Chapter 681

This time for sure!
“... It was so hot out there! Whoa, this room is so cool...!”

Mariel-chan staggered into the special dormitory’s lounge, groaning.

“Welcome back, Mariel-san. Was it really that hot outside?”

I exchanged a glance with Miria, and without needing to say a word, she poured a glass of iced barley tea and swiftly handed it to Mariel.

Mm, as expected of my maid. Miria’s really capable.

Mariel-chan accepted the glass from Miria and chugged it down in one go.

Mariel-chan, how unladylike.

“Phew, this iced tea is so good... But seriously, why is this room so cool? There’s no air conditioning, right?”

If you open all the windows, the breeze makes it a bit cooler, but even now, there are still students wandering around pretending to be taking a stroll, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Sacred Beasts near the dorm...

“There’s no air conditioning, but there is ice magic.”

“You should be grateful to me, Mariel. In fact, you may worship me.”

Mashiro, in his Sacred Beast form, raised his paw while sprawled across my lap.

Apparently, according to Mashiro, he wraps the entire room in a faint layer of cold air to maintain a fixed temperature.

What is this, some kind of Shiro◯ma-kun? … Oops, I better not pursue that thought any further.

By the way, when more people enter, their body heat raises the room temperature, so he has to adjust it each time.

Wow, isn’t that an incredibly tedious magic...?

He just looks like he’s lounging on my lap, but the fact that he can casually pull off that kind of magic shows how amazing sacred beasts really are.

“Waaaah, Mashiro-sama, thank you so much! I feel like I could sleep here tonight!”

Mariel-chan, now holding her second glass of barley tea from Miria, raised her glass in gratitude and bowed her head toward Mashiro.

“You said that without hesitation, huh? But if I leave this room, the effect will gradually fade, so it’s pointless.”

“Nooo...”

Apparently, to maintain the effect, Mashiro continuously releases a minute amount of mana, so if the mana source disappears, the remaining magic depletes and the effect fades.

“Even so, if you spent the night in this temperature, you’d probably chill your stomach. I’ll have some ice pillars made for you later. You can take them to your room.”

“I’ll do that...”

Technically speaking, this world *does* have air conditioning, but ice-element magic stones are ridiculously expensive, making them a luxury only the rich can afford.

Even if the mana in the magic stones runs out, they can be reused if someone with ice-attribute mana recharges them, which means ice mages are in high demand from wealthy folks this season. Good earning potential, according to Mariel-chan.

Our family probably never needed to commission such things, considering both Father and Brother can use magic, and they have an absurd amount of mana.

I can use ice magic too, but... well, I have Mashiro.

As for people who can’t use air conditioning-like magic tools, they often rely on magical fans.

Those only need mana for power, so you can use scrap magic stones or small empty magic stones as makeshift batteries, apparently.

Also, during this season, people with elemental magic spend their days selling ice blocks, downing mana recovery potions as they go. Most buy ice in the evening, pack it into ice bags made from the skin of a monster called the Giant Swamp Frog, and get through the heat that way.

Giant Swamp Frog... I don’t even want to imagine how big that thing is, but bags made from its skin are known for retaining a cool feeling. Even well water feels decently cold in them, so they’re popular among commoners. Yikes.

Mariel-chan apparently uses those ice bags along with a fan and places ice pillars in front of it.

Reminds me of how people used to freeze plastic bottles and put them in front of fans back in my previous life.

“... I’m back. Ahh, this room feels nice and cool.”

Sei returned about an hour later.

Looks like he took a shower after knight training, as droplets of water were still falling from his wet hair.

“Sei, I know it’s hot, but leaving your hair wet isn’t good for you.”

Leaving it wet is bad for both your hair and scalp.

Sei’s hair is sleek and shiny black, and as a former Japanese turned pink-haired girl with cherry-blonde-like hair now, I’d really like him to cherish his beautiful hair as a long-time friend.

Sei accepted a towel and a glass of barley tea from Miria, chugged the tea down in one go, and roughly dried his head with the towel.

Aahhh, so rough with your hair...!

I want to dry it properly with a wind-and-fire mixed blow-dry spell, but Mashiro, the room’s air-conditioning source, is sprawled across my lap, so I can’t move.

Mashiro’s probably maintaining the temperature by drawing a small amount of mana directly from me by staying in contact, so I can’t exactly ask him to move...

“Oh dear, My Lord. Leave it to me.”

Sensing Sei’s return, Suzaku-sama and Byakko-sama entered the lounge.

Suzaku-sama snatched the towel from Sei and carefully wiped the water droplets from his hair.

“I can do it myself,” Sei resisted, but after Miria handed him a second glass of barley tea, he seemed to give up.

“Ahh, in this heat, you just crave cold food, don’t you...?”

Marie-chanl, we *did* just serve everyone chilled yokan, you know?

Well, I get how she feels.

Ice cream or something like that, right?

I could make it... but there’s actually something I want even more than ice cream.

Maybe it’s time to finally work with Mariel-chan and complete that magic tool.

What do you think about this chapter?