*disclaimer: i am using a combo of machine tls and dictionaries. im not a translator or a writer particularly. id like to get better over time*
[SSR] Rustica ~ Like the Sun Melting the White Snow
A Matter of Perspective, 1
Akira: Aw, this bunny sculpture is so cute.
The snow sculptures sparkled like glass under the clear sky. It was a lively snow zoo full of shapes and sizes of animals.
Akira: This bear looks very realistic, as if it’s about to start moving…..
I was looking at a snow sculpture of a bear with its hands up, then turned to walk to the rest.
Akira: …!?
The sculptures that should have been firmly stuck to the ground started moving towards me.
Akira: Eh!?
Suddenly my body was as stiff as a snow statue.
Rustica: Amorest Viesse
Akira: Uwaa....!
I felt like I was floating, and then I was on Rustica’s broom. Under my feet, snow sculptures passed through where I was just standing.
Rustica: Are you well, Master Sage? You were almost crushed by those snow sculptures.
Akira: Rustica! Thank you! You saved me…
Rustica: You’re welcome. It seems you were playing a very thrilling game in the snow. Was it your idea Master Sage?
Akira: No. I’m a little confused…
Rustica: While it’s nice to enjoy the scenery from up here, let’s go down for now. The sculptures seem to have stopped moving.
Akira: Oh, that’s true. I wonder what happened…
Owen: How boring. After I went to the trouble of granting the Master Sage’s wish.
Akira: Owen!
As Rustica and I landed, Owen appeared with a sigh.
Akira: So you moved the snow sculptures, Owen. Uh, but what’s my wish…?
Owen: You said it was about to start moving, so I made it move.
Akira: I said it was as if it was going to move. I didn’t really want it to…
Rustica: Thank you very much, Owen. You gave the Master Sage a wonderful gift.
Owen: What? Why would you thank me?
Rustica: Thanks to you we were able to see the snow sculptures come to life. Its was so intense it made my heart pound.
Owen: …I didn’t know you liked them so much. Let me tell you an old legend from around here then.
A Matter of Perspective, 2
Rustica: A story from the North country? Western stories tend to be about love and romance, I wonder how they differ.
Akira: I’d love to hear a Northern legend.
Owen: …As you wish.
A smile on his face as usual, Owen began to speak.
This story takes place before the City of Frost was built, there used to be a small village here. One particularly cold year… The snow just wouldn’t stop, and the village was cut off from the outside world.
It was truly isolated. Before long, they ran out of food and were completely wiped out.
Akira: (Wiped out…)
Rustica: How tragic…
Owen: Years later during a heavy snowstorm, a young man passed through the area where the village once stood. Lost, he went towards a house, clinging to the light that could be seen from the village.
There, he found a very beautiful girl.
Akira: Huh? All the villagers died, right?
Rustica: That’s certainly what Owen said. However, what in the world was the girl doing there in that case…
Owen: The house was warm, unlike what you’d expect from the North country. And hot, lavish meals kept coming one after another. While the village girl took care of him, the young man lost consciousness.
When he awoke the next morning he found himself alone in a vast snowfield.
The warmth, the meals, and the girl had all left him… He felt he was being watched. The young man discovered he was surrounded by snow sculptures of human beings.
Akira: Hic..!
I involuntarily let out a shriek. Owen’s smile turned into a grin.
Owen: The village girl appeared in front of the him and said “I’ll….. You….”
Rustica: Finally, the feelings she's kept inside are revealed.
Owen: …Huh?
Rustica: The girl, who excelled at making snow sculptures, fell in love with a young man she crossed paths with by chance. Is that not the kind of story this is?
Owen: Where’d you get that idea? ………what. You western wizards. Your heads are always in the clouds, I feel like an idiot for even trying. What a waste of time.
Rustica: Is that so? To me it was delightful, thank you for sharing your lovely story with us, Owen.
Owen: Oh? Well, when I send a blizzard after you I hope you’ll keep your spirits up, watch those carefree thoughts before they get you killed.
Akira: Oh, Owen… Where’s he gone?
Rustica and I stared speachlessly at the snowfield our storyteller had just disappeared from.
A Matter of Perspective, 3
Akira: Did Owen’s story not scare you, Rustica?
Rustica: Did you feel scared Master Sage? May I ask which part you found scary?
Akira: When he woke up the next morning in the field surrounded by snow sculptures. Maybe the village girl turned the people she lured to the house into snow sculptures.
Remembering Owen’s story sent a shiver down my spine.
Rustica: I see. Of course, you could see it that way, especially coming from the North country. But as I said before, I saw it as a romantic story about a young man and a village girl. She lets him go without ever laying a hand on him. So, I felt a deep love from her there.
Akira: That’s one way to look at it… But why do you say she let him go?
Rustica: That’s how the story has been passed down to us now. I’m sure he told someone all about what happened after he returned home safely.
Akira: I understand. So you’re saying that our knowledge of the story proves it.
Rustica: Yes. We were told that the village was very snowy, so what better place to make snow sculptures. She was very skilled at making them and hoped that one day someone would see her work. Now, the people in the City of Frost feel the same way we do when we make snow sculptures.
Akira: But unlike the people here, she had no one to share her work with…?
Rustica: Indeed. It’s likely she couldn’t do that in a place so deep in the snow, and she felt overwhelmed. Like how a musical performance is incomplete without an audience, her work needed people to see it.
That’s why when a young man happened to pass by during a blizzard who wanted to see the sculptures she poured her heart into, she felt it was fate. The sculptures she created would have been glittering in the sunlight, just as the ones in front of us are now.
It was the northern sky that responded to Rustica's words before I could even take them in. Sparkling snow gently fell even though there were no clouds.
Rustica: Amorest Viesse
Akira: Ah… I feel nice and toasty. You used magic to warm me up.
Rustica: I did. We can’t have our Sage getting cold.
Akira: Thank you. I thought it was just a scary story, but your interpretation is lovely.
Rustica: I believe that if you change your perspective, anything can become more beautiful.
Akira: (Experiencing Rustica’s way of thinking warms my heart.)
Feeling his kindness in my whole body, I stared at the fresh snow shimmering in the sunlight.