Chapter 18
Chapter 18: The Master's Vanguard (2)
The advancement of modern cuisine developed hand in hand with frozen storage.
Preservation. Distribution. Without these two innovations, nearly everything we know as modern cuisine—in the world I came from—would not exist.
And the same held true for this world as well.
My culinary skills being low aside, that was precisely why the issue of preservation weighed on me all the more.
There was also the matter of the girls' morale, so I needed to move quickly and purchase a Freezer.
The profession that most commonly purchases Freezers is the alchemist.
I have a state-certified Level 2 Alchemist's license, but pulling that out right now would be the same as shouting: I'm right here, come and pick me up quickly.
So then, I just needed to buy through the black market routes.
Fortunately, among my juniors, there was one who was well-acquainted with such illicit dealings.
Using the techniques I'd learned from that one, purchasing a single Freezer wouldn't be all that difficult.
First, I'd need to find the black market, then obtain the appropriate passphrase for that market.
I could seek out the Rogue Guild, or find the relevant contacts at the black market and slip them a little coin.
I was walking through the academy turning over all manner of ideas in my mind, when I ran into Professor Daisy.
Ever since we'd examined the Dungeon's Stele together that one time, our previously awkward relationship had improved considerably, and she'd become a regular who often came by for drinks at night.
"Manager Yujin. Do you have a moment to talk?"
"Of course. What is it?"
"You submitted a purchase order for two sets of beginner equipment that came out of the Hephaestus Dungeon excavation, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did. Has something gone wrong with that?"
"Whether it's a problem or not—the vendor contacted us today. They asked for the name of our academy."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Even though there's a policy in place that allows anonymous purchases—since whatever items an academy buys is directly tied to that academy's competitive standing—they kept pressing us for which academy we were, and it was quite the ordeal."
"Did you happen to tell them which academy we are?"
"No, I didn't do that. When I turned it around and asked why they were pressing so hard, they went silent. Strange, isn't it? What could they possibly want with our academy's name...? It was nagging at me in an odd way, so I thought I'd mention it."
"Thank you, Professor Daisy. I will not forget this kindness."
"Oh—yes?"
From deep within my heart, I bowed my head to this truly devoted educator.
Daisy never did understand why I'd thanked her, but I was genuinely grateful.
So they've come after me through that route.
—Senior. You said you want to learn Tracking?
—I can't help it. You're my senior, so I'll teach you. You know that in our Mage Tower, all information is value, and value is money, right?
—In exchange, I'll learn one spell from you, Senior. Or just give me one tool with magic in it.
—Hehe. Then it's a deal.
—The basics of Tracking is finding the residual traces of a target. All living things leave traces behind, without exception.
—For a human, you estimate what state of mind they were in when they acted, then put yourself in their shoes. Even a person trying to flee must spend money, so you trace the flow of funds, and trace the rumors.
—From 1% suspicion, it becomes 100% reality. If there's something suspicious, even if it turns out to be nothing, you have to dig to the very end. Relentlessly and ruthlessly. Hehe….
Something of mine left at the bank went up for auction, and some academy somewhere bought it. That's where you start tracing the flow of funds. I knew exactly one person capable of that level of deduction—and capable of acting on it.
"Milé. Is it you."
A Tracker skilled enough for the Master to entrust with this task.
If Milé had moved, that meant, in other words, that my Master was looking for me.
“Hmm… What do I do….?”
Seriously, what do I do….?
.
.
.
.
In the end, buying a Freezer was put on hold for the time being.
The alchemist black market is Milé's home turf. I'd be caught without a doubt.
Milé's Detection is in the realm of raw talent.
That one—even if it took time—was undoubtedly born with the gift to reach Transcendence in that particular field.
Right now she was only a 4th Circle, but she was absolutely the type to reach the 7th Circle or beyond.
And even if I caught Milé and silenced her, behind her stood my Master.
Me running from my Master right now was about on par with taking on Demociela one-on-one alone. Meaning: impossible.
—My Mastermage. What happened today? Write back. I miss you.
—How strange. It should be nighttime on the surface right now—could you perhaps be with another woman? Those little chicks of yours?
—Unforgivable. We agreed you'd only look at me. Why did you lie? No. That woman is the bad one. Those women are the ones who sullied you. Fine. Let's break that promise then. From now on, whenever those women enter the Dungeon, I'll kill them all. You belong to me. I won't give you to anyone.
Something kept being written onto the letter paper slip.
Demociela seemed to be bored, and I stared blankly as she wrote one piece of nonsense after another.
I left her to play like that for a while, and her madness only grew deeper. She was writing out how she'd torment Yuna, how she'd make Silen cry.
Even so, for another ten or so minutes, I didn't write back to her.
—…….
—Yujin. Why aren't you answering? Are you seriously not reading the letters?
—Craaawwwr—! It's a scary Succubus. A scary Succubus is going to torment Yujin's little chicks so very much!
—Yujin? I'm telling you I'll really torment them? It's real. It's really real.
Unable to watch any further, I finally picked up my pen and wrote back.
—Quiet. A person is deep in thought, don't go writing out that hollow nonsense that won't amount to anything.
—Why do you think it won't amount to anything? I am Demociela. Queen of the Dream Night, you know? Even if the Demon King scolds me, I can at least discipline two little chicks, you know? I'm extremely skilled at deception! What if even my oath is a lie?
—There's no way you'd write such a garbage script. If you were truly going to kill Yuna and Silen, it wouldn't be in that manner.
—……What manner would it be, then?
—A manner that sharpens my killing intent further. In the most exquisitely agonizing scenario—one that could drive me mad with hatred and fury—you'd go after Yuna and Silen.
—Why are you so certain?
—You're trash, a liar, and utterly unhinged—but you have aesthetics.
—…….
—Ah.
—Are you insane?
—Yujin, what do I do? I want to have you right this instant. I miss you. I feel like I'm going mad over you. I want to drive you mad.
—Will you come to the Dungeon right now? I'll be waiting on Floor 50 of Hephaestus. Quickly. Hurry.
I ignored the letter paper filling up rapidly, but the contents continued without end.
—Yujin? Is this how you abandon someone you've driven to madness?
—Terrible man. A truly terrible man. I hate you. You're the worst….
—But that's a lie. I love you…. I hate myself for it….
Watching Demociela, who had at last become the tragic heroine, I ground my back teeth.
My Master was chasing me on the surface.
That mad creature was waiting for me underground.
I was going to lose my mind.
Honestly, I wish they'd both just disappear….
.
.
.
.
The next day.
I headed back toward the Demeter Grand Dungeon with Yuna and Silen.
"Master. Were you able to get the Freezer?"
"I'm working on it."
"I see. I'm putting all my faith in you, Master!"
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to it too, Mister."
Watching Yuna's eyes light up and Silen quietly letting her anticipation show, my chest ached.
What exactly did I do wrong to deserve being threatened by a demon and a master alike?
No, there is something wrong. There is, and there's no denying it.
The wrong of being too weak.
Once I reach Transcendence, everything will be resolved. Thinking that, I felt considerably more at ease.
About on the level of: Don't have money? Then just win the lottery. Pure nonsense, but still.
"Master! Floor 5 is coming up soon! Is there anything we need to watch out for?"
After equipping their gear and storming through to Floor 4 in one relentless sweep, Yuna and Silen—who had once made a return trip as Floor 5 was said to mark the finale of the beginner adventurer tutorial—were entering Floor 5 for the first time.
"You may have learned this already, but dungeons produce a powerful enemy once every 5 floors and every 10 floors. Field monsters grow stronger and the boss grows stronger. In particular, the Demeter Dungeon is a Terrain-Shifting Grand Dungeon, which means every floor is guaranteed to feature a different terrain from the one before it. And those terrains are entirely random."
"That sounds tough!"
"Mister. The monsters and boss are stronger, and the terrain absolutely changes every time?”
“Huu…."
Yuna brushed it aside, but Silen's sigh was the more correct reaction.
"Here's an interesting thing though—Floor 5 is typically harder than Floor 6, and Floor 10 is harder than Floor 11. You could say the dungeon raises the hurdle dramatically just that once, to test whether you have what it takes to pass or not."
"A trial of the Dungeon!"
"Knowing that much is plenty. Now then—we enter Floor 5."
"Yes!"
With that, we entered Floor 5—and all of our mouths fell open.
"It's a snowfield."
"So it is. A snowfield."
A snowfield, where all of the world had been dyed pure white, awaited us.
.
.
.
.
Staring at this snowfield where, no matter where you looked, there was nothing but snow, Yuna and Silen had lost their words.
"What do I even say about this?…. I mean…. It's just…. incredibly pretty."
"Yeah. Incredibly pretty…."
The same reaction from both of them.
A snowfield of pure white that had not permitted a single footstep. A world where only I, the snow, and the sun existed—this field was impossibly beautiful.
"Don't let the beauty enchant you. A snowfield is a field that devours people. Yuna. Silen. Are you cold?"
"I'm fine! I warm up when I run!"
"I'm a little cold."
As I'd suspected. Compared to Yuna with her high physical stats, Silen, being a Rogue, was vulnerable to status effects.
"Understood. I'll make something to warm you up now, so wait a moment."
"It's okay. I can handle this much. You're being too fussy, Mister."
Silen's blunt response, as though hiding her embarrassment—any other time I'd have laughed it off with a is that so. But not this time.
"Silen. Don't underestimate a snowfield. In a place like this, one mistake and a person can simply die. Honestly, of all things, I was hoping a snowfield wouldn't appear."
"Wh—huh?"
When I spoke in earnest, Silen's face went slightly pale.
"I'll cast some buffs on you both first. Hold on, you two."
"Yes!"
There were no tea leaves, but a little cinnamon remained.
I brewed cinnamon tea and applied【Heating Point】 to it. A buff that keeps the body temperature warm for a good while. The two of them each had a cup and smiled brightly.
"It's warm. With this I can fight as much as I need to!"
"Yeah…. It's warm."
"Now. Let me give you the plan for the snowfield. First, the very first thing you need to remember is the position of the sun. There's nothing in a snowfield you can use as a landmark, so don't forget to mark each step as you go. Understood. And never roll across the ground in a fight. Never let snow get inside your shoes. Never get wet. That's the primary culprit that robs you of body heat."
Like that, for about thirty minutes, I taught them how to respond in a snowfield.
"I've got it all stored in my head!"
"I've memorized it all. Hmm…. It's not that hard. Mister really does fuss too much."
The two of them spoke confidently, and after checking their equipment, we headed out into the field.
Right.
These two were talents I personally recognized—rookies too promising to be left behind at Demeter Academy.
A snowfield like this—they'd surely push through it just fine.
I believe in these two.
"Alright. Let's go."
And so we set out to survey Floor 5—and approximately four hours passed.
In that time we fought five battles, and the sun had fallen as evening arrived.
Our results were as follows.
"Silen…. Get it together. If you lose consciousness…. you'll die. Open your eyes quickly!"
"Ugh…. I'm not asleep…. I'm okay…. Is this where I die…?"
Midway through, a blizzard had struck, soaking them head to toe.
The path to the Floor 4 entrance was lost. The path to the Boss Room was lost.
Silen was on the verge of losing consciousness due to low stamina and status effects, and Yuna was also running on empty from holding Silen up.
Magnificently and thoroughly stranded.
"Master…. I'm sorry…."
"Sorry. Mister…."
Watching the two of them collapse like that, a sigh escaped me before I could stop it.
Of course, snow or no snow, there was absolutely no chance of these two dying. Who did they think I was, to let them come to harm?
Crunch. Crunch.
Thud…. Thud.
Monsters appeared in the distance.
Floor 5's field monsters were two types, unlike Floor 4.
One was a plant-type monster—an Ice Ent, called so for resembling a tree of ice. The other was a floating aquatic monster shaped like a goldfish with a sharp ice-tipped snout—a Frozen Fish.
Either was a troublesome opponent, and neither was one I particularly wanted to deal with.
As Yujin Kalintz, Culinary Researcher, the correct move would be to not engage and simply secure the girls and withdraw—but in this cold, doing that might get them sick.
My head was already throbbing from two Transcendents—my Master and Demociela—bearing down on me from two directions, and the last thing I wanted to see was my only source of healing falling ill.
For just a moment I considered the danger of being discovered by my Master—but that thought vanished in an instant.
"Open."
The range of space my mana governs, as a mage, is approximately 300 meters.
All beings that enter this range are placed within my mana's sphere of influence.
Within it, nearly everything related to space is within my capacity. I can cut space and I can join it back together, and I can twist it as well.
Naturally, this too was possible.
Wheeeee—!
Crackle-fwoosh!!
I snapped my fingers—and flames ignited along the boundary of the 300-meter space. The fire carved a path and soon became a single ring. The burning path rose like a wall, and everything inside it began slowly melting away.
The cozy snowfield revealed brown earth beneath, and water rose over it before evaporating away to nothing.
Using spatial magic, I isolated Silen and Yuna so they wouldn't be harmed, and set fire to everything else. With a crackling sound, an Ice Ent ignited. Its branches began burning from the tips—the creature thrashed but ultimately couldn't hold out, and fell to cinders right down to its trunk. The Frozen Fish began melting from the snout first, and finally dropped to the ground below.
I burned through every inch of that space, then slowly walked the path where warmth still lingered.
"Well now."
With the situation settled, I rolled my shoulders without thinking.
If I hadn't been careful, Demociela might have noticed—and yet here I'd gone and done it.
Even so, I had no regrets.
More than that—I was worried whether these two apprentices of mine might have caught a cold.
I looked at the faces of Silen and Yuna, isolated in the pocket of space untouched by the heat—and they were fast asleep, breathing softly.
"Sleeping without a care in the world. Ha. Right. Kids are at their best when they eat well and sleep well."
The relief of the children being safe eclipsed any anxiety from using that magic.