Chapter 63
"Liquita, Ellard. Listen closely. A long time ago, An Ice-elemental clan were among the Four Great Noble Houses of the Empire."
On the day Liquita and Ellard came crying, having been mocked for being Ice-elemental mages, the Marceline clan head stroked their heads and told them this story.
Before the Great War, a genius mage emerged, becoming the first Archmage of the Ice element and elevating his clan to the status of one of the Four Great Houses.
He explained that countless Ice-elemental mages saw the potential of ice magic through him, and as a result, the dwindling Ice-elemental clans proliferated like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Sniff, really...? What was that clan's name?"
The clan head answered:
"It was the Siers clan. A long time ago, they were even our main house. Although many clans suffered during and after the Great War, and for various other reasons, the connection between the Siers clan and our clan has long been severed..."
The clan head's expression momentarily darkened.
"Because of them, our clan has been able to continue its lineage and practice ice magic until now. So..."
The clan head soon smiled again and continued,
"Now, it's our turn to revive ice magic."
"Us...?"
"Yes. Liquita, Ellard. You both have talent. You can prove to people once again that ice magic is absolutely not inferior."
At the clan head's words, the siblings stopped crying.
"...I'll work hard, Dad!"
"Me too!"
Several years later, at the age of seventeen, Liquita reached the proficient stage of 3rd-circle, and Ellard, three years her junior, achieved 2nd-circle.
And then.
"We're off!"
"Yes, be careful. Ellard, listen to your sister."
"Don't worry, Father! I'm 2nd-circle now too!"
Liquita Marceline set out on an escort mission with her younger brother, Ellard Marceline.
It was a rare long-distance escort mission, and the route wasn't particularly dangerous, making it a good opportunity for the siblings.
With two 3-star mercenaries as additional escorts, their combat strength was more than sufficient.
"Ice Spear!"
"Ice Needle!"
There were occasional monster attacks, but Liquita and Ellard did their best to provide support.
"Wow, this is my first time seeing an Ice-elemental mage. The young lady's skill is quite good."
"And her brother here seems talented too."
The mercenaries praised the Marceline siblings.
"Thank you...!"
"Thank you! Sis, these uncles seem like good people."
The siblings were delighted.
They felt proud to have their ice magic, which was generally avoided simply due to its attribute, acknowledged by others for the first time.
But they should have been more careful, more vigilant, at that moment.
When their long round-trip journey from the eastern outskirts of the Empire to the northwest suddenly became a one-way trip due to an unforeseen variable:
"Ah, well... Sorry. We'll add 30% to the payment we promised for the return trip."
They should have just taken that money and returned.
"Hey, young mage lady. If you're interested, how about we introduce you to a job? A friend of ours got a good escort request, and they said a mage would be useful."
"It's practically impossible to get a new return escort request back to the eastern outskirts from here, right? If you come with us, you won't even have to pay a commission to the Mercenary Guild. We're making this special offer because we think highly of your and your brother's skills."
It was an offer too tempting to refuse.
They had finally received a lucrative request after a long time, but with it suddenly becoming a one-way trip, their income had plummeted.
Even with the extra money, it would disappear if they returned to their clan without a new request.
In such a situation, the mercenaries they had grown somewhat friendly with during the escort offered a well-paying request, making it impossible not to be tempted.
But when they arrived at the meeting place the mercenaries had mentioned:
"Now! Get them!"
"...! Ellard, come here! Ice Wa—"
Thud.
"Sister!! Ah, Ice—"
Clank!
Caught in a meticulously planned ambush, the siblings were brought to the organization's hideout with mana restraints fastened upon them.
They were put up for sale in the black market.
"What... is... this...?"
"Oh, you're awake! Hahaha! Look at them, kids. See how their innocent faces, so easily swayed by a few praises, look now!"
"Puhahaha! Honestly, it was a bit cringe-inducing to force praise for that slow-to-manifest Ice Spear."
"Tell me about it. I finally realized firsthand why people avoid working with Ice-elemental mages, you know?"
"But isn't this the first time we've brought in and sold a mage? Is it okay?"
"That's why we picked a small Ice-elemental clan from the boonies. Of course, it's fine."
"Yeah, well. Do they even have the money to properly investigate? Hahahaha!"
"..."
"Oh, hey. She's crying. Is it that scary? It's fine. Nothing much will happen. Until you're sold, that is. Hahahaha!"
Tears flowed endlessly.
It wasn't because of the miserable situation of potentially being sold to someone at any moment.
It was humiliation.
Humiliation that she, who had been so starved for praise for ice magic, had genuinely rejoiced.
...the sheer weakness of her own skill, which had allowed her to fall into such a trap.
The talk that she was chosen because she was ice-elemental, meaning no fear of repercussions and easy subjugation.
All the situations she found herself in, where she was scorned by people who weren't even mages.
It was all so unfair and humiliating.
Liquita gritted her teeth.
And then, she cast a spell with all her might.
"Ice, Spear!!"
"Guh, guh!"
"W-what?! Hey! Wasn't she restrained? You said this was enough for a 3rd-circle mage!"
"Bring a stronger one!"
"You damn bitch! You've gone too far!"
"S-sister! Aaargh! Argh! Please stop...!"
She couldn't clearly recall how she managed to cast magic while restrained.
Liquita, after impaling the necks of the two mercenaries who had tricked her, lost all strength in her body and was beaten by other enraged syndicate members.
Her brother, trying to shield her, was also struck.
"Hey, he's bruised! He's bleeding here and there... Ugh. With the goods in this state, we can't sell them tomorrow!"
"It's fine. There's a bigger black market in two weeks; we can just hand them over there. It's a bigger market, so they'll pay more, and if we feed them minimally, we might even profit more."
"Tsk. Annoying to manage... Can't be helped."
"I heard they haven't had many slaves there recently. Let's try to get a higher price. We brought a mage, after all; we should make a killing."
The siblings were confined with stronger restraints.
And two weeks later, today, they were the final goods to be put up for auction in this black market, sold for a hefty sum.
And now.
"Why are you so dazed? Ah, I forgot about the restraints. I'll remove them first."
Right now, before their eyes, a boy with pure white hair and deep red eyes extended his hand to them.
With Kain's simple incantation, the restraints that bound Liquita and Ellard shattered into ice fragments.
"Ah..."
The past, flashing by like a panorama, shattered and scattered along with the restraints, and they finally regained their senses.
Kain smiled, looking at the siblings.
"Yes. It seems you've come to your senses."
Kain was proud of them.
Despite being kidnapped at a young age, when they should have been growing as mages of a noble clan, and being treated as mere commodities, which must have been terrifying and despair-inducing.
"...Ice Nee..."
They hadn't given up and had tried to break their restraints with "Ice Needle" through the curtain of Ice Fog to escape.
"...I am Liquita Marceline. This is my brother Ellard Marceline."
Even when there seemed to be no other way, they tried to maintain their pride as mages until the very end.
Though they appeared as a young girl and boy on the outside.
They were already formidable mages.
So.
"You don't need to thank—"
"Ugh..."
"Huh?"
The moment Kain tilted his head.
"Waaahhhhhh!!"
"Sisterrrrrr!!"
"Hwoooong!!"
The siblings simultaneously embraced each other and burst into tears.
***
"Sniff, I-I'm sorry... Suddenly, sniff... for crying."
"S-sorry... sniff."
When the 6-star mercenary, Zechrom, finally died.
The tension that had built up from everything that had happened until now suddenly broke, as if a dam had burst.
They thought that since they had gone on a distant escort mission, their clan wouldn't look for them for a while even if there was no news, and that once they were sold, it would truly be the end.
Now, with the realization that they were alive, suppressed emotions overflowed uncontrollably.
"It's alright. It was a difficult experience for you two to endure. Can you stand up?"
"...C-can we rest for a bit?"
"Of course. In that case, would you tell me what happened?"
Kain sat in front of the siblings and listened to their story.
"I see."
Kain nodded calmly.
"You did well. You endured well."
"We were just lucky. If we hadn't met you, mage, we would have been sold. Thank you, truly."
Having somewhat composed her emotions while telling the story, Liquita thanked Kain in a much calmer voice.
Kain shook his head.
"It's true that luck played a part in you meeting me, but if you hadn't succeeded with the Ice Spear when you were captured, you wouldn't have met me either. You yourself seized that luck."
Indeed, even with flimsy restraints, it was by no means easy for a 3rd-circle mage to successfully cast their most powerful spell while bound.
'He must have a naturally smooth mana flow and a large mana capacity. And, of course, he must have trained extensively.'
Kain had vaguely suspected this fact ever since she cast Ice Needle at the masked man.
'Despite wearing restraints stronger than usual, and having already expended mana and mental energy trying to escape countless times within the fog, she still managed to form water droplets.'
In short, it meant she had talent.
Kain stood up and asked, "Can you stand now?"
"Yes, thank you very much again. I..."
"What is it?"
"Would you mind telling me your name?"
"No."
"..."
"It wouldn't be good for me if what happened here became known either. Please understand."
"Ah."
Liquita bit her lip.
She desperately wanted to ask what clan he belonged to.
He looked to be around her age, yet he was Kain, who had defeated a 6-star mercenary with ice magic. She wondered what clan he was from.
'It can't be helped.'
Although she had no intention of blabbing about who he was, it was also true that he had no reason to take unnecessary risks from his perspective.
'After all, I don't have the right to ask many questions of someone who saved my life.'
However,
"Um..."
"What is it now?"
Kain had just wrapped his arms around Liquita's and Ellard's waists, preparing to exit through a crack in the ceiling.
"It... it might just be my imagination..."
Liquita's face flushed slightly, as if embarrassed.
"That fight just now... Did you perhaps intentionally show us all your spells?"
When the Ice Fog froze everyone—guests, guards, and the masked man—except the siblings.
Liquita had taken Ellard to safety and watched Zechrom and Kain's battle from the side.
It was an intense and deadly battle, so fierce that it made Liquita, a mere 3rd-circle mage, tremble just by watching.
But what was clear even to Liquita, despite her limited power, was that Kain had held the initiative throughout the fight, from beginning to end.
His opponent was undoubtedly strong, but he was merely dragged along throughout the battle.
'And...'
The widely spread Ice Fog.
It was as if it were alive, not infiltrating only the space where the siblings were.
'That wasn't all.'
The density of the Ice Fog in the space between the siblings and Kain was significantly lower than elsewhere.
Conversely, between the 6-star mercenary Zechrom and the siblings, the Ice Fog was very dense.
Moreover, it responded in real-time to Kain's and Zechrom's movements.
This seemed as if Kain was preventing Zechrom from knowing the siblings' location.
And it looked like a deliberate measure to allow the siblings to clearly see Kain using his magic.
'And in that state, he showed us all his spells.'
From the 1st-circle "Ice" to the 5th-circle "Frozen Blade."
Kain displayed almost every existing Ice-elemental spell below 5th-circle in the battle.
He used the mere 1st-circle "Ice" spell as a foothold for a mid-air re-leap through coordinate locking, avoiding the enemy's attacks.
The 2nd-circle Ice Needles performed aerial acrobatics, freely splitting and merging in mid-air to distract the opponent.
He spun the 3rd-circle Ice Cutter at high speed, creating an effect similar to an Ice Gear.
He utilized the 4th-circle Icicle like Frozen Spikes.
The 5th-circle Ice Fog moved so flexibly and vigorously that it was hard to believe it was a stable Ice-elemental spell.
'Of course, just seeing it doesn't mean I can replicate it. I know that much.'
Especially the spell Kain showed at the very end.
Creating an extremely pure and transparent ice magnifying glass with 1st-circle "Ice."
Then, by subtly revealing the siblings' location, which had been hidden by the dense Ice Fog, he lured the opponent, adjusted the curvature of the magnifying glass, and deceived him until the very end, finishing him off.
This was the most shocking use of a 1st-circle spell Liquita had ever witnessed, and she didn't even dare to imagine trying to replicate it.
However, even if she couldn't replicate it,
'Just witnessing it feels like my mind is being opened.'
She knew it was impossible for her current self, but at least someone was achieving such miraculous applications with ice-elemental magic.
Just seeing that possibility with her own eyes expanded her thoughts, and it felt like something that had been stifling her had finally broken through.
'Even now, inspiration is gushing forth in my mind.'
Her heart pounded just imagining how to adjust spells and calculate additional incantations to realize her ideas.
So, Liquita couldn't help but ask Kain.
Was it true that he had intentionally shown her these thrilling scenes?
But Kain, as if the question was trivial, simply replied,
"You're imagining things. I merely used spells appropriate for each situation at the time."
"Is that... so?"
"Yes."
A hint of disappointment flickered across Liquita's face, who had hoped for an affirmative answer.
Kain lowered his stance and added in a soft voice,
"So, whatever you gained from that experience..."
Kain channeled mana into his legs.
"...That's yours."
Having finished speaking, Kain leaped towards the ceiling in a single bound.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Uwaaaah!"
...Perhaps he should have jumped a bit slower.
