READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 44
Chapter: 44
“Hot… so hot…”
“……..”
“Rize, I want ice sh…”
“No, you can’t.”
“……..”
This is really hell.
I felt like I was dying from the heat.
I was already someone who couldn’t handle the heat very well, and now there was even a ban on ice shavings.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly a ban, just a restriction… but it felt like the same thing.
I had already exhausted my allowance by having it five times a week.
“Rize… really can’t I have any?”
“The lady expressly said so.”
“…But Rize, you’re my personal maid.”
“No.”
“Rize.”
“No.”
“………”
I could only glare at Rize.
She was definitely my personal maid, but when did she get so close to Rosalyn?
No, it wasn’t that they got close… but when did they start holding hands like that?
“I didn’t know Rize would team up with my mother like this.”
“You’ve already had enough, young lady.”
“…But it’s only about ten times a week.”
“Young lady.”
“…Alright, fine.”
There was nothing I could do.
In this sweltering summer, I could only sit still and endure the heat.
I had already exhausted my allowance five times yesterday, and there were still four days left in the week.
What… am I supposed to do?
“…I’ll go to class.”
“Yes, understood.”
So, enduring the oppressive heat, I slowly left the room.
…Even if it’s hot, I still have to attend Ashley’s class.
I wanted to go out and eat ice shavings, but since Rize followed me every time I went out…
I really couldn’t sneak out to eat.
It’s really… sad.
“…Teacher, I’m here.”
Anyway, I came to attend Ashley’s class.
As always, it wasn’t really a class; I just came to chat with a perky Ashley.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yes, teacher. It’s so hot outside; I hope you’ve been well.”
“Is it hot?”
“…Huh?”
“My room isn’t hot.”
“Wait… what?”
In that moment, I didn’t understand what Ashley meant, but she was right.
Ashley’s room was cool, unlike the rest of the mansion, including the corridor.
It was so naturally cool that I didn’t even realize it at first.
I had entered, thinking it would be hot, and I was already so exhausted from the heat that I didn’t notice right away.
“Why… is it cool?”
“Because it’s cool? You can’t sleep if it’s hot, right?”
“That’s true…?”
No, that wasn’t the question.
Hearing such a fundamental answer made me realize how right it was.
Uh… she’s not wrong.
“I didn’t mean it like that… How did you do it? What kind of magic…?”
I genuinely couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
I also use magic to cool down in the summer, but I’ve never been able to create such a naturally cool room like this.
“It doesn’t look like there’s a magic circle, and it doesn’t seem like regular magic. What kind of magic are you using?”
“Oh, that story?”
“Yeah. I’ve been hot lately, so I really want to know what kind of magic it is.”
“Hmm… then come over here for a sec.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but I sat down anyway.
Well, I usually sat like this while attending class, so it wasn’t too weird, but today felt slightly different.
Ashley, who normally sat across from me, was sitting next to me today…?
Sometimes she would sit next to me, but…
“…?”
“First, the magic circle goes like this…”
“…Oh, okay.”
Ashley, sitting next to me, started moving her hands around and brought a magic circle over to the desk.
It was clear that Ashley was skilled with magic.
She was good enough to hide the magic circle from view completely.
When I used magic, even if it wasn’t at a low level, the magic circle would always be visible.
“Basically, the magic I’m using now overlaps several intermediate spells, but fundamentally, I’m using a low-level ice spell as a base, and then gradually adding the others…”
Ashley began separating the magic circles and slowly explaining the magic to me.
It was definitely… difficult.
I considered myself somewhat talented in magic, and Ashley had acknowledged that, but her lesson today was a bit more challenging.
It seemed like it would have been easier to just learn a single high-level spell.
Even though it was based on low-level and intermediate magic, it was quite a complex lesson.
“Of course, layering spells on top of each other and applying them is quite difficult, so just take it slow. Putting the intermediate magic circle on top of the ice magic circle is…”
Still, I quietly listened to the lesson.
It was a separate matter that it was difficult and hard to understand, but I was genuinely interested in the magic that Ashley was using.
It was basically magic similar to air conditioning!
It was a spell that could help me endure this damn hot summer, so I couldn’t not listen.
“So, teacher, can you layer any magic like this?”
“Of course not. Basically, opposing properties of magic are really hard to layer. You can think about layering them in your head, but implementing the magic circles in reality presents a lot of issues.”
“Hmm…”
This lesson felt very different from usual.
Usually, I only asked about higher-level spells or those in magic textbooks.
“So, it would be problematic to layer something like raindrop and fire, right?”
“Exactly. You’re understanding it well. Generally, spells that are completely opposing are problematic.”
Ashley praised me and started to sway her body slowly.
Ashley had a habit of swaying her body gently and smiling when she felt happy during class.
“Hehe…”
Unlike her usually sleepy self, when she was fully awake, she could smile like this.
“Teacher, but this seems a bit… too difficult for me.”
“Really…? Well, layering magic is basically as hard as high-level spells. It’s not something used frequently in daily situations, and layering is more commonly used in magic tools.”
“But with magic tools, you don’t need to think about the magic like people do.”
“Right, with magic tools, you just draw each magic circle, and that’s it.”
I wasn’t completely following along, but Ashley looked like she understood, so maybe it wasn’t too bad after all.
Hmm… But Ashley had also been someone I had known for a long time.
I had met her after meeting Karen when I was eight, and it had been quite a while since then.
“This is a spell I developed a while ago when it was so hot that sleeping was hard, but now I have a chance to teach it to someone else.”
“…You created this spell, teacher?”
“Yep, I started researching because it was so hot last year, but summer is just not coming… Camelia?”
“…Teacher.”
“Yeah?”
I had been pondering a bit.
After all, Ashley didn’t enjoy being out and preferred to relax comfortably indoors.
However, I couldn’t just leave someone as talented, beautiful, and capable of creating air conditioning magic to lay around at home.
“We’re going on a trip.”
I blurted that out while looking at Ashley.
“…Huh?”
“I’m planning to go on a trip with friends soon for some fun in the sun. I hope you’ll come with us.”
“…That’s sudden…?”
I knew it was sudden.
But still, there was no option now to decide against bringing Ashley.
I was thinking of heading to a mountain a little away from the south, and with this kind of magic, we could surely enjoy a more pleasant experience in the mountains.
Not just air conditioning, but also more diverse and useful comforts… Just imagining that made me excited about the prospect of our trip.
“What do you think?”
“Wouldn’t I have trouble sleeping if I go…?”
“Nope. It’s not like we’re going to do something; we just plan to relax. The beach sounds nice, but the sun is too strong and it’s crowded. I was thinking we’d just relax in the mountains all day.”
“Really…?”
After saying we’d just relax all day, I could tell Ashley’s expression changed to one of interest.
As expected… that’s so like Ashley.
“What do you think?”
“Mountains…?”
“Isn’t it great? It’ll be quiet compared to the busy city, and since there are trees and nature, the quality of mana in the air will surely be good.”
“That… sounds good…”
And just like that, the time for class was starting to wrap up.
As I chatted about magic, it felt like the time had suddenly flown by.
So naturally, Ashley started to get a bit sleepy… when that moment came, she was surprisingly easy to handle.
“Then, the temperature shouldn’t be high, and in a comfortably warm, open space, how would you feel about sleeping…?”
“Oh…”
“If you could sleep in such a place, how would that be?”
“I… find it quite… interesting…”
Ashley’s eyes were slowly closing.
Her head started to bob forward and side to side.
Hearing that kind of talk wasn’t making her grow more alert; on the contrary, she was gently swaying more.
“Then, would you like to come with us, Teacher?”
“Hmm, maybe…”
“I’m planning to travel in a luxury carriage so you can sleep comfortably during the journey.”
“Oh… that sounds nice… I’m… cold… zzz…”
With that, Ashley drifted off to sleep.
Resting her head on my shoulder.
Ah… she’s so easy.
Except for class time, dealing with Ashley outside of that was just… so easy.
“……..”
I did want to brag about having gotten the air conditioning magic, but…
It felt wrong saying that with Ashley right next to me.
I decided to wait until we got back to the room before mentioning it.
“…Ah.”
Thinking about it, I realized I needed to ask her to install the same air conditioning magic in my room.
“…Sigh…”
…Ashley was already asleep, and waking her up would be really tough.
Even if I woke her, she wouldn’t easily agree to do anything annoying… so now, there was only one thing to do.
I just had to wait until the next magic class.
“…This is sad.”
I mean, going on a trip would definitely be nice and relaxing, but I had to endure this heat for a few more days now.
I might have done something foolish, but it still felt a bit sad.