TOYLCG 11🍒

Chapter 11 – 

Fox Fire

There is a saying that fires that break out in spring are called fox fire.

Because the spring sunlight is strong, the flames are hard to see. And if you are unlucky and the wind blows, the situation can quickly turn terrible.

“Fox fire is hard to see… this is bad.”

Rosebel muttered to herself as she chased after Aren, who was running ahead. A forest fire itself was dangerous, but the bigger problem was that the flames were hard to spot.

“Rosebel! Stop!”

“Huh?”

At Aren’s urgent shout, Rosebel actually sped up instead. Thanks to the muscles she had built through farm work, she easily ran uphill.

“I told you not to come!”

“My legs are moving on their own, what do you want me to do? More importantly, how are we supposed to deal with this fox fire…?”

“Fox fire?”

“Fires that start in spring are called fox fire.”

“Then… should I try using magic?”

Rosebel stared at Aren as if he were an idiot.

They didn’t even know how far the fire had spread. What good would it do to use magic blindly? And what use was ice for putting out a fire? If anything, throwing dirt would be more effective.

“Oh! Dirt!”

Since she couldn’t bring water here right away, borrowing the power of a gnome seemed like the best option.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to call a gnome, but I don’t know how to summon it.”

“What?”

Aren swallowed hard as the flames crept closer, his face stiff with disbelief.

But strangely, the fire was moving slowly. It felt as if it were spreading while watching them.

“Mud lump! Come out!”

“You think it’ll come just because you call it? But doesn’t the fire seem strange?”

“What do you mean?”

Rosebel turned her gaze toward the flames. The flickering fire was clearly adjusting its speed as it spread.

Unable to understand what was happening, Rosebel recalled the moment she had contracted with the gnome.

That strange feeling she had felt back then came back to her.

“Rosebel?”

“It’s similar to back then. But… how do I catch it?”

“Catch it? What do you mean?”

Rosebel needed to resolve this before the duke arrived.

If any attendants or knights saw her contracting with a spirit, they might mistake her for a witch.

“First… stay still.”

Rosebel swallowed and took a slow, deep breath. She imagined the mud lump wearing a mossy hat.

—That guy is really jealous. I think he’s sulking because I wasn’t the one who contracted with you first.

As she focused, the gnome’s voice naturally reached her ears. Rosebel swallowed and slowly opened her eyes.

“Starting a fire out of jealousy? Isn’t that insane?”

Rosebel suddenly shouted at empty air, making Aren flinch. He knew she could handle spirits, but from the perspective of someone who couldn’t see anything, it was shocking.

“Lower your voice! People will think you’re crazy!”

“No! I just heard it started the fire because of jealousy—how am I supposed to calm that down?!”

“Jealousy?”

“Yeah. That’s what the gnome says.”

Aren also looked dumbfounded. The idea that spirits had emotions wasn’t easy to accept. He had barely learned magic on his own, so it wasn’t wrong to say he knew nothing about spirits.

“Then what do we do?”

“I don’t know either.”

“The fire isn’t spreading fast, but it is still spreading.”

Without hesitation, Aren used magic. A tall ice wall rose up along the edge of the flames.

Seeing that, Rosebel was reminded of a movie she had seen in her past life.

A movie about wizards—one that had been especially popular with children.

Well, the gender was different, but still.

“Hey! This is not the time! What kind of stupid thing is that? Do you think that’ll put out the fire?”

“Then should I just stand here and watch it spread? Don’t just talk—do something too.”

At Aren’s words, Rosebel scratched her cheek awkwardly and called out to the gnome.

“We need to cover the flames with dirt.”

—Oh, smart. Looks like you trained a bit.

“I followed what you taught me, so there should be some results.”

The gnome only smiled cheerfully at her words.

Even though it had confidently told her to throw dirt, it couldn’t completely hide its anxiety. That felt very human.

But the gnome didn’t plan to help so easily. Unlike it, the ifrit was a very proud being—hot-tempered enough to start a fire out of jealousy.

Still, starting a fire like this crossed a line. At this point, it would be better to force it to reveal itself.

If they were lucky, Elime might appear as well. Of course, that would put a strain on Rosebel’s body, but gathering all four elemental spirits was more important.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and throw some dirt!”

—I can’t just do it because I want to. Have you even thought about how much mana you have? You’re really shameless!

Rosebel froze at the gnome’s words. Even though she had trained, she still didn’t have enough mana to borrow its power freely.

Then what should she do? Just watch the fire spread? Or, like last time with the gnome, throw herself into it?

“If being shameless means… then I’ll throw my whole body into it!”

“Stop talking nonsense and just shovel dirt over it!”

“Okay.”

Rosebel obediently prepared to scoop dirt—but she didn’t have any proper tools.

—You two are really entertaining.

“You sound pretty relaxed. Does that mean we don’t need to worry?”

—More than mana, you two need to train your awareness of presence.

“What do you mean?”

—Yeah, that guy is jealous, but he’s not reckless enough to start a fire for no reason.

“That’s very different from what you said earlier.”

—That was that, and this is this.

Rosebel barely resisted the urge to crush the mud lump.

But the gnome had a point.

Presence.

That meant there was a human nearby. A jealous fire spirit wouldn’t start a fire unless there was a reason.

So what was someone doing here?

Judging by how slowly the fire was spreading, it seemed like it was meant to drive someone away.

“I’m going to go crazy having to worry about everything.”

—Let’s watch a bit more. I’ll help if needed.

“You don’t plan to help right now?”

—This isn’t a big enough fire to be an immediate problem… but what’s with that guy? Is mana really pouring out of him like that?

“What do you mean?”

Rosebel turned toward Aren and was left speechless.

Ice walls were rising endlessly. Aren’s face was pale, and as he clenched his teeth to keep casting, his lips split and bled.

“Aren! Stop it!”

Aren kept raising ice walls as if he couldn’t hear her.

Watching him ignore Rosebel, the gnome clicked its tongue. Using mana like that, as if possessed, could easily lead to shock—but Aren didn’t seem aware of it.

—If I step in now, things will get messy…

The gnome knew that intervening was probably the right choice. But it hesitated—not only because of Rosebel’s condition, but also because of the presence nearby.

Someone was definitely close to the fire. And that presence had clearly provoked the ifrit.

The gnome didn’t want to push Rosebel too hard. Of course, its original goal was to gather all four elemental spirits.

But despite its wishes, neither the ifrit nor Elime showed themselves. They were probably watching quietly from somewhere nearby. Their caution annoyed the gnome.

“Hey! Can’t you hear me?!”

“Ah…”

While the gnome was lost in thought, Rosebel grabbed Aren’s wrist.

His already low body temperature had dropped even further. She brushed her hair back irritably and glared at him.

“Do you want to die? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“I didn’t… think that far…”

“Then when I tell you to stop, you stop! How can you ignore me when I’m shouting at you like that?!”

“You said… we had to put out the fire…”

At Aren’s half-dazed reply, Rosebel was momentarily speechless.

It might have been something he said without thinking—but to her, it sounded almost like obedience.

She thought they were close, but she had never considered him someone beneath her.

“Don’t… ever say things like that again.”

“Huh?”

“If I told you to die, would you? Don’t talk like you’d do anything just because I said so.”

Annoyance boiled up inside her. Where had things gone wrong? What made Aren start speaking like that?

To someone naive, it might have sounded touching. But to Rosebel, it felt like cold water splashed over her head.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. It’s just… my problem. You should rest.”

Rosebel took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the blood from Aren’s lips.

When he frowned from the sting, her irritation flared again, and instead of being gentle, she pressed harder.

“Ow! That hurts!”

“It’s supposed to hurt. Hold the handkerchief and go over there. I’ll handle this.”

With a blank expression, Aren watched Rosebel walk toward the ice wall.