Amidst the curtains

“....Haaa!!!! We’re back to the cozy beds…!!!” Astrid sunk herself onto the blankets. Coming from a very cold place, it couldn’t get much better than this.

Annaliese, kneeling, folded her clothes in the drawer. “I’m glad there was a town here, how is it possible that the village hasn’t frozen up by now…? What kind of magic do you think this could be, Mistress Eilise…?” She turned to me.

I moved from my blanket, rolling on the other bed and staring at the ceiling before replying to her question. “Outposts like these are thanks to Lotea’s magic… Previously, she explained to me the creation of a fog that when engulfedーcan act as a barrier from outside of the haze. It’s similar to Nixie’s barrier. However Lotea took a different approach, a more efficient one if I say so myself.”

Continuing, adding details. “....It’s not permanent, but it can be easily replaced unlike in the Imperial Vascht. Plus, it can be moved and not stationary. When we cross the capitalーwhere we’ll enter its range, you wouldn’t know the radius because It’s invisible to the average mage.”

Hearing this, Annaliese was very impressed. “Woah… So it’s not only Mistress Nixie that’s amazing, It’s also Mistress Lotea… I’m pretty curious to know what types of magic every Pointed hats have created.”

I cleared my throat, pointing my finger in the air. “It’s the same as mine actuallyーexcept the other halves were made for convenience… Like what I’ve mentioned before, Annaliese. They have true offensive spells…” I paused, before revealing a secret.

“ーRealistically speaking, I only possess about thirty or more offensive spells. My fellow colleagues have been in position longer than me. For example, Nixie, she’s been a pointed hat for ten years. Accumulated a total of a hundred and more offensive spells with different variants.”

“””WHAT???!!!!!””” They reacted in sync, staring at me in disbelief. They couldn’t possibly believe that I only had a few… And yet it’s the truth…

Exhaling, I shrugged. “You thought I must’ve had more than them, yes? Yet I possess the least amount.”

Astrid stood up from her bed, stuttering as she started asking me a question. “B… but, how is it that you’re regarded asー”

 “ーBecause of my mana… I kept using convenient, useless magic to help with my everyday life… Nothing too special. If you didn’t already know, your mana reservoir continues to grow whenever you use magic.” I cut her off mid-sentence, sinking my head into the pillow.

Currently as we speak, compared to last year… I have to manually suppress it because it started to seep through the seal… And as if I wasn’t already sleepy, it tires me out relentlessly… Exhaling heavily.

I pulled my blanket, yawned and began thinking to myself. “I just don’t get you, Miss. Charlotte, why choose me? What do you mean by "Unify The People…?”

“ーAnd… Did what…? Saw what…? What do you even…” I held my temple, muttering to myselfーhiding my voice underneath the blanket. “....It’s hard to imagine myself fulfilling that request…”

I sulked, wobbling my head trying to remove any negative thoughts before turning to Astrid.“ーI promised to buy you a high-end cake from Friedenswald, Astrid. Any specific ones you’d be willing to try…?”

Her ears perked, tail wagging as she placed a finger in her cheek. “Hmm!! Let’s see!!! I’d like a strawberry one, grape flavored and apple pie!!!”

“That’s quite the variety of flavors… Fine, fine, I know an expensive shop that sells high quality cakes.”

Marieka tiptoeing to hang her robe, turned to me to ask a question, tilting her head. “....Eilise, how rich are you…? I know that you were at least a noble but… How wealthy are you now…?”

I exhaled, evading her question. “Let’s not jump into that okay Marieka…?”

“But I really wanna know!!! You were already much wealthier than I was during our student days!!”

“ーI’ve never used my family's riches. Neither will I ever do that.” I clenched my teeth, irritated before shaking my head… The thought of thinking about them irked me.

“What??!! You never once…?”

I covered my face, exhaling as it continued to haunt me. It’s best for me to skip this sort of topic. It frustrated me whenever it came to my mind. So instead, I tried to ignore it, grimaced.

…..However, I will admit, being a Pointed hat, I have enough funds to support myself for the next hundreds of yearsーIf I decide to create a spell to be immortal.

Avoiding her question, I moved on. “....Astrid, Annaliese, have you two ever visited Vanhaert?” I turned to the two of them.

Both of them shook their heads.

Astrid shrugged. “Sadly not… I’ve only ever gone to the Imperial Vascht for important matters, but the rest I haven’t visited; Ryven, Friedenswald and Vanhaert.”

“I see… I guess you haven’t heard of Vanhaert’s Pointed hat Brunwyn Adalbricht… Looks to me like he’s not that known, that's kind of funny… And you plan to separate from the party once we step foot in Vanhaert, yeah…?”

She nodded, frowning. “The place where I’ll be heading is very far away from the capital. Hence why I'm not capable of sticking to the journey… And that’s why I’ll need to depart almost immediately.”

“No stress Astrid. I’m not bothered or anything…” I assured her. “I hope you stay safe on your journey.”

She smiled, nodding and thanked me for the thoughtful response. “I’ll be sure to remember this journey, despite us only knowing each other for a month…. I’m glad to have met you, Mistress Eilise, and you too Marieka.”

Marieka smiled in response, happy to be mentioned. 

“Save that when we get to Vanhaert! We’re still together… No worries.”

Astrid nodded, before turning to Annaliese. “No goodbyes to you, we’re gonna see each other anyway when we get to Brynheint…” She crossed her arms.

Annaliese exhaled, giving her a long expressionーher tone deep and raspy. 

“I will block off all connections from you.”

“I WAS JOKING, I WAS JOKING!!” Astrid waved her hands.

Clearing my throat, I pulled my blankets closer to my chin, easing my body. “My body is reaching its limit… I’m gonna sleep now… Goodnight…” I slowly began closing my eyes, as my vision blurredーfalling asleep.

Marieka hopped to my bed and leaned to poke my nose, chuckling as the two of them were left puzzled. However, just like the saying goesーcuriosity killed the witch, all of them came up to my bed, poked my cheek, my nose and patted my head, all while I was dead asleep.