I Start with a Bad Hand!

“…What?”

I thought I was almost done, but unexpected obstacles kept cropping up. Everything seemed fine when I bought the herbal ingredients to mix with the reveta, but…

“65 gold.”

“What? But last time it was 60 gold…”

“Haha. The price of raw materials for magical tools has gone up, so it costs more to create magic circles. That’s why the price of the magic scrolls has increased.”

Fortunately, I had brought extra money just in case. With trembling hands, I paid the price of the round-trip magic circle to the staff at the mage tower.

But there was another issue.

“2 gold.”

“Wait… wait a minute. 2 gold? We’ve been here for less than two hours.”

“Yes. That’s 2 gold.”

“Sir, I’m a bit short on money right now. If you could wait a few days…”

“Ah, well. I can just call the guards to handle it.”

This was driving me crazy. I was completely out of money. I didn’t have enough to return to the academy to get more, and when I asked if they accepted checks, the innkeeper sternly insisted on cash only.

‘Ah! This is hopeless… or maybe not.’

Then something flashed through my mind. There was a solution, and there was a way to get money.

Close to this alley was the artist’s district. And there was a wig maker who was always eyeing my hair. I ran my hand through Dietrich’s luxurious hair. Despite its appealing look, it often felt cumbersome due to its length.

‘If I can make money by cutting my hair, that’s a win-win, right?’

Hoping the wig maker was around, I hurried to the artist’s district. Spotting a familiar face, I slowed down, and an elderly wig maker caught sight of me.

“Miss, would you consider selling your hair? With that length, I could easily give you two gold coins…”

“Give me more. Maybe two more gold coins, and I’ll sell it.”

The wig maker’s face lit up at my offer. The deal was struck. Four gold coins for just some hair. Glancing at my now short bob, I thought to myself.

‘This is like a living savings account.’

I should sell it again in a few months once it grows back. Smiling, I pocketed the four gold coins from the delighted wig maker and headed back to the inn where Icarus was essentially held hostage. 

It was time to confirm if I had done everything right and head to Heylem.

***

“Ugh!”

“…Dietrich?”

Suddenly seeing me and Icarus, Baron and Baroness Degoph stared in disbelief. As I had lost my balance while transporting via the magic scroll and ended up underneath Icarus, they rushed over to help me up.

“Goodness, what happened… and why is your hair…?”

“Why do you look so thin? Are you sure you’re doing well at the academy?”

Facing their barrage of questions, I tried to collect myself and think of a way to explain the situation naturally. Just as I was about to speak, my mouth seemed to move on its own.

“I missed you.”

My voice was trembling, something that never happened before.

‘What’s going on? Why am I like this?’

But these weren’t my emotions. I wouldn’t feel this way about meeting my parents. Something hot was welling up inside me, messing with my feelings.

“I couldn’t visit during the summer… and winter break felt too far away, I couldn’t wait.”

Seeing them continuously tucking my shortened hair behind my ears with worried expressions, I cleared my throat and tried to manage the situation.

“So I came. I wanted to see you, even if just for a moment.”

The two of them, who had been opening and closing their mouths in surprise, finally gave me warm smiles. The baroness covered me with a blanket brought by the butler.

“Yes, you did well. We’ve missed you too.”

We didn’t urge you to come, worried it might burden you. The baroness gave a slightly embarrassed smile.

“The weather’s gotten chilly. Let’s go inside and talk.”

The hand gently touching my back was warm. Just as I was about to enter with a heart warmed by their kindness, the butler called from behind.

“Miss, who is this gentleman?”

Ah, I had almost forgotten about Icarus, distracted by the Degophs’ warmth.

“Oh… he’s my friend. He insisted on coming to my estate with me.”

But it seems the magic circle didn’t work well. Haha. I hurriedly tried to lift the still unconscious Icarus, but the baron and the butler quickly came to help. The three of us, old or sick, struggled to move one healthy young man.

The baron and baroness said nothing about my no longer limping leg. It seemed the butler had already informed them. As I moved with heavy steps, I thought about how to explain everything.

***

‘I can’t sleep.’

Maybe it wasn’t that late. Lying on Dietrich’s bed, I stared at the ceiling with wide-open eyes.

As soon as I arrived, the first thing I did was hastily eat the dinner that had been prepared. The quality of the meal, despite the short notice, was remarkable, likely because there were three people in the kitchen. While the butler helped me move Icarus and attended to me, a couple and a cook busied themselves in the kitchen, preparing the meal.

The dinner included a warm rabbit stew, new potatoes, and pickled autumn mushrooms. Freshly baked, fine white bread accompanied the meal.

After eating until I was full, the next thing I did was drink the antidote, disguised as abeter tea, which was supposedly ‘trending in the capital’ and ‘good for the health of people from cold regions.’ 

As the abeter berries and herbs steeped, their scent wafted up, and it was a bit nauseating. A small sip confirmed that it tasted just as bad.

‘Wow, this is terrible.’

Feeling guilty about suggesting such a drink, I nevertheless encouraged the baron and baroness to drink it with me. Despite the late hour, they graciously agreed.

As soon as she sipped the tea, the baroness, in a soft voice, asked Sara for some cookies to go with it. The baron, observing her, smiled slightly, added three spoons of sugar to his cup, took a sip, and then added one more.

Despite the unpleasantness of the tea, they drank it all without complaint. Only then could I finally go upstairs to sleep.

‘At least that’s one thing off my mind. I’ll make sure they drink this disgusting tea—no, antidote—three times a day while I’m here this weekend.’

Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was the baroness’s voice.

“Dietrich, are you awake? I saw the light was on…”

“Oh… no, I’m not asleep. Is something wrong?”

The baroness entered with a gentle smile.

“Sorry for disturbing you so late. There’s something we need to tell you. We can’t delay it any longer…”

The baron’s study was warm with a lit fireplace. They sat me close to the fire and covered me with a blanket. Baron Degoph spoke in a kind but serious tone.

“You might already know this…”

He hesitated. He was not one to delay his words, so I wondered what he was about to say.

“Our estate has a debt to the mage tower that needs to be repaid.”

What?

‘Why do all my parents always have debts? Why, oh why?’

I shouldn’t show how troubled I am. But I couldn’t hide the turmoil in my heart. Seeing my expression, Baron Degoph quickly continued.

“We plan to pay off the debt this year. Next month is the last installment. So, there’s no need for you to worry.”

“What…?”

“We brought this up because… we wanted to apologize to you.”

What is this? I couldn’t grasp the context in which this story came up at all. Baron Degoph continued speaking.

“This might sound like an excuse, but… as you know, we have many elderly people in our territory. With the long winters and snow that doesn’t melt for a long time, during winter, the people of our territory often slipped and got injured.”

I could tell he was choosing his words carefully. I listened silently.

“So, before you came to us, about ten years ago, we commissioned the Magic Tower to lay magic stones in the center of our territory. These stones prevent the snow from piling up and make it melt right away.”

‘Oh? Come to think of it…’

In a territory where winter lasted for more than half the year, the streets strangely didn’t accumulate much snow. I had thought the territory’s people were early risers and expert snow fighters…

They had installed magic stones like heating elements. I glanced at the ceiling of Baron Degoph’s drafty castle. Only two people lived in this small castle, which barely had more than five servants.

However, even after hearing his long explanation, I still couldn’t understand why this was something to apologize to Dietrich for, or what kind of excuse it was supposed to be. The answer soon came from the Baroness.

“I heard from the butler that you fixed your leg. And that you went there while we were away.”

It’s something we should have done for you, not something you should have had to do yourself. We’re sorry we couldn’t fix it sooner. It’s because of our shortcomings that you had to take on things you shouldn’t have had to worry about.

Those words pained my heart. However, my feelings were slightly detached from that emotion. So they couldn’t fix it. If Dietrich didn’t know these circumstances, she might have felt a bit resentful. Maybe the feelings I was experiencing weren’t mine but Dietrich’s. I wet my parched lips and replied.

“I’ve never thought that the kindness you two have shown me was insufficient.”

If Dietrich had heard these words, what would she have answered? Would she still have wanted to blame them? She was already the child of a not-so-great baronial family and had to live her whole life with an inconvenient leg due to financial difficulties. Did she hate that?

“I won the autumn hunting festival… and used the prize money to fix it. I didn’t participate just to fix my leg; I was just lucky.”

“The autumn hunting festival?”

“Yes.”

Silence fell over the table again. I didn’t know what Dietrich would have said in this situation. But if the reason the shattered pieces of Dietrich’s soul remained until the end was because of these two people…