Chapter 8

"Kan was a mere coincidence. When you tried to cross this sacred mountain on a dragon."

The first thing that came to mind was how incredibly cold it was.

"Normally, it's impossible for a human to cross this mountain, whether by land or air. It's not a physical impossibility, but the cold here freezes the soul. No matter how strong the body, the heart dies first."

"......But we crossed it, didn't we?"

"That swordsman is an exception. His resistance magic has transcended to the level of 'Spirit Magic.'"

The beautiful woman pointed at Rea. Whether he realized it or not, he still seemed to be struggling to accept her presence, looking bewildered.

"But you are different. The cold here isn't something that can be overcome with just a simple fire spell."

"Is that so? It was pretty cold, though."

"Your very survival proves your uniqueness. But because of that, I was able to find you."

Her smile, soft and gentle, was almost artistic.

"The trigger was as I just said. After that, I coordinated with the villagers at the foot of the mountain to guide you here. When we encountered the wolf pack, I was a bit worried, but the swordsman turned out to be stronger than I thought, which helped guide you all here."

"Villagers you know...... What does that mean?"

"Those people have always respected me. As a token of gratitude, I allowed them to enter this mountain, though I don't appear to them in this form."

If that girl was indeed this beautiful woman, then the villagers' request to Rea was also a ruse.

"Don't blame them, okay? They were just indulging my whims."

"Well, that's fine, but......"

There were still many questions.

"By the way, are you human?"

"Of course not. If I were to define myself in human terms, I would be a 'spirit.' We don't have a word to describe ourselves, though."

Spirit—Did she mean the spirits of Spirit Magic were referring to herself?

"Hey, Rea. What's a spirit?"

I could imagine it, but I didn't know the definition in this world.

"......Usually, it refers to a will without a physical form or self-awareness."

Rea, who had finally calmed down, answered succinctly, though he didn't seem entirely satisfied with his own explanation.

"Rarely, there are spirits with wills, but I've never seen one that can take human form and have a clear thought process."

"True. It's not something to be proud of, but it takes an incredibly long time to establish a self-awareness like mine."

"How long?"

"About a thousand years, maybe?"

"Grandma!?"

"That's right. Despite appearances, I'm a very old grandma."

She laughed in a deliberately elderly manner, which was quite amusing.

"So, why did you call us to such a freezing place, Grandma?"

"Hey, calling a woman an old lady so casually is not a good idea, you know."

"Oh, it's fine. In fact, I find it endearing. The villagers at the foot of the mountain call me 'Spirit-sama,' which is nice, but a bit too formal."

I asked her the most pressing question, but Rea interjected.

"Simply put, I was getting tired of staying in this place. I was sealed here by this magic spear. Technically, I was sealed within the spear itself, and no one had been able to pull it out for nearly three hundred years. It's the same thing, really."

I didn't know such trivia.

"People did come here. Every ten or twenty years, someone with great skill or pride would try to pull the spear. They were quite spirited to venture into this mountain, but no one succeeded. They either got crushed by the golems or went mad when their souls couldn't withstand touching the spear."

"......What?"

Her words made my face contort in realization. I could have met the same fate as those skilled individuals.

"Most of them used magic and magical equipment to protect their entire bodies. You, on the other hand, came here with just a coat. The difference was like night and day."

"That's not much of a compliment."

"Anyway, I was alone here, feeling very lonely. I could occasionally send a part of myself to the village at the foot of the mountain, but I spent every night alone, crying into my pillow."

I wanted to point out that her tears would freeze immediately, but I kept that to myself.

"Lady Spirit, may I ask a question?"

"Sure, Swordsman. Grandma will answer anything."

Despite her overly casual demeanor, Rea asked his question.

"Why did you choose Kan? What was the reason you believed he could pull out the spear? I assume it was the strength of his soul, but what specifically?"

"That's simple. Kan is the person with the purest soul in this world. I've only seen one other soul as pure as his since I came into existence."

"Pure soul......?"

I didn't like being called a naive boy. I was a teenager in the midst of adolescence. In fact, I was having trouble not being distracted by the white thighs and deep cleavage visible through her spirit's clothing. Occasionally, I felt an urge to throw myself into those alluring breasts, even if it meant self-destruction.

Despite my inappropriate teenage impulses, the conversation continued seriously.

"I don't know if it was from birth or due to his environment, but the moment I saw him, I knew he was the one who could pull out the spear."

This was the starting point of all the chaos she had caused.

I still didn't fully understand what a pure soul meant.

"Is it hard to understand? Well, you'll understand eventually, Swordsman. If you stay by his side, you will."

She paused, then continued.

"Breaking it, rather than just pulling it out, was unexpected, though."

"......Now that you mention it, was it okay to break it?"

"Probably. No one had pulled it out in three hundred years, and no one had even tried in the past fifty. It was probably forgotten about."

That was a bit too casual.

"Don't worry about the details. It's already broken, so there's nothing we can do about it now."

"That's true, but......"

I genuinely felt bad, and when I looked at Rea, she shrugged and shook her head. She had given up on thinking about it. I wanted to give up too.

......Alright, I'll stop thinking about it.

——Later, I would learn that this extremely casual spirit was once the 'Ice Fang Demon God' who had terrorized this country three hundred years ago, and the spear I broke was a legendary magic spear used by the 'Hero' of that time.

And just a little while later, I would take the first step towards becoming something more than a normal human. It was just a little while later, and I emphasize that because until then, I had been aware of myself as a normal human. I wanted to cherish that short period as a precious memory. Noshi.

If what the spirit said was true, she could interfere with the natural phenomena of this mountain to some extent. When we returned to the cave entrance, the snowbank that had blocked it was more than half collapsed. The blizzard that had hit us as soon as we entered the mountain and the avalanche were both intentionally caused by her. The former was to reconfirm my 'qualifications,' and the latter was to guide us deeper into the cave.

The next morning, when we returned to the village, all the villagers bowed and knelt before us. Rea and I were greatly alarmed, but they didn't seem to be bowing reluctantly.

According to the villager who approached us—the village chief, it turned out—the truth of what the spirit had said was indeed accurate. The girl, who was a part of the spirit, had visited the village and orchestrated the plan. The villagers, though they had followed the spirit, felt guilty for potentially leading strangers to their deaths.

Since Rea and I had returned unharmed, we had no intention of blaming them. When we conveyed this, they promised to provide us with discounted lodging and meals during our stay as a form of atonement. The chief had initially offered to cover all expenses, but we felt it was too much, so we compromised.

That evening,

"Ah, that was a good bath. It's been three hundred years since I last took a bath, I think."

The spirit, looking refreshed after her bath, entered the room, drying her damp hair. She embodied the perfect image of a beautiful woman dripping with water.

"Can an ice spirit take a bath without melting?"

"Even if I'm old, I'm still a maiden. I want to stay pure, you know. Besides, I won't melt from a little bath. To melt me, you'd need the fires of hell."

"That's intense."

Rea, who was maintaining her equipment, watched her work, a rare sight.

"Rea, you should take a bath too. It feels great."

"I'll go after I finish this. Honestly, I won't want to do anything else after a bath."

I agreed. We had been up all night since yesterday. A good bath would make it impossible to resist sleep.

Before that, there was something I needed to address.

"So, what's your plan, Grandma?"

"Are you sticking with that name......?"

Since she liked it, I decided to call her 'Grandma.'

"What's what?"

"Why is a spirit who has been free for three hundred years sharing a room with us?"

She had entered the room so naturally that we had continued the conversation naturally, but I (and probably Rea) were quite surprised. Hadn't she been invited to the chief's house? Even in a simple, small village, she should have been given a much better room than this cramped two-person room.

"Oh, no, I don't like formal settings. I want to be more free, you know, free."

She seemed to have no trouble with the language, despite her age. Probably, some kind of translation was happening between us and the people of this world. Sometimes, her use of modern Japanese slang made me wonder about the criteria.

"Well, think about it. Kan is the hero who pulled out the legendary spear that no one could pull for three hundred years. It's not strange to want to have a deeper conversation, is it?"

"More like shattered it, and stop calling me a hero."

Just thinking about it made a surge of anger rise from deep within my chest.

"Lady Spirit, any words related to 'hero' are strictly forbidden when it comes to Kan. I'd prefer if you avoided them in the future."

"......I see. I understand. I'm sorry."

I shook my head at her apology. She had no fault for not knowing the situation.

"Anyway, I thought I'd teach Kan a few things about using his 'power.'"

Rea looked at me with a puzzled expression, and I was at a loss for how to react.

After a moment, Grandma took Rea's right hand.

"Lady Spirit, what are you...... Cold!"

Rea let out a scream and shuddered. I kept that cute scream to myself.

"Sorry. Now, Kan."

Next, she took my right hand.

"......Huh?"

I could feel the cold from her hand. The part where her hand touched was extremely cold, but I didn't react like Rea. I could recognize it as cold and feel the temperature, but that was it. It wasn't enough to make me scream.

"Probably just a step away from freezing water instantly."

Grandma answered my puzzled look. That must have been minus several degrees. If I had been caught off guard, I would have screamed like Rea.

"Well, Rea's reaction is typical for a human."

She added, "If it were really typical, you'd have frostbite."

"You're making me sound abnormal."

"Not abnormal, but unique. Kan, do you remember when you defeated the Ice Golem in the cave?"

It had only been half a day, and I couldn't forget it. I had been trying not to think about it, and Rea had been considerate enough not to bring it up.

Even now, if I focused, I could feel a new sensation deep within me. So, this was what Grandma meant by 'power.'

"......Is this what you mean by Spirit Magic?"

"Yes, the magic only spirits are allowed to use. Kan, you, a human, have acquired a power very close to that of a spirit. Your resistance to the cold is also due to this."

"......Was it because of what flowed from the spear?"

"You 'gained' one of the principles that support this world. Because I was sealed for a long time, that principle had seeped into the spear. Normally, the owner of the spear would become the bearer of that principle, but......"

I had broken the spear, though it was not by choice.

"Regardless of the process, the result is that you now possess the 'Ice Spirit Magic.' I'll teach you how to use it."

After a week's stay, we left the village.

"Is it okay to take so much food?"

Rea and I were walking across a vast grassland. My backpack was filled with food provided by the villagers as a farewell gift. The lodging and food had been a great help, and if we had the chance, we wanted to repay their kindness.

"Regardless of the sentiment, it's a big help. We have money, but the journey is long. Saving on food expenses will make a big difference."

Rea's practical comment made sense, so I didn't argue. We had taken as much money as we could when we escaped the castle (including compensation and other expenses), but it was unclear if we would have any additional income.

We had planned to leave immediately, but we extended our stay for a week for several reasons.

One was the elimination of the pursuit. The sacred mountain we crossed had become an uninhabitable area for humans due to Grandma's long-term residence. Whether by air or land, it was impossible to cross. The castle people would know about this dangerous area and assume we wouldn't have crossed the mountain or stayed in the village beyond it. This would delay their search.

With no urgency, the second reason was to follow Grandma's suggestion to practice using my 'power.' The journey ahead would be long, and we might encounter magical beasts like the one in the snow. It was important to have some means of self-defense, rather than relying solely on Rea.

Additionally, Rea gave me a crash course on the general knowledge of this world. We planned to pass as a naive young man from a remote rural area, but it was important to know some universal common sense to avoid future troubles. I also learned basic reading, writing, and numbers. While I still needed to practice writing, I could at least judge numbers.

Our immediate destination was Rea's hometown.

Rea's hometown was a place that could be called the capital of the neighboring country, where the king resided. As the center of the kingdom, it was highly developed and densely populated. More people meant more information.

There might be a way for me to return to my original world, or at least a clue. I had already discussed this with Rea and secured her assistance.

I didn't expect much, but any hint of a path forward was welcome. Fortunately, I had a travel companion, so the journey wouldn't be boring.

By the way, I had told Grandma about how I came to this world, thinking she might have some wisdom due to her long life.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any information that can directly help Kan."

I remembered her apologetic face.

"I've heard stories of people being summoned from other worlds, but they all happened within human kingdoms. So, I know it happened, but not the details."

"By the way, when was the most recent time someone was summoned from another world?"

Rea answered this question.

"I think...... about three hundred years ago. It should be in the official records."

"Oh, that was around the time I was sealed, wasn't it?"

Grandma, who had been casual until then, suddenly became uneasy. Did she know something?

I decided not to press the issue and ended the conversation.

After recalling my conversation with Grandma, I found myself thinking about my original world, something I hadn't had time to do in the past few days.

"I hope Yuzuki doesn't do anything strange."

The first person who came to mind was my childhood friend. We had known each other since elementary school. He was very talented in many ways, but he was also quite problematic and often caused trouble.

Next, I thought of two female friends I had known since middle school. We met through Yuzuki, and the four of us—Yuzuki, me, and the two girls—were a close group.

"I wonder how they're doing now."

There was bound to be some commotion, but there was nothing I could do about it now, so I stopped thinking about it.

It's rare to find a beautiful woman who doesn't get upset when called 'Grandma.' That's why the spirit is such a character. I initially thought about having her join the journey, but I decided against it. If she did, it would add four or eight more heroines to the story.

The difference between Spirit Magic and regular magic is an important element in the story.

For now, this marks the end of Chapter One.