Chapter 28: Eyes(5)

“…They’re trying to kill me?”

Lucy stared at Contra, who was tightly bound with rope.

“That’s what he said.”
“Why?”
“It’s probably related to the magic stone trade.”
“…Is that really a reason to kill me?”

Lucy mumbled in disbelief, but at the same time, she understood.

“It was quite a valuable item. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of magic stones would have been tempted. I thought I had been discreet…”
“What are you going to do? Even if you are a mage, it will be difficult if a mercenary group is targeting your life.”
“…Before that, can I ask you something?”

Arsene nodded seriously at Lucy’s grave tone.

“That magic stone. How did you obtain it?”
“…That’s…”
“Don’t give me that nonsense about Bern finding it somewhere. That’s not something you can obtain by ‘chance’.”

Lucy pressed, but Arsene hesitated to answer. Seeing this, Lucy… finally overcame her fear and spoke a name.

“Avalli, wasn’t it?”
“…”
“It couldn’t have been anyone else. As a mage, I know. Remember what I said when we met on the way back to East Polis?”

Of course, he remembered.

“Monster.”
“Yes. Avalli is not ordinary. No, that’s an understatement. How can you be so calm around her?”
“Having lived with her, you must know by now.”
“I know, but… still…!”

She knew Avalli acted like an ordinary, thoughtful girl. But the terrifying truth hidden beneath that façade… the mere thought of it made Lucy tremble with fear.

“…Just answer me. Was it Avalli who obtained the magic stone?”
“Probably.”
“Not ‘probably’, but—”
“It was me.”

Just as Lucy was about to yell—

“I’m the one who made that magic stone, Lucy.”

Avalli, who had briefly left with Envel, had returned. Lucy flinched, her body stiffening at the sound of her voice. But her shock didn’t end there.

‘…Bewitching eyes?’

Avalli’s eyes, usually dull, were now sparkling green, radiating an intense magic power that was almost overwhelming. Anyone without resistance to magic power wouldn’t be able to defy the will of a being with such eyes.

“If… if Madam Avalli made it…”

She couldn’t bring herself to criticize.

‘…Did she hear our conversation?’

If Avalli learned that Lucy had called her a ‘monster’, would she feel betrayed? She had been kind to Lucy so far… but if she was disappointed by this incident—

“Lucy.”

While Lucy’s thoughts raced, Avalli approached and stood before her.

“I… I’m sor—”

The moment she met Avalli’s upward gaze, those green eyes, Lucy was about to lower her head in fear, but—

“I’m sorry. Because of me.”
“…What?”

It was Avalli, not Lucy, who bowed her head first.

Avalli lacked common sense in this world. Therefore, she didn’t fully grasp the extent of her own power.

She hadn’t realized that her simple act of helping Bern would lead to such consequences. Asha Village, Lucy, and perhaps even the unconscious mercenary, Contra, were all caught in the crossfire of Avalli’s thoughtless actions.

‘…I can’t say it’s entirely my fault, can I?’

The person who had commissioned the Crimson Moon mercenaries was someone Lucy had never even met. It would be arrogant and foolish to take responsibility for that person’s actions.

However… she had acted rashly.

Avalli wasn’t a child born with transcendental power. She was an adult man from a world where the differences in human abilities weren’t so significant. Her actions, wielding power without understanding its full extent, were undoubtedly her responsibility. And Avalli herself acknowledged that.

“So, I’ll help you in any way I can.”
“…What?”
“What do you want to do, Lucy?”

Those green eyes, swirling with magic power, demanded an honest answer. Lucy, as a mage, could have resisted, but the moment she sensed the ‘guilt’ in Avalli’s eyes, she answered honestly.

“…Now that it’s known I sold the magic stone, incidents like this will likely become more frequent. Staying at the Magic Tower might actually be more dangerous.”

Lucy was certain of that.
The first ones to covet a magic stone would be mages like herself.

“So… I’d like to stay in Asha Village for a while, until I figure out what’s going on.”
“Are you sure?”

Arsene, who had been listening silently, looked troubled. As the village chief, he naturally welcomed the prospect of having a resident mage. But he also knew how difficult this decision would be for Lucy.

“Are you okay with this, Lucy?”
“Not really. All my research is in my lab, and I’ll lose my position at the Magic Tower.”

Although she was often mocked by other mages, Lucy Ignis took pride in herself. Unlike those born into mage families, she had clawed her way up from the bottom to secure a place in the Magic Tower. Giving all that up would be painful and heartbreaking.

Avalli’s shoulders slumped at Lucy’s response. She felt responsible for ruining someone’s life with her rash actions—

“…Avalli.”

Lucy spoke her name.

Her trembling voice was laced with undeniable fear—

“Yes, Lucy?”
“Could I… ask you a favor?”

—and a hidden desire.

“Huh?”

When Contra opened his eyes, he was lying in his wagon, drooling.

“Idiot. Falling asleep in the Great Forest at night.”

It was a dangerous place, one most people avoided unless absolutely necessary. Contra couldn’t comprehend how anyone could build a village and live in such a region. And for him, a seasoned mercenary, to make such a mistake…

“…At least I finished checking everything, right?”

Contra reviewed the list of nearby pioneer villages his boss had given him. There had been nothing of note in Asha Village, the last one he had visited.

Just a bunch of clueless villagers. An ordinary, impoverished village with no connection to Lucy Ignis or the magic stone.

‘Was the boss’s hunch wrong this time?’

Contra clicked his tongue, climbed out of the wagon, and took the reins. The snow had stopped falling at some point during the night. Still, traveling on the snow-covered roads wouldn’t be easy.

It would be wiser to wait until daylight.

‘But I need to leave quickly.’

For some reason, a sense of urgency filled him. He had to get out of the Great Forest as soon as possible. He felt a distinct sense of unease, but whenever he tried to analyze it—

“…Just leave.”

—a strange green light flickered in his mind, pushing all other thoughts aside.

So, Contra traveled through the Great Forest at night. Luckily, he wasn’t attacked by any monsters and managed to escape.

The main force of the Crimson Moon mercenaries had set up a temporary camp in an abandoned village nearby. He had to rejoin them and report that ‘nothing happened.’ Then his job would be done.

With that in mind, Contra hurried on—

“…Oh.”

—and then he saw it. His fellow mercenaries, frozen mid-action, weapons drawn, scattered throughout the village. And in the center, casting a long shadow in the moonlight, stood a giant made of snow.

[…]

Contra knew what it was.
A Snowman.
A monster that should only exist in the deep snowy mountains of the North. Why was it here? The moment he met its unblinking, mineral-like gaze, Contra knew he was going to die.

But—

[……Understood.]

The Snowman uttered an incomprehensible word and then released magic power from its body. The frozen Crimson Moon mercenaries, encased in ice, were released from their icy prisons and collapsed onto the ground.

[Warm yourselves by the fire. You are not yet dead.]

“…Y…Yes, sir.”

Contra nodded frantically, rushed into a nearby empty house, and lit the still-warm fireplace. He gathered his frozen comrades inside. The Snowman spoke again.

[Be grateful for this mercy, humans.]

With those words, the giant Snowman vanished, leaving only faintly trembling ground in its wake.

“…It spoke.”

He knew there were cases of monsters that could speak. But he had only heard stories; this was the first time Contra had witnessed it himself. After all, very few throughout history had encountered a talking monster and lived to tell the tale.

‘…I’m quitting being a mercenary when I get back.’

Grateful for the stroke of luck that had spared his life, Contra lost consciousness.