The main food source for monsters like the moonlight wolf was magic power. That’s why they said they would capture and eat creatures with a lot of magic power, such as humans or other monsters, to consume the necessary magic power.

But it’s not like I could go out and catch monsters for every meal. And giving them humans was even more out of the question.

So following the researchers’ advice, I tried mixing finely chopped magic stones into raw meat and feeding it to them.

Actually, just giving them magic stones would work, but they didn’t seem to like it, maybe because there was no chewing satisfaction… They hadn’t eaten any of the special magic-infused feed when they were confined in cages either.

Fortunately, our three little ones ate the meat mixed with magic stones well and with enjoyment. However, it became a bit inconvenient when we had to go outside like this. We couldn’t carry raw meat around, nor could we get raw meat right away.

I waved my hand as I stood up.

“I’ll feed them myself. This time I can only give them magic stones, so the kids will probably complain a lot.”

After thinking for a moment, Aspeiran nodded and supported me. Thankfully, although the three little ones shook their heads in displeasure, they still ate the magic stones well. They were truly filial children.

By the time I returned to my seat after taking care of the three little ones’ meal, the preparations for our meal were already complete.

We gathered cozily around the campfire and shared a simple stew made with dried meat and potatoes roasted in the fire.

Lunch in the snow-covered forest had quite a charming atmosphere. I devoured two bowls of stew and about three fluffy potatoes. Perhaps due to the exertion, my appetite had returned.

Aspeiran handed me some warm water and said:

“As I said before, there won’t be any rest until we reach the shelter, so be prepared.”

“Uuuugh… Yeees…”

Already my whole body was starting to ache again. I sighed and swayed back and forth, then suddenly asked Aspeiran:

“By the way, wouldn’t it be much faster and easier to use magic for spatial movement?”

“It would be faster, sure. But in the Nix Mountains, it’s better to avoid using spatial movement if possible.”

“Why?”

“There’s a magic spell cast over the entire Nix Mountain range. It’s a magic formula intricately woven into the world formula, so magic that directly interferes with the world formula, like spatial movement, could cause environmental anomalies.”

World magic power… was said to be the magic that constitutes everything in this world. Something that can’t be handled except by transcendents.

Then what is the world formula? And what does it mean to interfere with the world formula?

Noticing that I hadn’t properly understood, Elkin chimed in.

“Everything in this world is made up of world magic power. This ground we’re sitting on, this atmosphere surrounding us, it’s all the same. Humans too, of course. We call the complex composition of magic power that makes up these things the world formula.”

“Oho…”

“And there are some types of magic that need to directly interfere with the world formula. For example, magic that deals with space or time.”

Elkin drew a circle in front of himself and a square near the campfire. Then he placed a bowl on top of the circle.

“To explain the principle of spatial movement magic simply, it’s like temporarily swapping the coordinates of where you want to move to with the coordinates of where you are now.”

Elkin’s finger alternately pointed at the circle and the square.

“Simply put, if we swap the positions of this circle and square, wouldn’t the bowl move to the front of the campfire? If we remove the bowl and swap the positions of the circle and square again, everything except the bowl’s position would return to normal.”

“Yes.”

“In other words, spatial movement is about temporarily twisting the world formula that makes up space by inserting your own unique magic power into it.”

“Hmm… Spatial movement seems like an extremely tricky and difficult magic.”

“That’s right. The more a magic interferes with the world formula, the higher level it’s considered to be.”

Elkin laughed heartily, ha! ha! ha!, before continuing his explanation.

“The world formula has a property of trying to return to its original state even if it’s temporarily distorted. But world formulas that have been completely twisted by humans have less elasticity.”

Ah, now I understand what Aspeiran meant.

“So to summarize, there’s already a magic spell cast on the Nix Mountains that has twisted the world formula once, so it’s better not to disturb the already less elastic world formula any further, right?”

“That’s exactly it! A transcendent who can handle world magic power might be able to rewrite the damaged world formula with world magic power, but it’s impossible for ordinary magicians.”

I gathered a handful of snow and scattered it on the ground. Is this snow also made up of the world formula?

Whenever I hear stories like this, it really hits me that this is a fantasy world.

I tapped my empty bowl with a spoon and suddenly spoke up. I had one more question.

“So, what is this magic spell that’s cast on the Nix Mountains?”

“It’s nothing too grand.”

Aspeiran put down his finished bowl on the ground and began to speak. It seemed he had quickly finished his meal while Elkin was giving his world formula lecture.

“It’s a magic spell cast by the transcendent Nix in ancient times, long before even the empire existed, let alone the 7 countries. That’s why this mountain range is called the Nix Mountains.”

“What kind of magic is it?”

Aspeiran lowered his eyes. His pleasant voice continued softly.

“A magic of eternal snow. No matter how many times spring comes, as long as his will continues, the snow in the Nix Mountains will never melt. Also, the closer you get to the mountain peaks, the more relentless the year-round blizzards become.”

A magic of eternal snow…

I stretched out my legs and looked up at the sky. Despite it being summer until recently, the forest was covered in snow as if it were midwinter.

After glaring at the snow piled on the trees for a while, I blurted out a question.

“Why did he cast such a spell?”

While it might look nice to have snow all year round, it’s inconvenient for people to live in. It’s also difficult for plants to grow.

Aspeiran answered my muttering.

“It happened so long ago that no one knows the exact reason. There are only a few hypotheses. For example… to prevent living beings from crossing over the mountain range.”

While we were conversing, the knights finished their meal and began cleaning up. I wiggled my body, thinking I should help too, but Aspeiran pressed down on my shoulder.

“You really don’t listen when I tell you to rest as much as possible, do you?”

“I’m really fine now, you know.”

“You get me to tell you a story and then you’re going to leave before it’s even finished?”

When you put it that way, I had nothing to say. I sat quietly, patting my legs.

As the argument subsided, Aspeiran continued his story.

“As I said earlier, the blizzards grow fiercer as you get closer to the mountain peaks. Because of that, no one has ever reached the mountain tops. Naturally, we don’t know what’s beyond the mountains either.”

“Really, no one has ever seen it? Not even extremely powerful magicians?”

“That’s right. That’s why there’s a hypothesis passed down that the transcendent Nix blocked it off so that no one could see the end of the world.”

“How fascinating…”

I was completely absorbed in Aspeiran’s legendary tale. At that moment, the knights who had finished cleaning up joined the conversation.

“Come on, my lord. That story is too stiff and serious. There are plenty of more romantic and interesting stories about the transcendent Nix.”

Aspeiran seemed to immediately understand what they were talking about. He clicked his tongue.

“You like those ridiculous fairy tale-like stories?”

“Isn’t it natural for people of Roakin!”

Canis shouted excitedly. At this point, I couldn’t help but be curious.

“What kind of story is it?”

Aspeiran glanced at me and shook his head.

“It’s not worth being curious about.”

“But I want to hear it… You said people from Roakin naturally like it…”

As I fidgeted with my fingers and peeked at him, Aspeiran tightly shut his eyes. Then he folded his arms and closed his mouth as if to say ‘do as you please’.

I turned to the knights with a big grin. Sir Tina, the most eloquent among the knights, began the story.

“Long, long ago, far from the laughter of people, there was a boy who lived alone in a castle deep in the mountains…”

The story went like this.

Long ago in a deep mountain, there lived a magician named Nix.

Nix possessed such powerful abilities that everyone feared him and kept their distance. In a large, cold castle, Nix was always alone.

Nix couldn’t bear the piercing loneliness in his heart day after day. His deep solitude turned into chilling snow, blanketing the whole world in white, and this made people fear Nix even more.

One day, a girl appeared in the blizzard. Nix asked:

“Who are you?”

The girl answered:

“I am snow. I heard your crying. I came because I wanted to be with you.”

It didn’t take long for the girl to find a place in Nix’s empty heart. Nix gave the girl a name…

“Skip that part.”

At that moment, Aspeiran, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly interjected. I looked back and forth between Aspeiran and Sir Tina in confusion.

Sir Tina rolled his eyes, making eye contact with each of the other knights. Finally, looking at me, he suddenly giggled.

“Yes, understood. Miss Shuria, ask the lord about this part separately.”

“Huh? Why? What name is it?”

“That doesn’t seem to be something I should tell you. Now, let’s continue with the story.”

I was dissatisfied but didn’t protest further. I was curious about the next part of the story.

As the audience regained their focus, Sir Tina cleared his throat and continued the story.

“From then on, Nix and the… girl spent every moment together.”

As Nix’s heart became filled with happiness, the snow that covered the whole world gradually stopped falling.

In a good mood, Nix would occasionally go down the mountain and bestow magic upon people. Those who received help from Nix began to worship him.

The once quiet castle was now bustling with people. Nix was happy, but suddenly realized that snow no longer fell anywhere.

And the girl who had always been by his side was also nowhere to be seen.

Foolish Nix. Pitiful Nix. Why did he welcome the green sprouts so eagerly? The girl was snow. So when the snow melted, she too had to disappear.

Without her by his side, nothing else in the world had any meaning. Nix rushed towards the cloud-covered mountain peak.

Finally reaching the mountaintop, Nix collapsed on the eternal snow. His lips weakly repeated only the name of the girl he had given her.

Tears once again filled his empty heart. One by one, snowflakes began to fall on his head.

The falling snow covered Nix’s entire body. Just as he felt he might suffocate in the pure white sorrow, the sound of tiny footsteps echoed.

Nix asked:

“Who are you?”

The owner of the footsteps answered:

“I am snow. I heard your crying. You may not need me anymore, but still… I want to be by your side.”

The girl dropped a tear. Nix said nothing.

Instead, he embraced the girl tightly. To never let go of his lovely snow fairy again.

“And so, Nix and the girl came to be together forever. Every day, Nix made warm and soft snow fall for the girl, not the biting snow of loneliness, and from then on, the snow that fell on the mountains never melted.”