Chapter 23

In a small village located in the western part of the kingdom, there have been successive incidents of crops being damaged by monsters.

Fiona and Nina from the First Magic Corps were assigned to deal with the situation.

After finishing breakfast, Fiona returned to her room and gazed out the window. As she watched a cat walk gracefully even in the cold sky, she realized it was almost time to leave. She put on her robe, stuffed her gloves into her pocket, and headed for the stables.

As soon as she stepped outside, she spotted Nina ahead. Fiona was about to run over, but Nina seemed to have been called by someone and turned right, heading behind the supply shed.

Something must have happened. Maybe there's something I can help with, Fiona thought and followed her.

As she turned the corner of the supply shed, she was about to call out to Nina's back when she suddenly clamped her hands over her mouth in surprise.

Right in front of Nina stood Jonas, and the two were already deeply engaged in a passionate embrace.

Noticing they were being watched, Jonas glanced at Fiona but quickly returned his gaze to Nina, continuing their embrace without a hint of embarrassment.

Fiona, who was used to witnessing such scenes, remained unperturbed.

However, this was the first time she had seen lovers in such a moment. She was very curious and couldn't help but watch with great interest.

Jonas finally pulled away from Nina, smiling brightly at Fiona as if nothing had happened.

He was as refreshing as ever.

"Hey, good morning. I'll leave Nina in your care today."

"Ah, yes. Understood. Um... I'm sorry for interrupting?"

"Haha, it's fine."

That's right. I didn't really interrupt, Fiona realized, nodding to Jonas.

Seeing Nina's trembling back, she thought it might be better not to speak to her and turned around.

When they arrived at the stables and waited for a while, Nina, with a red face, hurried over.

"F-Fiona... earlier, that... I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry for seeing it. I saw you walking to the back of the supply shed and thought maybe there was something I could help with."

"Right..."

Nina said nothing more, seeing Fiona's usual calm demeanor.

They set out immediately, riding for about 40 minutes to reach the village where they had received the extermination request.

Tying their horses at the village entrance, they visited the nearest house. They asked the homeowner to guide them to the mayor's house, where they heard a detailed account of the damage.

While they were sitting around an oval table, the mayor's wife brought a tray.

The plump, gentle woman, who had a similar soft aura to the mayor, placed a cup of tea in front of Fiona.

"I'm not sure if it will suit your taste, but please feel free to try it."

She then placed a basket in the center of the table.

"Thank you."

"Wow, it looks delicious... I'll have some."

Fiona smiled, immediately taking a cookie from the basket and starting to eat.

The soft texture, the flavor of the eggs, and the sweet and sour berry jam in the center brought back memories, and she smiled contentedly.

She remembered her mother often making them.

Seeing this, the mayor's wife smiled in satisfaction.

Fiona listened to the mayor's story without any hesitation, eating several cookies while doing so.

However, in the middle of listening, they heard the commotion of people and rushed outside.

In the middle of the field lay a monster about a meter long, its neck pierced by a scythe, bleeding green and lifeless.

It seemed a villager had struck the monster's vital point with a scythe.

The villagers had quickly retreated to their homes, and there were no human casualties.

Several black shadows circled in the sky, emitting shrill cries as a warning.

They had fled to the sky after their companion was killed and were now observing the ground.

The monsters, with their long, sharp beaks, were about to dive at Fiona and Nina in a group.

Fiona immediately drew several small magic circles, paralyzing all the monsters with lightning.

Nina drew a medium-sized magic circle and unleashed a tornado at the group of monsters.

The monsters, unable to fly properly due to paralysis, spiraled down and hit the ground hard.

Blood splattered everywhere. Nina then lifted all the dead monsters with the wind and piled them in one place, which Fiona enveloped in a flame vortex.

The monsters burned vigorously, making crackling sounds. The extermination mission was completed in just a few minutes.

All that was left was to clean up the monster's blood from the ground. If the soil was contaminated with the monster's blood, the crops would not grow properly.

Fiona squatted in the middle of the field, placing her hands on the ground.

Closing her eyes and concentrating, she channeled magic into the ground. This allowed her to sense where the monster's blood was.

She burned every last drop of the detected blood with fire.

"Phew..."

Having completed her task, Fiona stood up. With this, all their duties were done. They returned to the mayor's house to report.

"Thank you very much. I didn't expect you to deal with the monsters so quickly. You truly are remarkable court mages."

"We are very grateful that you took care of the situation before more crops were damaged."

The mayor and his wife, with their similar gentle auras, repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

While Nina was getting the mayor's signature on the extermination request she had taken out of her pocket, Fiona was talking to the mayor's wife.

"You seemed to enjoy the cookies. Would you like to take some with you? We still have plenty."

"Wow, thank you."

Holding the basket, the mayor's wife smiled, and Fiona gratefully accepted it with a full smile.

"Then, we will take our leave."

"Thank you for coming."

Having completed their mission, they decided to return. Due to the immediate attack by the monsters upon their arrival, their stay was less than an hour.

As they left the mayor's house, seven children suddenly ran up and surrounded them.

"Hey, you're amazing mages, right?"

"Earlier, everything on the ground was burning!"

"There were lots of small magic circles floating. Do you have bigger ones? I want to see!"

The children, who had watched Fiona and Nina from inside their homes, approached with sparkling eyes and excited, eager voices.

Fiona, who had never been adored by young children before coming to the kingdom, was overjoyed to be surrounded by them again.

"Well, a big magic circle looks like this."

She said, drawing a medium-sized magic circle diagonally above her and pointing to it with her right hand.

"Wow!"

"Amazing! How did you do that?"

"Show us more magic! I want to see the cool lightning!"

"Uh? Lightning is scary, I don't want to. Water is good."

"Show us something amazing, anything!"

The children's eyes sparkled even more with excitement, and Fiona's heart fluttered.

(Something cool, not scary, and amazing...)

Something that would make everyone here happy... After a moment's thought, she started constructing a magic formula.

She drew a medium-sized magic circle above her head, layering intricate patterns. Activating it, several small water orbs flew out.

These orbs, which seemed to contain light, shimmered in rainbow colors and danced and swayed around the children.

(Just a little more...)

Feeling that it wasn't cool enough, she added a bit of fire. Not too much to be scary, she made a few small dragons swim around the water orbs to gauge the reaction.

"Wow!"

"Beautiful!"

"Awesome! So cool!"

The children cheered and were excited. Relieved that they were satisfied, Fiona was so happy that she continued to build more complex magic formulas.

She transformed the water orbs, which contained light, into the shape of butterflies. The rainbow-colored butterflies fluttered, leaving trails of sparkling, rainbow-colored scales.

"Wow..."

"Amazing..."

The children were so moved that they lost their words, mouths agape.

Next to Fiona, Nina had a similar expression to the children.

Stopping the activation when her magic power was about half depleted, she needed to save some for the journey back.

It was clear from the children's faces that they were satisfied. Fiona smiled gently.

Just as she was about to call out to Nina to head back, more children ran up. Adults also gathered, forming several layers around them.

"Huh? It's already over? I wish I had come earlier."

"Aww! I wanted to see it up close too!"

"One more time! Do it again, please!"

The adults looked disappointed but hopeful, while the children openly expressed their dissatisfaction and pleaded for more.

(What should I do...)

She was very happy but at a loss. Glancing at Nina, who had a similar hopeful expression, she thought it was okay if she didn't stop her. So, Fiona made more rainbow-colored butterflies and fire dragons dance in a wider area than before.

Cheers erupted from all around, and more people from the village joined, pleading for more.

Enjoying her magic so much, Fiona didn't want to disappoint anyone and continued to pour magic power without stopping.

Nina, not stopping her at all, watched with even more sparkling eyes.

It goes without saying that Fiona's magic power was depleted.

"Fiona... I'm so sorry... I got carried away watching... It was too beautiful... I'm so sorry!"

They walked together to where they had tied their horses, finally saying goodbye to the villagers.

Nina, feeling responsible, repeatedly apologized with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Don't apologize. It's my fault for getting carried away."

"Ugh... If anything attacks us on the way back, I'll take care of it all!"

Nina still had more than half of her magic power left. She was confident she could handle anything short of a major incident.

"Okay. Thanks. I'm sorry, Jonas asked me to take good care of you, but it ended up being the other way around."

Feeling apologetic, Fiona's words reminded Nina of the morning encounter with Jonas, and her face turned red.

Hiding her face with both hands and looking down, Fiona felt a twinge of envy.

Recalling the affectionate couple at the mayor's house, she wished she could be like that too.

"Hey, how did you get Jonas to like you?"

"Wh-what!?"

Nina let out a strange sound, her face turning even redder and her steps becoming awkward.

"Um, I didn't do anything special... He just kept saying cute things and that he liked me in front of everyone, so..."

Jonas, a kind and composed adult, lacked a sense of shame.

About a year ago, he started making bold declarations of affection without regard for time or place, leading to teasing from their comrades. Over time, Nina had also started to like him.

Nina, despite her awkward movements, answered the question with a cracked voice.

Fiona listened seriously, then placed her hand on her chin, thinking about how to apply this to her own situation.

"I see... If you keep expressing your feelings, they'll start to notice you."

"Right. But it's because he already had some feelings for me. If it was someone I didn't like, it would just make things worse and be scary."

"True..."

An image of a man with red eyes and a lecherous smile flashed in Fiona's mind. She had only felt disgust at his advances.

"Fiona and Matthias are already in love, so I don't think you need to express your feelings."

Fiona tilted her head at Nina's words and calmly corrected her.

"We're not in love. I'm still working on getting him to like me. I want to be like you and Nina, but I'm not there yet."

"No, you two are already in love... It's obvious to everyone."

"Matthias is just being kind. He's helping me get used to this country."

"No, no... It's clear that Matthias really likes you."

Nina seemed overly insistent. The people of the kingdom were all kind and warm, and while Fiona appreciated their feelings, she always felt a bit guilty.

"Thank you. I'll try my best."

Not wanting to make Nina feel more obligated, Fiona thanked her and ended the conversation.

Nina still seemed to have more to say, but they had reached where they had tied their horses and decided to head back.

Pulling her hood deep over her head and putting on her gloves, Fiona followed Nina, who led the horses.

Fiona couldn't remember the way, so she couldn't lead.

In the chilly air, their breaths formed white clouds as they galloped through the withered grass plains and the leafless forest.

As they approached the station, Fiona naturally thought of Matthias.

(If I keep telling him I like him and that he's cool, will he start to notice me...)

Nina's words echoed in her mind. She believed she had already met the condition of being someone Matthias had some feelings for. She didn't think he would take care of someone he disliked.

He wasn't just staying with her out of a sense of responsibility for bringing her to the kingdom. He must think of her like a daughter or a younger sister and dote on her.

She wanted to amplify the small amount of affection he had for her, to match her own.

Determined to try, she quickly felt embarrassed. She had never expressed feelings to a man before.

Then she realized something.

(...Wait? Haven't I already been saying things like 'I like you' and 'you're cool'...?)

His voice is cool. He's handsome and strong. I like him the most. I love him.

She remembered saying these things to him.

She felt she had said them many times in the small moments of everyday life.

(Huh?)

The realization that she had already expressed her feelings many times shocked her. What a surprise. She had already been telling Matthias she liked him and expressing her admiration.

A tingling sensation spread through her chest. Her body, which had been cold from the biting wind, began to warm up.

How could she face him now? She was so embarrassed that her mind was preoccupied with this, and she forgot to pay attention to the road ahead, something her comrades, including the captain, had often warned her about.

Crossing the blue pier, the roof of the station came into view. The horse leaped powerfully to clear the step.

Fiona's hand slipped from the reins.

Her body lurched. Oh no, she thought, but it was too late. She was already hitting the ground.

Feeling a strong impact on her head and back, she lost consciousness, vaguely seeing Nina running towards her, crying.

(Ah... I've caused trouble again... I'm sorry...)

Feeling ashamed, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Unable to say it out loud, she apologized in her heart as she lost consciousness.