Chapter 24: Eyes(1)

Lucy slowly opened her eyes at the sound of something falling.

She immediately checked the bed next to her, feeling nervous, but Avali was nowhere to be seen since early morning.

Feeling deeply relieved by this fact, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and got out of bed.

Lucy walked to the window as usual.

“… Wow.”

She let out a small exclamation as she looked at the scenery outside the window.

The entire village of Asha was covered in snow.

The snow that had started to fall since last night had easily made the entire infamous Eastern Forest her territory.

For Lucy, who had lived her entire life in East Police, the city with the Eastern Magic Tower, this was a sight she had never seen before.

Whenever it snowed even a little, low-level magicians using thermal magic would cleanly clear the snow from the city and nearby roads.

As a side note, Lucy had also been actively participating in snow clearing for several years.

The pay was good compared to the difficulty, so she would often wonder when she would recruit people on snowy evenings.

If it were the usual Lucy, she would have immediately grumbled, “I should have stayed in the city.”

“… She’s pretty.”

However, Lucy recently had financial freedom for the first time since she was born.

With no particular worries except for Avalli, she unlocked and opened the door as if hypnotized by the pure white snow.

The cold morning forest air came into the house and brushed against Lucy’s cheek.

Her cheeks flushed red in an instant, but she ignored it and reached out her hand toward the snow falling from the sky.

The moment the snow crystals touched her body temperature, they instantly turned into water droplets.

Feeling a strange sense of regret at that fleetingness, Lucy slightly stuck her face out the window.

“Gyaaaaaaak!”

A chunk of snow fell from the roof and swept past Lucy.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Avalli?”

“Didn’t you hear what just now, Sister Envel?”

Upon hearing that, Envel looked in the direction Avali was pointing.

However, the entire town of Asha, including Lucy who was buried in the snow, was still completely white.

“It seems like nothing is wrong. Is it just my imagination?”

“Hmm… Maybe.”

Avali smiled in vain and pushed away a handful of snow on the roof with her shovel.

“Eek!”

Lucy, who had barely managed to escape the chaos, was once again buried under a chunk of snow falling on her head.

Upon hearing that faint voice, Avali glanced down from the roof.

However, all she could see was a field of evenly piled snow.

She could see the only place that was different in height from the others.

That must have been because she had swept away the snow.

‘It’s just my imagination,’ Avali concluded, and crossed the roof to the other side.

After a few more minutes of pushing away all the thick snow, Envel and Avalli climbed down the ladder to the ground.

“Do you want something warm to drink? I’m going to catch a cold.”

“I’ll be fine with anything.”

“There’s probably still some cocoa powder left…”

Envel said as he brushed the snow off Avalli’s clothes.

“Cocoa!”

Avalli, who had been giving in to his gentle touch, cried out with sparkling eyes.

“Hehe, Avalli likes sweets, right? Just wait a minute. Oh, if Lady Lucy is still asleep, wake her up. You have to eat breakfast.”

“Yes!”

Avali shook her head vigorously.

As she opened her room and went in, what Avali saw was—

“Sister Lucy?”

Through the window, Lucy was rolling around in the snow with her hair disheveled.

Lucy, who looked confused, bowed in surprise when she heard Avalli’s voice calling her.

“Ah… Hello! Avalli!”

“What are you doing right now?”

“That’s… um.”

Lucy thought for a moment about how to explain this situation, then decided to just say something vague.

“Because I like snow.”

“… It looks really like that.”

Avalli took off her gloves made of the same material as her tunic and placed them on the desk, saying in a tired voice.

‘What a strange group of people.’

As she had felt during the dishwashing incident last time, Lucy did not seem to be in her right mind at all.

‘But she’s a noblewoman among wizards, right? That was the story I had heard when talking to Envel about Lucy. She was apparently one of the most ordinary wizards among all the eccentric wizards.’

‘… Wizards are scary.’

Once again, Avalli’s prejudice against the group of wizards was reinforced.

“Echwi-!”

“You’re catching a cold. Come inside quickly, Sister Lucy.”

“Yes… Yes, that’s right.”

Lucy trembled and climbed over the window again.

She roughly brushed the snow off her body and went back into bed, but her shoulders were still trembling.

Avalli closed the window to block the wind coming into the house, then lay down behind Lucy and immediately wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Ah… Avalli?”

“Just stay still for a moment. We’re just warming up our bodies with each other’s body heat.”

“No, it’s… it’s… okay—”

Lucy couldn’t finish her words.

She felt her cold body suddenly heat up.

The starting point of the heat was none other than the waist where Avali was hugging her.

‘This… could it be… magic?’

This transcendent being was currently infusing magic into her.

Even though it was a half-conscious action, it far exceeded the amount of magic power that Lucy possessed.

The will contained in that magic power was so simple that Lucy could read it.

[Get warm.]

As expected, Lucy’s body instantly regained its warmth, but her body was still shivering.

This time, the cause of the shivering was not the cold, but fear.

‘Hee… Hee-ik.’

Lucy’s pure white back gave her goosebumps.

It was only natural for her, who considered Avalli an indefinable monster.

It was like a human doing a favor to a tiny ant.

Would the ant be purely grateful if it removed obstacles in its path, provided food and water, and protected it from various dangers?

The answer was ‘no.’

No, I don’t know what to do for the ant, but at least for Lucy, it was impossible.

The soft and warm warmth that was currently enveloping Lucy’s body could change depending on Avalli’s small whim.

And Lucy did not have the strength to resist that being with such overwhelming magical power.

“Are you still cold, Sister Lucy?”

“Ah… no. It’s gotten a lot warmer.”

“But why are you still shivering like this?”

As Avali spoke, thinking about using her ‘magic’ a little more seriously,

“Huh?”

The trembling that Avalli felt with her whole body suddenly stopped unnaturally.

It was the result of Lucy’s desperate will to ‘live’ taking control of her body.

“Thank you… thank you. I barely survived thanks to you, Sister Avalli.”

“No matter how good your eyes are, at least put on some clothes and go out. If you go out in your thin pajamas, you’ll really catch a cold.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Well, it didn’t matter if it got warmer.

Avalli was about to let go of the hand that was wrapping around Lucy’s waist… but changed her mind and instead applied a little more force.

“Sister Lucy, your body is really soft.”

“I… really?”

“Really. You’re like a stuffed doll.”

“Thank you…”

Lucy was at a loss at the sudden compliment.

“You know, that magic stone, Sister Lucy.”

“Yes.”

“If we could get more of those magic stones, they would sell for a really high price, right?”

Lucy racked her brain desperately for Avalli’s question.

The question itself wasn’t difficult, but it was hard to guess his intention.

“Right?”

“… Yes.”

The moment Avalli asked again, Lucy gave up racking her brain and answered obediently.

“If I could just take it to another city, I might get an even higher price than this time.”

“That magic stone must have been really expensive.”

“Yes. Even the professors at the Magic Tower lamented, saying, ‘If you have the money, no matter what…'”

It was worth it.

If she had the money to pay Bern, Lucy would never have taken that magic stone to the exchange.

Just when Lucy was about to feel suffocated by the sadness simmering in her heart—

“Let’s talk about what if, Sister Lucy.”

Avalli spoke in a quiet voice.

“If, by any chance, such a magic stone is found in this village again…”

Lucy was so overwhelmed by Avalli that she couldn’t read the emotion in his voice.

However, if it had been Lucy as usual, she would have immediately noticed Avalli’s true intentions.

“Can you sell it for me, Sister Lucy?”

Avalli was currently focused on money.

She was ready to venture deep into the Great Forest on the night of the next full moon.

“… If possible.”

“You promised?”

“Ah… I understand.”

Lucy had no choice but to nod to Avalli’s words.

And at that moment—

“… Huh?”

Lucy was startled by the familiar sensation that enveloped her entire body.

This feeling of coolness passing right near her heart was definitely ‘Contract?’

It was exactly like when she used the magic of the contract.