Volume 1, Episode 10
The expressions of the people who had stood there stupidly, not understanding, froze in an instant.
“M-mage? Just what in the world….”
“Shut up. I came to meet the Winter Bell. I didn’t come to deal with trash like you, so only the ones who want to die should step forward.”
After his outburst, Oze staggered on his own.
“Krrr… Get lost. Don’t go spreading your filthy disease.”
He had spent days trudging across the snowfields in search of the Winter Bell, and he was already exhausted. In truth, he had also drunk himself silly on the harsh liquor the village sold to laborers.
If he had been sober, he might not have gone this far, but now he saw nothing at all.
I’m going to have to go back to His Majesty empty-handed. I haven’t found the Winter Bell, not even its shadow. And now I’m supposed to listen to a bunch of peasants begging for favors?
Oze could not suppress the boiling rage in his chest and simply flipped the table over. The already-cold snacks scattered across the floor, and someone screamed.
But no one could stop him. From a commoner’s point of view, a royal mage from a noble family could smash whatever he pleased and strike whoever he liked; all they could do was cower and endure it.
As if that were not bad enough, he started bellowing for the criminals to be cut down, and in the end the soldiers moved at last.
Snick—
Just as the sharp blade drawn on command was about to point at the terrified man, a girl ran into the chaos.
“Stop!”
It was Kisha Hartney, the twelve-year-old acting lord.
With a face drained white, Kisha placed herself in front of the villagers, who were trembling all over.
“What are you trying to do right now?”
“H-huh?”
“Why are you drawing swords at our villagers!”
“What’s the problem? Little girl from Hartney.”
Oze Lobern gave a snort, his face flushed red with drink.
“Isn’t this what you wanted too?”
“That’s impossible! That’s a lie!”
“You begged me to do something about the plague.”
He had indeed said something like that. Kisha bit her lip hard.
But that’s not what I meant!
It had been a desperate plea for a miracle of magic, for some way to cure the illness. At the time, Oze Lobern had promised he would do it, and Kisha had believed him completely and supported him.
Seeing the girl’s face stiffen like a board, Oze burst into loud laughter.
“Haha! If there’s no way to cure the sickness, isn’t it simpler to just get rid of the people who are sick?”
“G-get rid of….”
As though savoring the fear in the ashen faces around him, Oze swept his gaze over them and said, as if it were obvious, “It’s best to pull out the dirty weeds threatening the safety of the kingdom’s citizens before they spread any further.”
“…”
“A leader ought to know how to make that kind of decision, girl.”
And yet he doesn’t even treat me like a leader.
Kisha held his mocking gaze steady as he looked down at her as if he were teaching her a lesson.
Meanwhile, seeing this young, weak girl refuse to give even an inch, Oze only grew more irritated and was just about to say something else when—
“Delivery.”
Jingle.
A clear bell rang through the silence. It was a small sound that would normally have been swallowed by the din, but given the situation, it cut through the room with startling clarity and reached everyone’s ears.
As if under a spell, everyone stopped at the sound of the bell. And in that moment, a hooded figure suddenly stepped into the tavern.
“Uh, we’re closed right now….”
The employee hurriedly opened his mouth to turn the customer away before there could be another victim, but the stranger who entered through the creaking wooden door pulled back his hood.
Hair the color of deep crimson, unmistakable anywhere. Beneath it, eyes the color of sunset, dark and vivid and gleaming.
“W-wai—!”
Kisha almost shouted his identity aloud, but she clapped both hands over her mouth.
Those sunset-colored eyes softened as they found her.
“It’s been a while, Kisha Hartney.”
He was the Winter Bell so many people had searched for in vain.
At Seherbian’s warm greeting, Kisha could not say a word through her misted eyes. Of course she was happy. She was overjoyed, so moved she could hardly bear it, but her throat was tight and nothing would come out.
Seherbian seemed to understand and gave her a small smile before turning his gaze to the man who had caused this mess.
Hic!
Oze Lobern stiffened when he noticed the pendant hanging at his neck.
A temple insignia: a silver cross edged in gold, with a crimson sacred stone set in the center!
Some of the drunken fog seemed to lift from him.
“Well now, well now. Aren’t you a priest?”
Oze immediately changed tactics and let out a hearty, friendly laugh.
Priests were mostly a highborn group made up of nobles. Even royal authority could not infringe on divine power, and since they possessed sacred power that could truly heal the sick, they were also one of the best tools for winning over the public.
Messing with such a priest was foolish. If one misstepped and the Papacy got involved, the problem could grow beyond control.
No matter how drunk a royal mage might be, he had to sober up now.
But the priest who had suddenly appeared did not spare even the slightest attention for such tearful efforts.
“Kisha, have you been well?”
Seherbian turned his head back toward her and asked, and Kisha could only nod weakly. Oze tried to jump back in with, “Ahem, Priest?” but Seherbian’s attention did not leave Kisha.
“How have you been since winter came?”
“Oh! It’s been wonderful!”
At last finding her voice, Kisha answered with lively enthusiasm.
“There are so many amazing things. I mean, the leaves all suddenly disappeared from the trees, and at first I was so shocked. But they say that’s because it’s winter. It’s incredible. I was even more surprised because it was my first time seeing snow!”
“You haven’t been cold?”
“Of course, there was quite a commotion because we had to rush and make new winter clothes. The village didn’t have any winter clothes at all. Still, we made hats and gloves in no time! Since it’s so cold, the brazier feels warmer than usual, and when we gather around it and cook stew, it’s absolutely delicious.”
“Oh. Sounds like everyone adapted well.”
For Seherbian, who had always been the one to be hated, it was an unexpected outcome, and he was genuinely impressed. Kisha, having forgotten even that her life had been threatened in her excitement at meeting the Winter Bell again, went on eagerly.
“And there was so much snow piled up in the village. We found the seeds the apothecary had been storing and planted some winter butterfly trees too. They’re growing well, but I think it’ll still take a little longer before they bloom.”
“I see.”
“Really, truly, thank you so much….”
Kisha bowed deeply from the waist in heartfelt gratitude. The reason she did not prostrate herself or show the full formality due to a dragon was simply because she did not want to make the Winter Bell, disguised as a priest, uncomfortable.
Seherbian took her thanks in quiet stride, then looked around with curious eyes.
The overturned tables, spilled food, and wet floor.
“What happened here?”
“This is, um, a place where they sell alcohol….”
The problem was his identity. Catching Kisha’s hesitant glance, Seherbian gave a small nod.
Of course priests were supposed to observe abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and marriage.
“Why did you come here, if not to drink, Winter—no, Priest?”
“I told you, didn’t I? I came to deliver something.”
“Deliver something?”
“Yes. The Winter Bell has a gift it wanted me to bring to you, Kisha.”
Seherbian suddenly held out his hand.
In it was a small, charming cloth pouch. Kisha’s eyes went round as she accepted it.
As Seherbian waited quietly, Kisha carefully opened the pouch.
“This is…!”
Inside the cloth pouch were dried blue petals.
And Kisha knew exactly what flower they came from.
Winter butterfly tree blossoms!
The color she had checked and rechecked in books until it was burned into her memory.
The essential medicine needed to cure her mother, and to cure the villagers as well—the fruit of a tree that bloomed only in winter.
With trembling fingers, Kisha touched the pile of petals in the pouch. At this amount, there would be enough not only for her mother’s medicine, but also to save many of the patients who were currently in critical condition.
But the time for emotion was brief.
The neglected Oze Lobern would not sit quietly while the two of them chatted so warmly any longer.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Oze snatched the pouch of petals from Kisha and peered inside. Then he frowned hard.
“Flowers? What’s the big deal about something like this?”
“Give them back!”
“Hah. I suppose I can understand the priest, but for a little brat from some backwater to dare ignore a royal mage to his face?”
“What? That’s not—”
“You truly are insufferably arrogant!”
Oze, his pride wounded, shook with anger as he held the pouch high. Unable to reach it and get the petals back, Kisha looked on the verge of tears and shook her head desperately.
“Those flowers are precious medicinal herbs that only bloom in winter! The dragon priest of the Winter Bell specially went and obtained them!”
The instant he heard that, Oze’s eyes flashed.
Oh? So he was a dragon priest?
If this had been just some ordinary priest, he would have treated him as an obstacle, but if he was a dragon priest, that changed everything. A priest who served a dragon.
And if he’s the dragon priest of the Winter Bell…!
Oze Lobern had just found a rare connection that could repay every ounce of hardship he had suffered in the snowfields up to this point!
Not noticing the slight curl of his mouth, Kisha pleaded desperately.
“Please. That’s the only way we can save the villagers who are sick right now, Mage. Please give them back.”
“Very well, I’ll give them back.”
The moment Oze, who had been raging as if he might throw the pouch to the floor, obediently handed it over, Kisha flinched. Still, she hurriedly took the precious pouch of petals and held it tightly to her chest.
“Keep it safe, girl. Since it’s a gift from the priest, after all.”
Oze suddenly turned kind and even bent down to pat her head.
With the smell of alcohol rushing over her, Kisha squeezed her eyes shut.
“Ahem. This is difficult; the girl pretending to be the acting lord is too young, so she’s not easy to soothe. My name is Oze Lobern, Priest.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seherbian answered absently, but even that was better than being ignored like before, and Oze’s mood improved further. He asked with a bright smile, “So, I hear you’re a dragon priest?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then have you ever met the Winter Bell?”
“Yes.”
That was obvious. The Winter Bell was himself.
Thinking that, Seherbian nodded without concern. But at that answer, everyone around him inhaled sharply.
He’s met the Winter Bell?
And he wasn’t cursed after meeting the guardian dragon of winter?
As expected of a dragon priest who serves the Winter Bell at its side!
Oze was not the only one who revered the dragon priest. The villagers’ eyes shifted to fear and respect, but Seherbian, used to such looks, ignored them with ease.
“Ahem. Hm. In that case, you must be on fairly good terms with the guardian dragon, the Winter Bell…?”
“We’re close.”
I am myself!
Seherbian was a dragon with an excellent sense of self-love. Oze, hearing him answer so brazenly, rejoiced inwardly.
Yes!
A village said to have been visited by the Winter Bell.
A snowfield buried in winter.
Just when he had been wandering in circles for days, trapped in a hopeless maze, a dragon priest appeared before him like a miracle and even said aloud that he was close to the Winter Bell!
Oze licked his dry lips, feeling like a fisherman who had finally hooked a huge catch.
“Priest! Please guide me to the Winter Bell!”