“This, watermelon, and peaches too…”
Hmm, he’s asking to pack them.
Understanding what he wanted to say, Sylvia quickly responded.
“I’ve already put yours in the subspace bag I received from Lord Hubert. I’ll keep making and filling it up until we leave this house, so don’t worry.”
Hearing her response, Felix made an inscrutable expression.
Sylvia wanted to show her sincerity and innocence before parting.
“I hate people who play tricks with food the most. I don’t know why you only eat fruits and vegetables… but it’s okay to eat what I give.”
Her words were unexpected. Felix looked closely at Sylvia with his eyes slightly widened.
“Eat meat, rice, bread… it’s good for your body. Next time we meet, I hope you’ll enjoy the food I give you.”
Having finished saying all she wanted to the protagonist while reading the novel, Sylvia stared at Felix, who did not respond, for a moment, then turned away without any regrets.
“Wait a moment.”
Hearing his soft call, Sylvia turned to look at him. Felix removed a ring he was wearing. The ring from his right pinky finger was placed in Sylvia’s palm.
Sylvia looked up at him with a puzzled expression.
“Consider this as payment for all this time. Apart from whether I like you or not… I really liked the fruits and vegetables you gave. And if you keep using only that one ring, it will break soon.”
Sylvia looked at the black diamond ring in her palm, emitting a dark aura, blinking in surprise.
There was no need to categorize gems strictly by element, but fire magic circles were best inscribed on rubies, wind on emeralds, and water on blue sapphires.
Being a rare plant mage, she didn’t know which gem was best suited for her magic, but she had been using the ring of the original owner of her body.
Well, it didn’t matter much as she had magic circles engraved on her body.
“Your magic is strangely similar to mine, so you should have no trouble using this black diamond. It’s very valuable, so if you’re thinking of selling it for a profit, I’d rather pay you in money.”
Sylvia glanced at Felix’s outstretched hand, as if asking for money, and his other hand holding a Hallabong, the timing of its picking unknown. All his fingers were adorned with black diamond rings, except for one end.
Ignoring his outstretched hand, Sylvia put the ring on her finger. It had been on his pinky, but it fit her ring finger perfectly. A peridot ring was on her right index finger, and now a black diamond ring on her left ring finger.
Slowly blinking and inspecting the ring, Sylvia raised her head and smiled joyfully at Felix.
“Thank you.”
Holding a Hallabong in one hand, Felix gazed distantly at Sylvia, who was smiling brightly.
The next day, armed men filed out of Sylvia’s house, each carrying a subspace bag. Hubert, as their representative, spoke respectfully to Sylvia.
“Thank you very much. We will not forget this kindness.”
Sylvia, smiling sweetly, responded to his elegant, magician-style greeting.
“I’ve already received all the payment, there’s nothing to thank me for. Rather, I should be the one asking you to use my services again.”
Before leaving, they forcefully placed a pouch full of gold coins in Sylvia’s protesting hand. Hubert smiled at Sylvia’s words.
“Then, we will request your services again next winter. Commander, do you have anything to say?”
When asked, Felix, who was standing behind and waiting, stared blankly at Sylvia. He then slowly shook his head. Hubert nodded as if understanding and said,
“Then, we will take our leave.”
“Yes, take care. I wish you all good health.”
“Thank you.”
“Goodbye! We will really come again next time!”
“The lunch box, we really enjoyed it. We won’t forget the taste of the magician’s cooking!”
Each one said their piece and turned away without a second thought. Sylvia waved continuously at them until they disappeared from sight. Felix seemed to look back briefly, but his figure quickly vanished as he took another path.
“Sigh.”
She had anticipated this, but it was more bittersweet than she expected. As she turned to go inside, she heard the sound of crying and something flying from afar.
[Waaah! Sylvia!]
Whoosh, smack!
Sylvia caught the fairy that had stuck to the back of her head. As she closed the front door, she began scolding.
“My goodness, I didn’t know you were so stubborn! How could you not come home even once? Where did you spend the winter? Weren’t you cold? Did you eat properly? Why are you in such a state!”
Blah blah blah blah…
Rapidly chattering, Sylvia twirled Eryngium’s wings between two fingers.
She was checking for any injuries. Eryngium, who had burrowed near Sylvia’s house, was in a sorry state.
Rip.
Sylvia used water and fire magic to create warm water for bathing the fairy. Then, with a warm breeze, she dried Eryngium and placed her on the table.
“Wait! I’ll bring you something to eat in a moment.”
Fluffy and clean, Eryngium fluttered up and perched on Sylvia’s head, fiddling with her newly-softened body.
[Sylvia, give me lots! I can eat anything!]
Listening to the fairy’s cute chatter, Sylvia filled the emptiness in her heart.
“Right, you’ve never had a proper meal, have you? I’ll make you some delicious side dishes, just wait a bit.”
Sylvia started cooking, freely wielding her magic. The black diamond ring on her left ring finger sparkled.
Though the ring had no magic circles inscribed, it amplified her magical power.
Black Diamond.
A treasure of the Capitis Kingdom.
A ring with a legend that it was created long ago by the Black Dragon using its own magic.
The shimmering ring on her hand was one of the many treasures Felix had gathered before leaving the Capitis Kingdom.
★★18. The story of the queen of a kingdom★★
“Eek! What is all this!”
Bella Aethernum Capitis, after laboriously discovering the magical space rumored to contain the kingdom’s treasures, was infuriated to find it empty.
No one dared to stop her as she hysterically wrecked the room. The best they could do was to tremble in fear and maintain their positions.
“Your Majesty, the Duke has arrived at the palace. He wishes to see you in the audience chamber. What should we do?”
“Sigh…”
Bella brushed back her disheveled silver hair and glanced back at the steward who had reported to her.
“Do I have to see him just because he wants to?”
The Duke, being of royal blood, could not be treated lightly, even by the Queen. Especially if the reigning monarch did not possess the proper seal of authority.
It was a question born out of Bella’s irritation and her tendency to find fault. The steward, who had served since Felix’s mother’s time, could only bow his head further in fear.
Amused by his appearance, Bella snorted and commanded leisurely.
“Tell him that it will take some time to prepare to see him.”
Upon her command, the maids around her moved hastily, and the steward bowed again and replied respectfully.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The steward quietly retreated and left the room, hurrying away with urgent yet silent footsteps. The Duke, waiting in front of the audience chamber, noticed the approaching steward first.
“Duke Sabellisa.”
Though no words had been spoken, the Duke had already discerned the situation.
“I will wait.”
“…Then, I will guide you to the reception room.”
“Very well.”
He quietly followed behind. Once in the reception room, where they were alone for a moment, Duke Sabellisa spoke casually.
“They are alive.”
The steward, Barbara, twitched at the very soft voice of Duke Sabellisa, her body trembling slightly. Gathering strength in her throat that had involuntarily tightened, she nodded faintly and exited the reception room.
Duke Sabellisa looked around the elaborately decorated reception room with an indifferent gaze, his eyes lighting up with determination.
He had foolishly kept his late brother’s will. That was enough. Now, he would ensure that no further harm came to his nephew, Felix.
It might be late, but he was determined to do everything within his power.
★★19. Preparation of Items★★
Sylvia had decided to start selling lunch boxes in earnest. While the amount of gold coins given by Hubert before he left was substantial, she knew she needed to keep earning money, regardless.
One never knows when and how it might be needed, and in a place without a concept of banks, it was best to be prepared.
‘Ah, what harm is there in having too much money?’
Agreeing with her own thoughts, Sylvia urged Eryngium.
“Right, right. Just gently sand that corner. Got it?”
[Leave it to me!]
Hearing Eryngium’s confident voice, Sylvia smiled brightly.
She busily created lunch boxes using wind magic. Though she had become quite adept at intricately carving and fitting the lids with her wind magic, the sharp corners required manual finishing. Eryngium was gently sanding these parts.
Sitting on a cut log in her garden, Sylvia continued producing wood with her plant magic and cutting it with wind magic. Previously, she used any wood available for the lunch boxes. However, she pondered over the residual smell of wood, which led her to think of cypress wood, commonly used in Korea. Lunch boxes made of cypress wood indeed emitted a subtle, pleasant fragrance. Eryngium seemed to like it a lot, so much so that Sylvia almost thought that was why she was helping.
Sylvia was preparing in advance for her future business endeavors.
The first task was to make a large number of lunch boxes.
The second was to utilize subspace bags.
After the Croban Mercenary Group departed, Sylvia immediately started working on tattoos. They weren’t easy to erase, but she added clean colors and refined the outer lines for more precision.
She then visited the library and borrowed books on storage magic circles and subspace magic circles. It was astonishing how openly these magic circles seemed to be shared.
Perhaps it was because there were few magicians skilled enough to inscribe magic circles on gems, or maybe because most could only use one element of magic.
In any case, the library was extremely useful to her. She also occasionally read a borrowed history book about the Corpora Empire for leisure.
To inscribe new tattoos, Sylvia undressed in the bathroom to inspect her skin. The front of her lower body and her arms were quite filled.
Today, Sylvia was attempting a tattoo for the first time.
She planned to use wind magic to keep the skin taut while adding color.
“Sigh.”
Focusing intently, she tensed her fingers. She visualized moving a tattoo needle, even though she didn’t have one, and channeled her magic into the wind magic circle.
The magnum needle moved, and around it, 5-line and 9-line needles floated and maneuvered in the wind.
She used the wind to move the needles as she filled in color on her shoulder, just like filling in color with a Debori. With her other hand, she pulled her skin to maintain tension, as if the wind were her own hands. She steadily filled in the color, dot by dot, using pointillism.
The subspace magic circle was simpler than she expected. It consisted of three circles intersecting and overlapping, with a square connecting their interiors. Along the lines, there was an unfamiliar language written.
Though the language was a bit complex, it wasn’t a problem for her to replicate. After successfully completing the storage magic circle, Sylvia let out a heavy breath.
“Ah, crazy…”
Someone had said that tattooing oneself felt like self-harm. Indeed, tattooing her shoulder was incomparably more painful than her thighs or arms. She had held her breath to finish, resulting in a red nose and teary eyes. Nevertheless, she smiled brightly upon seeing the completed magic circle.
“That went well. I seem to have gotten quite used to wind magic now.”
She checked the finished work in the mirror on tiptoes, feeling proud.
Leave a Reply