Chapter 1

It was an island full of greenery. A rocky wall around the headland that protruded from the north, a sandy beach spreading along the south. Apart from the stone castle style residence built in the center, the island was almost entirely covered in plants. Removing her eyes from the tapestry that painted the bird’s-eye view of the whole island, the woman sighed. Even though her appearance indicated that he was well passed the middle-age mark, her body weight still looked excessive for someone that age, the fat around the abdomen in particular was packed tightly enough that it hindered even light movements. But that was not what she was exhaling a lamenting sigh at. The inside of the room was so messy that she wanted to cover her eyes.

Rolling the sleeve of the robe up, he put out his right hand, and used the tip of the thumb to touch the second joint of the index finger as if to rub it. When a snapping sound resounded, the chair slid, and the bed tilted. Empty bottles, metal parts, and rolled up parchments on top of the bed fell down to the floor. The carpet gathered them up and swept them into a trash bin together with the dust. Although dust was still dancing around in the air, the room got tidied up.

A relatively small square storeroom that was three-meters on each side. The gray stone wall had become exposed. On it was the hanging tapestry which had the overview of the island. The light of the moon and the stars was invited into the room through the glass window with a heavy lock. The wooden table and chair were coarse-grained and rough-cut. On top of the table was a marble top of matching size, and on it were quills, stationary, inkwell, blotting papers, a candlestick that held candles mixed with herbs, and other necessary writing instruments.

The woman nodded in satisfaction, and breathed in slightly. It smelled of dust. 

Standing on the window side, he took out a bundle of keys and chose three out from there, then struggled against the rust to open the lock. Muttering to himself, ‘I ought to oil this,’ he opened the window with both hands. The view from below was a green forest stretching all the way to the edge of the island, and beyond that was an endless dark blue sea up until the horizon. The sound and scent of the tide unexpectedly came into the room and canceled the dusty odor, giving it a proper smell of the seashore this time. The blowing wind was not just bringing in the sea smell, but also coldness. This island was hot during the day, but cooled down to the point of cold at night. The man hugged his fat body and shivered slightly, but did not try to close the window.

For the eccentric researcher who used to be the owner of this room, the smell of the tide, the sound of the waves, the coldness of the wind, all of those were just extra things. Spending the most simple life in a room isolated by magic, not having to eat, sleep, nor excrete, it must have been a real pleasure for him to immerse herself in research and experiments. Everyone who knew her would be nodding, “That’s right,” with confidence.

The chubby woman was the nephew of the researcher who used to use this room. However, she herself was not a researcher. Not devoting herself to original research like her aunt, not working any regular job, she was a self-proclaimed advanced slacker who only seeked out fun things and delicious food. 

This woman was not someone with a Mage’s common senses. The room’s narrowness, the smell of the tide, the sound of the waves, the coldness of the wind, the feeling of hunger, the desire to sleep. She felt the charm in all these unnecessary things, inconvenient things, things that her aunt had dismissed with distaste. Being inconvenienced was not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it was more fun to create a fire with primitive ignition tools rather than a single command word. 

‘Being able to enjoy inconvenient things is just the haughtiness of the upper class. To those who are in the middle of real misfortune, the ones who they would be thankful for would be the Mages who make the world a better place by putting efficiency as top priority.’  Those words of her aunt were not wrong. But, one was allowed to be haughty if one could. It was utmost important to live in the moment. When her aunt used to be in charge, she would do whatever her aunt said. Now that her aunt had gone away, he did not have to conform to her aunt’s ideas anymore.

That said, she was still obligated to do what was ordered in the will. She sat on the chair and tried to pick up the quill, but raised her face at the sound of knocking on the door.

“Please come in.”

The door creaked open. She would need to put some oil in there, too.

The Young Boy whom he had hired the other day greeted him with a quick bob of the head:

“The prix is… Are you all right with just the prix building?”

“Are you done with it?”

“Yes, the cleaning is done.”

From the woolen sweater to the woolen hat, everything of his outfit was fluffy. The long sleeves covered his arms, even the wrists were hidden under a volume of fur. His legs were clad in shorts, all in all the degree of exposure was extremely low.