Chapter 39: Waiting for spring(3)

Winter is already half over.

In Asha Village, Avalli’s daily life is like a hamster wheel.

In the morning, she plays with the village children, and after lunch, she learns magic from Lucy.

After magic class, she watches Hans swing his sword, and after dinner, she opens a book she has already read several times.

In between, there are events such as going to Bern’s house with Lucy to steal snacks, watching a birdhouse being built under the leadership of Hans’ father, the carpenter Charles, or spending time in the vacant lot with Camellia…

“… I’m bored.”

Her daily life is starting to feel boring.

While Lucy stops by the house next door to talk about the structure of her new house,

Avalli lies on her bed and stares blankly at the ceiling.

If you ask her if she’s having fun or not… she’s still having fun.

However, the brains of modern people are already addicted to being exposed to too much stimulation.

The residents of this Asha Village and Avalli have different dopamine reward systems.

‘There are still two weeks left until the full moon.’

When the full moon comes, they can go out and play freely.

In fact, last full moon, Avalli went to the World Tree where Sylvain was once again.

It was nice to enjoy takoyaki and karaage, foods that immediately showed the country of the manufacturer, but…Sylavain-san gave me a lot of hints.

I thought it was a little leisurely when I heard that I just had to deliver it within five years, but it seems that it’s not that easy.

Well, judging from the situation, it seems that they are fighting a defensive battle every night, and the enemy’s offensive is getting stronger every day.

It may be that they are trying to appear calm in front of their guests.

Avalli had no intention of getting involved in someone else’s fight, but he was still a little concerned.

Why was a being as powerful as Sylvain so eager to defend, and what kind of message was he trying to send to the goddess of the Holy Land?

‘For now, this is a game world.’

I don’t know the detailed settings of the Sword and Magic world, but I know the general structure of the series.

It’s the classic JRPG storyline of the Demon King and the Hero.

The player is the Hero, and the final boss is the Demon King.

When the Hero defeats the Demon King and saves the world, the story ends there.

‘… So am I the Hero?’

In this classic story, it’s kind of an unwritten rule that the player is Hero.

Of course, there were series that shed light on the stories of specific characters, such as side stories or something…

‘Then they wouldn’t have given me such detailed character creation in the first place.

Assuming that he was the Hero, Avalli continued to develop his inferences.

‘What Sylvain gave me was some kind of quest.’

I don’t know if it was a major quest or a side quest…

But since there was talk of a Transcendent being or something, it’s probably close to the core, right?’

There’s also a possibility that this Asha Village, and not the World Tree ruled by Sylvain, is the initial starting village.

Avalli arrived at Asha Village after finding traces of people in the west, but…

In the game, it is entirely possible that the wandering player was caught up in Sylvain’s teleportation magic.

Of course, everything is just an assumption.

Avalli, who first encountered the Sword and Magic series through this game, cannot make a guess based on accurate facts.

If it were up to her friends who were avid fans of the series, she would know, but for Avalli now, there is too little information.

‘… Why did I have to get involved?’

A light sigh escaped Avalli’s mouth.

If you were to ask whether Avalli’s daily life in Asha Village, or in this world, was enjoyable, it was.

However, she couldn’t help feeling sentimental sometimes.

If I had the chance to go back, would I go back?”

Avalli asked herself this question while counting the patterns on the ceiling.

The answer came quickly enough to surprise her.

I absolutely do not want to go back.

I do not want to go back into that hamster wheel.

If you were to ask whether each day in the present was enjoyable, it was not enjoyable.

I always felt suffocated because I didn’t have enough air.

The pressure that made me feel like I was going to collapse was always pressing down on my shoulders.

But now, it’s different.

I’m young, I’m young, I’m full of energy, and I’m loved by everyone around me.

Recently, I learned how to properly use magic through Lucy’s lessons, so I’ve gained the confidence that I can make most things I imagine come true if I use ‘magic.’

That’s right.

I don’t have to stay in this town.

If I want, I can do whatever I want with the world—

“Huh! I have too many distracting thoughts!”

Avalli stopped thinking and raised her upper body.

She went down from the bed and headed to the living room, and immediately opened her mouth to Envel, who was sewing something.

“I’m going to go for a walk.”

“A walk? Is something wrong?”

“I just have something to think about.”

“Adolescence already?”

When Envel asked with a playful expression, Avalli giggled and nodded.

“Maybe so.”

Since it was the Sabbath, which came once a week, the streets of Asha Town were deserted.

Except for the short prayer meetings led by Arsene, the Sabbath is usually like this.

Especially in winter, people seem to stay inside their homes instead of going out.

Feeling the illusion of walking alone on the city streets at dawn,

Avalli slowly left the village.

She was headed to the always empty cabin across the river.

It was the very place where Hans was attacked by a demon and almost lost his life.

Recently, Avalli visited this cabin alone whenever she had time.

It wasn’t because she was going through early puberty, as Envel said, but because she had something to do alone.

“Let’s do it today too!”

Avalli shouted powerfully as if making a promise to herself, then took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

She turned her gaze inward.

Everyone has their own world inside them.

Avalli let her consciousness flow into the source that constitutes her.

It’s one of the magician’s training methods that Lucy taught her.

A spiritual experience of exploring one’s own mental world.

It seems that ordinary magicians use this process to confirm their accomplishments and seek higher levels.

‘…even if you try to go up a level.’

It sounded like a story from a faraway land to Avalli.

That was understandable, because Avalli’s world was already ‘completed.’

All she could do was fiddle around a corner.

The moment Avalli opened her eyes again, she saw a brightly shining sun.

Dozens of planets revolved around that sun, and countless stars twinkling in the distance.

This vast universe was Avalli’s world.

‘It’s always so grand in scale.’

Avalli, the owner of this place, was always bewildered whenever she came here.

She was just an ordinary citizen, so why did such a grand universe exist in her imagination?

However, there was one thing she had learned from visiting this world frequently recently.

The number of planets revolving around the sun exactly matched the number of ‘traits’ Avalli had chosen before starting the game.

A piece of transcendent talent called ‘Gift’ in this world.

‘If you think of it as a game UI, it’s not a completely incomprehensible sight.’

Avali’s gaze, which had been blankly staring at the rotating planets, turned to the sun located at the center of the celestial body.

‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure out what that is.’

In the Sword and Magic series, there is no hierarchy of characteristics.

In other words, each characteristic is an equal characteristic that honestly costs 1 point when selected.

But what on earth is the identity of that sun that alone constitutes the center of the celestial body?

Avalli groaned and pondered, but no plausible hypothesis came to mind.

‘… Should I finish what I was doing?’

Avalli sat down next to one of the celestial bodies that revolved around the sun,

a lump that was still too small to be called a planet.

This lump was the work that Avalli had been focusing on recently.

Avalli’s teacher, Lucy, had said that cultivating this world was the most basic thing for a wizard.

Of course, it wasn’t something that only wizards could do.

Even knights, priests, and even ordinary people can cultivate this imaginary world through training in reality.

However, directly confirming it is a privilege granted only to magicians who handle magical powers.

However, magicians can only ‘confirm’ it.

Actual training takes place in reality, not in the imaginary world.

The various growths achieved in reality are naturally reflected in the imaginary world, and the world prospers.

In Avalli’s case, it was a little different.

Since the last time she almost drowned at the top of the World Tree, she felt the need to prepare for the unexpected—

‘It feels like my body moves on its own before I even think about it…?Or maybe there is a separate function for survival in addition to my main thinking.’

-She was currently ‘creating’ a new Gift on her own.

If Lucy had heard about it, it would have made her foam at the mouth and faint.