Carla took in a deep breath as she rose to her feet upon the wagontop. Her spell was nearly ready, and she wouldn’t be able to hold this one for long. It wanted to be unleashed. It wanted to manifest itself upon the battlefield. It wanted to become beautiful.

  As Carla was wearing mage’s robes, nobody would have been able to see the full extent of the spellframe frozen upon her skin. To be frank, the spell bordered on the edge of bronze rank, and even Carla wasn’t sure if it should’ve been called silver rank instead. Still, she could cast it, so it was bronze rank, even if no one else could do the same.

  To be fair, Carla was pretty sure there was some bronze rank ice mage out there who could cast the same spell with enough effort, but they would be a rare find. Carla had even tested her theory by giving the spell freely to her classmates in the Thornton academy, but nobody else had managed to even begin with the spellform.

  That was completely understandable, however. A bronze rank mage couldn’t normally hold a spellframe that extended from her hand all the way to her heart, but Carla could manage it just barely. The spell would also be a huge mana sink, but she wasn’t worn down like Valar, just the opposite. Carla wanted to flex her mental muscles, and this was the perfect opportunity to let loose.

  As the final rune froze over, Carla’s eyes shifted from brown to icy blue. Some bandits noticed the change and reacted by either attacking or running away. Running away was the far more sensible option, but they had made that choice far too late. There would be no running away.

  “The Faint Whisper of the Queen of Ice,” Carla’s voice was a whisper in the wind, but it carried to every single combatant on the field. Her teammates smiled, the guardsmen looked confused, and the bandits… Their eyes were full of fear.

  A light blue wave of mana crashed out from Carla as she raised her hands as if in prayer. As it passed over the battlefield, enemies tried covering themselves with weapons, shields and even their own arms. Every enemy was left unharmed, but most of their auras were momentarily crushed by Carla's superior will.

  Carla’s allies looked around themselves in confusion, and the bandits gained some of their confidence back. In their minds, the spell had been a failure. A harmless wave of mana that did nothing of note. The only one who didn’t look confused was Ciel. Her look was one of pity, directed at each and every bandit that had dared to attack their caravan. Most of the bandits were already dead. They just didn’t know it yet.

  Just as the confused silence broke and the bandits pointed their weapons at the adventurers, Carla’s voice rang out once more.

  “Shatter!” This was not a faint whisper, but a shout filled with icy rage.

  As she shouted, Carla spread her hands to the side. The complicated spellform on her right arm was in stark contrast to the simple iron rank spell on her left hand. That spell was Shatter.

  Normally, that spell was relatively useless. It didn’t work on anything but ice, and its purposes began and ended with shattering it. The meager iron rank spell wasn’t even used in combat apart from its use against ice elementals who were weak to it.

  That was how it worked normally, but the queen of ice had spoken, and her word was law. What if these people weren’t frozen? The queen had decreed that they were frozen to the core, and the bandits hadn’t challenged her rule. Simply put, in the eyes of the world, these people were frozen.

  And what was frozen could shatter…

  The first bandit, an iron rank woman in her 20s, didn’t even have time to scream. She simply fell into pieces. To make things worse, even though the world considered her frozen, her body fell into a puddle of gore that was definitely not. That sight was enough to get the others screaming.

  Some rushed Carla, most ran away. Only the lucky few who ran the fastest survived. The only thing that limited the pace of dying bandits was Carla’s ability to cast a simple iron rank spell quickly, and she was fast for her rank. That meant that every couple seconds, another bandit fell down into a puddle of blood and guts, and the others inched closer and closer to death.

  In an ordinary situation, a bronze rank ice mage wouldn’t have been able to do this. The bandits had had several chances to save themselves from their fate, but they had failed to grab every single lifeline and were now suffering the consequences of their inadequacy.

  First of all, Carla had been casting for almost five minutes hidden away on top of the wagon. During that time, even a slight disruption would have not only saved the bandits, but ended in her death as well. She had been defenceless, but the untrained bandits hadn’t capitalized on it. Teams had mages more often than not, so a group without one should have been a sufficient warning.

  Second of all, the effect of The Faint Whisper of the Queen of Ice was not permanent. It was an effect that required the caster to momentarily dominate her target's aura, and could have been shrugged off relatively easily if noticed. In fact, a couple of the bronze rank bandits had managed to do just that, cleansing themselves of the spell’s effect.

  The only reason the spell had worked at all was that Carla was strong for her rank and thus able to crush the auras of her enemies for the briefest moment as the wave of ice magic passed over them. They had expected a physical attack, not a spiritual one. To be fair, shrugging off the spell’s nefarious effect wasn’t exactly easy for a bronze ranker and quite difficult for an iron ranker, but blocking should have been possible for most bandits. They had just been blindsided, and were now suffering from their mistake.

  Soon, every bandit that hadn’t managed to escape Carla’s fury by running away or shrugging the effect off was dead. The fearsome attackers were mere puddles of gore on the ground, and the rest of the attackers were outnumbered. Carla’s job was done, so she slumped down next to Valar.

  That was enough from me. Not that I could do much more, but that was enough nonetheless. Now it’s time to rest.

  Sure, the fight was still technically ongoing, but a few bronze rank bandits, even if they managed to shrug off her spell’s effect, were still just bronze rank bandits. Ciel’s laughter told her enough, and the twang of Arthur’s bow set Carla’s mind at ease. It’s over. That’s for sure.

  The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Nobody, except maybe Ciel, enjoyed the grim task of taking out other humans, and everybody spent their time in deep introspection. Carla had to admit to herself that she was surprisingly mostly unaffected by the carnage.

  That worried her more.

  The bandits, her victims, had lost their humanity in her eyes. That wasn’t normal to Carla, but she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. Her enemies had always felt like enemies, but she had held some compassion for especially the humans she fought. When she had cast that spell… the bandits had felt like trash on the side of the street—something to clean up.

  “You seem worried,” Arthur’s voice came from the wagon’s side. “What’s up?”

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  Carla sighed and rested her face on her hands. “It’s nothing… I think.”

  “Doesn’t seem like nothing, does it?” Arthur let out a small chuckle. “I had a feeling that I should come and talk, so let’s talk. What’s on your mind?”

  Carla didn’t answer for a long time. Truthfully, she didn’t know how to approach the topic, but as the dreamy archer didn’t leave, she eventually spoke up. “Did you feel anything when we killed those bandits?”

  “Yes… kind of?” Arthur mused. “They are still humans, and low ranked ones at that. If the situation had been different, they could’ve been rehabilitated. To me, slaughtering bands of bandits and outlaws is a necessity, so I’m learning to ignore the bad feelings for the moment and only dwell on them later. But… I’m guessing that you don’t have the same feelings, do you?”

  Carla lifted her head from her hands and looked at Arthur. “How? I didn’t even say…”

  “Just the fact that you started the discussion means that you’re troubled. And if I’m guessing right, you’re troubled because you didn’t feel much.”

  The young woman let out another, deep, sigh. “You wouldn’t understand, but when I unleashed that spell, those bandits lost all their value as humans in my eyes. Thinking about it afterwards… It feels wrong.”

  Arthur tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Was it because of the spell?”

  “That’s what’s so hard about it. I just don’t know!” Carla rubbed her face in frustration. “It didn’t feel natural, but spells shouldn’t do that. The spell I used was complex, but everything it did was alter the enemies to count as frozen for my other spells. The academy taught that spells can’t affect the mind directly, so it has to come from me, right?”

  Arthur shrugged. “I don’t know, but does that matter?”

  “Of course it does!”

  “No, it really doesn’t,” Arthur barked. “You’re here, alive and whole of body, and you’re lucky enough to have friends you can talk with whenever you feel lost. Come down here, and let’s go talk with the others. You’ll be surprised to find out that each one of us has felt the feelings you are experiencing right now. The only thing that can truly help is talking them out. You can ask for help with these things, you know…”

  Carla looked at Arthur’s fierce golden eyes for a long time. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but after a long while, she found it nonetheless. Perhaps it would be good to talk about her feelings for once in her life…

  When Valar woke up, his head still hurt but the pain had lessened significantly. The caravan had seemingly gotten out of the forest and entered the fields surrounding Lyndale. Wherever he looked, the boy could only see golden fields of corn, the primary crop that was eaten in Lyndale. He had grown to hate corn…

  Team Cookie Sandwich was gathered ahead of the caravan, so Valar jumped down from his wagon and jogged over to the members.

  Ciel was the first to notice, waving him over. “Did you have a good sleep? You don’t look like one of the undead anymore, so I’m guessing it was at least half decent.”

  Valar shrugged. “My head still hurts but it’s not as bad anymore. What were you talking about?”

  “Oh… I don’t know if we should,” Carla started speaking with a frown on her face.

  “Our feelings about having to kill people!” Arthur spoke over Carla. “You can come over and listen, but I’m guessing you don’t have any-. Oh, you do.”

  Valar’s smile had turned to a frown and he was looking at the team members with squinted eyes. “I do. One time in self defence.”

  “You don’t have to speak about it,” Rodrick said hurriedly. “We were just speaking about our experiences. None of us wants to grow numb to the feeling…”

  Valar looked at the party members in deep thought for a short while, nodding to himself when he had figured out what to say. “My life magic professor told me that the worst monsters in this world are not beasts, but humans. Killing monsters is fine by me, as long as I don’t become one myself.”

  With that, he walked away and back to the wagon. Valar didn’t like the feelings the topic brought out of him, so he excused himself right after he said what he needed to. Perhaps later… Once I’ve adventured for at least a short while. That memory… Thomas Dremen… It just feels too fresh.

  Truthfully, he couldn’t even fully relate to what Rodrick had been talking about. Valar hadn’t felt numb. He had felt rage, and he wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

  ...

  Soon, the walled off city in the shape of a circle came into view. The caravan was approaching from the east as normal, and that could only mean one thing…

  A long line of waiting caravans blocking their entrance to the city.

  The other members of team Cookie Sandwich came over to where Valar was walking, clearly done with their discussion.

  “Any guesses on wait times?” Arthur asked. “I’m guessing it’ll take one and a half hours.”

  “Even that is bad, but it’s going to be two,” Rodrick grumbled. “The east gate has the same amount of guards checking the caravans as the other gates, even though the capital is east of here… It’s inefficient.”

  “Your father has been trying to change that?” Carla asked.

  “How did you know?”

  “That sounded like an issue you’re familiar with,” The young woman chuckled. “Dinner table discussion and the like.”

  The others laughed as Rodrick grumbled something indecipherable. The shadow of death seemed to have lifted from over their heads for at least a short while, and they could finally enjoy themselves a bit. After all, the caravan had arrived in front of the Lyndale gates in more or less one piece, and there had been no casualties. The mission was all but over. They had succeeded!

  “Ice cream! Ice cream for sale!” a familiar voice echoed from the front of the line. “Come to Jean for all of your ice cream needs!”

  Arthur looked at everyone with an expectant gaze. The last one to receive the puppy dog eyes was Rodrick, and he let out a grumbling sigh. “Yeah, you can use team funds for ice cream… Take Valar with you and bring some for everyone though.”

  “YES! Valar, come quickly. Jean might escape!”

  As Arthur and Valar rushed off, the 13-year-old boy practically dragged along by his hand, Rodrick sighed. “He isn’t going to run away… Why am I even trying?”

  The way to the ice cream vendor was a rough one. No matter how many times Valar told the young man to stop, Arthur continued dragging him through the mass of people and wagons waiting to get into the city. They did eventually find the vendor though.

  Jean had chosen an excellent spot to sell ice cream, that was for sure. He was moving around the front of the queue with his cart, selling copious amounts of ice cream to frustrated caravan protectors, owners and customers alike. That meant that the line to his wares was long. Excruciatingly so.

  “This was a mistake,” Valar muttered.

  Arthur looked at the boy sharply. “Nonsense! Ice cream cookie sandwiches are amazing. You do know that our team name is Cookie Sandwich, right?”

  “I know… It’s just that the line-”

  “Is perfectly okay! Every moment in life doesn’t have to be rushed, and a little wait is just alright. Relax, Valar,” Arthur chuckled goodnaturedly. “The mission is practically over. You’re still in mission mode. Cool down.”

  Valar felt his shoulders. They were as stiff as he was anxious. He was still unconsciously looking for hidden threats, bandits in the shadows or mighty beasts rampaging towards their wagon, but that was just it. They were at the city wall, and none of those threats dared to reach that far from their territory. He could relax.

  The young life mage’s shoulders relaxed and his breathing slowed down to a relaxed pace. “Better?” Arthur asked.

  “Yeah. Thank you.”

  As they waited in line, a thought came to Valar’s mind. “By the way, what are your surnames? I know that Rodrick is a Steelheart, but I think you haven’t told yours yet.”

  “Haven’t we,” Arthur scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “What bad teammates we are… Well then, my name is Arthur Gladstone! I’m the team’s archer and I’m originally from Kilras. My sisters still live there, so I think we’ll be actually heading there in a couple of months. The others can introduce themselves when we get back.”

  “Sorry if this is a bad question, but you didn’t say anything about your parents…?”

  Arthur’s smile became a little forced. “My mother had to leave us when we were young, and my father is no one worth mentioning… Parents are not a good topic to anyone of us other than Rodrick, and maybe Carla. Ciel’s situation is similar to yours, and that’s all I’ll say on that.”

  Valar nodded. “Thanks for explaining.”

  They continued talking about small things and how the mission had gone until they reached the front of the line. Jean the ice cream vendor looked almost identical to last time and sported the same smile too.

  “Welcome, welcome! What can I offer for you two?”

  “Cookie sandwiches! We need…” Arthur started counting on his fingers. “Me, Valar, Rodrick, Ciel…”

  “Carla.”

  “Oh, right, Carla! Five cookie sandwiches, thank you!”

  “Let me check if I have enough left,” Jean said. “It’s been a sunny day, so lots of products are almost out.”

  The ice cream vendor rummaged through his cart and Arthur looked on in trepidation. To the archer, this seemed like life and death.

  “Actually, I seem to have exactly five left,” Jean said in surprise. “I thought I had only four, but one was hiding at the bottom of the container. It’s your lucky day!”

  Arthur gave the man a wide smile and 20 copper coins. “It really seems to be so! Thank you, and have a good day!”

  As always, the ice cream was delicious, and Valar’s day was saved.