Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 2 - The Salt Forest (Part 1)
Damn this was long
I dreamed again today.
That dream where that cowardly and dull girl got stabbed and fell.
“Is it because I slept in a strange place? ...Fwaaah, achoo!”
As I crawled out of the jute bag, I yawned and sneezed at the same time, and my body shivered.
If it got out that I slept in the atelier, and what’s more, a jute bag, then Thor would be angry at me. He would say, Even servants don’t sleep in a place like that.
This was the atelier for mixing magical potions, located in the O’Drielle family mansion.
“Father and Mother said it was still too early for me, but today is the day that I will make the ‘Ribito Salve’. You failed three times already, and there won’t be a next time, Makia.”
I told myself, put my long hair into a ponytail and fired myself up.
The O’Drielle family mansion was so dilapidated and out of fashion that it was made fun of by the kids in the nearby village as a haunted house, but even so, we were still a respected family of magicians, the descendants of the “worst witch in the world.”
I was the next baroness of my house, Makia O’Drielle.
Even though I was still only an eleven-year-old girl, I had a provocative, villainous woman’s face with red lips, and I was told that when I was born, my parents rejoiced that “She’s going to be the worst witch!” just from looking at my face. When my baby’s sneeze burned my father’s beard, he cried, “She’s going to be the strongest witch!”
It was rumored that I was for certain going to be a selfish and wicked witch like that “Scarlet Witch”, but my parents thoroughly affirmed that “We’re expecting it,” and turned it into my confidence and pride.
I didn’t hate myself.
I liked my appearance, and I was smart. I had the courage to try anything without fear of failure, and I even had the heart to show appreciation for our small number of servants. Every year on their birthdays, I would give them a handwritten card and magical potpourri.
However, an existence that shook my self-esteem appeared…
“It’s strange, it’s very strange. I’ve been told since I was a baby that I was a once in a hundred years outstanding talent of the O’Drielle family, and I’ve been working so hard, yet I’m being surpassed by Thor in just half a year…”
I muttered as I stood on a stool and precisely threw in the ingredients for the potion.
Yes. Thor, the slave I bought.
His magical talent far exceeded my expectations.
He started studying magic in earnest, and in just half a year, he became equal, no, depending on the magic, he became stronger than me, and he was making that talent bloom.
Even yesterday, when I caused an explosion because I made a mistake in the mixing of “Ribito Salve” and ended up having Thor help put out the fire, that rascal laughed at me and said,
“Young Mistress Makia is surprisingly normal.”
“Aaaaah, how cheeky, how cheeky! To think my talent is actually normal…”
Now he was completely my rival and has ignited my competitive spirit.
Thor was more or less a pupil of the O’Drielle family and a servant.
At any rate, he was smart, and if you asked him to do something, he did it skillfully. He had an air of maturity you wouldn’t expect from a twelve-year-old, probably because of his hardships. All those things made him fascinating and attractive to those around him. With a strange alluring charm that was uncharacteristic of a young boy, he was popular with the female servants.
My parents were magicians through and through, so they prized talent above all without caring about lineage or birth. They wanted to nurture what grew if you nurtured it.
In regards to magic, Father taught me and Thor together, and Thor also had a talent for the sword, not just magic, so our old knight, Godwin, was training him. Etiquette was taught by Mother, and Thor, who was a quick learner, could do everything.
It was almost like my position was in jeopardy with the adoption of a son, but I was very happy that Thor, who was a slave, was able to develop his talents and get acknowledged.
But I couldn’t lose, either.
And so I shut myself inside the atelier since last night. One might find it shocking that a child was cooking things in a pot as they pleased, but it was a common sight in the O’Drielle house.
“Ah…”
While extracting the essence from the herbs through boiling them, when I looked outside the atelier window, Thor was working hard at sword practice right then. Since morning, he was being taught the basics from our old knight Godwin. He fell down over and over, but always got up.
“Fufu, do your best, do your best!”
When I saw Thor working hard, I also got motivated.
His feelings of not wanting to lose were precious. Thanks to them, I was surely getting closer to the strongest and worst witch.
I got on top of the stool again and peered into the pot with a prim face.
“Gyaaah! I boiled it too much!?”
One hour had passed since then.
“Hey, Thor, are you finished with sword training?”
I said, lightly tugging on the back of his clothes. Thor was washing his face in the water fountain, but he turned around when I called out to him.
His wet black hair looked even darker and more beautiful. Black hair was very rare in this country.
“Is there anything you need, milady?”
“Well, I’m going to visit Grandmother in the Salt Forest, and I want you to come along with me. I’m going there to receive toothpaste.”
“The Salt Forest?”
“The vast pure white forest in the northernmost part of Deliafield is called the ‘Salt Forest.’ You can gather plenty of unusual magical ingredients there, so it’ll be interesting for you too, Thor.”
Thor blinked in surprise, and then he was thinking something over for a while. During that time, I raised my hand and said,
“Myr vis makia——Wash and dry.”
I easily used heat magic and ordered Thor’s sweaty body and hair to dry.
“Aah, thank you very much, milady. ...As expected, I am still no match for you in【Fire】attribute magic. That is to be expected of one who is blessed by【Fire】.”
“I feel somewhat irritated even though I was praised… Change into your nice suit immediately!”
“Ooh, scary.”
Thor took flight with a facetious look on his face and immediately returned, having changed his clothes.
I also put on my black robe, prepared the basket I would be taking with me, and got ready.
We rode the carriage to the entrance of the Salt Forest while being seen off by Mother. The one who accompanied us was our old knight Godwin.
“May you not be late in returning, Young Mistress Makia.”
”I won’t. Godwin, please come here again in five hours.”
“As you wish. Thor, you must protect the young mistress. That is the duty of a knight.”
“...Yes. I will, master.”
“Heh. The plants and soil and rocks really are white. And, the temperature suddenly dropped. Is your playground such an empty and lifeless place, milady?”
“Yes it is. But there’s no other place that’s this fun.”
Thor called me “milady” when it was just the two of us.
Rather than being called the long-winded Young Mistress Makia, I liked the feeling of intimacy. He might just be teasing me by calling me that, though.
I have told him before that he didn’t need to speak politely to me, but he had laughed scornfully and told me to “please consider my position.”
I think Thor was more comfortable speaking politely. Also, polite speech might allow him to tease me as he pleased. I was impressed with the perfect balance in that area.
“Why is it that this forest is so white? The scent of magic is also strong.”
“Here, there’s a unique magic seeping out from a place deep below the ground, and it crystallized white on the ground surface. It looks just like salt, so this place is the Salt Forest. There’s actually a salt lake too, which yields salt that’s rich in magical power. It’s delicious salt that can also be used as a magical ingredient, so it sells like hotcakes and our family became rich from that, you could say.”
“...”
“Ahem. Several native species inhabit this forest, and you can find lots of unusual plants. Look, like that.”
When I reached the place that I was looking for, I dashed towards a white tree that bore vividly crimson fruits. I took out a pair of scissors from the pocket of my robe, stood on my tiptoes and began harvesting the fruit.
I put my harvest into the hood of my robe.
“Are these apples, milady?”
Thor nonchalantly held me up from the side.
The height difference between Thor and me were two heads. In contrast with him, who trained his body and kept shooting up, I remained scrawny and small.
“The apples picked in this forest are ‘salt apples’ that are packed full of the magical energy from the earth. They’re actually a bit salty, and that saltiness enhances the sweetness of the honey, so they’re really delicious. They’re essential for the O’Drielle family’s traditional cooking and the making of magical treats. I’m sure you have eaten a lot of them without even knowing it too, Thor.”
“Is the mistress’s signature ‘apple pork rolls’ made with these salt apples, by any chance?”
“Yes, yes! I love that! There’s also things like potato salad with salt apples, marinated mushrooms and salt apples, and salt apple cake. Salt apples can regulate the flow of magic within your body, so if you eat them everyday, the precision of your magic will go up. For magicians, it’s like a miracle food.”
Ah, I’m feeling somewhat hungry. Even though I came here after eating muffins with salt apples and caramel kneaded into them in the morning.
“It’s not just the salt apples, but the plants and animals born here are all unique to this forest and have high magical power. There’s still a lot of research to be done, and there’s a lot of hidden possibilities. Oh, you can put me down now.”
When I came down to the ground, I skillfully put the salt apples in my hood into a basket and took out a large picnic blanket and tea set instead.
“I’m getting hungry, so let’s have a picnic around here, shall we? I’ve brought a lot of food with me.”
“Wanting to have a picnic in a scary forest with no sign of humans, you are just like a witch, milady.”
“Well, I am one. Oh, I still haven’t graduated from magic school yet, so I’m a witch in the making.”
“You can’t become a witch unless you graduate from magic school?”
“That’s not the case, but in my family, all our magicians are treated as magicians in the making until we graduate from magic school. No matter how much magic you mastered as a child.”
While I talked about that, I searched the basket again and took out this and that.
This basket was a magical basket that was once a favorite of the “Scarlet Witch,” and its outward appearance and actual volume were completely different. There was a magical space within the basket, divided into a refrigeration space, an insulation space, a room temperature space, and other spaces. It was useful for carrying around food and storing things you’ve gathered. Even though it was an item from five hundred years ago, it had an advanced and sophisticated spatial magic.
I took out cookware for outdoor use...and then some long and narrow rye bread, a jar of mayonnaise, pickles, olives, small iceberg lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, duck ham…
After magically filling a bowl with water and washing vegetables and the salt apples I just picked in it,
“Ah, Thor, cut one salt apple into thin slices.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I casually threw one to Thor.
Thor used【Wind】magic and enclosed the apple into a sphere of wind.
“Saga rham thor——O wind, split it into parts.”
He chanted that, and within the sphere, an unseen blade of wind came and went, cutting the apple into the thin slices I wanted.
This was a small-scale containment barrier of wind. It was very difficult to not only control wind, but also use it to limit space. This boy was able to use difficult techniques very easily, I see.
“What are you using these for?”
“I’m using them for sandwiches. Salt apples are salty-sweet, and when they’re fresh, you can use them as a dressing. They go really well with duck ham.”
“Ah, I see. So that is the case…”
I lightly roasted the sliced duck ham. I was good at【Fire】magic, and it was useful for times like these.
After all, all I had to do was to thrust my finger at the duck ham lined up on the plate and order them to cook.
After roasting the duck ham, I cut the rye bread in half and sliced them horizontally, spread mayonnaise on one side, and finished by putting the roasted duck ham, the torn-up lettuce, sliced tomatoes, salt apples, pickles and olives in between the slices.
“They’re done! The O’Drielle family’s traditional recipe, salt apple and duck ham sandwich!”
“I have thought you would surely bring them ready-made. I did not think you would make them here.”
“Mother said magical cooking is most delicious and effective when freshly made. Also, it’s special training for magic of different elements. We actually used water, fire, and wind magic, right? Now, let’s eat.”
I bit into the sandwich with fresh and juicy vegetables and duck ham from one end.
The duck ham had plenty of pepper on the skin, and when seared, it was dripping with meat juices, which combined with the fruity juices of the salt apples created an excellent taste. By sandwiching them with bread, it was a luxury to be able to wrap up everything and eat it all in one go. It was a light yet highly satisfying dish that made you feel good.
“Mmm, this, this. You can even say that the magicians of the O’Drielle family are raised on these salt apples.”
“Certainly...the duck ham and salt apples go well together. This is delicious.”
After the meal, we boiled water, laid out a glass tea set, and made fresh herb tea with the herbs grown in the O’Drielle family’s herb garden. Or rather, Thor made it. It seemed that Mother taught him how to make tea at an early stage.
The Kingdom of Ruschia was a country where the glasswork industry was thriving, and glass was commonplace for teapots and teacups. When sunlight shone through the trees, the way the green of the herbs submerged in hot water reflected it was very beautiful.
The gentle and refreshing scent of herbs was stimulating and also comforting.
“Lemon balm, rosemary, peppermint...Haa, what a nice smell. I should have also brought some sweets.”
“Shall we also pick some wild strawberries?”
“No, it’s fine. Grandmother would have perceived that we entered the forest, so she is surely waiting for us with freshly baked cookies. I have to be hungry.”
Thanks to the herb tea, I felt refreshed. Magicians often drank herb tea as it helped to restore magical energy.
Early afternoon in the Salt Forest. I didn’t dislike the serenity of teatime, spent with Thor.
Thank you!!
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