After Oswin cleared the table, I stepped out into the garden, letting the icy air brush against my face.The forest, covered in a white and silent layer, seemed to stretch endlessly toward the edge of the world.
I lost myself in my thoughts… at least until my peace was interrupted.
"Hey, Tetsuo!" Oswin's voice echoed behind me.
I turned around, slightly startled.
"Lyaris is heading to the village about five kilometers from here," he said casually, crossing his arms. "It would be good for you to accompany her, since you two get along so well."
His smile was suspiciously amused.
"I wouldn't say great. I didn't even get to tell her my name!" I protested indignantly.
"Then tell her now," he replied calmly, like someone watching an imminent disaster and enjoying it.
He then handed me a sheet of paper filled with strange words, neatly aligned as if it were a list.
I tried to read it, squinting as if that might magically translate it.
Nothing. Not a single recognizable letter.
Noticing my frown, Oswin took the list from me without ceremony and slipped it into his pocket.
"You can't read anything, can you?" he asked.
I shook my head, feeling the weight of my foreign uselessness settle on my shoulders.
"In that case, there's no other option. You'll have to go with Lyaris."
A faint smile — the kind that only foretold trouble for me — appeared on his face.
And just like that, my suffering was sealed.
"Lys… do you have a moment?" Oswin knocked on the wooden door of the girl's room.
We stood at the end of the hallway. I hid behind the old man, fearing for my safety… both physical and mental.
The jade-eyed girl opened the door just a crack. Her gaze toward Oswin was indifferent, but when she saw me behind him—
Yes. That was definitely a death glare.
"No." She answered without hesitation, trying to close the door immediately.
But the old man placed his foot just in time, stopping it.
"Thank you for being willing to listen," he said with a sincere smile as he opened the door fully.
"H-Hey, don't open the door like that…" the girl sighed. "Anyway, what do you want?"
Oswin handed her the list. She read it effortlessly.
"Go to the village and buy these. And while you're at it, take Tetsuo with you so he can get to know the place," he said, pushing both of us outside the cabin.
"Good luck… especially you, Tetsu."
He emphasized the last part with a sarcastic, cruelly amused smile.
Before we could react, he had already shut us out of the cabin.
I glanced back at the cabin and saw that Lyaris was already some distance away.Each of her steps left a clear footprint in the snow, marked by her black leather boots.
Without even looking at me, she spoke coldly:
"Don't even think I'll come looking for you if you get lost by standing around like an idiot."
And she kept walking, leaving behind a perfectly orderly trail in the snow.
I hurried to catch up. By my calculations, if we kept this pace, we'd reach the village in about an hour and a half. That's when a question began to form in my mind.
"Hey, Lyaris…" I said hesitantly.
No response.Not even a glance.
But I noticed a slight blink, and in an act of exemplary intelligence, I took it as a sign to continue.
"Do you go to the village often? Walking?" I asked with genuine curiosity.
It made sense to ask: who would walk five kilometers there and five back just to buy supplies? A horse would make sense… or whatever they used for transportation in this world, if anything.
Lyaris nodded slightly. The death glare from earlier had been replaced by a neutral, almost monotonous expression.
"From time to time," she replied softly. "But normally I go on an ice fawn. It's faster."
Ah, that made sens—
Wait.
Ice fawn?
My brain froze.
"Ice fawn…? What's that supposed to be?" I asked, confused.
I had expected horses, maybe even a dragon—but ice deer?
"It's a deer similar to a normal one, but with traits of ice and frost," Lyaris explained with the natural tone of someone used to impossible creatures."They're hard to tame. Only those with strong affinity for ice magic can control them."
"Then… are you an ice mage?" I asked, somewhat fascinated.
"Yes… but no," she replied calmly. "I can handle ice fawns, but I can't cast spells. Does that make sense?"
"And why not?" I asked again, feeling like a makeshift detective.
Unfortunately, my investigative experience was based entirely on the S.E.C., so my effectiveness was… questionable. The memory faded as quickly as it appeared.
"Because I have affinity with spiritual magic," she explained, as if it were obvious."People with that type of magic usually stand out more for physical traits than spells. Like much faster regeneration, for example."
I fell silent for a moment.
So… there was more than one type of magic? I was about to ask when—
"And before you ask: yes, there's more than one type of magic," she said with a tired sigh, completely reading my thoughts.
"You don't happen to have psychic magic, do you?" I joked sarcastically.
"No," she replied completely serious. "And if I did, I wouldn't bother reading your thoughts.There's probably nothing but garbage in there."
I stared straight ahead, trying not to show how much that hurt my pride.
Though… she wasn't entirely wrong.
We had been walking for about an hour.
The sun's position, high but slightly tilted westward, suggested it was around 1:30 PM.
I took a few more steps, and my view opened up to a panorama that took my breath away.
In the distance stood several structures:old houses with dark wooden roofs, a couple of shops with signs I couldn't read, and farther back — separated from the village's center — a small castle with pale stone walls, connected by a stream to a tiny harbor where two boats floated.
"Incredible…" I murmured.
The place seemed inhabited. There was no snow on the rooftops, as if someone cleared them regularly.
In the brick tower — the only one in the castle — I thought I saw a brief flash of light.
I blinked, trying to focus, but at that moment Lyaris tugged on my black sleeve.
"We need to buy pomas and some milk," she said, pointing at the list in her hand.
"Okay… but… what exactly is a poma?" I asked, confused.
Her expression shifted from curious to accusatory in less than a second.
"Do you live under a rock? First you appear out of nowhere in the forest, then you can't read, and now… you don't know what a poma is?" She sighed."You're definitely weird."
I opened my mouth to protest this unfair verdict, but Lyaris tugged on me again.
"I'll show you."
We walked to a fruit stand where a vendor had piled colorful stacks of produce.
"Look. This is a poma," she said, exaggeratedly pointing at a red fruit that was, unmistakably, an apple.
Clearly satisfied with her intellectual victory, she bought a couple and triumphantly crossed an item off the list.
We went through the various stalls in the village, buying what we needed. By the time we finished, the sun had moved well past two o'clock.
We decided to head back toward Oswin's cabin.
As we walked, I noticed Lyaris wearing a faint, smug smile. From time to time, she hummed softly and took small hops in the snow.
She was undoubtedly celebrating having made me look like a clueless outsider.
Which… technically was true. Just not by choice.
"At least she's not as hostile anymore…" I thought, forming a small smile as we returned to the forest.
However, once we entered the icy trail, I heard faint growls deeper within the darker areas between the trees.
I tensed for a moment…
But I decided not to think too much of it.
For now.