“Looks like it's been magically reinforced by a Square-class mage,” she muttered.
A Spell of Reinforcement was one that prevented the oxidation and decomposition of matter. Any substance that had this spell cast on it was protected from any chemical reactions, and allowed it to be preserved forever in that state. Even transmutation magic would have no effect against something protected like this. Only if one's magical skill surpassed that of the mage who cast the spell could it be overcome.
As it was, the mage who had enchanted this door was apparently an extremely powerful mage, considering that not even Miss Longueville, an expert in Earth magic and transmutation in particular, was able to affect the door.
Taking off her glasses, she stared at the door once more. At this point, she heard footsteps coming up the staircase.
She shrunk down her baton and slipped it back into her pocket.
The person who appeared was Colbert.
“Greetings, Miss Longueville. What are you doing here?”
“Mister Colbert, I was going to catalog the contents of the treasury, but…”
“Oh, that's quite some work. It'd probably take you all day to go over each and every item. There's a lot of junk mixed together with them, and it's a rather cramped space they've been arranged in too.”
“Indeed.”
“Why don't you just borrow the key from Old Osmond?”
The woman smiled.
“Well… I didn't want to disturb his sleep. In any case, I'm in no immediate hurry to complete the catalog…”
“I see. Sleep, you say. That old man, I mean, Old Osmond, is quite a deep sleeper. It seems I shall have to visit him another time.”
Mister Colbert began to walk off, but paused in his tracks, and turned around.
“Err… Miss Longueville?”
“Is something the matter?”
Colbert looked slightly embarrassed as he opened his mouth to speak.
“If it would be all right, how would you like to, say… join me for lunch?”
She took a moment to consider, then smiled brightly as she accepted the offer.
“Sure, it would be my pleasure.”
The two of them headed down the stairs.
“Hey, Mister Colbert.”
In slightly informal tones, Miss Longueville struck up conversation again.
“Y-yes? What is it?”
Emboldened by how easily his invitation had been taken up, Colbert responded quite eagerly to her.
“Is anything important actually inside the treasury?”
“There is.”
“Then, do you know of the 'Staff of Destruction'?”
“Ah, that is quite a curiously shaped item, indeed.”
Her eyes glinted.
“What… kind of shape?”
“It's extremely difficult to describe, except as simply strange, yes. But never mind that, what would you like to eat? Today's menu is flounder baked in herbs… but I'm quite well-acquainted with Marteau the head chef, and I can have him make any of the world's finest delica—”
“Ahem.”
Miss Longueville interrupted Colbert's babbling.
“Y-yes?”
“I must say, the treasury is quite amazingly built. No matter what kind of magic is tried, it would be impossible to open, I assume?”
“That's quite right. It's impossible for just any one mage. After all, it was devised by a group of Square-class mages to resist all spells.”
“I'm very impressed that you're so knowledgeable about this, Mister Colbert.”
She regarded him with a comfortable expression.
“Eh? Well… Haha, I just happened to come across a lot of documents pertaining to this floor, that's all… I like to consider it a part of my research, haha. Thanks to that, I'm still single at this age… yes.”
“I'm sure the woman that you find will be very happy to be with you. After all, you can teach her so much about things that nobody else knows…”
Miss Longueville fixed him with a fascinated look.
“Oh, no! Please don't tease me like that!”
Colbert flustered nervously as he wiped sweat from his balding forehead. Then, regaining composure, he faced her seriously.
“Miss Longueville. Have you heard of the Ball of Frigg[6] that is being held on the day of Yule?”
“No, I haven't.”
“Haha, I guess it's because you've only been in Tristain for two months. Well, it's nothing spectacular, just a party of sorts. However, it's said that a couple who dances at this ball will be destined to be together or something like that. It's just a petty legend of course! Yes!”
“So?”
Smiling, she pressed him to continue.
“So… if it would be all right, I was wondering if you would dance with me, yes.”
“I would love to. While ball parties are fabulous, I'd like to know more about the treasury right now. I'm quite fascinated by magical items, you see.”
Wanting to further impress Miss Longueville, Colbert racked his brains. Treasury, treasury, she says…
Remembering something she might find interesting, he put on an important air and started to talk.
“Ah yes, there's one thing I can tell you. Although it's not particularly important…”
“By all means, do tell.”
“Certainly, the treasury is invincible against magical attacks, but I believe it has one fatal weakness.”
“Oh, that's intriguing.”
“That weakness is… physical force.”
“Physical force?”
“Yes! For example, well, not that this is ever likely, but a giant golem could—”
“A giant golem?”
Colbert stated his opinion quite proudly to Miss Longueville. And once he was done talking, she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
“That was most intriguing indeed, Mister Colbert.”
Chapter Two: Kirche the Ardent
The night after Saito thoroughly shamed Louise in class with his sleep-talking, Louise unceremoniously threw his pile of hay into the hallway.
“What are you doing?”
“It'd be a bother if I snuck into your bed again, right?”
It seemed she was still upset over what happened earlier in class. “But it's kind of cold outside the room with the wind blowing around.”
“Well, no doubt I'll come and warm you in your dreams,” said Louise, arching her shapely eyebrows. What a bitter girl. She looked determined to make Saito sleep out in the hallway no matter what.
He took his blanket and went out to the hallway. The moment he left the room, the door locked with a loud click. Wind rushed in from the open window, making Saito shiver.
Muttering about the cold, Saito wrapped the blanket around himself and lay down on the hay. The chill of the stone floor seeped into his body. No heaters either. I'm freezing.
Making me suffer like this just because of a dream! Saito kicked Louise's door. Of course, there was no response.
Saito began plotting his revenge. Cutting the elastic in her panties is no longer enough. As he lay shivering in his blanket wondering how he would get one back on that little girl…
The door to Kirche’s room opened.
Her salamander Flame crawled out, with its burning tail emitting a warm glow. The two stared at each other. The salamander shuffled closer to Saito, who unconsciously began to back away.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Kyurukyuru,” it growled comfortingly. It looked harmless before it clamped its jaws on Saito’s sleeve, shaking its head as if asking him to follow it.
“Hey, let go! You’ll light my blanket on fire!” said Saito to an insistent Flame, which only pulled harder.
6
In Norse mythology, Frigg (Eddas) or Frigga (Gesta Danorum) was said to be “foremost among the goddesses,” the wife of Odin, queen of the Æsir, and goddess of the sky.