Chapter 38: Waiting for Spring(2)

“It seems nothing in this world goes as planned.”

Merchant Elif chuckled wryly after reading the report.

The mission was a failure.

Despite being a relatively new mercenary group, the Crimson Moon had a reputation for their strength and accomplishments. He had thought hiring them to capture a single mage was overkill, but the outcome had been disastrous.

The Crimson Moon had disbanded. No deaths, no serious injuries, but they had all retired, citing psychological trauma. They all kept muttering about a “Snowman,” but such a monster couldn’t exist in the East, far from the snowy mountains.

‘And it certainly wasn’t Lucy’s doing.’

Elif, with his sharp merchant’s instincts, was certain of that. After the success of the recent auction, he was even being considered as a future chairman of the merchant guild. To someone like Elif, Lucy was just another mediocre mage.

So, she must have had a backer. A powerful backer, the kind that a small fry like Lucy wouldn’t even be aware of.

‘…It would be greedy to dig any deeper.’

Elif decided to cut his losses. He had thought uncovering the source of the magic stone and monopolizing it would be his chance to rise through the ranks, but it seemed things didn’t always go as planned.

‘At least I didn’t lose anything.’

He was glad he had paid extra for a ‘contract’ with the mercenaries. They were bound by magic to never reveal that he was the client. Even if Lucy obtained another magic stone, she, unaware of the truth, would undoubtedly come to him to sell it.

In fact, he hadn’t just broken even. He had profited.

The Crimson Moon hadn’t simply failed the mission. All its members had voluntarily withdrawn, despite being physically unharmed. This meant they forfeited their payment, and most of the Crimson Moon’s funds were transferred to Elif as a penalty.

“Excuse me, anyone there?”
“Welcome to Elif Trading Company.”

Elif greeted his visitor with a bright smile in his newly renovated office, confident in his bright future—

But as he had just said, nothing ever went exactly as planned.

“…What did you just say, Avalli?”

Lucy growled, her polite speech forgotten, reverting to her usual brusque tone.

“The name of the client who commissioned your assassination.”
“Elif. Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes. That mercenary, Contra, told me.”
“Is that so…?”

Lucy gnashed her teeth.

It had been the most likely possibility, but she had hoped she was wrong. She had felt a sense of kinship with Elif, working diligently in his shabby office. That’s why she had gone to him with the magic stone instead of approaching the larger trading companies…

‘…But why wouldn’t he use a contract for the assassination? And when I asked him about it, he just said he couldn’t reveal the client and…’

The question that had just surfaced was quickly swept away by a rising tide of anger. And as her anger reached a boiling point, Lucy’s mind became strangely calm.

There was no need to get angry in front of Avalli. She should be thanking her student for revealing the culprit. Revenge was Lucy’s personal business.

“Thank you, Avalli. That’s… helpful.”
“Are you okay, Teacher?”
“I’m fine. I’ve just… learned a valuable lesson today. You should remember this too, Avalli.”

Lucy paused, then continued in a serious tone,

“Never trust people based on appearances alone. Understand? This is important.”
“…Isn’t that… common sense, Teacher?”
“Ahe—hmm… Anyway. What were we talking about?”
“I don’t remember…”
[Regarding my… accommodations, Great Master.]

A deep voice interrupted their conversation. The voice was powerful enough to shake the earth, but only Lucy and Avalli could hear it, a whisper carried on magic power. The Snowman was communicating its will directly to their minds without even moving its lips.

“Oh, right.”
“…I still think we should destroy this dangerous monster.”

Lucy said nervously.

No matter how obedient the Snowman was to Avalli, it was still a monster. Lucy had unleashed her most powerful fire magic the moment she saw it, but it had only melted a bit of surface snow. She had brought Avalli to help her destroy it, but her student had just stammered, “Um, Teacher, well…”

“A talking monster? The royal palace would send a subjugation team. You could get caught up in this too, Avalli.”
“But Snowy hasn’t attacked anyone yet. So, it’s okay, isn’t it?”
“…What about the Crimson Moon mercenaries?”
“It seems he was protecting us. Protecting you and me.”
[To be precise, I was eliminating those who posed a threat to the Great Master.]
“Hey! Don’t make me sound like a villain!”

Avalli puffed out her cheeks and protested.

[My apologies.]
“Seriously, I’m trying to defend you here.”

Avalli had only recently learned about the Snowman, or rather, the being Camelia had named ‘Snowy’. Camelia had excitedly dragged her to the clearing where they had built the snowman, and it had started talking to Avalli.

Avalli remembered Camelia complaining, “No one else believes me!” Snowy communicated directly to people’s minds through magic, so the other villagers simply dismissed Camelia’s claims as childish fancy.

“So, Avalli, you intend to leave this monster alone?”
“…What else can I do? He has sentience, and he hasn’t shown any hostile intentions.”

A creator had absolute authority over their creation. But did that authority extend to a creation with independent sentience?

Avalli’s answer was no. Or rather, she didn’t want to get involved in something so troublesome. It might seem like neglect, but she hadn’t intended to bring the snowman to life in the first place.

“It’s up to Snowy.”

This was the best she could offer Snowy: the freedom to choose his own path.

[I will obey the Great Master’s will.]
“And my will is for you to ‘do as you please’! But if you attack anyone without provocation, I’ll treat you like a monster, just like Teacher said.”
[I will not disobey the Great Master’s command.]
“You’re disobeying right now!”

Avalli started bickering with Snowy.

Lucy, who had been watching their exchange nervously, finally spoke.

“…That aside, what are you going to do when spring comes?”

She didn’t use honorifics with Snowy. No matter how much her attitude had changed, she wasn’t about to be polite to a monster.

[I will not melt when spring arrives.]
“That’s even worse! When the snow melts and you’re still standing there, everyone will know you’re a monster!”

“…Oh.”
“Avalli, you should have thought about that—”, Lucy began to scold—
[It’s alright.]

Snowy interrupted.

[I will leave this place when the time comes.]
“…Well, if you say so.”
“And don’t attack anyone! No, wait, you can defend yourself if attacked… hmm, should I explain the Three Laws of Robotics?”
“Avalli, you say the strangest things sometimes.”
“Huh? Me? No way. Ahaha…”

As Avalli trailed off, cheerful voices called out from the entrance to the clearing.

“Lucy! Avalli!”
“Come back, Avalli!”

It was Camelia and Hans. They had come looking for them since they hadn’t returned as the sun began to set.

“Lucy, can you hear Mister Snowy talking?”
“…Of course, I can. He’s talking directly into my mind.”
“See? See? I told you! But the other kids said I was making it up!”

Camelia clung to Lucy, pouting. Hans pulled her away and said,

“It can’t be helped if they can’t hear him. Snowy said he wouldn’t reveal himself to those who aren’t ‘worthy’.”
“But Snowy is lonely. He has to stay here all alone if Camelia doesn’t come to visit.”
[I don’t mind.]
Hans and Camelia continued their conversation with Snowy, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Avalli, surprised, interrupted.

“You can hear him too, Hans?”
“…He talked to me first.”
“Why? Why him, Snowy?”
[He is worthy.]
‘Worthy?’

What did that even mean?

“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”
“See you tomorrow, Mister Snowy!”

The question surfaced in Avalli’s mind, but she was swept along by the three children and stood up.

‘Worthy.’

Camelia’s case was understandable. She had helped create Snowy, so it made sense he would be interested in her.

But why Hans? What made him worthy?