The Celsius princess riding the ice giant lightly clapped her hands at my answer. It wasn't a difficult answer, and she too had expected me to guess it.
"Correct. This child's name is Olaf. A tiny snowman left behind by my distant ancestor before he died."
Hearing that, I looked at the ice giant again.
A lower body much larger compared to its upper body. Black pebbles were embedded in its body like buttons, and branches shaped like fingernails dangled from its fingertips. The window where Elsia appeared was the giant's mouth, and above it, pitch-black obsidian served as round eyes.
It had a huge and fearsome appearance, but looking closely, the features worthy of being called a snowman still remained.
"It would have been much cuter if it were small. It's too big, so it's just scary."
"My. Do you not see Olaf's cuteness? Well, the aesthetic sense of commoners would be about that much."
It's not a matter of aesthetic sense. It's trying to smash me down with rugged ice.
"Small talk ends here. The second question."
The ice giant raised its arm again. I flinched as I looked at the shattered ground. It missed earlier, but that was because Elsia twisted its direction at the last moment.
"The time limit is before the fist hits the ground. If you guess the answer, that's when Olaf tightens his fist... Is that the rule?"
Boom. Right after that, the ice giant's fist slammed down quite a distance away. A roar cold enough to send shivers down my spine echoed through the ice.
"Correct. It wasn't the question I asked, but I'll count it as correct. Now, is it time for the third question?"
...It seems she has no intention of ending it with just one or two questions.
"Relics left behind by a Sorcerer before their death contain a portion of the power of their Unique Sorcery. What is the power of this child... Olaf?"
How would I know that? I have telepathy, but a relic is an object. I can't read an object's thoughts! At best, I can only read people's thoughts.
Ah, right. Instead of an object, I just need to read a person's thoughts. Looking at the giant's gradually approaching fist, I cried out desperately.
"Snowball rolling?"
Boom. It was the correct answer again. The ice giant's fist fell a bit closer than before.
"Correct. Did the hint help a lot?"
"Seeing the branches and buttons, the statement that it's a small snowman wouldn't be a lie, and if so, that ice giant must have 'grown' bigger, right? Just like making a snowman by rolling a snowball. Probably, the true power of that relic is the ability to absorb crystals of the same kind and turn them into larger crystals."
The Celsius territory overflows with warm ice. Even a small snowman can absorb the surrounding snow and ice to become a giant.
That ice giant... the way the snowman moves is also achieved by repeatedly disassembling and combining while only maintaining the form of a 'snowman'.
"Not bad. Then the next question."
Another question? I'd play along if it were reasonable, but there are a bit too many questions.
"Excuse me, but could I ask just one thing?"
The ice giant's hand stopped abruptly.
"What is it? Since you answered well so far, I'll give you the right to ask a question just this once."
"No, even if it's a question... you have to ask something I wouldn't know for it to be a question. Right now it's just small talk. Is this the extent of your level?"
I had a slight intention to provoke her, but it was also my true feeling. Elsia was beating around the bush, leaving out the core points as if watching for an opening. If this is called a noble way of speaking, I have nothing to say. My time is also precious.
I wonder how that arrogant young lady would react to my answer.
"Hmm. You're full of confidence. It was consideration for you."
Elsia simply laughed off my provocation.
"I thought context was necessary for the questions, but since you insist on refusing, let's get straight to the point. Now, the final question."
Elsia tapped the windowsill. The ice giant slowly clasped its hands together. Scraps of ice and snow floated up on their own and wrapped around its fists. In an instant, the ice giant's fists grew to a size comparable to the Ice Castle.
"What established the Rules in this barren and forsaken land that even the sun turned away from, and still shares grace with the commoners to this day?"
Looking at the giant's fist falling as the question ended, I recalled the time I looked down on this land from the Floating Castle.
Areas neatly cut into squares as if someone had tailored them. Magical Noble Families at the center of each. And the 'outlier' zones outside the squares of land, where the Rules did not reach.
And the Celsius territory's independent, yet clearly defined 'Rule'.
How are the Rules maintained? By what method are the Rules created by humans causing anomalous phenomena in this land?
The answer is right before my eyes.
"Kelvin Celsius, the first Head of the House."
Elsia's smile faded, and the falling ice fist didn't move an inch. That means it's the wrong answer. For now, that is.
I muttered softly, intentionally quiet enough to be barely heard.
"...His relic."
Kuwuuuung.
The ice boulder struck down next to me, and a massive shockwave engulfed me.
Mist billowed from the shattered ice boulder. Shadows wavered in the world that became so dense I couldn't see an inch ahead.
The ice giant lowered its arm. Elsia Celsius walked down it lightly as if it were stairs. She asked with a scowl.
"Unexpected. That's the correct answer."
"Is it to the extent that it's unexpected for me to get the right answer?"
"The opposite. For someone who deduced that far, why are you questioning this structure?"
Elsia lightly waved her gloved hand. Celsius and Pascal—by creating a simple difference in atmospheric pressure, she naturally scattered the ice fog. As the fog cleared like that, Elsia Celsius made her appearance.
As expected of sisters, she resembled the Blue Tower Master a lot. However, she exuded a completely contrasting atmosphere. Elegant and soft gestures, long and slender hair as if woven from crystal thread, and a feminine one-piece dress made her the antithesis of the Blue Tower Master in many ways.
"Would you answer what the ancestor's Unique Sorcery might be?"
There is a clue. I said without any particular hesitation.
"The Rule of this territory. The anomalies and phases of the freezing and boiling points, right?"
Building a castle with unmelting ice, and the sewage pipes circulating and flowing inside and out maintain the temperature across this land. The cold land was warmly frozen by the Rule created by a single human, harboring warmth.
The Celsius territory developed from the very beginning by utilizing that anomalous phenomenon. Naturally, that Rule must have been born at the same time as the Celsius territory.
Elsia nodded.
"My ancestor, who wandered the earth, awakened to magic and settled here. His Unique Sorcery was the power to freely traverse phases, trapping and releasing heat. Thanks to my ancestor's sacrifice and effort, warmth took root in this cold and barren land. The Celsius territory became the most prosperous city in this wilderness."
Elsia swirled the fluttering ice powder to mold a city. A city huddled together like penguins around the towering Ice Castle. The Celsius territory.
Elsia, who was quietly looking down at the city inside the snow globe, flicked the Ice Castle with her finger.
"However, if the ancestor were to pass away, it was clear that the territory he painstakingly cultivated would become a land where humans roamed like beasts once again."
The Ice Castle melted, and the villages around it were trapped in the driving blizzard. A city maintained by a great person's magic is doomed to perish with the great person's death.
"The ancestor, worrying about the future, made a solemn decision before his death. That even if this body dies, the magic will remain."
"You left a relic behind?"
The collapsing Ice Castle rose again. No, it became more splendid and prosperous than before. The relic does not rest, nor does it sleep. With power fueling power, the city became even more prosperous.
"Unique Sorcery changes the rules of the world itself, but a relic merely reproduces one of his abilities. Magic power is needed to use the relic... Therefore, we Celsius train magicians to protect the family and the relic, maintaining the Rule of this territory."
A genius at the origin of magic and his relic. That was the reason the unique order of Magical Noble Families and Rules came into being. To survive in the cold and harsh land of the north, an order that did not exist in the world was created.
...Up to here, is what I have learned.
"Do you now understand why the territory cannot accept Dark Magic?"
And from here on, is what I will learn. Elsia reprimanded me with a cold attitude.
"Standardized Magic? Not bad. It looks good for commoners who don't know how to use their heads to learn with their bodies. It will be useful in some underdeveloped country."
"...People from that underdeveloped country you speak of would feel bad."
Hilde, who is hiding, is probably contemplating slapping the back of my head with a displeased expression. Walls have ears, after all.
"However, Dark Magic is an extremely personal power. That magic power is hard to use unless it's the person themselves. Among Dark Magicians, Sorcerers who have mastered a Unique Sorcery rarely appear. In a way, Dark Magic itself is a Unique Sorcery."
The physical body has unique properties. What is medicine to someone can be poison to another, and even when seeing the same thing, it is perceived differently depending on one's life experiences or knowledge.
Therefore, Dark Magicians who use their physical bodies cannot be understood by anyone else, nor can they receive understanding.
A black shadow fell over the model Elsia had created.
"Dark Magicians cannot contribute to the Celsius relic. Their magic power will eat away at this territory. If the commoners don't even make the effort to learn White Magic, the territory will eventually be buried in cold and pain and disappear."
The black shadow eroded the Ice Castle from the bottom up. The Ice Castle, which had been maintained by White Magic, was soon engulfed in darkness and disappeared.
Having finished her magic, Elsia reprimanded my foolishness.
"Do you now realize how foolish your empty ideals were?"
The magicians of the Sorcerer Federation are not simply a selfish group of those in power. If power were that precious, they wouldn't share the opportunity with the commoners of the border academies either. Rather, they would try to hide and monopolize it.
However, for something like that, they are not actively trying to spread it. They maintain a structure where a talented minority holds greater power.
The reason is because of the relics.
Because relics are needed to establish Rules, White Magic Power is needed to maintain Rules, and with those Rules, they can survive.
Well. Alright. Now I know everything I need to know.
Since I understand the background, now.
"There is one thing I want to ask."
I must ask how it will change. We can't live like this forever.
"Your younger sister. I mean, does the Blue Tower Master share the same opinion?"
Elsia's expression changed. Unlike when she pitied me and asked questions, now her face only showed pure displeasure.
"...Give me a chance to explain why you're mentioning that child here."
"A relic isn't a Magic God, is it? You said it will eventually wear out and disappear. The end will come. Are you prepared for that day?"
The Unique Sorcery of a Magic God is inscribed into the world. Therefore, a Magic God's relic remains with powerful strength for eternity.
But what if it's an ordinary relic?
A relic is also an object. Although it contains mystical power, it does not have the ability to protect itself. It easily gets damaged or weathered, often losing its function.
I pointed that out, and
"Hmm... So you were that kind of person? I judged you to be an idealist, but I was wrong. It can't be helped. Even I, who am rational and reasonable, cannot understand the thoughts of a madman."
Elsia, who sneered, revealed her hostility toward me.
"It's no problem."
Elsia lightly waved her hand. The thick blizzard that filled the surroundings cleared in an instant. Elsia climbed onto the ice giant and spun her body around.
"Because the relic is not just one."
In the Ice Castle revealed like that, countless people had gathered.
Countless ice sculptures are glaring at me. Starting with the self-proclaimed snowman, the ice giant, a bird with sparkling crystal wings, and a flame shining inside a transparent lamp.
Relics with different powers, and the 'Celsius' who possessed them surrounded me.