4 – Warmth Begins to Bloom 1

Yesterday, today, and the day after that, snow fell in the North.

When the pure white snow covered everything, everything appeared static, as if the unchanging peace continued.

“We’ve discovered a fissure.”

But peace did not last so easily.

“Largest ever recorded. Thankfully, there’s still no sign of monsters emerging, but it’s likely they will begin spewing them out before long.”

Silence stretched, heavy with unspoken words.

Whether it was mourning for the countless who would die, or despair at the despair those left behind would display, I couldn’t tell.

That the blame would fall on someone was obvious, regardless.

So, as everyone simply watched the hushed meeting room, exchanging furtive glances, Grand Duchess Elysia Wintraven offered a solution.

“I will request aid from the central government.”

With a rift of this magnitude, the moment the North was breached, they would pay the full price; they would provide us with support, if only for appearances.

Frankly, the central government wasn’t in much better shape, so the chances of generous assistance were extremely low.

Fortunately, Damian Carsaril was staying here, which increased the odds they’d at least provide enough help to keep the Duke’s youngest son from dying.

‘…Or make sure only their son returns to the family.’

Truthfully, the latter was more likely.

For reasons I couldn’t fathom, Damian Carsaril seemed drawn to me, so he would likely stay here.

The Carsaril family would be compelled to speak out, however reluctantly.

At those words, some faces brightened, others still held expressions of lament, and most seemed to lack any strong opinion.

It was clear that continuing the meeting would only lead to pointless arguments, so I was about to signal my father, Lakekric Wintraven, to bring it to a close when…

The commander of the knights, who always voiced reservations about Damian, raised a certain matter.

“I have received reports that Damian Carsaril has been entering the deep woods every evening.”

Raising this issue immediately after the talk of the rift felt pointed, bringing a wry smile to my lips.

Normally, I would have brushed it off, but the gravity of the rift made everyone acutely sensitive, and they began looking at each other warily.

“The deep woods… I can’t fathom why a young master from the South would enter the forest every night, instead of in the morning or afternoon.”

“Indeed. I heard he takes bundles of hardtack from the kitchen… there might be a connection.”

“Certainly suspicious. Could he be after something?”

Contrary to the North’s outward image of being boisterous, rugged, and unconcerned with petty matters.

The reality was that they were often insular and keenly focused on profit because limited resources had to be constantly divided.

This led to a barely suppressed culture of excluding outsiders.

It wasn’t hard to surmise that the knight commander had raised this topic from a similar motive.

And no doubt he also intended to hold me accountable for his lack of supervision, the fiancé of Damian, thereby strengthening my brother’s position.

“I hear he has a harsh training regimen; perhaps that training continues in the deep woods.”

“Perhaps… but I don’t see the need to carry out this training in the deep woods, particularly at night when visibility is limited.”

“……”

“Grand Duchess. It is well that you trust your betrothed, Damian, but excessive faith is unwise. This is the North; a single misjudgment could condemn someone to their death.”

To such a question – a query whether she was blinded by her betrothed, incapable of proper judgment –

Elisia spoke calmly to the sneering Knight Commander.

“You seem to be mistaken. Though he is my betrothed, I have never placed trust in him, not once.”

Therefore,

“There is no need for such concern. Whatever Damian does, whatever his true intentions may be, I will never, for all eternity, bestow faith upon him.”

After stating, bluntly, that her betrothal was nothing more than a simple contractual arrangement,

she continued with unwavering resolve in her voice.

“Before I am his betrothed, I am Elisia Wintraven. This shall never change, so do not concern yourselves.”

At that declaration, the Knight Commander’s expression twisted for a fleeting moment.

The interpretation might vary from listener to listener, but those words were akin to declaring her intention to supersede Pellia Wintraven, the eldest son, and become head of the family.

Pellia himself seemed rather uninterested, but others showed clear changes in their expressions, appearing to believe such an intent.

* * * * *

A week had passed since Elisia promised she would give me proper credit if I could bring warmth to the North.

Perhaps it was because I had been feeding the strange creatures that lingered around the solar spirit all the bread they could eat,

but the creatures that previously wouldn’t give me a second glance now approached me, seeking affection.

“Growl.”

In truth, these strange creatures were ice spirits.

They were actually in the form of wolves but had a peculiar trait of transforming into what they perceived to be the most threatening form in order to drive away strangers.

For the record, I was now quite friendly with the spirits, so they appeared as majestic wolves rather than the monsters I had initially seen.

Perhaps because they were spirits, they possessed lustrous, snow-white fur that felt pleasant simply to touch.

As I was happily stroking the wolves and handing out the bread I had brought,

a wolf nearly twice the size of the others approached and spoke to me.

[Do you desire the solar spirit?]

Fenrir, king of the ice spirits.

In the original story, he was merely described as sitting in the background, silently watching the protagonist. Yet, oddly, he spoke directly to me.

It was an unexpected situation, but not one that seemed problematic, so I nodded, and Fenrir smirked, saying,

[You are honest.]

Thankfully, being honest seemed to be the right answer.

As I mentally sighed in relief, attempting to calm myself, Fenrir drew closer and gazed at me intently before speaking.

“Speaking of which, I quite fancy the scent emanating from you. It’s a fragrance I’ve never encountered in all my life.”

Startled, because the comment about my body odor was entirely unexpected, I stammered a bit.

Fenrir chuckled softly, then settled down, and began explaining.

“No need to fret over it. It simply means fate has deemed you worthy of attracting spirits.”

Attracting spirits? Was there ever such a setting in Damian’s story? If anything, I’d thought they’d be repelled.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but deciding to take it as a good omen since he said so, I thanked him.

Fenrir shattered the ice encasing the sun spirit with his hand, a gentle smile gracing his lips.

“Then, I leave this poor child in your capable hands.”

With those words, Fenrir and all the ice spirits vanished like phantoms.

Simultaneously, the sun spirit, once trapped in ice, slowly descended.

A small, round form of light, reminiscent of the sun.

Afraid of hurting it if I squeezed too hard, I carefully received it as if catching a snowflake. Inside my palm, the sun spirit slowly opened its eyes and gazed at me.

“Hello.”

I offered a cautious greeting, and the spirit bounced up and down in my palm, displaying its friendliness.

It seemed it had been watching me come here for over a month while trapped in the ice, so I smiled and told the sun spirit that I would take good care of it.

“Myang!”

Came the adorable reply.

It appeared to be unable to form proper words, being only a low-level spirit.

Still, I was satisfied enough that we could communicate, so I gently stroked the sun spirit’s head with my finger.

“… Young Master?”

I’d been so focused on obtaining the sun spirit that I had completely forgotten about bringing Lorraine along.

Turning my gaze to Lorraine, I casually looked at her, and Lorraine stared at the sun spirit in my palm as she spoke.

“Could that possibly be a spirit? And that enormous wolf we saw earlier, was that also a spirit?”

It didn’t sound like she was asking because she didn’t know, but rather like she was reiterating what she already knew because the situation was so shocking.

I lightly nodded to confirm, and Lorraine, marveling blankly, said to me.

“Even though I’ve had an incredibly long tenure in the Knights, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a spiritmancer.”

Come to think of it, in the original story, there was a scene where everyone was incredibly surprised when the protagonist contracted with the sun spirit.

I scratched the spirit, which had already climbed onto my shoulder, solidifying our bond.

Calmly closing my eyes, I decided that it was about time to start resolving the things I had aimed to accomplish.

*

Thanks to the contract with the Spirit of the Sun, restoring warmth to the North became possible, depending on my efforts.

Of course, the Spirit of the Sun wasn’t omnipotent, so various endeavors were needed to maintain the warmth.

But for Elysia’s sake, such sacrifices were easily made, and I was simply overjoyed.

‘Will she smile if the North warms up?’

If possible, I wish she would smile.

As she was the only source of hope for me when I couldn’t see an inch ahead and was about to give up everything.

I wanted her, too, to gain hope as I once had and move forward.

So, thinking that I wanted to quickly warm the North and free her from all worries, I stepped onto the dark street and called upon the Spirit of the Sun.

The Spirit of the Sun, which had been circling me, fluttered forward when I called, shaking its little body.

I reached out my hand to the Spirit of the Sun and issued a command.

“Can you make this area warm?”

The Spirit, as if it were only natural, answered my request with pride, emitting warmth.