“Reeve! Yorma! If you’re watching her, then help her!” Allen scolded his younger brothers, still holding on to Lane.
Their features were still marked with youthful mischief, more so than Allen’s. They were getting yelled at, but the two brown-haired boys just rested their hands on their cheeks as they sat and smiled broadly.
“Buuut...”
“She wanted to do it...”
“And we would’ve felt bad stopping her...”
They casually finished each other’s sentences, ending with a “Uh-huh!” as they looked at each other. The two of them were twins.
This wasn’t the first time Lacey had met them, but she’d seen them much less often than Allen, who always came to deliver vegetables. Therefore, she awkwardly clammed up a little, but the twins just cackled and ran around her. They paid no mind to her squeals as she bounced around on her feet.
Allen noticed that Lacey was getting flustered and her eyes were spinning. He meant to stop the twins, but he had Lane in his arms. He tried to shout at them while still holding on to his little sister, but it just wasn’t enough.
“Would you boys be quiet?!” came a shout, along with the sound of an egg being cracked on the bottom of a frying pan.
The twins froze in their tracks. They had literally gone stock-still. It was like time had stopped. Lacey darted her eyes about, wondering if a petrification spell had been cast on them. She gulped and timidly searched for the person who had spoken.
Her eyes flickered and met the gaze of the person, whose lips immediately softened into a sweet smile.
“Haven’t seen you lately, Miss Lacey. Sorry about the twins.”
“No, um, it’s fine, Ms. Tricia.” She bowed—but just as she did, Tee dropped down from the sky on top of Lacey’s head. “Oof!”
Tee’s fall was somewhat controlled, but still, getting hit out of nowhere made her head hurt.
Allen and Tricia stared down at Lacey, who’d collapsed onto the ground. Meanwhile, the twins gave a round of applause to Tee spreading its wings majestically atop Lacey’s hat.
∗ ∗ ∗
“Don’t be shy and eat as much as you want, Miss Lacey. It’s no feast though.”
“Ah...no, it’s fine, really.”
Lacey was as quiet as a mouse as she sat at the dining table.
Allen’s mother, Tricia, had the same orange hair as her son. Her youthful vigor made it hard to believe she was a mother of four children. Half a year ago, she had almost died while giving birth to Lane. Lacey had saved Tricia, which led to a lasting connection between them. However, she still felt immense uneasiness as to whether she should really be barging in on a mother and four kids at mealtime. Meanwhile, next to Lacey’s feet, Tee was taking up the offer. It unreservedly pecked away at a plate of beans as if scoffing at her conflicted feelings.
The twins were making a fuss on either side of Lacey, and Allen was busy scolding them. Tricia had sat Lane on her knee and was feeding her vegetable soup. Lacey just stayed stiff, gripping a spoon. Their father, Kargo, hadn’t returned from the fields yet. Even so, there was plenty going on already.
“I’m so sorry, do you not like the taste?”
“N-No, that’s not it at all, Miss Tricia.”
They’d been repeating the same exchange for the last while. Lacey was fundamentally introverted. When she used magic or when there was an emergency, she demonstrated astonishing decisiveness, but didn’t have a lick of it otherwise. She just ended up looking at her hands all the time.
I can’t act like this. She hurriedly moved her stationary hands and took a sip of bean soup. It was fresh, warm, and very tasty.
For a moment, she recalled her times traveling with her companions. Wayne was a noble of high status, but had developed a knack for cooking and had often served warm soup like this.
While she was reminiscing, someone yelped. She couldn’t tell whether it was Reeve or Yorma, but he shouted “HOT!” The other one shouted, “TEPID!”
The two of them were eating the same thing, of course. What they meant was that in comparison with the heat of the room, the soup was tepid. In Lacey’s opinion, the temperature was quite fine. But the twins were both dripping with sweat, and so was Allen who was watching them with exasperation.
All the doors and windows in the house had been left wide open to let in as much of a breeze as possible, but that still wasn’t enough. Tricia was lifting up Lane’s clothing and industriously wiping sweat off her.
Now that they mention it...is it hot? Lacey tilted her head. But it’s not really unbearable, she thought, not realizing that her endurance was world-class. Phrased less charitably, one might say that she was ignorant of her own needs. Although she’d finally graduated from wearing her black robe, she still didn’t have much variety in her wardrobe.
She was suddenly reminded of how her companions had been on their journey. One time, Lacey had been vacantly clutching her staff and sitting down while their entire surroundings were engulfed by fire. They had been in demonkin territory, which included many environments that were hostile to humans. After some begging from her screaming companions, she’d managed to create an ice barrier.
As her eyes softened with nostalgia, there came a teary-eyed cry. “I wish we had a glacial stone!” It was probably Reeve who had said this. The twins were very much alike, but Lacey had noticed that it was almost always Reeve who spoke first.
“It’s not that easy to get magic artifacts. They’re in even higher demand than usual during the summer.”
“Loosen up, big bro Allen. We’re not talking realistically here. It doesn’t have to be a glacial stone. I just want ice. I wish there were lots of it outside, just like in winter.”
This time, it was Yorma who made Allen shake his head gruffly. “It’s summer right now.”
“I see,” Lacey remarked. She examined the bowl which had contained her soup before she’d eaten it all. She twirled a finger and quietly chanted a spell.
Ting-a-ling-ling! There was a refreshing sound as several cubes of ice fell into her bowl.
“You can have these, if you like,” she said to the twins.
Allen’s entire family stared at Lacey in a daze. It was as if time had stopped.
“... I-ICE?!”
“No way! How’d you do that?! Was that magic?!”
Once they’d finally wrapped their heads around it, the overheated twins let out shrill cries of wild joy. Their sheer elation made Lacey blink. Meanwhile, Tricia’s jaw had dropped open.
From Lacey’s perspective, freezing a river in the middle of winter and creating ice in the middle of summer were the exact same thing. However, the rest of them seemed to believe there was a major difference. It was impossible for there to be ice in summer. That was just common sense.
Lacey had created something that shouldn’t have existed, out of nothing. That was shocking beyond words.