---

Joachim, who had disappeared with an empty carriage, soon reappeared before us.

On this second visit, unlike the first, he did not exude a relaxed demeanor. With a red face, he held in one hand a powerful mass of magic capable of tossing aside Count Kraus’s Lord Castle, but the moment he saw Elena beside me, his face reverted to the previous calm.

However, that magical mass remained firmly in his grip.

Seeing Joachim unable to express his anger in front of Elena, my father chuckled humorously. At that, Joachim seemingly could not contain himself and shouted loudly at my father.

“Truly a great magician! To travel between far-off Merohim and Sarham in such a short time is impressive!”

“Arthur!!! How dare you make a fool of me?!!!”

“Who was it that acted like a clown? Why are you taking it out on the innocent? Is it my fault that you suddenly vanished with the carriage?”

Watching my father tease his long-time friend was not an easy sight for me as his son. Honestly, my real concern was when Joachim would hurl that magical mass at my father.

That said, I didn’t think it would be lethal to my father, but who knows if, by mistake, that thing might crash into the castle behind us?

Even if Duke Joachim was a brilliant magician, it was natural to worry about having such a thing in front of us.

Yet, the involved parties appeared utterly unconcerned. It seemed they were both quite confident in their skills, but standing by as an onlooker was unbearably unsettling.

Thus, I quietly placed my hand on the hilt of the sword at my waist, preparing to deflect it should he throw it at my father, anxiously waiting for him to make a move.

Fortunately, Joachim did not throw that mass toward my father.

As a long-time friend, Joachim knew full well that such a move wouldn’t hurt my father in the slightest.

If he had been serious, he would have unleashed higher-tier magic as soon as he entered; that big chunk of magic was merely a show of how angered he felt.

Eventually, Joachim seemed to give up; he dispersed the magical mass in his hand and stopped trying to talk to my father.

His behavior was practically a declaration of defeat, and my father turned to me with a victorious expression, but I couldn’t muster any words in response.

This display from my father was not in the least unfamiliar to me; it was just his usual self, yet with Joachim right in front of him, it was tough to respond normally with a smile and encouragement.

He sighed, gazed at me and Elena, then abruptly placed a hand on my shoulder and said,

“Ha… so, where’s my carriage?”

“You just sent it all away a moment ago.”

“Right. The servants… they were Hailey and Ken who were on the carriage, so they’re no longer needed. This truly is the end, unless the kids standing before me are the transformed servants you altered with your magic.”

“…Have you maybe lost your touch? The great magician Joachim Edelweiss wouldn’t fail to see through such a trivial trick.”

“I just thought I might check. Could it be that I wouldn’t even recognize my own daughter?”

Saying this, Joachim looked warmly at Elena, then turned to me with a strange expression and lightly patted my shoulder.

I couldn’t decipher what that expression meant, but at the very least, it was clear he did not regard me unfavorably.

For such a ridiculous father, I considered that his level of praise was quite generous. After all, I hadn’t heard him exclaim, “I can’t hand my daughter over to someone like you!”

Joachim should have met Damian long ago in the original work.

Had it happened, no matter how cunning Damian might be, he could never have engaged to Elena, as that betrayal would have deeply hurt Joachim, who trusted him with his daughter.

Of course, I had no intention of sullying my family’s name or causing him that sense of betrayal.

Just as he did when he first disappeared with the carriage, Joachim tapped his staff once on the ground. Instantly, the same magical circles unfolded around us, and a white light began enveloping the three of us—Joachim, Elena, and me.

In no time, the massive flow of magic brushed over my entire body, filling my vision with brilliant white light.

Though it lasted but a fleeting moment, I could feel the motion of space within my body, and unexpectedly, I began to feel exhilarated by that bizarre sensation.

Many novels describe teleportation as causing nausea in first-timers, yet I could distinctly differentiate front from back, up from down, in a world filled solely with white, perhaps due to my body transcending human limits.

Or perhaps my perspective shaped that experience?

I couldn’t ponder that too long.

The instant was truly brief; the light that obscured my vision vanished, and the world that came into view was no longer Count Kraus’s Lord Castle.

A beautiful white castle stood tall behind me, with a tower that revealed to me that I had arrived at Merohim.

“Welcome to my domain, Merohim. Damian Kraus.”

With Joachim’s words, a delicate snowflake descended from the sky, landing softly on my nose.

*

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in pure admiration at the scenery unfolding outside the window.

The snow-laden landscape spread across the city was truly breathtaking, and it wouldn’t suffice to describe it as merely beautiful. While Sarham experiences snowfall in winter, it lacks the same feel this place possesses.

Now that spring had begun to warm up a bit, seeing it like this made me wonder how much snow would actually gather in winter.

I imagined it might pile up enough to create mountains, but I’ve heard that the Dawn’s Tower manages it all.

If this were not the Edelweiss but the Kraus, surely knights would have emerged for snow removal. Just the thought of it was terrifying.

I was grateful that Kraus was located in the south.

Beyond the city walls lay mountains, their peaks capped with eternal snow, raising the question of whether life could even exist on such towering heights.

The Runfroud Mountain Range that brushes Sarham has at least some forests and trees, offering a hint of life, but those mountains looked to be nothing more than a stark, featureless white canvas.

Yet, I knew better.

The biting winds sweeping down from the mountaintop could tear through flesh, freezing anything alive in its original form, but life still thrived in those harsh conditions.

In the untouched heights, a dragon resided.

“I won’t be meeting it any time soon, but just thinking that it’s nearby feels rather… peculiar.”

The dragon living up there was no evil beast. Though it shares the arrogance and immense power common to dragons in fantasy, it is wise and exists to protect the world from malevolence—essentially a force of good.

Naturally, I knew of that dragon because it appeared in the story.

It plays a significant role as the mentor to Elena in the original work.

That said, encounters with the dragon and Elena wouldn’t happen for another five or six years, so I had no immediate worries. Perhaps it was currently enjoying a nap.

If I could stay by her side until then, maybe I’d have a chance to meet it, but I didn’t want to dwell too much on that thought.

I was aware that repeatedly imagining a murky future utilizing knowledge from the original work wasn’t a healthy practice.

However, even in trying to dismiss such thoughts, my interest in dragons lingered—those creatures were inherently fascinating.

“Considering the Kraus name is steeped in dragon legends, hmm… I wonder what it’d be like to see a dragon in person.”

While I had encountered monstrous beings like those in this world before possessing the body, I had never laid eyes on a being resembling a dragon. The notorious Runfroud Mountain Range never hosted such creatures either.

Sarham itself had been a locale unwelcoming to dragon kinds, rumored to be due to legends surrounding it. Still, I’d heard that wyverns or drakes occasionally roam Merohim. If I were fortunate, perhaps I’d set eyes on my very first dragon-like creature since arriving here.

As I marveled at the snowy scene, my heart began to pound for an entirely different reason when I heard a knock on my door.

I immediately approached to open it, but hesitated once I stood before it.

The reason was that my expectation of it being either Elena or Ken was mistaken; it was a completely different person, and I needed to consider why he was knocking at my door.

In the end, unable to leave him waiting outside, I opened the door. He stepped inside, taking a seat in the provided chair, then glanced at the open window and asked,

“Were you enjoying the scenery outside?”

“Yes. The view is quite different and magnificent compared to Sarham.”

The person who had been knocking was none other than Duke Joachim Edelweiss, Elena’s father.

As I sat down, I hoped he was not a petty man seeking to blame his son for my father’s actions.

 

---