Chapter 24: Eyes(1)

A rustling sound startled Lucy awake. She tensed, immediately checking the other side of the bed, but Avalli was gone. Relief washed over her as she rubbed her sleepy eyes and climbed out of bed.

As usual, she shuffled over to the window.

“…Wow.”

A soft gasp escaped her lips as she gazed at the scene outside.

Asha Village was blanketed in snow. The snow, which had started falling last night, had effortlessly claimed the notorious Eastern Great Forest as its own.

For Lucy, who had spent her entire life in East Polis, the city where the Eastern Magic Tower stood, it was a sight she had never witnessed before. Whenever it snowed, even a little, low-ranking mages using thermal magic would clear the city and surrounding roads.

Lucy herself had diligently participated in snow removal for the past few years. The pay was decent considering the difficulty, and she used to get excited on snowy evenings, wondering when they would recruit mages for the task. Normally, she would have grumbled, ‘I should have stayed in the city.’

“…Beautiful.”

But Lucy was now experiencing financial stability for the first time in her life. With no worries except for Avalli, she was mesmerized by the pristine white snow. She unlocked and opened the window.

The frigid morning air of the snowy forest brushed against Lucy’s face, turning her cheeks bright red. Ignoring the cold, she reached out towards the falling snow.

The moment the snowflakes touched her skin, they instantly turned into water droplets. Feeling a strange sense of loss at their ephemerality, Lucy leaned her head out the window.

“Kyaaaaaak——”

A pile of snow slid off the roof, burying Lucy.

“Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Avalli?”
“Didn’t you hear something just now, Envel unnie?”

Envel looked in the direction Avalli was pointing. But Asha Village, covered in snow, remained a uniform white, including the snow-covered lump that was Lucy.

“I don’t think anything’s wrong. Maybe it was just your imagination?”
“Hmm… maybe.”

Avalli gave a nonchalant smile and pushed a pile of snow off the roof with a shovel.

“Eek!”

Lucy, having just dug herself out and about to make her escape, was once again buried under the falling snow. Hearing the faint cry, Avalli glanced down at the area below the roof, but all she saw was the evenly covered snowfield.

There was one spot where the snow level was different. That was probably because she had just cleared it herself.

‘It was just my imagination.’

Avalli concluded and moved across the roof to the other side, continuing to clear the thick snow. Once finished, Envel and Avalli climbed down the ladder.

“Want something warm to drink? You’ll catch a cold.”
“We should have some cocoa powder left…”

Envel said, brushing the snow off Avalli’s clothes.

“Cocoa!”

Avalli’s eyes sparkled as she leaned into Envel’s touch.

“Heehee, you have a sweet tooth, don’t you? Wait just a moment. Oh, and wake Lucy if she’s still asleep. She needs to have breakfast.”
“Okay!”

Avalli nodded energetically and swung open the door to her room—

“Lucy?”

—to see Lucy, her hair disheveled, tumbling around in the snow outside the window. Lucy, looking bewildered, noticed Avalli calling her name, startled, and bowed deeply.

“G…Good morning! Madam Avalli!”
“What are you doing?”
“Well, um…”

Lucy considered how to explain the situation, then decided to make something up.

“I like snow.”
“…It certainly looks like it.”

Avalli placed her mittens, made of the same material as her tunic, on the desk and said in a flat tone.

‘She’s really strange.’

She had felt it during the dishwashing incident as well, but Lucy seemed far from sane.

‘And she’s supposedly one of the normal ones?’

That’s what Envel had told her during a conversation about Lucy. Apparently, Lucy was considered relatively normal among the eccentric mages.

‘…Mages are scary.’

Avalli’s prejudice against mages intensified.

“Achoo—!”
“You’ll catch a cold. Come inside quickly, Lucy.”
“Y…Yes, of course.”

Lucy climbed back through the window, shivering. She brushed the snow off her clothes and got back into bed, but her shoulders still trembled.

Avalli closed the window, blocking the wind, then lay down behind Lucy and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“A…Avalli?”
“Just stay still for a moment. We’ll warm each other up.”
“No, it’s… I’m… fine—”

Lucy’s words trailed off. Her cold body was rapidly warming up. The heat emanated from her waist, where Avalli’s arms were wrapped around her.

‘Is this… magic power?’

This otherworldly being was channeling magic power into her. Even though it seemed like a semi-unconscious action, the amount of magic power far surpassed Lucy’s own capacity.

The intention behind the magic power was simple enough for even Lucy to understand.

[Get warm.]

As intended, Lucy’s body quickly regained its warmth, but she still trembled. This time, it wasn’t from the cold, but from fear.

‘Eek.’

Goosebumps erupted across Lucy’s back. It was a natural reaction, considering she saw Avalli as an incomprehensible monster.

It was like a human showing kindness to a tiny ant. Would the ant feel genuine gratitude if the human removed obstacles from its path, provided food and water, and protected it from danger?

The answer was ‘no.’
Or rather, she didn’t know about ants, but Lucy certainly couldn’t.

This gentle, warm feeling enveloping her could change at Avalli’s whim. And Lucy had no power to resist this being with overwhelming magic power.

“Are you still cold, Lucy?”
“N…No. I’m much warmer now.”
“But why are you still shaking?”

Just as Avalli considered using her ‘magic’ more directly—

“Huh?”

Lucy’s trembling stopped abruptly, as if a switch had been flipped. It was the result of Lucy’s desperate will to live taking control of her body.

“Th…Thank you. I almost froze to death.”
“Even if you like snow, you should at least wear proper clothes. You’ll really catch a cold in those thin pajamas.”
“I’ll be more careful.”

Well, as long as she was warm, that was good enough.

Avalli was about to release Lucy’s waist, but… she changed her mind and tightened her grip slightly.

“You’re really soft, Lucy.”
“R…Really?”
“Yes, really. Like a cotton doll.”
“Thank you…”

Lucy fidgeted at the sudden compliment.

“That magic stone, Lucy.”
“Yes?”
“If you could get more of those, they would sell for a lot, right?”

Lucy desperately racked her brain at Avalli’s question.

The question itself was simple, but the intent behind it was difficult to fathom.

“Right?”
“…Yes.”

As Avalli repeated the question, Lucy gave up on trying to be clever and simply answered truthfully.

“If you could transport them to another city, you might even get a higher price.”
“That magic stone must have been incredibly valuable.”
“Yes. Even the professors at the Magic Tower were lamenting, ‘If only I had the money…’”

It had been an object of immense value.

If Lucy had the money to pay Bern, she would never have taken that magic stone to the Exchange.
Just as a pang of frustration was about to sour her mood—

“Hypothetically, Lucy,”

Avalli began in a subtle voice.

“If, by any chance, another magic stone like that were to be found in this village…”

Lucy, still overwhelmed by Avalli, didn’t catch the underlying tone in her voice. But if it were the usual Lucy, she would have immediately understood Avalli’s true intentions.

“Could you sell it for me?”

Avalli’s mind was on the money.
Enough to make her resolve to venture deeper into the Great Forest on the next full moon night.

“…If possible.”
“Promise?”
“A…Alright.”

Lucy reluctantly nodded. And at that moment—

“…Huh?”

Lucy was startled by a familiar sensation enveloping her body. The cool feeling near her heart was definitely—

‘A contract?’

It felt exactly like when she used contract magic.