Part 4

When we explained to the villagers that we needed a potion to lift the curse, they immediately cooperated.

They gathered the ingredients and brought them to Emma’s house.

“Lexia, it’s just about time.”

“Yes…”

Lying on the bunk, Lexia was weaving rough breaths as if the repercussions of her exertion had arrived.

Noel looked out the window as she warmed her frozen arm with a towel wrung out with hot water.

“The only other ingredient needed for the potion is [Fire Ring Grass], isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Tito and Emma went to the forest to look for it…”

Then Tito, with the medicinal herb in her hand, came running in with Emma.

“There it is! This is the [Fire Ring Grass]!”

“Nice work, Tito.”

Tito’s tail wagged happily as Luna patted her head.

“All we have to do now is to mix it according to the instructions in the ancient book!”

“Okay, let’s borrow the kitchen.”

“I’ll take care of the mixing.”

After borrowing the kitchen, the ingredients began to simmer in a small pot.

“Well, first of all, boil the water, then add the ground [Fire Ring Grass] to it…”

Tito deciphered the ancient book and explained the procedure, and Luna and Noel followed her instructions.

Then, a frightening green liquid was completed.

“…It looked quite disastrous.”

“…Is this to be applied to the affected area?”

“N-no, it is said to be drunk…”

Tito read the ancient book again and again, but it still seemed to be internal medicine.

“…Okay.”

Luna filled a bowl with the sludgy green liquid and went over to Lexia, and offered it to her.

“Lexia, drink.”

“No.”

Lexia was determined to refuse.

“Don’t be selfish.”

“It’s too suspicious! Why is it green? What if I drink it, and my whole body turns green?”

“It’s to break the curse. Besides, it’s better than your cooking.”

“How can that be?”

“D-do your best, Lexia-san…!”

“Look, Tito and Noel worked really hard on this.”

“U-ugh…! But… but…!”

Noel’s glasses twinkled as Lexia struggled with the green liquid.

“The medicine, according to one theory, also has cosmetic properties.”

“Eh, really? Luna, prepare a barrel full of it! I’m going to get glowing skin and have Yuuya-sama praise me!”

“It’s a precious medicine; there’s no way we’ll have that many.”

However, Lexia closed her eyes and gulped down the sludgy green liquid vigorously.

“Ugh, cough, cough… ugh, bitter…”

Lexia gets teary-eyed.

Then the ice covering her arm evaporated in a flash.

“! The ice curse has melted; it’s a success!”

“Wow, that was great…!”

“Ugh, my mouth is still bitter… Hah! Hey Luna, my skin is now glowing!”

“Oh, yes, indeed.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“You don’t need to rely on medicine; you’re already beautiful.”

“No, I want to be even more beautiful for Yuuya-sama!”

Tito whispered to Noel so that the fussy Lexia would not hear it.

“Um… the ancient book doesn’t say that it has beauty benefits, but…”

Then Noel pushed up her glasses with a nonchalant look on her face.

“Well, you know what? There is such a thing as feelings in this world, isn’t there? Just as feelings for someone make oranges taste better, feelings of wanting to be beautiful can, somehow, work wonders.”

“! Fufu, you may be right.”

Noel’s eyes narrowed mischievously, and Tito laughed along with her.

Then Lexia, who was all cheered up, came running up and hugged Tito.

“Tito, thank you!”

“Fuaa!? Lexia-san!?”

“Tito deciphered the ancient book and found the [Fire Ring Grass], so the curse could be lifted! Tito is amazing, and I am so proud of you!”

“T-that, I should be the one to thank you. Thanks to Lexia-san and the others, I found the courage to return to the village and meet Emma again. Thank you so much!”

Tito broke into a happy smile as she was patted on the head.

＊＊＊

After Lexia was freed from the curse, the group finally took a breather and stayed in an abandoned house that was rented by the villagers.

The next morning.

The group was sitting by the fire, discussing the ice spirit.

Lexia looked out the window at the cloud-covered sky.

“There are only four days left… and if the ice spirit is not defeated before the full moon passes the mid-sky, Flora-san will be completely taken over by the ice spirit.”

“If that happens, the Romel Empire will be forever confined to death and ice.”

Noel looked down, and Luna muttered as she stoked the firewood.

“But the power of the ice spirits is more formidable than expected. If we were to challenge it to a fight at this point, we would not win. Besides, that ice wall… that imprisoned Flora was destroyed once by Noel’s magic gun, but the second time it was bounced off. As the ice spirit accumulates power, the wall must be getting stronger and stronger.”

“Yes. If the magic gun doesn’t work, there is no way to break that wall at the moment. Even if we could break it, that alone would consume a lot of our strength. As I thought, it would be best to defeat the ice spirit when it appears on the night of the full moon──four days from now.”

“Yes. The ancient book also says that the ice spirit appears at the full moon…”

“Perhaps the power of the full moon’s light will make it complete.”

“That means the matter must be settled before the full moon rises in four days before it reaches the mid-heaven.”

Lexia let out a sigh as she faced the mountain of problems.

“Hah, even so, I don’t know what to do. Even though I tried to pry the ice spirit away, the ‘Breath of Light’ was repelled…”

“There is still the problem about how to counter the ice army. That thing is different from ordinary monsters. It is difficult to attack, and more importantly, it is strengthened with each regeneration. We must think of some countermeasure…”

“But we have only four days… It’s too short to take any countermeasures.”

The blizzard of snow beating against the windows deepens the despair.

“Geez, there’s just too little time! What can we do in four days?”

As Lexia held her head, a knock on the door broke the heavy atmosphere.

“Y-yes, come in!”

Tito replied, and the door opened to reveal a smiling Emma.

“Good morning. Sorry for interrupting… But, if you like, please come to my house. The villagers are very excited to have a welcome party for you… They are preparing a local dish using many of the region’s specialties, so please come.”

Lexia’s face lit up, and she stood up.

“A welcome party! Let’s go, everyone!

“We can’t just sit here and feast like this!”

“We just talked about how little time we have, you know?”

Luna was annoyed, and Tito was surprised.

But Lexia didn’t care, and she closed one eye.

“Because they took the trouble to make it for us. I would feel bad if we refused. Besides, we have to get our energy up before the battle, don’t we? You know what happens when you’re hungry! Without energy, you won’t be able to come up with the ideas you’re supposed to have!”

“You just want to eat the local cuisine, don’t you?”

“Yes, is that bad?”

“Aren’t your excuses getting a little messy these days!”

“A-haha, well, well, you two…”

Luna and Lexia were arguing as usual, and just when Tito was about to intervene.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle〜

“…..”

They turned around at the sound and saw Noel holding up her hand in embarrassment.

“Sorry, my fuel consumption is terrible.”