Interlude: In the Fog
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Chapter 5: Girl, Isolates
THEY departed Elminage and walked to their next destination. Everyone had been in good spirits during the morning, but their mood was dampened by the pounding hot sunrays as the day went on. The baking heat was particularly harsh on Wolfie with his furry body, and he was the first to lie down complaining.
“So hoooot.”
Nichika stopped next to him and poured water from her bottle into a bowl for him to drink. This magic bottle was yet another new invention of Oswald’s that kept liquids cool at all times.
‘Magic bottle’ sounds like a clichéd ad until you realize it really uses magic. Smiling wryly to herself, she placed the bowl on the ground for Wolfie.
Drinking cold water seemed to rejuvenate the wolf who sprung up on all fours. “Thanks! You aren’t hot, Nichika?”
“It’s still manageable for me.”
The beating sunshine definitely caused her to sweat, but most of Arcanshiel was permeated by dry heat with low humidity. It was within tolerable levels for Nichika who had suffered through Japan’s sticky, suffocating summers her entire life. She was impressed that her discomfort was reduced significantly just by the absence of moisture in the air.
At the moment, there was one thing that bothered her more than the heat.
“Cute Nichikaaa! Gimme water too. Waaaterrrr.”
“Oomph!” Someone suddenly leaned all their weight on her back, knocking the bottle from her hand which she caught a second before it hit the ground. She shot a miffed look at the culprit dangling over her shoulder. “Quit that. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Aww. But this is my form of skinship.” Chuckling, the young man brought his lips so close to her ear they practically brushed the skin there as he whispered in a low voice. “I’d be equally happy if you gave it to me by mouth.”
Getting the chills, Nichika slammed her hand in his face and pushed him off her. “Did you not just hear me ask you to quit it with this crap?!”
“Ahahahahaha! You’re redder than a cherry! I could just eat you right up—you’re so cute!”
Nichika scrubbed her ears and shot the scariest glare she could manage at him, but it had zero effect on the brazen witch.
Their guide from Elminage turned out to be their frenemy Lambert. Since their skirmish in Lolo Village, Nichika struggled with trusting the oddball further than she could throw him. But he had given her very good advice after Oswald ended her apprenticeship, and it was thanks to him that she didn’t lose Oswald’s companionship, which perplexed her as to what his real objective was. Wasn’t he originally supposed to be an assistant to Professor Logical, a member of the Witch’s Council and the Five Eldra Steorra?
She had outright asked about it when they departed Elminage together, to which he gave the most indifferent, jaw-dropping answer:
“I switched sides. You guys seem more entertaining.”
How easily he betrayed. She was further surprised to learn he had already spoken with Ini and joined the Spirit Search Corps before her negotiations with the headmaster.
His true motives were unclear. He’s not trustworthy, Nichika determined as he sidled up to her.
Lambert played with a strand of her shoulder-length hair. “Man, you have beautiful hair. Hey, did you know that some people believe magic is stored in a person’s hair?”
Nichika knew precisely why this clingy man hung all over her. She flinched from the black shadow that had appeared behind him. But Lambert prattled on as if he didn’t notice.
“I bet it’d taste delish. Just kiddin’!”
THWACK! THWACK!
Nichika pressed her hands to the back of her violently smacked head. Lambert stumbled forward from the same blow, though his reaction was definitely exaggerated.
“Get walking. There are people behind you.”
An extremely disgruntled Oswald was the culprit. Nichika retreated from his fear-inducing subzero aura. Either unable to read the mood or doing it in spite of it, Lambert foolishly waved his hand about.
“You cad you! You can’t go smackin’ girls ’round like that. I’m ashamed to call you my upperclassman!”
“She’s guilty of the same crime by blocking my way.”
“Ohoho? Angry? Did we rub you the wrong way somehow? Hmm?”
Yep, Lambert only flirted with Nichika in order to get a rise out of Oswald. He was welcome to start a fight, but only if that didn’t involve her in the fallout. Oswald shoved past them and looked over his shoulder a few feet ahead.
“Hey, guide, you actually know where the spirit lives, right? I swear if you’re taking us to the Witch’s Council I’ll—”
“You’re soooo untrusting. Aren’t we buddies, ol’ pal?” Lambert made the peace sign and then shoved his hands in his pocket under Oswald’s freezing scrutiny. “Okay, okay, don’t look at me like that. I’m just joking,” he said, some of the amusement fading from his voice. “I’m from Windy Village.”
“Windy Village?” Nichika repeated the name she had never heard before.
Does the Great Wind Spirit live there?
Lambert turned to her and stroked her cheek with a grin. “Yep! It’s awesome. All the residents can fly. And a big aerial race should be goin’ on ’round this time of year.”
“Umm…erm…” His touch was too gentle to harshly reject and too friendly to openly accept, flustering her.
“Whew! It suddenly cooled down!” Wolfie nonchalantly observed, happy with the sudden chill, not realizing that the air temperature had dropped significantly around Oswald. Blue mana birds flew angrily around them.
Just how much does he hate Lambert?! Nichika shouted on the inside, giving her head a small shake. Sure, his frivolous teasing is hecka annoying, but Oswald has dealt with worse. What makes him hate Lambert so much?
Cold air whished past her feet when she stayed put, lost in her thoughts. “What was that?”
The chilly air current was coming from the valley ahead, not her silently simmering master. A chill had filled the air and a white fog covered the sky, blurring the sun.
“Oh, we’re here! We’re here! We call this place Fog Valley. Getting through the valley will spit us right out in front of Windy Village.”
Lambert, who finally started serving as a proper guide, took the lead into the valley with the rest of the group trailing behind. The fog grew thicker the further they went. Nichika felt like she was swimming through diluted milk as she pulled out her lantern. She gave it a light shake and spoke to the mana in the air.
“O flames, light the path we travel!”
Chanting the correct spell brought a warm yellow light to life within. Smiling at her success, Nichika happily reported to her master.
“Look at what I did! See? It lit up like it’s supposed to!”
She had good reason to be so proud of her success. This lantern was actually the first witch’s item Nichika had created. Elminage had a class on creating simple witch’s items, so she constructed the lantern during their break earlier. She formed the frame by tying together twigs she found on the ground with hemp string, and then she inserted a white round stone in the center that light mana loved. And finally, she simply asked the fluttering light mana gathering around the stone to do her a favor. That was all there was to her creation, but it worked surprisingly well. The lantern illuminated everything around her.
Oswald’s brows snapped together as he assessed his apprentice’s first work. “What’s with that shoddy frame? The mana is escaping left and right,” he pointed out the flaws.
“Ugh. I felt bad locking them in…”
The lantern she learned about in class trapped mana in a glass frame. This time she crafted one where the mana could freely come and go as they pleased, making it remarkably dimmer than the glass version.