It's Not Night

Chapter 105

After some time, a servant came to Andra’s carriage and delivered the news. Part of the bridge they needed to cross was damaged and their march was blocked. Andra hurriedly pulled up her coat and walked to the vanguard where the princess and the prince were. In the front, a simple table and a few chairs were already set up around Viola’s carriage.

“Lady Avellin, you’re here, too.”

Viola was looking around at the map spread out on the table and saw Andra coming towards her. She greeted Andra with a soft smile. Beside her, Jonathan casually led Andra to the table.

Andra calmly greeted the two members of the imperial family, but soon she saw Dustin around Viola and she paused slightly. Fortunately, Dustin swung his head away as soon as Andra looked at him.

“I heard the bridge is damaged?”

Andra kept her composure and studied the map. There was an X mark in the middle of the bridge they had to cross. Viola responded by touching it with the tip of the baton.

“That is so, Lady. Of all things, the bridge we’re supposed to cross is damaged. It seems to have collided with a tree that fell from the upper part of the river due to a heavy rainstorm last year.”

If they just went on with the march like this, the bridge would collapse without fail. Viola added that she was becoming very annoyed. Then she put away the baton so that Andra could take a closer look at the map. Andra asked as she hurriedly looked around the map.

“…Any other route?”

“There are a few, but they say it will add a few days to the schedule.”

This time Jonathan answered. He pointed out the blue lines he had drawn beforehand. As he said, there were a few blue lines on the map besides the blocked red line, but most of them were roundabout routes. This would certainly delay them and disrupt their schedule.

“I already received a letter from Morgenis telling me that something happened and we should come quickly…”

“This is troubling. We lost use of the bridge.”

Viola said, patting the slightly depressed Jonathan on the back a few times. But it was too early to give up here. Andra asked, raising her head and making eye contact with those around her.

“Is there any other way?”

“It is because of that. That’s why I called you, Lady.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You are a talented person who can use magic.”

Viola shrugged and looked at Andra. At the same time, she introduced the man sitting next to her from earlier. Other than Andra, there were mages who knew how to use magic in this place. He came forward cautiously, hesitantly, in front of Andra. He then opened his mouth with a polite posture and tone.

“I believe you’d need to help us, Your Ladyship.”

“…Me?”

“I heard that your magic skills are better than regular mages who just made their name. Certainly, even if I combine my magic with your magic, it will be difficult to completely restore the bridge, but it will be possible to make it passable for a while.”

What the mage said made Andra open her eyes wide in surprise. She didn’t even know what the limits of her magic was since she’d only picked up on magic by hearing about it or reading about it in books until now. The last time she visited the imperial palace, she had a simple test, but no one could draw any conclusions about Andra’s magic.

“Will it be okay? My magic skills are still very undeveloped.”

“Don’t worry too much, I’ll instruct you from the beginning to the end.”

The mage replied to Andra with a motivated look. Thanks to that, Andra felt a little relieved. Since there was a mage by her side, even if a problem would crop up, she could avoid the worst case scenario.

“…Thank you. I will try my best as well.”

“No, it is an honor for me to help you, Your Ladyship.”

“Then, I’ll look forward to your cooperation.”

“I am Zenden Fieldier. I’ll look forward to your cooperation.”

While Andra and the mage were shaking hands, she felt an unpleasant gaze coming from somewhere. Dustin, who had turned his head away, was glaring at them. Andra tried hard to pretend not to notice that gaze.

Andra decided she would check the bridge with the mage. It was because she needed to know what the condition of the bridge was so she could decide what type of magic to use and spell to cast. Going there with a few soldiers, Andra now stood at the entrance to the bridge.

The medium-sized bridge was covered in a light mist. As the temperature was quite low, Andra briefly shuddered at the chill even when she had her coat on.

Andra pulled her coat tighter as she looked around the bridge. They had set out not too long ago, but the road to Morgennis was not well paved. It was because there were few people using it.

“It looks like an old bridge.”

“Looking at the records, it was made a hundred years ago. It looks like it wasn’t properly maintained. Originally, even if they had taken good care of it, I would have been fine for several decades, but…”

“There’s no helping it. It’s a remote place. Let’s go take a look at the problem.”

Andra walked to the inside of the bridge. There was a large crack in the middle of the bridge, at the fixed joint. The railings were also broken and empty. Looking down through the empty railings, she saw that the supports were also crooked.

Carefully pressing her foot against the wooden plank, Andra realized Andra the bridge was holding on precariously. The condition of the bridge was not very good because it had been damaged and neglected. In this state, the bridge would most likely collapse if their party just passed by.

“If it had been repaired right away, it wouldn’t be this bad…”

“According to the caretaker of the bridge, the river overflowed due to heavy rains last year, and the damage was so great that there was no budget to even repair the bridge. Moreover, there’s no problem when only a few people regularly pass by here.”

“Can we fix this?”

Andra asked the mage as she crouched down and ran her fingertips over the crack.

“It will be difficult to fix completely. By my estimate, that is. It is best to keep the bridge until it passes. Your Ladyship and I will have to stand on opposite sides of the bridge and fix the bridge with magic.”

Andra nodded at the mage’s words, but couldn’t take her eyes off the crack. Maybe it was possible to put the bridge back together. It would be complicated, of course, but it didn’t seem completely impossible.

The mage could also have said that it was difficult because he had to use a lot of hands and use multiple magic spells. With his magic abilities, he couldn’t even cast a single spell, so he asked Andra for help.

“Sir Mage, would it be possible to fix the crack in the joint and return the support to its original state? Or, since the biggest problem is the support, I think it will be less if at least the support is restored to its original state. I think we can put a new wooden plank on the crack later.”

“Yes, if you can fix it, you better fix it. However… It will be a very laborious task. Your Ladyship, is it possible?”

The mage carefully asked Andra. From his point of view, it was impossible to move the support, which can be seen as the central axis of the bridge. Moreover, in fact, this bridge had to be repaired through generations of construction rather than magic. There were already fewer and fewer mages, so they can’t just use such precious manpower to fix just one bridge?

“I want to give it a try. I don’t even know how far my magic can go…”

“I’m a little worried that you might overdo it, but there’s nothing wrong with trying, as you said. However, if it becomes a burden, Your Ladyship must pull out immediately. Even if we have to go back far, it’s not more important than you.”

“Yes, I will do that. Thank you for your concern.”

Andra stood up and said.

“Then, what can I help you with? If you have any difficulties or need an assistant, just let me know.”

“I will ask for the safety of others while I move the bridge. Just in case. Then let’s get started.”

At Andra’s words, the mage did as he had been asked to, letting the others step back significantly. And he made them stand at regular intervals to balance their legs.

With everyone back, Andra stood in front of the railing, looking down at the crooked beam. In that state, she stretched out her hand and cast a spell.

Ruuumble. Gradually, the support begins to move little by little. Andra felt her wrist heating up as she slowly pushed the support back where it should be.

The support, which was like a large beam, gradually began to find its place at Andra’s beckoning. The middle leg wobbled from time to time, but it wasn’t much to worry about for her.

‘A little bit more…’

In the meantime, she had only moved light objects with magic, but it was not easy to control as she tried to move a heavy support that was several times larger than her body. In addition, since it had been neglected for a long time, the support was also stuck there and could not be moved smoothly.

Still, as it slowly returned to normal, Andra focused more. Beads of sweat stood out on her forehead.

Thud! After ten minutes of wrestling with it, the support was restored to its original state. But Andra did not stop there, she used other stones to firmly support the beam so that it would not move. After that, she fused the cracks back together.

Of course, this was a temporary solution. The wooden stilts on the bridge would still need to be replaced later.

“How wonderful! You did this on your own!”

The mage admired the bridge that Andra had healed. He applauded her, and rather praised Andra’s magical skills, much to his delight.

Actually, it was because he thought it would be a little difficult to fix the bridge even with a few mages sticking to it. Of course, among mages, the degree of difficulty would be different, but a mage in that position would not use magic to fix an old bridge. Because mages were high-class manpower.

At that time, Andra stumbled a little. The mage grabbed her and handed her a handkerchief in haste. Andra took it and said while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“Because I used my magic… I’m a little tired. It’s the first time I’ve ever used it like this.”

“Of course. Your Ladyship, you should rest now.”

“Yes… I should.”

Andra answered quietly, noticing that the light on her wrist had shrunk by more than half.

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