I Won't Miss You. Not You! (1)
Karem had returned to Coldon.
After autumn, winter, and spring, he was finally greeting summer in Iceland for the first time.
Unlike the dry, cool, and cold autumn and winter, or the chilly damp of spring, summer in Coldon was nothing short of pleasant.
It felt rather like that distant season of clear skies and fattening horses—distant even by the standards of his previous life.
He might have grown used to humidity and cold, but there was no reason to dislike something so comfortable and refreshing. So it was only natural that the faces of people coming and going between Coldon and Winterhome carried a cheerful sense of liberation.
The adventurers who had escorted them disbanded at Winterhome's main gate. Servants who had somehow already approached took the reins and drove the carriage toward the Mage's Tower. Once the party disembarked with their luggage in front of the tower, the carriage simply rolled away again.
It was a feeling that could, in its own way, be called long overdue.
Catherine stood there blankly. While Narke looked around in confusion, Karem asked her directly.
"Aren't you going inside the tower?"
"I was just looking over the outside for a moment."
Catherine answered and carefully examined the tower's outer walls, scanning the surroundings with the eye of a real-estate agent checking a building's condition.
"No changes to the exterior."
"Changes? Did you expand it or something?"
"No. I was just checking whether anything had been broken."
"What do you mean by that?"
He wondered whether anything in the tower could even break—then realized it was obvious. Most of the residents of the Mage's Tower were, true to the name, mages. Given enough time to chant, they were essentially smart cannons capable of large-scale bombardment depending on their skill.
Narke's ears flicked as she nodded.
"Th-they might fling magic at each other during a heated ar-argument, after all."
"Mm. Fair point."
Karem's gaze drifted naturally toward Catherine.
"...What? Kid. What's with that look?"
"Nothing. Just thinking a little about what happened this past winter."
"What exactly are you thinking? It feels rude."
"Well, you and Lord Olivier did end up blasting magic at each other, didn't you?"
"That's because that old coot pisses me off."
"Is that something that happens often among mages?"
"Yes."
Catherine declared it flatly. Her sheer confidence left Karem speechless.
"I-it's not constant, but it happens sometimes. You know—like when people at a tavern start arguing and then fists start flying."
"Ah, that kind of feeling?"
"Y-yeah. Exactly that."
Narke waved a hand as if it were perfectly familiar.
"We're lucky if that's all it is."
Catherine crossed her arms and muttered.
"Explosions from messing up the ratios while researching or brewing reagents are a given, and if you bring in a monster for an experiment and it escapes, the place turns into a disaster zone. Everyday stuff."
"Mm, that was remarkably specific, Lady Atanita. Almost as if you'd experienced it firsthand."
"Just thinking about that old fossil grinds my teeth."
So while I was here, I just got lucky that none of that happened?
While Karem was breathing a sigh of relief at his good fortune, Mary opened the tower's front door with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
"Welcome back, Contractor. Junior Karem. You took longer than expected."
"Ah, well—incident after incident just kept popping up out of nowhere."
"The tower was a bit noisy for a while, too. Related, I take it."
Mary immediately hoisted the entire load of luggage and muttered under her breath. The long-missed sight left Karem feeling strangely nostalgic.
It wasn't as if there was all that much luggage—just one chest each for Catherine's and Narke's belongings. Even so, each chest was large enough that the current Karem could have curled up and lain down inside it. In other words, the kind of strength that would casually overpower any ordinary man who prided himself on his power. And yet Mary's body looked as thin as if she had never exercised a day in her life.
Catherine's magic was one thing, but Mary's monstrous strength never stopped being amazing no matter how many times he saw it. So this was that real-combat-compressed internal musculature people always talked about.
In the meantime Catherine strode off toward the top of the tower, and Narke startled and vanished somewhere, leaving only Mary and Karem in the corridor.
"By the way, Junior Karem. What's that thing in your right hand?"
"Ah, this?"
At her question Karem lifted the leather pouch, bulging with something round inside.
"You could call it one of the spoils of this outing."
"Something's giving off a savory smell."
"Akusare mushrooms."
"Mm. Akusare mushrooms."
Mary shed her indifference; anticipation began to light her eyes. She had eaten Akusare mushrooms a few times herself—back when she had been under contract on the continental mainland rather than in the Seophon Kingdom. That had been more than enough to burn the taste, aroma, and texture into her mind. For someone who went crazy for bread, milk, and butter, she had seriously considered ranking Akusare mushrooms fourth. The only reason they never made fourth place was not the flavor but the circumstances: they were simply too hard to obtain and far too expensive.
Of course, even the most precious and delicious ingredient was useless if the cook was terrible—but Mary had no doubt whatsoever that Karem would prepare them magnificently.
"In Fungusby we fried them whole, you know."
"You fried them?!"
"I wanted to experiment in all sorts of directions, but... this is probably going to be the last of them."
"...The last? What do you mean?"
Watching Mary grow flustered, Karem gave the pouch a couple of light taps.
"Fungusby's forest has completely turned into a mushroom-golem infestation. Meaning we can't get any more of these Akusare mushrooms."
"What do golems have to do with mushrooms? Wait—did you say mushroom golems?"
"Yep. The Akusare mushrooms everyone was looking forward to have, shall we say, been replaced by mushroom golems."
In other words, Iceland's—no, the Seophon Kingdom's—last Akusare mushrooms. That one-of-a-kind title made Mary's head spin.
Meanwhile Karem returned to his room. Even a single day left empty let dust settle in any lived-in space, yet the little room beside the kitchen was spotless, not a speck of dust in sight. Someone had clearly kept airing it out; the fresh scent of Iceland's summer filled the room. Who had cleaned it so thoroughly and pleasantly was obvious.
He set aside the various spices and cooking tools to take to the kitchen, dumped the laundry into the basket Mary had left, then carefully sheathed Winter's Lie—his precious magic tool—and finally rolled the last remaining item between his fingers.
"So... what am I supposed to do with this?"
One bean that looked like a kidney bean, striking in its bright green with black edges. And the ice that had flown in through the window and struck the Nameless Traveler square on the head.
He had no idea about the bean, but the hailstone at least sparked a few thoughts. The problem was that if those thoughts were correct...
"Then it's an extremely precious object."
Recalling the situation, Karem was half-convinced. The owner of this hailstone was almost certainly Skadi. And she had been the one who had casually(?) taken the seasoned chicken as an offering. The fact that the moment the Nameless Traveler tried to mention Skadi, a hailstone had smacked him proved it.
So however ridiculous the circumstances, the hailstone was definitely a precious item. After all, it was something a god had directly interfered with. Looking closer, several points were anything but ordinary: the hailstone's perfect spherical shape that showed not the slightest sign of melting even as time passed, and the remarkable power that flooded the room with a gentle chill the instant he took it out of the pouch.
"It might even be a sacred relic."
Even in his previous life people revered as holy relics any object a saint had merely used once; there was no guarantee Europa was any different. And Karem knew someone who could give him a firm answer about this (possibly) divine hailstone.
"Ah, your timing is unfortunate."
"Hm? Elder Iona isn't here?"
"He left a few days ago to inspect the Felwinter territory."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Karem returned the bow of the priest who had greeted him and saw the man off. His luck really had been terrible. Of all times for him to return to the castle, the elder was already out.
Karem felt as if he had lost his way—like carefully researching a famous restaurant, heading out on the weekend, and arriving only to find it suddenly closed for the day, leaving him standing there wondering where to go.
"Wait a second. Couldn't I just ask a priest?"
He whipped his head around. But the priest had long since vanished down the corridor. Chasing after him in whatever direction he might have gone was too much trouble, so Karem simply gave up.
"Well, he hasn't gone off to the ends of the earth. I can visit him later."
"Hm? Who are you looking for?"
He felt no presence behind him at all. Only a familiar voice and the familiar rhythm of someone patting his back. Karem turned and greeted her.
"Good day, Lady Alicia."
"Eheheh. That's right. It's Alicia! So who are you looking for?"
"Ah, I was hoping to see Elder Iona."
"Hm? I heard he left a few days ago."
"Yes. There were a few things I wanted to ask him about."
Children grow so fast—Alicia had already shot up a little and was staring at him with bright, curious eyes. There was no particular reason to hide it, so Karem took out the bean and the hailstone.
"I was going to ask about these."
"Isn't that just a bean and some ice? Why those?"
"Hmm..."
Karem hesitated for a moment. Meeting the Nameless Traveler. An ice sphere that had smacked a god. It was the perfect sort of story to be dismissed as a lie.
Meanwhile Alicia carefully examined the ice sphere and the strange bean. She had been wondering what he was pulling out, only for it to be a lump of ice and a bean. Her expectations plummeted—then she sensed something odd.
The ice sphere. Smooth, perfectly proportioned, it showed no sign of melting no matter how much time passed, and a faint chill radiated from it. Young and inexperienced as she was, Alicia instinctively realized: this was no ordinary object. That was all, though.
It's not something you can eat.
"I don't know what the ice ball is, but if it's about that bean, there's someone we can ask."
"Hm?"
"Corvus doesn't know anything about plants."
"Oh, true enough."
The giant crow monster Corvus. By the duke's own command he resided in the greenhouse and managed the plants there, so he would certainly know.
"But Lady Alicia, it's still bright outside."
"Hm? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Isn't it still lesson time?"
At that, Alicia flinched unnaturally and began watching Karem's face. As expected, her free-spirited soul had been unable to endure the boredom and had escaped tutoring. Judging by her reaction, her governess, Baroness Poppins, had clearly returned while he and Catherine were away.
Now what am I supposed to do with her—no, with this young lady?
Karem's dilemma was natural. Even if she had run from her lessons, Alicia was not of a station he could simply drag off somewhere by force. But Alicia moved first.
At this point...!
"...Hah!!!"
"Wh-whoa!? Lady Alicia?"
"Let's go see Corvus! Corvus will know about that bean!"
Alicia had chosen to make Karem her accomplice.