[336] A Midwinter Night (7)
The Ice Queen, mulling over Jokre's words, bent slightly at the waist and looked down at him.
"Do you want to become stronger too?"
Jokre blinked blankly, not understanding the Ice Queen's intent.
In the legends she was a mage so powerful even the kingdom struggled to contain her. That was why she had been exiled to a place like this, wasn't it?
But survival came first now. He didn't want to get dragged into a needless leading question and risk angering the queen.
"I want to become stronger!"
Vivian suddenly shouted.
Jokre turned to her, stunned.
'This fool!'
Could she still be drunk?
He could at least understand her feelings. How many years had she lived under the weight of frustration? If a god appeared promising to grant a wish, people in this line of work would gladly give up riches or a lifelong lover to ask for magic.
But this was the worst possible moment to plead.
What could one expect from a woman who had frozen everything around her and even sealed herself in ice?
Perhaps the situation felt so unreal that her lifelong idea of life as theater flared up.
Whether Jokre noticed his own anxiety or not, Vivian looked up at the Ice Queen with pleading eyes.
Even if it might be a trap, she knew opportunities like this didn't come to just anyone.
"Teach me, Your Majesty. Give me magic!"
A wave of sorrow welled up, and the suppressed intoxication surged at once.
Yet her mind was clearer than ever.
The Ice Queen raised her hand without a word.
The information she'd acquired as Opthrus was stored in a space she called "present memory." Having come into being on her own, she accepted the rules of this world as pure information and, therefore, could manipulate them.
A wave of Law.
The air rippled in concentric rings as a gale spread outward.
But Jokre's group didn't feel any wind. They only realized that something constituting themselves had changed.
They stared at their hands and trembled as if they could not believe it.
The world they perceived was utterly different from a moment before.
The Ice Queen said casually, "Is that the Law you desire?"
Overcome with emotion, Jokre couldn't even reply and simply kept nodding.
You can't feel or understand it until the moment arrives.
But once it does, you will feel it and you will understand.
That was the change of Law.
'No way. How is this possible?'
Jokre clenched his fists.
Vivian had been right.
Today's event was the most colossal, perfect reversal that could occur in his life.
Wave of the Law (1)
The next morning.
Shirone and Amy visited the old castle-ruins' prison.
Time had eroded it so that it now protruded partly above ground.
Magic had a long history, but it was only relatively recently that it had been defined academically. Eight hundred years ago, without much study of omniscience, primitive forms of magic predominated.
At that time the holy order's influence was dominant, and the foundations of today's divine magic were being set.
Because of that, mages were persecuted.
Abilities not borrowed in the name of gods were judged demonic, and many mages had been abandoned by their families.
The two entered the cells where mages were said to have been captured and tortured.
Seeing the device for stretching a spine after binding a victim's limbs made Shirone's skin crawl.
"Ugh, who could invent a tool like this? That must have been agony."
"Mages suffered too. Magic isn't something you can just do because you want to. Now it's a blessed talent, but back then it would have felt like a curse."
Shirone and Amy left the dungeon.
When they climbed the stairs to the surface, everyone was staring up at the sky. A massive bank of dark clouds was rolling in.
Winter in the Res Mountains was known for clear weather—westerlies ride up the range and form high pressure. Occasionally a localized low would bring snow, but none of the festival-goers had ever seen clouds this thick over the celebration.
"What is that? It doesn't look like rain."
The wind wasn't strong, yet the clouds swept in like smoke, spreading quickly.
Temperatures began to plunge.
When even people in heavy coats started to shiver, unease finally showed on the tourists' faces.
"W-what? Has the weather gone mad?"
Shirone and Amy tightened their collars and watched.
The temperature drop was far too abnormal to be mere weather caprice.
"Amy, something's wrong. The temperature can't fall this fast naturally."
"Right. It feels... like magic."
Thunder burst from the Ice Queen herself. A powerful nascent wave pushed outward and charged through the clouds.
You could clearly see the air fold along its grain.
"Danger!"
Shirone stepped in front of Amy.
There was no time to dodge. The rapidly advancing wave struck from the crowd's edge and rushed inward.
"Move!"
A robed woman intercepted Shirone and Amy.
It was mage Liria.
She moved her fingers quickly and formed seals.
The three basic seals of spirit-work—Geum (Prohibit), Ban (Counter), and Swae (Shatter)—flowed in sequence like water, and a barrier of Law sprang up.
The instant the powerful wave tore through, a shockwave exploded right in front of Liria.
"Kyah!"
Liria's body flew backward like a cannonball.
Tourists stared. The wave had passed through the crowd, but she'd been the only one actually struck.
"W-what's happening? What is this?"
Liria tumbled across the ground even after she fell.
Dante cut across and lowered his stance. He caught her against his chest.
"You all right?"
Liria leaned on Dante and bit her lip. She'd performed many spirit rites, but this was the first time she'd seen a sentient spirit use such a potent Law.
Shirone and Amy saw Dante and ran over.
They instinctively knew the woman with Dante had protected them.
"Dante, what's going on?"
Dante delayed his answer as he helped Liria to her feet.
Unlike magic, Law doesn't produce a physical shock. Whether Shirone and Amy were actually unhurt was something Liria had to determine.
"How was it? Did it hold?"
"It was close," Liria said. "How about you?"
The wave of Law spread quickly, and Liria couldn't possibly guard both places. No matter how skilled a mage, if you can't master the wills of Geum, Ban, and Swae, you can't stop a Law.
Dante took the totem hanging from his neck.
"Thanks to this."
A pendant shaped like a monstrous face hung from a cord of twisted birch bark.
Though fearsome, it was a guardian spirit that chased away evil.
A diagonal crack ran across the guardian's forehead—an injury from exposure to the Law's wave.
When Dante placed it in his palm, it finally split cleanly in two with a crack.
He offered the shattered totem with an embarrassed smile.
"You said there was only one. Sorry."
Liria shook her head firmly.
"No need to apologize. Totems are for this. The fact the Nachal split means the Law was that strong. It's lucky we managed to stop it."
Shirone couldn't follow the exchange. The situation looked serious, so she stepped between them.
"Dante, what's happening?"
Liria answered.
"You were lucky. You two will be fine."
Amy pressed, exasperated, "But what do you mean 'fine'?"
Liria looked Shirone and Amy over.
It had been predicted that a sentient spirit would alter the Laws around it to survive. In such a situation, Liria could at most save two or three people from the Law's effect in a split second.
Hundreds of people were gathered here.
Among them were surely a few with the abilities needed for this rite.
Was protecting these two the right choice?
She couldn't predict what abandoning everyone else to save a couple of kids under twenty would bring.
"Dante, who are these kids? I didn't follow you to rescue your friends."
Dante glanced toward the Ice Queen and said, "I told you—they're second place."
"Second place? In what?"
Dante squinted.
After spending the night with them, Liria proved remarkably oblivious.
He didn't want to explain at length. What would he gain from a long story?
"She's first place. The kingdom's number one."
Liria turned to Shirone, surprised.
Though Shirone wasn't a pro yet, the reason Liria had allied with Dante was because he was known in the kingdom as an exceptional talent.
Mages didn't have a competitive ranking system like that of certain academies, so the phrase "second place" didn't mean much to her.
How many people were in the kingdom that first or second would matter?
Second place simply meant a very outstanding student.
But here—in this vast kingdom—having first and second together shocked her.
'This kid actually beat Dante?'
He had a gentle appearance. Except for the liveliness in his eyes, he showed none of the aura expected of a nationwide number-one.
Dante's skill had been proven in the early hours yesterday.
His practical responses, judgment, and superior ability were comparable to a pro.
As a mage herself, Liria couldn't imagine what could surpass him.
Dante pointed at the Ice Queen and said, "She's arrived. Shirone, Amy—get ready. You probably won't understand, but stay alert."
A woman in the same dress as the Ice Queen flew across the sky toward them.
"Isn't that—the Ice Queen?"
The Ice Queen arrived above and descended slowly.
Far off, a flash of light flickered, and like a warped teleportation flare it streaked and crashed down beside her.
Amy's eyes widened.
"Jokre? Why are you—?"
Jokre sneered and bowed low behind the Ice Queen. Rudvans and Vivian then landed.
No one really understood what was happening.
At least Shirone and Amy felt the danger, but the tourists seemed to relax and smiled.
"Ha ha! It's the real Ice Queen? Is this some kind of event?"
"Wow, she even looks the same. How did they find someone who resembles her so much among mages?"
It was natural to assume it was part of the festival.
Otherwise the Ice Queen wouldn't actually be walking among them, would she?
Shirone herself, had she not seen Liria's shockwave, would have thought the organizers had arranged a performance.
As the Ice Queen walked toward the crowd, tourists applauded and cheered.
The winter festival was annual, but this year's special event felt novel even to them.
They were resurrecting the legendary Ice Queen.
Even wax figures of the Ice Queen had won countless fans for their beauty. The woman playing the role, however, was far more beautiful than any waxwork.
It was the radiant power of life itself.
"Whee! Ice Queen! Please, just hold my hand!"
A potbellied man smiled and reached out; someone beside him, apparently Arthur, scolded him.
"Now, don't be rude. She might freeze you solid, you know."
People burst into laughter. No one realized this was actually happening.
Amid the jokes, the Ice Queen walked on with an indifferent expression.
Liria watched the Ice Queen's every movement with her seals still formed.
'What is she doing? Which Law did she touch?'
The wave of Law had changed the Laws of everyone here except Shirone's group.
Nothing dramatic had happened yet, but judging by the wave's power, the scope of change would be enormous.