Frost began to settle over the dining hall.
“What, what’s going on…? Why is it suddenly so cold…?”
“That guy! I think he’s the cause…!”
One of them pointed at me with the tip of his sword.
Sunweed, a dangerous drug that endlessly heats a person.
For me, it’s just a stabilizer to reduce the output of coldness. I just spat it out.
One of them smirked in the meantime.
“Are you showing off? Is it because of the girl beside you?”
“You’re mistaken; that girl isn’t my type.”
I was still sitting at the table with my feet up.
Thoughts like how bad the food is here, how it puts me in a bad mood, and that I’m still hungry… I shook my spoon lightly while sorting through those mixed feelings.
“Who should die first among you? Decide the order.”
Suddenly, they flinched in anger, their bodies jerking violently.
“…!”
Right afterward, their eyes widened as each looked down at their own ankles. They had tried to kick off the ground but were clearly panicking when they couldn’t.
It was a natural consequence. Their feet and the ground had been frozen first.
“Don’t come closer and decide from there.”
“…You know how to show off. What are you?”
“I might be the Emperor’s prospective son-in-law.”
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“I’ve never been sane.”
Always, already, now. It’s always been that way.
Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!
That was when one of them smashed the ice on his ankle with a club. The moment he regained his freedom of movement, he kicked the ground with all his might.
“Stop messing around and die quietly, you bastard!”
I silently watched the guy jumping up with his club raised high.
In my head, I poured mana like paint onto a blank canvas. A few spells and his frozen form were drawn like a picture.
The image in my head and the reality started to overlap slowly.
The moment they perfectly aligned, I merely flicked my finger.
Shwoosh—!
The guy’s body, split perfectly in half, fell past me. Since the cut surface froze immediately, there was no loud splatter of blood.
His face didn’t even recognize his own death. The expression he had while screaming boldly turned into a frozen corpse. It was pathetic.
“…I told you not to come closer.”
Muttering that, I looked around and saw their spirits had dwindled considerably. They had once seemed ready to devour the whole dining hall.
Their feet were still frozen to the ground. I pointed the tip of my spoon at their heads, one by one.
“So, who should die next?”
They exchanged uneasy glances. One of them asked.
“…Can’t you just let us go? We’ll shut our mouths.”
“Ah, so now you want to be let go?”
As I feigned hesitation, a moment of tension flowed through them.
“Alright. Let’s do that.”
“Ah…!”
Suddenly, their faces lit up.
When I gestured behind me, all their heads turned that way. Simultaneously, those relieved faces froze again in an instant.
At the end of their sight was a door, frozen solid, reminiscent of the cave entrance in the northern snowfields. Not only was it blue, but it was also covered in icicles.
“What do you think, can you open it and go out?”
“…”
The faces turning back toward me were filled with venom.
That was natural. When faced with an opponent who wouldn’t accept surrender, resisting until the very end would likely be their best choice.
“Have you ever thought about such a dilemma?”
I started crushing a small piece of ice instead of sunweed.
“If I were to freeze in a single moment forever, what form should I take… Have you ever pondered that?”
Gyaaaaaah—!
Instead of answering, they screamed and stomped the ground simultaneously.
However, it was merely a cry to overcome their fear, and the chill remained as cold as ever. Freezing is a trait devoid of mercy.
I closed my eyes and slowly extended one hand.
The target was the unmoving blue figure. Though my eyes were closed, my view sharpened, and specific spells emerged in my mind. The chilly air, once abstract and gas-like, was clearer than anything else in my perception.
Thus, a light chant.
“Conclusion.”
Then, silence.
All the sensations I had felt towards me faded away.
The presence approaching me, the sinister killing intent pouring out, the desperation struggling to survive… all of it. Every single bit.
Whiiii—
As the cold wind brushed my nose, I finally opened my eyes.
“Hmmm.”
They were all frozen in the same way they had rushed at me. Like exhibition pieces.
I stared at that sight blankly for a while.
“There could have been a better posture, right?”
Of course, there was no answer.
Then, the moment I pulled out a sunweed from my pocket.
Bang! Bang!
A small object shot in through the frozen door and instantly shattered the frozen corpses. It looked as if stone statues were breaking apart.
The reaction speed of a skilled mage is not something to be underestimated. I watched the flying object and felt a strange sense of familiarity.
“…A cube fragment?”
It was the grain of the cube that Agnes had been rotating with one hand.
The cube grains, which had seemed to dance in the air as if they had a mind of their own, then gathered toward the entrance of the dining hall. It was on top of Agnes’s palm, which was neatly arranging her bobbed hair as usual.
I spoke to her, confidently stepping in and breaking the door.
“An esper? Quite the surprise.”
“You didn’t do your homework. You’re lazy.”
Agnes replied as if she had been waiting for that.
And it seemed I had inadvertently stored way too much of what I had said inside her.
“If you carry a grudge for long, guys won’t find you very appealing.”
“I’m glad to think that. I wouldn’t want to attract a guy like you.”
I nonchalantly chewed the sunweed. When I applied pressure while chewing, I felt a small pop in my mouth, which tasted really good.
“So, why are you stepping in late?”
“I just finished assessing your level.”
“That’s not what I meant. Why break something I painstakingly crafted?”
“…I’ll ignore that. I’m under direct orders to transport you without delay.”
I grinned and nodded.
“Well, you gotta listen to the emperor.”
Afterward, the carriage continued to travel for days without rest.
After freezing Agnes’s cube, Jeckiel began a never-ending self-reflection, which led to her head being filled with Jeckiel whether she wanted it or not.
She gazed blankly at the notebook in her hand.
[ Strong. Deeply knowledgeable about Ice Magic. ]
At the time, Agnes had left behind a cube grain for observation inside the dining hall, allowing her to feel everything with her eyes and ears.
The conclusion of her reflections was precisely four characters. Extraordinary.
Agnes asked the soldier beside her.
“…Why hasn’t this strong mage gotten any notoriety?”
“That’s what I’ve been wanting to ask.”
The soldier immediately responded, as if he’d held back his question for a long time.
“A novice mage is basically prey, but the baseline is much higher than a scroll user, right? If they survive and get stronger, they’re bound to gain immense fame.”
“True. But the townsfolk seemed completely unaware of him.”
Agnes remembered the subtle attitude of the townsfolk towards Jeckiel. It was the same as they would show to an ordinary idle guy. Just like that.
“Strange. This doesn’t add up unless the information has been purposefully suppressed. There are just too many inconsistencies.”
“…Hmm, but would they go that far? The Imperial Family?”
“Just saying. High-ranked mages are precious enough.”
The most evident difference between a scroll user and a mage shines when comparing the transcendent realm that’s called ‘transcendence’.
A scroll user can use various spells from the beginning, leading to a higher baseline, but only a true mage can reach the realm of transcendence.
The soldier clicked his tongue.
“A high-ranked mage… It doesn’t suit him at all. His personality is utterly bizarre. Honestly, he fits better in Feital.”
“Yeah. He’s not sane.”
I should note that too. Agnes quietly jotted it in her notebook.
[ Considered to have a mental issue. ]
It was then that a spectacular scene unfolded before Agnes and the soldier.
“Ah, we’ve finally arrived. It’s an imposing sight, as always.”
“…The Imperial Capital. Artiel.”
The view of sleek, tall buildings gathered together was almost like a piece of art itself. This place, where the heart of the Imperial Family rests, is indeed the Imperial Capital Artiel.
What about the mysterious man who was being transported?
─He might be the Emperor’s prospective son-in-law.
“…That’s absolutely not the case.”
Nonsense. Not just unlikely, it absolutely cannot happen. How could a guy like him ever marry a divine princess like that? It shouldn’t be allowed. If that happens, this world has been forsaken.
Well, whatever is happening, I’ll find out in due time.
Yeah, I’ll find out later, but…
The strangely memorable phrase that I had heard while watching the situation.
─That girl isn’t my type.
“…”
─That girl isn’t my type.
─That girl isn’t my type.
─That girl isn’t my type.
That phrase keeps bothering me. No matter how hard I try to forget, it comes to mind. I quietly focus on work, yet why does this man keep saying such useless things? And to say it so rudely.
Agnes, narrowing her eyes, wrote another line in her notebook.
[ You’re not my type either. ]
…My heart feels a bit lighter.
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