LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 98
The Wizard’s Tower in Winterhome was, to put it bluntly, both Catherine’s territory within Winterhome and a castle at the same time.
This meant that entry required an invitation or prior permission.
Those who didn’t have one could be classified into three categories.
1. A very select few who didn’t need an invitation or permission.
2. Intruders whom no one would reprimand even if they died.
3. Those whose situation was so urgent that they rushed in without permission.
Just a moment ago, the maid who interrupted Catherine’s meal fell into the third category.
A level of the Winterhome’s main estate was being entirely sealed off by knights and soldiers.
“Ah, Chief Magic Consultant. You’ve arrived.”
“Lady Elizabeth is waiting inside.”
Catherine nodded in response. Karem soon realized why the maid was so flustered and why the knights and soldiers had sealed off that level.
A frigid chill, as if blowing from a winter valley, filled the corridor.
Although Iceland in midsummer might be as cool as autumn in other regions, the chill experienced throughout the level felt as cold as the winter air, capable of making every hair on one’s body stand on end.
Clearly, something was amiss.
As I moved closer to the center of the level, the air grew even colder.
And at a certain point, I could confirm that part of the castle itself was frozen. So were the soldiers and servants that had also frozen with it.
In front, Elizabeth was visibly distressed, puffing out white mist, blocked by the knights.
“Atanitas! You’ve come!”
“Duchess, what on earth is going on?”
“I don’t know. Since last evening, Robin has been out of his wits, and I was taking care of him. Just a moment ago, he suddenly screamed, and now this…”
Elizabeth was so flustered that she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Catherine checked the ambient frozen magical power.
Excluding magic tool malfunctions or curses.
Every magic tool allowed entry into Winterhome had been verified by the Mage Tower.
There were no exceptions, and there hadn’t been any such items during her absence.
Even if there were a malfunction, a brand-new, unstable defective product shouldn’t have been able to enter Winterhome in the first place, let alone freeze an entire level.
Thus, the likelihood that the cause was a magic tool was minimal.
“Did you say Prince Robin is unwell?”
“His body is colder than frozen rock, yet he keeps saying he’s cold. What on earth is going on?”
It was at that moment Catherine grasped how the situation was unfolding.
She asked a knight who was holding Elizabeth back, “What about Prince Robin?”
“When we accompanied the Duchess out, he was just as Lady Elizabeth described.”
“Then we’re lucky it’s happening now.”
“Lucky!?”
Elizabeth gasped.
An inappropriate word for a parent with a child.
But Catherine was serious.
“Yes, Duchess. If it were already winter, no, if it were merely autumn, Prince Robin would have embarked on a journey by now. There’s no time for explanations.”
“Wait! Atanitas! Atanitas!”
Elizabeth called out anxiously as she was held back by the knights.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Catherine stepped into the frozen halls.
The center of the catastrophe.
The deeper she went, the more frozen servants and maids she encountered.
Those trapped within the ice stood frozen in vibrant life, oblivious to their condition, caught in the midst of their actions.
“How come the Duchess is unharmed?”
Karem observed the frozen individuals, as if time had stopped for them.
“Judging by the atmosphere, it seems Prince Robin is the cause of this. And the knights were fine as well.”
“Surely, a mistress of a noble household with ample influence and wealth would naturally carry a few defensive magic tools.”
“What about the knights?”
“They would surely resist this situation using magic tools or their own magical powers. Wait.”
Catherine, walking ahead while leaning on her staff, abruptly froze in place.
And with an expression of something being off, she turned her head to look back at Karem, who was trailing after her.
“What’s up? Why are you following me?”
“Huh? You didn’t tell me to stay back!”
“What? I didn’t say that? Wait, why are you alright?”
“Huh? Are you saying I should be frozen like a winter salmon?”
Karem was aghast.
How could he say something so severe?
Yet, as if it were completely natural, Catherine stated in a cold tone:
“Of course.”
Karem felt uneasy, wondering if Catherine had caught on to the little tricks he’d been pulling recently.
But he felt relieved by what Catherine said next.
“The thing is, how could an 11-year-old child with no protective magic tools or any ability to manipulate magic remain unscathed in this situation?!”
“Uh… well, even if you ask me…”
Karem scratched his head awkwardly.
He genuinely didn’t know.
And Catherine was thinking the same thing.
‘He really seems not to know anything.’
Just an 11-year-old kid.
Even considering his past life, he was under 40 years old.
A common man who had never engaged in any sort of deceptions (other than a little white lie), much less a con artist, could not possibly deceive her.
So, Karem’s words were undoubtedly the genuine truth.
However, conversely, this could mean that there may be some truth unknown to the parties involved.
As Catherine scanned Karem from head to toe, her gaze fixed on a particular bulge in his right pocket.
Once she focused on it, all of Catherine’s senses sharpened.
“Kid. What’s in your right pocket?”
“Uh, huh?”
Karem reflexively pulled out the item from his pocket.
And Catherine was astonished.
It was a perfectly spherical chunk of ice.
An artifact that even dwarves, who had spent centuries crafting, could not create.
The overwhelming power radiating from it was shockingly intense.
In that instant, Catherine felt a powerful greed.
However, seizing an underling’s belongings was something she could never permit herself to do.
Suppressing her desires with great effort, Catherine stared at Karem’s hand with eyes that held a mixture of awe and envy.
“…Kid. Where on earth did you pick that up?”
“I got this when we visited Fungusbee. Remember-”
At that moment, past images flashed before Karem’s eyes.
Ice that flew in from outside, piercing through and smiting the head of a god.
Karem twisted the truth in consideration of the unnamed traveler’s honor and whispered.
“That, um. The nameless traveler gave it as a gift.”
“Yeah. I received a beast’s fang from Nastrond. Kid, what seed did you receive back then?”
“Uh, well, but when we were leaving, this somehow ended up in my pocket.”
“Hah! Do you even know what that is?”
“Uh, non-melting ice?”
Innocently foolish, his voice sounding as if he knew nothing.
Catherine found his utter ignorance astounding.
But she decided to understand.
How could an ordinary person who couldn’t even use or perceive magic possibly sense divine power?
Catherine settled on that thought.
But then, even as she resolved herself thus, the sheer intensity of the divine power that the ice sphere possessed was enough to silence Catherine.
“Your being alright right now is because of that ice sphere.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yeah. The divine power contained within it is preventing your body from freezing like the ordinary people around you.”
“Whoa…”
“Now that you understand, thank the gods.”
Catherine waved that aside and moved on.
“So, Atanitas, what on earth is going on here?”
“How would you like me to explain? Simply? Complicatedly?”
“Um, simply, please.”
“Prince Robin probably has abundant talent as a wizard. If he could just match it with his intellect, he would be a very powerful wizard.”
“Oh, so then, this frozen state around us is…?”
“Yes. It seems he has a particular talent for ice magic, like me.”
It was often the case that an inadequately trained wizard could not control their own magic power. Regardless, it was a significant problem that an entire level of Winterhome had become frozen, but the solution was simple.
They would just need to wake Prince Robin and teach him how to control his magic.
However, time was not plentiful.
If left unresolved for too long, Robin would undoubtedly be harmed by losing control of his own magic.
Catherine pushed through the door from which the coldness seeped, flinging it open.
“Ugh… brr, so cold… Mom…”
Catherine approached Prince Robin, who was wrapped up in blankets like a massive cocoon on the bed. Scanning the room, she immediately unfurled his blanket.
“First, we need to wake him up.”
“Is there something troubling you?”
“Yeah. While he may not be as talented as I am, Robin’s ability is considerable. To wield this much magic, kid.”
“Yeah? What do you need?”
“I’ll need to borrow that holy relic you’re holding.”
Catherine pointed her finger toward Karem. A magic imbued with the will of the Grand Wizard gathered at her fingertips, and as she cast the spell, an intangible aura enveloped Karem and glowed faintly.
“This way, you won’t become like the ice cream in the refrigerator.”
“Oh, it’s strangely void of any sensation.”
“Usually, you won’t know until it happens. Now, place the holy relic on Prince Robin’s body.”
“Yes, understood.”
Karem immediately placed the ice sphere onto Prince Robin’s chest.
The transformation was striking for not just Prince Robin, but for all present.
It appeared as though a blizzard hit, as coldness was drawn into the ice sphere.
The pale hues of Robin, looking like a corpse, gradually returned to his original complexion. By the time the ice in the room melted away, Robin had regained his condition, breathing a sigh of relief that was markedly improved from before.
Karem listened for the sounds coming from outside the room.
It seemed the frozen people were waking up and murmuring.
“Atanitas?”
“Uh, yeah? What is it?”
“The people outside who were frozen are coming to-”
“Of course. We solved half of the problem now.”
“I see. Huh? Half?”
Catherine gestured with her chin.
Prince Robin, who had previously appeared to be dead for several days out in the middle of the snowy field, was now looking somewhat human.
However, there was one issue.
“Yeah. Normally, they wake up when their magical power is contained. It seems like this was tougher on him than expected.”
Karem agreed with Catherine’s assessment.
Though he certainly looked a lot better than just moments before, Robin’s body still felt like ice, drenched in cold sweat and wracked with agonized breaths.
“Kid. How old is Prince Robin?”
“Uh, 8, no wait, he should be 9 now.”
“Hmm, then it wouldn’t be advisable to use any potions, even diluted.”
“You mean we shouldn’t use potions?”
“Exactly. Excessive potency would be nearly as bad as poison if the body can’t handle it. So, summoning a priest to invoke divine power wouldn’t do much at all. Magic tools are no different. It would need to be something natural and indirect, something imbued with fire magic…”
“How about raw Fire Witch Finger?”
Karem, in his past life as Garam, recalled a rather famous saying.
“Medicine and food are derived from the same source, or in simpler terms, medicine and food are intertwined.”
To summarize, the idea was that consuming three healthy meals in a day was better than taking direct medication.
However, Karem certainly wasn’t serious about saying this.
The consequences of actually feeding that could end up with him imprisoned in the Prison Tower for a religious crime.
“Oh, that’s a surprisingly good idea. A change in perspective reveals a solution.”
“Raw Fire Witch Finger? I was just joking…”
“…..”
“Uh… Atanitas?”
Catherine silently stared at Karem.