Escaping the Summer Heat: Lord Smarty-Glasses

Escaping the Summer Heat:
Lord Smarty-Glasses

 

IT WAS hot. Even though it was now autumn, it felt like summer during the day.

I was wearing a straw hat to protect myself against heatstroke and riding in a wagon pulled by a donkey, headed for the Royal Magi Assembly. I had a potion delivery to make. You see, after hearing my potions were fifty percent more effective, Yuri had given me a personal request.

I arrived at his office, knocked on the door, and entered the room. “Pardon me for the intrusion.”

Although I received permission to enter Yuri’s office, I didn’t find the grand magus but rather Lord Smarty-Glasses.

Huh. Can I hand these over to him instead?

“I’m here to deliver the potions Lord Drewes requested,” I explained.

Lord Smarty-Glasses nodded slightly and pointed. “You can put them there.”

The manservant who had accompanied me carried the wooden box of potions to the designated location. Meanwhile, I handed the statement of delivery to Lord Smarty-Glasses, and he examined the numbers to ensure they checked out.

I gazed around the room while I waited, and a droplet of sweat ran down my cheek that dripped all the way to my chin. Although the window hung open, no wind blew through it, so the room was stifling. Granted, it did feel a bit cooler given the absence of direct sunlight.

Boy, do I miss air-conditioning… I wiped my sweat away with a handkerchief, and my eyes suddenly met Lord Smarty-Glasses’s. Although I was drenched, he, who by all rights should’ve been roasting in that robe of his, didn’t look the least bit sweaty. How was he so okay?!

“Aren’t you hot?” I accidentally let the question slip the moment it popped into my head—I couldn’t help it! My brain was too muddled by the heat. Regret, regret, regret.

But he didn’t seem the least bit bothered. “I am not.”

“Really?”

“You’re not carrying an enchanted item?”

“Like what?”

Wait, was that what kept him cool? I looked questioningly at him, and he took off the pendant he wore. It had a simple design, and a blue-gray stone was embedded in it. He handed it over to me. “Put it on.”

I did so without hesitation. Instantly, the hot feeling all over my body vanished as if it had never been there to begin with. A faint wave of cold air draped gently over my entire being. It was like someone had blasted an air conditioner directly at me and immediately dropped the humidity index in my vicinity.

“This is amazing! I feel so much better already.”

“Is that so?” Lord Smarty-Glasses smiled faintly at my surprise. “You can keep it, if you’d like.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t mind.”

He explained then that since he had an affinity for Ice Magic, he could just use his own magic to keep himself cool. He didn’t really need any items for that purpose. He had just kept the pendant for convenience’s sake. I worried that meant it would be an inconvenience for me to take it, but he handed over the signed statement of delivery as if to say the conversation was over.

All right, but doesn’t this cost a ton? I wondered, but Lord Smarty-Glasses had returned to his work. I lost my battle with temptation. I just felt so much more comfortable now! In the end, I kept the pendant when I headed back to the institute.

“Hmm? Where’d you get that pendant from?” Johan asked when I returned.

“Magus Hawke gave it to me.”

“Huh?” Johan was surprised.

I told him the story, which just made him look even more astonished. Sure, I had also been surprised that Lord Smarty-Glasses handed over an enchanted item so casually, but not as flabbergasted as Johan looked right now. Was there a reason for that? I couldn’t think of one.

At any rate, thanks to the pendant, I would be able to spend the rest of the summer feeling nice and cool.

I should thank him later, I thought, leaving the frozen Johan to return to my work.