235 - - Art. 235 Ice in the Ice Room

"So this is the town of Casgar.

We had been driving from the village of Isla and had reached the town of Casgar, the second pilgrimage site.

It was late at night and the town gates were already closed.

"That was close. Now we will have to camp in front of the gate tonight and wait for the gate to open tomorrow morning.

"Why don't you ask the gatekeeper to open it?　You can see people on that turret over there, can't you?"

Tracy nodded her head at Liliela's words, probably unfamiliar with traveling.

"Avoid bandits and criminals in disguise. The darkness makes it hard to see their faces even by torchlight, so we don't want criminals to enter the town in case they do. There have been cases where bandits who managed to get inside opened the gates from the inside, and the approaching bandits under the cover of night entered the town at once and wreaked havoc."

"What?　That's scary. ......"

You must have imagined the scene. Tracy's face turns blue.

"There's a chance they might let us in as an emergency evacuation if we're being chased by a pack of demons, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

So we decided to camp out until dawn.

"We've deployed warding magic, so you won't have to worry about being attacked as long as you're in here," he said.

After deploying the warding magic to an area where everyone can sleep comfortably, Gyro and the others set up tents inside the warding.

"All right, let's get some sleep!

"""""""Goodnight""""""""

The first time I saw a man in the middle of the night, I thought I'd seen him.

The next morning, we are eating breakfast and waiting for the gates to open, and when they do, we enter the town.

Then we all split up to look for people in trouble!

""""""Oh!!!"""""""

"Alright!　This time I can help you!"

A motivated Tracy runs off with the others.

The only thing that bothers me is that the other participants were not by the gate last night.

That means that the participants who were ahead of us were inside the town last night.

"So we should assume that the easy part has already been taken care of.

If so, there is a strong possibility that only troublesome cases are left. This is not good.

"But if that's all that's left, then we have to do it. Excuse me!

I found a townsperson coming out of his house and immediately went to ask him if he needed any help.

I asked him if he was in trouble.

"Huh?　Brother, sister?

"Le, Laxi?"

The people of the town had already taken me to the place where I had arrived.

Not only Gyro and Liliela .......

""""""" what?　What are you all doing here? """""""

Yes, everyone who had just split up was there together.

"Excuse me, what is this?"

When I asked the townspeople who showed me around what was going on, they began to tell me the situation with a look of deep distress on their faces.

"Actually, the ice in the town's icehouse is melting, and we're having trouble.

"The ice in the icehouse is melting?"

An icehouse is a space dug in a cave or underground where ice and snow are stored to create a cool space even in summer and to store food.

"Then why not just make ice with ice magic?"

Mina, you are right, why don't we just use magic to make ice?

There are probably people who can use ice magic in a town this size, and it is not uncommon for traveling adventurers to use magic to make some extra money.

"As you say, we asked someone who can use ice magic to make new ice in the icehouse for us. But ......"

The townspeople turn their attention to the entrance of the icehouse.

"I think it would be better for you to see it in person. Please follow me."

We followed his lead and entered the ice house.

The inside of the room was different from what we had expected.

It was indeed filled with ingredients and medicinal herbs, but the ice chamber was not what we had expected. ......

"Is most of the ice melted?"

"And it seems a little hot ...... somehow."

Yes, there was almost no ice in the ice chamber, and the air was only a little cooler than on the ground.

"As you can see, for some reason it felt very hot and still in the ice chamber. And the ice keeps melting, no matter how much ice you make.

Indeed, the few remaining cubes of ice were melting rapidly, as if they had been exposed to the sun.

"If the ice in the icehouse melts, the harvested food cannot be stored for a long time. If that happens, we will have to secure new ingredients, which will cost extra money ......."

Certainly, there will be little preservation effect at these temperatures.

"The most important thing is that we can't preserve the medicinal herbs. In this town, precious medicinal herbs collected in winter are an important source of income, but they are sensitive to heat. So if the ice house becomes unusable, the medicinal herbs will be ruined and we won't be able to make medicines until winter!

The townspeople sigh, looking deeply troubled.　

"That's certainly not good. The shortage of medicinal herbs is not only a matter of life and death for us adventurers, but for the whole country.

Liliela is right.

Not only the fighters, but also the townspeople need medicinal herbs.

Not only for injuries, but also for the treatment of the sick.

Above all, many medicinal herbs need delicate preservation.

There were always troublesome herbs that needed to be kept at the same temperature as their habitat, properly nourished and moistened, and meticulously stored so as not to irritate them.

"That's why I asked someone who could use ice magic to make new ice for me, but as you can see, the ice started melting immediately and soon it was gone. The wizards' magic power ran out very quickly because the ice melted as soon as it was made. At this rate, the ice will melt completely and the ice house will be ruined!

The townspeople drooped down with exhausted faces as I shouted in a strained voice.

Well, this looks worse than I expected. We've got to do something soon.

"Um, this hasn't happened before, has it?"

While I was thinking about this, Mr. Norbu was checking with the townspeople to see if they had experienced similar problems in the past.

"Yes, it's normal for the ice to melt, but it was still gradual enough to get us through the summer. Even in the hottest of summers, we could usually get through it by making ice with magic. It's only in the last week or two that it's become like this.

I see, so nothing like that has happened before, where the ice suddenly starts melting.

"That means that something happened recently that caused the ice to start melting.

Lilieira, who was also listening to the townspeople, voiced her suspicion that there might be a reason for this phenomenon.

"Is someone melting the ice, or is it caused by demons ......?"

"But I have no idea who is doing it or how. The entrance to the ice house is guarded by townspeople, and even if it is the work of demons, it's been so peaceful recently that no demons have been seen approaching the town."

So there are no suspects.

Well, this is going to be a long time coming.

"Then, since we don't know when the problem will be solved, it would be better to divide the group into two groups, one for searching and the other for making ice with magic.

While I was thinking about this, Liliela suggested that we need to split up the party.

"Yes, that's right. Then I, the wizard, should stay.

At Liliela's suggestion, Mina declares that she will stay behind to make ice.

"I'm good at ice magic too, so I'll stay with you. We need alternates, don't we?"

"Yes, I do. Then we'll stay, and you and Le, Laxi and the rest of the team can go to ...... to find out what happened."

No, I mean... ......

"Um~ Why don't you just make ice that won't melt without going to the trouble of staying behind?"

""Ice that doesn't melt?""

What?　What do you mean?　He nods his head as if to say, "I'm sorry, I don't understand.

"Yes, if we use permanent freezing magic, we won't have to worry about ice anymore.

With that I look around the ice room and find the right space, then I start the magic from there.

Eternal Frozen!

Then, several small blocks of ice are created in the air in the designated space, and they grow bigger and bigger in no time.

"Wow, it's cold!

Gyro-kun shivers involuntarily as he is exposed to the cold air of the growing ice.

The ice grows into a huge block of ice, and lands with a thud on the ground.

"Okay, it's done!"

"Is this ...... the ice that won't melt?"

Mina gazed at the human-sized block of ice that had been created.

"It looks just like regular ice. ...... Hmm?　Wait, what's this magic?　Isn't this ice ...... filled with tremendous magical power?"

Mina, you have noticed the mechanism of ice.

Yes, there is a core of magic power in this magically created ice. And the nucleus absorbs the surrounding magic power to maintain the cold air, so it will keep freezing as long as the magic is not cancelled.

Yes, this is Eternal Frozen, a magic that does not require refrigeration tools.

You can use it on the ice in the icehouse like this, or you can put something inside and freeze it.

"Amazing!　I didn't know such magic existed, ice that doesn't melt!"

The townspeople cheer when they see the ice created by Eternal Frozen.

"Wow, this is the kind of magic that people who want to have an ice room are drooling over.

Liliela, who has an aptitude for ice magic, was also interested and looked at the ice blocks that had been created.

"It's a simple magic, anyone can use it.

"This delicate magic circulating through the ice ...... doesn't seem easy at all ......."

No, no, it's easy once you get the hang of it. Everyone in my village can use it.

"No, that's only in Le Laxi's village!"

I don't think so.

"Well, now that the ice problem is solved, all we have to do is to find out the cause of the problem!

"""""Oh!!!"""""

With no more regrets, we left the ice room to search for the mastermind behind the incident.

"...... Well, haven't we already solved the problem at this point?"

Huh?　Mina-san doesn't follow you?

"Mina-san, what's wrong?

"Nothing, nothing, I'm coming!"

Now, let's find out what's bothering the townspeople!