“Ahh…. I feel like shit…”

Even being layered tightly in magically insulated clothes, I could feel the chill. Yesterday’s sneezing had evolved into a full-blown cold. What was even worse, the damned weather changed so drastically for the night.

‘There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky this morning! How the fuck is it snowing now?! if only I could stay home…’

Of course, this wasn’t really an option after coming so far.

‘Fuck’s sake! How long does it take to bring the damn carriage here?!’

I was waiting outside in the freezing cold, for almost an hour now. Marie said she was going to get the carriage instead of letting the servants do it for her. Something about making sure it wasn’t dirty or anything. For all I knew, she could just be doing this to get back at me for how I’ve treated her.

‘She can’t be that petty… right…?’

A cold breeze wafted my face, I could feel the snot on my nose freezing. I tightened the scarf around my neck as I wrapped it all over my face, while cursing the gods and the heavens. I couldn’t go back inside since the doors were already locked. The ball wasn’t just limited to the castle. It was an entire city-wide event. The maids and butlers were given leave today so they could join the festivities. Even the driver would leave after taking us to the castle it seems. Seeing as the carriage wouldn’t arrive anytime soon, I put my mind into more practical matters.

I learned a great deal from my research on magic. The main thing was, you didn’t necessarily need to take in mana to use magic. The only reason someone would do that in the first place was simply to advance their level. Which explained the numerous deaths of apprentice mages and high ranked wizards. Mana was something that would build up with time. It was stored in the heart, like blood it gets circulated throughout the body, but in almost a snail like pace. Which explained why I could activate the <Explosion> scroll, Richard had residual mana left in his own body accumulating over the years.

‘Now that I think about it… This is an after effect of using that mana, isn’t it? Fuck…’

I essentially killed my mana equivalent of white blood cells and now here we are, down with an annoying cold. Steadying myself, I focused on my breathing. You could tell when mana is breathed in, it gives a colder sensation in your nose. Something of course you would normally ignore since, breathing is automatic.

‘Isn’t easy with my nose being blocked and the air being as cold as it is. This is probably going to make my cold worse’

A stinging sensation of coldness cut through my one unblocked nostril.

‘This is the one!’

Focusing hard on the cold sensation, I felt it travel through my wind pipe down to my lungs. A very unpleasant feeling, considering my throat was really sore.

‘Now for the hard part…’

Opening my mouth, I exhaled as long as I could. My body immediately started warming up, though I felt an urge to scrape and vomit the disgusting feeling in my throat. Nevertheless, my body was now getting warmer and hopefully killing the cold with it. A trick I learned from the book, an elementary level skill for children to become accustomed to recognizing the sensation of mana entering your body. And as a bonus a great way to fight the cold!

‘That feels good… Still concentrating so hard and exhaling so deeply does make me slightly dizzy. It isn’t something at the level of <Explosion> but it’s a start. Baby steps, don’t want to get ahead of myself and self-combust gathering mana into my heart. It’s not exactly a spell, but I’ll call this <Warmup>’

The book described ways of checking your own mana reserves. Following its instructions, I wasn’t surprised to find mine was completely empty.

‘It might not be much, but let’s see how much mana I have now…’

Closing my eyes, I tried visualizing a glass sphere in my head. The image was a bit foggy, but I could see a clear sphere with a bright blue liquid at the bottom. This was the amount of mana I had, 1/5^th of the way full. Another trick from the book. Since the incident at the tavern, I had gained back a little bit of mana. Once it was full, it would start circulating around my body, slowly but steadily strengthening it again.

‘Seriously this thing’s a damn blessing. The amount of knowledge in these thin pages are amazing. I only picked it up cause of the title, I wasn’t expecting it to be so helpful. The only thing I know about the author is the initials on the first page, A.N. If I could meet the guy who made this, I’d give him a kiss, tongue and all!’ A/N: Disgusting, no.

Another half an hour passed, this time I wasn’t as uncomfortable as before. <Warmup> was keeping me relatively cozy in the cold. Finally, a large carriage pulled up to the gates. It was entirely black with purple and white accents. The double doors with the Wild Thorn insignia opened as Marie stepped down from the carriage. Her outfit was extremely revealing for this weather, a literal black tube that tightly gripped her figure. Her long legs in white high heels and black knee highs, white glittering silk gloves covered her hands. Her long curly hair was in a French plait resting down her neck onto her chest.

‘Is this woman not cold??’  

“Young master, your eyes look lewd”

Dorota had creeped up behind me, a new habit she picked up since the tavern incident. The first few times I got surprised, but eventually I just accepted my fate and learned to just go along with it. Was it just the cold, I could’ve sworn I saw a blush appear on Marie's face.

‘Probably the cold…’

“Can we leave now? Or do we have to wait until you clean the carriage even after that short ride?”

Shooting me a glare and giving a dismissive snort, Marie entered back into the carriage. Seeing that as my queue I followed her in with Dorota right behind me.

----

Looking at Richard sitting across her, Marie couldn’t help but glare. She knew he could feel her glare, yet he was completely ignoring her as he kept looking out the window.

‘What an infuriating man. Not a single second goes by without me wanting to cave his face in. Leaving him in the damn cold didn’t teach him enough of a lesson!’

“Young master!”

What got on her nerves the most was the fact that he was humoring the maid’s insistent questions, while completely ignoring her.

‘What the fuck am I thinking?! No! The constant jabbering is what’s getting on my nerves!’

Though most would only see a noble and his personal maid, to the keener eyed among the people, they could tell, something was going on between them. For Marie she had never seen Richard without Dorota.  It was possible to spot Dorota without Richard, but the same wasn’t true for the opposite. Even on the first day she talked with Richard, Dorota had accompanied him to the terrace. Even now Richard may look as though he was ignoring both Marie and Dorota, but if you looked closely, you could see an occasionally nod from his head replying to Dorota and sometimes a curse muttered under his breath.

Thinking back to how she had been treated thus far, Marie couldn’t help but fold her arms and clench her teeth. Her face making a grimace with those memories. Every single interaction between Marie and Richard was unpleasant. His words were short and direct, he would entirely leave the conversation when given the chance or even force his way out.

“Do you need something?”

Her eyes had completely zoned out glaring at Richard. She hadn’t even notice when he had turned around to face her. The carriage was now hung in an awkward silence. She could feel the air trying to suffocate her. Not wanting to stay in this situation any longer, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“T-the weathers cold, isn’t it?”

‘WHY THAT OF ALL THINGS?!’

“Yes?”

Richard tilted his head in confusion, he couldn’t comprehend that this was the reason Marie was glaring at him this entire time. The previous awkwardness had become even worse for Marie. But to her surprise Richard continued speaking after the initial pause. His gaze looking out the window.

“I suppose it is…”

As he turned back to look at Marie, she couldn’t help but flinch.

‘Why am I flinching?!’

“Aren’t you cold?”

This was a sensible question, although the inside of the carriage was warmer than the outside. It was still cold, especially when you consider the outfit Marie was wearing. She didn’t even have a scarf on.

“N-not at all, a-anyways It’s good for m-my training”

“Training? In this weather?”

“E-Extreme climates give birth to a much higher concentration of mana. A-a knight’s body needs to be accustomed to the stinging sensation of the e-elements. This level of cold is nothing for me. A-At the same time t-the concentration of mana is auspiciously high tonight. It, h-helps temper the body without any of the common d-discomfort from the extreme elements.”

‘Why can’t I speak without stuttering??’

Even with her stuttering speech, Marie wanted to at least look as though she was dignified. Having her eyes lowered, looking at the feet of the person speaking was the farthest thing from being dignified in her books. Raising her eyes, she tried to make eye contact with Richard. His sharp eyes were looking straight at her. Just as their eyes met, a shiver ran down her spine. Her gaze immediately looked out the window to escape.

‘I DON’T UNDERSTAND!? WHY??’ 

Ever since that night, she was unable to look at Richard’s eyes directly. To say she was confused was an understatement. She had spent time since that night going to doctors and even mages, thinking she was either sick or cursed. They found nothing wrong with her. Though that may be because she hadn’t explained the full effect his gaze had on her that night. It wasn’t something a lady such as herself could ever talk about, not even something she could tell her own mother!

“Here”

Her whirling mind was interrupted by Richard. Looking back from the window, her eyes were greeted to a folded jacket. Richard’s jacket, the one he had taken off after getting on the carriage.

“???”

“Trainings great and all, but we’re going to a ball. Just wear this and warm yourself a little. You’re clearly shivering and you need to relax a little”

‘Did he notice my reaction?’

Of course, she wasn’t actually cold nor was she shivering from the cold. Just the very odd effects coming from a maiden’s heart. Richard’s gesture was something Marie was unaccustomed to, and especially not something she could imagine Richard doing. Accepting the gesture regardless of whoever was offering, in her views made it look like she was weak.

‘I refuse!’

That is what she would’ve done, if her hand for some reason didn’t have a mind of its own. Before she could say anything, she had already grabbed the jacket. Seeing her take it, Richard gave a small nod before going back to gazing out the window.

‘What is wrong with me…?’

Looking at the jacket that was now in her hands, she was seriously confused.

‘I guess, it would be weird if I didn’t wear it…’

‘Right…?’

With that thought, she had put on the jacket.

‘….’

‘It’s cozy… is the inside lined with magic circuitry…?’

The circuitry inside the jacket kept giving out a warm pulse. It was making her slightly drowsy.

‘Maybe I should relax… just a little…’

‘…it smells nice…’

Closing her eyes for only a moment was all it took to fall asleep.

To this entire spectacle, Dorota was a witness. Nothing short of being completely amused and not a single thing was hidden from her intuition.

‘Pfft, maybe I should change masters. Lady Marie’s reactions are miles more interesting than Richards!’

----

The streets were filled with people. Paper lanterns with mystical characters written on them illuminated the city on this night with pale orange. The only other source of light came from the full moon that hung proudly above the sky as it showered the city with a blue hue. The mix of orange lanterns, white snow and the blue moon gave the entire festival an almost hallow feel. But that didn't stop the sounds of festive music and cheerful fun. Every side of the many streets of the city, were lined with stalls with food and games. Children with oddly shaped masks and traditional fluttering robes ran could be seen running from stall to stall merrymaking.

“Onwards to the next stall Charles!”

“Aye captain!”

“Slow down you two dimwits! You’re being a damn nuisance to other people!”

Looking at the two men race through the crowded streets going from one food stall to the other, Sandy couldn’t help but shake her head. Even after becoming adventures and reaching adulthood she was still stuck looking after these two. Maybe it was the warm lights and sounds of merry making around her, she couldn’t help but reminisce a little. It felt like she was back at the orphanage running after these two troublemakers again.

‘I guess it’s fine for once, with the money from this job we can finally relax a little…’

Looking around at the neatly dressed men and woman, the occasional lovey-dovey couple, it would be a lie that she wasn’t jealous. But this would finally change, the payment Dorota gave included a bonus for the work they did. Which was enough to solve Sandy’s many problems almost instantly.

Noticing her reflection in a passing store window, she gave a warm smile. Her extremely curly hair was tied up in a high pony tail. Her eyes and skin were the same as her brother. But uniquely her ears were slightly pointed unlike him. Something she was teased often by the other kids from the orphanage.

Her attire was the same as the day she had set off from Bore Wood. Standard issue adventurer’s gear, a tightly fitted linen shirt with a brown leather strap jacket for protection. She had dark shorts with a belt that buckled her knife and a small pouch. Her lean body was outlined perfectly accentuating her assets.

‘Maybe buying a dress for once wouldn’t hurt…’

Off to the distance, a small crowd was forming on the side of the street. Three individuals of differing heights and weights each playing a different instrument. A short stumpy dwarf, played a long flute. An elf with a lanky tall figure, played a small drum strapped to his side. Lastly a large bulky orc with grey tinged skin, played a comically small lute. All three stood on top of stacks of wooden boxes, as they played their song. A catchy tune, with a cheerful and playful song sung by the lanky elf.

Come now, Come now.

Travelers long, short and wide.

To the city of lights. 

To the festivities of moon lit blue.

 

Where we sing and dance with friends and foe alike.

Where the city shines a color of three ever so bright.

Fair, holy and delightfully blue.

To the city of lights. 

To the festivities of moon lit blue.

 

The stars twinkle with glee.

With abundant holy grace. 

Where the forgotten are remembered fondly.

On the festivities of moon lit blue.

 

Come now, Come now.

Travelers long, short and wide.

To the city of lights. 

To the festivities of moon lit blue

 

Before the bells begin to toil

Signaling an end to this ever delightful night.

As the stars sorrowfully align for a ceremonious rite.

To honor Bartholomew’s might .

Marking an end to this auspicious night.

Of festivities of moon lit blue.

Sandy's head nodded along with the song until its end. The crowd gave cheers, asking for an encore. But from the looks of things, the band was finished as they stepped down from the boxes with apologetic faces.   A smile was on her face thinking of the mystical atmosphere created from that song. Though it was short lived once she realized she had lost sight of James and Charles.  A mere moment of absentmindedness had led to them completely disappearing. Sandy could only curse under her breath. Knowing full well the two, without her supervision on a day like this, would end up in some sort of trouble. She immediately rushed into the crowd to find them.

----

Marie was still wearing my jacket. The cold wasn’t present in the castle’s proximity. Not a single drop of snow could be seen, an invisible dome covered the entirety of the castle vaporizing the snow as it hits the dome. I didn’t mind letting Marie wear the jacket, at least until the end of the night. It was a temporary lease. Since that jacket was the fruit of my labor on mana and magic. And I personally didn’t like revealing clothing on woman. I’m not some prude though. Rather, think of me as a more traditional pervert. I want my imagination do the work. It is a ‘lot’ more exciting that way.

“Ahh! Young master is making a lewd face aga- OW!”

Giving a much-needed bonk on Dorota’s head, I looked ahead, marveling at the massive palace before me. Compared to the Wild Thorn estate, it was much larger and older.

‘It isn’t just old, it’s ancient’

Definitely a fantasy castle. With massive towers rising high into the sky and the full moon glazing the walls with a misty pale blue. Compared to the city behind me the place was unbelievably wild. Overgrown thicket of trees and shrubbery that entwined with the walls of the castle gave it a mystical feeling. Green moss even covered the many stained windows of the castle. The roofs were lined with dark blue tiles, with green vines and moss hanging from them. Banners were hung from the wall depicting a griffon standing proudly in front of a half sun.

This was where the rise of the first human kingdom began.  

The first king, Leonard. Famous throughout the lands for his many exploits. He fell armies and dragons. Legends even tell of him defeating giants. The same beast that was outside the city walls. Though I was skeptical of the many feats achieved by him and believed the tales to be largely exaggerated. Even then, I was slightly awed by the less nonsensical and more common-sense adhering tales.

‘I really should stop thinking this world is going to work well with my own common sense. The stories of the king are supposedly all true, granted it happened over 1000 years ago.’

As it turns out being a Wild Thorn did actually allow access to information not normally available to the public. The original Richard was simply not an avid reader to have these books on hand. The library in the Thorn estate contained by far the most books I had ever seen. Imagine a literal fantasy library and that is what you’re going to get.  

‘Soon as this night is over, I’m going right back into the library to read!’

“Young master! How long are you going to stand there?”

Seems I had my head in the clouds for longer than anticipated. Looking at Dorota and Marie who were quite a bit ahead of me, I quickened my pace as I followed them inside. The way forward laid a bright red carpet that reached towards the castle entrance. You could see a bright yellow glow coming from the open double doors. The sounds of merry making could be heard from within. There were no guards stationed to check the guests, instead when you entered through the doorway, it felt as though you were going through a transparent veil.

‘If I had to guess, the veil probably just marked me. Since I doubt anyone without an invitation could enter the dome covering this castle.’

Standalone magic like this and mana circuits were definitely the most interesting thing about magic in this world. The book taught me the fundamentals of mana, but the books in the estate were enough to at least get me to an elementary level with mana circuitry. I don't mean to brag, but I might actually have a knack for it. My experiments and research have been thus far, very enjoyable and fruitful. Even the jacket Marie was now wearing was one of my first experiments which, might I add I am very proud of.

‘Safe to say I have a few aces up my sleeve, that won’t kill me by just activating them and hopefully get me out of a pickle.’

‘Now that I think about it… shouldn’t Marie have been wearing something with at least some circuitry installed…? Would my jacket cause some sort of conflict...?’

‘Never mind, I need to focus! Let’s just meet Bormann and leave!’

Upon going through the veil, I was greeted by a large lavish hall. The interior wasn’t as wild as the outside, but even then, you could see vines and the like crawling from the walls and stairway handles. The floor made of large black and white tiles, with intricate designs of swirls of opposite colors. The right and left side of the hall each had two large doorways which led farther inside. From one of the open doors on the right, which one can only assume is the dining hall, you could see long white tables lined with multiple mouthwatering dishes. A somber violin was playing in the background, the sound seemed to encapsulate the entire castle. Nobles could be seen mingling among each other. The crowd consisted of Humans and Haskins. The red carpet I was standing on led up to a stairway at the very end of the hall. It went up to a landing where it would split in two directions each going further up to an interior balcony that surrounded the entire hall.

‘What the fuck is that?!’

My eyes couldn’t help widen in shock at the sight. Thus far the entire evening was relatively normal. To think I had thought it would stay that way. A large chandelier hung from the high ceiling above the landing of the stairway where a golden cradle stood with its legs intertwined with vines and flowers. A tall dark shadow stood right beside the cradle.

A monster twice the size of Bertha was looming over the cradle. Like a waterfall its long black hair flowed down the stairs covering most of the landing. Its face was completely hidden. Straps of black leather seemed to be binding its arms as it seemed to hug itself. As though noticing my gaze its head looked up to scan the surroundings, my immediate reaction was to turn away. I could feel the sweat form clumps on my back.

‘Shit, shit, shit, shit’

The moment I first laid my eyes on the monster, I could feel an almost instinctive fear and a strong urge to run. I forced myself in place, I knew even if I had run, this thing will without a doubt kill me.

‘Calm down, calm down. Whatever it is, ignore it and you’ll be fine! No one else is reacting to that thing, it won’t kill me if I ignore it! … RIGHT?!’

“Something wrong young master?””

Noticing the odd look on my face Dorota asked.

‘Does she not see that thing?? Or is she simply ignoring it? Regardless I can’t ask her here, there was no guarantee the monster wouldn’t be able hear me.’

“.... Nothing, just feel like the nights going to be very long…”