Grain of sand
Ise smiled looking at her newly upgraded spirit core.
She quit meditation.
She and Elantra were occupying the highest point in the plateau, a notch above the rest, formed as a thin platform above the plateau, at two and half meters.
If one of the children below wants to climb into their area, they could, but it won't be as easy as walking in.
She wondered if the servants deliberately set up camp ground this way to set her apart. However, after some thought, she dismissed that idea.
After all, this is Frigia, not Drasca, the fire kingdom, where politics are the bread and butter of every one.
" Your grace, The camp is ready. " Elantra called out to her, before Ise could even open the first layer of her backpack.
Ise looked back only to find an icy house, built straight into the mountain, with slanted roof sprouting straight from the mountain ice, while icy walls with French windows supported this slanted roof.
Inside, crenels for hanging are made from ice itself.
There are tables, chairs, and even a bed like a block of ice in the room.
It took Ise a moment to realize that the crenels are made for hanging up the tent cloth like curtains, in case she wants privacy.
There are ventilation holes at the bottom of the walls, and escape vents at the top of the roof.
" This … " Ise exclaimed surprised at how good the ice home was, considering it's coming from a eleven year old.
Elantra looked at her, with both surprise and fear.
' Fear of rejection ' … ' Fear of being treated like a freak ', Ise realized. Her eyes softened.
Frost mage Elantra is giving her far too many surprises along the way.
" This is brilliant, Lady Elantra. I must say, you are quite the talent. " Ise praised.
Elantra's flushed in happiness, not that anyone would know, given how little the blush showed on her face.
However, Ise still caught it.
" It is alright to be proud of this accomplishment. This is quite a brilliant way to use ice, I must say. " Ise said teasingly, looking around the little ice house. Elantra blushed more.
They settled down for dinner after that.
Dinner was sweet cake, full of cream, and hard cheeses melted in the gentle heat of the charcoal brazier, served with chunks of hearty bread.
The amount of calorie consumption is not low when they endure such bone biting cold.
Especially with children, they have to provide even more.
Ise brought out the beds and set them up.
The beds are a foldable canvas bed with plenty of height, with a bed skirt with ventilation window.
A brazier was set up underneath the bed, keeping the bed warm for the night.
Ise turned in for the night with a fairly thin wool shawl. Her body absorbs mana automatically, but that means leaving at least some part of her body to the wind. Ise covered all her joints tightly, then, let the knitted shawl cover her lightly.
The holes in the shawl allow mana to flow freely, at the same time keeping her warm.
Like in the morning, the mana of Reotonarch flowed to their ice house in a tsunami.
Like a tsunami being blocked by sky scrappers, the mana was absorbed by Elantra.
The shredded waves then flowed into a deep valley that is Ise, like a vacuum, they got sucked into her body.
The remaining mana flowed down, like gentle over spilling from a reservoir during summer rain, spreading all over the camp.
The royal family, and the parents of children themselves made very good preparations for camping on Reotanarch.
After all, winter camping could never be underestimated, and not a detail should be short.
With Elantra and Ise blocking most of the ferocity of the elements, the children had a really good rest during the night.
By this time, at least half the children would retire on the average.
However, this year, none of the children retired.
They progressed for the second day.
On the other side, chaos descended on the royal party.
The adviser grumbled at his subordinates.
" What the hell do you mean not a single child retired ! How about the camping grounds for the second day ? We only prepared for three quarters of the children ! Damn ! Even if people leave with supplies now, it will take more than a day and half to reach the second camping ground ! What to do ! What to do ! " he panicked.
" Boss ! Let's ask Duke Max. We … we don't have a way to solve this problem. " the smart employee told his boss.
No matter what, this sort of overlooking could develop into a grievance. It's better to push Duke Max out, rather than their little shrimps. After all, any noble could flatten them with a little bit of effort.
The boss shivered.
He could already imagine Duke Max's anger, but sooner or later, this will come out. It's better to go to Duke Max now.
" Are you aware that every camping ground has to prepare enough materials equal to the number of students who attend ? " The Duke asked, cold anger seeping through his words.
The organizer and his servant looked at each other's faces.
Their thoughts are almost written on their faces.
In the first place, the plan they received had hundred percent supplies on the first camping ground, fifty percent on the second camping ground, it reduces by four percent to ten percent, varying between both, and there were no preparations at all on the eleventh camping ground.
Mind you, this is the official plan they received into their hands.
What happened to the remaining funds ?
They always did ask for more funds, just to be sure that they would be ready for all sorts of emergencies. But … the noble finance minister always cut them down.
At this point, one doesn't need to speak to know where the funds went.
They were embezzled.
If Duke Max was only a little angry before, now, he is shimmering with anger, so much so, a dark blue aura could be seen around him.
He doesn't need employees to speak to know that there are discrepancies in what they intended and what happened.
He looked at both of them.
" From this moment onwards, you both answer to none but myself. Which one of you was responsible for procurement ? " Max asked.
The small employee raised his hand.
" You are appointed the vice president of this event, pronto. You will be responsible for handling all the movement of supplies. Thirteen ! " The duke called.
An innocuous ice pillar in the room melted away, to reveal a man clad in blue and white Frigia military uniform. It has blue flaps on a sturdy white leather shirt, white fur around the neck, and a wooden bone mask, covering the bottom half of his face, leaving nothing but his ice blue eyes visible.
There were two slim rapier handles on either side of his waist, and dark blue gloves on his hands.
The small employee froze upon seeing the guard. The glove color represents the strength of a warrior in Frigia.
Dark blue has few opponents.
" You will protect him during his duties. " The duke ordered.
The small employee puffed up immediately. Inside his head, he's screaming in a fanboys way ~ ' Gods ! I succeeded ! I finally made it ! I am protected by a dark blue grade warrior ! '
" Yes, Sir ! " the guard replied, placing his fist on his chest to the left.
" I will give an emergency order. You will requisition all the supplies you need from the royal warehouse, each equal to the number of students on the peak. If they are not enough, you will go to the largest families in the capital, to requisition their supplies. The expenses will be borne by me. As soon as you requisition enough supplies to fill the second camp, a guard team will set off, moving at maximum speed, and they will try to fill the material vacancies in the camp.
After the first team, another team will set off, with all the supplies you could requisition. They will travel as fast as they can. They will fill the material vacancies to all the camps, as much as they could, all the way through the tenth camp. At the tenth location, a choice will be given to students, to travel along with supplies needed for the eleventh peak.
Make sure no student returns due to lack of supplies. " Max said in his cold commanding voice.
" Yes, Your grace. I will promise this upon my life. " The employee kneeled and swore an oath right away.
The organizer glared at him, his eyes red with envy. His employee gets the cushy job of making supplies available, which is a meritorious deed.
He bet anything he would get the dirty job of being a bribery case witness, against one of the pettiest nobles in the kingdom.
A moment later, his guess is confirmed.
" Did you receive written or oral orders ? " Duke Max asked him.
The organizer sighed inside his heart, as he started answering.