"If we finish the roof repairs °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° today, there won’t be anything left to fix."

"Looks like the weather’s on our side. It should be done quickly."

Yuder stood side by side with Kishiar, gazing at his childhood home. Over the past days, they had cleaned every inch of the house, sweeping away a year’s worth of dust and replacing every crumbling or punctured section. They had also uprooted the weeds that had taken over the yard—enough that the place would hold up well for a while.

That means it’s time to go back.

As if waiting for this moment, when he went down to buy provisions, he heard that the lord of the territory was planning to tour the villages. Someone who had never done such a thing suddenly changing his attitude and attempting something new—Yuder’s animal instincts warned that this was a bad sign.

Looks like the rumors spread as expected. Better leave before things get annoying.

"Since we’ve finished tidying up, it’d be best to leave for the Capital around dawn tomorrow."

"Already? Feels like it’s only been three days to me... That’s disappointing."

Kishiar let out a dramatic sigh, wearing an exaggeratedly forlorn expression. His intentions were so transparent that Yuder couldn’t help but let a faint smile rise at the corners of his lips.

"Don’t be so disappointed. You can come again next time."

"You were planning to invite me back?"

His gaze slid over as he tilted his head pitifully, crimson eyes glimmering between the fingers pressed against his cheek. Seeing those sly and joyful eyes, Yuder nodded slowly.

"I hadn’t planned on it before. Initially, I just wanted to tidy it up and had no intention of coming back. But... not anymore. If I get another chance like this, I think I could spend more time here."

"Truly?"

"Yes. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of cleaning and repairing everything so thoroughly. So you’re welcome to come here anytime you like as well."

For a moment, the joy Kishiar felt flowed clearly through their bond. The warmth that surged over Yuder’s body was overwhelming enough to push away the biting winter chill in an instant.

Did Kishiar feel something similar when he’d told Yuder he could visit Peleta freely, back then? The feeling of handing the other person a key with no conditions—giving access freely—it was similar, yet different, from the times they had opened their hearts and bodies to each other. Perhaps it felt more powerful because this wasn’t just a feeling, but a tangible, material place—a home, filled with the remnants of Yuder’s childhood.

"Alright. Then I should put even more effort into finishing the roof."

"You really don’t need to go that far."

"It’s fine. I actually wanted to apply some of the useful knowledge I found in the books and ledger yesterday."

Kishiar, who had adapted to mountain life with startling speed, now looked almost indistinguishable from a local countryman—equal even to Yuder. Despite his elegant appearance, which made him seem out of place here, he was now drawing on unfamiliar sources of knowledge and trying out new methods, even ones Yuder had never heard of.

Neither the dreary silence, the chores requiring hands-on labor, nor the raw, untamed wilderness—none of it had fazed him. Yuder, who had initially worried, now felt a bit embarrassed for having done so.

He’s spent plenty of time traveling in disguise, but surely he’s never truly lived alone like this for such a long time before.

Maybe this was actually his true calling. The thought even crossed Yuder’s mind.

"What did you find this time?"

"In yesterday’s ledger, there was a note about buying zikon paste to help with repairs on a broken roof. I didn’t realize it, but apparently, it helps with adhesion and insulation."

"If you grind and mix zikon, it actually makes a fairly decent insulator."

It was one of the things he’d learned from watching his grandfather work as a child. Kishiar smiled.

"Come to think of it, I remember reading about it in a collection of research papers by the Eril mages. There was a study that claimed even cheap zikon could become a high-quality material if infused with magic."

Nobles would never bother with such a substance—they’d just use more expensive materials. Commoners, meanwhile, had no access to magic. So in reality, it was research with no practical value.

But this was Kishiar la Orr. While he wasn’t known for his spellcasting, he was more than capable of using refined, powerful magic when necessary.

"Zikon is already here, so all we need is magic. I really want to test it. If it works well, I’ll research it further and try applying it in Peleta or elsewhere. They don’t use zikon there."

Faced with his eager, determined expression, Yuder had only one thing to say.

"...As long as it doesn’t strain you."

"Good."

Yuder helped grind the zikon they had bought for the roof, watching as Kishiar carefully poured magic into the mixture in the bucket. As the golden magic blended with the paste, the lumpy, muddy-brown zikon began to glow with a soft white light. The color looked far too luxurious for an old wooden house like this one.

...Life really does bring the strangest sights.

After a while, Kishiar wiped sweat from his brow and stood up.

"It’s done. The result... hmm. Not bad for a first attempt."

"Can we use it right away?"

"No. We have to wait until the color changes completely."

While waiting for the color to change, Yuder stared at the zikon paste in thought.

Was this repair method with zikon not widely known after all?

For someone of noble status, it might be understandable, but Kishiar was also the lord who had drastically improved the lives of the impoverished people of Peleta. Winter was equally brutal in both this place and there. Insulation was one of the most important things in regions like these. Lords of harsh-climate territories often supported their people during the cold seasons. Surely Kishiar had encountered relevant knowledge by now.

And yet, the fact that he hadn’t known about using zikon for insulation until now meant it truly wasn’t a common technique.

Then maybe my grandfather learned to use zikon after reading that same research.

As far as Yuder knew, his grandfather was the first person in this village to use zikon for roof repairs. The villagers had expressed their deep gratitude, saying he seemed to know all sorts of good tricks from his worldly experiences.

Roof insulation wasn’t the only thing his grandfather taught. He often used locally available materials to help others with their daily struggles. As a child, Yuder had thought it was simply the natural thing to do.

Those strange magical records he had that I thought were unrelated... maybe they were connected after all. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"What are you thinking so deeply about?"

"Mm... I was wondering if all those magic-related records my grandfather collected were actually for learning useful, practical knowledge for daily life."

"Funny. I was just starting to think the same thing."

The man who had eagerly read through all those books and ledgers nodded.

"At first, I thought maybe they had some hidden meaning. But when I compared them to the ledger, I found a surprising number of items that seemed derived from knowledge in those research books. Zikon, obviously—but quite a few others too. For instance..."

Kishiar listed items like a special support block used to prevent injuries during sawing, or a particular kind of stone used to calibrate the magic stones in a magic-stone heater. They were things Yuder’s household had always used without thinking—but hearing Kishiar say it like that made something shift inside him.

"I see..."

"It’s unusual, but for someone who had easy access to such materials, it’s possible."

Yuder nodded slowly.

"Yes. Maybe my grandfather really did work somewhere connected to mages or scholars."