Solana seemed to want to spend more time together, but we had too many
urgent matters to handle. I, for one, had my inauguration ceremony in a few
hours.
"It's lively."
The number of people strolling through the bustling area continued to
increase.
Clean streets without a single piece of trash, buildings and facilities lined up
at regular intervals, and faces walking around, carrying both busyness and
liveliness.
I stood in the middle, reflecting on my conversation with Solana.
─I need to reply. Give me their addresses.
─What will you write?
─Just one line. I'll just specify a location.
─Ah, you plan to summon them directly.
But she showed a hint of concern.
─It's easy to give you the addresses… but I'm not sure if the heads of
administration will read the reply. I can't guarantee it.
Solana's explanation made a lot of sense.
From their perspective, they were likely to ignore a reply from someone
known to be a commoner with no career, and even if they read it, they
might pretend not to see it until the time of the inauguration.
I exhaled a puff of Sun Grass smoke.
"That's why fame is bothersome and obscurity is frustrating."
─Well, let's send the reply first. There's a way.
So I sent the reply, and now I had to find a way to make them read it and
rush to the specified location.
I continued to walk, deep in thought.
I suddenly stopped.
It was in front of a hair salon.
I thought of just passing by, but the reflection of myself in the glass window
stopped me.
Like a wild wolf rolling in the wilderness, with white hair down to my waist
and chewing on Sun Grass. It would be quite inappropriate to attend the
inauguration like this.
'Should I at least look presentable as an auditor?'
Since I could think of a solution while sitting, there was no reason to
hesitate about visiting the salon. I made up my mind and walked into the
shop.
"Um…"
The height difference between me and the hairdresser was enormous. She
looked up at me, mumbling.
"Are you here to get a haircut?"
"Yes."
"Um… You need to put out your cigarette…"
She muttered, watching me cautiously.
I didn't want to cause trouble, so I wanted to spit out the Sun Grass if
possible, but a few conditions were necessary for that.
"How long will it take?"
"We can start right away, so 20 minutes should be enough."
"20 minutes, good."
I spat the Sun Grass into the trash can.
Due to my unique constitution that freezes everything around me, I always
need Sun Grass, but I could manage for about 30 minutes. I could keep the
area from freezing with my own power.
Once I sat down, the hairdresser asked cautiously.
"How would you like your hair cut?"
"Hmm."
I thought for a moment about what hairstyle would suit me.
I was confident that any hairstyle would suit me, but I didn't want to cut off
the long hair that had been with me through my long journey.
"Just trim it appropriately."
"Okay. I'll cut it to about shoulder length."
But the hairdresser hesitated and couldn't start cutting my hair.
She looked at me cautiously through the mirror.
"Why, what's the problem?"
"…You're too tall. Could you lower your head a bit?"
I lowered my head slightly instead of answering.
Snip, snip.
The space was filled with the sound of scissors.
At the same time, I fell back into the thoughts I had been having. There was
always a way in any situation. This time would be no different.
Snip, snip.
Continued thoughts, continued snipping.
As time flowed like water,
Shatter!
A loud noise erupted outside the shop.
It sounded like a sugar sculpture breaking apart. The noise pierced through
the already bustling street, causing the hairdresser to quickly turn her head
in that direction.
I also turned my eyes.
Not because the noise bothered me, but because it was a familiar sound.
If my intuition was correct, it was probably the sound of ice crystals
shattering.
'Yes, it's ice.'
I shifted my gaze and saw a boy.
He was dressed in ragged clothes, barely covered, and kept trying to create
a head-sized ice crystal in the air.
Shatter!
But he failed.
The watermelon-sized ice crystal exploded in vain. The hairdresser sighed
deeply as she saw the shards scattered everywhere.
"Oh… Why does he have to do this here? That doesn't melt easily, and now
I have to clean it up again…"
"Do you know that boy?"
"More like a familiar beggar. A magic beggar."
After hearing the word 'beggar,' I finally understood that the can at the
boy's feet was meant to collect coins.
Magic does indeed require astronomical costs.
Food, training expenses, tools for self-improvement… One had to pay an
enormous amount for everything except breathing to barely maintain the
title of a magician.
The hairdresser continued with a disgruntled expression.
"Usually, they perform impressive magic and receive coins in return. But
that kid fails every time. I've never seen him succeed even once."
"And yet he comes to this place every time?"
"There's no place in the bustling area with as many people walking around
as this street. Ugh, if he's going to show magic, he should at least practice.
He's driving away all the customers…"
Snip, snip.
The snipping continued.
I kept my eyes fixed on the boy.
Shatter!
This time, the ice exploded even louder than before.
The crowd murmured loudly. People with ice crystals on their clothes
frowned, and even the hairdresser, who had been treating me well, seemed
to be slowly losing her composure.
"What exactly is he trying to make? That kid."
People were coming to check what was happening, then retreating in shock
after finding out… The street was a melting pot of chaos, with all sorts of
human reactions mixed together.
I spoke quietly.
"No."
"Oh."
The hairdresser's hands hesitated.
"I'm sorry. Do you not want this part cut?"
I shook my head. It was about the ice, not my hair.
"…That kid isn't trying to make something right now."
"Huh?"
I quietly observed the boy's actions.
Shatter! Shatter!
Repeated explosions without a single success, people glaring and cursing
openly. I ignored all the scenes and tried to focus only on the boy's magic
and ice.
I tried to understand his motivation rather than the results he achieved.
As a result, something struck me. Perhaps that's…
'Ice rainbow?'
A technique that scatters countless elaborate ice crystals to create multiple
rainbows simultaneously. The boy was probably trying to do that.
It was a skill that roughly suited the boy's current situation.
To those unfamiliar with ice magic, it would look infinitely beautiful. He
must be planning to use that to beg for money.
Shatter!
Ice exploded and scattered in all directions.
The crowd murmured simultaneously.
I organized my thoughts while observing the scene.
Shatter!
The fame I needed to gain in a short time.
Making the heads of administration follow the letter.
The problems I needed to solve immediately.
In the midst of this, the hairdresser stopped snipping.
"Uh… It's done. Do you like it?"
At her question, I grinned.
"…I like it a lot."
A way to solve everything at once.
I thought of it.
Shatter!
Another spectacular failure.
The boy was getting desperate.
He didn't want to go hungry today. So he was trying to create the ice
rainbow to beg for money from people.
But the situation wasn't good.
Due to his many previous failures, there weren't many people around the
boy anymore. The once lively street had become eerily quiet.
"…"
The boy, about to try again, suddenly stopped.
A large shadow slowly covered him.
When he looked up, a man was looking down at him, and their eyes met
naturally.
"…"
The boy gulped dryly without realizing it.
The man's towering height, blue eyes that felt chilling just by looking at
them, and well-groomed white hair.
His mouth moved before his brain could process.
"I'm sorry. I'll go."
That was the best he could say at the moment.
He was already on the brink of starvation without anyone bothering him. If
he got beaten up here, he couldn't bear the pain.
The man quietly knelt down.
As their eyes met at the same level, the boy tightly shut his eyes. The worst
situation he had feared was right in front of him.
But.
He had to open his eyes wide.
"Ice rainbow."
The man muttered something completely unexpected.
"Isn't it an ice rainbow?"
"…!"
The boy nodded, his eyes wide open.
No one had ever shown interest in his magic until now. In fact, no one even
noticed because he always failed.
"You can't earn a single penny making it like that."
"…"
His small head hung low in sorrow.
It was a fact the boy knew all too well. It was frustrating but true. He was
far too lacking to create an ice rainbow.
"Have you ever seen an ice rainbow in person?"
The boy shook his head vigorously.
"…No."
"Then that's good."
The man exhaled smoke and gave a faint smile.
"Watch carefully."
There was a calmness in that smile that the boy had never seen before.
"I'll show you just once."
Just one word, but the boy instinctively knew.
Something that couldn't be understood logically, something in the realm of
instinct.
It whispered quietly to the boy.
That this street would soon be filled with people.