She could tell that much, but within her detection range and line of sight, there was also a group of figures in similarly heavy robes chasing them hard. Whatever their purpose, the cold metal weapons in their hands reflected the light clearly enough to explain the situation.
"…Wolf bandits."
Feltz acted at once, swinging her Magic Staff as Magic Array rose up. Her chant and the crisp ringing of bells were swallowed by wind and snow, and her eyes sharpened with intent. "Earth shift, earthen wall!"
The ground trembled and roared as a wall several meters high surged upward from where she stood, instantly cutting off the space between the two groups. After confirming the battlefield was divided and the people ahead were safe, her gaze hardened again. She lifted the Magic Staff lightly.
"Turn to rain, form frost."
Parts of the earlier Magic Array structure were reused with ease and transformed into a completely different spell. The storm itself became her ally, each snowflake sharpening like a blade as a dense rain of cutting ice swept toward the bandits. The icy edges tore through fur and flesh, and the infused Ice Element froze their bodies solid.
The bandits fell quickly with almost no real resistance. Feltz had controlled it well and did not kill them. It was not mercy, but because she felt these people were better suited to endless labor in an ice pit until death, a more fitting end for trash.
"Are you two all right? I am a mage named Feltz, sent out at the lord's request. You are safe now."
She walked up to the two girls who had been chased. One of them relaxed slightly only after hearing her voice, and Feltz then noticed that the other was unconscious. The conscious girl thanked her softly, still shaken.
She had black hair that stood out sharply in the Northlands, like a drop of ink on white paper. When she saw Feltz's face, she froze for a moment, clearly startled. Only after a brief inspection did she lower her guard and speak again.
"Miss Feltz… is that right?"
"Yes. You are safe now."
The girl looked much less tense. Inside, however, her thoughts were in complete chaos as she lowered her head in silence. "Feltz? Why is she appearing in the Northlands at this point in the story, and what kind of plot stitching is this supposed to be…"
Feltz soon learned that the rare black-haired girl was just as she had guessed. She was the daughter of a merchant who traded locally and had been traveling with a caravan. The younger girl she held in her arms, with ice-blue hair, was named Icelis. She had likely been the daughter of a small local noble family that had been wiped out by bandits, and she was the only one who escaped before collapsing from shock and exhaustion.
When they found Icelis, her entire household was already dead. She had run out alone and fainted soon after, unable to go any farther. Out of kindness, the black-haired girl took her along, but the group was later attacked by the Snowfield Wolf Bandits. The guards were killed, the rest of the caravan died, and she could only grab a cargo-pulling Pack Camelbeast and flee with the surviving Icelis, barely escaping until Feltz stepped in to help.
From their skin tone, posture, and general condition, the story checked out. The black-haired girl spoke with a slight accent, and her features did not look like those common to the Northlands, which fit someone who had come with an outside trading group. As for Icelis, who was still unconscious from fright, Feltz could not see her clearly, but the pale, well-kept skin on her hands and feet showed she had grown up in comfort.
As for the ice-blue hair, that part hardly mattered. This was Otherworld, after all, and with Magic and elemental forces in the world, unusual hair colors were nothing strange. Compared to that, everything else about the girls made far more sense.
"My name is Li… Fei'er Li," the black-haired girl said. She explained that after her mother passed away, her father brought her along, though she had barely met him before that. Feltz walked ahead, leaving deep footprints in the snow, while Fei'er rode on the Pack Camelbeast and talked about fragments of her past.
So that was how it was, Feltz thought, and she could relate. She herself had grown up in an orphanage, with no attachment to blood ties. If her real parents suddenly appeared, she would at most acknowledge it and feel nothing more, and if they were strangers, she would not care at all.
Without any emotional foundation, talk of shared blood meant nothing to her. There was no reason it would make her sad. Thinking that way made things simple.
"Big sister Feltz, are you a mage?" Fei'er asked once her shyness faded. Her eyes darted with excitement as she spoke, and Feltz nodded calmly. "Yes, I am, but I am not that amazing, so you do not need to praise me."
Inside, she was already shouting for more praise, but her face stayed perfectly composed. Years of experience had taught her how to manage her expressions, even when she felt proud. Being admired like this was extremely satisfying for her hardworking mage self.
Fei'er spoke politely and clearly, like someone who had received proper education. She kept asking questions, explaining that she had always studied at home and never really seen the outside world. She truly resembled a sheltered young lady from a well-off family, and having such a stable environment to focus on learning was not something everyone could have.
In return for soothing her own small vanity, Feltz answered patiently. She shared a few interesting stories from her past and even complained a little about the pressure of constant competition and how exhausting field work could be. At one point, she thought she saw genuine sympathy on Fei'er's face, though it was probably just her imagination.
When she talked about how she had once been saved from the Black Dragon and ended up becoming her current mentor's student, and then mentioned that mad lord's commission, she clearly noticed changes in Fei'er's expression. Confusion, surprise, and disbelief flickered across her face. It was oddly entertaining to watch.
Later on, Fei'er sometimes seemed tired, but whenever the topic turned to magic, her eyes lit up. "Big sister Feltz! How does magic actually work?" she asked eagerly. Feltz gave a smug little hum. "Some things I cannot explain in detail, but I can tell you the simple and interesting parts."
That look of admiration was exactly the same as her own had been back then. It was obvious that Fei'er also dreamed of becoming a mage. Feltz felt a familiar warmth as she began to explain.
"Magic is an interpretation of the world," she said. She could not remember who first said it, but it was a well-known saying. She waved the Magic Staff in her hand, bells ringing clearly as complex and glowing Magic Array took shape in the air, filled with intersecting lines and shapes.
"To use magic, you first need Magic. That is the most basic driving force," she continued. With a small motion, the glowing Magic Array floated and spun above her palm, moving as she pleased. "Second comes the elements, the four foundations and the twins, six in total, which form different kinds of magic."
The Magic Array shifted again, forming a small stone in her hand. In the next moment, water burst out, coiling into the air and blooming into brilliant ice flowers etched with snow patterns. "Third is mental power, or soul strength. It is different from ordinary memory, and its limits are mostly innate, though it can be improved slowly through meditation."
"Oh, oh, I have heard something like that before," Fei'er said, staring at the Magic Array in the sky, her eyes sparkling. Feltz smiled at her reaction. "Then I will go on. What matters most for a mage is elemental affinity, the amount of Magic, and mental power."
"Elemental affinity means which of the six elements like you more," she explained. "Without it, drawing on an element is hard and costs much more Magic. Mine are earth and ice." As she spoke, she even shaped a small likeness of herself in dust and frost in the air.
"Magic goes without saying, but mental power is extremely important," she added. "Every time you use magic or understand a Magic Array, it consumes mental power. That is why simple memory is not enough." She explained how her own magic required long study, imprinting it on her soul and recalling it when needed.
"Knowledge has weight," she said, quoting her mentor. "Many mages only use magic without truly understanding it." As she talked, she led the two girls back to the camp, where people glanced over, mostly curious about Fei'er's striking black hair.