With Ice Magic, I Shall Conquer the World
Chapter 4: My Beloved Little Sister
TN: PRETTY IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s actually his little sister-in-law, I was just too lazy to write it all out and I think he views her as a real sister so it’s close enough.
Not as important note: This MC is a freaking psychopath lol. As always, sorry for the delay!
I was suddenly awoken by a voice.
It appears that I fell asleep from drinking too much wine.
[Look, I’m done.]
Booker, with sweat pouring down from his forehead, presented me with a red jewel.
It was refined into a clean polygonal shape, and its color was as red as blood.
[Violet Wendy].
That’s the name of the jewel that can be refined from the Big Winged Raven’s innards.
[Good job, Booker.]
I took the jewel, and patted him on the shoulder.
I dispelled the magic, and he fainted immediately.
I guess it’s a side effect of experience the [Power of G.o.d].
Since he did a decent job, it’s probably fine to let him rest a bit.
I left the store.
Looking through my mental [Manual], I checked again to see that there really were no more obstacles in my life.
I guess I’ll fully accept my power eventually.
I slowly walked in the town, and pa.s.sed through the quiet town center, headed towards the guild.
There was a small light coming from the window.
Regza probably wasn’t even awake yet.
I’ll just report that my job is done and go home.
[Nn…? Ah, Krell, huh. You’re slow. So? Did you do the job?]
Regza sat behind the open door, lifting his face briefly to address me.
It looked like a really difficult book, but it totally didn’t look like it suited him.
I took out the [Sleepy Rabbit’s Purple Pelt] and tossed it onto the table.
[Ho… Looks like you actually managed to beat it. An easy one-shot when it’s asleep, right?]
Cackling, Regza took the raw materials and stamped his seal on the mission order.
I didn’t respond, and got ready to leave.
[Oi, wait a minute. Don’t you want your compensation?]
Regza stood there smirking at me, holding out the promised 500G compensation.
I looked over my shoulder at him.
[Ah, I don’t need the money. I even have money for drinks.]
Having said that, I pushed open the door.
But, Regza wasn’t about to let me leave.
His rugged, dirty hands grasped my shoulder, forcibly turning me around.
[Aah? The h.e.l.l is up with your att.i.tude? You think you’re real fancy just because you beat a Sleepy Rabbit?]
[Don’t. Touch. Me.]
I looked at him sharply.
It’d be pointless to kill him now.
I invoked the slightest amount of [Ice Magic].
[Ah…?]
The hand on my shoulder slowly began to freeze.
I don’t really want to destroy his arm.
It’d be a shame to only freeze a finger, though.
[Hii…! W-what’s this!? M-my.. my hand…!]
Quickly withdrawing his hand from my shoulder, Regza ran to the fireplace and thrust his hand into a bucket of hot water.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him.
[What is this…! How come it’s not melting…? d.a.m.nit! What the h.e.l.l have you done to me, Krell!!?]
[What do you mean, Guild Leader? Weren’t you just grabbing onto my shoulder, sir? I didn’t do anything.]
I couldn’t conceal my grin as I replied.
His efforts were futile.
The ice wouldn’t disappear until I said so.
That is the power of [Magic].
It’s different from normal ice.
The ice slowly climbed up his arm, all the way to his elbow.
Before long, his entire arm was shrouded in ice.
At this rate his arm is going to fall off, won’t it?
If that happens, he’ll never be able to swing his greataxe again.
He’ll have no choice but to retire from being Guild Leader.
In that case, who would become the next Guild Leader?
[H-Help me, Krell! My arm…! My arm is…!]
Regza begged as he frantically tried to thaw his arm.
Just as his arm looked like it was about to come off, I felt the presence of someone entering the building.
(Who is it…? At this time of day…?)
The door opened a crack.
I considered for a second, and sighed.
[It’s your lucky day, Regza.]
I walked away from the door, stepping in front of Regza.
I pointed my finger at Regza’s completely frightened face.
[Hii…!]
Was he ready to die?
The frightened Regza had his eyes shut tightly like a scared baby.
I was satisfied with the situation, so I unfroze his arm.
Then, I pointed my finger at his forehead, and repeated the magic I had used on Booker.
[Forget about this incident. I successfully completed my a.s.signment, and just came back. Alright?]
[…Ah, yes.]
Having received my orders, Regza headed to the door as if nothing had ever happened.
[Ah, Regza-san. Sorry for intruding at this late hour.]
[Ah, Miria-chan. What’s the matter?]
[Uuummmm, well my onii-chan (brother) hasn’t returned yet so I was wondering… Ah! Onii-chan!]
Miria raised her voice when she saw me inside the room.
I tried to conceal the smile on my face as I rushed to her.
[Sorry, Miria. I got back a while ago from my mission. I thought it’d probably be fine to report to the guild leader tomorrow but then I changed my mind since it’d be too troublesome.]
[Report…? Eh! Onii-chan, you’re giving reports now!? Amazing!]
Hearing my words, Miria was bursting with happiness.
Of course, Miria new that until now I had never been deemed worthy of giving reports.
Miria, who was able to be so happy for my own sake, was glowing almost too brightly for me to look directly at her.
[It must have been troublesome for Miria-chan to come all the way here. Why don’t you head home for tonight, Krell?]
Regza spoke in accordance with my orders.
His eyes were still unfocused.
He was nothing more than a [Puppet].
[Ah, if you say so. Let’s go, Miria.]
[OK!]
Lightly clutching the edge of my clothes, Miria began happily chattering about her day.
We’re only about 3 years apart, but when she talks like this she seems like a little kid.
As she talked, I began thinking.
If [Magic] could be manipulated by human beings, then people should be able to discover [True Feelings] as well, right?—.
In that case, I could understand the [True Feelings] behind this smiling face—?
(… Tonight, Count Teremius and his wife won’t be home. The maids will have already retired to their quarters. In the main manor it’ll just be me and Miria… The perfect situation to test out my power, huh.)
I wanted to know her true feelings.
This is something I always wished for.
Did she treat me with such kindness out of pity?
Or perhaps just because she was bored?
[—so anyways, I… Onii-chan? Are you listening?]
[Yeah, I’m listsening. And? What happened after that?]
[So you see, according to this kid, Reino-chan had a reason to be late—]
She continued recounting all the events of the day, starting from when she woke up.
Miria didn’t stop talking for even a second.
But, it’s not as if I don’t like listening to her talk.
Because I’m happy just listening, without even needing to think about her words.
Miria talked all the way home.
She was satisifed with my occasional responses to show that I was still listening.
Honestly, I was scared to find out her true feelings.
Maybe, depending on her reponse, I would—
—even though she’s my beloved little sister-in-law, I might have to kill her.