Chapter 325
Chapter 325
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 325
Chapter Title: The Second Outing (3)
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[325] The Second Outing (3)
“So this is the Ice Queen. She’s as beautiful as they say.”
“Eight hundred years ago was an era when mages were condemned as witches. In a way, you could call her a tragic figure.”
Amy gave a brief account of the Ice Queen’s story.
The Ice Queen was originally a mage.
She lived in hiding during a time ruled by divine authority, but her stunning looks were impossible to conceal.
When word of the woman’s beauty spread through the capital and reached the royal castle, the old king summoned her himself. Smitten at first sight, the king made her his queen.
But having spent her entire life pursued by the Holy Order, darkness had already taken root in her heart.
Hundreds of innocent citizens were horrifically tortured and killed under the guise of magical experiments.
As people died, the queen’s magic grew stronger. And as her magic grew stronger, the queen grew madder.
It is extremely rare for a mage to go insane. Their profession itself is one that strengthens the mind.
But if their mind were to break for any reason, it would result in a situation far more severe than any ordinary mental illness.
Their mind and magic would become one, making it impossible to control their magical power.
Mages called this phenomenon Magic Synchronization.
The queen, seized by madness, began to freeze everything around her.
Her room, hung with icicles, was reminiscent of an ice cave in the arctic.
Furniture like her bed and vanity, and even the maids and servants who attended her, lost their lives, frozen solid.
As the situation spiraled out of control, the king built a small castle for her in the Les Mountains and made her its queen. It was exile in all but name.
But even there, the queen’s bizarre acts did not cease.
Her first test subjects were dozens of servants. When they had all died, she began capturing commoners and continuing her cruel experiments.
After a year, not a single person remained in the small castle in the Les Mountains.
But the queen was satisfied. After long experimentation, she had finally reached the state she desired.
“I shall slumber where even time is frozen. On the day I return, the world will kneel before me.”
The queen cast her final spell, imprisoning herself within a massive block of ice.
That was the story behind the final form of the Ice Queen that Shirone was now looking at.
“Hmm, I see.”
Shirone moved a little closer to the Ice Queen.
Hearing the tale made it feel real. Her figure, with eyes closed in hibernation, truly looked like a person from eight hundred years ago, sleeping.
Amy finished the story.
“Perhaps she was tormented by guilt, even as her mind was breaking. I think that’s why she devoted herself to a spell that would freeze even herself.”
“That could be it. If that’s true, it’s really incredible.”
A mage cannot die from a spell they cast themselves.
While not theoretically impossible, casting a spell to harm oneself required a will that transcended omnipotence.
“The spell won’t activate if the Spirit Zone wavers. It’s something an ordinary mage couldn’t even attempt.”
“Hmm, maybe it’s closely related to the Magic Synchronization phenomenon?”
Shirone stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Seeing him so unnecessarily serious, Amy burst into laughter.
“Why so serious? It’s just a legend, anyway. It’s not even clear if the Ice Queen was a real person. Some theories say she was based on a tyrannical queen from that era. The figure trapped in the ice right now is just a wax doll.”
Shirone also knew the Winter Festival wasn’t based on actual history.
“Yeah. But it looks so real.”
Even Amy had to admit the doll was exquisitely crafted. As the main character of the festival, it was only natural that great care had been taken.
Shirone and Amy moved closer to examine the queen trapped in the ice.
In that instant, the Ice Queen’s eyes snapped open.
“Aaaah! What the—!”
Shirone and Amy simultaneously grabbed each other and stumbled back.
The tourists turned their heads at the scream. But they soon realized what was happening and let out a chuckle.
Realizing she was in Shirone’s arms, Amy hastily pulled away.
Her face flushed with embarrassment, she stomped the innocent floor and shouted.
“I-Idiot! There’s a device on the floor. When you step on it, the doll’s eyes open.”
“How was I supposed to know? And you were just as surprised.”
“Surprised? Who, me? It was just because you yelled so loud. Honestly, for a guy, you’re such a coward.”
Shirone pointed at Amy’s pale face.
“Haha! For someone who wasn’t surprised, you’re looking pretty pale.”
“...Oh, am I? Want me to make your face even paler? You’ll be ashen as thin soup once I make you puke your guts out.”
As Amy approached, cracking her knuckles, Shirone sheepishly averted his gaze and muttered at the floor.
“If you were scared, just say you were scared. You don’t have to act like a gangster…”
“What? A gangster? Fine, I’m a gangster. What are you going to do about it?”
Amy made her fist pointy and began poking Shirone’s side. A jolt shot through Shirone’s ribs, and he fled down the corridor, flailing his arms.
“Hahaha! Stop it! That tickles!”
“Where do you think you’re going? Get back here!”
Their voices echoed through the hall.
The other tourists paid them no mind.
This was a place of celebration, and for couples, an excellent spot for a date.
But three students from Ains Magic Academy hadn’t taken their eyes off Shirone and Amy since they first spotted them.
To be precise, they were recent graduates who had passed their final exams.
Ains Magic Academy, one of the two magic academies in Creas, was not as prestigious as Alpheas and thus less well-known.
Most importantly, graduating did not automatically grant one a mage license, unlike at the elite schools.
Of course, the reality was that most guilds would issue a mage license with just a diploma. But considering the privileges enjoyed by graduates of prestigious academies, it was a blow to their pride as fellow graduates.
“That couple over there… they’re pretty famous, aren't they?”
Ludvans said, gesturing toward the railing with his chin.
He was lanky with curly hair, and the long sunglasses he wore made him look much older than he was.
“Oh my, you’re right.”
Vivian also recognized Shirone and Amy at a glance. She seemed to have a complex about her slightly downturned eyes, as she wore her eyeliner more fiercely than most.
Like most magic academy students, they were regular subscribers to the *Spirit* academic journal.
Most of its pages were dedicated to introducing prestigious schools and their students, but sales were much higher at non-prestigious schools.
Students at top academies felt no need to buy a magazine to read articles about their own school or their rivals.
“Arian Shirone and Carmis Amy. Wait a second. Zokre, you must know Amy, right?”
“Of course. I know her very well.”
Zokre, the leader of their group, sneered.
He was of average height with shaggy hair, and his narrowly slit eyes and thin lips betrayed a stubborn personality.
For Zokre, Alpheas Magic Academy was a painful memory.
He had attended classes there until he was thirteen before transferring to Ains Magic Academy.
The fact that he had confessed to Amy right before transferring, only to be rejected, was a secret that not even Ludvans or Vivian knew.
Of course, he hadn’t transferred just because a girl had turned him down.
It was no exaggeration to say that the five great academies, like Alpheas, gathered the greatest talents in the kingdom.
With average talent, one would only end up as fertilizer for the geniuses.
Believing he couldn’t win the competition, Zokre had sought another path by transferring.
In fact, a great number of students at prestigious schools failed to graduate even after coming of age.
From that perspective, Zokre’s decision could be seen as a brilliant one.
But in reality, transferring from a prestigious school to a non-prestigious one was extremely rare.
It was likely because the prestigious schools had a pride of their own.
From the students’ perspective, avoiding competition to forge a different path probably looked like running away.
These were all talents who had been praised as geniuses before entering the academy, so their sky-high pride must have played a part.
‘Hmph! Prestige, reputation, it’s all just for show. What’s the point of pride if you can’t produce results?’
Zokre had always thought that way.
But if he were to ask himself if he had any regrets about leaving the prestigious academy, he couldn’t honestly give a ready answer.
“My goodness. I can’t believe we’re seeing them here.”
Vivian knew almost everything about Shirone and Amy. When it came to their school life, she was confident she knew more than their own families.
This was common among students from non-prestigious schools. The students featured in the *Spirit* journal were the very goal they aspired to, their idols.
“That boy is Shirone. The one who beat the undefeated Dante. And Carmis Amy of the Red Eyes. The rumors said they were a couple, and it looks like it's true.”
The word “couple” drove a nail into Zokre’s heart. The fact that his heart still pounded at the sight of Amy, even after five years, made him even angrier.
“They’re just a pair of students. They fail their graduation exams because they’re obsessed with prestige. Pathetic. No need to be intimidated. We’re official mages.”
As he said this, Zokre muttered to himself.
‘Though my license hasn’t arrived yet…’
In any case, he was no longer the snot-nosed Zokre of thirteen. He had proudly graduated from a magic academy and was now in the process of becoming an official mage.
Amy, on the other hand, had spectacularly failed her graduation exam. When would another chance to lord it over her like this ever come again?
“Let’s go. It’s been a while, we should at least say hello, don’t you think?”
Ludvans, following behind Zokre, added with his usual expressionless face.
“As their seniors, of course?”
Unaware that Zokre’s group was approaching, Shirone was cornered at the end of the 1.5th-floor corridor, getting lynched by Amy.
“Ahaha! Okay! I’m sorry! Stop it now!”
“Nice try. We’re just getting started!”
Her playful side ignited, Amy poked even more persistently at a weak spot in Shirone’s ribs.
Shirone’s laughter exploded like a bomb.
“Hm? That voice sounds familiar.”
A handsome boy who had been looking around the 3rd-floor history exhibit heard their voices and turned his head toward the railing.
From his high vantage point, he could see Shirone and Amy playing around on the 1.5th floor where the Ice Queen was displayed.
“Are they on a date?”
It seemed Shirone had brought Amy out to cheer her up after she failed her graduation exam.
The boy watched for a moment more, then turned away nonchalantly.
‘Well, it’s none of my business. I’ll stay out of it.’
He was not one to meddle in others’ affairs by nature, and he especially wanted no part in anything between a man and a woman.
‘Where’s the antique art exhibit?’
Sipping his iced coffee through a straw, the boy disappeared deeper into the exhibition hall.
Having finished their roughhousing, Shirone and Amy went up to the 2nd floor.
An ice rainbow bridge had been installed, connecting the end of a crumbled castle wall to a spire across the way.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.”
The railing’s decorations were intricately carved, and from the center of the arch, the ice garden spread out over the castle grounds came into full view.
After crossing the rainbow bridge to the opposite spire, they found a mini-game area.
The game was to knock down targets in the shape of soldiers standing in a watchtower across the way, and the throwing weapons were snowballs, which were lying about in abundance.
“Step right up, step right up! Ten snowballs for ten silver. Knock down a soldier and win a plush Ice Queen doll!”
Hearing the announcer’s explanation, Shirone’s gaze shifted to the Ice Queen doll at the prize counter.
It was a huggable, three-heads-tall doll, smiling brightly with large, sparkling eyes.
It had a completely different vibe from the legendary witch he had heard about in the story.