Have you ever touched a cloud?
A white, fluffy cloud, as soft and delicate as down.
Ever since I was born into this world, I had often lain on the castle's rooftop towers or in its rear gardens, gazing up at the sky.
Perhaps I had simply been enjoying the tranquility and grandeur of nature, things I had never been able to appreciate while living in a city during my previous life.
Then again, there wasn't much to do for leisure in the Frah Territory where I was born, apart from hunting and gathering. Given my aversion to physical exertion, I had deliberately avoided such activities, preferring to lie down and stare at the sky instead.
In any case, whenever I had free time before reaching adulthood, I would find somewhere inaccessible to anyone except senior household staff, such as the butler or the head maid, and lie there watching the sky.
And naturally, when you gaze at the sky, your eyes are drawn to the clouds.
After all, they're the most conspicuous things up there, and their shapes change so quickly.
Clouds shaped like apples, clouds resembling the skyscrapers of my previous life, dragons, rabbits, ships, and countless other things.
Watching the endless variety of creations fashioned by nature, I could lose myself so completely that I forgot the passage of time.
And after spending so many hours gazing at clouds, I imagine anyone would eventually entertain the same thought.
What would it feel like to fly into the sky and touch a cloud?
In my previous life, I could have paid to board an airplane and gone skydiving through the clouds.
But the world into which I had been reborn was unmistakably a fantasy world.
There was no way airplanes existed here.
Wasn't there a saying that everyone harbored regrets about their life before they died?
I had died without any particular regrets, only to find myself regretting the things I had never experienced in my previous life after my death.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
“…Clouds are surprisingly soft.”
But hadn't someone once said that you could never predict what life had in store for you?
That saying certainly seemed appropriate now.
FLAP! FLAP!
The Heavenly Horse beat its pure-white wings powerfully, riding the wind as it soared through the sky.
Seated on its back, we surrendered ourselves to the currents of air generated by its flight.
We were far above the ground.
Riding the Heavenly Horse summoned by the mage, we were flying through the sky.
“Fascinating, isn't it? Everyone who flies for the first time is surprised by how soft clouds are.”
“…Is this normal?”
SOFT.
I reached out and pressed my hand against one of the fluffy clouds floating above us.
According to everything I knew, clouds were merely collections of tiny water droplets and ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. My hand should have passed straight through one, scattering its mist.
Yet the cloud before me pushed back against my palm as though it were something solid.
“…How is this even possible?”
“Is it really that surprising? You can pass right through clouds with low density, but clouds as dense as this one won't collapse even if someone stands on top of them. Why do you think rain clouds hang so low? It's because they're heavy, of course.”
No matter how kindly she explained it, to someone bound by the scientific knowledge of his previous life, her words sounded like complete nonsense.
A cloud dense enough to support a person standing on it?
What sort of absurdity was that?
PRRRR!
“Oh my, it seems the Heavenly Horse wants to take a break. Well, we've been flying without stopping for quite some time, so I suppose we should find somewhere nearby to rest.”
“It must be exhausted after flying while carrying the weight of two people.”
“Really? The Heavenly Horse uses Aether to fly, so I doubt it requires much physical exertion. Mental exertion might be another matter.”
Holding the reins, the mage proceeded to share her knowledge with me.
Apparently, the Heavenly Horse's wings resonated with Aether, allowing them to push against the surrounding air.
Consequently, there was little difference in the physical burden placed on the Heavenly Horse whether it was flying alone or carrying the two of us.
Unlike ordinary creatures, the Heavenly Horse was a Mystical Creature, and its ability to fly did not depend on its weight.
“You'll be enrolling at Academia soon, so you'll have opportunities to learn about Mystical Creatures like this one. You probably won't study them as deeply as I have, but I'd recommend acquiring at least some knowledge.”
“Is that something you absolutely have to learn to become a mage?”
“I can't explain everything in detail right now… Well, just think of it as advice from a senior who enrolled before you.”
A senior, huh?
Come to think of it, the identification plaque she had shown the guards clearly identified her as a mage affiliated with Academia.
I still didn't know exactly where mages stood in this society, but judging from my father's attitude toward them, their social standing certainly wasn't low.
If I had to guess, they were probably treated as something akin to minor nobility.
“Ah, there are people gathered by the river over there.”
“Where?”
“Over there.”
I craned my neck in the direction she was pointing.
Just as she had said, I could see a group of people gathered around several carriages lined up along a riverbank.
It was the first large merchant caravan I had seen since being born into this world.
“Hmm. I suppose that's one of the merchant caravans delivering goods to the Imperial Capital. This is the western part of the Empire, after all. So they have caravans consisting of several large wagons out here? How interesting.”
“If they don't transport goods by carriage, how do they usually do it?”
“By ship, naturally. There's an entire district in the Imperial Capital with docks where enormous ships gather.”
I see.
Well, judging from the information I had pieced together about the Imperial Capital through newspapers, I had already suspected that transporting all the resources consumed by such an enormous city using nothing but carriages would be impossible.
So there really is a harbor?
I'd like to visit it someday if I get the chance.
“Good. Let's land over there and take a break. There doesn't seem to be anywhere else suitable nearby, and since it's such a large merchant caravan, I doubt they'll be too startled by our arrival.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the Heavenly Horse lowered its head and began descending.
WHOOOOSH!
The wind rushed past my cheeks and ears at tremendous speed.
With a roaring sound, the merchant caravan, which had looked like a collection of tiny dots, rapidly grew larger until I could distinguish the figures of individual people.
“…! …!!”
As we drew closer, I noticed several members of the caravan looking up at the sky and pointing toward us.
We were still too far away for me to make out what they were shouting, but judging from their expressions and gestures, they were clearly astonished.
FLAP! THUD!!
“Phew… Good work.”
PRRRR.
We landed near the rear of the caravan, where I assumed its owner would be staying.
Under the stunned gazes of the people watching us, we climbed down from the Heavenly Horse's back.
“Rest for a while. We still have a long way to go, so we'll set off again around dawn.”
PRRR.
“Excuse me… Are you perhaps a mage?”
While the mage was informing the Heavenly Horse of our plans, a man who appeared to be one of the caravan's managers cautiously addressed her.
“Yes. Would you mind if we rested here for a while? There wasn't anywhere suitable nearby, so we had little choice but to land here.”
“Ah… That's perfectly fine, but what do you intend to do with that horse… or whatever that creature you rode here is?”
The thin-mustached man's question carried an unmistakable implication.
There was little they could do to stop a mage from doing as she pleased, but what were they supposed to do about the strange creature she had brought with her?
“Ah, you needn't worry about the Heavenly Horse. It isn't some vicious creature that kills people without reason.”
“I-is that so?”
“Yes. As long as nobody tries to kill it or attacks it while it's sleeping or resting, it will simply ignore everyone.”
“I… see.”
“Oh, and is this caravan headed toward the Imperial Capital, by any chance?”
The man reluctantly tore his gaze away from the Heavenly Horse, which was staring back at him with an expression that seemed to ask what he was looking at, and nodded in response to the mage's question.
“We're transporting grain harvested from the western regions. This year's harvest has been particularly abundant, so we've already had to arrange two large-scale shipments.”
“I see. If anything comes up that requires the assistance of a 'mage,' please feel free to call on me. We'll be leaving at dawn tomorrow, so if you need anything before then, I'll take care of it without charge as repayment for allowing us to rest here.”
“…”
With those words, the mage gave him a broad grin and took hold of my arm.
“We're rather tired, so we'll find somewhere nearby to settle down and rest.”
“Yes, understood.”
STEP, STEP.
And so, having received something that could loosely be called permission, we walked into an open space between the enormous wagons.
Naturally, the Heavenly Horse followed us at a leisurely pace, looking thoroughly bored.
STEP.
“Hmm. This should do nicely.”
“Are we going to camp out here instead of borrowing a carriage?”
“Hmm? There's no need to sleep out in the open. Ta-da!”
In response to my question, the mage smiled and pulled a large piece of cloth from inside her clothing.
Then she gathered a few branches from nearby and used them to construct a small tent.
“Hmm… I only need to make the entrance properly… I suppose something like this should be enough.”
“Are we supposed to stay inside that tiny tent?”
“A tent? No, what I've made is simply an entrance. Even magic isn't omnipotent. It needs a proper set of rules to function.”
She surveyed her crude little tent with a satisfied expression before taking my hand and lifting the flap covering its entrance.
“Go on, take a look inside. It's quite cozy.”
“What do you mean by… Wow.”
The moment she lifted the entrance of her shabby tent, a room with a peaceful, welcoming atmosphere appeared before my eyes.
The space inside was so enormous that it was impossible to believe it could fit within a tent.
I could only stare in open-mouthed astonishment.