It had been a mess. Brooks had proclaimed that guts and determination could get them through anything and started tossing off his clothes. Wayne had restrained him from behind while the girls’ expressions went blank. Lacey was the only member of the party who could do anything about the circumstances, and they were all on the brink of desiccation.
Besides cooling the party down with ice, she’d also come up with the idea of slowing down the rate at which the heat reached them. She had combined the two to create a makeshift spell. Things became warm because the surrounding heat transferred to them, so step one was mitigating that process.
“The spell I just used can’t split things cleanly unless there’s a moderate amount of air within what’s being cut. So although this bark seems very stiff, it’s not actually that dense. There are lots of air particles in it.”
“I feel like metal or something else more solid would be better.”
“Metal can be cool to the touch while in the shade, even during the summer. At first, it seems like it’d work because of that, but it gets hot quickly when it’s near fire. That means it transfers heat easily.”
“I get it.” Allen could understand this.
Lacey was going to add, “I’ve slashed through lots of metal before, so I know what the structure of it is like,” but held back knowing that Allen wouldn’t believe her.
“Big sis Lacey, you seem like you’ve got a lot of energy today.”
“Really? You’re sure you’re not imagining it?”
“Definitely not,” Allen looked at her skeptically.
Lacey had spent the better part of her existence practicing magic. She didn’t know if she loved it or hated it, but magic was a part of her. She didn’t have confidence in herself, but magic was a different story. It made her talk much more than usual and feel excited.
That was why, well...she couldn’t deny that she was having a bit of fun, probably.
“Which brings us to this!”
She triumphantly pulled out a sheet of paper. Magic required formulas, which in turn normally required thinking them up from scratch and writing them down, but Lacey could construct formulas entirely within her head. That was why she was very talented at constructing something three-dimensional out of just two dimensions.
She’d made an appalling number of paper patterns while manufacturing her sachets. Lacey slid a pen across the paper sheet and created a pattern in no time flat. She made a second design while she was at it.
Allen and Tee sat kneeling and watched her with blank stares. “She’s working too fast to figure out what she’s doing,” Allen vacantly said before suddenly catching himself. “I shouldn’t be sitting here whining. I’m here to help her, not to play around.”
Allen too was a member of the feather-decoration village. Even the children had been put to work when they’d been commissioned for a massive amount of sachets for the capital. He observed Lacey’s hands closely with such a serious expression that his brows were getting furrowed.
Lacey cut out paper patterns and placed them on top of the bark. Allen didn’t think it could be pierced, but the marking pins went through more readily than he’d imagined. Lacey cut along the pattern pieces.
Guessing by the construction, Lacey was making a small sack. The cover at the top was probably intended to be closed with a button. The bark was durable, so Allen had thought she would just make one layer. But apparently, this was meant to be used as the interfacing, and the outer layer would be constructed of something else. She then added another piece of regular cloth as the inner lining, making the bag three layers thick in all.
Allen tilted his head, thinking that this was a little too thick, before recalling Lacey’s earlier anecdote. The important thing was to slow the rate at which heat transferred. Putting bark in the middle meant that there was lots of air sandwiched in between. On a cold winter day, wearing just one layer would make you feel chilly, but adding another layer on top of that would keep you warm. That was probably because there was also a layer of air between the clothes, he realized.
While Allen considered all this, Lacey lifted up her finished prototype and exclaimed, “How does this look?!”
She’d even made handles for it. The bag’s small, round shape would likely make it appealing to the female demographic as well.
“Is the cover really necessary? It limits the kinds of shapes you can make.”
“It absolutely needs a cover. It has to be as airtight as possible.”
“I see. Then what about putting a cord through it horizontally so it can be pulled shut?”
“That’s a great idea! I’ll try making it right now.”
“No, let me give it a try this time.”
Allen got surprisingly into it. Before they knew it, they’d made a handful of different prototypes. They were having a great time, when suddenly, Allen had a realization.
“Hold on, big sis Lacey. I thought the goal here was to chill food down so it lasts longer. This won’t make stuff cool, this is more like keeping heat in, right?”
“Yes. You’re right, this isn’t enough on its own. So, Allen, can you break this stone for me?”
“Wait, that’s a mana stone. I’ve never heard of any uses for a crushed mana stone. That’s a waste!” A mana stone had magic sealed in it and was the core of a monster.
“It’s okay, just do it,” Lacey insisted.
“Fine, I guess.” Allen worked on the floor and hammered the stone with a stick, breaking it into smaller pieces. “Ah. S-Sorry, big sis Lacey, I think I made it a bit too small...”
If a mana stone was too small, that would limit the scale of magic that it could be imbued with.
Meanwhile, Lacey had been making inner pockets for the sacks. Her unfaltering movements were the result of her experience making sachets.
“That’s all right. I’ll imbue magic so that even tiny mana stones will work.”
“But...”
“I’ll craft the magic formula right after this, of course.”
She spoke casually, but Allen was full of doubt. Is it really that easy?
∗ ∗ ∗
Lacey told Allen that she’d do the rest of the work by herself, so he went home. When he got there, the twins were playing with their little sister. Lane was standing, sitting, and rushing at her brothers, who were clapping their hands trying to get her to come toward them. She was a busy kid.
The sound of children’s cheerful laughter rang through the house, but Tricia welcomed Allen back with a worried expression. Kargo was still out working.
“How did it go, Allen? I guess we made a rather unreasonable request of Miss Lacey.”
“Yeah, about that...”
“I thought you’d be back later. It’s tricky, isn’t it? That must be why you came home. I’ll go visit Miss Lacey’s house tomorrow and apologize to her.”
“Actually...big sis Lacey said she’ll be coming here tomorrow.”
“I see, all right. I’ll make her something to eat to show her how sorry I am.” Tricia tied the back strings of her apron and mulled it over. “I wonder what would be good.”
Allen’s gaze flickered a little as his lips tightened. “It sounds like she’s still going through with it. She said that the prospects look good.”
“What?!” Tricia’s shock was only natural. After all, preserving food by means of something other than a glacial stone was unheard of. It was inconceivable.
The twins heard Tricia’s reaction. They picked up their little sister and crowded around Allen.
“She said the prospects look good? That means she can make something, right?”
“No way, she can do it? For real? When’s it going to be done? A week? Two weeks? A month?”
“Maybe it won’t be ready this year, but it’ll be ready for next summer? Awesomeee!!!”
“Shame on you, Reeve, Yorma! We asked her for something very unreasonable! Yes, it’d be wonderful if we could all eat tasty food outside, but don’t be so impatient!”
The twins ran around Allen excitedly. Lane planted herself on the floor, clapped her hands together, and shrieked with laughter, with no clue as to what was going on. Tricia put her hands on her hips and scolded them crossly, but it went in one ear and out the other.
“So when will it be done?!” The twins said in unison and leaned forward.
“He’s not going to know that!” Tricia shouted at them.
Allen scratched his neck and evaded his mother’s gaze, hesitant. “Tomorrow, she said.”
Everyone thought they’d misheard him. “Tomorrow.” “Tomorrow...?” they repeated a few times. Then all three of them, including Tricia, screamed.
Kargo, who was on his way home and getting close, heard the screams from the house and thought something had happened. He burst through the door. Had thieves come to their peaceful village, or had monsters attacked? But instead, he was greeted by something completely different than what he had imagined.
With the exception of Allen, who was standing still by himself, the children were dancing around with glee. Meanwhile, Tricia kept murmuring the same thing again and again. “Tomorrow? That can’t be right. Tomorrow?”
“What in the world is going on here?” Kargo asked, and Allen explained. Once again, screams rang out from the house.
∗ ∗ ∗
This is a lot of fun...
Elsewhere, Lacey’s hands kept working even though the sun had set completely. Time was ticktocking away, but she hadn’t gotten the result she wanted yet. It was testing her patience.
“Kweeeeee...”
“Oh, sorry, Tee. You can go to bed already. I’ll sleep soon too, don’t worry.”
“Kwee.” Tee nodded. It rubbed its sleepy eyes and slowly waddled off to its room.
Lacey watched Tee’s tail wag as it left, then looked at the sack she was holding. “How should I do this?” She’d already finished the one she was going to give to Allen’s family tomorrow, but felt that she could create something even better. She ripped out the stitches on a finished sack and made alterations, doing one thing and then another.
Lacey’s mansion was at the edge of the village, standing alone at the top of a hill. When night fell, silence came over it.