Chapter 41
Chapter 41
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Gifts for the Four (4)
Winter nights come early.
Deep in the mountains,
A small cabin standing alone, even more so.
In the place where the sunlight had disappeared,
darkness settled unhurriedly, seeping in.
Contrasting with it, the pure white snow had piled up thickly by then, filling the landscape.
I hurried my steps.
The snow crunched underfoot.
"More snow than I thought."
Muttering to myself,
the cold air tickled my lungs.
After dinner, I had come out alone for a bit.
To find something suitable as a birthday gift.
Since Loren said jewels were absolutely no good.
Hubert hadn't objected much to Loren's words either, so he probably thought the same.
'It got more difficult.'
Thanks to that, I was in a bind.
Enchanting magic
is much easier on jewels imbued with mana.
Reluctantly, I decided to wander the mountains in search of materials.
Carefully parting the snow-buried bushes,
I selected woods and stones that could hold magic.
Preferably ones with fine grain,
pretty shapes,
and those that would reveal their true value the more care I put into them.
"This..."
What came into my hand
was a log slightly thicker than my forearm.
It was the wood elves favored for crafting daily tools.
Sturdy yet light,
and it held its shape for a long time once imbued with mana.
Above all, it had the property of becoming smoother the more work put into it.
In the deepening darkness,
I focused my senses and examined the log.
The surface was slightly smooth, and the inside was firm.
'Not bad.'
I traced each irregular grain with my fingertips.
A bit tricky,
but I could shape this much sufficiently.
Woodworking was my oldest subordinate's hobby, after all.
At his urging,
I had tried it often, so it was somewhat familiar to me, even if clumsily.
I picked up the log.
But this wasn't enough yet.
This was my first time enchanting magic in this world.
Considering the failures,
I would need far more materials than this.
Moreover—
I had four recipients for the gifts.
I quickened my steps and looked around for other materials.
"Ah, there..."
I brushed off the snow and squatted on the ground.
Under the frozen dirt, a gray raw stone was embedded.
The surface was rough,
but the inside was a stone faintly infused with mana.
'This is decent too.'
Not quite mana stone level, but usable.
On top of that,
sap from mana-imbued wood that had hardened,
several pieces crystallized transparently like small amber.
I picked up several other usable materials besides those.
But...
I was worried.
I looked down at the materials cradled in my arms.
"Hope these work..."
The book lent by the alchemy merchant
said enchanting was possible with materials like these, but...
When I had been deeply into magic,
I had rarely used such low-durability materials.
They were too weak to contain magic,
and couldn't maintain mana wavelengths for long.
I had selected them carefully
and focused my senses to find them,
but it felt like hiding under a flimsy shield that might shatter at any moment.
"Let's head back first."
If it got any later, the child would worry.
A cold wind brushed past.
The sun had fully set,
and the only light was the moonlight obscured by clouds.
And—
A short distance away,
a small cabin leaking orange light.
The home where the child was waiting, the place I had to return to.
I quickened my steps.
The faster my footsteps,
the larger the cabin that had seemed so small grew.
The dim light took on a clearer form.
The warmth that had felt distant
drew closer with each step,
until it was near enough to touch.
I opened the door.
"......!"
"I'm back."
A smile brighter than the fireplace glow welcomed me.
I piled the gathered materials by the door.
Then, as if waiting,
before the warmth could seep in,
the small child's warmth quickly nestled into my arms.
I patted the child's back and let out a small laugh.
"Your pajamas will get dirty."
"......"
"Yeah. You can change."
A high-pitched laugh leaked faintly from within my arms.
I scooped up the child and stood.
I turned my gaze and surveyed the cabin.
The fireplace fire was still blazing, and the rabbit was sleeping soundly.
'No need to add wood.'
The moment I tried to slowly withdraw my gaze,
I noticed papers of various sizes placed near the door.
"Huh?"
"......?"
It seemed the child had drawn pictures here.
With the newly bought paints
and the wooden box we made together nearby.
"Drew here?"
"??? ...?!?!!!!"
The child, who had been meekly nestled, suddenly started thrashing.
With small hands pushing wildly at my chest,
wriggling arms as if demanding to be put down right away, face flushing red.
Her eyes were busy too.
She hurriedly turned toward the papers,
then looked back at me, shaking her head vigorously over and over.
"Can't see?"
"......!"
"Okay. I'll put you down, so tidy up quick."
"!"
I bent my knees and set the child down.
Before her feet even touched the ground,
she quickly slipped out of my arms and hurriedly shoved the papers into the corner.
Then, with anxious eyes, she glanced at me repeatedly.
"Didn't see properly."
"!"
"Yeah. Really."
Only then did a sigh of relief leak from the child's mouth.
What on earth was it?
The child hiding something from me.
It was unusual.
Until now, whatever she drew or did,
she had always tried to show it all to me.
'Something she wants to hide.'
I glanced unobtrusively at the pile of papers shoved into the corner.
Then quickly withdrew my gaze.
'Curious, but...'
Since she didn't want to show it that badly.
Better not to touch until she decides to show it herself.
I slightly opened the door and brushed the dust off my robe.
Cold air rushed in,
only to quickly melt into the warm indoor heat and vanish.
I closed the door and came inside.
After a few steps, something bumped into my foot.
"Huh?"
"......?"
I looked down.
It was a paper with the child's drawing.
"...Ah."
"？！"
It seemed the wind through the door crack had scattered it.
The panicked child crawled quickly over here.
And then,
tried desperately to hide it by covering the paper with her whole body.
Her frantic effort made me feel a little sorry.
"Sorry. Didn't think it'd scatter."
"......"
"I'll close my eyes, so tidy up."
I gently closed my eyes.
I heard the sound of the child standing.
Rustling sounds and careful breaths brushed my ears simultaneously.
After confirming the sounds had mostly stopped, I cautiously spoke.
"Done?"
"!"
A careful tug on my pants hem, as if signaling it was okay.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The child was holding a drawing in her hands.
Clearly, the very one she had covered with her whole body earlier.
'Did I misread her intent?'
In my moment of confusion,
the child extended the drawing toward me, as always, to show.
"Uh.... This one's okay to see?"
"!"
"Yeah. Thanks."
I took it with both hands and examined it.
There was a familiar landscape, drawn by pressing hard with pen and pastel.
"This..."
"......"
A wide brown rectangle,
a white circle on top,
and a brown circle inside the white circle.
Cryptic, yet
strangely familiar.
"Today's food?"
"......!"
"Correct?"
The child beamed and nodded.
Clumsy but vivid,
today's happiness reflected in the child's eyes was captured here.
"Well drawn."
"!"
Not flattery.
The child's drawing skill
was growing day by day as she had more things she wanted to express.
'No talent for flattery either...'
I smiled and handed the drawing back to the child.
"Better than me."
"......!"
"...Isn't that obvious?"
She nodded, then proudly shook the drawing.
A pride-filled smile spread from the corners of her mouth.
That confident look was so cute I laughed.
"Yeah. You draw much better."
"......!"
The child's cheeks flushed pink.
The child hugged the drawing tightly with one arm and reached out the other to me.
"Yeah. I'll hug you."
"!!!"
While hugging the child, I glanced at the drawing in her arms.
"Today's steak tasty?"
"!"
"Yeah? Glad it suits your taste."
I stroked her head and continued.
"Meat is essential for humans to grow right now."
"......?"
"Glad you like meat."
"......!"
It was true.
I had been inwardly worried while cooking,
in case the child kept hating meat.
I smiled and gently caressed her cheek.
"Thanks. For eating it so well."
"......"
The child's eyes sparkled brightly.
After hesitating a moment, she buried her face in my arms.
I slowly patted her back.
'What we ate today.... was beef, right?'
When I researched,
different meats had slightly different nutrients.
And
the meat with the best taste and nutrition was...
'Dragon meat.'
The book said as much.
Extremely hard to obtain,
but one piece provides satiety and recovery for days.
Moreover—
it boosted mana and stamina,
healed illnesses,
and was excellent for slowing aging.
'Hard to get. Dragons aren't sharing tails anymore, huh.'
In the far distant past,
I had often cut off tails to share with close ones.
Dragon tails were indeed rich in mana.
Back then, mana-packed things were the best gifts and food.
'Not sure about the other effects...'
I glanced back.
Where my tail should be.
Still hidden, nothing visible yet.
Thud—!
The revealed tail landed heavily on the cabin floor.
The startled child lifted her head.
"...Ah, released it too big."
"？！"
The child's flustered gaze turned to the platinum tail.
I shrank its size and wagged it slowly,
and the child's eyes lit up as she reached for the tail.
"Hm? Interested?"
"......!"
"Wanna touch?"
"!!!"
The child nodded vigorously.
I slowly lifted the tail to make it easy for her to touch.
Her small hand approached cautiously and gently touched the tip.
"......!"
"Novel?"
The child beamed a smile.
She seemed to like the feel of my tail.
She wrapped her palm fully around it and even rubbed her cheek against it.
To keep the child from getting hurt,
I flattened the scales and relaxed the tail's power, wrapping softly around her.
The child's laughter tickled my ears.
'Good.'
She liked my tail.
Humans nowadays
seemed to reject unfamiliar ingredients.
'Someday, maybe feed her. Tails regenerate quickly.'
Watching the child stroke the tail,
I pondered how dragon meat should be cooked.