玉蒲团之云雨山庄

*Whoosh!*

Cold winds that are colder than the ones that blow at the south, send shivers to those who wear thin clothes, making them sneeze and return home to take thicker clothes to make sure they don\'t catch a cold.

After feeling such cold air blowing, it\'s normal for people to think that it\'s due to the winter season that is coming near. But only the one coaching the black aggressive horse will know the real reason for the shivering cold wind appearing around them.

(Cold... Her mana is too vast and thick that she\'s making a natural phenomenon of lowering the surrounding temperature just by her presence alone...) (Lyan)

Lyan squinted and take a peek at the woman staring out the window from inside the wagon. As he saw her figure, it felt like his body got even colder as if he was in the middle of the antarctic.

Not just him, but any other people besides him would also feel the same if they saw the ice sculpture-like expression on her face. She\'s undeniably a great beauty, but her coldness is enough to make any men to think they have no chance to approach her.

(Well, the greatest thing about Eira is that even though she doesn\'t speak much, she does not do stupid and troublesome things like Griselda either. If I treat her like a walking sculpture, I can enjoy the travel leisurely and peacefully) (Lyan)

Thinking such as that, Lyan continues his journey. But not even after thirty minutes after thinking of that thought-

"I-It\'s cold! Why is it so cold!?" A man that seems to be a peddler, hugs himself because of the sudden cold winds. Unlike before, the wind is as cold as the air inside a freezer. Not to mention that man, even Lyan\'s body would be shivering because of the cold if he didn\'t use his fire mana to warm himself up.

*Sigh!*

"Are you perhaps bored, Eira? Then maybe-" (Lyan)

The window frame of the wagon started to freeze, and the temperature dropped drastically before he finished his words.

(Wrong answer, huh? Do I need to use my magic eyes to know what she\'s thinking?) (Lyan)

As Lyan\'s pondering whether to use his magic eyes or not, his eyes stopped at her left hand that is stealthily holding the side of her stomach.

(Ah... Perhaps she\'s hungry?) (Lyan)

Lyan stored some food and snacks that are already cooked at the grimoire\'s space dining table. With a single thought, the bread that is quite tasty that he got from the previous town appeared before him together with the plate.

"Here, you must be hungry, right? I\'ve warmed it up for you," Lyan handed the plate of bread after warming it with his fire mana.

"..." With a silent nod, she took the bread from Lyan\'s hands without having any expression. At the moment she took a single bite, her eyes sparkled as the warm bread must have tasted good, and her complexion got brighter.

As if the weather depends on her mood, the temperature immediately returns and rises after her single bite of the bread. The ice that started to appear at the wagon\'s window also started to melt, and Lyan carefully use his wind magic to make sure the waters won\'t drop inside the wagon.

As he carefully thread to make sure the drops of water melted from the ice went out of the wagon, the sight of Eira interested him. At the first glance, it seems that she\'s having no emotion, but it\'s different once he observes her eyes.

As a single bite come after another, warmth started to slowly fill her eyes.

"Ah, here, a hot tea. This type of tea tastes the best in a weather like this," Lyan now gave her a hot tea which she accepted eagerly.

It\'s a unique sight to see a person taking out food and a hot tea from an empty space. Adults will be curious and praise him for his great performance, while children will be very curious about how he does it. But Eira was too focused that she does not even care about how and where the food and the tea appeared from.

*Slurp!*

As she took a sip of the hot tea, her expression melts, or at least her eyes, and the cold air in the surrounding immediately dissipates and the warmth from the outside weather could now be once again felt.

Lyan carefully and delicately brings the water out with his wind magic to prevent the inside of the wagon from getting wet because of the melting ice.

Looking at the sight of Eira before him, a single thought first passed through his mind.

(She looks like a small animal) (Lyan)

But the admiring stays only for a while.

(From her vibe and behavior, it feels like a princess that had been getting most of her life getting cared for by others. Her way of eating and drinking is refined, but she doesn\'t seem to be the type that has the skill to cook. She\'s either a nobility or royalty...) (Lyan)

Unlike Lilith, Eira gives off the vibe of pure noble or pure royalty blood.

Cold, but fragile. Just like a block of thin ice.

(But the thin ice before me is not a thin ice made from a block of normal ice. It\'s a thin ice of a freezing hell, its presence alone is enough to freeze over a wide region...) (Lyan)

Lyan uttered inside his mind with a wry smile.

(I wonder what kind of place the world of memories of Eira would show me...) (Lyan)

Amongst the spirits, the one that Lyan know the most about their past is Lilith. Amongst everyone, Eira is the one that he\'s very interested in. Like from which region did she come from? At which age did she born? And what kind of civilization is inside her country?

(Now that I think about it, I didn\'t get suddenly sucked into the world of memories like before, huh?) (Lyan)

As Lyan thought about it, the board asked whether he want to enter the world of memories of Lilith or not immediately appeared before him.

(Swift as always, huh... But not now, I guess I\'ll try to enter again this night. I\'m also interested in the tournament I\'m in) (Lyan)

As Lyan refuses to enter the world of memories, the floating board disappeared, revealing the face of Eira staring at him beneath it.

"Hm? You\'re done?" Lyan took a glimpse at her hands, and saw that the tea is not even half finished yet.

"Hero," A single unexpected word left her thin lips.

"Hero?" Lyan furrowed his eyebrows, but widened his eyes next.

"Are you a hero, Lyan?" With a pair of eyes that seems to be looking directly at his heart, Eira asked him.

The word of refusal immediately passed his mind, but his words got stuck in his throat as he saw the hint of expectation and hope beneath the clear blue eyes of her.

Not a single sound left Lyan\'s mouth.

Shifting her head to the window and taking a single sip of the tea in her hands, she let out a soft sigh. Before her eyes left his vision, Lyan saw how her eyes lost the hints of emotions and return to the emotionless look she usually wears as if she lost her interest in him.

"If the hero of your definition is someone that possesses great power and achieves legendary feats no average man could, then I\'m not one. But I believe that every person that works hard to overcome the trials and hurdles of life that lay before them is worthy to be called heroes," The words that got stuck in his throat left his mouth as the pair of eyes left his sight.

"Are you... One of them?" (Eira)

"I don\'t know what you\'re expecting me to answer, but shamefully I\'m not. I\'m a person that failed to overcome my trials and ended up with a deceitful compromise. If we\'re following my values of being a hero, then I\'m not one," Lyan replied with a shrug as images of the past appeared inside his mind.

"I see... That makes sense," (Eira)

"I guess you\'re right," She uttered as she stared at the far sky. She didn\'t utter any other words afterward, and it remains a mystery to Lyan which part that she thought made sense, and which part that she agrees with.

___________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore

Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary

Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers

Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow

Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials

Grimoire\'s Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1)

Grimoire\'s Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army