A Lesson After the Blizzard
"Now, hands on your bellies! Bow and greet!"
"Goodbye, Teacher!"
The first observation class had been a resounding success.
"I was worried for nothing!"
"There's something different about these new teachers."
The elders of Eskyle Village and the people of the Mizzenaci clan seemed satisfied as well.
Seeing their reactions, Simon let out a quiet sigh of relief.
And so, once the children and adults had all left—
"Congratulations! Leia and Su were acknowledged by the elders!"
Petria announced that there would be no more observation classes, and that no one would interfere with their lessons going forward.
"However, Grandmother Nenia, the village chief, has asked that the holy power training continue as it is. For that training alone, I'll need to come by and check on things myself."
"Understood, ma'am."
"Then get some good rest!"
Petria gave a small bow, closed the door, and left.
Lethe snapped her fingers, activating the soundproofing magic circles drawn on the walls and ceiling, then dashed to the sofa.
"I'm exhausted~"
She flopped down and let out a long sigh. Simon tidied up the toys the children had scattered about as he spoke.
"Good work today, Lethe."
"You too, sir. We've just climbed over a big mountain."
Now they could use Eskyle Village proudly as their base camp. The plan was to gather information from the village, and then, in the dead of night while everyone slept, slip beyond the barrier to comb through this mountain range from top to bottom.
"Let's rest this evening and get some shut-eye. We leave at dawn."
Lethe said this as she looked at Simon.
"Eskyle here may look peaceful, but by now Kula down below must have run completely out of food — it'll be a living hell down there. We need to resolve this mission as fast as we can."
"You're right."
Countless lives hung in the balance.
On top of that, Israfil had warned that this crisis could spread beyond the Holy Federation and into the Dark Alliance — potentially engulfing the entire continent.
Simon clenched his fist and steeled his resolve.
Let's do this!
And so, in the early hours before dawn—
Simon and Lethe slipped past the eyes of the village guards and emerged beyond the barrier.
Whoooooooooosh!
The brutal cold showed no sign of relenting. The blizzard poured down without pause, transforming the world into a landscape of death where not even a hand's breadth ahead was visible.
-Grrrrrrr!
-Kkekkek!
On top of that, the monsters dwelling in the snow mountains launched their attacks.
A four-legged beast, its spine bent and its body frozen stiff in patches, came charging at them.
⟨ Holy Sphere ⟩
A holy lance Simon conjured struck the monster's weak point — its spine — again and again, shattering it apart. Once the monster was completely destroyed, Simon stepped up to its remains.
"Lethe."
"What is it, sir?"
At her careless wave of a hand, several monsters were already crumbling apart, bleached bone-white.
"These are undead."
"So that's why the holy power was biting into them so easily. Turns out even undead monsters were lurking up here."
Unknown monsters that didn't even warrant a danger rank were prowling the snow mountains. Lethe lifted her head.
"This mountain really is suspicious."
Through the gaps in the blizzard, the peak of the mountain range loomed faintly into view.
"We've walked so hard, but looking at the summit, it doesn't feel like we've come very far at all."
"Yeah. It feels like we keep circling the same spot. The moment I focus on dodging the monsters' attacks, I lose my sense of direction."
"Then we'll need a countermeasure for getting lost, sir."
White breath billowing from her lips, Lethe fell into thought.
The sight of her snow-white hair dancing in the swirling snowfall stirred a strangely ethereal atmosphere.
"Nothing for it, I suppose."
At the end of her deliberations, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'll prepare one big move. Just buy me some time, sir."
"A big move... don't tell me you're going to use the Saintess's power here?"
Lethe shook her head and fiddled with the choker around her neck.
"My power as the Saintess of the Stars is focused entirely on 'destruction.' I'll prepare a large-scale white magic spell, so you keep the monsters busy. Five minutes — no, ten minutes will be enough."
"Leave it to me."
Crunch.
Lethe slowly knelt upon the snow-white field. Soon she pressed her palms together as if in prayer and closed her eyes with reverence.
"O Mother of All Things."
Sssss—
Sssssssssss—
Simon stumbled backward in surprise. Holy power rose around the praying woman, and a magic circle began to draw itself in the snow.
"Hear the prayer of your sinful daughter."
The air itself changed.
In the midst of the raging cold and the howling blizzard, a hole tore open in the hazy sky, and through it, blinding radiance poured down.
Lethe, hands clasped, praying with all her heart within that light—
was dazzling to behold.
-Kikikiki!
-Geeek!
Monsters and undead alike, drawn by Lethe's holy power, came swarming in.
Simon fired off the Holy Spheres he had already loaded in advance.
"ⴆⴈⴇⴘⴋⴝ."
Lethe's incantation continued. The holy power around them welled up in abundance.
"Simon."
Then came Lethe's voice. Simon, having subdued the monsters, turned to look back at her.
"Open your eyes wide and watch closely."
FWAAAAAAAAAAAH!
In a single instant—
every trace of the brutal cold and the blizzard was swept away, clean as a whistle.
Night turned to day.
Whoa...!
Everything around them lay crisply, perfectly visible.
His amazement at Lethe's magic, which could rewrite the very climate itself, lasted only a moment before Simon's eyes went wide.
He couldn't afford to waste this window she had bought him.
I knew it.
Behind them, Eskyle Village sat ringed within its barrier.
After hours of wandering through the brutal cold, this spot was only about thirty minutes' distance from the village. They hadn't come very far at all.
And the mountain's summit stretched out clearly before them.
Just below the peak, a cave was visible. From it, an ominous aura came seeping and overflowing.
It wasn't nearly as far from here as he'd expected.
"Lethe! Over there!"
Simon shouted, pointing at the cave. Lethe, her concentration wholly devoted to sustaining the white magic, snapped her eyes open and thrust both arms skyward.
High-tier area white magic
A white flash streaked out, blazing bright.
At the same moment, the bright day that had surrounded them flooded with darkness in an instant, and the brutal cold and blizzard came raging back.
Whoooooooooosh!
The beautiful vista they had just witnessed vanished like a fleeting dream.
Once more, cold and chill, and a snowfall that swallowed the world beyond a hand's breadth, blanketed everything.
"...Haaah... haaah..."
Lethe rose to her feet, making odd sounds. Simon rushed over to her.
"Lethe! You really did amaz—!"
Thump.
Lethe keeled over, falling straight into Simon's arms.
"L-Lethe?"
"...I overdid... it, sir."
Her eyelids hovered on the verge of closing. Simon spoke gently.
"Let's stop here for today and head back to the village."
Lethe gave a quiet little nod. Thinking, how unlike her — that was almost cute, Simon settled his hands on her shoulders and scooped her up lightly with the strength of his arms.
"Just rest a little. We'll be at the village before you know—"
WHAM!
Out of nowhere, Lethe's fist flew into his face. Simon tumbled through the snow with a bizarre squawk.
"Wh-what was that for?!"
Simon cried out, clutching his cheek.
"...Don't... carry me like... thaaat. It's embarraaassing."
Of all the times to complain about his carrying posture.
As Simon stared at her in disbelief, Lethe — her eyes half-shut with drowsiness — slowly raised both arms toward him.
...!
As if asking him to carry her.
The tips of Simon's ears went faintly red.
...Obviously she can't mean carry her from the front.
Simon approached, turned his back to her, and presented it. Soon he felt her body thump against him.
Hoisting her onto his back, Simon rose to his feet.
"Lethe?"
She was already asleep, eyes closed. Confirming the steady rhythm of her breathing, Simon set off immediately toward the village.
The pre-dawn hours had been brutal.
He had climbed the frozen mountain range, carried Lethe back down, and returned to Eskyle Village. Once home, Simon moved Lethe into the next room, then collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep as if he'd blacked out.
He had a dream.
Once again, Lethe — drained after casting a powerful white magic spell — was slumping toward him with a sloppy, melted expression, both arms spread wide.
Feeling a little shy, Simon had hesitantly stepped closer, turned his back, and taken the same piggyback position as in reality.
Thwack!
But her fist slammed into his face.
"Gwuhurk!"
Simon made a strange noise and opened his eyes to find his vision obscured by something soft.
A pillow?
Apparently, he'd been smacked with a pillow.
Soon the pillow lifted away, revealing Lethe wearing her usual expression — somewhere between cool indifference and drowsy languor — as she spoke.
"How many times do I have to whack you awake before you get up, sir?"
"L-Lethe?"
"Get up already. Breakfast is ready too."
Lethe hopped off the bed and walked out of the room without a backward glance.
Simon dragged himself up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Come to think of it, a delicious smell had been drifting through the air.
I'm starving.
Shuffling along like a zombie, he arrived at the table to find a meat soup bubbling away, ready and waiting.
Simon weaved his way into a seat.
Mm.
Lethe, saintess that she was, had her hands clasped in prayer before the meal. Soon her prayer ended, and Simon, without much thought, scooped up a spoonful of soup and brought it to his mouth.
"How is it?"
Lethe asked.
"Oh."
Simon blinked.
"It's delicious — in a completely ordinary way. Surprised me."
"...You have a real gift for making even a compliment sound like an insult. Truly remarkable, sir."
Simon took a few more spoonfuls. The more he ate, the more nostalgic and familiar the taste became.
"Don't tell me this is—"
"Of course it's Teacher Anna's recipe, sir."
Lethe pointed her spoon at him — chk!
"Remember this well. You may trash my cooking all you like, but I will not tolerate anyone bad-mouthing Teacher Anna's recipes."
"Why would I bad-mouth it?"
Savoring the taste of home, Simon polished off the entire bowl.
The meat soup vanished in no time.
"Once you're done, come outside."
"Huh?"
"We're having class."
Hearing the word class, Simon naturally assumed she meant preparing lessons for the children, and headed out.
But as it turned out—
"As promised before, I'm going to teach you 'La Escrime' properly."
The student was Simon himself. Lethe crossed her arms and tilted her head.
"Go on, cast it once."
"Ah, sure."
Simon nodded and readied La Escrime.
Using a Holy Sphere as the framework, he wrapped it in bands of holy power to boost its power and piercing force.
Every band was inscribed with the Output modifier. Driving the output to maximum, he spun the bands, whirling the Holy Sphere like a drill.
"Good enough. Now dismiss it."
Simon released the La Escrime.
"I was impressed by your ability to copy a spell after watching it a few times, but it's still hollow at its core. It's nothing more — and nothing less — than a knockoff, sir."
She wagged her index finger as explanations came pouring out rapid-fire.
"First of all, La Escrime's framework shouldn't be a 'Holy Sphere' — you need to forge an independent lance shaft made exclusively for La Escrime. And the bands of holy power wrapping the lance aren't just bands of holy power either — they have to be wound with Blessings, sir."
"Ah! So that's what that was — Blessings, not bands?"
"Yes."
She demonstrated, conjuring the bands of holy power that ringed the lance herself.
"The Blessings of Reinforcement, Rotation, and Onrush. Winding these three Blessings together to create synergy within the Escrime — that's the heart of it, sir."
Lethe passed on to Simon everything the Escrime required — not just the Blessings, but the Rune Script and every modifier as well.
"A-are you really okay giving me all of this?"
Even as he asked, Simon was furiously scribbling down everything she said, his face alight with excitement.
Lethe smirked and planted her hands on her hips.
"Because having you use my original spell as a knockoff is embarrassing. Besides, I can cast far stronger magic now, sir."
"Thank you anyway!"
And so the La Escrime lesson concluded, and Lethe moved on to the main event.
"Bring out those kitten Holy Beasts. And the bear Holy Beast too."
"Huh?"
"You handle your Holy Beasts like a complete mess. Consider this your chance to learn how it's properly done, sir."