Chapter 16
2. Re: Life in Another World Starting with the Grand Duke (2)
And the spirit of the transmigrator, Geum Ga-yeon, was—
“…Ga-yeon.”
“Ahem. Don’t look at me like that. As you know, the form of a spirit is based on the contractor’s subconscious, so it’s absolutely not intentional…”
“Let’s not summon it on Earth. It’ll get us into copyright trouble.”
“W-well, strictly speaking, it’s a little different! This one is translucent water! The feeling is different, really!”
Whether it was translucent or had color, the fact didn’t change that it was a small turtle waddling around. Under Selena’s cold gaze, Geum Ga-yeon looked wronged.
“You just don’t know. This is actually very useful! Because the image and abilities are clear, it’s really strong! And it can use skills perfectly too! Right, Komabu-gi?”
At least she kept a bit of conscience when naming it Komabu-gi.
While Selena chuckled, the little Komabu-gi silently smiled and nestled into Geum Ga-yeon’s arms.
When Selena poked it with her finger, it felt less like water and more like soft jelly.
“How is it useful?”
“Want to see? Komabu-gi, Water Cannon!”
Geum Ga-yeon confidently gave the command.
The spirit fluttered out of her arms and shot water from its mouth.
The water burst from the carpet, drawing a rainbow as it poured downward.
Even at a glance, the power was strong. The pressure was enough to easily knock a person away. Selena stroked her chin and asked,
“Can it use other skills too?”
“Anything you can imagine, it can do.”
“Oh.”
Not bad at all. Even if a dangerous situation came, as long as the opponent wasn’t superhuman, she could protect herself.
No—she could probably defeat them.
“Ahem. I’m not called a high-level spirit master for nothing.”
“I thought they rated you highly at the evaluation just because you’re a noble lady. Guess not.”
“Well, everyone thought that. They assumed I was at most mid-level. It wasn’t bad though. Thanks to that, I even caught kidnappers who let their guard down.”
“…Kidnappers?”
“That’s from long ago.”
Back when the current Emperor was still a powerless crown prince in name only.
Selena sometimes forgot that Geum Ga-yeon had lived through a spectacular story full of love and adventure. It was probably because her appearance created such a gap.
Our Ga-yeon is strong like a wildflower. Yet I keep forgetting and treating her like she needs protection.
But she’s a precious Korean transmigrator.
She should be treated delicately, like a sweet sugar candy…!
While Selena made excuses to herself and Geum Ga-yeon played with her spirit, the carpet steadily flew toward the Frost Mountains.
After a few hours, the sky turned into a dull gray.
The sunlight faded, their breath became visible, and soon light snow began to fall.
The snow blocked their vision, and the already cold air grew even colder. It became too much to endure with just fur.
When their hair started freezing and stiffening, Selena lowered the carpet.
“Ugh, it’s cold. As expected of the Frost Mountains. There’s already snow piled up.”
“We’re not even at the entrance yet.”
“What? Really? But it’s already this cold?”
“It’s not called the Ice Hell for nothing. From the entrance, it’ll drop below minus ten degrees. Near the mines, it can go down to minus thirty.”
“…Sis. Isn’t there something like a warming spell?”
At Geum Ga-yeon’s desperate look, Selena shook her head bitterly.
“It’s easier to stiffen the body or control it with mana since that forces the outside. But maintaining body temperature is a complex biological reaction… It’s the same reason preservation magic and healing magic don’t really exist.”
If detailed research on the human body were done and medicine combined well with magic, maybe it would be possible. But in this world, medicine was underdeveloped because of the existence of “potions.”
Potions that could heal external and internal injuries just by drinking or applying them.
With something like that, medicine had no chance to develop. Human dissection was also strongly taboo due to its association with dark magic, making research even harder.
Doctors in this world were closer to herbal practitioners.
The concept of disease itself was not properly established.
They didn’t understand bacteria or viruses, and with potions acting as a cheat, medical progress lagged far behind other developments like architecture and printing.
Selena had tried healing magic before, but she gave up after a few attempts. There was no data, not even anatomical diagrams.
Besides, before reincarnation, she had been an engineering student, not a medical student.
It would be easier to build a robot golem than manipulate the human body with magic.
Hearing the great wizard admit her limits, Geum Ga-yeon lowered her blue eyes sadly.
“You can teleport, use hellfire, and even fly on a magic carpet, but you can’t do a simple warming spell… The balance is terrible, sis.”
“If it gets too cold, I’ll light a fire.”
“No. Forest fires are not allowed.”
Still firm in her love for life and nature.
I like this side of you.
When we go back to our world, you’ll become a Green Peace maker (physically) and punish forest destroyers like an angel of water.
What a promising future. Maybe I can join in and cause a little chaos too. Ga-yeon won’t mind, right?
While Selena was already imagining destructive future plans, Geum Ga-yeon hugged her thick fur tightly.
“Then should we walk from here?”
“No need to walk through deep snow. Let’s fly low.”
Selena lowered the carpet to about one meter above the ground and flew over the snow. It was much better than facing the freezing winds in the sky.
To avoid catching a cold, Geum Ga-yeon asked her spirit for warm water. Holding cups filled with warm water that wouldn’t cool down like small heaters, they went deeper into the snowy forest.
After about an hour—
Selena took out a map and compass to check their position.
“Hmm… We’re in the Frost Mountains now. Be careful. Monsters will start appearing.”
“Yes. Oh, but are we heading straight to the magic stone mine? You said we needed to buy supplies at Ariel Fortress or a city before that.”
“I did, but I’ll gather what we need ourselves. It looks like they’re trying to eliminate the Grand Duke for some reason. If we get involved, it’ll be troublesome.”
To deal with someone of royal blood, they would need a proper excuse—even if it was false.
They’d probably accuse him of treason or something equally serious. Then at least one master-level fighter and another great wizard would be sent.
If they ran into them, it would be a headache.
Better to avoid it, even if it was inconvenient.
“Tch. It’s not that I’m scared of trouble. It’s just dirty, so I avoid it.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
They continued deeper into the Frost Mountains.
Flying low used less mana and was comfortable.
…Too comfortable.
“Wasn’t the Frost Mountains supposed to be full of monsters? Why is it so quiet?”
“Exactly. We should’ve met at least one group by now… Maybe they’re busy fighting over territory.”
Just in case, Selena spread a bit of mana around.
It wasn’t usually done here since it could provoke sensitive high-level monsters, but the silence was strange.
Even so, within five kilometers, she couldn’t detect any life of significant size.
Of course, top-tier monsters could hide their mana…
But those kinds usually stayed deep inside, like basilisks.
Selena felt puzzled but decided not to worry too much.
No matter what monster appeared, she could always escape if needed.
Confident in her abilities as a great wizard, she moved toward what she called the “midway rest point” without further concern.
