- The Sea and Magic Stones
The white one-piece dress Raze was wearing fluttered in the strong wind blowing in from the sea.
“What a nice breeze! I wish I could have come here with Folia too.”
As she entered the town with its distinctive white walls and blue roofs, her steps became lighter.
The Emerald Palace was also a cool and green beautiful place, but the town of Beeham also had a refreshingly vivid spread of blue well-suited for summer. She had visited here several times on military recreational trips with the 537th Battalion.
“…To think we could be here in an instant. I thought we’d have to stop at transit points a few times.”
“Me too.”
Addis and Claude still couldn’t believe they had already arrived in Beeham.
Feeling the pleasant breeze, they followed Raze with a sense of wonder as she walked ahead.
The three had come to the water city of Beeham to procure materials for the post-festival. With Raze’s teleportation magic, they had covered a distance that would normally take several days by carriage in just a few seconds.
Though not public knowledge, even the latest teleportation devices owned by the military using multiple S-rank magic stones still cannot traverse an entire country in one go. For traveling such long distances, it’s normal to teleport in stages. The farther the distance, the more difficult teleportation magic becomes, even with markings set up.
What’s more, Raze had brought two others along. At the very least, Addis and Claude had expected it to take an hour, no, two hours.
“Oh right. Thank you for preparing a change of clothes for me, Claude.”
Raze twirled her skirt and looked back at him. She showed no signs of fatigue from the long-distance teleportation.
“…No, I just had your clothes from yesterday washed and brought along with the luggage.”
“Ah, that’s a relief. Monster blood is quite stubborn to remove. I made a miscalculation in battle for the first time in a while.”
Claude wondered what kind of “miscalculation” could lead to that, but didn’t ask.
He was gradually realizing that Raze was no ordinary commoner.
“Something had been bothering me about yesterday. You requested backup from the Palace at a pretty early stage.”
“I also thought that was rather quick. An adventurer’s intuition, perhaps?”
Prompting suspicious looks from the two of them, Raze just shrugged.
“I woke up and went onto the balcony, where I saw Lady Carne jump down. So I stayed up for a while. When I looked out at the forest, I sensed something amiss, so I used teleportation to check it out, and that’s when it happened.”
Addis and Claude nodded, accepting her explanation for now.
“Speaking of which, Lord Zarth was the first to come to our aid, wasn’t he? I heard he defeated quite a number of the monsters too. Have you become much stronger under your mother’s guidance?”
“…More or less, I suppose. Isn’t a certain someone unable to train properly since they keep getting injured in every tournament?”
“Hoh? Who might that be?”
As they continued down the stone-paved road towards the mountainside of Beeham, a single workshop came into view, its roof shaped like a pointed blue hat unlike the other adjoining buildings.
“This is the place.”
Since she had initiated it, Raze took the lead and knocked on the door herself this time.
“Good afternoon!”
“Yep, come on in.”
The shop owner casually welcomed them in from the back counter. A cheerful old man with a white beard on his chin, slightly plump, with hands like rocks.
Entering the shop, arrays of colorful paper rolls were neatly lined up against the walls, making one think they sold fabric. In the center were several backless, well-cushioned chairs, likely for admiring the papers displayed on the shelves.
The “papers” in this workshop were made from fibers of unique sea plants from this world combined with magical processing, but more importantly, they were all crafted by the friendly shop owner himself.
Addis and Claude seemed surprised by the sheer variety. Even just paper showed how vast this world is. They slowly entered, pondering which product to order.
“What might you be looking for?”
So Raze went ahead to speak with the owner at the very back.
“Lightweight paper that lets light shine through beautifully, and lots of it.”
“Lots of it?”
The vague quantity made the owner stroke his chin contemplatively.
“Yes. I’m Raze Granolli, a second-year at the Centrior Imperial Academy of Magic. This year, we’re planning a school festival, and I want to have small lanterns for all the students to conclude the final event. I fell in love with this wrapping paper a friend once gave me for some sweets and have been carefully preserving it. Might we be able to use your workshop’s paper instead?”
“…Centrior…”
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Noting Raze’s lack of a noble name, the owner let out a contemplative “hmmm” as he examined the wrapping paper she provided.
Then, without preamble, he suddenly launched into negotiations while glancing at Addis and Claude, who had hurriedly followed behind Raze’s back.
“Lanterns for a festival, eh? But for a student, there might be other ways to use paper, no?”
Struck at her weak point, Raze smiled wryly.
“The students will write their wishes and aspirations on them to be released into the sky. It will certainly be a memorable event for them all. If some dreams come true later, it may even start a tradition. Since it’s something no other region does, using Papilif paper would also attract attention. And if Beeham could do the same, your beautifully crafted papers would become known to many others. How about it?”
Raze calmly yet passionately explained her idea, causing the owner to grunt in surprise.
“…Mmm. Quite the composed young lady, aren’t you? Even among all those nobles, you’ve got a solid core to not be intimidated. And the way you treasured this simple wrapping paper that most would just toss away… Tell me more about this plan of yours.”
“Thank you so much!”
Raze’s face lit up brightly as she bowed her head.
The two boys behind her, previously looking apprehensive, belatedly expressed their gratitude at the unexpected turn of events.
What may have seemed like a reckless, headstrong approach was really just the power of youth. Passion and vigor are crucial.
Being a talkative sort, the owner considered the order details while exchanging various other conversations.
He asked about Raze’s enjoyment of academy life, why she decided to hold a festival, her appreciation for the artistry of paper, what delicacies Beeham offered, and more.
“Come to think of it, have you heard about the strange monster-like creature that was caught in a net around here recently?”
“A monster…?”
“Yeah. They caught this fish with a completely otherworldly shape, but it went missing a few days later amidst all the fuss.”
“…I see.”
Raze’s previously wide-open eyes narrowed slightly at that.
“Well, just be careful where you stay overnight. It might shapeshift and come out at night.”
“We’ll be heading back before evening, so we should be able to avoid that.”
She responded lightly to the joke before steering the conversation back.
Claude had handled the contact and contract details thoroughly, so that was settled.
“Thank you for accommodating my sudden request. I really appreciate you taking this on.”
“No problem at all, miss. Felt like I’d met you before somehow. It was fun chatting. Come by again sometime!”
Slightly startled by his keen observation but keeping her smile, Raze exited the workshop.
She had prepared other options just in case, but was relieved everything worked out.
“I’m glad we were able to get that settled. We still have quite some time until lunch.”
She had worked hard on the unfamiliar business negotiations.
Raze glanced at the two boys.
“…As much as I’d like to say we should head back to help out, it seems a waste to come all this way empty-handed. Why don’t we take a look around the town until lunchtime?”
“Yay! Thank you!”
Getting the response she hoped for, she nodded energetically.
They would be having lunch at the hotel, so Raze wanted to do a little sightseeing in Beeham since it had been a while.
“Ah, Lord Zarth, please don’t cause any trouble by flirting and rendering girls unable to move, all right?”
“Seems you’ve got the wrong idea, but even I don’t actually hit on girls all that often.”
“…Is that so?”
“You don’t believe me, do you…”
Addis was also the prime minister’s son. He had lightly disguised himself to blend in with commoners and seemed to be on his guard, but for some reason, his usual behavior was oddly irksome.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask – just call me Addis. Being addressed by my family name when I’m not even the heir feels off.”
“Well in that case, why doesn’t Addis call Raze by her name too? I’ve only ever heard him call her ‘special student’ even though she’s been in her second year.”
Considering the potential danger of using the name Zarth here, Claude pointed that out in response to Addis’ suggestion.
“You make a fair point. Since I’m still the only special student, being called that does identify me specifically, so I don’t particularly mind.”
“…Is that really the issue here?”
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