Part 19: The Lady Knight Solidifies Her Shovel Resolve

Part 19:
The Lady Knight Solidifies
Her Shovel Resolve

IT WAS EVENING by the time the party finished their shaved ice. They once more proceeded down the snowy path, until they reached a mountain valley where they were accosted by powerful winds. Riez stood in front of the party, holding out her rod as it shone blue. Being a resident of Shilasia, she showed zero doubt in her ability to lead the party through the snow. In fact, her feet floated above the snow thanks to her Levitation magic.

The Ice Sage Riez turned around with a smile on her face. “Surprised, everyone? Magic can even make people float!”

However, behind her, Alan was hovering about a meter off the ground, as were the horse and carriage behind him; inside, Alice and Lithisia continued crafting the Holy Text. Alan’s shovel projected an anti-gravity field around them all. It made for an extremely relaxed journey through the billowing snow.

“What’s wrong, Riez? Let’s hurry forward.”

Riez shook her head and attempted to regain her composure. “Huh, I guess Disenchanters these days are good at using Levitation.”

“I keep telling you. I’m just a miner… Hrm?”

It was then that Alan heard a distant cracking. A quiet sound, but he was certain he heard it; he was familiar with it from his time spent mining in the winter mountains. The sound of collapse.

Alan immediately raised his shovel. “An avalanche is coming, and it’s a big one.”

“Say what?!”

The moment Catria yelled her response, snow began to tumble down the mountain until it built into a roar. It was almost as if the spirits of snow were howling with rage.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine. Just leave it to me, the Ice Sage!” Riez stepped forward, directly in front of the incoming avalanche of snow, and held her rod as if she were protecting the party.

“Alan, are you sure about this?” Catria didn’t trust this self-proclaimed sage in the least.

But Alan simply nodded. “Let’s see what she can do.”

“I’m trusting your judgment here.”

“I know. Riez is the specialist when it comes to freezing things. Plus,” Alan gripped his shovel, “if we leave this to Riez, we’ll have an easier time acquiring room and board tonight.”

“Er, what?” Catria hadn’t the slightest clue what the self-proclaimed miner meant. She had also come to realize that there were far too many “self-proclaimed” people in their current party. A self-proclaimed miner, sage, undead king, and high priestess. Catria was the only normal one, or so she thought.

The rumbling built as the avalanche neared.

“Let’s do this! Hiyaaaaah!” Riez held her rod aloft. “ABSOLUTE ZERO!”

From the tip of her rod shot a white beam of light. It encompassed the entirety of the avalanche, turning it into a giant, shimmering layer of ice. A single spell had completely eliminated the threat.

“Hee hee, how’s that?”

It was clear that Riez’s abilities as the Ice Sage were indeed the real deal. Nonetheless, Catria refused to let her guard down as she kept her eyes glued to the girl. She knew better. Every time this self-proclaimed sage smiled, something crazy soon followed, much in the same way trouble followed Lithisia and her use of the word “shovel.”

Catria was right to doubt. A clear creak broke the silence, and the frozen layer of ice once again began to move, shifting inexorably toward the party.

“Wait, what?! I froze it, but it’s still coming!”

“You should’ve reversed gravity. Just freezing it isn’t enough to stop the avalanche,” Alan answered calmly, much to Catria’s chagrin.

Since the snow had been transformed into ice, the avalanche was just that much more deadly. Now it was like giant rocks were falling from the sky.

“What’s the plan, Alan?” Catria asked. “Do we run, or are you gonna dig a hole for us to retreat into?”

“Neither. Things are going just as planned. I’m going to use that ice to build tonight’s room and board.”

“Excuse me?”

The miner had once again come up with a ridiculous solution to an absurd problem.

“Hah!”

Alan’s shovel shone brightly for but a moment, and soon after, he leapt.

Loud cracks of ice echoed throughout the valley. A trail of light made its way around the ice as if it were a shooting star. That was probably Alan’s shovel—he was using it to break the giant ice… No, to modify it.

Three seconds later, a giant ice structure stood where the avalanche once was. It was a two-story lodge with a balcony, designed to look like a royal family’s second home.

Riez wore a rigid, panicked expression on her face.

Alan nodded, pleased with his work. “You have my thanks. Your magic allowed me to procure the necessary materials for this lodge. Er, is something wrong, Riez?”

The sage’s mouth opened wide before shutting, over and over again. Eventually, Riez came back to herself. “What… Why did that just happen?” she whispered.

Catria sighed. She knew what dark place the young woman was coming from.

“And you, Catria. What’s with that look?” asked Alan.

“What’s with this look? I was just thinking about how that shovel of yours has poisoned my mind.” Catria’s mind and body felt heavy, no doubt the effects of Alan’s shovel. No. Keep yourself together, girl. You have to be the rock of reason for everyone else!

She quickly calmed herself down. If she let herself be corrupted by all this shovel madness, the entire world would come to an end—especially given what this party was capable of. The shovel would reign over all! Catria promised herself that she’d stay pure, even in the face of a worldwide shovel epidemic.

“I’ll never bend the knee to the shovel! Never!”

Of course, Catria had yet to realize that her words and actions were already long since corrupted…

***

The interior of the ice lodge was unbelievably comfortable. The icy walls kept out the cold wind, and the fire-stone (an artificial jewel of Alan’s design) heater in the corner, combined with the carpet, kept things warm.

Off to the side, Lithisia was rubbing her cheek against one of the ice walls despite their glacial temperature.

“Your Highness, what exactly are you doing?”

“Oh, my… A lodge made by a shovel… In other words, a shovel lodge!”

“Your Highness, what exactly are you saying?” Catria asked with a stern look.

Wearing a joyous expression, Lithisia continued rubbing against the wall like a cat. At this point, not only was she no longer a princess, she was barely human. Catria decided to let go of this for the time being and go to bed. Alice was already asleep after being exhausted from her usual daily shoveling. For an undead king, she certainly slept quite a bit.

“Alan,” Catria said, “where should I sleep?”

“There’s a room next to the study. Take that one.”

Just as Catria was about to nod, she stopped in her tracks. “Why is there a study in a lodge you created in three seconds?”

“Riez is a sage, so I figured a room full of books would make her happy.”

That wasn’t the explanation Catria was looking for. Whatever. It was time to sleep, so she gave up on logic and headed to the room in question. On the way over, the door to the study, Riez’s room, was open.

“Nn… Mm…”

Catria heard moans coming from inside. Perhaps Riez was having a shovel nightmare thanks to the madness she witnessed earlier. The lady knight could sympathize, so she took a peek inside the room.

“What the?!”

Inside, there was a veritable mountain of books. Encyclopedias, magic tomes… They were piled up to the ceiling. One wrong move and they’d probably topple over. Between those book towers was Riez, buried beneath a sea of literature and talking to herself. “If this were merely ‘degradation,’ the logic wouldn’t add up. But if this were ‘creation,’ affecting the astral layer would be impossible.”

“Riezfeld…?”

“Ah, yes?” Riez spun around, her hair shifting slightly. As soon as she saw Catria, a smile formed on her face. “Ah! Catria, yes? You’re a knight, right?”

It was a bright, warm smile. She had apparently totally recovered from the shovel hell earlier that day.

There’s something legitimately off about this sage, Catria thought to herself.

“Did you need something from me…? Ah!” The cool Ice Sage had a not-so-profound epiphany. “You’re a knight! Which means you’ve come here to partake of my sagely knowledge!”

“Nope.”

Riez deflated. She was clearly disappointed, but Catria didn’t see how Riez would be able to help her with the problems she was dealing with, the greatest of which was the princess.

“Uuugh… Ah, but could you at least let me interview you?” Riez pressed.

“Er, why?”

Riez took out a feather pen and smiled again. “I’m doing research.”

“On what?”

“Well, I’m trying to discover Alan’s secret.”

Catria didn’t want to believe her ears. Alan’s secret? She was pretty sure something like that should stay off-limits to humanity.

“I assumed he was a uniquely gifted Disenchanter. But that’s not all. He was able to stop the avalanche, create a lodge, and even float. The power to degenerate, create, and control gravity… He’s spectacular. I’ve never seen magic that could manipulate all three forces!” Riez’s eyes were practically sparkling. “And so I really want to discover his secret!”

“Erm, you should probably give up while you’re ahead.”

In the first place, Riez was on the wrong track. None of that was magic. It was all Alan’s shovel. His powers were the embodiment of the unreasonable. One couldn’t afford to think too deeply about them. Catria attempted to explain as much to Riez, but Riez simply shook her head from side to side and said, “Don’t you want to become stronger, Catria?”

The knight balked. “Huh?”

“I heard from Alan that you’re aiming to be the strongest Holy Knight there is. If that’s the case, don’t you need to know how someone so strong has acquired their power? If all you ever do is watch them from afar, you’ll never catch up. You need to understand why they’re strong.”

Riez confidently continued. “I was the same, once upon a time. My teacher was a master of the ‘Four Elements’, but I could never wrap my head around the logic behind their magic. Something about stopping the movement of particles, or what have you… But, but you know what? I wanted to become an amazing sage, so I studied and researched my butt off!” Riez giggled. “And, well, I’d like to think I became something of one?”

Catria thought back to how Riez had frozen the approaching avalanche. While her magic powers didn’t measure up to Alan’s weird abilities, they were still astounding.

“I’m a sage. But to be a sage doesn’t mean to be someone who knows everything.”

“Huh?”

“Just having knowledge only makes you knowledgeable. To be a sage means to be wise. To be able to look upon the unknown, the impossible, the unfathomable, and to use your power to try and discover how it works—instead of ignoring it.” Riez winked. “That desire to research and study… Having a wise will is what makes one a sage.”

“A wise will…”

“Yeah. That’s why, Catria.” Riez gripped her feather pen as a powerful light bloomed in her eyes. “That’s why I, the Ice Sage Riez, must discover the source of Alan’s shovel’s powers. And that is why I will give you that sagely knowledge when the time comes.”

Catria stared long and hard at the young woman in front of her. Sagely knowledge. Perhaps that was exactly what Catria needed.

“Hee hee.” Riez began to giggle. “So? What do you think?! Pretty sage-like, right?!”

“You would’ve gotten a perfect score if it weren’t for this very moment.”

But despite her harsh response, Catria’s heart had been moved by Riez’s words. This young lady wasn’t just calling herself a sage for no reason. She was right. How could Catria move forward if all she ever did was fear the unknown?

Perhaps I’ve wasted my time and energy on being afraid of the shovel…

Now that Catria thought about it, even Riez’s magic seemed incomprehensible to her. Was Alan’s shovel really all that different? If she pivoted her attitude a smidge, and paid close attention to his shovel, she might…

Be able to learn how to use his techniques. Even just a little. And once she learned how to use those abilities, she could apply them to something other than a shovel.

“Riezfeld, no, Lady Sage.” Catria had come to a decision. She would no longer face the unknown with fear in her heart. She would know her enemy to know herself. And by doing so, she would take the first step toward learning how to counter the shovel. “I’ll tell you everything I know. I want to be useful to your research.”

“Wonderful! You can count on this cool Ice Sage!”

Catria had finally found a glimmer of hope within this shovel-corrupted journey. “But since it’s already quite late, let’s go over it tomorrow.”

“Understood, Lady Knight!”

With light in her heart and a skip in her step, Catria exited the room and got into her own bed. She had the feeling she’d sleep quite well on this night. But since she was soon fast asleep, she didn’t notice that one other person paid Riez a visit that evening.

“Lady Riez, you’re doing shovel research?!” It was Princess Lithisia. She had sensed the talk of shovels and come bouncing over. “In that case, I have a shovely perfect idea!”

***

The next morning, at the entrance to the ice lodge, a look of despair washed over Catria’s face.

By contrast, Riezfeld wore an enormous smile as she gripped a shovel in her hands. Not a rod, but a shovel. On her cape was a big shovel sticker, and the tips of her mage boots were shaped like shovels. As if to serve as the final nail in the coffin, she wore a bandana over her forehead that read “Shovel Time.”

“You look shovely wonderful!” declared Princess Lithisia. It was clear whose work this was. “A true Shovel Sage…”

Upon receiving words of acknowledgment from the peanut gallery, Riez giggled.

“Lady Sage, no, Riezfeld.” Catria was already course-correcting her assessments. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Why did you go back to using my name? Well, no matter. Let me explain.” Riez let out a confident laugh. “If I’m to unearth the mysteries of the shovel, I must first use one myself. That’s why I swapped out my rod with a shovel. If I can activate my magic with one of these, I might gain some insight as to how it all works!”

That was a truth she was better off not knowing.

“I’m also wearing socks with shovel patterns! All for research!”

“How shovely wonderful! You’re a shoveltastic sage!” Lithisia was terribly pleased, as was Riez.

But Catria was in a state of despair.

Riezfeld nodded. “I’ve kinda, you know, figured something out! About shovels!”

“I wish you hadn’t.” After a single exhausted interjection, Catria looked up at the sky.

I was an idiot for trusting this self-proclaimed sage. As Catria lamented, she saw Alan shoveling the snow that had built up on the roof of the lodge.

What’s the point? This was a one-night thing. She almost voiced her complaints, but soon stopped herself.

I just… Catria clenched her first, a resolute expression on her face. The Ice Sage she put her trust into had fallen in but a single night, but regardless! No matter what, I refuse to bend the knee to the shovel!

Catria had yet to realize that her resolve had already been shovelfied.