Alincia

“Hugo, wait!” I shouted.

Too late. Or rather, he probably didn’t want to listen.

They didn’t make it? So they—

If only—if only I had made it here faster, then maybe I could—

--------------

Nine days ago, I was still in the capital. Or rather, I was at the hills to the east of it, not that far from the capital itself.

Elun had invited me for a trip to hone my magic, saying that she could teach me a trick or two on how to use magic in a real combat situation better. I knew she was far more experienced in the matter, as she was already out there, doing work for the Council. So I gladly accepted, thinking that I could get even stronger than I currently was.

Not to mention if I prove myself to her, then maybe she’ll tell me where that accursed necromancer is hiding!

With such hopes, I departed with her.

Once we were there, she indeed started to teach me how to fight better. Using the monsters there as punchbags, she told me many things, from how to start a fight, how to keep your distance from the opponent, and even how to escape and retreat if you find yourself outmatched.

Those poor mountain wolves though… they stood no chance whatsoever against her, even when there's a whole pack of them.

Even so, while I was watching and learning from her, the restlessness in my heart wouldn't disappear.

Ooh, Marina, are you really fine there?

The letter I sent had yet to get a return, which I thought was just because the letter itself might have arrived earlier than the person herself. If they decided to not rush back home, then they very well could still be in Minitumala or Rau Uvarsa, looking around and taking it easy. I paid for the fastest delivery I could find after all.

And so I decided to ask Elun about it once again.

“Hey, Elun.” I approached her after she finished one of her demonstrations. “Do you think Marina is alright over there with Thomas and his grandmother?”

“Hmm? Of course she is!” she replied with her usual smile. “Why are you so worried all of a sudden?”

I sighed. “It’s just that… I still don’t believe she’s going with him, you know. She always hated him. And now she’s perfectly willing to sit in a stagecoach with him for how long to travel to his home all the way in the Marjoram Province? I still can’t believe it…”

“I see… Well, I’m not her friend. You are. So you would know this stuff better than me.”

“Hey, Elun… can we… can we take a trip there? To Vera’s place, I mean?”

Hearing my plea, she snorted. “So you don’t want to train with me anymore?”

“No! Not at all! But I can’t stay calm when I don’t know for sure how Marina is!” Before I knew it, I started shouting to her.

And then, the bubble mage took a deep sigh. “You wouldn’t like it. The truth, I mean.”

My heart dropped. “What do you mean?! What happened to her?” I walked forward and yanked her collar downwards, since I was shorter than her. “Tell me, you—”

“Let’s just say that she didn't come entirely voluntary." She grinned.

I was right! Marina's in trouble after all!

I pushed her away before I bolted, running straight back towards the city.

"Aahh!"

Only for a searing pain to suddenly appear on the back of my left thigh, making me trip and stumble to the ground.

W-what?

I looked back and saw a wound there. A bleeding one.

"Oh dear."

I looked up and saw Elun, now surrounded by her bubbles.

"I'm sorry, Alincia. But I can't let you go there. It's your Grandfather's order, you know."

My eyes widened. She fired off another bubble in high speed, hitting me on the right shoulder this time.

“Gah!”

The wound wasn’t deep. But it hurt. It was as if a small arrow had pierced my skin.

I pressed the wound with my hand. Sure enough, it was bleeding as well.

“A-are you crazy? Y-you can’t just attack me like this! I-I’ll tell Grandpa on you!”

"Oh? But he himself already told me I can use violence to stop you."

“G-Grandpa—Grandpa did?”

“So, if you truly want to save that girl, you have only one choice. Fight me. Fight me as if I was the one who took away your dear friend.”

------------

What happened afterwards was a blur.

I decided to fight, knowing that Marina was definitely in danger. I used my fire magic to cauterize my wounds, clenching through the pain in the process.

And then, I stood up and fired a Fireball right towards her.

Naturally, her bubbles blocked it, with her not getting a single scratch or burn from it. But it was enough to allow me to put a good distance between us.

I had no intention to really fight her though. I knew I wouldn't be able to win. She was just too skilled with her magic.

I just needed to lose her. That's all I needed. Then, I could go and help Marina.

It was not an easy feat however, as bubble girl chased after me, moving at high speed using her water jet magic. I could see her sky blue panties clearly, thanks to her short skirt blowing freely in the wind.

"Hey, I can see your panties, you know!" I yelled with a grin. "So why don't you just let me go, alright?"

"Why, I can see yours as well. Cute pair, by the way. A bit childish for my taste though."

"Wha—kyaah!"

I promptly pressed the front of my dress down. Like she said, it was blowing upwards, as I too was moving fast downhill using my fire jet spell. Marina was the one who taught me that by the way.

"Uuuu…"

I was so embarrassed! My bear print panties were showing and I didn't even notice! I thought my dress would be long enough to cover them! I wasn't the one wearing that black miniskirt like her!

But then again, my own dress still ended above my knees. Shorter than Marina's. And I already caught a glimpse of Marina's panties a couple of times when a strong wind blew.

...Aaah, what am I doing? This is no time to be thinking about such things! I have to get away from Bubble Girl here! And fast!

And in the end, I managed to do exactly that, after I cast my Master-level Fire spell at her, Explosion. I didn’t see what happened to her afterwards though, as I left right away, not wanting to waste another second on her. I hoped she didn’t die from that.

...No, I didn’t think she would in the first place, since I could tell she was holding back as she fought and chased after me. I might have wounded her quite considerably though, to the point that she could not chase me any longer.

Or maybe she just decided to let me go, after seeing myself using my strongest spell with a full intent to kill her.

It was a test, I imagine. Grandfather’s test. He probably wanted to see my resolve first before I was allowed to intervene in another Council member’s business. He wanted to see my resolve in saving Marina and how far I would want to go. That’s why Elun taunted me all the way, telling me that I had to fight her with my full strength.

I could just imagine him saying, "If you want to save your friend so badly, then fight for it like a true Salamander." It’s just the kind of thing he would say. As long as I don’t die or get permanently crippled, it’s fine with that old coot.

Naturally, this also meant I couldn't rely on his help to free Marina. He'll just tell me to do it on my own.

But to think he would use Elun, Selendia’s daughter, for that purpose. Did Selendia agree with this? I could never understand that scary woman. And Grandpa rarely talked about her either.

After escaping, I was lucky enough to find a letter courier riding his horse on the road. I stopped him with a Flame Wall, nearly giving him and his poor horse a heart attack, and then demanded for him to take me to Rau Uvarsa, declaring my Salamander name. I even showed him the family emblem I always carried around with me, just for this purpose.

And that’s how I managed to get to Rau Uvarsa in record time.

Of course, once I was there, I still needed to climb the mountain on my own. But it was no problem, I could force the guards on the front to open the gate, once again flashing my family emblem to them. I didn’t care that I was announcing my arrival to Vera. Even if Grandfather was alright with me getting hurt and injured, he wouldn't be alright with me actually dying for real.

And this was really important, as from the gate guards, I then knew that Marina's family had come to the mountain, just a few hours before me. They warned me that there would be a fight and I shouldn't climb up since it would be dangerous.

Of course, I ignored them and pressed on. It was now more important for me to get there as I could help them in saving Marina. I was even perfectly willing to be a meat shield to them, so that Vera couldn't kill them without killing me.

But when I arrived, it was already too late. The fight was already over, and all I found was him. Hugo. Half-buried under the snow.

And Vera's decapitated body near him.

They had won, but all of them had paid for it with their lives.

Or so I thought, before I still felt a pulse from the young boy.

I dragged him out and went to the mansion, asking for help from the servants, only to find that it was completely empty and abandoned, and full of ice and snow.

I had no choice. I had to be the one to heal him.

I cleared the nearest empty room I could find with my flames before carrying him there.

And then, I used the secret family spell that Gramps always told never to use for anyone else but myself or a member of the family.

The Salamander Flame Regeneration spell.

It was a spell that allowed recovery and granted protection from even the most extreme state of cold. It would be the perfect counter to any ordinary ice mage as you would be practically impervious to cold while you don it in your body.

I didn’t even tell Marina that I could do this spell, even though according to Grandfather, who had taught it to me, the complexity required to cast it was around Master-level.

So the truth was, I already mastered two Master-level spells now.

I carefully used it on the boy, concentrating fully as I would kill him if I messed up for even just a sec. One of his blood vessels could burst inside his body, leading to internal hemorrhaging that would no doubt lead to death.

And then, slowly, his color returned. He had returned from the brink of death.

He didn’t wake up immediately however, so I decided to explore the rest of the mansion. I originally expected the worst, that Vera had relocated Marina somewhere else, but to my relief, she was still there, frozen inside a giant ice crystal in what I assumed to be her room.

I carefully melt said crystal with my magic, only to find out that she was in a state of cold sleep.

I was then so grateful of my old self for actually listening to Grandpa’s explanations, as if I hadn’t, I would’ve thought of her as dead for sure.

He had told me of such a spell before—a spell that induced cold sleep to the victim. He or she wouldn’t need food or water or even air as they were suspended in that state. And when they woke up, it was as if they just woke up from a normal sleep.

Gramps would teach me all sorts of spells (eating up all those summer vacations I was supposed to have), even if for just the knowledge of them. I always thought that it was stupid, since I would never be able to cast all those complex water or ice spells, but now, I finally understood why he taught them.

I needed them to really know what the opponent was using, since a lot of high-level complex spells weren’t just sending icicles or thunder in your way. They worked far more subtly, in a matter that wouldn’t be obvious right away. Like this spell for example.

And according to him, a spell like this would just wear off on its own in a few days. So there was no need for me to do anything.

And then, I was suddenly reminded of why I went all the way here in the first place.

That shitty hobbit! He’s gone and run like the coward he is, hasn’t he?

I just realized that I hadn’t met Thomas. And that made me furious. I was truly, honestly considering of burning him to a crisp with my spell.

He couldn’t have actually done that to her, could he?

I-if he did, then I don’t care if I’m going to provoke a war between Gramps and Vera! I’m going to kill him!

...Ehe...ehehehehehehe! That’s right! Vera is already dead! That means…

I started to imagine all the ways I could torture him.

R-right. That could wait. I have to check if he really did it to her.

And there’s only one way to do that, isn’t it?

I gave another look at Marina’s unconscious body, before my face started to redden.

I-I’m not a pervert! I-it’s not like I want to have a closeup look! I-I just have to confirm it, t-that’s all.

I gulped. Should I be the one doing this? Should I even be doing this in the first place?

N-no. I can’t let her little brother to be the one doing it. They might be related, but he’s still a boy after all. She would be sullied if he’s the one doing it. It has to be me! Another girl!

I braced myself. And then I gently lifted her dress, pulled down her panties, and went down there.

...

O-oh, thank Mira that she’s still intact down there!

I quickly retreated, pulling her skimpy, all too thin black lace panties upwards before fixing her dress.

She's fine then. She's perfectly fine.

With great relief, I returned back to her still unconscious little brother, waiting until he opened his eyes.

-------------

And now, I am in this situation, with him running away in tears after he said that his parents had perished.

So Vera got to them after all…

I was hoping otherwise, that they were just off somewhere else, since I didn’t find their body.

But now, I knew it was just a false hope I told myself. So that I wouldn’t feel guilty for coming too late to help them.

If only… if only I had come sooner, I could’ve helped them against Vera. I could’ve prevented their death!

And that’s why I didn’t chase after him.

I couldn’t really comfort him. Not like this.

I went back to Marina’s room, wondering how I was going to bring her the bad news when she woke up.

I smiled wryly. Maybe she'll hate me, for not coming just a little bit sooner.

Or maybe she won’t. She’ll blame herself instead, for having to be rescued like this.

But I won’t let you blame yourself, Marina. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s Vera and Thomas. And the former is already dead. If you want revenge on Thomas as well, then we can go together to hunt him down.

And of course, if you need a shoulder to cry to, I will be there too. I’ll pat your head and comfort you, just like you comforted me when Big Sis died.

----------

Thankfully, they didn’t really take anything off the mansion when they decided to abandon it, so I could still find some food in the kitchen to eat.

It was just bread unfortunately, because I couldn’t cook in the slightest. I just roasted the bread with my fire spell and ate it.

Oh, that’s right. Where’s Hugo? He hasn’t returned yet. It’s been a while since he left.

After eating, I went out to go look for him. Don’t tell him he got lost or anything.

To my horror however, after searching for what could’ve been an entire hour, I couldn’t find him. I’d called his name over and over, but he didn’t answer back..

And then, I noticed footsteps heading down the mountains.  They were those of a boy his age.

...No way. Why would he do that? Why would he be climbing down the mountain when his sister is right here?

Should I chase after him? But I have Marina to watch over.

Damnit, what are you doing, Hugo?

Ultimately, I decided on staying, trusting that he could take care of himself. Marina always mentioned how he was smarter and older than kids his age. Not to mention that his parents actually took him to fight against Vera. And he ended up being the only survivor.

And speaking of that, after searching for the nearby area more closely, I found them. The bodies of his parents.

When I first dug them out, I nearly screamed. And I ended up puking the bread I had eaten, unable to stomach what I saw.

They weren’t whole. They were mutilated into so many frozen pieces that even now, after I dug out the whole area, I couldn’t find all of the parts. It was as if they were shattered into pieces.

It’s the work of Vera’s ice spell, isn’t it?

I only wish that their death was a painless one...

I didn’t know what to do with them, so I just left them there, after burying them back under the snow manually using a shovel.

Did Hugo see the moment it happened—his parents shattering into pieces right in front of his young eyes? Is that why he ran away?

D-don’t tell me that he felt guilt over it, and now he can’t face Marina?

T-that’s… that’s dumb! Really dumb! It’s Vera he should be angry at! Not himself!

Should I really chase after him after all? But he already got such a headstart. Not to mention it’s getting dark as well. And I can’t abandon Marina on her own either…

I bit my lip. Once again, I decided to stay, praying that he would eventually return to his senses and come back here to his sister. Marina would need him, I had no doubt about that. 

And yet, he never did.