Märchen Meines Lebens (FGO × Twisted Wonderland fanfic)

Ch10: Enigma

Arc 1: The Long Winter

Ch10: Enigma

The higher a person goes, the harder it is to breathe.

They were right.

Ashray says inside his mind as he struggles to breathe that he can feel his consciousness going hazy.

He can feel a hand touch his back through his winter clothes. A voice then declared

" Ansuz. "

Suddenly, he was surprised when he felt something in his lungs, and it was easier to breathe again. After breathing for a few moments, Ashray let out a puff of breath. Glancing at Andersen, Ashray asked

"What is that, Mister Hans?"

Andersen, who was observing and fixing his glasses, answered.

"You're baggage for a third-rate like me. You should be ashamed that you're pulling my weight right now. It's a shame I can't just throw you out and leave you to die in this unforgiving winter. You're useless, but you're important. You'd be useful if unexpected situations arose for us later."

Ashray only sighed, used to Andersen's caustic tongue.

'Third rate?"

When Ashray looked at Andersen, who was staring at the magical tablet he summoned out of nowhere, he believed he wasn't third-rate at all.

'Hmmm, now that I think about it, Mister Hans would also describe some insults directed at himself, as well as a lot of self-deprecation in addition to criticizing everyone he encountered.'

Currently, Ashray is riding a sled drawn by magical horses that are resistant to ice and cold. Mister Hans has summoned the enchanted horses. As they climbed the freezing slopes, they were dragged by horses.

The reason they were on the mountain began a few days earlier.

Miss Lily Roverby's first step after Katerina went missing was to contact the magical police squad in Neuf Region. She contacts them for them to assist them in finding Katerina.

They had no idea the Neuf miraculous police squad's reputation would strike again. Their incompetence and folly. They would never have guessed that after interviewing Miss Lily and her honest replies to their questions, they would conclude.

Mister Hans is suspected of being the culprit behind Katerina's disappearance.

As they presented their reasons, Ashray wanted to facepalm or hammer a hard object into their heads to make them see sense.

Mister Hans then decided that he didn't want to be caught by those morons, which was understandable, and began performing astonishing feats of magic seemingly out of nowhere.

Ashray discovered that Mister Hans can back up his arrogance because he is a great mage. As for why he was with Mister Hans, after escaping from the dumb cops, Mister Hans picked him up from his house, along with his damaged eyeglasses and some food supplies.

" Let's go and find your childhood sweetheart."

" Wha?! Katerina isn't my sweetheart!! - wait, did you just say find Mister Hans? How? Do you know how to find her?"

" Tch. Keep quiet before I toss you out of the sled; it's simple; I'd detect her mana signature."

" Is that Mana's signature?"

" I've spent days living with you two; it's natural for me to become accustomed to your mana signatures; it was easier to become accustomed to and familiarize myself with your magical signatures when only a few people had active mana in their bodies."

"Wha?! Did you just summon a tablet, Mister Hans? What do you need it for?"

" Of course, find that stupid girl; seriously, she was stupid to leave your town alone every day."

"Mister Hans, please don't insult Katerina! She wasn't here and you're still badmouthing her; we don't even know how she's doing right now; please spare her your insults; she wants to help the town's residents. She was a kind and hardworking girl."

"It's more of a reason to criticize her. Low pay and she'd venture out every day risking her life. It was so disgusting. Letting yourself be used like that by your fellow town residents. She was an idiot and was taken for granted. If they want something, they should get it themselves. And if it wasn't like that, she should raise the cost of her delivery services."

" Katerina was the one who insisted on the town residents paying on 10 Thaumark/ Madol. "

" Heh, she's a Saint? How amusing! Hahaha... "

" (Sigh). "

They had been traveling the snowy mountain ranges for a few days since leaving the Ledusberg. Their food source was becoming scarce. Ashray has learned a lot of interesting facts about Mister Hans in the last several days.

Perhaps Mister Hans was anything else than a dwarf or a cursed person.

All of the food that Mister Hans has taken on their current journey... Mister Hans has never eaten or consumed any food. He is given all of the food. Mister Hans, according to Ashray, hasn't slept a wink since they left town. Observing mister hans since their journey, the mage shows no indications of tiredness. And he was still fine because of his regular use of magic.

It was perilous for magicians to enter a condition of mana exhaustion, for if they ran out of all of their mana, they would perish.

The more Ashray spends time with Mister Hans, the more enigmatic and strange the venom-mouthed mage becomes.

He was also beginning to suspect that Mister Hans wasn't a human nor a dwarf of a fae kind but something else.

Eventually, Ashray doesn't know how many hours have passed. Time was lit of his grasp in this white-filled environment of cold. He only knows that they are near their objective when they came across the sight of castle ruins filled with ice crystals in the distance.

" We're here. "

Andersen muttered. Tugging the scarf closer to his neck, Ashray nodded.

' Mister Hans wasn't lying... I hope that you are in that castle and that you are fine and well. Please, Kay. Please be okay. '