The West Forest Cabin (4)
Yulia Frostwolf did not swing her sword today for the first time in her life.
There was only one reason.
It was the advice the ghost of the cabin in the West Forest had given her.
"Tomorrow, go into town with your friends and have a wonderful time. I'll tell you some shops I personally recommend, so drop by if the mood strikes you. And absolutely no training. Holding a sword is strictly forbidden."
It made no sense. Advice whose true intent she could not fathom at all.
Yet Yulia had accepted it. The truth was that she had been stagnant for the past several months, and that stagnation had not eased even after entering the academy. She was desperate enough to clutch at straws.
Her dormitory room, entered without a drop of sweat for the first time. Yulia neatly folded the clothes that felt strangely uncomfortable precisely because they were dry, then stepped into the bath.
The warm water wrapped around her entire body. Instead of the usual relief of loosening stiff muscles, she felt a soft heat seeping deep inside her—a sensation she had never experienced before.
For Yulia, who had spent her whole life running, it was entirely new.
After arriving at the academy she had occasionally skipped training to humor Shepia, who was constantly glued to her side, but she had always compensated by cutting her sleep.
"Still… it was fun."
Her muscles pricked at her conscience, asking why they were not being driven to the brink today, but setting that aside, the day had undeniably been enjoyable. Eating pasta with her friends, taking photos, watching a movie. An utterly ordinary day—the first she had ever known since being born into a ducal house.
Of course, she would return to rigorous training tomorrow.
Since she had neither sweated much nor overworked her muscles, there was no need to linger in the bath. Yulia stepped out, lay down on her bed, and for the first time fell asleep peacefully instead of collapsing into unconsciousness.
Of course, the next morning Yulia rose at five o'clock. Her usual hour. She changed into her training uniform by rote and left the dormitory for a dawn run. Yesterday had been sweet, but complacency would turn it into mere indulgence. Instead of the academy's main training grounds, she headed toward a smaller practice field on the outskirts and began to run at an easy pace.
Yet something felt wrong.
"What is this? My body feels far too light."
It was light. Impossibly light. A distance that normally took ten minutes she covered in five. Exactly half the usual time—an abnormal record. Doubt bloomed in Yulia's chest.
She set that doubt aside for the moment, picked up her sword, and assumed a stance. She would begin with the technique she had never once succeeded in performing.
Left foot forward, right foot drawn slightly back. The sword held one-handed at shoulder height, left arm extended straight ahead like a drawn bowstring aiming at an enemy. The tip of the blade passing beside her eye had to align perfectly with the direction of her left hand.
Once the stance was set, the next step was the manipulation of magic power.
She drew it upward. Cold ice magic spread from her heart. Yulia's breath began to freeze. The moment that power passed through her heart, traveled down her arm and hand, and reached the tip of her sword—
The blade and magic surged together toward a target haphazardly planted in the training ground.
"Ice Wolf Fourth Form—Breakthrough"
The instant she activated the technique, Yulia knew by instinct.
Ah. It worked.
The distant target shattered into fragments of ice. Without even breathing, Yulia stared down at her hand and the sword.
She had succeeded. At her young age, no one in the family's long history had ever mastered the fourth form.
"Did I really… just succeed with the fourth form?"
She retraced what she had done. The magic had flowed exactly where she willed it, striking the target with perfect accuracy. An art that reached the realm of magic through pure power alone, without incantation or magic circle. The moment she fully realized it, an unstoppable joy burst forth.
The first person who came to mind was the one inside that gloomy cabin. Yulia turned on her heel and sprinted toward the West Forest cabin without a backward glance.
I had been sleeping comfortably. After trailing after Stelle, Shepia, and Yulia all day yesterday, I had been exhausted.
But in the early dawn, an urgent voice rang out.
『…Hey!』
"Ugh… what is it at this hour…"
Who on earth would be so loud before the sun had even risen? Still half-asleep, I rubbed my eyes and only then remembered I was inside the cabin. This dimensional cabin, different from any ordinary one. The fact that I could hear noise meant—
I sprang out of bed. There stood a girl, visibly excited and searching for me.
『Hey! Are you not here!』
Yulia Frostwolf. Her expression made it clear something good had happened, so I was glad… but first I needed to handle a few things properly.
I pulled out a chair and sat down. From the test I had run through Stelle last time, it seemed the other party perceived me as a shadow.
"By any chance, do you also lack manners?"
Of course, the only reason I spoke so curtly was to conceal the fact that I was Hint. It was definitely not because I was irritated at being woken up.
When the ghost appeared, Yulia's face brightened noticeably. She had been about to tell him what she had experienced today, but the shadow spoke first. Well, "spoke" might not be the most accurate word, but it would do.
『By any chance, do you also lack manners?』
At the ghost's cold tone, Yulia flinched. Had she done something wrong? Instead of pressing aggressively as she once might have, she apologized obediently; after all, she had already received help.
"S-sorry. Did I make a mistake?"
『What time do you think it is? It's five thirty in the morning. Ghosts need sleep too, you know.』
"I-is that so? I didn't realize ghosts slept. I apologize."
『That remark just now was extremely discriminatory toward ghosts. From now on, please come before one o'clock at the earliest. But not too early.』
"That means…"
『Between eleven at night and one in the morning. If you come then, we will meet at that time. Is that acceptable, Yulia?』
"Of course it is."
『Thank you for understanding, Yulia. Then shall we return to the main topic? What brings you here?』
Yulia stroked her sword as she spoke.
"Just as you told me, after resting yesterday I suddenly succeeded in a technique I had never managed before."
『Congratulations.』
"Yes, so…"
Huh.
Yulia suddenly found herself at a loss for words. Now that she thought about it, why had she run all the way here at the crack of dawn simply because she had succeeded in one technique? Unable to understand her own actions, she paused to choose her next words carefully.
"I was curious how I managed it… and I wanted to know the next step as well."
『Very well. But you remember the condition, yes?』
"Yes. It was about my story."
『More precisely, it is the story of why you wish to become stronger.』
Yulia closed her eyes. It seemed the ghost already knew of her jealousy and inferiority complex but wanted to hear the words from her own mouth. Speaking them aloud was frightening, yet the ghost had already shown her something, and since this was the ghost of the cabin there was no need to fear rumors.
"First, it is a story from when I was five years old."
Yulia Frostwolf.
Born the youngest daughter of the great Frostwolf ducal house that guarded the North against demonic beasts and monsters crossing the mountain ranges, her earliest memory was the feel of a wooden sword in her hand. She had gripped a blade before she even learned to read, and from that day onward Yulia had never once let go.
"Haha. Yulia, take a little break."
"No!"
There was no deeper reason. Family encouragement, the responsibilities of a ducal house—none of those were what drove her. Yulia wielded the sword for one reason alone: because it was fun.
"Yulia! You must observe mealtime!"
"Sorry. I forgot. By the way, brother, may I have a spar?"
"Wait, we're supposed to eat… Ah, forget it! Come at me with everything you've got!!!"
She forgot meals, forgot promises to her family, and skipped lessons. Yulia had been utterly captivated by the sword and by the version of herself that grew stronger with every swing.
The pinnacle of that fascination came when she was five years old.
"Hey! Evacuate the people!"
"Damn it, how did a monster get into the duke's forest?!"
"Call the knight order! Whatever you do, stay back!"
She never learned how it had entered, but a monster drenched in blood had crawled into the backyard of the ducal residence—a place that should have been under the strictest guard. The creature that presumably once possessed four legs and six arms had clearly sacrificed much to reach this place; now it crawled on only one leg and one arm.
It happened to be a day when the family head was absent. It happened to be the day most of the knights were away at the front lines for regular training. It happened to be the day the duke's second son lay bedridden with a high fever. It happened to be the day nearly everyone in the residence was busy preparing a banquet in the main hall rather than the forest, in anticipation of the princess's visit.
And it happened that on that very day, Yulia was in the forest, wooden sword in hand, honing her skills.
The monster, upon seeing the white hair and red eyes that marked the Frostwolf bloodline, charged at her in a frenzy.
-GRAAAAAWWWWR!!!
Instinctively, Yulia swung her sword at the grotesque monster rushing toward her. The unique magic power of the Frostwolf family flooded the blade, and the sword sliced the creature cleanly in two. Being drenched in its blood and entrails was her last memory.
The next day, when Yulia opened her eyes in bed—
"The hero who slew a monster in a single strike! The pride of the North! Lady Yulia has awakened!"
Yulia had become a hero. A five-year-old who awakened her unique magic and defeated a monster. What better words could there be to ignite a young girl's heart?
"Magnificent, Yulia. I am proud to call you my daughter."
"Father… I wish to become a hero."
"Then you shall surely become a splendid one."
Yulia's father, the Grand Duke of the North, gently stroked her head. From that day, from that very moment, Yulia dreamed of becoming a hero. She endlessly polished the new magic power she had gained, and her skill grew without limit. Every warrior in the North praised her as a genius.
"Lady Yulia's growth is truly astonishing."
"At this rate she will become a towering pillar of the North within a few years."
"Hahaha! Let us toast in advance to the hero of the North, Yulia Frostwolf!"
Such sentiments had even spread as a kind of culture among the northern villages. Praise could make a whale dance; for a young girl it was even more intoxicating. To live up to their expectations and fulfill her dream of becoming a hero, Yulia trained without end. She never doubted for a moment that she was a genius.
"Wow~☆ It's cold! So this is the North!"
Yes—until the day she met a true genius.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness the Princess."
"Eeh~☆ Don't be so stiff! You're Yulia Frostwolf, right? Let's be friends!"
"…Pardon?"
The girl of stars had arrived in the North.