Plumes of vapour that escaped from her lips rose up high into the dark grey sky and before disappearing into thin air. The streets were unusually quiet, which was rather odd for a town like Crocus. The cold wind swept through the land of Crocus and flakes of snow flurried past the young maiden as she snuggled closely into her warm scarf. Briefly closing her eyes, she slid her frozen hands into the pocket of her jacket and wandered aimlessly around the town. Patches of snow crunched beneath her boots as her foot broke the silence that reigned supreme in the area. Although it was dawn, the sun could barely light up the roads that outstretched before her eyes, for the sky was a blanket of dark cloud. There was hardly anyone else in the streets, apart from herself and the trees that swayed to the movement of the wind currents. The cold was biting through her skin and her clothing did not do much to protect her against the harsh weather, nonetheless, Snowflake did not seem to be bothered by the cold. She loved winter after all, despite how it brought terrible memories to her as a child and until now.

The train of thoughts was abruptly interrupted by the sound of papers fluttering hard against the wind. The mission board that was put upright was covered in patches of snow and only one piece of paper remained on the wooden structure. Without any hesitation, the girl pulled it apart from the board and skimmed through the lines that were written on the paper. ”Hmm, interesting. Valan Runic language, eh?” She whispered to no other than herself and folded the piece of paper before sliding it into her pocket. The name of the language sounded familiar to her; she had most likely read about it before from books when she was younger although she was unable to recall anything related to the language. Might as well just complete this since I have the time, she thought to herself. This was a good opportunity for her to gain more knowledge about the ancient history as well.

After minutes of trudging through the thick layer of snow, she found herself standing in front of a tiny building, much smaller than the ones that were established on the sides. A knock would radiate against the wooden door, which was soon followed by a sharp swing of the structure. The frigid gales and crystalline snow were swept into the building as the door opened. A young girl with an eye patch, possibly around the same age as her, perhaps younger, stood in front of the door and raised an eyebrow at her as if she was questioning who Snow was and why she was here. ”Um... are you… Luciel?” She quickly fetched the paper from the location she kept and read out the name written on the material. The expressions on her face finally relaxed and motioned the Blue Pegasus mage to enter the establishment. It was small, although the building was more than enough for just one person.

The warmth that seeped through the rooms of the building almost immediately settled over her and soothed the young girl as she was beckoned inside her client’s abode. ”I apologize for earlier. That was rude of me.” The blonde hesitated, a slight blush rising up her cheeks from embarrassment. Noticing that, the fellow Blue Pegasus mage would reply, ”I don’t mind personally.” Her voice was pleasantly soft, though her eyes barely showed any emotions. ”I assume you needed someone’s assistance to translate a language?” The young client would respond with a nod and disappeared without saying another word, only to return with a piece of paper in her hand. ”I found this note by chance and I’m curious as to what this means. I tried asking around and if I recall correctly, this is Valan Runic language.” The blonde handed her the note and Snow fixated her attention to the strange letters carved into the paper. ”Are you, perhaps, any familiar with the language?” The question was directed at Snow and she would gently fold the paper and secured it within her hands.

”You could say that. I read about the language from a book when I was young but I can’t seem to recall anything.” The sapphire-haired girl placed her fingers on her forehead, her brows creased towards the center as if she was forcing herself to remember what she had studied. ”The best way is to visit the library and I might find a way to figure it out.” Snow suggested, receiving a nod as an agreement from Luciel. ”You can just leave the note at the library once you’ve worked it out. Thank you, –” She noticed how her eyes shifted towards her guild emblem tattooed on her hand before she finished her sentence. ”…Blue Pegasus mage.”


With that, she departed the building with the paper in her hand and proceeded towards the town’s library. The smell of books wafted through her nose and it immediately brought a gentle smile to her face. Libraries had always been a second home to her, for she would spend hours and hours of reading inside the library. An unusual child she was – Snow didn’t wish for friends or anything else, but only sought knowledge, which was probably why she became so mature at a very young age. Variety of books flooded through the stacks of wooden shelves that projected upwards to the ceiling. The blue-haired girl pondered on how on earth she should find the book among the masses. Approaching towards one of the librarians, the maiden questioned, ”Excuse me. Do you know if there’s any books related to Valan Runic language?” – only to receive a blank stare from the librarian before she began to furiously flip through the pages of a huge book that probably listed all the names of the books that were inside the library. The woman would mention the number of the shelf of where the book would be located afterwards and immediately shifted back to her work.

The library was extremely silent that a drop of a pen onto the floor would be heard by the entire hall. Snow made sure not to disturb anyone, her footsteps soft as she meandered through number of bookcases before stopping in front of a specific shelf that she had been searching for. Her pale fingers slid across the countless number of books and ceased in its tracks when she found the dictionary of the language. The girl leaned against the wooden bookcase and silently deciphered the lines that were written on those brittle brown pages. Putting the note on the side of the book, the girl would begin flipping through the book to search for any symbols that looked similar to the note.

Hours passed and Snow finally seemed to have completed translating the note Luciel had given her, which was just a simple grocery list, much to her disappointment. Nevertheless, she gained some knowledge and Snow became more familiar with the language. With the translations written on the paper, she requested the librarian to hand the note back to Luciel when she collects it. The girl slid her hands inside the pocket of her jacket once again, wrapped a warm scarf around her neck and exited the library, hoping to visit another time when she had the chance.