I woke up to find the morning brighter than normal. A faint white light was shining through the window.
Huh.
I went over to check it out to find that it had snowed last night. There’s about a 3 to 4 centimeter tall pile of snow lined along the window.
So it starts snowing in November here.
I changed into a jacket and went to grab Al.
“You know, it was quite the sight to see that snow start to pile up.”
“I only woke up to it, so I wouldn't know. Kind of weird though how it’s brighter outside when it snows compared to when there’s sun out.”
“Guess that’s just how snow works. God works in mysterious ways.”
“You’re religious?”
“Hell no. I only said that cause I thought you might be. A god who can’t even spare the decency to let me sleep is no god of mine.”
“That’s one reason for atheism, I guess.”
“It's not just that. The whole heaven thing just seems too good to be true, and given how I’ve died already, I can confirm it isn’t.”
“What if by heaven God just means a place where your life is better in comparison? Maybe that’s the case here?”
“Then that means some noble schmuck with their already successful life can just get an even better one while I can’t even eat scraps off the street.”
“God does work in mysterious ways.”
“Not a god of mine.”
I’m not sure if you could just choose your gods but I doubt he cares.
My experience with religion came down to mom getting roped in by the local church to attend and pray for dad every Sunday. I worked on those days to cover for the store owner because she also has to go on Sunday so I don’t really know much about it beyond the basics of “good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.” and “there is an almighty being up above that can do anything”.
“Still, I’m surprised that it’s snowing already.”
“Welcome to the capital, I guess. Actually, where are you from?”
“Some town in the middle of nowhere.”
“Name?”
“It’s not like you’ll recognize it.”
“Fair point. But I’m still curious.”
“Hah…..”
Well, no harm in saying it.
“It’s the town of Lernine.”
“Lernine?”
“Yes.”
“As in the rat?”
“It’s a rat?”
“How do you not know that?”
“Never considered the origin of the name.”
“Well, it’s a rat. Had one as a pet back before I came here.”
“Huh. how was it?”
“Died before I came here. He was a good friend though, Small Daddy Meat Lord was.”
“Please don’t tell me that’s what you called it.”
“Of course not, that name’s far too long, so I went with Meat Lord Junior.”
......
He's not serious, right?
Given how this is a time before he came to school, I doubt he actually named his pet something that stupid and vulgar. Then again, it’s Al we’re talking about…
“Anyways, what next?”
I stared out the kitchen window at the field. People would run out there even when it rained, but I guess snow is a different story.
Running there seems kind of hard.
"Let's just wait in my room until breakfast."
We headed back to my room to read until the breakfast bell rang.
There aren’t as many people here as usual, probably because people are staying in to stay warm, and it’s a weekend.
I grabbed myself my usual breakfast and sat down by the window.
Heather soon joined me on the opposite side, dressed in a big brown fur coat.
“Morning.”
“Morning…..”
We sat there quietly.
She’s probably sleepier because of the cold.
She finally piped up, straightened herself and said:
"It's snowing!"
"I noticed."
"Wanna hang out outside after breakfast?"
"Sure."
Don’t think I’ve been in the snow in a while.
She finished her breakfast before me so she went on ahead as I began eating faster to catch up.
"See you there!"
“Well she certainly is eager.”
“Maybe it doesn’t snow much where she’s from?”
“Maybe. It makes sense, in a way. A warm place for a warm person.”
Warm…. Would that be how I describe her?
I wouldn’t call her cold and she’s pretty nice to everyone, so I guess that makes sense.
I finished up as well and made my way outside.
I found her not too far away, having put on a massive jacket and gloves, crouched down making a pile of snow.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a something.”
She’s going to do something with magic isn’t she.
Once she got a big enough pile, she slowly stood up and closed her eyes.
“I call to thee, oh holy sword!”
“?”
The snow she piled up began forming into a sword, bit by bit into her hand.
She then struck a pose and did a few swings with it.
“Pretty cool, don’t you think?”
“I mean, it’s just a recolored version of your sword.”
“Well, it’s a pretty cool recolouring, don’t you think?”
“I guess. White does look better than dull gray.”
“I know right?”
She smiled.
“Wanna try making one?”
“That seems too difficult for me to make.”
“Not really.”
She smashed her sword into the snow before instantly reforming it.
“Snow’s a lot easier to control because it’s light and sticks together. Water and fire fall apart when you lose focus, while earth is a lot heavier to move around. And you’re trying to manipulate it this time, not create it so…”
“...Alright fine, if you say so.”
I cut her off before she goes too far into the technicalities.
If she trusts that I can do it, I’ll give it a shot.
I put together my own pile of snow and put my hand to it.
Okay, now close your eyes and first imagine the shape of the pile, like you do with water…
Now to imagine that shape slowly forming into a sword…
Sword…
I should be familiar with one, given how I hold one every day.
Handle first, and then blade…
“Gah.”
The coldness of the weather was getting to me, so I pulled my hand away and back into my pocket to warm them.
I opened my eyes to see how it went, and given how I didn’t complete the last piece, it looks like I shoved a sword in the snow.
Well, I can keep going, but I don’t think I’ll even be able to pick up the final product.
“Here.”
Something cold touched my cheek.
I looked over to find that Heather had taken off one of her gloves and was giving it to me.
“That’ll make it easier, won’t you say?”
“Thanks.”
She put her ungloved hand in her pocket as I went ahead and wore the glove on my right hand.
Acting quickly, I immediately finished the sword and pulled it out with one hand.
Wow, that really was a lot easier than I thought.
I waved the blade around a bit as I enjoyed this sense of accomplishment before the blade broke.
“Oh.”
Well it was fun while it lasted. I can always make a second one anyways.
“Alright, warm up’s over…”
Heather closed her eyes.
“Hmph!”
All the snow around us in about a five meter radius gathered into a pile.
“What to make… any ideas?”
She asked as I joined her.
“Creativity was never something I was good at… how about a knight?”
“One knight in shining armor coming right up!”
She clapped her hand and sure enough, a knight popped out of the snow. It shook its head and looked around before kneeling down before me on one knee.
“Oh what an honor.”
“Damn that’s cool.”
“Wait for it…”
She did another clap for four more knights to pop out.
“Show off.”
I smiled at her.
“Hehe.”
She smirked back.
“Arise.”
The soldiers stood up.
"Nice."
"Yeah."
"..."
"..."
“So uh…. what now?”
“No clue.”
The two of us just stared at the knights.
“Yeah this is tiring.”
The knights collapsed to the floor into a pile of snow.
“So even you have your limits.”
“Of course, you try picturing five knights in your head constantly while talking.”
“Understandable.”
I patted her back.
“Wanna head back?”
“Sure.”
The cold was kind of getting to me.
We went back inside just in time to see a group of Heather’s friends heading off to breakfast.
“See you later.”
I waved her goodbye and handed her back the glove.
“Sure, see ya.”
I headed back to my room as she stayed with her friends.
“Goddamn, why didn’t I think of that.”
“Of what?”
“Doing that stuff with magic. That looked cool as hell.”
“You knew magic?”
“Eh, a bit. I’d say I wasn’t too bad at it.”
“But why did you learn?”
“Bit of a long story so let’s just go with I found it cool.”
“Alright then.”
“Anyways, let’s make something else, there’s gotta be more than a sword that you can do.”
“Too cold.”
I was still shivering despite the school having some heating.
Wait, magic only requires thought, so…
“Hey, can we do a bit of an experiment?”
“I’m listening.”
“Wanna try making something yourself? Snow’s apparently the easiest to move after all. You’ve been able to move yourself, so I don’t see why you couldn’t use magic”
“Huh…. sure, why not.”
And so we went back outside.
Heather’s POV:
“You sure hang out with Abigail a lot, huh.”
“Do I?”
“I’ve only seen you with us or with her.”
“Well, she’s the only one who wakes up this early.”
Now that I mention it, she does wake up really early, earlier than the bell even.
It’s not superhuman but it does make me wonder how someone is even able to do that. Maybe it has something to do with her work.
“And she’s my neighbour after all.”
“I guess.” “I suppose so.”
Everyone echoed.
They got their food and we sat down together next to a window.
“Wanna hang out in the snow after breakfast?”
“Sure.”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s have a snowball fight!”
"I want to make a snowman!"
I just came back from outside but I guess going out again won’t hurt.
“Sure, let’s do it.”
They finished their breakfasts as we talked about what else to do, snow man, snow angel, etc.
I’ve already done everything I wanted, but I guess I’ll join in.
We went back out into the cold.
God I should have put on a scarf as well.
Matt was the one to throw the first snowball, landing it square in Amy’s back.
“Hey!”
“Let’s get this fight started!”
Everyone else was joining in so I put some distance between us and just watched.
Maybe I should throw something too but I don’t really want to get hit.
As their fight went on, I noticed Abigail coming back out from the school as well.
Guess she wanted some alone time in the snow?
But then she took out her sword and put it in the snow.
Wait, isn’t that kinda bad?
Our teachers specifically told us to not put our swords in the grass because it would rust from the dew on the grass. Isn’t this like, way worse if that snow melts with the sword?
Might as well go and ask her.
I ran over to her.
“Hey! Abigail!”
She jolted.
“Y-you’re outside too?”
“Yup, my friends wanted to hang out in the snow.”
“I see…”
“Whatcha doing out here?”
“Wanted to practice some magic on the snow. Though my hands are still really cold.”
“I saw you bury your sword in the snow earlier, what’s that about?”
“Oh, um…”
She squirmed on the spot there, looking around for an answer.
"I...."
"Yes?"
“I wanted to summon the snow spirit?”
“The what?”
“Back in my town there was a tradition where you’d bury stuff in the snow to bring out the snow spirit during the first snow and it would promise more snow…. Or something like that.”
That…. has to be a lie, right?
She could have done that while we were outside… but then again it may look kind of weird.
It’s not like I have a way to disprove what she says.
“Still, your sword?”
“It has to be something you hold dear, and my books would get wet.”
“Your sword will rust though.”
“Oh yeah…”
Did she not pay attention in class or something?
That… doesn’t really sound like her though.
Even then, she was there for when others were punished for forgetting their swords in the grass, would she really not have realized?
I stared at her.
This girl…. she’s no doubt hiding something.
“Well, just dry it off and polish it after you finish and you should be fine.”
“Yeah sure…. Your friends seem to be heading over here as well.”
“Ah!”
I completely forgot about them.
I looked back to find them all coming this way.
“See, this is what I mean when I said you sure hang out with Abigail a lot.”
Matt said.
“Hey, she called out to me for help with something, alright?”
Just pray to god Abigail doesn’t want to point out her little ritual either.
Before Matt could object, Amy stepped in.
“Well, now that we’re here, Abigail, want to join us? We’re building a snowman.”
“I don’t think I’ll be much help though…”
“Don’t worry about it! At least Heather won’t wander off again now that you’re here!”
Abigail looked at me before saying.
“...Alright then.”
We walked back to our original spot and began making the snowman.
Abigail tried to help me with the middle part but her hands got cold so she decided to just watch from afar.
I could probably have just made the entire snowman with magic but that probably defeats the whole spirit of doing something together.
Then again, so does dropping out midway.
“Alright, the body is done!”
“I got the head.”
“Give me a bit for the middle part.”
I called back.
A bit of magic won’t hurt, right?
I used my body to block their vision and gathered all the snow I still needed immediately, just like that.
Ah, can’t have it look too perfect though.
So I patted it around a bit to leave a few flatter parts.
“Done!”
Abigail left early because she was getting cold but the rest of us kept playing until we got bored.
I said my goodbyes and headed home and laid on my bed.
Somehow nobody commented on Abigail’s lack of a sword for the holster she had on her, but maybe they just thought she was weird in that sense.
Still, I must wonder: what is she hiding?
Hmmmm… She claims that she was burying her sword in snow to summon a spirit or something as a tradition, but that clearly isn’t true. She could have buried her favourite shirt, a letter for someone or one of her dolls if it really was just burying something important in snow. Why did it have to be the sword? She clearly can’t afford to buy another one if rust takes over.
Sure it’s important but that’s just all the more reason not to.
There’s also something about that sword… It’s always been oddly polished whenever I looked at it, as if it was done every day.
There’s also the lies she told about her odd behavior. How she’s constantly talking to someone who isn’t there. And the dolls she set up.
This is also the first time she’s talked about her home town, but it was only a tradition, and probably a false one at that.
Just where was she from?
She could either not really know much about her town or she’s trying to hide that.
Maybe writing them down would help.
What I know:
- Abigail buried a sword in snow and lied about it, claiming it’s a tradition of some sort.
- She seems to take care of the sword every day. The only exception is when we head out.
- She has a habit of staring off to blank space while mumbling, almost as if she’s in a world of her own.
- For no discernable reason she has lied about why she made dolls.
I really don’t have much to go off of, huh.
There’s no connection between any of these that I can tell.
Wait, I should check to see if that sword’s still there. I never saw her pick it up when she left.
I ran out the door as fast as I could, to roughly the area she buried it.
It’s around ten now, so people have woken up and are now playing in the snow, filling it with footprints. Just when I needed it the most.
Everyone’s boot prints are the same too, not that I paid attention to Abigail’s.
Our snowman which Matt knocked over was still there though, so I could maybe gauge the distance if I could remember.
Think it was about twenty meters or so away? Let’s just search the general area.
After some looking I found an imprint in the snow that looked like a sword, though someone appeared to have stepped in it.
She must’ve been watching us from afar, waiting for us to leave so she can retrieve it.
But this also means she didn’t bury it but simply drop it in the snow, because if it was there would have been snow on top of the sword that would have spread out when she tried to remove it.
That makes it even more weird….
I stood there staring at the hole.
Wow I feel like a real detective at work here!
But should I really dig this deep?
And we’re still friends if I don’t find out, right?
If I investigate further, will she hate me?
What if it’s something I really shouldn’t find out?
…..
I mean…
Well……
I….
A wave of guilt washed over me.
I’m doing what they did to me, look into me, find information, and then drawing conclusions.
It’s just that for me, the conclusion was something they didn’t want to see, so they kicked me out.
Will I do that with Abigail if the same thing happens?
…
No.
I won’t.
No matter what I find out, at the very least I’ll talk to her first. I won't end up like them.
What she’s hiding shouldn’t matter. At the end of the day, she’s Abigail, just more whole, I guess.
Something like that.
For now, it’s still way too cold, I should have just went home immediately.
Author’s note: yay, Merry Christmas, I finally got off my ass and started working! Jokes aside, had a few final exams and lots of other school work, and then I procrastinated my ass off with finishing this but suddenly made the decision that I WILL get a Christmas chapter out. Given my usual schedule, I wanted to share some thoughts here that I had while making this story. Think of it as a Christmas gift. Hopefully I could get the next chapter out soon since I don’t know if I want to continue it off from the same day or do another small time skip to the start of december or something.
Originally I wanted this to be an isekai story but instead went with reincarnation. One of the key things I wanted to do was actually develop the reincarnated character’s past beyond a basic description, something that I very much hated a lot of isekais for. Something else was that I wanted the reincarnated character to be truly powerless. A dumb fuck who doesn’t have an actual special skill beyond being a graduate from the school, without a single ability. While you may think I took inspiration from the manga/light novel of reincarnated as a sword, I barely remember my read through of the manga and I never read the ln at all. I intended for the character to be a block of metal at first, to be crafted into something like, say, a wagon and then gets melted down and reforged later on into something else, with a new wielder for each reforge. What this concept was actually based on was a comedy short story I learned back in China, where a man was given a block of gold, which he traded for a cow, that cow turned out to be faulty so he traded it for a horse, and then two hogs, a few chickens, so on until he ended up with a sharpening stone in which he dropped into a well. The block of metal turned into a sword that can be reforged. And then I started writing this and realized that it would take too long to explain this story so I just decided “Fuck it, no way I’m good enough to fullfill my dream” and went with what we have here, a singular story with a girl who just wants to live her life in peace, along with her dumbass sword who looks cool from time to time.
Wow that was a long info dump. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you so very much for reading.
