[V6C17] Leaving Behind Something Unmelting

Monica and the others visited the same clothing store as the other day. The elderly shopkeeper, who had been reading a newspaper, looked up at them from the pages.

“Oh, welcome back. The blizzard was pretty intense last night, but it’s gotten a lot warmer today.”

“Seems like Ashelpikeh got some Unmelting Ice then.”

Melissa answered in a joking tone and Ashelpikeh, who was pretending to be a scarf around Cyril’s neck, shivered her whiskers slightly.

Having transformed into weasels, Ashelpikeh and Thule were coiled around Cyril and Melissa’s necks as makeshift scarves.

It was as if Cyril and Melissa were wearing matching scarves. Seeing them like that, Monica felt a strange sensation in her chest. However, she lacked the experience to understand why.

All she could do was stare anxiously as Melissa clung to Cyril’s arm.

“What are you looking for today? Perhaps an overcoat for that gentleman over there?”

The shopkeeper gestured toward Cyril. That was the natural response, since the other three were wearing the coats they had bought yesterday. Monica thought so too, but…

“No, not for me.”

Cyril shook his head and directed his gaze toward Monica.

“It’s for her.”

“…Huh?”

As Monica widened her eyes in surprise, Cyril furrowed his brows and turned towards Monica’s white coat.

Since she had wrapped the coat around thorny rose vines, the jacket was quite frayed. Even after Melissa washed off the bloodstains, it was clearly in tatters.

“I’ll be returning to Highown after this, so I have no need for a heavy coat.”

In response to Cyril’s explanation, Raul exclaimed in surprise.

“Eh!? You’re leaving already? We’re already here so let’s go sightseeing in Jausuka!”

“Tomorrow at noon, I have to attend a meeting at the Ascard Library Association.”

“Oh, so you really have to head there immediately?”

Cyril gave Raul a solemn nod.

Considering the travel time between Jausuka and Highown, followed by the trip to Ascard, he would just barely make the meeting.

Despite that, Cyril had waited faithfully until Monica woke up. Realizing this, Monica fidgeted with the hem of her coat, as Cyril cleared his throat.

“I appreciate your help with this incident, so please allow me to offer you this gift.”

“Oh, t-thank you very much…”

“Lady Melissa, I will also send a gift showing my appreciation to the Roseberg residence at a later day.”

Hearing this promise, Melissa clung to Cyril’s arm again and exclaimed “Yay, how delightful!” Meanwhile, the dissatisfied Raul pouted, “What about me?”

Cyril adjusted his posture and turned to Raul.

“But of course, I’ll include something for you as well…”

“Cool.”

“Some additional work, that is.”

“Why!?”

Ignoring the noisy Raul, Cyril turned his back and asked Monica, “What color coat would you like?”

Monica fidgeted with the decorative cord of her coat and answered.

“Um… white would be nice.”

“The same color as your current coat? Do you like white?”

Monica nodded with a slightly downcast gaze, and Cyril chuckled softly, picking up a white coat from the store.

The one he chose had a different pattern from the one Monica was currently wearing.

The embroidery was in a light pink color, similar to spring flowers. The decorative beads at the ends of the cords also matched the color of the embroidery. When viewed in the light, the embroidery changed into a white flowery pattern.

Although Monica’s current coat was also white, the new one felt mysteriously different. As if it somehow embodied the change from winter to spring.

“Shopkeeper, I’ll take this one.”

“Got it.”

Cyril paid the shopkeeper with a silver coin and handed the coat to Monica.

“T-Thank you so much…!”

After expressing her gratitude and putting on the new coat, Monica carefully folded the frayed one and held it against her chest.

Meanwhile, Melissa shuffled towards Monica and began whispering into her ear.

“Oh, Monica-chan, what a lovely coat.”

Realizing the frayed coat had been a gift from Melissa, Monica held it against her chest and offered an excuse.

“Um, well, I like the coat you gave me as well… Once I get home, I’ll make sure to fix it and take good care of it…”

Melissa frowned and sighed, as if disappointed with a poorly performing student.

“Listen, Monica-chan.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Now really wasn’t the time to be considerate of me, right?”

“Huh? What?”

To the perplexed Monica, Melissa explained in a completely serious tone.

“At times like this, you have to wrap your arms around Cyril-sama’s neck, scream ‘Thank you’, and flaunt yourself.”

“…??”

“Oh boy. This is completely hopeless. Well, I guess you get some credit for showing me respect.”

Melissa pinched Monica’s cheek between her thumb and forefinger, kneading it to relieve her stress.

Monica, who didn’t understand the meaning of Melissa’s criticism, replied with a vague nod, saying, “Um, okay.”

During this exchange, Thule, who had been pretending to be a neck scarf around Melissa’s neck, whispered in a hushed voice only audible to the two.

“What’s that decoration? It makes a beautiful sound, like ting-ting.”

Thule’s gaze was directed at the bell decoration hanging outside the shop. Apparently, he had been staring at it for a while.

Seeing the weasel’s intrigued glance, Melissa smirked and asked the old shopkeeper.

“Hey, mister. What’s the origin of that bell decoration on the door?”

“Hmm? Didn’t I tell you yesterday? It’s there so that if White Dragon-sama comes by, we’ll know right away.”

“Oh, right, I remember now. White Dragon-sama, White Dragon-sama, please ring this bell when you have a request for us, right?”

“Yep. Our White Dragon-sama is a shy one, you know.”

Melissa muttered, “That’s what they say,” and looked at Thule around her neck.

“Humans come up with wonderful things. Very wonderful.”

After saying so, Thule descended from Melissa’s neck and jumped onto the door, ringing the bell with a ting-ting.

“Ah! Stop that, you stupid weasel!”

Next to Melissa clicking her tongue, the shopkeeper’s incredulously mumbled, “That was a real weasel?”

＊　＊　＊

After completing the purchase of the coat, the group headed straight to the carriage stand. Cyril had to return to Highown immediately.

As the carriage approached, Thule, who had been wrapped around Melissa’s neck, hopped onto Cyril’s shoulder.

On Cyril’s left shoulder was a golden weasel——Ashelpikeh, a greater spirit so old that she appeared in legends.

On his right shoulder was a pure white weasel——Thule, the White Dragon of Mount Kalug, revered as a deity by the Hyla Tribe.

With legendary existences on both shoulders, Cyril straightened his posture in front of the carriage.

“I am truly grateful for your help. Thank you very much. Now… about these two…”

Cyril paused with a slight frown, so Melissa continued in his stead.

“Yes, we know. This will be our little secret.”

Not only was Ashelpikeh a legendary existence, but Thule was also the god of the Hyla Tribe. It could easily turn into a political issue if they were taken away.

“I wonder if the Hyla Tribe will be panicking at the absence of their god?” Raul asked, to which Thule offered a lazy reply.

“It should be fine. The mountain has a bunch of mana, so humans only visit the temple once a year. Besides, I didn’t show myself in public much.”

“But the temple itself is kinda wrecked…”, Raul continued, offering a valid argument.

However, Melissa simply scoffed, as if it didn’t matter at all.

“The temple was destroyed by the very white dragon they worship, so it doesn’t concern us in the slightest. If anything, they’ll probably assume the silly dragon rolled over it in his sleep or something.”

“I don’t roll in my sleep.”

Ignoring Thule’s claim with a dismissive “yeah, yeah,” Melissa shrugged her shoulders.

Listening to this exchange, Monica secretly struggled with a dilemma.

(Should I tell Ike and Nero about this incident…?)

This matter clearly needed to be kept confidential. However, Isaac could be trusted to keep secrets, and Nero couldn’t possibly leak information, due to having no one to talk to.

Moreover, if Cyril ever brought Ashelpikeh and Thule to Sazandol, Nero would likely discern their true identities immediately given his adept mana sensing abilities.

(Hmm, I’ll wait for things to settle down a bit before telling them… I guess…)

Once Cyril was finished talking, the coachman asked, “Are you ready to depart now?”

Cyril responded with, “I’ll be right there,” and turned his gaze to Monica.

What should she do? Monica panicked.

She wanted to say something to send him off, but was unable to come up with anything. It felt so frustrating.

Monica began internally fretting about what to say, when Melissa suddenly clung to Cyril’s arm.

“Cyril-sama, whenever you come to the capital, please, by all means, pay a visit to our home as well.”

“Oh, that sounds nice! Cyril, I’ll invite you anytime! Thule and Pikeh can tag along too!”

In response to the lively Roseberg siblings, Thule let out an enthusiastic, “Sounds fun,” and Ashelpikeh quietly whispered, “Okay, if Thule is going.”

Unable to smoothly join the conversation, Monica fidgeted while holding the frayed coat to her chest.

“Well then, see you later.”

Cyril said his final goodbyes and stepped towards the carriage. However, Monica suddenly reached out and grabbed his coat.

“Uh, um…”

“…?”

Cyril turned around and widened his eyes. Putting on an awkward smile, Monica simply let her gaze wander.

“Well, um, there was, erm, some lint on your coat…”

“Is that so? Thank you for removing it for me.”

“I-It’s nothing…”

That brief exchange was all Monica could muster.

Cyril took the two weasels and boarded the carriage, which promptly began moving.

Once the carriage turned a corner and disappeared from view, Melissa let out a long sigh.

“Ugh, I’ve lost all my motivation now that we have no more handsome men. Time to head back to my room, have a drink, then go back to sleep.”

“Dang. If only Cyril could have joined us for sightseeing… Huh? Monica, what’s wrong?”

Raul gave a puzzled look to Monica, who seemed to be frozen in place.

“Um, it’s nothing, really.”

Monica shook her head vigorously and, still holding the frayed coat to her chest, walked away at a brisk pace.

In a hushed voice, she began muttering to herself.

“I… I… did a sneaky move.”

＊　＊　＊

“Oh no, I forgot…”

Inside the carriage, Cyril held his head in his hands.

He had forgotten to give Monica the planned candy present for Ashelpikeh’s Festival.

First the wreath for Winter Solstice, and now this. There were unavoidable circumstances for the wreath, but he had no one but himself to blame for the second instance.

Sighing, Cyril reached into his coat pocket, finding something strange inside.

“…Hmm?”

When visiting Sazandol, Cyril had put a small bottle of candy and a few small fish in his pockets. Yet now, he heard the sound of glass clinking against glass.

Perplexed, he pulled out his pockets to find a small bead of glass instead of the fish. It had been clinking against the glass of the candy bottle.

Cyril placed the candy bottle on his knees and observed the glass bead with a furrowed brow.

It was a glass bead with the same color as white snow. Upon closer inspection, he discovered delicate snowflake patterns in a very light blue color.

Due to the small hole in the center, it seemed to be a bead for decorating a cord.

From atop Cyril’s shoulder, Thule observed it with his golden eyes gleaming.

“Wow, some beautiful Unmelting Ice. Is it candy? Can I eat it?”

“Thule, Thule, that’s glass. It’s not edible,” replied Ashelpikeh.

In response, Thule tilted his head again, saying, “Really?”

After silently enjoying the cute gestures of the weasels, Cyril moved them from his shoulders to the seat.

“Eat this if you’re hungry.”

Cyril handed the candy bottle to Thule and Ashelpikeh, then reexamined the glass bead.

If he possessed the talents of Lana Colette, who often observed other people’s clothing, he might have recognized this glass bead as an ornament once adorned on the previously blood-stained white coat.

Or if he was as knowledgeable as Isaac Walker, a man well-versed in various cultures, he might have linked this glass bead to the customs of Randall, and sensed the feelings of the young girl who had hidden it in Cyril’s pocket.

However, being unfamiliar with such things, Cyril simply stared at the glass bead and made a single remark.

“My fish… turned into a glass bead?”

The snow of winter had melted away with the changing seasons, but the mystery of the glass bead remained unsolved.

With his mouth full of candy, Thule murmured, “It’s spring,” while gazing at the fresh greenery outside the window.

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