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“Yes, the coordinates on the magic circle were definitely pointing this way.”

The day after we had completed the mission to liberate the slaves, I walked with Irina toward the place where we had rescued them.

“The stars are really bright tonight.”

“Are they?”

In reality, barely any time had passed.

Although it was the next day, only a few hours had passed since the quest had ended, and it was now dawn.

“Are you feeling tired, Frey?”

As we strolled along the dimly lit road, Irina spoke to me.

“…No, I’m not tired at all.”

“Wait, just wait a moment.”

As I reassured her with a smile, Irina began rummaging through her belongings.

– Whoosh…

“H-How about now?”

“…Oh.”

She pulled out a scroll from her belongings and gently tore it, and I felt a slight sense of relief.

“What kind of magic is this?”

“Well, this… This magic increases the movement speed of the target by harnessing the power of the wind. To avoid any potential issues with the wind’s effect on your body, I used ancient runes instead of ordinary wind…”

I found it quite interesting and asked Irina about it, and she suddenly began explaining the magic with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Uh-huh, I see.”

“…Ah, ah…”

I nodded and played along, enjoying the sight of her talking. After a while, she suddenly paused and glanced at me.

“Sorry, I let my habit get the better of me again.”

As I tilted my head and looked at her, Irina spoke with a somewhat dejected expression.

“Was it boring…? I’m sorry…”

The fierce and battle-crazed Irina from the previous episode had vanished, replaced by this timid version of herself.

How absurd would the demon army, who had been ruthlessly slaughtered by her, find Irina looking at me like this?

“So, where did you get this magic scroll? I’ve never seen this kind of magic before.”

I asked her as my curiosity piqued.

By the way, there was nothing in the world Irina loved more than answering questions about magic.

Of course, because of her unique personality, there were very few people who would actually ask her questions.

“I-I made it myself.”

“What?”

But her response caught me off guard.

“I came up with the magic myself and made it into a scroll.”

Creating such a sophisticated magic scroll was already difficult, but inventing a new spell and capturing it within a scroll was truly astonishing.

Even though I knew she would become the Archmage in the future, her talent was truly surprising.

“You’re amazing, Irina.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing…”

“The seams of the magic circle are well processed, and the density of the engraved mana is perfect. Moreover, there’s even a protection spell to prevent damage. It’s far from being nothing.”

As I casually displayed my knowledge of scrolls to Irina, she stared at me intently before speaking with a trembling voice.

“Y-You know about scroll analysis too…?”

“Huh? I know about it, but…”

“I thought there would be no one to discuss this very niche field with, but you, Frey, know about it too… It’s really amazing…”

As she said this, Irina, who had been gently caressing the scroll in her hand, cleared her throat and stowed it away.

“…….”

Then, a brief awkward silence ensued.

“Is it because your mana hasn’t fully recovered yet that you’re carrying around scrolls with magic stored in them?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. That’s right.”

“Wow… You have quite a collection. With this many, you could defeat not only common monsters but even dragons, right?”

I joked to break the awkwardness, and Irina, who had been staring at me, nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I originally designed them to be capable of dealing with dragons.”

“…Dragon ‘level’?”

In the previous empire, there was a rumor and joke that when Irina got angry and disappeared somewhere, the ice dragons on the western continent would start disappearing one by one.

“Although it’s limited, I’ve managed to infuse power into the scrolls using dark magic, so there’s a lot of variation.”

“…Huh.”

However, listening to her now, that story didn’t appear to be merely a rumor or a joke.

“In a few more months, you’ll be flying around, huh? Aren’t you getting stronger than last time?”

As I thought about it and cheered her up, Irina’s expression darkened slightly.

“Um, we’ve arrived.”

While I was considering what to say to Irina this time, she began to point somewhere.

“Is that the secret hideout prepared by the Cloud Kingdom?”

“…Yeah. No doubt about it.”

She pointed towards a rundown hut..

“With space expansion magic, intruder exclusion magic, and even fortification magic… They seem to have prepared quite diligently.”

Irina spoke with an impressed expression as she briefly glanced at the hut.

Considering how picky she was about magic, it seemed like the kingdom’s wizards must have spent days pouring magic into it.

“Irina, you wait here for a moment.”

As I silently expressed sympathy for the kingdom’s wizards, who were likely to have collapsed from overwork by now, I took out the cloak of deception from my bag and put it on.

“…How does that robe work, anyway?”

As my appearance was concealed, Irina asked curiously, her face full of interest.

“It’s not magic, at least. It seems to be more of a divine power.”

After revealing the truth about my cloak, which had piqued her keen interest, I reluctantly left her behind and headed towards the shabby hut.

“…Take care, Frey.”

For some reason, Irina, who wore a soft smile today, saw me off.

.

.

.

.

– Squeak…

“…Oh.”

As I swung open the door to the hut and stepped inside, an unexpectedly spacious interior came into view.

It would have required quite a high level of magic to apply this degree of spatial distortion magic inside the shabby hut, and yet they managed to complete it in just a few hours since I had explained the plan.

Even though the Cloud Kingdom was now the most poverty-stricken nation, there was no doubt that it harbored numerous hidden gems.

“Chomp chomp… munch munch…”

“Gulp gulp…”

As I was lost in these thoughts and proceeded further into the place, I could hear the hurried sound of people eating.

“Hic! Ugh…”

“Cough! Cough!”

It turned out that the slaves who had escaped from the slave market were sitting on the floor, hurriedly eating the distributed food.

“Eat slowly… They said it’s safe here…”

Despite being provided with utensils, their hands moved hastily, giving off an unsanitary impression at first glance.

“We have to eat when we can… We can’t trust the people here either. We don’t know when they might betray us and sell us off.”

“Right, if we’re going to be sold anyway… We should at least eat our fill.”

However, upon hearing the words uttered by the slaves, along with their hostile glares, a sense of shame washed over me for thinking that way.

Whether they were brought here unknowingly, deceived, or even sold by their parents,

The shared desperation present in their meal, born out of their wretched circumstances, was something that nobles or wealthy individuals could never understand.

“…Sigh.”

After observing them for a moment, I let out a sigh and gradually approached the kingdom soldiers who were gathered at the end of the shack.

“…Who are you?”

“You can’t approach this area.”

As I approached them, the tense kingdom soldiers pointed their spears at me.

“…I’ve come to see the princess.”

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

“If you inform her that her ally has come, she’ll understand.”

I relayed the information that Aishi would recognize and waited for a moment. Suddenly, a door swung open from within.

“Yo-you!”

“Are you well, Princess?”

Unsurprisingly, the person who came out was Princess Aishi of the Cloud Kingdom.

I had heard that she had managed to escape, but I was still worried. Seeing her with my own eyes, it seemed like she wasn’t hurt, which was a relief.

“I can’t believe you really succeeded in the operation… Honestly, I didn’t expect much… How did you…?”

“If it weren’t for the space teleportation magic you had prepared in advance, Princess, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this result.”

“Don’t flatter me. The kingdom’s mages and I put in a great deal of effort, but we couldn’t complete the space magic. How on earth did you complete it?”

In response to her question, I scratched my head and answered.

“I have an ally blessed with a natural talent for magic.”

“I doubt someone with a mere talent for magic could complete the ‘space magic’ that has vanished from the world and is only used by a few demons. How exactly did you do it…?”

According to Aishi, it appeared that had Irina accomplished yet another remarkable feat. It was only natural for her to surpass Serena in magical research, but still.

“Well, I’ll take care of the slaves here.”

With a snap of my fingers, the assassins from the Moonlight family, who had been waiting in the hut, swiftly filled the surroundings.

“”……!”‘

“Don’t worry, they’re my subordinates.”

The slaves, as well as the kingdom soldiers, were frightened by the presence of these elite troops who were directly under Serena’s command.

I wished I could have my own personal soldiers, but given the nature of my work, it would remain a mere wishful thought.

“…Um, before we part, may I make a suggestion?”

As I climbed onto the prepared platform to leave, Aishi, who had been watching me, began to speak in a quiet voice.

“Would you ever consider coming to our kingdom?”

“…Pardon?”

“Our kingdom is in need of someone like you.”

Her words came as an unexpected offer.

“I apologize, but…”

“If you come to our kingdom, you will be hailed as a hero.”

I had intended to decline, but her follow-up words made me waver.

“I don’t know why you have to hide your identity and perform these acts of kindness, but there must be a reason.”

“Well, that’s…”

“Given your grudge against the Empire and Frey, I can guess that reason.”

Could she read my expression? No, I was wearing the robe, so she couldn’t have read my eyes.

“Please, if you’re tired, come to our kingdom.”

However, sensing my momentary indecision, Aishi began to appeal more strongly.

“I’ll give you the highest position I can. No, I don’t even need to step in. The King himself will personally bestow a title upon you.”

“…Hmm.”

“Although our kingdom is lacking in many ways… we can at least make you happy. So, please…”

“It’s fine.”

As I listened to her words, I quietly smiled and replied.

“Why?”

“Because I have something I must do.”

Upon hearing that, Aishi lowered her head in silence.

“What if… you were cursed with something eternal?”

“…What?”

As I was feeling unsure of how to console her, she suddenly started talking about something strange.

“From a young age, a strange being whispered terrifying words into your ear. What would you do?”

“…A voice, you say?”

“You try to endure it, but eventually, you succumb to that voice, and everyone around you suffers. You become afraid of yourself. What would you do?”

Initially, I thought she was talking about the ‘curse of the frozen heart’ that she had.

But, ‘a voice’? Did she carry another curse as well?

[Stats]

Name: Aishi Winter Cloud

Strength:

3

Mana: 7.8

Intelligence: 7

Mental Strength: 5

Passive Status: Frail/Demonic Aura

Disposition: Late Bloomer

Goodness Stat: 72

Out of curiosity, I checked her information, but nothing suspicious came up.

What could it be?

“But one day, while talking to the benefactor, the voice stopped, as if it had all been a lie.”

“…..?”

“The voice that never stopped since childhood.”

Aishi spoke those words and looked at me with a curious gaze.

“By any chance, will you be in the Empire next year?”

“Yes.”

“Thank goodness. I’m also coming to the Empire next year to enroll into Sunrise Academy.”

With a bright smile, she took something out of her pocket.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a token crafted from unmelting ice, a treasure of our kingdom.”

As I received the cold token, Aishi smiled and said,

“I don’t know what kind of magic you’re using, but since I can’t fully understand it, you need a way to identify yourself.”

“…What do you mean?”

“When I enter the Academy next year, please come and find me again.”

After finishing her words, Aishi headed toward the portal that had been prepared in advance with the soldiers and added,

“By then, I’ll have grown to the point where you cannot resist joining us.”

“…Do you have no plans to explore mining?”

“Pardon?”

As she was about to disappear using spatial transfer magic, I decided to give her a parting gift and spoke in a quiet voice.

“There’s a rumor that a treasure is buried underground in the Cloud Kingdom.”

“What, really…?”

“There are many people coveting it, so it would be wise to be careful.”

“What do you mean…!”

As Aishi tried to question my words further, she disappeared with the soldiers in a faint light.

“…Phew.”

As I observed the spot where she disappeared, I fell into a momentary silence before scratching my head and climbing onto the platform.

“Everyone, pay attention.”

Despite the disconcerting chain of events, I needed to gather my thoughts and provide clarity to the slaves in front of me.

“I will now tell you what will happen to you from now on.”

“Choose for yourselves, by your own will.”

For the poor souls yearning for salvation but unable to grasp its light,

“Whether to leave or stay with me.”

The time had come to give them the light that they sought.

Meanwhile, at that moment,

“Haa… Haaah…”

Having managed to escape from the slave market on foot, Ruby hesitated before sitting down in a quiet alley.

“Darn it, why on earth…”

After catching her breath for a while, she tried to stand up, but faltered.

“…Oh dear, are you alright?”

“…..?”

Hearing the voice in front of her, Ruby paused, visibly puzzled.

“You seem to be in pain.”

In front of Ruby, Serena smiled and looked down at her with concern.