like a poison dart frog flashing bright colors to warn off threats. But they only do it in specific situations when they don't want to be underestimated.
To me, Frau seemed stuck in that state rain or shine, seen or not.
At my request to cut off the leaking chill, she just stared at me, utterly baffled.
"...Yeah, you can't control it on your own."
"W-What... suddenly...?"
"You said you ate Topliya once a week, no exceptions. That might not have been ordinary food."
Wrong ingredients? Fixed. Taste and aroma match her memories. But something's still missing.
I asked Frau for a favor.
"Time to use it. That last piece of your master's Topliya."
"What...?"
She looked shocked. But to test my theory, we needed it.
"You thought this through, right? Like I said at the start—once we thaw this ice and make the Topliya, it has to taste exactly like your master's. No second chances."
"Yeah."
I brushed off her threat without a flinch. I wasn't scared of her anyway, but more importantly, I had a hunch.
The Topliya was one step short. What it needed now wasn't a new recipe or hidden ingredient.
And if I was right... the clue would be crystal clear on that chunk of meat sealed in the ice.
"...Fine. I'll trust you. No one's gotten this close to my master's Topliya before..."
Frau opened her travel bag and pulled out the magically frozen block. Perfectly flash-frozen, transparent ice with the meat visible inside, no impurities.
Thaw it with precise magic instead of just cutting the mana? The meat would taste and smell fresh from the stew, like her master just pulled it out.
"Should I thaw it like this?"
She set the ice on the counter.
"No, just cut the mana supply. I'll handle the rest."
"But..."
"It's fine."
Frau nodded and severed the mana flow. I placed my hand on the ice and murmured softly.
"Defrost"
⟨ Defrost ⟩
Cooking often involves freezing or thawing ingredients. I'd perfected every cooking spell to the extreme, using Defrost to minimize damage to frozen foods.
Meta Control for precise mana manipulation. I thawed the ice without letting excess moisture seep into the meat.
"You..."
Frau muttered, watching me work the magic. She knew it was a mage-run restaurant, but probably hadn't expected this level of control.
Soon, most of the ice had melted. I cradled the shrunken block in my palm, then used even finer mana to restore the meat chunk—like it'd just been fished from the stew.
"Hmm..."
Melted a big chunk, but no water anywhere. The meat was cold but in great shape—sniff test confirmed.
"So? What now? No going back."
Frau's voice trembled slightly. The last trace of her master's Topliya, preserved in ice all this time. Now thawed for good. Even if she refroze it, it wouldn't be perfect again.
I held the meat chunk up to my face, studied it, then popped the whole thing in my mouth.
"What're you doing?!"
"Calm down. You thought I'd use this as an ingredient? As the chef, I have to taste it myself to find the missing piece for your Topliya."
"I get that, but..."
Frau jolted up in shock, then sat back down.
I chewed and chewed the long-preserved meat. It wasn't a full bowl—just this one piece—but you couldn't reverse-engineer a whole recipe from that alone.
Truth was, I ate it to verify something unrelated to cooking.
Eyes closed, savoring the spicy aroma, I sensed faint mana traces in the meat.
That was exactly what I'd been looking for.
"That confirms it."
"Confirms what?"
"Your master... might not have been the monster you think."
Frau snorted in disbelief.
"What, now you're gonna lecture me like 'your parent actually loved you deep down'? I'm here for my master's Topliya, not some sappy speech from a stranger."
"No, this is important."
"Don't forget—you just ate the last of her Topliya."
The chill from her body spiked again.
"Relax. I'll serve the next one right away. This'll be the final version."
"...No second chances, remember."
Her tone was icy. I immediately started prepping the last Topliya for her.
Mages who reach a certain level can trace another mage's magic residue.
The final clue missing from Frau's memory Topliya wasn't an ingredient or technique—it belonged to the one called the Ice Witch.
Prepping another batch took no time.
"Here. This is... the answer I can give you."
Another bowl of Topliya, served before Frau. She eyed me suspiciously.
"This looks exactly like the last one. You mocking me? I can see the whole kitchen from here."
"No, it's different. Just try it."
"...If you're deceiving me, you're done."
Doubt all over her face, she scooped some stew with meat and brought it to her lips.
"...!"
Shock spread across her face, impossible to hide.
"How is it? Matches the taste from your memories now, right?"
"It's the same... yeah, this is how Master's Topliya felt."
Her spoon moved faster. After a few bites, she asked me.
"How? It looked identical to the last one..."
"The final seasoning in your master's Topliya... was magic."
"Magic...?"
"That cold mana in your body—you control it fine now, but as a kid? Probably not."
I'd heard tales of kids whose mana flowed uncontrollably. Some born with mana backlash or poor control. Most don't survive past age seven, dying from mana sickness-like symptoms.
Frau must've been one.
Her master, the Ice Witch, was a renowned mage on the Northern Continent. No way she missed it when she adopted Frau. The cold mana leaking from a baby's body, the chill—it would've killed her left alone.
"Your master probably knew about your rare constitution and adopted you because of it. The harsh magic training from childhood? To build your strength to control that ultra-tricky cold mana yourself. Otherwise, you'd have died like mana sickness eventually."
"Me... mana sickness...?"
"Not exactly—congenital mana disorder. Happens sometimes. Tons of mana, way above average, but the kid can't handle it. Out of ten, nine die before toddlerhood. That's what you were."
The last meat chunk from the ice? Clear residue of the Ice Witch's magic. A warm fire-attuned mana flow, perfectly opposing Frau's cold mana.
"She must've been desperate. Get you mastering magic fast, or you'd die. No holds barred, brutal methods to turn you into a mage."
"...I can't believe it."
"And that Topliya you remember? It held her infused warm mana flow. Like a temporary antidote soothing your cold mana. Kept feeding it to you weekly until you could control it yourself."
Traditional Topliya doesn't use the spicy flamberg pepper. But the Ice Witch tweaked the recipe, adding the hot-natured flamberg, then infused her mana at the end for maximum soothing effect.
Essentially, the weekly Topliya Frau ate was a custom recipe the Ice Witch devised just for her—to manage her mana more comfortably.
"...No way. That vicious woman couldn't have..."
"If she truly hated you, she'd have scolded you even during Topliya. But she didn't, right?"
"..."
"You said eating it left you feeling oddly at peace. That's the perfect calming effect on your mana. Now that you control it, you don't need Topliya to survive... but seems your master kept making it weekly even after you became a mage and no longer needed it."
Frau sat stunned after hearing it all. No clue what she was thinking. Knowing the truth about the Topliya wouldn't erase her tear-soaked childhood.
She bowed her head silently, then gripped her spoon with trembling hands and started eating again.
"...Sniff... It's spicy."
After two spoonfuls, she murmured to the bowl, voice shaking.
"...Too spicy... that's why... stupid..."
She couldn't finish. Shoulders heaving, head down—she was definitely crying.
"Um... miss customer? Are you okayyyy?"
"Shh, don't bother her. Come here and stay quiet."
The seaweed-ghost Aris blundered over with a worried face, so I quickly pulled her into the back kitchen and lightly bopped her head.
For a while, the only sounds were Frau eating and soft sobs. I slipped into the unseen back kitchen to let her finish in peace.