As we descended along the mountainside, the path grew even more treacherous than the one we had taken up.
Sheer rocky cliffs like cut stone were everywhere, and the ground was unstable; one wrong step and it would be all too easy to slip.
If we had prepared ourselves and jumped down, that would be one thing, but if we suddenly fell off a cliff, we would still be gravely injured, so we advanced cautiously.
At times we passed through narrow cracks between rocks, and at times we used trees as footholds to climb up and down the ground. Then, beyond the ridge on the other side, I saw a very faint ripple of mana.
“So you were still there after all.”
I had wondered what I would do if she had gone off somewhere far away in the meantime, so this was a relief.
Then again, considering she had lived here all those long years, there was no reason anything would have changed in a mere twenty years.
Crossing the rugged mountain path again and going over the ridge toward the smoke, we were finally able to reach the boundary of the house we had been looking for.
To be precise, the edge of the barrier surrounding that house.
“It’s here.”
“……There’s nothing here?”
“You said you saw a barrier when you met that witch named Edel last time, right? It’s similar to that.”
But the barrier before us was on a completely different level from the crude deceptions used by most witches.
Those things were limited to, at most, making someone mistakenly walk out of the barrier on their own. This one, however, was a barrier that truly twisted space itself.
It was an extremely advanced piece of magical engineering that stretched and warped space through heavy modification, creating a wider space inside while making unauthorized people feel as though they were merely walking through the forest.
After the Holy Council had foamed at the mouth and erased anything related to spatial magic, this knowledge had now been completely forgotten.
“……But I don’t sense any mana or anything. Is this really a barrier?”
“I know. It just looks like an ordinary forest…….”
“That’s because your level is still lacking.”
Saying that, I reached my hand forward.
It was indeed a barrier of insane difficulty if one tried to break in by the orthodox method, exactly as I had taught her long ago.
But since I had designed it, there was one hidden vulnerability that no one but me would know.
I lightly poked that vulnerability with mana, temporarily opening a hole in the barrier.
At that moment, the forest spread out before us wavered, and an entrance appeared, leading to the hidden space beyond.
The edges of the entrance trembled like a heat haze, looking as though they might collapse at any moment, but it only looked that way; as long as I maintained my mana, it was safe.
Perhaps because of the unreal entrance that could be seen from the front but not from behind, disbelief showed on Cassian and Iliana’s faces.
“All right. Let’s go in.”
“Uh, yeah…….”
“Yes…….”
After sending Cassian and Iliana in one after another, I also passed through the entrance into the barrier, then dispersed my mana and closed it.
What appeared before my eyes was a flat area carved out of the mountainside, a wooden house built upon it so large it was hard to believe someone lived there alone, and though they were empty now, a fairly wide field and a large barn as well.
Though there was only one house, it would not have been an exaggeration to say she had built a small village here.
Leading Cassian and Iliana, who were looking around in astonishment, I approached the entrance of the house.
When I climbed the few steps and knocked on the door, there came a loud crash from inside, as though something had fallen over, along with a small scream.
Soon after, light footsteps gradually approached, and the door opened slightly as a head peeked out.
A height slightly taller than Cassian’s, eyes the color of a clear sky, and long, pale violet hair that curled slightly at the ends.
Naturally, or perhaps inevitably, she had not changed at all.
Looking at my former disciple, who had appeared through the crack in the door, I greeted her.
“It’s been a while, Chloe.”
“Huh, huh?! Master……?”
Chloe looked at me, then looked back and forth between the inside of the house and me before closing the door and going back inside.
For a moment, I failed to understand the situation and stood there blinking, then shouted.
“Hey!!!”
◇
There had been a slight misunderstanding, but we were able to clear it up quickly.
The moment I shouted, a series of crashes and thuds came from inside the house, so when I opened the door slightly and looked in, it was nothing short of chaos.
I immediately understood the situation and had no choice but to wait a little while until Chloe opened the door again.
When the door opened once more, the mess I had seen earlier was nowhere to be found; only a house sparkling as though it were brand new remained.
“It was clean the last time I came.”
“That’s because you sent a letter ahead of time saying you were coming thennn…….”
We had known each other for a truly long time, but I felt as though I had seen a slightly unexpected side of her.
No. Thinking about it again, she had been like this when she was young, so I had assumed she had fixed it as she grew up, but it turned out she had not.
In any case.
Since it was close to dinner time anyway, as soon as we entered the house, I sat down at the round dining table with the children, and Chloe followed and sat with us.
Then, teacups and saucers immediately flew through the air and settled in front of us. This time, a teapot flew over from the kitchen, poured tea that had quickly warmed, and then drifted back to the kitchen.
At the fact that Chloe, the one casting it, was simply sitting at the table, Cassian and Iliana stared as if it made no sense.
“Are these children your new disciples?”
“Something like that. This one is Cassian, and this one is Iliana.”
“They’re cute. When you came last time, that, um, Elyut? That child was quite cute too. It might be a little sad to think I won’t see him anymore.”
“Well, for humans, it’s a long span of time.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Chloe first glanced at Cassian, then looked at Iliana. Her gaze remained fixed for a moment, and then she smiled gently.
“M-Master. This person is…….”
“I told you, didn’t I? A disciple I taught long ago. Say hello.”
“H-Hello.”
“Hello…….”
“Yes, nice to meet you. My name is Chloe.”
Among my disciples, counting only those still alive, Chloe could be called the oldest.
Though not completely, she had reached about halfway into the realm of a transcendent and obtained an ageless body.
Thanks to having stayed hidden during the major incidents that had occurred over the years, she had managed to remain alive until now.
“To be more precise, she would be my sixth disciple. You could call her your great senior.”
“Sixth…….”
Hearing the word sixth, Cassian thought it over carefully, then uttered words that should never have been spoken.
“Then just how old are—”
At that moment, a hammer made of ice suddenly dropped onto Cassian’s head.
Then, with a crisp sound, it collided with Cassian’s head, shattered into pieces, scattered in all directions, and vanished into the air.
“Gah!!”
“One must not carelessly ask a lady’s age, you know?”
Chloe was still smiling as she said that, but the look in her eyes as she gazed at Cassian was slightly cold.
◇
After we finished drinking the tea and waited a little longer, various dishes came flying out from the kitchen all at once, each set on a plate, and landed carefully on the table.
From a thick meat soup probably made with cream, to a whole roast duck with its skin browned to a golden crisp, to a dish like steamed fish cooked so tenderly that even the bones could be chewed, the table was filled with food.
Each time a dish was placed on the table, Cassian and Iliana’s expressions changed from moment to moment.
Chloe approached from the kitchen with a look on her face that seemed to ask, How is it? and sat down at the table.
“What is all this?”
“I figured you probably weren’t cooking properly for the children again anyway, Master.”
“No, well, that’s true, but…….”
When I looked to either side, Cassian and Iliana were staring at me with expressions asking whether they could eat.
Normally, they would have just eaten, but with a table spread before them that they had rarely seen before, it seemed they were hesitating, wondering if it was really all right to eat.
“……Don’t worry about it. Eat.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
“Thank you for the meal……!”
As soon as I finished speaking, both of them swept the food they wanted onto their personal plates and began eating.
I also picked up a spoon and brought the soup to my mouth. The flavors of various spices and meat mingled together, filling my mouth with a deep, smooth, fantastic taste.
“……You made this too delicious.”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s obvious you’ve been getting by on preserved food all this time, haven’t you?”
“If you do this, the children’s tastes will get too refined.”
To begin with, I was the one who had taught her those cooking skills, so as long as the environment was prepared, making food of this level was not difficult for her at all.
But since we mostly lived in places where cooking properly was not possible, things like this should only be given very occasionally……
“Doesn’t it make you sad that children who should be growing are getting by on preserved food? Sob, sob.”
Chloe brought both hands to her eyes and pretended to cry, and the sight was somewhat funny, so I ended up letting out a small laugh.
Well, the children looked happy, so I supposed it was fine.
For today, that is.
◇
After finishing the meal, I immediately brought up the main point.
“Chloe, let us stay here until spring.”
Chloe answered me with a broad smile.
“No.”
Hearing that answer, I let out a heavy sigh and said,
“Then, well, it can’t be helped.”
“H-Huh?”
“Cassian, Chloe’s age is—”
“I-It was a joke! I was just joking……!!”
In any case, that was how we managed to secure a place to stay until spring.