Lacey’s needle was swift. She wasn’t using magic—she diligently made one stitch at a time, deliberated, and then moved her hands. As she worked, she could hear the patter of rain hitting the roof of the mansion.
The raindrops trickled down and soon enough slid down the glass of the windows. After that, it quickly started pouring buckets. However, this was just a passing summer shower. It would let up soon.
As she moved her needle to the sound of the rain, a funny feeling overtook Lacey.
She was huddled up at the foot of a tree, rain pelting down in front of her...
∗ ∗ ∗
This was a memory of the past, during their quest. She was wearing a black robe with the hood hung low over her face to hide it, and was listening to her companions talking.
“What’s the plan? Do we keep going?” Wayne asked.
“Getting a little damp doesn’t bother me!” Brooks laughed.
“It bothers me, stupid!” Dana put her hands on her hips indignantly.
Wh-What...should I do? Lacey had just watched in a corner while her companions discussed matters. They’d ended up deciding to move on.
“The rain’s starting to let up, so we should be fine,” Rosie said, rubbing her cheeks that had gone red from the cold.
“Come on, let’s go.” Wayne turned around and extended a hand to Lacey. The young man did this all the time, and Lacey had gradually gotten used to it.
But when exactly was it? At some point, Wayne had gradually stopped stretching out his hand to Lacey.
It wasn’t because he was abandoning her or because he’d gotten fed up with her.
Lacey had feet of her own to stand on and possessed adequate magic skills. Both of them had slowly realized that she didn’t actually need to be led around like a baby.
That was why Wayne started to nervously watch over Lacey and call out “Are you okay?” to her instead of offering a hand. “I’m okay,” Lacey would respond. As they spent more time together, both the one who offered a hand and the one who took it built trust in each other, a little at a time.
Through both thick and thin. Through the sweltering heat and shiver-inducing cold. And on the muddy path after the rain had gone.
But even then, as if he’d been holding back unless it were absolutely necessary, Wayne stretched out his sturdy fingers to Lacey.
His boots, which he’d been treading down the road in, were covered in mud. There was a strong earthy smell, and although they were in the middle of a forest, the oppressive humidity made sweat drip down the back of their necks.
“Lacey, give me your hand.”
The chirping of birds bounced around the dim forest. Wayne turned around and grabbed onto a thick trunk with one hand to support himself, then held out the other hand to Lacey.
Lacey exhaled a little and reached out to him. Wayne’s hand immediately grasped her wrist and forcefully pulled her up.
“Wah!”
Wayne picked up Lacey’s lightweight body with one arm. Her exclamation at getting suddenly lifted up was supplanted by another cry of surprise.
“Huh? Oh, wow!”
Looking out from the precipice, the sky after the rain was bright and blue as far as the eye could see. The world was vast, stretching from horizon to horizon. Mountains, towns, and trees all seemed like specks. A lake glittered like the stars at night. It was like the sky had flipped over onto the ground.
“It was worth traveling for this,” Wayne said in a low voice.
Lacey quietly agreed. “Yeah.”
She heard Dana calling for them worriedly from below. “Something wrong?” Lacey suddenly felt embarrassed at herself for crying out and overreacting.
“All good here,” Wayne responded, lightly patting Lacey’s back.
For some reason, this startled her. Her back straightened with a jolt.
Drops of rain slid off the leaves of the trees...
∗ ∗ ∗
The drops splashed and slid down the windows of Lacey’s mansion.
The vivid memory quietly waned. Lacey moved her needle, listening only to the music of the pattering rain.
“Those were fun times...”
Of course, there had been hardships too. But whenever she thought back on their quest, it always made her lips soften into a smile for some reason.
“Wayne really is meddlesome.” Her tone of voice didn’t match the expression on her face, though. “But whenever he helped me, it was just a little push as a last resort. That made me happy.”
In the beginning, he’d fretted over her constantly. That might have been true even now. Even so, he patiently watched over her.
Lacey didn’t have an ounce of confidence in herself, but Wayne had placed firm, definite trust in her. That was why she could naturally reassure herself in a soft tone.
“It’s okay. I know I can make a great bag.”
A wonderful bag that would make Allen and his family happy.
“We went all kinds of places... We crossed the ocean, and we flew through the sky on dragons. It was a bit chilly, though. That reminds me, I wonder if Piana’s doing well.”
Lacey was by herself right now, but strangely, she didn’t feel lonely.
“Okay. I can keep on going a little longer.”
The tranquil night slowly wore on.
∗ ∗ ∗
The next day, the sun was shining as Lacey walked down the freshly rained-on road toward Allen’s house to show them her prototype. But for some reason, the family was acting rather uptight.
“U-Um, Miss Lacey, are you already done making the product we asked for?”
“Huh? Well, yes, of course.”
“Oh my, is that so...?” Tricia replied, placing her palm on her cheek.
Lacey was confused, but since the other party didn’t say anything further, she just rummaged through the bag she’d brought.
Incidentally, Kargo hadn’t gone to work yet, so the entire family was gathered at the dining table. They all had meek looks on their faces, and even the hyperactive twins were sitting tight in their chairs. The only ones acting the same as ever were Tee, who was chirping “Kwee kwee” on Lacey’s lap, and Lane, who was fidgeting her hands toward Tee.
The whole atmosphere felt off, but Lacey was eager to fulfill her objective. She pulled out two completed sacks.
“Um, for the moment...please take these. I think that it really is necessary to chill food down to make it last. I made it so that when these sacks are chilled, they stay cold for a long period. I put cooling magic in them just last night.”
“Oh, how lovely. It’d be convenient for carrying all sorts of small things. I’d love to have one for when I go places.” Tricia unconsciously broke into a smile. The sacks were small and round, and Lacey’d prepared two models. One of them was tied closed with a bow as Allen had suggested, and another one was a little bigger with a cover that buttoned shut.
Tricia seemed to prefer the one with the bow. She took the sack from Lacey and looked down at it carefully, forgetting the objective at hand.
Among those present, the only ones who had seen Lacey work her magic were Allen and Kargo, and only Kargo had witnessed her truly staggering might. When he’d seen her freeze the river from bank to bank in the middle of the winter, Kargo had fallen down in shock.
Kargo did suspect that Lacey might be some renowned mage. However, this time they’d requested that Lacey make it so they could eat the same food indoors and outdoors in the summer. One little bit of magic wouldn’t be able to solve that problem.
Drinking lukewarm water and eating dry foods under the blazing sun was joyless, to be sure, and even in the shade, chewing crusty bread still sapped his energy. He’d definitely be grateful if she could do as they’d requested, but he doubted that one little sack could accomplish anything. Yes, she could use extremely powerful magic, but that had no bearing on this matter.
“Please take one too, Mr. Kargo.”
“Ah, all right...”
He was given the model with a button and tested how it felt in his hand. It fit well and it was sturdier than it looked. But as far as he could tell, it was just a regular sack. He didn’t feel disappointed, since he hadn’t been expecting anything from the start.
He gave a sidelong glance to Tricia, who was carefully examining her sack with a smile next to him. She seemed to be paying more attention to the pattern of the sack rather than its ability to chill things. Kargo’s laugh lines deepened upon seeing his wife so happy. His expression, which was mirthful by default, filled with even more cheer.
These aren’t what we were hoping for, but Miss Lacey did put effort into making them, and Tricia’s happy too. Let’s buy them.
They hadn’t bought any bags in quite a while. Bags weren’t something that common folk could replace that often. This was a good opportunity. Kargo felt that the button model he was holding was a good design too.
“Miss Lacey, how much would you like for the two of these?”
“Um, before we talk about that, can you open the sacks and look inside?”
“Oh, you have a point.”
It won’t make much of a difference now, Kargo thought as he undid the button and removed the cover. Tricia similarly untied the bow and looked inside. Then they suddenly gasped.
It was cold. That couldn’t be right. Inside the bag, it was as cold as winter.
“How?!”
“Argh, let us see already!” The twins had kept their mouths shut and restrained themselves thus far, but they’d finally lost patience. Reeve was usually the first to act, but just as they’d suggested by saying “us,” both he and Yorma opened the cover of the sack Kargo was holding.
“It’s cold!”
“It’s cooold~!”
The two of them exclaimed with enthusiasm. Even Allen was starting to dart his eyes around restlessly.